Defenseload

My 15 Favourite Films Filled with Colour

Down here in NZ, Summer is just around the corner, and theres no better way of getting Summer into my system than by injecting some colour into my life. And you know one way that colour is used better than it is anywhere else? In films. So I decided to compile a list of films that use all of the colours of the rainbow extremely well. There are some films - like Shame or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - that use blue hues well, but there are other films that just go all out. And here they are (in alphabetical order):


(500) Days of Summer (2009), Dir. Marc Webb - Despite its summery title, (500) Days of Summer spends most of its time with warm autumn tones. However, thanks to Zooey Deschanels beautiful blue eyes, Webb decided to dedicate some of the films palette to the colour blue - as evident in the dance sequence. Plus, a good bit of the films colour comes from the awesome clothes that Summer wears.


A Single Man (2009), Dir. Tom Ford - This is a depressing movie about suicide, but lets not forget that it is the debut feature of fashion designer Tom Ford. He adds so much style to the film (to the point that most people complain that it is style over substance, but I whole-heartedly disagree), whether it be through the clothes or the art direction. His attention to detail is impeccable, and thats what you could expect from someone like him.


Beginners (2010), Dir. Mike Mills - Like (500) Days of Summer, Beginners spends a lot of its time in autumn tones, but there are many prominent flashes of colour throughout the film. Theyre most evident in the "this is what _____ looks like..." montages, with one montage even just showing blocks of bright colour. Otherwise, the clothes can reflect it - from Christopher Plummers bright scarves to Melanie Laurent pairing a red dress with blue stockings.


Boogie Nights (1997), Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson - Right from the very beginning, with that famous tracking shot around the night-club which introduces everyone within a single take, you know just how colourful Boogie Nights is going to be. And it retains that colour right until the end, with the bright-yet-jaded colours of the 70s coming out in full force.


Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Dir. Michel Gondry - I suppose a film that has a main character who likes to change her hair colour all the time should be quite colourful, and thats exactly what Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is. The reason it is so colourful, though, probably comes down to its stellar imagination.


The Fall (2006), Dir. Tarsem Singh - Theres absolutely no contest: Tarsem Singhs The Fall is the most colourful, and probably the prettiest, movie ever made. It goes through all of the realms of the imagination, apparently without any special effects, but sadly only wound up with a small release that garnered a cult following. Singh has a wonderful attention to detail, which was also evident in this years Mirror Mirror, which wasnt great but it is definitely one of the best looking films of the year.


Gone with the Wind (1939), Dir. Victor Fleming - Between this and The Wizard of Oz, Victor Fleming had a damn fine year in 1939 with Technicolour. Gone with the Wind is a stunning example of early Technicolour at its finest, and it seems to get more impressive with age. I can barely believe that this film was made over 70 years ago.


Hairspray (2007), Dir. Adam Shankman - Musicals have the largest capacity of any genre to use colour extremely well, and Hairspray is no exception. Everything about this film exudes colour, especially the many  colourful big dresses, which always make me jealous.


Marie Antoinette (2006), Dir. Sofia Coppola - Sofia Coppola is no stranger to making sumptuous, colourful films, and while Marie Antoinette is my least favourite of hers, it is the best example of her aesthetic talents. Filled with light shades of pink and blue and any other colour you could find in a candy shop, Marie Antoinette really does look like a good enough film to eat. And then theres all of those cakes...


Meet Me in St Louis (1944), Dir. Vincente Minnelli - This movie tends to make me feel all warm inside because I watch it every single Christmas night without fail. Plus, these early MGM musicals tend to be amazing in Technicolour. This movie always reminds me of a gingerbread house, because it is just that colourful and cute.


Moulin Rouge (2001), Dir. Baz Luhrmann - Say what you will about Baz Luhrmann, but there is no denying that the guy knows how to use colour on film. Moulin Rouge is the best example of his talents, and maybe one of the best examples of film as an aesthetic medium. The exuberance and vibrance of the film is something that Ive never really seen matched by anything else. But Im sure The Great Gatsby will rival it.


The Red Shoes (1948), Dir Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger - The Red Shoes is another example of stunning early Technicolour, especially in the ballet sequence. Powell and Pressburger were masters with their colour, obvious in both this and Black Narcissus.


Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), Dir. Edgar Wright - Scott Pilgrim vs. the World isnt a film that does things the easy way. The graphics and effects in this film are out of this world, making this film a prime example for how editing can really change a movie. It is just a non-stop adrenaline rush, emphasised by the many colours it has in it.


The Tree of Life (2011), Dir. Terrence Malick - Any Terrence Malick film could be up here. The guy knows how to make things beautiful. The Tree of Life is probably his most beautiful work. The colours that we see in this film are all the colours of life, from the Creation sequence to the beautiful sequences of people being people. And then theres Jessica Chastains hair. It is all so beautiful.


The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), Dir. Jacques Demy - Again, this is another musical that makes the most of colour. The colour bursts out of this film, particularly because of the pink wallpaper that adorns the umbrella shop - which is also filled with colourful umbrellas. Just like theres no escaping from the singing, theres no escaping from the colours. And dont get me started on Catherine Deneuves beauty.

What do you think? What are your favourite colourful films?

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Mort Zuckerman Political Leaders Must Deal With the National Debt or Future Generations Will Pay

Mort Zuckerman: Political Leaders Must Deal With the National Debt or Future Generations Will Pay

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Mozzarella Salad with Oxheart Tomatoes

Oxheart Tomato Salad with Mozzarella

After I published pictures of an unusual tomato in this post, many of you asked me what variety of tomato it actually was. I didnt know then, because as I mentioned in that post, I took the snaps at a friends place, and she didnt know what they were called. In her comment, our fellow-blogger Linda was kind enough to point out that it could be an heirloom variety. I had never heard of that term, and I definitely wanted to find out what exactly it was. So, I just found myself on the way to the vegetable vendor at the farmers market in Düsseldorfs city centre one day. The same place where my friend had bought her tomato.

I was lucky. The French veggie vendor had some more of those tomatoes. To be precise, the Oxheart or the cœur de bœuf tomatoes. It is a variey of beefsteak tomatoes. The ones coming into Germany are grown in France. These tomatoes are grown in the USA as well. Has anybody of you come across it? There is this article on it on Wikipedia; its in German. Unfortunately, there is none in English.

Anyway, after bringing home this tomato, when I cut it, I saw this beautiful pattern of compartments inside. The slices look like flowers, dont they? So, I dropped all ideas of chopping it up. I had to use those pretty slices just the way they were. The only thing I thought of making with it was the simple Tomato salad with Mozzarella. And thats what I made.

Recipe for Mozzarella Salad with Oxheart Tomatoes

Serves 2-3 .

Ingredients:

1 large Oxheart tomato OR two medium regular tomatoes
One ball of Mozzarella cheese (approx. 75g. - 100g. drained weight. I used the low-fat version with 8.5% total fat content.)
a few Basil leaves for garnishing

For the dressing:
2 tsp olive/walnut oil (I used walnut oil.)
a dash of white wine vinegar (optional)
3-4 Basil leaves, torn
salt & pepper to taste

Clockwise from bottom left: fresh Basil leaves, tomato, pepper mill, white wine vinegar, walnut oil, salad dressing ready to be used

Method:

1. Cut the tomato(es) horizontally in not very thin slices. Arrange them on a serving plate.
2. Cut the Mozzarella in slices. Arrange the slices on top of the tomato slices.
3. Mix all ingredients listed separately to make the dressing.
4. Distribute the dressing with a spoon evenly over the arranged tomato and mozzarella slices.
5. Sprinkle some salt and freshly crushed pepper over it, if you like.
6. Garnish with some fresh Basil leaves. Serve.

This salad is one of the few dishes, which take hardly any time to prepare, but are full of flavour in every bite. Moreover, if the tomato slices are beautiful to look at, then nothing like it. :)

Since tomatoes are rich in anti-oxidants, Id like to send this post as an early entry to Cates ARF/5-a-day Tuesday. Nandita suggests that I should send it to Kalyn for her Weekend Herb Blogging event. So, I shall do that too.

Tags: salad mozzarella oxheart tomato

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More Fun With Magnets

Both of my daughters (almost 5 yrs and almost 3 yrs) really enjoyed this magnetic activity and it was so simple to put together. Here is what you need: towel, jar or bottle filled with water, magnet, paper clips and a small bowl.




Demonstrate by holding the magnet flat against the glass (and pointing out that it needs to be held flat), visually find a paper clip at the bottom that you will try to "catch". Starting at the bottom, slide the magnet up the glass. The paper clip slides up too.




Once it reaches the top, very carefully, take it out using fingers and place it in the bowl. (My youngest gets so happy and excited about this part!)




Continue until all the paper clips are out.




And then start again!

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More Fun with Children of the 90s Search Terms

3 boys, brothers. blonde hair, young musicians from the 90s, who were they
First of all, they were Hanson. Second of all, I feel like youre giving progressive clues on a game show. What do I win?

1993 music video with kids wearing bee

Really? Just wearing a bee? Thats it?

90s hair styles what were we thinking
Good question. Unfortunately, my crystal ball is in the shop, so Im unable to ascertain the specific collective spirit of our innermost thoughts and feelings. Im guessing you could probably search deep within yourself and find the reasoning, if you just believe.

are you afraid of the dark janitor
Maybe its just the political correctness in me, but Im reading this as racist. For shame, anonymous googler.

What do you think, were there really that many of these in the decade? Enough to warrant their own genre? It seems a bit suspect. Unless maybe they mean children who ran away from movies about foster care. In that case, this might be very serious.

Oh, I always preferred the ones with the talking mesas. As far as slope landforms go, theyre pretty much tops. You know, elevation-wise. At least compared to the plains. I think Id better stop while Im behind on this one.

I know the song youre referring to, but I cant help but love this misheard interpretation of it. Oh, that one. I was going to give you one with the area code included and/or my European access code, but then I was like, hey, just the seven. Got it.

dont you hate it when your eating a dunkaroo and the biscuit breaks in the
In the what? The what? The suspense is killing me now. And for the record, I totally do.

how many kids in the 90s didnt have a dad
Um, total? Worldwide? Fictional? Youve really got to be a little more specific. Id like to help, but youre throwing a two centimeter lure into a 343,423,668,428,484,681,262 gallon ocean. Yes, I just had to google "gallons in the ocean," so someone will probably be making fun of me on their Google Analytics search term round-up sometime soon.

90s cartoon which superhero usually says lets get dangerous
I just like the phrasing on this one...usually. Did Darkwing Duck occasionally forget his lines or have flash of creative discretion? Maybe sometimes he just didnt feel like it.


Thats not even the worst of it, but I used my discretion in censoring the really obscene and/or absolutely non-native English speaker-generated content. If any of you know these answers, please, throw these poor souls a line. Its the least we can do. Well, actually, we could probably not do anything, so its the second least we can do. Regardless, they truly need your help.

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Name Recognition Spelling with Peg People

Make sure to stay in touch on my Facebook page to see what comes next. Besides letting you know when I have a new post, I always post other fun crafts, activities, and pictures that I dont put on the blog. Happy crafting!

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Mycoremediation Bioremediation with Fungi – Growing Mushrooms to Clean the Earth

This paper was published in the journal "Chemical Speciation & Bioavailability" http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3184/095422914X14047407349335


Abstract.
Some of the prospects of using fungi, principally white-rot fungi, for cleaning contaminated land are surveyed. That white-rot fungi are so effective in degrading a wide range of organic molecules is due to their release of extra-cellular lignin-modifying enzymes, with a low substrate-specificity, so they can act upon various molecules that are broadly similar to lignin. The enzymes present in the system employed for degrading lignin include lignin-peroxidase (LiP), manganese peroxidase (MnP), various H2O2 producing enzymes and laccase. The degradation processes can be augmented by adding carbon sources such as sawdust, straw and corn cob at polluted sites.

Keywords: Mycoremediation, fungi, bioremediation, white-rot fungi


1. Introduction to fungi.

Fungi feature among Nature’s most vigorous agents for the decomposition of waste matter, and are an essential component of the soil food web (Rhodes, 2012), providing nourishment for the other biota that live in the soil. The forest floor is covered with leaf litter from the previous season, which plants cannot use directly to grow on, because the fallen leaves are too tough to be broken down and digested; thus, any nutrients they contain are locked within them. The key organism for breaking down the leaf litter is fungus: strictly, mycelium - the vegetative part of the fungus - which we often observe as fine, white threads that grow out from dead wood, and leaves etc. Indeed, fungi are the only organisms on Earth that can decompose wood.

The mycelium exudes powerful extracellular enzymes and acids that are able to decompose lignin and cellulose, the two essential components of plant fibre. As the fungus breaks down wood and leaves, a rich material called humus is formed. In the natural ecosystem, a realm of organisms from different kingdoms make their assault on those different substrates that are present, and the rate of degradation becomes maximal when there is a good supply of nutrients in the soil, e.g. N, P, K and other essential inorganic elements (Rhodes, 2013). Aspergullus and other moulds are highly efficient in decomposing starches, hemicelluloses, celluloses, pectins and other sugar polymers, and some aspergilli can degrade such intractable substrates as fats, oils, chitin, and keratin. Substrates of human origin, such as paper and textiles (cotton, jute and linen) are readily degraded by these moulds, when the process is often referred to as biodeterioration. In 1969, when the Italian city of Florence (Firenza) flooded, it was found that 74% of the isolates from a damaged Ghirlandaio fresco in the Ognissanti church were Aspergillus versicolor (Rhodes, 2013).

To achieve a successful mycoremediation, the correct fungal species must be selected to target a particular pollutant, for which a simple screening procedure has been described (Matsubara et al., 2006). An encyclopedic overview of the research literature on the action of fungi on organic pollutants, up to 2006 is available (Singh, 2006), along with the beautifully illustrated “Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World” (Stamets, 2005), which serves to provide a hands-on guide to growing fungi and applying them to remediating contamination, e.g. from oil spills and chemical toxins, on the practical scale.


2. The issue of contaminated land.

The decontamination of soil and water from pollutants using microorganisms (bioremediators) is known as bioremediation (Rhodes, 2013). There are essentially two approaches, described as in situ and ex situ. In situ methods are those in which the contaminated material is treated on-site, whereas when the material is physically removed to be treated elsewhere it is referred to as ex situ. To excavate and remove contaminated soil is a relatively costly procedure, as is compounded when this is cleaned using chemical methods, or by incineration. In contrast, if the soil can be left where it is and decontaminated there, the overall expense is far less. Moreover, in washing or extracting toxic materials from soil, the contamination is simply moved from one place to another, and is not eradicated per se, while incineration may cause problems in its own right, e.g. dioxin formation, as well as being energy intensive.

Methods of bioremediation offer means to degrade toxic organic materials, e.g. from oil spills, pesticides, and industrial waste, at the molecular level, converting them to more innocuous compounds. The ultimate goal of bioremediation is the full mineralization of contaminants, i.e. their transformation to CO2, H2O, N2, HCl, etc. Heavy metal and radioactive cations, of course, cannot be decomposed but can be rendered into forms of low solubility, e.g. by a change in oxidation state, such as U (IV) (in UO2) (Singh et al., 2014), so that they remain less harmfully in the ground, or might be physically removed by phytoremediation or mycoremediation, which involves harvesting the plant or fungus.


3. Bioremediation using fungi.

White-rot fungi digest lignin by the secretion of enzymes and give a bleached appearance to wood, from undissolved cellulose, hence their name. In contrast, brown-rot fungi degrade cellulose, leaving lignin as a typically brownish deposit. These fungi also cause chequered, cubical cracking and shrinking in wood, which is frequently apparent on felled confer trees (Stamets, 2005). It has been estimated that some 30% of the literature on fungal bioremediation is concerned with white-rot fungi (Singh, 2006). As we shall see, there are particular mechanisms implicit to white-rot over other kinds of fungi, which offer advantages, e.g. over the use of bacteria, as a means for bioremediation. In particular, bacteria need to be pre-exposed to the particular pollutant they are intended to degrade, in order to induce those enzymes that are required to accomplish the task. There is, furthermore, a pollutant concentration level below which the enzymes are not expressed in bacteria, thus limiting the technology (Adenipekun and Lawal, 2012).

A very large range of organic molecules are susceptible to the actions of various strains of white-rot fungi, to varying degrees, and even normally highly intractable and persistent substances, including polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), may be degraded by them (Singh, 2006). The white-rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium is an ideal model for bioremediation by fungi, since it is more efficient than other fungi or microorganisms in degrading toxic or insoluble materials. It presents simultaneous oxidative and reductive mechanisms which permit its use in many different situations, regarding the type of contamination, its degree, and the nature of the site itself. A number of other white-rot fungi also can degrade persistent xenobiotic compounds, e.g. Pleurotus ostreatus, Trametes versicolor, Bjerkandera adusta, Lentinula edodes, Irpex lacteus, Agaricus bisporus, Pleurotus tuber-regium, Pleurotus pulmonarius. (Singh, 2006; Adenipekun and Lawal, 2012). Soils may also be decontaminated from crude oil, with the requirement that lignocellulosic substrates (e.g. sawdust straw and corn cob) are also provided, to support the growth of fungal species in the soil (Lang et al., 1995). Other toxic materials that have been successfully degraded using white-rot fungi are: polychlorinated biphenyls and dioxins, pesticides, phenols and chlorophenols, effluents from pulp and paper mills, dyestuffs and heavy metals (Singh, 2006).

It has been proposed that fungi might be deployed in the biodegradation of sites that are polluted by complex mixtures of PAH, for example from creosote, coal tar and crude oil (Loske et al., 1990). However, it has been shown that the degradation of Benzo[a]pyrene by Pleurotus ostreatus is strongly influenced by the presence of heavy metal cations and mediators such as vanillin and 2,2?-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate). A 15 mM concentration of copper was found to best enhance the degradation (74.2%), which was progressively worsened as the Cu concentration increased. The extent of degradation was increased to 83.6 % when 5 mM of vanillin was included in the medium (Bhattacharya et al., 2014). The possibility is offered, therefore, that the presence of vanillin (a breakdown product of lignin) might augment the process of mycoremediation using white-rot fungi in actual field-applications.

It has been demonstrated (Isikhuemhen et al., 2011) that L. Squarrosulus can degrade cornstalks significantly after 30 days, with a maximum lignocellulolytic enzyme activity being achieved on day 6 of cultivation, to generate exopolysaccharides. Thus, L. squarrosulus might prove very effective in the industrial pretreatment and biodelignification of lignocellulosic biomass. The main reason that white-rot fungi are active to such a wide range of compounds is their release of extra-cellular lignin-modifying enzymes, with a low substrate-specificity, so they can act upon various molecules that are broadly similar to lignin (Adenipekun and Lawal, 2012). The enzymes present in the system employed for degrading lignin include lignin-peroxidase (LiP), manganese peroxidase (MnP), various H2O2 producing enzymes (Kirk and Farrell, 1987) and laccase, although the three types of enzymatic activity are not present in all lignolytic fungi.


4. Practical implementation of mycoremediation using white-rot fungi.

In order to use white-rot fungi successfully for bioremediation, knowledge must be taken from fungal physiology, biochemistry, enzymology, ecology, genetics, molecular biology, and engineering, among other cognate subjects. A four-phase strategy has been advocated (Lamar and White, 2001): bench-scale treatability, on-site pilot testing, production of inoculum, and finally full-scale application. Substrates such as wood chips, wheat straw, peat, corn cobs, sawdust, a nutrient-fortified mixture of grain and sawdust, bark, rice, annual plant stems and wood, fish oil, alfalfa, spent mushroom compost, sugarcane bagasse, coffee pulp, sugar beet pulp, okra, canola meal, cyclodextrins, and surfactants can be used in inoculum production both off-site or on-site, or as mixed with contaminated soils to improve the processes of degradation (Singh, 2006). It is critical to attain the correct nitrogen/carbon ratio in the substrates used, so to avoid any impeding effect on the efficiency of the fungi in the bioremediation process. Fungal inocula coated with alginate, gelatin, agarose, carrageenan, chitosan, etc., in the form of pellets, may offer a better outcome than with inocula produced using bulk substrates.

The latter approach, termed encapsulation, is derived from the mushroom spawn industry, and both preserves the viability of the inoculum and contributes nutrients to maximally support the degradation of pollutants. This, furthermore, increases the survival and effectiveness of the introduced species. Fungal inoculum may also be obtained by solid state fermentation. Such inoculum preparation methods improve the likelihood of success in the first phase (above), while good technical and engineering vitalise the second phase. Success in stages three and four depends on the exact remediation practices employed for the monitoring, optimisation, continuity and maintenance of the process overall. Native microbial populations will also provide a potential competition to mycoremediation process, but there is, as yet, a lack of defined protocols to eliminate such influences. There are some patents available which refer to the subject of remediation using white-rot fungi (Singh, 2006).


5. Conclusions.

Clearly, there is scope for the use of fungi in decomposing in situ intractable, persistent, and highly toxic pollutants, including TNT (2,4,6-trinitrotoluene) http://www.defmin.fi/files/2461/Steffen_Kari.pdf. and the nerve gases VX and sarin (Stamets, 2005). By inocculating a plot of soil contaminated by diesel oil, with mycelia from oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus), it was found that after 4 weeks, 95% of many of the PAHs had been converted to non-toxic compounds. It seems that the naturally present community of microbes acts in concert with the fungi to decompose the contaminants, finally to CO2 plus H2O (full mineralisation). In 2007, a cargo ship spilled 58,000 gallons of fuel along the San Francisco shoreline. Mats woven from human hair (resembling doormats) were used as sponges to soak up the spilled oil https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WscZJ2Dh0R. These were then collected and layered with oyster mushrooms and straw: the mushrooms broke down the oil and after several weeks the resulting soil was clean enough to be used for roadside landscaping. Wood-degrading fungi are extremely effective in decomposing toxic aromatic pollutants from petroleum and also chlorinated persistent pesticides (Rhodes, 2013).

Mycofiltration is a similar procedure, in which mycelia are used as a filter to remove toxic materials and microorganisms from water in the soil. A major protagonist of mycoremediation is Paul Stamets, who has proposed (Stamets, 2005) that there should be “Mycological Response Teams”, who would employ fungi to recycle and rebuild healthy soil in the area following any contamination incident (oil spill, chemical leak, radiation egress, e.g. at Fukushima). It has been suggested that edible mushrooms might be grown for the purposes of mycoremediation, and the prospects of whether they would be safe to eat afterwards are considered (Kulshreshtha et al., 2014). Naturally this depends on the exact nature of the pollutants, so that heavy metals are likely be a problem (if they are absorbed and concentrated into the mushroom), while some organic soil contaminants might be decomposed without so imparting toxicity. In the latter case, the benefit is offered that land that is contaminated and unfit for agriculture could be both cleaned and made to yield a nutritious food crop.


References.

Adenipekun, C.O. and Lawal, R. (2012). Uses of mushrooms in bioremediation: A review. Biotechnology and Molecular Biology Reviews, 7(3), 62-68. http://www.academicjournals.org/journal/BMBR/article-abstract/2A84D4E12478.

Bhattacharya, S. et al. (2014). Mycoremediation of Benzo[a]pyrene by Pleurotus ostreatus in the presence of heavy metals and mediators .3 Biotech, 4(2) , 205-211. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13205-013-0148-y#page-1

Isikhuemhen, O.S. et al. (2011). The tropical white rot fungus, Lentinus squarrosulus Mont: lignocellolytic enzymes activities and sugar release from cornstalks under solid state fermentation. World J. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 28(5),1961-1966.

Kirk, T.K. and Farrell, R.L. (1987). Enzymatic combination–microbial degradation of lignin. Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 41, 465-505.

Kulshr

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My Dialogue with President Yudof

On Dec. 2, 2011, UC President Mark Yudof gave a speech to the California Chamber of Commerce entitled, “A Baker’s Dozen Myths about Higher Education.” This presentation is classic Yudof, and it reveals the great disconnect between the UC administration and the facts on the ground. To analyze several of Yudof’s claims, I will quote his myths and explanations, and then respond to him in the form of a dialogue.

Yudof: The cost of producing UC degrees and credit hours has gone up over the last decade. I hear this myth all the time. And it’s frustrating, because this cost has actually dropped by more than 15%, in constant dollars, since the 1990s. This cost has dropped in part due to a broad range of system-wide efficiencies: common IT systems; reduced employee travel; thousands of unfilled faculty and staff positions; 1/3 fewer employees at the UC Office of the President; a higher student-faculty ratio, and so on.

Samuels: This claim is actually partially true: the money UC spends on undergraduate students has gone down, but that is mostly due to expanding class size, the use of inexpensive lecturers and graduate student instructors, and the elimination of many courses and class sections. What you do not say is that at the same time, the cost for graduate and professional education has gone up, and while there are fewer administrators at the Office of the President, there are more on the campuses. In fact, there are now more administrators than faculty members.

Yudof: Tuition goes up because the university is providing resort amenities to students. Perpetuators of this conspiracy theory are fiercely devoted to it. Rock climbing walls, manicured landscaping, gourmet dining halls—these and other examples are constantly cited as the real cause of higher tuition bills.

Samuels: This claim is also partially true, but it neglects to add that the cost of room, board, and other essentials, like books and computer use have also gone up. Moreover, UC can only construct its new buildings and amenities by promising to raise tuition on its bond submissions.

Yudof: Tuition goes up because state funding goes down. Plain and simple.

Samuels: However, if you look here at the history of UC tuition increases, you see that in the last twenty years, UC has increased tuition every year except twice. This means that tuition has gone up even when state funding has gone up.

Yudof: UC raises tuition as federal student loan caps are lifted. This purported practice isn’t just false. It’s flat-out illegal for UC and other non-profit universities.

Samuels: UC may not be simply raising tuition because the caps on federal loans are going up, but the system is able to increase tuition because students are willing to go into debt to pay for the increases.

Yudof: Tenure track faculty at UC do not teach undergraduates. Tenure track faculty members teach about 61% of all student credit hours at UC. And in fact, this percentage is up slightly in recent years as budget cuts forced campuses to reduce the ranks of lecturers, visitors, and other non-tenure track faculty.

Samuels: First of all the number of lecturers has gone up recently, and the UC is planning to increase its reliance on non-tenured faculty to reduce costs. Second, if tenured faculty teach 61%, then 39% of the courses are being taught by faculty who are not eligible for tenure. Third, UC refuses to track the number of courses and sections taught by graduate students, so they are not included in these statistics.

Yudof: The number of high-level administrators at UC is expanding. UC, we call our high-level administrators “senior management group” members, or SMGs. Rather than expand or remain constant, the number of SMGs has actually declined slightly. Last year, the number dropped from 315 to 293—which means they account for less than 1% of all full-time-equivalent personnel across the entire UC system.

Samuels: “The Senior Management Group (SMG) is only a small sector of the administration that now outnumbers the faculty. While you always concentrate on the senior managers, you ignore the cost of non-senior administrators on the campuses.

Yudof: Non-residents only make up 6.6% of UC undergraduate students system-wide. This is well below the percentage at most of the university’s public comparator campuses. At the University of Michigan, for example, non-residents comprise 35% of undergraduate students. At the University of Virginia, it’s about 30%.

Samuels: You are bending the truth to prove your argument. At all of the elite campuses, non-resident students have replaced students from California, and this trend is only growing. Currently, Berkeley has a target of 30% nonresident students and UCLA is shooting for 25%. UCSD and Davis also have ambitious plans to increase nonresident enrollments.

Yudof: Only the wealthy can afford to attend UC. Nothing belies this myth more than the incredible socioeconomic diversity of UC students. About 40% of all UC undergraduates receive Pell grants. Pell grant recipients come from families with an annual household income of $50,000 or less.

Samuels: The UC system does deserve high marks for making the university affordable to low-income students, but this has resulted in increased costs and decreased enrollments for middle-class students. As you yourself admit, “High tuition actually hurts the middle class much more than it does the poor. This is because high tuition enables institutions to employ a high fee/high financial aid model.” This just proves my previous point.

Yudof: myth #10: UC student debt is skyrocketing. At graduation, the average student loan debt of UC students is $16,795. This figure is almost $10,000 lower than the national average, which currently stands at $25,250. In fact, when adjusted for inflation, UC students’ debt load has remained virtually flat since 2006.

Samuels: Once again, the average debt is remaining flat, but the debt for middle-class students is going up.

Yudof: Corporate and alumni giving can replace all the core funding the legislature cuts from UC’s budget. Corporate and alumni giving is phenomenally important to UC. It played a critical role in the foundation, and the development, of this university. And throughout UC’s history, it has helped sustain the university during times of fiscal crisis—like the crisis we’re experiencing today. At the same time, most corporate and alumni giving is restricted—which means that if the state cuts our core funding, private giving can’t necessarily cover the gap.

Samuels: If the UC cannot use its donations to fund instructional programs, why is it spending so much money trying to raise these funds, and why in the past didn’t the university go on a campaign to raise money for educational purposes?

Yudof: $1 billion can be cut from UC’s budget with zero effect. This isn’t a myth. It’s a canard. I hear this fiction all the time. And I find it very troubling—extremely troubling. UC’s annual budget is roughly $20 billion. A $1 billion hole is hard to ignore on its own. But it’s more complicated than that. Much of our funding is restricted. Hospital revenue is restricted. Government grants and contracts are restricted. You can’t just take money from laser research and give it to a professor of Portuguese. So when that $1 billion is cut from our core funds, it can’t necessarily be covered by our other sources.

Samuels: This is one of your favorite arguments, which I have refuted on many occasions. In fact, the recent state audit found that most of UCs restricted funds are only restricted by the administration. Currently, UC places all types of funds, including federal grants, in its short-term investment pool. It then uses this pool as a central bank and takes out money to support any purpose it chooses. For instance, the UC recently transferred $1 billion into the retirement system and lent the state $1.7 billion.

Yudof: The University of California only serves its students. This is California’s university. It is defined by its public service mission. And it serves all the people of this state. So when UC’s core funding is cut, it ends up affecting all of us, too.

Samuels: Finally, we agree!

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