Jesse Fried Explains Corporate Governance in Book, “Pay Without Performance”

The New York Times, Economix Blog, February 20, 2009 by Uwe E. Reinhardt
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/whom-do-corporate-boards-represent/?pagemode=print

With persuasive empirical research, Professors Bebchuk and Fried argue that corporate governance in America is more realistically described by a “managerial power” model in which C.E.O.’s have sufficient power over their boards to dictate their own compensation, subject only to what the authors call an “outrage” constraint.

Christopher Hoofnagle Describes Privacy Risks of Mined Public Data

FoxNews.com, February 20, 2009 by Joshua Rhett Miller
http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,497285,00.html

“This is the modern problem of public records. They are public, but they exist in practical obscurity. It’s much like how music companies didn’t foresee that consumers would rip CDs. It was thought that their sheer size would make ripping CDs impractical. Something similar happened with public records.”

Mary Ann Mason Explains Pitfalls for Women in Leadership Roles

San Francisco Chronicle, February 20, 2009 by Mary Ann Mason
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/20/EDVQ160QUV.DTL

As the only female dean at UC Berkeley for several years, I sat in on countless meetings where men held the floor. One day a female colleague made a presentation to a meeting of the deans and received a cursory, bordering on rude, response. Afterward, she asked me how she could have been more effective. “Speak lowly and slowly, but smile frequently,” I replied.

Philip Frickey Calls for Resolution of Indian Trust Litigation

San Francisco Chronicle, February 17, 2009 by Philip P. Frickey and Curtis Berkey
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/17/ED7315U2G6.DTL&type=printable

The Obama administration can signal its intention to change the way the government handles Indian affairs by changing its basic approach to the case. Rather than fighting every step of the way, the government should be primarily concerned with how to reform the trust fund management and accountability system. It should treat the plaintiffs as collaborators in a joint process to fix the system and provide justice to the account holders.

Christopher Edley Recommends Rainy Day Fiscal Relief

San Francisco Chronicle, February 17, 2009 by Christopher Edley
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/17/ED7315TQ48.DTL

If California, for example, could borrow when revenues fall, it would help meet expenditure demands for programs the public wants and needs, rain or shine. Of course, it’s best to balance borrowing with enough fiscal discipline to retire the debt when times are good. What is needed is a kind of “rainy day fund,” but financed with medium-term borrowing instead of savings.

Christopher Edley Heads Task Force to Smooth Transition from Community College to UC

Contra Costa Times, February 16, 2009 by Matt Krupnick
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_11717823

The task force, Edley said, hopes to improve upon past attempts, particularly a 1997 agreement between UC and the community colleges that laid out broad goals for improving transfer rates. “The earlier (pact) created a check-the-box culture based on meeting a head count target more than a culture of lifting up the whole education system,” he said. The goal of the new endeavor “is making sure students know where the on ramps are so they can get back on track.”