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Keyword: beserkeley

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  • UC Berkeley and the 'Islamophobia' Lobby

    05/26/2012 10:14:37 AM PDT · by SmithL · 5 replies
    Campus Watch ^ | 5/25/2012 | Cinnamon Stillwell
    The Islamophobia Research & Documentation Project (IRDP)—a program of the University of California, Berkeley's Center for Race and Gender (CRG)—recently held its third annual conference, "Critical Discourses on Islamophobia: Symbols, Images, & Representations." As in previous years, speaker after speaker decried an imaginary racist, imperialist, Orientalist Western juggernaut, while disregarding the very real predations of Islamism. The first day of the conference brought in approximately eighty people at its peak, including a number of women in hijab (head scarf), typing furiously on laptops. Others sported keffiyehs and dreadlocks; a smattering of Arabic and French could be heard; and a scruffy,...
  • Protesters will end UC farm encampment

    05/12/2012 3:26:54 PM PDT · by SmithL · 5 replies
    San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 5/12/12 | Nanette Asimov
    Occupy the Farm protesters agreed Saturday to end their three-week encampment on UC Berkeley property in Albany, but rebuffed an invitation from the university to discuss how area can be used for both urban farming and for research. Instead, the several dozen protesters set up ladders to scale the fence UC had erected around the area along San Pablo Avenue known as the Gill Tract and said they will continue to tend the vegetables and fruit trees they've planted on two of the five disputed acres. As a result, the UC Regents said they won't drop the civil lawsuit they...
  • Occupy's farm goal pales against research effort

    05/11/2012 9:22:15 AM PDT · by SmithL · 15 replies
    San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 5/11/12 | Chip Johnson
    Message to the Occupy the Farm folk. Don't fence us in. Because when you trespass on another person's land and claim it as your own, you leave the rest of us law-abiding folk with very few options. The property owners can ask police to throw you off the land, they can throw you off themselves or present a legal argument to have you removed and barred from ever returning. UC Berkeley officials chose option three earlier this week, filing a lawsuit seeking an injunction to have more than a dozen protesters removed from the university's Gill Tract, a 10-acre research...
  • Berkeley Law 2012 Graduation Tomorrow: More Protest Against Torture Lawyer John Yoo

    05/10/2012 10:23:56 PM PDT · by SmithL · 12 replies
    Berkeley Daily Planet ^ | 5/10/12 | The World Can't Wait
    Protesters will denounce torture, and the University of California’s continuing connection to torture, outside tomorrow's commencement ceremony at UC Berkeley Law (Boalt Hall). As in previous years’ graduation demonstrations, protesters including those costumed to represent prisoners at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and other sites where the U.S. currently manages a regimen of illegal rendition, detention, and torture, will gather outside the commencement before and during the ceremony. They will call for an end to, and accountability for, this illegal program wherever it has been operating. Berkeley Law professor John Yoo is on the list of Bush Regime officials who they say...
  • Occupation of UC Berkeley Land Continues for 17th Day

    05/08/2012 10:05:14 PM PDT · by SmithL · 5 replies
    Berkeley Daily Planet ^ | 5/8/12 | Jeff Shuttleworth
    A standoff between protesters and the University of California at Berkeley over a 10-acre plot of university-owned agricultural land in Albany continued into its 17th day today. Anya Kamanskaya, of the group Occupy The Farm, said the ball is in the university's court after protesters issued a response late Monday to the university's proposal to resolve the standoff. UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said the university planned to respond to the protesters' letter later today. Occupy the Farm activists moved onto the site, which is known as the Gill Tract and is located near the corner of Marin and San...
  • New police patrols target Berkeley's Telegraph Avenue, People's Park

    05/08/2012 3:24:02 PM PDT · by SmithL · 4 replies
    Oakland Tribune ^ | 5/8/12 | Doug Oakley
    Merchants and nearby residents are hoping a new police foot patrol on Telegraph Avenue and at People's Park will reduce the numbers of transients and their aggressive dogs that drive other people away. The patrols started April 30. On day two, they arrested a South Carolina murder suspect who was doing push-ups in People's Park. Police said they initially questioned the man because of his shopping cart, which is illegal to possess. After running his name through a database, he was arrested on a no bail warrant. The patrols, two teams of two from UC Berkeley and the city of...
  • UC Berkeley adviser fired after affair

    05/06/2012 6:31:54 AM PDT · by SmithL · 22 replies
    San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 5/6/12 | Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross, Chronicle Columnists
    A former UC Berkeley assistant vice chancellor who doubled the salary of a male subordinate during a 15-month affair has been fired from the university. Diane Leite, 47, who had already been bumped from her assistant vice chancellor's job, was dismissed from the six-figure-salary adviser's job where she had landed, UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof confirmed Friday. Leite's relationship with purchasing manager Jonathan Caniezo, who is 17 years her junior, was detailed in a whistle-blower letter to her boss back in August. Records show that Caniezo's pay grew from $57,864 in late 2008 to $120,000 in 2010.When the scandal went...
  • Ron Paul says he won't quit race

    04/06/2012 2:19:26 PM PDT · by SmithL · 13 replies
    San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 4/6/12 | Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
    GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul, on a three-day campaign swing in California that has attracted overflow crowds, said Thursday his withdrawal from the race is "not going to happen" - and he isn't certain he'll support Mitt Romney should the former Massachusetts governor win the party's nomination. The Texas congressman, in a meeting with The Chronicle's editorial board, said there may be some "excitement" ahead, including the possibility of a "brokered" convention. Paul, asked whether he would back Romney if he secures the 1,144 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination, said, "We haven't gotten that far yet. I have...
  • Meet the Real 1%: OCCUPY BOHEMIAN GROVE This July

    04/04/2012 6:34:01 PM PDT · by SmithL · 12 replies
    Berkeley Daily Planet ^ | 4/3/12 | Haig Patigian
    In solidarity with a number of Occupations, as well as long-running protest group Bohemian Grove Action Network, the call for peaceful protests against The Bohemian Club this July in Monte Rio (CA) are hereby announced. Since Bohemian Grove is on private land, we respect those legal boundaries. Therefore, this communique only endorses peaceful, non-violent protests on the public land existing outside Bohemian Grove. The goal is not to “shut down” their party – we simply want to shine a spotlight on it. We feel it blatantly confirms the existence of an interconnected, international power elite that holds a systematic "good...
  • Berkeley residents say no to new taxes

    04/04/2012 6:28:03 PM PDT · by SmithL · 22 replies
    Oakland Tribune ^ | 4/4/12 | Doug Oakley
    The people of Berkeley have spoken loud and clear to city leaders: No new taxes. Even the famously left-leaning city has its limits, apparently. A recent poll of 430 residents likely to vote in the November election told city leaders they won't get the necessary two-thirds approval to raise property taxes to fund any of the $500 million needed to upgrade the city's infrastructure such as roads, swimming pools, storm drains and buildings. Residents' attitudes about the direction of the local economy weighed heavily on their answers to the $24,000 poll conducted in March, a pollster told City Council members...
  • Convenient excuses allow officials to evade public disclosure in times of embarrassment

    03/31/2012 9:32:52 PM PDT · by SmithL · 6 replies
    Oakland Tribune ^ | 3/31/12 | Thomas Peele
    "All governments lie," the late muckraker I.F. "Izzy" Stone used to preach. Let's add this: They also deny. Denial of access is a government lie in and of itself -- especially when a bureaucrat tells the public it has no right to view the writings of top officials, particularly when those officials are in trouble. A pair of recent controversies shows how quickly governments become recalcitrant for fear of embarrassment, denying access to information that may further public understanding and full accountability. In one, lawyers have denied access to records involving a California power couple, state Treasurer Bill Lockyer and...
  • Reversing the Sixties: The 2012 Republican Agenda

    03/23/2012 6:22:26 PM PDT · by SmithL · 14 replies
    Berkeley Daily Planet ^ | 3/23/12 | Bob Burnett
    Columns Reversing the Sixties: The 2012 Republican Agenda By Bob Burnett Friday March 23, 2012 - 12:44:00 PM Bookmark and Share One of the most surprising aspects of contemporary Republican politics has been their across-the-board attack on women’s health services and women’s rights. Rather than an isolated misogynistic program, these attacks should be viewed as one part of a conservative agenda to role back gains made in the sixties. Recently, MoveOn reported Top 10 Shocking Attacks from the GOP’s War on Women ranging from changing the definition of rape to denying abortions in all circumstances to limiting access to contraception...
  • Occupy Protesters Arraigned, Ordered to Stay Away from Berkeley Campus

    03/20/2012 2:21:46 PM PDT · by SmithL · 4 replies
    Berkeley Daily Planet ^ | 3/19/12 | Jeff Shuttleworth
    Four Occupy Cal protesters were arraigned today on misdemeanor charges for their involvement in a demonstration at Sproul Plaza at the University of California at Berkeley campus on Nov. 9. At the request of the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, Superior Court Judge Paul Seeman issued orders which require that the protesters stay away 100 yards from all UC property, except for when they go to and from class and work. Attorney Ronald Cruz, who represents three Occupy Cal protesters but not the four people who were arraigned today, attended today's hearing and said Seeman made it clear that the...
  • Berkeley launches independent probe of chief

    03/16/2012 2:38:12 PM PDT · by SmithL · 3 replies
    San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 3/16/12 | Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
    The city of Berkeley has hired a law firm to investigate the police chief's decision to send an officer to a reporter's home after midnight to push for changes in a story, officials said today. Interim City Manager Christine Daniel issued a statement confirming the independent investigation shortly after the police union called for an outside probe, saying the top cop should be held to the same standard as the rank and file. Chief Michael Meehan has apologized for what he has described as an "error in judgment." Any officer under his command who did what the chief did would...
  • UC Berkeley professors condemn light punishment for administrator

    03/16/2012 7:50:14 AM PDT · by SmithL · 11 replies
    Oakland Tribune ^ | 3/16/12 | Matt Krupnick
    BERKELEY -- A growing chorus of voices is calling for the firing of a UC Berkeley administrator who helped triple her secret sex partner's pay over five years. Calling Diane Leite's punishment "an affront" to the university, several UC Berkeley professors have asked the school's provost to investigate how the matter was handled. They are aghast that, instead of firing her, the university reassigned Leite from her assistant vice chancellor post and will still pay her $175,000 a year. "It's an outrage," said engineering professor Samer Madanat, one of at least 13 professors who signed the letter to Provost George...
  • UC Berkeley administrator hiked pay for employee she was seeing

    03/12/2012 8:01:32 AM PDT · by SmithL · 26 replies · 2+ views
    Oakland Tribune ^ | 3/12/12 | Matt Krupnick
    A longtime UC Berkeley administrator has been demoted and docked in pay for improperly giving several raises to an employee with whom she was having a sexual relationship -- but she will still make $175,000 a year. Diane Leite, a former assistant vice chancellor, "should have known better" than to push through five raises in two years for a purchasing manager, university investigators concluded. The scandal in UC Berkeley's office that provides administrative services for campus research is detailed in a report obtained by the Bay Area News Group using the California Public Records Act. Jonathan Caniezo, 30, who earned...
  • Why do so many people hate California?

    02/23/2012 1:31:25 PM PST · by SmithL · 131 replies · 2+ views
    SFGate: Politics Blog ^ | 2/23/12 | Emily Wilkins, Hearst Washington Bureau
    Surf. Sun. Disneyland. What’s not to love about California? Well, apparently, a lot of things. In a poll released Tuesday by the Public Policy Polling, California was the least popular state in the United States. Only 27 percent of Americans hold a favorable view of the Golden State compared to the 44 percent who view it unfavorably. “There’s this arrogance about Californians,” said Patrick Dorinson, a radio host in California who refers to himself as the Cowboy Libertarian. “Californians still think it’s this great star. It’s a tarnished star at this point.” The gap of 17 points puts California far...
  • FIRST PERSON: When to Say "Yes" and When to Say "No" to Panhandlers

    02/22/2012 1:07:59 PM PST · by SmithL · 92 replies
    Berkeley Daily Planet ^ | 2/22/12 | Jack Bragen
    Panhandling has always been an important part of human existence, ever since people were put in poverty by a society that sometimes lacks mercy. It is not fair or accurate to say that you should never give money to a panhandler. There are people who would perish without the generosity of strangers. We can not presume to know that they created their own problems and should reap the results. There are plenty of people who became poor largely due to circumstances that weren't under their control. I have given coins out of my pocket to panhandlers under certain circumstances, and...
  • Rev. Billy's Roadshow in Berkeley Occupies Telegraph B of A—Sort Of

    02/20/2012 8:40:13 AM PST · by SmithL · 4 replies
    Berkeley Daily Planet ^ | 2/20/12 | Ted Friedman
    The whole bizarre incident started, as usual, in front of the Caffe Mediterraneum—center of the universe, where a tall man who resembles Jay Leno had attracted a crowd. Saying, "never trust a man in white shoes," he carried on like a Southern Baptist preacher, a white-suited version of Johnny Cash, as a Berkeley Poet Laureate, Julia Vinograd, later symbolized him for her next poem. For the past forty years Berkeley has hosted scores of entertaining street performers, such as Moon Man (selling lots on the moon), Polka Dot Man, Ricky Starr, Stoney Burke, Bubble Lady, the Nude Duo, Naked Man,...
  • BERKELEY: The Pacific Steel Casting Situation (News Analyis)

    02/15/2012 7:01:42 PM PST · by SmithL · 9 replies
    Berkeley Daily Planet ^ | 2/14/12 | Steve Martinot
    People are back in the streets because of Pacific Steel Casting Company. In the past, it has been the issue of pollution. The workers have struck over the issue of health and safety (the same issue, as seen from inside). And now, some 200 workers are protesting unjust job termination, owing to intervention by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), in violation of the spirit of Berkeley as a sanctuary city. This factory remains a problem. There will be a march to publicize this problem on Friday, Feb. 17. Here's a bit of the story (aka history). The factory is a...