Taking Note

  • Six Feet High and Risin.' Excitement for those few of us on campus noonish Thursday, Jan. 2, when a latte-brown Strawberry Creek crested. Banks were breached, and good-sized logs came downstream tumbling on "spin cycle" in whirlpools. One could now drown where once one could hop across. The water disappears into a surprisingly small culvert at Oxford Street, which it is said heads bayward under the center of Center Street.

  • 'twas the Season. Yeah, I know the holidays are over. But one modest office tree took the cake for originality. It was decorated with smiling cutouts of our chancellor, attached to its branches with paper clips. A picture of the Campanile crowned the topmost twig.

  • Lost in Dwinelle. If you've ever been in that predicament, check out Ann Juell's whimsical exhibit on the rehab in the main lobby. The floor plan is legend for confusing those seeking classrooms and offices within, and the display has articles on this topic -- freshmen becoming sophomores while searching for their destinations. -- The south wing attic will be offices; the north wing gets two new floors. Computer hookups will be added throughout, as will fire and safety improvements. The $11.5 million upgrade/expansion should be finished next summer.

    Building coordinator Juell of Media Services is backing color-coordinated floors, signs and maps to improve Dwinelle navigation.

  • Tang Center Census. Congratulations to head team physician Cindy Chang and Chris Hudson on the birth of a daughter, Carlin Xaioying. Carlin is Irish for "little champ"; Xaioying is "little heroine" in Chinese. Soon after checkout from Alta Bates, Carlin Xaioying was spotted at a Cal tailgate party with a hearty war cry that could be heard for miles.

  • The Fruit Cocktail Trail.

    After a call to help identify the concoction's inventor, former University Archivist Jim Kantor put us on track. In the library's Regional Oral History Office is a memoir of Professor William Vere Cruess, co-founder of the field of food science and chair of the department of food technology. In addition to inventing fruit cocktail, he introduced the Spanish olive to food processing and was responsible for apricot nectar. He was present at one of the first judgings of California wines about 1936, and World War II found him perfecting food packaging for the army. Cruess died at age 82 in 1968. How many like him are yet fondly recalled by colleagues for their teaching and research and for their humanity?

    Incidentally, Cruess worked his way through Berkeley doing odd jobs, including pitching hay. -- F.M.


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