FACULTY SALARIES systemwide are falling a bit behind inflation, and the gap between salaries at UC and its peers at private universities -- up to 10 percent -- is growing larger. C. Judson King, UC provost and senior vice president, told the UC Board of Regents in April that the salary gap is made worse by California's high cost of living, especially for housing. The UC system has tried to overcome the challenge by offering higher-than-normal salaries to more than half of new recruits, and by providing funds for housing assistance to more than two-thirds of new professors.

MEANWHILE, UC EXECUTIVE SALARIES were spotlighted by the San Francisco Chronicle late last month after UC regents approved $350,000 annual pay for incoming UC San Diego chancellor Marye Anne Fox. UC officials say the system's executive salaries have lagged behind those at comparable institutions for years, and keeping better pace with market rates is essential to attracting top candidates -- especially those with the qualifications necessary to most effectively help the system negotiate the state's current fiscal problems. An independent study found the average UC chancellor salary of $290,490 is 34 percent less than the average for chancellors at 26 public and private institutions. Looking at just public schools, UC pay was 2 percent below the average.

A NEW COURSE ON SURFING in UC Santa Barbara's geography department is making waves. "The Geography of Surfing" filled up quickly for the current spring quarter. Taught by Stuart Sweeney, an assistant professor of geography, the course provides an integrated view of regional, human and physical geography through the lens of surfing. "My motivation is to teach some of the ideas central to geography in a context that will connect strongly with the cultural milieu of the students," says Sweeney, a lifetime surfer.

HOW UNIVERSITIES INVESTIGATE and handle research misconduct is at the heart of a new proposal by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to revise research regulations in higher education. The proposal would define the burden of proof required in such cases and would clarify some issues concerning whistle-blowers, among other changes. The rule would formally require practices that many research institutions have informally followed since the late 1980s and early 1990s. Institutions that receive grants from the department for biomedical or behavioral research would be required to abide by the new rules.

CUSTOMS OFFICERS at ports of entry into the United States routinely do not consult the federal database that tracks foreign students, government officials told the Chronicle of Higher Education in April. University officials are concerned that their due diligence to provide data for the system has been given short shrift and that the system's promise of greater national security has been undermined. Run by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, SEVIS (the Student and Exchange Visitors Information System) allows officials to screen foreign students and scholars in the hope of identifying potential terrorists.

UC MERCED is currently accepting applications for graduate students to enroll as the campus' first students for the fall 2004 semester. Graduate education at UC Merced is organized around multi-disciplinary graduate groups that will emphasize a highly interdisciplinary approach to solving society's major problems. The initial three programs of graduate study include: environmental systems; quantitative and systems biology; and molecular science and engineering.

ONLINE PIRACY just got harder at UCLA, where new software disconnects students from the campus network if they are trading copyrighted songs or movies. The software reinstates the users only after they have deleted the files in question. UCLA computer scientists designed the software, which made its debut on campus in April, just weeks after administrators announced they would adopt stricter policies on file sharing and intellectual property. The university hopes the software will streamline the often time-consuming practice of responding to cease-and-desist orders sent by copyright holders alleging online piracy.

COLLEGIATE SPORTS RECRUITING practices will be investigated by the National Collegiate Athletics Association and the U.S. Congress. The move is driven in part by three federal lawsuits filed against the University of Colorado by female scholarship athletes who say they were told to show up at the off-campus parties and act, essentially, as "recruiting tools." Lawsuits were filed under Title IX, the landmark legislation meant to protect women from discrimination in college athletics.