Flunk this idea - 08/11/04
GOV ARNOLD Schwarzenegger's California Performance Review contains some good ideas, such as allowing some community colleges to grant bachelor's degrees and reducing the number of unnecessary credits students accumulate.
Keeping foreign scholars at bay - 07/04/04
SIMING LIU, a 31-year-old post-doctoral astrophysicist at Stanford, regards himself as very lucky -- at least relatively so. After returning to Beijing this May to attend a short course in solar plasma processes there, he had to reapply for a visa to return to continue his research on solar flares at Stanford. That meant being interviewed by a U.S. consular official, who decided after an interview lasting fewer than five minutes that his research had national security implications.
Sending students to Santa Monica - 06/17/04 IN THE WORLD according to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, there are plenty of spaces at our community colleges to serve thousands of students he wants to divert from the University of California and California State University systems
A leisurely college education - 06/06/04 AS CALIFORNIA'S PUBLIC universities come to terms with deep budget cuts, there is one area where they could save a bundle: getting students to graduate more quickly.
Crowding at the gate to UC - 05/21/04 SAN DIEGO PADRES owner John Moores, who until Thursday was chairman of the University of California Board of Regents, feels vindicated in his crusade to show that UC -- and especially UC Berkeley -- has been admitting unqualified students.
Pain and Promises at UC and CSU - 05/19/04 ALL THE HOOPLA surrounding the "compact" that the University of California and the California State University systems signed with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week won't disguise the pain the state's public universities will endure in the coming academic year.
UC's Invisible Regents - 05/09/04 FOUR MONTHS AGO, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger came up with a package of tough measures for the University of California, including raising fees, reducing financial aid and increasing class size. UC has already implemented his proposal to send thousands of UC eligible freshmen to community colleges for the first time in the university's history.
Keep Doors Open at UC - 05/03/04 THE PLAN BY Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to raise fees at Boalt Hall School of Law and other UC professional schools this fall by another $5,000 threatens to limit access to some of the university's most popular programs.
Crisis at Boalt Hall - 04/30/04 CARRYING signs with slogans such as "Don't Terminate My Future,'' and "Raise Taxes Not Fees,'' Boalt Hall School of Law students gathered yesterday in their verdant courtyard on the UC Berkeley campus to protest a $5, 000 fee increase Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to impose on them this fall -- on top of another $3,000 fee increase this year.
UC's Ill Advised Raises - 04/23/04 TALK ABOUT insensitivity. At exactly the moment that the University of California is raising fees and turning away qualified freshmen, it is also substantially raising the salaries of some top officials.
UC's Closing Door - 04/21/04 THE PROFILE of freshmen admitted to the University of California this fall should shatter any illusions that the state's budget crisis can be solved without having a direct impact on people's lives, indeed on the future of the state.
Shortchanging Noncredit Students - 04/11/04 WHEN IT COMES to state support, nearly three quarters of a million students enrolled in noncredit classes at community colleges have been relegated to the lowest rungs of California's famed public higher education system.
UC's Distracting Chairman - 03/22/04 AT A TIME when the University of California should be focusing on the impact of the most severe budget crisis in the state's history, UC Board of Regents Chairman John Moores has been waging a bitter crusade against the university's admissions policies.
Colleges Losing Ground - 03/17/04 IN A TIME of budget cuts, the California community colleges should be grateful for any additional funds they receive.
A Flawed College Plan - 03/15/04 THE GOVERNOR's proposal to cut freshman enrollments at the University of California and the California State University systems by 10 percent this fall, and instead send an estimated 8,000 students to community colleges, threatens a public university system that has played a dominant role in California's evolution.
Graduate Students Feel the Pain - 02/11/04 MAYBE BECAUSE there are more of them, undergraduates seem to grab most of the attention when it comes to budget cuts. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's drive to trim freshman enrollment at the University of California by 10 percent, along with increasing fees for all 145,000 undergraduate students by another 10 percent next fall, has been drawing controversy.
Community Colleges Lag - 01/25/04 STOP WHINING. That's essentially what Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is telling community college students who complain about the nearly 50 percent fee increase he is proposing for next year.
Just Don't Call Them Taxes - 01/14/04 GOV. ARNOLD Schwarzenegger's logic seems to go something like this: Raising ''fees'' will help get us out of our fiscal hole, but raising ''taxes'' would be unfair to Californians and destructive to our economy.
10 Ways to improve San Francisco - 09/28/03 THE APPROACHING Mayor's race is a fitting time to assess the state of a city. San Francisco, for all its distinctive charms and attributes, is not insulated from most of the problems facing all major cities during this economic downturn.
Financial Privacy - Where's Arnold? - 10/22/2003 CALIFORNIA'S TWO U.S. senators are engaged in a determined but uphill battle to save the state's new financial privacy law from federal pre-emption.
A milestone in privacy rights - 08/27/03 IT TOOK more than three years - and the threat of a citizen initiative - but Gov. Gray Davis today will put his signature on legislation to create the nation's strongest financial privacy protections.
Ducking their Duty - 08/25/03 SEN. LIZ FIGUEROA, D-Fremont, figured her Senate Bill 27 was straightforward and modest enough that it would encounter little opposition. It simply would require businesses to disclose -- upon customer request -- where they have shared confidential information for "direct marketing purposes."
Speier's perseverance - 08/20/03 NOT LONG ago, the whisper in Sacramento was that animosity toward Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, was an insurmountable barrier to passage of her financial privacy bill, SB1.
When money stopped talking - 08/19/03 IT IS amazing what can happen when members of the California Assembly are liberated to think on their own.
A truce on privacy - 08/15/03 IT WAS a remarkable scene, the main combatants in a four-year battle over financial privacy coming together Thursday to announce a deal that could lead to the signing of a new law within a week.
Populist revolt lifts privacy bill - 08/14/03 SACRAMENTO IS obviously feeling the heat of a populist revolt. An issue that has proved intractable for four years -- legislation to protect consumers' financial privacy -- is about to get wired for fast passage in the next week.
Want privacy? Do it yourself - 07/09/03 THE TORTUOUS path of financial-privacy legislation has offered a case study in what is wrong with the California Legislature.
Reader Request - 07/04/03 "Regarding the defeat of the privacy bill (yet again), I wish to ask that The Chronicle publish the entire list of individuals and financial institutions that lobbied against the recently defeated privacy bill."
Missing: The Public's Servants - 07/01/03 WHAT HAPPENED: A Chronicle investigation has since shown that the nine Assembly members who abstained or voted against the bill in committee received a combined $667,000 from banking and insurance interests in the last election.
Financial Privacy Bill Vote - 06/18/03 WHAT HAPPENED: SB1, legislation to strengthen consumer privacy protections, failed to clear the Assembly Banking and Finance Committee.
Privacy Bill Showdown - 06/09/03 WHAT WE SAID: "Who should decide whether your bank, broker or insurance company can freely share personal information about you?
Governor boosts privacy legislation - 06/03/03 FOR MORE than two years, all eyes were on Gov. Gray Davis when it came to legislation to give consumers control of their personal financial information.
Banks go to court against privacy laws - 05/30/03 LAWYERS FOR Bank of America and Wells Fargo are expected to appear in U.S. District Court in Oakland today to try to stop cities and counties from adopting financial privacy laws.
What's happening with privacy bill? - 05/19/03 TODAY WAS supposed to bring a key vote on Senate Bill 1, the latest attempt to give consumers control of their personal financial information.
Privacy initiative is a real option - 03/17/03 THE UNVEILING of the California Financial Privacy Initiative sends a clear signal to legislators: Take action to protect consumers' interests or they will do it themselves.
Want privacy? Move to Bismarck - 03/10/03
THERE IS a place where lobbyists for the financial-services industry are working with Republicans and Democrats to strengthen consumer privacy in a meaningful way.
Roll Call - Financial Privacy - 03/04/03
THE ISSUE: California Senate votes 23-6 for legislation (SB1, by Sens. Jackie Speier and John Burton) that would require banks, stock brokerages and insurance companies to get customer permission before selling or sharing personal financial information.
Why privacy is a priority - 02/18/03
FOR EACH of the past three years, the financial-services industry has fought an increasingly desperate fight against consumer privacy legislation. Last year alone, the industry spent more than $20 million in campaign contributions and lobbying fees to preserve the ability of banks and insurance companies to sell or share personal customer information without first having to obtain permission.
Surveillance Society / Knowledge, power and your rights - 01/19/03
The Bush administration's breathtakingly brazen plan to build dossiers on all 300 million Americans -- "Total Information Awareness" -- has put at least one question to rest.
Americans can stop wondering whether governments or businesses pose the greater threat of intrusion into their private lives.
Behind privacy's defeat - 9/04/02
As one of its last acts before adjournment, the California Assembly rejected SB773, by Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, which would have restricted the ability of banks, insurers and brokerages to sell or share personal financial information without your permission.
Privacy: the voters' turn - 9/03/02
For the third straight year, the California Legislature has proved incapable of standing up to the financial-services industry to protect consumer privacy.
All in the family? - 8/27/02
One of the main arguments against proposed financial-privacy legislation is that it would be unfair to restrict information sharing within a family of companies.
Privacy bill's revival - 8/24/02
A bill to give Californians more control over their personal financial information was strengthened and passed by the Assembly Judiciary Committee on Friday, but it remains a long way from a done deal.
Restore the privacy bill - 8/22/02
The financial privacy bill, after enduring a serious battering in a hostile committee Wednesday, needs to be refortified to provide consumers with meaningful protections.
Final push for privacy - 8/19/02
All California legislators must rise above their personal differences.
Pioneer for privacy - 7/15/02
North Dakota offers a cautionary tale for politicians in California.
Privacy — killing it softly - 6/25/02
For many months of 2001, two financial privacy bills were stalled in the Assembly Banking and Finance Committee even though eight of the 11 members publicly supported the idea of requiring banks and insurance companies to obtain a customer's permission before sharing or selling personal information.
Banking on San Francisco - 6/6/02
Supervisor Aaron Peskin is about to introduce a local ordinance to force banks, brokerages and insurance companies doing business in San Francisco to respect the privacy of their customers.
Rhetoric and reality - 5/7/02
An unacceptably weak financial-privacy bill reaches a critical juncture today in the state Assembly's Judiciary Committee.
Why return to square one? - 1/10/02
In his State of the State speech Tuesday night, Gov. Gray Davis called for new legislation "in clear and simple language" to give Californians control of their personal financial information. Sound familiar?
Whither privacy - 12/23/01
There seems to be a grudging resignation in this country that the debate about modern threats to individual privacy ended on Sept. 11. The question is, when will Americans regain the privacy rights that are being surrendered today under the guise of fighting terrorism?
A Sacramento sellout - 9/17/01
CALIFORNIA'S Legislature once again has been overpowered by a special interest.
Words . . . vs. actions - 9/4/01
THERE IS a big difference between Gov. Gray Davis' words and his actions on the issue of financial privacy.
He thinks you don't care - 5/21/01
ASSEMBLYMAN Lou Papan, D-Millbrae, is blocking legislation that would help safeguard your financial privacy.
Tossing away privacy - 5/13/01
Chances are, you have unwittingly tossed away your privacy rights within the past few weeks.
A vote to save lives - 6/12/02
Today, the state Senate Health and Human Services Committee is scheduled to vote on AB1421, by Assemblywoman Helen Thomson, D-Davis, which would address one of the indisputable sources of the dysfunction that can lead to homelessness.
Just hold your noses, they say - 6/11/02
It's not against the law to urinate or defecate on San Francisco streets. Maybe the offense seemed so apparent that no one thought to write it down.
Beyond the summit - 4/24/02
Finally, the plight of the homeless has landed on the state's political agenda.
The fragile mind - 3/29/02
"A Beautiful Mind" — which just won an Oscar for best picture of the year — makes no claim that madness is an appropriate response to an insane world.
A home for solutions - 2/17/02
State Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, has proposed legislation that would create a statewide Office of Homelessness to coordinate the various California agencies responsible for shelter, job training, mental health care, substance abuse and the criminal justice system.
There are solutions, but is there a will? - 1/27/02
We know what works. We know what causes homelessness and we know how to end it. The problem is a failure of political will, not a lack of knowledge.
State of neglect / California's 30-year failure - 2/18/01
For more than three decades, California has turned its back on those who suffer from severe mental illness, treating them as unfortunate fixtures in our urban landscape rather than as human beings who desperately need medication, treatment and housing in order to cope with their illnesses. What will it take for the Legislature to act?
The valley's badge of shame - 12/24/03 WELCOME TO California's San Joaquin Valley, home of the worst air in the nation.
Toward cleaner air - 9/23/03 IT WAS not easy for Sen. state Dean Florez, D-Shafter, to take on the most powerful industry in the San Joaquin Valley.
A clean air win at last - 9/1/03 WHEN A major California industry loses a prized privilege, there must be a serious reason.
Follow-up to 8/22 editorial - 8/28/03
Assembly committee set the stage for a second vote on the smog control measure. Though the vote was 8-7 against SB700, 9 members did not vote.
Sacramento fails to clean the air - 8/22/03
IN THE CENTRAL Valley, California is no longer the Golden State. It's turning into a State of Haze because of the region's infamous dirty air.
No free pass for smog farms. - 3/09/03
CALIFORNIA'S dirtiest air, floating above the green crops and dairy farms of the San Joaquin Valley, has spawned a political dare.
A Blight on the Garden of Eden - 8/11/02
While California's skies have cleaned up in recent years, the valley's skies haven't. The American Lung Association put three San Joaquin counties — Kern, Fresno and Tulare — in the top-six most-polluted counties in the nation.
Asthma Infects Fresno - 8/11/02
It's not hard to find an asthma sufferer in smoggy Fresno. One in 6 schoolchildren has symptoms.
Junk food explorations - 7/23/04 THE FASTEST GROWING magazine for children age 6 and older is National Geographic Kids. Over a 17-month period, its circulation has nearly doubled to 1.2 million readers.
Last chance to pass Casey's Law - 1/12/04 TWENTY-YEAR-OLD Casey Goodwin, who grew up in the tiny Central Valley town of Exeter, devoted the last phase of her short life to fighting the scourge of teenage drunk driving.
New warnings on soda - 1/09/04 CALIFORNIA has already taken the largest step forward of any state in the nation toward eliminating the sales of unhealthy drinks on public school campuses.
Toy Trouble - 12/21/03 THE GERMAN playwright Friedrich Schiller once wrote, "We are perfectly human only when we play.
'Food' for fun - 12/21/03 ANYONE alarmed about the epidemic of overweight and obese children should be worried about toys that reinforce unhealthy eating habits.
Capturing the minds of our children - 12/14/03 BEHIND the rows of slot machines at Harrah's Casino in Las Vegas, attendees at the annual KidPower winter conference on marketing to children warmed up by bouncing a ball on a yellow paddle emblazoned with the slogan "Get Inside the Mind of a Kid."
Obesity battle goes global - 11/13/03 NEXT TO THE WAR in Iraq, among the hottest topics these days in the United Kingdom is childhood obesity and what to do about it.
Staring at the tube - 11/02/03 KISS CHILDHOOD as we've known it goodbye. That's the disturbing picture that leaps out of a pathbreaking survey of children age 6 years and under released last week by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation in Menlo Park.
Marketing violence - 10/21/03 "KILL BILL -- VOLUME 1'' is one of the most violent movies to come along in years. It opens with the sounds of orgasmic breathing,...
Soda ban becomes law - 10/13/03 ALMOST UNNOTICED amid the recall fever of the past few weeks was Gov. Gray Davis' decision to sign landmark legislation that will ban the sale of sugar-filled sodas in elementary, middle, and junior high schools throughout California....
Privacy for kids in the digital mall - 9/21/03 WHAT IS a parent to do? The internet has become a giant shopping mall, and children are its potentially most valuable, and vulnerable, customers....
Remembering Casey - 9/15/03 SAN WE DON'T usually editorialize about water polo tournaments. But the First Annual Casey Goodwin Memorial Water Polo Tournament, ...
Banishing junk food - 8/24/03 SAN FRANCISCO students will soon say goodbye to snack bar lunches consisting of nachos or colossal hamburgers washed down...
Arnold as actor and role model - 8/17/03 IF YOU WENT to see "Terminator 3," you might have to wonder just how much Arnold Schwarzenegger cares about kids....
Truth is elusive in soda battle - 8/10/03 PITY CONSUMERS -- or legislators -- trying to figure out who stands for what when making up their minds on controversial issues like...
New hurdle for soda ban - 7/24/03 IT'S DISTURBING that a modest measure to restrict the sales of sugar- filled sodas in public elementary and middle schools in California is facing resistance in the Assembly.
Another step toward soda ban - 7/03/03 TO BAN or not to ban? The Assembly Health Committee grappled with that question on Tuesday when it considered whether to restrict the sale of sodas on public school campuses.
Fast food is king at Arroyo High - 6/29/03 IF YOU'RE a student at Arroyo High School in San Lorenzo and you must have a Whopper, french fries and a Coke for lunch, you won't have to go far to satisfy your fast food cravings..
Milk duds - 6/22/03 AS SCHOOLS begin to eliminate carbonated drinks from their food offerings to combat unhealthy eating habits that contribute to childhood obesity and related problems..
Break the soda habit - 5/29/03 SACRAMENTO DOESN'T hesitate to tell local school districts what to do regarding almost every aspect of the school day,...
Water for Kids - 5/27/03
ALL CALIFORNIA schoolchildren should have access to drinking water. After all, this isn't Bangladesh or Mississippi.
Wean the Schools from Soda Habit - 5/15/03
THE MOST prominent feature in the airy courtyard at Cupertino's Homestead High School is a colorful row of Pepsi vending machines. You can't miss them.
Exploiting a holiday - 5/2/03
CINCO DE MAYO is threatening to become a celebration like St. Patrick's Day: an ethnic holiday where a focus on alcohol consumption can sometimes eclipse the messages about the proud cultural heritage it honors.
Casey's Law, Act II - 4/21/03
Casey's law is struggling to advance in Sacramento. It received eight yes votes in the Assembly Health Committee, and six no votes at its first hearing on April 8...
The sad path to Thunder Road - 4/20/03
If anyone can testify with authority about the power of alcohol advertising, it is the group of teenage alcoholics at Thunder Road.
Inexcusable Absences - 4/10/03
AB216 (by Assemblywoman Wilma Chan, D-Oakland, which would raise $100 million through the equivalent of a penny-a-drink tax) sank in the Assembly Health Committee on Tuesday...
Pass 'Casey's Law'. - 4/07/03
Assembly Bill 216, introduced by Majority Leader Wilma Chan, D-Oakland, would go far to address some problems associated with underage drinking, but it faces many hurdles before it becomes law. You can help.
Alcohol's Allure - 4/06/03
Everywhere - in print, on the Internet, on television and radio - young people are bombarded by alcohol ads. Increasingly, the goal is to reach a legal-age audience, but the "spillover effect" to under 21-year-olds is undeniable.
Reclaiming childhood - 3/30/03
Marketers have gone to elaborate lengths to understand, and then penetrate, the minds of young people. Parents must take the lead in reclaiming childhood.
