New library may house administrative offices, Monterey Herald
Some of the faculty, staff and students who took part in planning the new library at CSU-Monterey Bay are in an uproar over what they say is an "under-the-table" plan to add new, view-hogging offices for the university's president and provost to the fourth floor.

Campus Digs In for Town Center, Los Angeles Times
CSUCI breaks ground for a 30,000-square-foot complex that will provide such necessities as a restaurant, stores and housing.

Bartel to continue with SDSU lawsuit, North County Times
Former equipment manager Steve Bartel will go forward with his civil lawsuit against San Diego State despite the school's decision to reinstate his employment effective Monday, attorney Paul Kondrick confirmed.

Lawrence Berkeley lab head stepping down after 15 years, Modesto Bee/AP
More change is on the way for the national labs managed by the University of California, with the head of the Lawrence Berkeley facility announcing plans Monday to step down after 15 years.

Legislature backs class-size flexibility, Sacramento Bee
Legislation sent to the governor's desk Monday allows school districts to increase class sizes slightly without the state yanking all of their class-size reduction funding.

Vote Tabled on Status of Law School, Los Angeles Times
Western State in Fullerton has been in settlement talks over national accreditation with bar association officials.

Cal Grants Program Faces $30-Million Cut, Los Angeles Times
Students from low- and middle-income families would see aid to attend private colleges slashed.

West Sacramento leaders unite to back school bond, Sacramento Bee
Virtually every community leader in West Sacramento has rallied to support passage of the Washington Unified School District's $52 million bond issue.

Educators Decry Law's Intrusion, Not Its Cost, Washington Post
Area school officials said the Virginia House of Delegates was half-right when it called the federal No Child Left Behind law intrusive and expensive and asked that the state be exempt.

Harvards on the Rhine, Christian Science Monitor
A budding revolution is shaking Germans' egalitarian mentality. Education is no longer seen as a privilege granted free to all but rather as a commodity worth investing in.

Colleges Are Relieved as PeopleSoft Rejects Latest Oracle Takeover Bid, Chronicle of Higher Education
Some college officials breathed a sigh of relief on Monday when PeopleSoft's Board of Directors rejected the latest takeover bid by the Oracle Corporation, which has been trying to acquire PeopleSoft since last summer.

Fewer Minorities Apply at Michigan, Los Angeles Times/AP
Seven months after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the University of Michigan's undergraduate affirmative action policy, the number of applications from blacks, Latinos and American Indians is down 23% from last year.

High school diploma has little meaning, coalition concludes, USA Today/AP
Once considered a springboard to success, the high school diploma now has little meaning in determining whether students are ready for college or work, a coalition of education groups contends.

Study Says U.S. Should Replace States' High School Standards, New York Times
A patchwork of state standards is failing to produce high school graduates who are prepared either for college or for work, three education policy organizations say in a new report.

PeopleSoft's Board Rejects Sweetened Offer by Oracle, New York Times
The board of PeopleSoft on Monday rejected the latest offer from Oracle to acquire the company, saying that even at $9.4 billion, or $26 a share, the bid - made last Wednesday - undervalued the company

New President of United Negro College Fund Has Roots in 3 Historically Black Colleges, Chronicle of Higher Education
The United Negro College Fund on Monday named the president of Dillard University, a private historically black college in New Orleans, as its new president and chief executive officer.

Editorial: Yes on 55, Press Democrat
California must invest in its economic future.

Editorial: Proposition 55 not now, Bakersfield Californian
It begins to add up -- $15 billion here and $12.3 billion there.

Dan Walters: State's social mobility produces another political leader, Sacramento Bee
It's a timeworn cliché, but nevertheless true, that California is a place of almost limitless social mobility.

Daniel Weintraub: PUC regulator's radical vision: Get out of the way, Sacramento Bee
Sometimes, when technology is racing ahead of government's ability to keep up, the best thing for regulators to do is simply step aside and watch closely, rather than risk standing in the way of progress.

Editorial: National Merit scholars, USA Today
Last week, 15,000 high school seniors learned that they would be National Merit finalists, one of the highest academic honors a student can receive.

Editorial: No on 55, San Diego Union-Tribune
State's fiscal situation is too muddled now.

Editorial: Ideas for savings on college textbooks, Oakland Tribune
If you want to experience sticker shock, don't go to a car dealership, visit a campus bookstore and check out the cost of textbooks. Ouch, that smarts.

Núñez assumes Assembly speakership, Sacramento Bee
Let's tackle the job with a fresh outlook, the L.A. Democrat says.

Annual budget impasse targeted, Modesto Bee/AP
Every summer, it's the singular drama that consumes the state Capitol. For weeks and even months, lawmakers haggle, dicker and struggle toward a two-thirds majority needed to pass a budget.

Gov. seeks earlier budget deadline, Press-Telegram
To head off a cash crisis and regain credibility with Wall Street, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is developing a strategy to push the Legislature to approve a new budget by the end of May a month earlier than the constitution requires.

NOTE: For additional political coverage, visit the Rough & Tumble website.

Teacher Education Report Shows Progress, CSU Public Affairs
The California State University, which continues to produce the majority of new teachers for the state, has increased by a quarter the number of new credential candidates during 2001-02 to 12,700, an extraordinary 45 percent increase since 1998-99.

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