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A crowd of some 3,900 in black caps and gowns, and 21,000 fanatically proud fans in the stands above, turned out at California Memorial Stadium for Saturday’s Commencement Convocation 2013. Apple co-founder and Berkeley alum Steve Wozniak keynoted the event, which was held in the sports venue for the first time in more than 40 years.
Students archive
White House honors student working to stop human trafficking
April 29, 2013: Graduate student Minh Dang has been named a White House Champion of Change. She is among a group of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women cited for extraordinary commitment to their communities and the nation.
Meet future veterinarian (or zookeeper) Amanda Wong
April 29, 2013: Aspiring veterinarian (or zookeeper) Amanda Wong is VP of the Cal Pre-Vet Club. In an interview with DugDug, “a blog for pets,” the Berkeley junior talks about her stint as a zoo volunteer, teaching visitors about horned frogs and golden eagles — and other experiences with animals so far.
Chancellor looks back: ‘a period where leadership mattered’ 
April 26, 2013: In an interview with NBC11, Robert Birgeneau talks access and excellence, Dreamers, and how — despite a budget model for UC Berkeley that has changed in response to severe state funding cuts during his time as chancellor — “we still spend our money, as we should, like a public university.”
Berkeley named one of America’s ‘Bicycle Friendly Universities’
April 25, 2013: The Bicycle Friendly University program recognizes institutions of higher education for promoting and providing a more bicycle-friendly campus for students, staff and visitors.
‘Fitness for All’ is an exercise in inclusion
April 24, 2013: Campus staffer and Cal grad Matt Grigorieff is the driving force behind Fitness for All, a new program that aims to provide health and fitness options to UC Berkeley students with disabilities. Among the first offerings is a class on goalball, a court sport that puts blind and sighted players on a level playing field.
Fourth-generation Berkeley student lands prize for water work
April 19, 2013: The Blum Center’s Rebecca Peters, whose classroom work and field research focus on issues of water security, management and equity, is one of 62 “exceptional college juniors” nationwide selected as 2013 Harry S. Truman scholars.
10 years’ progress in getting to green 
April 19, 2013: Over the past decade, environmentally minded students have championed an ambitious effort to green UC Berkeley. From aggressive climate action to organic dining options and a zero-waste goal, campus sustainability today has an army of participants and deep institutional support.
Cal Day launched graduating senior’s Berkeley experience
April 19, 2013: Senior Ahn-Thi Le’s UC Berkeley journey began with Cal Day, when she fell in love with the campus. Now, after following a path that took her to India to work with rural artisans and to a place in the CellScope initiative improving health care in Vietnam, Le is about to graduate.
Campus announces 2013-14 freshman admissions numbers
April 18, 2013: More than 14,000 students have been offered admission to UC Berkeley’s 2013-14 freshman class, according to data campus officials released today (Thursday, April 18). A record high number of more than 67,600 students had submitted applications.
Which public universities have the happiest freshmen?
April 17, 2013: UC Berkeley is high on the list of public universities where where students stick around for their sophomore year, among the 25 schools ranked according to their freshman retention rates.
Celebrating 40 years of fostering student success
April 16, 2013: Testimonies about lives changed, often against the odds, flowed freely at a weekend gala celebrating the Student Learning Center’s 40 years on campus. Providing academic support to 8,500 undergrads annually (80,000 since its launch), the SLC has much to do with Berkeley’s high retention and graduation rates, as many of its alums attested.
Chancellor honored for aid to Dream Act students
April 16, 2013: “I myself am a beneficiary of a community that supported my education,” Chancellor Birgeneau told an appreciative audience at Oakland’s Scottish Rite Center, where he accepted the Centro Legal de La Raza’s “Visionary Leadership Award.”
I School’s Drone Lab looks at positive uses of unpiloted aircraft
April 16, 2013: Don’t be surprised to spot small, unpiloted machines buzzing in the air around South Hall and environs. They’re part of the Drone Lab, a small team of School of Information students who are exploring drones’ positive uses — and reinventing them in the public eye as something other than high-tech killing machines. With video.
From high school dropout to U.S. Gates Cambridge scholar
April 16, 2013: Justin Park dropped out of high school, but he never lost his love of literature and learning. After 20 years as a bartender, bike messenger and military man, Park returned to school at UC Berkeley, graduated — and now has been selected as a Gates Cambridge Scholar, a top world honor.
Iraq vet ’13, tells of life after war 
April 11, 2013: Dave Smith deployed to Iraq twice during his time in the Marine Corps. Now he’s a Berkeley senior, about to earn his bachelor’s degree in political science. What he saw and did in Iraq hasn’t made for an easy ride. Smith talks intimately about student life after war, in an interview on KALW radio.
Gold Folder helps faculty and staff ID students in distress
April 10, 2013: Faculty and staff at Berkeley now have a quick-reference guide to help them identify signs of an emotionally distressed student and take steps to access appropriate resources. In-person trainings on the new campus resource are set for two dates in April.
Hot tech-startup idea? Apply to Venture Lab contest
April 10, 2013: Campus students and post docs who seek to launch and grow a tech startup are invited to apply for funding, workspace and guidance from the Venture Lab competition. The contest deadline is April 17.
For California Golden Bears, it’s a brand new look
April 10, 2013: Cal Athletics unveiled a new, streamlined visual identity, and new team uniforms, at an April 10 press conference.
Contest winners shine new light on Fiat Lux
April 9, 2013: The Fiat Lux Remix contest invited students, faculty and staff members to revisit images of UC campuses commissioned in the mid-1960s by then-President Clark Kerr and taken by legendary photographer Ansel Adams – and published in the book Fiat Lux – and give them their own spin.
Davis-Berkeley shuttle adds weekend service
April 8, 2013: In response to rider interest, the shuttle between UC Berkeley and UC Davis has added Saturday and Sunday service. On weekends the shuttle, operated by UC Davis Fleet Services, offers two runs a day. The service is offered to students, faculty and staff from both campuses.
#GlobalPOV: Art, videos and Twitter take poverty curriculum to the world
April 8, 2013: Three Cal alumni and teachers — a live-action sketch artist, a social-media proselytizer and a brilliant professor who is also an unapologetic Bono fan — have teamed up to create artful, provocative videos and brought Twitter into the classroom. The goal: to extend the teachings of Berkeley’s biggest minor, Global Poverty and Practice, online. The project could be a model for a new kind of public scholarship and online education.
18 Berkeley students head to St. Louis for Clinton Global Initiative University
April 4, 2013: The April 5-7 conference will include knowledge-sharing and networking opportunities for students committed to tackling the world’s most pressing problems and will feature speeches by Muhammad Yunus, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jack Dorsey and Stephen Colbert, among others.
Bears fans cheer Cal women off to NCAA Final Four
April 4, 2013: Cal Bears fans cheered the women’s basketball team on its way to the NCAA finals in New Orleans.
Searching for ‘the Berkeley spark’ in Sub-Saharan Africa
April 3, 2013: Admission officer Lin Larson traveled to top high schools in Sub-Saharan Africa to talk to disadvantaged, talented young students about UC Berkeley and opportunities to be a MasterCard Foundation Scholar.
Bears’ winning formula? Aim high, don’t forget to dance
April 2, 2013: Head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, 35, has just led the women’s basketball team to the NCAA Final Four. In a Q&A, she talks about personal influences, her approach to mentoring student-athletes and connecting with fans, and what makes Cal’s diverse team click.
First campus-climate survey prizewinners announced
March 22, 2013: Equity and Inclusion has announced the first winners of incentive prizes — $100 Cal 1 cards, Cal Performances tickets, RSF memberships — for Berkeley participants in the UC Climate Survey. UCOP prizes include a $10,000 undergrad scholarship. The survey remains open; students, faculty and staff who participate are eligible for more prizes.
BBC video features Asian ‘Dreamers’ at Berkeley
March 21, 2013: Across California, Asian students make up 46 percent of ‘Dreamers’ (who would benefit from the proposed DREAM Act) on UC campuses. Undocumented Asians at Berkeley are featured in a BBC news video.
Helping to shape global response to wartime sexual violence
March 20, 2013: Working with the Human Rights Center’s Sexual Violence and Accountability Project, Berkeley law students are aiding a multi-year effort to gather data on sexual and gender-based violence during and after war, across the globe, and to help craft better response policies.
Haas Public Service Leaders Program renewed; applications open
March 20, 2013: The Peter E. Haas Public Service Leaders Program at UC Berkeley is being continued for a second year, and applications are now being accepted. Students selected will participate in a year-long leadership development program through the Cal Corps Public Service Center.
Ph.D. students rethink the tenure track, scope out non-academic jobs
March 20, 2013: Traditionally, the holy grail for doctoral students has been a professorship at a prestigious university. But in a sign of changing times, many Ph.D. students are now seeking jobs outside higher ed. Enter “Beyond Academia,” a career conference organized by Ph.D. students and postdocs.
