A Newsletter for the Neighbors of the University of California, Berkeley |
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Community Bulletin Board The $100,000 project in Claremont Canyon, done in collaboration with PG&E and the Claremont Canyon Con- servancy, a local homeowners group, is part of a 10-year plan to remove more than 25,000 eucalyptus trees from UC Berkeley property. The non-native eucalyptus trees are aggressive growers and are particularly dangerous in a fire. Once ablaze, the gummy trees tend to “explode,” spewing out blazing material that can land miles away, sparking new fires. “When we cut the eucalyptus, we discovered a whole raft of redwoods, about 250 of them, and the conservancy has planted 50 more,” said Tim Wallace, president of the Clare-mont Canyon Conservancy. The conservancy will plant 1,000 redwood seedlings in the canyon over the next year. The next phase, scheduled to begin in late summer 2005, will involve removing eucalyptus from a 10-acre parcel south of Claremont Ave., contiguous with areas already cleared. The positive and the peaceful make some news If you’ve despaired that “there’s no good news” or that crime and war snag all the headlines, a new magazine is here to buck the trend. Greater Good, published by campus’s Center for the Development of Peace and Well-Being, provides a forum for academic research into the roots of positive emotions and peaceful relationships. The inaugural issue of Greater Good, out now, ex-plores the theme of compassion, with a piece by co-editor Dacher Keltner, professor of psychology, summarizing research findings on the biology of that human emotion. An interview with former Illinois Gov. George Ryan explores his decision to commute the sentences of 167 death-row prisoners, while other articles examine the role of compassion in supportive marriages and in the midst of war. The next issue will focus on forgiveness.
Green campus dining wastes not Crossroads, the largest of four student dining commons at UC Berkeley, recently became the first campus facility certified as a Bay Area Green Business by Alameda County officials. The hall has windows for natural light, energy-efficient lighting, low-flow water faucets, and tables cleaned with cloth instead of paper. Its water conservation efforts alone have resulted in a monthly saving of 180,000 gallons — enough to supply 30 homes for a month. The campus has plans to go even greener, and it is expanding its donations of dining-hall leftovers to homeless shelters and of food waste to boost compost supplies. “The goal is to have all four dining halls certified by fall 2006,” said Kim LaPean, UC Berkeley’s marketing coordinator for residential and student service programs. That means all student dining facilities — serving some 8,000 meals a day — will meet specific criteria aimed at conserving energy and water, reducing waste and preventing pollution. All four dining halls now donate excess food to local homeless shelters. In addition, Crossroads last year gave pre-consumer waste (such as egg shells and coffee grounds) to a campus collective that sells worm castings to gardeners and others; this fall the hall started including post-consumer food — that half-eaten hamburger or apple core — in the program.
Feeling jumpy? Join the club Earthlings are airborne these days at UC Berkeley’s Recreational Sports Facility, where SkyZone — a basketball-court-sized trampoline playing surface — has been permanently installed on the second floor. Made of 34 interlocking trampoline beds and 45-degree trampoline walls, SkyZone is the first full-size playing surface of its kind in the world, following its prototype in Las Vegas. New enthusiasts can sign up for SkyFit classes for an exhilarating cardio workout, or rent the facility for parties and events. “This is one time we want the campus and community to bounce off our walls,” says Joe Watz, Rec Sports marketing director.
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