PSAT UNDER FIRE ... A UC faculty committee has recommended the system's 10 campuses stop using the National Merit Scholars program as a criterion for scholarships and admissions. In a March 1 letter to other UC educators, committee chairman Michael Brown, an education professor at UC Santa Barbara, wrote that the Preliminary SAT, or PSAT -- the test used to cull semifinalists for the program -- is inadequate for determining merit. Patrick Hayashi, who retired last year as associate president of UC, said: "Their way of creating the pool from which the National Merit Scholars will be selected is totally bogus." ...

HATE GROUP ARISES ... A few weeks ago, participants on an anti-Semitic Web site became angry when a UCLA law professor, who is Jewish, refused to engage in an e-mail dialogue, according to Inside Higher Ed. The Web site, Vanguard News Network, responded by putting online anti-Semitic diatribes and biographic material, including photos, of UCLA professors. In recent days, the site has expanded its campaign and is now publishing information on faculty members who are Jewish at leading law schools all over the United States. Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, told Inside Higher Ed, "History has taught us that this is the way it starts, and then all it takes is one crazy person."

FEE HIKES SLOW ... Resident undergraduate tuition and fee increases slowed at colleges and universities nationwide in 2004-05, averaging 10.6 percent at public four-year institutions, down from 13.9 percent a year earlier, reports the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. Average tuition costs reached $5,618 at member campuses in NASULGC, which includes UC Davis. With resident fees of $6,936 in 2004-05, UC Davis posted the highest fees in the UC system. ...

INNOVATION ABOUNDS ... For the 11th consecutive year, the UC system is the leader among the nation's universities in developing new patents, according to a report announced last week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The report presents a preliminary list of U.S. universities receiving the most patents for invention during 2004. Last year, UC recorded a total of 424 patents. …

WOMEN'S SPORTS ... Colleges may have an easier time proving that they are meeting women's interests in intercollegiate athletics under a policy clarification issued last week by the U.S. Department of Education, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. The new policy puts the burden of proof on students and government investigators to show that a college is not doing enough to accommodate women's athletic interests and abilities. ...

FUTURE TRENDS ... In March, UC released findings from its comprehensive assessment of California's short- and long-term health-care work force needs. Key findings include the facts that California is expected to grow at nearly twice the national average by 2025; California's elderly population will grow at more than twice the rate of the state's total population within the same period; by 2015, more than half the state's population will be of Latino or Asian descent; and it's expected that the Inland Empire (Riverside and San Bernardino counties) and Central Valley regions will have population increases of 47.3 percent and 38.5 percent, respectively, by 2015. ...

PLAYING GAMES ... UC Santa Cruz has put together a series of courses that gives students an in-depth introduction to the design and technology of interactive computer video games. "To my knowledge, this is the first undergraduate initiative in computer gaming in the UC system," said Ira Pohl, professor and chair of computer science. …

STEM CELL RACE ... UCLA officials announced in March that they have formed the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine to conduct embryonic and adult stem cell research that may lead to better treatments for HIV, cancer and neurological disorders. The university will provide $20 million over five years to launch the institute, which will enable teams of researchers to compete for state grants created by the passage of Proposition 71. The money will pay for recruitment for a dozen new faculty positions, salaries and expansion of highly sophisticated laboratory space, infrastructure, and supplies. ...

FINANCIAL SPOTLIGHT ... The UC system, which has the second-largest endowment of any U.S. public university, is seeking to change a state law that requires disclosure of investments, saying the law restricts its ability to put money in venture capital funds, according to the Los Angeles Times. State Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) is sponsoring a bill that would allow the university and other public institutions to keep private certain details about their holdings in venture capital, buyout and hedge funds. ...

NO FOREIGN STUDENTS ... The UC Merced campus will not have international students in its inaugural class this fall. The university had anticipated taking foreign students, but university spokeswoman Sheryl Wyan told the Fresno Bee that because of the "complex security process" required, the visa approvals didn't arrive in time from the Department of Homeland Security.

-- By Clifton B. Parker