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.
Thursday, 13 September 2012
1. Slain U.S. Ambassador to Libya Tied to Bay Area
NBC Bay Area
Berkeley alum Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador killed in the consulate attack in Libya on September 11, was mourned on campus yesterday. Chancellor Robert Birgeneau issued a statement saying: "His life epitomized the best of UC Berkeley’s graduates, a commitment to excellence at the highest level and a passion for making the world a better and more peaceful place." Link to video. Full Story
2. Ambassador Stevens' friend: 'We lost a great statesman'
NBC Nightly News
Steven McDonald, a former Berkeley roommate and long-time friend of Ambassador Christopher Stevens, talks about his friend's compassion, integrity and commitment. Link to video. Other stories detailing Stevens' Berkeley connection appeared in the Los Angeles Times Online, Berkeley Patch, NBC Bay Area, and KTVU. Full Story
3. Berkeley scientist wins $250,000 prize
San Francisco Chronicle
Biochemical engineering professor Jay Keasling has won a $250,000 Heinz Award for his work using genetic engineering to create affordable anti-malarial drugs for emerging countries, as well as alternative energy research. Asked how he will use the award, he said, " I'll give it away to some nonprofit, but I haven't decided which one yet." Full Story
4. California Universities Use Out-Of-State Students To Plug Budget Hole, Following National Trend
Huffington Post
Chancellor Robert Birgeneau is quoted in a story about California universities using out-of-state student enrollment as a method of making up for lost revenue from the state. "When I arrived at Berkeley in 2004," he said in May, "our primary source of revenue was state general fund support. In just eight years that situation has changed drastically. State support has fallen to fourth place as a source of revenue for UC Berkeley, behind research funding, philanthropy and tuition." Political science professor Wendy Brown is also quoted. Referring to Governor Brown's tax initiative on the November Ballot, without which he says he will be forced to cut the higher education budget by $200 million, she says, "If Prop 30 doesn't pass; ouch." Full Story
5. UC regents brainstorm changes if voters reject Prop. 30
Los Angeles Times
The UC regents discussed worst-case scenarios for the university budget if Governor Brown's tax initiative, Prop. 30, fails in November. Among the ideas on the table: varying tuition rates by campus and significantly increasing enrollment of out-of-state students. Full Story
6. Talkin' 'Bout My Generation
Inside Higher Ed
An essay about the long-term legacy of the 1960s in higher education outlines the contributions of business professor and dean Earl Cheit, who "was one of the leading economists to sound an alert to the deteriorating financial condition of the nation’s colleges and universities in his 1971 book on higher education’s 'new depression.'" Full Story
7. Forum with Michael Krasny: The Future of Wind Power
KQED Radio
Energy professor Dan Kammen, director of Berkeley's Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory, joins a discussion of two new studies suggesting wind could power the world in the future. Link to audio. Full Story
8. Traffic deaths increase in Sacramento County
Sacramento Bee
Post-doctoral researcher Offer Grembek, of the Institute of Transportation, comments on a recent finding that the number of traffic deaths in California and the nation is rising. While he acknowledges that it is "difficult to say what is causing it because we have not yet had a chance to look deep into the data," he suspects they stem from an increase in miles traveled as economic conditions improve. "If more people drive, the number of fatalities will go up even if the individual trip is safer." Full Story
9. Inland Empire warehouse workers walk off job, protest conditions
Los Angeles Times
Labor professor Harley Shaiken comments on the difference in power between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (representing dock workers) and the Warehouse Workers United (representing inland warehouse workers), saying: "Just a few miles inland, you have workers in the same industry who have no union clout and they are bearing the brunt of the weak economy." Full Story
10. Dietmar Machold, jet-setting violin dealer, accused in a case of fakes and fraud
Washington Post
Law lecturer Carla Shapreau, an expert in cultural property law, comments on the case of Dietmar Machold, about to be tried for violin fraud. Shapreau says it is a textbook-quality introduction to the practice of due diligence. Full Story
11. Those numbers flying high over Berkeley? Pi in the sky
Berkeleyside
A Berkeley graduate and artist — ISHKY — was the man behind a stunt yesterday when a plane drew numbers in the sky over Berkeley and other Bay Area cities. “Pi in the Sky,” intended to be the "largest physical expression of Pi ever created," is part of the Zero1 Biennal, a Silicon Valley-based art gathering. Full Story
12. Vital Signs
Wall Street Journal (*requires registration)
The No. 4 bestseller in Northern California recently was "Subversives" by Berkeley alum Seth Rosenfeld, recounting the story of the FBI's secret efforts to quash Vietnam War protests on the Berkeley campus during the 1960s. Full Story