<p>The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) earns its reputation as the world's corporate governance bulldog. With the annual meeting season in full swing, the nation's largest pension fund has been using its market clout to press for change at such poor performers as Lucent Technologies, Qwest Communications International, and Gateway. CalPERS' brand of activism has such a powerful impact on stock prices that finance professors have dubbed it "the CalPERS effect."</p>