A disturbing development: Fewer California students are attending the University of California -- the top-notch school that is part of the DNA of generations of Golden State young people and their families.
From the Bee's Alexei Koseff: "About 1,600 fewer California students were enrolled at UC’s nine undergraduate campuses last fall as compared with the fall 2014 semester, including 1,317 fewer resident freshmen. UC declined to provide a breakdown by campus."
"While the university and the state fought over money last spring, UC instructed campuses to keep enrollment flat. All colleges have to estimate how many of the students they admit will ultimately enroll, and campuses offered to accept about 1,150 fewer Californians than they did the previous year. Spokeswoman Dianne Klein said not as many of them agreed to attend as UC expected."
“This is a very inexact science. It’s more art than science,” Klein said. “The campuses were a little conservative.”
Speaking of UC, a battle with potentially billions of dollars at stake is going on over something you've never heard of -- CRISPR-Cas9.
From KQED's Lindsey Hoshaw: "This is a battle for who invented the powerful gene-editing technique that Science magazine named the Breakthrough of the Year for 2015: CRISPR-Cas9."
"The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) agreed this week to settle a dispute over competing claims for the discovery of the revolutionary tool."
"On Monday, the office declared an intereference, recognizing a conflict between patent rights granted to the Broad Institute (rhymes with “road”) in Cambridge, Mass., and rights claimed by a pending UC Berkeley patent application."
"Whoever gets the patent will be an important player in university research and the future of medicine, because that institution will set the terms for how the technology is used."
Meanwhile, Gov. Jerry is ramping up his fight for a massive public works project to move northern water to the south through huge tunnels in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River delta.
From the LAT's Christine Mai-Duc: "Hoping to combat the idea that building the massive tunnels is simply a water-grab that would benefit Southern California, Brown reiterated that Bay Area cities such as Livermore and Santa Clara derive large swaths of their water supply from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta."
"We run the very substantial risk that water to Silicon Valley will be cut off and California’s engine of wealth and innovation will be dealt a body blow. And I don't think anyone in their right mind would want that," Brown said after an event hosted by the Assn. of California Water Agencies."
"Brown's comments came as his administration rolled out an update to a state water action plan, launched in 2014 as a road map for managing California's water."
And since we're on the subject of water, there's this: No, El Niño is not winding down -- we're just in the middle of a brief respite, experts say.
Paul Rogers in the Mercury News tells the tale: "Simply put, that means the likelihood of regular storms across California and heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada will continue to be greater this year than in regular years, offering hope that 2016 may finally be the year that the state's four-year drought -- now starting its fifth year -- is broken."
'But, experts caution, a lot more rain and snow is needed."
"On Thursday, the government's weekly "drought monitor" update showed that 69 percent of California remains in extreme drought, barely changed from three months ago, when it was 71 percent. The scale measures more than 40 indicators, from soil moisture to snowpack to reservoir levels."
The latest Field Poll says Californians are evenly divided about the death penalty -- about half want to get rid of it altogether and the other half want to speed up executions.
From David Siders in the Bee: "When asked what the state should do in response, 48 percent of registered voters said California should take steps to speed up the process, according to the poll."
"Forty-seven percent of registered voters said the state should do away with the death penalty and replace it with life sentences without the possibility of parole."
"The result reflects a shift since September 2014, when Californians favored speeding the execution process by a 52 percent-to-40 percent margin."
And from our "Heavy Metal" file comes word that somebody stole a statue of former UC boating crew leader Ky Elbright, known as the "Little Admiral." Go figure.
"A 300-pound bronze statue of a former University of California crew coach was stolen from the university's campus."
"The life-size statue of crew coach Carrol 'Ky' Ebright was taken from the university's boathouse in Oakland on Jan. 12, according to a news release from UC Berkeley police."
"The statue of the 20th century coach holds an estimated value of $80,000 and was funded by alumni donations."
"The university decided to immortalize Ebright with a statue after he coached the crew team to three Olympic gold medals and multiple championships between 1924 and 1959. The legendary coach was also inducted into the United States Rowing Hall of fame in 1956."
Actually, that statue is really cool....
