The final issue of the Squelch, internally known as the 'Hate Issue,' got a lot of guff from a surprising-- to Squelchers-- source: a two line throwaway bit in the small text. Here's the PDF link; the offending lines are in the bottom left of the second page.

Berkeley NOW got upset, and the usual internal argument on how to punish the Squelch raged. on one side are the 'Burn them to the ground' types. The other side, which is usually the more experienced crew, typically carries the day.

Their argument, besides the whole Free Speech thing, is that Squelch and other Racist, Mysognist Publications WANT to be protested. We want to be confronted, sent nasty e-mails, and generally get a response of some kind. Then we go back and use that outrage to crank out new material. As one NOW person wrote,

if we protest, it will feed right into their hands, They Want Us to Care, and it will just escalate into another issue with even more jokes at our expense!

Another wrote

If you think what they put in tiny print on the inside of the front cover this time is bad, just wait until the next issue if there is a protest.

How did this argument get so widely accepted? The truth is: Squelch doesn't use 'being protested' for new material. Being protested isn't very funny. Where's the humor in a spat between two campus groups fighting over ASUC funds? There's a simple equation: ASUC = Not Funny. It's not fun for the Squelch people, either. It means getting yelled at on Sproul, dealing with angry ASUC officials threatening to cut funding, and worrying that advertisers will pull out. So when Squelch puts something controversial out, the 'win' situation for us is people understand it as cutting humor and leave it there.

So why are all these groups convinced we win from all this? Possibly because while protesting the Squelch irritates the Squelch, the Protestors invariably end up losing even more. The Free Speech argument almost always wins the fray, even in Berkeley. Even the pissed-off NOW people were swayed significantly by it. One wrote

The ASUC has no right to punish student publications for what they print. Just imagine the furor it would cause if they tried and who would most definitely be on the losing end (not the Squelch). While protesting would be bad, trying to get the ASUC to infringe the Squelch's freedom of speech would be even worse.

At the end of the day, the publications keep their funding, the protesters get a lot of bad publicity with nothing to show for it, and in general get no satisfaction from going after publications. It's easy to understand why they'd conclude that if they lost, then Squelch must've won. But that's not true: everyone lost. Squelch lost time, the Protesters lost respect, and Free Speech suffered another assault.

The exception to this is the Patriot, which has a unique business model dependent on getting their magazines stolen. But that's for another day.Email This Post!

Go Bears!

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I've decided that my first column will be a relatively generic 'Why I go to Berkeley' sort of thing. I'll try and do a first draft this weekend.

New (anonymous) blogger out there: Res Ipsa Loquitor.

Today's post will be on the ASUC, because I miss it already.

From talking with new AAVP Tony Falcone, I got a better sense of the management difference between Student Action and everyone else. Usually I just deride it as management by High School politics. But in a more scientific sense, it's a way of building a community in the office. (So I'm told.) The idea is that ASUC projects require small, loosely formed teams capable of putting something together quickly. Since a formalized command structure inhibits these kinds of projects, Community Management is much more appropriate. Hence the policy of defining Project Managers and Interns as the major two levels, and building an 'Office of the President' mentality that fosters teamwork and intitiative. The idea being that when AAVP Tony needs a project done, he can assign a Director quickly, and that Director can easily put together a good team from the available workers. Also, the system builds loyalty to the office that isn't dependent on the often boring and unpaid work being performed.

As I told Tony, I'm more partial to the formal atmosphere, like how the Student Advocate runs their office. It should build expertise over time, instead of the same pool of dedicated but unskilled interns. Plus I'd rather have interns dedicated to the job, not the office, as unrealistic as that may be.

But it is good to know the offices aren't being run by autopiloting former High School Presidents.Email This Post!

The Daily Cal is back! I missed it so.

Two good stories: the one confirming Matt Murray as Student Regent-designate and the one on the Berkeley deportee in Israel.

The Daily Planet chose to run an AP story on the same Church of the Nativity topic. It's inferior to the Daily Cal's version in several ways, mostly in the focus on the personal over the legal and political ramifications of the arrests.

The new columnist is Marie Mathiesen. She's apparently from Denmark. But she's writing from Baja, which might explain why her writing seems so distracted and by-the-numbers.

I had a list of things I wanted to bash in her column. I'll start with the topic. No, wait, the writing is worse. No, it's the weird dialogue conceit that tries to make a column out of a Zagat guide. Praglib made the point that her advice is financially illiterate. (When the Rhetoric majors notice these things, you know it's trouble.)

Here's a suggestion: Count all the money you spend in a month on fancy coffee drinks, food in restaurants, new clothes, and various stimulants (cigarettes, other smokeables, alcohol, and whatever), then take that money and save it instead. Do you really need to go to the Chinese Restaurant you have been to 50 times already? Cook dinner yourself. In a short time, you will be able to afford to go somewhere.

Afford to go where, San Leandro? Assuming I can reduce my existence to a bare, spartan life, I could maybe manage to save $600 in a semester. Congrats; I'm still $400 short on a roundtrip ticket to Nepal. We're talking about a upper-class white kid, too. I doubt Suzy Q. First-Generation has the luxury to go to see the Alps. And considering Marie was hired as a 'Foreigner' columnist, her column about Travelling to Distant Places has nothing more relevant then 'It's Fun' ?

Part 1 of a series in 'Setting impossibly high standards for non-Kevin columnists.'




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Calstuff Correspondant ACR writes

Actually, you could find BAMN stories in the Daily Cal archive dating back to 1995:

http://archive.dailycal.org/archive/08.08.95/coalition.txt

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On a whim, I searched for BAMN on LexisNexis. Here's the earliest article I could find about them, written in September of 1997. Note how little their tactics have changed.

September 18, 1997

LENGTH: 836 words
HEADLINE: Students protest for affirmative action
BYLINE: By Katie Plona, Michigan Daily
SOURCE: U. Michigan
DATELINE: Ann Arbor, Mich.

BODY:
More than 50 students strategically marched past several campus sites yesterday, chanting rallying cries to create a student movement to defend affirmative action at the University.

A newly formed group, the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action By Any Means Necessary, organized a rally that began at 1 p.m. on the Diag and progressed through the campus area.

"We formed because U of M is going to be the next great battleground for the war on affirmative action," said BAMN member Jessica Curtin. "So, it's up to us to turn the war around and begin to win and fight for affirmative action." Curtin said the rally, as well as the coalition, was formed in response to threats against affirmative action - including a potential lawsuit against University affirmative action policies, incidents at the Nectarine Ballroom, the drawing of swastikas on Mary Markley residence hall doors and a cartoon that appeared in The Michigan Daily on Sept. 9.

Curtin stressed that joining students and student groups together will be the most effective way to respond to criticism of affirmative action practices.

"If we don't organize, we're sure to lose. No student group is strong enough to do this by itself," Curtin said.

Law second-year student Russ Abrutyn, a BAMN member, said the groups need to not only defend affirmative action against threats, but also strengthen it.

Abrutyn blamed legislators and University officials for not defending affirmative action with enough vigor.

"I think they're doing very little, and instead of attacking it, they should make it stronger," Abrutyn said.

Abrutyn said he is concerned about a potential lawsuit that would challenge the University's affirmative action policies. Spearheaded by four state legislators, the suit would seek to echo the results of the Hopwood case that ended affirmative action policies at the University of Texas. Abrutyn said the only way for the University to win a possible lawsuit is by creating a student movement supporting affirmative action.

Some students decided spontaneously to join the rally. After passing through the Diag around noon, LSA sophomore Sharonda Ayers received a flier promoting the rally, and she decided to attend.

"I think it needs to be done," she said. "It gives a lot of people opportunities. They might not have them otherwise."

LSA junior Chris Levi, who sat near the rally on one of the Diag benches, said he supports BAMN's cause, but questions its means.

"I'm like for affirmative action, but by for any means necessary is kind of scary," Levi said. "That sort of hints at violence, and I'm not a violent person."

Rackham student N. Kim, who attended the University of California at Santa Barbara when Proposition 209 passed, said the fight for affirmative action is especially important because of the precedent set by the passage of 209.

"I support affirmative action because this is the only tool we have to counter institutionalized discrimination against people of color," Kim said. "Activists of the civil rights movement died. We're not just going to let it go so easy."

While some observers applauded the protesters, not all passersby agreed with their stance.

One man, who would not give his name, made a thumbs down gesture with his hand as the marchers crossed State Street on route to the Diag.

"They're free to do whatever. I support their right to demonstrate, but I do not support anything else to do with it," he said.

After passing the Nectarine Ballroom, the marchers congregated in front of the Student Publications Building to confront The Michigan Daily staff members regarding a cartoon the group branded as racist.

The group demanded the Daily print a retraction for the cartoon, which depicted a squirrel protesting a lack of rights.

"It was a blatant racist attempt," Curtin said. "It equated black people and minorities with squirrels trying to get a nut. It's disgusting."

Coalition member Shanta Driver, who also is a national chair of the National Women's Rights Organizing Coalition, said that if the Daily defends affirmative action policies, it needs to stand behind its positions.

"We're not advocating that the Daily refrain from publishing the commentary of people that oppose affirmative action," Driver said. "But what we are saying is that with the Daily having a clear position for affirmative action, which we absolutely applaud, that the Daily should rally students in favor of this critical, critical issue."

Curtin said yesterday's rally was the first of several organizational attempts to create a student movement to defend affirmative action. The coalition may conduct a protest outside the Nectarine Ballroom demanding that the bouncer involved in a recent allegedly racist incident be fired, Curtin said.

Curtin said the next rally, tentatively scheduled for a few weeks from now, will target the undergraduate admissions office in the Student Activities Building and the Fleming Administration Building.

The Planet reports that two Berkeley students involved in the Church of the Nativity standoff have been kinda/sorta expelled and are currently detained by Israel.

No word if one of the student in question is Robert O'Neill, and the article is unclear about if these students merely 'protested' out front or were involved in the famed rush into the Church with backpacks. The University is being intentionally vague about exactly how expelled they are; they're 'out for the moment' but can 'finish up course work' and 'will have opportunities to get back in.'

What burns my bubbles is why they were expelled: for violating policies that commands them to do 'safe things.' I'm sympathetic towards a condition for studying abroad that mandates staying away from War Zones. But to paint this as looking out for the student is trying to be a nursemaid-- something that really pisses me off. See below.

Now, expelling for aiding and abetting terrorism-- that charge might stick. But how about some due process? Or treating the student as an adult? 'Student' is an occupation, not a way of life.

More on this when it comes out.Email This Post!

A good bit of the Graduating Seniors I know have bitter memories of their time here at Cal. (Post inspired by Randy, but I've already worked out our point of disagreement.)

These Seniors have tended to be like my next door neighbor: dead sick of the endless controversies, the 'hatred of Jews' thing, Administration's coldness towards students, the lack of housing/parking/food, and

I don't think this is a healthy place to be more than a few years. Not just the school, but the city of Berkeley itself. It's an angry and bitter town, full of people pissed off at society for a whole host of real or imagined ills. It's a city where no one is really surprised to see "kill Jews" scrawled on posters all over town.

Good points! But they're also why I feel this is the Best University To Go To, Period!

Berkeley is an odd melding: you get extensive experience in both the Real World and in the Angry World, the two hardest things to train for in life. This is in contrast to cushy schools like Stanfurd, which always treat In Loco Parentis with a wink and a nod before sending you to bed with ice cream. Cal will not mother you. Cal is more like a faintly resentful but fair stepfather: not a lot of love there, but you'll be helped to become an Adult. After all, it's in the best interests of both of you.

I'm dependent on my parents for two more years of funding. But after that, I'm ready for the real world. I've lived in the apartment, I pay the bills, I balance my own checkbook. Living an easy life in the dorms for four years was never an option, and that's good for me.

Same with the Angry World, which is Berkeley to a T. It's all about the experience, on both sides. Protests against Israel? No one cares... but the Protesters learn something. Thanks to Berkeley, I get material for a daily blog. Rory has a reason to go on AM radio. Snehal makes the NY Times. None of us are truly affecting the real world; Berkeley doesn't have that power. But we're learning how to do it out in the bigger world. Maybe Rory will go on to work for Governor Simon. Maybe I'll get a job with the New Republic. Maybe Snehal will blow himself up in an Israeli cafe. In all three, we didn't learn these respective trades from taking Poli Sci 137 at stupid Stanfurd. It's all about the culture at Berkeley.

Is the Angry World a maddening, humiliating experience? Damn straight. But it's also valuable. And no one is forcing you to get involved with it. Don't want to do the Angry World? Then don't. It's so easy to not get involved in politics on this campus. Stay away from Sproul around noon. Don't read much of the Daily Cal. Get your Engineering degree and graduate secure in the knowledge you've gotten a great education.

There are plenty of reasons to leave Cal miffed at the people and the Administrators. Lord knows there's plenty of failures on all sides. There's also plenty of reasons, like Randy has, to not give the Administration any cash just because you're alumni now. But when you speak of Cal, don't complain of the whipping you got. It was the best possible thing that could've happened to you.

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I only recently was pointed to this site. Trivium is a forum of Berkeley Social Scientists and Humanities majors, but also has a skillful 'Berkeley News' section on complex issues.

There's tons of this kind of stuff on OCF. I'd kill for a listing of exactly what is hosted there; lots of neat Berkeley-related stuff resides there, besides the multitude of CS projects and personal journals. Email This Post!

The Chronicle published a puff piece about new Haas Dean Tom Campbell. He's going to concentrate on Ethics, apparently. 'Because in this post-Enron world, we need Ethics in Business more then ever!' Plus a little talk about the use of a Business degree.

If Campbell really said

As for why one would go into business, the answer, Campbell said, is "to make money for yourself, in part. To create wealth that can be shared. . . . That's the ideal."

then I'm a little worried. I mean 'To make money for yourself.. and.. err... for others' is a really unimaginative explanation of why people go into Business. How about to learn the skills for starting a non-profit? Or for organizing any large-scale institution? The challenge? Self-management? Or the thousands of motives for 'going to make money'? These motives go to the heart of how Business students see ethics. If Campbell has them lumped in a general 'money-grubber' category we're screwed.

Doubtful that's what he meant. Campbell is, after all, well qualified for this position and apparently very in tune with Silicon Valley. Still, weird answer.Email This Post!

Calstuff Correspondant EBC writes on the East Bay Weekly

FYI: There are several things wrong with this Daily Cal piece:

The Daily Cal has been in Eshleman since 1994, not 95.

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/1994/1019/dailycal.html

http://archive.dailycal.org/archive/1999/4/21/newsinbrief.html

And the paper's been independent since 1971, which was not 25 years ago, as the story goes.

Good to know the Express also screws up.

The Daily Cal piece is up, BTW, so you can read it yourself. And here's the Wally Comic I mentioned earlier.

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Just to clarify: my birthday is August 13th. Calstuff Associate Sean Byrne's was a few days ago. Happy Birthday to Albatross, tho.Email This Post!

Two new resources for ya:

Blogtrack.com, which monitors which Blogs have updated since you last checked. Changed my 15 minute daily checkup to a one minute process. Invaluable when there's as many Cal Blogs as there is.

Also Brandon's Cal Updates, which does much the same specifically for Cal Blogs. Email This Post!

One of my goals is to write for every publication on campus.

DONE THEM:
Heuristic Squelch
Berkeley Political Review
Daily Cal
California Patriot

TO DO:
Blue and Gold
Al Bayan
Berkeley Poetry Review
Berkeley Science Review
Cal Legal Studies Journal
Cal Literary Arts Magazine
Clio's Scroll
Hardboiled
IBID
maganda
Negativity
Onyx Express
Politica

Hey, is Smart Ass still alive? I can't remember seeing one.

My jobs next year:
International Editor, Berkeley Political Review
Creative Editor, Heuristic Squelch
Daily Cal Columnist
Rush Chair, Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity

I'm recruiting people for all four. If you're interested, let me know. Email This Post!

Smokie, what's up?Email This Post!

Good Daily Planet today. Also a very 'Berkeley-esque' issue. We have the goofy thing, the thing about Berkeley High, the Shirley Dean thing, and the Editorial Page.

This article on Shirley Dean and Hate Crimes is odd. Anyone following this issue knows that the story has been between Dean and Worthington over who gets to control the Hate Crime issue. The complete absence of Kriss from this article either signifies Dean's victory or the Planet's boredom with the drama. I don't know which.


The phrase 'recommended by the Peace and Justice Commission' usually means all hell is about to or already has broken loose, but this time they had a good idea. Anything that breaks the embargo is great as far as I'm concerned. The one thing that confuses me:

Much like Berkeley, Palma Soriana is notable for its diversity, music and medical research.

Diversity, sure. Although I bet that has a different context in Cuba. I'm even willing to grant Music, although you can do a lot better than Berkeley just in the Bay Area. But Medical Research? Berkeley has no medical research. It's kind of unusual that we don't; most large institutions of learning have a Med School. Berkeley has just about everything but one, which makes its absence kind've glaring.

Heck, this is a town that didn't want to add extra parking to their hospitals. Email This Post!

The East Bay Express takes their own crack at Cutter W in this week's 'Seven Day's' piece. (Link when they add it)

They take pretty much the same 'Wally is out for revenge' line that everyone else has, although they add the interesting tidbit that Wally got a 'scolding' by Assistant Vice Chancellor David Moers over the Reporter kick-out incident. They miss the Daily Cal's extensive coverage of the Clinton cut-in incident as a reason for Wally-rage, tho.

The picture up top is a cartoon of Wally taping an eviction notice to the Daily Cal's door. Perhaps the cartoonist didn't bother to shade, but Wally's hands look pretty darn white in the caricature. A subtle nod to the ever-present 'not black enough' claims?

Seven Days also writes the first public account of the Daily Cal's financial woes. (First non-Blog account.)

While I'm there, there's an excellent writeup of the Bates vs. Dean race on the same page. It looks bad for Shirley; Bates is apparently picking up support from prominent Centrists, and so many voters are sick of the Worthington vs. Dean drama they're willing to knock her off if that's what it takes.

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Welcome to round two of the Cal Trivia Classic. I'm your host and birthday boy (21 on 21) with this week's question:

Which building on campus is named after someone who founded a professional sports team, and what team was it? Email me with your answer.

Also, in addition to giving out small weekly prizes for the earliest received, complete, correct answer, there will also be a Cal Trivia Classic Grand Champion named at the end of the trivia season to the person with the most correct answers (whether or not that person ever got his/her/its answer in first).Email This Post!

If your Blogspot hasn't been working, just publish something.Email This Post!

Why has the Daily Cal's website been down for four-five days now?Email This Post!

ProgCal's Blogger Awards is creating a bit of hubbub. It's basically correct so long as you consider 'How much does this please me?' the criteria for winning.

I'm not interested in an 'Overall Bests' list, but I could take a stab at individual categories. I tried this at the Blogger Party by declaring Albatross the winner of the 'Most Likely to dance with glee on the ashes of the Daily Cal' award.

I'll think of some more later.Email This Post!

Calstuff Correspondent NR writes

The reason I write to you is because I noticed that you want a Coldstone's Ice Cream place thingy in Berkeley. Have I got news for you! Apparently, Coldstone's is going to lease space on the corner of Allston and Shattuck in downtown Berkeley. They'll move in when the building's renovated.

Score!Email This Post!

In the Moseley hubbub, forget to mention that the Senior Gift was announced: it'll be the Campanile Renovation plan. I'm relieved; all my sources were predicting the September 11th Memorial Scholarship was way out in front. Besides how few students this would benefit, there's some depressing about letting the deaths of so many people hold the banner of your gift to the University. The Campanile project is visible, proud, and well-thought out.

Which leads to the question: what will the Class of 2004's gift be?

Some ideas I had, none of which I've really liked so far:

1. Change Sproul Plaza's entrance around Sather Gate from asphalt to some nice sort of tiled walkway.
2. Change tanbark area around Campanile/Memorial Glade into a nice, green area.
3. Bulldoze Eshleman
4. Something with Memorial Stadium (It needs some love)

Any other good ideas out there?Email This Post!

Quality of Street Spirit aside, I have some questions about the value of the program.

To my understanding, the purpose of Street Spirit is a way for the Homeless to gain work skills, earn some cash, and otherwise learn to get off the streets. To this end, Street Spirit requires some training, etc. before allowing anyone to distribute it.

Is this the most Economical idea out there? Street Spirit is a niche publication, and must understand that it will achieve high publication only out of pity rather then widespread interest in its beat. Not only that, but can sales of Street Spirit approach even minimum wage work? I'd like to see a program that aims for self-sufficency, not providing a better grade of pencil for the blind to sell. What's the promise of Street Spirit? A higher wage... but still life on the Street? Help for those who are determined to stay on the outside?

Considering the time that goes into the entire Street Spirit program, they must have higher goals than that. But I don't see how higher goals could be reached.Email This Post!

Crime Beat Reporter Nate Tabak writes

It is actually more useful to give out the Berkeley Police Department's emergency number - 981-5911. The vast majority of the serious crimes that happen near campus are in Berkeley's jurisdiction, so calling UCPD can make for transfer delays. UCPD will probably respond to anything near campus -- or anything that an officer is near at the time, because they have authority everywhere in the state. (UC guys often give traffic tickets in El Cerrito and Richmond)

Also, I don't think UCPD still has an active jail. They take all their prisoners to Berkeley's jail.

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I've added a few new links recently.

For Cal Blogs, 3 new entrants. First is former Calstuff Correspondent and new DC lobbyist Randy Barnes. Second is longtime online writer Justin Azadivar. And finally, the anonymous but well-connected Calwatch.

Further down is photographer and security man Jon Haeber. Also Cal Economist Brad Delong.Email This Post!

I would just like to add that the First Blogger Party was quite enjoyable- with references being made not only to The Simpsons, but to esoteric British comedies like Red Dwarf. Certainly alcohol was had, but Krusty Sticks too. Indeed.Email This Post!

First Annual Blogger Party happened at ADPhi Fraternity tonight. In attendance were Potatochucker, CalAnon, SweetJesusFunk, The Puddle, and I think a few others. (I'm a bit groggy at the moment.)

Nothing of importance was discussed, but much alcohol was drunk. It turns out every Blogger is the same Simpsons-quoting nerd. Calstuff showed his mastery of trivia by never losing a drinking contest. And we ripped into the Daily Cal for a bit.

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At the end of the first week of the Sean Byrne Cal Trivia Classic, we do not have any winner. The question was "What building houses the campus' old jail, and for what is it used now?" Multiple people correctly answered that Sproul Hall houses the campus jail, but no one was able to come up with the fact that UCPD currently uses it as a kennel for the K-9 squad.

While I'm on the topic of UCPD, a safety tip for all you Calstuff readers: If you are on your cell phone in the campus area and have an emergency, do not call 911, it contacts the CHP office in Benecia; instead call 642-3333 which rings a phone right next to the 911 phone in the UCPD office (program it into your phone now!).Email This Post!

Dancing Bear, stop stealing old Squelch jokes.Email This Post!

Just got back from hearing Moseley speak... and he was darn good!

He opened with a wry 'Apparently some of you are amused I'm here,' and went solidly from there. Moseley is a skilled speaker; he worked the crowd, started with a few good anecdotes, and knew how to tell a story. My Moseley bingo card had more than a few hits, but only from the necessary 'gold medal' and 'olympics' type squares. He made the intelligent move to stay away from the huge themes that two hours worth of speakers had already hit on, and stuck with a low-key 'Work for yourself, not for acclaim or money,' theme. Best moment was probably when he demonstrated how to do his Dinner Roll move with his back on the floor.

Overall grade: A-

Of course, he may've gained from low expectations, as well as a succession of boring or flakey speakers. Berdahl was witty and professional on the stage, as was the Alumni chair, but that was about it. The 1952 Speaker went on for the longest time on the least ideas: she seemed amazed that Cal didn't go to sock hops and drink malts. As Sean wrote, 'I thought I'd be giving MY 50 year speech before she finished.'

The History Professor had a good schtick to start, but then decided to spend 5 minutes reading from an Internet list of bumper stickers and t-shirts. Five minutes of 'Don't make your parents' mistakes: use birth control,' and I was itching for something new.

The University Medalist rubbed me the wrong way with a throwaway 'Lets not forget the heinous deaths of 3500 on 9.11, and the even more heinous foreign policy behind it.' She also spent five minutes on injokes with her roommates and thank-yous. Please: a University Medalist is supposed to embody the spirit of the University, not the narcisstic spirit of the Oscars. She then got a round of applause for a minute speaking in a foreign language. I'm not entirely sure why. 'Hey, wow, good for her: she speaks non-English!

Moseley = CoolEmail This Post!

I keep forgetting to post:

BLOGGER GATHERING / END OF YEAR PARTY
WHEN: 8 PM, This Saturday
WHERE: ADPhi Fraternity (2422 Prospect, between Dwight and Channing)
Blog Readers are welcome as well.

When I say 8 PM, I DAMN WELL MEAN 8 PM this time. I'm going home that night around 11-12, so if you show up at 10, I'll be leaving thereafter.

Alcohol requested.

RSVP if possibleEmail This Post!

EVP-Elect Hong's website has some interesting comments on her ASUC victory and plans for next year.Email This Post!

Beetle says all the right things about the Daily Cal.

The Daily Cal gives papers to students at no cost to them. 5 days a week, students get a healthy dosing of typically solid news, opinion, and the god-blessed crossword. All the rhetoric about 'duty to students' and 'commitment to blah blah' creates a contract that never existed. A contract implies some form of reciprocal agreement, which doesn't exist here. I can think of no possible theory where a party can demand changes in something being given freely to them.

And this is the bare minimum of legal theory. There are other, more elaborate, reasons for the Daily Cal not being beholden to anyone else. Journalistic integrity, for example. Even Corporate paymasters, in theory, are supposed to be separated from the practice of journalism.

The possible exception to this 'Donatives don't equal Control' thing is if the ASUC is indirectly subsidizing the Daily Cal by keeping their rent purposefully low. I haven't seen conclusive evidence this is true. If it is, I would argue that journalistic integrity demands that Government stay clear of their efforts. I would argue that this indirect subsidy benefits students far more than adding another floor of (rent free) student group offices would.

The Economic argument there is that the Daily Cal produces a product that is free to students, giving them a large surplus. The Daily Cal makes up for much of that surplus from advertisers. Since the DC is barely breaking even, if that, then students are paying for the DC in terms of 1. how much rent could be collected from throwing the Daily Cal out for somebody paying at market value OR 2. what student groups could be housed there instead. Since no one has seriously considered renting the floor out to someone else, the only economic cost to students is foregone room for student groups. Note that students are already benefitting, since they aren't paying the full cost of the product they receive.

And that too isn't the true cost, since space allocation in Eshleman is already inefficient. Some of the purported demand for office space could be relieved by, say, using the seventh floor efficently, etc.

So by kicking out the Daily Cal we take

Current Campus Situation
MINUS Daily Cal's Rent to the ASUC
MINUS Daily Cal's ability to produce at current level
PLUS Benefit to campus from student groups housed in Eshleman
MINUS Cost of (unremedied) inefficient use of Eshleman.
EQUALS New Situation

I kind've doubt the campus as a whole will win from this deal.
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Calwatch, who apparently knows everybody, asks if I'm related to Matt Deenihan. Impressive catch! Matt is my cousin. My Dad (Ed Deenihan) is his Dad's (John Deenihan) younger brother. I have 3 Aunts and 3 Uncles on that side of the family, and 3 on my Mom's side. Also 11 cousins on the Deenihan side and 6 on my Mom's side. Add two siblings, Packy (16) and Shauna (18), and four grandparents to make 34 family members.

Matt's greatest claim to fame was appearing naked, save a strategically placed graduation cap, on the cover of the Daily Cal. My Mom got a signed copy.

The most famous Deenihan is my Dad's second cousin, Jimmy Deenihan, member of Parliament in Ireland and former topnotch soccer player. I outrank him in Google if you search 'Deenihan,' tho.

Interesting note: one genealogical source I've seen says 'Deenihan' is a corruption of 'O'Duinneachin,' which could mean 'brown' or 'disagreeable.' I link to think it's the second one.

And while we're on the topic of 'Kevin' 'Deenihan,' I was born on Friday the 13th, August 1982. Booyah!

Here's me at the BPR Party. God Bless America!

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Today student groups met with university officials to address changes to be made to the university's new dance policy. Formed as a result of having to pay out thousands of dollars due to riots this past fall, the current policy prohibits, among other things, advertising on the internet, selling tickets at the door, and inviting non-college student guests. The meeting brought together students from Indus, UC Ballroom Dancers, Berkeley Model UN, and Queer Alliance and university officials from the Office of Student Life, the LGBT resource center, and the ASUC Auxiliary.

No desicions were made at this time, but student concerns were noted and are to be passed on to the task force that will meet this summer to revise the dance policy.That committee will be chaired by John Cummins (Berdahl's Chief of Staff) and composed of representatives from OSL, UCPD, BPD, the Telegraph Merchants Association, various Berkeley resident groups, and the ASUC Auxiliary. More on this as it develops, but let's all hope some comprise can be reached that gives students reasonable freedom in dance planning, while protecting the university from having to dip into its $120,000 fund set aside for dance riots.Email This Post!

San Francisco State underwent what everyone thought would happen at Berkeley: a near-riot between Jewish and Palestinian students. I call it a 'near-riot' because the Palestinian students were rioting and the Jewish students the ones taking the abuse with remarkable restraint. Glenn Reynolds has a column on it.Email This Post!

Cutter W makes his move.

Not that anyone should be surprised, but Wally is now hellbent on killing the Daily Cal. The timing is impeccable: the Daily Cal has just ceased publication for Finals, insuring that no outrage could really erupt on the front page. The Daily Cal is having severe financial problems; talk of moving online completely or to a twice-weekly schedule has gone from whispers on the sixth floor to outright campus discussion. The DC will probably have to seek support from alumni, and even a minor increase in rent will smack them around.

They're also without any significant political support on campus. The Administration would rather they stay around, but knows their life would be easier without it. The new Senate, even in the unlikely event they fight for the DC, doesn't take office until September. If the Store Operations Board is to cut the lease, the time would be now.

Can't say at the moment what the SOB thinks of this proposal; I don't really know who serves on it. The comment

Board member Peter Buckland said the board will take measures to keep the "viability of the Daily Cal" and the forum it provides students alive.

is probably discouraging. It's tantamount to saying 'I'm already past the point of cutting their lease and am looking for ass-saving measures to not take heat from the Journalism establishment."

This is Wally's last battle. He's lost every one so far. His One Campus plan is a failure. His administration lost touch with students within minutes of taking office. And yet despite his failures he still somehow believes himself to be a Clinton-esque victim of media elitism. That the Students are still behind him. And that's the motive behind this power play: to avenge himself on those he believes were the reason for his failures. The symbolism is obvious. He evicts the unaccountable, elitist Daily Cal and gives poor student groups their place.

But in his blind pursuit of revenge, Wally has once again proven himself completely out of touch with students. Start with the whole nature of this enterprise; a sneaky plan thrown at the Store Operations Board without public comment. The Senate had no input. Students had no input. Expand that to the way no student groups were actually contacted about this plan. Shoot, I should repeat that: Wally's plan to 'help students' doesn't involve him asking what they want.

All that's left is what we've seen all year: egotism clad in 'helping students.' Revenge thinly disguised by ulterior motives. Do students want the space occupied by the Daily Cal? It's not impossible. Does Wally honestly care enough to find out? Of course not. This is about him.

Watch this space for updates.Email This Post!

The Great Sex on Tuesday hunt continues. The greatest problem now is that while there's plenty of girls who can write, and plenty of girls who have lots of weird sex, I have yet to find someone who embodies both attributes in one feminine package.

And don't talk to me of a possible 'male Sex on Tuesday columnist.' That's pure madness. I point to the only SOT columnist in the past two years, who lasted one single column before getting fired. He advised women to brush their teeth before blowjobs, which is pretty much the last thing you should do. (Breaks the gums, causes slight bleeding, increasing chances of infection.) So he was out.

In other news, Blogworld has been absolutely dead for the past four days, as the Daily Cal's hiatus hits everyone hard. Is this the beginning of Calstuff's long-anticipated Great Berkeley Blogger Purge, as the 18 or so currently existing are whittled to a more manageable number? Entirely possible... we'll see who survives the summer.Email This Post!

Rory's post about endless complaints from Progressives about the 'Shady Cal' brings up a point I haven't seen much: why the hell don't they just go start their own?

It's not that hard to start a newspaper, especially when you have four or five monthly publications devoted to your community already. Hardboiled and Co can deliver layout and business experience. Cal-SERVE's new weight in the Senate can produce seed money. Ad money is a bitch to find, but even BPR has gotten over the hump. There's probably people at Berkeley who'd love to fund a venture newspaper. Writers? Even the African-American community, with such slight representation on campus, has the staff to publish a monthly.

Certainly, the internal divisions in the Progressive community wouldn't make it an easy job. But think of it as a challenge: The Republicans expect a project like this to be caught up in endless wrangling over 'control' issues and demands over who gets precious space. Also to be split by the rift between hardcore SJP types and the more Moderates. So Progressives: prove the Patriot wrong, eh?

Or why not even start an online version? I remember Chuck McNally talking about starting an Indymedia-esque site devoted to Berkeley. Capital idea. Spend an hour setting up the established Indymedia technology and recruit some writers.

I could be sarcastic and say 'But Oh, Progressives will never do that because they just love to bitch and moan, not do anything positive.' But that isn't productive. Progressive community, you should do this. You already made X. This is the obvious next step.Email This Post!

Telegraph has suffered a surprisingly little-noted string of business failures. Closings include Wall Berlin, Octopus, Tetranet, the Oxygen Bar, and whatever was next to Athelete's Foot.. I can't even remember anymore. Since the more bread and butter shops like restaurants and grocery stores haven't shut down, this is probably not a heavy recession. Indeed, it seems like most of the closures were bad business ideas to begin with or suffered from special problems. (IE Wall Berlin: great location, clientele of funky people that didn't spend money.)

This raises the question of what, in an ideal world, would get put into Telegraph instead. My top ten picks:

1. Krispy Kreme. (I already talked a lot about this. Viva la Donut Revolution!)
2. Coldstone Ice Cream
3. Babbages
4. Police Station
5. Larger Post Office
6. Pub
7. Another Pub
8. Banana Republic
9. Asian restaurant (Juuuust kidding)
10. Something with a buffet

Any better ideas out there?
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President Gabriel has announced his Chief of Staff: William Sam. All I know about Mr. Sam is that he worked in the External office. Email This Post!

I've signed a few Associates for Calstuff. This is so I don't feel quite as embarassed when I check my own site to see if I've updated.

The idea is that Calstuff will have writers who can cover different beats, while posting more often. All part of my goal to get billions of hits.

Right now I've signed up Sean Byrne, Rally Commer and Calmaster, as well as Engineering insider Devesh Parekh. I've invited a few others.

If you're interested, I could use someone with ties to the Administration, Regents, or possibly the Progressive community. E-mail me.Email This Post!

The Planet descends further into self-parody.Email This Post!

Ok rabid Calstuff trivia fans, it's your new Triviamaster and "the students' lone hope for an effective nonpartisan leader" here with this week's Calstuff Trivia Challenge Question:

Which building holds the campus's jail? Though now obselete, for what is the jail now used?

Also, for a bonus point, can you come up with a more interesting/unique title than Triviamaster? Email me your answers at stbyrne@uclink.berkeley.eduEmail This Post!

The final Kevin Review of the year.. sigh. But at least it's one near and dear to my heart: the Berkeley Political Review.

Back in February I was pretty negative on BPR's chances of survival, based mainly on pessimistic fiscal predictions. I couldn't figure how a magazine with niche readership, shaky ASUC funding, and inexperienced Business managers could make it in a hostile ad market. But it appears I've been proven wrong: Calstuff's former roommate Pavneet Singh has signed up good levels of ad revenue, and Mr. Mokalla has secured good financing from the ASUC for next year. So that appears to be done with.

BPR finally found their stride with this issue. They went through growing pains-- most noticably a level of Egoism from writers and editors more concerned with getting bylines then good writing. Also timing difficulties and Editor/Writer mismatches. All normal first year stuff, but tough for a magazine that needed a running start.

But this is the issue that gelled. The cartoon on the front is clever; securing Squelch's Derek Yu was a coup. The articles are focused on facts and figures, not rhetoric. I feel a bit ashamed of my own article, which is rhetoric/jargon heavy compared to the others. I see lots of quotes from policymakers, skillful use of studies, etc. This automatically improves the level of writing.

Not to say I agree with all the articles, most noticeably Editor Matteen's Proposition article. But solidness is the watchword. The layout is tasteful. The photos show pixelation, but are well chosen.

But BPR still hasn't passed from interesting but still second-tier opinion leader to coming up with new angles and ideas. Everything in the issue I've seen elsewhere at some point. Next year I'll be pushing for nothing but new angles for every issue, no matter how easy it would be to redo Enron.

So hey, alright. Gonna be a good next year.
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Because no one has bought my attractive 'I blame Snehal' t-shirts, I've decided to add another facet to my ever expanding product line. Now, you can buy attractive 'I agree with Snehal' t-shirts along with your attractive 'I blame Snehal' tee.

A cynical ploy to get IAC and SJP people bidding against each other? It's what Calstuff is all about!Email This Post!

I always point to Sean Keane's introduction message to new Squelch writers as the Heuristic Squelch's finest statement of purpose

What I'd like to add, for the new people, is that you are largely mistaken if you feel that the Squelch is about being funny. Rather, it is about airing your personal biases and vendettas in print - bashing the ASUC, or taking cheap shots at Robin Williams and Counting Crows. It is about turning your back on your own feelings, reducing your emotional traumas to short newsflashes, or even jokes for the small text. It is about being in the shark tank, both comedically and romantically, and cursing your own image, reflected in another shark's eye.

Welcome aboard, you miserable bastards.

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Perfect for Mother's Day: the 'I Blame Snehal' t-shirt. The ideal way to honor the student who has done the most this year to get Berkeley in the news over and over.Email This Post!

PotatoChucker has a scoop on the selection of Jonny Moseley.Email This Post!

This Chronicle column by McManis may be simply a parody, so I'm not sure how harshly to attack it.

I think the gist of it is 'lots of Professors have intentional bias, and students are smart enough to deal with that. Now I shall ramble on about Snehal for awhile, blah blah blah, make some insipid comments about what discussion in the classroom should be like, and then finish this 7th martini.'

If his purpose is to defend Snehal's column, he's going about it by ignoring every solid critique of the class. To claim that the world is miffed only because Snehal had the balls to purposefully exclude Conservatives is to set up an unusually flimsy straw man.

Critiques of the Snehal class:
1. It's a requirement for Freshmen, violating McManis' 'Only sympathizers will take it' concept. This isn't a class that Sophomores-Juniors-Seniors will take; it's a class for brand new Freshmen.

2. There is no counterclass, so the University is cherry-picking ideologies. Well and good if you love SJP, bad if you like Israel.

3. This isn't a class about 'discussion' but a consolidation of a viewpoint. Remember: it takes the occupation as a 'starting point.' What's left to discuss? Tactics to push Israel out?

4. The problem isn't that 'No Dogs or Conservatives need apply' is too honest, but that it's discriminatory and spiteful. This is a public University, and a group of students are being told to Stay Away from a class.

5. McManis' thoughts aside, University Professors are strongly left-wing. Perhaps if equivalent classes were offered on a regular basis, no one would care. But since ideological classes are only offered for one ideology, there's a strong element of bias.

I swear to be a better columnist next semester than McManis is.

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I poke fun at the foibles of the Daily Cal, but I consider the Chronicle to be crap. A few days ago the LA Times had exclusive pictures of what the inside of the Church of the Nativity looked like. The Chronicle counters with this.

Is there an interesting story here? Possibly; Davis is getting in trouble for his fundraising tactics, and for him to hit students up for $100 apiece in the midst of this would be the height of arrogance. And then surely the article would go on to give the background to the letter, including whether or not it was a simple form letter, reactions from the students involved, etc.

Problem: The article does absolutely none of this. Almost no reactions from students, very little background information, no nothing. And this happened in early March!

Instead, this is the most blatant and boring type of Hit Piece. The reporter trolls the incident around for stock condemnations from Important People, pretends to get the Opposing Viewpoint, then ends with

"The way we look at things from a grassroots angle is: There are two types of power -- money and people," Alford said. "That's an incredible example of how the people side of the Democratic Party is being pushed to the sidelines."

Hell, the headline of the article is 'Davis hits students up for cash.'

Trashy and pathetic. Leave Berkeley out of it.
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I understand that the Daily Cal is still looking for a Sex on Tuesday columnist. I've always wanted to be one of those, so I'm gonna give a shot at writing one. Be kind. Column idea inspired by Nikki Velasco

Sex on Tuesday, by Kevin Deenihan

Loving the EECS

It's Friday night, and you've been stood up by the Usual Penis so he can go to a Strip Club. Your options are limited: watch Lifetime with your roommate, try and find a Frat party not full of drunks and glowstick clad Freshmen, or try something a little adventurerous: go to Soda Hall. That's right; you're going cruising for Engineers. And you'll find the most potent batch of masculinity ever known.

EECS majors have a terrible reputation, and that's okay. They have more than their fair share of men who see women as secondbest to their favorite anime girls, and in extreme cases, as secondbest to Mommy. Some have what you'd call 'personality quirks.'

But the reputation they receive as unwashed, skinny nerds is entirely unwarranted. And even when it is, it overlooks the number one fact of EECS men: they are volcanos of untrammelled testosterone with enough willpower and intelligence to learn whatever you wish to teach. These are people capable of spending five hours at a time looking for the single bug in 10000 lines of computer code. Your absentminded History major is perhaps capable of spending 30 seconds looking for the G-Spot before wandering off to other duties. Engineers find the G-Spot. They will bring in t-squares and calculators if it's required-- and there's a lot you can do with a t-square besides straight lines.

Wander into any computer lab. Now take your pick: there will be at least 10 guys waiting there. How often can you pick a guy with such precision? Feel like a little Asian food tonight? Try lab 5. Indian, Vanilla, all your various delicies are available for viewing and choosing. Don't be afraid to be picky: you have every chance of finding a gem somewhere in the hall, finishing up his project before heading off to the RSF to lift weights. Unfortunately, most will be in a sitting position: a bad way to check out the ass. Presume it's well toned.

Forwardness is the key. Be firm, upfront, and don't play games-- unless you've made clear you want to play games. Take advantage of your environment, too. This is building chock full of electricity, machines, and people who know how to make anything out of both. Start on top of a copying machine, just to keep it simple. Then get more complicated: you haven't lived until you've gotten spanked by a Spanking Robot. On a more serious note, don't operate heavy machinery under the influence of Engineer-loving. Things could get messy, and not in that good way.

Engineers don't take Fluid Mechanics for the credits. (Well, yes they do, but it still applies.) These are men with a greater understanding of forces and weights than anyone else at Berkeley. Tired of being crushed by a too-heavy lover? Just murmur 'Mass times velocity' to an Engineer and he'll understand instantly. Let him experiment; it's what he does best. After he gets over his shyness and is given freedom to roam, you'll be surprised by his imagination. But make very clear the parameters and expectations. EECS don't expect projects to work correctly the time, but they'll try again if they need to.

Want a quickie? That's fine; he'll return to Counterstrike with a dazed expression and you'll walk out a sated woman. But take my advice: this is an opportunity not to be missed. Do it like the Engineers do: on and on until the break of dawn. And then take a caffeine pill and start over again.

What the hell did I just WRITE?


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Since I'm not posting anything else today, here's this week's winner of the Obscure Cal Trivia Contest: none other than Mr. Sean Byrne, ASUC President 2003-2004.

In response to the questions

Question 1: Take a look inside Memorial Stadium; it looks a lot different with that ugly Press Box ripped out. While you're there, you can complete Question 1: name 7 companies with Ads in Memorial Stadium.

Question 2: The Daily Cal has five old Cal papers on display. What are the names of these papers?

Question 3: (The hard one.) Cal is pretty good about making buildings wheelchair accessible. But there are quite a few that aren't. I know of at least three that the disabled can't get into; how many can you name?

Sean writes

Perhaps a bit desperate, but I needed to win something today:

1. coca-cola, bank of the west, Saylor & Hill, Fox Sports Net, Amtrak, Ford, Powerbar, Ikon, Yahoo, Toyota, Truitt & White, PacBell, Tru Green Land Care, Gatorade, Cresco, and Carryall

2. University Echo, The Berkeleyan, The Californian, Daily Californian, The Independent Californian

3. Architects and Engineers, Sather Tower, Durant Hall, Girton, Morgan (no stairs, but no automatic door openers), Naval Architecture, and 2222 and 2232 Piedmont

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The Daily Cal just called; they're willing to try me as a Columnist next fall. I'll be on Friday. Alright!

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Any IAC people need to fill their Reading and Writing requirement?

Course: ENGLISH R1A P 016 LEC (course website)
Course Title: Reading and Composition (catalog description)
Location: TuTh 2-330P, 204 WHEELER
Instructor: SHINGAVI, S
Status/Date: UPDATED: 04/04/02
Course Control Number: 28448
Units: 4
Final Exam Group: TBA
Restrictions:
Note:
Enrollment on 05/08/02: Limit:17 Enrolled:6 Waitlist:0 Avail Seats:11

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The Wall Street Journal has a piece on Snehal's upcoming 'No Conservatives need apply' class. It's not available online to non-subscribers, but Calstuff Correspondant MJS sent me a copy

The Intifada Curriculum

By ROGER KIMBALL

Are the regents of the University of California asleep?

This past winter, the Daily Californian, a student newspaper at Berkeley, reported on a women's studies course that involved such educational activities as writing papers about sexual fantasies, visiting strip clubs, and watching an instructor have sex. All of which earned students units toward graduation at U.C. Berkeley.

After the national press picked up the story, embarrassed university administrators shut down that particular exercise in transgression.

Have they learned their lesson? Dream on. Consider this item from the Berkeley English department's fall course catalog. It is for English R1A, "The Politics and Poetics of Palestinian Resistance," which will earn students four units toward their degree. The description is worth an extensive quote:

"The brutal Israeli military occupation of Palestine, [ongoing] since 1948, has systematically displaced, killed, and maimed millions of Palestinian people. And yet, from under the brutal weight of the occupation, Palestinians have produced their own culture and poetry of resistance. This class will examine the history of the [resistance] and the way that it is narrated by Palestinians in order to produce an understanding of the Intifada. . . . This class takes as its starting point the right of Palestinians to fight for their own self-determination. Conservative thinkers are encouraged to seek other sections."

Let's leave aside the gross tendentiousness of this little bijou. Let's leave aside, too, the question of what a class on Mideast politics is doing under the rubric of English. The real question is what such agitprop is doing on the curriculum. "The Politics and Poetics of Palestinian Resistance" is not an academic or scholarly inquiry. It will not attempt to step back and assess the merits of arguments for and against a certain interpretation of historical events. On the contrary, "conservative thinkers are encouraged to seek other sections." Diversity? Phooey.

Universities used to be dedicated to the advancement of knowledge. It was understood that if they were to be successful, they had to presuppose what Matthew Arnold called the ideal of "disinterestedness." In describing criticism as "disinterested," Arnold did not mean that it speaks without reference to a particular point of view. Rather, he meant a habit of inquiry that refused to lend itself to any "ulterior, political, practical considerations about ideas."

We might say that Arnold looked to criticism to provide a bulwark against ideology, something that John Searle, a very different sort of Berkeley professor, put with his customary lucidity: "The idea that the curriculum should be converted to any partisan purposes is a perversion of the ideal of the university."

Since the 1960s, however, universities have become havens for displaced radicals and the humanities instruments of political agitation. Arnold's vision of the civilizing potential of "the best that has been thought and said" gives way to a smorgasbord of attacks on Western civilization that are a part of the "multicultural" agenda.

It may be tempting to dismiss what goes on at Berkeley as nothing more than the twittering of academics -- a group, after all, that is notorious for being out of touch with reality. The problem is that the fate of academic life is not only an academic issue. It is an issue that touches deeply on one of the chief crucibles of the future.

When U.C. Berkeley allows classes like "The Politics and Poetics of Palestinian Resistance" to be conducted under its aegis, it betrays a public trust in several ways. For one thing, because Berkeley is widely regarded as a premier educational institution, what it does will be emulated elsewhere. Therefore, condoning courses that are merely fronts for political activism abets the degradation of the humanities.

In allowing classes in which conservatives are unwelcome, Berkeley provides further evidence that universities are beholden to leftist ideology. Universities loudly promulgate a rhetoric of diversity, yet practice strict intellectual conformity on all contentious issues.

Finally, by allowing such courses, Berkeley further erodes the line that once separated academic life from the hurly-burly world of political affairs. The integrity of that line has earned universities a special status as places apart in our society -- and tax-exempt because their inquiry was not merely partisan.

In the late 1800s, the German aphorist G.C. Lichtenberg noted that "Nowadays we everywhere seek to propagate wisdom: who knows whether in a couple of centuries there may not exist universities for restoring the old ignorance?" Now we know.

Mr. Kimball is the editor of New Criterion.

Updated May 9, 2002 12:06 a.m. EDT

I'm unsure myself how this one got into the Curriculum. Berkeley typically shunts explicitly political classes onto the undergraduate run DeCAL program. The activists get course credit, Berkeley gets to avoid negative publicity.

I'd say the Editorial is harsh in some ways and not harsh enough in others. Mainly in that Snehal is a Graduate student, not a full Professor, as the Editorial implies. Also, there are a whole lot of different R1A classes for students, so it's not like students are forced to take this.

It's not harsh enough in the sense that English R1A and R1B are required classes for Freshmen. So we're not talking already indoctrinated Seniors taking a class, but incoming Freshmen being subjected to propaganda. Which is stupid.Email This Post!

Cal has seen the birth of three new printed publications this year. My own Berkeley Political Review, the activist X, and now Senator Kagan's 'Negativity.' His objective:

We are founded by students who want to hear new ideas and exciting opinions. Negativity is the free speech forum to offer this chance to students.

Articles include:
1. Berkeley is full of wimps
2. A rehash of the God Bless You Man's death and rebirth.
3. Hatred of certain Asians
4. The Flag symbolizes freedom
5. John Walker sucks
6. The ASUC is full of assholes.
7. Sex on Tuesday spoof.
8. SJP is full of dicks
9. Extremists are hurting Berkeley
10. Women should be sexy in moderation

Negativity proclaims to publish things you can't say in Berkeley, but the above are all things you can say in Berkeley. You'll take some shit for it, but you can do it.

And while I hate to knock a new publication and to slam faithful Calstuff reader Senator Kagan, (One of my finalists for Senator of the Year,) the writing in Negativity needs work. The article on Dwight Leeray has large factual errors. The piece on Palestine is a rant, not an article.

But here's the thing: I'm glad Negativity is here, and it needs to stick around. Because while you can say the stuff above, there's never been a place for anyone to publish it. Senator Kagan has been an excellent Senator because he looks for where ASUC money is needed, not where it'll get him publicity and fame. Negativity fills a giant, gaping hole no one else has tried to fill: cross-spectrum ideas and opinion.

So I'm criticizing its execution because I think Negativity can be much more. It can be one of the top three magazines on this campus: news, commentary, and features from some of the best minds and writers on campus. Satellite is too Humanities-major-y, Patriot is too angry, everything else is too narrowly focused. With some good editing and heavy writer recruitment, plus a focus on opinions instead of rants, Negativity can pass all of them.

On the other hand, I want the News and Commentary source on this campus to be Calstuff, so maybe I should try to destroy Negativity. Eh, whatever.Email This Post!

I attended the Mandatory Fraternity Alcohol Education thing yesterday.

Relatively interesting event, with a good dose of information I had never heard before. FOR INSTANCE: Girls aren't lightweights due only to generally smaller size! They also have:
1. A greater percentage of body fat, which does something with water, making alcohol harder to break down.
2. They have fewer beer-breaking-down molecules, the name of which I forget, then men do.
3. There's another one too.

I'm not sure I learned anything that'll keep me from becoming alcoholic or save a girl with alcohol poisoning, but I can probably get closer. Kevin rates this University program an 8 out of 10.

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Joan has tough words for Senator Sarna. I know Puja reads Calstuff; I'd like to print her own thoughts on her election, as well as why she quit Student Action.Email This Post!

Looking at Andrew's conversation with the District Attorney, it appears to strongly correlate with the 'Administration was pushed' theory. The DA seems to have taken this on as a good law-and-order high profile case, without any input from the Administration. He strongly denied any ties with them.

Of course, he can say lots of things. But this seems significant to me.

Kudos to Andrew for doing some good reporting. Email This Post!

I see two theories as to why the Administration cracked down so hard on SJP, and a prime piece of evidence is missing that would decide matters.

The first is my current favorite: that the University was backed into a corner and decided to make a stand on the 'Don't Touch Classes' policy. Pressure from Faculty, the Media, and the Regents were the prime reason Berdahl felt he needed to make an example.

The second is SJP's own: that this presages a new regime of harsh crackdowns on dissent. The Administration decided to use the figleaf of Wheeler's occupation to remove the biggest troublemakers from Sproul.

What's missing is this: how did the District Attorney get involved in all this? He's been both vocal and harsh in pushing for prosecutions. (I mean, a possible 6 months in Jail for standing in Wheeler for four hours? That's crazy.)

So did the DA decide on his own to prosecute? Did the Administration have a hand in pressing for court trials? How does the Administration feel about possible jail time resulting from all this? Answer these questions and the picture will clear up quite a bit.Email This Post!

One mostly unnoticed part of the election: Independent Senator Puja Sarna finally erased the persistent rumors that her victory was due to her number (69) not her campaigning skills. (Because *everyone* knows those silly, horny voters always vote #69.)

But this year the #69 candidate, Josie Ni, placed no better than the late 20's. And she was also an anchor for BECS, whereas Puja was middle of the slate.

So bravo to Ms. Sarna. Email This Post!

Last night around 1:40 an invitational ended in a ride in an ambulance for one of the attendees. Calstuff Correspondant BBC reports that

There was an ambulance picking up a Sorority gal that looked pretty dead to me. There was an invitational that had just offloaded. They weren't in too big of a hurry, so I guess she was breathing.

There's plenty of things to be said about what this means to Kenney's 'no drinking on campus' policy, but I'm not going to comment until I'm sure the poor girl is still alive. Email This Post!

From Calstuff Correspondant DCY:

Indeed the Daily Cal was unable to get Tom Bates toeither confirm or deny he would run. Sources told us he was inclined not to run. Worthington told us he would run, unless, as the story points out, Bates decided to run. The East Bay Express ran a story the same day saying Bates was a likely candidate, but as they report, they were unable to speak to Bates. Most press were unable to get comment from him. (I think the Chronicle may have had a quote from him saying he wouldn't say.) But the Trib ran a story the day after us saying basically the same thing we said.

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TO ANYONE IN THE EVP OFFICE: Calstuff's Webmaster informs me that asuc.org has a huge gaping security breach that needs to be corrected super-pronto. If you are the webmaster of asuc.org or know how to get in touch with him, have him e-mail Devesh.

I'm told that right now, just about anyone can get into asuc.org and screw around with it. So hurry!

UPDATE: Problem resolvedEmail This Post!

Tonight's Obscure Cal Trivia Challenge!

Da rules: Every Monday night around 7, I'll ask a question of exceedingly obscure Cal-related trivia. Maybe about the ASUC, maybe about the Football team, something. You loyal readers e-mail me with the answer. Points will be given for 1. Speed and 2. Completeness.

Winners will get the option of making me do one (1) favor for you. This includes, but is not limited to, a poem in your honor, a picture, a post on Calstuff about something of your liking, etc. Calstuff retains right of refusal for favors deemed too extreme. If no one wants a favor, I'll buy them a Ben and Jerry's Bar of their choice.

No one shall be allowed to win twice in a row, and no Brothers of Alpha Delta Phi, California Chapter will be allowed to compete.

Last week's winner was Mr. Tag Savage, who has yet to collect his prize.

Alright, this time I swear I'm going to get you guys off your big butts and looking for Cal Trivia. So I'll go with two easy-but-walking-required questions and one hard non-walking question.

To sweeten the pot, winner will get double favors.

Question 1: Take a look inside Memorial Stadium; it looks a lot different with that ugly Press Box ripped out. While you're there, you can complete Question 1: name 7 companies with Ads in Memorial Stadium.

Question 2: The Daily Cal has five old Cal papers on display. What are the names of these papers?

Question 3: (The hard one.) Cal is pretty good about making buildings wheelchair accessible. But there are quite a few that aren't. I know of at least three that the disabled can't get into; how many can you name?


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Presumably the Daily Cal will put a special up tonight, but results are:

Student Action swept Execs.

Senate:
5 Cal-SERVE
4 APPLE
4 Student Action
1 DAAP
2 Fong Twins
2 Republicans
1 Goat Milk
1 Aloha Party

I'm not gonna do commentary! Don't ask!

UPDATE: Daily Cal posted pretty quickly.Email This Post!

Calstuff Correspondant Oren writes

I have some friends who almost died when they were on their way to the krispy kreme nearest by at three in the morning. If there were one in Berkeley they might have made it.

That said, I wouldn't eat the things as my diet doesn't allow it.

Good point.Email This Post!

Calstuff Correspondant AmiNolo Runchfree writes,

Hey Kevin--

Since I've been indirectly attacked (partially by your mention of my blog, you bastard!), I figure I should respond. Here's what I said about the Daily Cal coverage:

"If [the Bates run is] true, it means that the Daily Cal article claiming that Kriss Worthington's going to run for mayor needs to be updated. I wonder if Tom Bates was called at all." Here's the link:

I never took the Daily Cal to task for false reporting. The misrepresentation seems entirely to be in DCW's mind, at least for me. I can't, of course, speak for other blogs.

Note, however, that on the same day of the Daily Cal's publication, a weekly paper managed to run a story with the exact opposite take on the mayoral convention--a take that proved to be correct. In the Daily Cal article, Bate's possible candidacy isn't mentioned at all except in terms that repeatedly state that Bate's has turned down the invitation. Bates wasn't quoted at all. Hence my wondering if Tom Bates was called.

As for the last comment, "I strongly advise you exercise more civility if you want to be taken seriously as journalists," that's just way too easy.

Thanks,
Amit.

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More Kevin AIM blocking action! Second in a continuing series...

Student Action EVP Candidate Han Hong is blocking me on her AIM list.

I find this especially confusing, since I've never ever talked to her online, nor have any particular intention to do so. Strange. If anyone could find out the reason I'd appreciate it.

Thanks to Calstuff Correspondant BKS for this.Email This Post!

Florida starts now:

Thanks to Calstuff Correspondant ASA for much of this.

President Adeyemo filed an Amicus Curae brief (Friend of the Court) supporting Jen Lee's case against the Judicial Council. It's available here.

It's sort of long and technical, but the gist is this: there's a small but significant portion of Ballots called Type 4 Ballots.

These are ballots that have only been filled out for President, and only some of the ballot positions have been chosen. (IE, listed a number 1, a number 3, and no number 2.)

Now, this could mean one of two things. The Voter may have intended to vote for the person at the number one ballot position, which would be Jesse. OR, he may have made the common mistake of ranking people first, second, third instead of putting their ballot number as first, etc. (You'll understand this a lot better if you read the brief.)

Since there's two possible interpretations, the Elections Bylaws sets down a method for counting them. The Elections Council apparently did not follow this method. Wally writes

Since there is evidence of Type I error but no CLEAR AND DIRECT evidence of Type II error, the elections council should tabulate these ballots as described in the Title IV, section 16.2.3 of the bylaws: "If preferences are skipped on a ballot, lower preferences shall be raised to close the gap. Thus, for a ballot with a first and third but no second preference, the candidate listed as the third preference shall be counted as the second preference."
The elections council has had no clear standard in tabulating these ballots and has tabulated these ballots differently in different situations.

So again: this only applies to 50 or so ballots. But in a race like the Presidency that's expected to be close, that could make all the difference. And then what?

You heard it here first...
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My own bets on who'll win Executive seats.

President: Jesse Gabriel

But this one could be close as anything. Everything I've seen indicates that Kris is getting lots of votes, and he's sure to transfer well.

EVP: Han Hong
Academic: Tony Falcone

I'm going to bet I get 15-20% of votes cast for AAVP. That's a pretty good amount for someone who spent 0 dollars on his campaign. (Well, excluding filing charges.)

External: Jimmy Bryant

Ian compares this to the Michelle/Catherine matchup from last year, but I'm less sure. Michelle was a weak candidate, and I think Catherine was too busy with Cal-SERVE's campaign to really run her own. These two are exceptionally good candidates battling it out for every vote. And while Michelle/Catherine was about energizing their base, this one is about reaching beyond their (electorally small) base.

Senate Predictions:

Cal-SERVE: 3-5
APPLE: 3-5
Independents/DAAP: 2-3
Student Action: Da Rest

And to be honest, I'm not too concerned about who wins this year. The ASUC is so badly organized that even the best and the brightest elected will be caught in the blinds. Since my own reform plan is mostly nonpartisan, it would have just as good a chance at succeeding under any party.

On a personal, grossly cynical level, I can get what I want from the ASUC just as well under either regime. I know enough Senators and have collected enough phone numbers to make my way through the system. (I've been good about not pissing people off.) Plus: under an SA administration I have lots more material for Calstuff.

The unspoken truth behind APPLE is that it's a lot more fun to be the ragtag Rebel Alliance then the Evil Empire.

I really don't want to do the big post-game analysis of who won and lost, so I'm delegating the job to Brandon.

Depressing post; you preparing yourself mentally for a possible defeat? -ed
Perish the thought! Merely trying to become objective about the outcome. Sound journalistic practice...

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From Calstuff Correspondant DCW:

I'd like to clarify something about the Daily Cal's article on the mayoral race, which a number of the blogs seem eager to criticize. The Daily Cal reported not only that Kriss Worthington had declared to run for mayor, but that "he will bow out of the race only if Berkeley's former State Assemblymember Tom Bates throws his hat in the ring." Lo and behold, Bates has declared for the race, and Worthington has backed down. There was no false reporting on the Daily Cal's part. In misrepresenting the Daily Cal's article, you (the blogs) open yourselves to the same criticisms you lash at it. I strongly advise you exercise more civility if you want to be taken seriously as journalists.

I'm pretty sure I never blogged on this, but Calanon certainly did.Email This Post!

Jusssst came in:

Dear candidates,

After weeks of anticipation, we will be processing the votes in Eshleman on Monday at 2pm. Thanks for being patient, and good luck tomorrow.

Best,

Mario De Bernardo and the Election Council

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Moseley Bingo: Hi-larious! And entirely true.

Credit goes to Jonathan Terhorst for creating Jon-go.


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In the proud tradition of Todd Dipaola, I figure I should be using this space to meet interesting women and impress possible employers. Or maybe both at the same time.

So I'm adding a link to my collection of older writings, as well as my (currently defunct) journal. I'll be adding to it as time goes on. Maybe some pictures too, so you can run up and say 'I have read Calstuff!' when I'm walking on campus.

Remember: the crap I wrote in High School is not 'pathetic,' it's 'cute.'
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Some of us make a difference at Cal by chairing groups or running for office. I'm going to make a difference by bringing a Krispy Kreme to Berkeley.

The more I think about it, the more I realize how completely insane it is for Cal to not have a Krispy Kreme-- and how this is the perfect time for one to set up shop. There's lots of empty stores in and around Telegraph at the moment. I recommend Krispy Kreme set up shop in the abandoned store that is Cafe Berlin, but I can think of at least two other spots offhand that would be perfect for donut-y goodness.

I doubt the City Council would be too condemnatory of the concept, since the company would be moving into an existing building with few modifications. They might have the usual concerns about a Chain moving into town, but I'm sure the heat Calstuff would give them would cause them to run back to Council to approve it.

I can't see the franchise being a financial loser here. When non-profits drive to Union City and back to sell expensive $1 donuts, and when I make regular 8 block round trips to the local Andronico's to buy some of their Krispy Kreme goodness, I think they'll be okay. Especially when Mrs. Stupid Fields cookies seems to do fine.

The losers would be the aforementioned non-profits, who need a new gimmick anyway, and the existing donut joints. Sorry, King Pin, but your brand of over-doughy by-the-book donuts does not do it for me. If you had invested in an actual custard filler machine instead of lazily cutting open a longbar and spreading custard, I would be more sympathetic. I wish you the best in the face of actual competition, but I shed no tears for you.

Let it be known: I will bring a Krispy Kreme to Berkeley. But I need your help! E-mail me if you want to be part of the Calstuff Donut Brigade. We will overcome. I've set up a Yahoo Group here. Join.



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Sam McManis writes on the Jonny Moseley Scare in the Chronicle today. He interviews Moseley, I think. It might be a parody. I'm not sure. I'm kind've hoping it's a parody, since exchanges like this:

I'm stoked to be able to talk to the Cal students," he said. "I've never done anything like this before. I did do the eighth-grade graduation at Del Mar (Middle School) in Tiburon."

And how did that go?

"Uh, I, like, bombed it, you know. I got kicked out halfway through the speech."

Really?

"Nah, I'm kidding."

...do not exactly inspire confidence in the speaker.

Pleased to see that Jamaal Artis, Cal leader and general ass-kicker, was quoted in the column.

I semi-stand behind my position of 'For God's Sake, let it rest.' Cal has two marks going against it in the procurement of Commencement Speakers: It doesn't hand out stupid phony Degrees to the Commencement Speaker, and it hates the Commencement Speaker. I can sorta see why Dick Cheney would want to stay away from an event sure to be marked by 'Cheney speech shouted down; Activists burn effigies' headlines the next day. So Moseley.

But there's nothing wrong with opening up the process of selecting one. Cal students will be much less likely to bitch if they have a hand in picking their own destiny. I don't know who picks The Californians who decide these things, but the Oscars-esque drama of 'announcing' a winner doesn't seem well-tailored to Cal.


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The Engineers on campus get virtually no press coverage, and that works out pretty well for them. Too bad, since they have their fair share of political intrigue and money scandals.

The group in question here is the Engineering Joint Council, the umbrella group for the various Engineering groups on campus. (That includes the Honor Societies like Tau Beta Pi, general Engineering groups, etc.) The ASUC throws a lot of money EJC's way, with the supposed understanding that a lot of that money will be passed onto the member Societies. Last year they got $13,000, this year probably around $10,000.

But the Officers in charge of EJC are two steps removed from the general mass of Engineers. They're elected by Representatives of the Societies, rather than from Engineers themselves. Not only that, but many of the Societies generally don't pay much attention to EJC, electing the incumbent or incumbent's pick.

Not this year, though.

A group of discontents, led by IIE's Anthony and HKN's (EECS Honor Society) Devesh, backed an outsider for the President's job. Their major complaint: EJC funds were kept secret from the rank and file, EJC leadership was insider-y and unaccountable, and decisions were made undemocratically. Example being: the Rank and File voted 'We're not Dorks' to be the theme of their Engineering Week. EJC Leadership decided later that 'The Art of Engineering' would be used instead. 'The overarching theme,' complained Paganini, 'was that its run as a student group, not a Council.'

But here's where things get messy. The current EJC President, Melissa, sent this e-mail:

4. The office of President is open to past EJC officers only. The president carries the most responsibility, and we require the experience level of a past EJC officer. Much of the president's work is not always visible by the EJC representatives, and the EJC officers have the best understanding of the high levels of dedication and hours that go into the presidency.

In other words, Jon wasn't allowed to run. Anthony and Devesh were seriously pissed. Anthony sent this letter to the general EJC mailing list

> > > EJC- Jon Traum, Devesh Parekh and I will be reviewing the EJC bylaws at the Office of Student Life at 102 Sproul tomorrow at 1:15 pm in preparation for the elections. Anyone that wishes to accompany us is welcome to show up at that time. We will purchase a copy, scan, and send a link to a posting of them for those who can't make it.

Anthony Paganini

Melissa asked why he cared, to which Anthony replied

Admittedly, and this sounds bad, I've never seen the bylaws. To make an informed voting decision and in preparation for a possible run for Treasurer, I should be familiar with them. Those representatives that haven't seen them should as well, it can only aid in making a responsible decision in voting and will also ensure a fairly conducted election.

But this wasn't going to fly: Melissa knew Anthony was bullshitting her and looking for a way to let Jon run. She said as much in her reply

Anthony, it does sound bad that you send to the whole mailing list that you are going down to the OSL to look up the EJC bylaws, making the trip sound so dramatic. Yours and Jon's letters give me and other people the impression that I did a terrible job as president, and I find that impression extremely offensive. It makes the work and the sacrifices seem in vain. This past year was much more organized than the previous, and the previous was more organized than the one before. To imply that I have not been doing enough leaves me very bitter.

Behind the scenes, EJC Leadership was pissed off. Their lense was that Devesh and Anthony, who had done some tentative work around the ASUC, were working as agents for the evil student government in order to end EJC's Independence.

OH MY GOD,

This is freakin annoying. I can't believe the nerve of those assholes. Melissa, I feel that you have handled the position very well. I could care less if those assholes get a hold of the By laws........I hate the image that they're giving off to everyone. I can't believe this sanctimonious BS that I'm getting from Anthony when I talked to him on Saturday. This is the perfect reason why politics are bad. If they have a problem with us, just feel free to talk to us. In a way, I feel that Anthony is personally spear heading a attack against us for some unknown reason. Let me know how I can help......In a way, I wish I wasn't going on my trip so I could be there to speak my mind against they fools. Again, I repeat ASUC politics is bad. Nothing good has come from our association with the ASUC.....they waste our time, invade our meetings for their own political agenda, slander us, and now even question our authority. I feel that in the future, EJC should stay away from the ASUC. We have been fine being a governing entity on our own. I'm soooo pissed right now.....let me know what I can do the next few days to help.

(I'm still not entirely sure what association they think the ASUC had with Devesh and Anthony. As far as I can tell, mere touches with it leads to a lingering taint that must be avoided. Eh, could be.)

Anthony and Devesh needed a smoking gun in the Constitution, something that clearly stated the EJC Leadership was making the rules up to serve themselves. But they didn't get it: multiple copies of the Constitution with different wording were around, and the section about voting practices was ambiguous. But without the smoking gun, advantage reverted to the Officers. Devesh wrote a diplomatic e-mail

Officers:

Have you figured things out yet? It would be helpful to know what is goingon.

When Anthony and Jon decided to look at the Constitution, they were not intending to start a war. They merely wanted to make sure that Jon was disqualified (it would have been a shame if Jon really could run but did not because of misunderstood rules) and also to be able to impress the voters with their knowledge of the Constitution and By-Laws on election day (and thus come off as the most qualified candidates for whatever positions they chose to run for).

Thus, there is no reason to regard us as enemies or hide information from us. We just want to know what is going on. If we can iron out election disagreements now, we can have a smoother election tomorrow. We don't want to waste everybody's time solving this at the election itself.

Devesh

In response to which, EJC Leadership allowed Jon to run for President after all.

The end was almost anticlimactic. The Incumbent's choice, Audrey, beat Jon by several votes out of 15 cast. Unclear if there'll be any lingering repercussions besides generalized bad feeling and yet more hatred of the EJC for the ASUC. For now, EJC will go on as it has. For now.
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Calstuff Correspondant Noah Schubert writes

LETTER TO EDITOR RE: TOM BATES & ANDY KATZ

With all this talk of elaborate conspiracies, you ignore the simplest and most logical explanation: Andy Katz is supporting Tom Bates because he's strongest on the issues that matter to students. Period. End of story.

Shirley Dean has never supported students as mayor. She hasn't proposed a single new student housing project. Instead, her solution to the housing shortage is to reduce the number of students in Berkeley. And her appointments to city commissions reflect it -- not a single student appointed to a high-profile commission in over eight years. Is that a record students should be proud of?

Bates has been there for students, both in the Assembly and on campus, where he taught Poli Sci 105. His longtime chief of staff was the leader behind the bill that will provide over $15 million for new student housing. On issue after issue, Tom Bates is the only candidate who understands the issues that matter to students.

So, yes, the choice *is* obvious. Compare their records. Pour through their votes. There's only one real pro-student candidate. Tom Bates.

Good points! Although Calstuff stands by his policy of concocting elaborate conspiracies as explanations.Email This Post!

Letter from Andy:

I highly encourage you to attend the Berkeley Mayoral Convention this Saturday, May 4, 2002 at the North Berkeley Senior Center at MLK and Hearst at 1pm. The event is free and will have great food and entertainment.

It is highly likely that former Assemblyman Tom Bates, who has a great record on workers' rights, the environment, discount BART passes for students, and who has taught at UC Berkeley will announce his candidacy for Mayor. It would be a great opportunity for students to meet him and show your support.

Students will be gathering at Sather Gate Saturday at 12:30 to walk down. If you want to take the bus, the 51 line will stop at MLK and University, and you can walk 2 blocks north.

I hope to see you there!

Andy Katz

There's a lot more to this e-mail then it seems. Most notably, the way Andy makes it seem like supporting Tom Bates for Mayor is more or less the obvious thing for students to do. Not entirely; Mr. Katz knows very well that the probable battle between Dean and Bates for Mayor will involve pitches for student support, and both have attractive platforms. Dean will pound her greater support for the University and for housing development; Bates will emphasize what Andy mentioned above.

So why would students automatically throw behind Bates? It was his Progressives who defeated Fryday's redistricting proposal. The cynical version is that Andy wants Progressive support and logistics for his probable run in Armstrong's District. (Now my district too, incidentally.) So he puts his weight behind them. Another version is that Katz doesn't want Kriss Worthington to run, for various reasons. A relatively innocent version is that Katz wants Bates to feel indebted to students over being placed on the ballot, before going back to playing both him and Dean.

Of course, I could've e-mailed Mr. Katz and asked him, but this version is much more fun.Email This Post!

Went to hear Ward Connerly speak at the Faculty Club tonight.

Not much happened besides items of narrow interest, outside of the Connerly speech. He focused on an overview of his values and positions. The most interesting part was a detailed comparison of Halle Berry and Tiger Woods, and the meaning behind their own ethnic identities. I had hoped to ask his opinion on the folks Davis has appointed as Regents, but the Crackpot the Republicans nominate against Barbara Lee took up all the Q-A time. The rest was given over to end-of-year awards and a slide show. Our own Angry Clam won the biggest trophy of the night, the Ivan Jen award.

The crowd was well divided between Students, rather aged Party Officials, Parents of BCR people, and Contributors. I was probably the only guy there who voted for Gore this year, outside of the Press coverage. I think two TV stations, although maybe just one with numerous cameras, and the Daily Cal.

Speaking of which, I had a chance to see the Daily Cal in action. While I sat on my ass and exchanged sarcastic remarks with Angry Clam, he paid close attention and wrote in his notebook. Made my own claims to being a proto-Journalist look pretty pathetic. Maybe I'll settle for being a good gossip columnist. Email This Post!