"If the University were a business, it would likely be the largest corporation in California."

Tuesday, June 6, 2023

(One UC Berkeley-centered) Contemplation on the Succession of Daniel Ellsberg...

Tryin' to pull myriad thoughts on this together since Spring, anyway, often wondered about :

this sort of storied relationship between UC and:

https://journalism.berkeley.edu/person/daniel-ellsberg/

At times wondered about it often here and in the subject matter detail to the point of feeling 'adrift' (when my alma mater promised it would be a helpful anchor to graduates) - 

And the confusion can get even more pronounced esp if one has a nuanced view on what, historically, Ellsberg 'did'.

Because sometimes the things Ellsberg would say about his experiences of being a whistleblower etc were not at all --assuring, much less comforting...And many times its felt like the operations of the University did not give a damn about the very things he was talking about in terms of institutional governance. Yet, the University touted, plays up on the affiliation w/ him when advantageous....

Periods of wondering endlessly about 'how much' or 'how little' Ellsberg is instructive to UC Title IX complainants and also to UC whistleblowers -those of us w/ WB and IX cases prior to #MeToo...

As now so much of the caseload in #MeToo and elsewhere is called reflexively 'whistleblowing', so...

And it feels like maybe there are a few other 'cultural influence' things to note in this mix as well, like : former NYT columnist Frank Rich (that Succession finale heady buzz mostly for those who thought that program was something) who mentioned: herehttps://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/03/frank-rich-succession-season-4

"Frank Rich Bids Farewell to Succession" | "Rich’s fleeting sabbatical meant that he had time to squeeze in a gab session while polishing off a plate of scrambled eggs and Nova. We began with his reflections on another milestone this week, the 20th anniversary of the Iraq War, which Rich covered prolifically in his past life as a New York Times op-ed columnist. “I take the long-view perspective,” he said. “I’m old enough to remember how the Vietnam War and Watergate completely incinerated the American public’s trust in governmental institutions.”  Rich recalled that the first article he ever sold, fresh out of Harvard in 1971, was a 10,000-word profile of Daniel Ellsberg for Esquire. He never heard from Ellsberg after the story ran. But last month, out of the blue, he got a DM from a friend of Ellsberg’s, who told Rich that the 91-year-old Pentagon Papers whistleblower had spoken fondly of the Esquire piece in a recent conversation. Ellsberg also told this friend that he would love to hear from Rich, who was delighted to oblige, corresponding with his former profile subject for the first time in 52 years. Days later, on March 2, Ellsberg went public with news that he was suffering from terminal cancer. He shared an email on Twitter that he’d written to friends about the diagnosis, indicating he had three to six months left.“It was really like, I was so excited, I thought I might see him, and then he wrote this,” Rich said. “Anyway, I mention this in terms of my thinking about Americans’ distrust of institutions and their government. That said, what Trump has done is taken this to a new level and undermined things no one even thought of undermining, such as the actual voting system. That’s something I don’t think would have occurred to Richard Nixon or George W. Bush, quite honestly.

But-yes,  then have to remember there is 'Succession and Title IX and MeToo and Whistleblowers' in that Succession plot, (btw the end scene with Shiv and Tom in that limo is not of 'them holding hands miserable together' as so many have described it -no: its a Throne Scene - cuz, really this is not an American Dramedy -it always was a UK version of what they think that would be- mixed with a fictional portrayal / composite of that 'real family' it is based on... But, ultimately, in viewing it- it always missed something-- the raunchy exchanges between the siblings devolved into 'W.Ferrell DumbDumber-like or trying to channel Zoolander-like Stiller-type but cruder skit exchange feel to 'em - cuz  it was mixed with a certain generation's British Brothers Banter trying to pass as wealthy American Bros Banter -So, a sense that dialogue missed something about how a mix of Americans like that would actually communicate... Maybe John Cusack would have been a good addition or substitute in some of that cast -or what would he have done with some of the less worthy lines in those scripts? Yep, John Cusack and Ellsberg - that's a thing, too.

Anyway, if there was a similar deli interview w/ Ellsberg back in the day-say at S--l's - (cup of chicken soup or challah french toast or bl--- ) what would be the UC Berkeley-WB questions on UC cases w/ Succession-like scenarios to ask Ellsberg about? What questions would've prompted answers that could better inform complainants and policy makers and others? As though there is some magic answer in that imagined exercise...

There are a bunch of mixed thoughts swirling given Ellsberg's announcement, developments  and maybe later there'll be a longer revisit-reflection here of how 'Title IX and whistleblower in higher ed case management failures' interplay with these other types of cases. How often its to the detriment of higher ed staff who just simply want to do their job and be able to report issues as necessary and be able to move on...-since that's long been the beat here.

For instance, various details keep coming to mind- stuff over the years like this UC whistleblower case archive from UC Davis - how it was handled by UC and by the complainant and that campus etc- it included:

pg 16 here : https://acua.org/ACUA/media/ACUA_Resources/documents/ACUA_CandUJournalWinter2016_FINAL_000.pdf

..."Enraged colleagues distributed a negative petition to remove me from office. When I found out, I sought and received advice from my neighbor and friend, Daniel Ellsberg, the famous whistleblower who released the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times: “You’ll not regret what you did, but your life will be different…It’s going to get harder but don’t despair when your friends desert you. This is a future-altering event that will change your view of the world forever. Accept your new life and embrace it.

- That UC Davis case was strange in details for many reasons and so the questions remain... 

Now, in this sad news that is becoming more widely known now, Ellsberg is speaking out and its important to note it might come across as 'chilling effect' vibes in his last comments, here:

"Daniel Ellsberg Is Dying. And He Has Some Final Things to Say." - POLITICO

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/06/04/daniel-ellsberg-final-advice-00099639?cid=apn

includes this Q and A Ellsberg participated in with a reporter there: 

..."And in the end, that is the legacy Ellsberg hopes to impart — the idea that whistleblowers are not alone. They are a team, and they need to become more effective by learning from each other....

“My biggest advice is, don’t do this unless you’re ready to accept the high risk of having your career destroyed and actually going to prison,” Ellsberg says. “Going to prison is a new one, starting under Obama, but it’s there now, very much so. Obviously, that really narrows the number of things worthy of whistleblowing considerably. I wouldn’t do it, for example, just for bribery or cost overruns. That’s not important enough to go to prison.”...

When I asked whether whistleblowing has made government or corporate America any more honest, however, Ellsberg waxes gloomier.

“That’s easy to answer: No. The short answer is no. The long answer is no. ...

Those aren’t very encouraging words, I reply.

“Despite all those odds there is a chance and that can make it worthwhile,” Ellsberg says. “When everything is at stake — I’m talking about nuclear war implicitly here but climate is the same. When we’re facing a pretty ultimate catastrophe.  … From the point of view of a civilization and the survival of eight or nine billion people, when everything is at stake, can it be worth even a small chance of having a small effect? And the answer is: Of course. Of course, it can be worth that. You can even say it’s obligatory.”...

-So, as the world acknowledges or opines on his contributions and thoughts in various ways throughout these days and going forward.. 

And as those of us w/ affiliations to UC Berkeley have long been accustomed to being cast in 'certain light' as e.g. 'liberal' when at times we've had to experience a UC and Cal that are 'far less liberal' in its operations than the common belief. 

We also already know UC will continue to spin the affiliation w/ Ellsberg in its own self-serving way... While refusing to express where UC parts company w/ Ellsberg's positions etc. We've noted : that particular 'Ellsberg affiliation with Cal' often was used as a detail to paint all of UC Berkeley in messy and inaccurate and overly broad-strokes as though casting everyone at Cal a whistleblower, so as to try to diminish the term somehow...

And UC admin, in turn, w/ the tactic of framing UC whistleblowers as though 'Ellsberg aspirants-wannabes'- even when complainants have no idea what that would refer to, or means...

Have to find the language to fully describe those effects...

Anyway...

There's a personal wish on this - the wish would be for the time to have..for Ellsberg to have spoken directly and in-depth to regular UC staff about Title IX and whistleblower cases in higher ed specifically... The handling and the clear delineation of differences or sameness b/ween 'run of the mill' campus cases and these other very weighty non-higher ed gov whistleblower cases... If he would posit that might play into policies adopted so as to be intentionally to the detriment of UC-higher ed staff whistleblowers etc. Which classes of employees would he regard as most vulnerable in such scenarios? etc- that sort of knowledge...Once again, a fantasy of solutions.

We have to find instances of the language now to fully describe these WB mixed w/ IX experiences...and Ellsberg has always been good at that WB part...

(If there is any 'WB and IX higher ed' specific analysis-content Ellsberg has generated in the past maybe folks will share it going forward. Curious that it seems missing. Another wish.)

Is it 'UC thinking' that Berkeley Law appointment of Chesa Boudin is supposed to be what fills that gap? Or, was it really just a legacy hire?:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Boudin 

Some New UC Dorms and Caps Projects Moves

"University of California Regents snap up UC Berkeley-adjacent office building for $13.2 million" - San Francisco Business Times

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2023/06/05/university-of-california-2105-bancroft.html 

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"Cabrillo Community College and UC Santa Cruz seek state funding for joint housing project"

https://www.ksbw.com/article/cabrillo-community-college-and-uc-santa-cruz-seek-state-funding-for-joint-housing-project/44099878

..."but it still needs state funding.

Cabrillo Community College is seeking an $111 million state grant to fund construction costs for its joint housing project with the University of California, Santa Cruz, which will contribute $70 million.
"...

---

and this report out of UCLA:

https://labusinesscouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/FINAL-LABC-Housing-Study.pdf

part of:

"UCLA’s work on housing issues takes center stage at mayoral summit "| UCLA

https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/chancellor-block-award-business-council-mayoral-summit

It Seems Urgent Time For UC Regents To Explain Why They Will Continue To Use Youtube As Official Carrier Of UC Regents Meetings In Light Of:

this news:

"YouTube will stop removing false claims about 2020 election fraud"

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/youtube-will-stop-removing-false-claims-2020-election-fraud-rcna87503

and the fact that earlier this year UC Regents had at least one of their major Jan regents meetings sessions immediately -and apparently permanently- removed from/by Youtube and thus inaccessible to UC community during Covid emerg. protocols. The video was unavailable during the weeks surrounding when the meeting occurred. It only became available months later via another service. The UC regents and their secretary and chief of staff made zero comments about any of it so it was confusing and difficult to navigate for those who wanted to watch that meeting during the time it occurred.

Why are UC Regents continuing to use this carrier? Is it the only option?

A necessary assessment and policy position on the subject directly should be offered up from the UC Regents.

Monday, June 5, 2023

UC Regents Health Services Committee, Agendas for June 14, 2023

 Agenda – Closed Session 

https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/june23/hsx.pdf

Action Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of April 12, 2023 

H1(X) Discussion Acquisition of Assets of a General Acute Care Hospital, Los Angeles Campus 

Closed Session Statute Citation: Acquisition or disposition of property [Education Code §92032(b)(6)] 

H2(X) Discussion UC Health Litigation Update and Conflicts of Interest in the Health Enterprise 

Closed Session Statute Citation: Litigation [Education Code §92032(b)(5)]

__________

Agenda – Open Session Public Comment Period (30 minutes) 

https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/june23/hs.pdf

Action Approval of the Minutes of the Meeting of April 12, 2023 

H3 Discussion Update from the Executive Vice President of UC Health

H4 Discussion Systemwide Strategic Investment Plan and UC Health Division Fiscal Year 2023-24 Budget, Office of the President 

H5 Discussion Community Benefit and Community Impact Annual Report 

Friday, June 2, 2023

June 2nd Agenda for UC Regents Innovation Transfer Entrepreneurship Meeting At UC Berkeley.

see:

https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/meetings/videos/june2023/june022023.html

 https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/meetings/agendas/june022023.html

Public Comment Period (30 minutes) 

see:

Special Committee on Innovation Transfer and Entrepreneurship (open session-includes public comment session) (pdf)

Action Approval of the Minutes of the Meetings of January 27, February 16, and April 6, 2023 

S1 Discussion Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UC Berkeley 

S2 Discussion Entrepreneurship Council Update 

S3 Discussion Recognition Plan 

S4 Discussion Speaker Series: UC Berkeley Professor Ana Claudia Arias 

S5 Discussion Measuring the Economic and Societal Impacts of UC Innovation Transfer and Entrepreneurship – Part II 

S6 Discussion Implications to UC of Proposed Changes in Federal Grant Guidelines – Department of Energy-Funded Technologies 

Special Committee on Innovation Transfer and Entrepreneurship (closed session) (pdf)

Agenda – Closed Session 

S7(X) Discussion Legal Update on Affirmative Patent Litigation Matters Closed Session Statute Citation: Litigation [Education Code §92032(b)(5)]

Watching  the live low quality of how UC Berkeley and UC-OP, Regents decide to broadcast this meeting to the public -can't hear the audio, can't see the video on livestream 20 minutes into meeting- then video quality appears in slo-mo and still no audio. Troubling as a 'fair governance' procedure or 'unfair governance' procedure: the public comments session which usually has the secretary and chief of staff to the regents who routinely cuts off everyone else in public comment after they have spoken for 1 minute/60 seconds at all other UC regents meetings (where the mic is cut off when a stop watch timer alarm goes off repeatedly beeping over their comments the UC regents and OP staff and UCPD begin to encroach and ultimately remove the speaker if they go over time) but today regents in this meeting are allowing certain UC mngmnt staff to give individual much longer 'only-positive spin' testimonials running several minutes for each person. That is not public comment- that is a staged canned presentation (orchestrated by Lyons?) and so they should be placed at a presentation table to do that...it appears biased and rigged otherwise. Adding to that: only at around 9:40am when chancellor C.Christ is presenting does the audio and video begin to play properly for audience viewers of livestream, wow. Did UC Berkeley purposely botch the audio and visual for the livestream of public comments as a delay tactic? In the archive recording these issues are not present but they were problematic in the livestream in real time.):

Will they be discussing this in open or closed session:

https://cloudminder.blogspot.com/2023/05/that-uc-berkeley-tsinghua-university.html

btw, very cool: https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2023/05/31/eva-nogales-wins-shaw-prize-in-life-science-and-medicine/

Update/or sorta liveblogging it : some interesting things to note in the meeting

chancellor christ and rich lyons state that only now are they trying to look into how E&I can extend that effort into 'benefiting the commons'- that was odd- only now??

There's a bunch of UC-OP  and other UC 'suits' and 'senior exec' and 'I&E' folks at this meeting - none of the mid and frontline UC staff or UC faculty from all parts of campus are in the audience. The meeting was planned and scheduled so that its open session is occurring during time when those mid and frontline  UC staff and faculty are working. If Lyons and CChrist and the regents really did want those other UC folks in this discussion, or at least able to attend it in some way, they would have at least agendized the meeting to remain in open session b/ween 12-1pm and had the audio and visual more interactive and working at the start of this meeting...maybe they don't really want that part of the 'UC community' audience interaction and/or feedback.

In reply to CChrist assertion that Power of 10 is solely about "opportunities" :uc systemwide provost K. Newman began talking about how she wants to make uc regents meetings more about presenting on current research how as a newcomer she is shocked it is not on display more at regents meetings as though that is the venue for it...- we note here:  that used to happen in the past and it became something that appeared as a dark arts tactic,  an instrument of regents' avoidance and 'running out the uc regents clock on meeting time i.e. talking about research instead of actually discussing and taking actions on issues and problems in headlines' etc. Those bad optics Newman alludes to but she as provost did not wrestle with in any meaningful way in her suggestion. She mentions Regent Lieb was scheduled to be a part of this meeting today but he is absent (regent Park says so he can attend nephew's graduation) and thus some aspects of the agenda items for today cannot be part of the meeting afterall.

It is important to note that at the last UC Regents full board meeting a week ago: Regent Sures and other regents did not appear to attend or participate in it. At the end of that meeting Regent Leib yelled out to the table for the other regents to "tell regent Sures we ended in the 3pm hour" as though Sures is regularly complaining about wasted time at UC regents meeting. Regent Park also complains at today's meeting about ways to agendize meetings to make them worthwhile for regents to attend and participate- that was in response to Lyons stating his I and E council members receive emails from him if they are repeatedly not attending participating and Lyons mentions ways in which he tries to lure them to attend and participate in the once-a-month 1 hour long meetings. So, there are some regents who view regents meetings as 'time wasters' and some I&E council members who also view their council meetings as 'something to pass on'. And, yes, there are certain UC regents who regularly dodge large sections of regents meetings and only attend agenda items of what they and possibly their outside work portfolio can benefit from and other regents who also do very little committee work...If the regents are going to continue the theater window dressing that they run UC - then their meetings must at least be about discussion and action items in an agenda that addresses the serious and persistent problems evident in a litany of cases in their compliance and audit committee materials, among other things.

If some new UC-OP provost senior admin wants more dog and pony uc research showcase as a public relations positive spin effort - then make that a separate event from UC Regents meetings. The regents natl labs committee was for years devoting its open session to research presentation during UC Regents meetings and it did not produce those desired 'wow' effects, or high viewership either..possibly because it is not the proper forum.

Also, in the above meeting today:

Don't Miss: UCSD's chancellor Khosla, who just received a $500,000. annual raise and free housing policy changes to his $ benefit- to make his total compensation well above $1.1 million annually +fringe and pension perks etc, Khosla sort of today began to admonish the regents on giving out monetary awards and his mention that "recognition is really more important than money", and Khosla made many other giggled assertions in that section like:

'One thing everyone in academia is hungry for is fame and recognition its NOT money' and 

about 'the type of people who will win these awards anyway' --'even $50,000 does not mean much to you cuz you're running multi million dollar programs and'- oh my 

There was also discussion of how the natl labs personnel and other certain PIs on campus may have certain restrictions on receiving such awards or may already be in receipt of enough support whereas those on campus with teaching as part of their 'percent time effort' would be better candidates for these monetary awards...

There also was very good exchange about money being earmarked for campus 'proof of concept' funding  as another alternative. A good explanation offered up from Khosla on what UC uses proof of concept funds for as compared with monetary awards. Khosla says proof of concept funds are handed out by UC to "mitigate risks going towards commercialization we don't do that to recognize the individual 'founder' as a leader in I&E- two different things"- which apparently several of the UC Regents needed that explained to them.

CChrist and Hawgood also add in some remarks and CChrist makes the important note that anything UC-OP systemwide doles out actually comes from campus funds and so it would be better for each campus to make their own award determinations on this award program etc.

So, regents are belly aching about time waste on regents meetings as they also calendar agenda 'busy work' things like award programs that in the end the campuses really would prefer to have as campus not regental created  and administered programs. The Regents are wasting Regents time.

Regent Park makes a mention about Jerry Brown's "psychic rewards" approach

Humanities and liberal arts faculty were painted as not wanting to engage in any materials or rollout that campus has on innovation and entrepreneurship - later in the meeting assertions  they may not innately intuitively see the value of it, etc.

Reoccurring theme, even Regent Park's framing/version of herself as undergrad reading Ulysses as a student plays into being clueless on I&E in 1988...

-'Entrepreneur' magazine came out in 1977 w/ its 'Yuppie' culture in all its details rampant throughout the 80's. Somehow she was not attuned to any of it?

(Even Chancellor Christ capitulated to Lyons 'Rich you can explain it in better detail' in this meeting)

One alumni regent mentions working for McKinsey as pivotal - while others think --but those McKinsey issues 

and one 'staff advisor to the regents' makes clear a history of work at UCB B school  - w/ details that are not the regular staff experience profile that the staff advisor role was created or intended to be filled by (know that cuz yours truly helped create it-fyi the staff advisor role was intended be filled by staff who were already making significant 'outside their regular job' contributions to the betterment of the UC community but are staff who do not have regular daily interactions with exec senior leadership or, are themselves, at the senior mngmnt exec level, thus an unheard voice would be at the regents table and yet the staff advisor would not attempt to present as a monolithic voice of all UC staff.)

-all that new detail that came out today makes clearer why they are at the table 

the B school and the consultant class with a finger on the scale...as though..

and 

erythritol in those 'protein donuts'?!

There are other parts of campus or the UC system-wide who view this committee's deliberations and assertions through a very different set of lenses...and this regents committee is incapable of really taking that in and understanding it- so the outreach is an even harder task.

 -so there was that to pay attention to thus far

Thursday, June 1, 2023

Recissions?, Clawbacks of Relief? Restrictions for Future Moratoriums?- for UC, Higher Ed and the Students In It?

(Now starts -SCCOTUS  'Student Loan Forgiveness Program' and 'Higher Ed Admissions and Affirm Action' Decisions watch  - yep added a C to differentiate that Roberts court current operations from what SCOTUS was thought to be before. But no one really answering: how did the US exec and leg branches allow that judicial branch to operate without any updated checks and balances- just as US exec and leg branches have had new checks and balances imposed over many years? )

see:"Debt ceiling deal would require Biden to resume collecting student loans, charging interest - POLITICO"

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/30/debt-ceiling-deal-biden-student-loans-interest-00099144

..."terminate the ongoing pause on monthly payments and interest after Aug. 30."..."But the deal would not affect Biden’s student debt cancellation plan, which many Republicans had been seeking to repeal as part of the debt ceiling negotiations. That plan, which provides up to $20,000 of loan forgiveness per borrower, remains in limbo at the Supreme Court, which is expected to rule on whether it can proceed in the coming weeks."...

"The bill would prohibit the Secretary of Education from using “any authority to implement an extension” of the ongoing pause on federal student loan payments and interest."..."“Despite Republicans’ efforts to end targeted student debt relief and move up our planned end to the payment pause, we will ensure a smooth return to repayment process,” Cardona said on Twitter on Sunday.

Cardona added that the “deal also protects our ability to pause student loan payments should that be necessary in future emergencies.” Some provisions in the House GOP debt ceiling bill would have permanently curtailed the Education Department’s power to cancel or modify student loans."...

" McCarthy noted that the pause costs the government roughly $5 billion each month in forgone revenue. He touted the legislation to make sure that borrowers would be required to repay their student debt even if the Biden administration’s debt cancellation program gets struck down at the Supreme Court."...

__

"Debt ceiling deal claws back COVID relief funds. Here are the numbers ": NPR

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/31/1178996725/debt-ceiling-deal-unspent-covid-relief-money-democrats-republicans

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"COVID clawback in debt limit deal spurs public health fears" | The Hill

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4029227-covid-clawback-in-debt-limit-deal-spurs-public-health-fears/

..."Public health advocacy groups are sounding the alarm over a provision in the debt ceiling deal to claw back about $27 billion in unspent pandemic relief money, arguing it could have consequences for future public health initiatives. "

"Over the course of the pandemic, Congress appropriated nearly $5 trillion to various programs and agencies including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Small Business Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Transportation Department

Across HHS, Congress would take back more than $13 billion from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and other agencies for programs including vaccine efficacy and supply chain monitoring"....

“I think the issue is that it just speaks to this notion of nothing happened between 2020 and 2023,” ...


-yes, a desire to just forget Covid exists, all around.
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UC Riverside Invited to Join AAU

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Its a Holly Jolly 'Holiday Bowl v. Pac 12 and UC Regents $3-$8+ Million Dollar Suit Over UCLA's Bruins Abrupt Withdrawal From Bowl Game'; USAC Expresses Covid Concerns; and At UC- Some WFH Remote Disparities Staff Claims-Where UC Regents Oversight Seems Lacking; CEQA Admission Coverage; 'Will Chesa Boudin and John Yoo 'Do Lunch' At Berkeley Law Now?'

the 'ball drop' (but not the 'New Year's Eve Ball Drop'):

"Suit says bowl game had more than $3 million in losses, exhausted reserves, when UCLA backed out 5 hours before kickoff of 2021 game vs. North Carolina State"

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/college/story/2023-05-31/holiday-bowl-files-lawsuit-against-pac-12-to-recover-losses-created-by-ucla-withdrawl-from-2021-game-vs-north-carolina-state 

"Holiday Bowl sues Pac-12, UC Regents over UCLA's 2021 withdrawal "- Los Angeles Times

https://www.latimes.com/sports/ucla/story/2023-05-31/holiday-bowl-sues-pac-12-uc-regents-ucla

..." 

SDBGA said in the filing it lost more than $3.6 million in ticket revenue it had to refund as a result of the cancellation and $1.4 million that had to be returned to the game’s title sponsor. The bowl’s total losses approached $8 million."...

“The Holiday Bowl is now also refusing to pay the fees it owes the Pac-12 for our member institution’s participation in the 2022 Holiday Bowl, in clear breach of our agreement...

“The Pac-12 plans to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”

At issue in the case will be whether the Pac-12 correctly applied the “force majeure”...

UCLA football social media account posted videos of players participating in the events, with some of them unmasked.

The announcement at noon on game day that UCLA could not play the game due to depth concerns at a key position group came as a shock...

UCLA declined to comment to The Times Wednesday.

..."“The force majeure clause could have been negotiated to include pandemic impacts and considerations but was not. As other courts around the country have consistently found, force majeure clauses are interpreted narrowly according to their words such that the Pac-12 is not relieved of its contractual obligations under the express language of the 2019 contract.”"...

"The Pac-12 and the Holiday Bowl remain partners under contract through the 2025 game. UCLA is leaving the Pac-12 to join the Big Ten in 2024.
"...

_________

- in relation to it also this recent coverage from UCLA's Daily Bruin :

USAC is expressing onging Covid 19 concerns in a world that is largely looking away from long term Covid 19 and other types of complications: https://dailybruin.com/2023/05/25/usac-proposes-resolution-for-expansion-of-covid-19-protection-measures

and there is this as well to consider: https://www.thedailybeast.com/human-metapneumovirus-infections-with-little-known-virus-explode-cdc-warns

_________

When Is University of California Going To Evaluate Its System on Remote Workforce and Disparities Among UC Staff In It As A Report or At Least Discussion Item of Regents? 

And also aren't regents interested in  how much campus space will or will not be freed up by it? And how that may or may not link to budgets.The FTE and the sq ft freed up numbers that will be realized or not realized.

Why is that institutional and campus by campus inquiry not happening or not happening with any transparency? UC- and esp UC-OP- does not have any links on UC as the research subject on this topic. 

Certain UC staff groups are repeatedly using public comment at UC Regents meetings to lobby for remaining remote while other UC staff are also stating that they are experiencing disparities in it or managerial micro mngmnt and toxic workplace culture in relation to it etc. 

So, check out some of this coverage-:

"Working from home reveals racial and educational inequalities in America" - The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/22/working-home-reveals-another-fault-line-americas-racial-educational-divide/

https://hbr.org/2023/03/research-remote-workers-are-more-anxious-about-layoffs

https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2022/04/26/telework-race-covid/

https://knowledge.luskin.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/RemoteWork_v02.pdf

https://www.rand.org/blog/2021/05/inequality-in-opportunity-to-work-from-home-an-underlying.html

https://www.ppic.org/blog/how-is-remote-work-affecting-worker-preferences-and-the-economy/

https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/california-work-from-home-covid/ 

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/work-from-home-data-disparities/3153729/

- find any reports UC Regents have generated on the subject about UC workforce?

___

Its a rebound but a decline - no a decline but a rebound, no its a...:

"Berkeley's population rebounds more than almost any Bay Area city"

https://www.berkeleyside.org/2023/05/31/berkeley-population-recovery-decline-bay-area-housing

On the UC CEQA issues there is now this:

"UC Berkeley continues with People’s Park student housing development despite continued resistance" | EdSource

https://edsource.org/2023/uc-berkeley-continues-with-peoples-park-student-housing-development-despite-continued-resistance/691501

...“OK, it’s student housing — for what students?” Marisol said. “Because I can’t afford their housing.”

Mogulof pointed to financial aid resources when asked about the affordability of UC Berkeley’s student housing. But Cyn Gómez, another People’s Park student activist, said financial aid and the way it’s disbursed isn’t always reflective of a person’s true financial needs. This may be especially true in a city like Berkeley, considered one of the most expensive college towns in the country.
"..."Gómez said he thinks many students support the project because they’re only receiving information about it from the university, which he believes is not transparent. He thinks UC Berkeley officials are able to use their tools of communication to encourage students to support the development."...

an alum wondering:"“Why is your care only manifesting in 2018, 2019?” Behney asked. “Where were you in 2008?”
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"First District Holds Increased Enrollment-Related CEQA Challenges To UC Regents’ 2018 SEIR For Berkeley Campus Development And Minor LRDP Amendment Are Mooted By Superseding 2021 LRDP Update EIR And Passage Of SB 118" | Miller Starr Regalia - JDSupra

https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/first-district-holds-increased-3355739/

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"UC Santa Cruz has struggled to create a unified campus culture. These students are trying to change that." - Lookout Local Santa Cruz

https://lookout.co/santacruz/ucsc-cabrillo/story/2023-05-31/uc-santa-cruz-has-struggled-to-create-a-unified-campus-culture-these-students-are-trying-to-change-that

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Now: "Are Diversity Statements Illegal?"

https://www.chronicle.com/article/are-diversity-statements-illegal

includes:

..."As a growing number of colleges around the country have stopped using diversity statements, a lawsuit filed against the University of California system in May appears to be the first to directly challenge their legality. Experts are divided on whether the use of such statements by public colleges will pass legal muster.

John D. Haltigan, the plaintiff, is being represented pro bono by the nonprofit Pacific Legal Foundation. He is arguing that the University of California system’s use of diversity statements in hiring violates the First Amendment and represents unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination. Haltigan wants to apply for a tenure-track position in the psychology department at the University of California at Santa Cruz and is asking the court, among other things, for an injunction that would allow him to apply without submitting a diversity statement. "...

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CNN recently ran a "What Happened to San Francisco?" heavy and not so subtexty title documentary where: Chesa Boudin apparently refused to be interviewed by former KTVU now CNN's S Sidner apparently didn't want a role in engaging with the public about what he did in SF....

Now he is at UC Berkeley Law as "executive director"- (tenure?compensation?):

"Chesa Boudin... As the founding executive director of Berkeley Law’s new ...

https://www.law.berkeley.edu/article/chesa-boudin-brings-lifetime-of-experience-to-lead-new-criminal-law-justice-center/
https://www.ktvu.com/news/ousted-san-francisco-da-chesa-boudin-has-a-new-job

https://sfist.com/2023/05/31/chesa-boudin-declares-hes-not-running-for-office-in-2024-takes-job-at-uc-berkeley-think-tank/

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/31/us/chesa-boudin-san-francisco.html

Berkeley Law has been making some interesting picks and moves - after that virtue signaling gesture with a bldg name change...

update: Boudin stated this that apparently is directed at UC Davis alum Mayor Breed:
...Boudin:We had a mayor and a police department that were unwilling to work with our office in the midst of the COVID pandemic. That made it extremely difficult for us,” said Boudin. “I think what we’re seeing in San Francisco right now is that there continues to not be a government response that’s coordinated."...
and how does UC Berkeley reconcile this statement from Boudin:
...We now clearly have two different systems of justice — one for police and security guards who are above the law, who can shoot and kill with impunity, and a different system for everybody else,” Boudin said. “It’s not making us safer and it’s doing tremendous damage to the integrity of the justice system.”

and Boudin continues on in this other article: "I don’t think the policies that Jenkins and Breed are putting in place are helping to make us safer," he said. "It is sad to watch as someone who lives there, as somebody who is raising my family there. I think there is a lot of rhetoric and not a lot of coordinated government response."" in https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/chesa-boudin-new-job/3242815/

Compare that with what is in this announcement at UC Berkeley made a few months ago:
"It’s official: UC Berkeley’s new police chief is sworn in | Berkeley News ..."As her swearing-in ceremony begins, Yogananda Pittman smiles in a room packed with some of the UCPD officers she will lead as UC Berkeley’s new police chief."

-This is the disturbing mixed messaging in her hiring that Chancellor CChrist has on offer for the public and students and alumni- where the UC Berkeley morals, virtues, mission appear in contradiction, in conflict, inconsistent.
Hiring based on a pose rather than based on results, it seems.

And even in this latest local news interview he does not want to directly address his actions in SF and what happened,-but he does make claims that leadership at GSPP might wanna note-see: https://abc7news.com/chesa-boudin-san-francisco-uc-berkeley-criminal-law-and-justice-center-former-district-attorney/13330015/

The appointment to Berkeley Law does not seem to be going over well - there is a bunch of negative feedback to the school over this appointment - take a look at the mostly negative replies to this tweet here:

Welcoming @chesaboudin! As founding executive director of Berkeley Law’s new Criminal Law & Justice Center (@BerkeleyLawCLJC), Boudin sees an exciting opportunity to build on his work of transforming the criminal legal system in profound ways. https://t.co/Eo6jMkHf3s— UC Berkeley Law (@BerkeleyLaw) May 31, 2023