I just returned from Washington, DC, where I attended the annual meeting of the graduate deans of the 62 major research schools belonging to the American Association of Universities (AAU). This was an action-packed trip, in which I also went to Capitol Hill, for visits with key staff to lobby in favor of graduate student funding. I focused on National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships (did you know Berkeley has the most? 363!) as well as IGERTs, FLAS, GAANN, Patsy Minks, etc. I met with staff of Representative Honda of California and Senator Kerry of Massachusetts, and committee staff for Research and Education and Science, Technology and Innovation. It was an adventure. I hope my advocacy will help, in the long run.
At the AAU meeting we had very informative presentations by the Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington, and the Secretary of the Smithsonian, Cristian Samper. I was impressed to learn that both institutions include collections of international objects or publications that are in some cases the definitive collections for a given country or culture — anywhere. They also have a lot online.
Here is a link on research at the Smithsonian: http://www.si.edu/research/ — and a description of their offerings in fellowships and internships: http://www.si.edu/ofg/start.htm.
For the Library of Congress, here is the research website: http://www.loc.gov/rr/ — and information on internships and fellowships: http://www.loc.gov/hr/employment/index.php?action=cMain.showFellowships.
Maybe some of these links will be useful for you.
Best wishes,
Andrew J. Szeri
Dean of the Graduate Division
P.S. Speaking of fellowships, highlights of those with upcoming deadlines are provided below. Some are just around the corner; take a quick look so you can plan your time to include filing your applications.
TopStanley’s Back, Bigger and Better
- More labs, more classrooms, more offices, and much more interdisciplinary research
Graduate Degrees
- Conducting research with human or animal subjects?
Graduate Fellowships
- A wide menu of possibilities to help fund your graduate education
Calendar
- Upcoming events and workshops
Berkeley International Office
- SISS has changed its name — and more
Graduate Assembly
- Become a Graduate Assembly delegate — represent your department, get free food
- Represent grad students on a university committee
- Social events for grad students
University Library
- The Bookstore: easier to get to, full of great deals
University Police (UCPD)
- Several ways to stay alert to crime on and around campus
In the News
- Haas community is there for its suddenly laptop-less
- Wall Street Journal ranks Haas #2 in its 2007 recruiter poll
- With a Goldman master’s, Carmen Chu is now on the SF Board of Supervisors
- Saluting an expert in entomology
Honors
- Four 2007 MacArthur recipients have Berkeley connections, including a grad alum in Tennessee
Stanley Hall by the numbers — 11 stories (eight above ground, three below); 33 wet labs, eight computational labs, three auditoriums, and, coming in 2008, a café. Its square footage is 285,000, more than four times that of its outdated predecessor. Cost of the new building: $162.3 million (well over half — $88.6 million — from private philanthropic sources). The original 1952 structure was rated seismically poor in 1997 and demolished in 2003. Both were named for biochemist and virologist Wendell M. Stanley (1904-1971, shown in inset), one of Berkeley’s first Nobelists. It’s located across Gayley Road from Stern Hall and the Greek Theatre near the East Gate to the campus.
Building photo: Peg Skorpinski
On the last two days of September, a spectacular living shrine to innovation in the biosciences was feted and officially dedicated: Stanley Hall, a strong, state-of-the-art facility rising from the rubble of its overcrowded and temblor-vulnerable former self.
The building’s occupants — bioengineers, biologists, chemists, physicists, mathematicians, and computers scientists, from undergrads and grad students to a Nobel laureate — have been moving in and using it since April.
At the dedication ceremony, Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau sketched the big picture: “The research that will be stimulated here, at the crossroads of multiple disciplines, holds the promise of transforming human health, energy, and the environment.”
The facility was planned not only to enable collaborations among scientists across disciplines, but to make them inevitable. Space allocation is not controlled by a department or college in the traditional manner, but to support the science that’s emerging from multidisciplinary programs, new fields of research such as synthetic biology and computational biology, both of which are hybrid fields (the latter blend was critical to sequencing the human genome).
More from Jeanne Stachowiak on video
Active partnerships among researchers are already underway in Stanley, at all levels. Jeanne Stachowiak, a mechanical engineering Ph.D. student (who’s a member of bioengineering associate professor Dan Fletcher’s sixth-floor lab team), says sharing equipment and expertise is already commonplace there. “If we weren’t on the same floor, or even in the same building, it would be less likely that we’d even know about each other’s resources,” she says. “The way the space is configured lets students build their own collaboration. We talk while having lunch, and we might find out that a particular lab has a tool that could be useful in our research. It helps students create their own community.
David Wemmer shows and explains the facility on video
One of the available tools, weighing in at seven tons, is housed in the basement — a powerful 900-megahertz magnet, one of only a few in the world, in a nuclear magnetic resonance facility. Its director, chemistry professor David Wemmer (who received his Ph.D. here in 1979), says the magnet provides glimpses of “magnetic moments” in the nuclei of molecules, such as DNA and RNA and proteins, that help scientists see how they function and how they interact with, for example, drug molecules, to answer questions that are “state of the art” in biology.
If you are conducting research activities for your degree program that involve human or animal subjects, be sure that you follow the campus guidelines. You must obtain an approved protocol from UC Berkeley before you begin your research. Protocols issued by other organizations are not sufficient (this includes protocols from Lawrence Berkeley National Labs and other affiliated organizations). For more information, visit the Graduate Services: Degrees website or contact the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects at 510-642-7461 or the Animal Care and Use Committee at 510- 642-8855.
TopNote: Fellowships are listed chronologically by deadline date.
Students who will take their qualifying exam in the spring, summer, or fall 2008 semesters, and who have not been awarded a university or extramural fellowship, may apply for a one-semester fellowship of $7,300 plus fees (and nonresident tuition for international students). Students are required to register and may not be employed during the semester of the fellowship. The fellowship application is available online (PDF), as are instructions (PDF). The deadline is Monday, October 15, 2007. For questions about the award, contact Gina Farales by email at gfarales@berkeley.edu or phone (510) 642-7739.
This program provides need-based fellowship funding for up to four years of graduate study in selected fields of the arts, humanities, and social sciences. The competition is generally restricted to Ph.D. students, but those in the M.F.A program are also eligible. Applications for the 2008 Javits competition are due on October 15, 2007. Instructions can be found online. For questions about the fellowship, contact Solomon Lefler by email at lefler@berkeley.edu or phone (510) 643-7477.
Jacob Javits was U.S. Senator from New York from 1957 to 1981. The fellowships named for him are provided through the U.S. Department of Education.The DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst) for Study in Germany offers research grants and study scholarships to undergraduate seniors, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers (2 years or less beyond the Ph.D.) so they may undertake up to 10 months of study or research in Germany. Applications for the 2008 competition are due on October 22, 2007. The fellowship application is available online. For questions about the fellowship, including instructions for submission, contact Michael Sacramento by email at msacram@berkeley.edu or phone (510) 642-7739.
This program provides an intensive experience in Asia for young Americans who show evidence of potential leadership and accomplishment. Applicants should have a strong, mature, and clearly defined interest in a field other than Asian affairs. The campus deadline is Monday, October 29, 2007. For more information, contact Gina Farales by email at gfarales@berkeley.edu or phone (510-642-7739), and see the Luce Foundation website.
Henry R. Luce (shown with his wife, congresswoman, ambassador, playwright, and journalist Clare Booth Luce) founded Time, Life, Sports Illustrated, and other magazines, which grew into a communications empire. He was born in China, where he gained his lifelong interest in Asia.The George C. Marshall/Baruch Fellowship offers maximum grants of $7,500 for doctoral or postdoctoral research in 20th century U. S. military or diplomatic history and related fields. The application deadline is October 29, 2007. Grants must be used within the twelve-month period following the distribution of award funds. For additional information and an application, visit the George C. Marshall Foundation website or you may write: The George C. Marshall Research Library, Attention: Joanne D. Hartog, P. O. Drawer 1600, Lexington, VA 24450; or by email at hartogjd@marshallfoundation.org.
George Catlett Marshall, Jr. was General of the Army, Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense. Instrumental in the Allied victory in World War II, he was the chief military adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953 for his plan for postwar European recovery, which became known as the Marshall Plan. Official military photo, 1946.These are science, math, and engineering scholarships for U.S. citizens for one year of graduate work at Churchill College, one of the newer colleges at Cambridge University. For more information, contact the Scholarship Connection Office, 301B Campbell Hall #2922, Berkeley, CA 94720-2922 (by phone 510-643-6929, or email at scholarships@learning.berkeley.edu) or visit their website. Still more information is available from the Winston Churchill Foundation. The application deadline is October 25, 2007.
Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1940-1945, 1951-1955). Churchill College at Cambridge was built in tribute to his prescient recognition of the growing importance of science and technology for prosperity and security.This program provides funding for 6 to 12 months of dissertation research in modern foreign language and area studies. The campus deadline for this year's DDRA competition is October 25, 2007; applications and instructions are available online. An application workshop will be held in early October, but questions can also be addressed to Solomon Lefler by email lefler@berkeley.edu or phone (510) 643-7477.
A two-year grant for graduate students: applicants must be New Americans (resident alien, naturalized as a U.S. citizen, or the child of two parents who are both naturalized citizens); have a bachelor's degree, be in their final year of undergraduate study, or enrolled in the first or second year of a graduate program; and may not be older than 30 years of age as of November 1, 2007. Website: www.pdsoros.org. Application deadline: November 1, 2007.
Paul and Daisy Margaret Soros established their fellowship program for new Americans nearly a decade ago with a charitable trust of $50 million. They are both Hungarian immigrants. Paul, who defected from the Hungarian ski team at the 1948 Olympics, founded an international engineering firm. Daisy came to the U.S. as a student (at Columbia University) and worked extensively as a counselor to terminally ill patients and their families.These fellowships provide support for emerging scholars to complete work on projects related to the Getty Research Institute’s annual theme (Networks and Boundaries for 2008-2009). In residence at the institute in Los Angeles, recipients pursue research to complete their dissertations or expand them for publication. Predoctoral applicants must have advanced to candidacy by the fellowship start date and expect to complete their dissertations during the fellowship period. Postdoctoral applicants must have received their degree no earlier than 2002. Further information and application may be found on the Getty website. The application deadline is November 1, 2007.
NSF Research Fellowships are awarded for study in mathematical, physical, biological, and social sciences; engineering; science education; and in the history and philosophy of science. This fellowship, which offers three years of support, is for U.S. citizens, nationals, and permanent residents at or near the beginning of graduate study. Applications for the 2008 competition are due November 1 through 9, 2007; instructions can be found online. For questions about the fellowship including the upcoming NSF GRF Applicant Workshop (see Calendar, September 28), contact Michael Sacramento by email msacram@berkeley.edu or phone (510) 642-7739.
The Hertz Fellowship competition is open to U.S. citizens in the applied and physical sciences who have a record of high scholastic performance. This award provides a stipend, tuition, and fees. Applications for the 2008 competition are due November 2, 2007; instructions can be found online. For questions about the fellowship, contact Michael Sacramento by email at msacram@berkeley.edu or phone (510-642-7739).
Fannie and John Hertz were a philanthropic team, mainly in the Chicago area, where both were raised. John, at age five, came to the U.S. with his family from what was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He left home at the age of 11 to earn his own living, which he did as a newsboy, sportswriter, and auto salesman before starting the Yellow Cab Company. He diversified in transportation, creating a series of companies that evolved into Hertz Corporation, the worldwide car and truck rental and leasing firm.These fellowships, for 12 months of full-time dissertation research and writing, are designed to encourage original and significant study of ethical or religious values in all fields of the humanities and social sciences, and particularly to help Ph.D. candidates in these fields complete their dissertation work in a timely manner. In addition to topics in religious studies or in ethics (philosophical or religious), dissertations appropriate to the Newcombe Fellowship might explore the ethical implications of foreign policy, the values influencing political decisions, the moral codes of other cultures, and religious or ethical issues reflected in history or literature. The Newcombe Fellowships are administered with the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation (named in honor of the only U.S. President to have earned a Ph.D.). Application and further information are available online. Application deadline: early November, 2007.
Charlotte W. Newcombe (1890-1979) was a Philadelphia philanthropist and world traveler. She never attended college; with vision impaired from childhood, she couldn’t read long enough to make serious study possible. But she greatly valued higher education and sent the children of many of her friends to college. In her will, she established the Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation to continue her scholastic giving.The NPSC offers multi-year fellowships for graduate students in the physical sciences and related engineering disciplines. Fellowships are awarded in conjunction with sponsoring employers, who also provide paid summer employment. The NPSC seeks a broad applicant pool with special emphasis on underrepresented minorities and women; all eligible U.S. citizens may apply. Application information and instructions can be found online. The application deadline is November 5, 2007.
This program is designed to provide financial assistance to doctoral students in the humanities, social sciences, and professional schools during the summer months. The GDSG will fund students conducting research in preparation for their dissertations, writing dissertations, and international students enrolling in language study (U.S. citizens and permanent residents should apply for the Summer FLAS for language study). Applications for the 2008 competition are due on November 13, 2007; instructions can be found online. For questions about the fellowship, contact Michael Sacramento by email msacram@berkeley.edu or phone (510) 642-7739.
This is a one-semester fellowship to fund doctoral candidates in the neurosciences relating to human development. Applicants must have demonstrated distinguished scholarship, as well as the ability to conduct research at an advanced level. Applications are due November 14, 2007, in the Graduate Services: Fellowships Office, 318 Sproul Hall.
This fellowship is awarded for the study of Byzantine, ancient, and medieval history. Advanced Berkeley graduate students studying in the general area of ancient history are invited to apply. A student can receive this award only once during his or her academic career. Applications are due November 14, 2007, in the Graduate Services: Fellowships Office, 318 Sproul Hall.
A three-year award for U.S. citizens or nationals who have demonstrated superior academic achievement, are committed to a career in teaching and research at the college or university level, show promise of future achievement as scholars and teachers, and are well prepared to use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students. This fellowship provides a $20,000 stipend, plus tuition and fees. Applications for the 2008 competition are due November 15, 2007. Instructions may be found online. For questions about the fellowship, contact Michael Sacramento by email at msacram@berkeley.edu or phone (510) 642-7739.
AAUW Fellowships provide dissertation and career development support for women in graduate programs who have achieved distinction or show the promise of distinction in their fields. Applications may be requested online. The application deadline is November 15, 2007.
A one-year dissertation award for U.S. citizens or nationals who have demonstrated superior academic achievement, are committed to a career in teaching and research at the college or university level, show promise of future achievement as scholars and teachers, and are well prepared to use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students. This fellowship provides a $21,000 stipend. Applications for the 2008 competition are due on November 29, 2007. Instructions may be found online.
To be considered, applicants must be: African American; enrolled full time in a doctoral program in the life or physical sciences; engaged in and within 1-3 years of completing dissertation research; and a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Postdoctoral Science Research Fellowships are also available. Applications and further information are available online. The application deadline is December 15, 2007.
Applications are now being accepted for the Willis W. and Ethel M. Clark Foundation Investment in Community Graduate Fellowship for 2008-2009. Up to $10,000 per academic year is awarded to students currently enrolled full time in a graduate program who have demonstrated a commitment to community service. Applicants must be directly connected to the Monterey Peninsula and intend to return to or remain connected through work and/or residence and community service. The Clark Foundation was incorporated in 1953 and has provided community service for more than half a century. Its founders were pioneers in the field of educational testing and research who started the California Test Bureau (now known as CTB/McGraw-Hill) in 1926. The fellowship may be renewed annually, but subsequent awards may be smaller than the initial award. Applications are due January 31, 2008. More information is available online.
Willis and Ethel Clark, pioneers in educational testing.The Schweitzer Fellowship was founded in 1940 to support Dr. Schweitzer’s medical work in Africa. In 1991, the organization launched its U.S. Schweitzer Fellows Programs, through which graduate students in health professions and related fields carry out direct service projects in underserved communities in this country. This is the program’s second year in California. As many as 16 fellows will be accepted in the Bay Area. Applicants must be enrolled in a degree program through March 2009. Apply online, where additional information is available (click on “U.S. Programs” for information and “Bay Area” for application). The application deadline is February 1, 2008. Information sessions will be held during October and November. For more information, contact Dale Ogar, director of the Bay Area Schweitzer Fellows Program, by email at daleogar@schweitzerfellowship.org or phone 510-642-2857. Note that eligible fields include not only all “health professions” (medicine, nursing, public health, dentistry, social work, allied health professions, etc.) but also any other health-related field, including law, business, music, and the arts.
By the age of 29, Albert Schweitzer was the author of three books, a scholar in music, religion, and philosophy, an organist, a world authority on Bach, principal of a theological seminary, and a university professor with two doctorates. The next year, he decided to become a doctor and devote the rest of his life to direct service, helping Africans in desperate need of medical attention. He and his wife Hélène opened a hospital in Lambaréné, Gabon, where he worked until his death in 1965 at the age of 90. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952.
Photo: Dick Cortén
Denotes Graduate Division sponsored event
Located at 2575 Bancroft Way.
For more information, phone 510-642-5249 or visit the PFA online.
Through October 24: Look Back at England — The British New Wave
October 4 - 11: Olivier Assayas in Residence — Cahiers du cinéma Week 
October 4, 14, 28: Spotlight — International Animation 
October 12 - 28: Time in Widescreen — The Films of Sergio Leone 
October 31: Special Halloween Screening — The Last Man on Earth OCTOBER 10 (Wednesday)
Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) Fellowship Workshop
3 to 5 p.m.,103 Genetics and Plant Biology Building. This workshop is for UC Berkeley graduate students who will be applying for a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) fellowship this fall. For more information about the Fulbright-Hays DDRA Program, go to their website. Please note that the campus deadline for receipt of application materials is Thursday, October 25, 2007. Please direct questions to Solomon Lefler. There is no preregistration required for this workshop. Wheelchair accessible. For disability-related accommodations, please call (510) 642-0672.
OCTOBER 15-19
Mental Health Awareness Week
Raising awareness, reducing stigma, all week. Events include a movie, a keynote speaker, a “check-in” to fine-tune your mental health, plus workshops on stress management, healthy relationships, and meditation. Sponsored by University Health Services, the Alameda County Psychological Association, the ASUC, Active Minds, and Student-to-Student Peer Counseling. Specific times and places are available online.
OCTOBER 17, NOVEMBER 14, and DECEMBER 12
Arts, Neighborhoods, and Social Practice: A Colloquium in Three Parts
Exploring the roles that arts and cultural activities can play in neighborhood improvement and community-building, these colloquia mark a new collaboration of the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, the Department of City and Regional Planning, and the Berkeley Center for Community Innovation. They’re free and open to all. Light refreshments will be served. Each is on a Wednesday.
More information is available at these two sites: theater, community.
OCTOBER 18 (Thursday)
A Conversation with Alex Ross
7 to 9 p.m., Wheeler Auditorium. Free, no tickets required. Alex Ross, music critic of The New Yorker, author of The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century. Moderated by Cynthia Gorney, professor of journalism. An astute listener to music of all genres, Ross challenges popular perceptions of modern music: He asks (and answers):"Why, when paintings of Picasso and Jackson Pollock go for a hundred million dollars or more on the art market and lines from T. S. Eliot are quoted on the yearbook pages of alienated teenagers across the land, is twentieth-century classical music still considered obscure and difficult? In fact, it's better known than most people realize."
October 23 (Tuesday)
Academic Writing Workshop: Dissertation Writing — Strategies and Pitfalls
2:30 to 4:30 p.m., 150 University Hall. This workshop will focus on the basic strategies of successfully writing a doctoral dissertation. It will cover both strategies for organizing a large research project and for writing up the results of that project. Presented by Sabrina Soracco, the Graduate Division’s director of academic services. Open to all disciplines; no preregistration required. Wheelchair accessible. For disability-related accommodation, please call (510) 643-9392, ten days in advance.
OCTOBER 23 (Tuesday)
"God and Gold: Britain, America and the Making of the Modern World"
4 p.m., Lipman Room, eighth floor, Barrows Hall. Walter Russell Mead, one of the most renowned foreign policy experts in the Council on Foreign Relations and author of Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World, argues in his new book God and Gold that the key to the predominance of the United States and England has been the individualistic ideology of the prevailing Anglo-American religion. This, he says, helped create a culture uniquely adapted to capitalism, a system under which both countries thrived. As a result, the two nations were able to create the liberal, democratic system
whose economic and social influence continues to grow around the world. Sponsored by the Institute of International Studies and the Religion, Politics and Globalization Program.
October 23 (Tuesday)
Graduate Social Club Oktoberfest
7 p.m. to 10 p.m., Toll Room and patio, Alumni House (near Haas Pavilion and Zellerbach Playhouse). Live music. Catering by Top Dog Hot Dogs (veggie dogs, too), beer by Trumer Pils. $4 entry fee. Cal ID and proof of age are required.
October 26 (Friday)
Academic Writing Workshop: Editing and Revising Writing
1 to 3 p.m., 150 University Hall. This workshop will cover the following topics: 1) how a professional editor works with a manuscript; 2) how you can use the techniques of an editor to revise your own writing; and 3) how you can diagnose and avoid common writing errors and weaknesses. The goal of the workshop is to enable you to step back and use the skills of a professional editor to revise and improve your own writing. Presented by Sabrina Soracco, the Graduate Division’s director of academic services. Open to all disciplines; no preregistration required. Wheelchair accessible. For disability-related accommodation, please call (510) 643-9392, ten days in advance.
OCTOBER 30 (Tuesday)
Jefferson Memorial Lecture: “The Challenge of Inequality and Global Capitalism to U.S. Democracy”
4:10 p.m., Lipman Room, eighth floor of Barrows Hall. Richard B. Freeman, a professor of economics at Harvard University, is also the labor studies program director at the National Bureau of Economic Research and the faculty director of the Harvard Law School’s Labor and Worklife Program. His talk examines equality and inequality in this country. Americans are supposed to have more equality in politics (one person/one vote) than in the market and can direct the government to make decisions to improve their economic well-being. Inequality challenges equality of citizenship in politics when campaigning is so expensive and globalization challenges the efficacy of government in the economic sphere. How serious are these challenges? How well is U.S. democracy meeting them? How can we fend off these challenges? The event is presented by the Graduate Division and the Academic Senate’s Graduate Council.
OCTOBER on UCTV
New programs from the Center for Studies in Higher Education
- Higher Education Politics and Policymaking, Then and Now
- Higher Education Internationalization and Globalization, Then and Now
- Global Trends: the Environment for Higher Education in the Future
- Use of the Internet and Higher Education: Likely Future Trends
- The Worldwide Structure of Higher Education
NOVEMBER 7 and 8 (Wednesday and Thursday)
Hitchcock Lectures: “Physics and History — Links Between Two Cultures" - Lecture I (Wednesday): "Forged in the Baroque"; Lecture II (Thursday): "Fractured in Modernity"
4:10 p.m., Chevron Auditorium, International House, 2299 Piedmont Avenue. John Heilbron, professor emeritus of history, UC Berkeley Experimental physical science and modern universal history came into the world about the same time, around 1550, and developed symbiotically for 250 years or more. These lectures discus their coeval origin, parallel development, and subsequent separation. John Heilbron is a three-degree Berkeley alumnus (B.A. ’55 and M.A. ’58 in physics, Ph.D. ’64 in history). In addition to teaching here and serving as The Vice Chancellor (from 1990 to 1994), he created the campus Office for the History of Science and Technology, which he directed from 1973 until his retirement in 1994. His work sets the history of the physical sciences within its wider cultural contexts. His current research interests include relations between science and religion in the 17th and 18th centuries, physics and its institutions in the 20th century, and the use of history of science in the teaching of science. In 2006 he received the Abraham Pais Prize from the American Physical Society and the American Institute of Physics for “his groundbreaking and broad historical studies.” The Charles M. and Martha Hitchcock Lectures are presented by the Graduate Division and the Academic Senate’s Graduate Council.
NOVEMBER 8 (Thursday)
Graduate Assembly Reception
6 to 8 p.m., Tilden Room, fourth floor, Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union. Meet the members of the Graduate Assembly in a social setting over free beer, wine, and snacks. Cal ID and proof of age are required for those drinking.
NOVEMBER 14 (Wednesday)
Howison Lecture in Philosophy: “What We See”
4:10 p.m., Toll Room, Alumni House (just north of Zellerbach Playhouse). Fred Dretske, professor emeritus of philosophy, Stanford University Renowned for his contributions in the fields of epistemology and the philosophy of the mind, Fred Dretske defends a form of externalism in both fields, arguing that the contents of thought and experience are, in part, fixed by the external (partly historical) relations between subject and environment. His current research focuses on the nature of conscious experience and the problem of understanding how knowledge of one's own conscious states is possible. In 1994, he was awarded the Jean Nicod Prize in Paris, which annually recognizes the contributions of a leading philosopher of mind. Describing this lecture, Dretske says, “We see (at least) three fundamentally different sorts of things: objects (a tomato), properties of these objects (the tomato's size, shape, color, orientation), and facts about them (that it is a tomato, that it is red). I shall be concerned with only the first: our perception of objects. I will furthermore restrict my topic by assuming, without argument, that the objects we see, in normal circumstances, are ordinary dry goods—tomatoes, pencils, people, trees and houses. I am interested in how many of these objects we see in brief, but attentive, observation. The answer to this question tells us something important about the nature of conscious perceptual experience.”
That place with the long name that most people called by its acronym, SISS, became Berkeley International Office on the first of October. The new name is designed to reflect the varied individual clients and campus units the office works with on a daily basis. In addition to serving over 5,000 international students and scholars who come to UC Berkeley to study and conduct research, Berkeley International Office also works with faculty and staff throughout the UC Berkeley community.
In addition to the new name, the office has a strategic plan, newly expanded space, a largely new staff, and recently reconfigured website. The mission, under its new identity, is “to enhance the academic, cultural, and social experiences of international students, scholars, faculty, and staff, and to provide the highest levels of knowledge and expertise in advising, immigration services, advocacy, and programming.”
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Anthony Hall, headquarters
of the Graduate Assemby
Reasons:
How: See the Graduate Assembly website or email Josh Daniels for more information.
Decide real cases that affect the lives of graduate students, including cases about whether students have appropriately voted to raise our fees. Judicial Council justice appointments last for two years (although justices often resign after one). The workload is very reasonable. For more information, email Josh Daniels.
Campus committees include faculty, staff, and students. They are very important to the workings of Cal and cover topics such as fees, radiation safety, mental health, and transportation. They usually meet no more than once a month. If you‘re interested, email Yenhoa Ching.
See the Calendar under October 23 and November 8.
Library Bookstore
Anyone walking into any of the many libraries on campus can find assistance at either the Circulation or Reference/Information Desks. However, individual libraries have recently moved in new directions by providing this help via instant messaging (IM) reference and email. A list email addresses of the libraries providing IM reference and email reference can be found on the Research Assistance site. To take advantage of these services, send questions. Facilities offering IM reference are the Doe, Government Information, Engineering, Mathematics/Statistics, and Physics/Astronomy libraries. Hours of this service can vary so check with each library. Email reference is provided by the Doe, Government Information, Bancroft, Earth Sciences/Maps, and Chemistry/Chemical Engineering libraries. E-Mail research inquiries can be sent any day or time and are referred to the library's subject specialists.
In addition to these services, you’re encouraged, as a graduate student, to contact the library specialist and liaison for your academic department or program. A link to the library's subject specialists can also be found on the Research Assistance site. Look under your subject, department or program for the name and email link of the specialist. This is the person who can help you with any questions about the library, assist with current and future research projects — and is the person responsible for the development of the library's collections in the area. Think strategically and contact your library subject specialist and liaison soon.
With most of the nearby summer construction completed, the Library Bookstore is newly accessible. More than 6,000 bargain-priced books covering virtually all subjects line the shelves. The bookstore is located in 132 Doe Library and is open Monday through Thursday between 11:00 a.m and 2:00 p.m. A special book sale will be held in a different room (303 Doe) during Homecoming (October 13) from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Every book in the room will be available for $1.00 (each).
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Your PC’s desktop can alert you to safety concerns automatically. Download and install a small program called ST&AR (for Safety Threats and Alerts Report). It’s UCPD’s quickest and simplest way to get the word out nearby crime activity. Being aware of a crime that’s been committed is the first step toward prevent the occurrence of similar crimes. Give it a try.
To suit people’s various preferences for obtaining information, the Police Department offers several other ways to stay up to date. Sign up for the one that works for you.
Questions about campus safety? Call the Crime Prevention Unit at (510) 643-8988.
The Haas School's MBA Association (MBAA) has raised approximately $3,700 to offset the cost of replacing four classmates' laptops that were stolen just off campus at Caffe Strada September 9 just before 10 p.m.
Association president Cliff Dank, a former Wall Street trader, says "The MBAA initiated the fundraising effort to follow through on what we felt was a schoolwide sentiment, This was about helping our classmates recoup financially and emotionally and letting them know they have a huge support network."
MBAA officers reached out to the Haas community for donations to help students recover from the robbery. During one week over 150 students, faculty, and staff members responded by donating nearly $2,700 to the cause. The association provided an additional $1,000 donation.
The Haas School of Business jumped to the nearly-number-one spot, up from fifth last year, in the latest Wall Street Journal ranking of MBA programs. It’s the strongest showing of the school’s fulltime Berkeley MBA program in any major popular ranking. The Journal based its rankings of a poll of 4,430 corporate recruiters who rated up to three schools at which they recruit MBA graduates, on 21 different attributes, among them students’ leadership potential and strategic thinking, interpersonal and communication skills, teamwork orientation, personal ethics and integrity, and strong work ethic.
At 29, she’s currently the youngest San Francisco supervisor. Mayor Gavin Newson, who also was 29 when he was appointed to the board by his mayoral predecessor, Willie Brown, named Carmen Chu as an interim replacement for Ed Jew, who was suspended from his seat for alleged misconduct. She has been serving as deputy director of the mayor’s office of policy and finance. She began working for the city as an intern while she was pursuing her master’s in public policy at the Goldman School, following that with a fulltime position in the budget office.
The graduate community recently lost a world figure in his field, John Chemsak, professor of entomology, who spent 71 of his 75 years studying beetles. The longtime curator of Berkeley’s Essig Museum of Entomology, he described more than 550 species new to science, proposed 64 new genera and one new tribe. At least 31 species of beetle and two genera were named in his honor. Born in Pennsylvania, he graduated and earned a master’s degree from Penn State University, then came west to Cal for his doctorate, pursuing his interest in longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), corresponding with and then working as research assistant and postdoc for E. G. Linsley, the entomology department chair at the time.
John Chemsak Ph.D. ‘61 — his wife, Hatsue Katsura, said he had loved the Cerambycidae since aga 4, for many reasons: “Beetles are not harmful. They don’t sting. They don’t have any neurotoxins. They’re easy to collect. They sit on beautiful flowers.” Leptura rubra, a longhorn beetle found in Austria and England. Photo: Richard Bartz, Munich
John Gofman in 1979
Photo: Egan O’Connor
In mid-August, John Gofman died at the age of 88. He was widely known in a variety of roles: physician, cardiac researcher, radiation scientist, and nuclear safety advocate. While working for his Ph.D. here in the 1940s under Glenn T. Seaborg he co-discovered isotopes of protactinium, uranium-232, and uranium-233, and soon found himself working on the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Finishing his medical degree at UCSF at the end of World War II, he joined the physics faculty at Berkeley. Using the then new-fangled ultracentrifuge (and against expectations), Gofman and two colleagues (both formerly his Ph.D. students) spun out a number of lipoproteins, among them LDL and HDL, known today as the “bad” and “good” cholesterols. Armed with this, they did dietary studies that in essence charted the field of lipids and heart disease decades in advance. Moving into research on the biological effects of radiation, Gofman and a colleague showed in 1969 that federal safety guidelines for low-level exposure were too high — and suggested lowering them by 90 percent. He also pushed doctors to use lower doses of X-rays. Both gradually came about to an extent, but resistance in the meantime had taken its toll on Gofman’s career. He continued to research radiation and health, and to advocate for safety, in his last decades.
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Conservation biologist Clare Kremen, an assistant professor of environmental science, policy and management, is Berkeley’s 41st faculty member to receive the MacArthur Foundation’s “genius” award since the honor’s inception in 1981.
Three alumni of this campus were also among the 24 new MacArthur recipients nationwide:
Grad alumnus Jay Rubenstein, an associate professor of history at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, who received his Ph.D. here in 1997. Rubenstein is a medieval historian who looks at violent events like the First Crusade and how they’re recorded and remembered by subsequent generations. He’s in Paris this year, continuing his research. The Daily Californian quoted Rubenstein as saying in an email, “It is both gratifying and humbling, particularly since so many of my colleagues, without any knowledge on my part, worked so hard to help me attain this honor...But mostly, my reaction was ‘Good lord, they’re actually giving me one of those things'”
Yoky Matsuoka, who earned her B.S. in electrical engineering and computer sciences here in 1993, is an associate professor in the same field at the University of Washington. Her research is on the central nervous system and its application to robotic technology in the emerging field of neurorobotics.
A CalTech assistant professor of biology and applied physics, Michael Elowitz received his B.A. in physics here in 1992. His honor is for his research on genetic interactions by using computational modeling to design and test artificial genetic circuits.
Each receives an unrestricted five-year grant of $500,000 as “seed money for intellectual, social, and artistic endeavors.”
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