Day 35

Happy Earthquake Preparedness Month! Chancellor Birgeneau wrote to us Friday evening to alert us to an earthquake drill that's taking place on campus this Wednesday. We test the emergency alert system here on campus on the first Wednesday of every month, but this week's events will be special. He asked us to participate by dropping to the ground, taking cover under our desks, and holding onto the desk to practice for what we would do in a real earthquake. The Chancellor reminds us that buildings around campus continue to be retrofitted for earthquake safety, but we must still take individual precautions. I don't know the mechanics of retrofitting all that terrifically well, but I think I can get on board with the university spending the necessary money to invest in the future of campus and the safety of its occupants by taking measures to help prevent buildings from collapsing. Although I must admit that these earthquake protection drills seem suspiciously similar to my mother's account of hiding under her desk as a school child during nuclear bomb drills in the fifties and sixties. What on earth do they make desks out of that make them so safe to be under anyway?

A University of California, San Francisco professor has won the Nobel Prize in medicine along with two other professors who also worked on the same project. The findings of their research have led to dramatic improvements and new directions for cancer treatment research, among other things. The kicker is that these researchers weren't trying to cure cancer or solve any other global dilemma. They were just scientists digging into the workings of DNA for scholarship's sake. I bring this up to point out that universities are not just degree mills for undergraduates who need jobs, or producers of specific answers to legislated questions. They are places of making and sharing great discovery. Congratulations, Professor Blackburn. You've brought a much needed boost of pride and inspiration back to your university and state. I hope your achievements inspire California voters, legislatures, and university administrators to remember what an amazing place UC can be and why what we all do is so important.

Oh, and by the way, Mr. American Education Budget Guy? Asian countries are spending money like CRAZY on their universities to compete with the US, while we are slashing and hacking away at our education budgets. Can't wait to see how that works out.