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News Briefs

23 April 2008

Golden Apple lecture is April 24

Professor of City and Regional Planning Ananya Roy, the recipient of this year’s student-designated Golden Apple Award for Outstanding Teaching, will deliver her “ideal last lecture” (the recipient’s obligation) on Thursday, April 24, at 7 p.m. in 155 Dwinelle, sponsored by ASUC. A webcast of the speech will be available several days thereafter at webcast.berkeley.edu.

Biophysicist Chikashi Toyoshima to deliver Hitchcock Lectures

The annual Hitchcock Lectures, presented by the Graduate Division, will be delivered by the eminent biophysicist Chikashi Toyoshima on April 30 and May 1.

Toyoshima is a biophysicist and professor at the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences at the University of Tokyo. His Hitchcock Lectures will address his work on the structure and energy-coupling mechanism of the calcium ATPase. His first lecture, on Wednesday, April 30, is titled “Calcium, Proteins, Energy, and Life.” His second, “Molecular Machine at Work: The Case of the Calcium Pump Protein,” will take place the following day, Thursday, May 1. Both lectures, which are free and open to the public, will commence at 4:10 p.m. in International House’s Chevron Auditorium, 2299 Piedmont Ave.

Daylong nanotech forum this weekend

“Prospects: From Ideal to Real,” the fifth annual Berkeley Nanotechnology Forum, will bring together hundreds of attendees to hear about research-and-development priorities and to discuss some of the social, economic, and political implications of nanotechnology. This year’s theme represents nanotechnology’s transition from laboratory experiments and theory to real products and widely accepted technological advances.

The forum takes place Sunday, April 27, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m at the Haas School of Business. The main presentations will be held in the school’s Arthur Andersen Auditorium.

Registration is required, with an online deadline of Thursday, April 24. (Limited on-site registrations will be accepted.) Costs range from $5 for students and $10 for people affiliated with the Berkeley campus to a top price of $35 for unaffiliated industry representatives. A link to the online registration site is at www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~nano.

New language clarifies harassment policy concerning consensual relationships

The University of California’s commitment to fostering an environment free from all forms of harassment, exploitation, or intimidation is detailed in the UC Policy on Sexual Harassment. Campus administrators have concluded that the policy should provide greater clarity regarding the responsibilities of individuals within the university community who become involved in consensual relationships, and have added a new section to the existing policy. (The policy is online at evcp.chance.berkeley.edu, the website of Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost George Breslauer.)

The new provision clarifies that anyone who enters into a consensual relationship with someone over whom he or she has supervisory, decision-making, oversight, evaluative, or advisory responsibilities shall remove himself or herself from any professional decisions concerning that individual.

The supplementary section also identifies strategies for resolution and is consistent with existing university policies, including those governing faculty-student relationships as described in the Academic Personnel Manual (“Faculty Code of Conduct,” APM-015).

Legislation that would protect animal researchers moves forward

On a bipartisan 9-0 vote, the California Assembly Judiciary Committee on April 17 passed legislation to promote the protection of university animal researchers. The bill, AB 2296, is authored by Assemblymember Gene Mullin (D-San Mateo) and sponsored by the University of California.

Acts of violence against UC faculty and staff by extremists opposed to animal research are increasing in frequency and severity. UC personnel continue to be targets of arson, bombings, vandalism, intimidation, harassment, and other acts, both at work and at home.

As passed by the committee, AB 2296 would focus on limiting a tactic used by anti-animal-research extremist groups — the posting on the Internet of names, home addresses, and other personal information that can then be used to harass researchers and their families. The legislation gives universities and researchers the ability to pursue sanctions, such as injunctions and the opportunity to recover damages, against those who make such postings.

The bill is scheduled to be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee within the next several weeks. For more information about AB 2296, visit www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/animalresearch.

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