http://blog.dailycal.org/news Daily Cal reporters bring you up close and personal to Berkeley news Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:42:24 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Thursday's town hall meeting with Chancellor Robert Birgeneau and other administrators brought numerous issues facing the campus—and the UC system as a whole—to light. While most of the forum focused on the effects of budget cuts, a wide variety of topics were discussed, ranging from the redevelopment of Lower Sproul ... http://blog.dailycal.org/news/2009/11/06/chancellor-addresses-questions-about-strike-federal-funding-at-forum/ At the ASUC Senate's eleventh meeting, senators discussed their diminishing contingency fund, which has about $1,000 left. Senators are waiting to hear from the Auxiliary how much money they have in their reserve carry-forward fund before they use it to replenish the contingency and continue spending. Computer science professor Brian Barsky ... http://blog.dailycal.org/news/2009/11/06/weekly-dispatches-from-the-asuc-senate-floor-11409/ A KTVU reporter received exclusive information about the possible location of a change of venue for the former BART police officer charged with the murder of Oscar Grant III. KTVU reporter Rita Williams allegedly received information from three unnamed sources stating that only two counties are being considered for the change—Los ... http://blog.dailycal.org/news/2009/11/03/mehserle-trial-likely-headed-to-southern-california-sources-say/ The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has started a formal investigation to see to what extent liberal arts colleges discriminate against female applicants in an attempt to balance genders in the student body. On Oct. 30, the commission decided on a set of colleges to investigate, but declined to release the ... http://blog.dailycal.org/news/2009/11/02/us-investigates-whether-colleges-discriminate-against-female-applicants/ According to the Chronicle of Higher Education's annual executive compensation survey, 23 private college presidents made over $1 million in total compensation, and 110 made more than $500,000 for the 2007-8 fiscal year. These large pay packages are still relatively new in higher education. In 2002, there were no presidents making ... http://blog.dailycal.org/news/2009/11/02/23-private-college-presidents-made-more-than-1-million/ A Field Poll, created by political scientists from California State University Sacramento, Stanford University and UC Berkeley, asked Californians questions about proposed reforms to state government and constitutional convention scenarios. The poll found majorities think important changes need to be made to the state constitution and citizens prefer implementing these changes ... http://blog.dailycal.org/news/2009/11/02/poll-shows-californians-want-radical-constitutional-reforms/ The cockroaches coming out of UC Berkeley aren’t from the entomology department but the university’s Biomimetic Millisystems Lab. Ronald Fearing, UC Berkeley associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and researcher Paul Birkmeyer built a robot dubbed DASH—Dynamic Autonomous Sprawled Hexapod, according to Wired Magazine. The bot weighs only 16 grams, can ... http://blog.dailycal.org/news/2009/11/02/uc-berkeley-professors-develop-cockroach-bot/ In a letter responding to a Visalia Times-Delta editorial piece, Chancellor Robert Birgeneau said the university’s strategy to increase funding for the school will not reduce enrollment opportunities for students from the Central Valley. The editorial accused UC Berkeley of refusing admission to California students who would require financial aid and giving their ... http://blog.dailycal.org/news/2009/11/02/uc-berkeley-chastised-for-lowering-california-admissions/ At this week's ASUC Senate meeting, senators heard a warning from Finance Officer Alan Ni regarding their financial situation. He said there is less than 9 percent of funds left in the senate's contingency fund, which is allocated in the spring for the senate to distribute throughout the semester. Last week, Ni ... http://blog.dailycal.org/news/2009/10/29/weekly-dispatches-from-the-asuc-senate-floor-102809/ As part of its new training program, the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory will accept four apprentice electricians on Nov. 2. The training program was set up by the lab and Alameda County, and apprentices in the county can fulfill some of their required 8,000 hours of training at the lab. Lawrence Berkeley Lab’s ... http://blog.dailycal.org/news/2009/10/29/berkeley-lab-to-train-apprentice-electricians/