A refusal last year by University of California, San Francisco to release results of a financial audit–or even to tell the San Francisco Chronicle who had obtained the $165,000 contract to do the audit–has now resulted in a new state law signed by the governor today.

The law, sponsored by Sen. Leland Yee, bans governmental agencies from hiding behind private companies in an attempt to keep the public from information that otherwise would be public knowledge under the state’s existing sunshine laws.

At the time, the university claimed it could not release the audit or the name of the auditing firm, because the auditors wouldn’t allow it.

The bill nearly unanimously passed both houses of the Legislature, with only Sen. Dick Ackerman. R-Tustin, voting against it.

Here’s the text of the bill

Here’s an independent analysis of the bill.

Here’s the San Francisco Chronicle story from January about the flap.

Incidentally, UCSF finally did release the audit, but not until February this year.

Yes and No - As a high school student I began taking AP courses my sophomore year: biology, european history, calculus, U.S. history, statistics, economics, government and english.

Tough workload? On top of track practice, band and the school newspaper, of course it was. Number of sleepless nights? Too many to count. Number of papers/projects? Lots. Stress levels? Pretty high… most of the time. But is this really all worth it?

Yes - After you’ve passed the test, that is. Most universities will take an AP score of 3 or better to count towards general education classes. However, some universities like USC will only take scores of 5 to count towards general education classes, and scores of 3 and 4 to count towards merely elective credit. Scores and credits aside, taking AP classes allows students to think and approach situations from different angles - “outside of the box”. I also found my first semester of college to be easier than I expected, and I credit that to the AP courses I took.

No - The stated purpose of AP courses is to challenge the student in a college level course and in a sense, allow the student to get an idea as to what to expect in a university lecture hall or classroom. But the stress was not at all worth it. The endless studying, the papers and projects - while I did learn something from them - only heightened the stress and frustration.

 While AP courses also give students that extra grade point for their GPA, they simultaneously break down a student’s well-being. So is all that really worth it? For me, it goes both ways.

If you want to stir up a hornet’s nest, just ask a college sports fan how he or she feels about Title IX, the federal law requiring equality between men and women in college athletic programs.

Lots of people are bitter about the men’s programs that have been cut or reduced around the country in efforts to equalize funding between the sexes.

I just got a phone call from a man in Irvine who wants to get men’s soccer reinstated at Long Beach State. He says it can’t happen unless women get an additional sport as well with comparable membership.

Also, lots of men feel that, since they’re not interested in watching women’s sports, there shouldn’t be any. Read the rude comments on my story that ran on this topic today. The story talks about CSUF and changes there.

I recently had several people tell me that I should encourage my nine-year-old daughter to keeping playing softball, because there are women’s college softball scholarships that go begging due to lack of talent. I have not investigated these claims since my kid will keep playing softball because she likes it anyway.

Here’s the CSU report on progress in women’s athletics for 2006-2007 if you want to read it for yourself.

The SAT. Second only to a student’s GPA in most schools’ admissions process, this standardized test developed by the College Board has been the burden of many a student since its development in 1901, and its gravity has only increased in past years. As more students were flocking to the nano-entrances of highly selective colleges, a good – or even great – SAT score was not all that was needed for these tests. You had to nail it on your first try.

Since the first SAT administration, it has always been the College Board’s policy to send out a complete score report to colleges, reporting the good, the bad and the ugly for the world to see. But starting next year, everything is going to change.

The College Board announced on June 29 that beginning for the college freshman class of 2010, students will have the power to control the scores received with their applications. Rather than listing every test taken and the respective scores, the SAT score report will now only consist of what the applicant chooses to be revealed. Everything else will remain unknown.

Students probably rejoiced at the relieving news, as they will no longer have to study for countless hours prior to their first SAT test. Instead, they will have the freedom to take the test as many times as they want, choosing only to report their highest score.

“Why a sudden change of policy?” you may be thinking, as did I when I first heard the news. Truth is, too many people have babied their SAT scores in past years, dedicating great amounts of time and energy to that oh-so-desirable 2400. However, some may have taken it too far. With the dramatic increase of pricey SAT prep classes, in which students are taught and drilled to death on the SAT subject matter, test taking tactics, and the nuts and bolts to certain question types, no longer is the SAT a test of a student’s cognitive abilities. Instead, it has become, with the exception of a few rare cases, a mere indication of an applicant’s affluency.

Read the rest of this entry »

Between 3 a.m and 5 a.m. June 26, high school students all over the county hovered over their computer mice, anticipating the one click that will evaluate the past, change the present and decide the future.

A little outlandish? Not really. An integral aspect of every college-bound high schooler’s life, the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is offered nearly every month, and for the three weeks following the test administration, students worldwide wait eagerly for their scores to be posted online at the College Board Web site.

For me, the moment came at 6:15 a.m. (I typically prefer sleep to potentially unpleasant surprises). After forcing myself out of my bed at such an ungodly hour (for summer, at least), I feverishly punched in my login to the College Board site, dragged my mouse to the “View my scores” button, my heart doing jumping jacks all the while. As my finger hovered right above the button on my mouse, I knew that the second it came down, I will see a three-digit number that will either bring me much happiness or major disappointment (and several more hours of studying).

As a high school junior, I had just finished a grueling AP United States History course (called APUSH in high school lingo), and after taking the AP test and deciding that it really wasn’t too bad, I reached for the opportunity to take the SAT U.S. History test, which, I presumed, would be strikingly similar to the AP test.

Well, now that I have taken the test, I can only advise other students in my situation to do a little SAT studying before going into the testing room. To my surprise, the SAT was not only different from the AP test, but tended to cover slightly different subject matter. Read the rest of this entry »

Our household’s copy of The Nation arrived last week with a long, helpful piece by Jon Wiener, “Warriors for Zion – in California” on the continuing campus struggle over free speech — or whatever it is — between Zionists and Muslims at UC Irvine. 

Wiener teaches history there, when he is not writing for Dissent or The Nation or hosting one of KPFK’s best weekly programs, “The Four O’Clock Report,” Wednesdays at, well, yes, 4 pm.  I happened to attend a recent 50th Israel anti-anniversary event at the flag poles at UCI where I heard my friend Jim Lafferty of the National Lawyer’s Guild give a historical analysis of Palestine and also bumped into the parents of Rachel Corrie, the young woman martyred for her effort at human rights. 

This was quite a scene, with all the provocative agit-prop arts and Read the rest of this entry »

It would seem that at the beginning of every school year universities and community colleges alike find new ways to squeeze every last penny they possibly can from student’s pockets. This comes in the form of new fees that are carefully hidden on your bill so that you are not completely aware that you are paying it. These fees generally pay for things like the health center (which students only visit to get free condoms) or the Associated Student membership fee, which is entirely optional to pay but is pre-selected to be added to your bill when you pay your tuition. Unfortunately, the state has decided to raise the cost of tuition by 10 percent and this fee is non-negotiable and only the beginning to our education in fiscal pain. Read the rest of this entry »

My friend, financial guru Liz Pulliam Weston who writes for MSN.com says you should consolidate your variable-rate student loans now. It’s possible, she says, to save three percentage points on your loan if you’re eligible. I always listen to her. She’s way smarter than I am.

Here’s her post:

3.6% student loans: Consolidate now

Here’s a list of two more confirmed faculty for the new UCI law school, according to law school dean Erwin Chemerinsky. Check out my profile of him running this coming Sunday. After it runs, I will also post it here on College Life.

Here’s a page with other faculty who’ve been hired.

Carrie Hempel, clinical professor of law at USC law school and directing attorney for the USC Post-Conviction Justice Project. She oversees two dozen students each year who represent inmates, mostly at the California Institution for Women.

The students have a chance to represent a client at a parole hearing who’s been convicted of murder, and can also help draft habeas petitions.
Carrie Hempel’s page at USC

Henry Weinstein, former L.A. Times legal affairs reporter.

Columbia University awards page on Henry Weinstein

Weinstein’s goodbye letter to Times colleagues in March

To listen to his goodbye radio interview on KPCC

I am sea bound to Valencia, Spain from the German filled Mediterranean island of Mallorca with 7 weeks left in Spain and an itinerary to fill.

Five weeks ago I became a Madrileño (citizen of Madrid) studying in the Don Quijote School of Language while living in the center of the culturally electric city of Madrid. Each moment in my first four weeks there pulsed with an incessant energy filled with free shows in the historic Plaza Mayor, walks in the lusciously green Retiro Park, lifestyle comparisons with locals and world travelers alike, super convenient Metro rides, and the incredible night life!

The program I am with requires 4 weeks of language training followed by 8 weeks of working in a hotel. My placement is in the Read the rest of this entry »