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Safety last in SDSU labs, state audit finds
One of the biggest selling points for the California State University system has, for decades, been their reputed emphasis on teaching and not on research. Nowhere in academia will you find a lack of reward for doing research and publishing, but the CSU system wasn't making such activity its reason for existence. The UC, on the other hand, boldly talks of its push to research and its emphasis on "scholarship." Somehow well before Hirshman ever came on the scene, there was rumbling that SDSU would become a "research university", and that was touted as a good thing all round. The grim fact of the matter is that if research is emphasized, the educational mission at the undergrad level gets short shrift. The popularity of SDSU has mystified me for years due to its inability or unwillingness to provide enough classes for those who were seeking them. That led to students spending extra years there, waiting to accumulate the units needed for graduation. Now we see that the campus cannot even provide decent laboratory experiences for its students, and puts them in peril in the labs it does have. That's a disgrace for sure. While I can't make an informed comment on the football program at SDSU and its claim on campus resources, i.e. funding, I do know that it has been a general disappointment for years. When it did get a strong coach who did good things, he would soon be hired away.— May 2, 2018 8:03 a.m.
Solar picks up after 2017 dip
That was very clever of SDGE to arrange to buy excess power from homeowners and others at low rates when it is in greatest demand. Well, while evening demand is relatively high, so is afternoon demand during hot weather. A panel owner can run the AC during the afternoon from the home's rooftop supply. How can that owner send anything into the grid after dark? Ans: Can't be done. SDGE complains about peak loads on hot afternoons, yet will not use the price structure to attract more supply. Seems to make no sense, until you remember that SDGE hasn't yet figured out how to handsomely profit from having solar-owning subscribers. The logical next step is to have one's own power storage, and store the excess being generated by the sun during the day. Then during the peak time, the evening, you use your own stored power and avoid paying the highest rates to SDGE. Solar powered electric cars are a great idea, and best when you can charge them during the day, using your own solar panels. However, if you're not home during the day, what do you do? Stored energy in your home can be used during the night to charge the car. The big disadvantage of batteries is the cost. Other storage media are being explored for home use, but so far there's little to report.— May 1, 2018 4:12 p.m.
Bruce Henderson sues City over his firing
While I don't know all that much about Henderson, I can flatly state that if he had been successful in derailing that Chargers deal, the city would be far better off today. It's too bad that he could not muster a political force at that time, and I recall that he didn't do too well with the well-trained local judges either. "The Susan" Golding presided over two of the biggest messes the city had in recent decades or ever. The pension debacle started with her, and the massive subsidy of the ungrateful Chargers/Spanos gang was definitely on her watch and much her doing. Every time I visit San Diego (inside the city limits) and thump through its potholed streets I can blame a series of mayors and city council representatives who gave hundreds of millions of dollars to the Spanos family with little to show for it. Every one of those wasted dollars was a dollar that wasn't spent on the streets, water lines, sewer lines, parks, libraries and cop pay. Now there is a billion dollar maintenance/infrastructure backlog that the city cannot afford to bring current. When that foolish deal was made with the Chargers it almost guaranteed that the team would leave eventually. So, for any hard-core Chargers fans, instead of being grateful that the city caved in to Spanos and NFL demands, they should be outraged. I was shocked to learn that Bruce was employed in the city attorney's office. I seem to recall it was Aguirre who hired him. He survived eight years of Goldsmith's mismanagement of the office. Why Elliott canned him and thirty others should be subject of another story.— April 25, 2018 6:07 p.m.
Back to Doug Manchester’s future?
I just answered my own question. Today's U-T, on page C-3, lower right hand corner, there's a piece. The headline is innocuous; "McCormick media may seek additional tronc shares." The last sentence includes the words ". . . Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, agreed to buy the Union-Tribune and Los Angeles Times in a deal that has not yet closed." So, they did report on it, but the significance isn't mentioned, and it sure wasn't on the front page.— April 25, 2018 8:44 a.m.
Back to Doug Manchester’s future?
If we had to rely on the U-T or local broadcast stations for up-to-date news involving this sale of the paper, we would know far too little. All the reports we've seen, other than those on the Reader website, treat it as a done deal, totally completed. And the good doctor has been making statements and appearances that come across the same way. It's all believable, but where is the reporting elsewhere?— April 25, 2018 7:42 a.m.
So much for the fire extinguisher
Gee, and here I thought that a Benz was such a uber-quality car that it could never do something as crass as catch fire. Even twenty years old, how could this happen? I still see those Mercedes 300D models from the late 70's chugging around the streets and they're (gasp!) FORTY years old. The impression many/most of us carry is that the make will last just about forever if you just service them regularly. (Of course, the MBZ dealer shop will charge enough for the "servicing" to almost buy you a new economy car.) Too funny . . . or something.— April 23, 2018 7:58 p.m.
Ace friend seeks Horton Plaza deal
There will be some malls, and a few will be great successes. Just how that will happen isn't clear yet, but people may return to them for the social experience and to buy things that need to be tried on or fitted or tasted or . . . Westfield is making a big bet on UTC and on Nordstrom, which itself is making a big bet on the all-new building they now occupy there. That is in a highly affluent area of the city. The other mall that still seems to do well is Fashion Valley with Nordstrom, Neiman-Marcus, and Bloomingdale's on the high end. But so far little is happening there in the way of investment. The rest of them in the county are in decline. So, will they exist in their current form? No. Their current form in most cases isn't the way they started out in the 50's and 60's.— April 23, 2018 4:43 p.m.
Ace friend seeks Horton Plaza deal
You are most welcome!— April 23, 2018 4:35 p.m.
Ace friend seeks Horton Plaza deal
The shopping mall has been a disappointment from the start. Pete Wilson was convinced that bringing retail back to downtown San Diego was the key to a renaissance there. And so, for many years he expended energy, time and political capital in selling the idea to a reluctant city and city council. It wasn't easy to find a developer who had faith in the success of a mall there either. Finally, with many financial inducements, Ernie Hahn was enticed into becoming the developer of the mall. He wasn't well-regarded, especially in the construction industry, and that was key in that he was his own general contractor. Pete and other boosters expected the activity generated by the mall to spill over into the surrounding blocks of downtown. That did not happen. More than ten years after the mall opened, on a Saturday most of the stores along C Street (a mere block away) were closed. They depended upon the office workers in the high rise towers for trade and on Saturday there were too few to be bothered staying open. Many customers disliked the layout of the mall, which was most unconventional. Others disliked the parking arrangements, although there was plenty of parking. But some folks really liked it, due to its unique layout and appearance. But as it was, the mall was at best an island of retail activity in a sea of indifference. It didn't provide a nucleus for rebirth of downtown into something other than an office tower ghetto. For me, it is no surprise that it is on the ropes. Most malls in the county are on the wane, with only two that seem to be enjoying anything like prosperity.— April 21, 2018 9:18 a.m.
National City council member subject of probe
There is something missing here. The city council decides to hire private counsel to investigate wrongdoing by one of its members, a step that will prove costly to the revenue-strapped city. Where is mention of requesting an investigation by the district attorney? If this proves to be a criminal matter, she will have to get involved. So, why not now? Or does that city know that such a request will go exactly nowhere? Then the mayor votes against the proposal. It was reported in the U-T that his reason for doing that was that there was no proof of wrongdoing. The purpose of this investigation is to look for proof. Duh! This case is reminiscent of the So County school district corruption cases of a few years ago. You know, where four of five members of the Sweetwater high school district board copped guilty pleas and were forced off the board, among other things. There is some sort of weird culture in that area that has office holders assuming that they can benefit personally from the position, and line their pockets, too. It's time for the DA to start looking closely at this case. But don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen.— April 20, 2018 8:37 a.m.