Results tagged “uc”

       

It was a busy, loud and raucous day at UCLA as emotions ran high before and after a vote to increase tuition by 32 percent. Shortly before 1 p.m., the Board of UC Regents voted in favor of the increase, with only one dissenting vote from student regent Jesse Bernal. The extra money will help reduce layoffs, stop course reductions and put money away for financial aid.

Today, for the most part, is much more peaceful than yesterday's protest about the move to increase tuition at University of California by 32%. Yesterday, when 14 were arrested (up from the 8 we reported) and one reportedly tasered, was a bit more out of control (see some photos)--here is one video showing that at the front lines (man, that one bicycle cop is sure angry).

It's official, protests be damned, the controversial tuition hike has been approved by the Board of UC Regents, according to a live report on KCAL9. The 32% increase, which would begin by Fall, will add $2,500 to tuition, bringing it over $10,000.

       

Things got a bit nutty this morning when students reportedly "stormed" and "took over" a building at UCLA in protest of the imminent UC Board of Regents' vote to increase tuition up to 32%. About 30 students raided Campbell Hall barricading the doors with chains and bike locks, said the LA Times.

As protests and arrests take place outside, a UC Board of Regents' committee approved a large tuition increase at UCLA today, reports KNX1070. The move sends a two-tiered tuition increase proposal to the full board of regents, which meets tomorrow. If approved, students will see a 32 percent increase at UC campuses by next fall. Why is this all happening? The state budget blows, read background here.

This week both voting bodies in charge of the University of California and the California State University systems are voting on budget plans for the 2010-11 school year, and both include ambitious requests to the state of California for hundreds of millions of dollars apiece to restore crippling budget cuts and, in fact, increase funding.

This seems to be the week of the essay show, with Mortified and Sit N' Spin both tackling the genre, albeit in different ways. There's a ton of smaller shows around town too, like Benderdangle at the iO West Andy Dick theater on Saturday at 8p. In short, there's no reason to not get out and see some great stand up at Largo, or catch award-winning shows for free at Comedy Central Stage, or even drive down to Irvine for known headliners. Also, in recently developed (and huge) news, Martin Lawrence is back for some stand up at the Comedy Store on Friday and Saturday nights.

The University of California system is facing a $535 million budget gap and is looking for solutions. That could mean higher tuition next year for students, but more immediately, officials are looking to require furlough days that would amount to a 4% to 10% pay cut for support staff and technical workers. If unions don't accept those, layoffs are the next option.

Looking ahead already to the 2010-11, the University of California Board of Regents are preparing to face another fiscal year of budget shortfalls, according to a UC Newsroom release. The current budget gap of $535 million for the 2009-10 year "could grow to more than $600 million in the next fiscal year," and that has the UC looking for any and all ways to curb the shortfall.

The state budget has finally been passed, and as a result billions of dollars have been cut from the coffers that help support education at all levels. Included are cuts to the large University of California and California State University systems, necessitating the respective campus network leaders to push through their own budgets cuts that include layoffs, furloughs, pay cuts, fee hikes, enrollment caps, and decreased resources. Despite student and faculty protests, the UC and CSU passed the proposals on the table that aim to stave off the shortfall.

A budget deal was agreed on last night between top legislators and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Part of that deal was cutting $8 million from the state parks system, saving the majority of parks from the original proposal to cut around $70 million forcing the closure of 80% of them.

The upcoming school year at California's two major public University systems continues to look bleak for students, faculty, and staff alike, as budget shortfalls are forcing school officials to recommend fee increases, furlough days, and enrollment stoppages in order to save costs.

There's going to be 6.8% fewer freshmen figuring out post-secondary life on the nine University of California campuses come fall, and that's precisely what the schools were hoping for, according to the LA Times.

With the failure of Prop 1A in last month's statewide election comes the reality of painful cuts to higher education in California. On the books for the upcoming academic year are announced enrollment cuts at both the California State University and University of California systems, and the likely denial of admission to 250,000 prospective Community College students thanks to a combined $825 million in budget cuts and $115 million in deferrals.

Who knew? The University of California has a television station (UCTV) that began airing in Los Angeles earlier this month for Time Warner Cable subscribers (it was already available on the Dish Network on channel 9412). "The goal is for this local channel to become a home for content produced by Los Angeles' higher education institutions -- both public and private -- as well as from local arts and cultural organizations," a press release states. Making that point, it's about 1 p.m. and a program filmed at UC Santa Barbara called Getting Wize: Making Sense of Web 2.0 is just beginning. They also have logged over 3,200 of their shows on YouTube and stream the channel live on the internet. If your curious, the channel numbers by neighborhood are listed below:

Oh, to be young and inclined to run around a campus at night in your underwear... The longing was put into action on the UC Irvine campus last week, as about 150 co-eds stripped down and sprinted out under the relative cover of night. "It's not illegal to run around in your underwear, as long as all the appropriate parts are covered," remarks the OC Register in their story on the run. They also note that the event is pretty huge here in Los Angeles, something UCLA students know very, very, very, very well. The UCI campus police hung back and watched, and made sure the students didn't run into the nearby shopping center--in case they ran into Irvine cops. Sure, it was cold, and sure, strangers were watching, but the bottom line was pretty straightforward, according to one student: "It felt really good to be free from all that stress, from finals and some issues at the dorm."

University of California students waiting for their Cal Grants to come through will find their next payments are coming from another source--the UC schools. The UC announced today they "will provide funding to cover the value of UC students' Cal Grant awards for the spring term," using "resources from its short-term financial reserves," according to a UC news release. They're advancing the funds "with the expectation that the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) will disburse Cal Grant funds to campuses once the state adopts a final budget." Sadly, that budget remains in limbo; this month many programs and residents will be receiving IOU's instead of checks. The UC system also issued temporary funding to their students last fall when the budget caused delays in Cal Grant payments.

With the California state budget in peril, our university systems are struggling, which is why the University of California system is entertaining the idea of increasing how many out-of-state students they accept and decreasing how many in-state students, all in the name of profit. Since out-of-state students' tuition averages more than twice what a student with California residency pays, the UCs would be bringing in more money. According to a video report on MyFox Los Angeles, UC officials are mulling the possibility of upping their out-of-state enrollment to 15 to 20% from its current 6%, using schools in other states who take in more out-of-staters in general as inspiration. Some, however, see this as a bad move for the UC schools, that will come at the expense of California's students, including Lt. Governor John Garimendi, who calls this "bad public policy."

As both the University of California and Cal State public school systems look at fee increases as the state budget dwindes into super red deficit numbers, Prop 8 protests won't be the only ones going on. From the LA Times: "Lucero Chavez, president of the systemwide UC Student Assn., predicted more protests ahead because students are angry about fees growing so much year after year. 'I think we saw in the voter turnout [in the presidential election] that students are ready to be mobilized,' she said."

As part of a week-long push, students on University of California campuses have been working hard to register as many Californians as possible before Monday's deadline. The effort is part of the UC Students Vote! Project, which began on October 13th and will run until the 20th. The week earned the endorsement of UC System President Yudof last month, and the last tally of newly registered voters was at 8,095 state-wide since the week began. The project is the largest non-partisan youth voter engagement mobilization in the state, and is led and and comprised entirely of students.

An 19-year-old Torrance student was arrested last night at UC Davis for possession of partially assembled pipe bombs in his dorm room. More than 400 students were evacuated out of the building last night shortly after 9pm when campus police were tipped off about the possible bomb-making in the dorm of Mark Christopher Woods.

The rant starts off with a little resume building:

What's more shocking: Kids in LAUSD high schools are apathetic towards their education, or LAUSD high schools aren't providing students with enough assistance in moving them towards post-secondary education?

Portland based musician and known as "the Stephen King of Indie Pop," Chris Robley and his band -- Fear of Heights -- play at Mr. T's Bowl tonight in Highland Park. Plenty of MP3s to check out of this indie-pop folk band below.

When the UC Board of Regents held a meeting this past Thursday, students and staff were on hand to express dismay with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's recently announced proposal for increased fees, enrollment limits, and salary freezes.

For those who say you can't put a price on education, California's governor and UC and CSU officials say you're dead wrong. In fact, not only can you put a price on it, you can hike the price, making undergraduate education in the state increasingly more expensive.