First Annual SQUELCH! Party Civil War Re-Enactment
Who: You! And all the friends that you will tell between now and Thursday.
What: A re-enacment of the Civil War. With squirt guns. It's BYOSG. Squirt guns can be obtained at a number of places around campus. [Hint to freshman, co-opers, and Greeks, send one person from your floor/house to make a squirt gun run.] Also, if you're NorCal wear blue, and if you're SoCal wear gray or tan. Other states dress according to how your state fought in the Civil War. All African-Americans should wear blue. Republicans, you're all on the Confederacy for this one. Tell Trent Lott I say hi!
Where: Memorial Glade
When: Thursday at 12:30. [If you're someone with a 12:30 class, don't be a fucking douche; just go to your class ten minutes late so you can partake in the battle. Also, if you're not going to vote for me because I just called you a "fucking douche", good, I don't want to be a senator anyway. I'm doing this for the fun of it, and the Civil War re-enactment is going to be fun.
Why: See above reference to fun. Weather forecast says sunny and warm, and SQUELCH! party will provide some water balloons. It's like a fun party and all the fun was invited. And the fun was nice enough to let you come too.
How: Um, see above, I guess. Also, pretend I said something witty here.

Leave a comment here if you have any questions. Also, I'll love you a lot if you (without breaking the bylaws) get this information out to as many people as possible.

Infrequently Asked Questions
Question: What should black Republicans wear?
Answer: They are traitors to their race, and are being asked not to particiapte. (Alternatively, "There are none!")Email This Post!

**Update from Andy** Zach Liberman, Party Chair Jake Kloberdanz, and Campaign Strategist Matt Arkin all tell me that Zach is still the BEARS-United Presidential Candidate. Also, I saw the BU AAVP candidate campaigning on campus today, and I believe that Jordan Mikes is campaigning as well. There are constant, conflicting rumors coming out about BU, some from members of the party itself... but we will be talking with party leaders before we post any more information of this nature-Andy R. End Update**

I have heard several different versions of what happened. Some people have said that the BEARS-United leadership dissassociated the party from him. Others have said Zach quit on his own without any prodding from party officials. I'm guessing the true story is a mix of both, hopefully Zach will chime in with his story.

Billy Wang continues to actively campaign and is the only BEARS-United executive candidate that remains in the race. Some of thier senate candidates are also still actively campaigning.

My Thoughts: I ran for Senate last year with BEARS-United in its first campaign. I thought then and still think now that the ASUC needs some fundamental reform of its operations if it's going to maintain and enhance its status as the only independent student government in the country. BEARS-United under Jake Kloberdanz offered up a good platform to get the ball rolling on institutional reform. Jake ran an honest and clean campaign and he remains a good example of the type of good well rounded students Berkeley has to offer. That he didn't win office says a lot more about the system and the types of campaigns you need to run (full exec + senate slate's) than about Jake's effort and qualities.

BEARS-United this year was a lot different. Some elements from last years platform stayed the same: the watchdog committee + the audit, graduate student autonomy... But other equally important issues: political neutrality, commercial activities reform, connecting the athletic community to the ASUC, Student Union revitalization, etc... were left of the table. Other new issues such as getting involved in the fight between UC and its emoployees over wages were introduced.

By far the biggest change was the difference in leadership. Zach Liberman has a lot of positive qualities: lots of energy, creativity, a willingness to be bold and direct, but in terms of some of the qualities needed to lead an organization such as the ASUC... diplomacy, organization, etc... He was lacking in those areas. And I think that thier campaign performance thus far has been a reflection of that.

ASUC elections, as Kevin! pointed out, are not about ideas. They are about organization and media saturation. BEARS-United has some of the right ideas to govern, but in order to put those ideas into effect they must professionalize thier organization and create broad based coalitions of student groups. The key for them now is to make a good showing in the Exec VP race, get Billy re-elected to the Senate and also elect some other party members to senate positions.Email This Post!

I just got this in my email today from the Coalition for University Employees (CUE) who have been lobbying for higher wages from the UC:

Please join us on Friday, April 1st to say "UC, Don't Fool Around!"

Multi-Union Rally
12:10 pm -12:50 pm
California Hall

UC says it values its work force, but while UC has plenty of money for its "priorities," it does not have a dime for Unionized workers. How much longer can UC get away with this bad joke?

Come join CUE and other unions and students in a demonstration that will feature a giant pig puppet and jester's hats.

That's one way to get someone's attention.

Calstuff previously reported on another CUE protest last year featuring guys dressed up as a Greedy Pig and Mr. Peanut.Email This Post!

*DONE BREAKING* Executive Order Allows EAP Students to Vote *BROKEN*
POST UPDATED
From ASUC.org:

An Executive Order written by President Leybovich that will allow Education Abroad Program students to vote in the upcoming ASUC elections has been approved. Read the full document here.

Ballots nearly identical to the electronic ballots that on-campus students will use in the April 5-7 ASUC elections can be printed out, filled in, and mailed back to Berkeley. The Executive Order states that ballots have to be postmarked by April 7 and received by the Elections Council by April 21. This electronic-to-paper ballot will be avaiable at asuc.org starting April 4, a day before the rest of the campus votes.

Very well done Misha. Let me say first, that to echo what someone said in comments a while ago, the only people who change the world are those people crazy enough to actually believe that they can. When I came up with the idea of getting EAP student's an opportunity vote, I figured it would be nearly impossible. Ben Narodick and I drafted a bill, that I was certain would fail. Then we argued a lawsuit that I was almost certain would fail, although debating with Angel and Nathan at the Judicial Council was certainly fun.

But the attention and pressure on this issue was enough to get this Executive Order issued. I will be coordinating with someone in the UCDC program to post flyers in the student housing at the University dorm where Berkeley students are living to make sure Berkeley students in Washington are aware of this. (Ian R., are you still reading CalStuff? hint hint) There are also efforts underway to make sure that EAP students will know about their newfound ability to vote.

Finally, one last thing. My motivation in pushing this issue with only weeks before the election was threefold: 1) Obtain EAP and UCDC voting rights for this election, which was accomplished. 2) Attemtpt to cause some general SQUELCH! ruckus to get some attention and fuck with the election schedule, and only the former part of that was accomplished. 3) Use EAP students to help pressure for an online voting system. The lawsuit we filed focused a large amount of attention on this issue, and I have been speaking with Senators about working out a bill for online voting later this year. More on that soon, but all and all, this turned out very well, and I'm very pleased at the progress that we made. Thank you again Misha.Email This Post!

Mayor Tom Bates to Speak at I-House on Wednesday
From an e-mail I received:

We are emailing to remind you about our upcoming event this Wednesday. We will
be hosting Major Tom Bates on Wednesday, March 30 at the International House
in the Great Hall at 7PM.

This event is entitled 'Building on Berkeley's Progressive Legacy: A
conversation with Mayor Tom Bates' and we will be serving refreshments. Please
note that this is a PSA sponsored event and all members in attendance will
receive credit.

If anyone wants to meet me in real life, I almost certainly will be there.Email This Post!

Greek Avisor Tiffany Jones Resigns, Effective April 5th (Non-election News!)
The Greek wing of the Office of Student Life is about to be seriously understaffed. Currently, the office is run by Tiffany Jones and interim advisor James Walker, who took over when Rob Maneson departed last semester. The plan was to have a replacement found for Rob by the beginning of February, then mid-February, and I assume they are shooting for mid-March now.

James Walker seems to be doing fine as a replacement, and hopefully they can get someone found quickly to stand in for Tiffany. At the moment, there is quite a lot of stress in the Greek Community, and the hope is that a lot of that can be relieved by rewriting the Greek Social Code. Students undertaking an ambitious project like this without permanent advisors for the Greek Community from OSL represents a serious failing on behalf of OSL to provide students with a properly staffed advising office.

Furthermore, my impression (largely gleaned from a dinner I attended with him) of Birgeneau is that he is not a fan of the Greek community. (For further evidence, Greeks should be aware of the apparent increase in efforts by the university to shut down unregistered parties.) This could very well be Birgeneau's opportunity to seek to limit the role of Greeks in Berkeley's social atmosphere by using the lack of advisors as an opportunity to exert his influence from on high. For an opposing viewpoint on how this might play out (I disagree with Karasek's hope that we could achieve some autonomy out of this), here is a comment from Panhellenic VP of Public Relations Lauren Karasek:

We have very mature and capable Panhellenic, IFC, and NPHC councils that have made creative strides far beyond our predecessors. We will continue to act in a responsible, progressive and representative manner while being involved in the process to seek out the best qualified Greek Advisors possible. This is a unique opportunity for student autonomy within the Greek and campus communities, and it will not be squandered. Instead, it will allow us to display the height of student ingenuity and resourcefulness

[Full disclosure, the university has previously shut down a very large party my fraternity was attempting to throw.] P.S. Daily Cal, if you do an article on this, can you call some folks at U of T and find out how Birgeneau treated the Greeks there...Email This Post!

A Clear Explanantion of How ASUC Elections are Run (and Won)
[This was written by Kevin! in comments, and it is so good that it needs to be posted here. All future campaign coverage here on CalStuff should be read with a consideration of these points. And yes, it's long, use that little scroll thing on that mouse you have to skip over it if elections don't interest you.]

ASUC Elections
BU's disconnection from reality is kind of sad. They persist in the common Poli Sci undergrad illusion that winning votes is exactly like a National Election -- that it's about pushing issues, making speeches, and a big media blitz. That probably explains some of their obsession with Calstuff coverage -- the common belief that media coverage will actually affect voters.

That is not how ASUC Elections work. ASUC Elections are exactly like High School popularity contests.

There is one way to win elections, and that is by making personal connections with voters, and walking them to the polls. NO EXCEPTIONS. Voters need to know the person, or been urged to by a friend of the candidate. A group endorsement can also work, but even then only if the group is well-organized and can be poll-walked.

I told all the Squelch! Candidates: if you don't watch the person vote, they have not voted for you. If you do not have their name and number written down somewhere, you will not watch them vote.

That is why all those candidates you see on Sproul walking around talking to other candidates are wasting their time. Unless you're meeting people, you're losing.

This changes the dynamics in a few ways BU does not understand. Instead of media posturing and campaign ideals, they need to create the hugest, biggest, largest possible network of campaign volunteers and candidates the world has ever known. Not for the work they do, but because each volunteer can ideally bring 15 friends to the polls, hopefully more.

And they need a full slate, because it's just not possible for a candidate to know more then 500-1000 people on his/her own. It cannot be done. Kris Primm, the most popular person Cal has ever had, with a huge volunteer base, could not win an Executive spot because he ran on his own. By running as part of a cohesive slate that campaigns together, you are effectively getting 600 votes from EACH other Exec candidate on your slate, and many more from the people your Senate candidates bring in.

My guess is that 1/3 of your Exec votes should come from people voting for you. The rest will come from people voting for your AAVP candidate AND you, etc.

BU is doing better on this then last year, when they only ran a few people, but I don't think they grasp the math behind running that full slate. Kloberdanz could possibly have beaten Leybovich one on one. But there was never any chance that he could've beaten Leybovich + Lee + Gade, etc.

This year, BU apparently has two serious candidates. It's an improvement. It's not enough. And losing party recognition means those Asian Christians that Wang is supposed to bring in are probably not going to find Liberman. SA, in contrast, understands the importance of telling each Exec candidate to make sure their people are voting for the others as well.

(It's true that a good media campaign, high visibility on Sproul, and a good gimmick can attract those 10% of random voters. That can be useful in Senate campaigns that need those last ten votes to win. It's not important in Exec races.)

No doubt you've noticed that Campaign Issues have not come up yet. Campaign Issues have nothing to do with winning. They never have in my memory. It is remotely possible, in the wake of some earth-shaking scandal, that voters will punish a party. That hasn't happened this year. Push whatever issues you please. Voters do not care and will not vote for you because of them. They will vote for you because you approached them in your Stat class and you called them later for poll-walking.

In addition, they will not vote against SA because of your attacks, because they aren't voting 'for SA.' They're voting for their friend Manny, who happens to be running with Student Action. Or for XXX in CalSERVE, because the head of their Pre-law group is running. No one votes Student Action like they vote Democrat or Republican. THIS IS NOT A NATIONAL ELECTION.

It must be intoxicating to be in BU right now and believe that a small group of dedicated individuals can change the world. We don't live in that world. Running a modern ASUC campaign requires mammoth, immensely well-coordinated campaigns, intense cooperation between candidates, and a strong logistical operation to walk voters to the polls. Don't waste your time and money thinking otherwise.Email This Post!

A computer was stolen on March 11th from a campus with possibly sensitive data such as Social security numbers that could be used for identity theft. Newscenter has more details. This has been the second case of theft involving computer information in the past year. You may recall last October, a hacker broke into a University computer that contained the information of over 1.4 million people (see Calstuff post)

Those affected include:

* Individuals who submitted applications for graduate school at UC Berkeley for the semesters between Fall 2001 and Spring 2004
* Graduate students who registered at UC Berkeley from Fall 1989 through Fall 2003
* Recipients of doctoral degrees from 1976 through 1999
* Other small groups who will be notified individually

If you fear your information was compromised, head over to http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/security/grad/, where they list the numbers for all the credit reporting agencies. Call one of them and have them put an alert on your information.

There's also a toll free number to call, 1-800-372-5110, where individuals can learn whether their information was among the data stolen or you can also send an email to idalert@berkeley.edu.Email This Post!

Excellent Campaign Photos (Plus More Campaign Violations, I think...)
A member of the UC Berkeley LiveJournal community has posted pictures from the campaign circus on campus today. Here are two:


P.S. *Update* Nevermind, you are allowed to have your sign on the ground, as long as you are standing there with it. I saw pictures of other people holding their signs upside down, so I assumed that if it was on the ground it would need to be upside down. Sorry for the confusion. End Update Looks like someone needs to have a chat with their campaign volunteers about not using university property to campaign... *Update* Actually, I think that's Bears United exec candidate Matt Werner in the linked photograph...Email This Post!

NEIGH! Said The Dead Horse
BUcking up ASUC elections

Greetings from Amsterdam. Don't ask me why I'm checking in while on vacation (hint: it rhymes with "hangover".)

I don't know whether to be happy that an ASUC group values this site as an actual forum for political discussion or disgusted at how juvenile this conversation has become. So, in an effort to star a new comment string, here's my two cents.

If Zack Liberman doesn't feel he has anything to worry about, he should be comfortable in his case before the Judicial Council and not bitching about it here. Same goes for his supporters. It's pretty blatant that some form of rule violation has occurred... something that isn't being disputed. So, if accountability and equal treatment are what BU is prescribing for the ASUC, then the party is getting a taste of its own medicine.

That being said, there is a question of the elections system and by-laws themselves. The system is not de juro set up to help major parties. But politics, especially with college students, are easier to control with larger "mass-marketed" institutions. Breaking the rules and not getting away with it is not justified here. If the folks at BU really wanted to make a difference, they would've worked hard to do things twice as hard and twice as clean as SA and CalSERVE, and then change the system from the inside.

The reality of the matter is that BU has been a sinking ship for some time. I held back on publicizing some of their multiple othere campaign violations simply to give them the benefit of the doubt. This has been a long time coming, and would've inevitably happened anyway.Email This Post!

Send us Tips and Carry a Camera
CalStuff prides itself (and is ashamed) at being the single best source of ASUC election news in Berkeley. We can't do that without all of you, and our numerous scoops have been made possible by reports from all of you. If anyone has any information about stories of interest, please drop us a line (calstuff [at] gmail.com) or take some photos and we would be happy to post them.

P.S. The Judicial Council declined to hear the suit filed by BU to be re-instated as a party, which means their candidates will continue to be registered as independents, while the two cases filed by Mike Davis against Zach Liberman (described below) will be heard next Sunday.

P.P.S. I'll be off at work for most of tomorrow, so let's all play nice and maintain some level of maturity in comments, 'cause things were getting a little crazy yesterday.Email This Post!

Second Annual SQUELCH! Party Vibrator Races on Tuesday
All you non-frosh might remember the totally cool awesome vibrator races from last year. We're kicking them off again on Tuesday with races to be held at 11:00, 12:30 and 2. There will be a race at exactly that time, and another ten minutes later so people who are getting out of, or going to class can participate.The races will be held either just north or just south of Sather Gate, but there will be a big crowd of people, so it will be hard to miss them.

Tell all your friends about this, because SQUELCH! can't rely on thousands of slave-laboreres like the other parties to spread the information about our events, so we have to rely on word of mouth from all the folks who like seeing SQUELCH! in action. [We insist you do not break any bylaws in helping us spread word about this event.]

Here is a picture (from the front page of the Daily Cal) of last year's races:
Email This Post!

Chancellor Birgeneau has written a commentary on Proposition 209 (the controversial measure which banned affirmative action for use in college admissions) in Sunday's Los Angles Times, saying it has created "too much alienation, mistrust and division."

Proposition 209 assumed that considering race or ethnicity in the admissions process would allow undeserving students into Berkeley. But it is significant that the graduation rates of African Americans before and after the proposition's passage have stayed virtually the same. ...we know we must lead the discussion on the unintended consequences of Proposition 209. I am initiating a broad-based diversity research agenda at Berkeley to study this and a myriad of related issues. Our goal is to find innovative ways to make this campus the inclusive and welcoming environment to which it aspires."

(via One)Email This Post!

Liberman Gets Charges Filed Against Him, Round 2 (Post has been Updated)
Mike Davis, thorn in the paw ("go on, pull my thorn!"-south park reference) of those who wish to violate the bylaws, has filed more charges against Liberman. Here is the charge sheet description:

I have substantial picture documentation of Zach Liberman posting campaign literature on several campus passageways and request the Judicial Council issue significant punishment for this infraction. 13.6 violations are left completely to the Council’s discretion and I ask the Council to formulate an appropriate remedy.

13.6 is a part of the byalws that forbids "Posting campaign literature of any candidate or party on restricted bulletin boards or any structured or natural feature of the campus such as (but not limited to) doors, windows, buildings, surfaces of walkways or roads, Sather Gate, fountains, posts, waste receptacles, fences, or trees. " Here is a picture of the notorious Liberman placing his alleged campaign materials near Sather Gate (love the Bears United shirt). My understanding is that the poster he placed had the Daily Cal logo on the top, a number of headlines from the paper with descriptions of ASUC mistakes/problems, and the word "DONE".

For a discussion of what these charges could mean for the larger Bears United Party, see this previous CalStuff post.
And here is a picture of quasi-Bears United EVP candidate Billy Wang with Liberman:billy and zach.jpg
And here is a closer in shot of the poster: daily cal logo.jpg

P.S. My major fear with all of this is that the judicial council might actually disqualify Liberman for this or other charges, depriving us election observers of a significant amount of fun.Email This Post!

First Charges Filed Against Zach Liberman
[I say first, because I strongly suspect there will be many more to come.] Mike Davis, former member of the judicial council has filed charges against (quasi-Bears United candidate) Liberman for illegal campaigning via the facebook. Here is the entire explanation from the charge sheet that was filed:

On the 22nd of March I received an e-mail sent to me by Zach Liberman via TheFacebook.com inviting me to join his group.

I assert this group is used “to campaign”, and as such any e-mail is an extension of that campaigning. I also assert that: Zach Liberman has no pre-existing relationship with me and that the next two criteria do not apply to the service TheFacebook.com provides.

The remedy for violating 13.5 violations is one censure, which falls under the Council jurisdiction.

I have no idea how the judicial council will rule on this, but if Liberman gets dinged, expect a whole slew of charges against other candidates. [And maybe that will stop all those fucking annoying campaign facebook groups... p.s. for the record, I'm a SQUELCH! candidate, please stop asking me to join your SA and CS groups.] Also, this case could begin to test the electoral status of the Bears United Party.

Here is my understanding of their status: A party registration form was filed for the Bears United Party. At the election council candidate meeting, another form needed to be filed in order for candidates to affiliate themselves with BU for purposes of the election, and that second form was never filed. That means that BU still exists as a party, and should theoretically be allowed to receive party censures. What that means is if someone commits a campaign violation, whoever brings the charges against them can try to prove that the person is acting as part of the BU party. I have no idea what the standard of evidence necessary to prove that would be (although wearing a BU shirt at the time, is probably a rather effective way to make the link).

If BU receives enough party censures then they could be disqualified, as I understand it, which could then require individual suits against all the candidates that someone wanted to claim were linked to BU. All in all, a very messy, unclear process. On the other hand, maybe the judicial council will rule that because none of the candidates are listed on the ballot as being part of the Bears United party, then they can't be held responsible for violations that occur under the BU name, which could allow a substantial amount of illegal campaigning on behalf of the "Bears United" party, that no one would get in trouble for.Email This Post!

Crusade for Equal Rights for Same-Sex Couples is On!
For background of what I'm talking about, see this post, that explains all the details. We've come up with a gameplan of what needs to be accomplished, and Stage 1 involves passing the bill here at Berkeley and building the website. Passing the bill should be easy (here at Berkeley, everyone loves the gay), but building the website is something I could use some help with.

If anyone with any html skills can assist me with this, please let me know (calratto@berkeley.edu). We are planning on having a rather simple website with a left sidebar that lists the various sections (bill text, schools, contact, help, FAQ...) and then the main section that would be almost entirely text. Basically, as easy and simple a website as would be possible to explain to people what we are trying to accomplish. Then, as this campaign picks up steam we could work on revising it into something more substantial. Thank you to everyone who has already suggested ways they can help out, I will be contacting you all soon.Email This Post!

Nationwide Campaign of College Students Supporting Marriage Equality (maybe...)
Hey folks, before I go off on a national crusade, I wanted to see if I could get some feedback from all of you (this is called blegging, it's a combination of blog and begging).

Here is the short version. David Wasserman and I wrote a bill (bill text available at CalStuff Extended) about how same-sex couples should have the same rights as heterosexual couples (whether those could be achieved through marriage or civil unions). Just as college students have been at the forefront of other struggles for social progress (Civil Rights... Anti-Apartheid), we should be pushing for this cause as well. So the ASUC would pass this bill, and the EAVP office would fire off some letters to various elected officials saying something should be done about this, and the President would write an article for the Daily Cal about how important this is. Basically your run of the mill symbolic action, that would hopefully motivate some people and maybe do a little good.

Step Two would be to get as many other school as possible to pass this same bill. There would be a website (www.csemr.org), that would catalog all the schools that become a part of "Colleges Supporting Equal Marraige Rights." Then hopefully, hundreds of schools would participate and this bill would be passed on behalf of hundreds of thousands of college students. This hopefully, would help things move beyond the symbolic, to send a message to college students that their united effort could bring this closer to happening, and would signal to elected officials that they risk the wrath of today's youth if they move to legally codify bans on same-sex marraige or civil unions.

So if any of you guys feel like helping me out, you can use the link below to download the bill and look it over and see if you have any suggestions. Or you can view the bill text here. Any other suggestions or advice on this before we buy up the doman and design the website would also be good (like is the name good, or should we come up with something better?). Thanks in advance for any help.
Equal-Rights-for-Same-Sex-Couples.docEmail This Post!

Ward "Little Eichmanns" Churchill Coming to Campus
RIL has the details on an upcoming appearance by conservative boogeymonster Ward Churchill:

Department of Ethnic Studies Presents

"Academic Freedom in Peril: Prof. Ward Churchill and His Right of Free Speech"
A Forum on Academic Freedom in Troubled Times
Speakers:
Prof. Ward Churchill, Native American & Ethnic Studies
University of Colorado, Boulder
[Plus Others, full details in the post linked above]

Date: Monday, March 28, 2005
Time: 12- 2 p.m.
Place: Pauley Ballroom, MLK

For those who don't know who Ward Churchill is, the RIL post has more details on him, and if you want some information from his supporters side, try this. I'll be at work all day Monday, but hopefully one of my co-bloggers or someone with a more conservative bent can attend and report back on the event. There really are some important issues of academic freedom wound up in his case by now, and I expect this will be quite an interesting panel.

I'll update if I hear news that there will be any type of protest occurring. [For the record, although I consider calling the people who worked in the WTC Towers "little Eichmanns" overblown rhetoric, if you're coming from a perspective that those people who help to support and run the American "machine" are responsible for the actions that our country takes, it does make a certain amount of sense.]Email This Post!

Co-Op Kids Turn Room Sideways
This is really one of those, "go there and look at all the details and pictures yourself" posts, but for those people who refuse to follow links, this is the abbreviated version of a very interesting project by some Berkeley students. Here is one of the masterminds with a description of what they did:

The way this all got started was that my friend and i were sitting around at dinner chatting about what to do for the upcoming room-to-room party. We went through a whole bunch of ideas for room themes. And then — you know how, sometimes when you're bored, you look up and imagine what it would be like if gravity turned upside down and you got to walk around on the ceiling? (Does everyone have this daydream?) Anyway, we both mentioned it at the same time, and then it dawned on us that we could make it happen. Or a variant, anyway. I think sideways actually works better than upside-down, because then you can integrate real people into the scene in strange ways.

And a picture of the room:


Go read the whole thing! There are even step-by-step directions of how to do this yourself. (via boingboing).Email This Post!

Some Belated CalStuff Spring Break Health Advice
I ran across a slightly funny, and probably topical e-mail included on the Blogmaster's site:

The other problem, and the part that annoys me with this ad, is it encourages unprotected sex. This is true of many methods but the whole pitch here is act stupidly and then take this [morning after pill] and fix it. Okay but what about the rest of the problems? One college clinic I know of spends spring break stocking up for what is unofficially and politically incorrectly called STD week. Following spring break, they see more STDs than in the rest of the semester. A lot of people come home from spring break with more souvenirs than they realized. STDs are a bigger issue than we admit: 30-50% of sexually active young women have one. The military has 10% of female recruits have untreated Chlamydia. Pushing the morning after pill like that is medically irresponsible as it encourages risky behavior. After all some STDs are forever. Getting knocked up is not the only issue.

Use a rubber, folks. You'll be glad you did.

This advice probably applies to Berkeley men moreso than at other places, because the rapid shift in location as people venture throughout the world for spring break, and the corresponding change in the attractiveness of the surrounding women, probably leads to a disproportionate share of random hooking up from Berkeley males. Consider yourself warned.
Email This Post!

Vote Moves Union One Step Closer to a Strike
The Daily Cal managed to write an entire article about how, "After contract negotiations reached an impasse earlier this month, 92 percent of a union representing some 7,000 UC service workers voted last week to give the union’s bargaining committee authority to call a strike, officials announced Wednesday night," without describing what the effects of a strike would be.

Here is a timeline from the article of what to expect in the coming days to either avert or precipitate a strike:

Worthman said the fact-finding report, a third party evaluation of both parties’ negotiation tactics, should be released by April 1, after which UC and the union will have a 10-day bargaining period to attempt to settle a new contract based on the report.
The union can legally call a strike once the bargaining period expires.

What the article doesn't describe is what role members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union play in the university. Where do these people work, what do they do, what services would be lost or decrease if they go on strike, and would the university hire replacement workers are a lot of the questions that I'm sure interest students much more than the minute negotiating details that are contained in the article.

I've written before about how the university mistreats our workers, but a strike isn't necessarily the best response, although I can't come to an opinion on this until I have a better understanding of what the ramifications of a strike would be.Email This Post!

CalStuff NOT on Spring Break (Posting to Continue)
Although Ben is off in England, surely a victim of their lower age limit to legally consume alcohol, I will continue to post over the next week. [I have no idea what the other two CalStuffers will be up to.] There is plenty of news I'll be reporting on (I'll have something up soon on the BU lawsuit filed before the JCouncil), although blogging in the next week will be slightly less news oriented than normal.

Specifcally, I will be delving into some more philosophical issues, such as what am I (or we?) trying to accomplish here at CalStuff. What role does opinion, bias, and conflict of interest have in blogging? Should we try to be objective, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of blogging as a form of reporting? I am also going to write up the (very) interesting story of how a picture that I took for CalStuff ended up causing a moderate amount of trouble at a couple of rather large and influential websites.

Also, in other more procedural news, I am no longer the Ombudsman for the Daily Cal. My (entirely unserious) candidacy for ASUC office has rendered me an unsuitable source for unbiased opinion (which is essential to be a good Ombudsman). Out of respect for the many lovely professional and personal relationships I made while working at the Daily Cal, I'll leave my comments on the matter to this. The Daily Cal is now looking for a new Ombudsman, so if you are interested, watch for advertisements in the Daily Cal about how to apply.Email This Post!

Judicial Council Decision on EAP Voting Rights
The JCouncil recently released their decision, ruling that EAP students' voting rights are not unconstitutionally denied under the current system. From the Majority Opinion by Associate Justice Aidan Ali-Sullivan, with whom Senior Associate Justice Nikhil Cooper, and Associate Justices Nile Taylor and Amaris White join:

The majority opinion holds that those students participating in education away from the Berkeley campus, be it EAP, UCDC, or other such program are not having their constitutional right taken away by any mechanism of the ASUC. While we do recognize the effective situation this creates by the improbability of a student flying thousands of miles from their current living situation to return and vote in Berkeley, we believe this is a self imposed situation; one students take with full knowledge of the hardships they may face in regard to ASUC elections. Furthermore, this is not by any means a taking away of rights; at any time such student can return to campus and vote with the same right as any other registered student. The distance they travel, whether one block or one thousand miles, is irrelevant; it is ultimately just a difference by degree.

From the Minority Opinion by Chair Robert D Gregg IV, with whom Associate Justice Marisa Cuevas joins:

However, by simply ignoring the logistical inaccessibility for EAP student voting (such as an ocean of physical separation), the ASUC has an institutional barrier that is effectively denying their right to vote. If it is logistically infeasible for someone to exercise a right, that right is effectively being denied. This is not a matter of giving everyone the same “ease of access,” as this barrier is to such a degree that it is unsurpassable.
Therefore, it is our opinion that no difference exists between an effective denial and an active denial -- both are equally unconstitutional under Article 1 Section 2. The majority believes an effective denial is legal, and by doing so they are allowing the effective disenfranchisement of thousands of EAP students.

For those people who want more information on this matter, the combined majority and minority opinions are only about a page and a half total, so you can download the whole thing yourself: Narodickv.BrewerDecisionSpring2005.rtfEmail This Post!

Attorney General Nathan Royer left a long comment, sharing his letters to both the people affected by the Bears-United Decision and to the ASUC (see this Calstuff post).

• Letter to those affected by Bears-United Ruling
• Letter to the ASUC officials

Bottom line: Royer claims some have accused him of partisan ship and intimated him with threats such as "accusations that I have sex with underage girls [and] of press releases to national media." He then goes on to talk about the ruling saying:

"what did you want us to do, break this By-Law or that By-Law, and be subjected to another lawsuit? For all the talk I hear about students rights, I have heard surprisingly little about the rights of the 100+ other candidates in the race. Whether you choose to believe it or not, the fact is SOMEONE ELSE would have suffered if we had done things differently. I hate that any group has to suffer, but if one has to, I think it should be the one who actually did the deed."

As Kevin! points out, though, "Did BU Officials To-Be-Named really threaten to blackmail you with certain documents? It'd be a damn shame if they did yet were not thrown out of the election."Email This Post!

Thanks to this post from the Cal Patriot Blog. They also have a copy as a word document.

You'll notice that all the former Bears-United Candidates are now running as independents, as a result of the party not turning in the proper forms early enough (see this Calstuff Post)

2005 ASUC ELECTIONS BALLOT

President
20.JUSTINE LAZARO – CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
21.Zach "Morris" Liberman - Independent
22.Rebecca "Slander and Libel" Brown – SQUELCH!
23.MANUEL "MANNY" BUENROSTRO
24.RONALD CRUZ - Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)
25.ALFRED TWU - Independent

Executive VP
26.ANIL DARYANI (ASUC Senator) – Student Action/UNITE-Greek/APPLE- Engineering
27.BILLY "TWO-TERM SENATOR" WANG (ASUC Senator) - Independent
28.Ben "4SIGHT NOT 4SKIN" Narodick – SQUELCH!
29.CAMILLE PANNU – CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)

External VP
30.LINDA SALINAS – CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
31.SHARON HAN – Student Action/UNITE-Greek/APPLE-Engineering
32.Mark "90s TEEN POP IDOL" Thomas – SQUELCH!
33.JORDAN S. MIKES - Independent
34.ALEJANDRA "Ali" CRUZ – Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)

Academic Affairs VP
35.BRANDON "B Safe" SMITH – CalSERVE (Cal Students for Equal Rights & a Valid Education)
36.JOSIE HYMAN – Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)
37.MATT "RED HUNTING HAT" WERNER - Independent
38.ANDY "BIG GAY HOMO" RATTO – SQUELCH!
39.JASON DIXSON (ASUC Senator) – Student Action/UNITE-Greek/APPLE- Engineering

Student Advocate
40.Mahin Ibrahim
41.MITCH "BALLS DEEP" RODRICKS – SQUELCH!
42.YVETTE FELARCA (ASUC Senator) – Defend Affirmative Action Party (DAAP)
43.Vikrum Aiyer - Independent
44.KIREN "THE PIMPSTRESS" RIZVI - Independent
45.Nare Avagyan - Independent

The complete list with the Senate candidates can be found here on Calstuff Extended.Email This Post!

Campuswide Recognition of Genocide in Sudan
From an e-mail I received:

A moment of silence will be held nation wide on university campuses in observance of the atrocities being committed in Darfur. This is TOMORROW March 17 at 12pm (3pm est). I assumed there would be at least one student group doing something for this event but there isn't! (I only found out about this yesterday.) Therefore I have taken it upon myself to let you all know I will be standing on the steps of Sproul Hall at 12pm tomorrow and I am inviting you all to stand with me. If you think your friends or student groups would be interested in attending please invite them. As you can see this email isn't going to reach very many people, I need your help to get the word out. For those of you that are receiving this that won't be in Berkeley I encourage you to hold a moment of silence on your campus or at your offices. For more information about the situation www.savedarfur.orgis an excellent website. I hope all of you can make it and those of you that can't please take a moment of silence to recognize this situation wherever you may be. If you have more questions about the event tomorrow PLEASE don't hesitate to call me! [The e-mail included her phone number, but since I haven't been able to get in touch with her, please contact her by e-mail if you have any questions-andy]

Thank you so much!
Audra McGeorge
amcgeorg@berkeley.eduEmail This Post!

I'm sure Andy will chime in with his take at some point.

I must say first of all that I am glad that not many students come to these things... because they would have been appalled at the abundance of pettiness, the lack of kindness, and the disrespect that characterized tonight's meeting.

Several Different things happened all somewhat related to each other.

Attorney General vs Bears-United: The AG came up and gave his report in which he basically laid out a very solid case for not listing BU candidates under the same party name. No one disputed the facts of the case. The arguments then were focused on two separate issues: The extra 5 minutes Bears-United received to complete their forms (which is in violation of the by-laws), and then the spirit of the by-laws as it relates to Democracy and suffrage.

Student Action vs Billy Wang: Billy got up to speak and was very humble and showed a lot of humility concerning the situation. He admitted his party's mistakes and sought to fashion a compromise around a Presidential executive order. Some, actually a small minority of, Student Action Senators repeatedly interrupted his speeches, made rude comments, and generally showed a lot of contempt and disrespect for what he was doing.

CalSERVE vs Student Action: SA exec candidates were absent from the senate meeting for a very long time. At one point CalSERVE called for a quorum which was not met and the meeting was promptly adjourned. This led to shouting match inside the Senate chambers between senators of both parties. CalSERVE charged that SA was more interested in campaigning than in actually doing their jobs as Senators. SA countered by saying that CalSERVE had betrayed their own constituency by adjourning the meeting before money could be dispensed to the Vietnamese Student Association.

Analysis: The Senate is supposed to dispense money to student groups and not to instigate themselves in drama. What we saw tonight was a lot of party drama and partisanship and not any action in serving the students.

Bears-United messed up and violated by-laws. No one argues that there was not a clear violation of the rules. If I were on the Judicial Council and heard a case from them I would be very reluctant to even accept such a case because the issues are pretty clear cut.

But now arguing from the perspective of an average student. If we are going to have an election then lets allow the people who want to run together, to do so. The fact that the Elections Council extended the time of the meeting by 5 minutes and thus violated the very by-laws they are supposed to enforce... shows that there is a certain amount of common sense that can be applied. If you can extend by 5 minutes, why not another 10 minutes? Everyone can attest that BU reps were there and were actively trying to organize their paperwork. It is not unreasonable to me that if they are willing to break the by-laws to allow another 5 minutes... that a 10 minute extension is out of the question. If the by-laws were really so sacrosanct then why the initial 5 minute extension?

As to the matter between Billy Wang: I know there is a lot of history and bad blood... but in the setting of a Senate meeting the type of behavior displayed by a small minority of SA senators was uncalled for. Take your gripes with Billy outside the Senate Chamber next time, the students don't deserve your animosity towards each other.

One more thing: If the by-laws are really so sacrosanct then the 5 minute extension granted by the Elections Council puts the entire elections process in Jeopardy. If the very institution designed to handle elections violates its own rules then I would be open to a case asking the Judicial Council to throw them all out of office for not doing their jobs and violating the very rules they are supposed to enforce.Email This Post!

BU Non-Recognition to Be Discussed at the Senate Tonight
At tonight's Senate meeting, Billy Wang [he who talks to candidates planning on running with one party and then after he talks to them they decide not to run with that party] plans to bring up the semi-scandal last night when the late filing of forms led the election council along with the attorney general to decide that BU would not be recognized as a party this election.

ASUC President Misha Leybovish is considering an Executive Order which would reinstate BU and what happens at the Senate tonight could help determine his decision. Could some of you Constitution experts chime in and let us know if this would pass muster?

I'm planning on stopping by the meeting tonight, but as I'm currently missing 100 mL of my bone marrow, I'm planning on drinking a moderate to substantial amount of alcohol to dull the pain, so I don't think I'll be posting tonight. Have a happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!Email This Post!

***Breaking: Bears United Party (Not Candidates) Not Allowed in the Election***
According to election chair Angel Brewer, "there is no Bears United Party." Bears-United did not turn in the proper forms early enough, and after the point of no return (when all information submitted is final) they were notified that candidates would remain on the ballot as Independents, but would not appear under the Bears United party label. This raises a number of questions:
1) Will members of BU sue to be re-instated on the ballot (my guess is almost certainly yes), and what will the Judicial Council rule on the case?
2) If there was any previous campaigns violations committed by BU (not that I'm saying there were), will they affect any other members of the party besides the person who broke the rules, now that the party does not formally exist?
3) Will the BU candidates continue to run as a slate, but some weird hybrid independent slate?
4) Will they continue to use the BU name (and are they allowed to?)?

The relevant statue by the way is title IV, article 6, section 6.9, which reads under point three: "If a party has not filed with the Elections Council by the Point of No Return in the Candidates' Meeting, then all candidates for that party shall be reclassified as Independents."

I will be contacting the attorny general, the elections council, BU, and others to get more information on this, but for now BU as a party no longer officially exists. Developing... (sorry, we've been doing that a lot lately)Email This Post!

Reader's Rep Column on Bias/Conflict of Interest
I'll be writing my column on Wednesday, so let me know if you have any specific questions that I should try to answer about the Daily Cal's policy on bias or conflicts of interest that occur at the paper. Thanks.

[Any former Daily Cal staffers who want to get in touch with me, you can reach me at readersrep@dailycal.org]Email This Post!

Lunch with the Birge
Daily Cal:

About 20 students gathered in the ASUC Senate Chambers for a forum with Chancellor Robert Birgeneau to discuss issues ranging from the presence of military recruiters on campus to alumni donor levels.

Sponsored by the ASUC Office of the President, yesterday’s brown bag lunch was intended to bridge the gap between students and high-level campus officials in an informal setting...

Although the discussion failed to draw the targeted 50 students, those who attended said the intimate format allowed for open communication.

Was this publicized, like, at all?

P.S. To be blatantly self-serving, but anyone want to guess the single densest concentration of people that would be most interested in some wonky/ASUC/administration/policy event like lunch with the Chancellor? Here is a hint, it starts with C and ends with alStuff readers. Just saying, shoot me a line, I'll pimp for an event like this, and maybe you can get at least half of the people you were hoping for...Email This Post!

Daily Cal Weighs in on Online Voting, Lawsuit
Editorial: Student Suffrage First

After last week’s successful online referendum for the Safeguard fee, it’s high time ASUC set up a secure Internet-based system. And though Senator Ben Narodick’s proposal comes at an inopportune point, ASUC needs to immediately act on the bill, even if its changes won’t affect this year’s elections.

Thanks for the support! It hadn't occurred to me to try to push this bill through the Senate again, but that is a wonderful idea. Numerous Senators said during the debate over Online Voting Take 1 that they supported this for next year ("It's a good idea, there just isn't enough time..."), so it will be nice to see if they were serious, or-you know-lying...

Perhaps our resident political pranksters miss the subtle irony.

We miss no irony. Ever.

And the senator’s uncommon interest in restoring the ballot to EAP students’ apparently doesn’t apply if their vote is on paper—he rejected an amendment giving mail-in ballots to EAP students this year.

That's because without postponing the election it isn't feasible to mail ballots out to the far flung reaches of the EAP program and have them mailed back in time. Getting things to and from Vietnam can take nearly a month. We would have under three weeks in the current system, so passing a bill for paper ballots this election is only a way to get the Senate off the hook of maintaining an unconstitutional election system (as we argued). Furthermore, Ben didn't reject that ammendment, it was soundly defeated by the entire Senate.

In spite of the exquisitely terrible timing, this move had to be made sooner or later.

Umm, no you're exquisitely terrible... Or something.

It may not be viable to set up online voting so soon, so this year there should be download-able ballots for EAP students.

Yes! Granted, this decision is up to the Judicial Council at the moment, and I suspect that they will probably be ruling against us (I keep using all that us/we talk because I helped Ben argue the case). These downloadable ballots are an easy solution to our arguments about the violation of equal protection in the current system, but I think they are afraid to recognize the inequality (and unconstitutionality) of the current system because it is so close to the election (hence all the consequentalist arguments by the election council about how difficult it would be to implement any changes).

It’s actually quite embarrassing that the university can efficiently set up what ASUC has been balking at doing for years.

Regarding their reluctance realistically—or cynically—it’s easy to see why major parties would not want to support such a bill. Both CalSERVE and Student Action gain their power from highly mobilized sectors of campus who consistently come out in force during election week. Were more students who are unattached to either major player offered easy electronic access to the ballot, it could significantly alter the balance of power. No wonder senators don’t want to deal with this issue until “later.” It’s like asking them to hack off their right arm and present it to SQUELCH! with a smile.

Yes! again. It's nice to see the Daily Cal call out the major parties for their obviously self-interested opposition to online voting. And in terms of my own interest in seeing this passed, it's a happy coincidence that what is good for the sudent body as a whole (easy voting) might also be good for SQUELCH!. Decision should be out in another day or two.

"Developing", is I believe the preferred nomenclature...Email This Post!

Today marks the beginning of disability awareness week here at Cal. Even if you think you’re not disabled, you might be. A disability doesn’t just mean a physical or learning disability, but also psychological. Most disabilities are “invisible” ones. Do you have depression, ADD, or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? Then you should register with the DSP.

I’m registered at the DSP because I have an autoimmune condition called fibromyalgia that flares up sometimes and makes me pretty sick. Unfortunately, there’s not much the DSP can do for people like me except offer sympathy and emotional support. Which is something, but when you can’t get out of bed to go to class for a week, doesn’t seem like much.

Another thing about the DSP is that it’s a huge bureacracy (like the rest of Cal) and there are so many places where things can go wrong. One of the more annoying things is having to re-apply every semester (because, of course, being disabled can change in just six months!) and having to give print-outs to all of your professors and GSIs telling them you are disabled. Then you often have to meet with them and discuss arrangements for accomodations. All of this can be extremely tiring if you have a disability which causes fatigue.

But if you feel you meet the qualifications, I would still urge you to register. It’s best to know all of your options, even if they’re kind of crappy.Email This Post!

Director Oliver Stone (JFK, Nixon) will be on campus Monday, March 14 to talk about his 6 Razzie nominated film Alexander. It will mainly be an interview conducted by faculty member Ralph Hexter along with some audience questions. It starts at 7:30 PM and will be held at Wheeler Auditorium.

Click here for details.

This is not the first time Stone has visited Berkeley. He gave a previous interview in 1997 and the commencement speech in 1994.Email This Post!

Fully more than three weeks before election day, Student Action has made its first flyering run of the campaign. The "DONE" flyers of elections past have been recycled after their absence from last years campaign. In the posters the party is taking credit for: The Greek Philanthropy Fund, Saving Dead Days, the 24-Hour Library, and Rescinding the 40$ OSL Fee on Student Groups. Some of these claims will surely be challenged by the other parties, the question remains at what time and in what medium.

Also to note: Does the early campaigning mean Student Action is nervous about Cal-Serve and Bears-United? Or is this merely the beginning of SA's shock and awe campaign? Certainly the fact that SA can field volunteers this early has got to make the other major parties take a look at their own campaign tactics.

Or perhaps the Squelch! party's creative chalking prompted the early flyering in response? Either way campaign season is starting much earlier this time around. Get ready for a fun three weeks with spring break in between!Email This Post!

Minor Update: Crossroads has re-opened and the UCPD + and all other law enforcement/paramedics have cleared out of the area. I don't think we are going to get any kind of official word on this tonight and probably not until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. Our hopes and prayers are with the student; hopefully it was just a seizure and not a death. *Another Update* I heard the exact same thing from a friend who works at Crossroads as this comment: "From a DC staffer: A girl was waiting in line to get in to Crossroads and had a seizure. As she fell, she hit her head on the bar, knocking her unconcious. He said that she did stop breathing and was unconcious." I also heard that the girl is in the hospital, and is not dead.


About 20 minutes ago (7:00pm) a student described to me as an "Asian female" was reported to have had a seizure while standing in line at the Crossroads Dining Commons. UCPD responded immediately to the accident and began to clear out the area surrounding her collapsed body. Shortly thereafter, the Berkeley Fire Department arrived and evacuated the entire Crossroads facility. Ambulances were reported at the scene.

Eyewitness quote: "It looks like she died"

Note: There is no hard evidence yet to support that claim... It is based on the personal observation of the witness at the scene and it is his/her speculation. This may very well just end up being a case of a seizure, which can resemble death to the untrained eye.

A little more info: The quote is based on the witnesses view of the paramedic's actions at the scene. He/she describes them as moving very slowly(uncommonly slowly) to put the patient in the ambulance. The witness also takes note of the decision to evacuate the entire Crossroads facility as pointing to the beginning of an investigation. I am going to go down and see if Crossroads has re-opened.
Developing...Email This Post!

Anyone Having a Lazy Sunday?

Narodick v. Elections Council will be held tonight, 630 PM, in the Senate Chaimbers. I promise there'll be more real news after this hearing is held.Email This Post!

Suit Filed Over EAP Voting Rights, Election Delay Sought
*UPDATE* The Judicial Council has notified us that the preliminary injunction has been granted in order to postpone the election. The hearing has been schedule for Sunday at 7. Breaking... More to come...

At Wednesday's Senate meeting, SQUELCH! Senator Ben Narodick tried to pass a bill allowing students to vote from their personal computers, to provide a remedy for Education Abroad Program students who are not currently able to vote. As these students are both registered and enrolled Berkeley students (and hence members of the "Association") preventing them from voting is a clear violation of our ASUC Constitution.

Ben and myself (a firm supporter of the right of EAP students to vote) have now filed charges against the Election Council with the Judicial Council seeking a judgment that the current system is unconstitutional and an injunction blocking the election until a suitable remedy is decided upon that would allow EAP students to vote. Student Action and CalSERVE have had their jackboot pressed down firmly upon the throat of a full and free democracratic ASUC for far too long.

Technically speaking, online voting would be very easy to implement. All that would need to happen is that the election council would open up the range of IP addresses that could access the election server so that it isn't only the on-campus polling locations that could log in. There have been a number of security features that have been discussed to help prevent electioneering. (The two most promising are to only allow off campus voting during the day time and again in a window at night, such as from 3 until 4 in the morning so that it would be more difficult to round up votes. Also, to implement a variable delay period between when you log in and when you are actually allowed to vote, anywhere from 5 to 25 minutes. This would make it a waste of time for someone to wait right next to a large number of people watching them vote.)

There are two main reasons why members of Student Action and CalSERVE would want to oppose this (and they voted overwhelmingly against the bill). First, they know that they would cheat. If they trusted each other not to try and use online voting to game the system, this would be much more likely to pass. Secondly, online voting empowers the students. When voting becomes easier then more people vote, and that means that SA and CS lose their stranglehold on politcal power. The two main parties are able to hold onto power by having large political machines that collectively walk thousands of people to the polls. Once students can vote from home, turnout would increase, and third party movements outside of CS and SA would become competitive because they wouldn't need a large number of volunteers to walk people to the polls to ensure that they vote.

Here is the charge sheet that was filed with Judicial Council and a summary of the case:
EAPChargeSheet.docEmail This Post!

Death on Campus
Here is the Daily Cal report, "Man Found Hanging on Campus".

Question: The article said, " A passerby called police at around 6:30 a.m. to report the 51 year-old man’s body hanging in Eucalyptus Grove" and then later on added, "Coroner’s are still trying to identify [the] man, whom they do not believe is affiliated with the university." So how did they know how old he is if they don't know who he is?Email This Post!

More SQUELCH! Chalking
I've uploaded more pictures from whoever went out and put all that SQUELCH! chalking around campus. To see the full collection of photos, you can go here.
I found a nice girl on her way to lunch to play Penis Hopscotch:


And just a warning, the SQUELCH! Party means business this year. Just look what happened to this non-SQUELCH! voter:
Email This Post!

One of the new projects being worked on by the School of Journalism is a sports blog called the California Sports Journal. The blog covers not just University sports teams, but also Golden State Warriors basketball, high school sports, and even poker from the Oaks. They also have the latest in blogging technologies with audiofeeds and, thanks to a partnership with Cingular, the students have the latest in wireless camera phones and digital data technology (sure wish we could swing something like that for Calstuff).Email This Post!

Hi. My name's Melissa, I'm the newest member of the Calstuff team.

So I'm sure a lot of you have seen the advertisement in the Daily Cal about moneyforsuveys.com. And you've probably checked out the site and it seems pretty legit you pay a one time twenty-dollar fee for membership, then you fill out various surveys put forth by companies who then reward you for your opinions for about $15-$25 per survey. All of your doubts are assuaged after reading the privacy policy and FAQ section; they're not going to sell your name or email and they want you to be satisfied with their service so you can apply for a refund if you like. It looks real, but it seems too good to be true.

Unfortunately in this case, it is. I did a little digging on the subject and here's what I found. This site, like many others of its kind, asks you to pay for information that you can access yourself fairly easily. When you register, the access you're granted to is just a page of links to other sites that you also have to register with in order to fill out the surveys. Oftentimes after that you will be required to sign up for affiliate programs (such as subscribing to magazines) to receive your "reward." Other times you will have to sign an agreement that waives your right to privacy--opening up your mailbox to spam and junk mail. So if you're dead-set on earning "free" money for surveys, here's a site that you can register with for free. But really, there is no easy way to make money. So I suggest you get up off your ass and get yourself a real job. Or keep mooching money from your parents. Whichever.Email This Post!

Another Salvo Fired In Town-Gown Battle

The Chronicle is reporting on another lawsuit being prepared by the City of Berkeley against the university. This suit, the second in the last few weeks, cites old parking taxes that the administration has not paid for. Mayor Tom Bates has also threatened to start litigation for sewer fees of the university.

At this point, the question has to be asked: are these lawsuits based on principle, or are they the desperate efforts of a city mired in a deep deficit? Most signs point to the latter, considering the hurdles City Council members will jump through to overcome $10.9 million in red ink over the next two years. It could be argued that financial mismanagement, not the university, should be held accountable for these debts.

Now, the legal ground for placing utility fees on the university is sketchy at best. Only four of the UC schools currently pay municipal fees, and, except for UCSB and its special circumstances with the Isla Vista community, those fees would be less than ours. Generally speaking, public institutions don't pay utilities, but there is an interesting dynamic between city and state government here, and how this will all play out will probably not be determined until the first court hearings on the LRDP case.

Meanwhile, I feel (as many students might) that Berkeley students are treated like second-class citizens in this city, and the university should not have to tow the line of an irresponsible city government. We support the city greatly through sales taxes and through wage taxes from local working students. This income greatly aids the city and its pool of resources. Yet, Berkeley PD seems to find the need to crack down on Southside communities where students might have a semblance of a social life in order to hit its quotas for its ABC grants. Never mind that in the last six months, there have been as many murders in Berkeley as the last six years. The double standard continues in many aspects of student life here, and these attacks against the university, which could affect our student fees, continues.Email This Post!

WHITE ALERT - JCouncil: Leybovich Can't Veto The Confirmation

Judicial Council, in a solicited advisory opinion, informed President Leybovich that he cannot use the legislative veto for the confirmation of Amaris White's nomination to the Council.

Pres.%20Veto%20-%20Advisory%20Opinion.doc

That leaves only action by the Senate to impeach White, though the grounds for such an act are jeopardized by Title XXI of the By-Laws.

For those of you interested in White's actual testimony, it can be found here.

White%20Minutes.doc

Note this particular quote from the minutes:

"Mr. Narodick said that because there are so many groups on campus and associations that contribute, they have to make sure people are forthcoming about what they were involved with. She asked what groups she was involved with, publications, or any work on the side for anybody other than the Daily Cal. Ms. White said she mostly did Daily Cal work. She did one illustration for her friend's magazine, but didn't know the details."Email This Post!

Big News Coming Soon
I know this is kind of lame, but I've got some stuff to write up and I don't have time because of a midterm in the morning. I'll be back later, but the comments to the chalking post and the Amaris White post are both lengthy and full of all sorts of interesting thoughts/ideas, so go read those if you haven't yet.Email This Post!

3rd Annual Technology Expo 2005
Hosted by: UCB Computer Science & Business Association
Date: Thursday, March 10, 2005
Time: 11 - 4 PM
Location: Pauley Ballroom, MLK at UCB
Free Admission & Free Drawing of prizes, including MP3 players and PDAs held every hour!

The Technology Expo will bring together the latest in technologies from different industries, highlighting consumer electronics from computers to software. We are providing students the opportunity to be the first to see revolutionary products that will be out in the future. Intel, Nero, and Archos are just several of the hi-tech companies that will be present. Come check out CSBA's exhibition of the latest technologies, and don't miss out on the opportunity to win free prizes!

[This information was e-mailed to me by a member of the CSBA. With the ton of things that occur here we can't provide information on everything that goes on, but since CalStuff is an "online business" (I think we're in the red) and since you all read it, I figured something put on by the CSBA might be of interest.]Email This Post!

Just a reminder, tomorrow, March 8, and until Thursday, March 10 is the vote on the "Safeguard Student Health Care" Fee Referendum (see Daily Cal article). I caught some people advertising for it tonight on Sproul.



(Note: I am not endorsing the position nor advocating you to vote no on it.)Email This Post!

Oscar Nominated Motorcycle Director Speaks on Campus
You know you're a popular guy if an even you're speaking at "attracted nearly twice as many people as the auditorium could seat, leaving some out in the cold and others perched on the steps or crowded into the back." The guy in question is Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles of recent fame for The Motorcycle Diaries. See the rest of the Daily Cal article (it's online only, so people who just pick up the paper on campus are missing out) for more information on the talk, the film, and what Salles is "pissed off" about.Email This Post!

It's That Time of Year
The SQUELCH! Party assault on those things decent and respectable has begun. Feel the wrath of SQUELCH! Also, feel the wrath of our chalked penises/crude depictions of sodomy.



View more of our artwork here, although there are still a number of other sketches that have not yet been photographed that will be available soon. I'll post another link when more photos have been taken.

[Special thanks to CalStuff little brother R.G. for helping us to document our handiwork.]
P.S. I don't really want your mom...Email This Post!

Daily Cal Announces Candidate Slate... Again

Sorry, had to rub it in a little. It's been so long since I've felt those warm fuzzy feelings that investigatory journalism and beating someone to the punch can give you.

I will give the DC some credit though... they did include the DAAP slate, if anyone here is interested. *crickets chirping* They also put in a nice little graph with pictures, which is kind of cute, and probably took more time to put together than they'd admit to. In any event, kudos to Andy and Rebecca for getting quoted.

I have a feeling that we'll start seeing some real campaigning soon, and CalStuff will continue to post news and pictures as they come in.Email This Post!

Hung Council! - Charges Against Gade Dismissed

In one of the first split decisions in the Council for quite some time, ASUC v. Gade is dismissed after a 3-3 deadlock in the Judicial Council. The four page decision can be found here.

ASUC%20v.%20Gade%20Decision

As much as I like AAVP Gade, the opposition opinion just seems to make more sense. Expanding ASUC membership to Extension students gets complicated, especially when a student fee payment structure to the organization isn't in place. A great quote:

"Being accepted for Concurrent Course does not constitute admission to UC Berkeley as a regular student."

- from the decision and from the UC Extension website

So, if he's not a student in the university, how can he be an officer of the university's student union?

Personally, I'm concerned that this will open up a slippery slope for possible future abuses from alums running as pottery majors in the Extension program. But maybe I'm paranoid... there's almost no way a 36-year old would run for student government. Right?

This all still seems moot since no aspect of Title VI of the By-Laws was followed, which outlines how to remove a student with poor registration. Gade's rights as a defendant were violated, and a dismissal, had it been requested, would have had grounds to be granted automatically. If EVP Lee and AG Royer had done their jobs correctly at the beginning of the semester, this issue would've been open and shut.Email This Post!

Another Berkeley Media Feeding Frenzy

If the Cal Patriot going and playing the martyr for the apparently imminent veto for Amaris White's Judicial Council nomination wasn't a misguided attempt at pro-conservative media attention, then this Drudge headline says it all:

Guilt By Conservative Affiliation: Berkeley Student Pol to be Stripped of Office...

And by "all", I mean everything but the truth of the matter.

For the last time, Amaris White is in the problem she is now not due to her being the art director of the Cal Patriot. It's because she got caught lying.

My quote from the Daily Cal article:

“Did she deliberately try to mislead us? The answer is yes,” said SQUELCH! Senator Ben Narodick, who confronted White about her group affiliations outside of the senate chambers Wednesday. “It was obvious that she wasn’t being forthcoming with us.”

McMike says it much better in the Cal Patriot Blog:

"It is wrong to discriminate against conservatives like the ASUC does, and if I were on the senate I’d have voted for her, but still, you all have the obligation to do the right thing.

You cannot respond to a wrong (discrimination) with another wrong (deceit) and complain about the first wrong. You lost your standing to do so."

So, yes, there is bias against conservatives on campus here. That's an undisputable fact. But, in my opinion, there is something to be said about the loyalties of a person who will deny her affiliations or political beliefs at the first sign of adversity. In addition, the nature of the Judicial Council demands a great amount of honesty and integrity. Being anything but frank in front of the Senate is not exactly representative of those desired traits.

Also, the success of other on-campus Republicans like Angel Brewer, Paul LaFata, and Mike Davis in the ASUC shows that even hard-liner Republicans, if they're the best candidate for the job, will be given the opportunities they deserve if they're honest.

So where does this leave Amaris White? In a pretty good place. Any veto attempt by President Leybovich to overturn the appointment will be challenged in front of the Judicial Council, and on very solid grounds as well. The ASUC Constitution does allow for vetoes over legislative action, but the confirmation of a nominee is not technically legislative action. Additionally, Title XXI of the By-Laws prohibits action against Judicial Council members except for under the most dire circumstances (e.g. bribery, extortion, and felony convictions). So, it appears that the Senate may just have to live with Amaris White on Judicial Council for two years.

UPDATE BY ANDY R.
Two people have brought up in comments the issue of whether she actually lied. To easily answer that questions, let's see what Mike Davis, a supporter of Amaris White and a writer for The Patriot had to say: “Amaris should apologize for lying and everyone should move on.” Even Amaris doesn't have anything reassuring to say about her conduct (same article):"I didn’t mention it because I didn’t think it was relevant." If during a confirmation hearing Senators ask you what groups you are involved in and you don't mention The Patriot or the Berkeley College Republicans, that means your answer is misleading and a lie. I certainly hope the Republicans on campus haven't been encouraging this stories exposure in such a misleading light. I would be perfectly fine with a member of BCR being on the Judicial Council, but I would be adamantly opposed to having someone dishonest on the Judicial Council, a perfectly legitimate position. Frankly, I think she should resign and seek to be confirmed based on accurate recounting of her experiences. Patriot Folks: have the strength of your convictions not to hide your particpaption in groups like the Patriot, and don't try to pretend that this is only about her being a conservative and not that she hid that about herself.Email This Post!

CalSERVE Senate Slate
Here are the names. I talked to a Berkeley squirrel who snuck into the slating meeting. If I didn't have a steak dinner waiting for me I'd go trolling around for more information on these people, but here are brief descriptions at the moment. More to come. As always: calstuff@gmail.com. Also, expect a couple more candidates probably, and one or two of these might drop out...

1. Anthony Lin (Asian transfer student)
2. Natasha Dandavati (current senator with International and Out of State party)
3. Jackie Keliiaa (Native American Recruitment and Retention Center)
4. Sankar Sridaran (freshman, brother of Senator)
5. Rita Encarnacion (Filipino 2nd year CE major)
6. Sapna Mehta (2nd year Indian Poli Sci major)
7. Terri Liu (APA cabinet member)
8. Max Besbris (Jewish 1st year, Sociology and Linguistics)
9. Alberto Gonzalez (really active Latino guy)
10. Taylor Allbright (National Organization for Women)
11. Josie Alvarez (Latina 2nd year Poli Sci/Mass Comm)
12. Kelly Osmundson (white 2nd year history major)
13. Vaughn Villaverde (gay Filipino sophomore Poli Sci major)
14. Ashley Thomas (first year black Sociology major)
15. Saba Ahmed (Sophomore, Political Science, Muslim Student Association, Pakistani) CalStuff (and by that I mean me) picked the wrong Ahmed. I'm almost certain there is an "Ahmed" on the ticket, but since there is more than one person in the CalSERVE facebook group with "Ahmed" in their name (and apparently it's both a first name and a last name), I'll have to figure out which one it is. Sorry for the confusion.

CalStuff! Tell your friends!Email This Post!

Reader's Rep Column: Daily Cal City Coverage
My latest column is up. I have some suggestions for how the Daily Cal can improve its city coverage, some information on the reasoning behind why the Daily Cal covers what it does (which I suspect will be news to most students), and some suggestions for students on what we should be doing to be informed citizens. Plus, there's a quiz!

I feel like after editing it for length it didn't end up as clear as I would have liked it (and feel free to let me know if the points I was trying to make didn't come across well). Writing a blog and writing a column are definitely two different types of writing experiences, and they both have their own advantages and disadvantages.Email This Post!

***ASUC SLATES***

CalSERVE Slate
Justine Lazaro - President
Camille Pannu - Executive Vice President
Brandon Smith - Academic Affairs Vice President
Linda Salinas - External Affairs Vice President
Vikrum Aiyer - Student Advocate

Student Action
Manny Buenrostro - President
Anil Daryani - Executive Vice President
Jason Dixson - Academic Affairs Vice President
Sharon Han - External Affairs Vice President
Vikrum Aiyer - Student Advocate

BEARS United
Zach Liberman - President
Billy Wang - Executive Vice President
Matt Werner - Academic Affairs Vice President
??? - External Affairs Vice President
??? - Student Advocate

SQUELCH!
Rebecca C. Brown - President
Ben Narodick (bring it!) - Executive Vice President
Andy Ratto (that's right, bitches!) - Academic Affairs Vice President [edited]
Mark Thomas - External Affairs Vice President
Matt Holohan - Student Advocate

BCR Senate Candidate
Melissa Jones

Breaking... more to come soon
*Update* The Patriot Bloggers have been digging around and uncovered a treasure trove of goodies about the various CalSERVE candidates. CalStuff will be getting in on the act too, and expect much more information on these candidates in the coming days. Got any information on someone listed above, send it to calstuff [at] gmail.com. Thanks!
[Ben contributed to this report]Email This Post!

Cal Politik posted an entry on some guest speakers coming to Berkeley. At this time, Robert Kennedy Jr. is speaking at Zellerbach (webcast) on the environment.

SF Mayor Gavin Newsom will be speaking at the "Sixth Annual Berkeley Conference on Housing and Urban Policy" on March 11 in Anderson Auditorium at Haas. If you want to attend, click here to register.

One upcoming event on the Berkeley calendar sounded geekly cool. Musician and artist David Byrne will present "I ♥ PowerPoint," where he will show off the artistic side of PowerPoint Presentations. Byrne's presentation will be on March 7, 7:30 p.m. at 155 Dwinelle Hall. It's free and will be webcast.Email This Post!

Day of (InAction)
My only exposure to the BAMN excitement was wandering campus in between classes so I didn't see much of anything. The police were out in force for sure, and when I walked by Strada around 11:00 there was a whole swarm of grade school children crossing onto campus (and an older aged white guy sitting in the cafe had a 'what are all these minority kids doing at Berkeley?' look on his face). Feel free to chime in with any reports on what happened or observations from today or thoughts on whether this was at all effective at accomplishing anything (or is the standard line that BAMN/DAAP are really CIA front groups designed to discredit affirmative action still operational?).Email This Post!

Blogging the News: Water Main Break

Berkeley Professor Scot Hacker has a blog, and today I noticed that he has posted about a water main that was destroyed right outside his office. Not only is it cool to see local blogs reporting on information like this, but he then went one step further and made a cool slideshow of nine photos showing the 40 foot geyser that occurred on campus.

To reiterate Beetle's crusade from earlier this semester, go start a blog! They are fun and easy and blogging makes you a better person.

P.S. The water main was destroyed while construction crews were trying to deal with a eucalyptus tree that had collapsed earlier, landing on a dean's car, which Hackler had reported on previously.Email This Post!

Multicultural Center Catfight Continues
The Daily Cal article on the rally yesterday by the Third World Liberation Front (twLF) was far too long and convoluted for me to attempt to summarize it in any way. (That's not an insult about the article, it's just a very complicated issue. Read the (well-written) article to get up to speed on what's been going on.) As far as I can tell, of all the parties involved (CalSERVE, Student Action, twLF, Birgeneau, other Administrators) everyone is blaming everyone else for the problem. Sounds like the perfect solution for gridlock and a continuation of this, "There’s nothing multicultural about Heller except the color of the furniture".

I can't see this being resolved anytime soon, so I guess the interesting question becomes, who can find a way to blame their opponents for this during the upcoming ASUC elections...Email This Post!