Faculty members at Cal State East Bay and Cal State Dominguez Hills are planning to participate in a walkout today, reports KTLA. The teachers are protesting the university administration's decision not to pay them raises that were negotiated for the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years. more ›

If a proposed tuition increase is approved by the California State University Board of Trustees, it would mean a sixth straight year of fees going up. The current increase is a proposed 9 percent, or $498 annually for full-time undergrads at the CSU's 23 campuses. more ›

A reduction in state funding has already forced tuition increases, class option decreases and layoffs in the University of California system. Now, leaders of the 10-campus education chain are considering a proposal to allow undergraduate tuition to vary by campus, reports the L.A. Times. Advocates say that "the change would raise funds the schools could share... more ›

After a four-day sit-in protesting tuition hikes and cut-backs, Cal State Fullerton students are heading home, reports LA Now. The protesters were asking CSUF President Milton Gordon to sign a document declaring his support of their requests that tuition not be further increased, and that the school's budget not be cut any more. more ›

After the president of their university refused to sign a petition stating that he stands by students who want tuition hikes and budget cuts to stop, Cal State Fullerton students staged a sit-in, reports KABC. Beginning at 9 p.m. last night, up to 50 students filled the administration building to make their point to President Milton Gordon. more ›

Faced with the possibility of a $500 million cut in state funding, California State University is planning to enroll 10,000 less students next year, and campuses will be asked to cut their budgets by a total of $281 million, reports the LA Times. The cuts will also mean fewer faculty and staff, as well as reduced spending by the chancellor's office, which itself faces a funding cut of $11 million, Chancellor Charles B. Reed told the Times. more ›

Despite protests, the California State University Board of Trustees has approved a two-year fee hike plan, according to CBS2. Tuition at the system's campuses will go up for undergraduate, graduate and credential program students, and "will rise by 5 percent in the winter and spring terms and another 10 percent next fall, when California resident undergraduates will pay $4,884 annually." The trustees blamethe crippled state budget, since they are not receiving enough funding, and have had to implement furloughs and reduce services. CSU students will continue to pay more for, and get less from, their higher education. more ›

The upcoming school year at California's two major public University systems continues to look bleak for students, faculty, and staff alike, as budget shortfalls are forcing school officials to recommend fee increases, furlough days, and enrollment stoppages in order to save costs. more ›

During yesterday's California State University system's special Board of Trustees meeting, Chancellor Charles B. Reed said he will seek approval for "an additional student fee hike of 15% to 20% for this fall, and enrollment reductions of 32,000 students in the year to follow," reports the LA Times. more ›

The California State University (CSU) system is facing enrollment limits for the next academic year, and because of this, many CSU campuses are now having to limit the application period. Whereas once upon a time a prospective student could apply year-round to a CSU school for admission to an upcoming semester or quarter, now at least 9 campuses will be enforcing a November 30th application deadline for Fall 2009 starts, with many of the remaining campuses to follow shortly thereafter. more ›

As both the University of California and Cal State public school systems look at fee increases as the state budget dwindes into super red deficit numbers, Prop 8 protests won't be the only ones going on. From the LA Times: "Lucero Chavez, president of the systemwide UC Student Assn., predicted more protests ahead because students are angry about fees growing so much year after year. 'I think we saw in the voter turnout [in the presidential election] that students are ready to be mobilized,' she said." more ›

Today around 12:30 p.m. at Nogales High School in La Puente, a call came into 9-1-1 -- there was a gun on campus. Sheriff Deputies responded and found out it was a prank. "Apparently unsupervised students in a classroom there called 9-1-1 to report someone with a gun," reported Frank Girardot of CrimeScene Blog, which covers San Gabriel Valley area crimes. He says at least two students were in custody. more ›

Four Los Angeles area schools went into lockdown yesterday, the one thought to have the most potential danger in Pasadena at Blair International Baccalaureate Magnet School. An early morning report by a student saying someone had a gun prompted a lockdown that lasted throughout the day. Later in the day, police detained one male juvenile for questioning, but no further details have been released. more ›

The Daily Breeze is reporting that police were searching earlier this morning for a possible gunman at California State Dominguez Hills in Carson:

Two students apparently reported around 8:30 a.m. they saw a gunman carrying an AK-47 assault rifle and wearing a green jacket and no shirt, according to news reports. more ›

What's more shocking: Kids in LAUSD high schools are apathetic towards their education, or LAUSD high schools aren't providing students with enough assistance in moving them towards post-secondary education? more ›

. more ›

">over a year ago, then in May about Stagecoach (the roots version of Coachella) and this last December. We'll spare any in depth analysis this morning, but will just say if you're looking for things to do late this morning, whether your a parent or babysitting some little rascals, they could be your saving grace. more ›

If you want to do something else tonight besides the mind-numbing seventh season opener of American Idol, here are a few options: more ›

For those who say you can't put a price on education, California's governor and UC and CSU officials say you're dead wrong. In fact, not only can you put a price on it, you can hike the price, making undergraduate education in the state increasingly more expensive. more ›

Photo by C-Monster via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr more ›

• Tribune Company CEO Dennis FitzSimons will be stepping down at the end of the year, letting Chicago businessman Sam Zell take over the company. The Tribune Company owns the Los Angeles Times.
• President Bush signed a huge Energy Bill yesterday, in hopes of "reducing our dependence on oil, confronting global climate change, expanding the production of renewable fuels and giving future generations of our country a nation that is stronger, cleaner and more secure."
• Looks like Sean Preston and, uh, the other little Chee-to whose name escapes us will have a little fucked up cousin very soon! Jamie Lynn Spears, following in her sister's dirty, unshod footsteps, got herself knocked up.
• California's population has grown by 11.5% since 2000 -- but the annual growth rate has slowed overall, possibly due to slower job growth: "Those who left... were fleeing an economy in which just 5,800 jobs per month were created -- down from more than 20,000 per month the previous year."
• Sean Penn's road-trip flick "Into the Wild" garnered four SAG Award nominations, including one Best Lead Actor nod for star Emile Hirsch. SAG has reached an agreement with the writers guild that will allow the ceremony to proceed as planned.
• This week's rainfall brings California's yearly total up to the seasonal norm. More relief may still be on the way.
• Approximately 25,000 residents in Northridge and other parts of the Valley were affected by power outages yesterday. Cal State Northridge shut down classes, but power has been restored to most customers.
• There may be hope yet for television in the New Year! Stephen Colbert & Jon Stewart will return to cable on January 7th without their writing staff. Stewart and Colbert commented: ""We would like to return to work with our writers. If we cannot, we would like to express our ambivalence, but without our writers we are unable to express something as nuanced as ambivalence."

more ›

Lisa Glatt, professor of creative writing at Cal State Long Beach, is on her way to the big time - and we couldn't be happier for her. Glatt's novel, A Girl Becomes a Comma Like That, has been optioned by Andrew Wagner. more ›

The courts once again sided with the Bush administration in its warrantless spy tapping program. This time, the liberal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to rule against the government in its handling of the war on terror. Somewhere, Abbie Hoffman is crying. Following an incident at Cal State Fullerton, in which nooses appeared on a clothesline at an anti-hate rally, civil rights leaders are calling for a federal investigation. College officials quickly took... more ›

Following a flap from an LA Times article that found 60,000 LAUSD students attend school within 500 feet of a freeway, the school district is looking into ways it can reduce the health hazards for kids close to pollution-filled freeways. Maybe the school district can use the $53 million in funds they're trying to recoup to build domes over playgrounds. Thousands of birds and an immeasurable amount of fish have died as a result... more ›

Bloc Party, Justice, Satellite Party, Kinky, Comedians of Comedy, Turbonegro, Teddybears, The Raveonettes, Shout Out Louds, Autolux, Celebrity Skin, others @ Detour Festival Dengue Fever, Mia Doi Todd, Chuchito Valdes, The Pity Party, others @ Eagle Rock Music Festival Kenny Burrell, The Pete Escovedo Family Orchestra (with Sheila E.), others @ Jazz at Drew Natalie Cole, Sheryl Lee Ralph, RuPaul, Linda Hopkins, Loretta Devine, Ann Nesby, Deniece Williams, Jennifer Holliday, others @ Divas Simply... more ›

George Bush issued the fourth veto of his presidency today, nixing a bill that would have provided insurance to poor children. Bush said the program was too costly, apparently cool with the fact that the Iraq war now costs over $455-billion. That's B for billion. And B for Bitch. Curbed LA takes a gander at a new development planned for West LA. In as much as the structure looks like a monument to cubism,... more ›

Los Angeles is cleaning up after a wet weekend that drenched the southland and knocked out power to thousands. Want asthma? LAUSD is building seven new schools near freeways, despite scientific studies saying such construction could damage the children's lungs. Huell Howser is here. That's amazing! The city's neighborhood councils could be in for some major changes. Maybe now, you'll actually understand what they are. A Los Angeles man suspected of shooting his pregnant girlfriend... more ›

The Long Beach Blues Festival more ›

Northridge has become famous for Cal State University Northridge, and infamous for the Northridge quake. In reality, the earthquake's epicenter was beneath Reseda. Although the San Fernando Valley is very particular about each neighborhood's boundaries, the history of one area sometimes bleeds over into the next. It would be easy to paint the Valley with a single brush. But that would be a gross oversimplification. What makes Northridge stand out from its neighbors? Its... more ›