Alumni Relations
Faculty Highlights
University updates
UC Regents approve GPA eligibility changes
The Board
of Regents recently approved a plan to raise the minimum grade-point average
for students to become eligible for admission, deflecting criticism that
the change may disproportionately affect minority students. The September
23 decision, which goes into effect for students entering the university
in 2007, increases the minimum required GPA from 2.8 to 3.0 on a 4.0-point
scale.
This action was the second time the Regents had raised eligibility requirements
this year. In July, the Regents toughened the kinds of courses that will
be used to calculate grade-point average, and they made other technical
changes to shrink the pool of eligible students from 14.4 to 13 percent
of the high school graduating class. The higher GPA threshold is intended
to shrink the pool of eligible students still more, from 13 percent to
12.8 percent of students graduating from the state’s public high schools—a
figure closer to the 12.5 percent initially set by the state's Master
Plan for Higher Education in 1960.
http://www.ucop.edu/news/archives/2004/sep23.htm
The hot gets hotter and drier
In an intriguing study, California researchers predict that the state
will experience significantly hotter summers by 2100, impacting human
health and causing water shortages. Using the most sensitive climate models
to date, the findings are dramatic and “illustrate more than ever the
urgent need to control greenhouse-gas emissions now,” said study co-author
W. Michael Hanemann, a professor of agricultural and resource emissions
at Berkeley. According to the study’s lower-emissions scenario, in which
alternative energy and fuel-efficient technology play a key role, the
summer temperatures here would increase 4 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit by the
end of the century. If no changes are made in our consumption of coal
and fossil fuels, the summer temperature would rise an astonishing 7 to
15 degrees Fahrenheit. The hotter summers could cause significant reductions
in the Sierra Nevada snowpack, which supplies the state’s reservoirs and
rivers.
Heavy medal
The Berkeley
contingent made a big splash at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Led
by All-American swimmer Natalie Coughlin, who won five medals in swimming,
Berkeley-affiliated athletes took home 17 medals in various sports, including
water polo, beach volleyball, soccer and rowing. A total of 42 Cal athletes
competed in the Athens Olympics—10 current students and 32 alums represented
either the U.S. or their ancestral or native countries. The men’s swimming
team had the most Blue and Gold at the games, with 12 Bears.
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2004/08/19_olympics.shtml
Back in black
UC will sustain significant budget cuts for the 2004-2005 year as the
government comes to terms with its shortfall. Over the last few years,
the UC system has had to absorb both a 16 percent reduction in funding
through program reductions, fee increases for students and less-competitive
salaries for faculty and staff, as well as a 16 percent increase in student
enrollment. However there are no new cuts, and the state funding increases
are scheduled to resume over the next few years, with a three percent
increase projected for 2005-2006.
Under an agreement between UC President Dynes and Gov. Schwarzenegger, UC will receive funding to preserve its internationally acclaimed academic programs, to provide broad accessibility for promising California students, and to sustain its deep impact on the economy, health, and quality of life of California.
The compact lays the foundation for the University to recover from the
latest budget cuts and,
ultimately, to begin building again. Further information can be found
at
www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/compact/welcome.html
.
