Berkeleyan
News briefs
14 January 2004
Campus no-smoking zone extended
Smoking is now prohibited within 20 feet of all entrances, exits, and operable windows of campus buildings. The new policy supercedes the campus’s smoke-free policy of February 2003, which required individuals to smoke at least 15 feet from campus buildings. For information, contact University Health Services: e-mail bpottgen@uhs.berkeley.edu or phone 642-8410.
Clark Kerr memorial set for Feb. 20
A campus memorial to honor the late Clark Kerr will be held at 3 p.m., Friday, Feb. 20 in Zellerbach Auditorium. The former UC president and Berkeley chancellor died Dec. 1 at the age of 92. The memorial is open to the public; the entire UC and higher education community is invited to attend.
Guided bus tour explores forgotten Bay Area landscapes
BayBoards is a public-art project designed to show how humans have had an impact on the landscape of the San Francisco Bay Area. The project involves a series of art/science installations, a website (www.stillhere.org), and a daylong guided bus and walking tour to BayBoards sites in San Francisco, Oakland, and Richmond. The tour, led by BayBoards collaborators, takes place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 24.
Tickets, at $18 each, include a seat on the bus and admission to Lawrence Hall of Science, where the project’s original drawings and prototypes will be on display starting the day of the tour. Seating is limited, and reservations are required. For information or to register, call 642-5134 or visit store.yahoo.com/lawrencehallofscience/baarto.html.
Mexico’s Aguilar Zinser to speak on world affairs
A leading figure in Mexican politics, Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, will speak on campus at 5 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 22, in a talk titled “Is the United Nations on the Brink? Unilateralism vs. Multilateralism and the Quest for World Peace and Security.”
Aguilar Zinser has served as a member of the Mexican Senate, a key figure in the Fox administration, and a representative to the United Nations. In the U.N. he played a central role on the Security Council during the lead-up to the current war in Iraq. Known for candor and independence, he was forced to resign his U.N. position after criticizing the U.S. in a speech last fall.
The lecture — sponsored by the campus’s Center for Latin American Studies — takes place in the Morrison Library of Doe Library and is Aguilar Zinser’s first public address in the United States since leaving the U.N.
UC, CSU receive $12 million to boost energy efficiency
The California Public Utilities Commission has awarded UC and the California State University system $12 million to implement energy-efficiency programs on their campuses. The funding will be split equally between the two state university systems.
UC and CSU will work with the Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison, and Southern California Gas companies to implement the programs, designed to help improve energy-efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance environmental sustainability. Program elements covered by the grant include energy-efficiency retrofits, employee training, and fine-tuning energy systems on existing campus buildings.
UC official honored for LGBTI advocacy
Judith Boyette, UC’s associate vice president for human resources and benefits, recently received a national award for her efforts to provide equal benefits for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) employees.
Out and Equal Workplace Advocates — a national organization devoted to LGBTI workplace issues — presented Boyette with the award at its Out & Equal Workplace Summit in Minneapolis.
UCSF’s Shane Snowden, former chair of the universitywide LGBTI association, nominated Boyette for the award.
“Thanks to her skillful and visionary work,” said Snowden, “UC has equalized retirement benefits for same-sex couples, equalized sick leave and Family and Medical-Leave Act policies for same-sex couples, equalized all other benefits vis-à-vis same-sex couples, and exten-ded health benefits to transgender employees.”
UC has been offering health benefits to employees with domestic partners since 1997 and domestic-partner retirement benefits since July 2002.
Campus to design academy for local students
With grant funding from two foundations, the campus is launching a California Early College Academy to better prepare educationally disadvantaged students for higher education.
The academy — funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation — is expected to open in fall 2005. The new school, its location yet to be determined, will serve about 420 students in grades 6 to 12. The youngsters, about 60 in each grade, will come primarily from Alameda County.
Foundation funding of $400,000 over three years will support planning, curriculum development, and related programming. The idea is to design a new school based largely on research conducted by Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education. It would provide a more seamless transition for students moving from middle school to high school, and from high school to college, and encourage collaboration between high school and university faculty.
For information on the academy, see www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2004/01/12_academy.shtml.
Berdahl gives ‘thumbs up’ to stadium renovation
Chancellor Robert Berdahl announced Jan. 7 that he will endorse an ambitious plan to renovate Memorial Stadium, the campus’ 81-year-old football venue. The project, which could cost as much as $140 million, would be funded entirely by private donations.
The proposed renovation would seismically retrofit the stadium, which spans the Hayward Fault, and enhance the space used by the athletic department. It would create state-of-the-art strength and conditioning facilities, more sports-medicine services, and expanded locker and meeting areas for football and other Cal sports teams.