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UCSD admissions not entirely clean
In my day, Berkeley was considered the top UC campus and UCLA the runner up. But Charles Young wanted to change that, and when he became chancellor of UCLA in 1968 he went to work and boosted its reputation greatly. But as for making UCLA a household word, it was John Wooden and his many NCAA basketball national championships that really did the job. In more recent years UCB, UCLA and our local upstart UCSD have been jockeying for top dog in how many undergrad applications they receive. The usual winner is UCLA, you know, UC Hollywood and UC at the Beach. One of my offspring followed in my footsteps and headed to Westwood about twenty years ago. What attracted him? Well, I kept those yearbooks from the 60's out where he saw them, and he thought the sports programs would still be as good as they were when Wooden and his boys were knocking down titles, and when Gary Beban won the Heisman Trophy. While he was there neither team did worth a hoot. Oh, I didn't bribe his way in; he did it all on his own.— May 27, 2020 2:48 p.m.
UCSD admissions not entirely clean
Hmm. You were a cheerleader at UCLA, huh? When I was there, over fifty years ago, that was a glamorous thing to be for sure. Only back then they were called Song Girls. There was one guy, at least who was called "Yell Leader". Anyway, over the intervening years, that squad was tough to get into, as it got (frankly) sexier. Back in my time, it wasn't all that hard to get admitted to UCLA--you needed the required courses from high school, but the grade point average wasn't all that high. The real challenge for many students admitted was academic, and there was a huge flunk out/dropout rate among frosh. Assuming that you were there far more recently than I was, the hurdles to get over were higher, and there might have been some special consideration available to such students as cheerleaders. But until recently, most of the admissions have been formulaic, based on SAT score and high school GPA. I do understand why these wealthy folks want to buy the way for their kids into certain universities. It's a way of making the kid happy, and regardless of his/her success in school, it won't affect the future life of the offspring much or at all. It is fraud and I don't condone it, and feel a bit sorry for the kids who are now kicked out of the school for having been admitted fraudulently. Worse yet, some schools are revoking degrees already granted, regardless of how well the student performed academically. And finally, although it matters little to the rich parents, they have made guilty pleas to felonies, and have felony records for life. All to what avail?— May 27, 2020 10:24 a.m.
Will a $46,000 federally funded COVID-19 drone fly in El Cajon?
Alex, you are correct. I'd hoped that as chief of police this guy was showing some class and not wearing some ridiculous military rank insignia. But that's not it, I'm now certain. I have no recollection of when these chiefs started militarizing their uniforms. I'd long assumed that some military-sounding titles were the best that the cops could come up with. Even in England where all this ranking started, the only rank in the "bobbies" that sounds military is Sergeant. The basic level there is Constable. The next level is Sergeant, and above that comes Inspector. But then they move to civilian titles such as deputy superintendent and superintendent. And they sure don't wear military rank insignia. So nowadays in California, at least, we have the chief of police usually wearing four stars, as in the four stars of a full general in the Army or Air Force or Marine Corps. That's a rarefied rank that usually involves command of tens of thousands of troops, or sailors, or whatever. But who here in San Diego wears those four stars on his collar? Gore, our slimy sheriff does, as does Chief McCoy in Oceanside. I don't know for sure about the COP in San Diego, but his predecessors all wore four stars. A few years ago the chief of the tiny Coronado PD was wearing four stars. So they like to put themselves in league with major military figures of the past and present. (As a point of reference, the Army has only about 14 four-star generals, and it is certain that the AF, Navy and USMC each have fewer than that.) Moreover there are some skeptics who think that such numbers of four-star generals are excessive. But to pile it on, the odious sheriff of LA county has been photographed wearing FIVE stars. He wants to put himself in the company of such officers as Eisenhower, Nimitz, MacArthur, Hap Arnold, Halsey and Bradley. They all commanded forces in wartime in the millions. This misuse of military insignia by cops may be harmless, or maybe not. Ask yourself why the chief of a small city PD with a couple hundred employees thinks he should wear four military stars on his collar or epaulets, as though he is a major commander or war hero. Is it really harmless, or do these guys (and a few gals) really think of themselves in such highfalutin terms? If they do, we are on the downslope to a police state, and we all should reconsider their role in society.— May 24, 2020 8:48 p.m.
Palomar College pours money into Rancho Bernardo campus
This is an excellent report by Ken, and covers news that would never make the pages of the You-Tee. He has touched on many related issues, but those of declining enrollment and scads of former retail space coming available are both 800 pound gorillas in the room. The legislation that made school bond issues "easy" to pass was short-sighted, in that school districts such as Palomar College can get approval for work that far exceeds the real need. The voters should put the brakes on all this spending until enrollment sorts itself out. Here in No County we've seen Cal State, SM grow from nothing into a large campus with many buildings and many more under construction in less than thirty years. Where are all the students coming from? And where will they come from in even greater numbers in the future? The current declines in community college enrollment say that they will not keep coming. "Build it and they will come" might apply in a few places, but when it comes to colleges and universities, if the people in the right age brackets are not plentiful and lack interest, they won't show up regardless of how fancy the campus looks. The main point of the disparity of spending between a satellite campus in RB vs Fallbrook is a good one. The only justification could be that the taxes raised to pay off the bonds will come from the more affluent area of RB due to sky-high home prices and hence bigger tax bills. But nobody seems to have raised that point. Final comment: These career school administrators are a breed apart. They can do a lousy job, thumb their noses at the board members who employ them, get away with all sorts of wrongdoing, and still stay employed with very generous salaries. And if by chance one board fires them, they will soon resurface at another school or district.— May 23, 2020 10:25 a.m.
A train tunnel to L.A. under UTC
That pdf document is of a NCTD brochure outlining many plans for widening and straightening the rails in No County. It shows many tunnels in the area south of Del Mar, and not all of those are planned to be built. It does show the various alternatives that have been proposed. As to the cost of any of those tunnel projects, the idea that any would cost a half billion bucks is amusing. What I've heard quoted before is in the area of $2 - 5 billion, and even that could be low. So, a feasibility study will cost plenty, but there's no source of that sort of funding now, and not in the foreseeable future either. So, then what does the study accomplish? One of the most compelling reasons for a tunnel project is to get the tracks off the bluffs in Del Mar. That area continues to erode, and these current efforts to stabilize the area will not last forever. And those efforts don't solve the matter of double tracking the entire corridor. Then there's the steep and twisty route south of Sorrento Valley that the rails climb up to the Miramar summit. So, yes, this all needs to be planned, and the exact route that meets the majority of needs, within the constraints of the terrain and finances should be identified. Just keep in mind that NCTD has no plan for raising the funds to make that needed improvement, and the amount required would be daunting.— May 22, 2020 9:39 a.m.
Lorena Gonzalez’s Twitter "F*ck” to Elon Musk
Matt made a good point about her tweets. She, just as Trump, should stop tweeting altogether. It's so easy to type a few words in the heat of the moment and shoot it off into the ether, except that it will last forever. The wider the audience, the more opportunity to offend. She thinks she's pretty smart and savvy. The recipient of the tweet may not see it that way at all.— May 14, 2020 11:58 a.m.
UCSD admissions not entirely clean
As far as Elisabeth Kimmel goes, it was my understanding that she had done something very similar to buy her son's way into USC with Singer's help. Son was admitted as a pole vaulter in spite of never participating in track and field events of any kind. So, they have her on two different sets of charges. Her case will be a tough one for the defense to win; she's a graduate of Harvard Law and worked as an attorney in the family business for many years. Claiming ignorance of what was happening would insult the intelligence of every judge and juror involved in the case. But that's not all: her hubby is a former deputy DA, meaning he's a lawyer who practiced as an attorney and worked criminal cases. Can he, although he's not charged, claim ignorance? He's in no better position to do it than she is. For some reason she is the last (or one of the very last) defendants scheduled for trial and that trial will be delayed for sure. So she gets to sweat out her fate and predicament for a much longer time. I'll make a prediction that she cuts a deal that keeps her out of the slammer while costing her a huge fine. But as a billionaire, she won't miss the money at all. The irony of this is that she could have made big enough contributions to both Georgetown and USC to get strings pulled and get the kids in without breaking the law. A couple million here and a couple million there, and POOF!, your desires are fulfilled.— May 14, 2020 8:54 a.m.
UCSD admissions not entirely clean
What you describe is commonplace at private and some church-affiliated universities. Yes, there is pressure on faculty to give at least marginally passing grades to students with connections. At state universities that is less common, but not unknown. But the more that state universities are asking for cash, and large amounts of it, from donors, they too will fall prey to "caving in."— May 14, 2020 8:43 a.m.
Sara Jacobs self-funds House campaign to the tune of $2.74 million
Ponzi, you do have a way of clearing things up. Too often I'm seeing headlines and sub-headlines that don't describe the story that follows. This was one of those times.— May 5, 2020 8:49 a.m.
Sara Jacobs self-funds House campaign to the tune of $2.74 million
Well, you did your homework and I didn't. One detail is that when you mention Irwin Jacobs net worth, you also should include his wife. But you don't mention the wealth of the sons--I think there are two--who also were involved in Qualcomm, and then the grandchildren. There are billions more there for sure. Thanks for the information.— May 5, 2020 8:47 a.m.