Time for Berkeley Comic Theater.

First is EECS Geeks, a tribute to our overworked, shy future employers in Soda Hall.

Next is the Red Meat-esque Pork and Beans.

And finally, the Many Adventures of Elementary Classical Analysis. (Amazon link).Email This Post!

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One of the reasons I dump on Salar Jahedi at every possible opportunity is his constant claim to be utilizing his mighty powers as a trained Economist when he analyzes stuff. First, while all Economists are vastly arrogant, because we know everything, we also know it's best to hide it. Mr. Jahedi has not been using this advice.

His 'I took Econ 100A' moment today is a nod towards the concept of Utility Maximization.

As an economist, I know colleges are utility-maximizers. This means they opt to make the best choices given their circumstances. I trust that, as they are specialists in the field, they have come to learn what type of student is most beneficial to their program.

The SAT aids them in selecting these students. It provides additional information, which makes the colleges' decisions more accurate. If the SAT were banned from the admission process, the admission committees would not search for different students. Instead, they would search for the same students with less information to aid their search.

This is not really a straightforward utility maximization problem. Utility-maxing is typically done under conditions of perfect information, because it's impossible to perfectly max out Utility without it. This is a classic Imperfect Information problem, which means that different analytical tools have to be used, to try and figure out the optimal choice in suboptimal conditions.

Another problem with the Utility problem setup: it assumes one standard of utility. But, of course, there are all too many definitions of what would be of the most value to the University. Perhaps highest Utility comes from admitting the most intelligent. Or perhaps it's the most involved in the community. Or the best Leaders. The real problem is not as much lack of information, as Jahedi writes, but how to weight the information it gets. Take myself: I had subaverage grades, good SATs, good community service. The admission process decided my marginal utility was higher then the others... but on what weights? Does good SATs trump good grades? Where does Leadership come in? SAT scores may, if badly weighed, actually reduce total utility by letting in the wrong types of students.

Another problem: the hypothetical Utility-maxing of Admissions staff will not necessarily coincide with the Ute-max of the University as a whole. What if somebody is biased towards Boy Scouts? Or punishes people who misspell License? Irrational bias and other natural human factors will also move University Admissions away from perfect utility maximization.

And finally, how much skew is introduced by problems with the SAT? Mr. Jahedi assumes that the information they contain and the various tricks to correct for their flaws will outweight any errors, but he has no proof of this.

Mr. Jahedi's use of a utility-maxing scope, without first going through the various imperfect information and bias problems, leads him to declare that SATs must be more helpful because they're more information. Possible, but without first analyzing the skews induced by this imperfect information, he can't claim much.
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I removed my links to all the Anonymous Berkeley Bloggers. I'm not terribly opposed to anonymity.. I used it myself in the Patriot last semester. But I've been growing really tired of the 'Who is Who' games, along with the fundamental lack of balls behind throwing grenades from a covered bunker.

But I may put them back. Whatever.Email This Post!

Since it's a Squelch Day, here's an article I submitted to them in November that never made the cut.... for good reason.

It'd be easier to be Anti-War if I didn't have Fists of Fury

by Kev-Dee Lee

Oh, ah, how did I become once again trapped in this web of confusion and controversy? As a young man in China, I had learned the Ancient Technique of Pro-Warring. Yet too many had been kneed in their Groins of Pacifism and Faces of Moral Equivalence by my Fists of Fury and Feet of Jingoistic Patriotism. I promised my sainted Mother, as I left my small village for American University with Losing Football Team, that I would never again unleash my Fists and other dangerous body parts upon others. How hard it is!

In American University with Shitty Football Team, I met with my wise Uncle Ho-Ku Jeffrey, who taught me the ways of Anti-Warring. 'A Wise Man uses his Fists for waving big American flags with corporate logos over it,' he intoned, meditating under the shade of his hair. As time passed I learned more from the Anti-War Movement, including their ancient mantra (Hey Hey! Ho Ho!) and the Ancient Art of Daily Cal letter-writing. And I saw the folly of Pro-Warring, as the Republican Monks constantly drove women away with their lack of inner tranquility and horrible California Patriots.

Oh, but how hard it is to contain my Warring Fists!

One day, using my skills of origami to create 'Paper Swan Beating the Crap out of a Paper George Bush,' I saw out of the corner of my eye a band of Terrorists, clad in black pajamas and wielding Nunchukus, assault the innocently singing Golden Overtones. 'Kev-Dee! Save us! With Fists of Fury! And Justice!' they screamed, as their seven-part harmony was broken up. My anger rose within me, and I prepared to unleash my Avenge Choral Breakup Technique on the chortling Terrorists, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Ku-Chu, a leader of the Anti-Wars. 'Violence is never the answer to Deeper Root Causes,' he intoned softly, 'Fuck America.' I relaxed my clenched, asian fist, and pledged to study anew the ways of Anti-War.

My Warring Fists, they yearned to be free!

It seemed every day the Terrorists struck anew. They rode bikes in the no-bike zone, burned our American flags before we had a chance to, and even kidnapped the beautiful daughter of Ho-Ku, Ho-Kee. Yet through it all I remained calm and pacifist. But on the day they dumped bubbles in Sproul Fountain, my angry heart burned through my chest and entered my brain. 'Prepare for Fists! Of Warring Fury!' I yelled, ripping off my shirt and using my green ribbons as a whip. They attacked with Technique of Disproportionate Response, and I countered with Technique of Measured Response. They countered my Technique of Massive Bombing with Technique of Cave Hiding. Their Attack on American Economy Technique was met with Consumer Spending Increase, and I struck back with Spending meets Rebel Alliance, which shattered them, and they laid bleeding on the ground.

Only then did I realize what I had done, as Ho-Ku and Ku-Chu stared sadly at me. I wept alone on the ground as they sadly walked away, knowing I was lost to Pacifism forever.

Oh, I am the saddest man!

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The Squelch was recently approached by a Publishing company putting together some sort of College Humor collection. We're supposed to send them 15 or so of the funniest articles ever to run in the Squelch.

Here's my list:

My Penis is Comparable to Big Thunder Mountain
http://www.squelched.com/detail.cfm?num=1721193087

Chad Voted Most Popular West African Nation
http://www.squelched.com/detail.cfm?num=-610516909

Security Issues Abound at Cookie Monster's Site
http://www.squelched.com/detail.cfm?num=313328549

The Adventures of Ishi, Last of His Tribe
http://www.squelched.com/detail.cfm?num=625831077

Hondas and Honeys
http://www.squelched.com/detail.cfm?num=-1115534629

I am the Brass Ring
http://www.squelched.com/detail.cfm?num=652455914

Weekend at Cheney's
http://www.squelched.com/detail.cfm?num=-1716947629

U.S. Withdraws Support for Israeli Baby-Killing
http://www.squelched.com/detail.cfm?num=716288843

Plea of “No Sprouts” Unheeded by Mustachioed Devil-Bitch
http://www.squelched.com/detail.cfm?num=-129801342

Humiliating Happenstances!
http://www.squelched.com/detail.cfm?num=973178189

Student Inadventently Sculpts, Eats 8 Inch Penis
http://www.squelched.com/detail.cfm?num=963650002

The Trials of a Female Science Major
http://www.squelched.com/detail.cfm?num=1944033398

What it Was, Was Clubbing
http://www.fuzzydice.com/~holohan/squelch/club.html

What'd You Just Say?
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Jamal Sampson was picked in the second round of the NBA draft by Milwaukee. Email This Post!

PotatoChucker is first with the news that Cal Football has received severe sanctions for misconduct in 1999.

NCAA's thinking: Kick the ones we can, because there's no way we can kick around the big schools like Miami.Email This Post!

OkeyEmail This Post!

Nukees, the Daily Californian comic strip that absolutely no one but me seems to like, has actually run a strip with Berkeley references! Amazing.Email This Post!

Ralph Nader is coming to Berkeley, which is moderately exciting, but what's even more exciting (for me) is that Neil Gaiman is coming to Cal! July 2nd at 6:30.. e-mail me if you'd like to go.Email This Post!

This data is interesting.Email This Post!

Greeks like to complain about the way they're portrayed in the media. I'm sure everyone knows what that means: that Greeks are a big group of booze-heavy sexhounds with just about enough intelligence to prance around Carson Daly in a swimsuit and tan. This sort of stereotype is perpetuated by

MTV's new show "Sorority Life" featuring Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi, a local women's group at UC Davis, and a chapter house of Sigma Alpha Epsilon on Comedy Central's "Insomniac" with Dave Attel are such examples of the disgraceful portrayal of Greek life. It is shows like these and movies like the upcoming "Going Greek" in which irresponsible people and those who lack basic values give the Greek system a bad name.

He forgot to mention Sorority Boys.

The Greek Advisor at Berkeley mentioned his hopes of getting the Daily Cal to assign a beat reporter to the Greek system, in order to spend some time covering Greek Community Service, Greek involvement in Leadership, etc. I myself started to write a column on 'Myths in the Greek system.' before getting stuck.

The problem I'm having with both sides is that both sides are right. The Greek system is chock-full of pot fiends, heavy drinkers, sex maniacs, and all the other sorts of types of chaps that give Greeks a bad name. It's also full of committed students, leaders in the University, and exemplaries of what the various Charters are supposed to stand for.

These are often the same people.

The same people who are out at 2 AM trying to order beer at Jack-in-the-Box are ASUC leaders, Editors of the Squelch, and Columnists for the Daily Cal. They live life hard, and it turns out they can handle both jobs: party-harder and life-affirmer. Media coverage is always slanted because it's difficult and boring to capture both elements at once. Sure, that Frat President may be a member of Rally Comm and work in the EVP's office, but he also got caught on the I-House roof with two cows and half a giraffe. There are Greek Leaders who won't touch the demon-drink, and Greek members who look forward to Pot Wednesday and Most of Thursday. But most are a combination of the two.

So all this complaining won't do much about the problem. It's either worst or best, until the dichotomy is reconciled.


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Ms. Mathiesen, having covered Travel, Travel and Sex, and Travel and Money, now moves on to Travel and Food. So far she's covered everything in bottom rung of Maslow's Pyramid but Shelter, so look for that next.

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Ending sleepless nights of speculation, Mr. Andy Katz (That's Kats! -Devona Walker) has filed to run for City Council in District 8, my District. It includes most of Southeast Berkeley, Fraternity Row, and down to Foothill/Stern. Since analyzing Mr. Katz's run will make a fine column next Fall, I won't be doing that here.

A sentence in Ms. Walker's piece in the Planet:

He also stated that despite criticism from some saying there are a lot of students who care deeply about the city of Berkeley and who choose to hang around after they graduate and who want to participate in the city. And he thinks that he will increase voter participation across the board in the November election.

Meh?

Another mistake in the Planet's piece:

Landmark Preservation Commissioner Becky O’Malley is also rumored to have designs on the soon-to-be vacated seat.

Nope, Calstuff Correspondent TCG confirms that Ms. O'Malley won't be running for the spot.

Mr. Noah Schubert, lately of the ASUC Judicial Council, will be heading up Mr. Katz's campaign.

And here's the Game: who will Calstuff vote for? I'm a voter in District 8. Will my desire to have a Student Representative -- and a Greek one at that -- outweigh old hostility towards Student Action and a preference for the Moderates to control the Council outright?

Time will tell!Email This Post!

Calstuff returns to Berkeley after a horrible trip to Michigan. Email This Post!

Gone in Michigan until Monday night.Email This Post!

Dave has good thoughts on the recent AP/GPA reweighting proposal.Email This Post!

People in other cities, San Leandro would be one example, occasionally get a good chuckle about some Only-in-Berkeley antic. Easy for them: they don't have to live here. These kinds of things piss me off, and an intiative to force me to overpay for coffee tops the list.

A petition-driven initiative that would ban the sale of nonfair trade, shade-grown or organic coffee in the city of Berkeley will likely be on the November ballot, city officials said.

'Nonfair trade?' For one thing, that isn't even the best term: Unfair Trade sounds much better. For another thing, the only precise way to define what is a 'Fair Trade' is if both parties agree on a price and a quantity. If it was too low, the seller wouldn't sell, too high and the buyer wouldn't pay.

Politics-wise: this sort of law goes straight into the worst kind of Big Brother government. Even the City Council feels this way.

“If we begin to regulate the many details of so many people’s lives we are either going to be a nanny government or big brother, I don’t know which,” said City Councilmember Miriam Hawley, District 5.

Hawley said another smart thing on the unintended consequences of this, so I'm gonna quote her twice.

“For instance, how do we balance the needs of low-income people against the needs of people who are working in the fields and growing the coffee?” Hawley said. “And why are we starting here and not closer to home?”

The Initiative's writer, Rick Young, has made a classic mistake by confusing typical buying practices with market oversupply.

“People are being driven off their land because of the actions of corporate coffee companies like Starbucks,” said Simon Harris, the campaign director of the Organic Consumers Association, which supports of the initiative. “Coffee prices are coming in at 40 cents a pound, which is less than what it cost to produce it.”

People are being driven off the land because they're trying to grow coffee in a horribly glutted market. Too many people are trying to grow coffee. That's why foreign governments are dealing with the price shock by either attempting to hold back production and raise International demand. If Rick really wanted to help prices, he should ban Vietnamese coffee; the rising exports from there are much more a reason for low prices then any pennies Starbucks can squeeze out of Johnny Columbian.

But, instead, a real problem is being dealt with by the most roundabout and economically bankrupt method available. It's not even necessary to imagine a world where the Rick Youngs of the world are successful. Simply examine the European Olive market. Greece and other Mediterranean countries were suffering from low prices thanks to oversupply. Instead of cutting supply or increasing demand, the EU just tried to subsidize the problem away. It didn't work; overpaying for olives simply meant more olive growers, not richer ones. Now the EU is flooded with unwanted olives, Greek growers are no better off, and the EU's taxpayers are being screwed.

Lets not do that again.Email This Post!

Squelch Editor-in-Chief and fellow Foothill High Grad Kenny Byerly (Buy Early!) will be making his third appearance in the next MAD magazine. It's the one with the Star Wars cover. Look for him in the Star Wars section.Email This Post!

The US plays Mexico in the World Cup Quarter-Quarterfinals tonight. Which means it's time for a party!

11:30 at Theta Chi Fraternity, on the corner of Dwight and Piedmont. It's the big white building. A Theta looks like an 0 with a line through it, and a Chi looks like an X, for those unfamiliar with Greek letters. Email This Post!

Karen Alexander writes an error-filled article about UC Berkeley and possible anti-semitism in the New Republic.

First, she repeats unconditionally the rumor that the two Orthodox Jews were beaten on campus for anti-semitic reasons. While possible, this has never been confirmed, and other reports indicate it was a random, gang-related attack.

Second, she writes

During a vigil for Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 9, students reciting the Mourner's Kaddish--the Jewish prayer for the dead--were shouted down by protesters who said prayers in memory of suicide bombers.

This is exactly backwards. A Palestinian supporter recited the Kaddish in honor of dead Palestinians and was shouted at by Israeli supporters. Here's the line from the Daily Cal:

At its low point, crowd members waved Israeli flags and shouted "sacrilege," "anti-Semite," "shame" and "fuck you" amid a general uproar as speaker Micah Bazant, a Jewish supporter of Palestine, invoked the kaddish—a traditional Jewish prayer of mourning—in honor of Palestinians who had been killed in the conflict.

Besides the factual errors, the article shows cluelessness in many ways. Alexander claims that groups like SJP have been receiving newfound-- and unexpected-- support from outside groups like the International Socialists.

The pro-Palestinian organization at UC Berkeley, for instance, receives assistance from Left Turn (a Socialist group), the Revolutionary Communist Party, and the International Socialists Organization (ISO). The pro-Palestinian camp at SFSU also benefits from such outside help. "I don't know their background or their history," SFSU Palestinian activist Shamieh says of his ISO allies, "but all I know is they support us in anything we do."

Please. The extensive interlinks between ISO and SJP are extremely well documented. The two groups have been intertwined for years; it's no coincidence that Snehal is an organizer for both groups. It's understandable that Alexander wants to show a wellspring of new support for Palestinian causes, but the truth is these institutions have been tied for years; only the level of their militancy and activism is new.

Also, Alexander writes that

]." Indeed, California has become something of a magnet for anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic figures from across the country

Her proof is a couple of supportive letters to the editor from prominent Jew-haters across the country, which proves nothing besides that David Duke will get support where he can.

It's not that I don't fundamentally agree with Alexander; there is a large and persistent level of anti-semitism at Berkeley and SFSU. But it's sadly clear that she wrote the lede before she started research: she seems to have felt that the Bay Area was significantly different in the underlying permissiveness and anti-semitism in the area, and that this has gotten worse in the past few months. Possible, but she doesn't have the facts to prove it, and it shows.Email This Post!

Salar Jahedi writes a column today advising parents to beat their children.

Why? Because they cry! And it irritates him! Him, Mr. Salar Jahedi, who must not be annoyed when he stands in line for Safeway! Beat the shit out those kiddies. Fuck 'em up good. Remember the old poem: if you don't hit your toddler, you're just a lousy coddler.

Then right after he writes about

Or the fear I felt in a car ride home when my father once said, "Remind me to beat your rump as soon as we get in," and the terror when he actually took off his 45-inch belt and ordered me to take down my pants.

he concludes

But I learned fast. And so did my siblings. No, I couldn't always have that candy bar or stay up late, and my parents would let me know it.

Children today are way too spoiled. After spending a long hard day at work, the last thing a parent wants to hear when they get home is their whining child. Especially if the kid is bugging them to shell out a couple hundred hard-earned dollars for the newest brand video game system and such.

Good thing Salar is around to debunk all those child-care 'experts,' with their 'scientific studies' and 'years of training in childcare programs.' Pay no attention! Mr. Jahedi is the only true expert. Why? Because he was beaten as a child.



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The Berkeley Summer Reading List, an annual waste of time for incoming Freshmen, has been announced. It was cute to watch the new students consciencly writing down the titles when they were announced when I went through CalSO two years ago, suffering from some ineffable feeling that they would be tested on this someday.

The theme this year is 'Banned and Challenged Books,' so of course the list is full of humdrum choices that are part of California's mandatory reading list.

Students are being invited to read a dozen "challenged" novels, books that someone sought to restrict or ban. The books were chosen by select UC Berkeley faculty and staff members off the American Library Association's list of the 100 most challenged books from 1990 to 2000.

"And usually when someone doesn't want you to read something, it means that there's something valuable in that book," advises the introduction to the list, distributed this week to fall freshmen.

So we're making decisions based on what a bunch of brainless Alabama rednecks don't want me to read? Isn't that kind of a reverse-reverse stupid? Why doesn't Berkeley go for a theme more highbrow and cultural then 'Morons and Racists don't like these.' ?

Here's the list:

1. "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
New York: Penguin Books, 1954, (c)1982

2. "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
New York: Dutton/Plume, 1987, (c)1977

3. "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger
Boston: Little, Brown, 1991, (c)1951

4. "Beloved" by Toni Morrison
New York: Dutton/Plume, 1988

5. "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain
New York: Viking/Penguin, 1986

6. "The House of the Spirits" by Isabel Allende
New York: Bantam Books, 1986

7. "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker
New York: Pocket Books, 1990

8. "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
New York, NY : HarperCollins Publishers, 1999

9. "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
New York: Harper, 1998, (c)1932

10. "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
New York: Bantam, 1998

11. "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain
New York: Bantam Books, 1986

12. "SlaughterHouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
New York: Dell, 1991, (c) 1969.

I dislike this.

For one thing, it's repetitive: Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer are thematically and in writing style very similiar books. Same goes (to a lesser extent) with picking two Morrison titles.

It's claim to be a compendium of 'forbidden' books must be based on some ancient, old use of the term. These are books that were under fire decades and decades ago, and get challenged these days mostly because of their ubiquity across the Nation; attacked not just because of their content but because of their entrenchment in national reading lists. A full 5 (!) of the 12 are in California's High School reading syllabus alone. Most of the others came highly recommended from all of my English Teachers.

This is not to say these aren't valuable books. Most of them are, although I'd rather spend a month with my ass corked up then read Color Purple. But to portray them as 'under attack' is to ignore the collective endorsement of a country-wide educational establishment, plus Oprah, plus Rosie O'Donnell. If Berkeley really wanted to go with books 'under attack,' they'd go with Drug-culture books, like Hunter Thompson, or perhaps with challenging Revolutionary books from the Third World like Arundhati Roy.

Zzzz.

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This compilation of Berkeley students/professor Journals from the field is pretty interesting. Email This Post!

The widely watched Judi Barr / Earth First! case is over... and the FBI lost. The FBI was found to have violated the Plaintiff's Civil Rights in many, many ways, and are to be forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Bad week to be a jerk FBI Official.Email This Post!

Ms. Mathiesen seems to be actually be writing a Travel Log, so I can't take easy potshots at her for continually using the same topic. Perhaps consequently, her column improved this week. It meanders, it touches on too many topics, but it is actually readable and professional. Hurrah!

The article following up on the FBI-Berkeley story in the Chron is pretty good. It's actually better written then the Chronicle's, and gives more context into the situation behind Kerr's firing. The one odd thing is the easy credit given to a single Daily Cal alum for discovering the story. Considering it took three lawsuits and over a decade, giving credit for the scoop to one reporter's decision to file a FOIA request seems pat.Email This Post!

Daily Cal Police Log:

FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 3:24 AM. Male and female given advice about emotional problems, 200 block of Wilson Street, University Village.

Berkeley Police can do everything!Email This Post!

Chris Cantor writes RE: Calstuff's 'Invest in Palestine' idea:

There are "Invest in Palestine" campaigns, of a sort. More accurately, they
are the converse of the Boycott Israeli Goods Campaigns. As far as investment goes, its hard to convince people to invest their money in businesses that the Israelis are likely to go in and blow up.

Incidentally, thats why folks in the European Union are so pissed off, this latest round of "incursions" just did in many millions of dollars in aid and development projects they funded.

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Ben of Bensbargains.net reports that the Cal team in the Super Mileage Vehicle Competition won first place. Go Bears!

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Sex on Tuesday: the Hunt continues!

Turns out the Daily Cal is still actively searching for a Sex on Tuesday columnist. Send in a sample column and application to opinion@dailycal.org today!Email This Post!

The Chronicle has an exclusive on FBI surveillance of Berkeley in the 50s-60s period. Unusually shitty writing on the Chronicle's part partially disguises what it has obtained: explosive evidence of illegal dealings and blackmail on the FBI's part.

I'll quote the most important revelations:

1. Hoover trying to destroy Liberal faculty members

According to the documents, Hoover became outraged over an essay question on UC's 1959 English aptitude test for high school applicants that asked: "What are the dangers to a democracy of a national police organization, like the FBI, which operates secretly and is unresponsive to public criticism?"

In response, Hoover ordered his aides to launch a covert public relations campaign to embarrass the university and pressure it to retract what he called a "viciously misleading" question.

The director also ordered his agents to search bureau files for derogatory information on UC's 6,000 faculty members and top administrators.

The resulting 60-page report said 72 faculty members, students and employees were listed in the bureau's "Security Index," a secret nationwide list of people whom the FBI considered potentially dangerous to national security who would be detained without warrant during a crisis.

2. Efforts to destroy Liberal Regents and President Kerr:

The FBI records show that after the Free Speech Movement staged the nation's first large campus sit-ins of the era, CIA Director John McCone met with Hoover at FBI headquarters in January 1965 and planned to leak FBI reports to conservative regent Edwin Pauley, who could then "use his influence to curtail, harass and at times eliminate" liberal faculty members.

Regents, Kerr also targets

The FBI also gave Pauley reports on the backgrounds of three liberal regents from San Francisco: lawyer William Coblentz, businessman William M. Roth and former Democratic National Committee member Elinor Haas Heller.

The FBI campaigned to get Kerr fired from the UC presidency, the bureau's records show, because it disagreed with his policies and handling of the Free Speech Movement protests.

When President Lyndon Johnson was considering appointing Kerr to be his Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare in December 1964, he asked the FBI to conduct a routine inquiry into Kerr's background. But the bureau sent the White House allegations that Kerr was "pro-communist" - even though the bureau knew the claims were false.

3. Trying to destroy the Free Speech Movement:

Following the violent 1969 People's Park protests in Berkeley, Herbert Ellingwood, Reagan's legal affairs secretary, met with DeLoach to discuss campus unrest. "Governor Reagan is dedicated to the destruction of disruptive elements on California campuses," Ellingwood said, according to the records.

The Reagan administration planned on "hounding" protest groups as much as possible by "bringing any form of violation available against them." Reagan officials might bring tax cases against them, Ellingwood added, and would also mount a "psychological warfare campaign" against protesters.

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Here's my application essay for the Emerging Leader Alumni Scholarship. The prompt is 'Describe how you have developed as a leader to this point. Describe the changes in your philosophy, attitude and abilities. Highlight specific activities that have led to your current level of leadership.'

So naturally, it's my goal in this essay to look like as much as a Leader as my activities could possibly allow. So don't roll your eyes.

LEAAAAADDDDDDDERRRRRRR!

Leadership and all

Cal is absolutely full to the brim with leaders. Or at least it is in the applications: not many students can get in without a stint presiding over a Boy Scout Troop, or Captaining a soccer team, or presiding over the local Engineering club. And yet a strange thing happens as soon as they arrive at UC Berkeley; these High School leaders fade away into the great mass of students, never seeking to make their mark in leadership ever again. Perhaps this is because High School is about Leading for Yourself; adding a chit to the resume and pulling ahead on the college path. College Leadership, on the other hand, is not a career path or a must-do for future accomplishments.

Certainly I was more then a little like a High School Leader myself. At Foothill High I was the Leader of my local Literary Magazine, my Boy Scout Troop, and an Officer in the Junior State of America organization. But in my first four months at Berkeley, my leadership goals ranged no higher then perhaps editing the Heuristic Squelch some day and doing some freelance writing around campus.

But in late November, I was invited to join the young APPLE party, one of the ASUC's smaller political organizations. At the first meeting I was introduced to a group of people who understood-- or at least understood more then me-- what the purpose of College Leadership truly was. These were Senators and Club Presidents, Editors-in-Chief and Chiefs of Staff. At the time I was more impressed by the level of authority. Regardless, I became involved in ASUC politics, a path that would introduce me to many campus leaders-- and teach me how and why to become one myself. My first job was Publicity Director for the APPLE Party, a task that had me creating signs and literature for our Senate Candidates, future leaders themselves.

Along the line I met the new Academic Affairs VP, Catherine Ahn. Impressed with my hard work with APPLE, she recruited me for my first Leadership role on campus: Director of Cal-FACTS. Cal-FACTS (www.calfacts.org) is the ASUC's class evaluation service, a complicated job that involves a lot of manual labor and scut work. Not only that, but the program's mismanagement the semester prior had culminated in the AAVP's resignation. It paid abysmally, the work was mostly boring, but I took the job. Partly due to the old ambition to rise higher, but also for a new reason : leadership for the sake of the job and for those led. Cal-FACTS was a good program for students with lots of promise; I thought I could fulfill that promise.

Once I made the crucial leap to Leading for reasons other then personal ones, the rest came much more easily. I played first to my interests, then to my strengths, in looking at what I wanted to do. The first implied politics and humor, the second was writing. I was already on the staff of the Heuristic Squelch, but stepped up my level of submissions and was appointed Design Editor for my Sophomore year. When the year began I was recruited for the Berkeley Political Review, a first year publication, by a friend. With so much writing to do, and under the influence of good Editors, I quickly improved to a dependable writer, and became part of the Editorial Staff on both publications.

At Cal-FACTS, I ran a staff of five interns, and managed to retain all of mine until near the end of the year. The work was long and often lonely, so my strategy was to reward them as much as possible and develop a sort of espirit de corps. Towards this end, I gave my interns half of my stipend, set up speakers at my own expense, and made sure to always be there as much as possible. I considered the work to be important and necessary, and that was what I tried to impress on my interns. At the same time, I groomed two of my hardest workers as possible Successors, in order to avoid the problem of 'no prior experience' that I had to grope with. It was a good experience for all involved: I learned how to motivate, focus my people on their tasks, and manage a project.

As a sort of culmination to my love of politics and writing, I combined the two in a semi-journalistic website called Calstuff. (calstuff.blogspot.com) The goal for the website was to provide a running commentary and news coverage of the Berkeley campus, but I gradually evolved a new goal: to create the first entirely original news source at Berkeley in decades. Towards that end, I encouraged or recruited eighteen other students to set up their own 'blogs' focusing on Berkeley, and recruited three students from varied walks of life to work on mine, as well.

Meanwhile, my work and leadership abilities were beginning to move me into higher offices. I became Signatory of the Squelch Party, and ran for AAVP under their ticket. My platform was the same goals I had emphasized as Cal-FACTS Director: hard work and service to students. I received the Daily Cal's endorsement for the position, and received 1200 votes despite spending most of the campaign helping APPLE's Senate and Executive Candidates. I was also elevated to International Editor for the Berkeley Political Review and Creative Editor of the Squelch, both Senior Editorial positions. This was ideal work for my abilities, as it would put me in a position to train young writers much like I was once trained. Finally, I decided to become Rush Chair for my Fraternity, figuring that since I'll be recruiting for three Literary publications it made sense to be the recruiter for a Literary Fraternity.

I can't claim a large change in my abilities or philosophy since I came to Cal. My motives have changed a good bit, and my leadership skills are somewhat more developed, and I'm probably better at writing and hard work since I came here. But perhaps the reason I've come so far is that I believe I can consistently work, lead, and encourage others for two years to come. I'm excited about recruiting for my publications, now that I have the opportunity to, excited about being in a great position for my level of interests and abilities. Most of all, I'm excited about being a Leader on this campus, with the chance to work with friends and interns to create great things for Berkeley. It is this enthusiasm about the work and the jobs that makes me feel I will continue to be a leader on this campus, and one that will make Berkeley better.

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Hadn't noticed this before: turns out MTV will be airing a special version of Cribs, starring Berkeley Greek Houses. Apparently Kappa and Pike are the lucky buildings to be shown; hence the massive overhaul Pike is receiving right now.Email This Post!

There was an Anti-War march yesterday. The theme was 'Not in our Name,' which I always figured referred to US citizens protesting what the US government does. But apparently, Indian/Pakistani conflict is being conducted In Our Names as well, since it's on the protest list.

“Not in our Name,” stands against war, Israeli occupation of the West Bank, increased aggression between India and Pakistan and the U.S. extending military to aid to be used against all people.

Not sure I understand what that last one refers to, either. I'll assume that the Planet made an editing error, and meant to write 'US extending military aid to be used against all people.' Even then, it's hardly a concept that's easy to protest for if you haven't read Empire three times. It's not like we're paying a force of Global Thugs to go around breaking the kneecaps of 'all people.' I guess we're all oppressed by the destruction of Jenin.

I'm not sure if it's the Planet's inability to write or if the protest was truly that pointless, but note how this article struggles to think of something to say. First there's a long rehash on Snehal, as the latest and most visible Berkeley Activist. From there the article segues into SJP's fate, before reluctantly getting back to the actual march. A bit on the Movement's aims and tactics, and we end with a charming vignette about a participant who was in the Marines once.

Bit of a roundabout way to say.Email This Post!

Apparently Mr. Nate Tabak-- Calstuff's Betheleham Correspondant-- has taken over columnist duties for at least this week. This is good news, since the last guy could barely stop smiling at his own reflection long enough to type.

The bad news is it isn't an expose of Berkeley Police tactics, and hence is harder to blog on. The good news is it's well-written and interesting. Hopefully Mr. Tabak will use the column space to give outsiders a bit of a primer on how to walk the Cal crime beat. Email This Post!

It's kind of strange to be in town while CalSO is going on. All the near-graduates of High School staring at my mundane ass when I walk past, realizing that my backpack and European-style glasses means ** I actually go here.** Apparently they've been gathering outside of Henry's, looking inside at all the happy drinkers with a kind of longing. It's beautiful, in its way.

There's also the spooky jailbait aspect. Email This Post!

It's pretty common knowledge that the Berkeley Landmarks Comission is a thinly disguised barrier to any sort of development. Even when it's a small guy looking to secure his retirement, they find a way to screw him in favor of total stasis.

For Victor Touriel the stakes are potentially high. The flower shop occupies the downstairs of the Victorian, while the upstairs is used for storage. If he is not permitted to develop the property, which also includes a small parking lot, its resale value may be affected. “I spent all my money on my family, now this was my retirement,” Touriel said.

But here's the truly amazing statement, but a Commission member:

Tim Kelly, an architectural consultant hired by the developers, agreed with a previous historical resources report that said the Victorian failed to qualify as a “structure of merit” because it had undergone so many changes.

“It’s history, but not significant history,” said Kelly, who pointed out that stucco had been laid on the building and that much of it had been rebuilt after a fire in the 1940s.

Commissioner Becky O’Malley, on the other hand, said the renovations added to Victorian’s significance.

“If you have a building that has changed over time, it in itself is part of the historical record,” she said.

Emphasis added.

The first problem with that: it's a complete Catch-22. Don't renovate your old Victorian? Then it's an old landmark and certainly worthy to be frozen. Renovated it extensively? Shoot, that just makes it even more historical! Landmark that puppy!

And if Ms. O'Malley feels that renovations and changes to historical structures make them even more valuable, then why shut off any possibility of changing it by designating it historical? By her own logic, wouldn't she want the building to be a living, breathing piece of architecture instead of putting it in stasis forever?

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The Planet reports that, shock and surprise, the Wheeler 79 will not be facing criminal charges from the District Attorney. This was more or less inevitable, so the real question is: why did the DA bother in the first place? The University didn't really want him to. It doesn't help him politically. And add to all that the problem of not having any case whatsoever.

But the Planet does reveal that the real action happens this week:

UC Berkeley spokeswoman Janet Gilmore said the university will send letters to the students this week notifying them of the charges they will face. She said it will then be up to the students to settle the matter in an informal meeting with staff or go to a hearing.

Is there a clue there? The 'informal meeting' thing is a bit strange; would suspensions or worse really be handled in the staff lounge with Dean Kenney sipping a latte? Unlikely, but it's hard to read that one line.

Calstuff's boss, Instapundit, posted on this. His comparison of

That's not terribly unusual in the aftermath of disturbances where no one is seriously injured, but it's troubling. Would they have done this if the identical behavior had been perpetrated by, say, Klan sympathizers? I doubt it.

Why wouldn't they have dropped charges? The DA didn't have a case.

Not to mention such extenuating circumstances as: it's clearly the University's responsibility, these are mostly tuition paying students, and such. Still, why did Robert Hernandez get such an easy pass? Evidence seems strong that he bit a cop, which merits a bit more than most of a grand in fines in my world.

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The Divest from Israel Campaign is getting some press recently. The idea that companies that invest in Israel benefit Israeli hardliners has lots of problems with it, which Rory can take care of as soon as he gets back from wherever.

I wonder why-- even as a pilot program-- no activists have tried an 'Invest in Palestine' strategy. What better smack in the face to the Zionist PigDogs to have that Microsystems Fabrication plant bring 2500 jobs to Gaza instead of Tel Aviv?

Of more interest, here's the current list of faculty who signed the Divestment petition. No one I really recognized, outside of making a Cal-FACTS form for them, but see if your favorite is on it.

1. Bil Banks African American Studies Professor UC Berkeley
2. Percy Hintzen African American Studies Professor UC Berkeley
3. Gerald Berreman Anthropology Professor UC Berkeley
4. Laura Nader Anthropology Professor UC Berkeley
5. Aihwa Ong Anthropology Professor UC Berkeley
6. Stefania Pandolfo Anthropology Professor UC Berkeley
7. Nancy Scheper-Hughes Anthropology Professor UC Berkeley
8. John J. Gumperz PhD Anthropology Professor Emeritus UC Berkeley
9. Dell Upton Architecture Professor UC Berkeley
10. Jean Ishibashi Asian American Studies Lecturer UC Berkeley
11. Karen Chapple City and Regional Planning Professor UC Berkeley
12. Ananya Roy City and Regional Planning Professor UC Berkeley
13. Raja Sengupta Civil and Environmental Eng. Professor UC Berkeley
14. Michael Cassidy Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor UC Berkeley
15. Carlos Daganzo Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor UC Berkeley
16. Samer Madanat Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor UC Berkeley
17. Fadia Damon College Writing Programs Professor UC Berkeley
18. John Hurst Education Professor UC Berkeley
19. Laurent El Ghaoui Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Professor UC Berkeley
20. Brian Harvey Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Professor UC Berkeley
21. James Landay Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Professor UC Berkeley
22. Ian Duncan English Professor UC Berkeley
23. Saidiya Hartman English Professor UC Berkeley
24. Abdul JanMohamed English Professor UC Berkeley
25. Celeste Langan English Professor UC Berkeley
26. Susan Schweik English Professor UC Berkeley
27. Anne-Lise Francois English and Comparative Literature Professor UC Berkeley
28. Norma Alarcon Ethnic Studies Professor UC Berkeley
29. L. Ling-chi Wang Ethnic Studies Professor UC Berkeley
30. Linda Williams Film Studies and Rhetoric Professor UC Berkeley
31. Michael Lucey French and Comparative Literature Professor UC Berkeley
32. Roger Byrne Geography Professor UC Berkeley
33. Gillian Hart Geography Professor UC Berkeley
34. Richard Walker Geography Professor UC Berkeley
35. Michael Watts Geography and Institute of International Studies Professor, Director UC Berkeley
36. Claire J. Kramsch German Professor UC Berkeley
37. Bluma Goldstein German Professor Emerita UC Berkeley
38. Emma H Fuentes Graduate School of Education Student UC Berkeley
39. Beshara Doumani History Associate Professor UC Berkeley
40. Angela P. Harris Law School Professor UC Berkeley
41. Donald E. Sarason Mathematics Professor UC Berkeley
42. Lior Pachter Mathematics Assistant Professor UC Berkeley
43. J. B. Neilands Molecular and Cell Biology Professor Emeritus UC Berkeley
44. Charles Dekker Molecular and Cell Biology Professor Emeritus UC Berkeley
45. Rutie Adler Near Eastern Studies Professor UC Berkeley
46. Wali Ahmadi Near Eastern Studies Professor UC Berkeley
47. Hamid Algar Near Eastern Studies Professor UC Berkeley
48. John Hayes Near Eastern Studies Professor UC Berkeley
49. Carol Redmount Near Eastern Studies Professor UC Berkeley
50. Sonia S'hiri Near Eastern Studies Professor UC Berkeley
51. Muhammad Siddiq Near Eastern Studies Professor UC Berkeley
52. Daniel Boyarin Near Eastern Studies and Rhetoric Professor UC Berkeley
53. Alaa E. Mansour Ocean Engineering and Mechanical Engineering Professor UC Berkeley
54. Robert Tripp Physics Professor UC Berkeley
55. Wendy Brown Political Science Professor UC Berkeley
56. Jack Block Psychology Professor UC Berkeley
57. Susan Ervin-Tripp Psychology Professor Emeritus UC Berkeley
58. Pheng Cheah Rhetoric Professor UC Berkeley
59. Judith Butler Rhetoric and Comparative Literature Professor UC Berkeley
60. Michael Burrawoy Sociology Professor UC Berkeley
61. Laura Enriquez Sociology Professor UC Berkeley
62. Arlie Hochschild Sociology Professor UC Berkeley
63. Barrie Thorne Sociology Professor UC Berkeley
64. Loic Wacquant Sociology Professor UC Berkeley
65. Raka Ray Sociology Associate Professor UC Berkeley
66. Vasudha Dalmia South and Southeast Asian Studies Professor UC Berkeley
67. Julio Ramos Spanish and Portuguese Professor UC Berkeley
68. David R. Brillinger D. Sc. Statistics Professor UC Berkeley
69. Caren Kaplan Women's Studies Associate Professor UC Berkeley
70. Jennifer Terry Women's Studies Visiting Associate Professor UC Berkeley

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