University of California-Berkeley

Weird, Legless Lizard Discovered Near LAX

The area around LAX is so developed that one neighborhood, Surfridge, has even come and gone. But that didn't stop a Cal State Fullerton geological sciences professor from discovering a whole new species of lizard there. The pencil-like, 8- to 10-inch creature calls the sand dunes west of the airpo ... More >>

SoCal is Tops For Socially Conscious Universities

Sure, California has its share of globally recognized universities, including Stanford, Caltech and UC Berkeley. But do we have schools that offer reasonable tuition rates (or at least some help paying for school) and a sense of social consciousness? We do. The magazine Washington Monthly recently ... More >>

Royal Baby? Poor Newborns in L.A. Have 1 in 10 Chance of Achieving Wealth

We know you're having kiniptions over the birth of the royal baby. This boy will never worry about paying the rent, that's for sure. But what about the average newborn in L.A? What chance does she have at achieving wealth? Turns out researchers from Harvard University and UC Berkeley have crunched ... More >>

Breaking: White People Tend to Live Closer to The Beach

No big surprise here. As we bid adieu to our May heat wave, new research has "discovered" that minorities tend to live in hotter communities throughout the nation. Why is this no big surprise to us?

UCLA A Top 8 University, According To Times Higher Education World Ranking

UCLA is the eighth best university in the world, according to the latest Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings. That's even better than last year's 13th place for the publication's World University Rankings, in which Caltech came in at No. 1. The latest showing for the Westwood campus .. ... More >>

Successful People Cope With Rejection Better, Says California Study

Successful people didn't get where they are by sitting on ass. A new study suggests that folks in positions of power are far less fazed by rejection. In fact, UC Berkeley researchers found, these kinds of folks are more likely to come back for more -- to seek out "social bonding opportunities" desp ... More >>

UCLA Ranked Top 10 Best Public College Value In America By Kiplinger's

In fall UCLA was named one of the best universities in the world by Times Higher Education in the UK. Next month's Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine gives the Westwood school an even more important distinction: One of the "10 Best Public College Values" in the United States for 2013:

L.A. Traffic Relief Possible If We Targeted Specific Neighborhoods, Says GPS Data

Remember car pooling, flexible work schedules and "telecommuting." Yeah, none of that worked as far as our traffic goes. L.A. still has the worst congestion in the nation. Will anything bring relief? Researchers at UC Berkeley and MIT think they might have come up with something:

Caltech is World's Best University; UCLA Ranks 13

Los Angeles: Home of the Playboy Bunny, Ashton Kutcher and pet spas. This we all know. But who knew that our town is where the smartest nerds in the world get their degrees on? It's true. According to the latest World University Rankings by Times Higher Education in the UK ...

Get On the Bus: The DIY Pizza Oven

From our 2012 Restaurant Issue, celebrating everything pizza in L.A. When you get your first glance at L.A.'s Fox Pizza Bus, you might think you've stumbled upon one of those movie star home tours -- or maybe a sightseeing bus. Rather than tourists, though, the backseats of this bus are occupied by ... More >>

A Day of Weimar: Three Illustrated Lectures on Sex and the Occult in Pre-War Berlin

Two Booze Studies Serve Up Sobering News

We're reminded that booze and artificially sweetened mixers sometimes can be a problematic combo. The study that figured this out has been around for a while, but it's being given fresh attention thanks to the June edition of the University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter, which offers news ... More >>

Cellphone-Related Deaths Behind Wheel in California Down, Dubious Study Claims

While California's cop lobbyists and legislators have claimed texting-while-driving is creating more death than the Grim Reaper in order to justify increasingly needless laws, a new study says cellphone-related traffic deaths are going down. So which one is it? This is the classic strategy of over ... More >>

Rich More Likely to Lie, Cheat And Take Candy From Baby (Really)

California researchers this week confirmed it: The rich really are different. But maybe not in the ways you think. Nope. Those exposed to private prep schools, nanny-aided childhoods and the formalities of grand dinner parties seem to lie, cheat, cut people off in traffic, and "endorse unethical be ... More >>

Lisa Mezzacappa Does Not Make Dinner Party Music

Myles Boisen​Upright bassist Lisa Mezzacappa has been building a steady reputation in northern California for the last decade. Her nimble basslines and arresting compositions have brought her beyond the Bay Area, where she lives, including a rare tour through Los Angeles. Her band the Bait & S ... More >>

Best Posts Of The Week

​We've got nothing but love for Heavy D, who died this week at his Beverly Hills home. Dan Hyman wrote a touching memorial for a man who was a pioneer of the hip-hop/R&B hybrid. This week will be remembered for sunnier news as well, however: We finally enacted Nigel Tufnel day. And it's toda ... More >>

Grow Your Own Mushrooms: Urban Farming in a Box

Back to the Roots​Back to the Roots is the kind of grow-your-own mushroom kit company that makes you wonder what you've been doing with your life. Founders Nikhil Arorahe and Alejandro Velez first got the idea in 2009 during their last semester at UC Berkeley when, just two months before their ... More >>

Transgender Students Could Cross Opposite-Sex Roommate Divide at UCLA Under Proposed Campus Dorm Policy

Sam T​Traditional on-campus roomy situations at UCLA almost always involve boys living with boys and girls living with girls. But what if you're a boy who looks like a girl and is in the process of becoming a girl? Could you still live with a girl? That's a possibility because ...

CalTech Shoots to Top of 'World University' Rankings; UC Campuses Struggle to Hold on

Was Obama's shout-out to the California Institute of Technology in January the last push it needed to trample Harvard and Stanford for the No. 1 spot in (arguably) the world's most prestigious college rankings? The Times of Higher Education, a British operation, gave the Pasadena underdog top honor ... More >>

Food News Roundup: The End of Butter, Lucky Charms Bake Sale Racial Profiling

A. Scattergoodapple crates at Riley's Farm​ Los Angeles Times: UC Berkeley Republican club draws nationwide protests and support with a bake sale in which items are priced according to a buyer's race, ethnicity and gender. Gourmet Live: The history of teachers and apples. Or, what to read onl ... More >>

Study: LAUSD's Charter-School Teachers Dropping Out at Alarming Rate

4lakidsnews.blogspot.comAre L.A.'s charter teachers overworked and under-unionized?​Unlike the stubborn, nepotistic Compton Unified School District next door, LAUSD has opened its arms to the booming charter-school movement over the last decade. Between 2002 to 2009, the number of charter cam ... More >>

Assembly Bills 10 and 400: Would Raising Minimum Wage, Adding Paid Sick Days Hurt the California Economy?

libcom.orgWould you take this job for an extra 50 cents?​While the State Assembly committee readies itself to vote tomorrow on San Francisco Assembywoman Fiona Ma's proposals to 1) increase minimum wage from $8 to $8.50 and 2) allow for nine paid sick days per year in the California workplace, ... More >>

Sam Lundquist of Los Angeles Asks Us to Share Our Dreams in "Hope Chronicles"

UCLA Receives 81,000 Freshman Applications for 2011 -- More Than Any Other UC -- and Sees Dramatic Spike in Latino Applicants

Berry ReporterWe don't blame you for applying​The University of California may be suffering a series of bloody cuts while six-figure administrators demand more pay (what's new, right?), but that didn't stop high-school seniors from applying in droves to the UC system in Fall 2010. Of all the ... More >>

Kiplinger's best value colleges: UCLA makes the list

​Several University of California schools are among the nation's best deals and offer the most bang for the buck. According to Kiplinger's annual list of the 100 best bargains among the country's public colleges, no UC school makes the top ten, but several do make the cut. Which ones, you ask?

Day In Shockers: UC Berkeley Makes You Liberal, Fox News Makes You Dumb

College OTRWatchin' some C-Span from our Berkeley-ass van​Great. Now liberals at UC Berkeley have sta-thith-tics to drop into their rants on the intolerable ignorance of middle-Americans who shop at Wal-Mart and jerk off to Sarah Palin, like they aren't guilty of the same: A new study proves ... More >>

UCLA Accepts One In Five Freshman Hopefuls For Fall

​UCLA only accepted about one in five in-state applicants for fall, a fraction that represents the toughest admission rate of all University of California schools, including UC Berkeley. The Westwood school admitted 13,020 freshmen from a record 57,651 applicants, the university announced Wed ... More >>

DID JEW KNOW IT’S A SMALL WORLD, AFTER ALL?

Uh oh, Obama asks Antonio Villaraigosa for Economic Advice

By Tibby Rothman Many Southern Californians were mystified by this news from the Wall Street Journal and NBC's Firstread blog: The often stumbling Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, whose city budget deficit has hit a historic high and who has based his economic plan in Los Angeles almost entirely on a s ... More >>

Handcuffs for Bushies

Out of the dark side, Jane Mayer's investigation into the Bush administration, a rogue's list for prosecution

Pucker Up: Best and Worst of Sex 2007

Tristan's annual roundup of toothbrush vibrators, anti-porn ribbons, and a kinky kingdom

Are You a Map?

Top 10 signs you are a budding Mexican American Prince

Home Is Where the Concierge Is

The return of the residential hotel

Dirty Prices

Governor and Barbara Boxer push ethanol

You Could Look It Up

The View From Four Score

Eighty years in a musical life

University of Fear

How the Department of Homeland Security is becoming a big man on campus

The Quiet Americans

Why can't the media call Bush a liar?

Of Time and the River

Robb Moss’ wayback machine; plus Nir Bergman’s Broken Wings

Jan Gable: Power Source

Berkeley, Berlin, Berlioz

Nagano on the move

America's Most Unwanted

Breakfast With Jellyman

The Best of Sitegeist

Arrows of Desire

When life is gay

Breakfast With Jellyman

Let’s Hear It for Luigi

Unions on Campus

California catching up with organizing teaching ranks’ underclass

So Far, Still Good

Student Union

Teach-out

Grad students strike at UCLA