UC Berkeley Events Calendar

Women's Lacrosse: MPSF Conference Tournament

Sun, 04 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

The Golden Bears host the MPSF Conference Tournament.

Joan Jonas: The Shape, the Scent, the Feel of Things

Sun, 04 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

Since the late 1960s, Joan Jonas (b. 1936) has been a pioneer in video and performance art. The Berkeley Art Museum mounted its first retrospective of the artist’s work in 1982, and this week it unveils a recent acquisition, “Joan Jonas: The Shape, the Scent, the Feel of Things.” In her latest pieces, Jonas has re-presented her earlier performance-based work. Jonas found inspiration for The Shape, the Scent, the Feel of Things (2004-05) in a 1960s trip to Arizona, where she witnessed several Hopi rituals. The resulting work incorporates reflections on Western art by German art historian Aby Warburg (1866-1929), who visited the American Southwest in the 19th century. Jonas continued to develop the piece, adding live performances with music composed by jazz musician Jason Moran for performances at Dia: Beacon in New York in 2005-06. Footage from those performances has been added to the work.

From Plugs to Bling

Sun, 04 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

This exhibition explores the lives of students at the University of California, as told through the clothing they once wore. From junior plugs (top hats) and lettermen’s jackets to charm bracelets and African American graduation stoles, from cashmere sweater sets to denim jackets festooned with anti-war buttons, Cal students have always made fashion, political and gender statements through their choice of clothing and accessories. The exhibition draws from the University Archives and from numerous other campus collections, and includes many items never before on display. Curated by William Benemann, Archivist.

Protest in Paris 1968: Photographs by Serge Hambourg

Sun, 04 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

In May 1968 in Paris, student and worker strikes against the conservative government of General Charles de Gaulle brought the country to a standstill. Images by French photographer Serge Hambourg provide a striking eyewitness account of this pivotal moment in political and cultural history." On Friday, April 4, at 5 p.m., Mr. Hambourg will deliver an Artist's Talk, in which he will comment on the content and context of his photographs and share personal anecdotes from his experience as a photojournalist in Paris during the spring and summer of 1968.

The Chinese of California

Sun, 04 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

As a part of California since before its creation as a state, Chinese have joined countless other immigrants in defining their life in America. This exhibit looks at the unique challenges that Chinese Americans faced in maintaining full access to civil rights, and shows how these challenges influenced the formation and personality of Chinese communities in California. A joint project of The Bancroft Library, the California Historical Society, and the Chinese Historical Society of America.

MATRIX/REDUX

Sun, 04 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

MATRIX/REDUX celebrates thirty years of the MATRIX Program for Contemporary Art, spotlighting the vibrant and diverse work of many of the cutting-edge artists featured in the program over the past three decades.

Off the Beaten Path in the Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area: Shrubs and Endemics, May 1 - 4, 2008

Sun, 04 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

Lake Shasta and Mount Shasta dominate the list of destination points for myriad recreational pursuits in northern California. However, back roads and hiking trails that traverse this area offer access to more remote and lesser-known gems within the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. This workshop will visit botanically interesting, less-traveled sites around Lake Shasta checking out the plants growing on limestone. The focus will be on shrub identification and seeing the endemic Shasta snow-wreath (Neviusia cliftonii) in bloom. We will spend Friday botanizing in the Low Pass Creek area of the Devil’s Rock-Hosselkus Research Natural Area. We should find at least 17 shrub species that day. On Saturday, we will hike from Dekkas Rock campground in search of another diverse set of shrubs. On Sunday, we will see the Waters Gulch population of Shasta snow-wreath and other shrubs, this time not on limestone. John previews these areas in his book Northwest California recently published by UC Press. Course fee includes campground fees, meals, and transportation for the duration of the workshop. Camping will be at a developed campground with pit-toilets and running water.

SF International Film Festival at Pacific Film Archive

Sun, 04 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

After more than half a century, the San Francisco International Film Festival is still the premier annual film event in the Bay Area. This year’s festival highlights an amazing range of works from around the world, exploring multinational plundering in Argentina ('Latent Argentina'), romance amongst twenty-something African Americans ('Medicine for Melancholy'), and socio-environmental change in contemporary China ('Still Life' and 'Up the Yangtze'), amongst other timely narratives. Advance tickets available by calling (510) 642-5249 or on-line at http://bampfa.berkeley.edu/filmseries/sfiff51

Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival

Sun, 04 May 2008 8:30:00 PDT

The festival, completely free to all attendees, is intended for students in grades 6-12. Note: the festival is now fully subscribed and walk-ups cannot be accommodated.

Bugs in the Garden:An Exhibit by Patrick E

Sun, 04 May 2008 9:00:00 PDT

Walk Through the Garden to see a variety of original bug Sculptures by local artist Patrick E., including a special new insectivorous insect member of the Garden.

SPEED

Sun, 04 May 2008 10:00:00 PDT

Take a trip in the fast lane at SPEED!, a new exhibit about high performance and barrier-smashing motion. This colorful celebration of movement translates the thrills and challenges of going fast and faster into twenty hands-on activities to demonstrate the science and technology of record setting speed. The exhibit comes to Berkeley as part of a national tour. Speed! is open through May 11.

Enrique Chagoya: Borderlandia

Sun, 04 May 2008 11:00:00 PDT

Superman faces off with an Aztec god and cannibals run amok in Monet’s garden at Giverny in Enrique Chagoya: Borderlandia, the first major museum retrospective of the work of Mexico-born, San Francisco–based artist Enrique Chagoya. In the more than seventy works in the exhibition—paintings, charcoal and pastel drawings, prints, and mixed-media codices (accordion-folded books)—Chagoya intermingles icons and cultural references spanning hundreds of years and thousands of miles to create fantastic images and scathingly funny satires.

Bringing Back the Natives

Sun, 04 May 2008 12:30:00 PDT

12:30pm Family tour: California Natives: Plants and People 3pm Join Horticulturalist for the California Area, Ken Bates for Getting Started with California Natives: Plant Selection and Site Preparation. Free with Garden admission, space is limited registration required.

Baseball: Cal vs. Arizona

Sun, 04 May 2008 13:00:00 PDT

The Golden Bears take on the Wildcats of Arizona.

Guided Tour — Enrique Chagoya: Borderlandia

Sun, 04 May 2008 13:00:00 PDT

Mickey Mouse meets Aztec gods and Francisco Goya meets Jerry Falwell in the first major museum retrospective of the work of Mexico-born, San Francisco–based artist Enrique Chagoya. Chagoya draws on the European canon, Mexican folk arts, and U.S. pop icons to create paintings, drawings, and prints that are politically charged, formally sophisticated, and often scathingly funny.

Paul Lewis, piano

Sun, 04 May 2008 15:00:00 PDT

A bright new star in the musical firmament, pianist Paul Lewis appears regularly at the world's major music venues and festivals. His highly acclaimed Schubert piano sonata series, presented throughout the United Kingdom, won him wide acclaim and his thrilling Harmonia Mundi recordings of this repertoire went on to score two prestigious Edison awards in Holland. A consummate artist, his formidable musical intelligence and audaciously fresh approach to music-making lend his readings particular strength. "What Lewis does better than practically any other pianist of his generation is to caress chords with such tender care that they seem to unlock worlds of profound emotion" (The Times, London).

Community Roundtable — Enrique Chagoya: Borderlandia

Sun, 04 May 2008 15:00:00 PDT

In this program, local people involved in binational community associations, Mexican American students, and scholars in transnational community studies share projects designed to strengthen and sustain trans-border communities, and invite audience members to share their ideas about the challenges and possibilities for sustaining these ties into the next generation. This will be a bilingual program, with translation provided. Spanish-language tours of Enrique Chagoya: Borderlandia will be available starting at 1 p.m.

Cal Performances & San Francisco Opera, Rachel Portman's The Little Prince

Sun, 04 May 2008 15:00:00 PDT

Cal Performances and the San Francisco Opera team up to bring you the West Coast premiere of this warm, wondrous opera for the whole family. A beloved classic of children's literature, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's fable about a pilot who crash lands in the desert and meets an open-hearted boy from another planet is a gentle reminder to hold on to what is truly important in life. It has been set to music by Academy Award-winning composer Rachel Portman, whose score has been praised by critics as "graceful and tuneful" and "colorful and charming." Francesca Zambello's production, with witty sets and costumes by Maria Bjørnson, adds richness and depth to the book's charming illustrations. Sung in English with English supertitles.

Women's Lacrosse: MPSF Conference Tournament

Mon, 05 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

The Golden Bears host the MPSF Conference Tournament.

From Plugs to Bling

Mon, 05 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

Ten Moments in the Twentieth Century

Mon, 05 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

These paintings depict memorable moments in the twentieth century. The events have been reconstructed so as to allow what we have learned from hindsight to be reflected in each painting.

The Chinese of California

Mon, 05 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

Ward Schumaker: SAVED!

Mon, 05 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

Hand-painted Books and Works on Paper As an illustrator Ward Schumaker's work appears frequently in such publications as the L A Times, New York Times, Poetry, and Le Figaro; in collateral for United Airlines and Hermès; and in books. He has illustrated two limited edition for The Yolla Bolly Press: Two Kitchens in Provence by M.F.K.Fisher; and Paris France by Gertrude Stein. His personal work has appeared in solo shows in Nashville, Shanghai, and recently at the Meridian Gallery in San Francisco. He lives and works in San Francisco with his wife, artist Vivienne Flesher. Please note: some of the work appears in our conference rooms. If you are interested in viewing, please call ahead to be sure that there are no events scheduled. Opening Reception: Tuesday, March 11, 2008 :: 5:30pm

Global Values for Global Health

Mon, 05 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

This conference brings together a distinguished panel of interdisciplinary international scholars and medical practitioners to explore the divergent and often unarticulated values that lay behind global health initiatives and policies. It also addresses medical humanitarian interventions in developing countries with particular focus on public health emergencies (like the global AIDS epidemic) and the aftermath of political or natural disasters. It is concerned with the globalization and politicization of values in health priority-setting, policy, governance, practice, and research. The invited speakers will reflect on their extensive experience as physicians, anthropologists and medical ethnographers, bioethicists and policy makers working in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the United States. In the Keynote Address of the "Global Values for Global Health" conference, Michelle McMurry of the Aspen Institute will explore "Aids Programs And Funding: Who Sets The Agendas?" (5/5, 6:30 p.m.)

SF International Film Festival at Pacific Film Archive

Mon, 05 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

New Directions in Scholarship: Science/Gender/Race/Nation

Mon, 05 May 2008 8:00:00 PDT

Ami Vitale Photographs

Mon, 05 May 2008 8:30:00 PDT

Cycle of Life: Awakening

Mon, 05 May 2008 9:00:00 PDT

Three artists, Koo Kyung Sook (Korea), Brenda Louie (China) and Dinh Anh Tham Poong (Vietnam) explore in art body and memory, physical processes and spiritual awareness, personal identity and the inexorable cycles of life.

Bugs in the Garden:An Exhibit by Patrick E

Mon, 05 May 2008 9:00:00 PDT

Walk Through the Garden to see a variety of original bug Sculptures by local artist Patrick E., including a special new insectivorous insect member of the Garden.

SPEED

Mon, 05 May 2008 10:00:00 PDT

UC Berkeley Blood Drive

Mon, 05 May 2008 12:00:00 PDT

All faculty, staff and students are encouraged to support UC Berkeley Blood Drives by donating, volunteering, encouraging others to donate, spreading the word or sponsoring a drive. UC Berkeley Blood Drives, jointly sponsored by the American Red Cross (ARC) and UC San Francisco (UCSF) Blood Center, are held monthly during the academic year. These drives provide much needed blood to hospitals throughout the Bay Area and your contribution is needed and appreciated. To donate, you are welcome to drop-in but appointments are strongly recommended. Reservation recommended. Reservation info: You will be asked to register the first time you make an appointment. Use the sponsor code 'UCB.' Make reservation online.

Institutions and Positive Political Theory

Mon, 05 May 2008 12:00:00 PDT

title of talk to be announced

EcoLunch Spring 2008

Mon, 05 May 2008 12:00:00 PDT

Ecolunch Spring 2008 Jan. 28: Eric Berlow, U.C. Merced Sierra Nevada Research Inst. "Simplicity on the other side of ecological complexity" Feb. 4: Paul Fine -- informal discussion Feb. 11: Natasha (Tasha) Hausmann--TBA Feb. 18: holiday Feb. 25: Mary Power-UC NRS and the Angelo Reserve Mar. 3: Maria Goodrich Mar. 10: Mar. 17: Mar. 24: Spring Break Mar. 31: Bill Lidicker, Levels of organization in biology: on the nature and nomenclature of ecology's fourth level-Ecoscapes. Apr. 7: Don Strong, U.C. Davis. The Tragedy of the Commons Revisited Apr. 14: Egbert Leigh, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute: "What human economies, large isolated islands, and forest fragments in reservoirs can tell us about how ecosystems arrive." Apr. 21: Emily Limm "The Strong Influence of Fog on Sword Fern in the Redwood Forest". Apr. 28: May 5: Robert Pringle, African termite impacts on ecosystems May 12:

Morrison Recital (Free)

Mon, 05 May 2008 12:10:00 PDT

Piano students of Michael Orland and Jacky Chew and the Flute quartet performs

A Voice From the Burmese Grassroots

Mon, 05 May 2008 13:00:00 PDT

This guest speaker is one of the co-founders of the Human Rights Defenders and Promoters Network (Burma), and a Visiting Scholar at the UC Berkeley Human Rights Center. He will be presenting about his organization's work. In 2002 the HRD started organizing human rights trainings in Burma, acting since then as an unofficial grassroots network. It is believed to be the only grassroots human rights organization in Burma at this time. Our guest specializes in international relations for the HRD. This is a free event open to the public.

Particle Theory (290P)

Mon, 05 May 2008 14:30:00 PDT

John Tomsick (UC Berkeley): Non-Thermal Emission from Galactic Black Holes and Implications for GLAST

Mon, 05 May 2008 15:10:00 PDT

Black hole X-ray binaries have been extensively studied from radio to X-ray energies. We have a very good understanding of how these systems behave in general, but there are many areas where we still do not understand the physics behind the observational properties. One particular area where improvement is necessary is in our understanding of the non-thermal emission from these systems. The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST), which is set to launch on May 16, 2008, represents a large improvement in gamma-ray (>20 MeV) sensitivity over the previous gamma-ray mission, and this will provide new information about non-thermal emission from black holes. In this talk, I will discuss what we know about this emission from previous observations, and what we hope to learn from our upcoming multi-wavelength studies.

IEOR Seminars

Mon, 05 May 2008 15:30:00 PDT

Free Energy Landscape, Conformational Changes, and the Transduction of Biological Signals

Mon, 05 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

Xenografts in Neuro-Oncology Research Revisited

Mon, 05 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

The use of immune-deficient mice for studies of human cancer, including the study of primary brain tumors, has an extensive history. However, concerns regarding frequent “disconnects” between promising xenograft therapeutic test results and their successful translation to clinical oncology practice (i.e., improved outcomes for cancer patients), have had an effect of diminishing enthusiasm for xenograft-based therapy evaluations. Two recent and interrelated developments are reversing this trend of diminished enthusiasm, and are stimulating new interest in the use of xenograft models for conducting experimental therapeutic studies. One of these, optical imaging, has spurred the use of orthotopic, rather than heterotopic (e.g., subcutaneous) xenograft propagation and therapeutic response assessment, and the other, which involves the use of novel cell culture techniques that better preserve tumor biologic properties, has gained favor in many laboratories. This lecture will contrast the benefits and limitations associated with genetically-modified and xenograft mouse model approaches for the study of human cancer, and consider the implications of newer technologies and approaches for improving the clinical relevance of xenograft-associated studies. Hosted by Professor Sanjay Kumar

Portraying the "Intimate Scientist" in 20th Century America: The Pushback in Popular Culture against Scientific Arrogance

Mon, 05 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

ESPM Colloquium Spring 2008

Mon, 05 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

January 28: Garrison Sposito, Professor of Ecosystem Sciences, ESPM and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UCB. “Nature’s Own Nanoparticles: Bacteriogenic Manganese Oxides as Agents of Biogeochemical Change.” February 4: Anne-Hélène Mathey, PhD. Forest Resources Management. University of British Columbia, Canada. “A Decentralized Planning Approach for Addressing complexity in Forest Ecosystem Management.” February 11: Robert M. Scheller, PhD. Conservation Biology Institute, Corvallis, Oregon. “Changing Forest Landscapes and Consequences for Ecosystem Functioning.” February 18: No colloquium, President’s Day holiday. February 25: Jeremy W. Lichstein, PhD. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University. “Predicting Forest Dynamics with a Simple, Tractable Model: Implications for Studying Climate-Vegetation Feedbacks.” March 3: Rosemary Gillespie, Professor in Organisms and the Environment, ESPM and Director of the Essig Museum of Entomology "Past Meets Present: Community Assembly on Remote Oceanic Islands" March 10: Restoration Ecology Search - TBA March 17: Restoration Ecology Search - TBA March 24: No colloquium, Spring Break. March 31: Bradley J. Cardinale, PhD. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, UC Santa Barbara. “Effects of Biodiversity on the Functioning of Ecosystems… One Summary of and Vision for a Paradigm.” April 7: Dan Kammen. Class of 1935 Professor of Energy in the Energy and Resources Group and the Goldman School of Public Policy, and Co-Director, Berkeley Institute of the Environment. “Science and Policy Innovations for a Low Carbon Society.” April 14: Subhrendu Pattanayak. Fellow at RTI International, Associate Professor at NC State University, and Sr. Fellow at the Center for Applied Biodiversity Sciences. “Nature Cares: Can Tropical Forest Conservation Mediate Health Impacts of Climate Change and Improve Incomes?” April 21: Terry Chapin. Professor of Ecology, Department of Biology and Wildlife; Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska—Fairbanks. “Social-Ecology Sustainability in a Changing World: Concepts and Policy Strategies to Address Climate Change in Alaska.” April 28: Arlene Blum, PhD. Visiting Scholar, Center for Institutions and Governance, UC Berkeley. “The Fire Retardant Dilemma: Balancing Fire Prevention, Human Health, and Environmental Safety.” May 5: David Wilcove. Professor of Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Public Affairs, Princeton University. “The Impacts of Agriculture on Tropical Biodiversity: Lessons and Lies from Kenya and Borneo.” May 12: Bill Dietrich. Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Berkeley. Topic TBA

Violence, Trauma and the Role of Social Welfare

Mon, 05 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

ESPM Colloquium Spring 2008

Mon, 05 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

CIBER Monthly Seminar Series: Helen Greiner, Co-founder and Chairman, iRobot Corp.

Mon, 05 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

Speaker is Helen Greiner, Co-founder and Chairman, iRobot Corp. The company designs behavior-based, artificially intelligent robots. Powered by iRobot’s proprietary AWARE Robot Intelligence Systems, these robots are designed to navigate through complex and dynamic real-world situations, from maneuvering around furniture to searching abandoned buildings.

Urban Sprawl

Mon, 05 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

Julian Marshall is a candidate for the Metropolitan Infrastructure Planning, Analysis, and Management faculty position, Center for Global Metropolitan Studies. He is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Minnesota. In his talk, Marshall will explore how neighborhood- and regional-scale urban form can influence energy, environmental, and health impacts of cities, especially as relate to transportation systems. He will present a scaling rule for urban land area expansion over time, offering quantification of urban sprawl (i.e., declining population density), and discuss implications for greenhouse gas emissions and for population exposure to urban air pollution. For example, increasing population density would, in certain cases, reduce vehicle emissions (people don't have to travel as far each day in denser areas) yet increase air pollution exposures and health effects, because people are closer to, and breathe more of, the emissions. The talk will discuss air pollution exposures versus pedestrian-friendliness for neighborhoods in Vancouver, Canada, and energy and climate impacts of sprawl versus infill development. Marshall received his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University, and his Masters and Ph.D. from the Energy and Resources Group at University of California, Berkeley. He is also an affiliated member of School of Environmental Health at University of British Columbia, and the following departments at University of Minnesota: Mechanical Engineering, Urban and Regional Planning, and Environmental Health Sciences. His research focuses on energy and environmental impacts of cities, especially urban transportation systems. His publications explore the air pollution, health, and climate-change impacts of the built environment.

ESPM Colloquium Seminar

Mon, 05 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

The Impacts of Agriculture on Tropical Biodiversity: Lessons and Lies from Kenya and Borneo

Dissertation Talk: Complexity of Game Dynamics

Mon, 05 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

What happens when independent agents, be they ISPs on the Internet, traders in a market, or animals in an ecosystem, interact based on their selfish interests? Game theory's earliest and most natural simple model of such interaction is the best-response Nash dynamics, the process of agents making unilateral moves that are their best response to the actions of others. Pure Nash equilibria, when they do exist, arise naturally as the steady states of this process. When they don't exist, behavioral predictions can be made from "sink equilibria", a universal (guaranteed to exist) generalization of Nash equilibria to "steady clusters of states". We now know that it is vital for a model of naturally-occuring behavior to be computationally tractable, not only for simulations, but also to check how realistic the model is, since we expect that nature (aside maybe from quantum physics) cannot produce systems with fundamentally more computational power than computers as we know them. In this talk, I will present several results about the tractability of analyzing a game's best-response dynamics. If the game payoff tables are given explicitly, searching for pure Nash or sink equilibria is easy, via textbook algorithms. However, most interesting games are represented more succinctly. For pure Nash equilibria, I will show that in potential games, one of the most robust classes of games guaranteed to have pure equilibria, the best-response dynamics takes an exponentially long time to converge in the worst case. For sink equilbria, I will show it is PSPACE-complete (as intractable as, e.g., most well-known hard AI problems) to analyze them in a common general class of succinct games. On the practical side, I will resolve a well-known problem in networking by establishing that it is PSPACE-complete to predict whether Internet inter-domain routing may be destabilized by large-scale oscillations; that is, whether a system of path preferences in the BGP protocol may lead to flapping. This turns out to be a question about the best-response dynamics in a special kind of game. Lastly, I will propose a new equilibrium concept inspired by game dynamics, unit recall equilibria, which I will show to be close to universal and algorithmically promising. Time permitting, I will also give a relaxation thereof, called componentwise unit recall equilibria, which is both tractable and universal. Joint work with Christos Papadimitriou and, in part, with Kunal Talwar.

Screening — Recent Works from the Eisner Prize competition by UC Berkeley Students, with Artists in Person

Mon, 05 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

Practical Static Analysis

Mon, 05 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

When Mozilla decided to rework the entire 3MLOC C++ codebase, a tool-assisted automated approach seemed like the only plausible way to go. Unfortunately, there weren't any existing tools that worked for us, so we developed general purpose static analysis tools for automatic rewritings and application-specific error checks. The key to our success has been designing analysis tools that are powerful enough to run useful analyses, yet simple enough to be scalable to large codebases and understandable by programmers. Some of our static analysis applications have even been written by a programmer who is an expert in web browsers but a novice in program analysis. The talk will describe our checking and refactoring efforts, our GCC plugin system, and our scriptable static analysis plugins, Dehydra and Treehydra. Dehydra exposes a simplified view of the GCC AST, making signature parsing and flow-insensitive program analysis possible, and maybe even fun, for novices. Treehydra exposes full GCC GIMPLE, letting experts base their analyses on a real C++ compiler without excessive pain. We will also show a demo of the tools.

Kids' Day

Mon, 05 May 2008 17:00:00 PDT

Live Jazz + Crayons = Fun And it's Free. Joyce Kwon, voice Jack Tang, keys Yanik Jayaram, drums + special guest, Amy Shen, sax We will also be announcing the winner of our coloring contest!

Cinco De Mayo Dinner

Mon, 05 May 2008 18:00:00 PDT

Traditional menu of Mexican cuisine and celebration of Mexican Independence Day. Open to the public $9.25

Dennis Prager: Why Berkeley Should be Celebrating Israel's 60th Birthday

Mon, 05 May 2008 19:00:00 PDT

Dennis Prager will speak at Cal on the Middle East and Israel in celebration of Israel's 60th birthday. Questions from the audience will follow. Dennis Prager is one of America's most respected radio talk show hosts. He has been broadcasting on KABC Radio in Los Angeles since 1982. He has written numerous books, including Happiness Is A Serious Problem, Think A Second Time, The Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism, and Why the Jews ? The Reason for Anti-Semitism, regarded by many as the most persuasive explanation of anti-Semitism written. His writings have appeared in Commentary, the Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times. Mr. Prager was a Fellow at Columbia University's School of International Affairs and was appointed by Ronald Reagan to the U.S. Delegation to the Vienna Review Conference on the Helsinki Accords. New York's Jewish Week described him as "one of the three most interesting minds in American Jewish Life." No signs, banners, posters, fliers, or noise makers allowed at the event. Co-sponsors: CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America), Israel @ 60, Israel Peace Initiative

How, in silico, the sea urchin gets its furrow in

Mon, 05 May 2008 20:00:00 PDT

Admission: FREE!

From Plugs to Bling

Tue, 06 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

Ten Moments in the Twentieth Century

Tue, 06 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

These paintings depict memorable moments in the twentieth century. The events have been reconstructed so as to allow what we have learned from hindsight to be reflected in each painting.

The Chinese of California

Tue, 06 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

Ward Schumaker: SAVED!

Tue, 06 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

Global Values for Global Health

Tue, 06 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

SF International Film Festival at Pacific Film Archive

Tue, 06 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

Cycle of Life: Awakening

Tue, 06 May 2008 9:00:00 PDT

Bugs in the Garden:An Exhibit by Patrick E

Tue, 06 May 2008 9:00:00 PDT

Walk Through the Garden to see a variety of original bug Sculptures by local artist Patrick E., including a special new insectivorous insect member of the Garden.

Scholar Information Meetings

Tue, 06 May 2008 10:00:00 PDT

Newly arrived professors, researchers and short-term scholars are required to attend this meeting to validate their arrival in the U.S. Information on immigration regulations, travel, employment, resources for families, health insurance and other practical information will be discussed. Your final immigration document review will be completed at the beginning of the meeting, so please plan to arrive a little early. Bring the following: * Completed and signed Scholar Arrival Notification Form (blue form) * Passport * DS-2019 * I-94 (the white card in the passport) * Above documents for accompanying family members You only need to attend ONE of the information meetings.

SPEED

Tue, 06 May 2008 10:00:00 PDT

Migrating Between Guyana and British Pop: Frank Bowling, RA

Tue, 06 May 2008 10:00:00 PDT

One of four lectures in mini-seminar, Art and the Transnational Caribbean, sponsored by the Arts Research Center. Additional lectures on May 1st, 8th, and 10th.

Abbott Laboratories Process Chemistry Lecture

Tue, 06 May 2008 11:00:00 PDT

Staff Career Series: Self Assessment

Tue, 06 May 2008 11:30:00 PDT

In this workshop the Strong Interest Inventory is used to clarify prominent career and work interests. These themes will be discussed and related to job families and career opportunities on the Berkeley campus.

DAGs and Causal Models

Tue, 06 May 2008 12:00:00 PDT

ISSC Graduate Fellows Program Working Paper Presentations

Tue, 06 May 2008 12:00:00 PDT

ISSC Graduate Fellows Program Working Paper Presentations: Eric Pido, Ph.D. Student in Ethnic Studies & ISSC Graduate Fellow, UC Berkeley: "Imagining the Middle Class: Filipinos in Daly City’s Suburban and Cultural Landscape" Tamera Lee Stover, Ph.D. Student in Sociology & ISSC Graduate Fellow, UC Berkeley: "Hijacked Identities: Geopolitics, Transnationalism and Pakistani Immigrants"

Webnet: PDF accessibility and useability issues

Tue, 06 May 2008 12:00:00 PDT

The Portable Document Format (PDF) may be one of the most popular formats for posting documents to the Web, but it can also present a variety of barriers to access for people using screen-reading technologies. In this presentation, Sean Keegan, a premier expert on document and web accessibility, will address usability and accessibility issues of the PDF, strategies for the creation of accessible electronic documents, and the appropriate use of software applications to ensure accessibility of web documents. Sean Keegan is the Web Accessibility Instructor at the High Tech Center Training Unit for the California Community Colleges (http://www.htctu.net/). The High Tech Center Training Unit provides training and technical support to higher-education faculty and staff on the use of assistive computer technology for students with disabilities. As part of this continuing mission to improve access for students with disabilities, Sean conducts workshops and trainings to faculty and staff in the area of accessible web design, web usability, captioning of web-based multimedia, and the use of assistive computer technology. Cohosted by Webnet and WebAccess, this presentation is open to anyone who would ever want to put up a web page and post a document to it. Note: Food, beverages, and smoking are prohibited in Sibley Auditorium.

Adaptive Optics and image reconstruction

Tue, 06 May 2008 12:10:00 PDT

IFN-mediated Pathogen-Host Standoff

Tue, 06 May 2008 12:30:00 PDT

Division of Immunology and Pathogenesis Seminar

Health Services Research

Tue, 06 May 2008 12:30:00 PDT

"Constructing a Public for Health Care Reform: Evaluating the CaliforniaSpeaks Citizen Deliberations." ABSTRACT: On August 11, 2007, some 3,500 Californians convened across eight sites around the state to discuss health care reform. Spurred by legislative efforts in Sacramento to secure universal health care access, the "CaliforniaSpeaks" discussions were conceived of as a means to give ordinary Californians a greater voice into this process of public policy-making. This talk presents preliminary analysis of a unique multi-level dataset that interviewed event participants and non-participants at all eight sites both before and after the CaliforniaSpeaks event. We examine the consequences of this more participatory approach to citizen voice along three key dimensions of change: (1) policy preferences on health care reform; (2) political engagement; (3) political orientation. We find, thus far, minimal effects on participants' views on health care reform, but considerably greater effects on participants' degree of active engagement and their sense of political trust and efficacy.

COSMOLOGY SEMINAR

Tue, 06 May 2008 13:10:00 PDT

TOPIC TBA

String Theory (290Z)

Tue, 06 May 2008 15:30:00 PDT

Kenneth S. Pitzer Memorial Lecture

Tue, 06 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

Two Topics in Spatial Statistics: Estimating Cloud Height from Multi-angle Satellite Imagery and Deformed Random Fields

Tue, 06 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

In this talk I will present two recent research projects, both dealing with random fields and spatial statistics. Although one project is applied and one is theoretical, both consider the scenario where one observes a dense realization of a two dimensional random field without replicates. The first part of the talk will present recent collaboration with Bin Yu (UC Berkeley) and the MISR team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for developing a new stereo matching algorithm for cloud height estimation using multi-angle cameras provided by the MISR instrument on the Terra satellite. Clouds play a major role in determining the Earth's energy budget. As a result, monitoring and characterizing the distribution of clouds becomes important in global studies of climate. By viewing the multi-angle cloud images as discrete sub-samples of a continuous random random field, one can view cloud-top height estimation as a statistical parameter estimation problem. This paradigm sheds fresh light on the feature matching problem and provides a framework for developing computational techniques and incorporating technical details of the MISR instrument for improving height estimates. The second part of the talk will present a new fixed domain asymptotic result, in collaboration with Sourav Chatterjee (UC Berkeley), for estimating the deformation of an isotropic Gaussian random field. The estimates are constructed using directional quadratic variations to estimate components of a singular value decomposition of the Jacobian of the deformation. The remaining estimable components are recovered by a projection onto the Bergman space of holomorphic maps. If time permits we will discuss some details of the proof and future applications.

Abbott Laboratories Process Chemistry Lecture

Tue, 06 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

Building Democratic Armies

Tue, 06 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

The tragic mistakes of the American occupation of Iraq underscore the importance of public safety before the business of democratic transition can begin, yet most writers on democratization either neglect it or take it for granted. Barany's new project aims to fill this hole in the literature. He emphasizes the variety of contexts in which democratization occur as they pose different tasks and challenges to those intent on establishing democratic armies and civil-military relations. Following the introduction of the larger project he will focus on three case studies in the post-communist setting: Slovenia, Russia, and Romania. Zoltan Barany is Frank C. Erwin, Jr. Professor of Government at the University of Texas and a Campbell National Fellow and the Susan Louise Dyer Peace Fellow at the Hoover Institution. His recent books are Democratic Breakdown and the Decline of the Russian Military (Princeton, 2007), The Future of NATO Expansion (Cambridge, 2003), and The East European Gypsies (Cambridge, 2001).

Specification and analysis of electronic contracts

Tue, 06 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

In this talk I will describe CL, a language for writing (electronic) contracts. The language allows to write (conditional) obligations, permissions and prohibitions, and to represent the so-called contrary-to-duties (CTDs) and contrary-to-prohibitions (CTPs). CTDs and CTPs are useful to establish what happen in case obligations, respectively prohibitions, are not respected. The approach is action-based, meaning that the above normative notions are defined on actions and not on state-of-affairs. I will then sketch some initial ideas on model checking electronic contracts. Finally, I will present some open problems and application domains. (Joint work with Cristian Prisacariu and Gordon Pace)

The Applications of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry in the Life Sciences

Tue, 06 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

BERC Science Agenda Planning Meeting

Tue, 06 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

The Berkeley Energy and Resources Collaborative is seeking science and engineering students to help plan our Fall agenda. BERC is a graduate student led interdisciplinary organization that helps to organize and coordinate energy and environmental activities across campus. This coming year we are hoping to increase our impact within Berkeley's scientific community by developing lectures and events tailored to your needs. At 4PM on Tuesday, May 6, we will be having an organizational meeting in 425 Latimer to help set that agenda. Anyone who is interested in the science of climate change, energy technology, and related issues is invited to attend. Bring ideas if you've got them.

Trials, Truth, and Amnesties: On the Compatibility of Forgiveness and Punishment in an Ethic of Political Reconciliation

Tue, 06 May 2008 17:00:00 PDT

What does justice consist of in the wake of its massive despoliation? South Africa, Rwanda, Chile, Northern Ireland, Germany, and many other countries have confronted this question in recent decades. What is the proper place of punishment? Amnesties? Forgiveness? Daniel Philpott proposes "political reconciliation" as an ethic that can tie together a range of restorative measures and justifications for dealing with the past. Daniel Philpott, Ph.D., Harvard, 1996, pursues interests in international relations and political philosophy. His current research revolves around the topic of reconciliation. In particular, he is looking at transitional justice, the question of how societies address past injustices, seeking to balance truth, justice, reconciliation, and stability. He is also collaborating on a major study of global religion and politics based at Harvard University, focusing on religion's impact on the politics of peace and reconciliation. A Senior Associate at the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy, he travels regularly to Kashmir, where he trains leaders in faith-based diplomacy, an activist dimension of his scholarly interests. His first book, published in 2001, is Revolutions in Sovereignty: How Ideas Shaped Modern International Relations (Princeton University Press), a historical account of how new ideas about justice and legitimate authority fashioned the global sovereign states system. Reflecting his interests in political theory and ethics and international relations, he has also written on the morality of self-determination and on religious freedom as an end of American foreign policy.

River Migration and the Diversity of Floodplains

Tue, 06 May 2008 17:30:00 PDT

Floodplains of large rivers provide living space for hundreds of millions of people with their transport arteries, political boundary zones, and extensive agriculture, and also productive environments for large numbers of other organisms, often in competition with human needs. They also exhibit patterns of great esthetic appeal, particularly where rivers are free to move across the valley floor. Societies place great value on lowland floodplains, but because these landscapes are extensive, subtle and complex, exploitation has often proven costly in terms of direct hazard during repeated floods and longer-term environmental degradation. Inundation patterns are intricate and difficult to predict and surprises occur repeatedly on both natural and engineered floodplains. Attempts to control inundation often lead to stagnant, unproductive or polluted water bodies and filled wetlands. Channels migrate chronically or catastrophically, and attempts to control migration introduce unwelcome effects. Fundamental and sustainable environmental improvement is discouraged because of the difficulty of predicting outcomes in large complex fluvial systems. Much of the physical and biological complexity of floodplains, in addition to part of the flood risk, is generated by river migration processes that build and continually modify the floodplain, creating patterns of topography, inundation regime, biogeography, and biogeochemistry. The general outlines of the dynamic physical processes that drive river migration and floodplain inundation and construction have been recognized for a long time, but the lack of quantitative understanding and of predictive capacity has led this knowledge to be ignored while most river science has concentrated on static channel characteristics and steady-state behavior. Another reason for the disconnect between knowledge and its application in engineering or planning is that the processes driving change generally occur on large spatial and temporal scales that are difficult for people to appreciate from direct, ground-level observations. Recent developments in equipment, computing capacity, and satellite monitoring have facilitated the study of large lowland rivers and floodplains and their non-equilibrium behavior. This talk will describe river migration processes and the ways in which they generate floodplain complexity in rivers of South America and California. It will aim to provoke a discussion of the dynamic aspects of large rivers and their floodplains that are of interest to policy making and conservation planning and the nature of scientific understanding that can be assimilated into the policy-making process. Thomas Dunne conducts field and theoretical research in fluvial geomorphology and in the application of hydrology, sediment transport, and geomorphology to landscape management and hazard analysis. He has worked in many parts of the world, including Kenya, where he studied the effects of land use on hill-slope erosion and river-basin sedimentation, and how climate and hydrology affect long-term hill-slope evolution. At the University of Washington, he focused on land sliding and debris flows, as well as tephra erosion and debris-flow sedimentation resulting from the eruption of Mount St. Helens. The resource management issues he studied in the Pacific Northwest include the impacts of gravel harvesting on river channels and floodplains and the impacts of timber harvesting on erosion and sedimentation. Since coming to the Bren School in 1996, he has studied erosion in the Andes, and hydrology, sediment transport, and floodplain sedimentation in the Amazon River basin of Brazil and Bolivia and the Central Valley of California This lecture is part of the California Colloquium on Water.

Grand Theft Childhood?

Tue, 06 May 2008 17:30:00 PDT

The new issue of Greater Good magazine features a series of essays about play. Contributors to the issue reveal that free, spontaneous, imaginative play is essential to positive growth and development--and yet kids today are doing less and less of it. At the same time, however, kids are playing more and more video games: Studies say that 70 to 80 percent of boys and roughly 20 percent of girls play video games on a typical day. The popularity of video games--and the bloody, pyrotechnic action of some games--have fueled a wide range of fears. Are those fears justified? To celebrate the release of its new issue on play, Greater Good magazine is hosting a panel discussion that will reveal the newest facts about video game play, and what guidelines they suggest for parents, teachers, kids, and the people who create video games. The panel will feature Harvard Medical School psychologist Lawrence Kutner, whose new book Grand Theft Childhood? reports the results of his landmark study on the effects of video games on teenagers. Kutner's presentation will be followed by questions and responses from a panel of experts in child psychology and video game development. The discussion will be moderated by Jeremy Adam Smith, senior editor of Greater Good magazine and author of Twenty-First-Century Dad, forthcoming from Beacon Press.

Personal Financial Planning Professional Sequence

Tue, 06 May 2008 17:30:00 PDT

Pave the way to take the CFP® Certification Examination as the field of personal financial planning grows more rapidly, and help our aging population begin to plan for their retirement. For more information about the program, visit http://www.unex.berkeley.edu/profseq/pfp.html. Please call (510) 642-4111 to reserve a space; refer to EDP 323485.

Alumni Event A Discussion with California Public Utilities Commission President Michael R. Peevey

Tue, 06 May 2008 17:30:00 PDT

*Alumni Event* A Discussion with California Public Utilities Commission President Michael R. Peevey The Berkeley Energy and Resources Collaborative (BERC) - Berkeley's interdisciplinary energy club on campus - is hosting its first event dedicated to UC Berkeley alumni in energy and resources. California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) President Michael Peevey will be participating in a "fireside" chat, during which he will primarily discuss the recent approval of the $600 million California Institute for Climate Solutions (CICS). 5:30 to 8:30 pm International House, Berkeley $25 per person For more information and to RSVP, contact Urvi Parekh at urvi_parekh@mba.berkeley.edu or register online at http://bercalumnispring08.eventbrite.com.

Discover Cal - Lafayette

Tue, 06 May 2008 18:00:00 PDT

6 – 7 p.m. — Reception, Light fare and no-host bar 7 – 8:30 p.m. — Lecture and Q&A John Quigley I. Donald Terner Distinguished Professor of Economics Professor Quigley holds professorial appointments in the Department of Economics, the Haas School of Business, and the Goldman School of Public Policy. He has served as chairman of the Department of Economics and as chair of the Academic Senate. Quigley has authored more than a dozen books and more than 100 scientific publications on issues including public finance and taxation, and on real estate, mortgage and financial markets. He served as president of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association and vice president of the Association for Public Policy and Management. His bachelor’s degree is from the U.S. Air Force Academy; he completed graduate work at the University of Stockholm and Harvard University. Dr. Cynthia Kroll Senior Regional Economist, Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics Dr. Kroll’s research includes the global position of California’s economy, globalization and the real estate industry, and the transforming housing market. In addition to her 20 years at the Fisher Center, she has also worked for the state’s Office of Economic Research, the Association of Bay Area Governments, SRI International, as an adjunct lecturer in the UC Berkeley Department of City and Regional Planning, and as an independent consultant. She holds master’s and doctoral degrees from Berkeley’s Department of City and Regional Planning.

Joan Jonas: The Shape, the Scent, the Feel of Things

Wed, 07 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

From Plugs to Bling

Wed, 07 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

Protest in Paris 1968: Photographs by Serge Hambourg

Wed, 07 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

Ten Moments in the Twentieth Century

Wed, 07 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

These paintings depict memorable moments in the twentieth century. The events have been reconstructed so as to allow what we have learned from hindsight to be reflected in each painting.

The Chinese of California

Wed, 07 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

MATRIX/REDUX

Wed, 07 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

Ward Schumaker: SAVED!

Wed, 07 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

SF International Film Festival at Pacific Film Archive

Wed, 07 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

Masters Presentation

Wed, 07 May 2008 0:00:00 PDT

Wednesday, May 7 Barrows 110, 4:00-6:00 pm Sally Maki - Saving Energy with Information Technology John Stanley - Data Center Energy Efficiency: Granular Monitoring and Organizational Communication Danielle Svehla - Catching the Public Eye: The promise of visual communication in science knowledge and awareness Debbie Cheng - The Global Water Agendas of the UN and World Bank Dannette Lambert - Political Opportunities and Shifting Frameworks in Resistance to Uranium Mining: The JOAR Case Lindsey Fransen - Common Resources, Private Benefits? Shifting Access in Mexico's Community Forests Niels Tomijima - Distribution of Access: A Case-Study of Micro-Hydro Electrification Thursday, May 8 Barrows 20, 5:00-7:00 pm Christian Casillas - Wind Power Generation in Low Wind Regimes on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua Josh Apte - Exposure to Vehicular Air Pollution in Developing World Megacities Zachary Subin - Supply Curves for Greenhouse Gas Reductions in California Transportation Mike Ferry - The Renewable Energy in Vehicles (REV) Mandate: A Proposed Renewable Portfolio Standard for California's Light-Duty Vehicle Fleet Scott Zimmermann - Sustainable Biofuels: Addressing Indirect Land Use Through Unilateral Measures that are Compatible with International Trade Law Kristen Durham - Planning a Bioenergy Future: Understanding Uncertainty in Biomass Resource Assessment in China Anna Motschenbacher - Scaling the North: Spatial Heterogeneity in High Latitude Land Cover Classifications

Participating in Your Own Performance Evaluation

Wed, 07 May 2008 9:00:00 PDT

This workshop will provide tips on how to be an active participant in your own performance appraisal. Learn what to expect during the performance appraisal discussion and how best to prepare.

Cycle of Life: Awakening

Wed, 07 May 2008 9:00:00 PDT

Bugs in the Garden:An Exhibit by Patrick E

Wed, 07 May 2008 9:00:00 PDT

Walk Through the Garden to see a variety of original bug Sculptures by local artist Patrick E., including a special new insectivorous insect member of the Garden.

SPEED

Wed, 07 May 2008 10:00:00 PDT

Enrique Chagoya: Borderlandia

Wed, 07 May 2008 11:00:00 PDT

Using IT To Build Healthier Communities

Wed, 07 May 2008 12:00:00 PDT

Part of the CITRIS Research Exchange at UC Berkeley. The complete schedule for the fall semester is online at RE-Spring2008. As always, these talks are free, open to the public and broadcast live online at mms://media.citris.berkeley.edu/webcast. Sponsored by Infineon Technologies.

MVZ Lunch, Speaker: Knud Jonsson (Museum of Vertebrate Zoology), Evolutionary Biology Seminar Series (IB 264)

Wed, 07 May 2008 12:00:00 PDT

A graduate level seminar series based on current and recent vertebrate research. Graduate students, professors, staff and visiting researchers present on current and past research projects. Topics vary and include natural history, behavior, systematics and evolutionary biology.

CIPS Seminar Series

Wed, 07 May 2008 12:00:00 PDT

Magnetometer observations demonstrate that it has been billions of years since Mars possessed a significant global dynamo magnetic field. As a result, the planet’s extended atmosphere interacts directly with the solar wind, similar to the plasma interaction at Venus or comets. This interaction deposits energy in the Martian upper atmosphere that drives dynamics and chemistry and removes atmospheric particles, possibly contributing to substantial climate evolution. Interestingly, strongly magnetized regions of the crust substantially perturb the interaction on both local and global scales. The presence of crustal fields has many interesting consequences, including the creation of localized pockets of protected atmosphere, atmospheric ‘escape hatches’ for particle deposition and escape, and auroral emission near crustal fields. I will give an overview of the interaction of the solar wind with the Martian atmosphere, including a discussion of three big picture science questions addressed by the study of this interaction. I will then discuss in more detail two examples of the effects of crustal fields: a complex, variable magnetic field topology more similar to the Sun than to any other solar system object, and the observations and consequences of auroral processes operating near Mars.

CANCELED: Rethinking the Resource Curse--Lessons from the Soviet Successor States.

Wed, 07 May 2008 12:00:00 PDT

Pauline Jones Luong is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, Brown University. From 1998-2004, she was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Yale University. She received her Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1998 and was a Harvard Academy Scholar from 1998-1999 and 2001-2002. Her primary research interests include: institutional origin and change; identity and conflict; and the political economy of market reform. Her empirical work focuses primarily on the former Soviet Union. She has published articles in several leading academic and policy journals, including the American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, Current History, Europe-Asia Studies, Foreign Affairs, Perspectives on Politics, Politics and Society, and Resources Policy. Her books include Institutional Change and Political Continuity in Post-Soviet Central Asia: Power, Perceptions, and Pacts (Cambridge 2002) and The Transformation of Central Asia: States and Societies from Soviet Rule to Independence (Cornell 2003). Her current book projects include 1) Enriching the State: Resource Wealth, Ownership Structure, and Institutional Capacity and 2) State Strategies, Islamic Radicalism, and International Security.

Emotion-specific neural activation during compassion, awe, pride and reward

Wed, 07 May 2008 12:00:00 PDT

Berkeley-Stanford Cleantech Conference

Wed, 07 May 2008 12:00:00 PDT

This is the second in a continuing series of focused conferences highlighting clean technology solutions for the biggest moral challenge facing our global civilization Global Warming. This second installment is made possible through student support from the UC Berkeley Center for Energy & Environmental Innovation, the Berkeley Energy Resources Collaborative (BERC), and Stanford University Energy Crossroads. This conference will provide: clear understanding of the current challenges and opportunities in utility scale solar. Attract, integrate and cross-pollinate students, projects and ideas between the Business and Engineering schools at UC Berkeley & Stanford University. Create a framework from which innovation will breed into next generation utility scale solar power generation technology.

Microscale manipulation of cells and their environment for cell sorting and stem cell biology

Wed, 07 May 2008 12:00:00 PDT

Microsystems have the potential to impact biology by providing new ways to manipulate cells and the microenvironment around them. These microsystems provide the interface between the macro world and the micro world of cells. Simply physically manipulating cells or their environment--using microfluidics, electric fields, or optical forces--provides new ways to separate cells and organize cell-cell interactions. The interests of our lab are two-fold: 1) to develop ways of sorting cells and 2) to develop microsystems that manipulate cells and the environment in order to study embryonic stem cell self-renewal, differentiation, and reprogramming. In the first area, we have been developing methods that combine electrical and optical scattering forces to sort cells based on imaged spatial and dynamic information, enabling screens based upon complex phenotypic information. In the latter, we have developed microfluidic devices for modulating diffusible signaling between cells, and for high efficiency electro-fusion of stem cells and somatic cells for studying fusion-induced cellular reprogramming. Hosted by Professor Luke Lee

When God Means War, When God Means Peace: Explaining the Wild Variation in Religious Politics

Wed, 07 May 2008 12:00:00 PDT

Confounding theorists of secularization, religion’s political influence has increased in every region of the globe over the past generation. But this influence varies wildly in form. Religion has destroyed both dictatorships and New York skyscrapers and has created truth commissions and peace agreements as well as civil wars. What explains the diverse political pursuits of religious leaders and communities? Daniel Philpott proposes an explanation rooted in their relationship with the state and their theologically rooted beliefs about politics. His argument contains important implications for American foreign policy and international cooperation.

Arthur A. Daemmrich and Alastair Iles

Wed, 07 May 2008 12:00:00 PDT

Arthur A. Daemmrich "Innovation, Standardization, and Degradation: Biodegradable Plastics in the Laboratory, on the Market, and in Compost" Chemical firms are developing “green” product strategies that are variously lauded and criticized by regulators and consumer groups. In the context of existing technical standards for materials and international variation in health and safety regulations, how do firms invent and market novel materials? What kinds of product ontologies emerge in an era of collaborative innovation across academic and industrial labs? What significance do market expectations and realities play for green product development? The talk explores these questions with a focus on Ecoflex, a new biodegradable polymer manufactured by the German chemical company BASF. The case illustrates how the firm’s involvement with national and international standard setting processes and user communities ranging from plastic bag manufacturers to compost facilities all shaped the final product and its market identity. Overall, the case illustrates both challenges and some solutions to the complexities associated with green product strategies that will gain in significance in coming years. Alastair Iles "Making Technology Trajectory Bets: Dupont’s Biomass Chemical Business" In the early 21st century, the chemical industry may be posed at another crossroads. Prior to World War II, coal feedstock dominated industrial chemical manufacturing. During the war, industry began switching to petrochemical inputs. Now, some chemical companies are currently experimenting with a range of biomass feedstock and building blocks. In the context of an entrenched industrial structure, why and how are chemical companies investigating biomass-biotech chemistry as an alternative to petrochemicals? How are companies (and governments) making bets on which biomass building blocks might prove to be successful in reconfiguring the production system? This talk uses Dupont’s development of a biological route to 1,3-propanediol (or Bio-PDO) as a case study to investigate these questions. Arthur Daemmrich is an Assistant Professor in the Business, Government, and the International Economy Unit at Harvard Business School and a member of the interdisciplinary HBS Healthcare Initiative. His work examines the regulation of science-based industries, with a particular emphasis on comparative risk analysis and the interplay of changing scientific knowledge with business practices in the pharmaceutical and chemical sectors. His publications include Pharmacopolitics: Drug Regulation in the United States and Germany (The University of North Carolina Press, 2004), Reflections from the Frontiers, Explorations for the Future: Gordon Research Conferences, 1931-2006 (Chemical Heritage Press, 2006) with Nancy Ryan Gray and Leah Shaper, and Perspectives on Risk and Regulation: The FDA at 100 (Chemical Heritage Press, 2007). Alastair Iles is an Assistant Professor of Science, Technology and Environment in Environmental Science, Policy and Management (ESPM) and a Co-Director of the Science, Technology and Society Center (STSC) at UC Berkeley. His research focuses on green chemistry science and policy, sustainable industry and consumption, environmental health science and policy, and sustainability learning. He was the recipient of the Ciriacy-Wantrup Postdoctoral Fellowship and is the author of numerous articles and book chapters. This event is organized by the Science, Technology and Society Center (STSC) at UC Berkeley. Box lunches will be served, so RSVP is appreciated.

Integrating Climate Pollutants into Air Quality Programs

Wed, 07 May 2008 12:00:00 PDT

Brown Bag Lunch Seminar. The EPA will present an overview of the impacts of climate change on air quality and human health in the US and discuss what EPA is doing about it. In addition, EPA will provide information on current EPA GHG regulatory actions. Hosted by Professor Ron Cohen.

New Music

Wed, 07 May 2008 12:15:00 PDT

New Music by graduate composers in the the seminar of Cindy Cox: Amadeus Regucera, Jimmy Lopez and Damon Waitkus

Berkeley students working in China on the future of a water village in the Pearl River Delta and on the Grand Canal in Huangzhou

Wed, 07 May 2008 13:00:00 PDT

In January 2008 faculty and students from the Master of Urban Design together with Landscape Architecture/Environmental Planning students stayed on the campus at the South China University of Technology (SCUT) in Guangzhou and worked on urban design concepts for historic water villages that will be absorbed into the rapidly growing cities of the Pearl River Delta. In March of 2008, a team of Berkeley’s Master of Urban Design program joined students from Tokyo’s Waseda University and from the University of Ferrara, Italy for a two-week workshop at ZheJiang University in Hangzhou near Shanghai. Hangzhou is located at the terminus of the Grand Canal of China, a 1800 km long waterway that connects Beijing in the north with the Yangtze River Delta in the center of China. The canal was completed during the Sui Dynasty (581-618) and with the invention of the water level adjusting pound lock in the 10th century the Grand Canal became China’s most important economic, cultural and political north south connection. Sections of the canal are still actively used for water-based transport. The workshop focused on the changes in land uses along side the canal from the formerly industrial use to residential and recreational activities. At the same time student teams worked on designs that reversed environmental degradation and made improvements to water quality and urban ecology. Professor Bosselmann is an urban designer with international experience in planning and design of downtown areas, inner city neighborhoods and roadway projects. He has established simulation and computer visualization laboratories in New York City, Tokyo and in Milan that were modeled after the laboratory he directs at Berkeley. He lectures frequently throughout Europe, Asia and Australia. He held endowed Chairs at Tokyo University (1992), at the Sidney Institute of Technology (1994), the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen (2000), and the Milan Politecnico (2006-7). He received Progressive Architecture, AIA, ASLA and American Planning Association awards for his urban design work in San Francisco and Toronto and from the Chicago Urban Design Foundation for his work in Oakland, California.

Preparing to Apply for a Fulbright-IIE Grant

Wed, 07 May 2008 13:00:00 PDT

This workshop is for all UC Berkeley students who will be applying for a Fulbright-IIE grant this fall. Given the requirements for the Fulbright-IIE grant, students who are planning to apply for a Fulbright-IIE grant this fall are encouraged to begin preparing their applications now. The following people will be at this workshop to answer your questions: the Fulbright Program Adviser of the Graduate Fellowships Office and the Director of Academic Services. There is no preregistration for this workshop. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FULBRIGHT PROGRAM, check the Fulbright website at http://us.fulbrightonline.org/home.html. For more information about the UC Berkeley Fulbright application process, contact Gina Farales, UC Berkeley Fulbright Program Adviser, by phone at (510) 642-7739 or by e-mail at gfarales@berkeley.edu.

Computer Health Matters

Wed, 07 May 2008 13:30:00 PDT

Learn how to set up a user-friendly workstation and practice stretches to help relieve computer-related aches and pains. This workshop is required to qualify for computer ergonomics matching funds. Enroll online in ICE.

WEST AFRICAN INTERNET SCAMS AS GRASSROOTS MEDIA PRODUCTION

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:00:00 PDT

Jenna Burrell studies the impact of large-scale technology diffusion on individuals, families, and societies in sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the developing world. Professor Burrell employs a ground-level perspective on such trends spending time with African technology users to capture a rich, local commentary on technology and development issues.

Keyboards and Mice: Ergonomic Alternatives

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:30:00 PDT

Learn about the ergonomics of keyboards and pointing devices, including safer workstation set-up, postures, and techniques for using them. Find out about the keyboards and pointing devices covered by the Computer Ergonomics Matching Funds Program. Enroll online in ICE.

The Lambda-coalescent Speed of Coming Down from Infinity

Wed, 07 May 2008 15:00:00 PDT

Consider a Lambda-coalescent that comes down from infinity, or equivalently, that starts from a configuration containing infinitely many blocks at time 0 and attains a configuration containing a finite number N_t of blocks at any time t>0, almost surely. We exhibit a deterministic function v : (0,∞) → (0,∞), such that N_t/v(t) → 1, almost surely and in L^p for any p>= 1, as t → 0. Our approach relies on martingale methods. Based on a joint work with Julien and Nathanael Berestycki.

Memento, with Lecture by Professor Marilyn Fabe

Wed, 07 May 2008 15:00:00 PDT

With short The Red Book. Part of the Film-Lecture Series Film 50: History of Cinema.

Chemical biology of cell division

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

Division of Cell & Developmental Biology Seminar

The Spring 2008 Management of Technology (MOT) Lecture Series

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

Wednesday, May 7 -- 4:00 - 6:00 PM Wells Fargo Room, C420 Haas School of Business Mark Kvamme General Partner, Sequoia Capital Discussing: New Opportunities in Technology Mark Kvamme is widely known for his successful launch of Apple Computer in the European market and for creation of Internet companies in the 1990s. At Sequoia, Kvamme leads new investments in software and services start-ups. A reception for the speakers follows each lecture. Admission to the lecture series is free to students, faculty, and the University of California community. The Management of Technology Program at UC Berkeley is a graduate research, teaching, and certificate program managed jointly by the Haas School of Business, the College of Engineering, and the School of Information. For further information on the program or the lecture series, please contact motadmin@haas.berkeley.edu or 510-643-1398.

Biological Gender Differences, Absenteeism and the Earning Gap

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:00:00 PDT

In most Western countries, illness-related absenteeism is higher among female workers than among male workers. Using the personnel dataset of a large Italian bank, we show that the probability of an absence due to illness increases for females, relative to males, 28 days after a previous illness. This difference disappears for workers age 45 or older. We interpret this as evidence that the menstrual cycle raises female absenteeism. Absences with a 28-day cycle explain a significant fraction of the male-female absenteeism gap. To investigate the effect of absenteeism on earnings, we use a simple signaling model in which employers cannot directly observe workers' productivity, and therefore use observable characteristics { including absenteeism { to set wages. Since men are absent from work because of health and shirking reasons, while women face an additional exogenous source of health shocks due to menstruation, the signal extraction based on absenteeism is more informative about shirking for males than for females. Consistent with the predictions of the model, we find that the relationship between earnings and absenteeism is more negative for males than for females. Furthermore, this difference declines with seniority, as employers learn more about their workers' true productivity. We estimate that the higher absenteeism induced by the 28-day cycle explains 14.1 percent of the earnings gender differential and 15.3 percent of the gender difference in the probability of being promoted to manager.

Do fatty acids alter breast tumorigenesis by targeting stem cells?

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:10:00 PDT

Beyond the National Interest, the Future of UN Peacekeeping and Multilateralism in an Era of U.S. Primacy

Wed, 07 May 2008 17:00:00 PDT

In this lecture, Dr. Coicaud addresses the extent and the limits of international solidarity, focusing on the limits. He discusses the United Nations as an international bureaucracy, the socialization of international life by international law, and the ambiguous role of key democratic countries, which are at the same time the underwriters and the underminers of the international system.

Visually Dependent Nonverbal Cues and Video Communication

Wed, 07 May 2008 17:00:00 PDT

Humans have a rich verbal and nonverbal language that allows us to communicate in powerful ways. Technology continues to play a significant role in enabling and enhancing the ways we communicate with each other when we are geographically separated. Machines capture our expressions and transmit them anywhere in the world for distant partners. But how expression is captured and how it is presented can have surprising effects on the way people communicate. In my talk, I present background, designs, and evaluations of a new video conferencing system called MultiView which aims to improve the group-to-group video conferencing experience. I will (1) show the dependence of spatial information for the effective communication of nonverbal information such -- as eye contact -- and formalize the spatial shortcomings of modern video conferencing system design, (2) introduce a design based on a new multiple-perspective display to address these shortcomings, and (3) show that the MultiView design can effectively capture and present nonverbal cues in a natural way and that this new ability dramatically improves trust formation between remotely meeting groups. This talk will include a live demonstration of the MultiView system.

Mac Arthur Maze, Fire and Reconstruction

Wed, 07 May 2008 17:15:00 PDT

The seminar focuses on the MacArthur Maze in Oakland, two spans of which collapsed on April 29, 2007 and will provide information on the following areas: 1. The initial design and construction of the Maze 2. Seismic damage during the 1989 earthquake and status of the seismic retrofit on April 29, 2007 3. Fire damage and collapse of the two spans during the April 29, 2007 fire 4. Field investigation of the collapse 5. Analysis of the collapse of the two spans due to the tanker truck fire (in collaboration with the LLNL) 6. How the repair and reconstruction was done? 7. Bridge engineering lessons learned from this fire collapse and reconstruction that can be applied to protect other bridges.