Category Archives: Opinion Columns
Administrative bloat, budget mismanagement explain UC’s falling global rankings
The top public university in the nation. For the first time, UCLA can claim that title unilaterally. But the real question is: For how much longer? For years, the UC school system has boasted household name schools — UC Berkeley and UCLA. At times, these universities’ reputations precede them. Both play on the hype and […]
Want to Fund the UC? Start by focusing on administrative bloat
For Fund the UC’s supporters, the proposition that California should increase state aid to higher education seems wholly self-evident. But it appears that an increasingly large segment of the state’s political class is willing to do just the reverse. For the most part, critics of the UC system are not motivated by a simple distrust […]
UCLA severs access to learning platform, compromizing students’ employability
Harder, faster, better, stronger. Those aren’t just the lyrics to a catchy song. For thousands of UCLA students these words are a daunting reality as the job market forces them to know more, perform better and adapt faster. The reality is no degree, regardless of rigor, intensity or technicality, can prepare students for the challenges […]
Keshav Tadimeti: Equity and diversity a necessary consideration for UC’s hiring policies
No criminal has ever lived like the person who founded the idea of “diversity and inclusion.” Oh, and same thing with the person who came up with the word “equity.” That’s the message you walked away with if you made it through Heather Mac Donald’s op-ed published earlier this month in the Los Angeles Times. […]
Clea Wurster: Decentralization of funding could improve America’s research infrastructure
Bruins have a lot of material for bragging rights. And a big one: Our professors might be spending their days researching cures for cancer. It isn’t just that we get to interact with experts – we also get to conduct research alongside them, adding countless bullet points to our resumes. But when it comes to […]
Scott Bays: Legislation more sophisticated than California’s straw restriction required
Plastic waste is a tax on the earth – and people’s budgets. That’s the stance California took in August when lawmakers voted to make the state the first to restrict the distribution of plastic straws. It now awaits Governor Jerry Brown’s signature. The bill would prohibit what are termed “full-service restaurants” from serving plastic straws […]