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Because of its roots in single-gender institutions, the Greek system often exemplifies more subtle gender norms in our society. I recently joined a sorority at UC Berkeley, and these norms quickly became abundantly clear. Clearest case in point: Exchanges, sometimes called mixers at other universities, are fraternity-hosted parties where the invitees are members of particular […]
What do a light bulb joke, your great aunt’s cold remedy, and a poem scribbled on the door of a bathroom stall have in common? If you know the answer, you may have taken a class from the late UC Berkeley professor Alan Dundes. Each of these, Dundes would have said, is an example of […]
Expect the buzz over “vision-correcting” screens to ratchet up toward chainsaw decibels: Scientific American just designated research by UC Berkeley computer science professor Brian Barsky’s team as one of 2014’s “World Changing” ideas. Such screens, by “distorting” in response to a viewer’s visual deficits, could eliminate the need for spectacles or contact lenses. No matter […]
When it comes to the existence of Santa Claus, it’s tough to find reliable sources. A quick Google search will lead you to theories ranging from Santa being a commercialized hoax used to sell Coca-Cola, to Santa being a shaman stoned on psychedelic mushrooms.
One year ago, Alexander Coward attained, by sheer accident, what so many others have sought without success—a little slice of Internet fame. The UC Berkeley lecturer did so simply by sending an email to his math students. The email’s journey to stardom began when a student posted it to Facebook; then another posted it to […]
Many of the protestors who had gathered on Ferguson, Missouri’s streets last night correctly predicted that a St. Louis County grand jury would not indict Officer Darren Wilson on criminal charges in the shooting death of African-American teenager Michael Brown. So, too, did UC Berkeley social psychologist Jack Glaser, an associate professor at the Goldman […]
Yea, verily, there is much to inspire gratitude on this holiday centered on a gallinaceous bird with alarmingly hypertrophied breasts. At no time in the course of human history have so many had so much, and our overextended credit accounts prove it. Seriously, though: The great majority of us have enough to eat, roofs over […]
It’s being called a treacherous game of chicken. A brutal chess match in which students are pawns. A battle for the soul of public higher education in California. Whatever it is, it isn’t over yet. Thursday’s 14-to-7 vote by the UC Board of Regents to approve a plan that could raise undergraduate tuition on all […]
In a long, rectangular laboratory with windows facing a dim October sky, Keith Bouma-Gregson casually shows me his collection of murder suspects. “This was sent to me by a woman,” he says, extending a mason jar of toxic pond scum. The jar is filled with a dark-green thicket of algae, which is emitting tiny streams […]
We all know about Bitcoin: It’s that electronic currency that exists somewhere in the ether and can be used to buy illicit products on the Internet. And it isn’t backed by hard assets (such as gold specie) or a sovereign nation. And to create new Bitcoins you must “mine” them, which means solving complex mathematical problems […]
For several thousand lucky prisoners now languishing in California’s jails and prisons, last week’s passage of Proposition 47 is an early Christmas present: A get-out-of-jail-free card. Convicted of low-level drug crimes and minor thefts, they were looking at another year or two or maybe more before they’d see the light of a city street. Thousands […]
Bill Moyers and Rachel Maddow have called. They want the story of how 20 UC Berkeley journalism students took on big oil accused of trying to buy an election—and control the news—in Richmond. Chevron spent $3.1 million dollars to advance three Richmond candidates: Nat Bates for mayor, and Donna Powers and Charles Ramsey for city […]
I chickened out. That’s what I remember most from my first trip to Berkeley’s Adventure Playground. I was 7 years old, enthralled by the playground’s junkyard-meets-Neverland, anything-goes atmosphere. There were scrap-wood forts, cobbled together towers, webs of cargo netting, old tires, and boat hulls in the dirt. Kids my age walked around wielding tools and […]
Who hasn’t had a parent or a grandparent—or yourself—lost or confused on a new trail through a dense park? Or, after a certain age, unsure if you really took that anti-cholesterol pill last night, or was it the blood pressure regulator? They kind of look the same. Every day 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65, with […]
Name a progressive cause from the 20th century, and odds are it reverberated to the soundtrack of protest music. Singing together “helps unify people and bring people together with a common message,” says Terry Garthwaite, who sang at protests on the UC Berkeley campus during the Free Speech Movement and went on to found the […]
Studies conducted on a ranch in the heart of Marin County and led by UC Berkeley researchers and alums seem to confirm what home gardeners have long suspected: Compost really can save the world. That sounds hyperbolic, of course. But research led by Whendee Silver of Berkeley’s Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management concludes […]
Lick Observatory has received a reprieve after all. The University of California has reversed its plan to pull funding from the world’s first mountain-summit observatory. Instead the UC system will provide continued funding (next year, that amounts to $1.5 million), an amount that astronomers characterized as sufficient but frugal. To achieve its full potential, the […]
Tesla claims to be the fastest on the planet, but BMW touts that it can go from 0 to 80 in less than half an hour. The electric car makers aren’t bragging about miles per hour—they’re touting percent battery charge. The race for fast-charging stations is on: Tesla has more than 100 of these supercharger […]
As Brittany Maynard—the young UC Berkeley alum whose response to terminal brain cancer ignited a national debate—carried our her plan to end her life on Nov 1, she left behind a message that “it is people who pause to appreciate life and give thanks who are happiest. If we change our thoughts, we change the world! Love […]
