The links to the stories summarized on this page are time sensitive, so stories might no longer be online at that URL. We also include links to the original source publication itself.
Wednesday, 19 September 2012
1. Brown signs bill revamping workers' compensation insurance
Los Angeles Times
A bipartisan bill that boosts the workers' compensation insurance program in California was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday. The hardships suffered by injured workers had been underscored last year by a Berkeley Survey Research Center study finding that permanent disability benefits had dropped from an average of $25,000 per injured worker in 2004 to an average of $12,000 in 2011. Full Story
2. East-West Culture Clash? Boston, San Francisco See Happiness Differently
Huffington Post
A study co-authored by law and social science professor Victoria Plaut has confirmed that the cultural differences between the West Coast and East Coast are real, not just stereotyping. "Our ideas about who we are and how we should feel are shaped in quite dramatic ways by our local environment," she says. "If you examine the local world, you'll find that the East is more old and established, and the West is more new and free." Full Story
3. Booster Shots: Food stamps buy up to $2.1 billion a year in sugary drinks, study says
Los Angeles Times
A new study has highlighted the contradiction between the government's dietary guidelines recommending that Americans reduce their consumption of sugary drinks and the roughly $2 billion the federal food assistance program SNAP pays for such purchases each year. In an article accompanying the report in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, associate public health professor Barbara Laraia writes: "Restrictions on soda purchases would not achieve their goal if participation rates declined or if soda purchases were replaced with purchases of other energy-dense foods. ... A second major criticism affecting restrictions on SNAP benefits is that these send a paternalistic message: that it is OK to restrict what poor Americans purchase with federal dollars, presumably because they do not know any better." Full Story
4. Heavy toll seen in health habits: Obesity
San Francisco Chronicle
Assistant public health professor Kristine Madsen comments on a study finding that nearly half of Californians will be obese by 2030 if they don't change their eating habits, saying that she has seen encouraging signs that people are getting the message about obesity. An example is patients who are consuming fewer sugary drinks. Nevertheless, this and other studies show that the state still has a long way to go. "Our obesity rates have tripled over three decades, so a dent of 1 percent is not getting us back to where we need to be." Full Story
5. World Now Blog: Solutions to poverty, population growth, global warming [Google+ Hangout]
Los Angeles Times Online
An international conference co-hosted at Berkeley this week by public health professors Malcolm Potts and Ndola Prata will address issues related to extreme population growth in certain parts of the world. The Los Angeles Times will hold a live online video discussion via Google+ Hangout on Thursday. Full Story
6. Blog: A Joint Worthy Enterprise
Huffington Post
A senior counsel at the American Bar Association (ABA) Center for Human Rights writes about the success of the United Nations-Khmer Rouge Tribunal in bringing justice — or at least answers — to the victims of atrocities under the Khmer Rouge regime. A post-trial study by Berkeley researchers showed a net increase in positive indicators of attitude, knowledge, and expectations of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) within Cambodia's total population. Full Story
7. Poll: Calif. voters favor Obama by wide margin
Sacramento Bee
A Field Poll conducted with Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies has found that 58 percent of likely voters in California prefer President Barack Obama, compared to 34 percent for Romney. Another story on this topic appeared in the Sacramento Bee. Full Story
8. Romney video latest campaign stumble
San Francisco Chronicle
Political science professor Jack Citrin, director of Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS), comments on the status of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. "It's not so much individual things, but it's the cumulative events that form an image of a person that is either unfavorable or lacking in empathy. ... Gradually, these things reinforce an image that, once it's firm, is hard to change." About the latest Field Poll, conducted with IGS, he says, "there are no signs of gains for him — even in typically Republican areas." Full Story
9. Morning Edition: Univision Cries Foul, Hosts Own Presidential Forums
NPR
Associate education professor Lisa Garcia Bedolla comments on the first presidential forum that Spanish-language network Univision will broadcast Wednesday night. Referring to audience members who are Hispanic voters born outside of the U.S. but subsequently naturalized, she says: "Many of those folks get their news from Univision because there is a sense that they cover things that the English-language news doesn't cover. ... The language of this forum is less critical than the substance of the forum, and the forum is going to be focused on a set of questions that probably aren't going to be as prominent in the English-language debate." Link to audio. Full Story
10. It's All Politics Blog: The End Of WASP-Dominated Politics
NPR Online
In a story about the significance of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan forming the first presidential ticket in the country's history that doesn't include a Protestant, history professor David Hollinger explains the cultural trajectory. "All these immigrants started coming in from Latin America and Asia, many Catholic or not Christian," he says. And noting the importance of a society affirming merit, he says: "They find these guys like Obama who are clearly ready to go and take advantage of a place like Columbia or Harvard. ... In earlier times, somebody like Obama couldn't get into Harvard and they wouldn't have had anything to do with him." Full Story
11. Blog: Mr. Romney, Have You Seen the 47 Percent?
Huffington Post
Law and public policy professor Jennifer Granholm writes a response to Mitt Romney's secretly recorded comments on the 47% of Americans who don't concern him. Saying he simply hasn't "tried to see those who struggle," she answers his statement, "My job is not to worry about those people," by saying, "Well, Mr. Romney, it is our job to worry about you." Full Story
12. Ohio Firm Hunts for Workers Making World-Class Compressors: Jobs
San Francisco Chronicle
Economics professor Jesse Rothstein explains one of the reasons that many jobs are remaining vacant, saying that he has seen evidence that some employers are requiring excessive qualifications for skilled jobs or are setting wages lower than workers are willing or able to accept. Full Story
13. Morning Edition: Google's Digital Library Plan Hits Another Snag
NPR
Law professor Pam Samuelson weighs in on the latest snag in Google's efforts to scan all the world's books to make them searchable online, due to opposition from the Authors Guild, saying that while the company is confident enough to keep scanning, "the sense that I have, from talking to people, is that maybe they have slowed down a little bit." Link to audio. Full Story
14. UC Dean Announces Plans for Program to Support Urban Farming Tied to Gill Tract
Berkeley Patch
Dean Keith Gilless, of the College of Natural Resources, told the Albany City Council that the college plans to create a center for food systems, urban agriculture and food policy that would be connected to the Gill Tract research field for at least the next decade. The property in Albany had attracted widespread attention earlier this year when Occupy protesters took over the plot in a farming protest, demanding the field's protection from development in perpetuity. Full Story
15. 6th Floor Blog: Past Forward: Why Students Still Want to Get Into ‘Hot’ Colleges
New York Times Online (*requires registration)
In an article about what constitutes a "hot college," a high school senior in San Diego is quoted: “People in California always mention U.C.L.A., Berkeley and U.S.C.,” although her personal criteria would include snow and a small student body. Full Story
16. Police seek flasher exposing himself in UC Berkeley family housing
Oakland Tribune
Police are searching for a man suspected of impersonating a maintenance worker and exposing himself to women at the University Village housing complex in Albany in three incidents over the past week. Anyone with information on the man is asked to call 510-642-0472 or 510-642-6760. Full Story
17. Reap the benefits of fall plant sales
San Francisco Chronicle
Berkeley's UC Botanical Garden will be one of several horticultural programs in the Bay Area offering bargains at fall plant sales. In addition to Mediterranean mainstays, the garden will be selling unusual items, such as rare cycads and palms, carnivorous plants, rare bulbs, vines, and tropicals, with proceeds benefiting the garden. The event takes place on September 30, from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Full Story
18. WTF Blog: Lil B Releases Rock Song "California Boy," Proves He Still Has the Ability to Surprise
SFist
Berkeley rapper Lil B has released a new song and video called "California Boy," filmed on campus, which this reviewer calls Lil B's "latest leg-puller ... a parodic but somewhat credible acoustic-electric rock song that — apart from B's voice and perhaps the gold teeth — could stand in for a particularly tepid Goo Goo Dolls or Gin Blossoms B-side." Link to video. Full Story