council calls for investigation of calpers ceo marcie ... · csu-erfsa notices 4 ascsu report:...

Publication of the CaliforniaState University Emeritus andRetired Faculty and Staff

Associationhttp://www.csuerfa.org

Inside this issue:State Council Calls forInvestigation Into CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost’s Hiring 1

CFA Report: Membership RisesDespite Court Decision 1

From the President 2Health Benefits: SomeCautionary Notes 3Pre/Post Retirement: CalPERS & Private Equity 3

CalPERS Verifying Dependents -- Again! 4

CSU-ERFSA Notices 4

ASCSU Report: Budget IssuesStill At The Forefront 5

CSU-ERFSA Volunteer Activities 5

How We Charge for Tuition inthe CSU: A Dialog Among CSU-ERFSA Committee Members 6

Legislative Report: JerryBrown’s Legacy 7

George Diehr’s Testimony on theHiring of Marcie Frost 8

Can CalPERS Default on YourPension? 10

Perez Wins Stunning Upset ofCalPERS Board President 10

Is It Never Too Late To Operate?Surgery Near End of Life isCommon, Costly 11

November 2018

Council Calls for Investigation ofCalPERS CEO Marcie Frost’s HiringBy Harold Goldwhite, Executive DirectorCSU-ERFSA’s State Council on October13, 2018 approved a motion from its leg-islative committee strongly recommendingthat a letter be sent to all members of theCalPERS board, as well as to appropriatelegislators, supporting the call of Boardmembers John Chiang and MargaretBrown for an independent investigation ofthe hiring of CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost.

The State Council of CSU-ERFSA met inthe Pollock Library on the CSU Fullertoncampus. Council members from 16 CSUcampuses were in attendance, togetherwith Mark Hoven Stohs, Chair of theFullerton Academic Senate, who welcomedthe group to his campus, and Romey

Sabalius, the Faculty Trustee, from SanJose.

In his President’s report Bill Blischkenoted the developing relationship betweenCSU-ERFSA and the Human Resourcesdivision of the Chancellor’s Office. A meet-ing has been arranged between CSU-ERFSA representatives and HR represen-tatives with the aim of improving the visi-bility of our Association in the CSU.

President Blischke also described theimpact that the Soles4Souls campaign ismaking on a number of campuses, and in

(Continued on page 9)

CFA Report: CFA Membership Rises Despite U.S.Supreme Court DecisionBy Leni Cook, CSU-ERFSA Liaison to CFA

included CFA-endorsed candidates as wellas position statements for some of thepropositions. Various “Get Out the Vote”actions on individual campuses weredescribed. As a part of CFA’s emphasis on anti-racism and social justice, the organizationhas developed a ten-part podcast calledRadio Free CSU. Each week, a newepisode hosted by CFA staff personAudrena Redmond is a discussion focusedon the CFA theme “Stronger Together,”with issues specific to racism and discrimi-nation. This and other podcasts are available at


The good news from the board meeting onOctober 19 set the tone for the 88th CFAAssembly held in downtown Los Angeles.Dire predictions of a loss of up to one-thirdof dues paying members because of therecent U.S. Supreme Court decision onpublic employee union membership wereincorrect. As of the date of the meeting,not only was there no loss, CFA member-ship rose significantly due to new hiresamong both lecturers and tenure-track fac-ulty, and only a few members (73) droppedafter the Supreme Court decision wasannounced.

Focus for much of the Assembly was onthe November 6th election. Phone bankingwas available throughout the meetingdays, and featured speakers for Sunday

CSU-Emeritus andRetired Faculty and Staff

Associationwww.csuerfa.org

Executive Committee2018-2019

William Blischke (Dominguez Hills)President

Barry Pasternack (Fullerton)Vice President

Rita Jones (Long Beach) SecretaryHarry Sharp (San Luis Obispo)

TreasurerMark Shapiro (Fullerton) WebmasterBarbara Sinclair (LA) Past President Marshelle Thobaben (Humboldt)Chair, Grant Awards Committee

Alan Wade (Sacramento) Chair, Legislative Affairs Comm.

David Wagner (Sacramento) Chair, Health Benefits Committee

Edward Aubert (Stanislaus) Chair, Membership Committee

Thomas Donahue (San Diego) Chair, Pre- and Post-Retirement

Ted Anagnoson (LA) Reporter Editor Harold Goldwhite (LA)

Executive Director

ArchivistJoanna Dunklee (Dominguez Hills)

LiaisonsLeni Cook (Dominguez Hills) CFAJay Swartz (Pomona)

CSU Academic Senate

Administrative StaffMelanie Mamakos, Office Manager

The Retiree Center18111 Nord hoff Street Northridge

CA 91330-8339Phone: (818) 677-6522Fax: (818) 677-6511Email: [email protected] site: www.csuerfsa.org

The Reporter welcomes submissionsby members of CSU-ERFSA or otherappropriate individuals of advertise-ments for academically orientedmaterials or services, to be printed atthe discretion of the editor. To contactthe editor, email

[email protected].

CSU-ERFSA Reporter November 20182

unteer academic advising, tutoring, andother types of support services. Some of itcan be done electronically by those of youwho no longer live near your campus.Please contact the appropriate campusadministrators or faculty to find out howyou can be of help.

State Council Meeting. On October 13ththe State Council held its semi-annualmeeting at CSU Fullerton. The previousevening Harold Goldwhite and I met withthe Southern California CSU-ERFSA cam-pus affiliate presidents and had a veryinformative exchange of ideas and infor-mation. The meeting accommodations andmeals were excellent, and we were wel-comed by the CSUF Academic SenateChair, Mark Hover Stohs. The majorissues discussed at the long and some-times contentious session are described indetail in other articles in this issue, but Iwant to elaborate a bit on the most impor-tant one: membership. We are engaging ina number of steps to increase our declin-ing membership. One is to get the wordout to retirees and those approachingretirement regarding our organization, itspurposes, and the 20+ forms of volunteerinvolvement. (An up-to-date list can befound in this issue on page 5.) BarbaraSinclair and I co-chair the CSUSoles4Souls Million Shoe Project. We willbe sending a letter to campus affiliateleaders in a final attempt to encouragecampuses to initiate or continue this veryindirect way of wearing out poverty.

A volunteer project? A very differentand unique form of volunteering emergedfrom my recent trip to visit my grand-daughter in Washington, DC. We stayedat a hotel in the Foggy Bottom area. TheArts in Foggy Bottom neighborhood groupin this area has created a biennial front-yard display of art sculptures for the lasttwelve years. It is incredibly artistic andinteresting. It occurred to me that ourmembers could partner with the artdepartments on their campus and localcommunity arts organizations to developthese eye-catching outdoor displays. I havecontacted their curators and creative teamand they are anxious to provide us with allof the background materials and advice wewould need to establish a west-coast rendi-tion of this project. If you are interested inthis unusual volunteer opportunity, visit


From the President...Dear Colleagues,

The Dismal State Social Class Picture.According to a recent study, California hascreated a “feudalized society characterizedby the ultra-rich, a diminishing middleclass and a large rising segment of thepopulation that is in or near poverty.” Thetreatise, authored by Joel Kotkin andMarshall Toplansky at ChapmanUniversity, is titled California Feudalism:The Squeeze on California’s Middle Class.Their research indicates that Californiahas one of the highest inequality ratesamong the fifty states. It is even higherthan Mexico’s and close to that ofGuatemala (which I observed first-hand onmy Soles4Souls trip) and Honduras. Theydescribe the current state of our state asfull of high-tech, segregated innovationwith wild riches contrasted with extremepoverty. Silicon Valley and downtown LAare two very different worlds. I am paint-ing this dismal picture in order to delin-eate the role of the CSU in this emergingreality.

The Crucial and Changing Impact ofthe CSU. As emeriti and retired facultyand staff, we spent most, if not all, of ouracademic careers in the CSU; the largestquasi-public university system in thecountry. I referred to it as “quasi-public”because we get less than half of our fundsfrom State coffers. The remainder is gar-nered from exorbitant student tuition andunmitigated fundraising from the privatesector, alumni and us. One of the essentialroles of CSU-ERFSA is to lobby locally andin Sacramento to increase state monies tohigher education. One of the major initiatives of the CSUBoard of Trustees and the Chancellor’sOffice is to increase the four-year gradua-tion rate. This laudatory goal is expensiveand, to some extent, unrealistic. Itrequires substantial amounts of money formany more full-time faculty, expandedacademic support services, and morefinancial aid. Many of our students arebeyond the traditional college age,employed in one or more jobs, married,and about 10% are homeless and 25% arehungry. It is very difficult for students fac-ing these barriers to graduate in fouryears, and to expect them to do so is unre-alistic. Therefore, in addition to lobbyingfor increased funding, it is very importantfor CSU-ERFSA members to provide vol-

CSU-ERFSA Reporter November 2018 3

Amount - the IRMAA. CalPERS automatically reimburses youfor the basic monthly Medicare Part B premium. If you are sub-ject to the IRMAA, you may be eligible to receive full or partialreimbursement for it from CalPERS. Each month the CSU con-tributes a fixed amount to your CalPERS healthcare account.This is used to cover the cost of your basic Medicare Part B reim-bursement, the cost of your Supplement to Medicare policy andthe costs of dependent health care plans, if any. The differencebetween the CSU contribution and these costs is the amountavailable for the IRMAA reimbursement.

However, CalPERS does not automatically provide the full orpartial IRMAA reimbursement that you are entitled to. Youmust apply for the IRMAA reimbursement. In November youwill receive a letter from Social Security that will tell you whatyour basic Medicare Part B premium will be for the coming year,and what your IRMAA - if any - will be for the coming year. It isimportant that you save this letter.

You will need to submit a copy of this letter to CalPERS to havethem calculate how much your IRMAA reimbursement will be.You can upload this via your my/CalPERS or mail in a copy ofthe letter from Social Securit with a barcoded cover letter whichyou can print from your my/CalPERS account, or attach the copy


Conclusion of Open Enrollment. Another CalPERS openenrollment period ended on October 5. This year's open enroll-ment period included the unveiling of a CalPERS app allowingthe user to review health plan information from a mobile device.CalPERS negotiated its lowest overall health premium increasesin 21 years. Historically, only a small percentage of retireeschange plans during open enrollment. However, there were sev-eral changes in plan availability in certain counties, and thesemeant that some members needed to enroll in a new plan.Remember, if you have changed plans, the effective date of thechange is January 1, 2019.

New Shingles Vaccine. A new shingles vaccine was approvedlast year which has demonstrated an increased effectiveness inpreventing shingles. Two doses administered two to six monthsafter the first injection are the usual protocol. This recombinantZoster vaccine is in short supply, so you may have to wait toreceive it. It is best to check with your medical provider on thecurrent availability of the vaccine. If you wish additional infor-mation, you may visit the CDC website at www.cdc.gov/vaccines.

Medicare Part B Premiums and IRMAA.Your Medicare PartB Premium consists of two parts - the basic monthly premiumthat everyone enrolled in Medicare pays, and an extra amount ifyour income for the previous year exceeded a certain level. Theextra amount is called the Income-Related Monthly Adjustment

Health Benefits: Some Cautionary NotesBy David Wagner, CSU Sacramento, CSU-ERFA Health Benefits Director

Q.: What do you think of the CalPERS pol-icy to continue with investments in privateequity firms?

A.: In its latest news releases, CalPERSreports on its continuing policy to moveforward with private equity (PE) invest-ments: for 2018 the plan is to place 8% to10% of its funds in such positions. Thereare two views of what private equity prac-tices do and produce for investors: in theideal case a PE firm takes over a business,streamlines its methods and procedures,and finally yields a leaner, more produc-tive, and more profitable company forinvestors. In reality, PE firms operate in away that is extremely complex and sub-stantially more controversial.

There is a fascinating discussion of suchPE procedures reported closely by BrianAlexander in his book Glass House (NewYork: St. Martin’s Press, 2017), whichpresents an account of the steps followedby Cerberus Capital Management from

2004 – 2007 and Monomoy CapitalPartners from 2007 – 2015 in their owner-ship of the Anchor Hocking Glass companyin Lancaster, Ohio. If one may generalizeabout such PE procedures, one can tracethe following steps:1. A PE firm always begins a project withits own amount of investable capital. Thefirst step is to augment this initial sumwith a large amount of capital solicitedfrom investors.2. The PE firm next buys a company char-acterized as in need of reorganizing andrestructuring. Anchor Hocking and a pic-ture frame business called Burnes ofBoston were acquired by Cerberus for$310 million in 204. The PE executivesthen proceed with these steps:

A. The acquired company’s pension systemis converted to a 401(k) arrangements,which may then be unfunded in a verybrief time.

Pre / Post-Retirement Report: CalPERS & Private Equity By Tom Donahue, SDSU, Chair, Pre- and Post-Retirement Concerns Committee

B. The company’s Health MaitenanceOrganization becomes underfunded, orunfunded entirely.

C. Worker’s pay raises are cut, with a can-celing of any promise of future raises.

D. Previous plans for maintenance, repair,and replacement of equipment are can-celled.

E. Substantial worker layoffs begin. In thecase of Anchor Hocking, illegal immi-grants were brought in and paid lowerwages (one worker noticed “they all hadthe same social security number”(Alexander, p. 143.”))F. Less profitable product lines are identi-fied and removed, and layoffs increase.

G. If a competitor can be identified, amerger is attempted, and new investors



CalPERS Verifying Dependents - Again! CalPERS is required by statute to verify dependents again aftergoing through the whole process just a few years ago. Whoeverwrote the law inserted a clause requiring dependent verificationevery three years, so save your marriage certificate in a safelocation, not like your editor, who has lost his. Can we all say”frustration” at this requirement and for the need to resubmitdocuments already provided three years ago. On this occasion (for a spouse), you will be asked to submit thesame marriage license that you submitted before – plus either afederal or state tax return confirming your spouse as yourdependent or a copy of a document dated within 60 days showingcurrent relationship status, such as a recurring household bill orjoint statement of account. The latter document must list yourname, the name of your spouse, and your address. There are required documents for other dependents also listedon the web site below.

The timing of the process depends upon your birth month andbegan last July. Here is when you will receive your first notice,arranged by birth month:

January October 2020February November 2018March December 2019April January 2021May February 2019June March 2020July May 2018August May 2019September June 2020October July 2018November August 2019December September 2020

(Continued from page 3)

are solicited. In 2011, Cerberus wasreplaced by the PE firm Monomoy CapitalPartners II, and they brought in CalPERSand six other investment groups to invest$420 million in the project (Alexander, p.146.) The new PE firm then acquiredOneida Corporation.

H. If possible steps A-D are repeated withthe new acquisition, a move which provedto be impossible in this instance.I. Assess the company or companies man-agement fees at all possible steps in theacquisitions.

J. Near the end of the restructuring, bor-row as large a sum from a variety of out-side sources and attach the sum as debt tothe new company.

K. Offer the new and trimmed, but alsonewly indebted, company for sale.

L. Distribute to investors the profit fromthe management fees, the sale of the com-pany, and a large fraction of the borrowedsum. These funds as received by theinvestors are taxed at a lower rate as capi-tal gains.

The story does not end once Monomoyextracted as much as it could from thecompany. A PE firm, in pursuit of fees,

assessments, sales profits, and surplusvalue and plain ordinary looting of allsorts, is continuously at risk of driving theacquired business into bankruptcy, andthis, naturally enough, makes privateequity ventures very risky. According tothe website discussing Anchor Hocking,the credit reporting company bdcreporter.com mentions that the glasscompany entered bankruptcy in 2015. ThePE firm Main Capital Partners then tookover and has since then been attemptingto retire a debt of $300 million, but as of2018 little financial information has beenmade available.

Any report on transactions such as theseshould contain a mention of the impact ofsuch business practices on the local com-munity. The area around Lancaster, Ohio,is deep in the heart of America’s opioid cri-sis—which has been exacerbated throughdifficulties in unemployment and under-employment. For those who don’t knowthe statistics, in 2017 nearly as manyAmericans died from opioid abuse (54,000)as perished in all the years of the VietnamWar (58,220). If you feel a bit smudged upthat CalPERS was present for some ofthis, that feeling is appropriate.

Send questions for this column to TomDonahue at [email protected]

For each group, you will receive a secondnotice one month after the first, a thirdnotice one month after the second, and adeletion notice regarding your dependent amonth or two after the third notice.

There is more information about depend-ents other than spouses at the CalPERSweb site devoted to this project athttps://tinyurl.com/ybq8pedq.

Pre and Post Retirement Concerns Committee:CalPERS and Private Equity

CSU-ERFSA [email protected] is now the primaryemail address for CSU-ERFSA. Any emailsent to the old address, [email protected],will be forwarded automatically.

Change of Address. If you move, pleasenotify the CSU-ERFSA office at theaddress on the masthead, on page 2.Thank you.

Pocket Calendar.

IMPORTANT NOTICE:The pocket calendar for 2019 will bethe last one sent to all members(except those who have already

opted out).

For 2020 and later, the calendar willbe sent ONLY to those who haveopted in - please notify the office atthe email or phone or address onpage 2 of The Reporter if you wouldlike the calendar to continue.


Much of the discussion of the first meetingof the academic year at the statewideAcademic Senate September 5-7 centeredaround monetary allocations to the CSU,how the funds would be implemented, andhow to better advocate strategies goingforward.

New Chair’s Report. New ASCSU ChairCatherine Nelson (Sonoma) reported theextended executive committee met withChancellor White focusing on issues of stu-dent success. There was consensus thatthe academic master plan is outdated.Suggestions were advanced to considermultiyear budgets with the state legisla-ture to reduce stress on campuses.

Academic Affairs Committee. The aca-demic affairs committee is working on awhite paper focusing on operational defini-tions of what exactly student successmeans and how it might be measured.The committee is also studying perform-ance gaps along racial lines.

Academic Preparation and EducationCommittee. The academic preparationand education policy committee is focusingon ways to improve recruiting metrics forfaculty candidates of color.

Faculty Affairs. The faculty affairs com-mittee is looking into exactly where the$25 million earmarked for additional fac-ulty hires is going statewide.

Fiscal and Government Affairs. Thefiscal and government affairs committeehas begun to look into new models for gov-ernment lobbying.

Faculty Trustee’s Report. FacultyTrustee Sabalius thanked senators forhelping to get an additional $100 millionin state funding above the Governor's Mayrevise recommendation.

The ASCSU completed a first reading res-olution recognizing two decades ofadvances in service learning and commu-

nity engagement practices statewide.

CFA Report. CFA President Eaganurged support toward Gavin Newsom forGovernor and Tony Thurmond asSuperintendent of Public Instruction.

Chancellor’s Report. Chancellor Whitereported having discussions with UCleadership regarding a joint bond withthe state legislature earmarked towardcapital improvements and updatingaging infrastructure. He also reportedthere would be no tuition increases in thenear term.

AVC Minor reported that 26 facultymembers statewide were granted facultyleadership and innovation awards.

CSU-ERFSA Report. CSU-ERFSAPresident Blischke delivered a reportabout the dozens of ways retired facultyand staff can assist current campusefforts.

ASCSU Report: Budget Issues Still At The ForefrontBy Jay Swartz, CSU-ERFSA Liaison to the CSU Academic Senate

The CSU-ERFSA office recently surveyed the 23 campuses inorder to delineate the various ways in which our membersremain involved in their campus. We discovered that there aretwenty-one types of contributions. For those of you who do notlive near your home campus or visit it very often, many of thesevaluable forms of participation can be done via the Internet.Please read the list, get involved and encourage your retired col-leagues to do likewise. It gives many of us a more meaningfuland rewarding retirement.

1. Serving on search committees2. Serving on advisory boards3. Serving on graduate theses committees4. Tutoring students in their disciplines 5. Substituting as lecturers in classes when regular faculty areill or attending conferences6. Advising students on program planning7. Assisting in the campus library8. Assisting at the career center9. Serving on committees revising campus policies and proce-dures10. Serving on ad hoc committees appointed by administrators11. Serving on Senate committees12. Outreach to the community through Life-Long Learning pro-grams

13. Contacting legislators or other officials supporting campusand CSU initiatives14. Serving as retiree member of the Faculty Senate15. Aiding the athletic program by serving as umpires, referees,etc. in intramural programs16. Serving as investigator in campus discipline or grievancecases17. Serving on committees that select student scholarship recipi-ents18. Enriching the intellectual enterprise of the universitythrough continued research, scholarship and creative activities,often in collaboration with active faculty and students19. Co-sponsoring and leading an international conference on lit-erary and social issues20. Voter Registration – coordinating volunteer drives21. Soles4Souls campus shoe collections

CSU-ERFSA Volunteer ActivitiesBy Bill Blischke, President, CSU-ERFSA

AdvertisingThe CSU-ERFSA Reporter accepts

advertising. If readers know of individ-uals or groups who might wish to

advertise, please call or write the CSU-ERFSA office at the address on page 2


President’s Report(Continued from page 2)

the Arts in Foggy Bottom website and con-tact me for implementation information.

Membership. As a final note, I want toupdate you on what I hope is a major stepin terms of resolving our membership cri-sis. After I made my 90-second presenta-tion at the September Board of Trusteesmeeting and mentioned that our organiza-tion now officially includes retired staffand administrators, a member of theChancellor’s Office human resources staffapproached me and suggested that wemeet to discuss getting the word out onthe campuses concerning this change. Harold Goldwhite and I have scheduled apreliminary meeting with several CO HRadministrators. We plan to follow that upwith a meeting with the human resourcesadministrators from all 23 campuses.Hopefully, this will facilitate our commu-nication with all CSU CalPERS retireesand build our membership, participationand influence.

Bill Blischke President CSU-ERFSA

For the student taking only around 6units, and with today's diversity ofunits/course, a student can face a choice of2 courses at 3-units each when what s/heshould really be taking is a 4-unit courseinstead of one of the 3-unit courses. The

marginal cost of thatextra unit from 6 to 7 isVERY high.

Mark Shapiro added:I also agree that a perunit charge would makemore sense. Given thatthe C.O. wants studentsto graduate in 8 semes-

ters with 120 units, the current >6 unitcharge should be divided by 15 to find theper unit charge. That works out to $191.40per unit currently on the semester campus-es for students paying the full rate.

And from George Diehr:Assuming that it is reasonable that tuitionshould be approximately the same fractionof the total cost to the CSU of a student atall levels of credits taken, then a simplecost/unit will undercharge the studentwho takes only a few units and overchargethose who take many units.

This is because while the cost of instructionis reasonably proportional to the number ofunits taken, the cost for student services isnot--it depends heavily on number of stu-dents (headcount) as well as FTES. Forexample, the cost to student services forstudents taking 15 units will not be 5 timesthe cost for students taking only 3 units.

A tuition schedule which levies a fixed costfor registering plus a fixed cost/unit wouldcome closer to meeting a goal of tuition (+registration cost) being fixed fraction oftotal cost. Such a cost schedule has con-stant marginal cost/unit but decliningaverage cost/unit with increasing load.While it would encourage students to takemore than just a single class, I don't thinkit would encourage students to overloadthemselves.

I believe the CSU has developed reasonableestimates of the cost for student services asa function of headcount and FTES.

This dialog started when the editor sent,as a matter of interest, a reference to aPublic Policy Institute of California reporton the cost of tuition in the University ofCalifornia, CSU, and the California com-munity college systems. The report can befound at: https://tinyurl.com/y8ps5vce

The response from Barry Pasternack wasas follows:While the overall cost of attending a CSUmay not be a serious issue, the way wecharge students tuition certainly is. Thetwo-tiered system where a student pays $Xif s/he takes six units or less and $Y ifs/he takes more than six units is flawed inmany ways. For example, if due to work,family, or other issues a student could rea-

sonably take 9 units, the student is put ina position where s/he will only take 6units or will register for 12 or more unitssince the cost is the same. In the lattercase, the student may well end up drop-ping units, but in the interim other stu-dents who may have want-ed to enroll in such classeswill find that seats are notavailable.

While charging as we domight work well for stu-dents in the UC (where themajority of students arefull-time students) such asystem does not work wellfor the CSU and, may in fact, increase thetime to get a degree. A much more logicalapproach to tuition would be to charge bythe unit as is done in the Kansas state sys-tem.

We should be able to develop a system forcharging student tuition that works farbetter than our current one.

My two cents.

Your editor responded briefly:Absolutely agree. I've always felt the sys-tem should have examined the alternativesto the 6 unit rule.

David Elliott responded as follows:I agree with both of you, but the other con-sequence of the huge cuts that were forcedby the recession the shift from an essential-ly tenure-track faculty to one in which halfof the faculty now are lecturers. Thereduced state funding for our system hasbeen disastrous.

And George Diehr responded:I agree. Yesterday a colleague told his sonto be sure to get a tuition reduction whenhe dropped a course taking him from 10units to 7. I pointed out that there wouldbe no reduction.

The fixed tuition of $Y for >6 units canalso encourage students to take too manycourses (even 21 units) since the marginaltuition cost of increased units is $0.

How We Charge for Tuition in the CSU: A Dialog Among CSU-ERFSA Executive Committee Members

The two-tiered systemwhere a student pays$X if s/he takes sixunits or less and $Y ifs/he takes more thansix units is flawed in

many ways.

The chart has fourlines. They are(from the top): K-12 education,bolstered by theProp. 98 fundingguarantee ofapproximately40% of the statebudget; thenhealth and humanservices; thenhigher education,starting from 18%in 1976 and grad-ually declining to11.7% in 2018,and at the bottom,corrections. Source: KevinCook, “A Long-Term View ofHigher EducationFunding,” PublicPolicy Institute ofCalifornia blog,August 16, 2018.

Legislative Report: Jerry Brown’s LegacyBy Alan Wade, Sacramento State University, CSU-ERFSA Legislative Director


A quick look at some of the bills signedand vetoed by Jerry Brown in Septemberis of interest to those of us who have beenobserving him over the four decades span-ning his first two terms as governor andhis just-ending second terms. As of September 30, the governor receivedfrom the legislature 1,217 bills for his sig-nature. Of the total, he vetoed 16.5%(201). In 1982, he vetoed only 1.8% ( 30)of those sent to him.As has been said of FDR, Jerry Brown hasshown the wisdom of avoiding consistency.In his own words, he has learned to navi-gate the tricky rapids of California politicsby the canoe paddling method of keepingthe thing going by going first to the right,and then paddling to the left. To which atrue canoeist could respond that there is amuch better and easier stroke, one thatmakes going in a relatively straight linequite simple.

Among the bills vetoed were : SB 320,which would have allowed the prescribing

of abortion pills in public university healthcenters; SB 835-6, which would havebanned smoking on state parks beachesand other parks, with the comment thatwe already have too many rules and regu-lations; many of the others vetoed wouldhave cost the state money, but not all. Among the bills signed were : SB 822,landmark legislation on net neutrality; SB820, placing a ban on non-disclosureagreements in sexual harassment cases,along with a couple of other “Me too” bills;AB 315, requiring that pharmacy benefitmanagers be licensed; and AB 1912,requiring all agencies in a Joint PowersAgreement to be fully liable for obligationsto the retirement system. (An article onpage 10 of this issue of the Reporterexplains the context and history of AB1912.) And, of course, many hundreds more.Check them out for yourselves on theLegislature’s bill tracking website, locatedat http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/.

The recent legislative session has not beennoted for a heavy dose of concern for CSU-ERFSA’s main issues around health careand pensions. SB 526, the “HealthyCalifornia Act”, will certainly return insome form in the next session as thenational debate over single-payer/”Medicare for All” continues.Volumes are waiting to be written aboutJerry Brown’s career in California politics.At least one dissertation could be based onan analysis of bills signed and bills vetoedafter this, his last legislative session. Hehas spoken of retreating to Colusa County,“the promised land.”

Some seers predict that we haven’t heardthe last of Pat Brown’s somewhat errantson—that he may once more throw his hatin the ring for another run at the WhiteHouse. Stay tuned!


Top line is theCaliforniaCommunityCollege system.

Middle line is theUniversity ofCalifornia.

Bottom line is theCSU.

Source: KevinCook, “A Long-Term View ofHigher EducationFunding,” PublicPolicy Institute ofCalifornia blog,August 16, 2018.

George Diehr’s Testimony on the Hiring of Marcie FrostBy George Diehr, Former Member of the CalPERS Board of Administration“My name is George Diehr, Emeritus Professor at Calif StateUniversity, San Marcos; a retired member of CalPERS; and aformer Board member serving from 2003 through 2014. I amhere to present my concerns about the hiring of now CEO Ms.Frost.In brief, the key issue is Ms. Frost’s misrepresentation of hereducation—specifically, claiming for several years that she waspursuing a program at Evergreen State College that would leadto both a bachelor’s and master’s degree. That was and is simplynot true. She started 2 writing courses but turned in no assign-ments from either one. She was never enrolled in a degree pro-gram there.

Ms. Frost originated this myth many years ago and repeated theclaim on her application to CalPERS. The claim was posted online by CalPERS and Board members repeated the myth to con-stituents. Even after she was hired she did nothing until veryrecently to refute or correct documents and a press release thatperpetuated the myth. It seems reasonable to believe that if Ms.Frost had been truthful and completely upfront about her actualcollege experience she might not have been hired.

Criticism has been leveled at the original source of informationabout her misrepresentations—the Naked Capitalism blog—essentially charging it with “fake news.” This is shooting themessenger. The majority of NC’s assertions have been validatedby Bloomberg and others. Sunday, Michael Hiltzik, a Pulitzer

Prize winning LA Times journalist, wrote an article titled“Pension fund CEO’s murky hiring.” As a CSU professor put it:“Ignore Hiltzik at your peril.”If this issue is ignored, it will return to haunt CalPERS with thenext attack on public pensions—most likely when there is anoth-er downturn in financial markets. I conclude that it is essential that a thorough investigation beconducted; and that it be conducted by an independent, externalorganization, not one selected by CalPERS Board, which is soheavily invested in their decision and in the CEO. In addition tothe misrepresentation, the investigation should determine why,for example, a bachelor’s degree was not a mandatory require-ment as is the case with most pension system CEO searches.Given the debacle in the hiring of the previous CFO, this investi-gation should also recommend changes in the CalPERS hiringprocess to ensure that this situation does not repeat.”

Editor’s Note: In spite of our and other entreaties aboutCalPERS CEO Marcie Frost, the Board of Administration gaveher a vote of confidence at its meeting September 24, 2018, alongwith an $84,873 bonus. Her base pay is now $330,720. CSU-ERFSA, along with others, has called for an investigation intoFrost’s hiring. Some of the Frost controversy seems to have beenfueled by her urging the Board to approve a new organizationalscheme for private equity investing, which some consider to lackaccountability.


CSU-ERFSA New MembersDominguez Hills – Vanessa E.

Wenzell

East Bay – Eileen Barrett* Susan A. Gubernat

Aline Soules

Fresno – Paul R. CrosbiePatricia L. Hennings

Fullerton – Richard L. Deming

Humboldt – Michael A. CamannLong Beach – Hiroko C. Kataoka

San Jose – Linda C. Lappin

Sonoma – Thomas S. AtkinJulie A. Bright

* Denotes a lifetime member


the communities receiving the donations ofshoes. He urged more campuses to engagein this community service endeavor.

Throughout the meeting the theme ofrecruitment of new members was raisedenergetically. CSU-ERFSA needs toincrease its efforts in this direction toensure the viability of the association.

The Council also approved a motion toamend the by-laws to make the StateCouncil responsible for deciding whether itwill meet once or twice in following years.(The current by-laws specify two meetingsa year).

A highlight of the meeting was the talk byFaculty Trustee Sabalius who has been inthat position for a year. He described themakeup of the Board of Trustees; itsduties and responsibilities; and the specialposition and obligations of the facultytrustee who is, as he put it, the only “pro-

fessional trustee”! In describing theupcoming Board deliberations on theCSU’s budget request for 2019-2020 heopined that the probable request by theBoard for over $300 million for deferredmaintenance was far too low a figure. Heexpects to be urging the Board to requesta continuing supplement of $1 billion ayear (not that radical a request consider-ing the substantial amount of many bil-lions of dollars in the State’s rainy dayreserve) for 3 or 4 years to pay for theCSU’s estimated deferred maintenance ofwell over $3 billion. Given the increasedstudent demand on most campuses, that isstraining physical plant beyond itsplanned limits, this is a “modest” request.

Trustee Sabalius talk was received enthu-siastically by the State Council.(Continued from page 9)

the CFA website, calfac.org and onSoundCloud. A recent episode centered onthe case of David Josiah Lawson, aHumboldt State student who was mur-dered near campus on April 15, 2017. Todate, his homicide remains unsolved, andCFA has joined with Josiah Lawson’s fam-ily and others in urging Attorney GeneralXavier Becerra to take over the investiga-tion.

CFA Report

Above, Faculty Trustee Romey Sabalius,Professor of German at SJSU since 1995.

Above, from the left, Faculty Trustee Romey Sabalius (SJSU) talking with DieterRenning (Stanislaus), former President of CSU-ERFSA; Kathleen Harcharik (Long

Beach) and Barry Pasternack, Vice President of CSU-ERFSA (Fullerton).

State CouncilCalls forInvestigation ofCalPERS CEO


Can CalPERS Default on YourPension? Uh, YES, It Can....

In MemoriamChico – Ruth L. Colbie

Dominguez Hills – Mimi KallandFresno – Felton BurnsPatricia L. Thomson

Fullerton – Mary M. ZeyenHumboldt – William L. Lester

Long Beach – Keith A. DixonBarbara E. Hall

Los Angeles – Erika Wilson

Northridge – John J. BullaroNorma S. CreagheRobert G. Delwarte

Sacramento – Gene Knepprath

San Diego – Henry E. McAdams

Sonoma – John Arnold

Asking whether CalPERS can default on apension promise is the wrong question toask the 200 former employees of the EastSan Gabriel Valley Human ServicesConsortium, a job-training organizationeast of downtown Los Angeles in the SanGabriel Valley. They know the answer –and it’s “Yes” – CalPERS in fact can slashyour pension if your agency fails to makeits required pension contributions toCalPERS.The Consortium was backed by four cities,Azusa, Covina, Gardena, and WestCovina, in Los Angeles County, but whenit was dissolved, the four cities refused topay CalPERS the pension payments forthe consortium’s workers, and CalPERS inturn cut the employees’ pensions by anaverage of 63%. Nothing in the contractthe Consortium made with CalPERS toldthe participating cities that they wereresponsible if the Consortium went out of

business, and when it lost a contract andwas dissolved, the cities walked away. In September, Governor Jerry Brownsigned AB1912, sponsored byAssemblyman Freddie Rodriguez (D-Pomona), which “prohibits member agen-cies of a Joint Powers Authority (JPA)from disclaiming the retirement liability ofthe JPA and requires the apportionmentof retirement liability among JPA memberagencies if the JPA’s agreement with theBoard of Administration of CalPERS isterminated….”

While the immediate bill does not help the200 employees from the San GabrielValley, there is hope that something canbe worked out in their case, since futureinstances of JPAs that disband will be cov-ered by AB 1912. The bill overcame most-ly Republican opposition, said TheSacramento Bee, with the SEIU lobbyingfor it.

Perez Wins in Stunning Upset ofCalPERS Board President MathurIn the September CalPERS Board election,Jason Perez, a sergeant in the Coronapolice department and president of thedepartment’s police officer association,defeated Priya Mathur, chair of the Boardof Administration, in a stunning rebuke ofCalPERS leadership. For the second election in a row, a chal-lenger defeated an incumbent CalPERSBoard member. In fall 2017, MargaretBrown unseated incumbent MichaelBilbrey in a runoff election, receiving 53%of the vote.

Perez received 57% of a low turnout vote,while Mathur received 43%. Only 16,216votes were cast of the approximately275,000 eligible, meaning that the turnoutrate was 6%. Low turnouts, often under10%, have been typical of recent CalPERSelections.

Perez takes office in January, and at itsJanuary 22-24 meeting, the Board ofAdministration will vote for a new presi-dent. Mathur had been on the board for 15

years and had spoken to a CSU-ERFSAmeeting in Los Angeles some years ago.

Two other seats were up for election thisyear, but neither attracted a challenger,and the incumbents were certified as elect-ed by the Secretary of State, Alex Padilla,on June 8th. The two were TheresaTaylor, who is a state member representa-tive and VP/Secretary-Treasurer of SEIUlocal 1000, and Rob Feckner, a glazingspecialist for the Napa Valley UnifiedSchool District and the school memberrepresentative. Taylor works as the princi-pal compliance representative for theFranchise Tax Board. The new terms willbe Taylor’s second and Feckner’s sixth.

Perez was supported by board memberMargaret Brown, and former board mem-ber J. J. Jelincinc, both of whom havebeen at odds with Mathur.

The next CalPERS board election is in2019 for the retiree seat presently held byHenry Jones


to the annual reminder letter sent byCalPERS on this subject. Note that it maytake up to 90 days before the IRMAAreimbursement begins. So your firstIRMAA reimbursement may contain anextra lump sum.

There will be an article on this subject inthe upcoming issue of CalPERS’ magazinePerspective.

Assisted Care Facilities: A CautionaryStory. The Sacramento Bee published anarticle in September about the experiencesof one family with a local assisted livingcare facility. Sadly, the individual in thefacility died, and after a state agencyinvestigation the facility was fined. Thespouse of the deceased is a retired memberof the Sacramento State faculty, and shehopes that calling this article to the atten-tion of other retirees may help them asthey ponder health-related decisions. Iwish to thank Emeritus Professor SharonAlexander for sharing her story with us.The article may be found at:https://tinyurl.com/y7qt75po

Health Benefits


Is It Never Too Late To Operate? Surgery Near End OfLife Is Common, CostlyBy Liz Szabo, Kaiser Health NewsKaiser Health News reported this storyearlier in 2018. At 87, Maxine Stanich cared more aboutimproving the quality of her life than pro-longing it. She suffered from a long list ofhealth problems, including heart failureand chronic lung disease that could leaveher gasping for breath. When her timecame, she wanted to die a natural death,Stanich told her daughter, and signed a“do not resuscitate” directive, or DNR,ordering doctors not to revive her shouldher heart stop.

Yet a trip to a San Francisco emergencyroom for shortness of breath in 2008 ledStanich to get a defibrillator implanted inher chest — a medical device to keep heralive by delivering a powerful shock. Atthe time, Stanich didn’t fully grasp whatshe had agreed to, even though she signeda document granting permission for theprocedure, said her daughter, SusanGiaquinto.

That clarity came only during a subse-quent visit to a different hospital, when asurprised ER doctor saw a defibrillatorprotruding from the DNR patient’s thinchest. To Stanich’s horror, the ER doctorexplained that the device would not allowher to slip away painlessly and that thejolt would be “so strong that it will knockher across the room,” said Giaquinto, whoaccompanied her mother on both hospitaltrips.

Surgery like this has become all too com-mon among those near the end of life,experts say. Nearly 1 in 3 Medicarepatients undergo an operation in the yearbefore they die, even though the evidenceshows that many are more likely to beharmed than to benefit from it.

The practice is driven by financial incen-tives that reward doctors for doing proce-dures, as well as a medical culture inwhich patients and doctors are reluctantto talk about how surgical interventionsshould be prescribed more judiciously, saidDr. Rita Redberg, a cardiologist who treat-ed Stanich when she sought care at thesecond hospital.

“We have a culture that believes in veryaggressive care,” said Redberg, who at theUniversity of California-San Franciscospecializes in heart disease in women. “Weare often not considering the chance ofbenefit and chance of harm, and how thatchanges when you get older. We also failto have conversations about what patientsvalue most.”While surgery is typically lifesaving foryounger people, operating on frail, olderpatients rarely helps them live longer orreturns the quality of life they onceenjoyed, according to a 2016 paper inAnnals of Surgery.

The cost of these surgeries — typicallypaid for by Medicare, the governmenthealth insurance program for people over65 — involve morethan money, said Dr.Amber Barnato, aprofessor at theDartmouth Institutefor Health Policy andClinical Practice.Older patients whoundergo surgerywithin a year ofdeath spent 50 per-cent more time in thehospital than others,and nearly twice asmany days in inten-sive care.

And while somerobust octogenarians have many yearsahead of them, studies show that surgeryis also common among those who are farmore frail.

Eighteen percent of Medicare patientshave surgery in their final month of lifeand 8 percent in their final week, accord-ing to a 2011 study in The Lancet.More than 12 percent of defibrillatorswere implanted in people older than 80,according to a 2015 study. Doctors implantabout 158,000 of the devices each year,according to the American College ofCardiology. The total cost of the procedureruns about $60,000.

Procedures performed in the elderly rangefrom major operations that requirelengthy recoveries to relatively minor sur-gery performed in a doctor’s office, such asthe removal of nonfatal skin cancers, thatwould likely never cause any problems.Research led by Dr. Eleni Linos has shownthat people with limited life expectanciesare treated for nonfatal skin cancers asaggressively as younger patients. Amongpatients with a nonfatal skin cancer and alimited time to live, 70 percent underwentsurgery, according to her 2013 study inJAMA Internal Medicine.

When Less Is More. Surgery poses seri-ous risks for older people, who weatheranesthesia poorly and whose skin takeslonger to heal. Among seniors who under-go urgent or emergency abdominal sur-

gery, 20 percent die within30 days, studies show.

With diminished mentalacuity and an old-fash-ioned respect for the med-ical profession, some agingpatients are vulnerable tounwanted interventions.Stanich agreed to a pace-maker simply because herdoctor suggested it,Giaquinto said. Many peo-ple of Stanich’s generation“thought doctors were God… They never questioneddoctors — ever.”

According to the University of Michigan’sNational Poll on Healthy Aging, publishedWednesday, more than half of adults ages50 to 80 said doctors often recommendunnecessary tests, medications or proce-dures. Yet half of those who’d been toldthey needed an X-ray or other test — butweren’t sure they needed it — went on tohave the procedure anyway.Dr. Margaret Schwarze, a surgeon andassociate professor at the University ofWisconsin School of Medicine and PublicHealth, said that older patients often don’tfeel the financial pain of surgery becauseinsurance pays most of the cost.


We have a culture thatbelieves in very aggressivecare. We are often not con-sidering the chance of ben-efit and chance of harm,and how that changeswhen you get older. We alsofail to have conversationsabout what patients valuemost.-- Dr. Rita Redberg,Director of Women’s

Cardiovascular Services atthe UCSF Division of

Cardiology.

s


CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITYEMERITUS AND RETIRED FACULTYAND STAFF ASSOCIATIONThe Retirement Center18111 Nordhoff StreetNorthridge, CA 91330-8339http://www.csuerfa.orgHave you moved? If so, please report your newaddress to the CSU-ERFSA office at the aboveaddress.

Address Service Requested

CSU-ERFSACalendar of Events

January 18, 2019 - Winter Executive Committee meets electronically.

April 6, 2019 - Spring State Council meeting at CSU Dominguez Hills.


When a surgeon offers to “fix” the heartvalve in a person with multiple diseases,for example, the patient may assume thatsurgery will fix all of her medical prob-lems, Schwarze said. “With older patientswith lots of chronic illnesses, we’re notreally fixing anything.”

Finding Solutions. The momentum ofhospital care can make people feel as ifthey’re on a moving train and can’t jumpoff. The rush of medical decisions “doesn’tallow time to deliberate or consider thepatients’ overall health or what their goalsand values might be,” said Dr. JacquelineKruser, an instructor in pulmonary andcritical care medicine and medical socialsciences at the Northwestern UniversityFeinberg School of Medicine.

Many hospitals and health systems aredeveloping “decision aids,” easy-to-under-stand written materials and videos to helppatients make more informed medical

decisions, giving them time to developmore realistic expectations.

After Kaiser Permanente Washingtonintroduced the tools relating to jointreplacement, the number of patientschoosing to have hip replacement surgeryfell 26 percent, while knee replacementsdeclined 38 percent, according to a studyin Health Affairs. (Kaiser Permanente isnot affiliated with Kaiser Health News,which is an editorially independent pro-gram of the Kaiser Family Foundation.)

In a paper published last year in JAMASurgery and the Journal of Pain andSymptom Management, Schwarze, Kruserand colleagues suggested creating narra-tives to illustrate surgical risks, rather

than relying on statistics. Instead oftelling patients that surgery carries a 20percent risk of stroke, for example, doctorsshould lay out the best, worst and mostlikely outcomes.

In the best-case scenario, a patient mightspend weeks in the hospital after surgery,living the rest of her life in a nursinghome. In the worst case, the same patientdies after several weeks in intensive care.In the most likely scenario, the patientsurvives just two to three months aftersurgery. Schwarze said, “If someone saysthey can’t tolerate the best-case scenario— which involves them being in a nursinghome — then maybe we shouldn’t be doingthis.”

California State UniversityEmeritus & Retired Faculty and Staff Association

Is It Never Too Late ToOperate?

council calls for investigation of calpers ceo marcie ... · csu-erfsa notices 4 ascsu report:...

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