@mzinshteyn
Reporter covering California higher education and state-federal issues for @Calmatters.org. Other interests include nationalism, politics, economy, film, fiction and Jewishness. Soviet-born baby refugee; Pell grant recipient. L.A. resident.
If you knew that a free month-long summer program would increase your chances of staying in college by 18%, but the program was 8 to 16 hours a week, would you do it?
Or would the need to work outweigh the benefits?
My story describes the program. It's one way a campus seeks to grow enrollment.
How does a college generate $25 million more a year by enrolling 800 more students?
I explore how California campuses are in an enrollment doom loop and how they plan to get out of it.
This story relies on records requests + 13 interviews
📸 @zinchiang.bsky.social
calmatters.org/education/hi...
Almost half of the campuses at the nation's largest public 4-yr university system have seen enrollments collapse by double digits since 2020.
Campuses lose immediate tuition revenue, exacerbating existing issues as reserves deplete.
I look at how one Cal State campus seeks to turn things around.
Now the Trump admin says that it attacked Iran as a preemptive measure because it knew Israel was going to attack Iran and in that scenario, Iran would retaliate against the U.S. Ergo, the U.S. had to strike Iran first.
Per Haaretz: www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
I'd like to report a Soviet Jewish stereotype.
"AI will take your job"
Gemini, inventing quotes after I asked it to review a long transcript and find an exact quote:
Same here. I tried five times and each time the link to my reply says "post deleted" or somesuch
What happened to the "winter" opening timeline as revealed in the October boarding meeting report? boardagendas.metro.net/board-report...
The feeling of bliss that comes from confirming a line in your story draft that you *know* is true but can only be substantiated after reviewing a 4-hour budget meeting in which someone says in one second the thing that you've been trying to verify.
The 16th Amendment established the federal income tax and eventually replaced tariffs as the main source of tax revenue for the federal government. This was in 1913. Thanks AP U.S. History.
"At a campaign rally in Texas on Monday, security escorted Atlantic reporter Elaine Godfrey from the premises. Godfrey has covered Crockett at length, though the coverage has appeared to frustrate the Texas congresswoman."
www.semafor.com/article/02/2...
This morning's CalMatters newsletter was packed to the gills with good info but also quick to read!
CA Democrats can’t agree on endorsement for governor. Will Republicans benefit?
Despite what Trump says, human trafficking is mostly a homegrown offense. 96% of ppl charged were for US citizens. Just 2% were undocumented immigrants reason.com/2026/02/19/9...
What's more shocking than ICE's plan to cram as many 8,500 humans into massive, soul-crushing warehouses?
Seeing the actual DHS floor plan that echoes slavery ships and history's worst gulags with no rec space but a gun range for guards
My new column on the camps www.inquirer.com/opinion/ice-...
I cannot emphasize this enough: The AI doomer narrative (it’s going to wake up and kill us all) is, whether its adherents intend it or not, pure marketing for AI companies
It’s one reason their CEOs have even, on occasion, leaned into it
Taught a class on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion today, and every one of my students said they've seen content on TikTok that comes directly from it, without knowing before today what the source was.
"You now live in a country where volunteers deliver babies at home, in secret, off the books, because mothers fear that if they go to the hospital, they will be abducted by masked, armed agents of the state while giving birth. This is not a hypothetical."
“(ICE favorability is) almost break-even with people who get their news from Twitter. Compare that to other social media platforms like Reddit and TikTok, where over 70% of voters viewed the agency unfavorably.”
You are what you (choose to) eat
Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank shot and killed a Palestinian American man during an attack on a village, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. n.pr/46PHPVX
UCLA's chief financial officer leaves his post effective immediately four days after telling the student newspaper that UCLA has mismanaged its finances for years and now faces a $400m+ deficit.
A UCLA spokesperson wrote that his deficit numbers are incorrect and that the deficit is much lower.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS AMERICAN ASSOCIATIONS OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS, ET AL., Plaintiffs, V. No. 1:25-cv-10685-WGY MARCO RUBIO, in his official capacity as Secretary of State, and the DEPARTMENT OF STATE, ET AL., Defendants. NOTICE OF APPEAL Notice is hereby given that all Defendants in the above-named matter hereby appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit from the Final Judgment entered in this action on January 22, 2026. ECF No. 313.
BRETT A. SHUMATE Assistant Attorney General DREW C. ENSIGN Deputy Assistant Attorney General Dated: February 9, 2026 Respectfully Submitted, Ethan B. Kanter ETHAN B. KANTER Chief, National Security Unit Office of Immigration Litigation Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice P.O. Box 878, Ben Franklin Station Washington, D.C. 20001 PAUL F. STONE Deputy Chief, National Security Unit Office of Immigration Litigation LINDSAY M. MURPHY Deputy Chief, National Security Unit Office of Immigration Litigation Counsel for Defendants
NEW: DOJ filed its notice of appeal in AAUP v. Rubio, the case about the Trump admin's attempt to revoke visas, etc. Judge Young found this was implemented in an unconstitutionally viewpoint-discriminatory manner.
Earlier Law Dork coverage: www.lawdork.com/p/judge-will...
Was not expecting the “China is coming for our Stanley Cup playoffs” twist in this unhinged rant.
Tweet from Hasan Piker: "benjamin netenyahu is in the files and former pm ehud barak has such an extensive relationship w esptein they might as well call it the israel files what the fuck are you talking about."
Netanyahu is a war criminal who belongs in the Hague, but the only references to Netanyahu in the Epstein files are emails sent exchanging articles about him, or others discussing him.
I think it's very bad that the most popular left-wing streamer on the internet is a raging antisemite.
Incantation bowl with an Aramaic inscription around a demon. From Nippur, Mesopotamia 6th–7th ce
My contribution to Super Bowl Sunday is this Jewish Aramaic incantation bowl with a demon on it. From Nippur, Mesopotamia, circa 6th-7th century CE.
Truly a super bowl.
Local L.A. news tip: The WeHo location of Crunch Gym is set to close March 31 because Crunch can't come to aa deal with the landlord for a lease renewal.
This gym is POPULAR and much-liked by many in the area's large gay community. Hetero women also appreciate the gym (fewer flirty straight men).
"It is not the so-called deep state that has restrained ICE from entering homes using only administrative warrants. It is the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution — and the lawyers who took an oath to support and defend it."
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/o...
The CSU board approve LB State prez pay package.
It also approved raises for four vice chancellors at the chancellor's office. The raises range from about 5% to ~20%.
The raises follow an analysis that shows CSU execs make less than the median for similarly sized systems (including UC, SUNY).
I did a really good story about the tension between California's community colleges that want to offer bachelor's degrees to students and the California State University system that has regularly pushed back on that.
This matters to students, taxpayers, state lawmakers and the governor.
