News in Brief

UC Berkeley Hydrogen Fuel Research Funded

UC Berkeley Given Funds for Research

UC Berkeley is slated to get a portion of $50 million earmarked for hydrogen fuel research in California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Tuesday.

Part of $350 million in nationwide grants, the U.S. Department of Energy plans to have hydrogen-powered cars in common use by 2015.

Hydrogen fuel cells power vehicles through a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. Supporters of hydrogen fuel cells say they can relieve dependence on more traditional forms of energy.

Schwarzenegger called for a "hydrogen highway" system last week in which hydrogen stations would be located every 20 miles along California's interstate highways.

"These grants demonstrate the federal government's confidence in California's ability to pave the way towards an environmentally sound future and will help us to realize our vision of a hydrogen highway system," he said in his announcement.

His plan would establish 200 refueling stations over the next six years. The project would cost about $90 million, mainly from private investments.

Two other UC campuses, Davis and Santa Barbara, will also have a chance to work with the funding, which is estimated to be between $35 and $50 million, over the next five years.

Sandia National Laboratory in Livermore, along with Polyfuel, Inc., will also collaborate in the effort.

Judicial Council Hears

Second Spam Suit

Student Action presidential candidate Misha Leybovich faced his second ASUC Judicial Council hearing last night for a spam e-mail that was allegedly accidentally sent to people outside his immediate circle of friends.

David Garcia and Queer Resource Facilitator Kenny Kroll charged that Leybovich abused his power as an ASUC official when he included his senator title at the bottom of the e-mail. They are asking the council to disqualify all the Student Action candidates.

Both sides locked horns on whether the e-mail was sent out as an official duty.

Leybovich's counsel, former APPLE Senator Paul LaFata, who fought against Leybovich in another hearing Monday, argued that since the ASUC did not explicitly give him the power to send the e-mail, Leybovich did not violate any ASUC rules.

"In order for him to be held accountable, he has to be given an authority to be used," LaFata said. "There was no authority given by the ASUC."

Garcia and Kroll argued that students assume that the ASUC senator position itself carries authority and so the e-mail violated the rule.

"It's not necessarily that he used a specific power, but he used the weight of the title as people will perceive it," Garcia said.

Lisa Humes-Schulz

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