LyrArc Article Gist
Commenting on the new Higher Education Commission proposed to replace the University Grants Commission, a former Vice Chancellor of Delhi University Dinesh Singh, says the HECI is designed to overcome the shortcomings of the UGC when it comes to monitoring the quality of education. Yet much depends on the people who run HECI. 

Currently the proposed structure of  HECI has come under criticism for its close connections to the government, and not bringing in more talented people from outside.

LyrArc Article Gist
Dell's donation of $750 million to UT Austin, $100 million donation for University of Wisconsin, and $200 million donation by an alumnus of University of Southern California who as a stake in Nvidia- all these donations go to hiring AI faculty and setting AI as the goal for school of computing. USC plans to cover many fields for AI within the university.

LyrArc Article Gist
Another huge turnaround. This time in college basketball. UC Long Beach coach Jim Monson has coached the basketball team since 2007. In 2012 he took the team to the NCAA tournament. After winning over Michigan and USC he lost 5 games straight after losing a star player from an injury. He offered to resign at the end of the season.The School's athletic director wanted him out the same day. Munson got to stay and won three games straight to the Big West title. Munson says the team was motivated more by what had happened to keep going.

LyrArc Article Gist
UC state university system and removal of SAT ACT standardized testing for college entry on the advice of the a governor and others. Much of the US state university system faculty see this as having failed as many students are unprepared for college and lack the skills required leading to remedial work.

LyrArc Article Gist
The work of key Ministries in India is tracked by the Hindusthan Times in March 2018 showing the progress of the Modi government. At the Defense Ministry  a major effort is underway to promote the defense sector to reduce the defense imports of $100 billion over the last decade, and to make this a major jobs generating sector. The Foreign Ministry is pursuing the China-India dialogue, and efforts to tackle the trade deficit with China of $51 billion. The Ministry of Education is working on giving universities autonomy from the Universities Grant Commission so that first tier universities can plan their own development, hire faculty and plan for the future without UGC approval. Jawaharlal Nehru University and the University of Hyderabad, first tier institutions have autonomy from UGC under this effort. 

LyrArc Article Gist
Hundreds of professors in UC university system in math, science and engineering protest removal of the standardized testing for college in California by Governor Newsom. After social justice movements misread what promotes and what doesnt the removal of standardized testing ACT/SAT tests by Governor Newsom is leading to a major disaster- as the number of unprepared students who need remedial help has increased 30 fold. The consequences are dire for the future of science and technology in America says the protest letter by hundreds of UC faculty-  “longer pathways through prerequisite material, reduced readiness for advanced coursework, and growing pressure to dilute quantitative rigor," for University of California system with 200,000 students — educating a huge section of the engineers in America’s universities.  "We now observe preparation gaps so severe that instructors must reteach middle-school mathematics.” “The SAT/ACT mathematics requirement is not an obstacle to equity; rather, it is a prerequisite for it. Failing to measure preparation gaps does not remove barriers; it moves them into the classroom, where they become harder to overcome.” Other points are that stanrdized tests are even more important in the severe grade inflation in 2026, and add AI-assisted application essays. The Washington Post says these are crusades for equity done the wrong way hurting the very students they are designed to help because the time to fix the problem is in the middle and high schools, after that it is impossible and leaves students no path forward. This experiment has failed and is a warning for other crusades for equity on "false pretenses," says The Washington Post. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Students are failing in math and need remedial preparation. Professors are alarmed at UCLA and UC San Diego. Governor Newsom pushed his not well thought out initiative to remove SAT/ACT preparation so that it would help disadvantaged students when it is exactly that kind of rigor that all students need. And to help disadvantaged student special programs and teachers should be setup before college entry not remove rigorous preparation requirements that all student can take and benefit from preparation. There is no substitute for discipline and hard work in education and this starts early in the K-12 process and goes through all the level to 12th grade when the preparation all over the world gets rigorous, as it is in Asian countries and in Europe.

LyrArc Article Gist
A major problem for parents and the schools may be knowing this and use this knowledge to keep increasing prices is that the true value of education is about your own effort and the quality of teachers, that the major state universities provide everything one needs for a good education, one just has to work hard at it. There is nothing about a Northwestern or a Brown that cannot be done by studying in the UC state system universities or state universities across the Nation, yet paradoxically the idea is kept up of the added value of a prestige name when much of a good education can be achieved at state universities costing $13,000 a year or $52,000 for 4 years at a UC Riverside or UC Santa Barbara. Michigan state instate at $16,000 and Arizona State at $13,000 a year are similar to other options.Upper middle class families struggling to pay for colleges that charge anywhere from $38,000 a year to $96,000 a year for so called elite. A shocking 40% increase in college tution is not justified by the colleges who seem to be impervious to the impact of these price increases when no such price increases were seen in the post war decades that followed 1950. Here a father who works as a director of a manufacturing company with incomes in the range of $200,000-$250,000 a year faces the difficult decisions of letting children make the decision and yet having to make sober choices about affordability. With about $200,000 set aside for tution expenses for 2 children parents face tution that can cost for 4 years $160,000 to $250,000 for 1 child. In this situation Brown cost $93,000 a year but reduced it to $65,000, Northwestern and Cornell wanted $96,000 and $81,000 a year, Notre Dame $38,000 a year and UC Berkeley $52,000 for instate tution. This means there is little left for the second child's college tution when the first child 4 year cost is in this case $65,000 a year for Brown University and $260,000 for 4 years.  ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Full text of the Memorandum of Understanding  agreement reached between the US and Iran as presented by the NYT with NYT's comments on paragraphs. NYT takes a skeptical view of the Memorandum while at the same time opposing the war, not making exactly clear what it is standing for in a set of complex negotiations. Much of the media does not reflect the situation in the rest of the world especially in the poor countries, the fact that China, India, Russia, US, almost the entire Middle East, Africa and Latin America support denuclearization in the Middle East- the US simply taking on the burden of achieving this and having to take up a naval blockade for this purpose. As it affects China's vital interests and agreement was reached with China and Russia, it has the support of the EU and India, and the rest of the world, including the Arab world and Egypt, the elected government of Iran if not the military (the RGC). This is not mentioned in the Comments made by NYT. Pakistan was the mediator and it is clear that the countries that are bearing the brunt of this crisis are countries such as Egypt, Turkey, India and Pakistan, Indonesia, Brazil, the poorer countries and billions of people including also China's less developed regions, where oil prices and lack of supplies have hit the people hardest. In this sense there is a collective responsibility for ensuring it works for every major country in the world, that has never happened before, and will be the strongest reason for this agreement being the right step at the right time. For all of these countries the future of East Asia and of West Asia is at stake, of EU and the US, of North Africa and the Arab world, and these countries will push for a new direction for the entire West Asian region as well as its relations with East Asia. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
An unimaginable gap exists between whites and Asian students in California in educational opportunity which poses risks for social cohesion in the US. Asian Americans in the UC California system are overrepresented in the colleges to an extent that would have been unimaginable in the 1950's. With just 15% of the population of California Asian Americans makeup over 40% of the UC college system. By comparison Whites have lost ground in a way that would have also been unimaginable in the 1950's with only 18% in UC colleges and 37% of the population.

LyrArc Article Gist
As the media in the US and world cover this issue the focus is on the war and Hormuz. In the background a different situation is playing out. US Iran peace talks with Pakistan/ Qatar mediation June 13 2026- different factions in Iran RGC and Foreign Ministry+mediators with different positions  put out conflicting reports throughout May and June. The mediators Pakistan, Turkey and also Qatar/Saudis which also have a keen interest in limiting the damage to their economies, are taking one position working with the Foreign Ministry and elected Iranian president Pezeshkian who won 16 million votes 55% in the 2024 election. Inside Iran the RGC under new leaders is pursuing its own interests that does not put the economy first in conflict with Pezeshkian and public opinion in Iran for putting the economy first.  Pakistan faces grave risks with its large population, the risks to the economy from oil prices at $125 a barrel to its balance of payments crisis. Turkey also faces risks to its economy with high inflation. Saudis and Qatar see their economic prospects as limited and need to cut economic projects as oil revenues decline. In this situation the US goal of getting nuclear material out of the country is now put into a phased process based on conditions for every step of the way by the US negotiators, yet with memorandum of understanding to accomodate a changing situation. This policy may also be now agreed on between China and the US, and to some extent Russia. This can be seen as playing out and media does not talk about it. China openly greets DJT in Beijing and US and China agree to work things out in May 2026. China cuts its oil use by 3 million barrels a day as shown in a WSJ report this week. This is a major step. UAE leaves OPEC and calls for cuts in oil prices. Next Delsy Rodriguez of Venezuela visits New Delhi, India, and meets to set up economic relationships that include large purchases of Iranian oil to replace supplies lost in Hormuz and what India can offer in exchange for these purchases to Venezuela, including infrastructure building support. This points to a Win-Win for the US, China, India, as oil needs are met from places other than Hormuz for major users of energy. China may have realized that its prolific use of oil for 25 years of rapid development may have led to wasteful use of oil- some of that wasteful use can now be cut- 3 million barrels of oil use cut accepting some slower growth for quality growth. Germany and Japan are using less energy per unit of GDP and China will be looking at their model of energy use as an example to follow. This has huge potential for limiting climate change, as without China and India becoming more efficient in energy use, nothing the US could do was going to make a big difference for climate change. This may be one of the unintended benefits of the Hormuz situation in 2026 - ways to cut energy use for climate change action. And ways to move away from Hormuz and Persian Gulf for supplies so that poorer countries and advanced economies have to pay less for oil helping the poorer countries (Pakistan, Turkey) survive and grow, helping middle economic status rapidly modernizing economies  continue rapid growth (China and India), and helping advanced economies with cost of living hurting the majority of their people (US and EU).  With less money Russia, Iran and other countries will face serious constraints for more military expenditures as for the first time alternative supplies (other than Hormuz) and lower oil prices are being brought about in a newly unfolding plan of the US, China, India and other nations, that is not discussed in today's world media headlines. This means when seen objectively there is room for optimism based on the one thing going for the US, China, India, EU, a host of poorer nations in Asia /Africa/ LatinAmerica, the  5 largest development blocs and population blocs today, which is that the US and China can agree on being custodians for peaceful development accepting their responsibilities for guaranteeing this world order- as DJT and Xi Jinping stated in Beijing in May 2026- with the US aim of nuclear free Iran also accepted by China, Russia, India, and large sections of the Iranian population that put the economy first. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Asians are highly overrepresented. Hispanic communities are underrepresented in the UC California system colleges but still make up more than whites at 36% of the UC colleges. Whites make up about 17% and are also underepresented. There are imbalances all around and large investment is needed badly at the public school levels to motivate white and minority students who have fallen behind. Strengthening reading comprehension skills by pouring in new resources is a first and fundamental step to give whites and minorities a better chance- it can be done. There are three times as many white families that make less than $50,000 a year as Black and Hispanic families showing huge income gaps in the white segment. Universities by taking into account socioeconomic factors can help bring a more diverse socio economic class than a racially diverse class. This helps the white community after the outsourcing of US manufacturing and shrinking of the white middle class from being highly underrepresented in universities. The black communities have about 2% of the UC colleges with about 5% of the California population. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Only 22% of 12th graders are proficient in NAEP Test Math in 2024. UC San Diego's freshman class math deficiency is shown in this report with many freshman having 4th grade math skills. This report says the problem is compounded by not having standardized tests for the freshman class because grades are often inflated. This problem is likely present across many US universities and colleges.

LyrArc Article Gist
The improbable story of a quick turnaround if only one stays engaged, the story of college basketball coach Dan Monson of UC Long Beach who is asked to leave after losing several games and goes on to take his team to the NCAA Tournament with 3 wins in 3 days.

LyrArc Article Gist
Professors Arum of UC Davis and Steven of Stanford show in a color graph visual how selective race based admissions called affirmative action apply only to a small number of schools, only 6% of college students in the US go to schools that select 25% or less of their applicant pool. The rest including all state universities and many colleges in the UC system in California are not affected. Another development is that these selective schools are not that much better than the others that cost a fraction of the money. A smart decision today is to study in a state system at a fraction of the inflated cost of all schools that is an aberration in itself, and make the discipline and effort to get the most out of that education, and make an effort to learn outside of the classroom through spirit of inquiry.

LyrArc Article Gist
US Iran Memorandum of Understanding signed by DJT and Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian, May 17 2026, with Pakistan as mediator. Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt and Qatar tried to bring the two sides together within Iran the RGC Revolutionary Guard Corps military and the president elected in 2024 (to tackle cost of living and other economic issues). and narrow their differences with the US. A key factor was China and the US president called China's actions "fantastic" in achieving the signed agreement to work out the details within 60-90 days of talks. Without China's help in imports and other assistance Iran's economy would be hard to sustain. China's own interests are best served by maintaining peace in the region as it continues to develop and modernize its economy. Russia also supported the agreement. Another contributor was India by setting an example for modernization and economic development as the true pathway for the people of West Asia, by bringing UAE, Egypt and other Arab nations in North Africa such as Morocco together in the direction of economic development and showing that cooperation in the region including with Israel is the best way forward. From the perspective of long term future of the region the presence of Modi and India at the G-7 meeting next to Macron and DJT shows there is now a G-8, with India joining Japan as two key Asian nations in the G-8. In this way the administration has achieved something that was never possible in either the old G-8 (that included Russia) under previous administrations after 2000. DJT's meeting with Putin in Alaska, and his visit to Beijing for discussions with Xi Jinping in 2025 and 2026, achieved the G-8 setting with India plus keeping China and Russia fully engaged in separate one on one arranged talks. This is a rare feat achieved in 2026 for the US, China, India and Russia, EU, Germany, that has never been done before to the lasting credit of the leaders DJT, president Xi, prime minister Modi, president Putin, and chancellor Merz- to their patience even in times of disagreement, their efforts to persevere when times were rough, and their foresight and wisdom in seeking agreement around what they shared in common.  ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Latinos or Hispanics represent about 29% of students enrolled in the nine campuses of the University of California System. A new NYT index shows how UC System compares favorably with the rest of the colleges in the country in taking in low income students.

LyrArc Article Gist
Visionary physicist Charles Townes conducted the breakthrough research that led to the development of the laser in a long career that spanned several decades of work as a professor at Columbia University, a researcher at Bell Labs, and at MIT and UC Berkeley.

LyrArc Article Gist
Akasaki of Meijo University, Amano of Nagoya University, Japan, and Nakamura of UC Santa Barbara, produced blue light beams from semiconductors in the 1990's. Nakamura, working for Nichia Chemicals developed his own version of the LED in 1988 following the earlier efforts of Akasaki and Amano, leading to the development of a cheaper easier method of creating LED. The technology is also behind the blue ray disc by using blue lights much shorter wavelength to store 4X more information. Today it is the technology used in smartphone screens.

LyrArc Article Gist
This video and reports from the G-7 Summit in Les Bains, France is notable for one aspect that was missing throughout previous administrations and provides clues on the discussions that must have taken place for the Iran peace memorandum approach for 90 days of talks. India's Modi is at the table, so is Lula of Brazil, for the first time a G9. Both Lula and Modi are shown at the opposite side of the table from the European leaders. Another picture of the table shows Modi on the right of DJT and Macron on his left suggesting the important role that India has played behind the scenes to the memorandum approach to put the burden of talks on the details to a next 90 day phase of discussion. It makes sense after so many missile attacks and bombing to create a period of calm for discussions. It has also benefits for the US and EU/Japan in G7 now the G-9 with India and Brazil and G-9 plus 1 with Egypt brought in for discussions. This type of involvement and intense discussions to solve conflict are unknown in previous administrations and with no details about the agreement the media is left without a clue. Yet it is clear from this involvement of every major nation, as Lyrarc.com shows however rancorous the disagreements and back and forth including from Merz, Starmer, Macron to DJT, that something significant has been achieved- getting everyone to the table for frank and open discussions for a path forward. That includes G-9 as Lyrarc calls it and Russia, China where talks were held by DJT in Alaska and Beijing in 2025 and 2026. It could be called G-9 + 3 (China, Russia and Egypt). The importance of Egypt is that it is the most populous nation in the Middle East. The issues of food security (fertilizer supply), energy (oil and gas), and nuclear free Middle East are important to all these nations. In addition Pakistan serves on the Board of Peace.  This brings as collective world opinion to help the US lead in its shared goal with these 13 nations to bring about a solution for the people of the world on the nuclear issue and restore each to the path of development and modernization, including Iran with its neighbors support in the best way possible. A good insight into this is evident just from looking at the situation facing Pakistan and also India, both are nuclear powers yet both have suffered (even more so nations with military structures such as the Pakistan military and the Iranian RGC with diversion of resources to military), both Pakistan and India have suffered from the economic crisis with nuclear power making little difference in the lives of the people with shortage of energy and decline in growth.  By bringing in all nations into the discussion on nuclear free Middle East- the US and its partners India, Japan, Brazil, along with Russia and China- a first major step has been achieved to set the path for reindustrialization/infrastructure building in the US and Europe. And for modernization/infrastructure building in India, Pakistan, Egypt and Brazil, sustained development out of middle income status for China. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
This essay in the WSJ by Louise Aronson, geriatrician, professor of Medicine at UC San Francisco and author of "Elderhood, Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life," and Teva Brender, UC resident in Internal Medicine, says age should not be a factor  in electing leaders, as over the last century life expectancy has grown by 25 to 35 years. People can be healthy into their eighties and modern medicine provides ways to tackle small physical, auditory or visual impairments. In addition these can be handled with strength training, better nutrition and social support, says Aronson. His point is that there has been an increase in "health span" the years we define as being healthy, a compression of morbidity, the disease at the end of life. As a result people can be productive for many years, early retirement is a bad idea economically and for the people themselves when they feel better working. When there is so much wisdom and experience that they can bring to the job, and when that  wisdom and experience is sorely needed by the nation, that guiding light has immense unreplaceable value. President Franklin Roosevelt was at such a time able to steer the nation in the 1930's through the Great Depression and the 1940's through the Second World War, even though he had disabilities. Aronson says the work of elected leaders is fundamentally cognitive and when the basic physical demands can be met it is possible for leaders to work successfully. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The other title of this article in the NYT was "California's fading Political Machines and volatile race for Governor." Gone are the days when Pat Brown was able to put his son Jerry Brown in the race for governor, there are 9 persons running for governor of California in 2026. The current governor Gavin Newsom is said to be promoting his book in Nashville, Tennessee, where many Californians are moving with the inflated cost of housing in the state. Gavin Newsom's grand father gave a $5000 check to Pat Brown in 1943 to run for District Attorney, this report says citing the book. From that time Pat Brown became Attorney General and then governor of California in 1958, defeating Richard Nixon in 1962. In 1962 Pat Brown seemed vulnerable as his signature accomplishment setting up the UC system of college campuses and the water reservoir, tax increases to pay for this, were in their beginning stages and their lasting value not recognized at the time. Nixon from Whittier, California, was a former Vice President and was seen as likely winner. This toughly fought election created the Pat Brown myth and so called machine that helped his son Jerry Brown to two terms as governor 1975 to 1983, and again after serving as Mayor of Oakland and Attorney General to come back to governors race again in 2011 (because term limits came after 2011) and be governor again 2011-2018. Another way of looking at it is that in his last two terms it was also Jerry Brown's careful balancing of the budget and finances of the state, his environmental support, that made him a reliable figure for the public interest not just the political machine backing him.  California to be sure has had popular governors on both sides Reagan won in 1966 as governor of California to succeed Pat Brown. The Kennedys and Pat Brown are matched by the Reagan supporters in the state. In today's situation where China's dominance in industry and manufacturing has affected all parts of deindustrialized America, California is no exception, where much of the middle class has seen their savings eroded, the issues are different and the challenges are different. ...