San Francisco is hitting a new high
The mood in the Bay Area is exuberant — almost as if the dot-com crash were but a distant bad dream. Here's a quick guide for business travelers about where to stay, where to eat, and where to see and be seen. More >
(Condé Nast Portfolio , April 14, 2007)

Michael Pollan's new book on the U.S. food chain provides few soundbites — but much to chew on
A growing number of Americans are scrutinizing ingredient labels and asking, What is this stuff? Michael Pollan can tell you. In "The Omnivore's Dilemma," he takes readers to the feedlot, to the farm, and into the woods to learn a few simple things: what we're eating, where it came from, how it got to our plate, and its true cost. Will we have the nerve to follow him? More >
(UC Berkeley NewsCenter, April 11, 2006)

Top Iraq war correspondents discuss risking their lives to tell a truth that few want to hear — or to believe
Five journalists, including New York Times Baghdad bureau chief John Burns and Washington Post writer Jackie Spinner, convened to discuss two deeply polarizing questions: Given the extreme danger of the situation in Iraq, are journalists in Iraq even able to cover the real story? And are they getting the story "right"? More >
(UC Berkeley NewsCenter, March 14, 2006)

Suitcase Clinic student volunteers are changing the world, one homeless foot at a time
Berkeley students are known for their commitment to public service. But even in this group, the undergraduate-run Suitcase Clinic stands out: twice a week, volunteers and local practitioners provide health-care checkups, vision & dental care, chiropractor adjustments, legal advice, job consultations, and foot washing services to homeless and low-income clients in Berkeley. More >
(UC Berkeley NewsCenter, March 8, 2006)

Growing energy: Berkeley Lab's Steve Chu on what termite guts have to do with global warming
Steven Chu, director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory since 2004, is on a mission: challenging scientists to find environmentally friendly energy alternatives to fossil fuels. Here, Chu discusses what termite guts and manure piles can teach us, and why we shouldn't be writing off nuclear energy. More >
(UC Berkeley NewsCenter, Sept. 30, 2005)

The accidental activist: Born into 'the Family,' Daniel Roselle hopes to find a new community at UC Berkeley
At age 20, Daniel Roselle left his parents and siblings with only a bus ticket, $50, and the address of a grandmother he barely knew. His biggest challenge was leaving not just his immediate family, but The Family International — a religious group that foes condemn as a dangerous cult. More >
(UC Berkeley NewsCenter, Sept. 16, 2005)

David Byrne really does ♥ PowerPoint, Berkeley presentation shows
In one of the most unusual PowerPoint presentations ever given in Dwinelle Hall, ex-Talking Head David Byrne poked fun at the popular Microsoft software's bullet-point tyranny and Autocontent Wizard inanity. But he also defended its appeal not only as a business tool, but also as a medium for art and theater. More >
(UC Berkeley NewsCenter, March 8, 2005)

Mixed emotions: The multiracial student experience
Nearly a quarter of UC Berkeley students identify themselves as multiracial. Four "mixed" Berkeley students share their experiences with the question "What are you?", which forces them to fend off racial stereotypes as they try to answer the same, more fundamental, question as their monoracial classmates: "Who am I?" More >
(UC Berkeley NewsCenter, 7 March 2005)

Linguistics professor George Lakoff dissects the "war on terror" and other conservative catchphrases
Berkeley professor of cognitive linguistics George Lakoff examines the considerable progress Democrats have made in getting their ideas across. In this interview, he dismantles such phrases as the "war on terror" and "liberal elite," and tells how to argue effectively with conservatives. More >
(UC Berkeley NewsCenter, 25 August 2004)

Michael Pollan, Whole Foods' John Mackey usher Berkeley foodies into 'ecological era'
Continuing a debate begun in "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by food-chain detective Michael Pollan, Whole Foods CEO John Mackey came to Berkeley to discuss the past, present, and future of organic food — and the question of whether "big" always has to mean "bad" when it comes to the U.S. agriculutural system. More >
(UC Berkeley NewsCenter, February 28, 2007)

"There is no time": Six Nobel Laureates say averting world's climate crisis requires immediate energy research, conservation, and regulation
(UC Berkeley NewsCenter, January 22, 2006)

Will Silicon Valley Rise Again?
Venture capital is bubbling, people are hiring, and a rebound looks official. The area's most enthusiastic boosters discount the challenge from China and India. But nobody's popping the champagne just yet. More >
(Corporate Board Member, May/June 2006)

War on terror's biggest casualty is America, say George Soros, Mark Danner, others in forum
Billionaire philanthropist George Soros — along with other participants in a forum held to mark the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks — said that the war on terrorism has not only been ineffective in its goal, but it has cost America its self-image and its system of checks and balances. However, there are a few encouraging signs that the trend may be reversing. More >
(UC Berkeley NewsCenter, September 21, 2006)

A fixture among private companies
Kohler Co. began in 1873 when it put feet on a hog-scalding trough and called it a bathtub. Over 100 years later, Kohler now owns several furniture divisions, runs award-winning golf resorts, and yet still has nothing but disdain for Wall Street. Outside directors help keep the CEO up to par, but will Kohler really be able to remain in the family for generations to come? More >
(Corporate Board Member, May/June 2006)

Shoe-in!
Founded during the dying days of the dot-com bubble, Zappos.com’s commitment to service has inspired cultlike devotion among its online customers and employees. But with money from investors like Sequoia, can this Internet shoe retailer stay private much longer? More >
(Corporate Board Member, March/April 2006)

Extraordinary people: Berkeley senior Bryan Goodwin rolls to his own drummer
Fifth-year senior Bryan Goodwin was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, often called "brittle bone disease." But many of his friends don't ever ask why he's in a wheelchair. Having a disability is just one facet of this fun-loving, right-leaning, club-going legal studies major. More >
(UC Berkeley NewsCenter, Feb. 13, 2006)

Poverty is this generation's civil-rights movement, says ex-Senator John Edwards
More than 1,500 or so students and others lined up from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Student Union all the way to Sather Gate for the chance to hear former senator and vice presidential candidate John Edwards talk about poverty. "Poverty is the great moral issue of our century," he said, challenging the students to do something about it. More >
(UC Berkeley NewsCenter, 16 October 2005)

Nobel winner Charles Townes on evolution, intelligent design, and the meaning of life
Religion and science, faith and empirical experiment: these terms would seem to have as little in common as a Baptist preacher and a Berkeley physicist. In this interview, Charles Hard Townes, winner of a Nobel Prize in Physics, explains how they are united by similar goals: to make sense of the universe and our role in it. More >
(UC Berkeley NewsCenter, 17 June 2005)

From jarhead to bowl maker: Graduate student Ehren Tool's art of war
Ehren Tool, a graduate student in art practice, draws on his five years as a U.S. Marine and Gulf War veteran to make ceramic bowls and large-scale installations designed to bring the idea of war closer to home. He has given away more than 4,000 military-themed cups, including 50 to U.S. presidents and other world officials. More >
(UC Berkeley NewsCenter, 26 October 2004)