Tibetans protest in Downtown Berkeley for leader facing execution

Bay Area Tibetans stage sit-in and candle-light vigil for Tenzin Delek Rinpoche

Around 100 Tibetans and supporters participated in a sit-in and candle light vigil in Downtown Berkeley on November 27 to highlight the Beijing-sentenced death execution Tenzin Delek Rinpoche is facing today.

I wonder if I should count this as number five.Email This Post!

University Outlines 50 Year Landscaping Plan

Newscenter has an article on conceptual landscape changes to Berkeley over the next few years as outlined by the Landscape Master Plan and the Landscape Heritage Plan. The plans detail 29 different projects, among them:

-The Renovation of Sproul Plaza (which was completed this summer)

-A new revamped "Wheeler Glade, which would open up the area upstream from Sather Gate, with seat walls sloping down to Strawberry Creek"

-Demolition of Evans Hall (apparently it is "chief among [campus landscape] weaknesses")

-"Restoring the central reflecting pool and landscape of the Hearst Mining Circle"

-"Restoration of Campanile Way to a 20-foot-wide pedestrian pathway"

Overall, the plan addresses most of the problem areas on campus. Most of these improvements are years away, so many of us will not be around to see them.Email This Post!

The Campanile has been reopen for weekends since Big Game Weekend (check out the press release). The Oakland Tribune had an article on the experience with some interesting facts on the tower.

Four [floors] belong to the paleontology department and contain a vast collection of fossils. Two belong to the carillonists, where there are offices, a library of carillon sheet music and three practice keyboards.

"[The carving of Abraham] Lincoln [on one of the sides of the tower] is there, probably because he's the one who signed the land grant where the university now is," Clark said. "The carving is interesting, done by sculptor Gutzon Borglum who carved Mount Rushmore. But really I think the only reason Lincoln's there is because somebody donated him, originally for the library, in fact."

If you want to take a tour, they are offered at 10 a.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. The Campanile is open on weekends from 10 AM to 5 PM and weekdays from 10 AM to 4 PM. Admission is free for students, faculty, alumni association members, and staff with ID.Email This Post!

Want to Write for CalStuff?
The CalStuff crew is looking to bring in one more writer for the Spring. If you are interested, leave a comment here or send in an e-mail (calratto@berkeley.edu).

If you are someone who has already sent us your info, we got it, we are just waiting to get back to you in case anyone else is interested.

Thanks
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Picture of the Protest by Students for Justice in Palestine




Just following up on the protest we reported on earlier (See Update on Sproul Protest and Anti-Israel Folks Out on Campus Today).

This is the fourth protest we've reported on this month following the ones by BAMN, Black Students, and the Clerical Workers. If anyone is going to try for number five, tomorrow is the last day (it is the 30th).Email This Post!

Update on Sproul Protest
So the regular anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian crew was out on Sproul today with their little protest thing. I showed up late (around 1:20) and they had already moved to California Hall to ineffectually protest there, as opposed to Sproul. I hear that the protesters were a reasonably small crowd and that few people walking through Sproul stopped to see what was going on, as opposed to just giving the scene a passing glance.

Reports I heard from people on the scene (mostly Israel Action Committee folks) was that there was some orange construction fencing that was supposed to be the bypass road. There was also chanting:

1, 2, 3, 4, blah blah blah racist war
2, 4, 6, 8, Israel is an apartheid state

Below are a picture of the crowd after they reconvened at California Hall:

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Tedford named Pac-10 Coach of the Year

Calbears.com is reporting that Jeff Tedford has won the Pac-10 Coach of the Year Award for the second time in his three year tenure at Berkeley. Not bad, considering his sole source of competition this year was Pete Carroll over at USC. Here's crossing our fingers that we can pull a stadium plan together to keep this guy.

Eight other players from the Cal squad were named to the first-team All-Pac-10, a total higher than any other team in the league. Cal's selections include:

QB Aaron Rodgers
RB JJ Arrington
WR Geoff McArthur
C Marvin Philip
OT Ryan O'Callaghan
DE Ryan Riddle
LB Wendell Hunter
ROV Matt Giordano

Unfortunately for Rodgers and Arrington, Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart were co-Offensive Players of the Year, giving them an edge in the Chase for the Heisman Trophy. However, they still have outside chances of pulling out an upset.Email This Post!

City of Berkeley Touts "Voluntary Greek Cleanup"

The City of Berkeley has published a press release praising the students of the Greek community who came out to help clean the streets of Berkeley after the game. Some choice quotes:

"...over 250 fraternity and sorority students from UC Berkeley came together with City workers and other community partners to conduct a massive clean-up of the Southside area of the City."

I was there for a short time, and I very much doubt that there were 250 Greeks there. Try about 150. And I definitely didn't see any "community partners".

"The plan worked because of the students' willingness to work shoulder to shoulder with the City in the interests of the surrounding community."

Or was it the students' willingness to simply get drunk again? Most Greeks were there because of the social probation imposed on them by IFC during their trigger-happy period in Fall Rush. A certain level of attendance was mandatory for those fraternities with the threat of an extension of social probation.

"The student contribution was huge this year and they really need to be commended for it...the trick is to make it a matter of routine and replicate it in other areas of the City. Because of the budget crunch, this is really one of those situations in which 'Necessity is the Mother of Invention."

So really, the trick is to trick students into doing this more often by working with the university and its organizations to make civic duty a punishment, freeing up our funds from paying salaries to our employees. It would be great if the city even had the money to institute a program like this, but considering recent precedent, they'd probably need to put a tax initiative on next year's ballot to get the funding.Email This Post!

Anti-Israel Folks Out on Campus Today
The new Patriot Blog has details on the protest being held on campus today:

Looks like there’s going to be another protest on Sproul tomorrow (Monday).

Who? Palestinian student groups and “people of color”
Why?Demand that the UC Regents to divest from Israel.
Demand that the UC Regents invest in people of color on university campuses.

When? 12 - 2 PM

CalStuff will have pictures and more comments post-protest.
According to an e-mail that the Patriot got, the plan is for, "Pro-Palestinian students will be building a bypass road, a road built between Jewish settlements and Israel Proper for the exclusive use of Jewish settlers and Israeli citizens, on Sproul Plaza."

Sounds fine with me. Maybe this bypass road will help my Jewish self get to class quicker by avoiding the normal noontime swarm on Sproul.

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Interim Dean For Haas Named

Haas School News Release

Richard K. Lyons, previously an Assistant Dean at Haas, will take the post over from Tom Campbell, who has left to work as the Finance Secretary for Governor Schwarzenegger. Lyons is a Berkeley alum (Class of 1982) and is apparently one of Haas' top lecturers. Kudos to the administration for finding a qualified candidate from within its ranks to take over as dean... too bad this practice was not applied during the search for a new chancellor (no offense, Mr. Birgeneau).Email This Post!

Sunday Football Wrap-Up

Who cares if there wasn't a game this Saturday? There's still football to discuss.

1) Despite Texas' comeback win over Texas A & M on Saturday, the Longhorns didn't gather the votes they needed to overcome the Golden Bears in the rankings as the AP Top 25 stayed stayed, for the most part, unchanged. This means that Cal still has the Rose Bowl berth set. However, even with a win on Saturday against Southern Mississippi, the Golden Bears' fate still rests in the hands of #1 USC, #2 Oklahoma, and #3 Auburn, who all need to win to ensure that no non-major BCS teams crack the top 6.

2) After getting demolished by the Golden Bears last week, rumors are circulating out of Stanford that Coach Buddy Teevens is going to be shown the door after collecting only ten wins and zero pictures with the Axe in three seasons. Let's hope this means that a win against Stanford next year might actually help our "strength of schedule" ranking in the BCS calculations.Email This Post!

CalStuff on Thanksgiving Break!
See you guys Sunday night. Your CalStuff crew will be busy with Turkey Day, but back and ready to go for Monday morning.
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Berkeley's Version of Crime
Today's Daily Cal Police Log was particularly humorous:

Police Log:

Saturday, November 20, 5:23 p.m. Male reports people throwing a football into the street, hitting a child in the head, Durant Avenue and College Avenue. Under investigation. (UCPD)

4:41 p.m. Female victim of petty theft of her wheelchair, value: $100, Memorial Stadium. Under investigation. (UCPD)

3:37 p.m. Male reports property damage via a stop sign falling on the trunk of a vehicle, Gayley Road. (UCPD)

I wonder if the woman was somewhere else or if the wheelchair was stolen out from under her.

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California Patriot Weblog Officially Launches
The California Patriot Blog is now up and running (sans impostor bridge), offering a conservative voice to the Berkeley blogosphere. I'm guessing Cal Patriot Watch is going to have its hands full with the multiple bloggers who will be manning the keyboards over at the Patriot blog.

CalStuff always supports more Berkeley students getting involved with blogging, and we would encourage our readers to stop by our newest fellow bloggers and see if what they have to say interests you.
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Stanford Concedes Defeat in School Rivalry
(CalStuff Reads the Stanford Daily so you Don't Have to!)

Thanks to the anonymous commenter who brought this to my attention. The Stanford Daily has published a column by two Stanford students:

Enough ballyhoo. What we’re here to say is that Stanford’s Cal-bashing is a load of nonsense. Rubbish. Malarkey. It’s more reflective of a pervasive inferiority complex than of any supposed superiority.

The fact is this: Berkeley is pretty much unequivocally better than Stanford. That’s a bold statement, and we’re here to make it. If anything, Berkeley does not need to “Burst any Bubbles.” They’re living in the real world, not this palm tree-laden, Sunday brunch-studded adventure of ours.

They go on to list all the reasons why Berkeley is in fact better than Stanford, including:
-their "University Avenue is littered with overpriced chic restaurants catering to yuppie 20-something-folk, no fewer than three Persian rug stores and multiple independent theaters"
-while "Telegraph Avenue offers restaurants with the finest five-dollar plates of ethnic cuisine, record shops with sounds the likes of which your Dashboard Confe-ssional-loving emo self has never heard and homeless drug addicts, not the entrepreneur-gone-bust-in-the-dotcom-boom vagrants of Palo Alto."

Their conclusion, an only half-hearted defense of Stanford, explains why the columnists enjoy their time there:

In fact, we can’t wait to stay here another year. As much as this place pales in comparison to Berkeley, we’d still rather be here than there. It’s kind of like belonging to a country club. You recognize that you’re an undeserving privileged youngster and that everyone else is probably a hell of a lot more genuine and interesting than you, but shit, your membership was by invitation only. Suck on that.

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This Makes Me Feel Sexy All Over
I've been getting the weekly e-mails from the Public Affairs Department every week, and although it's mostly worthless, this week I struck gold. The weekly e-mail contains a collection of everything that Public Affairs has accomplished in the last week, and one of the things they chose to trumpet was that they, "Connected professor Linda Williams with USA TODAY for a story that appeared last week about the batch of films coming out featuring full-frontal male nudity."

A teaser like that is definitely worth a quick search of USAToday to find the quotation in question. In an article, "Male Frontal Nudity in the Movies Uncovers an Old Debate" Linda Williams has this to say:

It's about time, some women say. "As a woman, I'm glad. I want to watch male bodies," says Linda Williams, a film-studies professor at the University of California-Berkeley. "There is a growing eroticism about the male body that hasn't quite existed before."

Remind me to take some classes with her.

Alternate Post Titles:
1) We're Going Streaking! Follow me to Linda William's class!
2) UC Faculty Quotations that Definitely Need to be in the Brochure for Prospective Freshman
3) People who Rely on Major Studio Movies to see Naked Male Bodies will be Severely Dissapointed and End up Commenting in Newspapers How They Want to See More Naked Male Bodies

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Students React to ASUC Student Legal Clinic Hearings

There has been a limited but noticable student reaction to the Mehta v. Jones case, which was scheduled to be held yesterday. One of the more prevaling opinions has been that of concern of expanding judicial powers in the ASUC, and the ability of the ASUC to interfere with the interworkings of student groups. An email being circulated by the Yvette Felarca, who at this point has a clear vendetta against anyone with a gavel, is attached to the bottom of this post. Here is the meat of the letter:

"This case threatens the very foundation of what Cal is about - providing a space for the free expression of diverse ideas, opinions, and political views. If the J-Council rules in favor of Mehta, this precedent will allow for uncontrolled abuses of power within the ASUC student government. Student groups whose purposes don’t suit the interests of ASUC Senators or Executives could have their group Constitutions declared invalid and their sponsorship revoked. This dangerous precedent would allow the ASUC Senate to be the ultimate authority on the inner content of all student group Constitutions."

Let's take a quick look at this. The case was made at the behest of one of the co-presidents, who claimed that the changes to the SLC constitution were not done properly. It seems that this case is being decided on the basis of the procedure, not the content. In that regard, most of the arguments of the email are without weight.

However, it must be pointed out that even if the material of the SLC constitution was under scrutiny, then the ASUC would have every right to question it. As long as it funds these groups, the ASUC has a vested interest over their constitutions, interworkings, and actions. It is on this basis that the groups are primarily funded. Precedent of this kind of activity can be seen in the financial oversight exercized by Congress over executive offices (EPA, etc.). More locally, it could be seen in student organizations like the the Muslim Student Association, which has had to re-assess the international groups it associates with due to their shifting ideologies and designations by the U.S. government.

In addition, any ASUC hearing would not disband the group or its constitution - it would merely withhold ASUC funding until any required changes are made. The ASUC can choose how it wants to promote services and free speech however it chooses, and if it feels that the SLC is not performing as it should, especially by changing its constitution halfway through the year, than the ASUC has its rights over the funding to the group. Groups that choose to be dependant on the ASUC must be willing to adhere to its rules and beliefs.

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CalStuff News Round-up: Science Edition
There will be more information soon on other Berkeley related news stories, as well as some CalStuff commentary, but for now I just wanted to provide some links to some science stories that have been getting some attention. If any of these articles interest you, be sure to click through the link to read the whole article.
1. Adult Stem Cells Triggered to Multiply More Quickly

Now, a UC Berkeley bioengineer has devised a way to enhance the utility of adult stem cells that could steal some of the spotlight away from embryonic stem cells and eventually lead to treatments or cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

David Schaffer and a team of scientists from the University of California at Berkeley and the Salk Institute in San Diego discovered that a certain protein can trigger adult stem cells in the brain to multiply at three times the normal rate.

2. 'Blind' Cells See the Light; Maybe Someday Humans Will, Too

Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have given "blind" nerve cells the ability to detect light, paving the way for an innovative therapy that could restore sight to those who have lost it through disease.

[The scientists] inserted a light-activated switch into brain cells normally insensitive to light, enabling the researchers to turn the cells on with green light and turn them off with ultraviolet light.

3. UC’s Toxics Decision Impacts Campus Bay Site

As negotiations continue between two state agencies over the cleanup and supervision of Richmond’s heavily polluted Campus Bay, new questions have arisen about an adjoining UC Berkeley-owned site.

The Daily Planet has learned UC Berkeley officials rejected a 1995 proposal from the state’s strictest toxics regulator to join in a voluntary cleanup of the Richmond Field Station, then turned for a deal to the weaker regulator—the same one now in the process of surrendering its lead role at Campus Bay.

4. Energy Secretary Gets Mixed Reviews at Los Alamos

Los Alamos employees like the University of California's benefits, its academic reputation and the chance to send their children to UC at in-state prices. Many were strongly against Spencer Abraham's decision to put the contract up for bid, but they acknowledge that changes were necessary.

This article is a good summary of where things stand with the UC-run lab situation for those who have been following that story.
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Status of Senator Terre, or “How Could So Many People Shoot Their Own Feet At The Same Time?”

Some people may remember our post earlier in the week about what seemed to be the impending resignation of Senator Terre. We had omitted certain details for obvious privacy reasons, but now that the cat's out of the bag, some more straight-forward conversation on the matter can be had.

Speaking of which, the next time a Daily Cal staff member tries to give us a lesson in journalistic credibility, they should be likewise try to keep their editors from exposing a very nervous, uncomfortable, and obviously fragile victim of sexual assault. Or, perhaps it would be in order to open a dictionary and looking up the word “tact”.

Likewise, EVP Christine Lee definitely deserves a great deal of the flak she will probably receive on this issue. Lee found herself somewhat conveniently out of the state for the last week, taking some of the heat out of the issue. While her hands were bound on the constitutionality of the issue, I could definitely think of better ways to go about the dirty business of bringing it up than suing yourself. Maybe the Judicial Council needs a new charge sheet altogether for situations like this.

Speaking of charge sheets, there are some interesting points involved in this case's, which is attached to the end of this post. While EVP Lee requests a hearing, she does not request any action from the Judicial Council, which seems to be pursuing a very hardline course of action in this case. Likewise, no preliminary injunction was requested, yet one was issued on Wednesday evening, which could potentially invalidate any bills passed from last week onward.

In any event, it's time to examine the five absences that Senator Terre has received. One is for the aforementioned attack, which for all intents and purposes, should be excused for health reasons under the ASUC Constitution. At least two of the other absences were due to the sudden hospitalization of Terre's father early in the semester. Two absences are still unaccounted for. And, if the regularly scheduled meeting that was supposed to be held this Wednesday wasn't cancelled, then Terre would meet the bare minimum of attended meetings required. The whole situation is very vague, but there seems to be some justification to give Terre a waiver on the required removal.

If forced to resign over the issue, the issue would be a general black eye for the ASUC, especially with woman's rights groups. How does it look when a female senator in the ASUC loses her seat after being sexually assaulted? It certainly seems to be penalization of the victim from the outsider's perspective.

That being said, should Terre resign anyway? She obviously, after missing five meetings, has not served and can not serve in full capacity as a representative of the students in her community. Not all of the absences are excused, and Terre can not simply skate by on the excuse of having only half of the absences justified. Giving Terre an exemption from the rules also brings the credibility of the ASUC By-laws and Constitution into question. The situation is, to say the least, complicated for all sides.

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One for the “Duh” column

The New York Times has run an article, featuring Berkeley, discussing the low number of conservative-leaning professors in the college atmosphere. From the people who brought you the Pentagon Papers, a legacy of investagatory journalism continues.

If you ask me, people should stop bitching about it and accept it. Most people who are going to Berkeley chose to do so over other top schools, so they know what they are getting. No one going to Berkeley today arrived in their first year expecting the West Coast branch of Bob Jones University. To not receive a liberal spin on an education at Berkeley is like drinking Sprite out of a Pepsi bottle... it just doesn't make sense.

In addition, most people who argue that liberal educators are brainwashing the masses are neglecting the fact that most 18-year olds who are going to have any political opinion have it before they enter college. This is especially true now with the flood of media sources that distinctly support political ideologies. Liberal professors just provide cannon fodder for either side of the argument. And, students who come to learn social sciences, especially at Berkeley, also hopefully have the creative thinking skills to interpret and judge the information they are receiving, instead of just letting it be force fed to them. So isn't this continuous pandering over "fair educators" just making a mountain out of a molehill?Email This Post!

Elections Council Positions Available

For those of you looking to build resumes, or simply trying to do your part to fix the elections problems of years past, this year's Elections Council is currently forming, and applications are still being accepted. All you eager go-getters, have at it!


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Oski Crowd Surfs!
An awesome video, via Alex Randolph at his personal weblog, has Oski crowd surfing.
Go here to watch.




Alternate Post Title: Why you should get your Cal news from online sources where you can see cool videos instead of the newspaper...

P.S. Please don't drop Oski in the future. Take him all the way to the top.
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Cal Pranksters hang sign near Dumbarton Bridge

A Bay Area resident sent me this:

"This banner was seen hung over the pedestrian bridge on Highway 84, which is just South of the Dumbarton Bridge. It looks like it was intended to be seen by all Stanfurd fans traveling to the game that morning as it was facing towards the South."


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Golden Bears Chop Down Stanford, 41 - 6

For those of you who might have been in a cave this weekend, Cal throughly manhandled Stanford's 4-7 football squad in a game that could simply be described as a typical rivalry game. Approximately two dozen penalties were handed out, cheap shots were being thrown on both sides, and emotions were obviously running high. It wasn't exactly a game at The Palace, but nonetheless, rushing the field still gave students an enormous sense of satisfaction.

As far as the importance of this game in the long run, there is pretty much none, unless the Golden Bears would have lost. Cal seems absolutely poised for the Rose Bowl, though ESPN has just run an interesting article explaining a couple possible scenarios in which Cal could quite easily be dropped from BCS bowl contention. To sum up: if Texas moves up a spot on us (quite possible, if they embarass A&M) and Utah AND Boise State or Louisville make the top 6 (once again, quite possible, since Utah is #6 and Boise State/Louisville are in the top 10 now and climbing), then all at-large berths for BCS bowls, including the Rose and Fiesta Bowls, would be taken, and Cal would not find itself in a premiere bowl come the new year. The BCS continues to astound everyone.

The Daily Cal also had a great showing in the Ink Bowl, where it reclaimed the coveted "Exacto Knife" for the glory of Cal. The showdown went into overtime, which according to regulation rules, is settled by the boat race, which the Daily Cal throughly dominated. Go Daily Cal! Though, if given the chance, the CalStuff crew could totally snag that trophy from either paper. We're just that damn good.Email This Post!

Stanfurd Pranks the Campanile?
I received a phone call last night about a giant maple leaf on the campanille. Today I got an e-mail with more details on the incident. Here are more details from CalStuff reader Clifton:

A friend and I were taking pictures of all the blue lit buildings on campus before they got taken down last night. As we were taking pics of the Campinile, we noticed someone was messing with the gold lights. It seems they took all the gold signs off each side and replaced it with a singular "maple leaf" symbol on the south side of the tower. After we showed our unhappiness with such change, they told us to shut up because "they already won already".

We are still unsure who the perpetrators were, but we called UCPD so they could look for them/alert rally com of the change. Some of the people were wearing red sweatshirts, and I've been told the Stanford Band had a big thing for maple leaves this year. The way they talked/knew the campus, we originally thought they might be Cal students (maybe this was a political statement?), or maybe it meant nothing at all. At any rate, one would think this was a harmless prank, but according to a person in charge of the lights, they broke at least one of the templates used, which cost $500 a piece.

Here is a photo of the maple leaf:

[temporary technical difficulties]

More photos here (taken by Daniel Wu).

Reports from members of Rally Comm was that there was also a giant penis projected on the Campanile as well. Anyone with pictures of that, please let us know.Email This Post!

GO BEARS!
[More to come. If you have a Big Game week photo to share, send it in to calratto[at]berkeley[dot]edu.]

1. This year's big game shirt.
Big Game Shirt

2. Two participants in the rally on Tuesday axe Stanfurd.
Rally

3. Alpha Epsilon Pi Brother Joe Rothberg and a giant drop of blood help out at the Get the Red Out Blood Drive on Friday.
Blood Drive

4. Acacia making fun of Stanfurd's small penis tower.
Acacia

5. Some fans did much less elaborate demonstrations of their Cal pride.
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New Blog Focusing on Big Game
I just stumbled across a blog, "The Four Horsemen of the ApoCALypse" written by four Cal alum (some still in the Bay Area) which focuses on, "Cal, sports, poker, politics, babies, and life in general."

I'm not sure how Berkeley-centric they will be after Big Game is over, but for now they've been posting constant Big Game updates with lots of cool links and pictures. To see what they have up so far, go to their home page and just scroll down, to see pictures such as these:


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Mickey Freaking Mouse
from here:

In a ceremony held Tuesday at Tournament House, Mickey Mouse was revealed as the Grand Marshal for the 2005 Tournament of Roses. As Grand Marshal, Mickey Mouse will represent the theme "Celebrate Family" to a worldwide television audience as he rides in the 116th Rose Parade, and as he tosses the coin before the 91st Rose Bowl Game on January 1, 2005.

Maybe we can bring Oski along and have him maul the rodent.
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UC Berkeley Professor writes new translation of the Jewish Torah

CNN.com has an article on Comparative Literature professor Robert Alter, who has come out with a new translation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, sometimes called the Torah, the Five Books of Moses (which is what he is selling the translation as), or Pentateuch. In it, he hopes to "he has never found a biblical translation that he liked or could recommend to his comparative literature students" as "past translations either get the Hebrew wrong or mangle the Bible's syntax or lose the power of the work or even are so up-to-the-minute that they become too conversational to be accurate or interesting."

(Found via Fark.com)Email This Post!

Clerical Workers Rally for Higher Wages

There was a rally in front of the International House today, at around 12 PM, put on by the Coalition of University Employees (CUE) supporting the clerical staff as they bargained with the administration inside. The main issue was pay raises for the staff who wished to gain 5% wage increases the first year, 7% the next, and 9% the last year. Currently, the University offers no such scale for pay increases. The bargaining began on Wednesday (11/17) and ended tonight at 5 PM. Many of the workers were there rallying, picketing across the street corner of Pidemont and Bancroft (which caused some minor traffic problems), blowing bubbles, and handing out fortune cookies with messages for their cause (mine's said "Your family will expand with new brothers & sisters-when you join the union). Two people were also dressed up in costumes: one a Mr. Peanut, symbolizing what the Unviersity pays it's workers, and another a Greedy Pig.



More pictures have been posted on Calstuff Extended.Email This Post!

What do you call the opposite of a slow news day?
If you're on campus, be sure to grab a Daily Cal.
More from CalStuff to follow...
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Tastes of Berkeley
Today (Thursday) student groups will be selling food on Lower Sproul from 11-2 at the tastes of Berkeley. The ASUC website has a description of the event:

"On Thursday Nov. 18th from 11-2, the student groups of Berkeley will come together on Lower Sproul to share in food and fun in the annual 'Tastes of Berkeley'. 'Tastes of Berkeley' is a unity event that brings the over 800 student groups of Berkeley together, in addition to the student body as a whole. Each student group will provide delicious delicacies to raise funds as well as information about their respective groups.

Based on my prior experience with ASUC events, I will be thoroughly shocked if more than 20 or so groups show up, much less 800. On the other hand, the Greek Queer Straight Alliance will be there with brownies (Both queer and straight brownies will be for sale. The straight brownies are plain, while the queer ones have rainbow sprinkles. Oh yeah!). For more information on the Greek Queer Straight Alliance, see the Daily Cal article.
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Followup on Blackout protest; Interviews on Race and Admissions to UC Berkeley

Note: This post links to videos which require the Xvid Codec to view.

Here are more details on the Black Students Protesting on Campus Today we reported on earlier.

Starting at around 8 AM this morning, groups of black students walked into classes in Dwinelle and Wheeler in all black attire, wearing black bandanas around their mouths, standing there ominously and handing out red flyers on the issues they represent, copies of which were posted on the UC Berkeley Livejournal Community. Then at around 12 PM, all of them had gathered to link hands in front of Sather Gate until 2 PM. Newscenter has pictures and a few other details on the protest here. I managed to speak with three of the protesters on why they protested today and how they went about it. Here is the video (AVI-966KB).

According to the flyer, a discussion of the issues they are concerned with is being held at 7pm in 60 Evans.

Meanwhile, I also interviewed Ai-Ling Malone, president of the Multi-Cultural Union (formerly known as Hapa Issues Forum), for her thoughts on the multiracial check box being decided at the UC Regents meeting in UCLA. Click here to see (AVI-502KB).

Update: Some Calstuff readers have alerted me to the fact that black students used the same protest years before. In fact, they did in 2001 according to this Daily Cal article.Email This Post!

Black Students Protesting on Campus Today

Reports are circulating that black students have been protesting in major halls (e.g. Wheeler) with t-shirts, mouthplugs, and flyers. They are apparently protesting the lack of representation on campus and the fact that their complaints and demands are not being heard by the Regents, the administration, or ASUC.

Some students are reporting that the group has been interrupting mid-terms in Wheeler.

More on this as it develops.Email This Post!

UC Regents meeting in UCLA to discuss multiracial box, fee hikes

The Regents of the University of California are meeting this Wednesday (11/17) and Thursday (11/18) at UCLA to discuss several key issues including:

-A multiracial box on the UC application (see Daily Cal article and opinion)

-An addition of $457 or 8 percent onto undergraduate fees and an additional $628 or 10 percent onto graduate fees. (see Oakland Tribune article)

-A presentation on minority outreach programs sponsored by the UC system

-How Proposition 71, the new stem cell initiative will affect the schools (especially with Chancellor Birgeneau named to the proposition's oversight committee)

-More on what the university plans for the three Department of Energy labs it runs

The meeting's agenda and links to web broadcasts can be found here.Email This Post!

California Patriot Embarrases Itself
Apparently the Patriot Crew has started a blog (I say apparently because there are two posts up, and the most recent one is from three days ago). Via the ever vigilant California Patriot Watch, I was shocked (!) to discover that they decided to start things off on the right foot by using a stand-in bridge for their banner headline.
Let's compare the bridge they use


with the actual Golden Gate Bridge

What do you know; the crossbars on those two bridges look completely different (horizontal vs. diagonal).
Does the California Patriot hate America, or what?

Brendan, over at California Patriot Watch has the details on what bridge the Patriot folks are trying to pass off as our beloved Golden Gate.
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City of Berkeley freezing shopping carts for the homeless

The SF Chronicle has a piece on the city of Berkeley's use of a large freezer unit to store items lost or abandoned by the homeless. The state requires cities to store lost items for the homeless, but a freezer? The article describes the chilling, metal storage unit:

About a year ago, Berkeley bought a 40-foot-long, 8-foot-wide refrigerated container for $8,200 after public works officials complained about vermin infesting carts stored at the city's outdoor corporation yard.

The city signed a five-year, $61,500 lease with Caltrans for land under the University Avenue overpass at Interstate 80 to put the container on, and ran power to the unit.

I wonder if it would have been cheaper to just spray the carts with pesticides once in a while (though I'm sure eco-conscious Berkeley and homeless advocacy groups wouldn't have been too keen on that idea).

The article goes on to point out numerous criticisms of this idea:

-Cost of about $3,000 a year annually in refrigeration and $50,000 dollars for the entire program.
-Hardly anything is picked up, due to bureaucracy and sheer distance away from Berkeley.
-Dumping of unclaimed shopping carts, which costs about $100 each (that's a cost the stores pass on to you)
-And the big one, most people (especially the homeless) don't know anything about this program.

No wonder Berkeley voters aren't approving taxes as readily as they used to (see Daily Cal opinion).

Update: 1. slight correction on the cost, it was stated earlier stated it cost $3,000 a year without saying that was only the cost of keeping the container cold
2. Angry Clam points out the Chronicle's article made the Drudge Report (see the archived page). Hopefully, Calstuff had something to do with it.Email This Post!

Stanfurd on the Big Game
A columnist for the Stanford Daily has written an article analyzing the big game, "Big Game rivalry: A Freudian analysis".

His article isn't particularly funny, although I did chuckle once or twice. It did provide some useful information I haven't heard elsewhere:

7) Teleportation.

The act of transporting one’s undesirable elements to another’s campus at 4 a.m., playing all of one’s fight songs off-key (see: Cal Band Trumpet section last Sunday night).

Go Bear Trumpeters!

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Chancellor Birgeneau named to Prop. 71 stem cell oversight committee

Proposition 71, approved this November, created a California Institute for Regenerative Medicine that will distribute $300 million dollars a year in grants and will be overseen by an Independent Citizen's Oversight Committee made up of 29 people. Newscenter has an article announcing Chancellor Robert Birgenau was appointed by Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante as one of these 29 people at a press conference today. Birgenau has pledged to be impartial saying he "will ensure that the money is well and ethically spent." Critics of the bill (like BCR) will be quick to point out that with an appointment like the channcelor of UC Berkeley, it will be hard for the committee to be independent, as the University has a vested interest in stem cell research funding.

Meanwhile, professors here at Berkeley have been hard at work with stem cells. The same Newscenter article mentioned how Professor Kevin Healy is developing a new medium for growing stem cells that is less susceptible to contamination. Also, Professor David Schaffer has been working with making adult stem cells far more effective. Using a protein called Sonic Hedgehog, nervous system cells multiplied far faster than normal. Both the Daily Cal and the Contra Costa Times recently had articles on the protein. With a possible research grant from the state, a grant to expand minority outreach for biology students (see Calstuff post), and the new Stanley Hall in summer 2005 (see Daily Cal article), expect to see more and more of these breakthroughs in the coming years.Email This Post!

*Class Action Lawsuit Seeking Undergraduates*
After student fees were raised last year, a lawsuit was filed by a number of graduate students from throughout the UC system. A Daily Cal article from last February had information on the early stages of that lawsuit:

Eight student plaintiffs from four UC campuses filed the lawsuit last summer, charging they were not given enough time to plan for fee increases. The suit also claims UC broke a contract not to change professional student fees during the course of enrollment.
...
Student fees shot up more 35 percent last year. The first 10 percent hike for spring 2003 came after students had already registered for the term. And five days before summer session classes began, fees at UC Berkeley rose an additional $160 for undergraduates and $180 for graduate students.
The students seek to refund the past year’s increases and halt any future jumps.
...
The plaintiffs said UC broke a contract not to change the fees, as stated in a catalog for Boalt Hall School of Law.

That lawsuit is back in the news. It has been expanded to now include undergraduates as a party to the class action lawsuit, according to an e-mail I received from the law firm representing the grad students. To see the entire text of the e-mail, which contains information on who is eligible to be a member of the class, and what the next steps in the lawsuit will be, click here.

Any student who was enrolled at Berkeley last spring (when the fees were raised), is now potentially a member of the class that this lawsuit is being waged on behalf of. If court rulings do not create a solution to this case, it will go to trial in May, 2005.

CalStuff will have more information on this once we are able to speak to Kashmiri, the law firm representing the students, and the University.Email This Post!

Update on Student Legal Clinic Hearings

The Judicial Council has decided to hear the Mehta v. Jones case regarding the constitution and funding of the ASUC Student Legal Clinic. The hearing is set for Sunday night, probably to be held somewhere in Eshleman. Calstuff has already posted its interpretation of the case here.Email This Post!

CalStuff Group, Weekend Posting, and Additional Writers
Lots of interesting stuff went up over the weekend, so if you haven't been by in a few days, be sure to scroll down for all the latest.

Also, a CalStuff group has been started on Facebook. Be sure to join up, as we will be having a raffle soon with prizes for people who are members of the group. All the details are on the facebook page (just do a search for Calstuff on facebook).

Finally, we will be doing a moderate site redesign soon and coming out with a bigger better CalStuff in a couple of weeks, and we wanted to see if there was anyone out there interested in joining the CalStuff staff. Don't worry about having any prior internet/blogging experience as blogspot is extremely easy to learn to use. All you need is an interest in things Berkeley related and enthusiasm for writing. Leave a comment with an e-mail address and IM name or else send us an e-mail (contact info on the left sidebar) so we can get in touch with you.
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Hearing on DAAP Lawsuit This Friday

*** Update ***: Upon checking the case docket of the judge assigned to the lawsuit, the hearing has been cancelled. The case was apparently thrown out earlier this afternoon by the judge. This was probably the best possible outcome for the ASUC and the university.

---

While it once seems that this issue might have faded away, it turns out that the case was simply boggled down in the traffic of the Northern California District. DAAP v. ASUC will be heard this Friday at 9 AM in the Federal Courthouse in San Francisco. Plaintiffs are seeking a summary judgment in the case, in which they request a declaration of affirmation and reimbursement of legal fees, which could cost the ASUC upwards of $43,000.

It seems that if Senator Felarca truely believed that she was elected to help the student union and accomplish her goals, then she would have dropped her suit and attempted reform from within. Instead, she has taken a course of potential embarassment for herself and the university.Email This Post!

Alta Bates Hospital may be denied accrediation

Alta Bates, the hospital group that runs the main medical center in Berkeley, may lose its accrediation with the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, or JCAHO. The report has not been made public, but numerous problems have been cited that must be fixed within 3 years or else. Losing accrediation means that the hospital will not be able to take Medicare or Medicad insurance offered by the US government. This comes as quite a shock for some, as JCAHO is widely considered to be very soft on hospitals and does not deny accrediations readily.

The SF Chronicle has a detailed article on the matter.Email This Post!

Cal Tames The Huskies, 42-12

ESPN Recap

After coming back from a slow start in the 1st half, Cal scored 21 points in the 3rd quarter to begin a proper romp of the Washington Huskies.

Heisman hopeful QB Aaron Rodgers struggled once again, throwing two interceptions with his two touchdowns. He is still suffering as his top two receivers, Chase Lyman and Burl Toler, are still out with injuries. Cal's running game once again carried the team, with JJ Arrington and Marshawn Lynch combining for 242 yards and three touchdowns.

Cal's bowl prospects are still leaning towards the Rose Bowl, especially since Auburn does not appear to be losing anytime soon. Oklahoma and USC have cupcake schedules for the rest of the season, and Wisconsin's loss to Michigan State will have the BCS #4 spot secured for Cal.Email This Post!

This Year’s First Judicial Council Decision Imminent

The ASUC Student Legal Clinic seems to be in a state of turmoil after its co-directors sued each other over changes to the group’s constitution. The Judicial Council has issued a preliminary injunction to stop any SLC funds from being spent until the dispute has been resolved.

Daily Cal Article

The Judicial Council has only issued a preliminary order – they have not announced whether or not the case will be heard. However, it seems that a hearing is inevitable due to the status of the situation.

There are two key issues:

1) Is the ASUC SLC a student activities group, and subject to the regulations of any other OSL group? If not, what is its standing? Is it an ASUC-sponsored project?

2) How does the answer to question #1 affect the validity of the SLC Constitution and the ability of the Judicial Council to rule on it?

My take on the situation is that this group is run and recognized in the same matter that ASUC SUPERB is. In that regard, the SLC is an ASUC-sponsored project, and the Judicial Council cannot rule on the validity of its constitution in this case.

However, this theory opens up a whole new can of worms. If this is true, who has jurisdiction over the group? According to my interpretation, the ASUC Senate currently does. A quote from Article VI, Section 1A of the ASUC Constitution:

“The Senate has sole authority over the ASUC funded budgets of student government operations, operations groups, projects, student services, and activity groups and publications, and is responsible for approving the overall ASUC budget each year.”

But no one really wants the SLC to get lost in the bureaucracy of the Senate. The simple solution seems to be to write a new section in the by-laws for the group that incorporates the current constitution. The SLC should be placed under the jurisdiction of either the President’s office or that of the Student Advocate. Until then, though, I guess it has to work with what it currently has: a constitutional crisis and a stopped line of funding.
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In Your Face, Stanfurd!
With Big Game approaching, the opportunity to embarrass Stanfurd is once again presenting itself. Berkeley got off a pre-emptive shot this year, when "the stanford quarterbacks 'most prized possession' his cardinal red golf cart was turned blue and gold last night by as yet unidentified Cal sympathisers". This info from a well-placed source, and I have assurances that as soon as pictures are available, we'll have them for you here at CalStuff.

Anyone else planning any pranks against the Farm, send CalStuff a picture of what you did, and we'll be happy to guarantee your anonymity.

[If anyone reading this has a picture of the golf cart.. pass it on, calratto@berkeley.edu]
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Committee Meeting to Consider Future of Welcome Week

Word on the street is that administrators are seriously considering a drastic shortening of the Fall Welcome Week programs. A committee has been formed to discuss the point of Welcome Week, and where certain “idle time” can be eliminated to make the activities more efficient and effective.

Dean Kenney, who discussed the plan briefly at the last ASUC Senate meeting, stated that the motivation of the committee was to save money and resources for the university. However, she would not deny that the recent crackdowns on Greek life were at all related to this move. Most of the IFC violations come during Welcome Week parties.

If Welcome Week activities are curtailed, it will affect all student groups, which use the time to recruit new members both inside and outside of official university events. In addition, it could prove to be damaging to the crucial “settling-in period” for new students, especially those from outside of California.

The amount of student involvement in the final decision has yet to be seen. Hopefully, this will not be a repeated attempt of the university to ram policy down the throats of 33,000 students.
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First Senator Resignation Approaching?

Rumors are beginning to circulate that one of the CalSERVE senators (nameless for the time being) is already approaching her absence limit, with some estimates saying that one more committee absence will put her over the top. While the absences are due to a very justifiable reason, it does not change the fact that there may soon be a vacancy in the Senate.

If the senator were forced to resign, the next in line for her seat would be Natasha Dandavati from the International and Out of State Student Party. Dandavati was seen at the last senate meeting, trying to get a feel of the political atmosphere and mingling with some of the senators. She seems like she is preparing for her installation any time now.

The political ramifications of this would be critical for CalSERVE, since they, coupled with DAAP’s Yvette Felarca, would no longer be able to stop a 2/3 majority in the Senate by themselves. As it currently stands, CalSERVE currently has 6 of the 20 Senators. The two other independents, Dandavati and Narodick (SQUELCH!), would see their leverage in the Senate increase drastically.
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Silly Picture Friday: Monkey Knife Fight!
A little humor for the weekend. This is torn out of one of those SF alt weeklies from last year.
[Got your own picture for silly picture Friday? Send it in. (calratto@berkeley.edu)]


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Report Released On 2004-05 Faculty

The UCB Research Department has a nice biography section on the new faculty for the current school year. One statistic that might raise some eyebrows in certain communities is the fact that only 22 of the 76 new professors and assistant professors are women. In addition, only around a dozen or so of the new hired staff seem to be of a background other than causasian or East Asian. For a university that claims to be hiring from a diverse pool, this could be seen as hypocritical from the liberal population on campus. Email This Post!

Equitable Remedy for Judicial Council - Daily Cal Misses The Point

The Daily Cal ran an editorial last week on SB 178, a bill that would amend the by-laws to allow the ASUC Judicial Council to have flexibility in its penalties and punishments during election season. The bill was ultimately vetoed by President Leybovich on some minor technicalities with the bill; however, the DC editorial has very flawed logic and is off the mark.

"And since the Judicial Council’s decisions are unchecked by the senate or executive officers, this bill would allow too much power to rest in the hands of nine people."

Not true. The Senate has ultimate power over which council members it chooses to appoint and to remove any corrupt council members per Title 21 of the By-Laws. In addition, there is supposed to be protected power for the judiciary. That's the point of a three-branch government: checks and balances.

"ASUC’s response was to initiate legislation limiting the Council’s power by forbidding it to dole out harsher penalties. But senators should address the real problem: the offending bylaws. ASUC’s attempts to streamline the Judicial Council’s decision-making process only put band-aids on the problem instead of getting to the heart of the matter."

Which by-laws are "offending"? The "badgering" rule is not uncommon in federal practice. It's called "being held in contempt". People who don't show respect to the ASUC and its officials deserve the same minimal amount of respect.

"Part of the reason ASUC voted unanimously to pass this in order to "simplify" these processes is likely because all those on the Judicial Council were approved by ASUC members themselves. There is a certain amount of personal trust involved here. But what happens next year, when new senators usher new council members into office? Members and senators change each year—and the last thing we need is a corrupt or beholden Judicial Council with even more political clout than its antecedents."

Well, that's the problem with a representative constitutional democracy: you have to trust the leaders you elect and respect their judgment when it comes to appointments. You can cry about it, or you can vote. In addition, continuous pandering that this bill had the potential to give the Judicial Council more power is obnoxious and false.Email This Post!

SI - Tedford Will Stay

Sports Illustrated has taken a unique (and happily optomistic) stand that Coach Jeff Tedford will stick around Berkeley for a few more seasons, despite the problems faced with raising capital for a new stadium. From the article:

"Now here's the good news: Tedford wants to stay. Really, he does. I know this because two people close to him have assured me this is the case. Based on what I know from sources on both ends of the equation, Cal will shock the sports world and keep him."Email This Post!

Voter Registration Problems At Berkeley

While whispers of more grandiose stories of voter registration problems are emerging in Ohio and Pennsylvania, Berkeley has had its share of controversy, too.

The External Affairs VP Office, which orchestrated the massive voter registration campaign on campus, announced that it had photocopied all 6600+ forms that it had received in its office. EAVP Liz Hall stated that the voter registration cards were duplicated to collect statistical information and contact information so that registered voters could be reminded to vote. While this is not an uncommon or illegal process, I definitely see it as a violation of privacy, especially in regard to party designation, etc. Students definitely should have been notified that the EAVP office would use their information, and that their cards were going to be photocopied.

Many students who registered through campus student groups (including myself) also had problems voting at polling places, and were forced to use provisional ballots. This seems to be a problem not so much with the EAVP office delivering all the ballots on time, but with the Alameda County Office of the Registrar being overwhelmed with the amount of new voters to register. Nonetheless, students are being asked to confirm their registration with the AC Registrar, and to re-register if inconsistencies still persist.
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New Squelch Out

The formal release of the final issue for the semester should be on Monday, but an online sneak peek can be found here.Email This Post!

"Roomies" cartoonist Deana Sobel competes for comics contract

Daily Cal cartoonist Deana Sobel, artist for "Roomies" and various editorial cartoons, is one of seven cartoonists competing across various colleges for a development deal with United Media syndication (Dilbert, Peanuts). She is currently in the semi-finals of the mtvU contest, which end on November 17th. Newscenter has more on her and the contest, along with previous editions of her work. (Oddly enough searching the Daily Cal's website yields no mention of the contest.)Email This Post!

CalStuff Obtains Mind Reading Powers
Regarding:

We warmly invite Chancellor Birgeneau to attend a public reception to dialogue with students, faculty, and staff on this critical issue. We would be glad to obtain a suitable locale at a time and date that are most convenient for him.

from these people:

This invitation has been extended to the chancellor by the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary; Michael Alavi, officer of the Iranian Students Cultural Organization; Ronald Cruz, president of Oscar Wilde House co-op; Leslie Ezeh, co-president of the African-American Theme House co-op; Keisha Hicks, president of the UC Berkeley chapter of national black honors society Beta Lambda Kappa; Martha Prempeh, president of the Black Pre-Law Society; Paul Torio, executive chair of the Piipino American Alliance; and Paul Young, an officer for the Multi-Cultural Student Union.

Alright, I'm getting a reading... wait for it... wait...
Not gonna happen.

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Missing in Action?
Where is everybody's favorite Friday columnist?
I guess I can imagine Andrew Adams doing the shocker, but it really isn't the same...Email This Post!

Helping Minority Students outside of Affirmative Action
BAMN's silly little protests notwithstanding, I can't imagine that the voters of the state of California will ever allow a return to full fledged affirmative action based around some priority given to under-represented minorities in admissions.

Another option, which sounds like a really good one, is currently being utilized on campus. A NewsCenter article, "$5.6 million grant boosts UC Berkeley diversity program for undergraduate science students" has a description of the program:

A $5.6 million grant to the Biology Scholars Program at the University of California, Berkeley, will increase the number of UC Berkeley students from underserved communities who are admitted to medical schools and graduate science programs throughout the country.
...
[The program aims to]
* Providing additional mentoring and academic resources each year to 100 students seeking a science degree
* Providing 60 pre-med students each year with mentoring, medical internships, and financial assistance to attend conferences and pay for medical school applications and review courses

The reasons I like this progam are
1) It is paid for by a "five-year grant from the San Francisco-based Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation". I can be persuaded quite easily to support something that stands even a minute chance of helping others, if it does not cost me anything.

2) The program works:

Matsui described the 12-year old program as "wildly successful," noting that participants — 75 percent of whom come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds – graduate with a biology degree at the same rate and with equivalent UC Berkeley grade point averages as Asian and white students who are not in the program. Minority students in the program are one-and-a-half times more likely to graduate with a biology degree than are minority students who do not participate in the program.

3) A program such as this can have long term benefits that will allow it to help solve the structural problems that it is only able to address cosmetically. According to the article, "Currently, African American, Hispanic and American Indian health care workers collectively make up only 9 percent of nurses, 6 percent of doctors and 5 percent of dentists in this country." An increase in the number of minorities who are able to succeed in college and return to their communities as doctors, nurses, or other health professionals can't help but have a positive impact. This will mean more children growing up seeing people they identify with succeeding. Furthermore, the graduates of this program will be better equipped to help send their children along the same path they took, as opposed to those who drop out of college. A student in the article mentions his desire to go back and work in the migrant community that he came from.

4) Finally, and most importantly, the program moves beyond simple classifications based on ethnicity, and instead looks to "help undergraduate students from diverse social, cultural and economic backgrounds succeed in the biological sciences."

BAMN can continue to bus in kids from local grade schools to agitate for an increase in underrepresented minorities at Berkeley, but unless they look to alternative approaches, such as this program, they will only be further marginalized. [Not that I'm holding my breath waiting for BAMN to become less extremist...]Email This Post!

BAMN taps youth for protest

Of all the days to forget my camera, it had to be during a protest by the pro-affirmative action group BAMN (By Any Means Necessary) in front of Sproul yesterday at Noon. As the Daily Cal reports here, more than 200 middle school and high school students from Berkeley and Oakland school districts came out to protest UC Berkeley's admissions policies that they claim caused a black student enrollment drop. Many of these students will be affected by these admissions policies this and in coming years, so it was good idea by BAMN to bring them out to directly protest the administration (also these students are more inclined to listen to BAMN than most of the students here at Berkeley).

If only the Daily Cal had a picture of some of these protesters though, you could have seen how small some of these kids were. A couple of them looked below middle school age. These kids didn't even look like they could say "affirmative."Email This Post!

Daily Cal shows no way to prevent the lure of phishing

The Daily Cal's article on phishing, phony emails that try to lure people to fake websites and divulge account information, had one crucial element missing: an outline of tips for preventing it. There is some good advice at the Anti-phishing work group. While I don't expect prevention tips when every crime happens, it's good to have them when you report on a specific type of crime and not just an incident of it.

By the way, if you have any comments on Daily Cal articles, make them heard at the Daily Cal Watch forum on One. We take corrections, concerns, followups, and letters you sent to the editor. Have fun.Email This Post!

UC Berkeley Ranks #2 in the world

An article from Times Online says that the Times Higher Education Supplement ranks UC Berkeley as 2nd best college in the world following Harvard. For the full rankings, click here (link goes to JPG).

(Thanks Justin for the scoop)Email This Post!

Gang Warfare Coming to Berkeley?
In the spirit of CalStuff's exaggerated and hysterical coverage of potentially harmful matters, the latest area of worry is the potential spread of South Berkeley/North Oakland gang fighting closer to campus. The reason for concern is recent graffiti that CalStuff noticed on a number of trees and a telephone poll outside of Pi Kappa Phi on Channing and Prospect.

The tree to the left contains what would appear to be the graffiti from two different gangs (one in white, and one in red). The reason for concern is that the second gang has crossed over the original writing, which is apparently considered a challenge or threat, similar to writing 187 over another gang's graffiti.

Random spray paint on Berkeley trees would be much less of a concern if there were not a significant number of gang related deaths currently occurring in Oakland. Although there are many possible explanations for this graffiti that do not involve gangs, it would be prudent for both the University and the police to consider this something worth investigating.

*Update:* Regarding comments about deciphering what the graffiti could mean, I went ahead and posted all the remaining photos of the other vandalized trees over on CalStuff Extended. Just click here and scroll down to see the rest.
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Cal Holds Off Oregon

California held off Oregon today in football, 28-27, in a very close game that could have gone either way. Oregon showed up to play, unlike the two past Arizona teams, and Cal helped Oregon out by turning the ball over twice and making several special teams and defensive miscues: one of which almost cost the Bears the game.

[Note: This was originally written by Ralph Lee and posted in the Berkeley LiveJournal community. He offered to share it with the CalStuff readership, and we were glad to do so. It is longer than our normal football write-ups, but this was both an exciting game, and a point near the end of our season where it is worth the time to evaluate how the team is doing, especially in light of our potential opportunity to make it to a bowl game.]

Summary:
Cal and Oregon scored a quick 14 each in an uncharacteristically high-scoring first quarter. The Bears' defensive unit was coming off of two back-to-back shutouts before today's game in Memorial Stadium. Then a California fumble led to an Oregon Duck touchdown that broke upen the game. But the Oregon kicker missed the PAT, which would come back to haunt the Ducks.

Cal's offense was uncharacteristically sluggish in the second and third quarters, with only one touchdown from the Bears. The California score came immediately after a demoralizing Oregon touchdown (and accompanying 6:05 drive), following a quick 75-yard, 1:10 drive led by Aaron Rodgers's deadly arm. But the score stayed at 27-20, as Rodgers and the running game were unable to score until the fourth.

After a missed FG by Tom Schneider (he missed two and is 5/11 on the season), Rodgers drove 70 yards to put the Bears ahead 28-27 and for good, with 13:50 left in the fourth quarter. While Cal's defense was decent, it was Cal's offense that won the fourth quarter game, with a drive that only went 43 yards but consumed 7:00 off the clock.

On the last Oregon drive, QB Kellen Clemens made several clutch passes, and seemed to complete a game-winning pass. But Oregon WR #8 Keith Allen dropped the ball on fourth down--completely uncovered. The dude will probably be hung on campus this week, as the game was literally in his hands. Just as USC seemed to catch a key last-minute break a few weeks ago, Cal did today and the Bears walked off victorious.

Analysis:
Special Teams is sucking it up. While punter David Lonie was above-average, placing several punts within Oregon's red zone, the unit as a whole was lackluster. The unit was responsible for a fumble and allowed Oregon's returners to put the Ducks in excellent field position; allowing a 52-yard kick return is simply unacceptable. Fans were calling for Schneider's head, and it looks like Tedford will have to recruit a top placekicker for next season.

Defense can improve too. Clemens went 19/33 for 217 yds with 0 INTs and 4 TDs, and found several holes in Cal's zone defense, often in the middle and underneath near the sidelines. In addition, Clemens ran for 54 yards, including some key first-down draws. Cal allowed 143 yards rushing, which is suboptimal. But the D held off Oregon sufficiently enough after the second quarter, with a few sacks, to end the game happily for Cal.

The freshmen retrievers were so-so today. Cal WR Robert Jordan, who did well for himself recently, fumbled the ball and was only able to garner 24 yards for the whole game. Geoff McArthur will be missed.

J.J. Arrington, and the Cal OL, was a bright spot today, picking up 188 yards on 26 carries, a remarkable 7.6 yds/carry. His consistent high level of performance (Lynch went only 7-25, 3.6 yds/carry) is carrying the team through many of these games and will be missed because Arrington is a senior.

Stat of the Game: 2-0. Cal turned the ball over twice, while forcing no turnovers. It almost cost the Bears the game.


Miscellany
*Aaron Rodgers actually caught a pass--he threw a pass that was deflected by an Oregon DL and actually CAUGHT it while it was coming back down. He went for 10 yards on a play that really should make Sportcenter's plays of the week.
*Backup FB Byron Storer hit the field today for one play. He is rated quite horribly on the NCAA Football 2005 video game, possibly rated as the worst player on the team. The first-team option, Chris Manderino, got no rushing attempts but caught a single 36-yard pass. Manderino lined up as a WR on one of Rodgers' TDs, a post route to McArthur, forcing the Oregon D to use a corner on him.
*Attendance was announced as about 65k. I'm surprised that many people showed up, but anectodally, it seemed like a LOT of Oregon fans came. They seemed to make even more noise than the UCLA fans, especially when Cal's offense neared the red zone. Oregon has previously won the last 7 meetings with Cal. Cal coach Jeff Tedford was formerly offensive coordinator at Oregon.
*Kate is our best mic (wo)man. The first-quarter dude screwed up a few times. I hope she's not graduating.

Writeup by Ralph Lee. Photo credits AP.


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Silly Picture Friday: Blimp!
Today's football game (results soon!) featured an appearance by the Saturn Blimp, which roamed lazily about the sky during the afternoon. I'm still too distraught over the election to make a joke comparing the blimp to John Kerry (re: a giant bag of hot air...). Got your own picture for Silly Picture Friday? Send it in and we'd love to use it!


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Haas Dean Takes Leave; Accepts Position As California Director Of Finance

Haas School of Business Tom Campbell has been appointed to be the new Director of Finance under Governor Schwarzenegger for the next two budget cycles. According to the Daily Cal report, Campbell may be planning to return after his two-year term, though that is uncertain.

While it's great that Berkeley continues to be a source for California's best and brightest, there is a negative and continual trend of faculty and administrators leaving for greener pastures, both inside and outside of the education system.

This also leaves a floundering Haas School of Business desperately looking for a new dean half way through the school year. This certainly won't help its reputation, which Campbell's work inarguably boosted.Email This Post!

More Details out on Two Recent Berkeley Related Deaths
First, those rumors from yesterday about a dead body on campus have been confirmed, in today's Daily Cal, "Man Found Hanged Near Campus". A tragic event, although there doesn't seem to be anything more to this story than an unfortunate suicide:

A 32-year-old Oakland man was discovered dead on the west side of campus yesterday morning in an apparent suicide, UC police said.
Eduardo Zamudio-Yee apparently climbed a tree, put a rope around his neck and hanged himself near West Circle just beyond University Avenue, said UC police Lt. Mitch Celaya.

He was noticed around 7:00 am last morning, isn't believed to have any connection to the University, and was found with a suicide note on him.

In other news, the toxicology report on Patrick McCann was just announced. Once again, Daily Cal:

A toxicology report for UC Berkeley senior Patrick McCann, who died of unknown causes two weeks ago, came back positive for multiple drugs, the Alameda County Coroner’s office said yesterday.
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Methadone, alcohol and EDDP were found in McCann’s system, according to the coroner’s office. EDDP is a methadone byproduct that indicates someone has ingested the drug, said Robert Torres, business manager at Central Valley Toxicology, where McCann’s toxicology tests were performed.
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A pathologist will examine the toxicology report to see whether drugs were to blame.
Officials said “toxic levels” of methadone and alcohol were not found in McCann’s system. A final determination on the cause of death may not come for several more weeks, according to the coroner’s office.

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Two Engaging Art Exhibits on Campus
The Berkeley campus is the temporary home of two compelling art exhibits. The first, running through November 18 at the ASUC Art Studio Gallery, on the lower level of the MLK, Jr. Student Union features the artwork of former Marine and Gulf War Veteran turned art grad student Ehren Tool. The NewsCenter has all the information on Tool in this article, "From jarhead to bowl maker: Grad student Ehren Tool's art of war" which delves into the motivation behind his artwork (the simplistic interpretation would be that he is ant-war, but that would be wrong).

The link above contains a photographic slideshow (definitely worth seeing) featuring a number of his pieces currently on display, as well as an information on the meaning behind the symbolism that he uses. My favorite piece was called "393", which was made to commemorate the deaths of soldiers in Iraq:

For his piece "393," which commemorates the number of U.S. combat deaths the first year of the Iraq war, Tool made and decorated 393 ceramic cups by hand. "Each of the 393 U.S. dead were raised by someone. Someone whipped their ass and made sure they got to school," he explains. "Then they went to Iraq and were killed." After firing and glazing the cups, Tool shot each of them with a pellet gun and videotaped it shattering. Each set of fragments was displayed on an individual base in front of a screen playing the 50-minute video of their destruction.

A close-up of "393" is below, from here:


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Arab and Iranian Artwork on Display on Campus
An exhibit is currently being shown at 116 Kroeber Hall (it closes Friday, so hurry by if you would like to see it) featuring "eight different Arab and Iranian artists who work in various art genres including painting, sculpture and film. Each artist’s piece is meant to confront stereotypes and misrepresentations about Arab and Muslims in the Middle East." According to the Berkeley Daily Planet article on the exhibit, "Arab and Muslim Art in a New Light at UC Exhibit", "Many of the pieces in the show look at stereotypes about the Middle East. Others examine the particular forms of discrimination that Arabs and Muslims faced after Sept. 11."

The sculpture that caught my attention was by Khalil Bendib:

My sculpture "Gas Christ" is an ironic statement on the ongoing reconquest of Arab lands by a new wave of Western "civilizators" come - once again -to bring Democracy and Freedom into the heart of darkness. This work was of course prompted by the infamous Abu Ghraib photo of a hooded Iraqi being tortured by U.S. troops.
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The title of my "Gas Christ," of course, alludes to Andres Serrano's controversial photograph "Piss Christ," in which an image of the Savior was infamously submerged in urine. Only in this case, it is petroleum - the new object of Western desire, the fragrance du jour - which despoils the symbolically crucified Iraqi. Christ, in this work, is not cast in a negative light; he's identified with the natives, some of whom happen to be Christians.

Gas Christ:

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Another Death On Campus

Reports are trickling in from CalJunket's Rebecca, Beetle Beat, and other sources that a dead body has been found in the Eucalyptus Grove by VLSB. While details have been tricky to come by, word on the street is that this may have been a student, and that a rope noose and pills were found nearby.

Note that this is all very preliminary information.

If this is another student death, it will be the third in the past 30 days. I guess at a certain point you have to acknowledge to the public relations departments for keeping a pretty tight lid on this growing trend.Email This Post!

Berkeley library lends tools

This week's Home and Gardening section of the New York Times featured the Berkeley Tool Lending Library, a city library where people can borrow hammers, drills, saws, and more. The article delves into the history of the library, how the library has been useful to its patrons, as well as all the problems and limitations of the library.

Favorite quote: "The library doesn't stock... chain saws. 'People try to use them to cut roots,' Mr. Armstrong said. 'They'd constantly be getting clogged up.'"Email This Post!

Comic Relief evicted from building

Comic Relief, the comic book store on University and Shattuck that is recognized as one of the best in the nation, has been evicted from its current location. Newsarama says in this article that the landlord who owned the building has put it on sale and needs to kick out the current tenants. Meanwhile, Rory Root, the owner of the store, is looking for a new location. He says the store is not in any financial trouble, but moving will be costly.

If you would like to help, you can go down to the store and buy some books from them. You can also order the books online (details are in the Newsarama article). There will also be a book signing from 5:00 to 7:00 PM on Thursday, November 4th, featuring Warren Ellis (writer for Iron Man, Planetary, and Global Frequency).Email This Post!

Man found living in cave on land owned by Los Alamos Lab

A man by the name of Roy Michael Moore was found living in a cave near the Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico. His cave had been set up with car batteries charged by solar panels for electricity, a wood stove, satellite radio, and marijuana. The article from the Sun Sentinel has more. (article found via Fark).

The lab, which is run by the UC system, has taken a lot of heat for mismanagement issues. Just a few weeks ago, two workers confessed to having committed fraud, having spent lab money on personal items (from this article at the Daily Texan). There have also been issues with lost computer data from the lab with classified information.

Recently, as reported by the California Aggie, a survey of lecturers and librarians across the UC system urged regents not to bid on the lab when the contract expires next year.Email This Post!

Distributed CalStuff News Reporting
I'll be voting later today, and if there is anything of interest to report, I'll post on it later. I'll bring my camera and try to get some pictures of the polls and voter lines as well. CalStuff readers, let me know (at calratto@berkeley.edu) if you come across anything interesting during the election, including:

-yourself or someone else not being registered to vote even though you turned in a voter registration form (especiallly if you particpated in the campus voter drive effort)
-excessively long lines or waits at the polls (anything more than 2 hours)
-difficulty in using the voting machines or an error that a machine may have made
-poll workers who were uncsure of election rules or who may have given you mistaken advice
-any other irregularities or interesting or unique experiences that occurred while voting

Send comments to calratto@berkeley.edu and please include as many details as possible about the incident you are reporting, as well as contact information so we can get in touch with you with any follow-up questions.
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