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Monday, 17 September 2012
1. Op-Ed: We must invest in our public universities
San Francisco Chronicle
UC Santa Cruz chancellor George Blumenthal writes that public universities, which produce 70 percent of college graduates in the U.S., are threatened by budget cuts nationwide and to save them "our top priority must be to develop a stable, long-term funding model for public higher education." One of the possible solutions — initially proposed by Berkeley chancellor Robert Birgeneau and supported by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities — would raise $3 billion from federal, state and private partners to permanently endow faculty positions at public research universities across the country. Full Story
2. UC regents hear ideas for raising money
San Francisco Chronicle
The UC regents considered various proposals for boosting revenue at meetings last week, and one of the ideas on the table was letting individual campuses set their own tuition. Merced student Jonathan Lye said that would indicate that his campus "is not as good as UCLA or UC Berkeley." Executive vice president Nathan Brostrom said of the idea: "We don't think that's right for UC right now." Full Story
3. Online Mentors to Guide Women Into the Sciences
New York Times & International Herald Tribune (*requires registration)
A new six-week mentoring program, called Women in Technology Sharing Online, or WitsOn, has been developed to encourage young women to pursue careers working in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. UC Berkeley and several other prominent universities have been quick to sign on to the program with both mentors and students. The program will begin this fall. Full Story
4. Study shows Bay Area's transit systems among nation's most, least cost-efficient
KTVU
A study led by city and regional planning professor Robert Cervero comparing 54 transit districts across the nation has found that some of the country's most- and least-efficient transit systems are located in the Bay Area. "We have probably, by global standards, one of the richest set of transit offerings you'll find anywhere," he said. "We have BART, we have light rail, trolley bus, diesel bus, cable car and ferries. Just ignoring all the other potential benefits — air quality improvement benefits, reduced congestion and economic growth it has allowed — just terms of pure cost of building the system and netting out the revenues, BART has turned out to be an extremely wise investment." However, the second least cost-efficient system is the Valley Transportation Authority, or VTA, serving the Silicon Valley. Full Story
5. Forum with Michael Krasny: The Latest From the Middle East
KQED Radio
Peter Bartu, visiting scholar at Berkeley's Center for Middle Eastern Studies, joins a discussion of U.S.-Middle Eastern relations. Link to audio. Full Story
6. Newstalk: More About Ambassador Chris Stevens
910 KKSF Radio
Associate adjunct history and international and area studies professor Emily Gottreich, vice chair of Berkeley's Center for Middle Eastern Studies, is interviewed about Ambassador Chris Stevens, a Berkeley alum who was killed along with three other Americans at the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, last week. Gottreich had been working with Ambassador Stevens and the U.S. Embassy in Libya to set up a mission connecting Libyan and American scholars. Link to audio. Full Story
7. Interview: Cal Professor On Middle East Anti-American Protests
KPIX TV
Associate anthropology professor Charles Hirschkind is interviewed about last week's protests in the Middle East and the role a YouTube film played in the unrest. Link to video. Full Story
8. Newstalk: The Multifaceted Middle East
910 KKSF Radio
Political science professor Steven Fish is interviewed about U.S. relations with countries in the Middle East, in the wake of the deadly attack on the American consulate in Benghazi. Link to audio. Full Story
9. Anti-American protests topic for SF Muslims
KGO TV
From the Democracy Rising conference held on campus last week, Berkeley alum Moncef Cheikhrouhou, deputy chair of Tunisia's finance committee, spoke about recent protests in Tunisia that included an attack on the U.S. embassy in Tunis. Link to video. Full Story
10. Pres. Barack Obama appoints LDS diplomat Robert Stephen Beecroft as ambassador to Iraq
Deseret News [Salt Lake City]
Berkeley law alum Robert Stephen Beecroft has been appointed U.S. Ambassador to Iraq. He has received two awards from the State Department — the Distinguished Honor Award and the Diplomacy for Human Rights Award for his work in furthering human rights and democracy in Jordan. Full Story
11. Op-Ed: Consumer spending key to job creation
San Francisco Chronicle
Public policy professor Robert Reich writes: "In accepting his party's nomination for president, Obama said the 'basic bargain' that once rewarded hard work and gave everyone a fair shot had come undone. ... He's right. And the U.S. economy won't return to normal until that basic bargain is remade. ... If Obama gets a second term, re-creating that bargain — and getting enough votes from Congress to do so — will be his central challenge, and America's." Full Story
12. As drought hits corn, biotech firms see lush field in GMO crops
Los Angeles Times
Microbial ecology professor Ignacio Chapela comments on the fears of agricultural biotechnology companies and others who resist calls for labeling of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs: "I find it really funny that [opponents] are so scared of labeling. ... I'm not saying that every GMO is deadly, but I'm also recognizing that we shouldn't be so glib about it and look the other way and hope for the best." Full Story
13. B-School Applicants Decline for Four Years
Wall Street Journal (*requires registration)
Applications to the evening and weekend part-time M.B.A. program at Berkeley's Haas School of Business rose 11% this year. The school reports that it has enjoyed increased interest from applicants outside the San Francisco Bay area, in part because of its growing national profile. Full Story
14. John Burris powers Oakland police reforms
San Jose Mercury News (*requires registration)
High-profile attorney and alum John Burris, who has advocated for clients such as Rodney King, Barry Bonds, and the family of Oscar Grant, is currently overseeing the overhaul of the Oakland Police Department. As a student at Berkeley's law school in the 1970s he was president of the Black Law Students Association. Full Story
15. 'You're Hired!' Great. What Now?
Chronicle of Higher Education (*requires registration)
Alum Javier Jimenez writes about his new position as an assistant Spanish professor and director of Marietta College's program in Latin American studies. "I count myself lucky to be one of the few humanities Ph.D.'s to have landed a tenure-track position during the past job-hunting season. The experience has been overwhelmingly positive, but I admit the transition from graduate student to faculty member has been bewildering," he says. Full Story
16. Anderson’s Dirtday! expresses bafflement at today’s world
Berkeleyside
Musician-storyteller Laurie Anderson will perform Dirtday! at Zellerbach Hall on September 18, at 8 p.m. Full Story
17. Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me! Bluff the Listener
NPR
Contestants were asked to identify which one of three unusual recycling schemes was true, and one of the selections was that Berkeley entomologist Judy Talbon came upon the idea of recycling shed snake skins as fingernail appliqués. This was not the true story, and there is no Judy Talbon listed in the university's directory. Full Story