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Friday, 4 September 2009
1. Loan Repayment Options Making Law School More Affordable
Daily Journal (*requires registration)
September 04, 2009
For California law students pondering what to do with their futures, lower-paying government and public interest jobs are suddenly one of the most financially-sound options on the market.
UC BERKELEY SCHOOL OF LAW announced changes to its loan repayment assistance program Thursday that will allow more graduates to receive more funding, by piggybacking the program onto a federal loan repayment plan the Obama administration put into effect in July.
The changing economic climate has caused law schools around the state to improve their loan repayment programs, which give students an avenue to pursue lower-paying jobs they are passionate about, even in the face of debt often rising upwards of $100,000....
The new government program, part of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, allows graduates in qualifying fields to pay back federal loans in proportion to their income. Monthly payments are as low as $47 for those who earn less than $20,000 a year, up to $672 a month for those with salaries of $70,000. After 10 years of enrollment in the program, the government will forgive any remaining loans.... Full Story
2. Microbe Metabolism Harnessed to Produce Fuel
Live Science
August 28, 2009
This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation.
Microbes such as the yeast we commonly use in baking bread and fermenting beer are now being engineered to produce the next generation of biofuels. JAY KEASLING, A PROFESSOR OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, is leading a team of scientists in an effort to manipulate the chemistry within bacteria so they will produce fuel from sugar.
At the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), one of three research centers set up by the Department of Energy for the research and development of biofuels, Keasling is utilizing synthetic biology techniques involving chemistry, genetic engineering and molecular biology. Foundational work being done at the Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center (SynBERC), where Keasling is director, will underpin the research at JBEI. SynBERC is funded by the National Science Foundation.
"For the most part, genetic engineering is done by taking components, like genes, from nature and using them," Keasling said. "But nature designed them for a different purpose, so the point of synthetic biology is to have well-characterized components that we can easily assemble to engineer biology and do genetic manipulation in a much easier way."... Full Story
3. Assessment Denied: the National Research Council's Sins of Omission
Chronicle of Higher Education (*requires registration)
August 31, 2009
For almost three years, research universities and doctoral programs across the country have pulled out all the stops to participate in the Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States, conducted by the National Research Council of the National Academies. With its much-delayed release due this fall, the report affects the reputations and relative standings of universities across the nation, and stands as the authoritative source on the quality of American doctoral programs.
The NRC has apparently gone to great lengths in its effort to assess doctoral programs. It surveyed institutions, programs, faculty members, and doctoral students on a wide range of issues, including faculty diversity, productivity, research focus, educational background, and advising load; doctoral-student admission criteria, financial support, health benefits, completion rates by race/ethnicity and gender, time to degree, and training and mentoring received; and faculty perceptions of the quality of doctoral programs at other universities in their disciplinary fields. The council even included questions regarding postdoctoral positions and the way they are defined in local settings....
For such thoroughness and high rates of participation among subject institutions and programs, the National Research Council is to be lauded, particularly as it offers an alternative to the oft-criticized U.S. News & World Report "Best Graduate Schools" rankings.
But something is missing from this influential report: a diverse range of fields that accurately reflects the breadth of academe and its research-doctorate recipients. Our analysis of Ph.D. fields that will be included and excluded from the NRC's assessment, viewed in light of demographic patterns of recent degrees granted, suggests that the selection deemed worthy of assessment may suffer from a form of implicit bias.... Full Story
4. UC workers deliver no-confidence vote to Yudof
San Francisco Chronicle
September 4, 2009
UC President Mark Yudof says he can't use non-state money...
The top brass at the University of California say it's "nothing more than a publicity stunt" and a "tantrum" - and they might be right.
But when labor unions representing about 70,000 UC employees said Thursday that 96 percent of staff and faculty at all 10 campuses had signed a vote of no confidence in UC PRESIDENT MARK YUDOF, the message was clear: Employees at the public university are angry.
"We do not have confidence in the current leadership," said TANYA SMITH, AN EDITOR AT UC BERKELEY AND A SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE UNIVERSITY PROFESSIONAL & TECHNICAL EMPLOYEES, one of a half-dozen UC labor unions that organized the no-confidence vote. "The decisions they've made have been very detrimental to UC."
The vote of no confidence is just one sign that employees are unhappy. Faculty members from every campus except UCSF are also calling for a systemwide walkout on Sept. 24, when most of UC returns to school, to draw attention to California's disinvestment in public universities....
But many employees remain skeptical. And when the governing Board of Regents approved raises for some campus administrators on the same day in July when they approved a furlough plan, their blood boiled.... Full Story
5. Can folic acid boost male fertility?
San Francisco Examiner
September 4, 2009
Lots of women already know that getting plenty of folic acid, one of the B vitamins, can reduce the risk of certain birth defects that occur early in pregnancy. New evidence now suggests that folic acid deficiency reduces fertility in men and may damage the DNA carried by sperm.
After showing that a folate-restricted diet made sperm counts plunge 90 percent in rats, RESEARCHER BRUCE AMES AND HIS COLLEAGUES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY showed that folic acid deficiency has a similar effect in men....
6. Evaluating the Stimulus Package
KQED Radio
September 4, 2009
This week Vice President Joe Biden touted the economic stimulus package, saying that the $787 billion stimulus has created or saved 150,000 jobs in its first 200 days. But there's disagreement as to whether the package deserves credit for what may be the start of an economic rebound.
Audio currently not available for this program.
Guests:
* BRAD DELONG, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AT UC BERKELEY
* John B. Taylor, professor of economics at Stanford University, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and author of "Getting Off Track: How Government Actions and Interventions Caused, Prolonged, and Worsened the Financial Crisis"
* Michael Grabell, reporter for ProPublica
[Similar stories also ran in the New York Times] Full Story
7. It Just Ain’t Labor’s Day
Money Watch
September 4, 2009
So the headline number on unemployment is 9.7%. That alone might be enough to send people into the last weekend of summer with the sense that the economy has a long winter ahead of it. But ugly as that 0.3 percentage point jump in the closely watched number is, a look behind it shows the reality is uglier still.
* The decline in jobs wasn’t as bad as the leap in the unemployment rate suggested-but that’s not good news. Uncle Sam’s payroll survey showed 216,000 jobs lost, which UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY’S BRAD DELONG thinks wasn’t too terrible. There are two problems with this, however....
* Hours worked went down ECONOMIST CLAIR BROWN OF U.C. BERKELEY points out that today’s unemployment numbers are artificially boosted by the number of people working reduced hours and sharing jobs-a recession-fighting tactic that American companies haven’t used for decades. You can see the effect in the sharp drop in hours worked, particularly in the goods-producing sector, where they’ve gone from over 40 hours a week a year ago to just over 33 in August. When the recovery eventually comes, employers can just boost people’s hours at first; they don’t have to re-hire. Full Story
8. 1.3 million to lose unemployment benefits by year's end
USA Today
September 4, 2009
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jobless since January, Donald Money has already moved in with his elderly parents, stopped going to the movies and started using less of his prescription medication so it will last longer.
This month, something else will fall by the wayside: Money's unemployment check. The 43-year-old former printing press operator is among the more than 1.3 million Americans whose unemployment insurance benefits will run out by the end of the year, placing extra strain on an economy that is just starting to recover from the worst downturn in a generation.
These are the most unfortunate of America's 14.5 million jobless: the ones whose benefits are drying up -- in some cases after a record 18 months of government support.
With savings depleted and job opportunities scarce, people who've run out of benefits are living with relatives and borrowing cash from friends. They are even skipping meals. Through it all, they are trying to stay positive through exercise and prayer....
Unemployment benefits play an important part in stabilizing the economy because recipients tend to spend their weekly checks, rather than saving the money or paying down debt.
"It's definitely a valuable component of economic stimulus," said ALAN AUERBACH, A PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AT UC BERKELEY.... Full Story
9. Why Didn't Jaycee Lee Dugard Escape, Reach Out, Scream for Help?
CBS News
September 4, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) In the 18 years that Jaycee Lee Dugard allegedly spent captive in Phillip Garrido's backyard, shielded from the world by trees, tarps, tents and tool sheds, she no doubt had a chance or two to tell someone the truth....
Why didn't Jaycee Dugard escape, reach out, scream for help?
The question arises every time an abductee is found with their abductors after years of hiding. But the question, and its implicit criticism of the survivors, is unfair, say experts on kidnapping....
"There was a reason she did not say anything," Daughdrill said.
One explanation given to victims who stay with their captors is that they have Stockholm syndrome, where the victim comes to identify with and bond with their kidnappers. The term was coined in 1973 to describe several bank employees held captive for six days in Sweden. At the end of their ordeal, the hostages resisted rescue, refused to testify against their captors and helped raise money for their legal defense.
"In my experience with kidnapping victims," Behrman-Lippert said, "I know they don't always identify with the abductor. They figure out what kind of behaviors they need to survive."...
PAULA FASS, A PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY and author of "Kidnapped: Child Abduction in America," says another theory is that he told her he and his wife were her family and that she had no one else.... Full Story
10. 5 College Majors On the Rise
Chronicle of Higher Education (*requires registration)
August 31, 2009
For the most part, tomorrow's bachelor's-level majors will look very much like those offered by colleges today. But in interviews with The Chronicle, academic experts, business analysts, and economic forecasters helped identify five emerging areas of study.
Some new majors arise in response to student demand, while other degree programs are meant to provide an industry with workers. Many cross disciplinary boundaries, such as combining environmental science with agriculture or bringing together chemists and computer scientists.
"Most of the interesting work today is done at the interstices of disciplines," says ROBERT B. REICH, A FORMER U.S. LABOR SECRETARY AND A PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC POLICY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY.... Full Story
11. New Blog Alert: Cyberlawcases.com
American Lawyer
September 4, 2009
As reporter-blogger types who spend a fair amount of time trolling cyber space for legal news, we feel it is our duty to let our readers know when we come across a litigation-oriented web site that you would enjoy. We think cyberlawcases.com--a new blog by two PROFESSORS AT UC BERKELEY, BRIAN CARVER AND JASON SCHULTZ, that seeks to cover, according to the site, "the most important pending legal cases in 'cyberlaw' broadly construed"--fits the bill. (Aaron Perzanowski of Wayne State University Law School and Joseph Gratz, partner at Durie Tangri in San Francisco, will also contribute.) We particularly like that they present cases in a top 10 list, which readers can view several ways (we like this presentation). Debuting at number one on the "most important" top 10: the Google Book Search settlement. On Friday, we caught up with Carver to chat about his new creation.
LitDaily: Hi Brian, we're enjoying your new blog. What was the idea behind it?
Carver: We were already following the cases that look important to us because we want to update our courses for our students. And we remember a time a few years back where there were some great IP blogs. There are still some good ones, but it seems like there are now fewer. In particular we didn't see anyone else ranking key pending cases that stand to make a large impact on law and society. We think it will be valuable to practitioners as well as to the general public.... Full Story
12. Oh, the places Google can go with book plan
San Francisco Chronicle
September 4, 2009
Google Inc. pointed out this week that the estate of Dr. Seuss intends to file a letter in support of the pending legal settlement that would allow the search titan to forge ahead with plans to make millions of books searchable online.
"The settlement may offer a new opportunity for authors of out-of-print books to find new audiences and new sources of income for their works," the letter drafted by law firm DLA Piper LLP reads. "We believe this is likely to be an important benefit for the authors' community, for readers and for researchers."...
Perhaps the underlying message is that, a la "Green Eggs and Ham," authors and publishers will like it if they just give it a chance.
As the deadline for filing opinions fast approaches (it was extended on Thursday from today to tuesday), a growing number of opponents seem to believe otherwise. They do not like the deal in a box, with a fox, with a mouse, in a house, here or there, or anywhere....
The National Writers Union and major entertainment agency William Morris Endeavor have come out against the deal citing restrictive terms, unfair compensation and troubling legal precedents.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, UC BERKELEY'S SAMUELSON LAW, TECHNOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY CLINIC and several librarian organizations have voiced privacy worries, arguing that Google could hand over personal reading habits to the government and other parties. The Justice Department is probing the deal for possible antitrust violations.... Full Story
13. Internet Seen as Leveling Opportunities for Scientists
Chronicle of Higher Education (*requires registration)
August 24, 2009
The Internet has proved itself to be a democratizing force for a range of human endeavors, such as the simple act of selling a car or the complex task of shaming a repressive government. Could it also be leveling the playing field in scientific research?
A study led by WAVERLY W. DING, AN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF BUSINESS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY, suggests that it is.
For their research, Ms. Ding and colleagues at Georgia State University and the University of Missouri at St. Louis compared user data involving Bitnet, an Internet forerunner established by Yale University and the City University of New York, and the Domain Name System, which is the naming protocol currently used to identify addresses on the Internet.
Their findings, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, are based on a random sample of 3,771 life scientists from 430 U.S. institutions over a 25-year period. The study's conclusion is that in all three groups that were examined -- female scientists, young scientists, and scientists at lower-ranked institutions -- researchers showed greater increases in publishing productivity attributable to their use of the Internet than did researchers outside their group.... Full Story
14. Police face challenge of tracking offenders
ABC Local
September 03, 2009
OAKLAND, CA (KGO) -- The number of registered sex offenders in California has doubled in the last 15 years. It's a startling increase that makes it difficult for law enforcement to keep up with the challenge of keeping tabs on the highest-risk offenders.
Contra Costa Sheriff's deputies, conducting a routine check on registered sex offenders last year, went as far as entering Phillip Garrido's Antioch home. They talked to him, even searched the bedrooms, but found no signs of Jaycee Dugard. Experts say it points out a major flaw in California's sex-offender registry.
"The more people you have in your caseload, the less of a good job you're going to do with your case load," said UC BERKELEY LAW PROFESSOR FRANK ZIMRING, PH.D.
There are more than 90,000 registered sex offenders in California --1,700 alone in Contra Costa County.
Zimring says keeping tabs on the highest-risk offenders should be the focus for law enforcement agencies, but as budget cuts take effect, that's not always being done.
"If you had 4,000 or 5,000 high-risk offenders you could do a much better job than if you have 50,000 or a 100,000 sex offenders and it's one size fits all," said Zimring.
Alameda County's team of law enforcement officers who monitor registered sex offenders has dwindled from eight a few years ago, down to three.... Full Story
15. Blog: President Obama: Don't Forget About Doctors
Washington Post (*requires registration)
With President Obama heading to Capitol Hill next week to lay out his prescription for health care reform before a joint session of Congress, we asked guest blogger Richard M. Scheffler for his perspective. Scheffler is author of "Is There A Doctor In The House? Market Signals and Tomorrow's Supply of Doctors" (Stanford University Press, $27.95), which examines the economics of keeping the health care system sufficiently staffed with properly trained physicians. SCHEFFLER IS DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF HEALTH ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY.
President Obama's health reform speech next week may be his last chance to get it right.
Providing affordable health insurance for all is the focus of his plan to date, but without systemic improvements to our health care system, we will not get our money's worth or be able to foot the bill. The president must know this and he needs to tell us what he has in mind.
Any reform that covers more people will translate into pressure on the health care system. The system now under-provides basic primary care -- which is key to a well-functioning system. The health workforce needs to be reconfigured. We need more primary care doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants, and we need them right away. If we do not have an adequate number of primary care providers, then the reforms will surely fail....
So what can the richest nation in the world do about all this?... Full Story
16. San Francisco Joins National Coordinated Rallies in Support of Healthcare Reform
Fog City Journal
September 3, 2009
As Congress wraps up its summer recess, healthcare reform rallies are being held across the nation to call on Congress to pass HR 3200, the Affordable Health Choices Act.
Organized by MoveOn.org, Center for Community Change, Democracy for America, Doctors for America, Health Care for American Now, and TrueMajority, a rally held yesterday in San Francisco drew as many as 5,000 Bay Area residents to Alioto Plaza.
“When Congress gets back in session right after Labor Day, it’s time for them to immediately pass HR 3200, the Affordable Health Choices Act,” UC BERKELEY CENTER CHAIR KEN JACOBS told rally participants who held signs that read “Doctors for Reform,” “Healthcare not Warfare,” “Healthcare: Yes, Insurance companies: No,” “Pre-existing condition? Good luck!” and “Blue Dogs: Heel!”
“In the current system we have today, people can be denied healthcare coverage because they have a pre-existing condition, charged more because they’re older, charged more because of their age or their gender,” Jacobs said.
If enacted, HR 3200 would provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and control spiraling costs in health care spending. It would also enact insurance market reforms to prohibit discrimination and rescission practiced by health insurance companies.... Full Story
17. Public transit a must for Cal game
San Francisco Chronicle
September 4, 2009
Anyone worthy of a Cal degree, or tickets to the Golden Bears' promising 2009 football season, knows that the way to get to Memorial Stadium on game day is to take public transportation.
Driving and parking in Berkeley can be tougher than scoring on a Hail Mary pass when the Bears are playing at 72,000-seat Memorial Stadium. Streets around campus are closed and there's no stadium parking lot to speak of, so traffic on the few thoroughfares leading to the hillside bowl are clogged clear down to Interstate 80.
But this Saturday, even veteran Cal football fans will be challenged getting to the Bears' 7 p.m. season opener against the Maryland Terrapins. The Bay Bridge will be shut down, BART will be packed, and AC Transit has stopped running its football shuttles from the Downtown Berkeley and Rockridge BART stations and Berkeley's Capitol Corridor stop.
To add to the confusion, construction of the athletic training center outside the stadium's west wall - finally under way, now that the tree-sitters are gone - will force the closure of several gates and require fans to take detours on temporary walkways.
HERB BENENSON, A CAL ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN, said volunteers will be handing out maps and answering questions around campus. But he advised fans to allow extra time.
"The gates open two hours before kickoff," he said. "Getting there early will ensure that people are in their seats by game time."... Full Story
18. This may be year Cal finally can smell the Roses
Contra Costa Times (*requires registration)
Cal football running back and Vallejo native Jahvid Best is photographed at University of...
This is it for Cal. Beginning with a beat-down of Maryland on Saturday night, this is the year of the Bears.
This is the year they topple USC, the year they win the Pacific-10 Conference, the year they reach the Rose Bowl for the first time since Jan. 1, 1959.
This is the year Joe Kapp drinks his Tequila.
It all sets up perfectly for the Bears, who were picked second in the Pac-10 preseason media poll behind USC, the seven-time defending league champion.
They have a veteran quarterback (junior Kevin Riley) who can make plays with his arm and his legs.
They have a dazzling tailback (Jahvid Best) who can score from anywhere at any time....
It all sets up perfectly for the Bears.
They have 15 returning starters (compared to 12 for USC) and strong leadership across all units. Coach Jeff Tedford has solved the trust issues that derailed the '07 season. New offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig, a Tedford pal, is the right fit for that crucial role. And there is no quarterback controversy — it's Riley's job.
Not since the 2004 season, when they came within a last-second touchdown (at USC) of winning the conference, have the Bears possessed this combination of talent, experience and chemistry.
"This is the best overall group," said offensive tackle MIKE TEPPER, A SIXTH-YEAR SENIOR and the only current player who was on the '04 roster.
"We've had groups with a lot of talent. But the '04 team also had great cohesion. In between, the cohesion has been OK. This year, it's really good."... Full Story