[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Peter Schrag

Probably the most noteworthy thing about last week's appointment of Mark Yudof as the next president of the University of California is not his impressive record as chancellor of the University of Texas system or his $828,000 compensation package.

It's the fact that he comes from outside the system, the first outsider to get the job since the 19th century. And that, as UC Regents Chairman Dick Blum implicitly acknowledged, is an unmistakable sign of a new era at UC – not quite a revolution but close to it.

And as Blum also acknowledged, an outsider is what the board was looking for. Effecting institutional change, Blum said, "is very difficult to do from within."

Blum, who'd spent more than a year wrestling with UC's administrative mess, described the meeting at which Yudof was named as "the best Board of Regents meeting of my life."

Mostly he sounded like the relieved father in an Italian opera who'd just married off his ugliest daughter.

David Gardner, who got the president's job 25 years ago, came from the presidency of the University of Utah, but he'd spent many years before that as a senior UC administrator. Before Yudof, who was a law professor and president of the University of Minnesota system before going to Texas, no real outsider had become UC president since 1899.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Nick Rahaim
Executive Assistant
California First Amendment Coalition

The 2007 legislative session started with a host of promising bills that would have created more transparency and would have reversed recent judicial and Attorney General opinions permitting excessive secrecy. There were some successes and some disappointments. The major disappointment was the failure to overturn the 2006 state Supreme Court decision in Copley Press v. Superior Court, which effectively sealed all police disciplinary records. The major success was legislation creating more oversight and accountability for the UC Regents’ and CSU Trustees’ executive pay committees.

Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and Senator Gloria Romero (D-Santa Monica) introduced AB 1393 and SB 1019, respectively. These bills attempted to overturn the Copley Press decision that closed police disciplinary records to the pubic. With the police union’s full political weight against the bills, they never emerged from committee. The battle is not over, however. Both bills are likely to be considered again in the next legislative session.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Oiyan Poon
President
University of California Student Association

[Editor's note: These are the remarks delivered by Ms. Poon to the U.C. Regents shortly before they unanimously voted to support the recommendations of a study group report on diversity.]

Today, the UC Regents are considering several items that will significantly affect all 214,000+ University of California undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. As President of the University of California Student Association (UCSA), I observe the Regents’ deliberations and votes, and advocate on behalf of UC students for equity in access, affordability, and the quality of our University. I stand with students from across the state to tell the Regents not to water down the Diversity Report and to compel the Regents and the UC Office of the President to show their true colors by taking aggressive and concrete, action-oriented steps to address the diversity crisis facing our University.

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics: Soapblox California - Front Page]

Today down in sunny Mission Bay along SF's less scenic waterfront (and only a few steps from my gym), Sen. Leland Yee announced his plan for pension reform.  Currently UC's pension plan is governed solely by the UC Regents, with no input from workers. WTF?

So, Sen. Yee plans to require joint governance with other higher ed. pension plans.  Given that UC's pension has dramatically underperformed, perhaps not a bad idea.  Check out the press release over the flip...