Working students feel budget pinch, Press Enterprise
Cal State's restrictions are aimed at making undergraduates finish sooner.

College students find fewer classes available, Ventura County Star
Monday, some students worried about paying more, while others struggled to find classes needed to transfer to schools in the California State University system.

UC Berkeley welcomes fresh faces, The Daily Review
More than 3,000 incoming students received a rousing welcome at the University of California, Berkeley, on Monday afternoon. Besides the Cal Marching Band, there was praise from Chancellor Robert Berdahl and some pithy advice from the student body president.

Friends' pact lifts the load for teachers, Oakland Tribune
Volunteer readers assess students' papers, provide feedback.

Test scores, standards on the rise, Contra Costa Times
The latest state test results show continuing improvements by students citywide, though tough new federal standards will be a challenge for the district in coming years.

Community colleges earn high rankings, Ventura County Star
Survey puts Oxnard, Ventura in top 100 for Hispanics earning degrees.

Study ranks University of Colorado No. 1 for partying, Daily Bulletin/AP
The University of Colorado, where a six-year effort to curb binge drinking ended this spring without making a dent, is the nation's No. 1 party school.

Book says Stanford death was murder, Contra Costa Times
It's a storyline straight out of Agatha Christie: Jane Stanford, founding matron of Stanford University, is poisoned with a fatal dose of strychnine. Rumors about Jane Stanford's death have percolated for almost 99 years. Now a new book by a retired Stanford medical professor claims to conclusively prove she was murdered -- and that former president David Starr Jordan hid the truth for decades.

Weintraub: Recall generating random acts of politics, Sacramento Bee
California's new budget, says one of the candidates for governor, is a perfect example of politicians "choosing the easy road over the honest road." The $99 billion spending plan, this candidate adds, "all but guaranteed another budget crisis by borrowing billions to close the current gap, and assuming best-case scenarios to make the numbers add up. California cannot borrow indefinitely. Our credit rating has been downgraded to near junk status, and we have almost exhausted our options for collateral."

Once again the world misunderstands California, Eureka Times Standard
It's an annual phenomenon, rather like migrating birds: Every winter, flocks of well-known Eastern columnists turn up in California to write penetrating analyses of the great enigma on the West Coast. It's a vacation from the blizzards in their hometowns of New York and Washington and Boston.

Opinion: Budget well for public colleges, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
How the California State University and University of California systems deal with the budget crisis will be critical to these institutions' reputations and future.

Column: Time for Davis to Lead Reform, or to Step Aside, Los Angeles Times
Gov. Gray Davis may be guilty of incompetence, but being inept is not an offense that justifies a recall.

Justice Department approves recall, Contra Costa Times/AP
The Justice Department on Monday cleared the Oct. 7 election to recall Gov. Gray Davis.

Recall Seen as Wild Card for New Bills, Los Angeles Times
Lawmakers face a docket full of controversial issues. Democrats may rush to get Davis' signature on some measures.

Davis to Make His Case, but Not Plead It, Los Angeles Times
In an address at UCLA, the governor plans to speak 'from the heart,' aides say. He will explain his actions on the budget and energy crises.

Latino group, unions give support to Bustamante, Long Beach Press-Telegram
On Monday, the California State Employees Association, representing 140,000 state workers, and the state Legislature's Latino caucus both adopted a strategy of "No on recall, yes on Bustamante,' as did the California Association of Highway Patrolmen.

Proposition 54 poll gap narrows, Sacramento Bee
But support is still strong, with many undecided, for a ban on race-based data.

Prop. 54: No stranger to controversy, LA Daily News
Once again, as he was in 1996 when voters approved his Proposition 209 ballot measure ending affirmative action in colleges, Ward Connerly finds himself in the eye of a storm over racial issues.

Connerly: New law is 'attack on equality', Sacramento Bee
Gov. Gray Davis' signing of a new law that would permit "special measures" to benefit minority and ethnic groups was blasted Monday as a blatant attack on Proposition 209. Ward Connerly, who seven years ago led the successful Proposition 209 campaign to ban racial preferences in state education, hiring and contracting, called the new law -- AB 703 -- a "nefarious attack on equality."

Study on school spending clears Prop. 13 of blame, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Long before the latest state budget reduced funding for public education, experts bemoaned what they say is a 25-year history of under-funded education.

Capitol finale may be a sizzler, Sacramento Bee
Fiscal crisis, recall fever and partisan wrangling to make for wild final month.

GOP calls Democratic plan to swap tax for car fee illegal, San Jose Mercury News
Gov. Gray Davis endorsed a Democratic proposal to dump the increase in the car tax in favor of higher taxes on the wealthy and cigarettes. But will the unorthodox plan work?

Experts say campaign very difficult to read, San Francisco Chronicle
But as the major candidates prepare to announce their policy positions this week in a very traditional manner, the recall campaign is proving difficult to read. Rational people applying rational thought to an unpredictable event may not work, some believe.

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