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Scott Saul’s biography and website are shedding new light on the late comic and actor.
Video archive
Beautiful botanical art, on display now at the Bot Garden
December 16, 2014: The beauty and complexity of plants are captured in extraordinary detail in the UC Botanical Garden’s new “Following in the Bartrams’ Footsteps” exhibit, which opened this week in Julia Morgan Hall. Featured are 44 original artworks by artists who create their pieces in the style of John and William Bartram, who lived three centuries ago. Watch our video to take an online tour with one of the artists.
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.
Dodging a sixth mass extinction
November 25, 2014: Integrative biology professor Anthony Barnosky not only has a new book out, Dodging Extinction, but also appears in a new documentary airing Nov. 30 on the Smithsonian Channel. The film, Mass Extinction, Life at the Brink, also features UC Berkeley geologist Walter Alvarez and Barnosky’s wife, Stanford ecologist Elizabeth Hadly.
‘Sleepless in America’ documentary to feature Berkeley research
November 24, 2014: UC Berkeley neuroscientist and sleep researcher Matthew Walker will be featured Nov. 30 in Sleepless in America, a documentary on the National Geographic Channel that lays out in gripping detail the perils of getting too little sleep.
Campus gives a ‘Big Thanks’ for successful fund drive
November 21, 2014: UC Berkeley sends out a “Big Thanks” to the legion of supporters who made Thursday’s Big Give such a big success, one that will benefit students, faculty and research.
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.
Foragers find bounty of edibles in urban food deserts
November 17, 2014: Urban residents in neighborhoods lacking stores with fresh, affordable produce need to look no further than their own yards to find wild edibles to add to the dinner table. Two Berkeley professors and a team of students are foraging in three East Bay communities as part of a unique project that is surveying, logging data, testing soil and aiming to educate neighborhoods about the value of these greens.
Lightning expected to increase by 50 percent with global warming
November 13, 2014: UC Berkeley atmospheric scientist David Romps and his colleagues looked at predictions of precipitation and cloud buoyancy in 11 different climate models and concluded that global warming will generate 50 percent more lightning strikes across the U.S. by the end of the 21st century.
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.
The skinny on soda taxes, in under 3 minutes
November 3, 2014: Professor Alan Auerbach answers some key questions about the initiatives on Tuesday’s ballot in Berkeley and San Francisco to add taxes to purchases of most sweetened drinks. Auerbach is director of the Robert D. Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance at UC Berkeley.
How a cardiac surgeon became ‘Egypt’s Jon Stewart’
October 29, 2014: In this video interview, political satirist Bassem Youssef, who made a campus appearance Wednesday, discusses how his life and career changed after the 2011 Egyptian revolution, and shares his thoughts on free speech, student life and food.
The skinny on soda taxes, in under 3 minutes
October 28, 2014: As the Nov. 4 election nears, Professor Alan Auerbach answers some key questions about the initiatives in Berkeley and San Francisco to add taxes to purchases of sweetened drinks. Auerbach is director of the Robert D. Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance.
Bancroft opens stunning California Captured on Canvas exhibit
October 21, 2014: The Bancroft Library is providing a window onto California’s unique history and culture with an new exhibit of oil paintings from its pictorial collection, some of which haven’t been publicly displayed before.
New post-bac at Berkeley may be hottest ticket to grad school
October 21, 2014: Aaron Fisher was a nanny for a successful actor in Manhattan when he applied for a post-baccalaureate in psychology. Emily Becklund was working in L.A., as a personal assistant for the reality-TV Kardashian family, when she did the same. Today their academic dreams have converged at UC Berkeley, where Fisher just launched a post-bac, inspired by his own success.
Rare silent film, with live music, highlights sweeping Georgian cinema series
October 15, 2014: The screening of the rare Georgian silent film Eliso, with live musical accompaniment by Trio Kavkasia playing a score commissioned by BAM/PFA, is a highlight of the 50-film Discovering Georgian Cinema series now underway at BAM/PFA. Eliso will be shown Oct. 25 and 26.
Video Q&A: Lessons learned from Loma Prieta
October 14, 2014: As the 25th anniversary of Loma Prieta earthquake approaches, Professor Richard Allen sat down with the NewsCenter’s video team to talk about the lessons learned from the 6.9-magnitude temblor. Allen is director of the UC Berkeley Seismological Laboratory.
They like to watch, yes, but that’s just the beginning
October 13, 2014: Kai Huotari, a sometime filmmaker and former visiting scholar at Berkeley’s School of Information, analyzed thousands of tweets and interviewed 45 “TV live-tweeters” to learn why people would do such a thing. Note to TV producers: It’s not all about you.
Infectious-disease expert offers primer on Ebola virus
October 6, 2014: Dr. Arthur Reingold, professor of epidemiology and associate dean for research at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, answers some common questions about the risk of an Ebola outbreak in the United States.
Dirks, Udacity CEO square off in online-learning debate
October 6, 2014: UC Berkeley’s chancellor joined Sebastian Thrun, founder and CEO of Udacity, on the World Affairs Council’s stage to discuss the growth of online learning and how it will affect 21st-century models of education.
#FSM50, in words, videos and photos
October 3, 2014: With rallies, lectures, classes, conversations, photos, videos and — always — with passion, UC Berkeley is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Free Speech Movement, whose legacy reverberates on campus and throughout the world. Catch up on this week’s events on the NewsCenter’s #FSM50 page.
Student testifies in U.S. Senate on disability issues
October 3, 2014: At a recent U.S. Senate committee hearing, UC Berkeley senior Ann Kwong delivered forceful testimony regarding federal policies affecting people with disabilities. Video and a written transcript are now available.
After 26 days ‘in immigrant shoes,’ student mothers ponder next steps
October 3, 2014: Six UC Berkeley student mothers walked a 350-mile “Trail for Humanity” with their children this summer — calling for immigration reform as they traveled south from Merced, Calif. to the U.S.-Mexico border. The action was a way of “putting myself in those immigrant shoes,” says one of the leaders, American studies major Valeska Castañeda. (Versión en español aquí)
Después de 26 días ‘en los zapatos del inmigrante,’ madres estudiantes reflexionaron sobre sus próximos pasos
October 2, 2014: Durante el verano, seis madres estudiantes de UC Berkeley, junto con sus hijos, caminaron 350 millas en “Un Sendero por la Humanidad,” en el que clamaron por una reforma migratoria a lo largo del camino, que concluyó en la frontera con México. La acción fue “ponerme en los zapatos del inmigrante,” dijo una de las líderes, Valeska Castañeda, estudiante del último año. (English verion here.)
Cybertools offer new channels for free speech, but grassroots organizing still critical
October 2, 2014: The communication tools of today have changed social movements since the Free Speech Movement 50 years ago. Whether it is an online petition or survey software that makes it easier for users to register their opinions for elected officials, more options are available for expressing views than ever before. Still, cautionary flags are raised about the limits of the Internet and online tools by many who know the behind-the-scenes work needed for a movement to be successful.
‘#FSM50 Voices of Free Speech’
October 1, 2014: A two-minute crowd-sourced film by Emmy-nominated Berkeley alum Tiffany Shlain commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Free Speech Movement, bringing together voices from around the world to recall the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. and FSM leader Mario Savio to demonstrate the power of free speech today.
Words of freedom: video made from Mario Savio’s 1964 ‘Machine Speech’
September 30, 2014: This kinetic-typography video shares some of the most memorable words from that speech, dubbed “The Machine Speech.”
Shake your silk-maker: The dance of the peacock spider
September 24, 2014: The radio show “Science Friday” profiled UC Berkeley graduate student Madeline Girard and her study of peacock spiders, using Girard’s amazing video of the rhythmic, disco-like courtship dances males employ to entice and placate females.
Putting a stop to sexual violence and harassment
September 23, 2014: UC Berkeley is a diverse community, but on one crucial issue we speak with a single voice, and carry a single message: With your help, we can create an environment where violence and harassment in any form will not be tolerated. The eight people in these brief videos represent the thousands of staff, faculty and students who are dedicated to eradicating sexual assault and violence on the Berkeley campus.
Political leaders agree: The time for a statewide earthquake early warning system is now.
September 4, 2014: In the wake of the recent 6.0 magnitude Napa earthquake, California legislators joined scientists and emergency-response experts to kick off a three-day international conference at UC Berkeley on earthquake early warning.
