Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2011 10:27:53 -0800
From: “Robert J. Birgeneau, Chancellor”
To: “Staff, All Academic Titles, Other Members of the Campus Community, Deans, Directors, Department Chairs, Students, ”
Subject: Chancellor Birgeneau comments on Arizona shootings

Dear members of our campus community:

This weekend’s shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the
deaths and injuries of many others in the horrific event in Tucson,
Arizona have shocked our nation. We here at UC Berkeley offer our
sincere condolences to everyone who has been personally affected by this
tragedy.

Such a brutal and violent attack on an individual who has devoted
herself to public service is deeply regrettable. It calls upon us as an
academic community to stop and ponder the climate in which such an act
can be contemplated, even by a mind that is profoundly disturbed. A
climate in which demonization of others goes unchallenged and hateful
speech is tolerated can lead to such a tragedy. I believe that it is
not a coincidence that this calamity has occurred in a state which has
legislated discrimination against undocumented persons. This same
mean-spirited xenophobia played a major role in the defeat of the Dream
Act by our legislators in Washington, leaving many exceptionally
talented and deserving young people, including our own undocumented
students, painfully in limbo with regard to their futures in this
country.

On our own campus, and throughout all the campuses of the University of
California, we must continue to work toward a climate of equity and
inclusion for all. We must be vigilant to condemn hate speech and acts
of vandalism on our campuses by those wanting to promote enmity. We
must work to support dialogue about our differences and eschew
expressions of demonization of others, including virulent attacks on
Israel, anti-Muslim graffiti, racism towards African-Americans,
Chicano/Latinos and other underrepresented minority groups, and
homophobic acts. Continuing to support our principles of community will
ensure a better and safer campus. We must do this now so that our
students, as future leaders of this great country, will continue to set
the standard for a better and safer nation.

Robert J. Birgeneau
Chancellor, UC Berkeley

He denounces demonization, only to quickly engaged in one of his own. Why, oh, why can’t academics refrain from politicizing actions of madmen?

BTW, evidences that emerged so far indicate that recent politics have nothing to do with the murder. The man was angry and disturbed enough all on his own, before the Arizona’s immigration law, before the tea parties and before Sarah Palin.

In particular, I am looking at,

Oh, look. That’s where I did my undergraduate!

…

Well, no. I’m just kidding. That’s where I did my undergraduate physics—although strictly speaking, it would be just the lower division physics; but then, foundation is everything, right?

What are the chances that a random oscilloscope in the lab … comes from a community college that I went to?

(If you actually want to do the math, order-of-magnitude estimate probably can be done by taking the reciprocal of number of electronics labs (with small enough budget that we still have to use cathode-rays-and-fluorescent-screens analog oscilloscopes, not the fancier digital scopes) and multiplying by the number of oscilloscopes in the BSC lab). Still, a rather small number.)

Well, here’s one less reason to be so worried:

From: Jonathan Poullard Dean of Student <adpa...@berkeley.edu>
Subject: Travel to Mexico Advisory
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:06:14 -0700

Dear UC Berkeley Students,

In response to the recent security concerns in Mexico, the U.S.
Department of State has issued a travel warning to U.S. travelers
traveling to and living in Mexico. Please read carefully the full
advisory notice at

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_mexico.html

Accordingly, UC Berkeley strongly advises against travel to Mexico
during Spring Break. We encourage students to discuss your travel plans
with family, friends, and other concerned parties as appropriate.

Should you have any further questions regarding your decision to travel,
please contact the Dean of Students Office at 642-6741.

Jonathan Poullard
Assistant Vice Chancellor/Dean of Students

Even if the liberal media is burying the story, afraid what the stories of violence in Mexico (and extending to U.S. citizens) would do to the sentiments towards immigrants and immigration, it looks like at least students at Berkeley will be well informed.

Of course, it’s another question whether the information would fall on deaf ears, but, well, let him who has ears to hear hear.

Update: In the interest of full disclosure, the update email:

From: "Harry Le Grande, Vice Chancellor - Student Affairs (campuswide)"
        <CALm...@berkeley.edu>
To: "Students, " <CALm...@berkeley.edu>
Subject: Travel Advisory to Mexico
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:44:57 -0700

Dear UC Berkeley Students,

On Tuesday, March 15, 2009 you received an email from me regarding travel to and
in Mexico during Spring Break. In recent days legitimate concerns have been
expressed that our initial message seemed to suggest that travel to any part of
the country would be ill-advised. This was not my intention. We are, in fact, in
complete agreement with a recent State Department Advisory that warns only
against travel to areas of Mexico that border the United States.

I would ask that you read the full advisory at:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_mexico.html

I also encourage you to discuss your travel plans with family and friends. Your
safety and well-being is an important priority for us, and we just want to be
sure that you have a great Spring Break, no matter where you go.

Should you have any further questions regarding your vacation plans, feel free
to contact the Dean of Students Office at 642-6741.

Jonathan Poullard
Assistant Vice-Chancellor for Student Affairs
and Dean of Students
Campus Life and Leadership
326 Sproul Hall
UC Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-2426
ph: (510) 642-6770
fax: (510) 642-7167
poul...@berkeley.edu

I can’t see how anyone could have misunderstood the first email to mean that the entire country of Mexico is unsafe. I mean, that’s like thinking the entire Indian subcontinent is unsafe just because Kashmir is not a place a tourist would want to go to. But, well, some people don’t know coffee at McDonald’s is hot, so.

From: UAW 2865 Berkeley <berk...@uaw2865.org>
To: xxxx...@xxxxx.xxx
Subject: Healthcare Negotiations Beginning; Vote on Initial Demands Feb.
        3rd or 4th
Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:45:37 +0000 (UTC)

January 20, 2010

Dear UAW 2865 members,

UAW 2865 is preparing to open our current contract with University of
California in order to negotiate improvements to the Graduate Student
Health Insurance Program. We consider UC’s agreement to enter
negotiations on GSHIP as a victory in our years-long struggle to improve
the quality of healthcare that academic student employees receive. In
recent years this struggle has included UC providing vision and dental
coverage as part of all GSHIP plans and the establishment of a UAW-UC
committee which has explored how best to make healthcare
improvements.

All members are encouraged to attend a meeting with bargaining
committee members and to vote on our initial healthcare bargaining
demands on February 3rd or 4th. Campus-specific dates, times, and
locations will be sent out next week.

We are opening healthcare now so we can negotiate changes that would
take effect in August for the 2010-2011 academic year. This would not be
possible under the already scheduled negotiations, because our current
contract expires September 30, 2010 and no changes take effect until the
entire contract is settled and ratified. We still plan to begin our full
set of negotiations in the spring, and there will be a separate process
where members will have a chance to vote on those initial demands as well.

If you have any questions or would like to get involved, please contact us
(info below).

In solidarity,

Bargaining Committee, UAW Local 2865

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
UAW 2865 Berkeley
2070 Allston Way, Suite 205
Berkeley, CA 94704
phone: (510) 849-1628  /  fax: (510) 549-2514
berk...@uaw2865.org  /  www.uaw2865.org

mail-list.com    1302 Waugh Dr. #438    Houston, Texas    77019    USA

This message was launched into cyberspace to xxxx...@xxxxx.xxx

So far, I haven’t participated in any union votes, mainly because I didn’t want to be part of (and hence, at least at my personal level, legitimize) the farcical imitation of democracy, but maybe I should vote.

Why? Well, let’s just say … I’m heartened by the ballot heard around around the world yesterday. If Massachusetts voters can vote for a small-government Republican, perhaps UAW 2865 members can finally say enough is enough—or at least, one day we will get to the bottom of what dirty tactics my beloved union uses to get 99% approvals on its measures.

Signs illegally put up at Wheeler on Dec. 9, 2009

You probably heard about occupation of Wheeler by students (and non-students, as not all protesters were students at UC Berkeley) in the week before Thanksgiving. They caused thousands of students to miss their class—or deal with the extreme inconvenience of re-scheduling at the last moment. These people are trying the same thing again. Just before the finals week.

Apparently their motto is “open university”, “24/7″, “education is a right, not a commodity”, etc. And unless I am reading the wrong news, their goal is to stop the university from raising student fees, force them to keep hiring custodians that it may not need (or at least can afford to lay off, as far as work load goes), and, I don’t know, use black magic to make money when none is forthcoming from the state?

Well. If these people have their way, yes, we will have an open university, as in buildings will be open and classrooms will be open to public (as if they weren’t before; you could, as long as I have been in UC Berkeley, practically walk into any class and “audit” it without paying or any registration; no instructor would have stopped you; it’s the diploma you need to pay for, not education), in fact, if these people have their way, the buildings will even be clean, thanks to a glut of custodians.

Too bad the classrooms will not have competent lecturers and labs will not have prolific researchers. Too bad, after paying for custodians, building upkeep, and not raising student fees to raise necessary funds, the university will not be able to attract the top faculty. Too bad, with all these protests and disruptions to research and education, prospective faculty and students will turn away from UC Berkeley—if they care about education and research.

Support these people if you want UC Berkeley to become a diploma mill. I know their motto is “education is not a commodity”, but well, if they have their way, UC Berkeley diploma will become a commodity, a piece of paper without the prestige it used to carry.

Update: I’m not going to claim all or even most protesters are violent criminals. But given that about 70 of them are, if you support the protesters, you risk supporting criminals who would endanger others’ lives and destroy properties. Is that what you want to do?

We share the anguish over the policies adopted in the face of the state’s abrupt 20% disinvestment in higher education. The budget shortfall wounds the institution and community we cherish. We believe these policies are a regrettable but necessary response to the state’s actions. While we are committed to doing everything we can to mitigate their effects on the most vulnerable populations of
our students and staff, we recognize that many disagree deeply, and that vigorous and vocal protest is an understandable response. The passionate advocacy of students, staff, and faculty for the University and its public mission has been remarkable.

Many of the protest activities were appropriate forms of peaceful advocacy. We are concerned, however, about activities at several campuses that disrupted our educational mission and interfered with the freedom of fellow students, faculty, and staff, to teach, learn, research, and work. We are especially concerned about group protests in which a number of individuals attempted to move past police barricades, physically threaten and throw objects at police, and surround vehicles to trap those within. These activities are unlawful and disrespectful of the rights of others, and they create a serious risk of violence for everyone in the area: police, protestors, and bystanders. A number of injuries, some serious, were sustained last week by both protestors and police officers.

While a number of criticisms may apply to this open letter (it passes the buck to the state, it doesn’t address any of the real issues, etc., etc.), I guess I should be happy that at least “weak-kneed” doesn’t apply this time, as it usually does when UC officials act. At least they are condemning protesters—some of which are not even UC students—who occupy campus buildings and set off fire alarms.

Frankly, if you have ever supported (either in heart or deed) the so-called “strikes” and demonstrations in the past month or two, look at what the protesters have done and ask yourself: who is helping university achieve its missions better, the protesters protesting against the economic reality with no real alternatives of their own, or students, GSIs, and faculty who are continuing to perform their duty amid hardship?

It is time for choosing. Choose to side with the workers, builders, and maintainers of UC’s reputation, not the destroyers.

Among the spam/ham I get in my inbox:

From: Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxx <xxxx...@berkeley.edu>
To: gra...@physics.berkeley.edu
Subject: [Grads] Strike Schedule of Events and Supporting The Movement
        Without Striking
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:31:36 -0800

[-- Attachment #1 --]
[-- Type: multipart/alternative, Encoding: 7bit, Size: 4.9K --]

Hi Grads,

I've attached the schedule of events for the next three days.  Wednesday is
a day of protests, most importantly a large rally on the steps of Sproul
plaza at 12.  Thursday aims to turn the campus into an Open University for a
day by having free lectures, and by faculty and GSIs leaving their classroom
doors open to anyone who wants to come in and learn.  Friday events have yet
to be completely determined.

What can you do if you don't want to strike but still want to support the
movement?

For Everyone:
1. Attend the rally at 12 on Wednesday
2. Attend some of the other scheduled events
3. Sign the petition requesting the Regents postpone voting on fee increases
until they have explored other options: http://saveuc.org/petition_fees.php

For GSIs:
1. Let your students know that they are free to strike and will not suffer
repercussions
2. Take a few minutes in class to talk about the issues facing the
University
3. On Thursday leave your classroom doors open so that anyone who wants to
participate can join you

For GSRs:
1.  Talk to your lab mates about the strike and inform them of the issues
facing the university
Also, everyone should urge the state to increase funding to public
education.  You can sign the following petitions:

http://checkingeducation.com/petition

http://www.ucforcalifornia.org/cal/home/

You can also talk to your family and friends at home and ask them to contact
their representatives to let them know they support public education.

The pressure the students, faculty and staff are putting on the UC Office of
the President seems to be working.  Since the September walkout they have
greatly increased their efforts to convince Sacramento to reinvest in higher
education.  Let's keep the pressure on and let them know that we want the
University of a California to stay a *public* university!

Resources:

http://ucstrike.com/links.php

http://utotherescue.blogspot.com/

http://keepcaliforniaspromise.org/

http://people.ucsc.edu/~bmalone/Teaching.html

[-- Attachment #2: StrikeSchedule.pdf --]
[-- Type: application/pdf, Encoding: base64, Size: 85K --]

[-- application/pdf is unsupported (use 'v' to view this part) --]

[-- Attachment #3 --]
[-- Type: text/plain, Encoding: 7bit, Size: 0.1K --]

_______________________________________________
Grads mailing list
Gra...@physics.berkeley.edu

http://physics.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/grads

Wait. There’s something wrong with this email. It lacks diversity. It’s just like UCB student population—it’s lacking the minority opinion. What if, in some bizarro world, I didn’t want to support this “strike”? What if, if you could imagine the possibility of a GSR wanting to be in research lab and GSI wanting to focus on teaching, I think this “strike” is a distraction to my duties and disgraceful to the flagship campus of the University of California?

What can I do if I hold such outrageous, minority opinions? Do I not exist? Do my options not exist? Ms. Xxxxxxxx would have you believe that the only reasonable position a reasonable person could possibly take is supporting the strike.

Apparently I am an unreasonable unperson who needs to be silenced. Well, come silence me, then.

Incidentally, he links to this UC Berkeley page where helpful instructions for building a nuclear bomb is laid out, step by step with complete list of vendors and reliable contractors who can do the job.

Oh, wouldn’t it be ironic that UC Berkeley is helping GOP go nuclear?

Well, that sounds like a good idea. And in fact, we can make that program, demand, plan, or whatever you call it, pay for itself, by increasing the furloughs for these 1000 faculty! After all, the faculty should take their fair share of the cut, and as a more highly-paid individual, they should share a larger percentage (percentage of their usual earnings) of the burden!

If you don’t see the absurdity of this proposal (or the even more absurd proposal that the university increase spending in any area without corresponding cuts elsewhere, especially when there is no profit margin to serve as a buffer), then we are not going to see eye to eye. If you don’t see the hypocrisy of faculty protesting these cuts without making personal contributions (hey, how about some donation to the university?) to make the cuts unnecessary, I am not sure if I want to talk to you even. This is the same hypocrisy you see in some white proponents of affirmative action who would not resign from their positions of power so that a black person or another minority can take their position instead.

I frankly didn’t see the crowd firsthand. I came to work at 8 a.m., crossed the picket line as I wanted to, and did my job. The picture makes it look like a sizable crowd in the Sproul Plaza, but then, UC Berkeley does have 30,000 students and all they had to do was walk 5, 10 minutes to get to the rally location, so excuse me for doubting the enthusiasm of the crowd there.

P.S. BTW, who ever chose red the color to show support for this rally? Red? Really? Couldn’t you have chosen something else? Like blue and gold, maybe? I’m not the one to get hung up on vain symbolism, but why did they have to choose the color of communism to identify the rally with? And why did any American student choose to wear it?