Holiday gifts with that touch of Cal

04 December 2002 |

How UC Berkeley can you be? Enough to troll the campus for a distinctive holiday gift — say a hand-turned bowl made by a professor emeritus out of rescued wood? A Cal-logo bean-bag chair? A coffee mug inscribed with a prediction from Emma Goldman (“Sooner or later the American people are going to wake up”)? Or a tribute bench — named for a loved one — located in the shadow of the Botanical Garden’s majestic cacti?

Whomever you’re shopping for, and whatever your budget, chances are you can find a distinctive gift from a shop or organization right here on campus. Here are a few suggestions:

ASUC Art Studio
A large selection of reasonably priced ceramics, photographs, prints, and other artwork will be available at the studio’s annual Holiday Art Sale, from noon to 5 p.m, Tuesday, Dec. 3 through Saturday, Dec. 7. Sales help support an ongoing program of workshops and classes open to the campus community and the public. The studio is located on the north side of the Cesar Chavez Student Center. Call 642-3065.

Bear Backer Youth
A popular gift around the holidays is a $100 Bearbacker Youth donation, which entitles the recipient to join any Cal Rec Club exercise class, use the club’s facilities, or schedule a massage. The donation goes to youth with cancer at Children’s Hospital in Oakland. A Cal teddy bear with the recipient’s name will be sent to a young person undergoing cancer treatment. Call 643-1299.

Berkeley Art Museum
Home to world-class art, the museum offers a number of unique gifts in its store — among them jewelry, paperweights, calendars, books, cards, ties, and fanciful bottle stoppers. Memberships to the art museum and the Pacific Film Archive are also available. Call 642-1475.

California Alumni Association
Get a membership for the alum on your list, and he or she will receive a subscription to California Monthly magazine, special discounts, and free library privileges. Dues also help support numerous scholarship programs. See alumni.berkeley.edu or call 642-3706.

Cal Performances
Some of the world’s most talented actors, dancers, musicians, and vocalists grace the Zellerbach Hall stage throughout the year. For lovers of the performing arts, Cal Performances gift certificates or tickets are perfect. See calperfs.berkeley.edu or call 642-9988.

Cal Rec Club
With a gift membership, exercise enthusiasts can participate in swimming, tennis, weightlifting ,and racquetball. Also available for purchase are passes to a variety of classes, including rock climbing, sailing, and aerobics, as well as group or private instruction in tennis, golf, yoga or self-defense, among others. For information, see http://calbears.berkeley.edu/calrecclub/ or call 642-7796.

Cal Student Store
Much of what’s sold here — from robes and bean-bag chairs to chocolates and clothing — features Cal’s distinctive logo. Other items include books, electronics, and software. The store is located in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Student Union. See www.efollett.com or call 642-7010.

Emma Goldman Papers
The fiery 20th-century activist Emma Goldman, who laid the groundwork for many of the civil liberties we enjoy today, is better known for lines like “Woe to the tyrants!” than for “I wish you were here, for I am making blintzes.… ” The Emma Goldman Papers offers both — and other memorable Goldman quotations — on T-shirts, postcards, magnets, and posters. The entire collection of Emmarabilia is available for purchase online (sunsite.berkeley.edu/Goldman) or from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, at 2372 Ellsworth St. Call 642-4708.

Hearst Museum of Anthropology
Unique gifts from around the world are available at the museum’s gift shop; a holiday sale, Dec. 10 to 23, will feature textiles, selected jewelry, and books. Most items in the shop — among them dolls, carvings, scarves, baskets, ceramic teapots and cups, toys, and jewelry — are handmade by native artisans. Faculty and staff receive a 10-percent discount. For information, call 643-7648.

Intercollegiate Athletics
Sports fans will love tickets to Cal Bears sporting events, including men’s and women’s basketball, rugby, women’s water polo, baseball, and softball games. See calbears.ocsn.com or call 800-GO BEARS.

International House
Students from around the globe make their home at I-House, where the Residents’ Resource Center carries I-House cards, photo frames, posters, mugs, key chains, postcards, and apparel. It’s also possible to purchase a non-resident membership at a 15-percent discount, during the residence center’s Holiday Open House (member benefits include admission to most I-House events for free or at a considerable discount). The open house is from 4 to 6 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 15, in the Great Hall. Call 642-9459.

Jepson Herbarium
For plant lovers in your life, consider a book, membership, or class offered by this world-renowned botanical institution. Books for sale include the beautifully illustrated, out-of-print volume, “The Trees of California,” by the early California botanist Willis Jepson, founder of the herbarium. Also available are Jepson’s classic series on California flora and two new books, “The Jepson Desert Manual” and “Flowering Plants and Ferns of Mount Diablo.”

Classes on botanical and ecological subjects are held year-round at locations throughout the state. Call 643-7008.

Lawrence Hall of Science
Fun and educational books, toys, and games with math or science themes can be found at the museum’s gift shop. Kids will enjoy “Jiggly Gems and Crystal Creations” (ages 8 and up) for exploring crystals, polymers, and gems, “Geomag” (ages 5 and up) for building geometric structures with extra-strong magnetic rods and nickel-plated steel ball bearings, and “Gro-bots,” a robots game with motorized parts. Order at store.yahoo.com/lawrencehallofscience or call 642-1016.
Customers who present this Berkeleyan article will get a 10- percent discount on their purchases through Dec. 31, 2002.

Office of Resource Development
Silk ties and scarves, portfolio bags, stuffed teddy bears, beanie babies, and throw blankets — all sporting the Cal logo or trademark — are available from this office, located at 2150 Kittredge, 3C, between Fulton and Shattuck. E-mail Celia Owens at cowens@uclink.berkeley.edu or call 643-6801.

Student Musical Groups
The sounds of Cal are available on CD and cassette recordings of the UC Men’s Octet, the California Golden Overtones, and the Cal Jazz Choir. Proceeds support Berkeley’s student musical groups. Recordings may be purchased at the Student Musical Activities office, 72 Chavez Student Center, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., with check or exact change. Call 643-1347.

UC Botanical Garden
Gardening enthusiasts will enjoy a gift from the Garden Shop or a plant from the garden’s one-day Holiday Plant Sale, scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 7. The shop sells books, field maps, guides, seeds, vases, pots, and plants. You’ll also find wooden bowls crafted from downed trees and pruning debris by Professor Emeritus John Doyen. Admission to the garden is free for the plant sale — a great source for orchids, unusual cacti and succulents, and house plants such as begonias, culinary herbs, bizarre carnivorous plants, and herbal dish-gardens. Garden memberships are also available for purchase. Call 642-3343.

And, for the most unusual gift of all, the garden is offering a limited number of tribute benches. For information, call 643-2937.