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The latest reports on the scandal at California's Universities:

"Most Californians would be shocked to find out they are subsidizing a South Pacific getaway for UC professors"
UC's research 'paradise' draws ire of lawmakers
By Steve Geissinger, Contra Costa Times
The University of California has created a little-known South Pacific station it calls a research "paradise" on what some travelers consider the most beautiful island in the world. Surrounded by clear waters white-sand beaches and covered by forests topped by jagged peaks, it's "UC Berkeley's best-kept secret," declares the Berkeley Science Review. Real estate agents call it "Fantasy Island." The problem is, critics say, UC has developed Gump Station on Moorea Island near Tahiti as a sweet deal for academic insiders while, at the same time, hiking already high tuition due to state budget deficits. UC officials dismissed criticism, saying study of the tropics is important to the fight against global warming and that the station is a bargain. Students and professors pay a UC-subsidized price of about $40 per person nightly for a waterfront bungalow, according to a facility Internet site. Nearby five-star resorts on Moorea, which is a popular destination for honeymoons, charge up to about $900 a night for an over-water bungalow on poles.

Dean says he was forced out
By the Associated Press, Contra Costa Times
Dr. David Kessler, a nationally known public health advocate, says he was forced out as dean of the UC San Francisco School of Medicine after raising questions about "financial irregularities." Kessler, who was appointed to the UCSF job in 2003, said that shortly after arriving, he found a "series of financial irregularities" that predated his appointment. He said he reported the issues to university officials and tried to work with them on the matter.

UC: Tin cup, tin ear
By the San Francisco Chronicle
Could there be a worse time to offer the University of California's chancellors a huge pay raise? The state of California is facing a $10 billion budget shortfall. The last few years have brought executive pay scandals and crippling hikes in student tuition and fees.

UCLA dentist school scandal
Cheating on licensing exams is probed, and a highly competitive program is accused of giving preferential treatment in admissions
By Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times
The UCLA School of Dentistry was hit by separate scandals Tuesday involving allegations of favoritism toward relatives of deep-pocket donors and student cheating on licensing examinations, university authorities acknowledged. The American Dental Assn. is investigating allegations of cheating by at least a dozen UCLA students as well as students from USC, Loma Linda University and New York University, UCLA officials said. The students were alleged to have improperly obtained questions to a test that is a step toward fulfilling qualifications for a license to practice dentistry.

Regents to consider pay hikes for UC system chancellors
By Dorothy Korber, Sacramento Bee
At a closed committee meeting Tuesday in Los Angeles, University of California regents will consider a proposal to increase their top executives' pay by 33 percent over the next four years. This year, the initial pay increases would range from 13 percent to 17 percent for the chancellors at the UC's 10 campuses. The full Board of Regents is expected to vote on the pay raises Thursday at their regular meeting held at UCLA.

Time to close down CSU's get-rich factory
By the San Diego Union-Tribune
California State University board Chairwoman Roberta Achtenberg and CSU Chancellor Charles Reed appear not to comprehend a highly critical state auditor's report on compensation for university executives.

A peek inside a Sac State foundation
By David Holwerk, Sacramento Bee
After you've been in this business awhile, certain phrases in news stories make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. I had one of those moments last Wednesday while reading about a report on pay for top executives at California State University.

UC Irvine gave Bren a say in dean selection
By Tony Barboza, Henry Weinstein and Garrett Therolf, Los Angeles Times
UC Irvine gave Orange County billionaire Donald Bren the right to be consulted in the selection of a dean for its new law school in return for his $20-million donation, according to documents released to The Times on Thursday. The eight-page gift agreement reveals the scope of what Bren received for his money, ranging from major matters such as selection of the dean to specific rules governing how prominently signs featuring his name were to be displayed on the campus. Signs on law school buildings must read "Donald Bren School of Law" and be at least twice the size of the building name. Bren's must be the largest and most prominently displayed name on the building, according to the agreement.

UC owes millions in refunds to students, appeals court rules
By Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle
The University of California owes millions of dollars in refunds to about 40,000 students who were promised that their tuition fees would be held steady but were hit with increases in 2003 when the state ran short of money, a state appeals court ruled Friday. The First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco upheld a lower court judge's ruling last year that entitles the students to nearly $40 million in reimbursements and interest, said Andrew Freeman, a lawyer for the students. Freeman said that decision by a San Francisco Superior Court judge also blocked an additional $20 million in fees that the university had planned to charge to more than 9,000 students at law and medical schools and other professional graduate programs.

Poorly packed anthrax gets UC $450,000 fine
Vials became uncapped in package shipped by Livermore lab
By the Oakland Tribune
The University of California has been fined $450,000 for a release of anthrax in September 2005 from a shipped package that was improperly packed at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, which the university managed until earlier this week. The fine, which came to light Friday during a congressional hearing on the safety and security of biodefense research laboratories, was levied on Sept. 24 by the Department of Health and Human Services. Though the Livermore incident did not result in any human exposure or injuries, it is the largest of 11 fines issued by the HHS Office of the Inspector General since 2003.

As fees rise, CSU execs stand to get 11.8% raises
By Jim Doyle, San Francisco Chronicle
The governing board of the California State University system is poised to award pay increases averaging 11.8 percent to Chancellor Charles Reed, his four chief deputies and 23 campus presidents as part of a plan to significantly boost their salaries over the next few years. The Board of Trustees meets today and Wednesday in Long Beach, and chairwoman Roberta Achtenberg has signaled her intent to raise the executive salaries about 46 percent over the next four years.

Golden parachutes galore for departing UC prez
By Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross, San Francisco Chronicle
One thing departing University of California President Robert Dynes won't have to worry about is money. It turns out that Dynes - who was nudged out as UC's top dog after a string of embarrassing stories about the university's liberal pay and perk packages for top managers - is in for a few goodbye goodies himself. Goodie No. 1: A year off with pay. Goodie No. 2: Now that he has to vacate the UC-provided president's mansion in Kensington, Dynes - like all senior administrators - is eligible for a low-interest home loan to help him relocate. Finally, there's the pension.

Partner sues over UC Santa Cruz chief's estate
Woman seeks cut, says chancellor's will had not been updated since they met more than 10 years before her death in 2006
By Jennifer Squires, Contra Costa Times
The partner of Denice Denton says she was mistakenly left out of the late UC Santa Cruz chancellor's will and is suing Denton's estate for $2.25 million. Denton, who died June 24, 2006, after jumping from the 33rd floor of a San Francisco high-rise where her former partner Gretchen Kalonji lived, left her estate to her three siblings. She was 46. Kalonji, her partner of more than 10 years, filed suit in Santa Cruz County Superior Court in June after her attempts to negotiate with Denton's family for a portion of the estate -- which includes at least two homes, a six-figure life insurance policy and more than $700,000 in other assets -- faltered.

Regents say it was time for Dynes to move on
Departing UC president denies he was forced out
By Eleanor Yang Su, San Diego Union-Tribune
Members of the University of California's governing board spent the past month orchestrating the departure of President Robert C. Dynes after losing confidence in his leadership, officials said yesterday. The behind-the-scenes conversations that took place between regents provided a sharp contrast to Dynes' explanation earlier this week that his departure was prompted by his recent marriage and a long-term plan to serve as president for about five years. Dynes yesterday reiterated that he had not been pressured to resign.

UCSD to go through audit by IRS
University reviews are unusual, official says
By Eleanor Yang Su, San Diego Union-Tribune
The University of California San Diego is undergoing an IRS audit – an uncommon procedure that may become more prevalent in the coming months. UCSD officials declined to provide many details, except to say the Internal Revenue Service will spend several months reviewing the university's payroll, accounts payable, student accounting and other financial transactions processed in 2005. The campus characterized the audit as “routine.” But Marvin Friedlander, chief of the IRS' exempt-organizations technical branch, said university audits are not common at all, although he declined to comment on UCSD specifically. Currently, the IRS audits public universities when it believes business income or employment taxes are not being appropriately reported or paid, he said.

Former UCR administrator pleads
By Marisa Agha, Riverside Press-Enterprise
A former UC Riverside administrator who was indicted by a federal grand jury on a bribery charge in February, has reached a plea agreement with federal authorities. Theodore Chiu, 54, pleaded guilty last week to soliciting a $50,000 bribe from Irvine-based FTR International Inc., which contracted with the university to construct a psychology building. Chiu was accused of proposing the payment in exchange for resolving the company's concerns about the project.

Extra pay, perks continue to flow despite scandal
Officials override rules to give more than $1 million to 70 execs
By Tanya Schevitz, San Francisco Chronicle
In the 15 months following the University of California's executive compensation scandal, UC President Robert Dynes and the governing Board of Regents have handed out more than $1 million in extra pay and perks to about 70 top executives. The extra compensation was allowed under rules that let Dynes and the regents grant exceptions to policy -- in effect overriding regulations that otherwise would not allow the payouts. The extras included stipends and bonuses, auto allowances, relocation incentives, below-market home loans, and extended temporary housing for new hires.

Regents excuse UC president in salary scandal
Report essentially gives President Robert Dynes, whose leadership was questioned by some critics, a mere slap on the wrist
By Tanya Schevitz, San Francisco Chronicle
Scores of University of California administrators have been disciplined -- from letters of reprimand to reductions in salary -- for last year's executive compensation scandal, according to a report released Thursday by the UC governing Board of Regents. But the report declined to name the executives or disclose what punishment was meted out to individuals, saying to do so would violate privacy rules. Prepared by the regents' compensation committee and adopted by the full board Thursday meeting at UCSF-Mission Bay, the report essentially gives President Robert Dynes, whose leadership was questioned by some critics, a mere slap on the wrist.

Staffers disciplined for their roles in UC compensation case
Dynes largely unscathed
By Eleanor Yang Su, San Diego Union-Tribune
Scores of unidentified University of California employees have been disciplined for their roles in a compensation controversy involving millions of dollars in undisclosed executive pay, but UC President Robert Dynes appears to have emerged largely unscathed. A final audit on the topic, conducted by a regent committee and released yesterday, found that Dynes violated policies on more than 20 occasions, often by not seeking regents' approval for senior executives' compensation.  The blame often was placed on Dynes' advisers.

Union calls for closer look at finance experts
"What concerns us most is that UC's lack of good governance policies might allow even more serious conflicts or other problems that have not yet been uncovered"
By Tanya Schevitz, San Francisco Chronicle
A University of California employees union is calling for closer scrutiny of the financial holdings of some outside experts who recommend how UC's multibillion-dollar asset and retirement portfolios should be invested. According to the union, some of the unpaid advisers to the governing Board of Regents have a financial stake in or a direct family connection to companies that manage hundreds of millions of dollars in UC investment accounts. "The conflicts that (the union) has uncovered show that UC's pension-governance policies are so lax that even fairly obvious conflicts are passing unnoticed," said Faith Raider, a research analyst for the 19,000-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299.

$7 million study will seek savings in UC chief's office
Dynes' office under scrutiny in the wake of revelations that UC officials violated university policies in awarding hidden compensation and special perks to some top executives
By Tanya Schevitz, San Francisco Chronicle
The University of California has hired a consultant for about $7 million to study how to most efficiently reorganize the office of President Robert Dynes. It's part of an effort to save money in the university's financial and administrative operations and shift those savings to other needs, such as increasing salaries, reducing class sizes and improving facilities, said UC Regents Chairman Richard Blum. The new study -- which did not need approval from the Board of Regents because it is below a $10 million threshold requiring a board vote -- will be paid for by a loan from the university's endowment.

Lawmakers OK audit of CSU salary practices
By Tanya Schevitz, San Francisco Chronicle
Special perks and extra compensation awarded to top executives of the California State University system must be investigated by state auditors, a California legislative committee decided Tuesday. The Joint Legislative Audit Committee voted unanimously to explore CSU's spending practices just as it did last year after a pay scandal enveloped the University of California system. The committee's action Thursday followed an investigative series by The Chronicle last summer that found that as much as $4 million in special perks and extra compensation has been paid to departing CSU officials during the past decade without public disclosure by the chancellor or the Board of Trustees.

CSU, UC exec pay defended
System chiefs admit some mistakes but say hikes justified
By Judy Lin, Sacramento Bee
State lawmakers on Wednesday grilled the two leaders of California's public university systems for handing out millions in what they said was excessive compensation to executives and urged them to close all lingering loopholes.

UC officials told to get tough on pay
Regents order administrators to create plans that would prevent improper compensation
By Tanya Schevitz, San Francisco Chronicle
The top administrators at the University of California's campuses and a research laboratory were told Thursday to come up with policies and procedures to prevent overpayment of vacations, improper payment of honoraria and other financial mistakes that have embarrassed university officials in the past.

UC exempt from $1.1 million fine levied for Los Alamos lab mishaps
The fine would have been the largest single civil penalty in the history of the Nuclear Safety Enforcement Program
By Keay Davidson, San Francisco Chronicle
The federal government has recommended that the University of California pay a $1.1 million fine for incidents at Los Alamos National Laboratory that resulted in 15 nuclear safety violations, including a case in which an employee accidentally spread radioactive material to three states and episodes in which workers inhaled radioactivity. The university won't have to pay the fine, however, because at the time of the incidents in 2005, its federal contract for managing the lab exempted it from financial liability for such mishaps. Otherwise, the fine would have been "the largest single civil penalty in the history of the (U.S. Energy Department's) Nuclear Safety Enforcement Program," Thomas P. D'Agostino, acting administrator of the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, said in a Feb. 16 letter to UC Vice President S. Robert Foley Jr.

Raises OKd for Cal State presidents
By Larry Gordon, Los Angeles Times
Trustees of the Cal State University system Tuesday approved 4% salary raises for the 23 campus presidents and five other top officials. The move, retroactive to July, was strongly opposed by the faculty union, which is in stalled salary negotiations with the university. "I'm disappointed. I think it sends a signal to everybody that the priorities of the board are with a relatively small group of people," said John Travis, president of the California Faculty Assn. With the raises, most of those administrators will earn well over $240,000 a year, but trustees said that their average pay remains significantly lower than at comparable institutions nationwide.

Top Cal State executives are in line for 4% salary hike
Lawmakers cry foul as student fees are going up, faculty pay talks bogging down
By Jim Doyle, San Francisco Chronicle
Twenty-eight of the California State University system's highest-paid executives are in line for another pay raise this week -- just days after students learned they could face a 10 percent tuition increase next fall. The executive salary increase, scheduled to be considered today in Long Beach by the Board of Trustees, has drawn fire from state lawmakers who have criticized the chancellor for seeking additional pay while the faculty is bogged down in labor negotiations.

All 230,000 UC employees required to take ethics course
By Tanya Schevitz, San Francisco Chronicle
In the wake of last year's executive compensation scandal, the University of California is requiring every employee -- from President Robert Dynes down to the guy who empties his trash basket -- to complete an online course about ethics. The course, which takes about 30 minutes, is designed to brief UC's 230,000 employees on the university's expectations about ethics, values and standards of conduct. Members of UC's 26-member governing Board of Regents, including ex officio members such as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, are supposed to complete the training too.

UC regents vote unanimously to hire the University of Virginia provost, who will take the reins by Aug. 1
Pay will be nearly $100,000 more than that of his predecessor, Albert Carnesale
By Rebecca Trounson and Larry Gordon, Los Angeles Times
University of California regents on Thursday unanimously approved the appointment of University of Virginia Provost Gene D. Block as UCLA's next chancellor, bringing to an end a search process that began more than a year ago. Block, a 58-year-old biologist, will take over from interim Chancellor Norman Abrams by Aug. 1. The UC board, which has spent months dealing with fallout from a debilitating controversy over previously undisclosed — and what some critics termed excessive — compensation for top UC administrators, approved a base salary for Block of $416,000 a year.

UCLA's new chancellor comes from Virginia
By Jill Tucker, San Francisco Chronicle
The campus' ninth chancellor, Block will receive an annual salary of $416,000, putting him on par with his UC Berkeley counterpart and well above the $323,600 salary of former UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale, who retired in June.

UCI names vice chancellor to oversee health affairs
Dr. David N. Bailey, who will also be dean of the medical school, hopes to reform the university's scandal-plagued programs and hospital
By Roy Rivenburg, Los Angeles Times
The linchpin of UC Irvine's plan to reform its scandal-plagued medical programs fell into place Thursday with the hiring of Dr. David N. Bailey as vice chancellor for health affairs. The new position, which will oversee UCI's medical school and hospital, begins April 1. Bailey comes to UCI after three decades at UC San Diego, where he now serves as interim medical school dean and interim vice chancellor for health services. A graduate of Yale University, Bailey is also a professor of pathology and director of UC San Diego's toxicology lab. Bailey will receive a base salary of $512,000 at UCI.

UC enters era of consultants, public relations
By Tanya Schevitz, San Francsico Chronicle
The University of California has spent about $500,000 trying to figure out what people think of the university and how it can change the public's perception. It appears to be an uphill climb. UC consultants have found, for example, that some middle-income parents think they can't afford to send their kids to UC, and various high school counselors, befuddled by the murky admissions process, tell students they can't get in and shouldn't even try. And the public thinks UC wastes money and spends too much on executive pay -- an impression that existed even before UC was rocked by a scandal over its compensation practices.

UC leader declines a pay raise
By Carrie Sturrock, San Francisco Chronicle
President Robert Dynes will not get a raise at his request following a year of controversy over UC's executive compensation practices, the university system's governing Board of Regents announced Wednesday. In agreeing not to consider him for a raise, the regents nonetheless expressed their unanimous "unconditional" support for Dynes' leadership.

Activists protest Cal State perks
Demonstrators march on CSU offices to rally against what they say are lavish benefits for administrators
By Larry Gordon, Los Angeles Times
About 1,000 faculty and students rallied Wednesday in Long Beach outside a meeting of the California State University trustees to protest what they said are lavish benefits for administrators and stalled contract talks between professors and the 23-campus system. At one point, demonstrators disrupted the meeting with chants, such as "End of perks," and a group of 22 professors linked arms and sat down in front of the trustees' desks. Amid the noise, the board dropped normal procedures and with a quick voice vote approved items discussed in committees. That included changes to a controversial policy that gave top administrators a year's pay after they left their jobs but before their actual retirements.

CSU faculty to rally against administration
Protesters say university is spending money on executives, not fighting soaring student fees
By Michelle Maitre, Oakland Tribune
As many as 1,000 California State University faculty members are expected to rally Wednesday at the Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach to protest what they say are misplaced priorities of university administration. Union officials say administrators are spending too much money on executives and aren't doing enough to fight soaring fees that are making it hard for students to stay in school or to address sagging faculty and staff salaries. "We believe that they have not been representing the real and true needs of the CSU and that they misallocated the resources" on factors such as transitional pay programs for top executives and other expenses, said John Travis, a Humboldt State University professor who is president of the California Faculty Association.

Chancellor hopes to keep CSU perk
Reed wants current execs to be exempt from new restrictions
By Jim Doyle, San Francisco Chronicle
The chancellor of the California State University system is proposing to modify a controversial executive benefit that allows some top officials to continue collecting paychecks for a year after leaving their jobs. Reed, his four top deputies, and 17 of CSU's 23 campus presidents would be eligible to stay on the payroll for an extra year after leaving the university -- regardless of how long they worked for CSU, whether they plan to return to the university, and whether they accept other employment.

Ex-chancellor in hospital before suicide
Denice Dee Denton had been released from a Bay Area psychiatric facility the previous day
By the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times
A former University of California chancellor was discharged from a psychiatric hospital just a day before she plummeted to her death from a city apartment building, according to a report released Friday. Denice Dee Denton, 46, committed suicide June 24 by jumping from the roof of the 43-story Paramount high-rise, according to a San Francisco medical examiner's investigation. Denton was suffering from severe depression and had spent the six days before her death at Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute in San Francisco, the report said. Her doctor had prescribed her the antidepressant Zoloft and the sleep aid Ambien, and antidepressants were present in her system when she died. Denton came under fire in the two years before her death for demanding expensive remodeling to her campus home and for helping her partner secure a top-paying university position. Denton's mother, Carolyn Mabee, told investigators that her daughter "was under severe stress" from her job and her relationship with her partner, the report said. Mabee said Denton was "acting completely irrationally" after being picked up from the hospital and believed "that the police had been chasing her," according to the report.

 Denice Denton died after plunging from a 42-story San Francisco apartment building on June 24.

Chancellor's final days before jump from roof
UC Santa Cruz official treated for severe depression, report says
By Marisa Lagos, San Francisco Chronicle
Shortly before jumping to her death from the roof of a 42-story San Francisco building in June, UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Denice Denton spent six days at a psychiatric facility in San Francisco, according to a medical examiner's report released Friday.

A money gap and a brain drain
UC Berkeley, long on reputation but short on funding, is losing talent
By Maria L. La Ganga, Los Angeles Times
Corey Goodman and Carla Shatz had a grand vision for UC Berkeley: to build the greatest neuroscience program in the world, to figure out how healthy brains work, and to use that understanding to cure disease. They wanted a place where chemists and physicists, geneticists and other scientists could work alongside neurobiologists like themselves to unlock the secrets of the body's most mysterious organ. They wanted to change the world. The university wanted them to do it. But there was no money to build their neuroscience center or equip their hoped-for high-tech laboratories. Today, Shatz is pursuing similar research at Harvard Medical School, and Goodman is the chief executive of a biotechnology company that develops drugs to treat neurological disease.

First 5 draws scrutiny for use of researchers
By GRETCHEN WENNER, Bakersfield Californian
A simple question is slamming doors fast at the local tobacco-tax agency, First 5 Kern. That is: Who has oversight of its contract with Cal State Bakersfield researchers? At stake is the thorny issue of who's ultimately responsible for how some $3 million of public First 5 Kern funds were spent by former faculty researchers -- one of whom received a monthly car lease payment from First 5 with apparently little more than a handshake.

Audit of CSU Fullerton shows past fiscal abuse
Shoddy business practices and financial mismanagement, state report says
By Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times
Cal State Fullerton's business operations were rife with mismanagement and waste, including an instance in which husband and wife administrators oversaw millions of dollars in spending involving a corporation he owned stock in, according to a state audit. The audit found that from January 2001 through December 2004 there was "waste and abuse," poor record-keeping, shoddy business practices and financial mismanagement. The audit found that employees feared retaliation if they reported waste, fraud or abuse.

Another breach at Los Alamos
What appear to be classified files from the nuclear lab are seized in a trailer park drug raid
By the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times
A drug raid at a trailer park in New Mexico turned up what appeared to be classified documents taken from the Los Alamos nuclear weapons lab, the FBI said Tuesday. Police found the documents while arresting a man suspected of domestic violence and dealing methamphetamine from his mobile home, said Sgt. Chuck Ney of the Los Alamos, N.M., Municipal Police Department. The documents were discovered during a search of the man's records for evidence of his drug business, Ney said. Police alerted the FBI to the classified documents, which agents traced back to a woman linked to the drug dealer, officials said. The woman is a contract employee at Los Alamos National Laboratory, according to an FBI official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the case.

CSU trustees cancel SDSU meeting
Campus gathering's cost was criticized
By Lisa Petrillo, San Diego Union-Tribune
San Diego State University professors yanked the red carpet out from under their bosses. The uninvite happened yesterday after some SDSU faculty balked at the estimated $225,000 cost to host the California State University board of trustees' March meeting. Holding their two-day meeting at SDSU would mark the first time trustees took a road trip since suspending such travel in 2004 during the state's budget crisis. Professors complained the trip was tantamount to university executives ordering champagne when faculty and students subsisted on meatloaf. “It's outrageous the university administration wanted to spend this kind of money on itself when we are really hurting,” said English professor Peter Herman. “Class sizes are ballooning beyond reason; the quality of instruction is getting more threadbare.”

CSU board accused of politics
Dem questions cancellation of pre-election meeting with vote expected on student fees
By Jim Doyle, San Francisco Chronicle
Election-year politics spilled over into budget considerations for the California State University system Thursday, with a top state Democrat insinuating that university trustees may be trying to shield the GOP governor from potential criticism over student fee increases. In a letter to the CSU Board of Trustees, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez demanded to know why the board recently canceled its Oct. 26 meeting. That meeting was to consider the university's proposed budget for fiscal 2007-2008, as well as a possible student fee increase. Now those matters won't come up until after the gubernatorial election in November.

Cal State Leaders Postpone Budget Vote Until After Election
By Rebecca Trounson, Los Angeles Times
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez has asked California State University leaders to explain why a university budget meeting typically held in October has been pushed back several weeks, and will now occur after the November election. Nuñez, who is a Cal State board member because of his state office, said he would be disturbed to learn that university officials or trustees, some of whom were appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, "allowed election politics to impact the timing" of a budget vote.

Higher ed's senior moments
By Debra J. Saunders, San Francisco Chronicle
File this under: Why am I not surprised? Seniors at the University of California know less about American history, government and politics than freshmen.

Past scandals spur programs to change
By LAURIE LUCAS, Riverside Press-Enterprise
The head of the willed-body program at UC Irvine was fired in 1999 after being accused of selling spines on the black market, and the director of UCLA's program was arrested on similar charges in 2004.

UCLA Agrees to 'Holistic' Approach to Admissions
By Rebecca Trounson, Los Angeles Times
UCLA announced Thursday that it will shift immediately to a more "holistic" student admissions process, much like UC Berkeley's, in which all facets of each applicant can be considered at once by admissions reviewers. Some details remain to be worked out, but the announcement came after the third of three faculty panels, all of which had to approve the plan, endorsed it this week. The move had been expected; the revisions have been strongly backed by acting Chancellor Norman Abrams and key faculty leaders.

CSU, union aim for mediation
By the Sacramento Bee
California State University administrators and the union representing faculty members have been unable to reach an agreement on a new salary plan. After negotiating for 18 months, CSU wants an impasse declared with the California Faculty Association, in order to bring in a third-party mediator to broker a contract. The faculty association, which represents more than 22,000 faculty members and lecturers at 23 CSU campuses, supports the idea. CSU officials say they offered a proposal that includes a 24.87 percent salary increase over four years, beginning in 2006-07. Jackie R. McClain, CSU vice chancellor for human resources, said she was "disappointed" that the "generous salary increase" was rejected.

Report: UC struggling with mental health services
Understaffed, underfunded programs on campuses present risk to students
By Michelle Maitre, Oakland Tribune
In a very personal plea last year, Victor and Mary Ojakian called on University of California officials to do more to prevent student suicides. Their son, Adam, 21, a senior at UC Davis, had committed suicide just nine months before. Unknown to his parents, Adam was in a despondency the Ojakians believe was exacerbated by intense academic pressure and negativity from campus officials. A new report says the Ojakians have reason to be concerned. Understaffed and underfunded, mental health services on UC campuses struggle to maintain their role as the safety net for students.

Professor is man of many battles
UCR ethnic studies professor is in Mexico City protesting
By SHARON McNARY, Riverside Press-Enterprise
Armando Navarro, the longtime Inland activist for immigrant and Latino rights, is in Mexico today, deep into at least his third political battle this year. "We're going into a very precarious, explosive, volatile situation," said the UCR ethnic studies professor, who is in Mexico City protesting the narrow loss by a candidate in July's Mexican presidential election. Earlier this summer, he fought against a San Bernardino city initiative that would have made it illegal to hire or rent homes to undocumented immigrants. The initiative failed to reach the ballot after a judge ruled it had too few signatures.

Job suits cost UC $12 million in 3 years
By Tanya Schevitz, San Francisco Chronicle
The University of California paid out at least $12 million over three years on employment lawsuits involving allegations such as sexual harassment, discrimination and "consensual relations" between faculty and students, according to an internal audit and letter obtained by The Chronicle. The payout covers cases arising out of the 10 campuses, various medical centers and two national laboratories -- Lawrence Livermore and Lawrence Berkeley -- under UC's management.

2 UCI Doctors Face State Inquiry
No reason is given for medical board's look at anesthesiology department head and a former vice chair
By Roy Rivenburg, Los Angeles Times
The state medical board said it was investigating the chairman and former vice chairwoman of UC Irvine's anesthesiology department, adding to the turmoil swirling around the school's medical programs. State medical board officials wouldn't reveal why they were investigating Dr. Peter Breen, the chairman, or Dr. Anne Wong, the former vice chairwoman, but a board spokeswoman said Tuesday that the inquiry involved allegations already on public record. If so, the probe might be focused on claims made in a wrongful-termination lawsuit filed a year ago in Orange County Superior Court by former professor Dr. Glenn Provost.

UCLA Presents Distorted Image of Animal Testing, Activists Allege
The university's research is irrelevant and is done to attract grant money
By Carla Hall, Los Angeles Times
Animal rights activists accused UCLA officials Tuesday of painting a distorted picture of animal testing on campus and questioned its relevance. At a news conference in front of the administration building, Michael Budkie, head of a nonprofit group called Stop Animal Exploitation Now!, said that test animals are "so stressed they are mutilating their own bodies" and that UCLA sponsors research to attract grant money. Budkie, whose Ohio-based organization provides research for animal rights activists, made public several pages of what he said were handwritten lab observation notes on primate subjects at UCLA.

Faculty Suit Against Cal State's Hiring of Barry Munitz to Proceed
By the Los Angeles Times
A teachers group has won a partial victory in its challenge to the secret hiring of ousted former J. Paul Getty Trust chief Barry Munitz by California State University trustees. A judge on Friday rejected the trustees' request that the faculty lawsuit be thrown out of Los Angeles County Superior Court, and it will be pursued, according to John Travis, president of the California Faculty Assn. Munitz was hired behind closed doors in February to teach and raise funds after resigning from the Getty amid an investigation into alleged misuse of charity funds. He is being paid $163,776 — almost double the top salary of $85,000 for a Cal State professor with 20 years of teaching experience. Munitz was chancellor of the Cal State system until he left to head the Getty nine years ago. The faculty group challenged the Munitz appointment, alleging that it was not made in a meeting open to the public, as required by law.

Former UC official said to misuse money
Audit: Funds spent thousands on meals, hotels
By the Associated Press, San Diego Union-Tribune
A former associate vice chancellor at the University of California Berkeley misspent almost $2,000 in university funds on extravagances such as personal meals and hotel rooms, according to a university audit released yesterday. George Strait was a one-time ABC News correspondent hired by UC Berkeley in January 2003 to oversee public affairs. He was often the university's point person on news stories, including a hacker attack on university computers last summer. University auditors, tipped by a whistle-blower, obtained documents for Strait's travel and entertainment expenses from when he was hired until February. The audit found that 28 reimbursed expenses totaling $1,969.72 were improper.

New head of campus diversity at Cal heading for big paycheck
A job that not only has an impressive title, but an equally impressive salary
By Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross, San Francisco Chronicle
UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau has just announced he's creating the new post of vice chancellor for equity and inclusion -- a job that not only has an impressive title, but an equally impressive salary of between $182,000 and $282,000 a year. Plus an office budget in excess of $4 million. The goal isn't so much to recruit more minorities but rather to ensure students, faculty and staff are "fully respected for their individuality and what they represent," Birgeneau said.

Shelving of UC regents bill has some thinking scandal
By Eleanor Yang Su, San Diego Union-Tribune
Earlier this month, a high-profile bill that would have required University of California regents to consider the compensation of high-ranking executives in public was indefinitely shelved. The list of supporters for AB 775 was long, including UC's council of faculty associations, UC's student association and several unions representing UC employees. Opponents included UC's administration and a small group of business leaders, who argued that the bill would make it difficult to recruit talent and would be too costly to implement. Now, some are raising questions about the timing of the holdup, as well as the disbursement of more than $200,000 in contributions from UC regents and friends of the university to a political action committee run by Senate President Pro Tempore Don Perata. Perata sidelined the legislation.

A bumpy tenure
Under fire for giving questionable pay and perks to executives
By Eleanor Yang Su, San Diego Union-Tribune
Since last fall, Dynes and his administration in Oakland have been criticized sharply for awarding questionable pay and perks to executives without proper disclosure. The payouts, revealed in newspaper reports, triggered legislative hearings, audits and calls by three state senators for Dynes' removal.

Ex-provost's son at center of internship controversy is hired full time
By Tanya Schevitz, San Francisco Chronicle
An internal audit released in December on James Greenwood's hiring found that Vice President Winston Doby had improperly helped create and fund an internship tailored specifically for his boss' son without opening the job to any other candidate.

Open up: Senate, UC close the door on UC pay
By the San Diego Union-Tribune
Why would the California Senate ditch a bill to make the committees of the University of California regents decide specific top executives' compensation in open session? Why oppose transparency when numerous audits show that in spite of UC policy many top UC officials' extra pay and perks were never disclosed to the regents, much less the public?

Lawyer, doctor picked as UC regents
Governor appoints Republicans, both alumni of system
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed two well-connected Southern California Republicans to the University of California Board of Regents on Friday, filling two vacancies on the 26-member body. Bruce Varner, 69, a civically involved Redlands lawyer whose clients include grocery chain Stater Brothers, is a friend and contributor to longtime Republican Rep. Jerry Lewis of Redlands (San Bernardino County). Lewis, who is under federal investigation for his ties to lobbyists and contractors, wrote a letter supporting Varner for regent last fall. As lawyer for Stater Bros., which is privately held, Varner helped negotiate the purchase of 160 acres of the former Norton Air Force Base to build a new $300 million company headquarters and distribution center. Varner is a board member of Security Bank of California. Lewis and his wife bought $22,000 worth of shares in the bank in 2005. His campaign bought an additional $25,000 worth. Since Lewis' purchase, the share price has tripled. Varner has contributed $4,000 to Lewis. His wife and son have each contributed an additional $2,000. He contributed $5,000 in April to Schwarzenegger's re-election campaign.

Brighten the light on UC?
Let taxpayers know how their money is being spent
By Leland Yee, San Francisco Chronicle
Following a series of audits, a public-interest lawsuit and intense media coverage, it is now known that the University of California administration failed to obtain or even ask for public approval from the UC Board of Regents for bloated compensation packages for numerous top executives, likely costing taxpayers millions of dollars. To help prevent future backroom deals, I have introduced legislation requiring public meetings for all discussions regarding UC executives' compensation.

Probes Targeted UCI Researcher
Alleged ethical and financial breaches drew scrutiny but no sanctions -- professor defends his activities
By Christian Berthelsen, Los Angeles Times
UCI psychiatry professor Steven G. Potkin is one of UCI's biggest stars. The 60-year-old psychiatrist is among the university's most prolific researchers. He brings in lucrative contracts from some of the world's biggest drug companies and has presided over as many as a dozen clinical trials at a time. But at the same time Potkin has attracted funding and recognition for UCI, he has also been investigated three times by the university for alleged ethical or financial breaches, according to more than 300 pages of documents obtained by The Times. And although Potkin says he was not disciplined as a result the investigations, each raised serious questions about his practices and how UCI dealt with the issues.

UC barred from deciding pay packages in private
By Patrick Hoge, San Francisco Chronicle
An Alameda County judge has ruled that a committee of the UC Board of Regents cannot decide behind closed doors whether to recommend pay packages for top officials. The ruling said the University of California's regent committees cannot make "a collective decision'' in closed session on possible future action to be taken concerning compensation matters.

Faculty, not administrators, make a quality university
By Christopher M. Witko, San Francisco Chronicle
Academia is frequently derided for being out of touch with the "real world." One real-world trend that has hit the academy is the practice of awarding ever-increasing compensation to executives while the wages of most employees remain stagnant or even decline and the quality of service provided to students deteriorates.

Easy spending
By the Riverside Press-Enterprise
The University of California's Board of Regents should show more respect for the taxpayers. The UC system is embroiled in a scandal over secret compensation deals and lavish perks. So what do the regents do last week? Approve large raises for top executives.

Auditing the academy: Time to get answers in CSU pay mess
By the Sacramento Bee
Pay arrangements in a public university system are supposed to serve the state's interest in strong academic institutions, not the personal financial interests of administrators. That may seem obvious, but unfortunately it isn't always the case in California.

TOP UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EMPLOYEE SALARIES
From the San Francisco Chronicle

UC piling extra cash on top of pay
8,500 top staffers pulling down at least $20,000 each in bonuses, compensation
By Tanya Schevitz and Todd Wallack, San Francisco Chronicle
When the University of California hired David Kessler as dean of the UCSF School of Medicine the university announced he would receive "total compensation" of $540,000 a year. Turns out he actually got much more. In addition to his salary, he received a one-time relocation allowance of $125,000, plus $30,000 for six months' rent and a low-interest home loan. There was more. He was reimbursed for his actual moving costs from Connecticut, and his family received round-trip airline tickets to go house-hunting in the Bay Area. Kessler is hardly unique. Despite UC's complaints that it has been squeezed by cuts in state funding and forced to raise student fees, many university faculty members and administrators get paid far more than is publicly reported.

Other perks include parties, gifts, travel
By Tanya Schevitz and Todd Wallack, Chronicle
In addition to their cash compensation, many senior UC employees receive significant fringe benefits. A partial list includes: Housing; a job for the person's spouse; entertainment; gifts; travel; and parties. UC representatives insist the expenses are legitimate and important, and many, such as travel, receptions and entertaining, shouldn't be considered perks at all. But some critics wonder whether it makes sense to hand so many perks to senior faculty and administrators who are already receiving six-figure paychecks.

Tenure is prize perk for exiting executives
By Jim Doyle, San Francisco Chronicle
History instructor Lillian Taiz taught for 10 years in various college classrooms before being awarded a coveted tenured professorship at the California State University campus in Los Angeles, then worked five more years as an associate professor before securing the rank and salary of a full professor. Christine Helwick, on the other hand, is the university system's top lawyer. She has never taught a college course in her life, but when she leaves her current job as general counsel, she has been promised a full, tenured professorship.

Extra pay follows top CSU brass out the door
Chancellor gives special perks to some departing executives
By Jim Doyle, San Francisco Chronicle
Millions of dollars worth of extra compensation has been handed out to California State University campus presidents and other top executives as they leave their posts -- without public disclosure by the chancellor and the university's Board of Trustees.

Regents committee OKs pay raises for top UC executives
Increases will bring salaries in line with peers', officials say
By Tanya Schevitz, San Francisco Chronicle
Seventy-one University of California executives will share $770,000 in raises, part of an effort that UC officials say is to bring their pay up to that of their peers at other universities. The increases were approved behind closed doors by the Compensation Committee of the UC Board of Regents.