TheGraduategrad.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/spring_summer02.pdfthought about what she was doing,...

TheGraduate A Newsletter forGraduate Students

A PUBLICATION OF THE GRADUATE DIVISION • UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY • VOLUME XVII, NUMBER 1 • SPRING/SUMMER 2002

See Smolke, page 16

Inside This Issue2 Dean’s Corner

4 A Musical Offering

6 Poems for Architects

8 Spotlight on Public Health

13 Life Lessons

14 Can We Talk—in Swahili?

Northern ExposureA Ph.D.’s Transit from L.A. to Berkeley to Ann Arbor

By Lisa Harrington

T

Christina Smolke, Berkeley Ph.D. and postdoc.

here’s no place like home. ForChristina Smolke, home is

Southern California. Before movingnorth for graduate school, she knewlittle about the Bay Area. “There’s somuch energy here,” she says.

Smolke graduated summa cum laudefrom Berkeley in 2001 with a Ph.D. inchemical engineering. Once she com-pletes a two-year postdoc in the Depart-ment of Molecular and Cell Biology, shewill head to Ann Arbor to become anassistant professor at Michigan.

Refreshingly down to earth andenthusiastic about life, Smolke shattersthe myth that, in order to excel, graduatestudents need to isolate themselves fromthe mainstream. On the contrary, she’smade a concerted effort to balance herteaching and research with activitiesbeyond the classroom and lab.

“I love Northern California. I lovethe weather,” says Smolke. “I enjoy thenatural beauty of the area by hiking,camping, visiting the wine country,canoeing, and rafting.” Her favoriteplaces off campus are Yosemite NationalPark and Point Reyes National Seashore.

Graduate school, says Smolke,“involves a lot of time indoors writingand a lot of bench work.” Being able toget out and stretch her legs or work outgave her time to think. To stay in shape,she took belly dancing classes in Albanywith friends and recently became partof the professional troupe.

Smolke completed her undergradu-ate work in chemical engineering, withan emphasis in biology, at USC. Shegraduated summa cum laude in 1997. AtUSC, she found herself “a little over-whelmed” when she decided to majorin engineering. Never the engineeringtype in high school, she says she was

better known for writing and dramaand had once considered pursuing anacting career. It took effort and determi-nation to switch gears.

“I developed tunnel vision anddidn’t have many outside activities asan undergrad,” Smolke recalls. “I didreally well and got into Berkeley, so Ican’t complain, but I realized howmuch I was missing. At Berkeley, I’vefound so many opportunities to getinvolved.” She even found time to takea few classes in other departments,something she strongly recommends.

The middle child in a close-knitfamily of five, Smolke grew up in “thebeach communities surrounding L.A.”Her younger brother is a graduatestudent in engineering at UC Irvine,and her older sister is a quality-controlmanager at a Japanese noodle company.“Whenever I go home, there are tons ofJapanese noodles to try,” says Smolke.

Research That MattersDuring her graduate career, Smolkeworked as a research assistant in theKeasling Lab in the Department ofChemical Engineering, learning how tomanipulate bacteria for pharmaceuticalapplications.

“Christina is one of the bestgraduate students with whom I haveever worked,” says her adviser, Profes-sor Jay D. Keasling. “She was a modelstudent. She kept up with the literature,thought about what she was doing,worked very hard, and was extremely

Arn

old

Yip

ph

oto

TheGraduate • Spring/Summer 2002

Graduate DivisionMary Ann Mason, DeanJoseph J. Duggan, Associate Dean for

Admissions, Degrees, andAcademic Appointments

Elaine H. Kim, Associate Dean forDiversity, Fellowships, and Outreach

Jeffrey A. Reimer, Associate Dean forProgram Reviews and InformationTechnology

Yoko Izumi, Acting ManagementServices Officer

Student Services and Support:Academic AppointmentsAdmissionsCommunications & EventsDeansDegreesFellowshipsGraduate Opportunity

ProgramGrant Proposal Advising

& OutreachGSI Teaching &

Resource Center

TheGraduateLisa Harrington, EditorClaudine Zap, WriterArnold Yip, Publications Coordinator

The Graduate is published twice a yearby the Graduate Division. We welcomecomments on current articles andsuggestions for future issues. Please sendcorrespondence to:

The Graduate325 Sproul Hall #5900University of CaliforniaBerkeley, CA [email protected]

Recent issues of The Graduate are alsoavailable on the World Wide Web(www.grad.berkeley.edu/publications/).

Nondiscrimination StatementThe University of California, in accordance with applicablefederal and state law and University policy, prohibitsdiscrimination, including harassment, on the basis of race,color, national origin, religion, sex, physical or mental disa-bility, medical condition (cancer-related or genetic charac-teristics), ancestry, marital status, age, sexual orientation,citizenship, or status as a covered veteran (special disabledveteran, Vietnam-era veteran or any other veteran whoserved on active duty during a war or in a campaign orexpedition for which a campaign badge has been author-ized). This nondiscrimination policy covers admission,access, and treatment in University programs and activities.

Inquiries may be directed as follows: Sex discrimination andsexual harassment: Carmen C. McKines, Title IX Compli-ance Officer, (510) 643-7985. Disability discrimination andaccess: Ward Newmeyer, A.D.A./504 Compliance Officer,(510) 643-5116 (voice or TTY/TDD). Age discrimination:Alan T. Kolling, Age Discrimination Act Coordinator,(510) 642-8471. Other inquiries may be directed to theAcademic Compliance Office, 200 California Hall #1500,(510) 642-2795.

642-7101642-7405643-7358642-5472642-7330642-0672

643-6010

643-9392

642-4456

The Dean’s Corner

Mary Ann MasonDean of the Graduate Division

Dear Graduate Community,

Since I became Dean 18 months ago,I have enjoyed a global view ofgraduate education at Berkeley. With105 departments, schools, and groupsthat grant degrees, the Universityoffers the widest selection of graduatedegrees in this universe. According tothe National Research Council,Berkeley can boast of more top-rankeddepartments than any otheruniversity.

Although your days have beenundoubtedly full with course work,

lab work, and research, I encourageyou to venture outside yourdepartment, if you haven’t alreadyexplored. Go to a lecture, take acourse, meet a professor from outsideyour discipline. Talk to students fromdifferent fields. Join a workinggroup—share and exchange ideasacross departments.

And while you’re making an effortto get out more, we’ll make an effortto bring great scholars from aroundthe world to you. This spring wehosted Noam Chomsky, one of theworld’s most distinguished linguistsand a vocal political activist, andCraig Venter, the controversialscientist who broke the genome code.Anthony Giddings, the politicalarchitect of the Labor Government inEngland, also came to campus anddiscussed the implications ofglobalization.

Look for announcements ineGrad, The Graduate, and on ourWeb site (www.grad.berkeley.edu) forwhat promise to be exciting events inthe fall. It’s time to go global!

Reason to SmileDental coverage will be part of theStudent Health Insurance Plan (SHIP)this fall. Graduate students enrolled inSHIP will be covered for preventive andgeneral restorative dental care. Thedental plan will result in a modestincrease in SHIP premiums to $278 persemester. For a full explanation ofSHIP’s major medical, mental health,and dental benefits, please visit theUniversity Health Services Web site(http://www.uhs.berkeley.edu).

GSIs, Acting Instructors, Readers,and TutorsWould you like to apply for an aca-demic appointment? UC Berkeleyemploys more than 2,000 Academic

Student Employees (ASE) each aca-demic term. The conditions of employ-ment for ASEs are described on theHuman Resources Web site (http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/labor/ase.htm). Ifyou’re interested in becoming a GSI, anActing Instructor, Reader, or Tutor,please check the list of projected ASEpositions online (http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/labor/asejobs.htm). For furtherinformation, visit the Graduate DivisionWeb site (http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/appointments/index.shtml).

Have Issues?Please send questions, comments, andsuggestions concerning The Graduateand other Graduate Division publica-tions to Lisa Harrington, editor, [email protected].

Grad Notes

Arn

old

Yip

ph

oto


Admissions Increasefor Fall 2002By Claudine Zap

Program

Art

Bioengineering

Economics

Electrical Engineeing &Computer Sciences

English

Journalism

Linguistics

Mechanical Engineering

Neurosciences

South & Southeast Asian Studies

Fall 2001

101

177

584

2,067

367

306

80

714

75

24

Fall 2002

162

312

749

3,060

482

441

122

917

108

37

% increase

60%

77%

28%

46%

31%

44%

53%

28%

44%

78%

Source: Office of the Dean, Graduate Division, May 2002.

By the NumbersSo far, 25,845 have applied for graduate programs for fall 2002, comparedwith 20,257 applications for fall 2001—a 28 percent increase in applicants todate. Some programs that experienced an increase are:

Number of Applications

Last fall, Michele Rabin, director ofadmissions for the Graduate School ofJournalism, sensed a change when theschool opened its doors to interestedapplicants as it does every year. “Weusually have 50 or 60 people come toProspectives Day,” says Rabin. Thistime, 180 people showed up. In addi-tion to the shortage of boxed lunchesand chairs, Rabin’s office was equallyunprepared for a deluge of 441 applica-tions, a 44 percent increase over lastyear, and the highest number ofapplicants in the history of the school.

Graduate admission offices all overcampus, from art to neurosciences tobusiness, saw a surge in applicants. Whatwould explain the renewed appeal ofgraduate school? “Certainly, it’s a result ofthe economy,” notes Jett Pihakis, of theHaas School of Business, which experi-enced a 37 percent increase in applica-tions—the most ever in a single year.

“We’ve experienced an increase inthe numbers of graduate applicants

across the board this year,” notes JosephJ. Duggan, associate dean for graduateadmissions. Schools that compete withBerkeley, such as Stanford, Harvard,MIT, Princeton, Yale, and Columbiareport comparable increases. “This typeof increase is not unusual in economicslow-downs,” explains Duggan. “Wewelcome it, because it gives us a widerrange from which to choose the mostinteresting and most talented students.”

Nobody needs to tell this to LaurenH. Gaede, student affairs officer in theDepartment of Bioengineering, wherethere’s been a 75 percent rise in applica-tions. “It increased the workload,” shesays, noting that the entire officepitched in to help prepare applicationsfor the faculty review committee.

Gaede adds that while the dot-comindustry has tanked, bioengineering hasflourished. “It’s a hot area,” she says. “Peoplewant to be part of a successful industry.”

The journalism school’s Rabin saysthat layoffs of Web editors and writersspurred a return to the classroom. Still,she is careful to spell out the reality oflife after graduate school. Says Rabin,“We don’t guarantee employment.”

In the NewsCelebrating GSIsMore than 200 students took time outto be feted for their teaching skills atthe annual Outstanding GraduateStudent Instructor (OGSI) awardsceremony. Chancellor Robert M.Berdahl and Graduate Division DeanMary Ann Mason were on hand tohonor the students for their work ineducating undergraduates. MartinCovington, psychology professor andsurprised recipient of the Faculty Awardfor Outstanding Mentorship of GSIs,told graduate students, “You are aninspiration to the faculty, with yourenthusiasm and your excitement.” JulieLarson, an OGSI in Linguistics, saidthat as she struggled with the immensechallenges of teaching, she found a newperspective. “I really admire myteachers,” she said. The awards recog-nized 244 students out of about 3,400GSIs who teach each semester. Factorssuch as classroom performance, studentevaluations, and teaching portfolios aresome of the things departments con-sider during nominations. “GSIs have asignificant impact on the undergraduateeducation,” says Linda von Hoene,director of the GSI Teaching and ResourceCenter. “This is a celebration of teaching.”For a list of the award winners, visit theGSI section of the Graduate Division Website (http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/gsi/index.shtml).

Tools for the Visually ImpairedWhy would the visually impaired needto draw something they can’t see?Because they have imaginations, saysHesham Kamel, a doctoral student inelectrical engineering & computersciences who lost his own vision in asurgical accident 17 years ago. WhenKamel was unable to find a suitabledrawing and animation tool, he devel-oped a software prototype, under theguidance of his adviser, James Landay,assistant professor of computer science.Kamel presented his software—Integrated Communication 2 Draw, orIC2D—at national and internationalconferences recently and hopes to makeit commercially viable. “There’s nothing

See In the News, page 5


FBy Claudine Zap

Off Beat: Finding NewWays to Create Music

Graduate student Ali Momeni and his musical gourd.

rom the street, the house at 1750Arch looks like many others in

North Berkeley—stucco with Mexicantile detailing. Slow down, though, andyou may hear odd noises seeping out ofopen windows—deep booming soundsof traditional instruments being playedinto computers and manipulated,sometimes rather loudly. Is this a houseof bad neighbors? No, it’s merely theCenter for New Music & Audio Tech-nologies (CNMAT). If you ventureinside, you’ll see that a once formaldining room, with high ceilings, hasbeen transformed into a performancespace. Several rows of chairs are set up,and eight speakers are mounted on thewalls for surround sound. Thick strandsof wires snake around doorways and jutthrough walls of sound studios—highpowered Mac and PC computers fillevery room in the house—wherekeyboards and drum sets lie alongsidecircuit boards. The house analogy is notaccidental, contends Edmund Campion,a music professor and composer inresidence. Campion notes that CNMATis filled with students around the clock.He, in fact, camps out in a cramped

office dominated by a soundboard.

Although CNMAT is a brisk walkoff campus and uphill from the musicbuilding and Hertz Hall, they are closelyconnected. CNMAT is part of the musicprogram at Berkeley, and studentsinterested in composition and audiotechnology take courses in both places.

Sounding OffCNMAT’s mission is to produce andpresent the interaction between musicand technology. Students from variousdisciplines, including physics, math-ematics, electrical engineering, psychol-ogy, computer science, cognitive scienceand music collaborate there. Scientistscome to experiment with sound, andmusicians use their innovations in theircompositions. Campion wryly describesthe results as “unpopular music or non-commercial music.” He adds, “It’s akind of research into sound andexpression—a space where people cometo create musical works and don’t haveto feel the pressure of commercialinterest or stylistic constraint.”

Although commercial use may notbe the intrinsic goal of the program, thetech industry is involved in the center’sactivities. Several Silicon Valley compa-

nies donated equipment and areinterested in the musical results. AsAdrian Freed, CNMAT’s researchdirector points out, “We do appliedresearch here. Paper is not a sufficientoutcome. It has to be proven in perfor-mance or composition. Closing thatloop requires collaboration.”

Not That Kind of DoctorOne student who has bridged technol-ogy and traditional composition is AliMomeni, a composer, musician, andsystems administrator for CNMAT.Growing up, Momeni studied piano andplayed mallets for his high school’smarching band. As an undergraduate,he majored in physics, in response to hisIranian mother’s wish for him to becomea medical doctor, like his brother.Following a semester at a music conserva-tory in Australia, Momeni renewed hisinterest in playing and writing music.After graduation from college, he con-vinced his mother that he wasn’t meant tobe that kind of doctor. Instead, Momenityped “music” and “technology” into asearch engine on the Web. CNMAT, oneof the few places in the world tocombine the two, popped up. Momeniapplied to Berkeley’s doctoral programin music, to combine his sciencebackground with his musical interests.

Momeni’s latest project involvesdrum rhythms that he learned during atrip to Ghana last summer. He says thefast drumbeat in African music is a wayof constructing rhythm that differs fromWestern music. He says, “Computersare good at keeping fast pulses. I’mtrying to implement software enginesthat are good at playing music with thissort of timing.” His compositions reflectthe African beat with what he calls theWestern penchant for capturingsarcasm. Says Momeni, “It’s really witty,heady—I think it’s super cool.”

Along with drumbeats, Momenibrought back a calabash gourd, whichhe proceeded to turn into a high-techinstrument for his compositions. Thedried-out shell looks like a cartoonversion of a space helmet, with metalsprings screwed into the half dome onwooden blocks that bob and weave atopthe gourd. Momeni makes sounds byrunning his fingers along springs that

Peg

Sk

orp

insk

i p

hot

o


vary in size and length, and by rubbinghis fingers against the gourd. The insideof the shell acts as a resonating cham-ber, and two contact microphones thatlook like electrodes transfer the vibra-tions into the computer. Momeni altersthe tone by changing the pitch, delayingor sustaining the sound, using softwareand a few clicks of a joystick.

Reflecting a trend at Berkeley,Momeni doesn’t only compose, heperforms. Campion says this reflects theparadigm at CNMAT. “It’s a littledifferent than hiring a cellist to playyour piece.” He adds, “You’re the onlyone who understands exactly how itworks, and to be successful, there has tobe that intimate relationship.”

Berkeley New Music ProjectWhile all graduate student composershave access to CNMAT for projects, notall composers use technology for theircompositions. Both traditional music

Momeni makes music with software and a few clicks of a joystick.

else out there that can help me createand view graphics,” says Kamel. “Withthe IC2D, blind people can use screenreaders paired with voice synthesizersto literally hear text on the computerscreen.” Kamel also wants to improvethe portability of technology created forthe visually impaired, noting that Braillemachines today still weigh almost 50pounds. “For me, it’s all about indepen-dence.”

Engineering Trio Wins $10,000Three doctoral students, Charles Kuoand Daewon Ha, of electrical engineer-ing and computer sciences, andPushkar Ranade, of materials scienceand engineering, won a grand prize of$10,000 in Berkeley’s first Innovators’Challenge. The trio developed a newtype of semiconductor memory forhand-held devices and miniatureelectronics. The competition wassponsored by VERTEX, an entrepre-neurship club formed by Berkeleyengineering students. Twenty leadersfrom industry, venture capital firms, andacademia evaluated 18 projects acrossall disciplines in the College of Engi-neering before choosing the winner.

Improving Women’s HealthWomen in the United States have a 60percent chance of contracting a urinarytract infection during their lifetime.Thanks to research by Amee Manges, adoctoral student in public health, thatchance may soon be reduced. Theresults of her study, published in theNew England Journal of Medicine, reveala disturbing trend: some recurringinfections are resistant to antibiotics.Although the groundbreaking study wasinitiated at Berkeley, Manges partneredwith universities in Michigan andMinnesota to share results. UTIs havenever been identified as foodbornediseases, but Manges and Lee Riley,professor of public health, suspectcontaminated food as a factor. To learnmore, they are applying for funding tolaunch a follow-up study, an in-depthproject that will examine the diet andbehavior of subjects and include labwork. Says Riley, “No one’s considered

In the News, continued from page 3

See In the News, page 7

and new technology come together forconcerts sponsored by the student-runBerkeley New Music Project. An empha-sis in performance has galvanizedstudents to organize regular performancesthat are free and open to the public.

Hubert Ho, a composer since agefive and now a graduate student incomposition, organizes the series. Heviews his role as an administrator, notas a dictator of taste. “I don’t want tocontrol the aesthetic direction ofanybody,” he says. “My responsibility isto avoid censorship.” In addition togiving students, faculty, and the commu-nity a chance to hear the fruition of theirwork, there’s a more practical side. “Afterwe graduate, we’ll have to do everythingourselves anyway,” says Ho. “It’s a wayto experience the real world—how toput on a concert, how funding works.Part of our education is that we havethis experience.”

Peg

Sk

orp

insk

i p

hot

o


Writers at WorkPoems for Architects: Jill Stoner BlendsLiterature and Design

ABy Claudine Zap

ssociate Professor of Architecture,Jill Stoner, has harbored a life-long

love of poetry. With her book Poems forArchitects, she manages to marry herpassion with her profession. Stoneraccomplishes this in her selection ofpoems, which are divided into fourchapters. Chapters one and two

André Kertész photo courtesy of Jill Stoner.

encompass poems about home and thecity, including selections by WallaceStevens, Sylvia Path, and LangstonHughes. The third chapter suggests newways of looking at space and includespoems by Adrienne Rich, T.S. Eliot, andElizabeth Bishop. In the fourth chapter,Stoner responds graphically, as anarchitect, to the poetic form.

Stoner introduces each chapterwith an essay to explain how the poetryfits into her worldview. Her drawings

on transparent paper overlay thepoems. Photographs by André Kertészare interspersed throughout.

In selecting poems, Stoner limitedherself to the 20th century so as not tobecome too overwhelmed. Some wereobvious to her, poems she has enjoyedfor years, such as W.H. Auden’s “DownThere” and “Up There,” and A. A.Milne’s “Halfway Down.” In the fourth

chapter, Stonerdeconstructs thevillanelle, a strictpoetic structure some300 years old.Regaining popularityin the 20th century,the form incorporatesrepetition andrhyming. Stonerchooses six villanellepoems and illustrateshow they wouldappear if the poeticform became abuilding section, oreven a city plan.

In her introduc-tory essay “WhyPoems?” Stonerwrites:

Thus I suggestthat we look towardpoetry to help uslocate and expressqualities of lightness,of ephemera, and of

change. To my way of thinking, this is thegift that one art can now have thepleasure of bringing to another.

One evening in the South Parkgallery of William Stout Design Books,students, professors, architects, andadmirers gathered to hear Stoner readfrom her book. Stoner’s illustrationsgraced the walls. The crowd sampledStoner’s favorite hors d’oeuvres—prosciutto, olives, and Parmesancheese—and listened as she recited her

favorite poems. Building on the themeof her first book, Stoner plans tocontinue with two more in the series:Essays for Architects and Stories forArchitects. A few weeks after thereading, we enjoyed a conversation withJill Stoner at Cafe Bastille in SanFrancisco.

How did the idea for your bookcome about?I have a background in poetry. Imajored in poetry as an undergraduate.I wanted to be a poet, but one day Irealized I wasn’t good enough. I actuallyloved studying poetry and wrote a fairlyambitious thesis on Stéphane Mallarméand Dylan Thomas at the same timethat I was applying to architectureschool. I never left the poetry behind. Ithas informed my teaching for 22 years.I do retreats with students. We dopoetry writing workshops as prepara-tion for an architecture thesis. So I’vebeen folding it in all along.

Even though it’s a book of words,the way it’s constructed withdrawings and photographs is veryvisual. How did you decide on thephotos?I originally had photographs of minefrom Eastern Europe, very provocativepictures. And then I realized that thisbook is about reading, that I’m trying toget architects to be contemplative withwords. That’s what André Kertész’swork is all about. It shows peoplehypnotized by words and taken out ofwhatever context they’re in—a guysitting on the steps in Venice, three littlebarefoot kids hypnotized by the printedpage. It just seemed right.

In your book, you’ve illustratedpoems on transparent paper andthen overlaid the picture onto thepoem. How did the illustrationsevolve?I had made one drawing and I wasthinking about what it would be like tomake more. It wasn’t an evolved ideauntil I made my book proposal. Theconstruction of the book distributesillustrations throughout, which makes ita stronger book.

Six Villanelles seems to be anextension of those drawings, as you

POEMS for ARCHITECTSan anthology

Jill Stoner


Stoner’s graphic depiction of Mark Strand’s poem, “The Philosopher’s Conquests.” Drawingcourtesy of Jill Stoner.

take six poems and create buildingsfrom their structures.It took me a long time to figure outwhat that last chapter was going to be,how the story it tells is different thanthe other three chapters. This is wherewe’re really reading the poem with anarchitect’s eye, where we really let go ofthe content of the poem.

How do the poems illuminate thefield of architecture?Each one adds a different illumination,and the illumination depends on thereader. I hope that readers will look atordinary things more carefully and takeordinary things more seriously. LikeWilliam Carlos Williams’ “The RedWheelbarrow.” It’s okay to have onlyred wheelbarrows. We don’t need greenones and blue ones. The red one is justfine. Or the way Diana O’Hare describesthe sheltering plane of the roof, theexperience of moving up a stair. I thinkwhat the poets do is to see things thatthe rest of us have stopped seeing.

Do you have a favorite poem? Didanything strike you anew as youwrote the book?I can honestly say that after 9/11, JamesMerrill’s poem took on layers and layersof meaning. Even the title, “An UrbanConvalescence,” is about him being sickin the city and walking around. But nowyou think “urban convalescence,” you

think of the city being sick and that wasastonishing to me. I added a footnote(to the poem) to say we read this poemdifferently now. So, I do think poemscontinue to reinvent themselves. Thereare poems I’ve known for 20 years that Isee differently after reading them,including them in the book, and foldingthem into an essay.

What did you learn from thisexperience?I learned that writing a book is ascomplicated as making a building. There’sthe easy part and the really hard part. Bygoing through the hard part, I gained acertain confidence in the fact that if youwork hard, it will get done and it will getbetter. I’m not scared any more ofwriting a book. This is my first book. Ihad written lots of articles, chapters inbooks, but this is my first entire book.

What was the writing process likefor you?It was really hard. I had a sabbaticalfrom school, but I didn’t have sabbaticalfrom the (architecture) practice. At onepoint I went to my cousin’s place inMontana for a few days and just wrote.That was a key step in the process. I’mvery insecure about writing, so I wassearching for the voice that suited whatI wanted to say. It was really to decidewhere to use first person. The essays aredifferent. Some of the essays are first

person, some not at all. I realized thatwas okay.

How will you continue to bringpoetry into your teaching?I’d like to do a whole course on poetry,to co-teach with someone from theEnglish department. I need to forge theconnections within the University. That’swhat I look forward to in the nextdecade—solidifying my role as a linkbetween design and the humanities.

It seems that being in the academicrealm, you have to make an effortto cross-pollinate.Our college is full of people who cross-pollinate to all corners of our academicworld. I feel that it’s about time I forgedmy own bridge, because it’s been thereall along.

the possibility that this commoninfection is spread by food. If that’s true,then this is a major public health issue.”

Peace and Well BeingA new research center, housed in theInstitute for Human Development, willexplore peace and well being within theindividual, between individuals, and incommunities. Allison Briscoe, thecenter’s first graduate student fellow,developed a project to look at howfamily conversations about racism andprejudice impact peer relationships andacademic performance in school. Thecenter was created with a gift fromThomas and Ruth Ann Hornaday, whoboth attended UC Berkeley in the early1960s. The center will offer researchopportunities to undergraduate andgraduate students and to non-tenuredjunior faculty members from the social-behavioral sciences.

Graduate Alum Delivers Charter DayAddressA Berkeley Ph.D. from the Sixtieshelped the University celebrate its134th anniversary at the Charter Dayceremony last March. Miguel A.Rodríguez, President of Costa Rica,received his Ph.D. in economics fromBerkeley in 1966. For his keynoteaddress, President Rodríguez spoke abouttrade and development in Latin America.

In the News, continued from page 5

A Dean’s Legacy:

Edward E. Penhoet Looks Back

By Claudine Zap

Edward E. Penhoet, Dean of theSchool of Public Health since

1998, will leave this position on June30, 2002. The co-founder, president andCEO of Chiron Corporation, Penhoethas a long history as an associate profes-

sor of biochemistry and will continue toteach after he steps down as dean.

During his tenure at the school,Penhoet launched the Health SciencesInitiative, which incorporates multiplefields in approaching health problems.Penhoet also worked to enhance theprofile of the school, create community,and support faculty and researchprograms. He moves on to help lead theSan Francisco-based Gordon and BettyMoore Foundation, which supports theenvironment, education, and science.We spoke with Edward Penhoetrecently, and asked him to reflect on hisyears as dean.

How do you define public health?Public health to me is a very broad termthat encompasses all the variousactivities that are associated withpeople’s health, either at the personallevel or at the societal level. My ownbias is that the field is moving more

towards thinking of populations both ascollections of individuals and as groupsof people. So, a bottoms up and topdown approach to the field.

That seems to make sense, giventhat on the most basic level, peopleneed to change their personal habitsto improve their health.Yes, if you consider the big publichealth problems today. Smoking, forone. How do you actually decreasesmoking? Well, you can try to do it a lotof different ways. You can have cam-paigns, advertising, and you can havelaws, which forbid smoking in publicplaces. But you still have to convincepeople one at a time to stop smoking.So, you have to take individual action aswell as collective action and that’sexactly what I mean by combining thetwo approaches. Obesity’s another areaof concern. Twenty-five percent ofAmericans are obese. The U.S. SurgeonGeneral says that obesity may surpasssmoking as a general health threat forAmericans. Again, we have to work oneducation, but we also have to work on

Photo courtesy of the School of Public Health.

Spotlight on Public HealthWhere can you find people studying the effects of aging, the medical issuesof farm workers, and the cause of infectious disease under one roof? Lookno farther than Warren Hall, headquarters of the School of Public Health.The school’s focus, however, extends far beyond its walls—to student healthservices, the streets of Oakland, and to families and communities aroundthe world. The school’s varied public service efforts include breast cancerscreening, HIV prevention programs, and studies on safety in theworkplace. Its research brings faculty and graduate students together frommany disciplines, which is why we chose to spotlight the school and to findout the meaning of public health. We begin with a conversation withEdward E. Penhoet, the outgoing dean.



changing individual eating and exercisehabits if we’re going to tackle theobesity problem.

You come from a businessbackground, as a co-founder of thebiotechnology firm ChironCorporation. What made you wantto serve as the dean of the School ofPublic Health?First of all, I’ve been on the Berkeleycampus, on and off, for 30 years. I wasan assistant professor of biochemistry.My work involved trying to understandhow viruses grow, how they replicate,and ultimately how they cause disease.

So, when I left the University tostart Chiron, the major thrust ofChiron’s program was in infectiousdisease. We worked on HIV, we workedon Hepatitis B, and we discoveredHepatitis C. So all these things were anoutgrowth of my own interest ininfectious diseases. And all of thesethings have important public healthconsequences. So, in a sense, I was inthe public health business at Chiron. Iactually decided to leave Chiron first,then I decided to apply for the job.When I heard the job was available, itseemed like a great fit. I had a long-timerelationship with the campus, I wasvery interested in public health, and Ihad expertise in infectious disease. So, Iapplied for the job not knowing whatbeing a dean is all about. I had anumber of competitors. I was seen as astrange choice.

Did your critics see a conflict in doingpublic-health work for profit?Yeah, probably. I gave a seminar duringmy interview for dean. I gave a talk onthree things: the development of thehepatitis B vaccine, the discovery ofhepatitis C and its use in blood screen-ing, and viral load measurements. Ithought this was pretty interesting stuff.I heard two students say, “Well, that wasall very interesting but I don’t see whatthat has to do with public health.” So,there was an interesting period of timewhen people were quite uncertain ofmy motives. In the end, I got the job.

Did your perspective change as dean?No doubt about it. I’ve been profoundlyaffected by the experience. I had to

learn a lot about areas of public healthwhere I had no personal experience.The furthest from my own experience isin community work, health and socialbehavior, and the sociological phenom-ena associated with health and healthsystems. It wasn’t my area of expertise. Ihad a lot to learn.

How did you get up to speed inareas you knew less about? Did youdecide to steep yourself in theprograms and then come up withgoals for the school?In a sense, I had to learn on the job. Ihad to patch it together, do a lot ofreading, go to seminars. I had severalgoals for the school. The most impor-tant goal was to make sure the school isbetter integrated into the campus. So,we have joint programs with the HaasBusiness School, the School of PublicPolicy, and the School of Social Welfare.

Are these new partnerships?They were pre-existing. I tried toenhance them as much as possible. Westarted something on campus called theHealth Sciences Initiative, whichengages people from the naturalsciences in health-related work inchemistry, physics, biology, and psy-chology. I think we’ve been prettysuccessful in making the school animportant part of campus activities.Historically, the school had beensomewhat isolated.

Why is that?As we sit in this office (in Warren Hall),you see it faces out away from thecampus, not onto the campus. That’s ametaphor, in a sense, of the way theschool saw itself in the past. So, one ofmy most important short-term objec-tives was to integrate the school muchmore effectively into the rest of thecampus. I think today it’s a hugeadvantage for the school. Most otherpublic health schools are closely tied tomedical schools. But if you look atwhat’s driving health today, the businessof health is extremely important, as isthe technology of health, law related tohealth, and the public policy related tohealth. In my view, this is an ideal placeto have a school for public health,because we have such a rich environ-ment on the Berkeley campus, and all of

these things are probably more impor-tant to the public’s health than whatgoes on in medical schools today.

What do you think is the biggestchallenge facing the next dean?To continue the process of integrationwith the rest of campus and furtherstrengthen the relationships with otherunits on campus is a big area of oppor-tunity. Making decisions about focuswithin the school is another challenge.The school is too small to be all thingsto all people in health. The definition ofpublic health I gave you is a broad one.There are some areas we just don’t do.Maybe there are some areas we’re doingnow that we shouldn’t be doing. There’sa general agreement that we want to bethe intellectual leaders of public healthhere. To do that, we need very high-quality students, high-quality programs,and high-quality facilities. But it’s hardto do that if you’re spread too thin.

Any advice for the next dean?Anything you wish you’d knownwhen you came in?I think the University is really chal-lenged now by financial constraints,even before the recent budget cuts. Ithasn’t been easy to carry out newprograms here, because they’re expen-sive. So, the fund-raising imperative issomething to face squarely. We’rebecoming more and more a privatizeduniversity, because the state continuesto give us less and less money. Try torealistically assess how much it takes tobe leaders: it costs money. That’s oneissue. Another is to continue to buildcommunity within the school. When Ifirst came to campus as an assistantprofessor, town and gown was a realthing. In today’s world, 90 percent ofour students are commuters. They don’tlive in Berkeley. They come to campuson BART. In many cases they can’tafford to live in Berkeley.

What accomplishment are you mostproud of as dean?Without a doubt, better recognition forthis school by the campus. And theinitiation of the Health Sciences Initia-tive, with broad participation of almost500 faculty. So hopefully that’s mylegacy, the most important thing by far.


hen Linda Neuhauser, principalinvestigator at the Center for

Community Wellness, developed thefirst Wellness Guide in the 1980s, shethought it would be an instant success.After all, she was a professor whospecialized in public health interven-

Bringing Up BabyBy Claudine Zap

Wgathered ideas from all kinds of peopleon how to make a practical guide. Theyfocused on groups of people who haveless access to health-related materials,from farm workers in the Central Valley,to minorities in inner cities, to theelderly in isolated outposts. Theydiscovered that most people wanted awide-ranging guide that covered broad

Principal Investigator Linda Neuhauser showing off the Parent’sGuide in English and Spanish.

her project team asked 500 parentssome key questions: How should youput a baby to bed? What do you feed atwo-month-old baby? What’s the bestway to help toddlers learn? The answersthey received were a wake-up call. Forexample, only 60 percent surveyedknew that placing a sleeping baby on itsback could prevent Sudden InfantDeath Syndrome (SIDS). Neuhausernotes that misconceptions about infantcare can have long-term costs. “The firstthree years are the fastest brain-growthtime,” she says.

The trial group of parents receivedkits and was surveyed six weeks later.This time, “knowledge skyrocketed,”Neuhauser says. The results were sopositive that a decision was made todistribute the baby kit to new parents inCalifornia, as well as those in several

tions. Before going to press, she decidedto take the guide to the community fortesting. She was in for a surprise. “Wewere really slammed,” remembersNeuhauser. “The community said it wasacademic, with stuff they couldn’t use.The solutions weren’t practical. Thelanguage and tone were condescending.We were totally humiliated.”

Back to Square OneAt that point, she and others who hadworked on the guide decided to startanew. Neuhauser and colleaguestraveled throughout California and

topics, from childcare todomestic violence.Neuhauser used thefeedback to begin tocreate a more comprehen-sive guide. Now in itsninth edition, theWellness Guide is distrib-uted to one millionpeople throughoutCalifornia.

A New Guide forParentsThe success of theWellness Guide promptedthe California Childrenand Families Commissionto ask Neuhauser tocreate a guide for newparents. Taking lessonsshe’d learned from theWellness Guide, sheconceived a “baby kit.” Abrightly colored box, theKit for New Parents opensup to reveal a writtenguide, a book for baby,and several brochures onparenting, along with sixeducational videos

produced by Rob Reiner, chair of theCalifornia Children and Families Com-mission. (Reiner was recently honored bythe School of Public Health. See page 12.)Neuhauser hopes that the variety ofmaterial will engage parents in whatevermedium makes them most comfortable.The baby kit is distributed throughhospitals, doctors’ offices, prenatalprograms, childcare centers, and the like.

“Parents often say they wish thebaby came with an operation manual,”Neuhauser says. “So, this is it.” To judgethe kit’s effectiveness, Neuhauser and

“Parents often say theywish the baby camewith an operationmanual. So, this is it.”

Linda Neuhauser, PrincipalInvestigator, Center forCommunity Wellness

other states. The kits are available ineither English or Spanish. Neuhauserhas already heard about instances inwhich the baby kit has saved lives. Inone case, a woman was given the kitand learned that shaking a baby cancause death or blindness. She was ableto alert her neighbor, a teenage mother,who had believed that shaking her babywould strengthen its neck. In anothercase, a parent was able to save his childfrom choking to death, based oninformation he had read in the kit.

Neuhauser’s latest projects willfollow her grass roots approach. Thefirst is a guide to help people navigatethrough California HMOs. The secondis a guide to encourage members ofunderrepresented groups to attendcollege. “It shows that the University canconnect well with the community, applythe best science, and have an impact,”says Neuhauser. “The key is that thebeneficiaries have to be involved.”

Arn

old

Yip

ph

oto


By Claudine Zap

A Knight’s Tale

S

Sir Michael Marmot onInequalities in Health

ir Michael Marmot, internationalpublic health specialist, was invited

to Berkeley in February 2002 to deliverthe Charles M. and Martha HitchcockLectures. Marmot spoke on two after-noons about his long-term research ofBritish civil servants, the Whitehall IIStudy. In the study, Marmot evaluatedpatterns of disease based on wherepeople stood on what he calls “thesocial gradient.” This research led toMarmot being knighted by the Queen ina ceremony that included actors SeanConnery and Elizabeth Taylor, he noted.

Leonard Syme, Professor of Epide-miology, emeritus, introduced Marmotto his Berkeley audience as “a troublemaker” for asking so many questionsduring his days as a student. But, Symeadded, Marmot’s questions led togroundbreaking research. “Marmot’swork with the British civil servicechanged everything,” explained Syme.“The demonstration of a gradient ofdisease suggests that even people higherup in social classes have higher rates ofdisease than those above them. Thisobservation of a gradient has beendemonstrated in all industrial countriesof the world for virtually all diseases. Sonow we can think about factors thatwould explain the gradient.”

Marmot, who heads the Depart-

mobility in Britain. In Britain, we knowwe have social classes. We acknowledgethem. And we see a big differencebetween them. The American image isthat you don’t have social classes,nothing is rigid, everything is possible,but in fact you have clear differencesbetween social-economic groups, andthat translates into clear differences inhealth between social-economic groups.

Some find your conclusionscontroversial.People are confronted by it for a numberof reasons. It may be shocking sociallyand politically, but not intellectually, thatpoor people have worse health than richpeople do. A bigger shock is that there’s asocial gradient. My summary, in a way, isthat where we’re above an absolutethreshold of deprivation—infections,dirty water, malnutrition and so on—what characterizes people’s position on

ment of Epidemiology and PublicHealth and is Director of the Interna-tional Center for Health and Society atUniversity College, London, receivedhis Ph.D. from the Berkeley’s School ofPublic Health in 1975. When he pub-lished the results of his study, he caused astir in Britain, as his research comparedthe social behavior and health of Britishcivil servants to those of primates. “Thepress had a field day,” he notes.

We spoke with Sir Michael Marmotduring his stay at Berkeley and askedabout his move from medical school topublic health and the implications ofhis research.

You’ve said you came to the Schoolof Public Health after beingfrustrated with the constraints ofmedical school. Are schools of publichealth and medical schools mutuallyexclusive? Is this a problem?When I trained in a medical school, theimpact of public health on the teachingwas trivial—it almost didn’t exist.Working in a medical school now, Ithink that attitudes are changing, a bit. Imean it’s still the case that the center ofgravity of a medical school is with basicbiological sciences. Dealing with popula-tions just doesn’t fit with how mostmedical schools define their mission. So amedical school is in some sense a slightlyunusual home, but the advantage of beingthere is what we’re trying to do—to linkwhat’s happening at the societal level towhat’s happening to people’s biology.

Is this a successful linkage?It’s difficult. It’s not straightforward.We’ve had some impact. They do recog-nize that what we do is important, even ifwe don’t quite relate to their research.They do recognize that what we do fitswith what more basic scientists do.

Your study evaluates the state ofone’s health based on social class. Inthe U.S. we like to think of ourselvesas being a classless society. Doesthat change how we read the resultsof your Britain-based study?I think it is very directly applicable.There are differences between Britainand the US but one shouldn’t overstatethe differences. There’s more mobility inthe U.S., but there’s a fair degree of

“It may be shockingsocially and politically,but not intellectually,that poor people haveworse health than richpeople do.”

Sir Michael Marmot

the gradient is how much controlpeople have over their lives and to whatdegree they can participate in society.That control can relate to stress path-ways. People who aren’t able to partici-pate fully, who have a subordinateposition in society get the same biologi-cal effect as animals in similar positionsdo. It increases risk of disease.

I have this sad image of verymarginalized people.It’s sad because of the plight. But it’shopeful because I think there are thingswe can do if we have the will to try. AndI think that’s terribly important. But it’snot up to the (marginalized) individualto try. It’s up to us to push the commu-nity, local government, regional govern-ment, central government, the privatesector, and voluntary agencies to try. Ithink things can change.

Photo courtesy of Sir Michael Marmot.


Did you know that apples and pears canreduce the risk of lung disease—womenare 33 percent more likely than men tovisit a doctor—and weight gain and too

Fit News to PrintBy Claudine Zap

little exerciseare big riskfactors forcancer? Theseare just a few ofthe fascinatingtidbits packedinto the UCBerkeleyWellness Letter,a monthly

publication distributed nationwide.

Dale Ogar, managing editor, saysthe focus of the Wellness Letter is onprevention. “The phrase that best describesus is health promotion and disease preven-tion. Our goal is to empower readers tomake healthy lifestyle choices.”

Articles in the Wellness Letter touchon nutrition, stress, exercise, andgeneral health and safety issues such ascars and guns, “anything that fallswithin the realm of public health,” saysOgar. Ideas are generated through theeditorial board at Berkeley, many comingfrom the daily press and questions fromreaders. “When we suddenly get 20requests for a topic within a single month,we know it’s something we should cover,”says Ogar. Readers are especially con-cerned with dietary supplements, and infact, the Wellness Letter has compiled alist of them on its Web site(www.wellnessletter.com), with the actualbenefits, if any, alongside the claims.

Another concern is nutrition. TheWellness Letter eschews fad diets—aswell as the books that promote them.The Wellness Letter advocates commonsense. “We want to tell people that allthese high-protein, high-fat, no carbdiets come from a physiological, bio-chemical point of view that makes no

sense at all. The reason you’re losingweight is that the diets are lower incalories,” says Ogar, adding, “Carbs areimportant, especially whole grains.”

Since the newsletter comes outmonthly, there’s time to research topicsin depth for readers who see headlinestrumpeting several studies that seem toconflict with one another. Says Ogar,“What we do is to not only look at abreak-through study but to look ateverything that came before it, to see ifit makes sense.” One example is a storyon Hormone Replacement Therapy(HRT), a treatment of estrogen andprogestin, often prescribed by doctorsto ease the symptoms of menopause.

According to Ogar, the researchtook six months. “The whole issue ofwho should use HRT and who shouldn’tis very controversial,” Ogar explains. Inthe end, the article makes no definitiverecommendation. “This is a decision

Advocates for the poor and isolated,the elderly, and the young wereamong the Public Health Heroeshonored in March by the School ofPublic Health.

The School of Public Health’sAdvisory Council, a group of com-munity, industry, and faculty leaders,selected three individuals and one

Berkeley Honors Public Health Heroes

organization from a list of nomineesprovided by the School of Public Healthfaculty, panel members, and previousaward recipients.

The heroes honored this year:

• Zafrullah Chowdhury, for bringinghealth care to the underserved ruralpopulation in Bangladesh. The organi-

Public Health heroes Rob Reiner, Jennie Chin Hansen of On Lok, Zafrullah Chowdhury, andPhilip R. Lee, M.D.

zation has since expanded to includeagricultural cooperatives, women’svocational training centers, andfamily planning services.

• Philip R. Lee, M.D., for his role inaffecting U.S. health policy. An earlysupporter of Medicare, he alsoapplied the Civil Rights Act todesegregate hospitals, and helpedestablish the National Center forHealth Services Research.

• Rob Reiner, for shining the spotlighton early developmental years of achild. Reiner, a successful moviedirector and actor, led the effort topass Proposition 10 in California, theinitiative that levied a 50-cent tax oncigarettes to fund early childhooddevelopment programs. Reiner chairsthe California Children and FamiliesCommission, which oversees theProposition 10 funds.

• On Lok, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization established in1971, for providing the elderly withquality, affordable care services.

Source: UC Berkeley Office of Public Affairs

See Fit News, page 16

Peg

Sk

orp

insk

i p

hot

o

TURMERIC page 2 • HOW TO CHOOSE A CEREAL page 3 • LOW-DOSE

ASPIRIN page 3 • HEARING AIDS page 4 • TOMATO PRODUCTS &PROSTATE CANCER page 5 • CREATINE page 6 • PROGESTERONE

CREAMS page 6 • DANDELION GREENS page 7 • ROYAL JELLY, SPICY

FOODS, DRINKING PEROXIDE page 7 • WELL & INFORMED: COUNTING

SHEEP, AUTO SAFETY, UTIs, BARLEY, AND MUCH MORE page 8

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

(continued on page 2)

Wellness facts■ Since 1975 the number of female American drivers infatal crashes rose 60% to more than 15,000 per year, whilethe number of men dropped about 10% to about 40,000. Butthat does not mean that women have become riskier drivers.During that time there was a 55% increase in the number offemale drivers, who now drive, on average, 70% more milesper year than they did in 1975. Taking these increases intoaccount, the per-mile fatality rate for women has actuallydeclined about 40%, the same as for men, according to theInsurance Institute for Highway Safety.

■ Worth making a dash for: The DASH diet (DietaryApproaches to Stop Hypertension) is very good at loweringblood pressure, of course. But a major study last year foundthat it has an added benefit: it lowers total blood cholesterolby 7% and LDL (the “bad” type) by 9%. Another study foundthat the diet also lowers blood homocysteine, which hasbeen linked to heart disease. Based on a 2,000-calorie dailydiet, the DASH diet includes 4 or 5 servings of vegetables, 4or 5 servings of fruits, 7 or 8 servings of grains, 2 or 3 servingsof low-fat or nonfat dairy products, and no more than 2 smallservings of lean meat, poultry, or fish a day.

■ More than 45% of money spent on food in the U.S. goesfor restaurant meals and other away-from-home food, upfrom 34% in 1970 and 39% in 1980, according to the USDA.When Americans eat out, they tend to make less healthfulchoices (more fat, calories, and salt, less fiber and minerals)than at home.

All our 2

001 i

ssues

now o

nline,

see p

.8

From the School of Public Health WellnessLetter.com Volume 18, Issue 7 April 2002

By now most Americans have heard of trans fats, but they actuallyknow little about them. You may have first become aware ofthem in the mid-1990s, when reports began to surface thatmargarine, often touted as healthy, contains these sinister fatsand may not be preferable to butter after all. It turned out thattrans fats were in most processed foods in the supermarket andin many fast foods. In 1994 Harvard researchers went so far as toconclude that trans fats were responsible for more than 30,000 ofthe country’s annual deaths from heart disease. Other scientistsdismissed these fears as overblown, and since then the debate hascontinued. Here’s the latest.

What are trans fats and why are they added to foods?Manufacturers partially hydrogenate—that is, add hydrogen to—corn, soybean, and other highly unsaturated oils to make themmore solid and stable. The result: some of the polyunsaturated and

monounsaturated fatty acids in the oils become more saturated.This process also transforms the chemical structure of some un-saturated fatty acids in other subtle ways, producing trans fattyacids (or simply trans fats). Hydrogenation gives margarines,shortening, and puddings a creamy consistency, and prolongs theshelf life of crackers, cakes, cookies, chips, popcorn, chocolatecandy, and other foods that contain the semi-solid oils. Becausethey are less likely to turn rancid, hydrogenated oils are also oftenused for deep-frying in fast-food restaurants.

Why are trans fats bad?While regular unsaturated fats lower blood cholesterol, trans fatsact more like saturated fats—raising total and LDL (“bad”)cholesterol. In addition, in a sort of double whammy, trans fatslower protective HDL (“good”) cholesterol, which makes them,overall, even worse than saturated fats. They may also increase therisk of heart disease in other ways: for instance, they boost bloodtriglyceride levels and seem to impair the ability of blood vesselsto dilate. They have also been linked to an increased risk ofdiabetes.

A 1993 study of nearly 90,000 women found that those whoate the most foods high in trans fats (especially margarine) had amore than 50% higher risk of heart disease than women who rarelyate these fats. Two recent Dutch studies also found increasedcoronary risk among people consuming high levels of trans fats.

How much trans fats do we eat?One estimate is that trans fats provide 2 to 4% of our total dailycalories, but other estimates are higher. The fact is, no one reallyknows. Moreover, any such average means little, since some of usconsume little or no trans fats, while others consume two or threetimes the average. A large order of fast-food fries, for instance, ora frosted donut by itself can put you over the average. In addition,food manufacturers often change the types of oils they use and thedegree of hydrogenation of the oils, so it’s impossible to keeptrack. And food labels don’t help (see below).

Many researchers believe that since trans fats make up onlya small portion of our fat intake, worries about them are exag-gerated. It is true, however, that during the past 15 years we’ve

Stealth fats: how food makers hide them from you


hen Kathleen Jones-West wasa teenager, watching the news

on TV, she saw activists at Berkeleymaking headlines, and thought, “Wow,that’s really cool. I want to go there.”Yet, she couldn’t imagine then how thefantasy would someday become a reality.“I never thought I was capable of cominghere,” says Jones-West, sitting at a tableon the deck of the Cesar Chavez StudentCenter, not far from the site of thetelevised protests. “I didn’t know that Ihad what it took.” Jones-West not onlyaccomplished her goal of attendingBerkeley, she earned her undergraduatedegree, went on to graduate school, andalso started a program to help morepeople like her come here.

Jones-West took the traditionalroute of going straight to college afterhigh school. Partway through her firstsemester at Cal Poly, her father died.

Kathleen Jones-West SharesHer Life Lessons

By Claudine Zap

W

She left school and didn’treturn. “I went backhome to help my momand kind of got lost,”Jones-West explains. “Ittook me awhile to getback on track. It wasdifficult to do, but I didit.” One of the challengesshe faced was her limitedskill level. Initially, shewanted to gain computerskills so she could earn abetter salary at hersecretarial job. Her needfor career advancementgrew when her husbandfell ill after an epilepticseizure. She soon becamethe sole wage earner,supporting her husband,two sons, and herself.Unable to pay the medicalbills, she applied forMedi-Cal, which sherecalls as a demeaningexperience. “There’s astigma that goes with it,”

her goal to her counselor at Vista, whoonly discouraged her from applying toBerkeley, saying she wasn’t a scholar. “Ithought, well, how does this guy knowI’m not a scholar? I don’t know that,”says Jones-West. Disregarding hisadvice, she applied anyway, and got in.

Upon entering Berkeley, Jones-Westdiscovered that she had been awardedthe George A. Miller scholarship forlow-income, first-generation collegestudents. One of the scholarship’sconditions was that she performcommunity service. “I was going to EastOakland to help the most devastatedfolks I could find,” recalls Jones-West.“I had a professor tell me, ‘Don’t dothat. You don’t have to go very far tofind people who need help. You can gotwo steps off campus and still haveplenty of people to help.’ That was thebest advice I could have been given.”

Reaching OutInstead of East Oakland, Jones-Westreturned to Vista Community Collegeand spent the summer helping 19enthused students apply to Berkeley,assisting them with financial aid forms,filling academic requirements, andoffering tours of the campus. Atsummer’s end, the students wanted thementoring to continue. “I couldn’t justgo back to school and leave themagain,” says Jones-West. “I felt respon-sible.” She also knew that applying toBerkeley was a realistic goal. “I had leftbehind my colleagues at the junior collegewho maybe didn’t have the confidence orcourage to apply,” Jones-West says, “Butthey certainly had the intellect.” So sheoffered a class through De-Cal—coursesconceived and taught by students—thatconnected Berkeley and Vista. Shecalled the class Starting Point.

“I was able to attract Berkeleystudents who were eager to help,” saysJones-West. “They realized what it hadtaken for them to get here, and theywanted to help people in the same way.They came from all racial and financialbackgrounds, all disciplines.” Jones-West replicated her summer project bypairing Vista students with Berkeleystudent mentors.

See Jones-West, page 15

Kathleen Jones-West sitting outside the Cesar Chavez Center.

she says. “The government doesn’treally take into account that people areasking for these services through nofault of their own.”

Back to SchoolFeeling unfulfilled in her low-level,low-paying job, Jones-West concludedthat higher education was her only wayout. She told her mother, her husband,and her kids about her plans for college.“They thought I was joking,” saysJones-West. “They didn’t take meseriously.” Jones-West wasn’t deterred.Twenty years after finishing highschool, she enrolled at Vista Commu-nity College in Berkeley, where sheearned an associate degree. Flush withher educational victory, Jones-Westdidn’t intend to stop there. “I didn’twant to become a computer nerd,” shesays. “I wanted to help people do what Ihad done.” She began to set her sightson Berkeley, just a few blocks up thestreet, but a world apart. She confided

Arn

old

Yip

ph

oto


It’s Swahili to Him

BBy Claudine Zap

en Gardner first became fascinatedwith East Africa during his under-

graduate years. In 1991, the anthropol-ogy major cobbled together two semes-ter-long programs to spend his entirejunior year in the region—first asemester in Kenya, and then a semesterin the neighboring country of Tanzania.He says, “I was enthralled with thecountries—by all the complex social,cultural, and political issues that weregoing on.”

Gardner, now a doctoral student ingeography, had a chance to witness all ofthose issues at play on the border ofKenya and Tanzania. He worked with alocal non-government organization(NGO), just outside a national park,where interests clashed between tourismoutfits, conservationists, and semi-nomadic peoples. “Part of the conflict,”says Gardner, “is groups trying to findways to encompass everyone’s interest.”He adds, “It becomes a struggle for whocontrols more power, who can ulti-mately mobilize more resources.”

Out of AfricaSince his initial visit, Gardner has foundways to return to Tanzania, first as anorganizer of trips for high schoolstudents through Vermont-based PutneyStudent Travel. He eventually helpedestablish an NGO called the DoroboFund, named for the ethnic group who

live in the area. The fund is run byTanzanians and helps local groupsorganize around natural resourcerights. “Part of it is getting peopleinvolved in local decision-making andarticulating local demands and engag-ing in these political processes,” saysGardner. The organization focuses onland issues in Northern Tanzania.

Gardner completed a master’sdegree in 1998 at Yale University’sSchool of Forestry and EnvironmentalStudies. However, says Gardner, thatprogram was geared toward placingpeople as development professionals.He preferred to turn a critical eye onthe field, which led him to Berkeley’sgeography department for his Ph.D.

Gardner is studying politicalecology within the department.“Geographers work on politicaleconomic analysis of social relation-ships, with an ecological understandingof resource use,” Gardner explains.“Berkeley is probably the center of thisactivity. The geography department isthe center of that community.”

Tongue TiedTo truly understand the area hestudied, Gardner needed fluency in thelocal language. So he applied for aForeign Language and Area Studies(FLAS) Fellowship, sponsored by theDepartment of Education. “Language isthe key to unlocking barriers,” saysGardner. “On one level, people seeyou’re committed to learning who theyare and where they come from—thatyou’re really working hard to under-stand their language. At the same time,understanding what people are talkingabout, the metaphors, what’s being saidand not being said, teaches you somuch about what’s going on.”

Gardner had picked up a littleSwahili from his multiple trips toTanzania, but he had never had anyformal training in the language. Hedecided to immerse himself in thelanguage, to become as fluent aspossible, and to maintain fluencythrough classes on campus. A SummerFLAS fellowship for intense languagestudy over the summer provided theway. Gardner studied under Hemed

Almasi, who aside from teachingstudents, also served as the Swahiliinstructor for the International Crimi-nal Tribunal for Rwanda, based inArusha. Gardner lived with a localfamily and studied Swahili six hours aday, six days a week, for six weeks.After returning to Berkeley in the fall,Gardner received a yearlong FLAS tocontinue his study, accessing resourceson campus.

According to Gardner, Swahili hasits roots as a trading language betweenEast Africans and Arab merchants whocame down the coast. It is a Bantu-structured language, meaning it is basedon Bantu with some Arabic wordsmixed in. The coast, sometimes calledthe “birthplace of Swahili,” is where thebest Swahili is spoken, says Gardner. Heexplains that most everywhere elsepeople have their mother tongue andlearn Swahili later in life. On the coast,Swahili is the primary language spoken,whereas many ethnic languages arespoken inland. Swahili is the officiallanguage, used in schools and govern-ment offices to maintain some sense ofnational unity.

“In Tanzania, you need to knowSwahili to communicate,” says Gardner.“In less urban areas, I can speak Swahilito anyone who’s gone to school.” Gardneralso would like to learn Maa, thelanguage spoken by the ethnic group heworks with in Tanzania, the Maasai.

Gardner keeps up his Swahilistudies at Berkeley by writing papersand short essays, reading, and practic-ing conversation and advanced gram-mar. One of the books Gardner uses isan elementary-school textbook called,“Sameni Bila Shida,” which translatesto, “Study Without Problems.” With theknowledge of the language, Gardnercan also better grasp the culture of thecountry. One of his favorite phrasesfrom Tanzania is, “Haraka haraka hianabaraka.” In English this means, “If yourush too much, you won’t succeed.”When it comes to language acquisition,Gardner thinks this is the right attitudeto adopt. “If you’re talking to people atall,” says Gardner, “You’ve got to knowthe local language.”

FLAS Fellow Ben Gardner in Loliondo,Tanzania, in the summer, 2001. Photo courtesyof Jennifer Meyer.

Jones-West, continued from page 13


Helen Johnson, director of theCenters for Transfer, Re-entry, andStudent Parents, hired Jones-West andhelped her prepare for her De-Cal class.Johnson says that outreach focused oncommunity colleges makes sense, sincemost re-entry students come from thatbackground. She credits Jones-West forjump-starting the outreach programwith Vista, saying, “she wasn’t encour-aged to come here. As a person of color,she wanted to make sure that outreachwas available to more students there.That was the genesis of Starting Point.”The class was so successful that the Re-entry Center institutionalized StartingPoint as a program and hired Jones-Westto run it. So far, 19 Vista students havebeen accepted for admission to Berkeley.

As an undergraduate, Jones-Westnoticed another outreach gap: a re-source for students on welfare. Remem-bering her own traumatic experience,Jones-West, now a graduate student atthe School for Social Welfare, developeda De-Cal class last semester calledWelfare Reform and Higher Education.Says Jones-West, “I knew somethingabout it, because I had been part of thesystem and tried to raise above it and did.I saw a lot of other women who werestruggling, capable women who were notgiven a chance.”

Jones-West provided students withthe information needed to navigatethrough California’s welfare system,either as a professional social serviceworker, or as a recipient. Her class wasfilled to capacity. She also offered aforum on the complexities of the law toallow students to relate their personalexperiences. Students in the classlearned about TANF—Temporary Aidto Needy Families—a welfare reformact passed in 1996, which gives recipi-ents a lifetime maximum of five years toreceive aid. The law was up for reautho-rization this spring, and the Health andHuman Services department wantedfeedback on how it is working. Jones-West made sure they got some. Sheasked students to submit their feedbackto Congress as their final exam.

Later this spring, Jones-West willreceive her graduate degree from theSchool of Social Welfare. Starting Point,the program developed from hercommunity service, has expanded toother community colleges in the BayArea. Drawing from her success atBerkeley, Jones-West says, “I realize thatif people get the resources they need,there’s no limit to what they can do.”

About eight percent of the studentpopulation at Berkeley is made upof transfer, re-entry, and studentparents, who experience life a bitdifferently than others on campus.Recognizing this, the Universitynow offers services uniquely suitedto these students. Says HelenJohnson, director of the Centers forTransfer, Re-Entry, and StudentParents, “We care about you. Wewant to help you be successfulhere. That’s our mission.” Locatedin the Cesar Chavez StudentCenter in Lower Sproul Plaza,services include student lounges, astudy center, and all kinds ofclasses and resources for yourtransition back to school.

Transfer StudentsDiscover academic support sys-tems, advising, and resources oncampus and in the community. Call(510) 642-4257 or visit the Web(http://transfer.berkeley.edu/).

Re-entry StudentsThe Center offers a variety of waysto ease your way into the class-room. Workshops are available onwriting, study skills, and tutoring.Call (510) 643-8070 or visit the Website (http://reentry.berkeley.edu/).

Student ParentsMeet other student parents atBerkeley and find out about student-parent orientations, childcare, andfamily housing. Call (510) 643-5729 or visit the Web site(http://studentparents.berkeley.edu/).

Resources forTransfer, Re-entry,and Student Parents

Foreign Languageand Area Studies(FLAS) Fellowships

Need to sharpen your language skillsfor help with your Ph.D. research?Consider applying for a ForeignLanguage and Area Studies (FLAS)Fellowship. Sponsored by the Depart-ment of Education, FLAS fostersnational competence in modern foreignlanguages and expertise in area andinternational studies. Fellowships areavailable for language study in eightworld areas: Africa, East Asia, EastEurope, Latin America, Middle East,South Asia, Southeast Asia, and WestEurope. Last year, 205 people appliedand 55 were awarded the fellowship.

FLAS Fellowships for 2002-2003cover fees and tuition, and provide astipend (supplemented by the GraduateDivision) of $12,000. Past FLASrecipients may apply for subsequentyears of funding.

Summer FLAS Fellowships provideintense language study equivalent toone year. Awards cover $3,600 inregistration fees and provide a stipendof $2,400.

Student Affairs Officer GinaFarales, who coordinates the fellowship,says, “The FLAS is a wonderful fellow-ship. We encourage students with aninterest and need for a language toapply for this fellowship.”

Continuing students may apply bydownloading the FLAS form from theWeb (www.grad.berkeley.edu/fellow-ships/). Or, you may pick up FLASapplications in the Graduate Fellow-ships Office, 318 Sproul Hall. For moreinformation, call (510) 642-0672.

Smolke, continued from front page


women have to make with theirdoctor,” says Ogar.

The School of Public Health hasbeen able to offer the newsletter since1984 through a unique arrangementwith a New York publishing house,which handles the writing, printing,and distribution. The editorial board atBerkeley suggests stories and reviews allof the research that goes in to thearticles. In lieu of a cut of the profits,the Berkeley board opted to receive aroyalty instead, $8 million so far. Asidefrom covering some administrative costs,the money is divided between an endow-ment and student support at the School ofPublic Health. “It’s meant the differencebetween attending and not attendingBerkeley for some of our students,” saysOgar. “The whole focus of this money isfor scholarships and GSIs—it’s all forgraduate students.”

The newsletter introduces readersnot just to good health practices, but tothe expertise and public service of UCBerkeley. Says Dale, “To be blunt, whenpeople hear ‘UC Berkeley,’ a couple ofthings come to mind: the Sixties, the‘naked guy,’ and an overall crazinessthat pervades the area.” She adds, “Tome, this is one of the great publicservice efforts of the University.”

Fit News, continued from page 12

organized. It is rare to find all of thesequalities in one person.”

Smolke is currently completing apostdoctoral appointment, workingwith Professor Karsten Weis in theDepartment of Molecular and CellBiology. Using yeast cells, they studymacromolecular transport into and outof the nucleus in eukaryotic cells.

they see your application they can put aface to the name.”

Smolke interviewed at 14 universi-ties. She narrowed her list based on thequality of the university, the depart-ment, the people in the department, andher interactions with them. The schoolsshe wound up considering most seriouslywere the Universities of Washington,Colorado, Illinois, and Michigan. In theend, she chose Michigan, whichreminds her of Berkeley.

“Ann Arbor is a college town, withlittle communities, little neighbor-hoods,” says Smolke. “I could see myselfliving there, raising a family there.”

A Class ActOne of the reasons that Smolke wantedto go into academia was to be able tocontrol her own research. Equallyimportant was her desire to teach.

“A great teacher makes all thedifference in the world,” says Smolke. “Ialways appreciate professors who putenergy and effort into teaching.”

By no means does she thinkteaching is easy, though, and she admitsto being surprised and honored whenshe received the Outstanding GraduateStudent Instructor Award in 1999. “I’vetaught three times here and I’ve defi-nitely gotten better at it as I’ve gonealong. But I still find it challenging.”

Her work as a GSI for ProfessorJeffrey A. Reimer’s Separations Pro-cesses course in spring 2000 earned hera second teaching award, the Dow Prizefor Excellence in Teaching.

“What distinguishes Christina’steaching from her peers is the deliber-ateness with which she crafts coursematerial, whether in lecture format orin discussions or tutorials,” saysReimer. “Christina’s intellectual andpedagogical craftsmanship helpedpropel the course to extremely highstandards.”

So how does this super achieverremain so grounded?

Smolke credits her parents andtheir support—staying up late to read herpapers, hanging out with her and

watching wrestling on TV (she’s an avidfan), and supporting her decision tobecome a professor and move halfwayacross the country (“which I know ishard for them”).

And 20 years from now, where willwe find her?

“To dream big—on a beach in CostaRica with Russell Crowe,” she muses.

“That’s a good question,” Smolkecontinues. “I’d consider myself lucky ifI was in a place where I still felt excite-ment and happiness about waking upand going to work, sharing time with afriend doing something we love, orcalling my mom to see how her daywent and listening to the sound of hervoice. It might sound mushy, but itdoesn’t get much better than that...”

Christina Smolke, BerkeleyPh.D. and Postdoc

“My adviser was reallygood about makingsure that I went toconferences andmeetings, making surethat I was able topresent my work.”

At Michigan, Smolke will focus onbiomolecular engineering, therapeuticmolecule design, and metabolic engi-neering, research that she hopes willimprove gene therapy and developbetter methods to diagnose and treatcancer and many other diseases.

“I would like some of my futureresearch to be targeted for medicalapplications,” she explains.

It Was a Very Good YearSuccess in the academic job market islargely dependent on one’s area ofresearch and whether universities aretargeting specific areas. Smolke’sresearch in biological research systemsbrought her numerous job offers.

Her department did a great job, shesays, with keeping her visible and ontrack before and during the job search.“I had an excellent experience in theDepartment of Chemical Engineering,”says Smolke. “My adviser was reallygood about making sure that I went toconferences and meetings, making surethat I was able to present my work.”She adds, “It’s important that depart-ment heads see you over several years,see you presenting your work, so when

TheGraduategrad.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/spring_summer02.pdfthought about what she was doing,...

Documents

Transcript of TheGraduategrad.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/spring_summer02.pdfthought about what she was doing,...