| Coalition of University Employees (CUE) | 2855 Telegraph Ave., Suite #302, Berkeley, CA 94705 Contact CUE (510) 845-2221 (phone), (510) 845-7444 (FAX) |
COALITION OF UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES
State Headquarters: 2855 Telegraph Av., Berkeley CA (510) 845-2221 Fax (510) 845-7444
http://www.cueunion.org
Berkeley, August 28 For the second time in a month, an Alameda County Superior Court Judge has ruled that University of California Regents can't hide their losses in venture capital funds from the public.
In yet another major victory in the battle for public disclosure, Judge James Richman rejected a motion brought by the UC Regents asking him to reconsider last month's ruling, which would have forced the Regents to disclose the "internal rate of return" or "IRR" of their venture capital investments.
Judge Richman also rejected so-called "new evidence" offered by the Regents' lawyers, who claimed that Sequoia Capital - a Silicon Valley investment banking firm - was removing the UC retirement fund from its portfolio as a result of last month's ruling.
"The Board of Regents and their lawyers clearly have no intention of telling us why our retirement fund has the second worst rate of return for public funds in the nation," stated Mary Higgins, a Coalition of University Employees Executive Board Member from UC San Francisco. "Apparently, the Regents are willing to put the interests of their investment banker friends ahead of the people who depend on the fund for their retirement."
Lawyers for the Regents now have until September 5th to decide whether to appeal Judge Richman's original ruling in this case. They indicated that they will.
The UC - which is facing a daunting budget deficit and has raised student tuition by 30 percent this fall - has continued to rely upon hired outside counsel who bill $550 to $600 an hour in their attempt to hide the decision making processes which resulted in the investment losses.
"Given their penchant for creating full employment for lawyers - it seems likely that they will appeal this ruling," added Higgins.
The Coalition of University Employees represents 18,000 clerical employees at the nine UC campuses, associated medical centers, Office of the President and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. These employees include administrative and library assistants, cashiers, public safety dispatchers, and child care workers.
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For more information, contact:
COALITION OF UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES
State Headquarters: 2855 Telegraph Av., Berkeley CA
(510) 845-2221; Fax (510) 845-7444
www.cueunion.org