82nd Faculty Research Lectures Coming Soon
This year's Faculty Research Lectures sponsored by the Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate will feature historian Gene Brucker Feb. 27 and engineer and computer scientist Manuel Blum March 13.
Both will speak at 5 p.m. in Wheeler Auditorium.
Brucker's topic is "History at Berkeley." A professor emeritus, he has witnessed Berkeley's history first hand as a member of the faculty for more than 35 years. He counts chair of the Academic Senate and chair of the history department among his many appointments. He is known for historical studies of early modern Europe.
Blum will speak on "Reliable Computing from Unreliable Computers." A professor of electrical engineering and computer science, Blum's work includes the areas of cryptography--creating and deciphering codes--and interpreting program results and their validity.
Human Rights Talk
The Human Rights Program of the Townsend Center is sponsoring a visit by José Zalaquett, a member of the Chilean National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation. He will speak on "Overcoming Human Rights Violations of the Past" Feb. 27 at 4 p.m. in Alumni House. Zalaquett is a professor of law and public policy at the University of Chile.
Putting on the Polish In the Classroom
Classroom renovations continued during the winter break, with rooms in Barrows and Latimer halls and Moffitt Library getting fresh paint and new vinyl flooring, among other improvements.
The work is part of ongoing efforts to improve the condition of general assignment classrooms by Physical Plant--Campus Services with funding from the chancellor's office. The program began last year and is scheduled to restore and upgrade about 95 classrooms over seven years.
In addition to improving cosmetics, the program also works to modernize classrooms with the idea that faculty increasingly use instructional technology.
It is hoped that the cleaner, newer environment will not be lost on students or faculty, and that faculty will remind students to maintain classrooms by keeping out food and drinks and using trash cans.
"We hope they'll think that somebody's taken the time to improve the place and maybe in some small way will know that the people maintaining the campus care about them," said Eric Ellisen, an engineer with Physical Plant--Campus Services.