AGENDA 21 RADIO

BY PAUL PRESTON

One has to wonder about the timing of this directive from UC President Janet Napolitano following an article from the San Francisco Chronicle Sunday. Especially in light of the information that was found on Antony Weiner’s laptop and the WikiLeaks from Seth Rich. Is the information from Weiner and Rich being used here?

Longtime Regent Richard Blum, a wealthy financier (husband to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein) and former chairman of the board, said the policy change was his idea. After reading The Chronicle’s story Sunday, Blum said he called Napolitano and suggested it.

“I said, ‘Janet, it’s not worth the aggravation. Let’s have the regents pay for their own dinners,’” Blum told The Chronicle. “I just called Janet and said, ‘Look, for the amount of what it costs to have a dinner, let’s have everyone pay for their own dinner. And if they can’t pay, I’m happy to pick it up.’”

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The University of California will no longer pay for its governing board members to throw themselves dinners and parties after a Chronicle report showed that the regents regularly billed the university for their festivities.

Although the events were charged to a private endowment, and thus not covered by public money or tuition, the practice will stop “to avoid any question over use of university or university-associated funds,” Board of Regents Chair Monica Lozano and UC President Janet Napolitano said in a statement Sunday.