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Students in Professor Keltner’s “Human Happiness” class produced short videos this spring on what makes them happy. A panel of judges named, as first-place winner, “Bill’s Story,” about a paper doll who learns about the relative value of wealth, status and social connections.
Video archive
Scientists at UC Berkeley and LBNL convert carbon in tobacco leaves into biofuels
May 15, 2012: UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientists use light to convert carbon in tobacco leaves to biofuel.
Public policy Dean Henry Brady promotes election polling to make more voices heard
May 15, 2012: UCTV’s “Prime Vote” features Henry Brady’s video commentary, Don’t Hang Up! Why Voters Should Respond to Pollsters,”as he makes a case fo folks to stay on the line and make their opinions heard, especially in an electoral season increasingly dominated by rich donors and highly paid lobbyists.
Commencement Convocation sends 2012 graduates out into the world
May 14, 2012: Joyous graduates, their friends and families filled Edwards Track Stadium in a swirl of blue and gold on Saturday, as they celebrated their graduation as UC Berkeley’s Class of 2012 and heard Google leader Eric Schmidt and Chancellor Robert Birgeneau send them on their way. With video and slideshow.
Floating robots use GPS-enabled smartphones to track water flow
May 9, 2012: A fleet of 100 floating robots took a trip down the Sacramento River on May 9, in a field test organized by UC Berkeley engineers. The devices, equipped with GPS-enabled smartphones, demonstrated the next generation of water-monitoring technology, promising to transform the way government agencies track one of the state’s most precious resources.
Tyrone Hayes premieres in new documentary on coming water crisis
May 8, 2012: Integrative biology professor Tyrone Hayes joins Erin Brockovich in a documentary, “Last Call at the Oasis,” that’s already getting praise for its discussion of a coming global water crisis. Directed by Jessica Yu & produced by the same people who created “An Inconvenient Truth,” the documentary opened May 4 in New York and Los Angeles and comes to the Bay Area May 11.
Bruce Cain on UCTV to talk campaign finance, polling
May 8, 2012:
UCDC’s Bruce Cain talks with UCTV’s “Prime Vote” series about the era of PACS and who’s financing the 2012 election.
Scientists core into Clear Lake to explore past climate change
May 3, 2012: One of the oldest lakes in the world, Clear Lake has deep sediments that contain a record of the climate and local plants and animals going back perhaps 500,000 years. UC Berkeley scientists are drilling cores from the sediments to explore this history and fine-tune models for predicting the fate of today’s flora and fauna in the face of global warming and pressure from a growing human population.
Crawford Greenewalt receives prestigious award for work at site of ancient city of Sardis
April 26, 2012: This year’s Bandelier Award for Public Service to Archaeology goes to a UC Berkeley classics professor emeritus, for his decades-long work exploring the ancient city of Sardis, capital of the ancient empire of Lydia.
Cal students “Spread the Word” at Richmond High with college-going help
April 26, 2012: UC Berkeley student volunteers will introduce 90 Richmond High teens to campus Friday, culminating a yearlong effort to help these local students navigate a path to college.
UC Berkeley class prepares disabled students for competitive job market
April 23, 2012: If it’s a tough job market out there for able-bodied college graduates, imagine how employment prospects might look to students with cerebral palsy or a muscular or neurodegenerative disease. That’s why a dozen UC Berkeley students are enrolled in “Professional Development and Disability,” a unique course that is teaching them how to market their disabilities as strengths.
Bears “adopt” Brooklyn 4th graders to promote college success
April 17, 2012:
UC Berkeley has “adopted” a classroom of 4th graders at Bensonhurst Elementary School, P.S. 247, in Brooklyn as part of the school’s College Partnership Program. A group of Cal ambassadors recently met via Skype with some of the youngsters, telling them about life on campus.
Tonight on Frontline, J-School jointly produces “CSI” story
April 17, 2012: Tonight at 10 pm PST on PBS’ FRONTLINE, correspondent and UC Berkeley professor Lowell Bergman examines how some well-known tools of forensic science have serious flaws. Students from the Invetigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley helped produced the story.
Space Sciences Lab learns more about colorful auroras
April 17, 2012: Using high resolution satellite imagery, scientists at UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory are learning more about how the aurora borealis, or the “Northern Lights,” move across the sky. SSL physicist Chris Chaston tells Inside Science TV that, because of increasing activity on the sun, next year the colorful light show may be visible as far south as Minnesota.
Aspiring oral surgeon promotes “Super Star Smiles” for children
April 16, 2012: UC Berkeley integrative biology major Hường Trần says she is “paying it forward” with a program taking dental-health education into classrooms for needy children.
Students’ ‘Acopio’ startup uses IT tools to assist struggling coffee farmers
April 13, 2012: Coffee production is an $80 billion industry worldwide, yet rural coffee farmers struggle to break even. Three Berkeley grad students — two from the I School and a third from Haas — have founded the social venture Acopio (“harvest” in Spanish), using information-management tools to help improve the bottom line for coffee producers in the developing world.
Financial aid questions answered
April 12, 2012: In a series of videos, Anne De Luca, associate vice chancellor for admissions and enrollment, responds to questions about financial aid — all prompted by her recent primer video on the new “Sproul Plaza” app.
New Sproul App video: Financial Aid 101
April 3, 2012: With its latest Sproul Plaza video, the UC Berkeley campus launches a new source of information for students and families in need of financial assistance. Vice Chancellor Anne De Luca starts things off with a primer on getting financial aid.
A political expert’s take on polls, social media and elections
March 29, 2012: In electoral politics, how useful and reliable are public-opinion polls? How do we understand the new role of social media? How do we increase the participation of young voters? Henry Brady, dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy, offers insights on the process.
Common online timekeeping system coming in 2012
March 27, 2012: In 2012, all campus departments and units will migrate to a common timekeeping system called CalTime. Members of the campus community, in a new video, talk about current timekeeping practices and why it’s time for a change.
Happy 100th, Doe Library!
March 22, 2012: Well-wishers crowded the marble corridors, elegant reading rooms and book-lined spaces of Doe Library Wednesday afternoon, as the campus marked the 100th anniversary of a stunning building, its world-class collections and its enduring mission.
Linguistics students explore communication in ‘Journey’ video game
March 16, 2012: In a series of videos presented by GameSpot, UC Berkeley linguistics students analyze the communication system of the video game “Journey,” in which players interact without words or text.
ChronoZoom: A deep dive into the history of everything
March 14, 2012: Working with eight UC Berkeley students and with resources from Microsoft Research Connections, geologist Walter Alvarez has created a new piece of Web-based software that allows students, researchers and the general public to cruise through cosmic timelines. Called ChronoZoom, it could help students visualize the sweep of history.
Chancellor Birgeneau announces he will step down at year’s end
March 13, 2012: Chancellor Birgeneau will step down from his post on Dec. 31, 2012, he announced Tuesday in a letter to the campus community. UC President Yudof praised him as “a passionate, dedicated and effective steward of the world’s greatest public university.”
Scientists tap the genius of babies and youngsters to make computers smarter
March 12, 2012: People often wonder if computers make children smarter. UC Berkeley scientists are asking the reverse question: Can children make computers smarter? And their answer appears to be ‘yes’ as they tap the cognitive smarts of babies, toddlers and preschoolers to program computers to think more like humans.
New campus video puts Berkeley’s strengths front and center
March 9, 2012: In an e-mail to Cal alumni, parents and friends, Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau drew attention to a new 79-second video, “We’re not resting on our laureates,” that’s designed to raise awareness and support for the university.
New budget videos posted: You asked, and Sproul Plaza has the answers
March 8, 2012: Vice Chancellor John Wilton responds to questions about campus finances that were posed as part of a campus conversation about UC Berkeley’s budget, now playing on the new Sproul Plaza app on Berkeley’s Facebook page. Watch all five videos.
Student video highlights a welcoming campus for military vets
February 28, 2012: “Foot-print”, a short film by students in the Cal Veterans Group, provides a glimpse of life at UC Berkeley for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Some 300 vets are here today, twice as many as when the campus, in 2008, launched a new program to welcome them with outreach and orientation, financial-aid guidance and special workshops and classes.
MCB grad-student parody video wins 2012 ‘lab grammy’
February 27, 2012: A music video by molecular and cell-biology grad-student Mark Grabiner and his colleagues at Berkeley has been voted 2012 Science Parody of the Year, given by the professional journal BioTechniques. Their entry — “Grad School I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down” — features a manic, orange-haired puppet in a lab coat.
Raise your voice at ‘Sproul Plaza,’ the app
February 24, 2012: The campus is rolling out a new social-media app to foster dialogue between students and members of the administration, as well as faculty, staff and the campus community. In a new video, Vice Chancellor John Wilton begins the first conversation, about university finances.
