The links to the stories summarized on this page are time sensitive, so stories might no longer be online at that URL. We also include links to the original source publication itself.
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
1. Researchers Urge Colleges and Federal Agencies to Coordinate Efforts for Women in Science
Chronicle of Higher Education (*requires registration)
November 10, 2009
Women with Ph.D.'s in the sciences will keep "leaking out" of the tenure pipeline if colleges and the federal agencies that award grant money to researchers don't work together to stop the flow, says a new report from THREE RESEARCHERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY.
The report, "Staying Competitive: Patching America's Leaky Pipeline in the Sciences," was prepared with the help of the Center for American Progress. It offers recommendations to both groups on how to retain women, who aren't as likely as men to pursue careers in academic science and who, if they do become faculty members, are more likely to drop out before earning tenure. At stake, it says, is the United States' global reputation and pre-eminence in the sciences.
"This is really a wake up call that we're losing our women scientists," said MARY ANN MASON, a Chronicle contributor who is an author of the report and a PROFESSOR AND CO-DIRECTOR OF THE BERKELEY CENTER ON HEALTH, ECONOMIC & FAMILY SECURITY. "But there are some things that we can do about that right now," she said....
The report's authors said the attention President Obama's administration has paid to scientific research makes their findings particularly timely.
"The federal agencies have actually been hosting joint conferences with the universities in the last few years. They're highly sensitized to gender equity right now," said MARC GOULDEN, another of the report's authors and DIRECTOR OF DATA INITIATIVES IN ACADEMIC AFFAIRS AT BERKELEY. The third author of the report is KARIE FRASCH, MANAGER OF THE UC FAMILY FRIENDLY EDGE PROJECTS....
Ms. Mason said in the end, providing benefits that help researchers with family responsibilities makes economic sense.
"Getting a scientist fully trained is a huge investment," Ms. Mason said. "To have them drop out after years of training is such a shame."
[Link by subscription only] Full Story
2. Drivers ignoring S-curve warnings to slow down
San Francisco Chronicle
November 10, 2009
Motorists continued to ignore the speed limit approaching the Bay Bridge's S-curve Monday, just hours after a driver lost control of his truck there and fell 200 feet to his death.
During the morning commute, a digital billboard at the westbound incline read, "Slow Down. 35 MPH Curve Two Miles Ahead," yet few drivers heeded the warning, perhaps because of distraction or a simple refusal to slow down, said SIMON WASHINGTON, DIRECTOR OF THE SAFE TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH AND EDUCATION CENTER AT UC BERKELEY.
Washington, an expert in traffic safety who will analyze the stretch for Caltrans in the coming days, said most of the 40-plus accidents at the site since it opened Sept. 8 reportedly were due to driver distraction or a driver's "unwillingness to reduce speed."
If that's the case, Washington said, adding rumble strips of grooved or raised asphalt may be an appropriate response.
"If people aren't aware of what's coming, rumble strips can be a very effective way to say to drivers, 'Eyes up, pay attention.' "... Full Story
3. UC Prof: Bay Bridge Should Be Shut Down
KTVU Online
November 9, 2009
Berkeley, Calif. -- Caltrans has weathered no shortage controversy since the September 8 opening of the S-curve section of the problem plagued eastern span. But on Monday a UC BERKELEY STRUCTURAL ENGINEER issued scathing criticism against the agency, calling the reopening of the Bay Bridge “criminally negligent.”
PROFESSOR ABOLHASSAN ASTANEH said ever since the crack in the eyebar was discovered during the Labor Day inspection, the eastern span of the Bay Bridge has been unsafe.
“You have to shut down this bridge immediately,” said Professor Astaneh. ”There's no doubt about it.”
The S-curve controversy aside, the professor said the bigger danger is the eyebar fix.
He said the repair means the bridge is vulnerable and that it cannot withstand 85 mph winds or a 7.3 magnitude earthquake as required under federal transportation guidelines.
“If Caltrans lets the public go on that bridge, they are committing a violation of this national standard that is criminally negligent,” insisted Astaneh.
The professor created a computer animation which he said illustrates the possible failure of Caltrans' eyebar fix during a 7.3 earthquake.... Full Story
4. College football coaches see salaries rise in down economy
USA Today
November 10, 2009
Berkeley, Calif. — JEFF TEDFORD is a proven, program-building FOOTBALL COACH who makes no apologies for the contract extension he landed before this season — and the $2.8 million in pay he's guaranteed this year — from the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.
He's on board, too, with more than $430 million in planned improvements to Cal's venerable Memorial Stadium. They'll make the 86-year-old bowl more earthquake-resistant, and the upgrades should catch the eyes of football recruits. "So yeah," Tedford says, speaking over the clatter of construction outside his office, "it's a big deal."
But here and elsewhere across the landscape of big-time, big-budgeted college athletics, these are sensitive times....
USA Today's latest study of compensation reveals that Tedford is one of at least 25 college head football coaches making $2 million or more this season, slightly more than double the number two years ago. The average pay for a head coach in the NCAA's top-level, 120-school Football Bowl Subdivision is up 28% in that time and up 46% in three years, to $1.36 million....
By comparison, the American Association of University professors put last year's average salary for full professors at public doctoral universities at $115,509. ...
At California, ATHLETICS DIRECTOR SANDY BARBOUR points to a football renaissance in Tedford's eight seasons with the Golden Bears. A program that won a single game the season before he arrived is positioned for its seventh consecutive trip to a bowl. Crowds at Memorial Stadium have doubled to an average of almost 61,000. Players are graduating.
"If we let him go because we're not willing to pay market, we'll pay a huge price," Barbour says, "because I don't know that we can go out and find another coach with that combination of skills and (academic) emphasis."...
Cal's Academic Senate approved a resolution last week that, among other things, called on the chancellor to end the subsidies and draw up a plan for athletics to pay off its existing debt. The action "is not about whether or not we like athletics, nor is it about the football coach," says COMPUTER SCIENCE PROFESSOR BRIAN BARSKY, who has taught at the school for 28 years. "It is about athletics living within it means."... Full Story
5. Blog: Making a Digital First Impression
Why You Can't Fake Your Facebook Profile
Newsweek Online
November 10, 2009
The photo showed a man in a T shirt and baseball cap standing on top of a mountain. Tien-Yi Lee, a Web-site designer who had joined Nerve.com’s online dating service, says she felt an instant connection. “I saw his picture, and he had a very kind of friendly, sparkly vibe,” she says. “He had a great smile.” A few days later, Lee met the man at a bar in Cambridge, Mass. Lee remembers thinking that the photo on Nerve provided a “very accurate” reflection of her date’s personality in real life. A year after marrying the man from the photo, Lee’s first impressions of her future husband still largely hold true. “The picture was in sync with who he is,” she says.
Lee’s experience is common among those who meet on the Internet, according to a new study on the role of physical appearance in creating first impressions. The study, which will be published in next month’s issue of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, found that you can actually learn a great deal about a stranger’s personality from appearance alone.
More than 700 million people worldwide are now using online social networking sites that showcase personal photographs, but few realize just how accurate first impressions online can be. The findings from this study and other research on personality suggest that the photos you post online provide a wealth of information about who you are—whether you like it or not....
“A lot of people don’t like to admit that they make judgments based on appearance, but it’s inherent in everything that we do,” says LAURA NAUMANN, DIRECTOR OF THE PERSONALITY LAB AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, and an author of the study. “Anywhere you have a profile and pictures are being posted, people are using that information.” (Accuracy was lowest for neuroticism, a finding consistent with research demonstrating that neuroticism is extremely difficult to detect on first impression in real life.)... Full Story
6. Observatory: Hogwarts Namesake Faces Loss of Status
New York Times & International Herald Tribune (*requires registration)
November 10, 2009
The world seems awash in new dinosaurs these days.
But all may not be as it seems. Two paleontologists argue in a new paper that two members of the family of dome-headed dinosaurs are not separate species, but rather younger growth stages of another dinosaur, Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis. And they say there may be other similar cases of mistaken identity.
John R. Horner of the Museum of the Rockies at Montana State University and MARK B. GOODWIN OF THE MUSEUM OF PALEONTOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, compared bone tissue and skull morphology of P. wyomingensis with those of Stygimoloch spinifer and Dracorex hogwartsia, announced in 2006 and named after the school in the Harry Potter books. They described their findings in PLoS One, an online open-access journal....
Dr. Horner said the different morphology of adults and juveniles was similar to what occurred among modern antlered animals, when the appendages changed with age and in some cases did not appear. “What the dinosaurs are doing,” he said, “is nowhere near as extreme as antlered animals.” Full Story
7. A Tale Of Planetary Woe
Mars Daily
November 9, 2009
Huntsville, AL -- Once upon a time - roughly four billion years ago - Mars was warm and wet, much like Earth....
What happened? Why did Mars dry up and freeze over? ...
Conventional wisdom holds that Mars's atmosphere is vulnerable because the planet lacks a global magnetic field. Earth's magnetic field stretches far out into space and envelopes the whole planet in a protective bubble that deflects the solar wind.
Mars has only regional, patchy magnetic fields that cover relatively small areas of the planet, mostly in the southern hemisphere. The rest of the atmosphere is fully exposed to the solar wind. So the loss could be caused by the slow erosion of the atmosphere in these exposed areas.
DAVID BRAIN OF UC BERKELEY has proposed another, seemingly contrary possibility. These small magnetic fields might actually hasten the loss of Mars's atmosphere, Brain suggests.
The solar wind might buffet those magnetic field lines, occasionally pinching off a "bubble" of field lines that then drifts off into space - carrying a large chunk of the atmosphere with it. If so, having a partial magnetic field might be worse than having none at all.... Full Story
8. Justices Hear Patent Case on Protecting the Abstract
New York Times & International Herald Tribune (*requires registration)
November 10, 2009
Washington — Supreme Court justices took up a case on Monday that could reshape the realm of what can be patented, and expressed skepticism about giving protection to abstract business innovations....
The case, Bilski and Warsaw v. Kappos, concerned a business method patent that had been denied to Bernard Bilski and Rand Warsaw, who in 1997 applied for a process that could help institutions like utilities, or even factories and schools, have more predictable energy costs....
PAMELA SAMUELSON, A PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, SCHOOL OF LAW, said, “It’s not very often that some obscure issue of patent law can excite so much attention.”
Professor Samuelson, who was an author of a brief on behalf of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an online civil liberties group, and others, said it was time for the court to tap the brakes on the business patents rush. The earlier State Street decision, her brief stated, had the effect of “knocking patent law loose from its historical moorings and improperly injecting patents into business areas where they were neither needed nor wanted.”...
[Professor Samuelson also appeared on PBS's Nightly Business Report (link to transcript)] Full Story
9. Global News Blog: Editor who led independent journalism in China resigns
Hu Shuli had sought to boost the independence of China's top investigative business magazine, Caijing. Her resignation reflects Beijing's shrinking tolerance for free media.
Christian Science Monitor Online
November 9, 2009
Beijing – Independent journalism in China, never a robust phenomenon, has taken a body blow with the resignation from the country’s top investigative business magazine of its pioneering editor.
Hu Shuli, editor and founder of the biweekly Caijing, stepped down Monday after a prolonged tussle with the magazine’s owners over financial and political differences....
“Caijing is one of a kind,” says XIAO QIANG, HEAD OF THE CHINA INTERNET PROJECT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY. “The fact Hu has to leave symbolizes the failure of that kind of experiment. The space she created has been closed down, and I don’t think anything like Caijing will come up soon.”...
“Beijing’s political landscape cannot tolerate a publication like Caijing any more,” says Dr. Xiao. “Hu Shuli’s departure is another clear example of the [government] policy to refuse political reform.”... Full Story
10. Opinion Shop Blog: Lois Kazakoff: Retooling for the new economy
San Francisco Chronicle Online
November 9, 2009
The lack of workers, not jobs, surprisingly was a running theme through The Chronicle's three symposia on joblessness in the Bay Area. Economists, sociologists and workforce specialists all said the state faces a huge shortage of skilled workers -- a million or more -- as Baby Boomers retire.
Many of these jobs, called middle skill jobs, pay a solid middle-class wage and require something less than a college degree -- usually up to two years of education or training. They include traditional occupations such as utility worker and vocational nurse, and new vocations spawned by the nationwide efforts to convert to a low-carbon economy -- the so-called green collar jobs. Yet employers find not enough workers have the skills or the education for these jobs. "We have a lot of young folks, but we are not educating them," said HENRY BRADY FROM THE GOLDMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY AT UC BERKELEY.... Full Story
11. Babson launches MBA in San Francisco
Financial Times [UK]
November 10 2009
The business school which specialises in entrepreneurship - Babson College - is to begin teaching an MBA programme in the home of the entrepreneur - San Francisco.
Babson College’s Fast Track MBA - essentially an executive MBA for working managers - is to begin in California in March. The programme will go head-to-head with two of the most prestigious and highly-ranked EMBA programmes in the world, that of the Wharton school at the University of Pennsylvania, taught on the school’s Wharton West campus in San Francisco, and the UC BERKELEY/COLUMBIA EMBA. Wharton is ranked number five in the Financial Times EMBA rankings and the UC Berkeley/Columbia programme number 13.... Full Story
12. Start-Up Capital for For-Profit Social Entrepreneurs, Part 2: A Resource Guide
Huffington Post
November 10, 2009
I have received lots of great tips from readers of Part 1 of this post pointing me to resources for both nonprofit and for-profit start-up social entrepreneurs. Below is my list of investors, incubators, networks and other resources that support start-up social ventures in the United States (some also fund non-U.S. organizations). I have tried to be as comprehensive as possible, but if I have failed to mention any investor or resource, please feel free to give it a shout-out in the comments section below. Please note that start-up is broadly defined as an organization that has been operating for less than three years and that is looking for a first-time or primary funder.
...Business plan competitions:
Global Social Venture Competition - The GSVC funds both nonprofit and for-profit student start-up social ventures. Organized by the HAAS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AT UC BERKELEY in cooperation with five Regional Partners and four Outreach Partners, teams around the world compete for the top prize of $25,000 while gaining valuable professional feedback on their ventures. To qualify, each team must include a graduate business student from any business school in the world or an individual who has graduated from a graduate business program within the past two years (from the date that the plan is first submitted). The graduate business student must be actively involved in the venture. Deadline to submit your executive summary is January 10, 2010.... Full Story
13. SD County Urges Undocumented Immigrants to Get H1N1 Vaccine
KPBS Online[San Diego]
November 10, 2009
Undocumented immigrants aren't normally encouraged to access county health services. But local officials say it's a different story when it comes to preventing the spread of the H1N1 virus.
At a Latino health fair in Escondido, LILIANA OSORIO gets the word out about the swine flu. SHE'S THE LOCAL COORDINATOR FOR THE UC BERKELEY-BASED HEALTH INITIATIVE OF THE AMERICAS.
Osorio tells people the most important thing is to prevent spreading germs. She talks about the value of hand washing, and staying home when you're feeling sick....
"I have noticed that, especially the Latinos here in San Diego that are very connected with Mexico, they are very aware of the situation that happened during the outbreak in April, May in Mexico," Osorio points out. "So they are very open to the information, and they are really willing to get the vaccination as soon as it arrives."... Full Story
14. US hiker's mother: Iran espionage claim is false
Washington Post
November 10, 2009
Minneapolis -- The mother of one of three U.S. hikers accused of espionage by Iranian authorities said Tuesday her son would "fall on the floor laughing" at the suggestion he is a spy.
Cindy Hickey of Pine City, Minn., told The Associated Press that the hikers' families are trying to avoid getting pulled into the tense relationship between the U.S. and Iran and only want to keep stressing the innocence of their loved ones. Hickey's son, 27-year-old SHANE BAUER, was taken into custody near the Iraqi border in late July along with SARAH SHOURD, 31, and JOSH FATTAL, 27.
Their families say the three friends, ALL GRADUATES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, were simply on a hike. But a senior Iranian prosecutor on Monday accused them of espionage, the first signal that Tehran intends to put them on trial. That has raised concerns the three could be used as bargaining chips during deadlocked negotiations between Washington and Tehran over Iran's nuclear program.
"I'm really trying to keep that out of my focus, personally," Hickey said of U.S.-Iran tension. "I have to set myself on the goal here of getting our kids freed, and not be distracted by the politics."...
[This story appeared in more than 100 sources nationwide] Full Story
15. Former Afghan parliamentarian at UC Berkeley
KGO TV
November 09, 2009
Berkeley, CA (KGO) -- A former female member of Afghanistan's parliament is in the Bay Area urging the president and NATO to remove foreign troops from Afghanistan.
Malalai Joya wrote a book called "A Woman among Warlords." She says Afghanistan does not need more foreign troops, it needs education and jobs. She feels her people will get rid of the Taliban and warlords....
Joya's verbal attacks on the warlords prompted death threats and cost her her job in parliament. That triggered protests in the streets. She is speaking at UC BERKELEY Tuesday night.
[Link to video] Full Story