Would it work for UC?

We have noted in prior posts that the Regents (with a push from Gov. Brown) are interested in promoting online education at UC.  A somewhat different model is noted today in a brief article in Inside Higher Ed.  Online education, even if aimed at a mass audience, is often (not always) a pre-recorded program.  That is, something is put online and students access it at their convenience individually.  The article in Inside Higher Ed reports that Yale, Columbia, and Cornell are using video conferencing (so it's live and at a fixed time) for small courses (capped at 12 students in less popular languages.  Languages taught or to be taught include Romanian, Dutch, Zulu, and others. You can find the article at:
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2012/11/21/columbia-cornell-yale-collaborate-languages

Yours truly regularly does an online video conference call with a systemwide Senate group roughly the size of the small classes described above.  Presumably, the participants in the language courses see each other (so up to 13 images at once).  If that is what is being done by the three universities, to be used in a class, their technology would have to be a lot better than the system used for my conference calls.

And can you see me?

The Cultural Landscape Foundation Lists UCLA Japanese Garden as Among Major Threatened Sites

The Cultural Landscape Foundation included the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden on its "Landslide 2012" listing of endangered landscapes which appeared on Nov. 14.  As readers of this blog will know, UCLA's attempt to sell the garden with no guarantee that it will be preserved has been enjoined.

There is a long history which goes back to a gift to UCLA of the garden by former Regents chair Edward Carter with the university promising to maintain the garden in perpetuity.  You can find background on this blog by searching under "Japanese Garden."  We have urged the university to sit down with garden supporters and landscape groups rather than pursue litigation.  "Mediation" (something one does to avoid court battles) and "meditation" (something one does in a garden) are separated by only a few letters of the alphabet.  Perhaps that similarity might be seen as a guide to university legal strategy.  And perhaps someone in Murphy Hall might meditate over the mediation suggestion over the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

Information on the Cultural Landscape Foundation can be found at http://tclf.org/.

The Landslide 2012 listing of endangered sites is at:
http://tclf.org/annual-spotlight/landslide-2012-landscape-and-patronage

The specific listing for the Japanese Garden is at:
http://tclf.org/sites/default/files/microsites/landscape-patronage/hannah-carter-japanese-garden.html

More on the Harran Case Hearing

The LA Daily News carries a story about the hearing concerning the fatal lab fire in 2008 for which the local DA is holding Professor Patrick Harran criminally responsible.  A possible four-year prison sentence is involved.  As we have noted in past blog postings, the Regents were at one time charged along with Prof. Harran but have been dropped from the case.  UCLA legal counsel believes that this matter is being overcharged by the DA for whatever reasons and is providing his defense.  We have also noted that the DA has charged another UCLA professor in a totally-unrelated case, possibly hoping to pressure some kind of settlement in the Harran case.

The story can be found at:
http://www.dailynews.com/ci_22029733/08-ucla-lab-fire-may-spark-charges

It might be noted that a new DA was recently elected.  Perhaps when she takes office, this case might get a re-examination.  Profile:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-adv-jackie-lacey-20121118,0,5157805.story

Update: There do seem to be some reshuffles going in the DA's office adverse to those identified with the old regime there.  Whether that means anything for this case, I have no idea:
http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2012/11/sharon_matsumoto_das_office.php

There are all kinds of waves to examine...

 

...but the exam below at Anderson today was more wavy than usual:

 

Traffic Problems in Going There

The Westwood-Century City Patch lists road closings and obstructions in the UCLA area today related to the 405 project: 
=== 

• Sepulveda Bl reduced to one lane each direction near Constitution.
• Sepulveda Bl reduced near Constitution.
• Sepulveda Bl reduced near Cashmere St (east of Sepulveda Bl).
• Sepulveda Bl reduced from Bronwood to Church, 6 am to 2:30 pm.
• Sepulveda Bl reduced from Moraga to Church and near Ovada.
• Sepulveda Bl reduced to one lane each direction from Montana to Church.
• Homedale fully closed from Sepulveda Bl to Thurston, 6 am to 2:30 pm.
• Ovada fully closed from Sepulveda Bl to Acanto.
• Sepulveda Bl reduced to one lane each direction from Getty Center Dr to Moraga Dr.
• Sepulveda Bl reduced to one lane each direction from south of Skirball Center Dr to Mission Dump.

In addition, there were demonstrations this past weekend which may well continue on and off at the Federal Building on Wilshire and Sepulveda related to the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Full article at http://centurycity.patch.com/announcements/metro-monday-morning-afternoon-closures-26bd8a4e

Gov. Brown on UC online education & budget

Last Wednesday, we posted the audio of the UC Regents meeting of that day which Governor Brown attended as an ex officio Regent.  We noted in that posting that he pushed for UC to move into online education.  And he indicated that without such a shift in the "paradigm," UC could not receive enough funding from the state to prevent continued increases in tuition.  For the convenience of blog readers, below is an excerpt from that meeting in which these views are expressed by Governor Brown:

Why Prop 30 Will Not Be a Windfall for UC

The chart above from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities suggests that the state's "social welfare" functions will take a growing share of the budget. [Click on the chart to enlarge and make clearer.] Those functions were very limited at the time of the Master Plan's adoption.  Since that time, they have tended to crowd out UC's share of the state budget.  Ultimately, that is why the governor cautioned UC about its wishlist budget at the most recent Regents meeting.

You can find the report from which the chart above was taken at:
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3860