News in Brief

Poor Senate Attendance Stalls ASUC Proposals

The ASUC Senate's last meeting of the semester was cut short Wednesday night because of insufficient members in attendance to decide on proposals.

Senators ended the meeting after five hours of debate, killing 15 bills in a move that forces student groups looking for money to wait until next year.

Senators can reintroduce those bills next semester, but they only have $400 left to hand out.

During the meeting, senators spent more than two hours debating the appointments of seven ASUC observers, students who watch campus demonstrations and report back to the senate.

Five out of seven were approved.

Some senators were disappointed by the hold-up on business.

"Right now, we suck," said Goatmilk Senator Adnan Iqbal. "We need to find better ways to work together and learn how to compromise."

My-Thuan Tran

Aging Bearmail to Hibernate for Good

Bearmail's UCLink will enter permanent hibernation after winter break when CalMail will replace it.

The change comes after a major e-mail snafu last spring that resulted in a shut-down of the UCLink Bearmail system. The aging infrastructure, first installed a decade ago, had not be updated because of budget cutbacks.

CalMail, UC Berkeley's new e-mail system, boasts new hardware that can better handle the 45,000 e-mail accounts.

Powered by CommuniGate Pro, the new system triples mailbox sizes from 35MB to 100MB and includes automated vacation messages.

In addition to larger storage space, users will have shortened e-mail addresses, ending in @berkeley.edu instead of @uclink.berkeley.edu.

UCLink addresses will continue to operate during the transition period.

After the transition, users will access their web accounts through http://calmail.berkeley.edu.

Christine Szeto

Elderly Man Struck on Sidewalk, Hospitalized

A 72-year-old man was hospitalized for a head injury Wednesday, after another man struck him and left him lying on a northwest Berkeley sidewalk, where police found him.

Police received a call about 1 p.m of a man down, on the 1300 block of Gilman Street, said Berkeley police Officer Kevin Schofield.

When police arrived at the scene, witnesses said that a man had struck the victim, knocked him to the ground and then fled.

Police said they did not know what provoked the attack.

Although police also did not know the extent of the victim's injuries, he was taken to Highland Hospital in Oakland, Berkeley's main destination for victims of more serious injuries.

Witnesses described the man's attacker as a black male, between 18 and 20 years old, approximately 5 feet 7 inches tall.

Alicia Wittmeyer

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