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Thursday, 5 June 2008
1. Haas dean Campbell to join Palo Alto law firm
San Francisco Chronicle
June 5, 2008
TOM CAMPBELL, THE 13TH DEAN OF THE HAAS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS and Silicon Valley's former congressman, will join the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher when his term as dean ends July 1....
"What I hope to do is be of use to the firm in the areas where I have a little background - in antitrust and international trade," said Campbell, adding that he will continue to teach through August before taking a two-year leave from the school. After two years, he said, he intends to return to teaching full time at Haas while continuing to work with the law firm. ...
UC Berkeley has not yet picked a new dean for the business school, but hopes to make an announcement before the end of the month, said JAMES LINCOLN, ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS AT HAAS.
The business school's reputation and fundraising levels rose dramatically during Campbell's tenure, Lincoln said. The school has risen in rankings and last year received its single largest gift, a $25 million contribution from an anonymous donor.... Full Story
2. A Run for the Ages?
Scholars Say Obama's Campaign Is History in Motion
Washington Post
June 5, 2008
Already, the adjective "historic" seems permanently attached to news media descriptions of Barack Obama's emergence as the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. News anchors and pundits deploy the term with abandon, but what do actual historians think?...
Older scholars seemed more cautious in their evaluations. LEON LITWACK, 78, RETIRED PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for a book on the aftermath of slavery, said he had "strong doubts about whether the American people could really elect Obama. . . . There are still strong feelings about race in this country; it is still a very significant factor in American life. I think it still remains, in many respects, a racist society."
Obama's candidacy "could be a turning point," Litwack said. "I have rather conflicted opinions."... Full Story
3. China tightens media limits loosened after Sichuan earthquake
Beijing forbids stories about shoddy school construction in the state media. It also employs Western tactics to spin coverage.
Los Angeles Times
June 5, 2008
Dujiangyan, China — China has begun rolling back many of the media and online freedoms that were permitted in the immediate aftermath of last month's earthquake....
The propaganda ministry and the State Council, China's Cabinet, have issued directives to state-run news media outlining forbidden topics. Among them: questions about school construction, whether government rescue efforts lagged....
Even as it cracks down, however, China is mixing Western public relations techniques into its media approach.
"They've learned spin tactics from America, Europe, U.S. political ads," said XIAO QIANG, DIRECTOR OF THE CHINA INTERNET PROJECT AT UC BERKELEY. "They've become quite sophisticated."...
"The school issue is very sensitive, and they're trying to put a lid on it," UC Berkeley's Xiao said. "But the issue is too big. They can't put it back in the box." Full Story
4. California Supreme Court rejects gay marriage delay, as fight goes on
Sacramento Bee
June 5, 2008
It's this simple: Gay couples will begin marrying in California in less than two weeks. But the battle won't end there.
That much is clear after the state Supreme Court decided Wednesday not to delay its ruling that legalized same-sex marriages in California.
Opponents had petitioned the court to delay its decision until Californians vote on a November ballot initiative that would define marriage as between a man and a woman. The court ruled 4-3 not to stay its May 15 decision....
If the initiative passes, a legal challenge of the ruling is almost assured, said JESSE CHOPER, A LAW PROFESSOR AT UC BERKELEY.... Full Story
5. Gay couples can set the date
San Jose Mercury News (*requires registration)
June 5, 2008
The wait is over for everyone from wedding planners to local clerks - and thousands of gay and lesbian couples across California....
But the courts may not be done with the gay-marriage issue if voters approve the ballot measure and again limit marriage to heterosexual couples....
Gay-marriage supporters say couples should go forward with marriages without worry.
"I feel fairly confident advising people to go ahead and get married, with the understanding it's not absolutely certain," said JOAN HOLLINGER, A PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY BOALT HALL SCHOOL OF LAW.... Full Story
6. Pee Wee's Grill Failure Touches Roto-Rooter, Bimbo Bakeries, GM
Bloomberg
June 5, 2008
Joe Bristol, owner of a Roto-Rooter Inc. franchise in Concord, California, became a victim of the credit crisis last month when Pee Wee Muldoons Bar & Grill in a strip mall 20 miles away filed for bankruptcy protection....
The pain at places like Pee Wee's, in Brentwood, California, 50 miles east of San Francisco, is still ricocheting through the economy. What began with the repackaging of subprime loans into AAA rated securities is unraveling on Main Street, wreaking havoc with businesses and lives far from New York, as house prices continue to fall and foreclosures rise. That, in turn, means more bad news for banks....
The credit crunch is already squeezing business and family budgets, said LAURA TYSON, AN ECONOMICS PROFESSOR AT THE HAAS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY. Normally, she said, households would turn to home equity loans or new credit-card accounts for temporary relief. Now, that's more difficult.
``Banks have cut back on their willingness to lend, and people are maxed out on their credit cards,'' Tyson said. ``Add the unexpected oil shock on top of credit contraction, and those are two very big hits.'' ... Full Story
7. World News: Home Buyer's Risk, Developer's Burden?
Some Developers Offer to Take on Buyers' Risk in a Difficult Housing Market
ABC
June 2, 2008
New incentives by developers are luring a few buyers off that fence and back into the market, causing sales to creep up ever so slightly -- by 3 percent....
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA/BERKELEY HAAS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS ASSISTANT PROFESSOR THOMAS DAVIDOFF is cautiously optimistic.
"It may help slow the absence of demand. It might be a gimmick that works as a sales product," he said. "It should be something that gets developed in the future, but I seriously doubt that it's going to single-handedly turn around the housing down-turn now." ...
"It's transfer of risk from buyers off to sellers who may be in a better position to bear the risk that makes the sense," Davidoff said. "[But] I think it's hard to justify rushing into home buying for almost anybody."...
[Link to video] Full Story
8. Marketplace Op-Ed: Let's get serious about public transit
Record gas prices are driving commuters to buses and trains in mass. Commentator Robert Reich says unless we're willing to upgrade our transit systems, those drivers won't find anything on public transit but more frustration.
NPR
June 4, 2008
...For years, policy makers have wondered just how high gas prices would have to go before drivers switch to public transportation. Now we know: it's around $4 a gallon, because millions of Americans are switching to buses, trains and subways to go to work.
Rather than bemoaning the spike in gas prices, we should be celebrating. Public transit not only reduces congestion but also reduces the nation's energy needs and cuts carbon emissions that bring on global warming....
What better way to get the economy going and save energy and the environment in years to come, than to create a modern, efficient system of public transportation in America?
[Link to audio] Full Story
9. Scientists work to improve hydrogen car
KGO TV
June 4, 2008
Livermore, CA (KGO) -- One of the roadblocks to a marketable hydrogen car is the fuel tank. Hydrogen tends to evaporate from it.
Some Bay Area scientists may have solved that problem....
For Tim Ross of Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, it's about 13 years of research that have concluded with this modified Toyota Prius....
Hydrogen is not perfect, however. We have limited distribution and it's dirty to produce.
"Green fuel, Green hydrogen, that's the Holy Grail. It's what you need with fuel cells and storage to get accelerated rapidly," said UC BERKELEY ENERGY ANALYST DAN KAMMEN, Ph.D....
[Link to video] Full Story
10. What's your Wu index?
Physics World
June 5, 2008
Ed Witten has once again been ranked as the world's number one physicist, according to a new index that ranks scientists in terms of the citations generated from their published papers. The new measure, called the w-index, has been developed by Qiang Wu from the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei....
Wu has calculated the w-index for some physicists who also have high h-indexes. Theortical physicist Ed Witten from the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, who has the highest h-index, also comes top in the w-index ranking with a score of 41. Witten is followed by condensed-matter theorist Phillip Anderson at Princeton University, with a w-index of 26, and cosmologist Stephen Hawking at Cambridge University coming third with a w-index of 24. Particle theorist Frank Wilczek (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and MARVIN COHEN (UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY) are joint fourth with a score of 23.... Full Story
11. What's next for the x86?
Computer World
June 05, 2008
It's impossible to look at the x86 family of microprocessors without wondering if, after three decades of dominance, the architecture might be running out of steam. Intel, naturally, says the x86 still has legs, while hastening to add that its battles with competing architectures are far from over.
DAVID PATTERSON, A COMPUTER SCIENCE PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, says, "It's important to understand that the x86 is not a frozen design. They have added about one instruction per month for 30 years. So they have something like 500 instructions in the x86 instruction set [now], and every generation they add 20 to 100 more. Backwards compatibility is sacrosanct, but adding new things for the future happens all the time." ... Full Story
12. Zipcar Redefines the Rental Car
That means no airports, no waiting, and no sales pitch
U.S. News & World Report
June 5, 2008
Megan Graff may not be a car owner, but she loves a Honda Accord named "Armson." "I think of it as mine," she says. Armson occupies a parking spot two blocks from her non-subway-accessible Washington, D.C., townhouse, and she uses it a half-dozen times a month to visit her family in nearby Maryland or "to meet up with friends at their obscure location or bring them to my obscure location," says Graff, a 28-year-old grant writer for a classical music organization.
Armson belongs to a fleet of cars owned by Zipcar, a company that has turned the concept of car rental on its head. There's no waiting in line, and there's no spiel on upgrades or insurance. In fact, there's no face-to-face interaction at all. Customers apply to become members—or "zipsters"—and reserve vehicles online....
About two thirds of Zipcar's members are under 35, an age that's been trending up over the past few years. Based on survey data, the company says that more than 40 percent of Zipcar users either sell their car or decide not to buy one. The target market is the 20 million people who currently live within a five- to 10-minute walk of a Zipcar, Griffith says, more than half of whom don't need to drive every day. (SUSAN SHAHEEN, WHO RESEARCHES TRANSPORTATION TRENDS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY, estimates that there is a market for at least 2 million car sharers in the United States.) ... Full Story
13. Op-Ed: Physicist: Einstein Would Approve of Moving the Island on Lost
How did Ben make the island "disappear" in last night's season finale? It's all relativity, argues a top professor who even uses Lost in his classes. Wormholes, 305-degree bearings, the Casimir effect—it all checks out with quantum mechanics, and could explain a lot for next season.
Popular Mechanics
May 30, 2008
Last night on Lost, Ben moved the island—presumably thousands of miles. Could he actually do that, without huge accelerations that would obliterate all structures and kill all the people on the island? The surprising answer, in physics, is yes ... sort of. The trick is that you don't really move the island. Rather, you change its space-time connection to the rest of the Earth.
Space and time in relativity theory are quite flexible. Gravity is one manifestation of that. According to Einstein's discovery, the presence of mass-energy warps space-time; what we perceive as gravity is just the curvature of space-time. That's the Theory of General Relativity, now firmly established by experimental tests. The strange behavior of time and space (the fact that two twins traveling apart can experience different amounts of time, for example) are verified daily in our physics labs, using radioactive particles rather than twins. I've verified this myself....
The Season Four finale also makes reference to the Casimir Effect. This is a well known phenomenon in quantum mechanics, and has been measured experimentally. The Casimir effect is a consequence of the fact that the vacuum contains energy. Some people speculate that one could draw on this vacuum energy for an unlimited supply. I don't think so, but maybe I am wrong, and Ben has figured out a way to do that. I suspect that Ben, too, is a physicist—the one person who has figured out how to understand the connection between quantum theory and relativity, and to manipulate them—at least to some degree, just as he manipulates people. That's why Charles Widmore is so anxious to capture Ben alive. Only Ben really understands the physics. Full Story
14. Cover Story: Silver Snapshots
Food Service Director Magazine
June 2008
When Berkeley’s dining program was at its lowest, SHAWN LAPEAN used hard work, flexibility and an eager-to-please ear to save it.
During a career in foodservice that has lasted for more than 30 years, Shawn LaPean has learned how to serve a meal. But he wants to make it clear that he doesn’t feed people, he serves them. It is this mentality, along with his “listen and respond” approach that has found him great success at the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY....
When I was interviewing for my job here, The Wall Street Journal had just rated Berkeley’s foodservice program as one of the worst in the country. When I took the job, a retired director e-mailed me and congratulated me on taking the one job that was guaranteed to ruin my career. It didn’t really take me aback because I wanted to come to Cal. These students know that they’re at a special university. They are more respectful than any student customers I’ve ever worked with....
Looking back, I’m really proud of being able to do a lot of our sustainable and green initiatives at a public university, without a private school budget. I see myself as a pop culture aficionado, in that I try to keep a pulse on what an 18 to 21 year-old thinks and does. Not just the students on my campus but young people everywhere. The environmental initiatives were important to people here, but not if they had to pay for it.... Full Story
15. Commentary: Successful Hispanics point to guidance, support from mentors
San Jose Mercury News (*requires registration)
June 5, 2008
Santa Clara County, a bastion of enormous wealth and the heart of technological innovation for the world, is at a crossroads today. Silicon Valley must discover a means to graduate more Latino and Latina youth from high school while guiding them to successful completion of college. The current Latino high school graduation rate is approximately 50 percent, and there are some signs it is declining....
Based on my personal experiences as a school leader for the last two decades, I can assure you there are thousands upon thousands of talented Latino and Latina youth in Santa Clara County who need just one key adult during elementary through high school to recognize their talents and to encourage and nurture them. To prove the point further the New York Times in May 13, 2008, wrote about a conversation with DR. ALFREDO QUINONES-HINOJOSA, a neurosurgeon who teaches oncology and neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Alfredo was a farm laborer in the San Joaquin Valley for seven days a week and 12 hours per day. Later he put himself through San Joaquin Delta College by working loading sulfur and fish lard onto freight cars. While attending San Joaquin Delta College, he met an individual he described as a wonderful human being.
Norm Nichols, the college speech and debate coach, took Alfredo into his family, mentored him and helped him apply to UC-BERKELEY. Then, while at Cal, as fate would have it, Alfredo met Hugo Mora who mentored Hispanics with an aptitude in science, even though there were some weaknesses in the English language. With Hugo's support, Alfredo got into Harvard Medical School. "All along I had m Full Story
16. Here comes summer in Silicon Valley, and more class time?
San Jose Mercury News (*requires registration)
June 5, 2008
With summer approaching, schools are winding down. Some educational institutes in Silicon Valley, however, are gearing up.
These institutes, commonly known as learning centers, offer summer classes to help students get ahead. A major theme of the summer classes is SAT preparation....
Eddie LaMeire, a college admissions consultant who used to work on the other side as an admissions officer, demonstrates how competitive college admissions are by citing statistics and saying colleges haven't responded to larger applicant pools in years....
LaMeire has also found statistics from UC-BERKELEY, which indicate a significant drop in undergraduate acceptance rate from 30 percent in 1997 to 23.1 percent in 2007 and 21.5 percent in 2008.
For students to cope with the fierce competition, LaMeire says an experienced college admissions consultant can help amplify their strengths on paper....
There is currently no licensing for private admissions consultants in California. However, UC-BERKELEY EXTENSION offers a certificate program in college admissions and career planning.... Full Story
17. Column One: Idealism lost in '68 is reborn in L.A. classroom
David Steiner was present in the Ambassador Hotel ballroom the night RFK was shot. For years he struggled to find the hope that went astray in the aftermath.
Los Angeles Times
June 5, 2008
The laughter went flat. The smiles froze before they had time to disappear. In the back of the Ambassador Hotel ballroom, DAVID STEINER couldn't tell what was happening. But a change in mood raced through the crowd like an electrical charge, arcing from face to face....
All his life, Steiner had been on a track somewhere, focused and striving. But like so many young people whose trajectories converged in that era's burst of idealism, the assassination of Kennedy 40 years ago today would set him adrift.
...He wanted to fight for social justice. When he went to UC BERKELEY in 1960, he decided he would be the next Clarence Darrow, largely based on Spencer Tracy's portrayal of him in "Inherit the Wind."...
In his final year as an undergraduate, he was accepted to BOALT HALL SCHOOL OF LAW.
Steiner was fascinated as the Free Speech Movement roared up at Berkeley. But he didn't have an impulse for rebellion. Only one time did he step into the fray: He joined the massive sit-in at Sproul Hall.
When police told students they would be arrested if they didn't leave, he left.
He felt like a coward as he walked away. But he was just a mainstream kid.... Full Story
18. Newhouse: Comedy's not always fun
Oakland Tribune
June 5, 2008
A comedian's life takes work. Being funny doesn't always come naturally. It involves countless hours, sleepless nights, anger and sacrifice to keep one's act fresh.
BOB SARLATTE, 58, has been a comedian 30 years. He's known mostly as a Bay Area fixture, but he's made 25 appearances, by his count, on David Letterman's television shows....
Sarlatte is so much more than a comedian. He has been a singer, a TV actor, a master of ceremonies, a pre-game personality at San Francisco 49ers games, a junior high school basketball coach, and he does broadcasting voice-overs.
He leads a good life, has enough money in the bank, has a nice home in San Francisco. He owes it all to his football misfortunes at UC BERKELEY, in the 1960s.
"If I didn't go to Cal, there's no way I'd be doing what I'm doing now," he said Monday. "I'd have gone on to law school or medical school. My life would be a lot different."
A San Francisco kid, he went to Berkeley to play football, then discovered there were bigger, faster and more talented linemen than himself. So he dropped off the team.
He then began spinning records on KALX-FM, Cal's student radio station, and winning Tuesday night amateur comedy contests at the Straw Hat Pizza in Berkeley by impersonating his Cal football coaches, John Wayne and entertainers in general.
"The atmosphere was so loose," he said of Cal during the revolutionary 1960s, "that it loosened me up and broadened my possibilities. Cal is such a big school, it forces you to choose earlier in your life where you think you might want to go."... Full Story
19. 'Wonderboy' keeps everyone on their toes
San Francisco Chronicle
June 5, 2008
It's always a major event when JOE GOODE premieres a new work. Since he formed his own company in 1980, while a principal dancer with Margaret Jenkins, he has pioneered a form of dance theater that combines movement with dialogue or monologues, and visual imagery and sculptural props. The Joe Goode Performance Group regularly tours throughout the United States and internationally.
The company opens a two-week run Friday at Yerba Center for the Arts with excerpts from "Maverick Strain," a 1996 piece in which Goode performs, and the world premiere of "Wonderboy," written and directed by Goode and created in collaboration with master puppeteer Basil Twist. Best known for his long-running, underwater "Symphonie Fantastique" (in New York and San Francisco), Twist has also won plaudits for his "Petrushka" at Lincoln Center and "Hansel and Gretel" with Houston Grand Opera. "Arias with a Twist," created with Joey Arias, opens June 12 in New York.
The following conversation took place in Goode's office at UC BERKELEY, WHERE HE IS A PROFESSOR OF THEATER, DANCE AND PERFORMANCE STUDIES....
Joe Goode Performance Group: "Wonderboy" and excerpts from "Maverick Strain." Friday-June 15. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater, 700 Howard St., San Francisco. Tickets: $25-$40. Call (415) 978-2787 or go to www.ybca.org. Full Story