Sanford Hirshen, a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of architecture, died on Oct. 2 in Oakland. He was 78.

Hirshen began lecturing in UC Berkeley’s department of architecture in 1966 and became a professor of architecture in 1974, eventually serving as chair of the department. He also served as the director of the campus Center for Planning and Development Research.

Hirshen worked to improve conditions in migrant community housing and oversaw various community design projects. His efforts spanned from public housing to rehabilitation centers.

“Early in his career, Sandy began experimenting in ways to create humane environments for people who did not have much money,” said Stephen Tobriner, Hirshen’s colleague and also a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of architecture. “Here is somebody who had these ideas of providing shelter for people and did it with elegant aesthetic.”

Hirshen grew up in New York City and attended the New York High School of Music & Art, where he met his wife of 56 years, Vivian.

“I had a crush on him at the age of 14,” said Vivian Hirshen. “He was 16, but we were in the same class, and I just attached myself to him and he to me. He was just a very special person.”

After graduating high school, Hirshen received a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Columbia University in 1959 and was awarded a William Kinne Fellows Memorial Fellowship, which allowed him to travel and study in Europe.

When Hirshen returned from Europe in 1960, he served in the U.S. Army and worked at several architectural firms. In 1965, Hirshen partnered with Sim Van Der Wyn, a high school classmate and colleague at UC Berkeley, and three others to found an award-winning architectural practice. The firm focused on underserved populations, carrying out projects including the construction of 33 camps for migrant workers between 1965 and 1974.

“Sandy was class president, and I was class treasurer,” Van Der Wyn said. “With Sandy, he was always good at knowing who he was and he was all about serving people who were underserved in society. I certainly miss him.”

A fellow of both the American Institute of Architects and the Royal Canadian Institute of Architects, Hirshen acted as the director of the School of Architecture at the University of British Columbia from 1991 to 1999. Hirshen retired in 2000 and returned to the Bay Area in 2009 to be close to his family and friends.

“Sandy’s approach in doing community design has influenced a whole generation of architects and because of him, students have completely different agendas as architects,” said Mui Ho, Hirshen’s colleague at UC Berkeley and an architect at her private practice in Berkeley. “He sought out works that had social components and students learned from him.”

Donations can be made to the Sandy Hirshen Prize in the department of architecture at the College of Environmental Design, which is an award given annually to an undergraduate or graduate architecture student whose works relate to socially responsible architecture.

Hirshen is survived by his wife and two children. A memorial service will be held later this fall.

Jane Nho covers student government. Contact her at jnho@dailycal.org.

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The search committee is made up of 11 student, faculty and staff representatives, including ASUC President DeeJay Pepito, and is chaired by Anne De Luca, associate vice chancellor for admissions and enrollment.

The student forum drew about 20 students who voiced the importance of having a dean of students who is accessible and transparent, according to Austin Pritzkat, Pepito’s chief of staff.

Students said they wanted a dean who would actively participate with students and implement an open-door policy by holding informal meetings with students.

After a November 2011 Occupy Cal protest, Poullard agreed with former UC Berkeley chancellor Robert Birgeneau that students linking arms to prevent police from entering an encampment was not “nonviolent civil disobedience.” In response, students at the meeting expressed concerns that the new dean must understand the rationale behind student protest.

Graduate Assembly President Max Gee, who also sits on the committee, said that he and Pepito will attend all search committee meetings to “make sure the priorities of the undergraduate students are met.”

“The search has just begun, and students will have a voice along every step of the way,” Gee said.

Other search committee members were also present at the student forum. David Robinson, associate campus counsel and a member of the committee, said the feedback about what the students at the forum said they wanted and what was discussed at the committee meetings were very similar.

“The dean of students needs to be someone who has communication skills and an ability to really listen to what the student priorities are,” Robinson said. “The dean needs to engage with students and student leadership as partners.”

According to De Luca, the committee discussed looking for someone who understands the unique dynamics of a public institution like UC Berkeley and who is committed to the type of diversity found in the campus community.

Currently, David Surratt is serving as the interim dean of students and will continue to do so until a replacement is found.

The committee, which has only had one meeting so far on Sept. 25, is in the early stages of finding that replacement. De Luca said there is no deadline and hopes to have finalists on campus to meet with different stakeholder groups by early February.

“Our next step is to review the draft of the position profile, and once it is approved, to begin to advertise the position,” De Luca said. “The committee will then focus on sharing the news of the position and encouraging applications from student affairs professionals nationwide.”

Jane Nho covers student government. Contact her at jnho@dailycal.org.

Correction(s):
A previous version of this article incorrectly identified Anne DeLuca as associate vice chancellor for admissions and enrollment and acting director of undergraduate admissions. In fact, DeLuca is only the associate vice chancellor for admissions and enrollment.

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Kore Chan/File

Although a recently introduced ASUC Senate bill that asks senators to wear magnetic nametags is intended to increase ASUC transparency, it has been met with skepticism by senators and students alike.

The bill, SB 21, authored by Independent Campaign for Common Sense Senator Solomon Nwoche, asks senators to wear nametags around campus and in class. It also asks ASUC Student Advocate Timofey Semenov to write a letter encouraging campus administrators to do the same.

“The motive behind my bill is for students to be able to identify their elected officials so they can hold them accountable,” Nwoche said. “Theoretically, students can already search us through a search engine and see who we are anyways. All this nametag does is put this search into a more transparent form.”

Nolan Pack, the ASUC executive vice president, said the ASUC has already taken steps to improve its transparency. He said that the ASUC has made its agendas and meeting schedules more accessible online and that it has also begun webcasting senate meetings.

“I’m a strong proponent of making the ASUC more transparent and more accessible, and I want to make sure we’re using our time and resources to achieve that goal in a substantive way,” Pack said in an email. “As far as SB 21, it remains unclear to me whether or not this bill will promote transparency in a meaningful way.”

Some UC Berkeley undergraduates say they are unsure whether the nametags would be useful within the campus community. UC Berkeley sophomore Elena Behar said most students on campus already know who the ASUC executive officials and senators are through general interactions.

“I’m not sure if people would just want to go up to people and talk to (the ASUC senators and executive officials),” Behar said. “I think relationships (between students and senators) could also be altered, because people could feel that they’re potentially influencing senator decisions.”

Although the bill would not require senators to wear nametags, it would strongly encourage them to do so. Members of the senate, however, said the nametags could create obstacles in their everyday lives.

SQUELCH! Senator Grant Fineman said that although the bill might increase the transparency and visibility of the senate, there are many drawbacks to it.

“It could also come off the wrong way, like we’re being arrogant, like we’re showing our position at all times,” Fineman said.

CalSERVE Senator Caitlin Quinn echoed Fineman’s concerns, saying the nametags would “assert our presence too much.”

“In the classroom, we’re there to learn, just like everyone else,” Quinn said.

SB 21 will be debated Monday at the senate finance committee’s meeting.

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Kore Chan/Staff

A quinceanera-themed party hosted by Delta Chi on Sept. 21 has been met with controversy by students of color and has prompted the introduction of an ASUC Senate bill condemning the event.

Many students criticized the party as an act of cultural appropriation of Latino culture. The bill, SB 16, calls for the ASUC to “condemn culturally appropriated theme parties” and urges the university to implement a racial sensitivity curriculum for the Greek community.

The bill also asks Delta Chi to write a public apology to the campus Latino community for appropriating its cultural traditions and reproducing cultural stereotypes for entertainment purposes.

According to SB 16, authored by CalSERVE Senator Wendy Pacheco, some party attendees were dressed in attire “reflective of ‘cholos.’ ”

“For people in the Mexican community, quinceaneras are usually for young women who transition from being a girl into a woman,” Pacheco said. “That’s very important in our community, and for someone to take that and turn it into a party scene and dress up with sombreros and mustaches and reflect those stereotypes of what Mexican culture is is not OK.”

Members of the fraternity, however, say there was no ill intent behind the party or its theme, which Delta Chi President Cody Kermanian said was suggested by Mexican members of the fraternity.

“A lot of the rhetoric in the bill assumes what our thoughts were without even talking to us about it,” Kermanian said. “The intention was never to marginalize, and it never has been nor will be.”

Student Action Senator Liza Raffi, who is a member of the Greek community, was in attendance at the party. She said her costume and the costumes of friends were not meant to mock Latino culture.

“If there were derogatory costumes there, I did not see them, but I understand that everyone’s definition of offensive is different,” Raffi said. “I now understand that the idea of a fiesta plays into larger concern of cultural appropriation that has history stretching beyond the party.”

According to Dustin Page, a LEAD Center coordinator for fraternity and sorority advising and leadership development, fraternity chapters must register social events through their respective councils, which then share the events with the LEAD Center for review. The LEAD Center is a unit of the ASUC Auxiliary in student affairs, and it advises CalGreeks as well as other student organizations.

Page said that because Delta Chi’s event was not registered with the Interfraternity Council, the LEAD Center had no prior knowledge of it.

The party at Delta Chi is part of a larger pattern of cultural appropriation on campus, said David Jaramillo, a sponsor of the bill and a member of a campus Latino fraternity, Lambda Upsilon Lambda.

“We are a part of CalGreeks, and we feel very disappointed in the fact that the Greek community is continuously perpetrating acts of cultural insensitivity and racism,” Jaramillo said.

Last year, another campus fraternity faced condemnation from the ASUC Senate. The fraternity, Theta Delta Chi, was accused of racism after hanging a figure outside of its house during Halloween. Although the fraternity claimed the figure was a zombie, others said the decoration resembled a lynching. In response, the senate approved a bill that urged the campus and the Interfraternity Council to hold Theta Delta Chi “responsible for reckless disregard of the risk of terrorizing the campus community.”

SB 16 also includes language referencing the “Compton Cookout,” an event hosted by a UC San Diego fraternity stereotyping black culture that garnered national attention.

External Affairs Vice President Safeena Mecklai, however, who is an active member of the Greek community, said Delta Chi’s party cannot be compared to the Compton Cookout. She said the bill uses examples of racial insensitivity from other schools to villainize the Greek community.

“Cultural appropriation is a problem across campus, not just the Greek community,” Mecklai said. “I think it would be more constructive to look at the climate of the entire campus.”

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Steve Rhodes/Courtesy

The ASUC Senate’s University and External Affairs Committee approved a bill at its meeting Monday that opposes the construction of Keystone XL, an extension of the Keystone Pipeline, which is now pending approval of the entire senate.

The pipeline, which would transfer crude oil from tar sands in Alberta to refineries in Texas, is politically controversial and has raised concern among students due to its potentially detrimental effects on the environment. According to the bill, SB 11, the process of refining oil from tar sands requires more energy and water than refining oil from traditional sources and generates more greenhouse gases.

The bill also reflects concern that the extraction processes will occur near the homes of indigenous populations. Many indigenous communities, particularly those in Alberta, not only have been removed from their lands but also have seen increases in diseases such as cancer, the bill states.

“It is a major issue that is killing people and has the potential to kill even more people,” said CalSERVE Senator Caitlin Quinn, who authored the bill. “Clearly, it doesn’t stretch to California, but it is a major issue we should address.”

ASUC Executive Vice President Nolan Pack authored a similar bill last year that urged the UC system to divest its funds from fossil-fuel companies. He said he applauded Quinn for her work with the environmental community to author this bill.

“Fossil-fuel divestment and defeating Keystone XL are two parts of the same movement to free us from the chains of an outdated and toxic energy infrastructure,” Pack said. “Keystone is of particular importance because if built, it will enable the release of enough CO2 to guarantee catastrophic climate change — it’s been referred to as a ‘game over’ moment.”

Proponents of the Keystone XL pipeline say it will improve the economy by creating jobs while ending the need for overseas energy imports.

“While developing cleaner sources of energy should be a long-term goal, today this country still depends on imported oil,” said Brendan Pinder, president of Berkeley College Republicans. “In addition to creating jobs, this pipeline would help shift our dependence from the volatile Middle East to Canada, a stable country with more responsible environmental regulations.”

If the full senate passes the bill, ASUC President DeeJay Pepito will write a letter to President Barack Obama asking him to oppose the Keystone XL pipeline for the reasons outlined in the bill.

“As a research institution that actually gets a ton of money from BP and Chevron, we should still have the autonomy to take stances on these issues,” Quinn said. “There’s been a lot of activism on (the Keystone Pipeline) recently, and I prefer to address things proactively instead of waiting until after Obama’s decision.”

UC Berkeley professor of energy Daniel Kammen agreed the tar sands represent more of an environmental threat than traditional sources of petroleum.

“The ASUC is correct in wanting to block this, because the pipeline will make the climate worse,” Kammen said. “If the U.S. was starving for energy, maybe I would understand, but the thing is, we’re not starving for fossil fuels.”

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Anthony Bongco/Staff

The ASUC Senate unanimously passed a bill at its meeting Wednesday stating that it will express no confidence in incoming UC president Janet Napolitano if she does not meet a list of nine demands by a deadline set by the senate.

The bill, which was authored by CalSERVE Senator Sean Tan, was amended so the senate would express no confidence only if Napolitano does not meet the nine demands listed in the bill by the third week of October.

“(Napolitano) has something to prove to students, but students have nothing to prove to her,” Tan said. “We are giving her a chance.”

ASUC External Affairs Vice President Safeena Mecklai will present the bill to the UC Student Association board with the list of demands to Napolitano, some of which call for her to ensure the UC system will be a safe place for undocumented students and to prohibit the use of riot police in interfering with student acts of disobedience, protests and rallies on UC campuses. Additionally, ASUC President Deejay Pepito will propose a review of the selection process of the UC president to the UCSA Council of Presidents.

“I think votes of no confidence have proven time and time again on campus and across campuses all over the UC that discussions like this can create productive dialogues and more healthy relationships,” Pepito said at the meeting. “I think that making it known that students are concerned and not happy about the appointment will allow the UC Office of the President to really understand how students feel.”

Some UC Berkeley students have expressed concern over Napolitano’s appointment due to her work as head of the Department of Homeland Security. Of concern is her enforcement of immigration policies such as Secure Communities, which allows police officers to hand over those they arrest to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Some students fear that her prior work will make undocumented students feel unsafe.

At the ASUC meeting, Ivan Villasenor Madriz, a UC Berkeley sophomore who said he was undocumented, asked the senate to support the motion.

“We’re here fighting, and we just want you to fight with us,” Madriz said.

Although the senate passed the bill unanimously, discussion about it did not lack tension. At one point during the meeting, Mecklai called out Executive Vice President Nolan Pack for a blog post he wrote regarding her vote at a recent UCSA meeting. There, Mecklai voted against a bill that stated UC students had no confidence in Napolitano, as did a majority of the board.

In the post, Pack blasted Mecklai for her vote against the bill.

“All of this comes from the same elected official who is attempting to appropriate the narrative of the radical activism of ‘Berkeley in the ’60s’ while simultaneously embracing the lukewarm politics of doublespeak and fear of authority,” Pack wrote in the post.

Mecklai personally addressed Pack at the meeting during her executive report, saying she will not be “bullied” by him.

“The idea that you’re using your blog as an attempt to slander my character because I disagree with you is deplorable,” Mecklai said. “I stand here today to tell you that I am not afraid of you. I have a right to my opinion. I have never fully rejected the idea of a vote of no confidence.”

Although she did not support the UCSA bill, Mecklai said she supports the amended version of the ASUC bill passed Wednesday night.

“It ended up being a good bill,” Mecklai said. “I plan on introducing this resolution to the UCSA board of directors, and I’ll sponsor it, and as the chair of the board, I’m totally comfortable doing that.”

Jane Nho covers student government. Contact her at jnho@dailycal.org.

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Jeffrey Joh/File

The ASUC Senate wasted no time at the beginning of the academic year, gearing up in its first meeting to debate a bill expressing that the senate has “no confidence” in Janet Napolitano as the incoming UC president.

Napolitano’s appointment raised concerns due to the policies she implemented in her previous position as Secretary of Homeland Security. In response, the ASUC Senate will debate SB 2, titled Bill in Support of Undocumented Students and Immigrant Communities, on Monday.

“The ‘no confidence’ comes from a lot of history — she has deported over 2 million undocumented immigrants,” said ASUC Senator Sean Tan, who authored the bill. “There’s a lot of fear in terms of what is her main priority as UC president, because she comes from a background of surveillance and apprehension and security.”

As Homeland Security Secretary, Napolitano played a role in enacting immigration policies such as Secure Communities, a program that allows local governments to report undocumented immigrants to federal officials.

Under her leadership, the Homeland Security Department deported a record number of undocumented immigrants, according to a report by UAW Local 2865, a UC student workers’ union.

“We call for a president devoted to rebuilding our capacity for teaching, research, and learning — not a specialist in cyber surveillance, law enforcement, and border security,” the union’s release states. “We demand that the UC Regents retract Napolitano’s nomination for appointment and reopen the process for selecting the UC president.”

If the bill is passed, ASUC External Affairs Vice President Safeena Mecklai will present a list of priorities detailed in the bill to the UC Student Association. These priorities include holding mandatory annual trainings for the rights of undocumented citizens, holding town halls for the UC campuses in both Northern and Southern California regions and ensuring that Secure Communities will not be implemented on UC campuses.

“A vote of no confidence is more effective when someone has already been in office,” Mecklai said. “For me personally, it’s more impactful to list eight demands with a timeline of when she needs to follow through with them.”

But some UC officials feel it is too soon to judge how Napolitano will perform as UC president. UC spokesperson Steve Montiel believes students will see that she is a person of “great integrity” as they learn more about her.

“She’s coming to lead the University of California, not coming to lead an immigration enforcement program,” Montiel said. “It’s a whole different world.”

The bill also calls for ASUC President DeeJay Pepito to propose a review of the UC president’s selection process to the UCSA Council of Presidents because some students felt that they were unfairly represented in her appointment.

“We as a senate could look at possible policy changes on how the UC president is selected, because we had a real problem with how student voices weren’t heard,” Mecklai said. “My fear is that we’ll only attack Napolitano and not the process, and in 10 years, this will happen again.”

Student Regent Cinthia Flores said the bill provides a proper avenue for students to voice their positions about Napolitano’s appointment.

Jane Nho covers student government. Contact her at jnho@dailycal.org.

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External Affairs Vice President Safeena Mecklai said voter registration forms had been ordered for every person living in the residence halls in an effort to increase voter registration. She also discussed her plans to bridge the gap between UC Berkeley students and the city of Berkeley by encouraging student involvement in events such as Sundays on Telegraph, a weekly fair that closes off two blocks on Telegraph Avenue.

Executive Vice President Nolan Pack announced that the senate meetings would soon be available via podcast to make them more accessible to students. Pack emphasized the importance of increasing transparency and said the podcasts would allow students and community members to comment online about bills and debates at senate meetings.

Four bills were sent to various senate committees for further review. The first bill, SB 1, authored by Pack, is titled Bill in Support of the Advocacy Agenda. Among other matters, the bill asks the senate to take action on everything from protesting budget cuts and library closures to promoting disaster preparedness on campus. The bill also emphasizes issues related to campus climate, including the development of a new and comprehensive strategy to report hate crimes on campus and increasing resources for LGBT students.

SB 2, titled Bill in Support of Undocumented Students and Immigrant Communities, asks ASUC President DeeJay Pepito to propose a review of incoming UC president Janet Napolitano’s selection, emphasizing the ASUC Senate’s support of undocumented youth and immigrant communities. Napolitano, who is currently the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, was announced as the new UC president in June. However, her appointment was not without controversy, as she has faced significant criticism from students who say her record on security, surveillance and immigration is of serious concern.

The third bill, in support of Northside student residents, is a response to the Berkeley Student District Campaign map, which aims to create a student-majority district in the city of Berkeley. However, as it is currently drawn, the district would exclude certain Northside co-ops as well as International House and three campus residence halls. The proposed bill resolves that the ASUC will not support any student district plan that excludes the Northside co-ops.

A final bill asked that $300 be allocated to the campus organization Conflict Free Campus Initiative at Berkeley, which promotes activism to bring peace to the Congo.

The next ASUC Senate meeting will take place Sept. 11.

Jane Nho covers student government. Contact her at jnho@dailycal.org.

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Nathaniel Solley/Staff

UC Berkeley’s student-night-safety service, BearWALK, has significantly cut the hours of operation of its door-to-door shuttle service in an effort to decrease wait times, replacing the shuttles with pedestrian escorts.

Door-to-door shuttle service now begins at 4 a.m., instead of 2 a.m., and continue to operate until 5:30 a.m. The walking escort service has been extended by two hours, to 4 a.m., to compensate for the shuttles’ shortened hours of operation. The Bear Transit Night Safety Shuttle service will continue to be offered from 7:30 p.m. to 4 a.m.

Carol Alfano, safety program administrator for BearWALK services, said a committee consisting of UCPD officials, parking officials and ASUC representatives was assembled and looked at the entire night-safety program during meetings in May and June to see how it could be improved.

“(The door-to-door shuttle time changes) were very well received, and wait times went down,” Alfano said. “People really don’t mind walking, because you have an escort.”

The changes were tested during the summer and will be continued throughout the academic year because of their positive public reception. However, some students have unfavorable views of the changes.

“The (door-to-door shuttle) services are really needed for people who live far from campus,” said Claudia Gonzalez, a UC Berkeley senior. “The changes could dissuade me from using BearWALK because I would have to wait for a shuttle or an escort to come, and it would just be faster to walk by myself.”

According to UCPD spokesperson Lt. Eric Tejada, both students and the police department were concerned that late-night waiting times for escort services were getting too long. In some instances, students had to wait 30 minutes for the door-to-door shuttle ride home.

“It was tough dealing with the early-morning hours and getting people the services that they wanted,” Tejada said. “Now, wait times have decreased.”

Contact Jane Nho at jnho@dailycal.org.

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Wilcox will replace Jane Close Conoley, the interim chancellor, who replaced former chancellor Timothy White in December after White left to become chancellor of the California State University system. Wilcox was announced as nominee for the position on July 25.

While Wilcox’s appointment was approved in a unanimous vote, both Gov. Jerry Brown  and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke out against his compensation package, which includes an annual base salary of $354,000 — an increase of $29,000, or 8.9 percent, from White’s salary.

Brown expressed concerns that Wilcox would receive an increase in salary from the previous chancellor and voted against the compensation package. In November, Brown also opposed an increase in compensation for UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks, citing concern with the university’s cost structure and the need for public administrators to exhibit the spirit of “servant leadership.”

Despite Brown’s opposition, the regents approved the compensation package.

UC President Mark Yudof expressed confidence that Wilcox would excel as chancellor.

“Kim Wilcox brings to the University of California distinctive expertise and interests that will serve the Riverside campus and the larger community exceedingly well,” Yudof said.

Bruce Varner, chair of the Board of Regents, served on the search committee and also expressed support of Wilcox.

“Kim Wilcox emerged as the top choice from an outstanding group of candidates,” Varner said. “He has everything it takes to be not only a strong leader and advocate for students, faculty and staff on campus but also a positive force for the larger community.”

Wilcox will begin his position as chancellor of UC Riverside on Aug. 19.

“I’m humbled and honored and excited about this chance,” Wilcox said. “Every university can become better, and great universities can become greater, and that’s what I see happening at the University of California, Riverside.”

Wilcox has served as provost and executive vice president of Michigan State University since 2005. He previously served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Kansas from 2002 to 2005 and as president and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents from 1999 to 2002.

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