It Ain't What it Was

Westwood in 1929 wasn't very exciting, either.

The LA Times reviews attempts to revitalize Westwood and notes at one time it was a commercial center. 

For decades, Westwood Village was the heartbeat of Los Angeles nightlife while downtown languished in solitude. Westwood had the movie theaters, fancy restaurants and bustling street traffic, and downtown was known as a quiet and intimidating place to be after dark. These days, a humbled Westwood finds itself in the unexpected position of turning to a resurgent downtown for ideas. Of the more than a dozen movie theaters that once stood in the village, all but three have closed down. A count this week found that about a quarter of the storefronts on the main boulevard are vacant. After numerous failed revitalization attempts over the last two decades, Westwood is now looking to some of its neighborhood rivals for inspiration. Village leaders see how the arts have helped pump new life into downtown as well as formerly sleepy areas like Culver City. With a new focus, Westwood is moving away from its past as an entertainment and upscale shopping mecca. Backers see the 21st century Westwood as a magnet for arts and culture, filled with galleries, museums, performance space and trendy food...

Full article at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-westwood-village-20130618,0,7278089,full.story

Note that to the extent that UCLA creates itself as an internal city - with its own Grand Hotel - the surrounding neighborhood gets no spillover effects.  Students can live on campus and buy meals and other supplies without leaving.  With the Grand Hotel, the same will be true for visitors to campus.  So no one should be shocked, shocked at the results.

Bad PR

There is the old saying that all publicity is good, as long as they spell your name correctly.  Maybe not in all cases, however...

From the LA Times:

A controversial policy group singles out teacher training programs at UCLA and Loyola Marymount as hardly worth attending. But the schools say the report is flawed.

 

A new front is opening in the education wars as a report released Tuesday derides California's teacher training schools as among the worst in a nation full of substandard programs.The study by a controversial Washington, D.C.-based policy group singles out UCLA and Loyola Marymount University, among others, as hardly worth attending. Both have strong reputations within the field. The report, issued by the National Council on Teacher Quality, is getting attention as a new annual offering among the education ratings published by U.S. News & World Report. The magazine's ratings of high schools and colleges already are much debated. "It's widely agreed upon that there's a problem" with teacher training, said L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy. "The report points out that California has an acute set of problems." ...  UCLA participated but questioned whether the advocacy group looked deeply enough... The National Council on Teacher Quality is known for taking sides in heated policy debates. For example, it strongly favors using student standardized test scores as a substantial portion of a teacher's evaluation...

Full story at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0618-teacher-training-20130618,0,5100253.story

Anyway, here's some advice when someone says bad things about you


UPDATE: A more detailed article on the report can be found at
http://www.edsource.org/today/2013/critical-report-on-teacher-preparation-programs-sparks-debate/33721#.UcGUUtjbCLs

The Unholy 405 Construction

From the Jewish Journal comes a report that the 405 construction near UCLA is decidedly Non-Kosher.  But you probably knew that.

The Los Angeles Community Eruv will not be in operation during the Shabbat that begins at sundown tonight, June 14, due to construction on the 405 Freeway. An eruv makes carrying items within its boundaries on Shabbat permissible for Jews, according to halacha (Jewish law). This includes synagogue-goers carrying books and prayer shawls to parents wheeling strollers. 

According to Howard Witkin, the head organizer of the Los Angeles Community Eruv... , construction at the 405 on- and off-ramps at Wilshire Boulevard will make it impossible to replace the 150 to 200 feet of fencing that needs to be standing in order to make the eruv kosher. “There’s just too much going on there to make it possible for us to do repairs,” Witkin said, adding that this is only the second time in three years that this has happened due to construction.

“We hope to have a workaround for next week, but the next three weeks will be problematic as the contractor rushes to finish new and demolish old bridges at Wilshire,” he wrote separately in an e-mail to a community notification list...

Full story at http://www.jewishjournal.com/los_angeles/article/405_construction_downs_eruv

UPDATE: The 405 Southbound near UCLA will be closed tonight:
http://brentwood.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/405-freeway-southbound-to-close-tuesday-night 

Click Me Not

The UCLA community has apparently been receiving an intensive batch of fraudulent emails of the type below.  A reminder to delete them.  Do not click on the link provided.

----
Dear mail user,

University of California, Los Angeles increased the web-mail server to a new and more secure version.
This will allow your web-mail have a new look, with new functions and anti-spam security.
You are advised to "Click" and "follow" the link below to update and enable advanced security features;

[fraudulent and dangerous link provided]

University of California, Los Angeles
405 Hilgard Ave  Los Angeles, CA 90095
(310) 835-4321
----

Note that the general phone number for UCLA is incorrect in the message.

It's hard to be safe; there's so much to remember!

Shying Away from Retiring

Inside Higher Ed today carries an article about surveys of faculty who say they don't plan to retire at the "normal" age or maybe ever.  The work-til-you-drop response is attributed to such motivations as wanting to be intellectually active but also importantly to concerns about having sufficient funds and health insurance to retire.  When UC was considering changing its retirement plan - it created a two-tier program - it retained the defined benefit approach rather than switch to a defined contribution approach.  Many faculty in the U.S. are under TIAA-CREF or some similar defined contribution program which means that they face the danger of outliving their savings.  Retiree health care is also not necessarily provided.

UC retained its basic defined benefit model in part to encourage faculty renewal.  Many years ago, before federal law changed, universities - including UC - had mandatory retirement ages.  Once that policy was made illegal, only the defined benefit system provides an incentive to retire.  Under defined benefit, the retiree can't outlive his or her savings.  And long service employees essentially end up working for nothing if they continue so the system incentivizes "on time" retirement.  Decisions in the future on retirement benefits need to be take account of the behavioral effects of the system.

The Inside Higher Ed article is at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/06/17/data-suggest-baby-boomer-faculty-are-putting-retirement

On Fathers' Day, Blame it on Dad

Hiram Johnson

It's a bit of an historical stretch to blame California's dysfunctions on Dad. And it may seem funny to do it after the legislature passed a budget on time as per our earlier post.  However, commentator Joe Mathews does blame Gov. Hiram Johnson's father for the dysfunctions of the state's initiative system. Hiram Johnson was the reform governor elected in 1910 who brought in "direct democracy," the initiative, referendum, and recall (along with women's suffrage and workers' compensation insurance).

From Mathews (excerpt):

Why is California so hard to govern? One reason is that we’re suffering from daddy issues, and this Father’s Day is as good a time as any to confront them. The daddy in question is Grove Johnson, father of one of our most revered governors, Hiram Johnson, who served from 1911 through 1917. Johnson is the governor who convinced Californians to adopt the ballot initiative process in 1911. Many of us revere that process, but it has its problems. And we never address those problems, because our media keep repeating a bogus story: A century ago, the noble and sainted Hiram Johnson created the initiative process to give the people of California the power to fight the railroad and other powerful interests. But over a century, we Californians—and especially our special interests and rich people—have corrupted the people’s process into something Johnson never intended. This tale is bunk, for two reasons. First, the problems of today’s initiative process (big money, interest-group domination, and public confusion) were present—and much rued—from the very beginning. Second, the biggest flaw of the initiative process—the flaw that makes California so hard to govern today—was not the fault of today’s Californians. It was introduced by Johnson himself. Yes, Johnson sabotaged the initiative process. But how—and why? The answer lies in the story of a toxic relationship between father and son...

To find out more, go to the full article at http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2013/06/13/the-bad-dad-who-cursed-california/inquiries/connecting-california/

What Hiram never sang for his father:

And for a more patriotic view of dad, we offer:

Budget Enacted - Details & Vetoes to Come

The legislature has passed a state budget which now goes to the governor for signature (he will) and line-item vetoes (some will likely be made).  Thereafter, there should be formal releases of the details by the Dept. of Finance and the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO).

In the meantime, the Sacramento Bee has a summary of highlights.  It includes for higher ed:

Proposes an average 5 percent general fund increase to California State University, the University of California and community colleges. No fee increases are envisioned through 2016-17. Authorizes scholarships, beginning in the 2014-15 academic year, for UC and CSU students whose families earn as much as $150,000 a year. Rejects governor's January proposal to cap the number of credits students can take at the resident tuition rate.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/06/16/5500148/california-democrats-wrap-up-state.html#storylink=cpy

The full article/summary is at http://www.sacbee.com/2013/06/16/5500148/california-democrats-wrap-up-state.html