Did you know A) that you can already enroll in units for the spring 2009 semester, and B) that now is the best time to do it?
Tele-BEARS Phase II started November 13 and runs through January 11, which looks like plenty of time, but enrolling in units right now for your spring registration will help make your life much easier. How and why, you might well ask.
How? Two quick steps and you’re done.
If you want to avoid standing in line to pick up a paper check for your fellowship, loan, or award, you can. Just make sure you’ve enrolled in class or research units, and that you’ve signed up for Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). Twelve units equals full-time status for most graduate students (If you’re not sure whether you’ve authorized EFT, check your status on BearFacts by selecting CARS and Electronic Funds Transfer.
Why? Smoother flow of money to you.
Remember that enrollment and registration are inextricably linked; the latter isn’t official without the former. So funding, including loans, will not be disbursed to your CARS account until the requirement to enroll in units is satisfied. Spring semester funding is transferred to CARS beginning in mid-December, so if you want your funding on time, enrolling in units now will help ensure that your disbursement goes smoothly.
Enrolling now will mean that you can forget about that component of the registration requirement (at least for the spring semester)! Fees will be assessed in mid-December, but you don’t need to wait for that to happen in order to enroll in units. (Of course, if you have a block against your spring 2009 registration, you should be taking steps to get the matter resolved.)
Why else? Save time, paper, and help lower costs.
If you’re not registered when fellowship/stipend/aid payments are released so you can be paid, you’ll receive a paper check rather than direct deposit to your bank account. Paper checks are costly for the campus to produce and obviously use more paper. Enrolling in units now helps keep the disbursement process greener, more efficient, and more cost-effective.
Make it happen.
Before the flurry of finals and the semester break, take a few minutes and enroll in units at Tele-BEARS. As the saying goes, you’ll be glad you did.
Best,
Andrew J. Szeri
Dean of the Graduate Division
Graduate Degrees
- Filing for your degree in December?
Graduate Funding
- A wide menu of possibilities to help fund your graduate education
University Health Services
- Do you need a SHIP waiver for spring?
- Insurance After Graduation workshop: selecting a plan
- Be Well To Do Well helps you get a grip
Graduate Assembly
- Nominations are open for GA’s Faculty Mentor Award
- GA winter break office hours
Recognition
- The gift that keeps on giving
- Scientist/grad alumna wins $100,000 for reducing toxics
- Grad alum at UDub wins $10,000 for promoting accessibility
- Adobe’s president is Haas Business Leader of the Year
Hot Off The Press
- All in the family in the new Greater Good
UCTV
- Talal Asad and Amory Lovins
Texture
- Lion in winter. Sort of.
If you are a first year graduate student and haven't yet responded to the Graduate Student Entry Survey request you received earlier this month, I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to do so. Your response will help us in our efforts to improve the quality of life for graduate students at UC Berkeley. If you have already completed the survey, thanks for your participation! We will send a final reminder later this week.
Andrew J. Szeri
Dean of the Graduate Division
If you are planning on filing for your degree this semester, here are some suggestions that can make the filing go more smoothly, direct from the Graduate Division office that deals with degrees.
Listed chronologically by deadline date.
Resources provided by the Graduate Services: Fellowships office
The NSF’s EAPSI is a flagship international fellowship program for developing the next generation of globally-engaged U.S. scientists and engineers knowledgeable about the Asia and the Pacific region. Summer institutes are hosted by foreign counterparts who are committed to increasing opportunities for young U.S. researchers to work in research facilities and with host mentors abroad. Fellows are supported to participate in eight-week research experiences at host laboratories in Australia, China, Japan (10 weeks), Korea, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan from June to August. The program provides a $5,000 summer stipend, a round-trip air ticket to the host location, living expenses abroad, and an introduction to the society, culture, language, and research environment of the host location. The NSF recognizes the importance of enabling U.S. researchers and educators to advance their work through international collaborations, and the value of ensuring that future generations of U.S. scientists and engineers gain professional experience beyond this nation's borders early in their careers. The program is intended for U.S. graduate students pursuing studies in fields of science and engineering research and education supported by the National Science Foundation. Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply for the EAPSI. Applicants must be enrolled in a research-oriented master’s or Ph.D. program, and must be U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents by the application deadline date.
Application instructions are available online. The application deadline is December 9, 2008. For further information concerning benefits, eligibility, and tips on applying, applicants are encouraged to visit the NSF funding information page.
The Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Fund for Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships in Jewish Studies encourage scholarly research, publication and teaching in the various disciplines of Jewish studies. These fellowships are made for one academic year and are given for the final stages of completing a dissertation, typically in the fifth year of study. Applicants must have completed all doctoral requirements, except for the thesis, and must show evidence of being able to complete the thesis within the fellowship year. The fund currently awards five fellowships at $16,000 per grant. All application materials are due on or before 4 p.m. Friday, December 12, 2008. Incomplete or late applications cannot be considered. More information is available online.
This program, which recognizes the contributions of a past director of the California Redevelopment Association, was established to encourage individuals currently working toward graduate degrees to pursue careers in the public sector in the field of redevelopment. These fellowships enable students to attend the California Redevelopment Association Annual Conference or Redevelopment Institute.
Applicants must be interested in a career in the public sector in redevelopment, community development, economic development, planning, housing, or a related field. More information about the fellowship program and on submitting an application is available online. The deadline to submit an application is December 12, 2008.
Applications are now being accepted for the one-year 2009 Symantec Fellowship for graduate students pursuing innovative research related to information security, storage, and availability. The stipend is $20,000, plus tuition and fees, and comes with an opportunity to work alongside Symantec researchers. Symantec is a global leader in providing security, storage, and systems management solutions to help businesses and consumers secure and manage their information. Headquartered in Cupertino, the firm has operations in more than 40 countries. Applications and further information are available online. The application deadline is December 12, 2008.
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 one to three 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, 2008.
The Forum on Physics and Society (FPS), in partnership with the Society of Physics Students and the APS Forum on Graduate Student Affairs, is proud to announce the Student Fellowships in Physics and Society. The Fellowships are open to undergraduate or graduate students in physics, who will be awarded up to $4,000 each to support a project that applies physics to a societal issue. The primary goal of these fellowships is to provide research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students interested in physics and society, and to raise the awareness of applying physics to problems in society as a career and as an important undertaking by members of the physics community. There are three objectives of the program. First, some students who are exposed to issues where physics impacts societal issues will choose to make careers in this area. These students will provide a badly needed younger generation of technically literate policy researchers, analysts, and leaders. Second, there are many more technical issues on the interface between physics and society than there are physicists working on them. Putting talented young people to work on these problems will help society and the physics community. Finally, students involved in projects applying physics to social issues will communicate their excitement to fellow students and faculty members in their institutions and nationally, thus raising the awareness of the entire physics community. Further information is available online. The deadline for receipt of applications is December 15, 2008.
For over 45 years, the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University has dedicated itself to helping bright undergraduate and graduate students interested in individual liberty pursue their intellectual interests. Paid internships, scholarships, and fellowships of up to $12,000 are awarded for undergraduate and graduate study in the United States or abroad. Last year IHS awarded over 165 scholarships to outstanding undergraduate, graduate, law, and professional students who are exploring the principles, practices, and institutions necessary to a free society through their academic work. Applications and further information are available online. The application deadline is December 31, 2008.
Note: two different programs are available, each with a separate deadline in January.
The Deutscher Akademischer Austasch Dienst (DAAD), or German Academic Exchange Service, offers a number of opportunities for students from the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain, to gain serious research experience in Germany, and for German undergraduates to assist in research and lab work in American and Canadian settings. Two of these programs are summarized here. Both programs are supported by the Federal Republic of Germany through funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
The Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund awards fellowships for graduate study in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and professional fields like law, medicine, engineering, and architecture. The university may nominate three eligible candidates; each nominee must hold U.S. citizenship, be currently enrolled in a Berkeley graduate program, demonstrate financial need, and have an outstanding undergraduate academic record. The fellowship pays fees and a living stipend ($18,000 for 2009-10) for up to three years. Application instructions are available in 318 Sproul Hall (the office of Graduate Services: Fellowships) as well as online. Berkeley's internal application deadline is January 9, 2009.
This fellowship is for exceptional first-or second-year graduate students (as well as undergraduate seniors) planning full-time study toward a Ph.D. in the physical, engineering, computer, mathematical, or life sciences with emphasis in high performance computing. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens; departments must certify that fellows will not be required to perform services (e.g., GSI, grading, etc.) during the tenure of their fellowships.
The DOE CSGF program pays all tuition and required fees for up to 4 years of study at any U.S. university, provides a $32,400 yearly stipend, matches university funds (up to $2,475) to purchase a computer workstation for the fellow's exclusive use, and provides a yearly academic allowance of $1,000 to the fellow for professional development. Further details about the program are available on the program website and from the Program Coordinator, Ms. Jeana Gingery, by email. Apply online. The application and supporting materials must be received by January 14, 2009.
The Institute of Historical Research offers fellowships funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for both pre-dissertation and dissertation research in the humanities using original sources. The purposes of this fellowship program are to help doctoral candidates in the humanities who may otherwise not have opportunities or encouragement to work with original source materials in the United Kingdom; to help doctoral candidates in the humanities to deepen their ability to develop knowledge from original sources; and to provide insight from the viewpoint of doctoral candidates into how scholarly resources can be developed most helpfully in the future. Applications forms and further details are online. Complete applications must arrive at the Institute of Historical Research no later than January 16, 2009.
A principal purpose of the Maybelle McLeod Lewis Grants is to permit advanced doctoral candidates in the humanities at Northern California universities and colleges to devote full time to the completion of their dissertations. Significant work should already have been accomplished toward the dissertation project. Application forms may be obtained after October 15 from the Graduate Services: Fellowships Office in 318 Sproul Hall or by writing the Mabelle McLeod Lewis Memorial Fund, Box 20424, Stanford, CA 94309-0424 or by email. Applications and recommendations for 2009 awards must be received no later than January 16, 2009.
If the Ph.D. you’re pursuing is in an area of interest to stewardship science — such as high-energy physics, low-energy nuclear science, or the properties of materials under extreme conditions — you might benefit from the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA Stewardship Science Graduate Fellowship. Its features are similar to the CSGF, above. More information is available online. Applications and supporting material must be received by January 19, 2009.
The DOE CSGF Fellowships, above, and the DOE NNSA Stewardship Science Fellowships are administered for the Department of Energy by the Krell Institute, the mission of which is to advance the next generation of computational scientists and engineers. The institute also plans and executes meetings on computational science topics, disseminates research results in science and engineering, and develops new educational programs The institute is named for the Krell, an advanced civilization that once inhabited the planet Altair IV in the classic 1956 science fiction movie Forbidden Planet, the plot of which owes much to Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) fellowships provide an excellent summer opportunity for graduate students interested in relating their work to global change issues. The IIASA is located in Schloss Laxenburg, just outside Vienna, Austria. Each year, about 50-60 students from around the world spend the summer working closely with IIASA senior researchers on projects relevant to each student's thesis topic. They end the summer with an international network of colleagues interested in various aspects of global change issues, and often have produced a paper that can be published. For students selected to participate, funding is available for travel and living support, principally from IIASA's national member organizations. The IIASA is an international institution supported by the U.S. and 18 other governments. Information about the program is available online. The application deadline is January 19, 2009.
In Spring 2009, the Arts Research Center (ARC) Berkeley will award up to six fellowships to outstanding UC Berkeley graduate students whose research practice (regardless of format, medium, discipline, or degree program) substantially engages more than one academic discipline in the practice, history, theory, and/or criticism of the arts. Each ARC Fellow will receive a $2,000 research grant and participate in monthly lunch seminars and a culminating symposium. Application deadline is January 23, 2009. Program and application details are available online.
The Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship funds students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents to gain competence in modern foreign languages. Awarded to students in the humanities, social sciences, and professional fields, these fellowships are available for the study of languages in eight world areas (Africa, East Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Western Europe). Applications are available online. Applications for the Academic Year FLAS Fellowship and the Summer FLAS Fellowship are due Monday, January 26, 2009. For further information, contact Gina Farales by phone (642-7739) or by email (gfarales@berkeley.edu).
Phi Beta Kappa offers several fellowships each year specifically for graduate student members of Phi Beta Kappa who are completing their dissertations. One must be registered at Berkeley to receive the stipend. Graduate advisors should be aware of this program and applications should be available in their offices, as well as in the Graduate Services: Fellowships Office, 318 Sproul Hall. Please do not use the online application; instead, email your request for an application from the Phi Beta Kappa office (alpha@ls.berkeley.edu). The application will be emailed to you as a Word attachment. NOTE: The correct application deadline is January 26, 2009 (not March 26, as shown in the application posted on the PBK website).
Phi Beta Kappa is the nation’s oldest honorary society, founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. The name comes from the first letters of the Greek motto philosophiae biou kubernetes (“Love of wisdom is the guide of life”).
Applicants must have attended at least four of the six secondary grade school years at a Santa Barbara County school, and have graduated from a Santa Barbara County high school. All applicants must be a full-time (graduate student or medical student at an approved U.S. college or university. All eligible and qualified new applicants are required to have a personal interview in the month of March following the January application deadline. The primary criteria for award selection are financial need, potential, and motivation. Applications and more information are available online. The application deadline is January 30, 2009.
Sponsored by the Center for Emerging and Neglected Diseases, the 2009 Science & Engineering for Global Health graduate fellowship provides $5000 to qualified doctoral students, for international travel and research activities in support of a 2-3 month project conducted at a developing country research site. Matching fellowship funds are provided to your host laboratory or field site. The fellowship's topical focus is emerging and neglected diseases. Detailed application instructions are available online. Questions? Email cend@berkeley.edu. The application deadline is January 30, 2009.
Applications are now being accepted for the Willis W. and Ethel M. Clark Foundation Investment in Community Graduate Fellowship for 2009-2010. 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, 2009. More information is available online.
Columbia University’s Institute for Comparative Literature and Society will appoint a Postdoctoral Fellow for the Spring 2010 semester. The fellow must have received a Ph.D. between January 1, 2003, and July 1, 2009. The ICLS was founded at Columbia in 1998 to promote a global perspective in the study of literature, culture, and their social context. It houses the interdepartmental undergraduate and graduate programs in Comparative Literature and Society, drawing its faculty from the humanities, the social sciences, and the Schools of Architecture and Law. The specific topic of the fellowship is the importance of language learning and/or translation to produce an informed global scholarship and practice. The Fellow will be given time and resources to develop his or her scholarship in a broadening and experimental cross-disciplinary and cross-regional context. The stipend for the spring 2010 semester will be $25,000. Full fringe benefits will be added, plus $1,000 for travel. An additional $2,000 will be given for innovative course planning. Application forms may be downloaded from the institute’s website. The postmark deadline for completed applications is January 31, 2009.
Established in 1971, the Council for European Studies (CES) Pre-Dissertation Fellowship Program has played a crucial role in the early stages of many scholars' careers. The program serves as the leading source for pre-dissertation fellowships that fund students' first major research projects in Europe. Since the program’s founding, the council has awarded more than 500 fellowships, totaling more than $2 million. Founded in 1970, the Council for European Studies at Columbia University is the leading academic organization for the study of Europe. The council produces and recognizes outstanding, multidisciplinary research in European Studies through a range of programs, including conferences, publications, special events, and awards. The application form, and full details, may be found online. All materials must be received via email, to ces@columbia.edu, by February 1, 2009. (No phone calls or paper applications, please).
The goal of the Switzer Environmental Fellowship Program is to support highly talented graduate students whose studies are directed toward improving environmental quality and who demonstrate leadership in their field. The fellowship provides a one-year cash award of $15,000 for graduate study as well as networking and leadership support to awardees. The Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation specifically seeks active, enthusiastic individuals who have the ability, determination, and integrity to become environmental leaders in the 21st century.
Applicants for a Switzer Environmental Fellowship must:
More information and applications are available online. The application deadline is February 1, 2009.
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, 2009 at 5 p.m. Information sessions will be held during the fall. For more information, contact Dale Ogar, director of the Bay Area Schweitzer Fellows Program, by email or phone (510-289-8407). 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.The Udall Foundation awards two one-year Environmental Public Policy and Conflict Resolution Dissertation Fellowships of up to $24,000 to doctoral candidates whose research concerns U.S. environmental public policy and/or U.S. environmental conflict resolution and who are entering their final year of writing the dissertation. Interdisciplinary projects are particularly welcome. Fellows must be U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals or U.S. permanent residents, and their dissertation research must be relevant to U.S. environmental policy. Program details, additional information, profiles of previous fellows and applications are available online. If you have questions, please contact Dr. Jane Curlin by email. The application deadline is February 20, 2009.
Congress created the Morris K. Udall Foundation as an independent federal agency in 1992. In honoring the late Congressman’s legacy of public service, the foundation awards scholarships, fellowships, and internships for studies related to the environment and Native American policy.The Burton J. Moyer Memorial Fellowship was established in the 1980s by the Northern California Chapter of the Health Physics Society to honor Moyer, who died in 1973, and to encourage his ideals in the study of the safe use of radiation for the benefit of all people. The first person to receive this highly regarded national fellowship, in 1985, was a UC Berkeley graduate student. Students who are interested in health physics must submit their application no later than March 1, 2009. The application is available online (PDF), as is further information about the fellowship.
Burton J. Moyer came to Berkeley in 1942 to work in high-energy physics with Ernest Orlando Lawrence. In addition to his pioneering and productive research, at Lawrence’s request he established a professional health physics group at what is now the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In doing so, he took on the technically difficult work of reducing radiation intensities at the Bevatron for the safety of his colleagues. The shields he designed reduced intensity by a factor of 100, and became an influential model in the design of many accelerator shields. Moyer’s innovative approach to this new aspect of his field led him to be characterized as “the father of accelerator health physics.” He was also a professor and mentor, directing the thesis research of 62 students, and chaired the physics department during Berkeley’s tumultuous 1960s.In collaboration with the Graduate Division, International House offers one-year awards for students in any doctoral or master’s degree program. Beginning spring 2009, academic units may nominate continuing students directly to International House, which will select candidates for awards not filled by the University Fellowships Competition Committee for incoming students. Only those with financial need are eligible. Recipients receive one academic year of single occupancy room and board at International House, as well as fees and tuition from the student’s department and, through the Graduate Division, a $5,000 stipend from the university. Academic units are encouraged to nominate international students, particularly those from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Scandinavian countries. More information on these awards and application procedures can be found online. The application deadline is March 2, 2009.
Each year, the Dan David Prize, a joint international enterprise endowed by the Dan David Foundation, awards 20 scholarships (10 to students from all over the world and 10 to students from Tel Aviv University, where the foundation is headquartered). The scholarship amount is $15,000. Advanced doctoral and postdoctoral students of excellent achievement and promise studying topics related to the fields chosen for this year are invited to apply for scholarships for 2009. The fields are broken into three time dimensions. For the Past category, the field is Astrophysics – History of the Universe; for the Present category, Leadership; and for the Future category, Global Public Health. The application deadline for the scholarships is March 31, 2009. More information is available online.
Dan David is a Romanian-born businessman and philanthropist. He immigrated to Israel in 1960 and the next year, with a $200,000 loan from a cousin, secured the franchise for Photo Me automated photo booths in a number of countries, and eventually took over the company. He is now the sole owner of PhoMat, the company that manufactures the photo booth machines, and in 2000 he created the Dan David Fund and Foundation with a $100 million endowment to recognize outstanding contributions in science, technology, culture, and social welfare, and to assist young scholar-researchers. The scholarship fields are mirrored in the three categories chosen each year for the Dan David Prize. Three prize laureates each receive $1 million, of which they donate 10 percent for scholarships in their fields. Nominations for the prize are now being accepted. The deadline for prize nominations is November 30, 2008, considerably earlier than the March scholarship deadline. Prior recipients of the Dan David Prize include Tom Stoppard, Amos Oz, Michel Brunet, Yo-Yo Ma, Al Gore, Zubin Mehta, and a wide variety of others.
Singin’ in the rain — just before the Thanksgiving break, the UC Men’s Octet, dressed down from their traditional blazers and getting soaked, harmonized in heavy drizzle to better-protected passersby near Sather Gate. (Photo: Dick Cortén)
Graduate Division Calendar
Campus Events Calendar
Denotes Graduate Division sponsored event
THROUGH JANUARY 20, 2009 (inauguration day)
“The American President”
Weekdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., North Gate Hall
A far-reaching collection of memorable images by Associated Press photographers showing U.S. commanders in chief, from the Civil War to today's "War on Terror," while they travel the campaign trail, attempt to shape international relations, navigate tumultuous governmental crises and personal scandals, and occasionally just rest.
National tragedies, a mainstay of American history, also are featured in a series of photos surrounding John F. Kennedy's assassination in Dallas in 1963, and through images recorded immediately after John Hinckley Jr.'s attempt to kill Ronald Reagan in 1981.
Ken Light
Ken Light, an adjunct professor and director of the Center for Photography at the journalism school, selected the exhibit images from a special AP archive of presidential photos. He notes that, ironically, the exhibit is being staged in an era of major staffing cutbacks for traditional media and increased reliance on AP for campaign trail and presidential photos. Light chose the photos on display from a collection of more than 80 iconic images taken by AP photographers covering the U.S. president and made available to universities, news outlets, and other groups during the current presidential campaign. They are part of the AP Images photo archive of more than 10 million film and digital images.
Same page? Not so much when this picture was taken back in January 2008, during the rival Democratic candidates’ debate, but after the roller-coaster ride of the campaign, President-Elect Barack Obama and Secretary of State-Designate Hillary Clinton are teammates. (AP photo by Elise Amendola)
DECEMBER 11 (Thursday)
Berkeley Science Review Fall Seminar
5:30 p.m., 544 Campbell Hall
Science writer Andrew Alden will speak on the strategy and tactics of writing for the public on the Web, his successes and failures, and his hybrid approach to a composite career. Alden, who has been About.com's Guide to Geology since 1997, produces and maintains the Web's largest content site on Earth science in the private sector. Coffee and snacks will be provided. Also: the Berkeley Science Review is looking for Berkeley-connected story proposals for its spring 2009 issue by December 15; if interested, check the guidelines on the BSR website.
DECEMBER 13 - 20 (Saturday - Saturday)
Final examinations
DECEMBER 19 (Friday)
Last day to file for a December degree
DECEMBER 20 (Saturday)
Fall semester ends
DECEMBER 25 and 26 (Thursday and Friday)
Academic and administrative holiday
DECEMBER 31 and JANUARY 1 (Wednesday and Thursday)
Academic and administrative holiday
JANUARY 13 (Tuesday)
Spring semester begins
JANUARY 15 (Thursday)
Fee payment due
JANUARY 20 (Tuesday)
Spring instruction begins
FEBRUARY 3 (Tuesday)
Jefferson Memorial Lecture
4:10 p.m., Lipman Room, eighth floor of Barrows Hall
“An Invitation to Struggle: The Constitution, the Military, and Political Accountability”
David M. Kennedy, professor of history, Stanford University
MARCH 11 (Wednesday)
Howison Lecture in Philosophy
4:10 p.m., Toll Room, Alumni House (just north of Zellerbach Playhouse)
“Thinking and Talking About the Self”
John R. Perry, professor of philosophy, Stanford University
You’re a UC Berkeley student, so you know that all Cal students are required to have health insurance. But did you know that you will be billed for the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) unless you tell us you have other coverage? Your University registration automatically enrolls you in SHIP. Unless you opt out and show proof that you have coverage comparable to SHIP, you’ll be charged for the SHIP fee on your E-Bill. If you are a continuing student and submitted a waiver request in the Fall, no action is necessary. Your Fall waiver will be carried forward through the Spring semester. If you are a new student for Spring semester 2009 and want SHIP coverage, no action is necessary. You will be automatically enrolled in SHIP. If you are a new or continuing student and want to waive enrollment in SHIP for Spring 2009, submit an online waiver application no later than January 5, 2009. Go to the UHS SHIP web page. If you waived SHIP enrollment in the Fall but want coverage for the Spring, please call the Student Health Insurance Office at (510) 642-5700 for instructions on how to reverse your waiver. If you submit a waiver after January 5, 2009, you’ll be charged a $50 late waiver service fee on your E-Bill. Absolutely no waivers will be accepted after February 2, 2009. If you haven’t submitted a waiver application by then, we’ll assume you’re in — you’ll be enrolled in SHIP and responsible for the SHIP fee of $849. Do you need health insurance for your spouse, children or other dependents? The Student Health Insurance Office can assist you in selecting a plan that best meets your family’s needs. Want more info? It’s online — or you get it on the phone: (510) 642-5700.
If you are a SHIP member who will be graduating this semester, or if you are losing SHIP eligibility because you are no longer a registered student at UC Berkeley, it is important to plan ahead for continuing health coverage. A variety of plans are available to you once your SHIP coverage expires. Plan types include short-term coverage, individual plans with low deductibles or co-payments, a conversion plan for persons with ongoing medical conditions, and public health insurance programs. A workshop on this topic will be held Thursday, January 8, 2009 from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Education Center on the first floor of the Tang Center, 2222 Bancroft Way Please RSVP to ship@uhs.berkeley.edu. Contact the Student Health Insurance Office at (510) 642-5700 for additional information or workshop questions.
Cal students work hard and face high stress. Be Well To Do Well is a campus effort to encourage students to take control of stress. Merely working harder does not ensure doing better. A small investment in stress reduction can yield significant benefits now and for a lifetime. In fact, students who seek help do better academically. The Be Well to Do Well website features many resources for managing stress, including lists of symptoms, common stressors, coping techniques, behaviors to avoid, stress quizzes, and more.
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Each year the Graduate Assembly honors faculty members who have shown an outstanding commitment to mentoring, developing, and supporting graduate student researchers with the Faculty Mentor Award (FMA). Nominations will be accepted, starting today, until Friday, February 13th, 2009. If you feel your mentor has invested in you, extraordinarily, and you think your mentor should be recognized, then visit the GA website for more information on eligibility and the nomination process. Please direct any inquiries by email to fma@ga.berkeley.edu.
The Graduate Assembly offices in Anthony Hall will be closed at noon on December 24, 2008 through January 4, 2009, then will reopen from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. from January 5 through January 16, 2009. Normal business hours (Monday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) will resume January 20.
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Stephanie Peltner receives Una’s necklace —
temporarily — from Graduate Division Associate
Dean Susan Muller (Photo by Ellen Gobler)
Near Thanksgiving, in the Faculty Club, the clasp on an ornate vintage necklace was fastened and the wearer, Stephanie Peltner, a graduate student in the German Linguistics M.A./Ph.D. program, ritually became the new recipient of the Una Fellowship — and was joined across many decades with of Una Smith Ross, a Berkeley alumna (B.A. 1911, M.A. 1913), in whose memory the fellowship was created, and the original possessor of the necklace.
The fellowship is given to “an outstanding woman in the field of history to foster the spirit of inquiry and individuality” that was characteristic of Una Smith Ross. It provides substantial financial help with a year’s tuition and expenses. The necklace, a distinctive symbol in an unusual tradition, is essentially a loaner. It is worn only for the evening, while a pleasant meal is enjoyed in the good company of a few representatives of the Graduate Division and the recipient’s academic department.
Una as a young woman,
wearing her necklace
Stephanie Peltner is already a Berkeley alumna. She graduated in April with a B.A. from her double major in German and Linguistics. German is not simply her discipline, it is her first nationality. She was born in Ulm and grew up in both northern and southern Germany, where both her parents were teachers. She came to the U.S. in 2000 and almost immediately found a job as a nanny, which helped her become fluent in English and develop her “strong bond to American life.” In addition to her work and going to school, for the last few years she has volunteered for two San Francisco animal care nonprofits and assists homeless people with securing food and medical care for their pets. Her academic goal is to study the history of the German language in order to preserve local German dialects that are threatened with extinction, something that as a linguist she feels she owes her native land.
Arlene Blum on campus near
Strawberry Creek and the chemistry
complex.
Arlene Blum Ph.D. ’71, a biochemist who made her first mark as a pioneer in mountain climbing, a field that in the 1970s had notably few women, has been honored for her work mobilizing scientists, government, industry, and consumers to protect health by reducing toxic chemicals in homes and the wider environment.
In early December, Blum, now 63, was one of 15 social innovators to receive the 2008 Purpose Prize, which recognizes people over 60 who are taking on society’s biggest challenges. She still leads Himalayan treks, but has come full circle to scientific crusading after decades as a mountaineer, mother, and corporate leadership trainer. In the 1970s, as a Berkeley researcher, Blum found that tris, a fire retardant, damaged DNA and was absorbed into children’s bodies from their sleepwear. Her research and a lead article she wrote for Science led to a ban on that use of the chemical.
Back in Berkeley in 2006 as a visiting scholar in the chemistry department, she found herself on the trail of toxins again, this time in furniture — her cat Midnight had lost well over half her body weight to hyperthyroidism, and Blum wondered where that came from. She turned up very high levels of fire retardants in the cat’s blood and dust from around the house. Learning that these pervasive chemicals can migrate from household products into dust, soil, rivers, and the food chain, and can cause cancer and reproductive, neurological, and endocrine disorders, Blum launched what the current editor of Science (a former FDA commissioner) calls “an extraordinary sequel to the tris story.” She published, made presentations, and organized, mobilizing scientists, firefighters, and nonprofits worldwide about potentially toxic fire retardants in enclosures for electronic equipment, winning a victory that kept 1.7 billion pounds of those chemicals out of homes and the global environment, and has had similar successes at the federal level and in California. She recently founded the Green Science Policy Institute to help plug gaps in the current regulatory system with scientific information for informed decision-making.
The Purpose Prize is run by Civic Ventures, a national think tank, and funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies and the John Templeton Foundation. The two-dozen-member jury that selected this year’s winners was chaired by Sherry Lansing, CEO of her own foundation, a current regent of UC, and a former chair of Paramount Pictures. Among the other leaders in business, politics, journalism, and the nonprofit sector on the panel were actor Sidney Poitier, former presidential advisor David Gergen, former Senator Harris Wofford, and journalist Cokie Roberts.
Richard Ladner — present day
Richard Ladner, another winner of the 2008 Purpose Prize, not only has a Ph.D. from Berkeley, by one of those curious coincidences he received it in 1971, the same year as Arlene Blum (see above). While hers was in biophysical chemistry, his was in mathematics. Lardner is now a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington, and an adjunct professor in the electrical engineering and linguistics departments there. After 35 years in the realm of theory in his field, Ladner veered into very practical, much-needed solutions.
In 2002 he encountered a recently-admitted Ph.D. student in his field who was blind and had soon run into difficulties with technical textbook material a campus service was, far too slowly, converting into Braille and other tactile representations. The lag was making him fall behind. Ladner, well acquainted with disabilities as a hearing son of two deaf parents, worked with the student to set up a team to create software that could automatically build the tactile graphics. The result was the Tactile Graphics Assistant, a free program that enables blind students to keep better pace with science and math peers. With this and other successes, Ladner devoted his attention full-time to accessibility technology research. He has become an accessibility evangelist, reaching out to students and faculty across the country through lectures, a national workshop, and a summer academy he runs. He promotes the development of sign language for scientific concepts. He, his students, and his colleagues have developed a number of accessibility applications, including WebAnywhere, software which allows the blind to use the Internet on the go.
Ladner, Berkeley, 1968
In 2005 Ladner also received a $10,000 honor, the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring, which he took as a challenge to do more, saying “You fell like Popeye — you’ve got your spinach, you have a little extra muscle in your arms, and you’re motivated.”
While working at Apple, Shantanu Narayen enrolled in the Haas School’s Evening and Weekend MBA Program., aiming to develop management and leadership skills for greater responsibility. That may have worked out pretty well for him. From Apple Narayen went to Silicon Graphics, then co-founded Pictra, a pioneer Internet photo-sharing endeavor, which he tried to sell to Adobe Systems — which, in 1998, chose him instead. By January 2005, at the age of 41, he was basically running the place. Adobe, as of last year, was the ninth-largest software company in the world, purveyor of such creative and publishing staples as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Acrobat, which, with others in the line, reside on over 700 million computers worldwide..
His predecessor as CEO, Bruce Chizen, ascribes Adobe’s success in the last near-decade to Narayen: “His ability to learn and understand the complexity of sales, nuances of marketing, and legal and financial issues of running a company is unlike that of any individual I’ve ever worked with.”
Narayen received the Haas School's Business Leader of the Year Award at the school's annual gala November 7 at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco. He is profiled in the fall issue of CalBusiness, which available online.
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A family group closely associated with the Graduate Division is well-represented in the trust-themed Fall '08 issue of Greater Good, in a feature called "Can I Trust You?". It's a conversation with daughter and father Eve and Paul Ekman, conducted by GG editor-in-chief Jason Marsh, on trusting your kids, encouraging trustworthy behavior, and building trust between parents and children. Eve and Jason are both Berkeley grad alums, she from social welfare (M.A. ‘06) and he from journalism (M.J. ‘05). (Ekman is a product of the University of Chicago, New York University, and Adelphi University.)
The magazine’s caption for the image above asks, in part, “What’s it like to be raised by a leading expert on trust and deception? Psychologist Paul Ekman and his wife Mary Ann Mason have extended a great deal of trust to their now-28-year-old daughter, Eve.” The photo is by Mason, Ekman’s wife and Eve’s mother, a social welfare professor and former dean of the Graduate Division (2000 – 2007) who now co-directs the Berkeley Center on Health, Economic, and Family Security.
The reader gets to know Eve and Paul fairly well in these pages. Eve, “not your conventional good girl,” says her parents weren’t just authority figures; they would explain. “It wasn’t like, ‘Because I said so.’” That, she said, helped build trust. “I always felt like, even in the worst-case scenarios, they would be the first people I would call. Still, to this day, I call them first when I have trouble.” Paul’s line, at that point in the conversation, was “I remember the call from jail.”
The issue also carries a feature by another J-grad, Emilie Raguso (M.J. ’06), on forgiveness — not for forgetting flowers on Valentine’s Day, but as it applies to healing the nation of Sierra Leone, whose civil war ended six years ago, leaving one-third of its population dead or displaced, many with the ongoing effects of abduction, amputation, and the slaughter of relatives. (Raguso is now a crime reporter for the Modesto Bee.)
The Pacific Film Archive Theater is located at 2575 Bancroft Way (between Telegraph and Bowditch) in Berkeley. Advance tickets are available by calling (510) 642-5249 or online. More information is available online.
Cinema Japan: A Wreath for Madame Kawakita
A Dirty Dozen: The Films of Robert Aldrich
The Pacific Film Archive Theater is located at 2575 Bancroft Way (between Telegraph and Bowditch) in Berkeley. Advance tickets are available by calling (510) 642-5249 or online. More information is available online.
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In early October, well over 200 people attended the Foerster Lecture on the Immortality of the Soul given by City University of New York anthropology professor Talal Asad on the topic “Thinking about Religion: Belief and Politics.” Anyone with web access can now view the entire presentation on-demand at UCTV.
If you want to know more about Asad, his background, and his work as an anthropologist focusing on religion, he joined Harry Kreisler for an episode of the series “Conversations with History,” which was televised on UCTV and is now available on YouTube.
In late October, Amory Lovins, cofounder, chairman and chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute, was here to deliver the Barbara Weinstock Lecture on the Morals of Trade, and, like Asad, took part in a “Conversation with History.” That chat (entitled “Natural Capitalism”) is available on YouTube. If you're interested in hearing Lovins’ Weinstock lecture, it will be available in mere weeks on the Graduate Council Lectures multimedia web page, where you can view other lectures and interviews and see another side of the Graduate Division's service to the campus and public.
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This is a bobcat (Lynx rufus) relaxing at home in Yosemite National Park, captured digitally by Andy Coleman on the weekend before Thanksgiving. Andy, who consulted not long ago for the Haas School of Business, is the spouse of Karen Warren, associate dean in the Campus Life and Leadership office. Bobcats are believed to have descended from migrant Eurasian Lynxes that crossed the Bering land bridge a couple of million years ago, evolving into the modern edition around 20,000 years ago. Their ancestors were somewhat larger; these cats average 36 inches in length, including the stubby four-to-seven-inch tail for which they’re named. This one appeared to be larger than the photographer’s Labrador, who stayed home. (Photo © Andy Coleman)
eGrad is produced by Graduate Communications & Events, distributed by email, and archived online. Graduate students, alumni, faculty, and staff are invited to send timely news and announcements of interest to or utility of graduate students and the graduate community. Please submit items to Dick Cortén, editor, at gradpub@berkeley.edu.