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Campus Celebrates 132 Years of Excellence on Charter Day Posted March 15, 2000 The campus honors its 132nd birthday Thursday, March 23 with a 10:30 a.m. celebration at Zellerbach Hall. The event begins with a procession of professors, alumni, staff and students into the auditorium. After a brief address from Chancellor Berdahl, the Haas International Award and Haas Public Service Award will be presented. This year's keynote speaker is human rights and environmental activist Ka Hsaw Wa. Free tickets are available through the Cal Performances ticket office. A birthday party at Dwinelle Plaza follows the ceremony at noon. The festivities, which include free prizes, cupcakes and a trivia contest, continues until 1 p.m. Wa, the director of EarthRights International, is the winner of a 1999 Goldman Prize for international environmental heroes. Wa, who is 29, was recognized for work in his native Burma, where he helped expose the link between human rights abuses by the military dictatorship and their exploitation of the country's natural resources. In order to acquire the foreign currency needed to maintain its illegitimate hold on power, the military junta sold huge logging, fishing and gem concessions, as well as a major natural gas concession with its related overland pipeline. In pursuing these projects, the military has committed a variety of severe and pervasive human rights violations. "By destroying our forests, our trees, our wild animals and our rivers, the Burmese dictatorship and its partners in crime also destroy who we are," said Wa. "Even though they have the money, guns and power, we have truth and justice on our side to defend human rights and the environment." The University of California was born on March 23, 1868, when the state governor signed into law the Organic Act, which merged the College of California with the Agricultural, Mining and Mechanical Arts College. For information about Charter Day, call 643-7003.   [HOME]   [SEARCH]   [ARCHIVE] March 15-21, 2000 (Volume 28, Number 25) Copyright 2000, The Regents of the University of California. Produced and maintained by the Office of Public Affairs at UC Berkeley. Comments? E-mail berkeleyan@pa.urel.berkeley.edu.