Cal Culture

Chancellor’s Letter: Listening to Women’s Voices

In the fall of 2017, the #MeToo movement drew national headlines that focused the country’s attention on the issue of sexual harassment and assault in the workplace. The poignant narratives courageously shared as part of #MeToo make sexual harassment feel viscerally real, even to people who may think they have largely been spared from its effects. Such stories powerfully illustrate the depth and lasting nature of sexual harassment’s impact in our society.

From the Fall 2018 Culture Shift issue of California.

Red Eyes On the Prize: How Berkeley Breaks the Nobel News

Picture this: It’s past 2 a.m. on October 1, and Berkeley is finally asleep. The night owls have started to nod off at their desks, and the early risers won’t be up for a few more hours. At first glance, not a creature seems to be stirring—not even a Kiwibot.

Posted on October 2, 2018 - 11:22am

Berkeley Brief: Stuffed Birds, Banned Books, and More

A dose of housing reality

It’s confirmed: Low-income people of color are bearing the brunt of the housing crisis.

According to new reports from UC Berkeley’s Urban Displacement Project and the California Housing Partnership, rising housing costs are pushing already disadvantaged communities out—into neighborhoods high in poverty and low in resources.

Posted on September 28, 2018 - 4:50pm

Always a Maverick: Cynthia Marshall Made Her Mark Before Dallas

In February, Cynthia Marshall took over as CEO of the Dallas Mavericks—becoming the first African-American female CEO in the NBA. She also inherited an organization in crisis, after a Sports Illustrated story revealed rampant sexual harassment, incidents of domestic abuse, and a toxic culture.

Posted on September 28, 2018 - 2:00pm

His, Hers, and Theirs: UC Berkeley’s Universal Locker Room

Today, UC Berkeley’s first “universal” locker room, for people of any gender-ID and body type, opened to the public. At 4,500 square feet, it’s believed to be the largest universal locker room in California. Yesterday some lucky humans and I went on an exclusive tour of the inclusive space before its grand opening, and let me tell ya, I felt so A-list. Nothing says high-class like a bunch of people rubbing their chins and pursing their lips while looking at a toilet. I know because I watch people do it in the SFMOMA all the time!

Posted on September 26, 2018 - 5:32pm

Trick or Tracksuit: An Expat’s Halloween Faux Pas

I knew my experience at Cambridge University would be far different from my four years at Berkeley when the suggested list of items to bring overseas inquired: Do you have enough formal wear?

My suitcase overflowed with ripped denim and shabby sweaters, so the answer, definitively, was no.

From the Fall 2018 Culture Shift issue of California.

Editor’s Note: We’re on the Road to…Somewhere

When I was a kid, it seemed like all adults smoked. Cigarette butts littered the sidewalks, the stench of stale tobacco clung to the upholstery, and ashtrays were everywhere. We made ashtrays in art class as gifts for our parents.

Back then, people smoked in their offices, their cars, and on airplanes. On airplanes! In California these days you can’t even light up in a bar.

What happened?

From the Fall 2018 Culture Shift issue of California.

The Berkeley Brief: Bacteria, Blockchain, and More

Blockchains and Bitcoins and Crytpo, Oh My!

Cryptocurrency is flying around the market like hot crypto-cakes—but is it here to stay? Is it the second coming of the tech wave, destined to change our lives forever?

Posted on September 21, 2018 - 1:25pm

The Bears Are Back In Town (and Back On Reddit)

Being a student at UC Berkeley, one of the top public universities in the United States, can put a butterfly in even the most confident of stomachs. How will I become a doctor if I can’t pass OChem?! Is majoring in Scandinavian a mistake?! How can I get the best deals on all of these textbooks that I will probably never read?! Thanks to the Internet, these existential agonies, having long been forced to reside deep in the subconscious, have a place to manifest publicly, for better or worse.

Posted on August 29, 2018 - 12:41pm

Reading Roundup: Volcanic Umbrellas, Student Oscars, More

Volcanic Umbrella

When Mt. Pinatubo exploded in the northern Philippines in 1991, it spewed millions of tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. For nearly two years, that sunlight-blocking plume acted as a sort of volcanic “umbrella,” cooling the Earth by almost 1 degree Fahrenheit. As climate change increasingly alters our lifestyles and embeds itself into our collective consciousness, geoengineering—in this case, humans playing volcano to replicate this cooling event—became a fascinating idea.

Posted on August 24, 2018 - 5:07pm

Proud Legacy: New Blackwell Hall Houses Students and Stiles

After 18 months of construction, the sidewalks have been cleared, the furniture has been moved in, and, on August 14, some 750 freshmen will be welcomed into their new Berkeley digs on the corner of Durant Avenue and Dana Street. The university’s newest eight-story residence, David Blackwell Hall, opens as the campus is pushing to house a greater portion of its growing enrollment. The new dorm is also the refurbished residence of another long-time home for Berkeley students: Stiles Hall.

Posted on August 9, 2018 - 4:28pm

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