Holiday shopping in the land of blue and gold

03 December 2003

The carnivorous plant Sarracenia leuophylla is but one of the green goodies for sale at the UC Botanical Garden.

Does the idea of setting foot in a shopping mall or big department store during the holiday season fill you with dread and trepidation? Never fear, because shopping opportunities abound right here on campus. Regardless of your budget or who you’re shopping for, odds are you’ll find a special gift in one of the shops or organizations within the boundaries of UC Berkeley.

Consider the possibilities: Tickets to Cal Performances, Burmese handcrafted puppets, ballroom dancing lessons, orchids and unusual cacti, tickets to Cal sports events, and works of art crafted by students and professional artists. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. For more gift ideas, read on.

ASUC Art Studio
For one-of-a-kind gifts at affordable prices, the studio offers a wide selection of photographs, pottery, sculpture, jewelry, paintings and drawings, and some holiday and decorative cards at its annual holiday sale, from noon to 5 p.m, Dec. 2 to Dec. 6. Works are made by students and professional artists. Sales 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 $100 donation to Bear Backer Youth in honor of a friend is two gifts in one: the honoree selects any exercise class offered through Cal Rec Club and a Cal Golden Teddy Bear will be donated to a child at Children’s Hospital and Research Center of Oakland. Call 643-1299.

Berkeley Art Museum
The museum stocks gifts that run the gamut — from offbeat to beautiful to utilitarian. Select from jewelry, calendars, ornaments from the Museum of Modern Art, books, cards, ties, and quirky bottle stoppers. The museum store’s latest addition is temporary art tattoos from the creations of Edward Munch, Frida Kahlo, Pablo Picasso, and Claude Monet. Memberships to the art museum and the Pacific Film Archive are also available. Call 642-1475.

California Alumni Association
A membership for your favorite alum ($50/year or $25/year for those who have graduated in the last three years) will keep him or her in the Cal loop with a subscription to California Monthly magazine, special discounts, and free library privileges. Dues also support many scholarship programs. See alumni.berkeley.edu or call 642-3706.

Cal Performances
For arts aficionados, Cal Performances gift certificates or tickets are a natural. The organization presents a stunning variety of world-class actors, dancers, musicians, and vocalists. This year, Cal Performances’ newly launched Speaker Series features two Pulitzer Prize-winners in the spring: artist Art Spiegelman and novelist Michael Cunningham. Tickets for artists scheduled for 2004 (including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet Frankfurt, pianist Yefim Bronfman, and Cecilia Bartoli) are available. 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 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 calbears.berkeley.edu/calrecclub/ or call 642-7796.

Cal Student Store
The Cal Student Store stocks every permutation of school apparel — including Cal baby booties. Plush versions of Oski, the campus’s mascot, are also on hand, along with books, electronics, watches, 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
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, activist Emma Goldman advocated for such causes as freedom of speech, birth control, women’s equality and independence, and union organization. Some of her messages, such as “The free expression of the hopes and aspirations of a people is the greatest and only safety in a sane society,” are still timely and are available on coffee mugs, T-shirts, magnets, greeting cards, and posters. The entire collection of Emmarabilia can be purchased online (sunsite.berkeley.edu/Goldman) or from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, at 2372 Ellsworth St. Call 642-4708.

Phoebe A. Hearst Museum Gift Store
Go global with gifts from around the world at the Hearst Museum’s gift store.

Selected to correspond to artifacts in the museum’s collection, the varied items — among them dolls, carvings, scarves, baskets, ceramic teapots and cups, toys, and jewelry — showcase folk-art traditions of different cultures. The store’s annual holiday sale takes place Dec. 18-22. Faculty and staff receive a 10-percent discount. For information, call 643-7648.

Intercollegiate Athletics
Sports fans will give a cheer when you give them tickets to Cal Bears sporting events, including men’s and women’s basketball, rugby, women’s water polo, baseball, and softball games. Online, visit calbears.ocsn.com, or call 800-GO-BEARS.

International House
Students from around the world make their home away from home here, where the Residents’ Resource Center carries I-house mugs, posters, key chains, postcards, umbrellas, and a selection of apparel including T-shirts, sweatshirts, and baseball caps. Call 642-9459.

Jepson Herbarium
For plant lovers on your list, consider a book, membership, or class offered by this world-renowned botanical institution. Books for sale include the beautifully illustrated, out-of-print volume 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.

A $35 membership entitles recipients to the Herbarium’s newsletter as well as discounts on workshops and classes. Classes on botanical and ecological subjects are held year-round at locations throughout the state. Call 643-7008.

Lawrence Hall of Science Store
Fun and educational books, toys, and games with math or science themes can be found at the museum’s gift shop. Introduce kids to science with “My First Chemistry Kit” (ages 4 and up – recommended adult supervision, $18.95) or to numismatics — more commonly known as coin collecting — with a “Dirty Old Coins” kit ($34.95), which includes ancient Roman coins, a CD tutorial, and 19-page booklet.

Customers who present this Berkeleyan article will get a 10-percent discount on their purchases through Dec. 31, 2003.

Recreational Sports
Give the gift of health with a gift certificate from Recreational Sports. Available in any monetary amount, certificates can be put to a variety of uses, including massage, personal training, tennis, aerobics, ballroom dancing, sailing, yoga mats, 50+ fitness, or Capoeira. Gift certificates can be purchased at the Recreational Sports Facility cashier’s booth at 2301 Bancroft Way or by phone with credit card at 643-5151.

Student Musical Groups
Student Musical Activities has produced a variety of recordings to get you into the Cal groove. Now available is a long-awaited CD from the Cal Marching Band, as well as CD and cassette recordings of the UC Men’s Octet, the California Golden Overtones, and the Cal Jazz Choir. 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. For more information, call 643-1347. The music is also sold at the Cal Student Store.

UC Botanical Garden
A gift for the green-thumbed on your list may be unearthed at the Garden Shop or at the Garden’s one-day Holiday Plant Sale on Saturday, Dec. 6, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. In addition to leafy items, the shop sells books, field maps, guides, unique gifts, and pottery. Admission to the garden is free for the plant sale — a great source for orchids, unusual cacti and succulents, and houseplants. For the most unusual and perhaps longest-lasting gift of all, the garden is offering a limited number of tribute benches, the perfect gift to celebrate a loved one in uniquely beautiful locations. Call 643-2755.

Water Resources Center Archives and Harmer E. Davis Transportation Library
As the new Zampa Bridge spanning Carquinez Strait enters its first year of service and seismic retrofitting has begun on the Bay Bridge, two UC libraries have produced a wall calendar for 2004 to celebrate the history and future of Bay Area bridges. A great choice for local-history buffs, the calendar’s black-and-white photos depict both bridges’ original construction as well as contemporary construction work. Visit www.lib.berkeley.edu/WRCA/ or call 642-3604.

Cal Marketplace
Holiday shoppers who prefer to browse using a mouse might want to visit calmarketplace.org, an online gateway to the university’s goods and services. Sign up for the Cal Marketplace newsletter to be notified of special discounts and sales from participating campus departments and partners.