Parallel Blogs / Subscribing

We have been putting out this blog since 2009 under the heading "UCLA Faculty Association" using the link:

https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/

The blog site was originally created by the then-executive director of the Faculty Association. As such, yours truly does not have control of the site; he is simply a blogger on it. So when technical issues arise, that can be a problem. Given that issue, we have been adding a parallel site with the same blog entries since July 23rd:

https://danmitchellsblogcontinues.blogspot.com/

We will be running the two in parallel for the indefinite future. Possibly, at some point we will switch to the new link.

If you read the blog using the Facebook page of Yousee Elayemeriti, you can continue to do so:

https://www.facebook.com/yousee.elayemeriti

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Want to subscribe?

You can't subscribe directly. But you can subscribe indirectly to this blog via a service called Blogtrottr. Go to blogtrottr.com and fill in the URL for the blog:

https://danmitchellsblogcontinues.blogspot.com/ 

or

https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/

and put in your email address. 

You will then receive an email at the email address you provided asking you to confirm. After you confirm, you will receive an email notification of new postings whenever they appear. If there are, say, three postings on a particular day, you will receive three notifications (one for each one). 

Note and full disclosure: There are ads on these notifications. 

25th Anniversary: September 11, 2001 - Part 2

From the California Post: UCLA’s top official has condemned a 9/11 event hosted by the college featuring a range of controversial speakers — including the defense lawyer for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

The school’s chancellor, Julio Frenk, said in exclusive remarks to the California Post that he supported longtime UCLA professor Judea Pearl, who tore into the university for hosting the lawyer representing the jihadist behind the execution of his journalist son, journalist Daniel Pearl.

“Judea Pearl is a deeply valued member of the UCLA community, and I have profound respect for him, for the memory of his son Daniel, and for his decades-long commitment to combating antisemitism, terrorism and hatred,” Frenk said.

“The brutal murder of Daniel Pearl was an act of unspeakable evil, and I support Judea and his family. We also mourn the thousands of lives lost from the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, as well as the suffering of countless families and communities.”

He went on to blast event, which covered two days and also included an appearance by a Yale professor who labeled post-9/11 counterterrorism efforts “racist.”

“UCLA’s values are clear. We reject antisemitism and terrorism in all their forms, and we believe our campus must be a place where the dignity of every member of our community is respected,” Frenk continued.

“Nothing about this event at the UCLA School of Law, which we do not endorse, changes or qualifies those commitments.”

Daniel Pearl was decapitated by Mohammed in Pakistan in 2002 after being lured there for a supposed interview with an Islamic scholar. One of Mohammed’s lawyers, Melanie T. Partow, was set to speak at the event on Friday.

Frenk suggested the event — which invited no victims of the attack, but welcomed leftist speakers, including one who said Israel “should be attacked”— had given voice to the wrong guests.

“Academic freedom does not require us to be neutral about antisemitism or terrorism,” said Frenk, who became UCLA’s seventh chancellor in January 2025.

“Speaking at UCLA should never be mistaken for the university’s approval, endorsement, or acceptance of an individual’s viewpoints, or our institution’s indifference to the pain their presence may cause members of our community.

“In this case, I understand why Professor Pearl and others are deeply hurt. Judea’s voice, and the history behind it, deserve to be heard with the seriousness and humanity they demand.”

Judea told The Post that he was taken aback by the event.

“Colleagues inform me that, sadly, UCLA Law School is guilty of such practice: Weaponizing the painful days of 9/11 and 10/7 to promote hateful ideologies,” he said.

He added: “Having lost a son to such an ideology, I stand ashamed of my university.”

The educator added that he felt any 9/11 event should commemorate victims of the attack.

“A September 11th event should be used to commemorate the victims of that attack: Innocent Americans,” he said...

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Full story at https://nypost.com/2026/09/11/us-news/ucla-chancellor-condemns-controversial-9-11-campus-event/.

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Note 1: Before the chancellor commented, a "spokesman" for UCLA had released the following statement, according to the article above:

“Events organized by an individual UCLA Law program, centers, or institutes — and the views expressed — do not imply endorsement by UCLA Law, and neither the language of this symposium nor the views of its speakers should be understood as representing the school as a whole,” the spokesman said. “UCLA Law does not review or approve these choices, nor does the school withdraw invitations because a speaker or viewpoint is sensitive or controversial.”

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Note 2: According to the Daily Bruin, Murphy Hall originally helped publicize the Law School event at a local neighborhood council:

...Carmen Zambrano, an assistant director for UCLA Government Relations, said... that the School of Law will host a symposium on the impacts of 9/11 on the United States’ legal and political systems after 25 years...

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2026/09/09/north-westwood-neighborhood-council-recap-sept-2-2. 

Does the Barnum Rule Still Apply?

From the LA Times: 

Thousands of low-income patients, some seriously ill, are scrambling to find new doctors as they lose access to UCLA Health physicians after a longtime Medi-Cal contract was not renewed. Under the contract that expired June 30, UCLA had been providing specialty care to 9,000 medically frail patients from Health Care LA, an association of nonprofit clinics that serve patients covered by Medi-Cal, the state program for the poor. “Many of these patients have been waiting for months to be seen by UCLA specialty medicine providers and are now being told they cannot receive the care they desperately need,” Health Care LA said...

University officials... pointed to “capacity issues” at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Westwood, including in the emergency room and dozens of specialty clinics... [University spokesperson Phil] Hampton said UCLA had offered to extend the contract, but Health Care LA rejected the offer... 

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2026-09-05/low-income-patients-at-ucla-health-scramble-to-find-new-doctors-as-contract-ends.

NOTE: Keep in mind that negotiating tactics in these kinds of contracts can include PR. 

Straws in the Wind - Part 462

From the Daily Pennsylvanian: Several administrative and other staff members at Penn’s School of Nursing were recently laid off as part of cuts to the school’s operating budget, multiple employees told The Daily Pennsylvanian. Five Nursing affiliates — who requested anonymity for fear of retribution — attributed the job losses to University-wide spending reductions driven by federal funding uncertainty. One employee estimated that seven or eight individuals were terminated from their positions. Penn’s fiscal year 2027 budget states that the school “continues to monitor the challenging federal funding environment and is modeling and budgeting the projected impact.”

Multiple requests for comment were left with Penn Nursing. The budget comes after Penn directed all schools and centers to reduce certain expenditures by 4% in January, citing “uncertainty about how evolving federal policy changes might impact” the University... 

Full story at https://www.thedp.com/article/2026/09/penn-nursing-layoffs-staff-federal-funding-cuts-budget.

Another Scam for Authors: Delete & Don't Respond

Here is what AI has to say about this email message:

The email you received from the "Readary Book Club" in Bangalore is a coordinated, AI-driven phishing and fee-charging scam. Independent, self-published, and traditionally published authors are being heavily targeted worldwide by scammers using fake or impersonated book clubs to exploit their need for book promotion.

How this Scam Works

Target Scraping: Scammers use AI tools to scrape data from Amazon, Goodreads, and publisher websites to gather author contact info, book titles, and descriptions. 

Flattering Opener: You receive an unsolicited, warm email from a generic address (usually Gmail or Yahoo) praising your work. The text reads like they genuinely loved your story, but the text is actually generated by AI to appeal to your emotions. 

Fake Credentials: They claim to be an exclusive, highly active book club in a specific location (like Bangalore, London, or New York) consisting of "hundreds" or "thousands" of eager readers.

Financial Bait (The Catch): If you reply, they will shift to a proposal. They will offer to make your book their "monthly feature" or "spotlight selection," but they will demand a "spotlight fee," "participation fee," or "shipping fee" (typically between $55 and $350 USD). 

Red Flags to Look For: Free Email Domain: The sender uses a generic email address (@gmail.com) rather than a professional domain linked to an official website. 

No Online Footprint: Searching for the specific book club yields no active local website, distinct Meetup group, or verified social media presence. 

Upfront Demands: They ask for money via untraceable or non-reversible channels like PayPal "Friends and Family" or third-party contracts. 

A Real Book Club Never Charges Authors: Legitimate reader communities select books because they want to read them; they never invoice the author for the privilege of being discussed.

What You Should Do Next: Do not reply to the email. Engaging with them confirms your email address is active, which will trigger even more spam. Do not send files or free digital manuscript copies (PDFs/EPUBs).

Mark as Spam and block the sender immediately.

Disclosure in the Context of Closure

Closed Cases - Closed Childcare

From the Daily Bruin: A 4-year-old student at a UCLA childcare center was reported to child protective services for exhibiting symptoms of sexual abuse in May 2018. UCPD and LAPD both received notice of the incident, but both law enforcement agencies closed their cases without arresting anyone or interviewing the child or their parents. Nearly six years later, the student’s teacher was arrested for a separate case of child sexual abuse...

Christopher Rodriguez, the child’s teacher who worked at University Village from 2001-20, was convicted of nine misdemeanor charges – including willful cruelty to a child and sexual battery against a minor – in April 2025. He had been a teacher at UCLA’s Early Care and Education centers, which mostly serve UCLA employees’ and students’ children, for nearly 25 years before he was arrested in February 2024...

Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt announced Aug. 13 that UCLA’s ECE centers – including Krieger and University Village – would shut down in June 2027 because of enrollment and financial issues. Hunt did not mention the sexual abuse case in his email announcement to parents.

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2026/09/09/ucpd-received-notice-of-suspected-child-sex-abuse-years-before-childcare-teachers-arrest.

25th Anniversary: September 11, 2001

 UCLA students watch TV newscast of attack on World Trade Center, Sept. 11, 2001.