The transfer student who brandished a handgun while in the computer lab at the Haas School of Business at Cal and was subsequently shot by campus police yesterday has died. He's now been identified as 32-year-old Christopher Nathen Elliot Travis, an undergraduate whose motives for carrying the handgun are still unclear. more ›

The Daily Clog posted a brilliant review of a recent appearance by wounded sparrow Johnny Depp at Wheeler Hall. The cloudy actor was in Berkeley for a screening of The Rum Diaries, Depp's second foray into the dude world of excruciatingly pretentious and insecure Hunter S. Thompson, followed by a Q&A with Cal students. After one kid asked a (stupid?) question about boom mikes, the 48-year-old actor reverted back to his snippy Winona Ryder days. Thank God. more ›

After 17 protesters were arrested earlier this week over UC budget cuts, among other isues, eight demonstrators occupied a fourth-story ledge at UC Berkeley's Wheeler Hall. Riot police were called in to use force on both the building squatters and supporters outside the building. Pepper spray was used against several demonstrators, and some protesters reported being hit with batons. more ›

In an effort to save an estimated $4 million dollars, UC Berkeley may have to cut five sports teams, including baseball, lacrosse, men and women’s gymnastics, and rugby. Save Cal Sports has been set in order to cull much-needed donations, specifically $25 million. Yikes. [KTVU] more ›

Days after Gov. Jerry Brown proposed cutting $500 million from the UC system next year, UC Berkeley plans to prune 150 managers and support staff this year. This comes on top of the some odd 600 jobs hacked since last year. more ›

We had no idea that Sarah Shroud, former Iran hostage/UC Berkeley hiker, was so delightfully wacky. Take, for example, the song she just released about her ordeal. It's called "Piece of Time" (which we first mistook for Ashlee Simpson's "Pieces of Me," which, of course, would have been several shades of brilliant.) Written while she was held captive, Shroud's ditty is also about the two men with whom she illegally crossed the border last year, Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer. more ›

Nerd alert: The Cal Quidditch League faced the Stanford Quidditch team on Sunday at the first ever "Big Sweep" match. Quidditch, for those of you not in the know, is a fictional game in the Harry Potter series. more ›

Laura Zelko, A UC Berkeley student who took part in protesting fee-hikes and campus layoffs last November is now facing a possible one-year suspension in a public disciplinary hearing which took place on October 27th. You'll remember 43 protesters barricaded themselves inside Wheeler hall last year, which became the focal point of campus-wide protests. more ›

Mad Men, it's a good show. No, a great show. Quality TV Programming, if you will. It's the kind of show certain viewers turn on their TV to watch, then turn off their TV once it's done. It's the kind of show enjoyed by people who insist on enjoying the Sunday paper over morning coffee. It's the kind of show people sandwich in between Twin Peaks and The Sopranos on their carefully crafted Facebook profiles. So, it only makes sense that the (highly depressing) AMC drama would receive attention from UC Berkeley, the Bay Area's equally acclaimed institution of higher learning. more ›

Californ(ia) fans cheer on the Golden Bears during the first half of an NCAA college football game against UC Davis Saturday. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) more ›

After UCB Chancellor Robert Birgeneau agreed to a meeting with representatives, Cal students called off their 10-day hunger strike last night. The Daily Californian, "The strike, which began May 3 as a demonstration focused on a controversial Arizona immigration law and has attracted attention worldwide, concluded as all but one of the 18 strikers ate ears of corn together in a symbolic gesture." Whatever the hell that means. more ›

Oh, brother. While California Memorial Stadium's much-needed retrofit and renovation is underway, Cal's football team will play home games at AT&T Park. That is to say, even more drunken sports fans will urinate buckets on the steps of SFist HQ. Self-centered NIMBYism aside, this temporary move will prove beneficial for South Beach/Mission Bay businesses. An estimated six games will unfold at AT&T Park. So, er, yeah, welcome to San Francisco, Berkeley students. Make sure you bathe properly before crossing the bridge. XO, San Francisco. [via CBS 5, Daily Cal] more ›

We interrupt all other news to tell you that UC Berkeley fraternities are out of control. Whodathunk it? According to Inside Edition the neighborhood just outside the Cal campus "is under siege by out of control fraternities." You know, those antiquated college institutions known for late-night partying, homoerotic initiation requirements, nubile boys, and rape. Anyway, it's an old-ish story, but now that Inside Edition is on it, so are we. more ›

Last Thursday, the fledgling UC Berkeley Quidditch League held its first try outs for a new quidditch team at Cal. For those who have either spent the last decade in a vegetative state or as fundamentalist Christians, quidditch is an exciting semi-contact sport wherein two teams of seven players each seek to score points by tossing a ball called a quaffle into any of the opposing team's three goal hoops while at the same time avoiding getting pounded by two other balls called bludgers. A fourth ball, the golden snitch, is sought by one member of each team known as a Seeker. Whoever catches the golden snitch wins the game for their team, along with untold endorsement contracts, trophy wives, etc., etc. By the way, quidditch, made popular in the Harry Potter book series, is best played about 150 feet off the ground while riding around on magic broomsticks. more ›

Ah, yes, this is what we like: people apologizing for football games. So scary and confusing and lacking climactic eleventh-hour numbers, they are. What are we talking about? Well, actually, it seems Sandy Barbour, Berkeley’s Director of Athletics, sent out a letter, dolling out a huge mea culpa for Saturday's big homecoming game against (the vile) USC. Crowd control was lacking, rendering the game an uncomfortable one for fans. more ›

Brittney Gilbert of Eye On Blogs brings our attention to this little gem: the Cal marching band knocking over an event staff guy at a recent football game. (Also, what's going on with both announcers' eyebrows? As lovely as they are, those enviously manicured brows belong no where near a football game.) more ›

In addition to the now paltry 9.3% fee hike approved back in May, the University of California is discussing raising student fees an additional 32%, which would make "annual undergraduate tuition over the $10,000 level for the first time ever." more ›

Aw, recent college graduates. Aren't they adorable? They're younger than you, they're prettier than you, they believe in things, they can drink more than you, and they will steal your jobs. Take, for example, this recent Cal grad who created an awesome solar-powered graduation cap. But it's not just any solar-powered cap; it's a sustainable, green cap. According to Daily Clog's Christine Borden -- congratulations on the big day, Christine; you will be missed deeply! -- this chapeau comes "complete with grass paper (astroturf probably causes global warming or something), a solar panel, a wind turbine, a small house and a mechanical rising sun." more ›

What with the "skirt creeper" attacking two more females over the weekend, the kids over at UC/Berkeley have decided to hold a skirt rally. According to Christine Borden at the Daily Clog, "the rally’s designed to let women 'feel safe wearing whatever we choose,' which is important considering that the Daily Cal states that the most recent victims were not wearing skirts." more ›

Old hippy dude throwing down with a yuppy at a Michael Pollan talk. In Palo Alto! A small skirmish errupted when the bolo tie wearing hippy was upset by the yuppy not volunteering a saved seat (turns out was saving it for his mom) for an elderly gentleman. Things got good when sunglasses were grabbed, and Stanford students intervened. Isn’t eating well supposed to make you less angry? Oh, and the talk was really good—see him speak at Cal tomorrow, or read his books. more ›

Vulgar, yes, but it will all be half-price come tomorrow. [Nature abhors a vacuum]

Surely looking to turn us all into latter-career, Catalina-vacationing Natalie Woods, it looks like the rain will fall down (and wake our dreams) and won't stop until god knows when. Flooding, high winds, high tides, airport delays, glacial weather, and mass hysteria are all expected to bring us some mid-winter cheer. more ›

50-year-old Chiu Chun Wong of San Lorenzo was killed yesterday after a 15-ton section of concrete came toppling down on him. Ouch. According to the Gate, the fatal workplace incident occurred at "J.C. Steel Fabrication at 220 Michelle Court shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday." It seems that while Wong and another worker were putting a chain "around the bottom of the 20-foot-by-12-foot wall," the chuck of cement slipped, fell, and struck Wong, killing him instantly. more ›

Not to be outdone by their wicked step-sister, UCLA, who all too tastefully/boringly galloped about in their panties on the streets of LA, UC Berkeley also had its traditional end-of-semester streak last week. But they did it in the raw. Hee. more ›

Omigod people! A genuine Christmas miracle happened on the latest "Project Runway"!? Didja see it? Wasn't it awesome? Let's discuss. more ›

Saturday is what is known around these here parts as "the Big Game," a kinda cute nickname for a game usually not of any importance to anyone other to us NorCal folks. This game, in particular, doesn't have much going for it as Stanford, with the exception of the 'SC upset, hasn't been very good and Cal has been more disappointing than Fred Thompson's candidacy. Nevertheless, the game is always pretty exciting and full of tradition-- all the things that makes college football what it is. more ›

Today's Chron Bay Area section takes a break from covering the plight of lungless salamanders in Korea ( is this in the Bay Area section? Yes, yes, we know, it's because Cal researchers are researching them -- we're asking the question in a more philosophical sense.) to report that: oh no! Ed Jew's state criminal trial has been postponed again, to at least April 08. more ›

Be careful if you're having Thanksgiving dinner near the coast tomorrow. Because if you plan on strolling down the beach afterwards to walk off that dark meat sitting in the pit of your stomach -- does anyone really prefer white meat? why? -- you might get swept to sea. Unusually high swells could reach up to eight feet over the holiday weekend according to the Nation Weather Service. What's more, "swimmers and [well, for... more ›

After a 10-month protest atop an oak grove next to Memorial Stadium, a judge ruled on Monday that UC Berkeley can now start removing up-in-a-tree protesters, as well as their ground support, even if police can't identify the protesters by name. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Richard Keller amended his ruling from a month ago. At that time, his decree gave authorities the power to strip the environmental activists off of the UC-owned land,... more ›