Tag Archives: The Los Angeles Times

The Consequences Of Removing The SAT

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On May 17th, The Los Angeles Times posted an article about the consequences of removing the SAT as part of the consideration in college admissions.

The article reports:

    • Hundreds of UC faculty are urging a return of SAT or ACT test requirements for STEM applicants, citing math deficits after six years of being test-free.
    • A UC San Diego report of soaring math unpreparedness is fueling faculty warnings that reliable testing is needed for admissions.
    • Critics call the SAT inequitable and say high school grades are a good predictor of college success.

Theoretically, the goal of a student entering college is to complete their desired degree program and graduate. It should be the responsibility of the college to admit students who are capable of doing that.

The article notes:

More than 600 University of California faculty members, led by mathematicians at UC Berkeley, are calling on the system to reinstate standardized testing requirements for science, technology, engineering and mathematics applicants, saying that six years of test-free admissions has not reliably assessed readiness and professors are often teaching middle school math to incoming students.

Without standardized testing in admissions, professors said they don’t know whether incoming students can handle college-level math. The open letter, addressed to top UC leaders, asks for SAT or ACT exams to be required beginning in fall 2027 and for STEM faculty to be given formal oversight of readiness standards in their majors.

“We now observe preparation gaps so severe that instructors must reteach middle-school mathematics while simultaneously teaching the material students need for sciences, engineering, economics, and other quantitatively demanding fields,” they warned.

The article concludes:

In 11th grade, the most relevant grade relating to college readiness, 30.5% of students met or exceeded math learning standards. Of these, nearly half exceeded the learning standard — marking them as likely to be the best prepared for a college STEM major.

Any change to UC admissions requirements must move through the Academic Senate admissions board committee before going to the Board of Regents. Minutes from the admissions board‘s March 6 meeting show members signaled tentative interest in eventually requiring 11th-grade Smarter Balanced assessment scores for California residents and SAT or ACT scores for nonresidents.

The board plans to submit an initial draft by Sunday and a “final road map” by June 30.

Colleges need to teach college course–not teach things that students should have learned in high school.

We Don’t Seem To Be Doing Very Well At Helping Disaster Victims

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On Saturday, Breitbart posted an update about the victims of the Palisades Fire in California.

The article reports:

More than 70 percent of people who were affected by the Palisades Fire in California from January are still living in temporary housing, according to a report.

A survey conducted by the Department of Angels surveyed “2,300 fire-impacted residents across” Los Angeles County, according to the Los Angeles Times. The survey found that 75 percent “of surveyed Pacific Palisades residents and 67% of surveyed Altadena residents are in temporary housing.”

Per the outlet:

Roughly 75% of surveyed Pacific Palisades residents and 67% of surveyed Altadena residents are in temporary housing. Many expect they’ll have to move again in the next few months. The report found that although residents who experienced a total loss have struggled with finding stable housing, residents who experienced structural and smoke or ash damage have had to move more frequently.

For residents who lost their homes in Altadena, Pacific Palisades, Pasadena and Malibu, 22% said they expected to move again within the next six to 12 months and 9% expected to move within the next few months. Of those residents who experienced structural and smoke or ash damage, 19% expected to have to move in the next few months and 18% believed they’d have to move within a year.

Fox News reported  one person explained that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) “has Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Relief Dollars.”

The person explained to Fox News that prior to the government shutdown, they were “going to meet with HUD” to talk about that, adding that it could be used to reinvest in infrastructure.

I’m sorry–the fire was almost a year ago–you waited until September to meet with HUD? The government was shut down for forty days. Am I supposed to believe that those were the exact forty days you chose to meet with HUD?

There are a number of problems with rebuilding Pacific Palisades. The first is the excessive permitting in California. The second is the fact that many of the residents did not have fire insurance because it was canceled and they did not have time to renew it. That means taking out a construction loan for the full value of what you are building. That is expensive. There is also the reason of taxes. The land has significant value. Even with a small house, the tax assessment of what you build is going to be high. In California when you buy a house, you pay taxes on what you paid for the house for as long as you own the house. When you sell your house, the buyer pays taxes on whatever he paid for the house. I suspect that if the residents rebuild the houses, they will be assessed at their current value–not at whatever they were previously assessed for. If you bought your house in 1970 for a million dollars and paid taxes on that amount until it burned down, what will the rebuilt value be? Just based on inflation it will be at least three times what it was previously valued at. There is also the fact that the California government has floated the idea of turning the area into low-income apartment buildings.

This isn’t looking good for those who lost everything in the fire.

Ironic?

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As Californians flee the inept (and expensive) government of their state, their destinations vary, but there is one very interesting destination.

On Wednesday, Hot Air posted an article with the following headline, “Californians are moving to Mexico City and not everyone is thrilled about it.” Where is the headline, “Illegal immigrants are moving to New York City and not everyone is thrilled about it?” At least the Californians moving to Mexico are immigrating legally–you can’t immigrate to Mexico illegally!

The article quotes the LA Times (this is the link, but it is behind the pay wall):

The influx, which has accelerated since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and is likely to continue as inflation rises, is transforming some of the city’s most treasured neighborhoods into
expat enclaves.

In leafy, walkable quarters such as Roma, Condesa, Centro and Juarez, rents are soaring as Americans and other foreigners snap up houses and landlords trade long-term renters for travelers willing to pay more on Airbnb. Taquerias, corner stores and fondas — small, family-run lunch spots — are being replaced by Pilates studios, co-working spaces and sleek cafes advertising oat-milk
lattes and avocado toast.

And English — well, it’s everywhere: ringing out at supermarkets, natural wine bars and fitness classes in the park.

The article at the American Thinker continues:

A 38-year-old university professor labeled the trend “modern colonialism.”

“Mexico is classist and racist,” Bustos said. “People with white skin are given preference. Now, if a local wants to go to a restaurant or a club, they don’t just have to compete with rich, white Mexicans but with foreigners too.”

Anyway, the story says that most locals are extremely polite to the Americans who are moving in to their luxury apartments. But I guess it’s not just people in Boise, ID and Austin, TX who get fed up with Californians showing up with a lot of cash and no respect for the local customs. Unfortunately for Mexico City, the exodus from California isn’t likely to stop anytime soon.

There is a certain amount of irony in this story. How often do you hear Spanish spoken in major cities in America? Now the residents of Mexico City are complaining because they hear English. Irony at its best.

Is This Even Possible?

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Yesterday Breitbart reported that U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter is doing his part to end the homeless crisis in Los Angeles.

The article reports:

U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday ordering the city and county of Los Angeles to ensure that every homeless person living in the notorious Skid Row district has housing by October 18 this year.

The article quotes The Los Angeles Times:

Judge David O. Carter granted a preliminary injunction sought by the plaintiffs in the case last week and now is telling the city and county that they must find single women and unaccompanied children on skid row a place to stay within 90 days, followed by helping families within 120 days and finally, by Oct. 18, offering every homeless person on skid row housing or shelter.

“Los Angeles has lost its parks, beaches, schools, sidewalks, and highway systems due to the inaction of city and county officials who have left our homeless citizens with no other place to turn,” Carter wrote in a 110-page brief laced with quotes from Abraham Lincoln and an extensive history of how skid row was first created.

The article at Breitbart notes:

Elsewhere in the decision, the Judge Carter — a Bill Clinton appointee — cited claims of “systemic racism,” and argued that homelessness is partly a result of historical racial discrimination.

In an unusually complex set of instructions, Judge Carter also ordered $1 billion earmarked by the city for spending on the homeless, announced Monday evening as part of L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti’s “Justice Budget,” to be placed in an escrow account. He also ordered a 90-day audit of city and county spending on the homeless, and a 30-day “audit of any funds committed to mental health (MH) and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment.”

I am no expert, but there seems to be something missing here. Unfortunately a lot of homeless people are homeless because of mental health issues or substance abuse. It seems to me that until you help people deal with those issues, putting them in houses won’t matter. It’s nice that they are calling for an audit of funds for mental health and substance abuse, but they really need to look closely at how that money is spent. You can house homeless people, but unless you deal with the issues that caused them to live as homeless people, you will accomplish very little.

Interesting Pushback

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According to the Los Angeles Times (in an article posted January 21st):

The Biden administration announced Thursday the suspension of new oil and gas leasing and drilling permits for U.S. lands and waters, effective for 60 days, as officials moved quickly to reverse Trump administration policies on energy and the environment.

The suspension, part of a broad review of programs at the Interior Department, went into effect immediately under an order signed Wednesday by acting Interior Secretary Scott de la Vega. It follows President Biden’s campaign pledge to halt new drilling on federal lands and end the leasing of publicly owned energy reserves to help address climate change.

That ruling resulted in the following letter written by Luke Duncan, Chairman of the Ute Indian Tribe Business Committee, to the Acting Secretary of the Interior, Scott de la Vega (posted at Breitbart January 24th)

The article at Breitbart quotes a Washington Times article:

The Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, which has run an oil-and-gas operation on its 4.5 million-acre reservation for more than 70 years, requested Thursday an exemption for tribal lands from the Interior Department order that halts agencies from issuing permits and leases on mineral production for 60 days.

Breitbart reports:

Duncan called the order “a direct attack on our economy, sovereignty, and our right to self-determination,” adding, “Indian lands are not federal public lands. Any action on our lands and interests can only be taken after effective tribal consultation.”

According to the tribe’s website, mining oil and natural gas is “big business on the reservation.”

The Ute Indian reservation is obviously much smaller than it originally was. The government took a large portion of their land. Now we are adding insult to injury by preventing a group of people engaged in legal, profitable economic activity from making a living and being self-supporting. I am not sure this is really the direction we should be headed. Stay tuned.

 

 

Understanding The Power Of The Press

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One America News reported yesterday that The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is spending millions on ad space to spread pro-China messages across the United States.

The article notes:

The U.S. Department of Justice reported that in just the last four years, Beijing has spent nearly $19 million in an attempt to push pro-China narratives within the country.

The payments have been on behalf of Beijing-controlled China Daily newspaper, which is an English language publication produced by the CCP that has paid millions of dollars just this year.

Publications like the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Los Angeles Times have received these payments for running pro-China ads on their websites and printed publication. The paid advertisements are designed to look like real news articles, while often containing a pro-Beijing twist on contemporary news events.

Please understand what is happening here–the mainstream media such as the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have been losing money because they have become so biased. The Chinese advertising revenue is one of the things keeping them afloat. The fact that some of these ads are designed to look like real news articles is an indication of the goal–subvert any American policy that is unfriendly to China. This is probably one of many reasons the mainstream media does not support the trade policies of President Trump that leveled the playing field with China.

The article includes the following screenshot:

This is one of many reasons Americans should not trust the mainstream media.