Cap and Trade Cost to UCLA Estimated at $2-$3 Million Annually

The Daily Bruin produced the above graphic. We had previously noted these data in an earlier post. But the Bruin article adds the info that the annual cost to UCLA is estimated to be $2-$3 million. The article is at http://dailybruin.com/2013/04/09/uc-looks-to-reduce-carbon-emissions-comply-with-cap-and-trade-policies/. Our previous post noted that the main source of UCLA emissions is the campus power plant. See http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2013/03/emisions-remissions.html.

Now You See It...

We previously posted about the recent lawsuit filed against the UCLA hotel project based on the university's failure to pay taxes on its various existing hotel facilities, although non-UCLA usage is allowed.  Above, for example, is a screenshot of what yours truly found on the website of the UCLA Lake Arrowhead facility this morning [click on the image to enlarge]:
http://www.lakearrowheadmeetings.com/contact/index.cfm

The text reads:
WHO CAN MEET AT THE UCLA LAKE ARROWHEAD CONFERENCE CENTER?

Groups that meet at the Conference Center include Universities, Schools, Government Agencies, Hospitals, Private Companies, and Boards from all types of organizations and institutions.  A Learning Purpose is required to meet at the UCLA Lake Arrowhead Conference Center.

Note that a "learning purpose" would include just about any corporate retreat.

The only restriction is listed later on the same page:

DO YOU BOOK WEDDINGS OR OTHER PRIVATE EVENTS?

The UCLA Lake Arrowhead Conference Center is primarily for conferences only.  The Conference Center does not book weddings, receptions, graduations, etc. 

Even neglecting the qualifying word "primarily," the limit does not relate to university affiliation.  Presumably, a UCLA faculty member's wedding would be barred by this restriction.

One of the exhibits provided in the lawsuit is a brochure from the Arrowhead website that explicitly said that no university affiliation was required to rent the facility.  That language was apparently removed after the filing of the lawsuit but you can read it at the link below. If it is really UCLA's position that there is no problem with the manner in which it runs its hotels, why remove that language?  Why is it, now-you-see-it, now-you-don't?  Just asking!

California and U.S. Economic Forecast: Thursday, April 11

UCLA EMERITI ASSOCIATION:

After lunch presentation

UPDATE OF THE CALIFORNIA AND U.S. ECONOMIC FORECAST

DANIEL J B MITCHELL
Professor-Emeritus, Anderson School of Management and Luskin School of Public Affairs

     Thursday, April 11, 2013, 1:30 pm

UCLA Faculty Center, Sequoia Room

Audience questions will be taken after the presentation.
Refreshments will be provided at 1:00 pm

Columnist asks about needs vs. wants

Note: In the future, there are likely to be more such questions - of the type excerpted below - about campus plans for new programs, schools, and even grand hotels.

Dan Walters today in the Sacramento Bee:

Was UC-Irvine's Law School Strictly Necessary?

Six years ago, yours truly wrote a column about a proposed law school at the University of California's Irvine campus, suggesting that it was more about academic ego and Orange County boosterism than a shortage of lawyers. The column pointed out that the state already had 25 accredited law schools and the number of graduates taking the State Bar examination had been rising steadily to nearly 7,000 a year. It also cited a study by the California Postsecondary Education Commission's staff, concluding that there was simply no need for another law school, especially one whose construction and operation partially depended on public funds...

UC – both its Irvine campus and the statewide Board of Regents – ignored the commission's criticism and created the law school anyway. Fast forward to 2012. The UCI law school graduated its first class and boasted that 46 of its 51 graduates who took the State Bar examination passed... Fast forward again. Last week, the Los Angeles Times published a lengthy article describing the angst felt by recent law school graduates who cannot find jobs while struggling to repay huge loans they took out to finance their legal educations.CPEC was absolutely correct six years ago in concluding that the state had more than enough lawyers and didn't need another expensive, taxpayer-subsidized law school....

There is – or should be – a lesson in this tale.

Full column at http://www.sacbee.com/2013/04/08/v-print/5323708/dan-walters-was-uc-irvines-law.html

Contemplating necessity isn't always pleasant:

Regents Committee Met But Not Really

According to the Regents' website, the Committee on Compensation met on April 5 but really didn't.  The following notice excerpt explains it all: 

Because the membership of the Committee to Advise the President on the Selection of a Chancellor of the Riverside campus includes five members of the Regents’ Committee on Compensation, there exists the potential for having present a quorum of this committee when the advisory committee meets. Although no business of the committee will be considered by the advisory committee, this notice of meeting is served in order to comply fully with pertinent open meeting laws...

Full notice at http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/april13/ucr.pdf

Here is question for legal minds to consider on a no-real-news Sunday.  If the Committee on Compensation met but had no business, then it could not have had any secret business.  So was the non-meeting open or closed? According to the Regents website, it was closed.  See

http://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/meetings.html.

So what was there to hide?

Westwood Tree Restoration Reported

According to the Westwood-Century City Patch, replacements for the trees removed from Westwood for sidewalk improvements are now being replanted.

Apparently, the new trees will be in box-like containers to prevent the roots from upending sidewalk elements.

The story is at http://centurycity.patch.com/articles/sidewalk-replacement-in-westwood-village-nearly-complete

The box-like containers are described in a newsletter of the Westwood Village Improvement Assn. (of which UCLA is a member).  See:
http://westwoodvillagedistrict.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Feb-Newsletter-email.pdf

While we're waiting for the new trees:

Train to UCLA Will Take Time

If you are waiting to beat the traffic on the subway to reach UCLA, be prepared for a long wait. 

The 9.4-mile transit project known as the Westside Subway Extension, the Measure R-approved connector from downtown Los Angeles to the Veterans Medical Center in West L.A., was rebranded by Metro as the Purple Line Extension... Construction on the second phase is scheduled to begin in 2019 and will bring a subway station to Wilshire Boulevard at Rodeo Drive by 2026. The third phase is set to begin in 2025 and will see stations built at UCLA in Westwood and the Veterans Administration campus in West L.A...

Full story at http://centurycity.patch.com/articles/westside-subway-extension-renamed-purple-line-extension-f6b732b3

In the meantime, you can hum along: