Archive

2008 stories

A spirit of generosity is in the air
The worsening financial crisis makes getting into the holiday spirit a little harder this year. At UC Berkeley, however, faculty and staff are looking beyond the headlines, doing what they can to make other people's celebrations a little brighter.
(23 December)

Snails and humans use same genes to tell right from left
UC Berkeley biologists have tracked down genes that control the handedness of snail shells, and they turn out to be similar to the genes used by humans to set up the left and right sides of the body.
(22 December)

White House presents three UC Berkeley faculty with prestigious early career awards
The White House has presented three UC Berkeley researchers with the nation's highest award for scientists at the early stages of their careers at a Dec. 19 ceremony. Rachel Segalman, Sanjit Seshia and Joan Walker are among 68 honorees of the 2007 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).
(19 December)

In new book, Alvarez switches from dino extinction to Italy's geology
Geologist Walter Alvarez's last book, "T. rex and the Crater of Doom," was about his controversial claim that a comet or asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. His new book, "The Mountains of Saint Francis," is an affectionate look at Italy, its geology and the Italian geologists who pieced together its billion-year-old history.
(18 December)

Eleven faculty members named AAAS Fellows
Eleven UC Berkeley researchers are among 486 new American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) fellows to be named Dec. 19 in the organization's journal, Science. The honor, bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers, recognizes distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.
(18 December)

Anxious? Do a crossword puzzle
Anxious people often engage in mindless distractions to keep from thinking scary or troubling thoughts. But results from a new brain imaging study by a UC Berkeley researcher suggest that brain-sharpening activities - rather than mind-numbing ones - can rein in a restless psyche by activating the region of the brain that commands logical reasoning and concentration.
(16 December)

Student tinkerers test-drive their interactive inventions
A semester-long design studio at the School of Information culminated last week in a showcase of students' interactive devices designed to teach, solve problems, provoke thought, or create fun.
(16 December)

Obama chooses Nobelist Steven Chu as secretary of energy
President-elect Barack Obama today (Monday, Dec. 15) nominated University of California, Berkeley, physicist and Nobel Laureate Steven Chu to be the next secretary of energy.
(15 December)

State stem cell agency funds work to break through research barriers
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state's stem cell agency, this week awarded two UC Berkeley researchers new grants totaling $1.8 million to create new tools to speed the translation of basic stem cell research into clinical therapies.
(12 December)

News reports link Chu to energy secretary announcement
(11 December)

Sustainability: A progress report
Berkeley demonstrates green leadership not just in the UC system but among universities nationwide
(11 December)

BILD-ing toward a more welcoming campus
The Berkeley Initiative for Leadership on Diversity reaches farther in year two
(11 December)

Neuroanatomist Jeffery Winer has died at 63
Neurobiologist Jeffery A. Winer, who mapped the network of nerves that allow the brain to represent and interpret sound, died Dec. 9 at the age of 63.
(11 December)

RFK Jr. vs. 'corporate plunder'
In his Mario Savio Lecture, Kennedy argues that America's 'environmental destiny' hinges on an energetic democracy and a responsible press
(11 December)

Nobelist George Smoot to direct Korean cosmology institute
Nobel Laureate George Smoot has been appointed director of a new cosmology institute in South Korea that will work closely with the year-old Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics to explore the origin and fate of the universe.
(10 December)

UC leaders call for new strategies for financing public higher education
Federal investment in the physical infrastructure of state-funded college campuses would stimulate the economy and contribute to long-term prosperity and well-being, UC President Mark Yudof told a meeting of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences on Dec. 2.
(05 December)

Where everybody knows your name
CAL Prep gets kids ready for Cal — and Cal ready for those kids
(03 December)

Initiative sets educational standards . . . the Berkeley way
Helping schools and departments think through what their undergrads should know
(03 December)

Economy tanking? Invest in higher ed
To dig out of recession, campus researcher advises, expand access to colleges and universities for tomorrow's 'human capital'
(03 December)

InternshipIN, nationwide job board, launched by three undergrads
Students hunting for internship opportunities and organizations seeking bargain-rate new talent are finding each other online, at a hook-up site launched by three Berkeley undergraduates. With audio.
(03 December)

Obituary
Jody Ann Bussell, who devoted her 18-year Berkeley career to helping library collections operations run smoothly, succumbed to cancer Nov. 9 at the age of 58, in her El Sobrante home.
(03 December)

Marriage improves after kids fly the coop, study suggests
So much for the empty nest blues. A UC Berkeley study that tracked the relationships of dozens of women has found evidence that marriages improve once the kids have flown the coop.
(03 December)

December graduates to attend convocation ceremony this Sunday
Nearly 3,000 students at UC Berkeley are graduating this fall, and several hundred of them will walk across the Zellerbach Auditorium stage in caps and gowns this Sunday, Dec. 7, at the 2008 December Graduates Convocation.
(02 December)

Broccoli compound targets key enzyme in late-stage cancer
Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables have long been known to have anti-cancer benefits, and UC Berkeley researchers have now found out why. The discovery of one target of a chemical found in broccoli will help to design better anti-cancer drugs and to target treatment to specific types of cancer, including late-stage breast and prostate cancers.
(02 December)

EEGs show brain differences between poor and rich kids
Children from well-off families have an inherent advantage over those from poor families, but new research shows an added plus. The brains of kids from low socioeconomic levels show decreased activity in the prefrontal cortex - which governs attention and deals with novel situations - compared to the brains of children from high socioeconomic levels.
(02 December)

MBA students partner with national lab scientists to commercialize clean tech
Bringing clean tech innovations into the market place faster is the purpose of a new partnership launched this fall between scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and students of the Berkeley Energy and Resources Collaborative, an interdisciplinary organization founded by MBA students at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business.
(01 December)

Two lawyers with cameras help reform Mexican 'justice'
While studying for their PhDs in public policy, lawyers Layda Negrete and Roberto Hernández made a film about one man's encounter with Mexico's deeply flawed criminal-justice system. Their new doc, "Presumed Guilty," debuted recently at the 21st International Documentary Film Festival, in Amsterdam, where audiences rated it among their 10 favorite entries.
(01 December)

NIST funds new high-precision, quantum measurement lab
UC Berkeley has received $11 million from the National Institute of Standards and Technology to build a state-of-the-art, high-precision measurement laboratory to study nanoscale and quantum phenomena.
(25 November)

Maurice Holt, expert in fluid dynamics, dies at 90
Maurice Holt, UC Berkeley professor emeritus of aeronautical sciences anda renowned scholar of and educator in computational fluid dynamics, died Nov. 7 at the age of 90.
(25 November)

Jupiter's rocky core bigger and icier, model predicts
When Jupiter formed 4.5 billion years ago, rocks and ice combined to form a rocky core 14-18 times the mass of the Earth, according to a new simulation by UC Berkeley geophysicist Burkhard Militzer. This is twice what previous models predicted.
(25 November)

Christina Romer named top U.S. economist
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama announced today (Monday, Nov. 24) his intention to nominate University of California, Berkeley, macroeconomist Christina D. Romer, an authority on monetary policy and business cycles, to chair the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
(24 November)

Flexibility trumps fitness in sexual reproduction, says a new theory in evolutionary biology
An intriguing new theory of evolutionary biology says the reason sexual reproduction may be so successful is that it promotes genes that work well in combination with many other genes. This idea of genetic mixability, described in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, hits on the difficulty evolutionary biologists have had in understanding sex, specifically its role in population genetics and natural selection.
(24 November)

Barack Obama names Christina Romer, economics professor and monetary policy expert, as top U.S. economist
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has announced his intention to nominate UC Berkeley macroeconomist Christina D. Romer, an authority on monetary policy and business cycles, to chair the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
(24 November)

Frederick Sherman, leading expert on high altitude gas dynamics, dies at 80
Frederick Sherman, UC Berkeley professor emeritus of mechanical engineering and an expert on the dynamics of high-speed airflow in the upper atmosphere, has died at the age of 80.
(21 November)

Guantánamo detainees confirm 'arbitrary and humiliating' treatment by U.S. guards
A new study based on extensive interviews with former detainees at the U.S.-run prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, confirms that the abuses they suffered there were not only "cruel, humiliating, and degrading" — in the words of the study's authors — but "clearly [rose] to the level of torture."
(20 November)

Big science and Berkeley's soul
As state funds shrivel, faculty reflect on how to avoid the potential pitfalls of campus's growing dependence on private research dollars
(20 November)

The 'five W's' go to multimedia boot camp
Film at 11? That's so Old School — try Flash at dawn, streaming video at noon, and enthusiastic local coverage around the clock. Berkeley's first-year journalism students aim to succeed where newspapers have failed
(20 November)

Evolution exhibit honoring F. Clark Howell debuts in VLSB
'Skeletal tableau' of human ancestors is designed to educate and inspire visitors
(20 November)

It's My Job
Alondra Blandon: Manager, Animal Discovery Room, Lawrence Hall of Science
(20 November)

Chemistry Nobelist to assume ICSU leadership
Professor Emeritus of Chemistry Yuan T. Lee has been elected as the future president of the International Council for Science (ICSU).
(20 November)

Laurels
Blue ribbons, gold stars, honorable mentions
(20 November)

News Corp.'s Peter Chernin to inaugurate English department's alumni conversations
Media executive Peter Chernin will be the guest speaker when the Department of English launches a new series of campus programs, "Conversations with Distinguished Alumni," on Monday, Dec. 1.
(20 November)

Coaching icon Pete Newell passes away
Pete Newell, one of basketball's most respected and beloved figures who led California to the 1959 NCAA championship, passed away Monday after a long illness. He was 93.
(17 November)

Awards for green, effective workplaces
Four workplaces in the United States that are both ecologically responsible and well-liked by users are recipients of the 2008 Livable Buildings Awards given by the University of California, Berkeley's Center for the Built Environment.
(14 November)

Final fall enrollment data shows increase in students
More than 35,400 undergraduate and graduate students are currently enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, a few hundred more students than were enrolled a year ago, according to figures released today (Thursday, Nov. 13).
(13 November)

Hubble snaps first optical photo of exoplanet
Astronomers long suspected that a planet lay hidden in the dusty disk of the star Fomalhaut, only 25 light years from Earth, and now UC Berkeley astronomer Paul Kalas has found it. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, he and his team have snapped the first visible-light photo of a planet around another star.
(13 November)

Vitamin C lowers levels of heart disease biomarker, finds study, adds to debate of health benefits
For people who have elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a predictor of heart disease, taking vitamin C supplements can help lower levels of the inflammation biomarker, according to a new UC Berkeley-led study. The new findings come just days after a major, eight-year clinical trial failed to show that vitamins C or E could cut the risk of heart attacks or strokes, but UC Berkeley researcher Gladys Block notes that the larger trial did not separate out individuals who had elevated baseline levels of CRP and who therefore may have benefitted from vitamin C supplements.
(12 November)

How the governor’s latest budget proposals affect UC and its employees
As Schwarzenegger’s proposals move to the Legislature for consideration, the outcome and impact are still uncertain
(12 November)

Popular spot-award program increases payout for performance
Hundreds of hardworking staff have earned hundreds of dollars apiece this way. For 2008-09, it’s worth even more
(12 November)

Obituary
John Fuller
(12 November)

Obituary
Janet Williams
(12 November)

New report details shattered lives of released Guantanamo detainees
Detainees released from U.S. detention in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Afghanistan live shattered lives as a result of U.S. policies in the war on terror, according to a new report by human rights experts at UC Berkeley.
(12 November)

How governor’s latest budget proposals affect UC and UC employees
As part of his midyear budget proposal, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this week recommended a further budget cut of $65.5 million for the University of California system in this fiscal year. But as his proposals move to the Legislature for consideration, the outcome and impact are still uncertain.
(07 November)

Applying to Berkeley?
Prospective students get insider tips on how to apply in a new video and, a "Cal-culator" helps estimate financial aid, and a new website makes it easier to compare UC Berkeley to other schools.
(07 November)

Staff climate survey launches next week
Feedback to Equity and Inclusion division will help shape future projects
(07 November)

Berkeley professors help with presidential transition
UC Berkeley professors Laura Tyson and Robert Reich have been named to President-elect Barack Obama's advisory board for economics, and Chris Edley, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, joins about a dozen people on an advisory board that will work with Obama's formal transition team.
(07 November)

UC Berkeley and Nokia turn mobile phones into traffic probes with launch of pilot traffic-monitoring software
Moments before midnight on Monday, Nov. 10, researchers from UC Berkeley and Nokia Research Center, Palo Alto, will publicly release pilot software that turns GPS-enabled cellular devices into mobile traffic probes providing real-time information on traffic flow and travel times.
(06 November)

WarnMe test a success
UC Berkeley successfully tested its new WarnMe individualized emergency warning system on Wednesday, sending a test alert to 2,308 randomly selected members of the campus community.
(05 November)

What’s in that stuff? Ask GoodGuide
Fretting over the hidden health, environmental, and social costs of the things you buy? Professor-cum-entrepreneur Dara O’Rourke felt a need, and filled it
(05 November)

Do babies matter in science?
A true measure of gender equity in academia would look at both the career and family outcomes of female Ph.D.s
(05 November)

Putting people before profits
The way this year’s Weinstock lecturer, Amory Lovins, crunches the numbers, the bottom line — for capitalists as much as for conservationists — depends on taking nature into account
(05 November)

A Bay Region master
The architecture of Joseph Esherick finally gets its due
(05 November)

The meetings are virtual, the savings are real
Campus’s videoconferencing service provides a cost-effective, greener way to bring people together
(05 November)

Obituary
Sharon Harvey
(05 November)

Restoring citizens' confidence in the vote
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, speaking at UC Berkeley Oct. 29, described a "top to bottom" review of county voting systems — along with other reforms, recent and future, to the state's election system.
(31 October)

UC Berkeley students weigh in on the 2008 election
Interest in the 'presidential election is running high at UC Berkeley, where more than 9,000 new voters registered this year. In the final days of the campaign, nine undergraduates share their views — on the issues, indecision, political disagreement, citizenship, making history, and more.
(31 October)

Research finds cross-race friendships can lower stress
Conventional wisdom holds that diversity pays off in higher education. Now researchers at UC Berkeley have found scientific evidence that multiculturalism can lower stress and improve students' experiences on college campuses.
(30 October)

In what ways is Obama ‘different’?
Twenty-five years after he first measured the so-called Bradley effect, Charles Henry weighs in on race, unity, and the perspicacity of Chris Rock
(29 October)

Six UC Berkeley faculty members among new Fulbright Scholars
Six UC Berkeley faculty members are headed overseas for teaching and research as part of this year's Fulbright Scholar Program, while another 21 foreign scholars are on campus to continue their research in Berkeley.
(29 October)

November is Open Enrollment month
UC steps in to shield employees from increasing costs; few changes will be made to healthcare plans
(29 October)

He who steals my artwork steals . . . what, exactly?
One side in this debate claims that appropriating visual imagery in the digital age is a legitimate artistic enterprise; the other insists it’s the illegal use of another’s intellectual property. It’s one question among many to be considered at a campus conference next week
(29 October)

Social sciences dean and American history scholar dies at 55
Gjerde, a leading historian on Scandinavian immigration to the Midwest and dean of social sciences at UC Berkeley died of a heart attack on Sunday, Oct. 26, at his home in Albany. He was 55.
(29 October)

"Well said!"
Quotes, statements, bon mots, and noteworthy utterances from the campus and beyond
(29 October)

Homeland insecurity
Storyteller and musician Laurie Anderson on art and technology
(29 October)

Experts to gather this week for UC Berkeley-UCLA symposium on mortgage meltdown
A timely symposium, "Mortgage Meltdown, the Economy and Public Policy," held jointly by UC Berkeley and UCLA will be held this Thursday and Friday, Oct. 30-31, at UC Berkeley's Alumni House. Among the featured speakers will be Federal Reserve Bank Chair Ben Bernanke (speaking via satellite)and San Francisco Federal Reserve President Janet Yellen, professor emeritus at the Haas School of Business.
(27 October)

Inland ants prefer salty snacks to sweet
Mammals are limited by the availability of salt, and now researchers have shown that ants are too. In experiments in North, Central and South America, ecologists from UC California, Oklahoma and Arkansas have shown that plant-eating and omnivorous ants living more than 60 miles inland are more interested in salt than sugar, with the preference greater the farther they live from the coast. Carnivorous ants show no such preference.
(27 October)

Chancellor asks campus to prepare for worsening budget picture
Facing a $5 million midyear budget cut, UC Berkeley announced this week that it will absorb the cut via central-campus deficit financing. But while this temporary solution spares units from the brunt of the state-mandated cut, Chancellor Birgeneau called on campus to curb spending now and brace for the future.
(23 October)

Chancellor Birgeneau informs campus of likely impacts of Proposition 8
UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau writes on the likely impacts on the campus of the passage of Proposition 8, a ballot initiative that would eliminate the right of same-sex couples to civil marriage in the State of California.
(22 October)

EBI named tech-transfer "Deal of Distinction"
UC Berkeley's landmark $500 million biofuels research partnership with energy giant BP, signed nearly a year ago, has been named a "Deal of Distinction" by the Licensing Executives Society, an organization of U.S. and Canadian technology transfer professionals.
(22 October)

Cracking the chronic-poverty code
Living in housing projects for nearly a decade, Berkeley ethnographer Martín Sánchez-Jankowski discovered a ‘subculture of scarcity’ that resists middle-class values but makes the lives of the poor richer
(22 October)

An online resource for resourceful voters
Polls, endorsements, analysis: Public Affairs’ election website pulls it all together
(22 October)

Did Earl Warren wink?
There are some parallels between the GOP’s 1948 vice-presidential candidate and this year’s ... but the differences are what’s striking
(22 October)

‘Moving forward against strong opposing forces’
Choreographer Sue Li Jue, who teaches at Berkeley, produces an evening of dance and live music
(22 October)

Counting kangaroo rats from space
Using a borrowed spy satellite to spot this species’ distinctive burrow entrances, researchers track their numbers in hopes of protecting biodiversity on the Carrizo Plain in south-central California
(22 October)

It's My Job
Ben Hubbard, Program manager, webcast.berkeley.edu, Educational Technology Services
(22 October)

Denser, more powerful computer chips possible with plasmonic lenses that "fly" above high-speed spinning disk
UC Berkeley engineers are reporting a new way of creating computer chips that could revitalize optical lithography, a patterning technique that dominates modern integrated circuits manufacturing. The researchers say this development could lead to ultra-high density disks that can hold 10 to 100 times more data than disks today.
(22 October)

Police arrest two suspects in Sept. 30 Clark Kerr Campus robbery
UC Berkeley police have arrested two UC Berkeley students on suspicion of armed robbery and attempted robbery in the Sept. 30 robbery of two students at the campus's Clark Kerr residential complex.
(21 October)

Geologist Walter Alvarez receives top earth sciences award
UC Berkeley geologist Walter Alvarez will receive the Vetlesen Prize, the nation's top award in earth sciences, for his discovery that a meteor wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
(20 October)

Noted statistician David Freedman has died at 70
David A. Freedman, a professor of statistics who fought for three decades to keep the United States census on a firm statistical foundation, died Friday, Oct. 17, of bone cancer at his home in Berkeley. He was 70.
(20 October)

Study links higher risk of adult obesity with extra cash from government program
Adults are not seeing the same benefits as children in a popular poverty-alleviation program that gives cash to impoverished families in exchange for participation in health-promoting activities, according to a new UC Berkeley study. The study found that the cash component of the program, launched by the Mexican government and modeled worldwide, is linked to a greater risk of obesity and higher blood pressure in adults.
(20 October)

This is your brain on adolescence
It's no secret that teens are moody, volatile and take more risks than adults. While some of this is the result of hormones, much has to do with how their brains are wired. Neuroscientists at UC Berkeley are trying to find the brain differences underlying teenage angst and, thanks to a recent grant from the MacArthur Foundation, change how the legal system treats minors.
(16 October)

UC holds the line on health costs for 2009
Most employees will pay less in premiums than in 2008, or only slightly more, thanks to the UC system’s infusion of cash support
(15 October)

Dozens of East Bay climate-change researchers to gather at I-House
Some 2,000 scientists contributed to the Nobel Peace Prize-winning IPCC report on global warming. Next week, the local contingent will be honored
(15 October)

What Haruki Murakami talks about when he talks about writing
Popular Japanese author is awarded the first Berkeley Japan Prize during campus visit
(15 October)

UC takes action to help protect employees against rising health insurance costs
A message from Vice Chancellor for Administration Nathan Brostrom spells out details on UC employee health insurance costs for 2009, including the news that a one-time $5.2 million contribution from the university will help offset premium increases and keep employee costs lower.
(09 October)

Greyhounds and bloodhounds
At a forum on the U.S. financial collapse, campus experts follow the trail to the roots of the crisis, hold their noses for a hard-to-swallow $700 billion bailout
(09 October)

Smashing the Berkeley myth
Participatory democracy, individualism, the good life — what could be more all-American?
(09 October)

Yosemite resurvey shows small mammals moving up in world
The first results of a resurvey of animal populations in Yosemite National Park show that small mammals have moved to higher elevations as a result of warming, some expanding their range upward, others moving upward and abandoning lower elevations entirely. Though biodiversity remains unchanged, the rapid rate of change sounds a cautionary note about global warming.
(09 October)

Advice for the next president: Talk frankly about the limits of U.S. power
The next president must talk frankly about the limits of U.S. power, not be engulfed by outdated ideas and the chattering class, and confront problems like climate, terrorism, and nuclear proliferation that require multilateral solutions, says Harry Kreisler, executive director of UC Berkeley's Institute of International Studies.
(08 October)

Senator Barbara Boxer praises UC Berkeley for its green energy research
Senator Barbara Boxer toured UC Berkeley's Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) on Monday, Oct. 6 and applauded the campus for taking a lead in green energy research as part of a wider effort to "free our country from foreign oil".
(07 October)

Homecoming 2008 slideshow
Thousands of UC Berkeley alumni, families, students, and friends gathered for Homecoming 2008, a celebration that included Parents Weekend as well as reunions of classes spanning 60 years.
(06 October)

Iconic Sather Gate to be restored to its former majesty
Starting this month, Sather Gate, UC Berkeley's famous Beaux Arts south portal will be gently dismantled, seismically fortified and restored to its former might and majesty. There are no plans to close down the nearly century-old gateway during the $1.5 million restoration project, and pedestrians and authorized vehicles will continue to pass through the area that separates Sproul Plaza from the central campus.
(06 October)

Asian Americans could play key role in presidential race, study shows
Among Asian American voters, many are supporting presidential candidate Barack Obama, but another sizable portion remains undecided - a development that could set the stage for Asian Americans to play a pivotal role in the outcome of the election, according to a new national survey released today (Monday, Oct. 6) by researchers from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; University of California, Berkeley; University of California, Riverside (UC Riverside); and University of Southern California.
(06 October)

Piano lesson for CED students
On the eve of the California Academy of Sciences' grand opening in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park last week, architect Renzo Piano sat down with students to discuss how green structures can be beautiful, how every building has a story, and how creating a structure, especially one as complex as the academy he designed, is even more complicated than it looks.
(02 October)

PACE studies offer recommendations for California schools
State leaders rely on inconsistent barometers of student progress, face a looming teacher shortage and wrestle with staggering and persistent achievement gaps - yet, these problems all can be addressed, at least in part, without infusions of new money, according to a comprehensive report released today (Thursday, Oct. 2) by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE).
(02 October)

Sharper Jupiter images from next-generation adaptive optics
Adaptive optics systems that remove the blur caused by atmospheric turbulence have revolutionized ground-based astronomy, providing images as sharp or better than those from the Hubble Space Telescope. A new system employing more than one reference star now allows use of adaptive optics over a larger field of view, producing the sharpest ever whole-planet picture of Jupiter.
(02 October)

Band on the run marks its 50th reunion
The Cal Band of ’58 was all over the map: from Berkeley to Brussels and back, with a quick detour to the Russian pavilion
(02 October)

Why is Wall Street in shambles?
Why is Wall Street in shambles?
(01 October)

Message to campus regarding robbery incident
In light of an early morning break-in and robbery at Clark Kerr Campus, campus police have increased the number and visibility of patrols on and near Clark Kerr and have made the investigation of the crime a top priority, Vice Chancellor Harry LeGrande told the campus community Wednesday.
(01 October)

Nuclear weapons: Countdown to zero?
Berkeley experts join George Shultz, others on Commonwealth Club panel to assess the mother of all security challenges
(01 October)

Karl Kasten keeps his hand in
The emeritus professor of art practice — a member of the famed Berkeley School — remains active and energetic. So does his art, now on display in a campus retrospective
(01 October)

UC Berkeley study tests impact of terrorism threats on presidential race
Presidential candidates who play up the threat of terrorism to bolster votes may want to rethink their game plan. New research from UC Berkeley suggests the war on terror has less impact on presidential popularity than it did during President Bush's first term.
(01 October)

Robert Tjian to head Howard Hughes Medical Institute
UC Berkeley molecular biologist Robert Tjian has been elected president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, one of the world's largest private funders of biomedical research.
(30 September)

Modern China is fractured and contradictory, says journalist
With more than a billion people of many ethnicities — whose most striking shared quality is an aversion to following rules — it's difficult to speak of one China, journalist James Fallows told an audience at UC Berkeley on Sept. 25.
(29 September)

Governor signs bill to protect academic researchers from harassment
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday (Sept. 28) signed the Researcher Protection Act of 2008, instituting new penalties for those who target the homes and families of academic researchers, in particular those who use animals in their research.
(29 September)

Vice presidential debate watch to take place Thursday
UC Berkeley students will gather at the Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) on Thursday, (Oct. 2) to watch the vice presidential candidates' debate. The IGS event is co-sponsored by two student groups: the Berkeley College Republicans and Cal Berkeley Democrats. It will take place 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the institute’s library, Room 109, Moses Hall. In addition, an experts panel discussion will occur 5 to 6 p.m.
(29 September)

Professor and landscape architect Robert Royston dies
Robert N. Royston, an American landscape architect with deep ties to the University of California, Berkeley, who was known for his designs that focused on space and human use of space in private gardens, zoos, planned communities, urban plazas and children's outdoor play areas, died in his sleep at his home in Mill Valley, Calif. on Friday (Sept. 19). He was 90.
(24 September)

Courts reporter supreme on the law and the press
In two campus appearances, former New York Times correspondent Linda Greenhouse looks back on three decades at the Court
(24 September)

Politics and Pipelines
If it’s relevant to California’s water history, past or present, it’s on the shelves of Berkeley’s Water Resources Center Archive
(24 September)

Student recalls daily life on an Iraq War ER unit
Cleavon Gilman, a UC Berkeley undergrad, dreamed of "action," possibly even killing a person, when he deployed to Iraq. He indeed saw blood, lots of it, during his tour of duty, though not on the terms he expected, he told a spellbound audience at UC Berkeley Sept. 19. The Cal transfer student spoke at a day-long teach-in on the Iraq war and lessons to be drawn from the Vietnam War era.
(22 September)

NIH gives New Innovator Award to bioengineer who studies cellular mechanics
Dr. Sanjay Kumar, assistant professor of bioengineering, is one of 31 recipients of the New Innovator Award, announced Sept. 22 by NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni. The award recognizes investigators who are in the early stages of their careers and who have not previously held regular research grants from the NIH.
(22 September)

UC Berkeley launches major multi-year campaign to raise $3 billion
UC Berkeley on Friday announced a landmark fundraising campaign to raise $3 billion to secure for future generations its status as the nation's preeminent public teaching and research university. Nearly $1.3 billion of the goal has already been raised through gifts and pledges.
(19 September)

Robert Briggs, director emeritus of UC Berkeley marching band, dies at 81
Robert Orlando Briggs, director emeritus of UC Berkeley's storied Cal Band and soft-spoken mentor to generations of marching band members, died at UC San Francisco Medical Center on Sept. 17 of complications from gall bladder surgery. He was 81.
(19 September)

Revisiting the human-rights horror in Cambodia
It’s taken this long to bring just five likely Khmer Rouge killers before a tribunal. Wouldn’t it be easier simply to ‘bury the past’ and move on? Sophal Ear isn’t sure
(18 September)

Charting China’s post-Mao history through its art
Berkeley Art Museum’s “Mahjong” takes visitors on a 40-year tour of Chinese creativity
(18 September)

Teach-in on the Iraq War to be held at UC Berkeley Sept. 19
Iraq War veteran Cleavon Gilman, who is a UC Berkeley undergrad, and pacifist Vietnam War vet Brian Willson will share a stage at a teach-in on the Iraq War to be held at UC Berkeley on Friday, Sept. 19, 2008. The vets will offer personal perspectives on two U.S. wars separated by four decades.
(18 September)

It's My Job: Karyn Houston

(17 September)

Paola Timiras, researcher on aging, dies at 85
Paola S. Timiras, a neuroendocrinologist and professor emerita who studied how the body ages and showed by example how to age while remaining vigorous in mind and body, died Sept. 12 of heart problems at the age of 85.
(17 September)

Bancroft exhibit focuses on SF Examiner Archive
"Twenty-five Years in Black & White," a slice of San Francisco Bay Area history from 1935 to 1960, just opened at UC Berkeley, with more than 100 photos from The Bancroft Library's Fang Family San Francisco Examiner Archive.
(15 September)

What we don't know about biofuels
How would the large-scale cultivation of biofuels affect food supply and food prices? What is their impact on soils, waterways, the air, and nearby food crops? Chris Somerville, director of the new Energy Biosciences Institute, discusses the web of scientific, technical, and social questions that EBI researchers have begun to probe in an attempt to "truly understand" the potential benefits and pitfalls of large-scale biofuel production.
(15 September)

Campus honors those it has lost

(12 September)

Events mark countdown to campaign kickoff
Largest-ever campus fundraising drive will be launched next week
(12 September)

None dare call them foodies
As an audience with an insatiable appetite for sustainability listened, an expert panel picked over the appetizing carcass of Slow Food Nation

(11 September)

A week of Constitutional conversation
Journalists, judges, politicos, and scholars share the spotlight as the campus observes Constitution Day
(11 September)

Laurels
Blue ribbons, gold stars, honorable mentions
(11 September)

1843 stellar eruption new type of star explosion
Eta Carinae, a bright, variable star in the southern sky that is the most luminous known star in the Milky Way Galaxy, underwent a major eruption 145 years ago that may be the first example of a new type of stellar explosion that is much fainter than a supernova and doesn't destroy the star.
(10 September)

Engineers create new gecko-like adhesive that shakes off dirt
UC Berkeley researchers have created the first gecko-like adhesive that cleans itself after each use without the need for water or chemicals. It's the latest milestone in the effort to create a synthetic version of the remarkable toe hairs that enable the acrobatic feats of the gecko lizard.
(10 September)

March 19 gamma-ray burst was first visible to naked eye
Some 7.5 billion years ago, a supernova heralding the birth of a black hole went off halfway across the universe, sending a pencil-beam flash of light toward Earth that was briefly visible to the naked eye on March 19.
(10 September)

Peacefully and without incident, tree-sitters end their protest
In a circus din of chainsaws, chants, choppers, and the drumbeats of recycling bins and water-cooler bottles, an audience of several hundred — from protest supporters to curious onlookers — witnessed the peaceful conclusion Tuesday to the 21-month-long tree-sit near the western wall of Memorial Stadium.
(09 September)

Michael Baxandall, noted art historian, dies at 74
Michael Baxandall, an acclaimed art historian, author and professor emeritus of art history at the University of California, Berkeley, died in London on Aug. 12. He was 74.
(09 September)

UC Berkeley hosts federal task force on sustainable energy
A panel of experts charged with advising the President and Congress on sustainable-energy research and development met at UC Berkeley Sept. 4 for a third and final roundtable discussion.
(05 September)

Researchers showcase automated bus that uses magnets to steer through city streets
UC Berkeley engineers took a 60-foot automated bus out for a spin along a one-mile stretch of roadway in San Leandro today (Sept. 5). The bus was steered not by a driver, but by a magnetic guidance system they developed. It is the first demonstration of the automated bus moving with regular city traffic on a public roadway.
(05 September)

EBI launches fall biofuels seminar series
The Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) has begun a new, biweekly seminar series this semester focusing on areas of importance within the biofuel field.
(03 September)

Obituary
Alice Reinau Taylor, a campus staff member from 1966 to 1995, died in Berkeley on June 20 at age 71, following a long illness.
(03 September)

Coming attractions at UC Berkeley for fall 2008: Power and politics at home and abroad
On the UC Berkeley campus, several events this fall will confront the constitutional questions raised by the current administration's expansion of presidential power in the name of the "war on terror," while others focus on the political, economic, and environmental challenges the next president will face.
(02 September)

Morrison Library revives Graphic Arts Loan program
UC Berkeley's Morrison Library is reviving a Graphic Arts Loan Collection program that 50 years ago began placing Picassos, Miros and the works of other renowned and emerging artists into the hands of students, faculty, and staff.
(28 August)

All that glitters
The Berkeleyan was honored by CASE this year, winning the national silver medal in the category Periodical Staff Writing for Internal Audiences.
(27 August)

Berkeley’s online calendar wins UC’s top technology award
Innovative portal, the product of a combined student/staff effort, puts hundreds of campus events at your fingertips
(27 August)

A preview of poetry and prose readings
For literature lovers, Lunch Poems and Story Hour deliver the goods
(27 August)

U.S. News again declares Berkeley the nation’s top public university
UC Berkeley retained its rating as the No. 1 public university in the country in the 2009 U.S. News & World Report rankings of colleges and universities released last Friday. In the magazine’s ranking of research universities overall, Berkeley again ranked 21st, behind 20 private universities.

(27 August)

Class of '08 grads share advice with incoming students
'Meets lots of people.' 'Don't procrastinate.' 'Volunteer.' 'It's OK if you get a B.' Fourteen recent graduates offer their words of wisdom on succeeding at UC Berkeley while staying sane.
(27 August)

To preserve, protect, defend, and hang out
Like the art of photography itself, presidential image-making has come a long way since the days of the first formal, daguerreotype portraits of William Henry Harrison. Nowhere is the form on better display than in “The American President,” a collection of black-and-white and color images of U.S. presidents, future presidents, and former presidents — along with the odd would-be president — taken by Associated Press photographers over the past century and a half.
(27 August)

Obituary
Elizabeth (Betsy) Badè Bacon, residence director of International House for 27 years, passed away peacefully in Berkeley on May 30, surrounded by her loving family.
(27 August)

Obituary
Raymond Kent, a professor emeritus of African history whose distinguished career at Berkeley spanned more than two decades, died on Aug. 13 of congestive heart failure at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Oakland. He was 79.
(27 August)

For the press, Birgeneau lays out his priorities
An emerging strategy for sidestepping the recurring impact of state's budget woes, along with Berkeley's unique new program for Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans and Cal athletes' medal heist at the Beijing Olympics, dominated the topics addressed by Chancellor Robert Birgeneau at his annual back-to-school press briefing on Monday.
(26 August)

Genome sequence deepens mystery of inconspicuous sea creature
The newly sequenced genome of an easily overlooked marine animal, a pancake of cells called a placozoan, is helping biologists unravel the origins of animals.
(26 August)

Q&A with Cheryl Resh, UC Berkeley financial aid director
A discussion of how student financial aid at UC Berkeley is being affected by the nation's economic woes and mortgage crisis, and a look at the impact of the recently reauthorized federal Higher Education Act.
(26 August)

New alerting and warning system launches today
A new campus alerting and warning service, called WarnMe, launched today (Aug. 25,2008) to proactively contact students, faculty and staff when there's a threat to campus safety.
(25 August)

UC Berkeley fall 2008 entering class statistical profile
More than 9,000 new students, including 4,300 freshmen, 2,000 community college transfer students and 2,800 graduate students, are expected to register for the fall 2008 semester. This year, 75 percent of new freshman hail from California public high schools, while 7.8 percent join the class from other countries.
(25 August)

Heading back to campus
Fall classes begin at UC Berkeley this Wednesday (Aug. 27) for more than 35,000 students. Semester highlights include a new program for students who are Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, a linguistics course on a never-before-studied African language, and the debut of a new alerting and warning system to help keep the campus community safe in an immediate crisis.
(25 August)

Cal freshman, an Obama youth leader, takes a seat at the Democratic National Convention
After spending more than a year as a lead strategist for Barack Obama's youth campaign, Molly Kawahata, 18, will get to vote in her first election this November. But before that event — and her first day at UC Berkeley — she's taking a detour to Denver, as a delegate representing California's 14th Congressional District.
(25 August)

Faculty election experts
On the eve of national conventions for the Democratic and Republican parties, University of California, Berkeley experts are available to national and major regional news outlets to offer analysis and historic perspective on a wide range of topics relating to the 2008 presidential race.
(22 August)

National magazines tout two chemists and two astronomers as top innovators in their fields
Four young UC Berkeley faculty members - a pair of married chemists and two astronomers - have been singled out by national magazines as up-and-coming scientists to watch. Two married assistant professors of chemistry – Michelle Chang and Chris Chang – were among 35 young researchers named this month by the magazine Technology Review as 2008's top young innovators under 35.
(22 August)

Students find roommates through profiling software
Neat freak or slob? Early riser or night owl? Social butterfly or hermit? Even the best of friends can feud over such differences when rooming in tight quarters. That's why hundreds of students moving into UC Berkeley residence halls this coming weekend (Aug. 23-24) have used profiling software - along the lines of eHarmony and Match.com - to track down compatible roommates.
(21 August)

News Briefs
Shorter items of interest to the campus community.
(20 August)

Building an energy 'cathedral'
It’s easy to see why Clem Fortman, a postdoc in the lab of synthetic-biology guru (and Berkeley chemical-engineering professor) Jay Keasling, wanted to open the gates of higher education to promising students who might otherwise never get a foot in the door. A self-described “GED guy,” the impressively tattooed Fortman was kicked out of high school at 17, served a stint in the army, and “goofed off for a number of years” before finally enrolling at the University of Minnesota at the age of 28. Having earned his Ph.D. there in 2006, he’s now on the cutting edge of scientific discovery, working to find a way to turn nonfood substances into cheap, green, domestically produced energy.
(20 August)

From the Bronx to Berkeley
Back in the South Bronx, Alexander Lambie and Lorraine Avila are used to being standouts. For one thing, they study at Bronx Academy of Letters, a public high school where writing is the focus and college is the goal. For another, they’re just plain smart. And funny, independent-minded, and articulate. But six weeks at Berkeley this summer, taking university-level philosophy and psychology courses through a new program funded by a philanthropically minded Cal alumnus, taught these about-to-be-seniors an unexpected lesson.
(20 August)

New studies assess impacts of "No Child" reforms
Teachers across the nation are redoubling efforts to lift children's achievement but report declining morale under stiff accountability policies and state-mandated curricula, according to seven new studies published today (Wednesday, Aug. 20) by UC Berkeley scholars and associates.
(20 August)

State Senate committee passes bill to protect researchers engaged in animal research
Following testimony Thursday by two University of California officials about the ongoing harassment of researchers by animal rights extremists, the state Senate Public Safety Committee passed a revised bill to criminalize such activity.
(14 August)

The second-class workers behind China's urban construction boom
Behind the rapid modernization of China, powerfully symbolized by the architectural wonders of the Beijing Olympics, are millions of migrant construction laborers from rural villages, working for low wages and outside the protection of Chinese labor laws.
(14 August)

Q&A: Professor M. Steve Fish comments on Russian-Georgian conflict
With tensions still mounting in the continuing violent conflict between Russia and Georgia, UC Berkeley political science professor M. Steven Fish fields questions about the prospects for peace in the region and impact on the conflict of U.S. presidential politics.
(13 August)

New book distills essential physics for next president
Physicist Richard A. Muller has transformed his popular course, "Physics for Future Presidents," into a popular book of the same name, providing a tutorial in the physics of nuclear weapons, nuclear power, terrorism and global warming essential for anyone aspiring to the Oval Office.
(13 August)

Neil Bartlett, emeritus professor of chemistry, dies at 75
Neil Bartlett, professor emeritus and a pioneering chemist, died Tuesday, Aug. 5. He was best known for his critical experiment in 1962 demonstrating that xenon, a member of the family of noble gases, could form compounds.
(12 August)

Dying frogs sign of a biodiversity crisis
Devastating declines of amphibian species around the world are a sign of a biodiversity disaster larger than just frogs, salamanders and their ilk, according to researchers from the University of California, Berkeley. The researchers argue that substantial die-offs of amphibians and other plant and animal species add up to a new mass extinction facing the planet.
(12 August)

Invisibility shields one step closer with new metamaterials that bend light backwards
UC Berkeley scientists have for the first time engineered 3-D materials that can reverse the natural direction of visible and near-infrared light, a development that could help form the basis for higher resolution optical imaging, nanocircuits for high-powered computers, and, to the delight of science-fiction and fantasy buffs, cloaking devices that could render objects invisible to the human eye.
(11 August)

Message from Chancellor Birgeneau: Researchers must be free from threats and violence by animal rights terrorists
UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau has denounced the ongoing campaign by animal rights terrorists who seek to intimidate, threaten and, with the fire bombings of a home and automobile at UC Santa Cruz, to harm University of California academic researchers and their families.
(07 August)

Recipients announced for Chancellor's Community Partnership Awards
The Chancellor's Community Partnership Awards for 2008-2009 are being given to 18 projects that either will physically improve the city of Berkeley's physical environment or improve the economic, social and cultural well-being of its residents.
(06 August)

Jupiter and Saturn full of liquid metal helium
A strange, metal brew lies buried deep within Jupiter and Saturn, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and in London.
(06 August)

Screening for diabetes in an emergency setting
In the U.S. about 5.7 million people are unaware that they have diabetes. In an ambitious clinical study at Highland Hospital, a UC student is testing the ER's potential to help address one of the "big" diseases of the developed world and its epidemic proportions among the poor.
(31 July)

New technique to compress light could open doors for optical communications
Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have devised a way to squeeze light into tighter spaces than ever thought possible, potentially opening doors to new technology in the fields of optical communications, miniature lasers and optical computers.
(30 July)

University virologist named Keck Distinguished Young Scholar
Britt Glaunsinger, a University of California, Berkeley, virologist and an assistant professor in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, has won a W. M. Keck Foundation grant, an award given to innovative young scientists in the area of biomedical research.
(29 July)

Vice Chancellor for Research Beth Burnside to retire as of October 31, 2008
Professor Beth Burnside who has served as Vice Chancellor for Research since January 1, 2001 will be retiring and leaving office as of October 31, 2008.
(29 July)

THEMIS mission identifies power behind northern lights
The northern and southern lights are fueled by energy from the sun, as solar wind particles make their way through the Earth's magnetic shield to the poles. The THEMIS mission managed by UC Berkeley has now identified the trigger event that dumps the sun's energy into the Earth's auroras and makes them flash and shimmer.
(24 July)

Girls' and boys' math performance now equal
Despite perceptions by many parents and teachers, there is no difference in math performance between girls and boys. A new study by UC Berkeley's Marcia Linn and University of Wisconsin colleagues shows that in both elementary and high school, girls and boys do equally well on math assessment tests.
(24 July)

Economists' new research shows positive effects of minimum-wage increases
As legislators in various states and Barack Obama propose minimum-wage increases, researchers at UC Berkeley's Institute for Research on Labor and Employment have found that such increases, contrary to some arguments, have positive effects on the employment of the lowest-paid workers.
(23 July)

An emphasis on staff diversity
Two entities with an interest in promoting diversity among University of California staff will be conducting public sessions on the topic beginning this week.
(21 July)

Outdoor enthusiasts scaring off native carnivores in parks
Even a quiet stroll in the park can dramatically change natural ecosystems, according to a new study by conservation biologists from the University of California, Berkeley. These findings could have important implications for land management policies.
(21 July)

Beware the superstar CEO, says economist
The seemingly charmed life of a superstar CEO can be a double-edged sword - added power and prestige for the chief executive officer, but often bad news for his or her company and shareholders, according to a new study co-authored by a University of California, Berkeley, economist.
(18 July)

Summer shines on a bumper crop of new deans
Seven new deans are taking the reins of leadership in time for the start of the fall semester in August — five of them permanently, and two on an interim basis.
(17 July)

A champion of equity and fairness
For the past 20 years Carmen McKines has served Berkeley in positions requiring an ambassador’s diplomacy, a referee’s fairness, and a psychotherapist’s discretion. She retired last month as ombuds for students and postdoctoral appointees and received the Berkeley Citation, a fitting capstone to her 40-year UC career, at her retirement party on June 26.
(17 July)

News Briefs
Shorter items of interest to the campus community.
(17 July)

Strike continues at UC campuses, picketers rally at system headquarters
On the third day of their strike over wages, more than 300 union service and patient care workers and their sympathizers rallied Wednesday outside the University of California headquarters in downtown Oakland.
(16 July)

Professor explores social behavior and business misdeeds
Corporate misconduct can be the stuff of high drama. But prevailing theory has it that "settling up," the process of meting out consequences for corporate misdeeds, is largely determined by quite rational, unbiased financial markets and often the legal system.
(16 July)

Strike at UC campuses enters second day
Hundreds of picketers returned to University of California campuses Tuesday for the second day of a strike over wages and benefits for union service and patient care workers.
(15 July)

Strike under way at UC campuses
Union service workers at the University of California's 10 campuses began a planned five-day strike Monday, despite a San Francisco judge's restraining order prohibiting them from walking off the job without giving adequate notice.
(14 July)

New light shed on how intracellular pathogens trigger the immune system
Disease-causing microbes like the food-borne bacterium Listeria monocytogenes specialize in invading and replicating inside their animal hosts' own cells, making them particularly tricky to defeat. But a new study led by UC Berkeley biologists has identified a molecular alarm system in which the intracellular pathogen sends out signals that kick the immune response into gear.
(14 July)

Court issues restraining order against planned AFSCME strike
A Superior Court judge in San Francisco issued a restraining order Friday prohibiting the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees' announced strike at University of California facilities throughout the state scheduled for July 14-18. AFSCME represents UC patient care and service employees, and the university has been in separate negotiations with the union for new contracts for both employee groups since last year.
(11 July)

Poet Alfred Arteaga, professor of Chicano and ethnic studies, dies at 58
Alfred Arteaga, a UC Berkeley professor of Chicano and ethnic studies, a pioneer in post-colonial and ethnic minority literature studies and an important early Chicano movement poet, has died at age 58.
(11 July)

Genes could solve pollution mysteries
Scientists have for the first time identified environmental pollutants using a genomic approach. This new gene-based technique could lead to better and faster lab tests for pinpointing pollutants in contaminated ecosystems.
(10 July)

Open clusters like Orion have low fertility rate
A detailed survey of stars in the Orion Nebula has found that fewer than 10 percent have enough surrounding dust to make Jupiter-sized planets. The study, one of the first using the new CARMA radio array, was conducted by astronomers at UC Berkeley, Caltech and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
(07 July)

Nature reserves attract humans, but at a cost to biodiversity, says study
Countering a perception that establishing nature reserves in developing nations drives away local communities, a new UC Berkeley study finds that human settlements are actually drawn to protected areas in Africa and Latin America. Unfortunately, the researchers also found a link between high rates of human population growth and illegal harvesting of timber, bushmeat hunting and species extinction.
(03 July)

First images of solar system's invisible frontier
NASA's STEREO spacecraft unexpectedly detected particles from the edge of the solar system last year, allowing UC Berkeley scientists to map for the first time the energized particles in the region where the hot solar wind slams into the cold interstellar medium.
(02 July)

Parasite vaccines within reach
Even though parasites are complex creatures, the mammalian immune response to them is surprisingly simple. This finding by UC Berkeley researchers provides hope that creating vaccines for parasitic diseases such as malaria may be more straightforward than initially thought
(02 July)

Clay Felker, legendary editor and founder of UC Berkeley's Felker Magazine Center, dies
Clay Felker, an innovative editor known for his pathbreaking work in American magazines and the namesake of the Felker Magazine Center at the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, died today (Tuesday, July 1) at the age of 82.
(01 July)

Odora in odiferous bloom at Botanical Garden
The UC Botanical Garden is celebrating a noxious smell permeating its Tropical House, thanks to the blooming of Odora the Titan arum, also known not so fondly as the corpse flower.
(30 June)

Genetic study reshuffles bird family tree
The family relationships among the world's 9,600 bird species have been thrown into question by a genetic comparison of bird DNA. According to UC Berkeley ornithologist Rauri Bowie, the study sheds a whole new light on birds' long evolutionary road from the dinosaurs.
(30 June)

Harry Le Grande named vice chancellor for student affairs
After a nationwide search, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau today (Thursday, June 26) named Harry Le Grande to the permanent post of vice chancellor for student affairs. Le Grande, who has worked at UC Berkeley for 27 years, has been serving as the campus's interim vice chancellor for student affairs since January 2007.
(26 June)

Mars air once had moisture, new soil analysis says
A new analysis of Martian soil data led by UC Berkeley geoscientists suggests that there was once enough water in the planet's atmosphere for a light drizzle or dew to hit the ground, leaving tell-tale signs of its interaction with the planet's surface. The study's conclusion breaks from the more dominant view that the liquid water that once existed during the red planet's infancy came mainly in the form of upwelling groundwater.
(25 June)

Climate change could severely impact California's endemic plants
California's endemic plants — those found no where else in the world — could disappear from their natural ranges as a result of global warming and associated changes in rainfall, according to a new study by UC Berkeley and Duke University researchers.
(24 June)

Tom Lantos archive donated to The Bancroft Library
The papers of the late Tom Lantos of California, a leading champion of human rights and the only Holocaust survivor to serve in the U.S. Congress, are now part of the University of California, Berkeley's Bancroft Library. The materials reflect how Lantos's lifelong dedication to human justice sprung from his remarkable early experience: the loss of his family to the Holocaust, his escape from a forced labor camp in his native Hungary during World War II; and his participation as a youth in the Nazi resistance.
(24 June)

Bringing 'tools of the west' to sub-Saharan healthcare
"Compassion" and "computer networking" rarely appear in the same sentence. But they coexist easily for grad student Melissa Ho, whose networking innovations in developing nations have brought her the "Foundations of Change" Thomas I. Yamashita Award.
(24 June)

Confused about the stadium ruling? What it says and what remains to be resolved
The NewsCenter revisits last week's ruling on construction of the Student-Athlete High Performance Center — in which UC Berkeley prevailed in nearly every legal challenge — and details the few remaining questions expected to be resolved by the court in the coming days.
(23 June)

Campus rolls out red carpet for veterans
With a new GI bill set to double college benefits for post-9/11 veterans, UC Berkeley, is taking up the charge to make the state's higher education system more welcoming to those returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. A new campus program offers veterans customized outreach and orientation programs, guidance with financial aid and a new class that addresses their concerns.
(23 June)

Joseph Frisch professor of mechanical engineering and pioneer in computer-aided design, dies at 87
Joseph Frisch, a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of mechanical engineering, who was known as a pioneer in computer-aided design, died June 15 at his home in Berkeley after a prolonged illness. He was 87.
(20 June)

Richard Karp, renowned computer theorist, wins 2008 Kyoto Prize
Richard Karp, a professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, has been named a laureate of the 2008 Kyoto Prize, Japan's equivalent of the Nobel Prize, in recognition of his lifetime achievements in the field of computer theory.
(20 June)

Beijing or bust
Dozens of top Cal athletes hope to compete in the Summer 2008 Olympics. Some have already qualified for the Beijing Games; others are competing in trials between now and mid July.
(19 June)

Trouble viewing the new UC Berkeley home page?
Following the launch of UC Berkeley's new home page this week, some users have encountered problems displaying the page. These problems can nearly always be resolved by simply clearing the web browser's cache and reloading the page.
(19 June)

Campus officials declare 'a major victory for our students' in judge's ruling on student-athlete center
UC Berkeley officials said Wednesday night that the campus has prevailed on virtually every challenge raised in a lawsuit that sought to halt construction of the university's planned Student-Athlete High Performance Center adjacent to its historic California Memorial Stadium.
(18 June)

Judge's ruling on student-athlete center is 'a major victory for our students'
UC Berkeley officials said Wednesday night (June 18) that the campus had prevailed on virtually every legal challenge in a trio of lawsuits that sought to halt construction of the planned Student-Athlete High Performance Center.
(18 June)

Lancelet genome shows how genes quadrupled during vertebrate evolution
The ancestor of all chordates, a group that includes humans and other vertebrates, probably looked like a sand-dwelling invertebrate called the lancelet or amphioxus. Its newly sequenced genome confirms that, and shows how vertebrates evolved over the past 550 million years -- through a four-fold duplication of the genes of our primitive ancestors.
(18 June)

Biologist Gunther Stent has died at 84
Gunther S. Stent, a refugee from Nazi Germany who helped lay the foundations for the field of molecular biology and then moved into the study of neurobiology and consciousness, died June 12 of pneumonia at the age of 84.
(17 June)

Campus begins removing gear from tree-sitters' site outside Memorial Stadium
In anticipation of an imminent court ruling on the construction of a new facility for student athletes at UC Berkeley, the university began early Tuesday morning to cut cables and remove tree-sitters' gear and unoccupied structures just below Memorial Stadium, where protesters have been occupying a grove of oak trees for 18 months.
(17 June)

Chancellor Birgeneau honored with 2008 Academic Leadership Award from the Carnegie Corporation
Honoring what it called two higher education "visionaries" and "champions of excellence and equity in education," the Carnegie Corporation announced it has awarded UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau and Syracuse University Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor its 2008 Academic Leadership Award.
(17 June)

Old muscle gets new pep in UC Berkeley stem cell study
When UC Berkeley bioengineers tweaked how adult stem cells reacted to biochemical signals regulating cell division, they gave muscle in old mice a shot of youthful vigor. The research sets the path for research on new treatments for age-related degenerative conditions, including muscle atrophy and Alzheimer's disease.
(16 June)

International investment banker Frank Yeary joins UC Berkeley as new vice chancellor
Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau has appointed leading international finance banker and UC Berkeley alumnus Frank D. Yeary as a new vice chancellor. Yeary, who resigns as global head of mergers and acquisitions for Citigroup, will report directly to Birgeneau and will advise the chancellor, the executive vice chancellor and provost, and their senior staff on strategic planning and financial issues important to the campus.
(16 June)

New UC Berkeley gateway website debuts
After an eight-year run, UC Berkeley's current main website was replaced by a newly redesigned gateway site that debuted Saturday, June 14. The new site is the fourth distinct version of www.berkeley.edu since its debut in 1995.
(14 June)

An alliance for green prosperity?
On a visit to Berkeley and LBNL this week, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet emphasized the value of collaboration between her nation and the state of California as she sought solutions to one of Chile's most pressing challenge: how to provide its own energy.
(13 June)

CITRIS co-sponsors Copenhagen climate and energy conference as lead-in to 2009 UN meeting
On Thursday, June 19, some 250 of the world's leading climate and energy researchers, industry representatives and government leaders will convene in Denmark for an international research summit co-sponsored by the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) at UC Berkeley in partnership with the Copenhagen Climate Council. The conference, organized at the request of the Danish government, aims to identify the critical research and development achievements necessary for a successful transition to a low carbon economy.
(13 June)

After the storm in Burma
Human Rights Center Director Eric Stover, who makes a career of flying into the teeth of tragedy, arrived in Burma — by coincidence — the day after Cyclone Nargis struck last month. During his two weeks in the country, he saw not only the impacts of the deadly cyclone itself, but the ways in which 45 years of military rule are exacerbating the crisis.
(12 June)

From Sacramento, good news, bad news for Berkeley budget
Gov. Schwarzenegger's May budget revision restored $100 million for the UC system, but it still falls $240 million short of what regents wanted — and the Berkeley campus is certain to feel the pinch. In a Q&A, Vice Chancellor Nathan Brostrom discusses the likely impacts of cuts from the state and what's being done at Berkeley to cope with reduced funding.
(11 June)

Astrophysicist Reinhard Genzel wins million-dollar Shaw Prize
Astrophysicist Reinhard Genzel, a UC Berkeley professor of physics and director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany, has been awarded the 2008 Shaw Prize in Astronomy for proving the existence of a black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The third UC Berkeley scientist to win the astronomy prize, Genzel will receive a cool million dollars.
(10 June)

Chilean president to talk about new Chilean-California pact
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet will speak at the University of California, Berkeley, this Thursday (June 12) at 5 p.m. on the challenges facing her country and the impacts of a new agreement between Chile and the state of California.
(09 June)

Javan mud volcano triggered by drilling, not quake
On May 29, 2006, a mud volcano erupted in East Java that to date has inundated five towns and displaced 30,000 people. It shows no signs of stopping. A new study confirms earlier suggestions that the eruption was triggered, not by a distant earthquake two days before, but by oil drilling.
(09 June)

Berkeley researchers go global to document endangered languages
As the "Breath of Life" conference on California Indian language revitalization gets underway on June 8 on campus, UC Berkeley faculty and student linguists are fanning out around the globe to research and document other often endangered languages.
(06 June)

Breath of Life for California's native languages
At a time when only about half of California's 90-plus indigenous languages have living speakers, a language conference being held this month at the University of California, Berkeley, may help tribal members become the first to speak their endangered tribal languages in 50 years.
(06 June)

Union protest pre-empts chancellor's annual meeting with staff
Chancellor Robert Birgeneau's annual question-and-answer session with staff ended before it had a chance to begin Thursday, when union members seeking his support for raises for the lowest-paid campus employees took over the meeting
(06 June)

Stepping down, but staying the course
Caroline Kane is retiring after a quarter-century of biochemical research and full-bore activism on behalf of student diversity.
(04 June)

PG&E incentives lead to significant savings
Energy conservation on campus profits from partnership with utility.
(04 June)

Where Were You in ‘68?
Faculty and staff memories conjure a tumultuous decade’s most eventful year.
(04 June)

‘An inch of time should be highly prized’
Good graduation pictures, in capturing joy and a sense of accomplishment, resemble one another closely. Good graduation speeches, if carefully written and skillfully delivered, strike their own singular chords. Herewith examples of both, from the Berkeley commencement season just concluded.
(04 June)

Charles Henry receives Chancellor’s Award
Charles Henry, professor of African American Studies, has received the Chancellor’s Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence for outstanding contributions in research, teaching, and public service that promote diversity and equal opportunity.
(04 June)

Obituary
Don Rogers, who provided significant research support in Cory Hall from 1967-85, died May 19 from complications of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).
(04 June)

News Briefs
Shorter items of interest to the campus community.
(04 June)

Ancient Nemea to host 2008 Olympic-like summer games
Just as the Summer Olympics get underway in Beijing on June 21, an ancient athletic stadium at a UC Berkeley archaeological site in Greece that was home to the original Panhellenic Games will once again come alive with competition in the 2008 edition of the Nemean Games.
(04 June)

Students win $180,000 to tackle world's problems
Among the 50 student projects that received a total of $179,000 in the third "Bears Breaking Boundaries" competition this year are proposals to help new mothers in Nigeria and orphans in Nepal, and to encourage bike sharing and energy efficiency in Berkeley.
(03 June)

Personal genomes may lead to personalized vitamin supplements
As the cost of DNA sequencing drops, it may become common for people to have their complete genomes sequenced. Personal genomes will not only tell people about their genetic susceptibility to cancer and heart disease, but also will tell them which vitamins can improve their health. Some day, we all may take personalized vitamin supplements.
(02 June)

Mathematician Murray Protter has died at 90
Murray Protter, a former chair of the mathematics department whose calculus textbook sold more than a million copies in the 1960s and '70s, died May 1 at his home in Berkeley of congestive heart failure. He was 90.
(02 June)

Low-cost EUV satellite shut down
A $14.5 million satellite launched just five years ago by NASA to study the sun's local environment has outlived its usefulness - and its funding -- and was shut down in April by its UC Berkeley operators.
(02 June)

'My fellow graduates'
At UC Berkeley graduation ceremonies in May, outstanding new graduates were among those who spoke from the podium. Hear an audio sampling from six of their addresses.
(29 May)

Geographer David Hooson dies at age 82
David Hooson, a professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, and a scholar of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, national identities and the history of geographic ideas, died on May 16 at the age of 82.
(29 May)

Grad student leaves a 'Jeopardy' record in her wake
Larissa Kelly, a fourth-year Ph.D. student at UC Berkeley, lost game #7 of her 'Jeopardy' career on the May 28 show — but not before taking more than $220,000 in winnings, a record for female contestants.
(29 May)

Cal team preps for AIDS/Life Cycle, June 1-7
A 25-member Cal team is gearing up for the 2008 AIDS/LifeCycle, which kicks off Sunday, June 1 in San Francisco. Students and staff on the team will send updates, in an online journal, as they pedal their way to Los Angeles.
(29 May)

Berkeley grad student wins big on 'Jeopardy'
By the end of her sixth evening on "Jeopardy!", May 27, Larissa Kelly, a UC Berkeley history Ph.D. candidate, had racked up more than $200,000 in winnings. Her seventh game airs Wednesday night.
(28 May)

5 new HHMI investigators to be announced May 27
Five UC Berkeley faculty members have received one of the most sought-after honors in biomedical research: appointment as Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigators with guaranteed research support for five, 10 or more years into the future.
(27 May)

Historian Stovall named L&S undergraduate dean
The Undergraduate Division of the College of Letters and Science will have a new dean beginning July 1 with the appointment of Tyler Stovall, a respected history professor who has made modern France, race, labor, and class issues his specialties.
(22 May)

Job outlook for graduates sunnier than expected
As the season of caps, gowns and "Pomp and Circumstance" winds down this week at the UC Berkeley, many new graduates are uneasy about their job prospects, given reports of an economic slowdown. But career counselors and analysts on campus say they have seen no sign of employers putting the brakes on recruitment efforts.
(22 May)

Rapid escalation characterizes virus/host arms race
In the constant warfare between viruses and their hosts, escalation can be rapid. Looking closely at a small community of microbes collected from acid mine drainage, UC Berkeley researchers have found not only a sophisticated microbial immune system but a simple but effective counterstrategy adopted by viruses.
(22 May)

New Hubble, Keck images show turbulent Jupiter
The first images of Jupiter since it came out from behind the sun show that the turbulence and storms that have plagued the planet for the past two years continue. Whether or not this is a sign of global warming on the planet, the turbulence does seem to be spawning new spots.
(22 May)

Q&A: Raj Patel talks about the food crisis
A visiting scholar at UC Berkeley's Center for African Studies, Raj Patel shares insights on the global food crisis. Patel authored the newly released book "Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System."
(21 May)

X-ray outburst leads to all-out study of supernova
NASA's Swift satellite caught the rare birth of a supernova earlier this year, allowing astronomers to rapidly deploy ground-based telescopes to follow its evolution and learn about normal stellar explosions. UC Berkeley astronomers have analyzed the data to conclude that the original star was more than 30 times the mass of the sun, but only slightly larger, when its core ran out of fuel and imploded, blowing the star to smithereens.
(21 May)

Take a sneak peak at the new UC Berkeley Gateway site
A newly redesigned UC Berkeley campus "gateway" website will soon replace the current main site, and users are invited to take the new site out for a spin in its beta-test phase at http://homepage.berkeley.edu.
(20 May)

Graduating senior may have fallen to his death Saturday
Campus officials learned Saturday (May 17) that a 22-year-old UC Berkeley student died from what police say may have been a fall from the third-story roof of his apartment building in the 2600 block of Durant Street. Berkeley Police are continuing to investigate with the assistance of the University of California Police Department until a definitive cause of death can be determined.
(18 May)

Point of view: Campus opinions on same-sex marriage
Following the State Supreme Court's May 15 affirmation of same-sex marriage rights, members of the UC Berkeley campus community offer their reactions.
(16 May)

Police chief's retirement and rehire 'meticulously' followed UC policies, Brostrom tells panel
Vice Chancellor Nathan Brostrom, seeking to clarify facts and correct what he said was misinformation related to the retirement and rehiring of UC Berkeley Police Chief Victoria Harrison, told members of the state Senate Budget Subcommittee on Education last week that "Chief Harrison did not receive any special treatment in either her retirement package or in her compensation at rehire." Rehiring her on a contract to provide continuity during a time of especially challenging public safety demands was in the best interest of the campus, he said
(15 May)

Grads urged to take a global view, make global change
The Class of 2008, gathered under sunny skies to celebrate the end of their beginning and the beginning of their new lives, left commencement ceremonies at the Greek Theatre on Tuesday with a clear message ringing in their ears: "Go out and change the world."
(14 May)

A message to the UC Berkeley community from Chancellor Robert Birgeneau
In a message regarding the fatal shooting that took place near campus yesterday, Chancellor Birgeneau expresses UC Berkeley's commitment to working with the city of Berkeley to abate street crime, and outlines immediate actions the campus has taken.
(14 May)

Journalism student wins Lange Fellowship for "California's Main Street"
After several months of weekends photographing life along Highway 99 in the state's Central Valley, Adithya Sambamurthy said he realized he was barely scratching the surface of what travelers during the Depression-era exodus to the West called "California's Main Street." Now that he has won the 2008 Dorothea Lange Fellowship, the 28-year-old student pursuing master's degrees at the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism as well as in international and area studies, will take next year to finish his photographic expedition along the blacktop road that stretches from Bakersfield to Redding.
(13 May)

University Medal finalists find inspiration and life lessons at Berkeley
This year, five students — Matthew Johnson, Julia Malkina, Samuel Pittman, Anitha Sivasankaran, and Angelica Zen — were finalists for the University Medal. While they were finishing their semesters and anticipating commencement, they agreed to submit to a questionnaire to give the campus a look at what makes them tick.
(12 May)

On sexual and gender diversity
A statement of principle from Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau.
(08 May)

New campus-wide alliance for global health launches May 14
From projects to prevent mothers from dying during childbirth to the development of low-cost treatments and diagnostics for drug-resistant tuberculosis, UC Berkeley is bringing together global health research from across the campus in an ambitious interdisciplinary initiative to be officially launched on Wednesday, May 14.
(08 May)

Games aside, the real Olympic challenge is engaging with China
As activists excoriate the nation's rulers over human-rights issues, a campus symposium makes the case for a less confrontational attitude toward Beijing.
(08 May)

Berkeley Citations awarded to Cummins, SPH’s Spear
Two longtime Berkeley luminaries — a scholar whose work has had a significant impact on public health from California to China, and a senior administrator who has played a pivotal role in crisis management as the top aide to four different chancellors — have been awarded the Berkeley Citation for their “distinguished achievement and notable service to the university” over careers here that together represent nearly three-quarters of a century.
(08 May)

More focus needed for effective HIV prevention strategies in Africa, says new policy paper
A new policy analysis led by public health researchers at UC Berkeley and Harvard University says that the most common HIV prevention strategies - including condom use, HIV testing, vaccine research and abstinence - are not backed by rigorous studies and are having limited impact on the epidemic in Africa. More resources are needed for two less popular interventions - male circumcision and reduction of sexual partners - that have been proven effective in Africa, the researchers argue.
(08 May)

News Briefs
Shorter items of interest to the campus community.
(08 May)

Craigslist founder to give commencement speech
Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist, the hip and ubiquitous classified advertising Web site, says he'll be winging his keynote speech to graduating seniors at UC Berkeley's Commencement Convocation next Tuesday, May 13. But overall, Newmark says he will urge students to change the world using the tools of the Internet, and to follow these simple business do's and don'ts: "Never read a prepared speech unless you're really good at it; for a genuine perspective on corporate life, read Dilbert; and brevity is the soul of wit."
(08 May)

Top graduating senior an infectious disease detective
If there were an award for the world's most timid child, Leslie Chung-Lei Sheu would have won it as a youngster for her deep discomfort with the unknown. Today, after myriad challenges, the plucky, gregarious UC Berkeley senior is the winner of a much more fitting prize. Sheu's dogged scientific curiosity, academic success and empathy for the downtrodden have earned her the University Medal, the campus's top honor for a graduating senior.
(08 May)

Technology, biotech ventures tie for first in Business Plan Competition
New search technology provider Implicit Interfaces and biotech venture Titan Medical tied for first place at the 10th annual UC Berkeley Business Plan Competition at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business.
(07 May)

Egyptologist Cathleen Keller dies at age 62
Cathleen "Candy" Keller, an associate professor of Egyptology in the University of California, Berkeley's Department of Near Eastern Studies, died of pancreatic cancer on April 18 at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek. She was 62.
(07 May)

CIRM awards $20 million for stem cell research facilities
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine has awarded $20.18 million to UC Berkeley to build centralized stem cell laboratories in a new research building, the Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences, now under construction.
(07 May)

CIRM awards $20 million for stem cell research facilities
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine has awarded $20.18 million to UC Berkeley to build centralized stem cell laboratories in a new research building, the Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences, now under construction.
(07 May)

New study analyzes why endangered parrot population isn't recovering
A new study led by a UC Berkeley biologist sheds light on the factors influencing the stalled growth of the severely endangered Puerto Rican parrot, and in turn, provides an analytical tool that could help pinpoint the biggest factors hindering the recovery of other endangered species.
(06 May)

A message to the UC Berkeley community from Chancellor Robert Birgeneau
In a message regarding the tragic slaying of Cal senior Christopher Wootton, Chancellor Birgeneau extends condolences to the engineering student's family, and urges members of the campus community to seek assistance and support if needed in this time of stress.
(03 May)

Two professors elected to American Philosophical Society
Professors Francesca Rochberg and Randy Schekman are new members of the American Philosophical Society, the nation's oldest learned society. Three UC Berkeley alumni also are among the society's 38 new members.
(02 May)

Glowing sugars light up zebrafish
Using artificial sugar and some clever chemistry, UC Berkeley researchers have made glow-in-the-dark zebrafish whose internal light comes from the sugar coating on their cells. The technique is a new tool for researchers, and will lead to a better understanding of the role of cell-surface sugars in health and disease.
(02 May)

$2 million for sustainability projects designed by students and faculty
Twenty-three projects aimed at helping people live more sustainably have been granted a total of $2 million through a new program at the University of California, Berkeley, that is funded by the Dow Chemical Co. Foundation.
(01 May)

John Cummins puts controversy behind him
After 36 years at Berkeley — including two tumultuous decades in a job that often put him in the eye of the hurricane, from political protests to hostage crises and acts of God — the "utility infielder" for four different chancellors calls it a day.
(30 April)

Quok Shee on Angel Island
Of all 200,000 immigrants held in the detention barracks on Angel Island, in San Francisco Bay, none spent longer than 20-year-old Quok Shee, a new arrival from Hong Kong in the days of the Chinese Exclusion Act. In his new book Immigration at the Golden Gate, Institute for Business and Economic Research administrator Robert Barde tells her story as part of a broader look at the West Coast's immigration system then, a narrative that resonates today. Far from being the "Ellis Island of the West," welcoming newcomers from afar, Barde says, Angel Island existed to keep them out.
(30 April)

For a beloved maestro, a very grand finale
Cal Performances’ 2008-09 season will be an extended sendoff for its longtime director, Robert Cole, featuring a wealth of celebrated performers, promising emerging artists, and newly created works in 10 series: Classical and Modern Dance, Theater, Recital, Opera, Chamber Music and Orchestra, Music Before 1850, World Stage, Jazz, 20th-Century Music and Beyond, and Strictly Speaking.
(30 April)

A new leader named for university communications
Claire Holmes, a senior Bay Area executive in national media and public relations, joins the Berkeley campus on Thursday, May 1, as its associate vice chancellor for university communications. She will serve as the lead communications adviser to the chancellor, vice chancellors, and deans of schools and colleges and will lead a team of professionals working in media relations, Web and campus communications, design, visitor and parent services, executive communications, and strategic communications.
(30 April)

Laurels
Recent faculty and staff honors and awards.
(30 April)

News Briefs
Shorter items of interest to the campus community.
(30 April)

Engineers harness cell phone technology for use in medical imaging
With an innovative concept developed by UC Berkeley engineers, the ubiquitous cell phone could one day be used to make medical imaging accessible to billions of people around the world. Using off-the-shelf components, the researchers demonstrated the feasibility of using a mobile phone to transmit raw data from a medical scan to a central server for processing, and then receiving the final image for display on its screen.
(29 April)

High environmental certification for Haste Street Center
Officials will gather today (Tuesday, April 29) to celebrate the University of California, Berkeley's first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-silver certified building - the Haste Street Child Development Center - which also is the state's first freestanding LEED-silver certified child care center.
(29 April)

Three faculty members elected to National Academy of Sciences
Three faculty members of the University of California, Berkeley, are among 72 new members and 18 foreign associates elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), one of the nation's most prestigious societies of scholars engaged in science and engineering research.
(29 April)

MySpace to hip hop: A view into the world of 'digital youth'
From Facebook friends to anime fan subbers, Harry Potter podcasters to online communities of teenage bulimics, kids are using Web 2.0 tools to reinvent themselves and the world. In the first public report on a nationwide study of networked youth, Berkeley researchers bring news from beyond the generational divide.
(28 April)

Five faculty elected to American Academy of Arts & Sciences
Five UC Berkeley faculty members are among 212 scholars, scientists, artists, civic, corporate and philanthropic leaders elected April 28 to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, bringing the campus's total membership in AAAS to 227.
(28 April)

Understanding Underhill
A five-block stretch south of campus has been transformed since 2001 by the Underhill Area Projects, an ambitious — and controversial — effort to address such longstanding university needs as student housing, dining and parking facilities, and office space. Its ultimate success awaits the judgment of history, architectural and otherwise. But if you're looking for an overview of Underhill, it's all right here.
(24 April)

Refining the date of dinosaur extinction
Thanks to a recalibration of the argon-argon dating technique, geochronologists at UC Berkeley and the Berkeley Geochronology Center have established a more precise date for the dinosaur die-off at the end of the Cretaceous period: 65.95 million years ago, give or take 40,000 years.
(24 April)

Clean energy plans dominate 2008 Global Social Venture Competition
A plan to make clean energy affordable around the world to poor, rural households without access to electricity won the grand prize of the 2008 Global Social Venture Competition at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business.
(23 April)

Bottom line on the Berkeley budget
When the Legislature approves a state budget later this year, the UC system is likely to be hit with a shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars. Nathan Brostrom, Berkeley's vice chancellor for Administration, explains what the campus is doing to limit the damage, both in the short term and far into the future.

(23 April)

News Briefs
Shorter items of interest to the campus community.
(23 April)

Campus's Sustainability Summit turns five
In a half-day meeting, more than 500 participants take stock of progress and challenges, small and large, in the student-fueled movement to green the UC Berkeley campus
(22 April)

A snapshot of student reading habits over two decades
What do UC Berkeley students read? From Why do Men Have Nipples? to the novels of J.K. Rowling and Jane Austen, three large surveys of freshman reading habits, each conducted a decade apart, identify ephemeral — and enduring — undergraduate reading choices.
(21 April)

Low cortisol levels found in kids whose mothers show signs of depression
A new study of young children living in extreme poverty found that those whose mothers showed symptoms of depression had low levels of cortisol, a hormone activated during times of stress, compared with children whose mothers did not exhibit depressive symptoms.
(21 April)

Point of view: Seniors on what's ahead
Thirteen UC Berkeley seniors, most of them set to graduate in mid May, share their post-graduation plans — and the final hurdles they face before commencement.
(18 April)

Energy expert Alex Farrell has died
Alex Farrell, an associate professor in the Energy and Resources Group who worked closely with state government over the past year to chart a course to reduce California's carbon emissions, died earlier this week at his home in San Francisco. He was 46.
(17 April)

Panel to explore U.S. universities' role in global development
The role that U.S. universities play in global development will be addressed in a panel discussion on Thursday, April 17, as part of the official launch of UC Berkeley's new Center for Evaluation for Global Action (CEGA).
(16 April)

Distinguished Teaching Award 2008 winners
Four professors in the arts and humanities, social sciences and environmental design are recipients of this year's Distinguished Teaching Award at UC Berkeley.
(16 April)

Chancellor, student leaders sign new plan for multicultural center
UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau and student leaders today (Wednesday, April 16) signed an agreement that is expected to improve the look and operation of the campus's multicultural center.
(16 April)

This year’s Sustainability Summit definitely has an agenda
Reflecting the growing importance of sustainability on campus, Berkeley’s fifth annual summit on the issue is expanding to a half-day, with workshops on everything from greening your own life to the energy frontier far beyond fossil fuels.
(16 April)

Bush under fire, friendly and otherwise
A Pulitzer-winning historian, a Washington bureau chief, a neoconservative pundit, and the chief strategist for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign gathered on campus last week to assess the Bush presidency. History, it seems, hath no fury like a brain-truster scorned.
(16 April)

Sights, sounds, and stories from around the world
Springtime signals the arrival of the San Francisco International Film Festival, which has served up a banquet of global film for 51 years. Among the festival’s venues is the campus’s Pacific Film Archive, whose senior film curator, Susan Oxtoby, personally chooses the works that will screen there — 36 of the festival’s 100-plus invited films this year.
(16 April)

News Briefs
Shorter items of interest to the campus community.
(16 April)

Sudden Oak Death pathogen is evolving, says new study that reconstructs the epidemic
A new UC Berkeley-led study finds that the pathogen responsible for Sudden Oak Death, a disease that has felled millions of oaks and tanoaks along the Pacific Coast, is evolving, suggesting that movement of infected plants between different quarantined regions should be minimized. The study also revealed that the pathogen got its first toehold in California's forests outside a nursery in Santa Cruz and at Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County.
(16 April)

More clues to midlife dementia that erases personality
UC Berkeley and UCSF researchers are uncovering more clues to a mystifying dementia that robs its victims of empathy, emotion regulation and social competence and leads to an early death. This is the first in-depth study of emotional processing in patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), a neurogenerative disorder that often surfaces in middle age. Researchers from UC Berkeley and UCSF's Memory and Aging Center say FTLD is easy to overlook because it goes after the parts of the brain that control emotions while sparing functions such as memory, calculation and navigation.
(15 April)

Campus releases freshman admission data
Campus officials today (Monday, April 14) announced that they have offered admission to 12,616 high school students for the 2008-2009 school year, following an exceptionally competitive admissions cycle propelled by a marked increase in applications.
(14 April)

The Torture Memos and Academic Freedom
In an open letter, Christopher Edley, Jr., dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, discusses law professor John Yoo's "torture memos" for the Bush administration in the context of Yoo's employment at UC Berkeley and academic freedom.
(11 April)

Unprecedented conservation map maximizes species protection on biodiversity hot spot
An international team of researchers led by UC Berkeley biologists has developed a remarkable new roadmap for finding and protecting the best remaining holdouts for thousands of rare species that live only in Madagascar, an island nation considered one of the world's jewels of biodiversity. The new plan not only includes lemurs – those large-eyed, tree-hopping primates that have become poster children for conservation – but also species of ants, butterflies, frogs, geckos and plants.
(10 April)

Student viewpoints on China, the Olympics, and the protests
Six UC Berkeley undergraduates share their thoughts on China's hosting of the 2008 Summer Games and the protests accompanying the journey of the Olympic torch to Beijing.
(10 April)

Honoring those who keep the place running
35 campus staffers, many of whom perform essential work far outside the limelight, were singled out as COSA winners in an April 3 ceremony at International House.
(09 April)

A chronicle of Berkeley: Nut Hill, chained suffragettes, and all
The town and the campus are joined at the historical hip, says Berkeley City College prof Charles Wollenberg.
(09 April)

Fruit and flowers honor a teacher who ‘knows her stuff’
This year’s student-initiated Golden Apple Award for Outstanding Teaching goes to Ananya Roy.
(09 April)

A snapshot of diversity, Berkeley-style
In a two-day photo session, hundreds of staff, faculty, and students line up to say ‘cheese’ . . . . and ‘thank you.’
(09 April)

Shades of gray . . . with a touch of black-and-blue
In her first novel, English lecturer Melanie Abrams takes a literary yet erotic approach to dominant/submissive sex.
(09 April)

Latest U.S. News graduate rankings spotlight Berkeley’s breadth
U.S. News & World Report last week published new rankings of American graduate programs in professional fields and other areas of study, with the assessments continuing to show Berkeley’s academic excellence across a broad range of disciplines.
(09 April)

News Briefs
Shorter items of interest to the campus community.
(09 April)

Medieval history professor, devoted to students, dead at 79
Gerard Caspary, a UC Berkeley, professor emeritus of medieval history known for his powerful intellect and his exceptional devotion to his students, died at his home in Berkeley this weekend. He was 79.
(09 April)

English Professor Robert Hass wins Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Robert Hass, an award-winning University of California, Berkeley, professor of English and former U.S. poet laureate, has won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his latest book, “Time and Materials.”
(09 April)

Six professors win prestigious Guggenheim fellowships
Six UC Berkeley faculty members, all from the College of Letters & Science, have won prestigious Guggenheim fellowships. They are among 190 artists, scientists and scholars across the nation who were awarded the 2008 fellowships this week.
(08 April)

Robert Hass wins Pulitzer Prize for poetry
Robert Hass, an award-winning UC Berkeley professor of English and former U.S. poet laureate, has won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for poetry for his latest book, "Time and Materials."
(07 April)

Conference on California climate change politics, prospects
Changing Climates: Class, Culture, and Politics in the Era of Global Warming," an April 11-13 conference, will explore the challenges, conflicts and politics of climate change in California.
(03 April)

Scandinavian language smorgasbord
Want to learn how to say "I love Cal Day" in Swedish? How about in Norwegian, Danish or Finnish? On Cal Day in Room 33 of Dwinelle Hall, the Scandinavian Department will offer free, 30-minute lessons starting at 11 a.m. that essentially offer highlights of the first day of UC Berkeley classes in beginning Finnish, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian.
(03 April)

"Math girl" makes music
A wide variety of music will echo across campus on Cal Day, but Nicole Campbell's got a niche all her own. The long-haired, acoustic guitar-strumming, third-year UC Berkeley student will be in Room 1015 of Evans Hall performing songs she wrote about math and science.
(03 April)

Birgeneau testifies before U.S. Senate panel examining greenhouse gas emissions
UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau outlined for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Thursday the efforts underway on campus to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and discussed research initiatives that have made Berkeley a leading center on energy research and education.
(03 April)

Regents pick University of Texas chancellor to lead UC system
The Board of Regents voted unanimously last week to appoint Mark Yudof, current head of the University of Texas system and a recognized leader in American higher education, the 19th president of the University of California.
(02 April)

Meet the (flesh-eating) beetles — performing one day only
That would be Cal Day, naturally, a multi-species extravaganza of science, art, awesomeness, and just plain fun for the whole Cal family.

(02 April)

Dr. Robert Mishell, professor emeritus of immunology, dies at age 73
Dr. Robert Mishell, a professor emeritus of immunology who discovered the first method of developing antibody-producing cells in vitro, died March 6 at age 73.
(02 April)

Cal Day annual open house
Cal Day, UC Berkeley's annual open house, offers visitors the chance to become a UC Berkeley student for the day on Saturday, April 12.
(02 April)

Opening up, or dumbing down?
Web 2.0 ‘creates an environment where anyone can say anything.’ That’s either the beginning of wisdom, the end of civilization as we know it, or something in between.
(02 April)

All keyed up: 25 students vie for an 80-year-old Steinway
Generosity and serendipity both play a part in the first Berkeley Piano Competition.
(02 April)

It's My Job
In this semi-regular feature, the Berkeleyan showcases a staff member whose work is essential to the smooth functioning of the campus (or one of its many departments and units).
(02 April)

Literary scholar Annabel Patterson to deliver Tanner Lectures
Annabel Patterson, Sterling Professor Emerita of English at Yale and a distinguished literary scholar, will present the Tanner Lectures on Human Values on April 8 and 9. On April 10 she will take part in a seminar discussion with commentators from three academic disciplines.
(02 April)

Laurels
Honors, awards, and other faculty and staff achievements of note.
(02 April)

News Briefs
Shorter items of interest to the campus community.
(02 April)

Free Photo Booth "school portraits" will capture Cal's diversity
Members of the campus community can show and tell what UC Berkeley means to them with the April 3-4 visit of portrait photographer Christopher Irion's Photo Booth at Dwinelle Plaza. These free "school portraits" aim to capture the diversity of Cal in images and words for an upcoming community "billboard," due to be unveiled in the fall.
(01 April)

New study finds glamorization of drugs in rap music jumped dramatically over two decades
A new study finds that references to illegal drug use in rap music jumped sixfold in the two decades since 1979, the year when rap made its way from inner-city urban areas to a mainstream audience. Moreover, illegal drug use became increasingly linked during this time period to wealth, glamour and social standing, raising red flags about its potential influence on young listeners, said Denise Herd, UC Berkeley associate professor and author of the study.
(01 April)

Octopus lovemaking more sophisticated than previously assumed
For decades, scientists have considered octopuses to be unromantic loners. But new research from UC Berkeley has found that at least one species of octopus engages in such sophisticated lovemaking tactics as flirting, passionate handholding and keeping rivals at arms’ length.
(31 March)

Growth hormone also guides brain wiring
A human hormone known to stimulate the growth of cells throughout the body has a new role - helping to set up the proper nerve connections in the odor center of the brain, according to UC Berkeley neuroscientist John Ngai.
(26 March)

Students' plans for spring break
From catching up on sleep to motorcycle lessons and desert-wildflower gazing, 13 UC Berkeley undergraduates share what they're planning for spring break.
(21 March)

Greek houses, co-ops gain access to emergency supply caches, disaster training
UC Berkeley students and campus and city officials have launched a first-in-the-nation student disaster-preparedness program, under which the more than 2,500 Berkeley students who live in fraternities, sororities and cooperative housing will receive six caches of emergency supplies as well as training to help them respond to major earthquakes or other natural catastrophes.
(20 March)

Folate intake linked to genetic abnormalities in sperm, says new study
It may not be just women who need extra folate in their diets to reduce the risk of birth defects. A new study by researchers at UC Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory puts the spotlight on the other sex, finding that healthy men who report lower levels of the nutrient folate in their diets have higher rates of genetic abnormalities in their sperm.
(19 March)

A new honor for indefatigable former faculty
The first Dickson Emeriti Professorship recognizes the ongoing work of Joseph Duggan.
(19 March)

Raising the profile of immigration studies
"Human history has always been about migration," says sociologist Irene Bloemraad, "but with ever-increasing globalization, the 21st century will be a century of people on the move." Over the past five years, she has worked to raise the profile of immigration studies at UC Berkeley, where a remarkable two thirds of students are foreign born or have at least one foreign-born parent.
(19 March)

Understanding the Middle East, or not
On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, a retired commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East shared this year's Nimitz lectures with the former head of the CIA's bin Laden desk. But where Gen. John Abizaid said we're on the right track in the "war on terror," Michael Scheuer said we've got it all wrong.

(19 March)

Anniversary of a rebellion
An exhibit of photos by Serge Hambourg at the Berkeley Art Museum captures the spirit of the 1968 Paris student revolt that nearly brought down the government of Charles De Gaulle. It's complemented at the Pacific Film Archive by "The Clash of '68," a series of films based on the theme of rebellion that infused the '60s generally.
(19 March)

Fun and enlightenment for 35,000 will be the order of the day
Cal Day, the campus’s annual open house, is April 12.
(19 March)

Daniel Boyarin will deliver Faculty Research Lecture
His April 1 talk on Plato and the Talmud is the second of two lectures in the 2008 series.

(19 March)

New Briefs
Shorter items of interest to the campus community.
(19 March)

UC Regents review preliminary conceptual design for new BAM/PFA
The University of California Regents Committee on Grounds and Buildings today (Tuesday, March 18) got its first peek at Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects' preliminary conceptual design for a new Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) near the main western entrance to the UC Berkeley campus.
(18 March)

Mathematician, puzzle lover David Gale has died
David Gale, a puzzle lover and professor emeritus of mathematics who made fundamental contributions to economics and game theory, died March 7 at the age of 86.
(18 March)

Intel and Microsoft launch parallel computing research center at UC Berkeley
Microsoft and Intel announced Tuesday, March 18, the creation of two Universal Parallel Computing Research Centers, the first at UC Berkeley and another at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The two centers comprise what is considered the nation's first joint industry and university research alliance of this magnitude that is focused on mainstream parallel computing.
(18 March)

Gecko's tail key to preventing falls, aerial maneuvers
While recent research has focused on the gecko's unusual toes as the key to climbing walls and hanging from ceilings, UC Berkeley biologists have found that its tail plays a critical role in preventing it from falling when it slips and maneuvering to solid surfaces when it does fall.
(17 March)

Art student portrays fallen U.S. troops as Iraq War approaches five-year mark
For graduate student Emily Prince, who's been drawing portraits of U.S. troop fatalities for more than three years, the Iraq War's fifth anniversary is a deeply felt milestone.
(17 March)

C.V. Starr East Asian Library to open March 17
The University of California, Berkeley's new C.V. Starr East Asian Library - the first freestanding structure at a United States university erected solely for East Asian collections - will open its stately bronze doors to the public on Monday, March 17.
(14 March)

New oak woodland reserve near San Jose
The new Blue Oak Ranch Reserve, a 3,260-acre oak woodland just east of San Jose, will provide a research site for UC scientists and an educational outpost for local college and K-12 students.
(13 March)

Better uses for campus trees
UC Berkeley planning analyst Steven Finacom was strolling across campus on Tuesday, camera in hand, when he came across an impromptu bit of landscape art.
(12 March)

UC Berkeley and Stanford University launch joint stem cell research
Two leaders in biomedical research – UC-Berkeley and the Stanford School of Medicine – will join forces in a new stem cell initiative that will catalyze research and serve as a magnet for scholars from around the world. The Siebel Stem Cell Institute, established by the Thomas and Stacey Siebel Foundation, is a joint initiative between the Berkeley Stem Cell Center and the Stanford Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine Institute.
(12 March)

A peer-to-peer-support resource is born
The Disability Staff Resource Network aims to empower employees seeking workplace accommodations.
(12 March)

Human trafficking steps from the shadows
Forum on modern-day slavery focuses on its victims, and on the belief of many in the United States — and in California — that it can't happen here.
(12 March)

Chemist to deliver year’s first Faculty Research Lecture
Each year, two Berkeley faculty distinguished for their scholarly research are nominated by their peers
in the Academic Senate to deliver a Faculty Research Lecture during the spring. The 95th annual Faculty Research Lectures will be delivered this year by Jean M. J. Fréchet, the Henry Rapoport Professor of Organic Chemistry and a faculty member in chemical engineering, and Daniel Boyarin, the Hermann P. and Sophia Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture in the departments of Near Eastern Studies and Rhetoric.
(12 March)

Accrediting commission notes UC compensation and governance reforms
Following a report of a special-visit team, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) has issued a letter to the University of California validating the university’s reforms in compensation and governance matters and urging continued progress in these areas.
(12 March)

School of Public Health to honor its ‘heroes’ in annual ceremony
On April 2, the School of Public Health (SPH) will honor three individuals and one organization at its 12th annual Public Health Heroes Awards ceremony, to be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.
(12 March)

Laurels
Honors, awards, and other faculty and staff achievements of note.
(12 March)

News Briefs
Shorter items of interest to the campus community.
(12 March)

New analysis finds alarming increase in expected growth of China CO2 emissions
The growth in China's carbon dioxide emissions is far outpacing the previously expected trajectory for the country, making the goal of stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gases even more difficult, according to a new analysis by economists at UC Berkeley and UC San Diego.
(10 March)

John H. Freeman, business professor and entrepreneurship pioneer, dies
John H. Freeman, a leader in the field of entrepreneurship and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business, died of an apparent heart attack at his home in Lafayette, Calif., on Monday (March 3). He was 63.
(07 March)

Extra cash from government program linked to better child development, new study says
Children in impoverished families that received an extra amount of cold, hard cash from a government support program were taller, less likely to be overweight, and scored higher on cognitive, motor and language tests, compared with kids in families that received less money, says a new UC Berkeley-led study.
(06 March)

Prime-time torture gets a reality check
Among the many fans of Fox TV's 24 are U.S. Supreme Court justices and the head of Homeland Security. But the program Newsweek called "a neocon sex fantasy" also has its devotees in the U.S. military, where, according to some critics, it's viewed less as fantasy than as a training manual.
(05 March)

All in the job family
Beginning this week, the campus’s Career Compass project moves into its next phase, with supervisors reviewing the job descriptions of their non-represented employees and then “mapping” them into the new job structure created through the multi-year project.
(05 March)

UC to offer admission to all eligible undergraduates for 2008-09
The University of California will continue to offer admission in fall 2008 to all undergraduate applicants who meet its eligibility requirements, despite the fact that the governor’s budget proposes to cut state funding for the university in 2008-09, UC officials announced last week.
(05 March)

News Briefs
Shorter items of interest to the campus community.
(05 March)

Cal student fashions then and now
Editors of BARE magazine scope out student fashion 'statements' on Sproul Plaza and comment on the trends.
(04 March)

Campus and new Saudi university announce partnership
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and the University of California, Berkeley, today (Tuesday, March 4) announced their partnership in the Academic Excellence Alliance (AEA), designed to establish joint research, collaborate in the design of the academic curriculum, and identify and nominate the founding faculty in mechanical engineering for the new University. KAUST is a new international, graduate-level research university opening in Saudi Arabia in 2009.
(04 March)

A century of Cal student fashion to be displayed
Battered hats and dirt-encrusted brown corduroy pants might scream 1990s grunge. But these shabby fashion statements were all the rage at UC Berkeley in the late 1890s and early 1900s. "The more disgusting they were, the higher status they held," said William Benemann, curator of a new campus exhibit "From Plugs to Bling: A Century of Cal Student Fashion."
(03 March)

Bancroft Library archiving works of pioneering artist Gus Arriola
The "Gordo" comic strips, which beginning in 1941 introduced millions of people in the United States to life south of the border, is part of the rich archive of cartoonist Gus Arriola's work now residing at the University of California, Berkeley's Bancroft Library.
(29 February)

Carbon calculator provides personalized footprint
Anyone concerned about global warming will want to check out UC Berkeley's new carbon calculator to see how their lifestyle contributes to their personal carbon footprint, and to find ways to reduce their greenhouse gases emissions.
(28 February)

EBI director's talk on demystifying cellulosic biofuels can been seen on YouTube
In a talk that can be seen on YouTube, Chris Somerville, the director of the new Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), discussed why cellulosic biofuels can have major environmental and economic advantages over today's corn-based ethanol.
(28 February)

More public health professionals needed to avert crisis, warns new report
UC Berkeley's School of Public Health was part of a first-of-its-kind assessment warning of a major public health workforce crisis in the U.S. unless there is an immediate influx of funding for recruitment and training of public health professionals. The report, released Feb. 27 by the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH), found that more than 250,000 additional public health workers are needed by 2020.
(27 February)

Keeping the fruits of knowledge within reach
With subscription costs for traditional academic journals on the rise, the newly launched Berkeley Research Impact Initiative offers subsidies to campus scholars wishing to take the open-access publishing route, and hope for a new model of sustainability.
(27 February)

Small "helper" stars needed for massive star formation
Massive stars form rarely, but have a large influence on a galaxy like the Milky Way. They seed galaxies with most of their heavy elements, for example. A UC Berkeley astrophysicist looking into the formation of massive stars finds that stars the size of the sun must form first to set the stage for formation of a single, huge star perhaps 100 times the mass of the sun.
(27 February)

The Promise of Berkeley
A colorful, thrice-yearly magazine, The Promise of Berkeley is sent to more than 100,000 alumni and friends of UC Berkeley to keep them in touch with campus research and personalities. The most recent issue focuses on the commitment to public service that is a fundamental Berkeley value for students and faculty alike.
(27 February)

Bigfoot casts a philosophical shadow
To some eyewitness observers, giant Sasquatch footprints at the Hearst Museum of Anthropology — alleged to be those of a creature named Cripplefoot — represent a small step out of the dense woods of ridicule and into the bright light of philosophy, romance, and "vigilante science."
(27 February)

Faculty Nightstand
For this edition of Faculty Nightstand, Vicky Kahn, of the department of English and comparative literature, describes a novel by a modern writer whose works are likely to become part of the literary canon: South African novelist J.M. Coetzee, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003.
(27 February)

It's My Job
In this feature, the Berkeleyan showcases a staff member whose work is essential to the smooth functioning of the campus (or one of its many departments and units).
(27 February)

PACE reports says state's schools holding steady or improving
A new report from Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) says California's public school students lag behind much of the nation in most areas, but have managed to hold steady or improve across subjects and grade levels, with graduation rates also eking upward in era of lagging resources, a growing population and increasing diversity.
(27 February)

News Briefs
Shorter items of interest to the campus community.
(27 February)

Strong community networks linked to fewer recurring heart problems, new study finds
A new UC Berkeley-led study shows that low-income patients with existing heart problems are significantly less likely to have another heart attack or a recurrence of chest pain if they live in a county with higher measures of trust, cooperation and social networks – something researchers call "social capital."
(26 February)

New digital projects teach English in India, monitor air pollution
An online mystery game in which student sleuths will monitor air pollution in South Central Los Angeles and in Cairo, Egypt, and a project using cell phones to teach English to children in India have won funding for two University of California, Berkeley, professors.
(25 February)

The commander-in-chief and the courts
The winner of the 2008 presidential election will potentially shape the future composition of the U.S. Supreme Court. This aspect of the presidential contest, infrequently discussed in media coverage of the primaries, took center stage Feb. 21 at the UC Berkeley School of Law, where a group of legal experts discussed "The Next President and the Courts."
(25 February)

New Asia business center to bolster UC Berkeley's offerings in Asia
The University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business is launching a new center focused on significantly increasing the school's leadership training for Asian business managers and on expanding its research collaborations with Asian universities, Dean Tom Campbell announced today (Tuesday, Feb. 19).
(20 February)

Shooting emergencies: UC police are trained to respond; learn what you should do
In the wake of recent campus tragedies, universities across the country have reassessed and are stepping up their preparedness to respond to a campus shooting or other critical emergency. At UC Berkeley, the UC Police Department is trained for such emergencies, and offers online tips for the campus community on how to respond if a shooting should occur.
(20 February)

Study finds cloudy outlook for solar panels
Despite increasing popular support for solar photovoltaic panels in the United States, their costs far outweigh the benefits, according to a new analysis by Severin Borenstein, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business and director of the UC Energy Institute.
(20 February)

Top UC administrator coming to Berkeley as associate chancellor
Linda Morris Williams, who rose through the ranks to become associate president of the UC system and chief policy adviser to President Robert Dynes, will soon join the Berkeley campus as Associate Chancellor – Government, Community, and Campus Liaison. Williams will take over a number of responsibilities from John Cummins, associate chancellor and chief of staff for the Chancellor’s Immediate Office, who is retiring in June after 36 years on campus.
(20 February)

Ang Lee’s films to be focus of ‘On the Same Page’ program
Freshmen and transfer students entering the College of Letters and Science next fall will be asked to watch two of celebrated film director Ang Lee’s productions— Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Ice Storm — as part of L&S's signature program, "On the Same Page." Lee and his longtime collaborator and screenwriter, Berkeley alumnus James Schamus, will be the program’s featured speakers and will visit the campus in October.
(20 February)

2008 UC summer programs for children
Our annual guide to great programs for kids.

(19 February)

Chancellor's chair in equity and inclusion announced
A new $5 million chair devoted to leading-edge research and teaching on equity and inclusion in society was announced today. The Robert D. Haas Chancellor's Chair in Equity and Inclusion is being established in large part through a gift from the Levi Strauss Foundation.
(19 February)

Chancellor Birgeneau extends condolences on shootings at Northern Illinois University
In a message to the campus community, Chancellor Birgeneau expresses UC Berkeley's sorrow over Thursday's shootings at Northern Illinois University, and talks of steps taken at Berkeley and elsewhere to respond to similar crises.
(15 February)

Music student adds kudos to his CV — a Grammy
As a musician and a scholar, "I'm very much about saying 'we're here,' " says American Indian singer and composer John-Carlos Perea. Over the weekend that message of Native survival got a worldwide stage, when the Paul Winter Consort CD Crestone — featuring contributions from the UC Berkeley doctoral student — won a Grammy for Best New Age Album.
(15 February)

State Ballet of Georgia launches first-ever U.S. tour at UC Berkeley
The State Ballet of Georgia launches its first-ever U.S. tour at UC Berkeley Feb. 14, presented by Cal Performances at Zellerbach Hall in shows that run through Sunday. The ballet's American visit highlights the once-struggling troupe’s resurgence after an era of political repression and economic deprivation
(14 February)

Genome of marine organism tells of animals' one-celled ancestors
A ubiquitous but little-known marine organism, the choanoflagellate, is the last one-celled ancestor of humans and offers clues to how cells learned to assemble into multicelled organisms. The genome of the choanoflagellate Monisiga has now been sequenced and, according to UC Berkeley's Nicole King, offers clues to the origin of the glue that holds many-celled animals together.
(14 February)

What do we mean when we talk of love?
Psychology prof Dacher Keltner investigates the many facets of everyone's favorite heartfelt emotion — from the passionate urges of early romance to the connections some people are able to feel for humanity at large.
(13 February)

General says Abu Ghraib scandal will resonate ‘for years to come’
In a rare public appearance last week at International House, Antonio Taguba said revelations about abuse at the now-notorious Baghdad prison “affected the moral and ethical conscience of our nation,” and blamed U.S. leaders for what he called "the ambiguity of rules of war."
(13 February)

So an EECS prof and an undergrad walk into a computer lab …
Beneath its jokey exterior, Jester 4.0 is serious research, a recommender system that employs complex mathematics to match users with others of similar tastes and preferences. Someday soon, Eigentaste 5.0 — the sophisticated algorithm on which it's based — could even help Chuck Norris find a portfolio of charities to support.
(13 February)

News Briefs
Shorter items of interest to the campus community.
(13 February)

Three faculty elected to National Academy of Engineering
Three UC Berkeley faculty are among 65 new members elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Membership in the academy is considered one of the highest professional distinctions accorded an American engineer.
(12 February)

Chancellor to legislators: UC Berkeley and city are separate entities
Chancellor Birgeneau has written to 52 elected officials in Washington, D.C., to clear up an incorrect notion that the UC Berkeley campus has any connection to actions taken by the Berkeley City Council.
(12 February)

Web conference takes on "silver tsunami"
As America scrambles to meet the retirement needs of 78 million aging Baby Boomers, UC Berkeley is cyber-surfing ahead of the so-called "silver tsunami" by launching its first-ever online conference to help create aging-friendly communities.
(12 February)

Joint Nokia research project to capture traffic data using GPS-enabled cell phones
Researchers from UC Berkeley and Nokia are testing technology that could soon transform the way drivers navigate through congested highways. In the unprecedented field experiment, transportation researchers tested the feasibility of using GPS-enabled mobile phones to monitor real-time traffic flow while preserving the privacy of the phones’ users.
(08 February)

National Academy of Sciences hosting Katherine Sherwood's 'Golgi's Door' show
Some 11 paintings and prints by UC Berkeley art professor Katherine D. Sherwood on display through Feb. 22 in the National Academy of Sciences' Rotunda Gallery in Washington, D.C. contrast historic and contemporary medical imaging with ancient symbols of magic, mystery and healing from around the globe.
(08 February)

Tracking gliding behavior in the "flying" lemur
Among the gliding animals, the colugo or "flying" lemur of Southeast Asia is the champ. It's able to glide the length of two football fields with its doormat-sized skin flaps. UC Berkeley researchers are strapping backpacks to these animals to find out how they do it.
(07 February)

Rewriting history and poking fun at the powers that be
“Enrique Chagoya: Borderlandia,” a 25-year survey of the artist’s work that showcases his wide-ranging palette, will open at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive on February 13.
(06 February)

It's My Job
In this feature, the Berkeleyan showcases a staff member whose work is essential to the smooth functioning of the campus (or one of its many departments and units).
(06 February)

Laurels
Honors, awards, and other faculty and staff achievements of note.
(06 February)

News Briefs
Shorter items of interest to the campus community.
(06 February)

Jorge Liderman, award-winning composer and music professor, dies at age 50
Jorge Mario Liderman, a distinguished composer and a University of California, Berkeley, music professor, died suddenly Sunday (Feb. 3). He was 50.
(06 February)

Berkeley, and the nation, turn the spotlight on climate change
In an all-day series of symposiums Jan. 31 at International House, the UC Berkeley campus joined with other colleges and universities across America to 'Focus the Nation' on global warming.
(01 February)

Statistician's new method will test election outcomes
The first test of a UC Berkeley professor's new procedure for conducting hand tallies to verify election outcomes will be tested in next Tuesday's California primary. It will provide election officials with a long-awaited, reliable way to judge the accuracy of the vote count or tell them how much to expand hand tallies in the event of a close race.
(31 January)

Chancellor Birgeneau on keeping public universities affordable: ‘We have to start now’
Even before Harvard announced plans to extend financial aid to students from families with incomes up to $180,000, Chancellor Birgeneau was addressing the challenge of ensuring that qualified low- and middle-income students could afford to attend UC Berkeley. In this interview with the Berkeleyan, he talks about what he's learned — and what needs to be done.
(30 January)

Applications sought for Chancellor's Community Partnership Fund
The University of California, Berkeley is inviting local community groups to apply for grants from the Chancellor's Community Partnership Fund for 2008-2009. Non-profit organizations and neighborhood groups based in the city of Berkeley that propose projects in partnership with the campus to improve the quality of life for city residents are eligible to apply for funding.
(30 January)

Campus issues statement of environmental commitment
A milestone in the Berkeley campus's efforts to measure and mitigate its impact on the environment, this “statement of commitment to the environment” was approved as campus policy in November 2007.
(30 January)

New director in place to coordinate campus sustainability efforts
Lisa McNeilly starts work as the campus’s first director of sustainability on Wednesday, Jan. 30. The position, reporting to Vice Chancellor for Administration Nathan Brostrom, will (in the words of Chancellor Birgeneau) “better coordinate the many initiatives currently under way to reduce the long-term environmental impact of campus operations.”
(30 January)

Faculty, students available for presidential campaign interviews
As the California primary approaches, University of California, Berkeley, students, faculty and staff are available to provide news outlets with interviews and analysis of major campaign issues such as the economy and immigration. In addition, several election-related forums and events will be held on campus during the campaign season.
(30 January)

For Obama, the act’s the thing
Theater professor Shannon Steen peers into the candidate’s political persona and finds Horatio Alger, Abe Lincoln, and Stanislavski looking back at her.
(30 January)

News Briefs
Shorter items of interest to the campus community
(30 January)

Student viewpoints on the '08 presidential contest
Sixteen UC Berkeley undergrads weigh in on the election — the issues that concern them and their decision (or indecision) on the candidates.
(30 January)

Anna's hummingbird chirps with its tail
Male Anna's hummingbirds can now be seen in many West Coast backyards and fields executing their display dives to seduce females and drive away intruders. UC Berkeley students have now shown that the characteristic chirp at the bottom of the male's dive, thought by many to be vocal, is produced by a split-second flaring of the tail feathers.
(30 January)

Engineers create new adhesive that mimics gecko toe hairs
A new anti-sliding adhesive developed by UC Berkeley engineers may be the closest man-made material yet to mimic the remarkable gecko toe hairs that allow the tiny lizard to scamper along vertical surfaces and ceilings. The researchers say that such an adhesive could one day be used to outfit a small robot that could climb up walls.
(29 January)

New fund to help recruit top graduate students in the humanities
A $6 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation that will help the University of California, Berkeley, recruit top graduate students in the humanities was announced today (Monday, Jan. 28) by Janet Broughton, UC Berkeley's dean of arts and humanities.
(28 January)

Campus joins national Focus the Nation "teach-in" with Jan. 31 global warming symposium
On Thursday, Jan. 31, UC Berkeley will join more than 1,500 institutions - most of them colleges and universities - across the United States in hosting an all-day symposium called "Focus the Nation: Global Warming Solutions for America."
(28 January)

What it's like to be new on campus
UC surveys shine a light on the freshman and transfer-student experience at Berkeley
(28 January)

Court will not rule on new student-athlete training center lawsuits until sometime after March 7
A ruling will not be issued until sometime after March 7 on the three consolidated lawsuits over planned construction of UC Berkeley's new student-athlete training center, to be situated west of California Memorial Stadium.
(25 January)

Coming attractions for spring 2008: Global warming, rebellion, and redemption
A lineup of events that will challenge the mind, entertain the senses, and depart from the conventional fills the spring semester's calendar at Berkeley.
(25 January)

Students' political, religious, and social convictions, by the numbers
Recent UC surveys shed light political engagement, religious identification, and social opinions of Berkeley undergrads — in this fourth of a five-part series.
(25 January)

Youngest student to publish ADHD memoir
Freshman Blake Taylor can add "self-help author" to his resume as he enters his second semester this week at UC Berkeley. After two years of writing his life story during vacations, his memoir "ADHD & me: what I learned from lighting fires at the dinner table is available in bookstores. Taylor is being considered the youngest American to publish a personal account of his life with ADHD.
(24 January)

Unpacking 'diversity': Students describe personal encounters at UC Berkeley
Undergrads offer first-person accounts of interactions with people 'different' from themselves — in this third of a five-part series on recent student-survey findings.
(24 January)

Students' political leanings and other factors explored

(23 January)

Campus to remove diseased Monterey pines from Gill Tract in Albany
A stand of diseased Monterey pines will be removed from the campus’s Gill Tract property in Albany beginning Monday, Jan. 28. A majority of these pines are infected with pitch canker, a fungal disease that weakens susceptible trees, leaving them vulnerable to fatal infestation by bark beetles.
(23 January)

Frances Allen: A pioneer in high-performance computing
The explorer, adventurer, and renowned computer scientist will be on campus to deliver a Regents’ Lecture, “The Challenge of the Multi-Cores: Think Sequential, Run Parallel,” at 4 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 31, in Sibley Auditorium, Bechtel Engineering Center. The Berkeleyan caught up with her last week for a conversation.
(23 January)

News Briefs
Shorter items of interest to the campus community.
(23 January)

How students grade UC Berkeley and spend their time
In the UC Undergraduate Experience Survey, thousands of undergrads evaluate their academic experience at Berkeley and reveal how they divide their hours. This is part two of a five-part report on student-survey findings.
(23 January)

Albert Bowker, innovative chancellor, dies at age 88
Albert Bowker, a former chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, an expert is statistics and an innovative administrator during his decades-long career in higher education across the country, died Sunday in a retirement home in Portola Valley, Calif. He was 88 and had been suffering from pancreatic cancer.
(22 January)

Antoni K. Oppenheim, world expert on combustion and heat transfer, dies at 92
Antoni Kazimierz Oppenheim, UC Berkeley professor emeritus of mechanical engineering and one of the world's leading experts on combustion and radiation heat transfer, died Saturday, Jan. 12, at the age of 92.
(22 January)

Rich nations' environmental footprint falls on poor
In the first-ever global accounting of the financial costs of environmental damage caused by human activities in high-, middle- and low-income nations, UC Berkeley researchers have found that rich nations disproportionately impact poor countries, exacting a cost that exceeds what the poor owe the rich.
(22 January)

Survey results offer birds'-eye view of Berkeley student body
Nearly 12,000 Berkeley students took UC's most recent survey on the undergraduate experience — and their responses tell a lot about who they are. This story, the first in a five-part series, focuses on their family roots and campus personas.
(22 January)

Albert Bowker, innovative UC Berkeley chancellor during 1970s, dies at age 88
Albert H. Bowker, a former chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, an expert in statistics and an innovative administrator during his decades-long career in higher education across the country, died Sunday in a retirement home in Portola Valley, Calif. He was 88 and had been suffering from pancreatic cancer.
(20 January)

UC Berkeley: Craigslist to establish first endowed faculty chair in new media
UC Berkeley announced plans on Jan. 17 to establish the first endowed faculty chair at the Berkeley Center for New Media with a donation of $1.6 million from craigslist, one of the most popular Web sites in the world. The donation, which will support research, symposia and lectures, will be matched with $1.5 million from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation for a total of $3.1 million.
(17 January)

UC policy report says chemical exposures cost state estimated $2.6 billion
Serious gaps in existing laws regulating the production and use of hazardous chemicals fail to protect public health and the environment, according to a new report released Jan. 17 by researchers at UC Berkeley and UCLA. As a result of this inadequate oversight, chemical and pollution-related diseases among children and workers in California cost the state's insurers, businesses and families an estimated $2.6 billion in direct and indirect costs, says the report.
(17 January)

New life for the New Deal
Whether we know it or not, Californians are still enjoying the legacy of the Depression era's vast public-works programs, whose workers gave us bridges, parks, hospitals, water systems, art, and more. The Living New Deal Project — an ambitious collaborative effort by geographer Gray Brechin, the campus's Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, and citizens throughout the state — aims to make sure we know it.
(16 January)

Fiction readers get their moment in the campus spotlight
The campus’s popular Lunch Poems series will gain a prose companion when Story Hour in the Library debuts next Thursday, Jan. 24, at 5 p.m. in Doe Library’s Morrison Library.
(16 January)

It's My Job
In this new feature, the Berkeleyan showcases a staff member whose work is essential to the smooth functioning of the campus (or one of its many departments and units).
(16 January)

Obituary
Paul Plouffe, a longtime lecturer for chemical engineering’s undergraduate writing program, has died. He was 68.
(16 January)

News Briefs
Shorter items of interest to the campus community.
(16 January)

Parasite morphs ant into ripe red berry
Parasites occasionally change the behavior or looks of their host, but a nasty tropical nematode alters both, making its ant host's parasite-filled abdomen resemble a ripe red berry. According to UC Berkeley and Univ. of Arkansas biologists, this behavior is a strategy the nematode evolved to entice birds to eat the ant's abdomen and spread the parasite in their droppings.
(16 January)

Teen pregnancy the norm among dinosaurs
Until recently, paleontologists had found only one dinosaur fossil that was identifiably female: a T. rex that was 18 and pregnant when it died. UC Berkeley researchers now report two more - fossil bones from a 10-year-old female Allosaurus and an 8-year-old female Tenontosaurus - that together indicate dinosaurs grew quickly and became sexually mature before reaching their adult size. Because these dinosaurs typically lived only 30 years, female dinosaurs got pregnant and laid eggs in adolescence.
(14 January)

New Web site highlights campus's 2008 election experts
As the U.S. presidential campaign heats up and attention begins to turn to the Feb. 5 California primary, expect to see more UC Berkeley experts quoted in the print and broadcast media.
(10 January)

Experts available regarding presidential campaign
UC Berkeley experts from a variety of disciplines and perspectives are available to discuss issues and developments in the U.S. presidential race, especially as attention turns to the Feb. 5 California primary. A listing of key experts, along with background on their areas of expertise and research, is available on a new elections web page created by the Media Relations office.
(10 January)

Orphaned bear cub snuggles into new home at UC Berkeley's Sagehen reserve
A 1-year-old orphaned black bear cub was relocated to UC Berkeley's Sagehen Creek Field Station on Jan. 3, joining two other orphaned bears who were successfully relocated to the reserve in 2005.
(03 January)

Professor wins Mellon prize for influential unconventional research
University of California, Berkeley, professor Thomas W. Laqueur has been selected as a Mellon Foundation Distinguished Achievement Award recipient for his influential study of such unconventional topics as the history of sexuality, death and dying, and the body and gender. He and the campus will receive approximately $1.5 million.
(03 January)

SETI@home looking for more volunteers
The longest-running search for radio signals from alien civilizations is getting a burst of new data from an upgraded Arecibo telescope, which means the SETI@home project needs more desktop computers to help crunch the data.
(02 January)

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