Recent stories
Green Corridor Partnership picks up steam as UC, LBNL drive innovation
Representatives of UC Berkeley and other members of a public-private East Bay consortium designed to solve environmental challenges while creating jobs gathered in Oakland June 26 for the partnership's second annual summit.
(02 July)
Tougher controls sought for DNA ancestry testing
As the popularity of take-home DNA kits to trace ancestry or calculate the risk for serious medical conditions grows, there is an increasingly critical need for federal oversight of "direct-to-consumer" genetic testing, as well as of the use of DNA samples for research, according to researchers from UC Berkeley,and several other academic institutions.
(02 July)
Can we reduce medical costs while expanding the availability of health care?
Without reform, the current U.S. healthcare system will well make the federal government "go the way of GM — paying more, getting less, and going broke," President Obama warned recently. In a Q&A with the NewsCenter, Dean of Public Health Stephen Shortell, an adviser to the Obama administration on pending health care legislation, speaks about needed changes — from a center for comparing effectiveness of various treatment options to better incentives for doctors and hospitals to reduce costs.
(25 June)
Shinnyo-en Foundation names chancellor a 2009 "Pathfinder to Peace"
University of California, Berkeley, Chancellor Robert Birgeneau is one of three recipients of the Shinnyo-en Foundation's 2009 Pathfinders to Peace Prize issued today (Monday, June 22) by the Shinnyo-en Foundation during ceremonies in San Francisco.
(22 June)
Berkeley's GradLink-on-the-Web wins Sautter Award, UC's top technology honor
Last week the University of California recognized UC Berkeley’s GradLink-on-the-Web and its developers with the Larry L. Sautter Award for Innovation in Information Technology. The award honors top technology projects from the 10 UC campuses.
(22 June)
Children susceptible to pesticides longer than expected, study finds
UC Berkeley researchers recommend that the U.S. EPA re-evaluate current standards for pesticide exposure in light of a new study finding that children's increased vulnerability to pesticides lasts much longer than expected.
(22 June)
Berkeley civil-engineering students take title in concrete-canoe competition
A team of Berkeley civil-engineering students won the 22nd annual National Concrete Canoe Competition at the contest's June 11-13 finals in Tuscaloosa, Ala. June 11-13. It was the campus's fifth title in the remarkable battle of the boats, sometimes called the America's Cup of civil engineering.
(19 June)
UC President Yudof proposes three systemwide furlough/salary reduction options
With the University of California facing a severe reduction in state funding, President Mark Yudof has offered three options for furloughs and/or salary reductions that would be applied systemwide.
(18 June)
Berkeley stakes science claim at Homestake gold mine
UC Berkeley and Berkeley Lab plan to turn South Dakota's Homestake gold mine into a world-class science complex, with underground experiments in astrophysics, physics, biology and earth science. South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds, a big supporter of the effort, visited the campus and lab June 12 to cement the relationship and see what a large research complex looks like.
(17 June)
Chancellor delivers grim budget news at BSA gathering
The news, mostly bad, for the annual meeting with staff: deeper budget cuts, more layoffs, and likely 8 percent wage reductions
(16 June)
Budget Message from Chancellor and Provost
In an urgent letter to the campus community about California's financial crisis, Chancellor Birgeneau and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Breslauer discuss actions to cut costs across the UC system, explain what they think may happen, and describe their leadership strategy for the Berkeley campus in these difficult times.
(16 June)
Betty Connors, longtime director of Cal Performances' predecessor, dies at 92
Betty Connors, who for 35 years led the UC Berkeley performing arts organization that ultimately became Cal Performances, died on Thursday, June 11, at her home in Richmond. She was 92.
(15 June)
Stress puts double whammy on reproductive system
Stress is known to decrease fertility and sexual behavior, but researchers thought this was because stress hormones lower levels of a brain hormone called GnRH. UC Berkeley biologists now show that stress hormones also boost levels of another hormone that suppresses GnRH, creating a doublewhammy. The scientists hope it will be possible to block this system and restore fertility.
(15 June)
A summer's worth of science writing
The annual Summer Reading List is a Berkeley tradition. Entering freshmen (and the rest of us) stock our beach bags with books recommended by campus staff and faculty — this year, on the theme of science.
(12 June)
Life after Berkeley
New retirees from offices all over campus share their feelings about Cal, their reasons for bidding Berkeley adieu, and their plans for the future. From violin-building to travel abroad, they may be stepping down, but most aren't slowing down.
(11 June)
Obituary
Nick West, an events coordinator in the Development and College Relations office of the College of Letters and Science, died of cancer on Monday, May 11, at Alta Bates Medical Center in Berkeley. He was 54.
(11 June)
Obituary
Retired campus librarian Joseph W. Barker, who served both as head of the University Library's acquisition department and as program coordinator for the campus Teaching Library, died unexpectedly on Sunday, April 5, in Berkeley. He was 65 years old.
(11 June)
Good news for campus car commuters
A bit piece of good budget news: P&T holds the line on parking-permit fees.
(11 June)
Political scientist Chhibber named to head IIS
Teacher, scholar, and former chair of the political science department named to a five-year term as director of the Institute of International Studies.
(11 June)
Philip Brett Fund to support LGBT studies
A new fund to support research into LGBT topics in any discipline has been created to memorialize a professor who pioneered gay studies in music.
(11 June)
Additional campus, UC budget cuts pending
The state budget picture as it applies to UC remains unclear, though largely discouraging. A bright spot in the gloom: cuts to vital Cal Grant support for students in need of financial aid are off the table for now.
(11 June)
Graphene opens door to tunable transistors, LEDs
Graphene, which is a hexagonal sheet of carbon atoms, has been a hot subject of research since its isolation from graphite in 2004. That interest has paid off. UC Berkeley physicists have shown that two sheets of graphene slapped together can be made into a tunable electronic or photonic device, something unheard of with silicon or gallium arsenide semiconductors.
(10 June)
Red giant star Betelgeuse mysteriously shrinking
The red supergiant star Betelgeuse, which is so large it would extend to Jupiter's orbit in our solar system, has steadily shrunk over the past 15 years, according to UC Berkeley physicists. Since 1993, its radius has gone down by 15 percent, equivalent to the radius of Venus's orbit.
(09 June)
Lifting the fog on "dark" gamma-ray bursts
Gamma-ray bursts, with their ability to pierce through gas and dust to shine brightly across the universe, are revealing areas of intense star formation and stellar death where astronomers have been unable to look - the dusty corners of otherwise dust-free galaxies.
(08 June)
Bone bed tells of life along California's ancient coastline
Sharktooth Hill near Bakersfield is the home of the most extensive marine bone bed in the world, a 100-square-mile layer of shark, seal, ray, whale, turtle and fish bones. A UC Berkeley professor and five Berkeley PhDs have analyzed the 15-million-year-old fossils to decipher the history of what used to be the California coastline.
(08 June)
Stimulus funds for UC Berkeley research now total $8.6 million
UC Berkeley faculty have submitted nearly 300 proposals to the federal government for stimulus funding through NSF, NIH and other agencies. An announcement this week of three new grants from NIH should bring the total received to $8.6 million.
(05 June)
2009 Childhood Obesity Conference addresses new challenges, approaches to improving children's health
The 2009 Childhood Obesity Conference, titled "Creating Healthy Places for All Children," comes amid challenging times as more families struggle with limited food budgets, and communities struggle with fewer resources.
(03 June)
Report: Widespread data sharing, "Web bugs"
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Information released a report late Monday (June 1) showing that the most popular Web sites all share data with their corporate affiliates and allow third parties to collect information directly by using tracking beacons known as "Web bugs" - despite the sites' claims that they don't share user data with third parties.
(02 June)
Three UC Berkeley faculty members chosen for state advisory committee to help devise cap-and-trade program
Three scholars from the University of California, Berkeley, have been appointed to the state's new Economic and Allocation Advisory Committee, a group charged with helping California implement the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB32).
(01 June)
Vice Chancellor Nathan Brostrom wins a 2009 Bay Area CFO of the Year award
Nathan Brostrom, vice chancellor for administration, last week was named Bay Area CFO of the Year for a non-public company by the San Francisco Business Times and Larkin Street Youth Services. He was one of six winners honored because they "exemplify the professionalism, integrity, resilience and mastery of key skills that make a great CFO."
(01 June)
Three faculty members elected to American Philosophical Society
Three University of California, Berkeley, faculty members have been elected to the American Philosophical Society, the nation's oldest learned society comprised of nearly 1,000 eminent scholars from a broad range of disciplines.
(01 June)
Ronald Takaki, pioneer and legend in ethnic studies, dies at age 70
Ronald Takaki, professor emeritus of ethnic studies at the UC Berkeley, and a preeminent scholar of U.S. race relations who taught the University of California's first black history course, died at his home in Berkeley on Tuesday, May 26, at age 70. He had struggled for years with multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune condition that attacks the central nervous system. Although Takaki retired from UC Berkeley in 2003, he was frequently seen on campus, delivering guest lectures to standing-room-only audiences or joining marches about social justice, with his shock of silver hair, trim runner's body and professorial spectacles.
(28 May)
Obama calls on Berkeley School of Antitrust
Two University of California, Berkeley, professors who will become the federal government's top antitrust economists and a third chosen as a senior official in the same field are among the latest campus faculty members enlisted to help the Obama administration shape policy for the nation. Their appointments highlight the growing strength of Berkeley School of Antitrust Economics.
(28 May)
Ronald Takaki, pioneering scholar of race relations, dies at 70
Ronald Takaki, a professor emeritus of ethnic studies at UC Berkeley and a prolific scholar of U.S. race relations who taught UC’s first black history course, died at his home in Berkeley on Tuesday, May 26. He was 70
(27 May)
Allen Telescope Array begins all-sky surveys
With commissioning of the 42 radio dishes of the Allen Telescope Array nearly complete, UC Berkeley astronomers are now embarking on several major radio astronomy projects, including daily surveys of the sky.
(27 May)
Rare radio supernova is nearest supernova in five years
Robotic telescopes now search the sky nightly for exploding stars, but not all supernovas are visible to optical, ultraviolet or X-ray telescopes. A supernova missed by other telescopes because these wavelengths were blocked by galactic gas and dust was discovered by radio telescopes in April, and turns out to be the nearest supernova in five years.
(27 May)
Campanile’s spire to be repaired
Sather Tower, better known as the Campanile, will be having a little work done this summer, necessitating occasional short-term closures. But what nonagenarian doesn't need a little cosmetic intervention every now and again?
(26 May)
A Latina judge's voice
Foes of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination Tuesday to the U.S. Supreme Court have focused in part on her comments on the role of ethnicity, gender and life experience in judicial rulings. Read the full text of Sotomayor's speech on the subject, delivered Oct. 26, 2001 at U.C. Berkeley as the Judge Mario G. Olmos Memorial Lecture.
(26 May)
A sunny day for graduates — and the many who helped them
Under sunny skies at the Greek Theatre, graduates from the class of 2009 take a clear-eyed look at an uncertain future.
(26 May)
Insect in hemlock forests causes loss of canopy, gain of invasive plants
An exotic pest is ravaging the shade-providing canopy of eastern hemlock forests, and in turn setting the stage for the successful invasion of non-native plants, according to new UC Berkeley research.
(26 May)
Computer-based smoking cessation programs work, finds metanalysis
A new analysis led by UC Berkeley researchers suggests that Web- and computer-based smoking cessation programs are worth a try, and fortunately during these tough economic times, many of them are free.
(26 May)
Sights and speeches from Commencement Convocation 2009
A sunny afternoon and inspiring speakers drew thousands of graduates and their families to the Greek Theatre to celebrate the accomplishments of the Class of 2009.
(22 May)
Berkeley's new graduates discuss the job market and what comes next
For graduating seniors, May is a proverbially bittersweet time — this year with extra bitter in the mix, for some, as they head out into a time of economic distress and record unemployment. Seven members of Berkeley’s class of 2009 share what's next for them — their hopes, plans, and their experience so far looking for employment or a slot in graduate school.
(21 May)
Matías Tarnopolsky new director of Cal Performances
Robert Birgeneau, chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, today (Wednesday, May 20) announced the appointment of Matías Tarnopolsky as director of Cal Performances. The announcement was made at a press conference in Zellerbach Hall on the UC Berkeley campus.
(20 May)
SETI@home project celebrates 10th anniversary, though no ETs
A May 21 symposium celebrates the 10th birthday of the SETI@home project, the largest volunteer computing project in the world. Launched May 17, 1999, its dedicated followers continue to crunch radio data in search of intelligent signals from space.
(19 May)
Summer haze has a cooling effect in southeastern United States, says new study
Global warming may include some periods of local cooling, according to a new UC Berkeley study. Results from satellite and ground-based sensor data show that sweltering summers can, paradoxically, lead to the temporary formation of a cooling haze in the southeastern United States.
(18 May)
As voters weigh state's budget options, UC Berkeley eyes severe options for addressing cuts
With a slate of critical ballot propositions facing voters on Tuesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday offered two revised scenarios for mending the state's worsening budget outlook. One is bad news for the University of California. The other, for some, is too grim to contemplate.
(15 May)
Online games spark girls' interests in science & technology
Thanks to a National Science Foundation grant, 12 Oakland Girl Scouts are now learning how to create online games centered around astronomy. The program's goal is to create a multi-user game called "The Universe Quest Game" in which girls around the world can safely interact and learn about science and technology.
(15 May)
University Medal finalists make discoveries at Berkeley about themselves and the world
This year, five students — Jordan Anaya, Sonia Fleury, Lara Palanjian, Zoe Sima Silverman, and William Vega — were finalists for the University Medal, given to Berkeley's top graduating senior. These five stellar students take time out to answer questions about their time at Cal and their plans for life beyond Berkeley.
(14 May)
Graduation ceremony season starts tomorrow (Thursday)
Pixar Animation co-founder Alvy Ray Smith; Sir Andrew Duncan Crockett, president of JP Morgan International; State Treasurer Bill Lockyer and world-renowned sleep researcher Matt Walker will be among the speakers passing on acumen and inspiration to graduating students at UC Berkeley, at ceremonies starting tomorrow (Thursday, May 14).
(13 May)
Managers who embrace change to be honored
The 21st annual BSA Excellence in Management awards, presented by the Berkeley Staff Assembly, will be conferred on 22 campus managers.
(12 May)
Assistive Technology Center opens new lab
An expanded Assistive Technology Teaching and Learning Center, for use by students in the campus Disabled Students Program, was opened at UC Berkeley on Monday, May 11.
(12 May)
Top graduating senior is an intellectual superstar
Emma Shaw Crane spent her teens riding horses and making mischief at her Waldorf school in Santa Rosa, Calif. She filled out her application to UC Berkeley, while recovering from typhoid on a beach in southern Mexico. Growing up among activists and anarchists, Shaw Crane said she never expected to be admitted to a top research university.But like her thick, tawny hair, Shaw Crane's life is full of twists and turns. Today, she has landed a coveted prize as UC Berkeley's top graduating senior, selected to receive the University Medal and address thousands of her peers at Commencement Convocation on May 22. She also will receive a $2,500 scholarship.
(12 May)
School of Public Health launches $5 million Kaiser Permanente Public Health Scholars Program
An ambitious initiative designed to meet the increasing need for highly educated public health workers launched today. The Kaiser Permanente Public Health Scholars Program, funded by a $5 million grant to the School of Public Health, is expected to expand California’s public health workforce, with an emphasis on recruiting students from underserved communities and placing them in health departments and other organizations that serve vulnerable populations.
(12 May)
Neil Henry named dean of Graduate School of Journalism
Award-winning journalist, author and professor Neil Henry has been chosen as dean of the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, a post he has held on a transitional basis since 2007.
(08 May)
Hackers attack campus databases, steal Social Security numbers, other data
The University of California, Berkeley, today (Friday, May 8) began notifying students, alumni and others that their personal information may have been stolen after hackers attacked restricted computer databases in the campus's health services center.
(08 May)
Ausin Hoggatt, professor emeritus at the Haas School, dies at age 79
Austin "Auggie" Hoggatt, professor emeritus at the Haas School of Business, died April 29 at age 79. His research and consulting spanned many fields, including computer simulations, experimental economics, management science, and savings and loans.
(07 May)
Roll models and spokespeople
A two-day symposium organized by the campus Human Rights Center plumbed the connections between technology, media, and human-rights advocacy.
(07 May)
'Soul of the New Machine' confab geared to human rights
A two-day symposium organized by the campus Human Rights Center plumbed the connections between technology, media, and human-rights advocacy.
(07 May)
It's My Job
Adrian Diaz, Assistant director, State Government Relations
(07 May)
Dishing diversity at the dinner table
All in the family: A mother and her adult daughter both have campus jobs dedicated to increasing diversity at Berkeley.
(07 May)
Mentoring is its own reward … but plaques are nice, too
A recent round of awards honor the campus's invaluable graduate-student instructors . . . and the faculty who mentor them.
(07 May)
Workforce- reduction measures are having an impact
A variety of workforce-reduction measures announced in March are contributing to the campus's bottom line.
(07 May)
Pandemic, or just a bad bug?
The H1N1 virus has proven to be less virulent than many imagined. Which is not to say that we know a lot about it, because we don't, a panel of Berkeley experts emphasized earlier this week.
(07 May)
UC Berkeley UV detector to be installed in Hubble telescope
NASA's final mission to the 17-year-old Hubble Space Telescope, which begins May 11, will deliver a new instrument partly built by UC Berkeley physicists to map the structure of the universe.
(07 May)
Why do we tolerate a massive prison system that produces 70% recidivism rates?
Legal scholar Jonathan Simon discusses the social and fiscal impacts of California's approach to crime and punishment. Unless we confront its central flaws, he says, "everything is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic." Part 2 of a two-part Q&A.
(07 May)
Why parole does not work in California
California's criminal justice system has been thrust into the national spotlight by the shooting deaths of four Oakland police officers by a recently released state prisoner. Criminal-law expert Jonathan Simon talks about the 'broken' system he has studied since the 1980s.
(06 May)
Unprecedented use of DDT to combat malaria concerns experts
The current practice of spraying DDT indoors to fight malaria is leading to unprecedented – and insufficiently monitored – levels of exposure to the pesticide, say experts concerned about the risk to human health.
(04 May)
Chancellor's Public Service Awards honor faculty, staff, and students
Chancellor Birgeneau welcomed awardees and celebrants to the annual presentation of the Chancellor's Public Service Awards, in Sibley Auditorium, on April 23.
(01 May)
Obituary
The campus has lost Police Officer Allen Delano Rollins, whose warmth and humor made him a memorable presence at the front desk of California Hall.
(01 May)
A must-see spot — if you're a Berkeley bee
A research garden near campus is devoted to discovering which common garden plants are attractive to local bee species — the better to ensure their survival.
(01 May)
Transplanted to a bare Wheeler stage, Botany of Desire blooms as a musical
Two guys walk into a bar. One says, "Let's do a musical based on that book about plants."
(01 May)
'Passion and romance and love'
A new Berkeley Art Museum exhibit showcases the work of six artists grappling with the power of their media to effect social change.
(01 May)
UC president addresses Berkeley Senate
Mark Yudof addressed his good-news/bad-news budget message to faculty at last week's Senate meeting.
(01 May)
Transportation expert Ernest Koenigsberg passes away
Ernest Koenigsberg, a professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business and an expert in operations research and management science, with a focus on transportation, died on April 20 of heart failure at his home in San Francisco. He was 86.
(30 April)
Emmanuel Saez wins 2009 John Bates Clark Medal
University of California, Berkeley, professor Emmanuel Saez, a leading scholar of tax policy and the distribution of income and wealth, is the latest recipient of the John Bates Clark Medal, awarded by the American Economics Association (AEA) to the U.S. economist under 40 making the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge.
(29 April)
Jennifer Wolch named ninth dean of College of Environmental Design
Jennifer Wolch, a leading scholar of urban analysis and planning, will take the helm at UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design on July 1, 2009. Wolch will become the college's ninth dean and Berkeley's fourth current woman dean.
(29 April)
Seven faculty members elected to NAS
Seven UC Berkeley faculty members are among 72 new members elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), one of the nation's most prestigious societies of scholars engaged in science and engineering research.
(28 April)
$30 million from DOE for carbon capture, sequestration
The White House announced this week a major push to spur innovative energy research, including $777 million over five years from the Department of Energy. $30 million of this money will come to UC Berkeley and LBNL to investigate carbon capture and sequestration.
(28 April)
Dalai Lama: Creating a peaceful 21st century will take all 6 billion of us
Whether history remembers the 21st century as happy or unhappy "is in your hands," the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, told the students at UC Berkeley campus appearance.
(27 April)
ADHD medication can improve math and reading scores, study suggests
Pediatricians and educators have long known that psycho-stimulant medications can help children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) concentrate on learning for short periods of time. But a new study from the UC erkeley has found evidence that grade schoolers with ADHD who take medications can actually improve their long-term academic achievement, and make greater gains in standardized math and reading scores than students with ADHD who do not take medications.
(27 April)
Dalai Lama speaks on peace at UC Berkeley's Greek Theatre
The Dalai Lama made his third visit to UC Berkeley on Saturday, April 25. His Holiness made a special appeal to students to help put an end to war, saying that peace begins with "personal disarmament."
(25 April)
An impatient man, a hopeful moment
At the April 23 groundbreaking for the Richard C. Blum Center for Developing Economies' new campus home, Al Gore paid tribute to its founder and, especially, to the students whose engagement gives the center such promise to aid the world's poor.
(24 April)
Bravo, maestro, bravo!
Longtime Cal Performances director Robert Cole, who will step down this August, announces the arts organization's 2009-10 season.The arts impresario also reflects on some of his favorite events during his 23 years at Cal Performances' helm.
(23 April)
Obituary
Ernest W. Adams, an emeritus professor of philosophy, died on March 29, shortly after being diagnosed with an advanced case of liver cancer. He was 83.
(23 April)
THEMIS mission tracks electrical tornadoes in space
Tornadoes on Earth are among the most violent storms, capable of enormous destruction with wind speeds of 200 mph and more. Yet these are tiny compared to the "space tornados" that impress with plasma flow speeds of more than one million mph and beautiful auroras.
(23 April)
Black-leather pragmatist
Russia today, under Vladimir Putin, is neither autocratic nor imperialistic, Communist nor democratic, says an emeritus professor of political science. The good news? Things could be a lot worse… for the Russian people in particular.
(23 April)
Plugging away at the riddle of consciousness
Over the course of his 50 years on campus, John Searle — among Berkeley's most distinguished and engaged public intellectuals — has explored the philosophy of language, to worldwide renown. He's also gotten in some skiing.
(23 April)
New labs on tap for College of Chemistry
The instructional labs in the College of Chemistry are nearly half a century old, and feeling it. An ambitious new program will modernize them — as part of an initiative that will also develop a new vision of "how to teach chemistry in the 21st century."
(23 April)
Professors ace teaching test
Five University of California, Berkeley, professors have been chosen by their department colleagues and students to receive a 2009 Distinguished Teaching Award, the campus's most prestigious honor for superlative instruction.
(22 April)
Cal Day 2009: Audio slide show
An audio slide show tour of the highlights of Cal Day 2009.
(21 April)
New Mark Twain book hits store shelves
As a collection of 24 previously unpublished works by Samuel Clemens – aka Mark Twain – hits bookstore shelves, the general editor of the Bancroft Library's Mark Twain Papers & Project says Clemens is very much still worth reading.
(21 April)
Four professors become arts and sciences academy fellows
Four UC Berkeley professors are among the latest leaders in the arts, humanities and sciences named fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences today (Monday, April 20).
(20 April)
Al Gore to speak at groundbreaking of new Blum poverty studies building
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore will participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for the new home of the Richard C. Blum Center for Developing Economies at UC Berkeley, this Thursday, April 23. Gore shared the 2007 Noble Peace Prize for his efforts to bring worldwide understanding to the issue of global climate change.
(20 April)
An audio-visual tour of the UC Botanical Garden in its spring glory
The Berkeley garden contains 13,000 different kinds of plants, collected in the wild, and arranged by geographic region. Director Paul Licht gives us a guided tour.
(20 April)
UC Berkeley student with active TB being treated
University Health Services recently diagnosed a UC Berkeley student with active tuberculosis, and is getting in touch with close contacts of that student who may have been exposed to the TB bacteria.
(20 April)
Voluntary separation with severance pay is now an option
A newly approved program could offer an attractive option to staff considering retirement: a severance payment based on their job classification and length of service.
(16 April)
A truly distinguished lot
Five faculty members will be honored April 22 at this year's Distinguished Teaching Awards ceremony. Learn about them from our "Do-ers" profiles…
(16 April)
Meg Conkey receives Chancellor's Award
Honored for her commitment to increasing diversity not only on the campus but within her own academic field, Conkey will receive $30,000 to further her work.
(16 April)
Campus staffers honored for 'going beyond' daily responsibilities
At last week's annual recognition event, three staff teams and 22 individuals were honored for their exceptional hard work on Berkeley's behalf.
(16 April)
Breyer: Faith in reason, or faith in force?
According to Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who spoke at Berkeley last week, the rule of law is a "subtle thing" that relies on citizens to follow it, and on governments to enforce it.
(16 April)
Career Compass maps out its next stage
The campus's multifaceted workforce initiative enters its next phase this month, with innovations that will make it possible to compare specific jobs (and their pay levels) to the external market.
(16 April)
The story of X - evolution of a sex chromosome
The sex chromosomes -- XX in women and XY in men -- date from the earliest mammals, but how did they evolve to look like they do today? While the male-determining Y chromosome has received all the attention, a UC Berkeley biologist has now focused on the X, and finds that it tells a fascinating story of adaptation to a shrinking Y.
(16 April)
Campus helps graduating students cope with bleak job market
With the Class of 2009 understandably worried about employment prospects after graduation next month, UC Berkeley is helping seniors prepare for a job market riddled with layoffs and hiring freezes.
(15 April)
In face of global warming, can wilderness remain natural?
Preserving endangered species is going to get a whole lot harder with the advent of global warming, according to paleoecologist Anthony Barnosky, author of a new book called "Heatstroke: Nature in an Age of Global Warming." Climate change will force plants and animals to seek more hospitable habitats ouside preserves, or more likely, force humans to assist with their migration to preferred habitat.
(13 April)
UC Berkeley welcomes visitors April 18 for Cal Day 2009
The Year of Science, Charles Darwin's birthday, the Obama administration, and the economic crisis will be highlighted at this year's Cal Day, the annual open house at the University of California, Berkeley. On Saturday, April 18, at least 35,000 people again are expected to descend upon one of the world's most prestigious research universities, accessing museums, buildings and labs, many of which are typically closed to the public.
(09 April)
Obituary
Diane Ainsworth, a former Berkeleyan staff writer, died March 29 at her home in Altadena, Calif., of an apparent heart attack or aneurysm, according to her father, Donald Ainsworth. She was 56.
(09 April)
Veteran journalist says schools and hospitals, not missile attacks, can defeat al Qaeda
Only a handful of journalists operate in the border region between Afghanstan and Pakistan. One of them told a campus audience last week how the U.S. might better conduct its campaign against Islamic extremists there.
(09 April)
Berkeley moves toward climate neutrality
A new report outlines the steps Berkeley has taken over the past two years to attain its goal of cutting back its greenhouse-gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2014.
(09 April)
Cal Day: It's about the dazzle
The annual campus open house on April 18 will offer dance, music, theatre, lectures, hands-on activities, tours — a banquet of opportunities at which 35,000 are expected to nourish themselves.
(09 April)
American Cultures: Discussing differences, building bridges
"Tough conversations" about race and ethnicity occur almost daily at Berkeley, many of them in classes designed to meet a campus requirement dating to the late 1980s.
(09 April)
"Pursuit of Happyness" hero to address 2009 graduates
Chris Gardner, the self-made entrepreneur and philanthropist whose homelessness-to-riches story inspired the 2006 autobiography and feature film, "The Pursuit of Happyness," will deliver the keynote address this spring at the UC Berkeley's Commencement Convocation, an annual event honoring all graduating seniors. Gardner's commitment to speak at the Greek Theatre on Friday, May 22, is a triumph for the Senior Class Council of the Californians, the student group that plans Commencement Convocation.
(08 April)
Climate change to spur rapid shifts in fire hotspots, projects new analysis
Climate change will bring about major shifts in worldwide fire patterns, and those changes are coming fast, according to a new analysis led by UC Berkeley fire researchers.
(07 April)
Almost 13,000 high school students offered admission to UC Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley, announced today (Tuesday, April 7) that it has offered freshman admission for the 2009-2010 school year to almost 13,000 high school students, including several nationally-ranked debaters, a world-champion figure skater, and a set of triplets.
(07 April)
Experts weigh in on the battle for national healthcare reform
As the herculean and unpredictable political battle over national healthcare reform unfolds on Capitol Hill, a panel of experts explored "considerations for the Obama administration" at an April 1 campus event. Four experts in health policy, politics, law, and labor focused on needed changes, with emphasis on what is realistically achievable.
(06 April)
Optometry's 20/20 fundraising vision
Much of the more than $700,000 raised for graduate fellowships in optometry has come from the school's current and emeritus faculty.
(02 April)
It's My Job
Sandra Wasson, General Manager, KALX
(02 April)
JUDITH BUTLER: Thinking critically about war
A leading voice in the developing intellectual field of critical theory has received a $1.5 million Mellon Foundation award that she’ll use to create a “Thinking Critically About War” program at Berkeley.
(02 April)
Goldman School portal takes the worry out of 'experiments of concern'
How concerned should we be about breakthroughs in synthetic biology that might also be useful to bioterrorists? An online advice portal developed at Berkeley may help to minimize those risks.
(02 April)
Japanese architect Toyo Ito to visit campus
Acclaimed Japanese architect Toyo Ito will visit the UC Berkeley campus this month to discuss contemporary Japanese architecture and to attend an open house about the new Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, which he designed.
(02 April)
Chemist Graham Fleming named vice chancellor for research
Graham Fleming, the Melvin Calvin Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at UC Berkeley and former deputy director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has been appointed the campus's vice chancellor for research.
(01 April)
Sea mollusks taste their memories to build shells
Mollusk's add daily to the margins of their shells to produce intricate patterns prized by beachcombers. Though this seems complex, the process can actually be explained by a simple network of nerve cells that taste yesterday's shell layer to build today's, according to two UC Berkeley biophysicists. To prove it they have created a computer model that re-creates the patterns seen in seashells.
(01 April)
Public finance scholar George F. Break dead at 88
George F. Break, an emeritus professor of economics at UC Berkeley, and an authority on public finance, died of heart failure at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley on March 13. He was 88.
(30 March)
Campus police chief will step down in July
Victoria Harrison will step down as chief of police at UC Berkeley in July, concluding a 36-year law-enforcement career that began as a student CSO at UC Santa Barbara. Over her 19 years as UCPD chief, Harrison successfully saw the campus through wide-ranging adversity.
(26 March)
PACE hosts teacher pay conferences
New ways of compensating teachers in an era of ferocious budget shortfalls will be the topic of discussion for about 400 school superintendents, leaders of teacher organizations and school board members from across California at conferences next Monday and Tuesday (March 30-31) in Oakland and Los Angeles.
(26 March)
Campus leaders tell Town Hall they hope to minimize layoffs, but must close a 'huge funding gap'
Chancellor Robert Birgeneau and his vice chancellor for administration, Nathan Brostrom, discussed the campus's budget challenges and answered questions from some of the hundreds of UC Berkeley staff attending a town hall forum in Wheeler Auditorium on March 24.
(24 March)
Oakland police Sgt. Daniel Sakai killed in line of duty was a '96 Cal grad
Oakland police Sgt. Daniel Sakai, who was killed March 21 along with three fellow officers, was a '96 Cal grad and husband of a UC Berkeley police officer.
(23 March)
Illegal drug trade has left deep scars on Mexican culture, says renowned journalist
Mexico's thriving drug trade has produced not only a wave of increasingly shocking violence but a durable imprint on the culture, the renowned Latin American reporter Alma Guillermoprieto told a campus audience.
(23 March)
Political scientist Henry Brady new Goldman School dean
Political scientist Henry E. Brady, a leading scholar of public opinion, political movements, politics and public policy in the United States, Canada, Russia, Estonia and other countries, has been appointed dean of the University of California, Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy.
(20 March)
Judith Butler wins Mellon Award
Judith Butler, a UC Berkeley professor of comparative literature and rhetoric, is a winner of the 2008 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Distinguished Achievement Award.
(19 March)
Professor Emeritus Tor Brekke, renowned tunneling expert, dies at 75
Tor L. Brekke, a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of geological engineering and a world-renowned scholar in tunneling, died on Friday, March 6, at his home in Berkeley. He was 75.
(19 March)
U.S. economy spurs foreign students to return home, study says
Most foreign nationals studying at universities in the United States say American higher education is the best in the world, but few plan to remain in this country after graduation to pursue their careers, according to a new study co-authored by a UC Berkeley, authority on technology and the global economy.
(19 March)
A poet views the oak-grove standoff
Professor English Robert Hass, in his Faculty Research Lecture last week, said his subject would be “thinking about nature.” His thesis? That “we don’t do it very well.”
(19 March)
Two lecturers, three lectures, and a focus on genes
Berkeley’s Michael Levine considers “The Invisible Genome,” while Stanford’s Lucy Shapiro speaks about global health from a microbiologist’s perspective.
(19 March)
Quench your thirst the Berkeley way
Drinking fountains for the 21st century: just one way Berkeley is overcoming its bottled-water habit.
(19 March)
A new garden grows at Berkeley
A group of students has been tilling and planting a conspicuous space in the heart of campus . . . to grow their own food, and to show others how it’s done.
(19 March)
Staff invited to March 24 town hall on the budget
Staff and non-senate academic employees are invited to a town-hall meeting to discuss Berkeley's budget situation and plans to address it.
(19 March)
Mice with disabled gene that helps turn carbs into fat stay lean despite feasting on high-carb diet
UC Berkeley researchers have identified a gene that plays a critical regulatory role in the process of converting dietary carbohydrate to fat. Mice that had this gene disabled had lower levels of body fat than their normal counterparts, despite being fed the equivalent of an all-you-can-eat pasta buffet.
(19 March)
Scientists cable seafloor seismometer into state earthquake network
A 32-mile underwater cable now links the state's only seafloor seismic station with the UC Berkeley's seismic network, merging real-time data from west of the San Andreas fault with data from 31 other land stations sprinkled around Northern and Central California.
(18 March)
New Mark Twain book offers fresh insights into author
Fans of another famous author, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, best known by his pen name, Mark Twain, will likely be lining up for "Who is Mark Twain?" – an intriguing collection of two dozen previously unpublished sketches and essays by Twain that will be in bookstores on April 21. The materials come from The Mark Twain Papers and Project at UC Berkeley.
(17 March)
Public Health Heroes to be honored at March 18 ceremony
A global health humanitarian, a health care system efficiency expert, a nursing advocate and an information technology non-profit group each will receive a 13th annual Public Health Heroes Award from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health on Wednesday, March 18.
(17 March)
From the Chancellor's Office: Followup on the budget and senior administrators' actions
With staff and faculty forums coming up to address actions UC Berkeley is taking to address the budget crisis, the chancellor's office also discusses questions about whether senior campus administrators should take cuts in their salaries.
(16 March)
How are Berkeley students faring in hard times?
Many UC Berkeley students currently find themselves looking for cheaper housing, worrying about debt, or (especially if they're about to graduate) stressing about their job prospects. Eleven undergrads discuss how the economic downturn is affecting them. (With audio.)
(16 March)
Leona Shapiro, leading nutritionist and child obesity expert, dies at 89
Leona R. Shapiro, a leading public health nutritionist who played major roles in pioneering research on child obesity, has died at the age of 89.
(12 March)
One week, four key lectures
Pearls will spill from podiums all over campus this coming week, starting when our own Robert Hass, professor of English, delivers the first of this year's two Faculty Research Lectures on Thursday, March 12. Coming up next week: two Hitchcock Lectures from prominent University of Chicago biologist Neil Shubin, and an intriguing talk about the future of the Republican Party by the Iowa GOP congressman who made headlines when he endorsed Barack Obama.
(11 March)
Staffer a winner in campus essay contest
Linda Finch Hicks’ essay about an aspect of her childhood in Tokyo was submitted on the theme of “Rock, paper, scissors” in this year’s Fabilli-Hoffer Essay Contest . . . the only such campus competition open to staff and faculty.
(11 March)
Newspaper on a mission
Daily Cal editor Bryan Thomas is working hard to keep the campus’s student paper alive in the present while positioning it for the future.
(11 March)
Who teaches the teachers? Spelling out the ABCs of pedagogy
While technology has revolutionized the classroom, the past decade has seen a wave of new research on how people learn. Barbara Gross Davis rewrote her 1993 Tools for Teaching to address both these developments.
(11 March)
Long, sexy tails not a drag on male hummingbirds
At last two dozen hummingbirds, not to mention hundreds of other birds, sport long tails to attract females. But don't these tails get in the way? A new UC Berkeley study shows that long-tailed male hummingbirds lose little in the way of energy to draw the attention of admiring females.
(11 March)
It's My Job
Mei Griebenow, Graduate Student Affairs Officer, Integrative Biology and Endocrinology
(11 March)
Long-term ozone exposure linked to higher risk of death, finds nationwide study
A study analyzing two decades of data for 450,000 people across the nation found that long-term exposure to ground-level ozone, a major component of smog, raises the risk of death from respiratory ailments. It is the first major study connecting chronic exposure to ozone to elevated mortality rates, and could be used in future evaluations of federal standards for acceptable ozone levels.
(11 March)
Berkeley student body lines up and around and around to see the Dalai Lama
The line, the likes of which had been seen only once before, formed early for tickets to see the Dalai Lama at his April 25 appearance here at UC Berkeley.
(11 March)
Law schools at UC Berkeley and UCLA launch new environment blog
The law schools at UC Berkeley and UCLA today announced the launch of a new blog, Legal Planet, which provides insight and analysis on climate change, energy, and environmental law and policy. This collaborative blog draws upon the individual research strengths and vast expertise of the law schools' think tanks and legal scholars.
(11 March)
Chancellor, campus leaders brief the media on Berkeley budget issues
Campus leaders spoke to the media on March 10 about the impacts of the state and global economic crisis on UC Berkeley and steps being taken to respond to the $60-70 million campus budget shortfall projected for 2009-10. Reporters from some 20 media outlets dialed in to the conference call.
(11 March)
Inexpensive flooring change improves child health in urban slums
Replacing dirt floors with cement in the homes of urban slums makes for more comfortable living – but more importantly, it significantly improves children’s health by interrupting the transmission of intestinal parasites and boosts their cognitive abilities, according to a new study conducted forUC Berkeley’s Center of Evaluation for Global Action.
(10 March)
Fighting global poverty is fastest-growing minor
Students majoring in everything from engineering to English are signing up at the UC Berkeley, for the campus's fastest-growing minor - "Global Poverty & Practice" - a veritable magnet for a "Yes We Can" generation eager to get out of the virtual world and into the real one.
(10 March)
New options for employees aim to reduce workforce and workload
Vice Chancellor for Administration Nathan Brostrom says some layoffs are likely, but campus planning focuses on ways to shrink the workforce through voluntary reductions and attrition. New ideas are also emerging to reduce workload and save money.
(09 March)
Birgeneau, Breslauer lay out budget situation, options to address shortfalls
With many challenges, much planning, and new programs, UC Berkeley intends to emerge from the recession with a stronger foundation for the future.
(08 March)
Musical video, 'The Nano Song,' a megahit on YouTube
When the American Chemical Society put out the call for short videos explaining nanotechnology to the non-scientist, a group from Berkeley pulled together an orchestrated score, a classically trained singer, and a gaggle of dancing puppets. Public response to their contest entry has been anything but small — with attention from science, technology, and social-networking websites, and nearly 300,000 hits on YouTube.
(06 March)
Assembling cells into artificial 3-D tissues, like tiny glands
UC Berkeley chemists have developed a way to assemble cells into 3-D microtissues and even tiny glands, much like snapping together toy building blocks to make a simple machine. Such microtissues could serve as niches for studying how cells work together, or be assembled into larger structures as artificial, implantable organs.
(04 March)
Stiles Hall: a 'living room' with a committed fan club
It's a student-services center, a cauldron of social causes, an incubator for campus and community initiatives, and an important contributor to Berkeley's diversity.
(04 March)
In a Galaxy not all that far away...
An art collection that started with 43 donated pieces in 1963 has grown to more than 15,000 pieces spanning the 14th to 21st centuries. This ambitious exhibit hits the highlights
(04 March)
Linking fast food proximity to obesity
Location is everything – and that goes for fast food as well as for real estate.California's nearly 3 million 9th graders are at least 5.2 percent more likely to be obese if there is a fast food restaurant within a tenth of a mile of their school, according to a new study by University of California, Berkeley, economists.
(04 March)
Kepler in the classroom
Just as NASA's Kepler mission and its search for habitable planets has grabbed the public's attention, Alan Gould hopes that the mission will galvanize student interest in science as well. Since 2001, Gould, coordinator of the Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) space science programs, has been gearing up for launch as Kepler's co-investigator for education and public outreach.
(03 March)
With Mar. 6 Kepler launch, work begins for Berkeley astronomers
NASA's Kepler mission, scheduled for launch on March 6, will put a telescope in orbit to scan 100,000 stars for evidence of Earth-size planets. While many hold out hope of finding dozens of planets with conditions ripe for life, it also will show us how common Earth-like planets are in the galaxy, according to Kepler team members Gibor Basri and Geoff Marcy.
(03 March)
Paint, video, Etch A Sketch — this artist's media are varied and many
Grad-student artist Miguel Arzabe explores his complicated appreciation of nature using a wide assortment of media — paint, video, laser etchings, online social-networking tools, public enactments and installations, and the Etch A Sketch.
(03 March)
Campus dedicates new state-of-the-art CITRIS research headquarters
More than 600 people turned out for the festive dedication of Sutardja Dai Hall — a 141,000-square foot, state-of-the-art building where the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) and the Dado and Maria Banatao Institute@CITRIS Berkeley will be headquartered.
(02 March)
Dedication of new CITRIS headquarters marks new stage of innovation to help fuel economic growth
The newest research facility on the UC Berkeley campus, to be dedicated today (Friday, Feb. 27), embodies the innovation and entrepreneurship needed to fuel economic growth and arrives at a time when the state and nation seek relief from the recession. At a ceremony this afternoon, Sutardja Dai Hall will become the new home of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) and the Banatao Institute@CITRIS Berkeley.
(27 February)
Speaker series on California climate change challenges
A new UC Berkeley speaker series will explore the state's landmark climate control legislation's critical connections to sustainable development and land-use planning. The series, "Growing Sustainability in a Low-Carbon World," is sponsored by UC Berkeley's Institute for Urban and Regional Development (IURD) and starts on March 17. It will bring together local, regional and state decision-makers, scholars, researchers, environmentalists, non-governmental organizations and other public sector stakeholders.
(26 February)
A painful journey through the past
Tracing her family's Holocaust story, a historian learns that facts can count for as much as the big picture
(26 February)
School of Public Health to honor its 'heroes'
On March 18, Berkeley's School of Public Health will host its annual recognition event for dedicated protectors of the public's health
(26 February)
'Pockets of intimacy' for undergrads
"Teaching freshmen taught me," says a faculty member who has organized more than 20 seminars for lower-division students since 1997. He's part of a program that offers 'meaningful intellectual contact' to the campus's youngest scholars.
(26 February)
Berkeley Law dean charged with 'fixing the educational pipeline'
Berkeley Law dean Chris Edley — who taught Barack Obama at Harvard and worked in Bill Clinton's White House — mixes Beltway savvy and legal acumen in his role as special adviser to UC President Mark Yudof.
(26 February)
Why California should consider Australia's "Prepare, stay and defend" wildfire policy
Even as debate rages over the safety of the Australian policy of encouraging willing and able residents to stay and defend their property from wildfires, fire researchers at UC Berkeley and in Australia say that the strategy is worth consideration in California and other regions in the United States.
(26 February)
Student photos of foreclosed home win Lange Fellowship
Photographs of possessions left in a Vallejo, Calif., home following foreclosure, an all-too-familiar contemporary event across the nation, have earned journalism student Rhyen Coombs the University of California, Berkeley's 2009 Dorothea Lange Fellowship.
(25 February)
Economist James L. Pierce, authority on banking and monetary policy, dies
James L. Pierce, a professor emeritus of economics at UC Berkeley and an authority on banking and monetary policy, died of lung disease in Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley, Calif., on Feb. 15. He was 71.
(25 February)
Two Berkeley seniors earn prestigious Armed Forces med-school scholarships
A pair of students in Berkeley's Navy ROTC program — along with just 10 other students nationwide — have been chosen to receive a military scholarship that provides tuition and living expenses for the medical school of one's choice, in return for service as a U.S. military doctor upon completion of one's M.D. (With audio)
(25 February)
Energy symposium weighs perils and opportunities on climate change
While the average Californian now uses about 40 percent less electricity than the average American, we cannot rest on our laurels, Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board, said Monday at the third annual UC Berkeley Energy Symposium. To meet the challenges of global warming — and the state's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 — each Californian needs to cut his or her carbon footprint from the current average, 14 tons per year, to 10, she said.
(24 February)
Babies born in pollen and mold seasons have greater odds of developing asthma symptoms
A new UC Berkeley study suggests that newborns whose first few months of life coincide with high pollen and mold season are at increased risk of developing early symptoms of asthma.
(23 February)
Paul Richards, George Smoot honored for astrophysics research and teaching
Two UC Berkeley physicists – Paul Richards and Nobel Laureate George Smoot – have been honored for their contributions to astrophysics research and teaching.
(23 February)
The pluses and (mostly) minuses of biofuels
Speakers at last week’s AAAS meeting presented abundant evidence that tropical rainforest destruction has accelerated in recent years, at least in part because of the worldwide push to produce more biofuels.
(20 February)
The sun is a star when it comes to sustainable energy
At a national scientific meeting last week where biofuels – principally ethanol – were uniformly trashed as an environmental train wreck, one bright, carbon-free light gleamed in our energy future: the sun.
(20 February)
New method to assemble nanoscale elements could transform data storage industry
Scientists at UC Berkeley and UMass Amherst have developed a new, easy-to-implement technique in which nanoscale elements precisely assemble themselves over large surfaces, potentially opening doors to dramatic improvements in the data storage capacity of electronic media.
(19 February)
News Briefs
(18 February)
Sexual-harassment training for supervisors
The campus offers supervisors several options for completing the mandatory two-hour training in sexual-harassment prevention that by law must be conducted every two years.
(18 February)
Applicants sought for 2009-2010 grants from Chancellor's Community Partnership Fund
Non-profit and neighborhood groups based in the city of Berkeley may now apply for grants from the Chancellor's Community Partnership Fund for 2009-2010. Funds will go to select groups who partner with the campus to improve the quality of life for Berkeley residents.
(18 February)
Sloan fellowships awarded to seven young faculty members
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation announced today (Tuesday, Feb. 17) 118 new fellowship awards to early-career scientists, seven of them young faculty researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.
(17 February)
Cheaper materials could be key to low-cost solar cells
Unconventional solar cell materials that are as abundant but much less costly than silicon and other semiconductors in use today could substantially reduce the cost of solar photovoltaics, according to a new UC Berkeley and LBNL study.
(17 February)
"Evolved" virus may improve gene therapy for cystic fibrosis
Chemical engineer David Schaffer has developed a technique to force viruses to evolve as better gene therapy carriers, and tests at the University of Iowa show that the virus can completely cure cystic fibrosis in tissue culture.
(17 February)
John Whinnery, University Professor Emeritus and distinguished innovator in electromagnetism, dies at 92
John Roy Whinnery, former UC Berkeley dean of engineering, University Professor Emeritus, and a distinguished innovator in the field of electromagnetism, died Feb. 1 at his home in Walnut Creek, Calif. He was 92.
(13 February)
Obama's race not a factor in election, say economists
Reinforcing the notion of a "post racial" nation, two University of California, Berkeley, researchers' analysis of voting patterns indicates that voters were not motivated by race in the 2008 U.S. election of Barack Obama, the country's first black president.
(12 February)
Hinshaw on environment, genes, and risk
Stephen Hinshaw, in his new book about increasing mental-health problems among today's adolescent girls, The Triple Bind, points to interactions between "vulnerable" genes and environmental pressures as a key to that dilemma.
(12 February)
What's cooking at the Library?
A tour through the most appetizing stacks on campus — the culinary collection in Berkeley's Koshland bioscience library.
(12 February)
The march to war, from Bonaparte to Bush
This year's Jefferson Lecturer, Stanford's David Kennedy, talked about how today's all-volunteer U.S. military not only makes it easier for a president to go to war, but jeopardizes crucial aspects of American democracy.
(12 February)
Regents act on UCRP, eligibility
(12 February)
Laurels
Blue ribbons, gold stars, and honorary mentions . . .
(12 February)
News Briefs
Shorter items of interest to the campus community.
(12 February)
Blue sky ideas for Obama sought by new campus website
The campus that's been called "White House West" now has a new website, "Blue Sky: New Ideas for the Obama Administration." Launched by Berkeley law professor and Academic Senate Vice Chair Christopher Kutz, the site features -- and is seeking -- short essays by Cal faculty with fresh federal policy ideas, and is drawing raves both on and off campus.
(10 February)
MBA competition to address D.C. schools performance
Ten teams from top business schools around the country will set their sights on improving the public school system in the nation's capitol in the third annual Education Leadership Case Competition at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business on Feb. 20-21.
(10 February)
Pressure to be a supergirl is causing teen mental health crisis
Expectations for teenage girls to be brainy, athletic, nurturing, and look like supermodels - while juggling homework, social networking and resumé-padding activities - are fueling a generational mental health crisis, according to a new book by UC Berkeley psychologist Stephen Hinshaw.
(10 February)
Scientists document salamander decline in Central America
Amphibian populations have dropped worldwide, but most studies have detailed the impact on frogs only. A new UC Berkeley study now shows that salamander populations are plummeting in Central America, primarily in the cloud forests.
(09 February)
Plans to restore historic campus building and provide new Blum Center home move forward
Plans to renovate, expand and seismically upgrade the campus’s historic Naval Architecture Building took a major step forward last week, following UC Regents review of the plan. The building will create a home for the Richard C. Blum Center for Developing Economies and provide space for engineering faculty along with work space for students.
(09 February)
It's My Job
A regular feature showcasing staff members whose work is essential to the smooth functioning of the campus.
(05 February)
Survey Research Center marks half-century of data-based insight
Not just accumulating and disseminating reams of data, but interpreting it to help shape public policy, is the mission of Berkeley's Survey Research Center.
(05 February)
Bringing it all back home
It took a quarter century for Wilda White to land the social-justice job of her dreams: helping to train the next generation of public-interest lawyers.
(05 February)
Hunting for snark
David Letterman is, but Jay Leno isn't. Some might offer 'funny' as the missing word — but for a leading critic, the issue is sophistication and subtlety, not humor.
(05 February)
News Briefs
Shorter items of interest to the campus community.
(05 February)
A 'hot new journal' turns 25
Growing out of, and informing, the New Historicist movement, the journal Representations celebrates a quarter century of interdisciplinary work.
(05 February)
Predicting diversity within hotspots to enhance conservation
Hotspots of threatened biodiversity comprise a huge chunk of the Earth and present a daunting challenge to governments and scientists who want to study them, let alone protect them from development. A new strategy developed by UC Berkeley researchers can help identify the hotspots within hotspots critical for study and conservation.
(05 February)
KQED-TV to air doc on late revolutionary biologist Allan Wilson
Local station KQED-TV will air a documentary on the late Allan Wilson, a UC Berkeley biochemist who revolutionized the study of evolution, on Sunday, Feb. 8, at noon. Wilson, who died in 1991 from leukemia, showed that comparing protein and gene sequences of species can provide unexpected new information on evolutionary relationships.
(04 February)
Research explores policy research and impressions of bias
A University of California, Berkeley, study shows that when people learn about research findings that conflict with their own beliefs about politically controversial topics, they not only doubt the conclusions, but also question the researcher's objectivity.The study by Robert MacCoun, a UC Berkeley professor of public policy, law and psychology, will be published in the February issue of the journal Political Psychology and already is online.
(03 February)
Cal Debate's hard-working, high-powered verbal gladiators
Cal Debate, the campus's intercollegiate policy debate team, has competed at the upper echelon of the intellectual sport for close to a decade. With a second-place win at the recent Dartmouth Round Robin, the team has its sites set high for the remainder of the 2008-09 season.
(29 January)
Fixing our climate — no handwringing required
It would require the same number of workers to install rooftop solar panels on every house in the U.S., helping to mitigate the effects of global warming, as we currently have military personnel deployed in Iraq. That's just one eye-opening stat from a new book, co-authored by Berkeley faculty expert John Harte, on practical ways to solve the climate crisis.
(28 January)
Library @ Berkeley
A roundup of spring-semester exhibits and events; a look at new electronic resources; schedules of training workshops, and more useful news for the campus community.
(28 January)
Center for Japanese Studies makes Clint Eastwood's day
Actor/director accepts first annual 'New Vision' award
(28 January)
In case of emergency, get a warning
By phone, text message, or e-mail, WarnMe will have vital information for you
(28 January)
At Haas Pavilion, a standing 'O' — as in 'Obama'
When Oregon State basketball coach Craig Robinson took his team onto the court against the Bears last week, he received a spontaneous ovation from the usually partisan crowd. Just good manners, or something a bit more stirring?
(28 January)
Improved method for comparing genomes as well as written text
When comparing the genomes of different organisms to create an evolutionary tree, scientists have been restricted to using a few dozen genes common to all of them. No longer. A UC Berkeley chemist and his colleagues have discovered a way to compare entire genomes across a range of sizes. The method also works for comparing written texts.
(28 January)
Physicist Sumner Davis has died at 84
Physicist Sumner P. Davis, a beloved teacher, classical optical spectroscopist and avid glider pilot, died Dec. 31, 2008, in El Cerrito after a brief illness. He was 84.
(23 January)
Coming attractions for spring 2009: Your intellectual stimulus package
In the spirit of the season's renewed sense of optimism and purpose, this semester's lineup of of events will enlighten and inspire.
(23 January)
Record number of students apply to UC Berkeley, but growth in applications slows
More than 48,600 high school students have applied for admission to UC Berkeley's fall 2009 freshman class, reflecting another record year for the number of applications filed, campus officials announced today (Friday, Jan. 23). However, administrators at Berkeley and across the University of California system noted a slowdown in the volume of applications submitted for this fall when compared to fall 2008 applications.
(23 January)
The state of Berkeley's budget
A Q&A with two top campus decisionmakers yields insights into how Cal will deal with the most difficult fiscal environment in decades.
(22 January)
Picture-perfect preservation
The Bancroft's Pictorial Collection is a repository for the visual resources on which so much historical research depends
(22 January)
The Mark Twain Project stretches out
New digs mean not just more room for researchers, but better conditions for archival storage
(22 January)
Glued to the ObamaTron
Thousands crowded Sproul Plaza on Jan. 20 to watch the historic inauguration of President Barack Obama on TV.
(22 January)
Somorjai named a Miller Senior Fellow
Veteran chemistry professor Gabor Somorjai is the second luminary selected for this prestigious fellowship.
(21 January)
Academic Senate honors Princeton's Shapiro
The Clark Kerr Medal will be bestowed on thinker, writer, and higher-ed leader Harold Shapiro.
(21 January)
Retrofitted and revamped, Bancroft reopens to regular hours
The Bancroft Library is back - and it's better than ever. One of the University of California, Berkeley's premier special collections libraries, it reopened this week with regular hours following a three-year, $64 million seismic retrofit and upgrade.
(21 January)
Japanese Studies Center honors Eastwood for "Letters from Iwo Jima"
Actor and director Clint Eastwood will receive the first-ever Berkeley Japan New Vision Award from the University of California, Berkeley's Center for Japanese Studies on Friday, Jan. 23, for his role in creating a new vision of Japan - particularly during World War II - through his award-winning film, "Letters from Iwo Jima."
(21 January)
Summer peak, winter low temperatures now arrive 2 days earlier
Biologists have long noticed that global warming is causing springtime flowering and ice melting to arrive earlier, but a new study shows that the seasonal cycle has also shifted, causing summer's peak temperature and winter's lowest temperature to arrive nearly two days earlier than wastrue 50 years ago.
(21 January)
Throngs at Berkeley witness dawn of the Obama era
The mood was one of elation on UC Berkeley's Sproul Plaza as one of the site's largest crowds to date witnessed the inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama on big-screen TV.
(20 January)
Matthew Tirrell, UC Santa Barbara engineering dean, to join UC Berkeley as new chair of bioengineering
In a move that signals a major new direction for bioengineering research and teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, Matthew Tirrell, dean of the College of Engineering at UC Santa Barbara, has been appointed chair of the Department of Bioengineering in the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley. Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau announced the appointment today (Thursday, Jan. 15), following a nationwide search.
(15 January)
Mathematician John Stallings died last year at 73
John Robert Stallings Jr., a professor emeritus of mathematics at UC Berkeley who made seminal contributions to geometric group theory and topology, died Nov. 24, 2008, from prostate cancer at his home in Berkeley. He was 73.
(12 January)
Where future doctors learn the rudiments of aging from elders
In a course on aging at Berkeley, UC premed and medical students collaborate with seniors to present literary works on growing old — and to become more sensitive health practitioners down the line. (With video.)
(12 January)
Mice without key enzyme eat without becoming obese, new study finds
UC Berkeley researchers discover that a key enzyme in fat tissue plays a major role in regulating fat metabolism. Mice that have had this enzyme disabled remained lean despite eating a high-fat diet and losing a hormone that suppresses appetite.
(12 January)
Campus to host Inauguration Day event
It might not rival Washington, D.C.’s Inauguration Day extravaganza, but there will be a star-spangled public viewing of the historic swearing-in of Barack Obama as the 44th U.S. president via a big-screen Jumbotron TV in UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza.
(08 January)
Archaeological study complete at athletic facility construction site
No evidence of prehistoric Native American artifacts or human remains were found beneath the construction site for UC Berkeley's new Student Athlete High Performance Center, according to a report on the geoarchaeological dig commissioned by the campus.
(08 January)
'Understanding Science' Website clarifies what science is, is not
How does science work? Though scientists are often hard put to explain it, a new Web site called Understanding Science helps students, teachers and the public decide what is and is not science, and understand the messy but fun adventure of science.
(08 January)
Educator Bill Sonnenschein dies in Madagascar
William "Bill" Sonnenschein, a senior lecturer on leadership and communication at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, passed away suddenly on December 29 in Madagascar. He was 59.
(07 January)
Jan. 11 is local kickoff of 'Year of Science 2009'
UC Berkeley and more than 500 other institutions and organizations around the country have joined together to make this the "Year of Science 2009," replete with science cafes, festivals, talks and lectures, and an emphasis on what science means to us all.
(07 January)
Weatherproofing the campus against financial storms
In his new role as a campus vice chancellor, Frank Yeary advises University Hall administrators on strategic financial planning. The former international investment banker, in this Q&A, discusses financial challenges facing UC and the Berkeley campus.
(05 January)
Studies link maternity leave with fewer C-sections and increased breastfeeding
Two new studies led by UC Berkeley researchers find that women who take a break from work in the last month of pregnancy are less likely to have cesarean deliveries, and that new mothers are more likely to establish breastfeeding the longer they delay their return to work. The studies take a rare look into whether taking maternity leave can affect health outcomes in the United States.
(05 January)