If adversity sparks innovation, the deadly Tubbs Fire fueled alumna Bailey Farren to develop Perimeter, a mobile app to help first responders and citizens alike respond more quickly when wildfires approach. Farren, who earned a double major in cognitive science and rhetoric, is the CEO of Perimeter and heads a seven-member team. Except for one, all are Berkeley alumni; among them is Trevor Greenan, whose childhood home burned in a wildfire in October 2017.
A $20 million gift will support research at UC Berkeley and UCSF into dyslexia and similar neurodevelopmental language-processing disorders as part of the new UCSF-UC Berkeley Schwab Dyslexia and Cognitive Diversity Center. The joint program will draw on research in neuroscience, cognitive psychology, education and public health, among other disciplines. At UC Berkeley, it will be headquartered in Berkeley Way West, the building that houses the UC Berkeley Department of Psychology, School of Public Health, and Graduate School of Education.
Tate Archibald, 18, is a freshman from Santa Clara, California, and plans on double majoring in history and linguistics. “Not in a million years did I think that I would get into Berkeley or want to go to Berkeley," Tate says. "Then, I went to Cal Day, and I saw just how in love with the school every single person was... And I just knew that it was the kind of place I wanted to be.
Last Friday, UC Berkeley initiated a year-long initiative commemorating the 400th anniversary of the forced arrival of enslaved Africans in the English colonies with a day-long symposium. It drew hundreds of attendees who heard from more than a dozen historians and social scientists about the impact and legacy of slavery in society today. This initiative at UC Berkeley and similar ones across the country are being organized in the spirit of the “400 Years of African-American History Commission Act” that was signed into law last year.
First-year student DeAndra McDaniel, 18, is from Selma, California, and plans on studying psychology and sociology. “I chose Berkeley because I felt like it was the most well-rounded for academics and sports... We’re stacked with amazing people, really intelligent people, all hard-working, all with a really positive attitude."
The 400th anniversary of the beginning of slavery in North America will be observed at UC Berkeley throughout the entire 2019-2020 school year, starting with a daylong symposium Friday, Aug. 30. Berkeley’s commemoration is in the spirit of “The 400 Years of African American History Commission Act,” federal legislation signed last year. It acknowledged the impact of slavery in the United States and called for a national commission to commemorate the anniversary of the forced arrival of Africans in the English colonies in 1619.
The Maya of Central America are often thought to have been a peaceaful civilization, practicing limited ritual warfare until drought caused increased conflict and led to the collapse of its Classical civilization. However, new evidence unearthed by a researcher from the University of California, Berkeley, and the U.S. Geological Survey calls all this into question, suggesting that the Maya engaged in scorched-earth military campaigns — a strategy that aims to destroy anything of use, including cropland — even at the height of their prosperity and artistic sophistication.
