College of Chemistry Newsjournal, University Updates, Fall 2002

Chang-Lin Tien, who, as chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, from 1990-97 was an outspoken supporter of equal opportunity in higher education and who preserved the campus's preeminence despite a prolonged state budget crisis, died Tuesday, Oct. 29 at Kaiser Permanente hospital in Redwood City. He was 67 years old.

A campus memorial service will be held Thursday, Nov. 14, from 3-4 p.m. at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall.

One of the most popular and respected leaders in American higher education and an engineering scholar of international renown, Tien spent nearly his entire professional career at UC Berkeley. He was the campus's seventh chancellor and the first Asian American to head a major research university in the United States.

"Chang-Lin was an exceptional leader during one of UC Berkeley's most challenging periods, a time of severe budget cuts and political changes," said UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl. "His energy and optimism, his willingness to fight for the principles he cherished, and his loyalty and love for this campus made it stronger and better."

Hearst Mining Building reopens

The historic Hearst Memorial Mining Building has reopened after three years of massive renovation. The 95-year-old Hearst Building, designed by John Galen Howard and completed in 1907, has been seismically strengthened and modernized, and was on display at a rededication ceremony in September.The building is now supported by base isolators, an earthquake engineering technology first developed largely at Berkeley, that separate the building's foundation from ground motion in an earthquake.

Hearst houses classrooms, offices and world-class research laboratories for the College of Engineering’s Department of Materials Science & Engineering and for an emerging nanoscience initiative.

click here to read more about the Hearst Mining Building Renovation.

Berkeley welcomes students back to the campus

Campus officials welcomed 23,500 new and continuing undergraduate students this fall, and just under 9,000 new and continuing graduate students. About 3,650 freshmen are registered this fall, 190 campus’s initiative to keep enrollment within limits established under a memorandum of understanding with the city of Berkeley. Women continue to represent the majority of the freshman class at 53.4 percent this year. The approximately 2,800 new graduate students who enrolled at UC Berkeley this fall comprise the largest graduate student class since 1986. According to the Graduate Division, the students were accepted to UC Berkeley during the most competitive year ever for graduate student applications.

More species shown vulnerable to Sudden Oak Death

Scientists from UC Berkeley and UC Davis have shown that two of California’s most highly valued trees—coast redwood and Douglas fir—are susceptible to Phytophthora ramorum, the organism that causes Sudden Oak Death. Since it was first reported in 1995, Sudden Oak Death, a highly contagious disease caused by fungus-like brown algae, has killed tens of thousands of oaks and tanoaks along the northern coast of the state. There are now 17 known species worldwide susceptible to P. ramorum. Sixteen of them are found in California, including the madrone, bay laurel and buckeye. One additional host species has been found only in Europe.

Out-of-state tuition increases and the state budget

The University of California regents approved tuition increases for outof- state students. Nonresident tuition increased 10 percent for undergraduates and 4 percent for graduate students in the fall, with an additional 6 percent increase for nonresident undergraduates in the spring. The increased tuitions will generate about $12 million in revenue for this academic year and will help fund and expand outreach programs for California students—programs supported by lawmakers but targeted for elimination or significant decreases in the governor’s budget. In August, the state legislature passed a last-minute $99 billion budget that includes a total of about $9 billion in spending cuts and about $2.4 billion in revenue increases to help balance the state’s $24 billion deficit. The legislation directs Governor Gray Davis to cut about $750 million from government operations (which include UC). However, throughout the budget process, UC has fared relatively well given the unprecedented size of the state’s deficit, and the governor has remained committed to education. For more information, visit Berkeley’s Government Affairs office at http://www. urel.berkeley.edu/urel/public_affairs/gov.html

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