Christopher Edley Battles Top Tier Schools for Best and Brightest

Contra Costa Times, February 15, 2009 by Matt Krupnick
http://www.contracostatimes.com/alamedacounty/ci_11711949

“I have three (offers to Berkeley professors) that I’m worried about right now from Harvard,” said Edley, who himself was lured from Harvard in 2004 to lead Boalt Hall. “And three more that are likely to develop from top-five schools in the next year…. “Our private competitors, despite the declines in their endowments, have been as tough as ever,” he said. “We’ve won (retention attempts) many more times than we’ve lost, but that could change any day.”

Maria Echaveste Applauds Think Tank’s Recommendations on Immigration Policy

San Francisco Chronicle, February 12, 2009 by Tyche Hendricks
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/12/BATJ15RJGU.DTL&type=printable

“Here is a long list of administrative actions that can be taken to improve performance on the mission that’s important at Homeland Security with respect to illegal immigration but also services for legal immigrants,” said Echaveste, who teaches immigration law and policy…. “What’s distressing about this very thorough analysis is that people have tried over the last three or four years to communicate suggestions such as this and it fell on deaf ears.”

David Kirp Says Head Start Funding Essential in Stimulus Package

San Francisco Chronicle, February 10, 2009 by David L. Kirp
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/10/EDS415Q7U9.DTL&type=printable

Every added Head Start dollar means new jobs for teachers, aides and staff, many of them poor women who are the economic anchors of their communities. Providing more Head Start slots also means that poor parents have time to find work or get the training they need to secure a decent job. The $1.05 billion that’s in jeopardy of being cut would create thousands of teaching and staff positions, in addition to the jobs generated when Head Start centers start buying cribs, crayons, cookies and computers.

Steven Weissman Questions Governor’s Move to Streamline Energy Agencies

Electric Utility Week, February 9, 2009 by Lisa Weinzimer
http://www.platts.com (requires registration; go to G:\Law School in the News\News Clips for article)

“The PUC is accountable for both the environmental impact of [transmission] projects and the rate impacts of projects. If you separate those two, it increases the risk of a project being approved even if it doesn’t make economic sense,” Weissman said.

Christopher Hoofnagle Says Disclosure Law a Two-Edged Sword in Prop 8 Battle

The New York Times, February 7, 2009 by Brad Stone
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/business/08stream.html?pagewanted=print

“These are very small donations given by individuals, and now they are subject to harassment that ultimately makes them less able to engage in democratic decision making,” said Chris Jay Hoofnagle, senior fellow at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology at the University of California.”

Robert MacCoun Finds People Doubts Research When Results Contradict Beliefs

-MSNBC, NBCBayArea.com, February 6, 2009 by John Boitnott
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29017531/from/ET/

“Findings that support our political beliefs are seen as objective facts about the world,” said Robert MacCoun, a Cal professor of public policy, law and psychology. “But study outcomes that conflict with our views are more likely to be seen as expressions of an ideological bias by the researcher…. If we really want to inform citizens and affect public policy, American social scientists need to learn more about how conservatives view our research in order to root out hidden assumptions and communicate our research more effectively.”

-KGO AM 810, Consumer Talk, February 7, 2009 Host Michael Finney
http://www.kgoam810.com/sectional.asp?id=31284

“People find research much more believable when it supports their own point of view. When we find research findings we don’t really like, and we’re reluctant to change our views, we can avoid changing our views by blaming the researcher for being biased.”

-KQED Forum, February 11, 2009 Host Michael Krasny
http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R902111000

“When the findings are congenial, we find that people find social science quite credible, and if the study comes out in the direction of people’s own beliefs, they say, “No, that sounds right.” On the other hand, if the finding conflicts with what we know to be their beliefs from questions we’ve asked them, the people start saying, “If the study found this the researcher must be biased in some way.”