Although the WarnMe alert system drew some criticism in 2011 after many did not receive notification about a shooting at Haas School of Business, the campus’s multiple warning systems appear to have been utilized effectively during Monday’s power outage and explosion, campus officials said.

Campus police and officials used nearly all emergency systems in place to respond to the events — including WarnMe, the campus siren-and-PA system and the emergency phone line, which played a looped message with updates on the situation. Messages were also posted on the campus public affairs website, Facebook and Twitter pages, according to campus spokesperson Janet Gilmore.

UCPD sent four messages via WarnMe, said UCPD spokesperson Lt. Eric Tejada.

After the explosion near California Hall about 6:40 p.m., a message went out at 6:50 p.m. telling recipients to evacuate campus immediately due to an emergency.

“We know that there will be situations where individuals maybe might get (WarnMe messages) late or not receive them,” Gilmore said. “We will be taking a close look at what worked and what needs to be improved.”

Gilmore encouraged students who did not receive text message alerts to update their information through the BearFacts website and choose text messaging as the preferred option for receiving emergency communication.

Senior Christophe Hansen-Estruch was studying at C.V. Starr East Asian Library when the campus initially lost power.

“There was this noise like a ‘bmf,’ and then all the lights went off,” he said.

After a few minutes of confusion, a library staff member went up each floor to inform students that there had been a power outage and that there was no immediate emergency, he said.

Hansen-Estruch also said he received an email from WarnMe, but because he did not sign up for text alerts, he received the warning much later.

UCPD used the campus PA system to send broadcasts instructing individuals to leave campus after the explosion occurred. Throughout the evening, police officers entered and checked campus buildings to ensure all individuals had been evacuated, Gilmore said.

The campus’s emergency systems effectively served their purpose, said UCPD Lt. Marc DeCoulode.

Although the residence halls did not need to be evacuated Monday night, the campus will work with city officials to find suitable areas for relocation in case the need arises in the future, said Amina Assefa, manager at the campus’s Office of Emergency Management.

“We would start looking for open spaces in the city of Berkeley and start directing people,” she said. “We would also use campus transportation services if we have to move people further away.”

Contact Jessie Lau at jlau@dailycal.org.

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Back when you were in high school, you probably had to convince your mom that you were doing your homework. When she’d enter the room, you’d probably quickly exit out of whatever site you were on — be it Facebook or YouTube (or maybe even MySpace) — and open up a blank Word document to make her think you were being productive.

‘I have no idea what I’m doing.’

If you’re one of those lucky people who have an abnormally awesome class schedule, however, you now have a different problem.

Well … this is creepy.

Let’s say you have classes only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Five-day weekends look awesome on paper. You get to spend a lot of days off campus, if you’d like.

But then you start to realize just how much homework you have to finish on those five days you’re not in class.

A different version of ‘sleeping in’ develops.

Meanwhile, your roommates, who begrudgingly go to class five days a week, see you at home in your pajamas all the time. You’re trying to get your work done, but your roommates don’t believe that you’re actually doing work.

While we think the idea of reading, writing or typing at your computer at home with a warm mug of coffee or tea, snuggled up in a blanket in your pajamas, is a rather attractive way to work …

We like the pink one better.

Here are three steps to combat the opinions of your roommates/housemates/random people who visit your home who think you really don’t work when you’re at home.

1. Ditch the pajamas.

Suits, ties, fancy shoes — check.

Take a shower, get dressed and maybe even go to the extreme of combing your hair. If you’re bothered that your roommates think you don’t work because you’re always in flannel, show them that you take yourself and your work seriously.

Or, if you can rock the PJ look, wear whatever you want.

Looks like it’s good enough for Oxford, so why not UC Berkeley?

2. Leave.

You know you’ve walked by Strada and wanted to study there.

Check out one of Cal’s world-famous libraries, such as the Morrison or the East Asian library. Find a friend who has a schedule similar to yours and explore some unique places to get work done while enjoying a quaint new venue.

Or you could stay in the comfort of your room.

Assert your turf.

3. Don’t care.

Oh, what a beautiful thought.

We don’t mean about your grades — care about those! But as long as you’re getting everything done that you need to get done, who cares what anyone else assumes about your schedule? With all the stress you already experience with going to Cal, you don’t need the added load of worrying what other students think.

There is no “easy” major or “perfect” schedule. Work is work. Unless you really don’t care about passing your classes, then you’ve felt the stress that is associated with Cal and its academic rigor. Even if you only have classes twice a week.

Image sources: Laurenellen McCann, Alan Levine, Zhu, Jessica Leung, THINK Global School, Mike Licht, Jeremy Wilburn, Katie Swayze, under Creative Commons

GIF source: dudeseatingsalads

Contact Jessica Rogness at jrogness@dailycal.org and follow her on Twitter @jessarogness.

The post Do your roommates think you sleep all day? 3 steps to help appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Kevin Foote/Senior Staff

If you ask the average UC Berkeley student how many libraries there are on campus, you will most likely receive a perplexed gawk and an incorrect answer. Amid the majestic allure of the Doe Library — Gardner Main Stacks and the North Reading Room — it can be incredibly easy to overlook the extensive system of libraries scattered around the rest of campus.

Here are the facts: Totaling 32 libraries, containing over 11 million volumes and covering roughly 12 acres of land, UC Berkeley is home to the fourth largest academic library system in the United States.

Each of these libraries comes with its own personality perks and quirks, so when it comes time to hit the books, one can seek out the nook that best suits his or her every studying want and need. Here are a few particularly nice places to study.

Kresge Engineering Library

Located on Northside, smack dab in the middle of the engineering science buildings, lies the Kresge Engineering Library. Don’t be fooled by the name — the Engineering Library is actually the most social of the library system. No longer will you have to awkwardly stifle your coughs or quietly whisper among your peers. Not only are there large tables, whiteboards and lounging areas with cushioned couches in the open but also quiet cubicles in the back for private group or individual studying. The Engineering Library is the prime study location for study groups and intellectual conversing.

Environmental Design Library

Beyond the ironically unattractive exterior of Wurster Hall and on the second floor of the interior is the Environmental Design Library — home to the architecture and city planning majors. The library itself is a casual academic space, brightly lit with personal study nooks along the side looking over the Wurster Hall courtyard, and large rectangular tables in the center. If you ever feel the need to seek out some artistic inspiration during difficult study times, look no further than this library to do just that. The Environmental Design Library is not only conveniently lined with exhibit cases, filled with curated displays of rare books and materials from their archives, it is also only a floor away from the extravagant displays of architectural designs created by its students.

C.V. Starr East Asian Library

One of the all-time student favorites is the C.V. Starr East Asian Library, directly across Memorial Glade from the massive Doe Library. It is an awe-worthy building almost impossible to miss with its sophisticated and modern architectural design, both inside and out. The atmosphere is absolutely stoic, making this library the perfect spot for individual studying in utter silence and total privacy. The East Asian Library itself is rather dimly lit, contains a lounge area with plenty of natural light on the upper floor and has study carrels with individual desk lamps on the bottom floors.

Jean Gray Hargrove Music Library

Completed in 2004, the Jean Gray Hargrove Music Library is the most recent addition to UC Berkeley’s “Arts Quadrangle” between Wurster Hall, Kroeber Hall and Barrows Hall. The Music Library is one for the environmentalists, for its efficient interior lighting system also doubles as site lighting for the surrounding campus paths. In the shape of an off-kilter box, plastered with large windows forming geometric patterns and illuminating green hues, the building itself is a unique one to say the least and makes for a wonderful place to buckle down with its aura of openness and modern elegance.

Contact Michelle Lin at mlin@dailycal.org

The post Your guide to campus libraries appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Jacob Brown/Staff

Around 30 students gathered at UC Berkeley’s C.V. Starr East Asian Library late Saturday morning as a statement of solidarity with a larger movement that opposes the sale of several popular Taiwanese media outlets.

Undeterred by the rain, the demonstrators held signs in support of media independence and freedom of speech in Taiwan and took a picture of themselves to send to a Taiwanese civic organization, Youth Alliance Against Media Monsters, which is working to raise awareness and incite public opposition to the sale.

“There is no better place to fight for freedom of press than at UC Berkeley,” said Ann Yang, a graduate student in the UC Berkeley School of Law. “This is the place where Mario Savio took a stand for free speech.”

This demonstration at UC Berkeley was part of a larger wave of demonstrations at universities across the nation instigated by the sale of two major Taiwanese print publications and a number of television networks to a group of Taiwanese businessmen on Tuesday. Apple Daily, one of Taiwan’s most popular newspapers, is widely recognized as one of the few politically neutral news sources in Taiwan, and many believe that this sale could potentially introduce bias to the paper’s stories.

One of the buyers listed in the sale was Taiwanese media magnate Tsai Shao-chung, who already controls a substantial share of the Taiwanese media market and has ties to the pro-Chinese newspaper, the China Times.

“There are three things that make this sale so wrong,” said Ching-Chang Huang, one of the organizers of the event and a UC Berkeley graduate student. “(Tsai’s) control of the market share, his personality as a corrupt businessman and (the fact that) he is pro-China.”

Activists in Taiwan, concerned about the possibility of losing Taiwan’s largest politically neutral news source and the monopolistic power Tsai would wield with control of Apple Daily, have already begun to demonstrate against the sale.

Taiwanese activists at universities around the world, including Texas A&M University, Kyoto University and UCLA, have shown their support for the movement by holding and photographing their own demonstrations this week. In Taiwan, those photographs have been used to publicize the sale and encourage demonstration. The demonstrators at UC Berkeley wanted to show the same support.

“If we support Taiwan from the outside, it will be effective so they know they are not alone,” said Huang. “(Tsai) bought Apple Daily, so he can control what he wants to say about people.”

Contact Jacob Brown at jbrown@dailycal.org.

Correction(s):
A previous version of this article said the protestors would be sending the picture to the Formosan Association for Public Affairs. In fact, they are sending it to the Youth Alliance Against Media Monsters, a civic group that demonstrates against acquisitions that threaten to create a media monopoly in Taiwan.

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Tony Zhou/Staff

Sleeping bags, pizza and a chicken seem more fitting for an Occupy encampment than a library, but in the days leading up to finals, even those become commonplace at UC Berkeley’s campus libraries.

The Gardner Main Stacks and Moffitt Library will be open 24 hours a day starting today and until Sunday, Dec. 11, as they fill up with students who find creative ways to remain studying there.

In past years, committed students have brought suitcases filled with clothing and a desktop computer, and one even sneaked in a live bird, according to Alina Christian, night shift manager at Doe Library.

“We went downstairs (in Main Stacks,) and there was a chicken running around,” Christian said.

After that discovery last spring, Doe Library staff had to catch the bird and clean up its droppings.

Library staff are still unsure why the bird was in the building but assume it was a prank.

In order to spend longer hours at the library, some students bring in large meals. Whole pizzas have been spotted, and in the past year, a student even brought a rice cooker, according to Christian.

“He had rice, so I’m assuming it worked,” said Morgan Hulsey, a student library employee at Doe.

According to Christian, students often sleep on the library’s floor, rest on book racks or curl into individual cubicles to nap.

Additionally, breaks during the dead week can range from talking to friends to even sexual intercourse.

Condoms have been found in the library study halls, proof of intimate relations between the books, according to Hulsey.

Small confrontations also occur among students who spend long hours in the library, according to Sonya Williams, a employee in the security department for the campus libraries.

“People argue about space, saying ‘you took my space’ or ‘I was here first,’” Williams said.

Experienced Doe staff are largely cavalier about most of the happenings during dead week, but some events, such as the naked run, still have the power to surprise them.

“Afterwards, there was sequins and glitter everywhere,” Christian said regarding last year’s run.
Just across Memorial Glade, the C.V. Starr East Asian Library remains peaceful, according to Bruce Williams, the library’s reference services coordinator.

“Even the homeless people who come here are really well behaved,” Williams said. “It’s just a different group of people.”

Regardless of where they study, students will continue to invent ways to occupy the library in order to get their studying done.

Yufan Dong, a freshman, has already started studying for her finals but only plans to bring study materials with her into the library.

“Finals have got me stressed — I’m actually planning to go to the library every day next week and stay until I’m too tired to function,” she said.

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The C.V. Starr East Asian Library is thought to be one of the best study spots on campus.

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