University Of California

University of California officials on Friday proposed reducing freshman enrollment for next fall by 2,300 students, or about 6%, to cope with what they said is insufficient state funding. Enrollment would not be cut at UCLA and UC Berkeley, the most popular campuses, and expansion would continue at UC Merced, the newest school, according to the plan that is to be reviewed by the UC regents next week.

As 20-year-old Jennifer Tse was dying in January, she typed a message on her laptop to the coroner's investigators she expected would examine her body. The lonely UC Davis sophomore, depressed and struggling with her studies, had swallowed cold pills, antidepressants, dishwashing liquid and insect poison. "It's kind of rather sad, it's no way out," she wrote as she described her blurred vision, shaking muscles and a sense that her head was detached from her body.

The gray-and-green warehouse in suburban Concord seems an unlikely headquarters for a statewide detective operation, and the fact checkers at work there insist they are not mercilessly probing the lives of California's teenagers. Still, there is an element of hard-boiled sleuthing in the University of California's unusual attempt to ensure that its 98,000 freshman applicants tell the truth about themselves and their extracurricular activities.

The Greek mythology class has long been popular at UC Santa Barbara, but never quite like this. For the current term, 500 students are enrolled in Professor Apostolos Athanassakis' classics course, filling the lecture hall to capacity. And 300 others have tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to land a spot on the roster, he said. Recent state funding cuts have translated to reductions in undergraduate course offerings across the beachside campus, sending students scurrying for classes such as Athanassakis' that fulfill various requirements.

California's high school seniors faced slightly tougher odds for freshman admission to the University of California this year, and more than 10,700 were offered a spot on one or more of the university's controversial new waiting lists, according to statistics released Wednesday. Susan Wilbur, UC's director of undergraduate admissions, described 2010 as the most competitive admissions cycle in UC history, caused mainly by a budget-related reduction in California freshman enrollment by 10% over two years.

The campus residence for the UCLA chancellor bespeaks the power, culture and resources of a great American university. The elegant Florentine-style house, nearly 11,000 square feet, is surrounded by seven acres of lush landscaping. Inside, walls are lined with valuable paintings, including a Picasso and an Utrillo. The wood-paneled library is stocked with books and sculptures, and there are beautiful Oriental rugs throughout. One thing, however, is missing: No chancellor lives there.

UC Berkeley paid $115,000 to a former assistant women's basketball coach to settle a lawsuit in which she alleged that her boss had tried to coerce her into getting an abortion, according to a campus official. The assistant coach, Sharrona Reaves, received the settlement in 2000 as a result of her pregnancy discrimination lawsuit against the university and its former head coach, Marianne Stanley, now coaching the Washington Mystics in the Women's National Basketball Assn.

University of California President David P. Gardner on Monday vigorously denounced a proposal that UC faculty members teach one more course a year, saying it would "fundamentally change the character of this institution." In her analysis of Gov. Pete Wilson's 1992-93 budget last week, Legislative Analyst Elizabeth G. Hill said that if UC's 5,600 regular faculty members taught an average of six courses a year, instead of the current five, the state eventually would save $47 million a year.

Construction of UC Merced will begin in February, with groundbreaking set for May 3, University of California officials said. The complicated permit process for the 10th University of California campus should be completed by then, said James Grant, UC Merced's director of communications.