The Judicial Council also announced it will not hold a hearing because of the timing and nature of this case but will instead issue a summary judgment.

“I’m not surprised that the Judicial Council accepted the petition, since they also accepted the original petition filed a couple of weeks ago,” said ASUC Attorney General Hinh Tran. “It’s unfortunate that the council will not allow both sides to vigorously debate, but I respect its decision.”

ASUC President Connor Landgraf is optimistic that the council will uphold his executive order despite the absence of a hearing.

“In the past, it seems like those who have accused me of violating the constitution have been poorly organized during these debates,” Landgraf said. “So it’s not a big deal that the council decided not to hold any hearings.”

Devonte Jackson, campus organizing director for the Office of the External Affairs Vice President, filed the petition against Landgraf on Wednesday, claiming that Landgraf missed a constitutionally mandated deadline for issuing the executive order that placed the referendum on the ballot.

People who have challenged Landgraf’s use of the executive order welcomed the decision.

“I thought that this was the best possible outcome, because I believe the council is interested in questioning the constitutional legitimacy of Landgraf’s executive order,” said Cooperative Movement Senator Jorge Pacheco, who filed a similar petition against Landgraf in the past. “Regardless of who wins the case, I’m happy that the council is respecting and embracing the judicial process.”

The possibility of a settlement remains open if both parties reach an agreement by Tuesday at 5 p.m.

Contact Shirin Ghaffary and Jason Liu at newsdesk@dailycal.org.

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This is only the latest petition filed against Landgraf alleging constitutional bylaw violations arising from his use of the executive order. Two other charges were filed previously, the most recent of which was rejected by the ASUC Judicial Council before it could go to trial.

Devonte Jackson, campus organizing director for the Office of the ASUC External Affairs Vice President, filed the petition Wednesday, claiming that Landgraf missed a constitutionally mandated deadline for issuing the executive order that placed the referendum on the election ballot.

Landgraf issued the executive order that placed the health and wellness referendum on the ASUC election ballot in late March. He utilized the executive order after the referendum, which institutes a student fee to build new recreational facilities, was submitted too late for the ASUC Senate to vote to place it on the ballot by the filing deadline.

Landgraf said that he doesn’t expect Jackson’s charges to stand because individuals need to file lawsuits within seven days of an election.

“It’s frustrating because it’s been 42 days since I issued the executive order, so I don’t understand why it’s being filed,” Landgraf said.

Similar charges were filed last week by Cooperative Movement Senator Jorge Pacheco alleging that Landgraf “overstepped his authority” and “damaged the integrity and process of the Spring 2013 ASUC elections” by filing the executive order.

The Judicial Council ultimately voted to reject Pacheco’s petition, claiming that “the petitioners had delayed and/or interfered with the judicial process.”

Jackson’s petition argues that the Judicial Council should uphold the ASUC’s democratic process by overturning Landgraf’s executive order.

There are some, however, who claim that Jackson’s lawsuit bears a striking resemblance to Pacheco’s.

“I don’t think there’s any merit to (Jackson’s) lawsuit since it basically rehashes many of the same arguments that Pacheco used,” said ASUC Attorney General Hinh Tran.

Conner Nannini, the campaign manager for the health and wellness referendum, said he suspects that Pacheco may have been involved in the creation of Jackson’s lawsuit.

“It seems like the text from Jackson’s legal brief is 90 percent the same as the text used in Pacheco’s arguments,” Nannini said. “It won’t surprise me if Pacheco is using Jackson as a proxy for making the same arguments.”

Pacheco firmly rejected this assertion, claiming that it is natural that Jackson’s lawsuit would resemble his.

“My legal brief was widely distributed, so it’s not surprising that this new lawsuit is really similar to mine,” Pacheco said.

For Pacheco, however, it is not about winning or losing.

“I hope (Jackson’s) lawsuit is successful, but even if it isn’t, at least we raised awareness about the judicial process and the systematic abuse of the constitution,” Pacheco said. “The fact that so many charges have been filed means this is not an isolated incident but a recurring problem.”

According to Tran, the Judicial Council will decide in one to two days if Jackson’s lawsuit merits a trial.

Contact Jason Liu at jliu@dailycal.org

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Kore Chan/Staff

A group of about 10 activists protested on campus Monday in solidarity with the 100 prisoners who are on hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

Protesters donning orange jumpsuits to resemble the Guantanamo Bay prisoners knelt silently with bags wrapped over their heads while speakers called for the university to fire UC Berkeley professor of law John Yoo for his connection to the alleged use of torture in the detention camp.

“We want to bring attention to the hunger strike, since it’s been 88 days since prisoners have begun to protest against the facility’s systemic human rights abuses,” said Stephanie Tang of The World Can’t Wait, an organization that aims to stop the use of torture to glean vital intelligence.

Speakers targeted Yoo for his legal justification of the Bush administration’s interrogation policy during his term as deputy assistant attorney general.

“The UC’s reputation is stained by the presence of John Yoo on its faculty, so we want to see the university fire and discipline him,” Tang said.

Despite the criticism, the university has continued to employee Yoo, who is a tenured professor. Campus administrators have defended this decision because of their stated commitment to maintaining academic freedom and security of employment.

In a 2008 statement, UC Berkeley School of Law Dean Christopher Edley said that while Yoo has “offered bad ideas and even worse advice during his government service,” disapproval of his legal philosophy alone does not warrant his removal.

“I reject the argument that academic freedom justifies Yoo’s position at the law school, since it is not a license to commit human rights abuses,” said Shahid Buttar, executive director of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee.

Buttar said that academic freedom defense may not hold if Yoo is prosecuted by a court of law because the General University Policy Regarding Academic Appointees stipulates that the “commission of a criminal act that has led to conviction in a court of law by a faculty member” is an example of unacceptable conduct that could be grounds for dismissal.

“I’m more interested in seeing John Yoo finally face prosecution for (his) international crimes, as required by the law, than in any accountability the university might pursue,” Buttar said.

In the past, Yoo has maintained that he was giving legal advice to the Bush administration and was not involved in creating actual policy.

While most students passed by the protest in the daily afternoon rush, its organizers believe that regardless of how many people attended the vigil, it served its purpose of informing the public.

“The truth has to be open to people, and through this vigil, we’re out to change that,” Tang said.

Contact Jason Liu at jliu@dailycal.org.

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In a study conducted by Jennifer Stellar, a UC Berkeley psychology doctoral student, and Robb Willer, an associate professor of sociology at Stanford University, the researchers explored the relationship between morality and economics. In a paper published this week in an online issue of the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, they concluded that people believe morally tainted money has less value and less purchasing power.

“We tend to think of money as being really objective, but people actually attach a lot of subjective meaning to it,” Stellar said. “We wanted to show the connection between economics and rational decision-making and the fact that morality plays a huge role in our economic decisions.”

Willer and Stellar conducted an experiment involving 59 college-aged participants who were told to enter a mock raffle for a $50 cash prize sponsored by one of two corporations. They were subsequently divided into a “neutral money” group and an “immoral money” group.

The “neutral money” group was told that the raffle prize would be provided by Target, while the “immoral money” group was told their prize would be provided by Wal-Mart. The latter was explicitly told that Wal-Mart had been found guilty of numerous labor-law violations.

The researchers found that those in the
“immoral money” group filled out fewer tickets than those in the “neutral money” group, implying that the participants in the immoral group were not as determined to win the raffle prize because of its association with Wal-Mart.

“People possess powerful motivations to view themselves as fundamentally good and moral,” Willer said during an interview with the UC Berkeley Newscenter. “We find this motivation is so great that it can even lead people to disassociate themselves from money that has acquired negative moral associations.”

Participants were then told to estimate how many of eight food or beverage items — such as a gallon of milk — they could purchase with the $50, and the researchers found that subjects consistently believed money associated with Wal-Mart would buy fewer items.

“This reveals that those in the immoral group believed their money had less value because it is morally tainted,” Stellar said.

The results of the study resonate with ASUC President Connor Landgraf, who said he recognized the link between morality and decisions involving money.

“I absolutely agree with this — I think morality is one of the most important factors in making economic decisions, especially because money represents who we are,” he said.

Contact Jason Liu at jliu@dailycal.org.

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Associate professor of integrative biology Daniela Kaufer and her team of colleagues from UC Berkeley’s Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute published a paper Tuesday showing that while chronic stress may be detrimental to one’s health, acute stress may benefit the brain by keeping it alert and optimizing its performance.

“There’s not much literature out there that fully illustrates the effects of acute stress on the brain, so I was really interested in looking at the molecular mechanism that explains why some some stress may be beneficial,” Kaufer said.

The research team conducted the study by exposing rats to brief stressful events. They found that the stem cells in the rats’ brains began proliferating into new nerve cells that ultimately improved their mental performance.

Additionally, it turns out that cognitive and mental performance reach their peak when there is a brief period of stress but then deteriorates as the severity and duration of stress increase dramatically.

“This makes sense, from an evolutionary standpoint,” said Leslea Hlusko, an associate professor of integrative biology who did not participate in the study, in an email. “We are increasingly learning that environmental influences shape neurological development, (so) this kind of plasticity and reactivity (of the brain) would enable an organism to adapt to a wider range of environmental conditions.”

The study also reveals that humans have a variety of ways of responding to stress in their environment, which can help them deal with future stress, according to graduate student David Covarrubias, a member of Kaufer’s research team.

According to Kaufer, the research project has wide implications because most people routinely experience stress.

“It’s incredible that the research we’ve done is applicable to everyone and that we can explain highly complex physiological processes in the brain from a molecular level,” Kaufer said.

According to Covarrubias, the study shows that there is an entire spectrum of stress levels and that not every level of stress is detrimental to health.

“We wanted to distinguish the different kinds of stress and show that acute stress is entirely different from chronic stress in terms of their impact on cognitive performance,” Covarrubias said.

The results of this study resonate with some UC Berkeley students who, through the experience of frantically studying for exams, know that stress is sometimes good.

“It makes sense that there’s a spectrum of stress levels, because I know that sometimes stressing over a midterm will motivate me to study,” said sophomore Susan Lee.

Contact Jason Liu at jliu@dailycal.org.

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Leya Andrews/Staff

Following another year of spirited election campaigning, the political fate of each aspiring member of the student government will be left in the hands of a meticulously designed computer system.

Once the ASUC election polls close tonight at 11:59 p.m., the votes will be tallied by a Java system called ASUC Tabulator at the tabulations ceremony at 6:30 p.m. on April 18 in 155 Dwinelle Hall.

The process of vote tabulation begins tomorrow as the campus Information Services and Technology division will convert the raw data generated by online and paper ballots into a more organized and usable format.

“Then at the tabulation ceremony, we’ll go through each office, starting probably with the executives, and use the ASUC tabulator to count each vote individually,” said sophomore Alton Zheng, one of the technical coordinators for the ASUC election.

Like in previous years, this year the ASUC Elections Council will be using the preferential proportional representation system, in which students can vote for multiple candidates, ranking chosen candidates in order of preference.

According to the voter’s guide for the 2013 ASUC election, the election tabulator will tally the votes in “rounds.” The first preferences of all voters are tallied first. If no candidate achieves a majority of the votes in this round, each candidate with the lowest vote total is eliminated, and each student’s vote will be transferred to the voter’s next preference.

According to the ASUC bylaws, no election official or candidate will be allowed to see the results before they are unveiled at the ceremony.

“Even I won’t know the results until everyone else finds out at the ceremony,” said Jina Yoo, chair of the ASUC Elections Council.

As with any election technology, there is a possibility that errors will arise during the tabulations ceremony. But the technical coordinators say they are confident that the vote tabulator will generate accurate results.

“It’s actually pretty accurate — nothing with the system went wrong last year,” Zheng said.

The results will be continuously updating throughout the tabulations ceremony and on the ASUC election’s website next Thursday.

Contact Jason Liu at jliu@dailycal.org.

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Tekla Labs/Courtesy

This past weekend, a group of 18 UC Berkeley students and alumni attended a national conference in St. Louis that aimed to combat some of the world’s most pressing problems.

The Clinton Global Initiative University in St. Louis, sponsored by former president Bill Clinton, allowed attendees to interact with successful leaders and celebrities such as Bill and Chelsea Clinton, Stephen Colbert, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus.

UC Berkeley joined the Clinton Global Initiative University Network this year, the program’s inaugural year. The network is a coalition of universities that supports students who have made a “Commitment to Action,” or a one-year plan to address a critical challenge in one of five categories: education, environment and climate change, peace and human rights, poverty alleviation and public health.

This year, the Blum Center for Developing Economies represented UC Berkeley in the network, and many students affiliated with the center applied to the CGIU for admission to the selective conference.

According to a Blum Center press release, the students were selected for their passion and energy and the strength of their “Commitments to Action.”

“I think the biggest inspiration for the Berkeley students (who went), in terms of meeting these famous leaders, is in discovering the long path of trials and victories these individuals have experienced,” said Sean Burns, the director of student programs at the Blum Center. “The leaders become more human, and the complexity of their work becomes more visible and accessible.”

Clinton’s presence in particular seemed to add an air of excitement to the event for many of the students.

“It was pretty cool because he actually seemed really interested in our project, so he asked a couple of questions, made some suggestions and just had a normal conversation with us,” said graduate student Matt Pavlovich.

Many of the students who went appreciated the networking opportunities that were available in such a high-profile conference.

“I loved talking with the other students there, many of whom are working on commitments around the world and were really eager to help us improve our own projects,” said junior Karem Herrera.

Stephen Colbert also attended the event and even interviewed some of the UC Berkeley students in character.

“That was one of the toughest interviews I ever did, but Stephen Colbert out of character was really gracious,” said junior Connor Galleher.

As the event ended, some students left with a renewed passion for developing their commitment.

“We’re so excited to continue working on our project, and we definitely want to go again next year,” Galleher said.

Contact Jason Liu at jliu@dailycal.org

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Gracie Malley/Senior Staff

On Monday, the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce welcomed the public to a meeting on the future of Telegraph and about transforming the area into a prominent commercial Bay Area destination.

The meeting, led by the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce’s Government Affairs Committee, served as a forum to discuss various plans to lure more businesses into the iconic Berkeley street. Attendees, among whom were members of the Chamber, city officials and Berkeley residents, remained optimistic about revitalizing Telegraph as a commercial space.

“Telegraph used to be a place where people would go 30 years ago, so it’s pretty exciting to talk about ways to turn the area into an actual destination,” said Polly Armstrong, CEO of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce.

One of the focal points of the meeting was the discussion of Councilmember Kriss Worthington’s short-term, immediate proposals to be voted on Tuesday at the City Council meeting.

Worthington, who represents the Telegraph area, has put forth a “Telegraph ACTION Plan” for improvements slated for this year and the next. Costs from his office are estimated to be around $50,500 according to his agenda item.

Worthington’s proposed improvements include programs to permit retail tables, which would allow a few retail stores to put merchandise tables in front of their stores. Other ideas include drafting a design of a transit center on Dwight Way to bring in more people from around the Bay Area.

He also proposed to improve lighting, restore murals, enhance pedestrian safety, build more parking and make the street more accessible.

“With all of this construction going on, we don’t want businesses to suffer in the short term,” Worthington said. “It is essential to increase access to parking, since I see people driving around the place without actually going to the stores and restaurants all the time.”

Other long-term considerations were discussed at the meeting, like plans to build a museum that celebrates the unique history of People’s Park, to transform the district into a center for music and arts, and to create office spaces for student entrepreneurs.

Mayor Tom Bates, for instance, plans to overhaul an existing law that forbids the city from using the office space located above retail stores in the area.

“I’m sure there was a good reason for the law at the time, but this makes no sense today at all, since the area’s close proximity to the university makes it an ideal place for startups,” Bates said.

By the meeting’s end, many were optimistic that meaningful action would happen with regard to developing the area.

“This meeting was great because I could just sense the excitement and optimism among everyone, and I’m truly hopeful that Telegraph can become a great Bay Area destination,” said Armstrong.

Contact Jason Liu at jliu@dailycal.org.

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The counselors, affiliated with the UC Berkeley Education Opportunity Program, initiated the Graduation Gown Lending Project to enable EOP students — those who are lower-income, part of the first generation to attend college or are historically underrepresented — to borrow free caps and gowns. EOP is a campus program that provides academic counseling, support services and a campus referral network to help lower-income and first-generation college students develop their talents while at UC Berkeley.

“It is really important at such a competitive university that lower-income and undocumented students are able to graduate while wearing the cap and gown because they have worked so hard to get to this point,” said Yesenia Escobar, one of the peer counselors who is affiliated with the project.

The project accepts used caps and gowns as well as monetary donations used to dry clean donated attire and to purchase new gowns.

EOP peer academic counselors conceived of this project when Samera Hadi, an EOP senior who graduated two years ago, realized there was no rental service for graduation attire, which costs $50 at UC Berkeley.

“We were pretty shocked about (this), since (buying) these caps and gowns are pretty expensive for under-resourced students,” said Sikai Song, another peer academic counselor affiliated with the project.

The project’s leaders believe that as this program expands, more and more students from lower-income backgrounds will be able to rent graduation attire. Escobar said that the project has recently applied for a university grant and is currently exploring other funding options.

“In two years, I would love to triple or quadruple the number of caps and gowns we receive so that we can provide (graduation attire) to all EOP students,” Escobar said.

So far, the project has received only three gowns, but there are already some students who believe this program will benefit them when they graduate.

“There aren’t that many holistic resources for people from under-resourced backgrounds, and buying a graduation gown can be costly, so I’m glad this program is around,” said junior Sidronio Jacobo.

For many like Jacobo, walking across the stage in a cap and gown is an emotionally significant experience.

“It symbolizes what we have all worked so hard to accomplish, so to be able to rent one for free is great,” Jacobo said.

Caps and gowns can be sent or dropped off at the Graduation Gown Lending Project, UC Berkeley Educational Opportunity Program, 119 Cesar Chavez Student Center, Berkeley, CA 94720-4210.

Contact Jason Liu at jliu@dailycal.org

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Safeena Mecklai/Courtesy

The ASUC submitted proposed boundaries for a new student supermajority district to the city of Berkeley Wednesday.

The plans propose a student district encompassing not only the entire UC Berkeley campus but also popular student cooperatives, apartments and fraternity and sorority houses.

“We tried to pack as many substudent groups into the district as possible, including the Greek organizations, campus dorms and off-campus housing,” said Noah Efron, the ASUC’s redistricting director.

A student has not been elected to the City Council since Nancy Skinner was a member of it from 1984 to 1992.

“Our goal is not to exactly have a student on the City Council but an elected official who responds to student issues,” Efron said. “Also, graduate students who stay here longer can feasibly serve on the council for an entire term.”

This proposal is possible because Measure R, which passed last November, amended the existing city charter to eliminate the 1986 boundary lines and adjusted the district boundaries to reflect the city’s updated population.

According to ASUC External Affairs Vice President Shahryar Abbasi, this district is overdue for the students who constitute 25 percent of the city’s population.

“Voters clearly understand the importance of students to the city and its economic development,” Abbasi said. ”Students have a voice on many of the issues that the city government must address, from lighting to affordable housing to safety to tenants’ rights.”

Some members of the city government said they are also in agreement on the importance of student representation in policy discussions.

“Students are vital to the city, as they are the economic drivers of today, the innovators and job creators of tomorrow,” said Mayor Tom Bates. “(Students) are instrumental to the city’s economic and cultural life.”

Councilmember Jesse Arreguin felt similarly, emphasizing the council’s need for a younger perspective.

“I’m the only person under 50 on the council,” Arreguin said. “We absolutely need students, who have traditionally been at the forefront of pushing changes to the city government, to bring unique, innovative ideas.”

Arreguin also expressed support for the ASUC’s planned district boundaries.

“I think it’s a very smart map — it doesn’t divide any student neighborhoods and respects the existing district boundaries that have been there for 25 years,” he said.

The City Council is not required to select any single proposal but may create a hybrid version that combines multiple plans. The proposals will then be presented to the council for discussion at two public hearings, currently set for May 7 and July 2.

Contact Jason Liu at jliu@dailycal.org.

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