http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/ Headlines from the University of California, Berkeley Steve McConnell - steve.mcconnell@berkeley.edu en-US http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/11/23_obama.shtml African American scholar-activists on Thursday conducted a follow-up evaluation of the nation's current "weird, surreal" condition, as journalist Brenda Payton put it — "led by a black president who we aren't supposed to think of as black." Published: 23 November http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/11/12_lakoff.shtml "The California Democracy Act," recently submitted to the attorney general's office, would take the state back to pre-Prop. 13 days, when the majority ruled -- and the Legislature was able to pass a budget Published: 12 November http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/10/27_calif.shtml "What Ails California?," a daylong conference held last week on the Berkeley campus, at times resembled an episode of the TV show House -- but without the "aha" moment in which the patient's disease is identified and the cure prescribed. The state's voters, it seems, want change. But what kind of change? And will it help solve California's budget crisis? Published: 27 October http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/10/23_goldman.shtml Over the years, the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley has emerged as a leader in proposing solutions to major issues facing society, and now a new $5 million gift from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund will make it possible for the school to make a greater impact in the world. Published: 23 October http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/10/15_furlough_report.shtml Much of the savings from California state workers’ three-day-a-month mandatory furlough will be offset by reduced revenue and increased costs to the state general fund in future years, says a study released today (Thursday, Oct. 15) by UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education. Published: 15 October http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/09/21_healthreform.shtml ational healthcare reform continues to dominate the headlines, with Congress laboring over various proposals and President Obama making his case for reform to the public. To help shed light on where the debate stands today, and where it may be headed, the NewsCenter queried heathcare-policy experts at Berkeley for their insights — asking what they would like to see in a comprehensive healthcare plan, what compromises they expect from Congress, and what they predict will finally emerge. Published: 21 September http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/09/18_mondale.shtml In an event sponsored by the Blum Center for Developing Economies, the 81-year-old Mondale invoked the spirit of the Peace Corps as he argued the case — though "argued" might be too strong a word for the mild-mannered Minnesotan, who goes by the nickname "Fritz" — for U.S. development aid to countries in need. Published: 18 September http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/08/06_disability.shtml The United States' signing last week of the United Nations' international convention on disability rights brought cheers from Berkeley academicians and activists involved in efforts to assure the quality of life for disabled people — and reminders that there remains much to do to, both here and around the world. Published: 06 August http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/06/25_shortellqa.shtml Without reform, the current U.S. healthcare system will well make the federal government "go the way of GM — paying more, getting less, and going broke," President Obama warned recently. In a Q&A with the NewsCenter, Dean of Public Health Stephen Shortell, an adviser to the Obama administration on pending health care legislation, speaks about needed changes — from a center for comparing effectiveness of various treatment options to better incentives for doctors and hospitals to reduce costs. Published: 25 June http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/05/26_sotomayor.shtml Foes of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination Tuesday to the U.S. Supreme Court have focused in part on her comments on the role of ethnicity, gender and life experience in judicial rulings. Read the full text of Sotomayor's speech on the subject, delivered Oct. 26, 2001 at U.C. Berkeley as the Judge Mario G. Olmos Memorial Lecture. Published: 26 May http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/05/07_crime2.shtml Legal scholar Jonathan Simon discusses the social and fiscal impacts of California's approach to crime and punishment. Unless we confront its central flaws, he says, "everything is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic." Part 2 of a two-part Q&A. Published: 07 May http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/05/06_crime.shtml California's criminal justice system has been thrust into the national spotlight by the shooting deaths of four Oakland police officers by a recently released state prisoner. Criminal-law expert Jonathan Simon talks about the 'broken' system he has studied since the 1980s. Published: 06 May http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2009/04/06_healthcare.shtml As the herculean and unpredictable political battle over national healthcare reform unfolds on Capitol Hill, a panel of experts explored "considerations for the Obama administration" at an April 1 campus event. Four experts in health policy, politics, law, and labor focused on needed changes, with emphasis on what is realistically achievable. Published: 06 April http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2009/04/02_concern.shtml How concerned should we be about breakthroughs in synthetic biology that might also be useful to bioterrorists? An online advice portal developed at Berkeley may help to minimize those risks. Published: 02 April http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2009/03/04_Aussiefire.shtml Berkeley fire researchers caution that any state wishing to emulate Australia's policy of preparing citizens to defend their homes against wildfire needs to take responsibility for properly training and supplying them. Published: 04 March