California Senator Leland Yee has been indicted on public corruption charges, according to reports from the San Jose Mercury News. The White House has announced an extension to the Healthcare.gov deadline. Why isn't Covered California issuing a similar extension? Later, why are some colleges providing funding for students to take a "gap year?"
Report: Senator Leland Yee indicted for public corruption charges
California Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) has been detailed on public corruption and bribery charges as part of a major FBI crackdown in the Bay Area, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
Search and arrest warrants have been served throughout the Bay Area this morning. Besides Yee, a San Francisco Chinatown gangster Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow” has also been arrested. Chow had been arrested and had served time in prison before for racketeering. He allegedly has ties to a Hong Kong triad called Wo Hop To.
Yee is running to become the next Secretary of State and his indictment puts his candidacy in jeopardy.
Guest:
Josh Richman, San Jose Mercury News reporter who has been following the case
Jessica Levinson, professor at Loyola Law School and vice president of the LA Ethics Commission
White House extends Healthcare.gov deadline - Why isn't Covered California doing the same?
The White House has extended the deadline to sign up for health plans under the Affordable Care Act. The deadline, March 31st, has been push to mid-April for users who have begun the process of signing up and checked a box asking for an extension.
For frustrated users who have encountered online glitches and long phone waits, the new deadline is a relief, but critics say that the extension is another sign that the problems with the ACA are persistent, and the latest move is a poor reflection on the new healthcare plans.
Covered California has often tweaked its own deadlines to match the national extensions, but has also kept some some of its own policies, including a state timeline about when to implement new health plans. Covered California will not be extending its deadline for sign-ups, despite the White House announcement -- the California deadline is March 31, Monday.
How will the national extension affect consumers? What does it say about the ACA? Should Covered California extend its deadline?
Are you an Obamacare expert? Take our quiz here to find out!
Guests:
Joanne Kenen, Health Care Editor for POLITICO
Janet Napolitano: UC budget problems 'can't rely just on tuition dollars'
The University of California system is weighing its options for how to deal with a budget shortfall of more than $120 million.
At a recent Board of Regents meeting, board members expressed skepticism that they would be able to make up the funding gap while holding tuition down to 2012 levels, at $12,500 a year.
Governor Jerry Brown's budget proposal allocates an extra $142 million in state funds to the 10-campus system but that still leave the university more than $100 million short. Brown's offer to boost funding to UC and CSU by 5 percent this year, a 5 percent increase next year and 4 percent increases in the subsequent two years are conditional on the university keeping a freeze in tuition.
UC president Janet Napolitano confirmed this week that she's committed to not raising tuition through the next school year but it's unclear where the university will find the extra revenue needed to make up the shortfall.
During the same speech on Monday, Napolitano also questioned the value of online education courses saying they're a 'tool' but that even when done right "doesn't save all that much money."
How can the University of California system make up its budget shortfall while still being committed to tuition hikes? How long can UC sustain the tuition freeze?
Interview Highlights:
You said there's not going to be a tuition increase next year. How else can you close that gap?
"We have a lot things that we can look at, but let me say it again, we are not raising tuition in 2014 and 2015 and we're very insistent on that. That doesn't mean that we don't need to continue to look for ways to tighten our belts and maybe not be able to do some of the things we would like to be able to do to continue to maintain the University of California as the leading public research university in the country, if not the world. But we will not raise tuition this year."
Assembly Speaker John Pérez says Cal State might get more than the Governor proposed, what are the prospects for you getting more than the 5 percent in his proposed budget?
"In his proposed budget we would get 9 percent more next year, of course, obviously, we like that budget better than the governor's, but there's a lot of things that go into budgets and as you know they re-estimate the revenues coming into the state in May, and that may have some impact as well, both on the legislature and on the governor's perspective. I think where we need to start off is saying, look, University of California is this unique treasure. It contributes in myriad ways to the economic and social well being of California. What do we need to do to support it and maintain its excellence?"
Have you spoken yet today at the Cal State meeting in Long Beach?
"Yes I did, I spoke there this morning. The three heads of the higher education legs in California — community colleges, Cal State and myself as the UC — all spoke together."
I know some students were planning to protest. Were there many of them outside the auditorium?
"No they had not assembled by the time we were speaking, so they may be there now, but they weren't there when we were speaking."
They're against what are called student success fees to pay for more classes, faculty and other services at CSUs. Dominguez Hills considering a $280 per semester fee for students, like UC students. They've absorbed big tuition increases. Do you think CSU potentially doing this on select campuses violates the governor's demand that state universities freeze tuition?
"I don't know enough about the issue to express an opinion. I do know enough about the University of California to say that we have a very specific process by which fees can be raised, and they can only be used for certain student activities and student purposes. That process is, indeed, voted on by the students themselves, so we adhere to that process and again with respect to tuition, we will not raise it this year.
Let me make another point, however, and that is this. The reason the three of us are speaking together is to make the point that the expectation that higher education in California has been there since at least the master plan, 50 years ago, and we have to fight to make sure that the next generation of Californians has the same kind of opportunity that those who came before did.
That can't rely just on tuition dollars. There has to be an active participation and partnership with the state, and I think increasingly with the private sector and private philanthropy as well. If we are really going to meet the challenges and the need for higher education in California."
RELATED: Students say Cal State broke tuition freeze promise
One of the approaches that Governor Brown has touted, and many in higher education as well, is online learning as a way to more inexpensively provide basic education courses. A couple of days ago, you were speaking at a Sacramento lunch and you expressed skepticism about online learning taking a significant percentage of that out of the classroom. Why are you skeptical?
"I was skeptical for two reasons. Number one, I think online learning, originally when it was conceived, was going to be these kind of mass online courses that thousands would take and it would solve all of the capacity issues in higher education. As people have delved more into it, they've found out that, no, sitting in front of a computer screen is not the same as sitting in a classroom with a professor, a teaching assistant, others, and having that engagement there and with your fellow students... It is and has a very useful purpose.
It turns out that it's most useful purpose is probably not at basic or remedial coursework where students really do need extra attention. That's why they're taking it. In some of our upper division courses, where students are already in a major they already know where they're going, there are ways we can offer courses at one of our campuses that students at other campuses can take, and that's the way of using online most productively. We've got 33 dozen or so courses that are being piloted now in that regard."
I guess I'm thinking of survey courses, introductory level courses where you've got 500 students sitting in an auditorium far distant from the professor or TA. Wouldn't it be just as good to have a student at a computer as opposed to sitting in a massive lecture hall?
"In terms of watching a lecture, yes, but then you also then have to have the follow up, which those big lecture halls do with smaller sections and breakouts with teaching assistants and the like, so, in terms of being a big money saver or something of that sort, which is what online was looked at to be, a lot of the associated things that go with a big lecture still must be done."
When you were chosen for this position, there was significant pushback among some from the UC in feeling that you were not the right person for this job. Do you feel that you've overcome that skepticism in your six months or do you still feel like there's some who are very resistant to you?
"I think that when the regents selected me they were looking for someone with a proven track record of leading huge, complex organizations. I'm really, if you think about it and the way the UC is organized, I'm kind of like a CEO. The chancellors of each campus run the academic missions of the campuses. I support them and make sure that they are, and I fight for getting them the support they need to do their jobs. So the job of president of the University of California is a little bit different than I think people perhaps perceive.
There are some who I think will never be accepting of thinking outside the box to have someone like me in a role like this, but my experience over the last six months has been more and more people are excited. There's new energy, there are new ideas, there's new things we can do. It's a great time to come to California and to really help lead higher education now."
In a nutshell, what do you think is going to be the most important task you're going to carry out in the next six to nine months as you lead the UC?
"I've announced a number of initiatives, beginning with tuition, that I want to bring to fruition and I want to begin having us think three years, five years, down the road in terms of what do we need to do to educate the next generation of Californians and maintain the kind of excellence that's always been the hallmark of UC."
With Crimean annexation complete, what is Russia’s next move?
With the Russian annexation of Crimea complete, tensions in Eastern Europe are high. The Russian military has overtaken Ukrainian military bases in Crimea and has bolstered its presence along the Ukrainian border.
Sanctions against politicians and threats of economic sanctions have had little effect on the Russian government. Despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s insistence that Russia has no plans to invade other parts of Ukraine or other Russian speaking nations, NATO, the U.S., and the E.U. have vocalized concern that certain pro-Russia areas may be absorbed into the Russian Federation.
One area of particular interest is Transnistria, a region within Moldova with pro-Russia tendencies and a nearby Russian military presence. Comparisons to Cold War tensions have inspired dialogue about reassessing diplomatic relationships even as experts dismiss the threat of violence.
How will things proceed for Russia? What is the future of U.S./Russia diplomacy? Will the threat of greater sanctions keep Russia from expanding?
Guests:
Stephen Sestanovich, George F. Kennan Senior Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations; former U.S. ambassador-at-large for independent states of the former Soviet Union (1997-2001); author of Maximalist: America in the World from Truman to Obama (Knopf 2014)
Nina Tumarkin, professor of history at Wellesley College
Why are some colleges paying students to take a 'gap year?'
Traveling the world with nothing more than a passport and a backpack has long been the norm among college-bound kids in Europe. Now students at Tufts University are being offered a helping hand to indulge in a little wanderlust.
Starting this fall, Tufts will provide funds for up to fifty students to travel abroad before entering their freshman year. Tufts is not alone. Princeton offers gap-year aid based on need. The University of North Carolina offers $7,500 to gap year applicants, as reported by the Associated Press.
According to the American Gap Association, a gap year overseas can cost up to $30,000. By removing the financial barrier to overseas exploration, it's hoped participants will broaden their worldview through a variety of volunteer and education programs. Gap year studies also suggest that a constructive break away from traditional education can boost a student's academic performance.
Europeans encourage young people to take gap years, why have Americans been more reluctant? Should all students be offered financial assistance to take a gap year before college? If you took one, how did it help or hinder you on your return? After a gap year, are students more focused and less likely to switch majors and career goals?
Guests:
Ethan Knight, Executive Director, American Gap Association
Bob Clagett, Director of College Counseling at St. Stephen's Episcopal School and former senior admissions officer at Harvard College. He's conducted research into the impact on gap years on students