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Marked by a monthlong celebration of the Free Speech Movement and the unveiling of plans for an ambitious new Berkeley Global Campus, 2014 at UC Berkeley was both a year to remember and a time to reimagine the future.
Students archive
Holiday gifts with a UC Berkeley twist
December 16, 2014: Whether you’re gift shopping for a Cal Athletics fan, an environmentally minded undergrad or a visiting music buff, campus organizations, museums and gifts shops offer a host of novel options. Here are a few holiday gift ideas.
Black staff, faculty stage silent protest at Sproul
December 15, 2014: Black staff and faculty at Berkeley led a silent protest in front of Sproul Hall on Monday, in solidarity with the nationwide #BlackLivesMatter movement. More than 100 stood in a driving rain to silently voice their support for the growing movement.
Dirks, Richmonders get down to business on global campus
December 15, 2014: The chancellor met Thursday with Richmond civic leaders and city residents to hear their perspectives, and to reiterate — and reinforce — his commitment to the community as the new Berkeley Global Campus moves ahead.
Grad student helps people in Bangalore know when the next drop of water will come 
December 15, 2014: Many of the 9.9 million people in Bangalore, India, never know when they’ll turn on the tap and find water flowing. UC Berkeley graduate student Christopher Hyun is helping to change that.
Berkeley Stars sing and shine 
December 12, 2014: Taking a page from “American Idol,” 12 Berkeley singers took the mic on the Zellerbach stage on a recent Friday to compete for the title of Berkeley’s Star 2014.
UC’s first crop of ‘global food’ fellows includes three Berkeley students
December 10, 2014: Three UC Berkeley students are among 54 fellows announced Dec. 9 by the University of California’s Global Food Initiative, launched earlier this year to address food security, health and sustainability issues.
Forestry club offers holiday trees, fresh from the Sierra
December 5, 2014: Evergreen trees sustainably harvested in the Sierra by the Cal Forestry Club are on sale Dec. 7 to 13 at Mulford Hall. Proceeds from the annual sale support professional development for members of the 102-year-old student organization.
New building aims to transform Berkeley-Haas student experience
December 4, 2014: Berkeley’s Haas School of Business is constructing a new six-story academic building devoted entirely to student learning and interaction, it was announced Thursday. The $60 million structure will be funded with private donations from alumni and friends of the school.
Ph.D. on hold, White House fellow’s stars align at NASA
December 4, 2014: Dan Hammer, a Berkeley Ph.D. candidate, has been a volunteer firefighter, was instrumental in launching Global Forest Watch, taught math at San Quentin, raced canoes in the South Pacific, and boasts a personal-best 27 seconds at solving a Rubik’s Cube. And now he’s a Presidential Innovation Fellow, working on quantum computing for NASA.
I School hackathon develops technological aids for Heifer International
December 3, 2014: Students from across the Bay Area came to the assistance of Heifer International, which fights world hunger and poverty by linking communities and helps bring sustainable agriculture and commerce to areas with a history of poverty.
For student regent, sitting on UC board means taking a stand
November 25, 2014: Though she’s missed classes, lost sleep and put her social life on hold since becoming UC student regent in July, Berkeley social-welfare major Sadia Saifuddin is upbeat about the role, calling it a “blessing” and a job “I was meant to do.”
Regents approve five-year tuition-hike plan for UC students
November 20, 2014: Chancellor Dirks voiced his full support for the new plan, “a necessary response to the massive state disinvestment in the University of California.”
Chopping down the Stanford Tree in slow motion
November 19, 2014: Hundreds of Cal fans showed up for the annual Tree Chopping Rally on Sproul Plaza Tuesday and cheered on a group of axe-wielding students. To psych up the campus for the 117th Big Game, Saturday against Stanford, the Cal logging team showed off their chain sawing and chopping techniques, symbolizing California’s triumph over the Stanford Tree, the mascot of the Stanford band.
All in the family: Parents, undergrads study at Berkeley at the same time
November 18, 2014: Jayanthi (Jay) Srinivasan, a software manager in Cupertino, and Sandeep Garg, a cardiologist in Lake Oswego, Ore., have two things in common: Both are students in the Berkeley Haas School’s MBA for Executives Program, and both have daughters who are sophomores at Berkeley. What’s it like for the two generations to experience Berkeley at the same time?
Going out, doing good: Berkeley Project Day 2014 in photos
November 14, 2014: Berkeley Project Day 2014 sent more than 1,400 UC Berkeley students out into the community to get things done: rehabbing homes for people in need, cleaning up streets and parks, sprucing up childcare centers, just to name a few. The annual community-service day is entirely student-run.
Chancellor Dirks issues statement on UC’s new tuition proposal
November 13, 2014: UC Berkeley Chancellor Dirks issued a statement today (Thursday, Nov. 13) regarding the University of California’s new tuition proposal.
Students’ ‘Feeding Forward’ fights hunger, food waste
November 12, 2014: A food-recovery program developed by Berkeley students makes it simple for businesses and organizations to list perishable-food surpluses, and to speed those donations to social agencies that feed the hungry. In the Bay Area, more than a half-million pounds of food have been distributed since the the launch of “Feeding Forward” in 2013. Now its founders hope to scale up.
A feline first: Oakland’s new cat cafe
November 6, 2014: UC Berkeley animal behaviorist Mikel Delgado, a grad student, used her expertise to help a cat rescue organization come up with a better way to connect kitties that need a home with humans who want them — a cat cafe, where people can sip, snack, watch the fuzz balls play and maybe take them home. Cat Town Cafe in Oakland is the nation’s first.
UC proposes new five-year plan for tuition
November 6, 2014: The UC Board of Regents announced today (Nov. 6) that it will consider a new five-year tuition plan that envisions funding to increase access for California students and maintain financial aid. Tuition would rise 5 percent or less per year for five years, starting in 2015–16. The regents will consider the plan at their Nov. 19 meeting.
Why voting matters (or not) — Berkeley students weigh in
November 4, 2014: Undergrads on Sproul Plaza share their views on the election — whether they’re exercising their right to vote this time, and what races and issues matter to them most.
Love and loss drive campus ‘Day of the Dead’ art show
October 31, 2014: Jason Thomason claims no Mexican heritage. But since several of his friends died young from hard living, he has found solace in the Day of the Dead, which comes on the heels of Halloween. The art practice student has curated a Dia de los Muertos exhibit for his senior class project in Kroeber Hall.
Berkeley Global Campus: a new, bolder vision for Richmond Bay
October 30, 2014: Chancellor Dirks laid out an “unabashedly bold” new vision for UC Berkeley’s Richmond Field Station on Wednesday, telling faculty members of plans to remake the site as a global campus and “living laboratory” in partnership with public universities from around the world, as well as with private industry.
Hell-bent on getting out the vote
October 28, 2014: Sarah Funes’ million-dollar question is how to get minorities excited about voting. The UC Berkeley junior, who has lobbied in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., advised transit agencies and been a poll worker, says her political passion comes from being “Latin, a woman and disabled. I want to elect people who look like me.”
Berkeley ranks 3rd among US News’ 2015 ‘Best Global Universities’
October 28, 2014: UC Berkeley was rated the No. 3 global university in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings, released this week. Topping the annual list were Harvard and MIT, while Stanford and the University of Oxford rounded out the top five.
How Brittany Maynard decided to ‘go with dignity’ — and to go public
October 27, 2014: Diagnosed with terminal brain cancer earlier this year, the 29-year-old UC Berkeley psychology graduate has uprooted her life in the Bay Area and moved to Oregon so that when her symptoms grow intolerable, she can legally swallow a lethal dose of medication. Her story is in California Magazine.
AC Transit, BART seek campus views on transit
October 27, 2014: AC Transit planners will hold a campus workshop Thursday, Oct. 30, to get feedback on East Bay and transbay bus service. Members of the campus community are also invited to answer online surveys about AC Transit and BART, as part of the agencies’ long-range planning.
Maximino Martinez Commons garners $500,000 PG&E award
October 27, 2014: The campus recently celebrated a $500,000 incentive award from Pacific Gas & Electric’s “Savings By Design” program, for building and maintaining Maximino Martinez Commons as a sustainable student-residence hall. The LEED Gold-rated facility is designed to save energy and water and to filter storm-water runoff.
Panel explores impact of teacher tenure ruling by California Supreme Court
October 22, 2014: If upheld on appeal, changes mandated by the state Supreme Court ruling in Vergara vs. California would eliminate some employment protections for teachers, extending the time to “tenure” and limiting the role of seniority in decisions about employment and assignment. An Oct. 29 forum will explore whether and how these changes matter as the state seeks to provide high-quality teachers for students in California schools.
At Student Learning Center ‘Friday Jam,’ creative energy abounds
October 21, 2014: More than 200 attended the Oct. 17 launch of “SLC Friday Jam,” featuring a multicultural array of spoken-word, rock and dance performances.
