Morning Digest: 8 Stories You Should Know About Today

A growing rift between the University of California and Gov. Jerry Brown over tuition increases has exposed a broader struggle over who controls the powerhouse university system and who should pay for it. Beneath the tuition-hike debate set to play out at Wednesday's UC Regents meeting in San Francisco is a palpable tension between state government and a public university that historically has operated with relative autonomy and which has grown increasingly reliant on tuition and other private funding, rather than state subsidies, to pay its bills. Full story

In the hopes of picking up another $100 million per year, the UC Regents are meeting this week to discuss UC President Janet Napolitano’s recommendation that tuition be increased by 5 percent a year over the next five years. ... What the regents don’t want us to focus on is that there might never have been a need to increase tuition three-fold since 2002. Had they simply taken a page from Yale Endowment guru David Swensen’s book, UC might not have had to raise tuition at all. Full story

In what could be a precedent-setting victory for the modestly paid service-industry workers who help keep the Silicon Valley economy humming, shuttle bus drivers who take Facebook employees to and from work will vote Wednesday on whether to unionize, hoping success at the poll will lead to others joining what they say is a campaign for better pay and working conditions. Full story

At a time where restaurant labor practices are the subject of continued discussion and debate, one of San Francisco’s most popular restaurants has paid a massive labor settlement to its workers. Today, Yank Sing announced that it has reached a $4 million dollar backpay and benefits settlement for 280 affected current and former employees. Between its two locations, Yank Sing currently employs 90 full-time staffers (30 hours or more per week) and 60 part-time staffers. On an average weekend, Yank Sing will do more than 1,000 covers a day at its Rincon Center location, and another 300 at its Stevenson location. Full story

For 56 years, the Chan family has been serving up tasty dim sum dumplings stuffed with pork and shrimp to throngs of business executives, tourists and San Francisco Bay Area families. ... But Henry and Judy Chans' Yank Sing restaurant didn't fare so well last year with state and city labor inspectors. Investigations and audits, spurred by complaints from dozens of employees — mainly Chinese immigrants who spoke little English — revealed numerous violations of state wage-and-hour laws at their restaurant in the heart of San Francisco's financial district and a smaller location six blocks away. Full story

It looks like Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi will once again have to defend himself against some three-year-old allegations of domestic violence as he attempts a re-election bid next year. And reportedly challenging him in the race will be the woman who was instated as his temporary replacement during his 2012 suspension, Ethics Commission hearing, and subsequent near-dismissal, former sheriff's deputy Vicki Hennessy. Full story

The first time that Joe Tate encountered San Jose Bike Party was outside his home in downtown a few years ago. Hearing shouts and music, he stepped out to see a whir of lights and a crush of riders—thousands of them. ... It wasn’t long before he volunteered for “The Hub,” the party’s core organizers who map out routes and drum up ideas for themes. ... But there’s been recent murmurs that Tate’s moving to suck the soul out of Bike Party, to quell the chaos that drew him to the event in the first place. Full story

It has been 18 exhilarating months since I came out in Sports Illustrated as the first openly gay man in one of the four major professional team sports. And it has been nine months since I signed with the Nets and became the first openly gay male athlete to appear in a game in one of those leagues. It feels wonderful to have been part of these milestones for sports and for gay rights, and to have been embraced by the public, the coaches, the players, the league and history. Full story