Crossing Jonathan

From the LA Times:

UCLA law student Jonathan Hale and about 150 volunteers have painted unauthorized crosswalks at dangerous Los Angeles intersections, saying residents cannot wait for city action.

Advocates say traffic deaths rose 56% from 2015 to 2025 as the city’s Vision Zero effort faltered; officials say they maintain or add more than 1,000 crosswalks annually.

Hale, arrested while painting in Westwood before his case was dismissed, wants the city to legalize the work and recommit to Vision Zero. LADOT says it has met its commitments to him...

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-10-16/risking-arrest-he-paints-illicit-crosswalks-in-la-we-cant-wait. 

Straws in the Wind - Part 503

From the Cornell Daily Sun: Cornell’s annual drone and laser light show, scheduled to kick off homecoming weekend on Oct. 16, [was] canceled due to the City of Ithaca’s temporary moratorium on student event permitting, according to the Homecoming schedule website and a University spokesperson’s email to The Sun. The Ithaca Common Council passed a temporary moratorium on special event permits to Cornell and affiliated student organizations on Oct. 7. The moratorium, in effect until Nov. 5, impacts events with amplified sounds and music. “We canceled this year’s drone and laser light show to respect the City of Ithaca’s moratorium on permits for student events,” a University spokesperson wrote to The Sun. 

The event was slated for 8 p.m. on Friday at Schoellkopf Stadium, with attendance being free and open to the general public and DJ Chris Washburn opening the event. The decision comes amid national uproar following a Sept. 14 lawsuit in which a former Cornell student, identified as Jane Doe, alleged that she was sexually assaulted and gang raped after being coerced into consuming drugs at Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity house in 2024...

Full story at https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2026/10/cornell-cancels-homecoming-drone-and-laser-light-show-due-to-moratorium-on-student-events. 

Cautionary Note for UC Emeriti/Retirees

If you are a resident of LA County eligible for Medicare, you may have received a mailer advertising the UCLA Medicare Advantage Plan. NOTE THAT UCLA MEDICARE ADVANTAGE IS NOT AMONG THE OFFERINGS OF THE UC RETIREMENT SYSTEM'S HEALTH INSURANCE OPTIONS. If you are eligible for UC retiree health insurance, there is a Medicare Advantage option included, but it is NOT the UCLA Medicare Advantage Plan. Were you to enroll in the UCLA Medicare Advantage Plan, bad things will happen. Yes, it is confusing that the UCLA plan pops up in your mailbox at around the time that UC has its open enrollment period. But just ignore it.

Remote

From the Chronicle of Higher Education:

Natalia Emanuel and Emma Harrington met as Ph.D. students, when they were randomly assigned desks a few feet away from each other in a basement office at Harvard University. They started chatting and soon learned they shared an interest in improving work — both for workers and companies. The collaboration that ensued continued at Princeton University, where they both completed postdocs.

Their latest joint project is a book on the benefits of working together — face to face, in real time. In Person: How Working Together Fuels Creativity, Productivity, and Growth, which will be published later this month, describes the benefits of in-person collaboration and the drawbacks of remote work...

Many workers, including in higher ed, say they prefer to work remotely at least part time. Why do you think there’s such a gap between what people say they want and what might be good for them?

I think that the costs of remote work are very subtle, often. From a productivity perspective, the quality of work is harder to see than the quantity. At a more personal level, the costs can also be subtle. You don’t recognize that you’re not having these face-to-face interactions with colleagues, and so you’re not developing stronger relationships with them. It’s kind of hard to see that counterfactual, whereas it’s relatively easy to see the counterfactual of “I would have to be commuting and now I’m not and I really don’t like commuting.” ...The things that you’re potentially losing by not going into the office are these much mushier concepts — maybe you would have come up with a better idea if you were in person and you had a serendipitous collision with your colleague. But you don’t know that that would have happened.

Colleges and universities differ from other types of workplaces in many ways. Are there lessons from your research that would apply specifically to an academic setting?

It’s been interesting to see how resonant some of our findings have been with other academics. One of our papers looks at how much feedback software engineers get on their code, and we find that people who are distant from their colleagues, even by just a short walk, end up getting 20 percent fewer comments on their work. That hits young people harder, and also hits women harder because it looks like they’re less comfortable asking for advice when they have to do that digitally. A lot of young female academics, particularly, have come up to us and talked about the connection they see between that study and their own experience. I think the transition to being a professor from being a grad student is a tough one in the best of circumstances. In those contexts where it’s no one’s job to mentor you, it’s extra important to have this in-person reinforcement...

How can employers in higher ed persuade employees of the benefits of working in person?

Aspects of the data could be compelling. There is a study where they basically have teams of people or pairs of people try to come up with new ideas for products for a company, and the experiment randomizes them so that half of them are in Zoom meetings and half of them are in-person meetings. The people in in-person meetings come up with 14 percent more ideas. Their ideas are also rated as more creative. One hypothesis is that when people are on Zoom meetings, they’re always looking at the camera to kind of signal that engagement. But then you don’t get the eyes wandering, and that means you don’t get your mind wandering as much. There’s also a lot of other things that are happening in person that don’t translate totally to Zoom, like at a neurological level — your brains kind of light up in sync with the people you’re working with in person in a way that is not fully replicated online.

Faculty members enjoy the autonomy to work how and when they like. Does your research offer insights into whether there is a minimum number of hours to create these benefits of working in-person?

The office is not about having butts in seats, and everyone in their own office or cubicle or whatever the arrangement is. That could really imply some notion of core hours, where if most meetings with students, meetings with other faculty, happen between say 10 and 2, those could be the hours that faculty are implicitly expected to come in for... The emphasis should be on this idea of getting brains in sync.

Full story at https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-case-against-remote-work. 

Straws in the Wind - Part 502

From the Chronicle of Higher Education: ...The ed-tech marketplace is filled with tools that promise to either help students cheat or to detect AI cheating. It’s an accelerating arms race, pitting the newest AI technologies that mimic human behaviors against those that discern what is authentically human. The depth and layers of surveillance are “really sort of shocking,” said Marc Watkins, assistant director of academic innovation at the University of Mississippi. He spends many hours staying on top of these tools and how they are advertised to instructors and to students.

“Imagine setting up your system where half your time is going to be watching a sped-up process-tracking report to see if a student is copy and pasting something here, or going into an AI-detection report and wondering if 38 percent of this is AI-generated versus 15, and what level becomes a point where you bring a student up,” he said. “It’s too much, and people check out.”

The latest AI-detection tool, Pangram, has won attention for its accuracy in spotting AI writing. Yet surveillance seems to be a losing proposition. Watkins noted that a student could purchase Pangram alongside a generative-AI program such as Claude Code, then have it repeatedly rework an AI-written essay 100 times over until it passes cleanly through the detector.

The students who win the cheating game “would be the ones who had the most resources and also had the most knowledge about how these systems work,” he said. “Our assessment strategy would basically only really detect and punish those students who didn’t have that access.” ...

Full story at https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-new-nanny-state. 

Parallel Blogs / Subscribing / Song

We have been putting out this blog since 2009 under the heading "UCLA Faculty Association" using the link:

https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/

The blog site was originally created by the then-executive director of the Faculty Association. As such, yours truly does not have control of the site; he is simply a blogger on it. So when technical issues arise, that can be a problem. Given that issue, we have been adding a parallel site with the same blog entries since July 23rd:

https://danmitchellsblogcontinues.blogspot.com/

We will be running the two in parallel for the indefinite future. Possibly, at some point we will switch to the new link.

If you read the blog using the Facebook page of Yousee Elayemeriti, you can continue to do so:

https://www.facebook.com/yousee.elayemeriti

===

Want to subscribe?

You can't subscribe directly. But you can subscribe indirectly to this blog via a service called Blogtrottr. Go to blogtrottr.com and fill in the URL for the blog:

https://danmitchellsblogcontinues.blogspot.com/ 

or

https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/

and put in your email address. 

You will then receive an email at the email address you provided asking you to confirm. After you confirm, you will receive an email notification of new postings whenever they appear. If there are, say, three postings on a particular day, you will receive three notifications (one for each one). 

Note and full disclosure: There are ads on these notifications. 

==

And here's a little song, based on the information above, composed by Gemini:

"Sharp and Clever Pen":

Or https://archive.org/details/sharp-and-clever-pen

Verse 1

I scroll the screen looking for some light

A voice that cuts right through the noise

They talk about the taxes and the spin

But Dan Mitchell has a different kind of truth

He talks about the spending and the waste

The parallel blogs that keep us truly free

Independent channels are the only way to go

To find the analysis the mainstream never shows

--

Chorus

Get real economic facts!

Escape the corporate tracks!

Subscribe and find the key!

To keep your mind free!

Get real economic facts!

Escape the corporate tracks!

Subscribe and find the key!

To keep your mind free!

--

Verse 2

He analyzes policy with a sharp and clever pen

Decentralized and honest, standing on his own ground

You don't need their filters and you don't need their spin

Just some liberty and facts to help you really win

Bookmark the connection and let the truth begin to flow

A parallel alternative to the status quo we know

Fiscal sense and freedom are waiting on the page

The perfect antidote for a confusing modern age

--

Chorus

Get real economic facts!

Escape the corporate tracks!

Subscribe and find the key!

To keep your mind free!

Get real economic facts!

Escape the corporate tracks!

Subscribe and find the key!

To keep your mind free!

--

Outro

Yeah, find the facts for yourself

Dan Mitchell's blog is out there waiting

Just click and subscribe and see the difference

Get free and stay informed always.    

Olympics

From Chancellor Frenk: In less than two years, the Olympic and Paralympic Games will return to Los Angeles for the first time since 1984 — and UCLA will once again have the extraordinary honor of welcoming the world to our campus as the home of the Olympic and Paralympic Village. Today, we are launching https://2028.ucla.edu/, UCLA’s central digital hub for our journey to the Summer Games. The site will celebrate our history as the home of Olympians and Paralympians and share inspiring stories of Bruin athletes. It will also provide updates on anticipated campus impacts...

Full statement at https://chancellor.ucla.edu/messages/uclas-olympic-and-paralympic-journey. 

Where the money is - Part 2

From the Daily Californian: Four Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers have received Early Career Research Program awards from the U.S. Department of Energy. Each scientist will receive $875,000 from the department to pursue their desired research over the next five years. The awardees — Asmit Bhowmick, Bingqing Cheng, Marcus Noack and Dan Wang — will focus their research on applying artificial intelligence, which the federal administration has labeled “superintelligence,” in the fields of physics, biology and chemistry. Both Wang and Noack will focus on developing AI systems that are guided by physics, with Wang’s research focusing on AI’s possible use to control particle accelerators. Cheng, an assistant professor of chemistry at UC Berkeley, will use AI to try to find how electric fields affect chemistry...

The awards were dispensed by the Office of Science of the DOE, which describes itself as the largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences nationwide, supporting 32,000 researchers...

Full story at https://www.dailycal.org/news/campus/doe-awards-4-berkeley-lab-uc-berkeley-scientists-funding-for-ai-research/article_12c21622-ed5b-4ffd-9ec4-bd307d2ff6e6.html. 

Straws in the Wind - Part 501

From Inside Higher Ed: The National Institutes of Health awarded nearly 12 percent fewer grants in fiscal year 2026 compared to the year before President Trump took office... The data from the Association of American Medical Colleges shows that NIH obligated all of its funds for fiscal years 2025 and 2026, but the way in which the agency is awarding grants continues to cause uncertainty for research institutions. NIH is funding more grants up front—a practice that allows the agency to get more money out the door but supports fewer projects over all. And the agency has yet to reinstate hundreds of grants that were frozen or terminated early in the second Trump administration.

AAMC has been tracking NIH funding for the past two years, and this latest brief offers a “look at the funding trends that have reshaped the research environment” since Trump returned to the White House. In fiscal year 2026, NIH awarded 56,600 grants, which was a slight drop from the 58,500 awarded the previous year. But in fiscal year 2024, the agency awarded 64,000 grants...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/10/16/new-analysis-finds-nih-awarded-7400-fewer-grants. 

A new problem to solve

From the New York Times: Terence Tao is typically described as one of the world’s greatest living mathematicians, but right now he is doing very little math. “I’m on a war footing,” he said while grabbing coffee during a two-day math workshop at the University of California, Los Angeles, that was rife with talk about the existential crisis that artificial intelligence has created in his field. Days earlier OpenAI had announced that it had solved the Navier-Stokes problem, one of seven “Millennium Prize problems” that had stymied the greatest minds in math for nearly a century. “There are no rules any more,” Dr. Tao, 51, said in an interview before the workshop in his modest office on the U.C.L.A. campus, his home since 1996, when he arrived after completing his doctorate at Princeton at the age of 20. ...He was hit by a bigger bomb on Oct. 6, when OpenAI released more than 350 findings in nearly every subfield of the profession, including algebra, number theory, theoretical computer science, mathematical logic and topology. Stunned mathematicians, some who were close to solving problems they had worked on for years, found themselves beaten in an instant by A.I.

Dr. Tao, who has been a tenured professor since the age of 24, said senior academics like himself are not as threatened by A.I. as those starting out. But the math world is looking to him for answers. He has accepted that his celebrated status has made him an unofficial spokesman for the field, a job that for now is consuming most of his time. Until recently his job was as a bridge between the slow-moving world of higher math and the scorching speed of A.I. Dr. Tao, who uses A.I. as an assistant to run calculations, write code, search vast troves of literature and brainstorm ideas, has been experimenting with OpenAI’s models since 2023. He was an enthusiast for a “best of both worlds” future. OpenAI’s releases have now left him feeling used. “As recently as a year ago, I had a pretty good relationship with many employees at OpenAI,” he said in a recent phone conversation ...“At this point, I don’t see a way to constructively engage.”

...At the heart of the crisis in the profession is a menacing question. If solving hard problems is a mission of math, what happens when machines can do it faster? So much of higher math — hiring, promotions, graduate training and acclaim — is based on the difficulty, quality and the impact of papers (the written documents explaining proofs) that a mathematician produces. The consensus is that A.I.-assisted problem solving is the inevitable future, but no one knows exactly what that new world will look like. “Deep uncertainty will persist in these next years,” a draft report by a group of mathematicians meeting at Harvard on Ph.D. education concluded last month...

Full story at https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/16/us/math-ai-terence-tao.html.

Campaign

UCLA appears to have launched a "True Bruin" campaign featuring faculty on Instagram and Facebook: 

Or direct to https://ia600406.us.archive.org/14/items/newsom-briefings-oct.-1-2026/UCLA%20True%20Bruin%20campaign%20Jorja%20Leap%20downloaded%2010-20-2026.mp4.

A note on the Facebook version indicates these clips disappear after a day or so. Not sure about Instagram. 

Swap

Not sure exactly how this works but Mom is onboard...

From the Daily Bruin: A new platform is aiming to help UCLA students swap enrollment stress for smoother schedules. Joseph Borna, a fifth-year history student, created ClassSwap over the summer to connect students looking to exchange classes and allow users to share course recommendations and feedback... Students can upload the class they are currently enrolled in alongside their desired class with information detailing the discussion section number, professor and location. “If we’re both in a section we’re unhappy with, maybe we can find a way to meet or drop each other’s courses and find a way to exchange sections in a way while abiding UCLA’s code of conduct,” he said...

Maya Borna, Joseph Borna’s mother, said she manages ClassSwap’s social media and meets with students to promote the software...

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2026/10/15/classswap-platform-hopes-to-solve-enrollment-woes-help-students-graduate-on-time. 

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 207

From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard’s endowment grew up by more than $11 billion to nearly $68 billion in fiscal year 2026 after posting a roughly 27 percent investment return, its highest since 2021, according to the University’s annual financial report... Harvard also reported a $100 million operating surplus — a modest 1.5 percent margin on $6.7 billion in revenue — following a major deficit last year. The $2.6 billion endowment distribution now makes up nearly 40 percent of the University’s operating revenue...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/10/16/harvard-68-billion-endowment/.

==

From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard received a record $684 million in current-use gifts in fiscal year 2026, a 9 percent increase that marked the second consecutive year of record giving, according to the University’s annual financial report... But after donors redesignated $41 million in gifts from previous years to the endowment, Harvard recorded just $643 million in current-use operating revenue — an increase of roughly 2 percent from the $629 million reported last year. The University reported more than $1.5 billion in total gifts for fiscal year 2026, and philanthropy now accounts up 48 percent of operating revenue, including both current-use gifts and endowment distribution.

The two consecutive years of record giving stand in stark contrast to fiscal year 2024, when major Harvard donors paused or withdrew gifts following the University’s response to campus antisemitism. Though current-use gifts still increased that year, total philanthropic contributions fell significantly by $151 million, one of the steepest drops in a decade...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/10/16/harvard-current-use-gifts-2026/.

==

From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard reported sharp declines in federal sponsored research revenue and overall research activity, according to the University’s annual financial report... Harvard’s federal research revenue fell by nearly 20 percent to $506 million, while federally sponsored research activity fell by roughly one-third on a comparable basis, according to the report. Total sponsored research support dropped 14 percent, from just over $973 million in 2025 to about $839 million this year...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/10/16/harvard-federal-research-revenue-2026/. 

Straws in the Wind - Part 500

From Inside Higher Ed: The job market for humanities scholars may be bleaker than ever—except for the handful of academics who specialize in the philosophy of artificial intelligence. 

Although a small subset of philosophers have long worked at the intersection of science and technology, the rapid integration of generative AI into daily life over the past four years has heightened demand for their expertise. Philosophy departments across the country have already hired faculty for new, AI-specific positions, and a quick scan of the online job board PhilJobs.com shows that the trend isn’t slowing down. So far this fall, more than a dozen philosophy departments—including at Purdue University, the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Georgia Institute of Technology—have announced searches for AI-focused tenure-track faculty...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty/2026/10/15/universities-have-gone-ai-philosopher-hiring-spree. 

Strikes and Protests

The Cornell School of Labor and Employment Relations has put out a "Labor Action Tracker" that lists known strikes and other labor-related "protests" back about 6 years. If you ask it for strikes at the University of California, it lists 12 strikes in that period and identifies where they occurred, the union involved, and other strike characteristics. Be aware that the maps may not be accurate. A Westwood protest, for example, showed a map location at what seemed to be a random area in LA. It's probably best to look at the particular strikes and/or protests listed and not worry about maps and overall counts. Just list "University of California" as the employer. The tracker is at:

https://striketracker.ilr.cornell.edu/. 

Stanford as the next Cornell

On its face, the Stanford case seems less legally fraught than the Cornell case:

From the California Post: A Stanford graduate who was allegedly raped in her dorm room at 19 has blasted the school for its handling of her case — revealing her attacker can finish his degree this fall. The woman, who has remained a Jane Doe, detailed her ordeal in a blistering first-person account published in The Stanford Daily, the student-run campus newspaper, accusing officials and cops of repeated delays and mistakes that left her fighting for accountability for years.

“Over the last four years, I have struggled to make sense of what happened to me, and what continues to happen,” she wrote, questioning why the student was allowed to retain a path to graduation after Stanford found him responsible for “vaginally, digitally and orally raping her.” ...

The survivor also questioned why the university did not expel the student, asking: “If finding a student responsible for vaginally, digitally and orally raping their peer didn’t warrant an expulsion, what would?”

Stanford said the decision wasn’t its to make.

“Independent outside arbitrators—not the University—conduct Stanford’s Title IX hearings, impose sanctions, and hear appeals from either party,” the university said in a statement to The California Post.

University policy states that rape and domestic violence are “particularly egregious and likely warrant separation/termination or expulsion,” according to the statement, with the arbitrator applying that policy to the facts of each case...

Full story at https://nypost.com/2026/10/18/us-news/stanford-girl-scorches-elite-college-after-traumatic-dorm-room-rape-as-she-slams-cornell-7-case/. 

The Stanford Daily story is at https://stanforddaily.com/2026/10/15/a-stanford-jane-doe/. "In response to The Daily’s request for comment on this op-ed, the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office wrote that the office has filed a criminal case and is preparing for trial..."

NOTE: A follow-up story in the Stanford Daily refers to documents that suggest university authorities have a less passive role than just following the decision of an outside arbitrator. See https://stanforddaily.com/2026/10/18/stanford-responds-rape-case-failures/.

Night Owls Beware

From the Santa Monica Mirror:

Caltrans crews will install concrete barriers and repave lanes during a multi-night rehabilitation project starting Oct. 19.

By Sarah Lin

https://smmirror.com/caltrans-announces-overnight-405-freeway-closures-in-sepulveda-pass/

Motorists traveling through the Sepulveda Pass should prepare for significant late-night delays next week as state transportation crews begin widespread pavement rehabilitation along Interstate 405.

Caltrans announced that workers will implement overnight lane reductions, ramp shutdowns, and major connector closures along the 405 freeway from Monday, Oct. 19, through Friday, Oct. 23. Work is scheduled each night from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. to accommodate paving work and K-rail barrier installation.

To enhance safety around work zones, officials are lowering the speed limit to 55 mph across selected northbound and southbound stretches.

The planned overnight closure schedule includes:

• Northbound 405: Up to four lanes will close between Wilshire Boulevard and Skirball Center Drive/Mulholland Drive. Associated closures include the Getty Center Drive on- and off-ramps, as well as the northbound off-ramp to Skirball Center Drive/Mulholland Drive.
• Southbound 405: Up to four lanes will close between U.S. Route 101 and Skirball Center Drive/Mulholland Drive. Closed ramps include the Sepulveda Boulevard off- and on-ramps, the Ventura Boulevard off- and on-ramps, and the Burbank Boulevard on-ramp.
• Connector Closures: Both northbound and southbound U.S. 101 connectors to the southbound 405 freeway will be blocked during work hours.

Caltrans advises drivers to plan for extra travel time or use alternate routes while construction is underway. All work remains subject to change based on weather and operational conditions.

Buy Now, Tell Later

From the Daily Bruin: After the UC acquired at least 15 Westwood commercial properties worth about $50 million last summer, Chancellor Julio Frenk said the new spaces would be used for classrooms and graduate student housing. But beyond that, the University has released few specific details about the acquisitions. Both UC Investments and UCLA Media Relations declined several requests for comment on specific plans for the properties and how the purchases could impact Westwood businesses...

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2026/10/13/ucs-westwood-purchases-incite-questions-excitement.

Hey, we're still wondering what UCLA will do with its purchase of an inaccessible defunct Catholic college campus in Palos Verdes. At least Westwood is close to home. 

Straws in the Wind - Part 499

From ABC News: ...A member of the Marine Corps who shares the same name as one of the defendants in the [Cornell rape] case asked the court to restrict some of the filings in the case because he and his family have been the subject of "continued and ongoing harassment, including death threats from members of the public." Judge Phaedra Perry-Bond agreed to seal some of the filings on Friday, condemning what she described as "misguided vigilantism."

"This Court strongly condemns the reported acts of threats and doxing, which can only be characterized as brash, reckless, and ultimately dangerous internet vigilantism, " the judge wrote. "Our society has developed procedures and legal mechanisms over the course of centuries to ensure justice and due process are afforded to all. When certain actors decide to work outside those robust and developed frameworks, innocent people often get hurt. That is precisely what has happened here."

Full story at https://abcnews.com/US/accused-cornell-university-student-asks-gag-order/story?id=137205955. 

Nine Minute Limit: Article and Song

From the Daily Californian: About 10 minutes of relying on AI assistance for problem-solving can significantly impair a person’s ability to persist through difficult tasks, according to a study coauthored by Brian Christian, a research fellow at the Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence at UC Berkeley. The researchers observed human-AI interactions through a series of tasks, including mathematical reasoning and reading comprehension problems from the SAT given to more than 1,200 participants.

They found the experimental group that was able to use AI assistance for part of the test were less accurate and less persistent in solving the remaining problems once it was taken away, than those who did not have access to AI in the first place. According to the paper, the drop in accuracy and persistence emerged after only spending about 10 minutes interacting with AI.

The research began as a project with first author Grace Liu, a Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon University, and UCLA professor Rachit Dubey, the paper’s principal investigator... “We noticed in our own work that we were becoming normalized to increasing AI assistance in writing, coding, and research-related tasks and wanted to study this effect cognitively,” Liu said in an email...

Full story at https://www.dailycal.org/news/campus/research-and-ideas/uc-berkeley-researcher-discovers-just-10-minutes-of-ai-use-impairs-problem-solving-abilities/article_da5824c7-0b2c-4299-9cff-37c3c38d55a1.html.

===

From Gemini Music Composer:

-- "Nine Minute Limit" is a modern Americana and folk song that explores the psychological and cognitive impact of relying too heavily on AI assistance for problem-solving. Inspired by the research of Brian Christian, Grace Liu, and Rachit Dubey, the track reflects on how just ten minutes of AI reliance during tasks like SAT reading comprehension and math can erode human persistence, accuracy, and the grit needed to push through difficult challenges.

Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/shorts/SCe-mfcL360. -- Here are the lyrics to "Nine Minute Limit": -- Verse 1 Sit down with a pencil in hand Thinking bout what Brian Christian observed Ten minutes goes by so fast Before all of our grit gets burned Grace Liu saw it happening first Working late with professor Dubey How we lean on the glow And just let our minds fade -- Chorus Nine minute limit we take Nine minute limit we break Easier ways make us weak Losing the power to seek -- Verse 2 Twelve hundred people in a room Puzzles and problems to be solved But once the machine did its part All their endurance just dissolved Reading words and adding the sums The study showed what we become Normalized to the easy way out Leaving us with quiet self doubt -- Chorus Nine minute limit we take Nine minute limit we break Easier ways make us weak Losing the power to seek -- Bridge We coders and we writers too Letting the machine do the hard work for you What happens when the answers disappear And we are left with nothing but our own fear -- Chorus Nine minute limit we take Nine minute limit we break Easier ways make us weak Losing the power to seek Nine minute limit we take Nine minute limit we break Easier ways make us weak Losing the power to seek -- Outro So don't let go of the fight Keep your own spark burning bright Past the nine minute limit on the screen Let yourself be heard and be seen

Opening Soon on a Computer Near You!

Go to: https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/oe/ on Friday. From the Academic Senate's newsletter:

Overall health insurance costs will rise by 9.5% in 2027. Effects on employee premiums [will be] detailed in this year’s Open Enrollment materials.

Health Net, the administrator of UC’s Blue & Gold HMO plan, has announced that it will leave the California market. This change will not affect Open Enrollment for 2027. UCOP Human Resources will begin a search for a new vendor shortly to ensure continuity of coverage for employees who elect Blue & Gold HMO in 2028.

Full newsletter at https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/reports/faculty-news-and-views-f26-newsletter.pdf. 

Straws in the Wind - Part 498

From the Daily Princetonian: Princeton is evaluating the future of the Center on Science and Technology as part of broader University budget reductions, with administrators considering a reorganization that could shift parts of the center’s work to other campus units... Staff and faculty of the StudioLab, a creative technology space operated by the Center on Science and Technology received an email from the StudioLab manager, Brendan Byrne, informing employees that University budget cuts will impact the CST. 

In an email obtained by The Daily Princetonian, Byrne wrote that further University budget cuts will be made and that the CST will “experience a reorganization in the coming months.” Following the suspension of several federal research grants in April 2025, the University has issued budget cuts across several departments... 

Full story at https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2026/10/princeton-news-center-on-science-and-technology-being-evaluated-budget-constraints. 

Tempest in a Teapot - It Continues

Some things just don't go away, as we have pointed out before = Sept. 4, 26, 30:

From the Daily Bruin (editorial): ...Seven current and former UCLA employees have filed at least 22 whistleblower and retaliation reports against Mary Osako, UCLA’s vice chancellor for strategic communications. They allege she fostered a culture of intimidation and silenced those in the department who disagreed with her. Osako also allegedly spent millions of university dollars on overlapping contracts with communications firms, some of which were owned by her friends.

The allegations against Osako have the potential to damage the entire university’s reputation – ironic given Osako’s involvement with strategic communications, a department tasked with representing UCLA’s image. Despite an independent investigation substantiating several claims about Osako’s conduct, she remains in her position. The university must commit to fostering a culture of greater transparency among administrators. This includes disclosing information about Osako’s case and explaining any disciplinary action taken against her, or the reasoning for a lack thereof...

Full editorial at https://dailybruin.com/2026/10/12/ucla-cant-stay-silent-about-whistleblower-complaints-against-mary-osako.

So we continue to wait.  

Saying No to ICE

From the Daily Californian: The UC Berkeley International Office plans to oppose a new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement proposal that would require colleges and universities to pay a $70,000 fee before recommending an international student for work authorization.

Optional Practical Training, or OPT, allows international students to work in their field of study for up to one year after graduation. Graduates with eligible STEM degrees can apply for a two-year extension. Under the proposal, universities would also pay $30,000 for individual students’ subsequent OPT recommendations, including STEM extensions, after paying the initial fee. ICE said schools could pass the costs on to students or employers. BIO told students in an Oct. 7 email that the proposal has not taken effect and current OPT procedures remain unchanged...

Full story at https://www.dailycal.org/news/campus/administration/uc-berkeley-to-oppose-70k-ice-fee-on-international-student-work-visas/article_6fadb723-a66c-47d8-a24a-698f5f0549d3.html.

Straws in the Wind - Part 497

From The Dartmouth: ...Interim dean of the faculty of Arts and Sciences and government professor John Carey sent an email to Dartmouth’s undergraduate faculty containing “guidelines on use of AI detection in teaching.” The guidelines permit faculty to input student work to artificial intelligence detector Pangram. Pangram — which was found to have a “near-zero error rate” by an October 2025 University of Chicago audit — uses a large language model neural network that is trained to recognize differences between separate datasets of human-written documents and AI-generated content, according to the company’s website...

The guidelines also state that faculty “must inform” students of course policies on AI, including whether the professor may use AI detectors and whether the “results of such assessments could affect grades.” ...

Full story at https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026/10/hyde-dean-of-faculty-authorizes-professors-to-use-ai-detector-pangram-to-review-student-work. 

Watch the Regents Meeting of Sept. 16, 2026 - Part 2

We continue our (delayed) coverage of the third day - Sept. 16 - of the most recent Regents meetings. Part 1 is at:

https://danmitchellsblogcontinues.blogspot.com/2026/10/watch-regents-meeting-of-sept-16-part-1.html

At the Academic and Student Affairs Committee, there was a report about UC STEM outcomes. The math problem was acknowledged but it was stated that there was a growing math issue starting before the pandemic. It shows up on tests in high school. One (partial) solution was suggested in the form of a math course for life sciences majors at Berkeley. It focuses on the math thought to be needed for biology. In the subsequent discussion, it was noted that such a course would not work for other sciences. Regent Park felt that there still seemed to be a math problem. Some of the discussion suggested a need for UC to intervene at the high school level.

There followed a discussion of AI and student career readiness. Although there was a lot of emphasis on maintaining "engagement" in the face of AI, much of the discussion was predicable. Will there be job loss? What kinds of new jobs and skills will be needed? It was suggested that work-based learning (internships) should be encouraged. There should be more hands-on work and oral presentation. Career education would not be one-and-done, but would have to continue throughout worklife. Although the A-G requirements in high school would seem to be affected by the development of AI, there was no real discussion connecting the A-G issue with AI.

Following the AI discussion, the student observer - who was a former STEM high school teacher, commented that many high schools can't afford to offer advanced coursework. UC students could be helpful as mentors.

At Finance and Capital Strategies, there was discussion and approval of a CEQA report and other elements for a proposed project - in cooperation with NASA - of the Berkeley Air & Space Center. The Center has a history going back to Sputnik days. A full proposal will be made in 2028. The site - which will have some housing for students and visiting scholars - requires decontamination. UC was said to have protections against lawsuits related to the contamination cleanup.

Approval was also given to part of the UCLA research project which is being housed in the former Westside Pavilion. A mix of funding from the state and external sources is involved. The Institute - which would receive funds from Prop 38 if passed by voters - is an independent entity with UCLA representatives on its board. However, the Institute and overall project is not dependent on Prop 38. Although the committee approved the proposal, Regent Montasantos voted "no" for unexplained reasons. (She later abstained in the vote to approve the committee report at the full board.)

Finally, the committee discussed the UC budget proposed for 2027-28 which totaled $65 billion. Fifty-five percent of that budget is now UC Health, which has been growing relative to the rest of UC. While there was much praise for the "compact" with the state that has now ended. Yet it was reported that UC is $86 million short compared to what the compact was supposed to deliver. 

After the budget discussion, the student observer noted the importance of student support services, especially for disabilities and for international students. In general discussion, there was a call for some measure of "quality" rather than the focus on number of students enrolled.

The National Labs committee heard a presentation by Lawrence Livermore director Kim Bodil. LLNL has a budget of $3.5 billion/year and 9,000 workers. The contract UC and its consortium associates have for managing LLNL was renewed for five years beginning October 1, 2026. It was said that two thirds of its activities involve nuclear security. Biosecurity, cybersecurity, and space security were also mentioned. Other activities involve such areas as quantum computing. It is interesting that those who have called for "military" divestment seem unaware of LLNL (and Los Alamos).

At the end of the meeting, the full board approved the various committee reports and passed a resolution thanking former provost Newman.

As always, we preserve recordings of Regents meetings since the Regents have no policy on duration of retention.

You can find Academic and Student Affairs starting at 2:55:15 of:

https://ia601003.us.archive.org/31/items/regents-9-16-2026/Board%2C%20Academic%20and%20Student%20Affairs%209-16-2026.mp4

Finance and Capital Strategies and the full Board wrap-up is at:

https://ia601003.us.archive.org/31/items/regents-9-16-2026/Finance%20and%20Capital%20Strategies%2C%20National%20Laboratories%2C%20Board%209-16-2026.mp4

The general web page for Sept. 16 is:

https://archive.org/details/regents-9-16-2026. 

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 206

From the Harvard Crimson:

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/10/16/harvard-legal-fees-2026/. 

The Way We Live Now

UNIVERSITY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATIONAL POLICY: ANNUAL REMINDER ABOUT THREATS TO ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

This is a reminder from the University Committee on Educational Policy (UCEP) to all University of California faculty to be vigilant about the threats to academic integrity and intellectual property posed by online services where students share copyrighted course materials and pay third parties for completing students’ assignments, papers, and exams.

Posting of instructor-owned course materials to third-party websites without the instructor’s permission is especially problematic because it may at once violate intellectual property rights, provide opportunities for students to cheat, and financially enrich these third-party online services.

In an effort to mitigate these risks, we recommend several measures:

(1) remind students of the specific actions that constitute violations of academic integrity and intellectual property policies and of the serious consequences of committing such violations. This can be done through statements in course syllabi and announcements in class meetings at the beginning of each quarter or semester.

(2) include a copyright notice on your course materials. For some guidance on copyright notices, please see the following link: https://copyright.universityofcalifornia.edu/faqs/#h.

(3) include the following sentence in your course materials in the header or footer of course materials: “This content is protected and may not be shared, uploaded, or distributed.” One online service, Course Hero, has indicated that its filtering tool will generally prohibit the upload of documents that contain this statement.

(4) define whether the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools is acceptable. And, if so, articulate what type of use is acceptable (e.g., are they allowed to share your course materials?). The syllabus should notify students if they are required to acknowledge use of GenAI in their coursework.

The University of California Office of the President (UCOP) has issued similar guidance regarding the unauthorized uploading of course materials; such guidance may be found here:

https://copyright.universityofcalifornia.edu/ownership/protect-course-materials.html 

In addition, each campus has its own policies and procedures related to violations of academic integrity, and faculty should make sure they are fully aware of the most up-to-date information on this topic. The UCOP webpage referenced in this paragraph includes a drop-down menu titled “UC Resources,” which includes links to further information about policies and resources on each campus.

UCEP recognizes there are no easy solutions to the unauthorized posting of course materials onto third party websites and that dealing with these issues adds yet another item to a faculty member’s long list of responsibilities. The measures referenced in this memo are, however, relatively straightforward and not unduly onerous, especially given the seriousness and importance of the concerns they address.

===

Source: https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/council-chair-to-senate-divisions-re-ucep-recs-on-academic-integrity-annual-reminder-10-7-26.pdf. 

Straws in the Wind - Part 496

From The Dartmouth: Dartmouth Dialogues, College President Sian Leah Beilock’s signature initiative to promote meaningful dialogue across differing perspectives, launched a new certificate program for students on Sept. 14. The purpose of the Certificate in Principles of Dialogue program is to train Dartmouth students to “feel confident” in “productive dialogue around complex topics,” manage their emotional responses and ask “genuinely curious questions” about a conversation partner’s “underlying values and experiences,” according to the Dartmouth Dialogues website. Upon completion, students will receive a “digital badge that can be added to their LinkedIn profile.”

Dartmouth Dialogues program coordinator Trevor Fornara, who joined in March, “took up the mantle” of launching the certificate program, Fornara said in an interview with The Dartmouth. The digital badge can “articulate” to potential employers that a student was “engaged in the culture of dialogue” at Dartmouth and is an example of micro-credentialing, or a short program focused on a particular skill, Fornara said... In the age of artificial intelligence, technical skills are “increasingly devalued” by employers, Fornara said. “Now, hiring managers are looking more for people with social communication skills as opposed to technical skills.” ...

Full story at https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026/10/angell-tenn-dartmouth-dialogues-launches-certificate-program-for-students. 

Calculations

                         UCLA       USC 

------------------------------------------

Students/Faculty         18.3       7.1

Faculty/Employment        4.6%     25.2% 

Part-Timers/Faculty      17.1%     29.5%

Degrees/Faculty          10.2       3.7

Undergrads/Total         70.7%     45.7

-------------------------------------------

Source: LA Business Journal, Sept. 14, 2026, p. 17. "Faculty" = full time and part time. Employment = faculty and nonfaculty employees. 

The Bond - Part 2

Gov. Newsom has come out in favor of Proposition 38 on the November ballot: a measure to authorize $8.4 billion in state general obligation bonds for immunology and immunotherapy research, split between a University of California-affiliated nonprofit institute and a grant program for public or nonprofit research institutions. The Institute will be housed at the former Westside Pavilion site now owned by UCLA.

Source: https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/gavin-newsom-ballot-propositions-22470170.php. 

Straws in the Wind - Part 495

From Inside Higher Ed: A group of current and former Lincoln University students filed a federal lawsuit... against the state of Missouri, seeking $548.7 million owed to the Black land-grant institution for funds the state neglected to allocate to the university between 1987 and 2020, plus interest.

The filing marks the beginning of a campaign by a group called the 1890 Project to seek repayment of the $12.6 billion of documented underfunding of historically Black land-grant colleges in 16 states. Donald Calloway Jr., the group’s lead attorney, said they will pursue repayment through litigation, negotiation and legislation...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/courts/2026/10/07/lincoln-u-students-alumni-sue-missouri-549m.

Translation

A recent look at the UC webpage https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/about-uc had the upper left title as Universidad de California (image on right). Using the Internet Archive's Wayback machine, I found that the conversion from University of California (image on left) occurred some time between August and September. Oddly, given the change, there is no Spanish option for anything else on the page in the later version.

Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 205

From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard is privately weighing a rapid-fire fundraising push to secure $500 million for University-wide scientific research priorities, according to two people familiar with the matter. The $500 million target has been floated internally in recent conversations, the two people said, but is not a finalized goal. The two said the University was hoping to raise the money by the end of the academic year. The short-term fundraising campaign would arrive in tandem with a sweeping University effort to rethink how Harvard will support its science and medical research in the wake of massive federal grant cuts.

Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 initiated a faculty Science Advisory Committee this summer to map out a long-term vision for scientific research, and the University set aside $150 million last week to fund cutting-edge projects. The tentative fundraising initiative mimics a successful Faculty of Arts and Sciences campaign this spring to raise $100 million for endowed Ph.D. fellowships. That campaign, launched in February, met its goal within four months, and the FAS promptly announced another $100 million challenge. The newest push appears to apply that template — short-term fundraising for targeted needs — more widely. As it stands, the University will seek fundraising support for defined scientific research occurring across Harvard, the two people said...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/10/9/science-fundraising/. 

Drill Today

BruinADVISORY: 

Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drill — Thursday, Oct. 15 at 10:15 a.m.

Bruin Community,

UCLA will participate in the annual Great ShakeOut earthquake drill at 10:15 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15. The Great ShakeOut is the world’s largest earthquake preparedness drill and provides the UCLA community an opportunity to practice how to respond safely during an earthquake. Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to participate by practicing Drop, Cover and Hold On for approximately one minute.

As part of the exercise, UCLA will test multiple emergency communication systems. A BruinALERT test message will be sent, and those near Bruin Walk may also hear the drill notification broadcast over UCLA’s outdoor warning speakers. The speaker message may repeat for several minutes as part of the test.

This is a planned emergency preparedness exercise. There is no current emergency on the UCLA campus.

During the drill:

• DROP to your hands and knees.
  
• COVER your head and neck and, if possible, take shelter under a sturdy desk or table.
  
• HOLD ON until the simulated shaking has stopped.
  

In an actual emergency, UCLA may provide instructions through BruinALERT, the outdoor warning speakers and other emergency communication systems. Updates and additional information may also be posted on Bruins Safe Online, UCLA’s emergency information website.

Prepare now
UCLA community members are automatically enrolled to receive BruinALERT emergency notifications. Please make sure your contact information is current by visiting the BruinALERT website.

Bruins are also encouraged to:

• Download the Bruins Safe App from the Apple App Store or Google Play.
  
• Bookmark Bruins Safe Online for emergency information and campus status updates.
  
• Download MyShake, California’s earthquake early-warning app.
  
• Review UCLA’s earthquake preparedness resources and Great ShakeOut drill videos in English and Spanish.
  

Taking a few moments to practice now can help you respond quickly and safely during an actual earthquake.

Sincerely,

Lisa A. Martin

Director, Office of Emergency Management

Office of Campus & Community Safety