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Thursday, 15 September 2011
1. Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive plan
San Francisco Chronicle
September 15, 2011
Berkeley — The relatively modest new home proposed for the BERKELEY ART MUSEUM AND PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE isn't short on ambition.
The design pairs a stocky 1939 printing plant with a windowless addition to be draped in folds of shimmering zinc. The facility would be smaller than the institution's current home while adding one-third more wall space to display artwork. A second-floor cafe would jut above the sidewalk, signaling to Berkeley that the town-gown barrier has been breached once and for all.
If the project goes forward, it will show something else: In our economically skittish times, a cultural institution can scale back its dreams without settling for mediocrity....
The initial idea was to turn heads and spend $143 million on a 139,000-square-foot facility by Japanese architect Toyo Ito....
Now the budget is in the $90 million range and the plans blend old and new. ... The San Francisco firm EHDD remains as architect of record, but Ito has been replaced as design architect by New York's Diller Scofidio + Renfro....
The bowl-shaped theater form would be clad in horizontal bands of zinc, resting a few feet above the Oxford Street sidewalk, so you could peer into the lower-level library or at art-filled spaces that double as the theater foyer. The zinc also sheathes a lean extension that slides behind the office wing toward Center Street, where it would emerge above the facility's lone public entrance....
Renfro likens the zinc form to "a cipher — an enigmatic project that requires further prodding to investigate." LARRY RINDER, THE MUSEUM'S DIRECTOR, calls it "bold and friendly." A Berkeley foodie might see a long-necked gourd....
Unlike BAM/PFA's present home, an energetic splay of 1960s brutalism on Bancroft Way designed by Mario Ciampi, the new facility would be easy to navigate....
As the experience with Ito shows painfully well, it's too early to declare BAM/PFA's new home a reality, much less a success. But if this design indeed bears fruit and opens as planned in 2015, it could become an engaging symbol of the Bay Area's increasingly complex cultural weave. Whatever its nickname might be.
[A blog on this topic appeared in the New York Times Online] Full Story
2. In-law units sought to help population boom
KGO TV
September 14, 2011
Berkeley, Calif. (KGO) — There's a new proposal to create affordable housing in the East Bay.
A UC BERKELEY STUDY points to in-law units as a way to deal with the expected population growth.
KAREN CHAPPLE's backyard cottage is small — around 425 square feet — and she sees it as an example of an opportunity to house a population that will grow by two million in the next 25 years.
"Our study found that we can actually meet much of the affordable living needs through these units," Chapple said.
CHAPPLE IS A CITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING PROFESSOR AT UC BERKELEY and is the author of the U.C. study that concludes that in-laws in five east bay cities make sense....
It's about the regulations in each city. Chapple says it's time to overhaul those regulations to make it easier for people to build on their own property....
Hearings are expected in each city within a year over easing regulations.
[Link to video] Full Story
3. Second Half of California Dream Act Reaches Governor’s Desk
Stanford Review
September 14, 2011
California Governor Jerry Brown has the chance to make some undocumented and illegal California residents’ dreams come true if he signs AB 131, the second part of the so-called California Dream Act. Passed through the State Assembly and Senate in the past weeks, it now sits on the Governor’s desk.
The California Dream Act, authored by Assemblyman Gilbert Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), comprises two bills known as AB 130 and 131. Brown signed AB 130 this July – a bill allowing undocumented residents and college students in the state to receive private funding and scholarships....
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block and UC BERKLEY CHANCELLOR ROBERT BIRGENEAU are both supporters of the California Dream Act, according to press releases from the two California institutions....
“Without financial help,” Birgeneau said in a June press release, “their educational opportunities are compromised, and the state’s economy is apt to suffer as well.”... Full Story
4. In the midst of fee discussion, UC approves raises and bonuses for top execs
Contra Costa Times (*requires registration)
September 15, 2011
San Francisco — University of California leaders on Thursday approved raises and bonuses for more than a dozen top administrators, even as they were expected to convene later in the day to discuss a long-term fee policy that could raise tuition as much as 16 percent per year.
Most of the bumps to officials at UC's hospitals, national laboratories and administrative offices will not be funded directly by students or California taxpayers. Investment proceeds, hospital fees and other funds will cover most of the costs.
Among the bonuses approved by a Board of Regents committee was $744,950 for the 10-campus system's chief investment officer, Marie Berggren, for her performance last year. Combined with Berggren's $470,000 salary, the bonus will bring her 2010-11 pay to more than $1.2 million.
Regents also approved raises for several Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory leaders, including Director [and UC BERKELEY PROFESSOR] A. PAUL ALIVISATOS. The full board is expected to approve the bumps later Thursday.... Full Story
5. Blog: Why Aren't Public Universities More Transparent and Accountable?
Huffington Post
September 14, 2011
Over the last six months of researching for my work-in-progress documentary about the pitfalls of American higher education, The Elephant on Campus, there have been many problems I have come across. One of the biggest and least talked about problems is that public universities are totally opaque when it comes to the way they receive and spend money, especially tuition money. No one outside of these institutions can say with any certainty how this process works.
Public universities are supposed to be providing a public good to society and therefore should be forced to be totally transparent with their finances and accountable for their actions. Unfortunately, they are allowed to operate under the radar with very few questions asked. These universities are neither transparent nor accountable for their finances because neither the public nor the elected officials are questioning them and the media isn't investigating them....
I haven't found one investigative journalist that has looked deeply into this issue. Maybe they are out there somewhere, but I haven't discovered them yet. All I've found up to this point is a website created by UC BERKELEY PROFESSOR CHARLIE SCHWARTZ. It seems to be a pretty intensive site with a lot of research, but I haven't been able to dig too deeply into it. I wish I could focus solely on this issue, but my documentary takes a much more broad approach to the problems with American higher education.
The financial integrity of public universities is a subject that should be the focus of serious investigative journalism all over the country but hasn't been. Why? I have no answer. ... Full Story
6. Editorial: Can we afford UC?
Visalia Times-Delta
September 14, 2011
Once again, the people who run the University of California are planning to increase tuition — this time by amounts that should lead citizens of the state to ask some fundamental questions about what kind of public higher education we can afford.
UC was established in 1868 as part of a grand bargain in which the state would support it financially. In return, the independently operated university would provide an excellent undergraduate education at a cost that would be affordable to the middle class and not just to the wealthy, as it was on the East Coast.
It worked marvelously well. ...
Today, that grand bargain has collapsed. ...
Our great public university is rapidly becoming a cheap private university. ...
A few years ago, the DEAN OF UC'S BERKELEY LAW SCHOOL demanded a tuition increase to fend off raids on his faculty. He got it, but the question that needed to be asked, and wasn't, was whether California could any longer afford those law professors....
Bottom-line question, it seems to us, is how long will California families be able to afford UC?... Full Story
7. Princeton, Harvard, Williams Top U.S. News Best Colleges Rankings
See which schools take the lead in the 28th edition of the college rankings.
U.S. News & World Report
September 13, 2011
Princeton University tied Harvard University as the top-ranked National University in U.S.News & World Report's 2012 rankings of Best Colleges. Last year, Harvard stood alone as the best ranked National University, a category that encompasses large, research-oriented schools....
Though college sticker prices continue to skyrocket, and it will now cost some students more than $200,000 to attain a degree at the aforementioned schools and others ranked by U.S. News, data indicate that the value of a college degree hasn't waned. A recent report by the Georgetown University Center for Education and Workforce indicates that those with bachelor's degrees earn 75 percent more over their lifetimes than those who only have high school diplomas....
Some California schools are weathering the state's ongoing financial storm with their academic reputations intact, as the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA—BERKELEY and the University of California—Los Angeles were once again ranked as the top two public National Universities. Only three public schools—BERKELEY, UCLA, and the University of Virginia—are ranked among the top 25 National Universities.... Full Story
8. Blog: Obama's Wacky, Possibly Immoral, Possibly Brilliant Jobs Proposal
New Republic Online
September 14, 2011
Last week, as the Obama administration rolled out its American Jobs Act, a liberal group called the Progressive Change Campaign Committee launched a strange ad campaign of its own: “[Obama economic advisor] Jason Furman wants you to work for free,” the ads blasted. The group’s rather pointed attack on an administration economist was in reference to a small proposal contained in Obama’s jobs plan called “Georgia Works.” The program, which gives the long-term jobless the option of continuing to collect unemployment benefits while receiving a modest stipend and serving a two-month “apprenticeship” with a firm, is being hailed by the administration as a novel solution to long-term unemployment that should be scaled up nationally....
Of course, there are still reasons to be skeptical. It’s unclear, for instance, how many of the aforementioned 60 percent of newly employed folks who went through the Georgia program actually found full-time, as opposed to part-time, work. And Mike Konczal, a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, has noted that roughly 70 percent of the participants in Georgia Works found apprenticeships in low-skill positions that required little, if any, formal education. This preponderance of low-end jobs among Georgia Works trainees is possibly problematic, argues JESSE ROTHSTEIN, AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC POLICY AND ECONOMICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY, because forcing low-skill employees to compete against free labor has the potential to depress wages and allow firms to cynically churn through apprentices rather than fill a position. “It could turn what could have been a good job into a bad job or no job,” Rothstein explains.
But on the whole, provided that protections are put in place to preclude exploitative behavior, the consensus among experts seems to be that it’s an experiment worth trying. “As long as the program is voluntary and basic labor standards are maintained, there are no downsides,” says Rothstein. ... Full Story
9. The costs of break-up: After the fall
The aftermath of disaster is all the more frightening for being incalculable
Economist
September 17, 2011
The costs of efforts to save the euro are justified by the claim that the alternative would be too dreadful to contemplate. But economic history is littered with examples of fixed exchange rates that came unfixed; the disuniting of currency unions, though rarer, happens from time to time. So how do the costs of sustaining the euro compare with the costs of its falling apart?...
Take two specific scenarios. Germany could leave, either on its own or with a select group of small economies—Austria, Finland and the Netherlands—as recently suggested by Hans-Olaf Henkel, a former head of the Federation of German Industries. Second, and more likely, Greece might secede or be forced out....
If Greece were to leave, its reborn drachma would plummet—which might be good for its exporters but which would trigger what BARRY EICHENGREEN, A MONETARY HISTORIAN AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, has called “the mother of all financial crises”. The devaluation of the drachma against the euro would turn any debts that remained in euros into a crippling burden. At the same time depositors, who are already edging towards the exit, would break into a headlong rush, bringing down Greece’s banking system.... Full Story
10. Violent Crime Surges in Three Bay Area Cities
Oakland, Richmond and San Jose See Jump in Homicides, Robberies in First Half of 2011; Gang Activity, Police Cuts Cited
Wall Street Journal (*requires registration)
September 15, 2011
Some of the Bay Area's largest cities are experiencing a jump in violent crimes such as homicide and robbery, according to city records and the state attorney general....
There is some good news for the Bay Area: Overall crimes for Richmond, San Jose and Oakland are still down from 2007 and 2008, given sharp decreases in property crimes such as auto theft and burglary. At the same time, other Bay Area cities are continuing to see a decline in violent crime. In San Francisco, violent crime is down 5% so far this year to 4,476 incidents, according to city records.
While the increase in violent crime comes at a time of sustained high unemployment, experts say the two aren't necessarily linked. STEVEN RAPHAEL, A PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC POLICY AT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, says economic conditions have more of an effect on property crime such as larceny and burglary than on violent crime.
"There are a range of factors that contribute to violent crime, and macroeconomic conditions aren't often as strong a contributor as other factors," he says....
[Link by subscription only] Full Story
11. Prosecution for Tri-City vote is unusual
Other elected officials have opposed sanctions against themselves without charges
Sign On San Diego
September 14, 2011
Oceanside — Kathleen Sterling opposed her own censure on the Tri-City Healthcare District board, and in doing so, she voted to preserve the $100-per-meeting stipends that were taken from her as a penalty.
That conflict of interest has resulted in a criminal prosecution of Sterling for an act that has not resulted in charges against other elected officials in the region. The matter comes up on Friday, when a judge will hear Sterling’s motion to dismiss the case....
One political expert was puzzled by use of the charge against Sterling.
“It would be like going after council members for voting on their own salary increases,” said MAX NEIMAN, A SENIOR FELLOW AT THE UC BERKELEY INSTITUTE FOR GOVERNMENTAL STUDIES. “I could see how it could be considered a violation of the law, but it doesn’t seem like something that should be prosecuted, particularly at a time when district attorneys’ resources are very scarce.”... Full Story
12. Blog: Silicon Valley’s Pay-It-Forward Culture
Xconomy
September 15, 2011
Foreign visitors to Silicon Valley continually mention how willing we are to help, network and connect strangers. We take it so for granted we never even to bother to talk about it. It’s the “Pay-It-Forward” culture.
The Chips are Down
In 1962 Walker’s Wagon Wheel Bar/Restaurant in Mountain View became the lunch hangout for employees at Fairchild Semiconductor. When the first spinouts began to leave Fairchild, they discovered that fabricating semiconductors reliably was a black art. At times you’d have the recipe and turn out chips, and the next week something would go wrong, and your fab couldn’t make anything that would work. Engineers in the very small world of silicon and semiconductors would meet at the Wagon Wheel and swap technical problems and solutions with co-workers and competitors.
A Computer in every Home
In 1975 a local set of hobbyists with the then crazy idea of a computer in every home formed the Homebrew Computer Club and met in Menlo Park at the Peninsula School then later at the Stanford AI Lab. The goal of the club was: “Give to help others.” Each meeting would begin with people sharing information, getting advice and discussing the latest innovation (one of which was the first computer from Apple.) The club became the center of the emerging personal computer industry....
They were the beginning of the Pay-It-Forward culture, the unspoken Valley culture that believes “I was helped when I started out and now it’s my turn to help others.”... Full Story
13. Maybe It’s Easier For Law Profs to Become Senators Than Judges?
Chronicle of Higher Education (*requires registration)
September 15, 2011
This week, former Obama administration official and consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren announced her candidacy for the United States Senate. Warren, the Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, took leave from her academic career to help build the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and advise President Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Like other law professors whose government appointments got caught up in the political malaise, Warren never got the chance to direct the department she built from the ground up. Instead, sensing gridlock, Obama appointed former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray.
Some critics site Warren’s jump into the political fray as an unmeasured response to the setback she experienced in Washington . Maybe, but one thing is for sure—in the last two years of service she gave to the country, Warren had a front-row seat to witness Congressional power plays and persistent deadlock. Perhaps even more importantly for those who put family and academic life on hold, she observed how other law professors’ prospects of judicial appointments withered on the vines while partisan politics overtook the judicial-appointments process....
Remember GOODWIN LUI, THE LAW PROFESSOR FROM BERKELEY whom Obama nominated for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals? Professor Lui is now a justice on the California Supreme Court, but his nomination process for the federal court of appeals played out in the most disenthralling manner. Despite stellar academic and legal credentials, a mainstream approach on many issues, and endorsements by conservative icons like Kenneth Starr, his candidacy was derailed by those in Congress who perceived Lui as being too far to the left. Eventually, Professor Lui withdrew his nomination, apologizing in a letter to President Obama, noting that the prospect of his ascension to the 9th Circuit seemed unlikely....
So, what’s a law professor to do? According to Elizabeth Warren, “work my heart out to earn the trust of the people.” That’s a good lesson for Congress too. Full Story
14. Your Call: How are genetically engineered crops affecting food?
KALW Radio
September 15, 2011
How are genetically engineered crops affecting agriculture and the food supply? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and how they are changing the landscape of food and farming. An estimated 70 percent of processed foods contain genetically engineered ingredients. And more than 270,000 organic farmers filed a lawsuit against Monsanto this year for the right to keep a portion of the world food supply organic. So what do we need to know about how GMOs are affecting farmers and consumers? ...
Guests:
...IGNACIO CHAPELA, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MICROBIAL ECOLOGY AT UC BERKELEY...
[Link to podcast, by subscription only] Full Story
15. White House defends Solyndra loan at hearing
San Francisco Chronicle
September 15, 2011
Washington — Obama administration officials Wednesday denied Republican charges of White House interference in a $528 million federal loan guarantee to Bay Area solar manufacturer Solyndra, warning that the company's failure should not lead the nation to abandon a potential multitrillion-dollar solar energy market to China....
The Fremont firm's bankruptcy has embarrassed the administration and given a black eye to its push for "green jobs" and alternative energy. Solyndra's plant closed Aug. 31 and nearly all its 1,179 workers were laid off. The FBI raided the plant last week and questioned executives....
Republicans released excerpts from staff e-mails at the Energy Department and the White House Office of Management and Budget indicating that officials felt pressured to hurry the loan so that it could be announced at a groundbreaking event in Fremont on Sept. 4, 2009, that included Energy Secretary STEVEN CHU, A [FORMER] UC BERKELEY PROFESSOR and former director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory....
Committee Democrat Ed Markey of Massachusetts acknowledged that the loan was "expedited" as part of a broad effort to get stimulus money out the door as fast as possible, but he was "unconvinced" that there was any wrongdoing, citing three years of due diligence, much of it conducted by civil servants during the Bush administration.... Full Story
16. Ed Arnow: East Contra Costa residents recall mentors who made them look at life differently
Contra Costa Times (*requires registration)
September 14, 2011
Almost all of us have had someone special in our lives. It's someone who made us a better person; someone who taught us lessons that shaped our future. For some, it's a member of the family. For others, it is a mentor, or even a stranger who helped elevate our existence. For a handful, it's someone famous or distinguished we never met, but inspired us to always try harder.
Random interviews with East County locals reveal how an assortment of people changed their lives for the better....
DALE WEST of Oakley singled out an ECONOMICS PROFESSOR AT UC BERKELEY. "He was an amazing mentor with boundless information on just about everything," he said. "He made going to his classes a wonderful experience. But, it's hard to pick a single person who became a lifelong inspiration. We all know a lot of people who shaped our lives."...
[This story also appeared in the San Jose Mercury News and Oakland Tribune] Full Story
17. Just How 'Germy' Is A Kiss?
Huffington Post
September 15, 2011
Kissing is a universal sign of amorous affection. We wait for that first-kiss moment in romantic films, stumble through uncomfortable teenage make-out sessions and spy those PDA-friendly couples (you know the type). But have you ever thought about what kissing means beyond the obvious pleasures? Just how “germy” is a kiss — and are those germs good or bad for us? (After all, mononucleosis is referred to as the “kissing disease" and most of us would likely prefer to avoid getting it.)...
According to a team of British scientists, kissing may be an important part of building up our immune systems — specifically for women during pregnancy and childbirth. ...
Kissing is far from the only every day, intimate exchange that encourages the transmission of germs. What about shaking hands? Although 80 percent of all infectious disease is believed to be transmitted by direct and indirect contact, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, say that we need not worry too much about a friendly shake....
This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be diligent about washing our hands though. “Shaking hands can transmit some of the viruses that cause the common cold and diarrhea,” says ART REINGOLD, M.D., PROFESSOR OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR RESEARCH AT UC BERKELEY’S SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH. “It can probably also transmit [the] hepatitis A virus [and] in the health care ... setting, hands can spread Staph aureus and many other bacteria and viruses.”... Full Story
18. Sarah Wilson Quintet: Paying tribute to mentors
San Francisco Chronicle
September 15, 2011
Oakland trumpeter-vocalist [and UC BERKELEY ALUM] SARAH WILSON makes music that seems suspended in air, between styles, regions and sensibilities.
Steeped in the improvisational ethos of New York City's downtown scene, she has forged a singular sound that's part pop chanteuse and part wide-eyed world explorer. While her music feels buoyant and mutable, Wilson is deeply rooted by personal and creative ties to the women who have inspired her: Her latest project is a tribute to her female jazz mentors — Oakland-raised pianist-composer Carla Bley, UC BERKELEY PIANIST-COMPOSER MYRA MELFORD and pioneering horn player Laurie Frink, who held down the lead trumpet chair with Benny Goodman and helped break the gender line in Broadway pit orchestras.
"My new music is exploring the different ways I've been mentored," says Wilson, who grew up in Healdsburg. "I don't know Carla Bley, but when I saw her at Knitting Factory in 1999, I immediately felt this is the model. It's about her composing and arranging. Laurie was my trumpet teacher in New York, and she's provided so much wise advice. And Myra has been a continual source of inspiration as a brilliant artist and a friend.
"Basically, if I hadn't seen Carla, Laurie and Myra playing their music up there onstage, I don't think I could have imagined doing it."...
8 p.m. today. $18-$21. 142 Throckmorton Theatre, 142 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley. (415) 383-9600. www.142throckmortontheatre.com. Also 8 p.m. Fri. $12-$20. Red Poppy Art House. 2698 Folsom St., S.F. (415) 826-2402. www.redpoppyarthouse.org.
[Another story on this topic appeared in the San Jose Mercury News and Contra Costa Times] Full Story
19. Brunch Cruises for Cal Bears' Games
With Cal playing at AT&T Park, a leisurely cruise makes that commute a treat.
NBC Bay Area Online
September 14, 2011
The CAL-BERKELEY BEARS are playing football on the other side of the Bay this season, so commuting for fans might be an issue.
They'll probably have to take the Bay Bridge — or they could float under it.
With MEMORIAL STADIUM undergoing renovation and retrofitting, Hornblower Cruises has paired with the University to get fans to games with a belly-fulls of a Champagne brunch. Tickets are $81 each.
Cruises leave the Berkeley Marina about three hours before the game, giving guests two hours on the water. The cruises include a buffet of signature dishes, free-flowing Champagne, juice, coffee, tea and "entertainment," according to a release (a DJ is mentioned on their site). Beer and booze are extra.... Full Story