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Tuesday, 29 September 2009
1. At Long Last, the Sports Mortgage
In Lean Times, Teams Try 'Equity Seat Rights' to Raise Money; $220,000 for a Seat at Cal
Wall Street Journal (*requires registration)
September 29, 2009
By Kevin Clark
For the price of a three-bedroom home with a pool in a leafy suburb, you can now buy something really and truly invaluable. Your own stadium seat.
Earlier this month, the boards of regents at the University of Kansas and the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY approved plans to fund stadium expansions and renovations by selling something called "equity seat rights." Fans who are approved for financing can buy their seats and pay for them—with interest, of course—over as long as 50 years. Once the seat is paid for, it's yours, just like a house....
Cal plans to sell about 3,000 seats under the plan and hopes to raise $270 million. The school's best seats cost $175,000 to $220,000 apiece over a 50-year term, while the cheapest sell for $40,000 per seat for a 40-year term. "Without this program, I don't see any way we could secure the funds," said CAL ASSOCIATE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR DAVID ROSSELLI. "We needed a different approach."...
The plan initially had skeptics, but the school says two-thirds of the available seats have been sold—and that the rest could be sold as well.
Cal's Mr. Rosselli believes the equity plan could be the new model for stadium funds. "Public financing has been a failure for stadiums in the last half-dozen years. I think this is going to be the future of how capital projects are done in sports," he said. "We've got scores of teams researching what we're doing. They'd be on board already if they weren't intimidated by the economy."...
[Link by subscription only] Full Story
2. UC Berkeley: Clean energy bill could create up to 1.9M jobs
Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal
September 29, 2009
Energy efficiency measures contained in the American Clean Energy and Security Act could create between 918,000 and 1.9 million new jobs, increase annual household income by $487 to $1,175 per year and boost Gross Domestic Product by $39 billion to $111 billion by 2020, according to a report Tuesday.
The analysis by ECONOMISTS AT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY looks at the pollution reduction and energy efficiency measures contained in the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which has already passed the U.S. House of Representatives....
The bill is currently before the U.S. Senate. Full Story
3. The Ticker Blog: U.S. Needs Strategic Approach to Recruit Foreign Students, Researchers Say
Chronicle of Higher Education Online (*requires registration)
September 29, 2009
The United States needs a national strategy for recruiting foreign students, with the goal of doubling the number of students from overseas, to 1.25 million, over the next decade, according to a new paper by researchers at the CENTER FOR STUDIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY. To do that, the researchers say, the country needs to expand enrollment and program capacity, build reciprocal global networks, and promote higher education as a critical American asset and export.
[Link by subscription only] Full Story
4. Hyenas Cooperate, Problem-Solve Better Than Primates
U.S. News & World Report Online
September 28, 2009
Durham, N.C.--Spotted hyenas may not be smarter than chimpanzees, but a new study shows that they outperform the primates on cooperative problem-solving tests.
Captive pairs of spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) that needed to tug two ropes in unison to earn a food reward cooperated successfully and learned the maneuvers quickly with no training. Experienced hyenas even helped inexperienced partners do the trick.
When confronted with a similar task, chimpanzees and other primates often require extensive training and cooperation between individuals may not be easy, said Christine Drea, an evolutionary anthropologist at Duke University....
Drea and CO-AUTHOR ALLISA N. CARTER OF THE UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY, designed a series of food-reward tasks that modeled group hunting strategies in order to single out the cognitive aspects of cooperative problem solving. They selected spotted hyenas to see whether a species' performance in the tests might be linked to their feeding ecology in the wild.
Spotted hyena pairs at the FIELD STATION FOR THE STUDY OF BEHAVIOR, ECOLOGY AND REPRODUCTION IN BERKELEY, Calif. were brought into a large pen where they were confronted with a choice between two identical platforms 10 feet above the ground. Two ropes dangled from each platform. When both ropes on a platform were pulled down hard in unison -- a similar action to bringing down large prey -- a trap door opened and spilled bone chips and a sticky meatball. The double-rope design prevented a hyena from solving the task alone, and the choice between two platforms ensured that a pair would not solve either task by chance.... Full Story
5. Questions linger about Warren Hellman's nonprofit news launch
San Francisco Business Times
September 28, 2009
Despite gaining a heap of free publicity last week, billionaire financier Warren Hellman’s plan to launch a nonprofit news organization early next year has plenty of question marks attached, including whether it will be a union shop.
Early-stage plans for the Bay Area News Project, to be funded initially by a $5 million injection from the Hellman Family Foundation, have been engineered with help from the Northern California Media Workers Guild, the union that’s taken huge hits as the San Francisco Chronicle and other local dailies have shed hundreds of workers in recent years....
Hellman, one of the region’s richest business leaders, announced last week that his informal group has lined up KQED, the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY’S GRADUATE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM and possibly the New York Times to report and distribute Bay Area news that he feels isn’t being covered adequately by existing news organizations.
...Robert Gammon in the East Bay Express wonders if the untraditional venture “also threatens traditional news media in the Bay Area, because it will rely on 120 journalism students at Cal who will work for free.”...
“Let’s hope UC Berkeley and KQED seriously rethink this plan before it goes live early next year,” Gammon writes. “The idea of a non-profit news organization has merit, but using what amounts to slave labor to make it happen is bad for journalism.”... Full Story
6. The News Business: Meet the Bay Area's New Media Baron
Forbes.com
September 29, 2009
San Francisco leveraged buyout king F. Warren Hellman kicked up controversy last week by announcing plans to launch a nonprofit news outlet that would compete with rival Bay Area news outfits. Hellman, co-founder of buyout giant Hellman & Friedman, promised to raise millions to fund what he calls the "Bay Area News Project." It will be a partnership with local public broadcaster KQED and UC BERKELEY'S GRADUATE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM....
Forbes: What's the genesis of this project?
Hellman: I've been alarmed at the tremendous drop in local news coverage for months. There's also been a steep decline in coverage of the arts and local political coverage, and I think we're suffering from that....
[Forbes]: What kind of staffing do you envision, and when will you launch?
[Hellman]: I keep pushing the schedule ahead, and all my sensible business people keep pushing it back. We'll need a dozen journalists, and we hope to be operating by early next year. We will also rely on UC BERKELEY JOURNALISM STUDENTS. They'll be our foot soldiers for local stories. The hope is to have dozens of grad students who are eager for experience. Working with professional journalists will teach them what the finished product looks like.
[Forbes]: Won't that undermine existing news organizations, who have to pay their reporters?
[Hellman]: I don't see this as taking jobs away from top journalists, I think it will augment their work. This is not meant to harm the (San Francisco) Chronicle.... Full Story
7. I-Tool Tips Blog: Berkeley, UCLA lead nation's elite colleges in economic diversity of students
Sacramento Bee Online
September 28, 2009
U.S. News & World Report recently released its ranking of top U.S. colleges in terms of "economic diversity," or the proportion of low-income students enrolled at the institution. The magazine calculates such diversity by looking at the percentage of students receiving federal Pell Grants, that are most often bestowed on undergraduates whose families earn less than $20,000 a year.
UCLA and UC BERKELEY lead the list of elite universities with 35 and 32 percent poorer students, respectively. The third ranking school is Columbia with 17 percent. The New York Times economics blog speculates that the two UC universities rank so high because 1) they are among the few state institutions in the list, and 2) they allow students to easily transfer from two-year community colleges. Full Story
8. Time to Plan for the Next Recession
Washington Post
September 29, 2009
If ever you were entitled to start breathing easier, now would seem to be the moment. So why am I telling you not to? The end of the recession seems so close that you can almost smell it. The stock market is surging, China and India are firing on all cylinders again, and no one would be surprised if in the next quarter the U.S. economy shows signs of growth, too.
Yet this is exactly the wrong moment to let up on the mean and lean strategies you've adopted. In fact, it's time to go further and develop a new, even tougher mind-set: managing for -- yes -- the next recession....
When the good times return, make it a priority to find the thinkers who stand apart. Check out ECONOMISTS EMMANUEL SAEZ OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY and Susan Athey of Harvard, the two most recent winners of the John Bates Clark Medal for America's best young economist. Saez is an expert on tax policy -- an important topic as federal rules are being rewritten. Athey studies investor behavior and market structure, another key subject. And always be alert for others. You can't know if they'll be right, but considering their views will make you wiser.... Full Story
9. HSU faculty member resigns after hate letter found
Contra Costa Times (*requires registration)
September 29, 2009
A Humboldt State University faculty member resigned last week after a racially charged letter was found near her office, and now the University Police Department is looking for leads on the writer.
The letter -- reportedly found near the female faculty member's office -- apparently used racial-charged language possibly targeting her, although she is not named in the letter, according to the police department....
U.C. BERKELEY LAW PROFESSOR JESSE CHOPER said the letter constitutes hate speech, which is constitutionally protected.
”If you could find out who sent the letter, then it becomes a matter of freedom of speech,” he said.
However, that would not apply if the letter had been threatening.
”If it had said, 'If you stay on the job, you'll suffer,' that's not protected,” he said.
The faculty member could sue for damages or emotional distress but whether or not she would be successful is unclear.
”She's obviously pretty distressed,” but the courts are undecided if that is enough to win a civil suit, Choper said.
Hate speech may be protected, but if the writer was a student or faculty member, the case would be somewhat stronger, he said. Full Story
10. Iran will allow Swiss access to detained Americans
Contra Costa Times (*requires registration)
September 29, 2009
Washington — U.S. officials said today Iran has notified the Swiss government that the Swiss can have access to three Americans who have been detained in Iran since being arrested for illegal entry in late July.
The move could be seen as a conciliatory gesture on Iran's part, coming two days before a high-profile meeting between Iran and five world powers seeking to persuade Iran to abandon any effort to build nuclear weapons....
THE THREE AMERICANS ARE JOSHUA FATTAL, SHANE BAUER, AND SARAH SHOURD. ALL THREE ARE GRADUATES OF UC BERKELEY and Bauer and Shourd, whose mother lives in the East Bay, are Bay Area based freelance journalists.
[This story appeared in more than 100 sources nationwide. Another version appeared in USA Today] Full Story
11. Berkeley may sign onto U.N. treaties
San Francisco Chronicle
September 29, 2009
Berkeley would become the first city in the United States to independently try to comply with U.N. treaties on torture, civil rights and racial discrimination, if the City Council passes a measure on the issue tonight.
The measure would require the city to file biennial reports to the United Nations on how - or whether - the city meets international human rights standards. In Berkeley, that could include its record on homelessness, the achievement gap among different racial groups at Berkeley High and the presence of JOHN YOO, A UC BERKELEY SCHOOL OF LAW PROFESSOR and Berkeley resident who authored the Bush administration's justification for torture....
Berkeley would be the first city in the country, and possibly the world, to submit its compliance records to the United Nations, said Yves Sorokobi, a U.N. spokesman in New York....
Some on the City Council said they're not sure Berkeley needs to comply with treaties to which the United States has already agreed....
There's also the possibility that Berkeley might not be in compliance with the treaties, a potential embarrassment for a city that prides itself on civil rights and progressive politics.... Full Story
12. Guest Voices: On Faith
Can Fasting Save the World?
Washington Post Online
September 29, 2009
If you're looking for a way to bring together believers and scientists, here's a tip that could remind them of their commonality and save money, too: No food!
The normal instinct of scientists is to scoff at religious rituals as primitive and naïve, coming from that pitiable time before the invention of the lab coat. And scientists do, indeed, downplay many of the supposed benefits of abstaining from food...
But a host of new studies suggest that tactical fasting can be beneficial in a surprising number of circumstances:
...Aging. Everyone agrees that reduced caloric intake boasts a host of medical benefits, but research by MARC HELLERSTEIN, AT BERKELEY, suggests that targeted fasting, such as every other day, coupled with a healthy diet, can shows signs of slowing cancer and reducing aging.... Full Story
13. Experience Necessary: Demystifying Bees, and Surviving the Stings
New York Times (*requires registration)
September 29, 2009
Jerome G. Rozen Jr. makes a beeline for his office cabinets, where drawer upon drawer is filled with pinned specimens of bees: the smallest bees in the world (the size of a comma in this sentence), the most beautiful bees in the world (iridescent green and blue), social bees and solitary bees and parasitic bees — “gorgeous, beautiful animals” to Dr. Rozen, 81, a curator, professor and entomologist for nearly 50 years at the American Museum of Natural History and one of the world’s foremost authorities on bees. His late wife was more into flies.
Why bees? Actually, it was my intention to work on beetles. My first job was working on beetles, at the Smithsonian. MY PROFESSOR, CHARLES MICHENER, AT U.C. BERKELEY, started me on bees. Once you start learning more about something than anyone else, you want to keep learning. There are 20,000 species of bees. There’s a lot to bees.... Full Story