Thieves ripped off $800,000 of computer equipment from San Jose State. The Contra Costa Times reported:

Without a central warehouse or reliable system for keeping track of the valuables arriving on campus, hundreds of wireless-access devices costing nearly $600 each started to disappear as early as 2012, and no one noticed — until January of this year. And it took months more for university officials to realize the equipment had been stolen. 

“There is no way to track what items were delivered,” reads a recently released university police report that summarizes a May interview with one employee.

This is the public university right in the heart of Silicon Valley.

Incredible. Yet typical government incompetence.

And it was just a couple of days ago that I reported on state Auditor Elaine M. Howle’s report on the unreliability of state computer data.

Just before that, a computer bug dumped some Covered CA applicants into Medi-Cal.

A year ago, unemployment checks were delayed by a glitch in the computer of the Employment Development Department.

Then way back in 1994 there was a $44 million DMV computer “debacle.”

Of course, private companies also suffer thefts and glitches. But in those cases, the company itself pays.  With government problems, it’s taxpayers who make up the difference. And given that nobody really “owns” government property, fewer precautions are taken to keep equipment safe and programs running right.

Yet the government minutely runs our lives!

By Chris Reed

Will 2013 be the year that unionized faculty members at UC, CSU and the state’s community colleges finally figure out the threat that online education poses to their futures? If it is not this year, it is coming sometime soon. The same dynamics that have killed Borders, Tower Records and travel agencies, made newspapers far less lucrative and shaken up dozens of industries — easy, free/cheap online access to content and information — threaten bricks-and-mortar higher education.

“Look at the music industry. It’s been completely overturned by the Internet. My vision of the world is that everywhere will be like the music industry, but we’ve only seen it in a few places so far. Journalism is in the midst of the battle. And higher education is probably next,” is how George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen, an online education visionary, puts it.

Yes, K-12 is likely to live on in its present form because of the role schools play in the socialization process. Yes, Ivy League universities will continue to serve in their role as de facto gatekeepers for entry into Wall Street and high finance. But in Silicon Valley, the value that is placed on traditional credentials in most of the U.S. isn’t nearly as consistently strong. It is understood that learning can happen lots of ways, and hardly just in a formal classroom. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg? All college dropouts. This is not lost on the rest of California’s elites.

Jerry Brown on the bandwagon

Now more and more online education is free, and the power of education apps on iPads and other devices is becoming more obvious, and people have realized how much great educational content there is on YouTube. At the very least, we seem sure to move toward a model in which online learning is a big part of traditional education because of its efficiency and low cost.

And guess who agrees this is a great idea?

“Quoting poet Robert Frost on the benefits of innovative thinking, Gov. Jerry Brown said Tuesday that three unusual math classes offered this spring at San Jose State University hold out hope for resolving one of California’s most troublesome problems: overcrowded classes.

“‘Online is part of the solution,’ Brown told a roomful of educators at San Jose State before quoting from a 1939 essay in which Frost said, ‘Originality and initiative are what I ask for my country.’

“Although online courses have been part of college curricula for years, the three new ones – at $150 each — suggest a new and possibly cheaper direction for students, California State University and Silicon Valley.”

But when will unions figure out that convenient and inexpensive inevitably eventually means fewer well-paying jobs? When will unions figure out that the U.S. student-loan debacle also feeds the crisis atmosphere around the old bricks-and-mortar norm?

For reasons I can’t comprehend, none of this has sunk in. The UC faculty associations, the CSU faculty union and the California Community Colleges faculty union don’t seem to grasp that if good and improving higher education is free or dirt-cheap online, if a conventional degree loses its gatekeeper status in many jobs, and if huge student loan defaults keep making headlines, the status quo could wither quickly.

Cowen and many other educators, economists, philanthropists and futurists have been writing about online education for years, especially its disruptive possibilities. By contrast, read the coverage of Jerry Brown’s push to have San Jose State and Udacity team up in offering online courses on the CSU faculty union website. It suggests that this could somehow be a good thing for faculty:

“CFA President Lil Taiz agrees on the importance of asking questions about student success:

“She said, ‘It’s good the CSU is actually testing out these methods and starting on a small scale. We must find out which online tools work well (or not), for what kinds of students, and for what kinds of subject matter. There is a lot to unpack in the pedagogy.’

“CFA and CSU managers have met on how the terms of work in the first semester of the pilot accord with the faculty contract.

“’You can’t have quality learning conditions for students—online or in a classroom—without professional working conditions for the faculty. Our contract is an important piece of making sure we have fairness, equity, and quality in all aspects of CSU teaching.’”

Clueless and oblivious in the faculty lounge

Wow. The lessons of recent history don’t appear to have sunk in at all with UC, CSU and CCC faculty if profs think online education’s arrival and increasing acceptance bodes well for them.

When Jerry Brown talks about the need for UC, CSU and CCC to be more efficient, he may not be talking only about pushing students to graduate in as little time as possible and not dawdle on campus. He may actually want them to become more efficient in the way other information businesses have become efficient — by taking full advantage of technology.

When will we see this trigger the modern equivalent of a Luddite reaction?

Soon, I suspect. When the liberal governor of California’s enthusiasm for online learning sinks in, the Lil Taizes of the Golden State will have no choice but to think about its long-term implications.

To avoid bankruptcy, any sensible business or family begins selling things: cars, TVs, computers, office furniture, etc. Otherwise, the stuff might be sold anyway at a bankruptcy auction.

Not California. The state owns billions of dollars of property it could sell, but doesn’t.

Here’s something else it could sell: University football teams. The Wall Street Journal lists the estimated value of America’s top university and college football teams. These teams, although supposedly non-profit, are worth as much as professional teams. They make tens of millions on lucrative TV and memorabilia contracts.

One advantage they have is low labor costs. The “scholars” are paid almost nothing to play for a couple of years. Only a handful will go on to glory and multi-million-dollar contracts in the NFL.

It’s a ripoff and a bad example for all students.

The most lucrative teams all are back East:

Texas: $805 million
Florida: $630 million
Michigan: $619 million
Notre Dame: $581 million
Georgia: $565

In the Golden State, the school racking up the most gold is USC at $302. But it’s a private school (although getting a lot of tax money).

For the schools owned by the California government, here are the numbers:

California: $135 million
UCLA: $123 million
San Diego State: $47 million
San Jose State: $26 million

Total:  $331 million.

That’s not chump change in these times of tight budgets.

Sell the teams to the highest bidder and use the money to reduce the state budget deficit.

The teams still could be associated with their respective universities. But they would be run as private corporations.

What if the NCAA doesn’t like it? They might object, but I doubt if they would take action to prevent the sales.

The NCAA is, essentially, a monopoly of mostly government schools; with the “private” schools also receiving tens of millions of dollars from taxpayers. A couple of hints about anti-trust inquiries by Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, and senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein should do the trick. State Attorney General Kamal Harris could make similar inquiries.

If that idea gets thrown for a loss, then how about an investigation by California Labor and Workforce Development Agency of the slave status of players who could get millions for their services getting paid nothing but room, board and tuition?

The investigation would include not just California teams, but any teams, including those from other states, what have played in California the past decade.

It’s late in the budget game and the state needs to switch to a two-minute drill.

Jan. 12, 2012