Health institute gets grant, Fresno Bee
The California Endowment, a private health foundation, announced a $4 million, five-year grant Wednesday to a fledgling regional health institute at Fresno State addressing the Valley's major health needs and inequities.

Poly project may worsen traffic in SLO, San Luis Obispo Tribune
More traffic and air pollution would result from Cal Poly's ambitious plan to build a 2,700-bed housing complex on campus.

Cal Poly graduation rates trail UC system, San Luis Obispo Tribune
Just 16 percent of first-time freshmen at Cal Poly graduate within four years. The school's rate is the best in the 23-campus California State University system but is still below the national average.

HSU enrollment soaring, Eureka Times-Standard
If you want to attend Humboldt State University in the fall, it might be smart to enroll sooner rather than later.

Democrats Plan Blitz to Argue for Taxes Over Cuts in Budget, Los Angeles Times
'Save California' campaign will warn local decision-makers of 'dire consequences' of spending reductions sought by Republicans.

Vehicle license fee set to jump, Sacramento Bee
State finance officials are preparing to "pull the trigger" Friday to raise the state's vehicle license fee and pump billions of dollars into the California treasury, as a new fiscal year approaches with lawmakers locked in a budget battle.

Assembly Democrats to stump for tax hikes, San Diego Union-Tribune/AP
As work on the California budget crisis came to a standstill yesterday, Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson said Democratic lawmakers will leave the Capitol early next week to venture "to all corners of the state" urging support for tax increases.

UC may loosen rules on classroom discourse, San Francisco Chronicle
At a time when liberal teachings on college campuses are under fire, the University of California is considering a change in its nearly 70-year-old academic freedom policy in order to officially protect free discourse in the classroom -- and to bring the policy more in line with reality.

Davis may take lab fight to regents, Sacramento Bee
The Davis City Council may send a letter to the University of California regents asking them to withdraw their application for a controversial biolab on the UC Davis campus because a proper environmental review of the project cannot be conducted.

Citrus College managers agree to forgo raises, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Citrus College managers agreed to forgo a 4-percent salary increase as the Board of Trustees on Tuesday slashed spending by $3.5 million.

Ventura County College Trustees Balk at Selecting a Permanent Chancellor, Los Angeles Times
Dissatisfied with its short list of candidates, Ventura County Community College trustees plan to appoint an interim chancellor for another year while continuing their search for a permanent leader for the cash-strapped district.

Ability to Retake the SAT Skews the Results Against Low-Income Students, Study Suggests, Chronicle of Higher Education
Is allowing college applicants to retake the SAT as many times as they like unfair to low-income students?

Fundraising Gets Tougher For Colleges, Washington Post
A number of colleges across the country are struggling to meet their goals in a sluggish economy that has thrown a curve at splashy fundraising campaigns that came to symbolize campus image and institutional self-worth in the late 1990s.

Reading scores up for younger students, down among high school seniors, USA Today/AP
America's fourth-graders are getting better at reading, but its seniors are getting worse.

College Groups Ask Secretary of State to Postpone New Interview Requirement for Visa Applicants, Chronicle of Higher Education
Four advocacy organizations representing thousands of colleges and universities sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell this week asking that he postpone the State Department's requirement that nearly all international visitors to the United States undergo an in-person interview before they get their travel visas.

Ivy League Votes to Raise Academic Standards for Athletes, Chronicle of Higher Education
The presidents of the eight Ivy League colleges voted to increase their academic requirements for students recruited as athletes, to cap the total number of athletes admitted to each institution each year, and to relax much-protested requirements about mandatory time off for athletes during the academic year.

Editorial: Cal State nursing school is a great idea, North County Times
California and the nation are facing an acute shortage of nurses, and Cal State San Marcos plans to do something about it.

James Flanigan: Budget Mess Marks Turn for Worse -- or Better, Los Angeles Times
It's easy to scoff at the current budget impasse in Sacramento as little more than a sordid political circus.

Editorial: Postponing exit exam gets a failing grade, Orange County Register
Why shouldn't California students have to pass a reasonable test to get high school diplomas?

Editorial: Building priorities, Los Angeles Daily News
The frenzy that compels officials of the Los Angeles Unified School District to build schools -- as many and wherever possible -- suggests that there isn't a hint of method in the LAUSD's madness.

George Skelton: Linking Education and Tax Is Good Strategy, Los Angeles Times
What Davis is trying to do is link education — by far the most popular program government provides — with his proposed half-cent sales tax increase. That is, link the two in people's minds.

Editorial: Two Men Alone in a Boat, Los Angeles Times
Two California legislators are all alone, with no one else jumping aboard, after daring to propose a compromise budget plan.

Review and Outlook: Special Voucher Results, Wall St. Journal
A stock argument against school vouchers is that they'll be used only by the most gifted kids, leaving the hard cases behind. But now comes evidence from Florida showing that vouchers have worked well even for special education students.

Daniel Weintraub: Legislature's lawyer casts doubt on car tax hike, Sacramento Bee
The biggest mystery around the state Capitol these days is how and when the Davis administration intends to follow through on its threat to triple California's car tax without a vote of the Legislature.

Editorial: Budget impasse, San Diego Union-Tribune
That Assemblymen Keith Richman, R-Northridge, and Joseph Canciamilla, D-Pittsburg, were the only two lawmakers courageous enough to publicly support a sensible budget proposal illustrates the extreme political polarization in Sacramento.

Editorial: How schools can fix budget woes, San Jose Mercury-News
The role of parental fund-raising in a district that values fairness has become a divisive issue.

Anti-recall strategy: It's Davis or GOP, Sacramento Bee
Four high-ranking California Democrats on Tuesday ruled out candidacies to replace Gov. Gray Davis midterm if a Republican-led effort to recall him proceeds to an election.

CalPERS to pass along costs for health care, San Diego Union-Tribune/AP
Moving to cushion spiraling health care costs, one of the nation's largest pension plans yesterday said it will pass on some medical costs to 1.2 million public workers and retirees statewide.

Latinos Now Top Minority, Los Angeles Times
Census Bureau estimates group's U.S. population at 38.8 million, ahead of blacks for the first time. Demographers see even more growth ahead.