City News Service is reporting that the UC Board of Regents will vote Thursday on a 32 percent tuition hike that will send fees to $10,302. Today’s committee decision to recommend the hike was disrupted by protesters, some of whom were arrested.

UC officials have said they don’t want to adopt the hike, but see no alternative in the face of major state budget cuts.

Read the full story here.

Post from: College Life OC

UC regents to vote on tuition hike

The survey of 2,502 adult Californians, conducted from Oct. 20 to Nov. 3, also revealed that the majority of respondents think that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state legislature are doing a poor job overseeing public higher education. People were especially critical of the legislature, with only 18 percent approving of the way lawmakers have dealt with issues involving colleges and universities.

In a news release, PPIC president and CEO Mark Baldassare said, “Californians hold their colleges and universities in high esteem. But they’re worried about what’s going to happen next. They’re struggling with a crisis in the economy and a crisis of confidence in their leaders.”

Orange County is home to 11 public schools — UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton and nine community colleges. The schools serve more than 125,000 students and represent the three tiers of public higher education in California. All have been subjected to student fee increases, lay-offs or furloughs and program cuts due to state budget problems. The UC Board of Regents is expected to raise fees by an additional 30-32 percent next week. (UCI students to protest fee hikes.)

Click here to read the entire PPIC survey (which has a sampling error of plus/minus 2 percent). Here are some highlights:

Quality of education/performance

• 49 percent of the respondents said the University of California system is doing a good job and 13 percent said the system is doing excellent (a combined 62 percent)
• 52 percent said the California State University system is doing a good and 9 percent said its doing excellent (61 percent)
• 52 percent said the California Community College system is doing good and 13 percent said 13 percent said excellent (65 percent)

Taxes, tuition, student fees, enrollment

• 68 percent are unwilling to increase student fees. Solid majorities across parties, regions, and demographic groups occur
• 56 percent are unwilling to pay higher taxes. Although 56 percent of Democrats are willing to pay higher taxes for this purpose, 58 percent of independents and 7 percent of Republicans are not
• 62 percent are very concerned, and 27 percent somewhat concerned, about increasing tuition or fees.
• 57 percent are very concerned and 29 percent are somewhat concerned about the idea of reducing the number of students admitted to offset budget cuts. (The figures were the same regarding concern about cutting course offerings).

Other key findings

• 46 percent of parents said they do not have enough financial aid information, 38 percent said they have just enough
• 54 percent said it is very important, and 23 percent it is somewhat important, for the colleges and universities to have racial diversity
• 66 percent said that college is necessary

Follow @grobbins on Twitter | Become a fan of Sciencedude on Facebook
Add Sciencedude to your Yahoo and iGoogle pages
Email your weather photos to grobbins@ocregister.com

Post from: College Life OC

Public worried about cost, access to college

Author-attorney John Dean. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

John Dean, the attorney who helped bring down the Nixon Administration when he cooperated with investigators looking into a political break-in at the Watergate complex, will give a talk titled, “Watergate: The Final Chapter,” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11th, in Chapman University’s Sandhu Residence Center. The talk is free and open to the public and coincides with the recent re-release of “Blind Ambition,” Dean’s recollection of the Watergate affair in the 1970s. Dean, 71, also has written other books, including “Worse Than Watergate.” Although he worked for a conservative administration, he has since become a blunt critic of the conservative movement, especially during the presidency of George W. Bush and is a regular guest on Keith Olbermann’s liberal news show on MSNBC.

Also on College Life …

• Chapman president paid more than U.S. president
• Chapman strips publicity from upcoming ‘undie run’
• Chapman president to faculty: Make courses tougher

On Sciencedude …

NEW: Cal State Fullerton grad Tracy Caldwell to travel to International Space Station

Post from: College Life OC

John Dean to speak at Chapman Wednesday

Scores of UCI students supported union workers on Sept. 24th when they protested budget cuts being made throughout the UC system. Photo by Mindy Schauer, The Register

UC Irvine students say they’ll stage a rally on campus on Nov. 17th to protest the proposed 32 percent  fee hike that the University of California Board of Regents is expected to approve next week when it meets at UCLA. The proposal would increase fees paid by undergraduate residents by at least $1,344.

The Regents are considering the hike to raise money to help balance the state budget. The proposal is supported by UC President Mark Yudof, who describes it as a painful necessity that will help the UC system slash its budget by more than $800 million. About $77 million of those cuts are being made at UCI, where there have layoffs, furloughs and program cuts. (Yudof statement.)

“President Yudof says that financial aid will cover the fee hikes that are faced by students from families that earn less than $70,000 a year. But what about students from families who earn  a little bit more?,” says Emmeline Domingo, a sociology and literary journalism student at UCI. “My family makes about $75,000. I’m getting Cal Grants now, but that program might be cut and I might have to take out a bank loan.”

Domingo is helping the Associated Students of UCI (student government) organize the Nov. 17th  protest, which will begin at 11:30 a.m. outside Aldrich Hall on UCI’s Ring Road. It’s unknown how large the rally will be, but Domingo said she hoped about 500 students would turn out.

UCIBudget blog

Also on College Life …

• Chapman president paid more than U.S. president
• Chapman strips publicity from upcoming ‘undie run’
• Chapman president to faculty: Make courses tougher

On Sciencedude …

NEW: Cal State Fullerton grad Tracy Caldwell to travel to International Space Station

Post from: College Life OC

UCI students to protest fee hikes

HEY LAY-DEEE: Jerry Lewis greets a well-wisher at Chapman University on Nov. 7th. Image by Gary Robbins, The Register

Legendary comedian-actor-director Jerry Lewis dropped by Chapman University’s annual scholarship fundraiser, “American Celebration,” on Saturday night, drawing a steady stream of well-wishers during a reception in Fish Interfaith Chapel. The 83-year-old Lewis appeared in good health, and Chapman President James Doti announced during a pause in the evening’s song-and-dance show that Lewis intends to return to film directing next year. Lewis, accompanied by his wife SanDee, received a standing ovation when he was introduced to the audience during the evening performance in Memorial Hall. Saturday’s “American Celebration’ raised $2.2 million for student scholarships. “We had dialed back our expectations because of the economy, but got $2.2 million, which is the second highest in the (28 year history) of the celebration,” said Mary Platt, the university’s spokeswoman. Doti announced the $2.2 million in scholarship money during a dinner party attended by more than 700 people. The dinner was held in a massive tent adorned with 45,000 roses that were provided by an unnamed private donor. Among the people attending the dinner was famed singer-dancer Mitzi Gaynor, who had received a lifetime achievement award from the school earlier in the evening.

Also on College Life …

• Chapman president paid more than U.S. president
• Chapman strips publicity from upcoming ‘undie run’
• Chapman president to faculty: Make courses tougher

On Sciencedude …

NEW: Cal State Fullerton grad Tracy Caldwell to travel to International Space Station

Post from: College Life OC

Jerry Lewis drops by Chapman scholarship fundraiser

Doti discusses the future growth of the campus during an annual address. Photo by Bruce Chambers, The Register

James Doti, the economist who serves as president of Chapman University in Orange, was paid a salary $440,000 during the 2007-08 academic year, which is $40,000 higher than the salary given to the president of the United States. Doti also received $27,516 in benefits, for total compensation of $467,516, says the Chronicle of Higher Education (CHE), which examined the salaries of scores of presidents and chancellors at public and private colleges and universities. (These are the latest comparative figures available.) The study doesn’t mention that Doti lives in a 5,000 square-foot home in Villa Park that’s provided by the university.

UC Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake also lives in an official university residence. And, during the 2007-08  academic year, he was paid $392,000 in salary, $19,600 in retirement pay and $8,916 to cover car expenses, says the CHE table. Drake’s total compensation was listed at $420,516.

I emailed Doti and asked, “I realize that they are different jobs, but how do you feel earning more, in salary, than President Obama?  (His predecessor, George W. Bush, also was paid $400,000 in salary.)

Doti, who has been president since 1991, replied that, “If Obama wants to trade jobs with me, I’ll consider it… even at the lower pay.”

I also asked him why he earned more than UCI’s Drake, whose campus has almost 28,000 students. Chapman has an enrollment of about 6,000.

” I’d rather not comment on salary differences with Chancellor Drake,” Doti said.

Lastly, I asked Doti why his 2007-08 salary was lower than it was a year earlier.

“I’m not sure,” Doti said in the email.  “It’s probably due to some things the Chronicle counts in one survey that they decide not to count in the next survey.  New federal funding regs are also muddying up the comparisons.”

Sample of total compensation packages of a variety of California colleges and universities, 2007-08 academic year.

That same year, the compensation for the president of the University of California system was $434,166. And for reasons not explained by CHE, the figures for Cal State Fullerton were not included in the national survey.

Also on College Life …

• Chapman strips publicity from upcoming ‘undie run’
• Chapman president to faculty: Make courses tougher
• Chapman shoots up list of nation’s most expensive schools

Post from: College Life OC

Chapman president earns more than U.S. president

Chapman University will produce a live public webcast of  tonight’s performance of “American Celebration,” a song-and-dance show that’s meant to raise money for the schools’ scholarship fund. The broadcast begins at 8 p.m. Saturday’s performance will not be webcast.

The theme of tonight’s show is “The Eternal Optimist” and it will feature songs from such musicals as “Hello Dolly,” “Mame,” Mamma Mia” and “Annie.” The one hour performance, broadcast live from Memorial Hall, will feature student and alumni performers.

Also from College Life …

Post from: College Life OC

Watch live webcast of tonight’s variety show at Chapman

Image by Phyllis Cerf, via Ayn Rand Institute website

Chapman University in Orange will today dedicate a bust of the late novelist, philosopher and playwright Ayn Rand (bio), whose controversial belief system (known as Objectivism) about how a person should behave is still causing arguments 27 years after she died.

The New York Times summarized her outlook this way: “In Rand’s view, selfishness was good and altruism was evil, and the welfare of society was always subordinate to the self-interest of individuals, especially superior ones. In some ways, Objectivism is an extreme form of laissez-faire capitalism, a view that Rand came to naturally.”

Her philosophy formed the basis of  “Atlas Shrugged,” her famed novel, which still sells well today. Rand saw “man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.”

Her basic beliefs have recently enjoyed a resurgence of interest on many college campuses and among more Conservative and Libertarian thinkers. Some of that interest has been stoked by the Ayn Rand Institute, which is located in Irvine.

Rand was also intensely disliked by many people, including me. I very rarely inject personal opinion into this blog. But I had a run-in with Rand that, in my opinion, showed that her beliefs weren’t built on bedrock.  It happened in the late 1970s when Rand visited Boston’s Northeastern University to give a speech at the popular Ford Hall Forum.

For reasons she never clearly explained, Rand said that she would not allow herself to be photographed during the public talk. I was a reporter for the campus newspaper at the time and found this to be outrageous, especially because $2,000 in student fees were being used to cover her lecture fee. I walked into the auditorium during her speech and photographed her, at which point she yelled at me. I thought she was interfering with freedom of the press and ignored her protests.

Chapman will dedicate a bust of Rand at 5:30 p.m. today at its Global Citizens Plaza. The event is open to the public — without charge.

• Chapman strips publicity from upcoming ‘undie run’
• Chapman shoots up list of nation’s most expensive schools

Post from: College Life OC

Chapman dedicating statue of Ayn Rand today

Chapman students frolick during twice annual undie run, an event held at hundreds of colleges and universities across the country. Photo by Joshuna Sudock, The Register

Leave it to the pervs to ruin things  ….

Chapman University says it’s going ahead with plans to hold the next in its twice annual ”undie runs,” a goofy ritual in which students blow off steam by briefly running through the streets of Orange in their underwear.  (Similar runs are held at campuses across the country.) But Chapman says it won’t announce the specific date in December that it will hold the next run.

“Everyone has a camera today and we don’t want to attract the voyeurs, who could make the situation dangerous,” says Mary Platt, the university’s spokeswoman.

She adds in an email that, “”We will be doing the same thing we did at the last Undie Run, which worked out very well — the students are planning a fantastic party(which the university will pay for) after the run, which will encourage run participants to return to campus as soon as possible.  The university will also be covering the cost to fence off the Plaza fountain, the Orange Library fountain, and the Chapman fountains, to avoid any fountain frolics that could damage the landmarks.  And there will be appropriate Orange Police and Chapman Public Safety presence at all points in order to help keep everyone safe and get them happily back  to campus. As long as everyone stays safe and it’s all good clean fun, we are hopeful that this will work and the students can preserve their tradition.”

Chapman annoyed some of its neighbors and city officials last fall when some rambunctious under runners jumped into the fountain in the city circle and caused minor damage.

Image courtesy of Universal Pictures

WHAT WOULD DEAN WORMER SAY?

Post from: College Life OC

Mums the word on next Chapman ‘under run’

Aerial view of UC Irvine, which has nearly 28,000 students this fall.

The University of California says it doesn’t endorse the qualitative rankings that are issued by various magazines and institutions. So what does the UC do? It issues  a news release summarizing how well many of its campuses have finished in the same rankings.

The new list includes an assessment from Arizona State University that I had not seen. It places UC Irvine among the top 25 public research universities in the country. The ranking  is more rigorous than ones produced by US News and World Report because it depends less on reputation than on important criteria that can be measured.

Specifically, ASU says it uses nine measures: total research, federal research, endowment assets, annual giving, National Academy members, faculty awards, doctorates granted, postdoctoral appointees and SAT/ACT scores.

The ASU ranking is a sweet one for Irvine, which is straining to serve a record number of students this fall while coping with deep budget cuts, furloughs and lay-offs. But the UC list fails to mention that UCI dropped about 30 spots in the latest World University Rankings, which literally sums up Irvine’s place in the academic world.

Related posts …

• UCI can’t find jobs governor says were created by stimulus
• UCI sets enrollment record despite money woes
• UCI plunges in World University Rankings
• Chapman soars up the list of the nation’s costliest universities

From Sciencedude …

• Warship to be commissioned in Seal Beach for first time
• Seal Beach gets a visit from a rarely seen warship
• Click through gallery of stunning weather images taken by our readers

Post from: College Life OC

UCI ranked among 25 best public research schools