The governor’s May budget revision, released Tuesday, remains largely unchanged from the January proposal. Patrick Lenz, the university’s vice president for budget and capital resources, said the university did not receive any additional increases in funding in the May revision.

The budget also calls for a four-year tuition freeze for all students except those in professional schools, a restructuring of debt and discontinuation of a proposed unit cap on state-subsidized courses, which could have affected 2,200 UC students in the next school year.

Student Regent Jonathan Stein and Regent Bonnie Reiss raised concerns about rising costs of professional student fees while undergraduate and other program costs have been held constant.

“Because Prop. 30 passed and because of new state revenues, we’ve been able to hold tuition constant,” Stein said. “In reality, we’ve been able to hold undergraduate and Ph.D tuition constant while professional schools continue to rise.”

The regents also discussed restructuring the university’s debt. The state of California currently takes out bonds on behalf of the university, but UC officials say shifting the responsibility of the debt to the UC system would help lower the debt.

“That debt is greater because the state of California’s credit rating is not as good as ours,” said Brooke Converse, spokesperson for the UC Office of the President. “What we’re asking is that the state of California let us take over and restructure that debt, because if we restructure it, we’ll be able to save $80 million a year.”

The university is also working with the governor to expand facilities at UC Merced, said Nathan Brostrom, the university’s executive vice president for business operations.

“The highest priority is a classroom and academic building at UC Merced,” Brostrom said. “They are now close to 6,000 students, and they do not have space for continued growth unless they get more classroom buildings.”

The regents also approved a plan to build a new aquatics center at UC Berkeley on the current site of the Tang Center parking lot.

Protesters from American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 3299, a union representing patient-care workers at UC medical centers, also interrupted early in the meeting for about 45 minutes to protest in favor of higher pay and increased staffing.

On Thursday, the regents will meet in closed sessions to discuss collective bargaining matters and lawsuits related to the UC system.

Staff writer Virgie Hoban contributed to this report. 

Mitchell Handler covers academics and administration. Contact him at mhandler@dailycal.org and follow him on Twitter @mitchellhandler.

The post UC Regents meet in Sacramento to discuss budget, projects at UC Berkeley and Merced appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Even after surviving a war zone, UC Berkeley freshman Unis Barakat found himself succumbing to the lingering emotional scars of his experience.

Barakat had spent his childhood on the Gaza Strip in Palestine, fearing for his life as helicopters fired missiles and cars exploded around him. Before he moved to the United States, family members physically abused him, holding his mother back as they threw him down the stairs.

In the spring of 2011, Barakat attempted his first suicide.

“I was sick of the injustices in the world,” he said. “It wasn’t a place I wanted to be. I really wanted to kill myself at the time.”

“We need to accept that feeling
depressed, anxious or suicidal —
these are natural parts of
the human condition and part
of what it means to be alive”
- Scott Wallin,
Doctoral student studying
cognitive disabilities

Though Barakat’s story is exceptional, the depression he experienced is not uncommon and is in fact widespread among college-aged individuals.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the average suicide rate for college campuses is about eight deaths per 100,000 college students. Two UC Berkeley students committed suicide this past year, placing the campus just under the national average — though not all suicides on campus are reported.

“Cal is a very stressful place — there’s an intensity, an academic integrity,” said Aaron Cohen, a psychologist at the University Health Services Tang Center. “That creates a lot of stress, anxiety, depression — you name it. So I do think there can be a pulse on this campus where we’re not creating a healthy environment.”

In light of this reality, UC Berkeley began receiving $600,000 in the fall of 2011 as part of a nearly $8 million California Mental Health Services Authority grant that aims to improve mental health programs within the system over a span of three years. The campus began implementing programs this year to increase awareness, reduce stigma and educate the campus community about suicide prevention.

Raising awareness

UC Berkeley junior Silvia Lopez, grappling with a daunting workload and the death of a family member, decided she needed a therapist. But she thought the Tang Center was “just a hospital” and didn’t know where to go to have her needs addressed.

After a professor referred her to the center, she arrived as a walk-in, signed a small stack of papers and met with a counselor who evaluated her and signed her up for a series of treatments.

“I wish I knew how easy it was,” Lopez said.

According to Cohen, the Cal MHSA Student Mental Health Initiative coordinator at the Tang Center, approximately 5,700 students used the Tang Center’s Counseling and Psychological Services last year. He said that considering the campus serves approximately 36,000 students, many may not be utilizing the center’s resources because they are unaware of what it offers.

“It’s really important for us to get the word out there about our services and let people know about confidentiality, let people know we’re not about labeling, let people know we’re trying to figure out a way to support students through what they want,” Cohen said.

Stephanie Ho, a Tang Center psychologist and former Cal MHSA grant coordinator, said first-generation, first-year students and those who are away from their family for the first time experience stressors that make them more susceptible to depression but are least likely to be able to navigate the resources on campus.

“The Tang Center’s provided a lot of help for me now,” said Blake Simons, a UC Berkeley sophomore who battled depression. “But being able to access those resources was hard, especially as a freshman, being lost, in a sense.”

In targeting first-year students, this academic year the campus implemented the Interactive Screening Program, an anonymous online questionnaire that surveys students’ stress levels and substance abuse issues. Cohen provides students with feedback tailored to their responses and invites them to schedule a counseling appointment.

“You’re a student at Berkeley,” said Shannan McClain, a UC Berkeley senior and founder of the campus suicide prevention group You Mean More. “It’s overwhelming. You might not take the time to find the Tang Center even if you’re struggling.”

“Depression is temporary.
Suicide is forever.
I know I’ll get through it,
and that is what keeps me sane.”
- Silvia Lopez,
UC Berkeley junior

The Cal MHSA grant funded other programs designed to raise awareness like the Gold Folder, a reference guide for faculty and staff with indicators of distress in students, campus resources and protocol during an emergency. Additionally, the campus will launch a large-scale media campaign on topics such as depression and suicide.

“You need to help make people aware of this issue,” Lopez said. “It breaks my heart that people feel like there’s no way out. Depression is temporary. Suicide is forever. I know I’ll get through it, and that is what keeps me sane.”

Constrained by a lack of resources

Struggling to come to terms with the suicide of a close friend and shrouded by what he could only assume was depression, Blake Simons resolved that he needed help.

After calling Counseling and Psychological Services in his freshman year, Blake said a staff worker emailed him a list of outside psychologists, ultimately steering him away because he had “too many problems” — more than could be remedied in the allotted five free counseling sessions provided for all students.

“We just wish that we had more resources, more staffing,” Ho said. “Where it comes up is that we have a session limit and have wait times.”

McClain said many students struggle to access mental health resources and secure an appointment at Tang. She said students may wait indefinitely for a 15-minute conversation.

“Tang is doing a lot,” McClain said. “But in the time of budget cuts, I’m sure they’re understaffed and doing the best they can.”

According to Kim LaPean, communications manager at the Tang Center, campuswide budget cuts in 2008 affected the level of service that the Tang Center provided. After recovery from the budget cuts, staffing has grown, but Counseling and Psychological Services is still advocating for resources.

“Even with all of the funding we currently receive, we struggle to meet the demand for our mental health services,” LaPean said in an email.

Jeff Prince, director of Counseling and Psychological Services, said that although the university has supported the department, staffing is still not up to the level of need. The Tang Center currently employs 26 psychologists and social workers, 12 trainees and 12 psychiatrists, five of whom are full-time employees.

“Even with all of the funding
we currently receive, we struggle
to meet the demand for our mental
health services”
- Kim LaPean,
Communications manager at the
Tang Center

“Given the volume of students coming through the door, we do a really good job of trying to meet their needs,” Cohen said.“We always are needing more support and more resources.”

A portion of the Cal MHSA grant is directed at hiring staff, including a full-time psychologist and a part-time postdoctoral fellow.

“I believe the funding has enabled us to do some creative and long-needed work in suicide prevention and mental health education,” Prince said in an email. “Maintaining student access to counseling is critical — and just as critical is reaching those students who do not present themselves for counseling but can be helped through these programs.”

A stigma that feeds on itself

Lopez said it was a crippling stigma against mental illness in her community that kept her from seeking help for her depression.

“If I mentioned wanting to see a psychologist, my parents would say, ‘We won’t pay for that,’ and ‘What the hell for? You might as well tell me the problems,’” Lopez said.

Many researchers say an inevitable obstacle in raising awareness and even approaching depression is the harmful stigma surrounding and defining mental health.

“If I break my arm, there’s no stigma against going to doctor and getting it fixed,” said Scott Wallin, a doctoral student who studies cognitive disabilities. “But if I’m feeling stressed, if I can’t do my work or maintain relationships, there’s a stigma about going to the Tang Center and seeing a therapist. What’s wrong with me? Am I weak? Why can’t I be normal?”

This stigma, according to Wallin, stems from a continual cycle of self-deprecation when individuals internalize the negative perceptions held against them and sink further into depression.

Steven Segal, a campus professor of social welfare, said people tend to distance themselves from those who have been hospitalized because they perceive them as a threat to their safety, which exacerbates the isolation and reinforces the depression.

“It feeds on itself, in a way,” he said.

Wallin added that although some categorize depression as a medical condition in order to alleviate the stigma, this classification can prove detrimental, as it implies there is something defective on a biological level and innately broken or wrong “from your cells on up.”

“We need to accept that feeling depressed, anxious or suicidal — these are natural parts of the human condition and part of what it means to be alive,” Wallin said.

Yet Lopez has difficulty internalizing this affirmation and said at times she feels like a failure and “not smart enough to be here.”

Susan Bell, manager of outreach and consultation for Counseling and Psychological Services, said Cal MHSA programs, such as the peer-to-peer trainings, will educate students on the signs of depression and allow them to share this information with their peers.

“Mental health is nothing to be ashamed of,” Blake said. “Just say, ‘Hey, I have this problem, but I’m dealing with it. I’m getting the help I need so I can be where I want to be.’”

“I’m very happy now.”

The Cal MHSA grant programs will continue until spring 2014, when most of the programs will be implemented.

As for Barakat, it has been more than a year since his last suicide attempt, and he is still recovering. He said that his psychiatrist has reduced his medication and hopes he will be off of it in a year.

“I’m very happy now — not necessarily happy, but I feel like nothing would bring me down,” Barakat said. “Surviving the things I’ve been through made me a lot stronger, and a lot of times I feel like, if all of that didn’t bring me down, nothing will.”

Contact Virgie Hoban and Gladys Rosario at newsdesk@dailycal.org.

The post In the face of depression, moving forward appeared first on The Daily Californian.

The firm, Druva, will provide its inSync software to back up and protect PCs, laptops, smartphones and tablets used by campus affiliates in order to combat data and intellectual property loss caused by mobile device failure, damage and theft, according to Walt Hagmaier, a partner on the Druva contract and director of information services and technology at UC Berkeley.

According to a statement on Druva’s website, the software’s automated backup service would create a campuswide file repository that would protect sensitive data on campus as well as make them easily recoverable in the event that a device fails, is stolen or is lost. Users will also be able to remotely access multiple devices and manage files without using a university-authorized file-sharing service.

The campus selected Druva from four finalists after a competitive bidding process, according to David Willson, a partner on the Druva contract and manager of strategic technology acquisition in the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Hagmaier and Willson made the final decision to partner with Druva in December.

“Druva was selected as a result of a competitive bid that considered both price and a qualitative evaluation of the products,” Willson said.

Willson also added that they were constrained by public purchasing regulations requiring a cost-effective choice.

The campus currently uses UCBackup, which provides backup and recovery services for computer systems on campus only. UCBackup charges monthly, and costs consist of a fixed $2 fee accompanying a usage-based charge of $0.14 per month per GB of data stored, according to the UCBackup website.

“The difference in cost is substantial,” Hagmaier said. “The new solution will be less than half the price of the old solution.”

In addition to the cost-saving benefits that Druva offers, this product is much more accessible for faculty and staff than UCBackup, reported Hagmaier.

“This product has a much more user-friendly interface. The new version will allow faculty and staff to back up their files while not on the UC Berkeley campus,” Hagmaier said.

The switch to Druva is a part of an ongoing effort to increase campus security and protect people’s personal information.

Device theft has naturally started to increase because these devices are more prevalent, said UCPD Lt. Eric Tejada. Hacking is also an issue. In 2009, the Tang Center experienced a security breach in which hackers accessed the electronic records database holding the personal information of thousands of UC Berkeley students.

“The goal of this program is to back up everyone’s device so that no one loses their files again,”  Hagmaier said.

Although this program offers much needed accessibility, there is no guarantee that files will never be compromised.

“I don’t think you can ever be completely protected,” said IT policy manager Lisa Ho.

In a two-year period, this program will roll out to all faculty and staff and will come preinstalled on their endpoint devices, according to Hagmaier.

Contact Matt Trejo at mtrejo@dailycal.org.

The post UC Berkeley updates data security through new contract appeared first on The Daily Californian.

The protesters requested that UC administrators meet numerous conditions, including no increases in SHIP fees, lifting coverage and prescription drug caps on SHIP plans, improvements in dependent care and a new contract that prevents layoffs for health care workers.

“We’re protesting the fact that UC SHIP is exploiting a loophole in Obamacare that makes it so we still have caps on our services,” said Austin Pritzkat, a UC Berkeley sophomore and organizer for CalSERVE.

The protesters came from a variety of student groups and unions, including CalSERVE; UAW Local 2865, which represents student-workers; and AFSCME 3299, which represents health care and service workers.

In response to their efforts, Chancellor Robert Birgeneau agreed to meet with a group of students sometime during the next two weeks to discuss the conditions involved in the protest, said campus spokesperson Janet Gilmore in an email.

After protesting at Bancroft and Telegraph for about half an hour, the protesters marched down Bancroft, blocking traffic while holding signs and chanting, “Health care should be free, no caps, no fees.”

The protest comes less than three weeks after it was revealed that UC SHIP is projected to have a systemwide $57 million deficit and that administrators have recommended increasing premiums by an average of 25 percent systemwide, including a 19.8 percent increase for UC Berkeley students.

“We are protesting to demand that the university not increase our health care costs,” said graduate student Munira Lokhandwala. “We think they’re already too high. We don’t want to pay for the mismanagement of funds.”

Following their march down Bancroft, the protesters reached the Tang Center, where eight went inside for a sit-in in the lobby while about 50 others continued their protest in the courtyard.

“It’s a backdoor fee hike, but it’s still a fee hike,” said UC Berkeley graduate student Rachel Lesser to the crowd gathered outside. “We say no to fee hikes.”

The sit-in at the Tang Center continued for more than two hours as the protesters spoke with Ron Coley, associate vice chancellor of business and administrative services, and Dean of Students Jonathan Poullard. The students left the Tang Center after the chancellor agreed to meet with them.

“They were very open to working with us, and they were very clear that their interests are very well-aligned with ours,” said UC Berkeley student Maggie Hardy.

Gilmore said the Tang Center was able to remain open to patients throughout the day.

“We are sympathetic to the students’ position and understand that they were seeking to bring attention to their cause,” Gilmore said in an email.

.

Mitchell Handler covers academics and administration. Contact him at mhandler@dailycal.org and follow him on Twitter @mitchellhandler.

The post Protesters rally against UC SHIP fee increases, march to Tang Center appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Whatever you do, do not be an enabler. Let it be known that you want change. Directly encouraging students to engage in safer, more risk-free drinking from a physical health standpoint — pacing yourself, limiting yourself, alternating between alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks — is very “hit-or-miss.” But I do think it’s possible to achieve this from a social standpoint. Think about the naked walk from the fire escape, which you thought was your room, to your actual room the next morning. Think about being forced by the custodial staff to clean up your own puke on all fours while your neighbors are leap-frogging you just to get to the elevator.
These highly profound thoughts and realizations might be difficult to comprehend with a high blood-alcohol content, but then again, if you do decide to drink, you should try to think about these things ahead of time. Odds are if you’re bothering people around you with your drunkenness or impairing their ability to carry out simple activities, you’ve probably had too much to drink. So let me be completely honest with you: When you vomit in my living space, I am very bothered, and I want you to clean up the mess and make the proper adjustments so it doesn’t happen again. So it all goes back to common sense and awareness.

Get to know your living community and your neighbors, and familiarize yourself with rules, laws and repercussions of alcohol-related activities so you can mitigate some negative effects and maybe convince yourself to put down that last shot. More importantly, learn about the on-campus resources that are available to you, like health and wellness coaching and counseling services at the Tang Center.
If at this point you’re saying, “Pft, I can handle my liquor,” then keep it up! But if not, it might be time to re-evaluate your drinking habits. Because if you live in the residence halls, then believe me, you don’t want to be on the receiving end of incessant glares and threats to be reported to an RA. And if you live in off-campus housing, I’m not even sure how far disgruntled roommates or neighbors would go. They probably draw the line at having to long jump over their trashed driveway to get to their Honda Civic. Seriously, some people just aren’t that athletic. Be considerate, please.

Shahnin Firouzbakht is a member of the residence hall health worker program directed by the Tang Center.

Contact the opinion desk at opinion@dailycal.org.

The post Check your intake at the front door appeared first on The Daily Californian.

When the doors are unlocked, the students file in, but despite the multitude of options Crossroads offers, a line always forms at the Blue Plate station, which features the night’s featured meal — typically a meat dish with a side and vegetables. Just as busy is the pizza station, which is directly ahead of the cash register. However, less populated are the 100 percent organic salad bar, the deli station and the vegan station.

This sort of eating behavior is what can cause problems for students, perhaps even causing the dreaded “Freshman 15.” But according to Ida Shen and Renee Simpson, Cal Dining’s assistant culinary director and dietician, respectively, students can very easily plan balanced meals that still allow for the occasional slice of pizza.

While the dining halls would be referred to by most as all-you-can-eat, Shen refers to them as “all you care to eat.”

“We’re not the food police,” Shen said. “For our students, they have to look at our dining hall like a kitchen … When you start looking at it that way, all of a sudden the world is your oyster.”

Both Shen and Simpson said students should draw from all of the stations in any given dining commons in order to create a balanced meal. For instance, a salad from the organic salad bar can be topped with chicken from the grill station or hummus from the deli station.

Simpson’s formula for a balanced plate at Crossroads is easy enough for any student to remember even after a day of hitting the books — half a plate of leafy greens, a quarter plate of whole grain carbohydrates and a quarter plate of protein with one tablespoon of something fatty like salad dressing or gravy. She added that most of her vegetables come from the organic salad bar, and when suitable cooked veggies aren’t available, she finds what she wants at the salad bar and microwaves them briefly to warm but not overcook them.

While Shen suggests that students follow the same sensibilities that Simpson described, she said students should also feel free to eat what they want so long as it’s in moderation.

“It’s okay to have pizza or fried food or dessert as long as it’s once or twice a week,” Shen said. “Just because it’s offered to you daily doesn’t mean you need to partake in it every day. It’s about balance.”

Just as easily as overeating can be a problem in the campus dining commons, so can undereating. Shen said cases are rare, but Cal Dining staff has in the past identified students with eating disorders and suggested that they seek out help at the Tang Center, the campus health center.

“We’re here for the health of all of our students,” Shen said.

The post The ‘Crossroads’ of healthy eating appeared first on The Daily Californian.

What many casual attendees might not have known is that Angelakos cancelled several tour dates in the month leading up to the festival because, as he said on the band’s website, “I’m going to take the time to work on improving my mental health.” Since the cancellations, the 25 year-old Angelakos has spoken frankly with the media about living with bipolar disorder, a mental illness that is marked by emotional fluctuations between manic highs and depressive lows. Until an article came out chronicling his struggles, he was originally not so keen about making his disorder public, describing in an interview what was to be his excuse for cancelling shows, “It’s a lot easier for me to say ‘I have pneumonia.’ And that is what I was going to say.”

Young adults across the nation share many of Angelakos’ struggles of living with mental illness that I believe are reflected in the lyrics of Passion Pit’s latest album Gossamer: institutionalization, strained relationships, depression, medication, substance abuse and mania. In 2006, it was estimated that nearly one third of young adults aged 18 through 26 experienced some kind of mental illness, including high instances of bipolar and major depression. For individuals who develop schizophrenia, their first  “psychotic break” is most likely to happen in the late teens or early 20’s.

The demands of university life add to the challenges of young adults with mental illness. Many are left to balance an extremely demanding schedule and workload while managing their symptoms. Many struggle to find an understanding network of support away from home.  Some find a way to make it through college. Others, sadly, are not able to finish.

Mental health affects us all at Berkeley. It’s easy for anyone to lose oneself among the thousands of students at a campus like ours. The constant pressure of exams and papers leaves students in a perpetual state of anxiety. Not everyone can keep up with the demanding social life. With all the stressors at Berkeley, we as students are are all responsible for creating an environment where we can feel comfortable “coming out” about mental health problems to our peers.

For me, all of this hit home when Cal sophomore Henry Treadway died in an apparent suicide at the end of the last school year. I knew Henry personally, and for this reason this loss reminded me how the problem of poor mental health can become uncomfortably real and close. There are many emotions that arose from the horrifying news — shock, sadness, fear, disappointment — the latter being the most poignant as I asked myself, as I’m sure many others did too, what I could I do to prevent something so drastic and fatal as suicide?

The answer is difficult because, like Angelakos, many young adults keep their struggles with mental health private. Many don’t reach out for help or don’t even know what help exists. Among college students in the nation, only about a third with mental health problems received treatment within the last year. But there are open doors out there for mental health care. The Tang Center offers mental health counseling services and referrals for students who are concerned about a friend who may be experiencing trouble. Of course, someone still has to step through those doors and it takes courage to do so yourself or another person.

Many still don’t or will not seek services because of the stigma associated with having a mental illness. My hope is that the revelation of mental illness from the front runner of Passion Pit and other well-known figures will normalize these disorders as something that many people go through. For young adults, it’s important to see their peers addressing these issues early on, which can lead to greater control over the mental illness throughout the course of one’s life. Angelakos began his treatment for bipolar disorder when he was 18 and has since said that he has found a treatment and medication that works for him.

Michael Angelakos was right. It is a lot easier to call it pneumonia. For a young adult who makes a living, bellowing music that is filled with life and passion, the days when the body and mind feel absolutely dead are enough to want to forget. Yet forgetting or hiding his eight years of hospitalizations and medication roulette would discolor the story of his recovery. Singing it is when the healing begins.

Contact Radomir Avila at ravila@dailycal.org.

The post Off the beat: Mind matters appeared first on The Daily Californian.

High numbers of alcohol-related illnesses reported at the beginning of the school year are not uncommon with game days, back-to-school parties and the influx of new freshmen. However, whereas UCPD reported seven alcohol-related casualty calls from the beginning of school to Labor Day weekend in 2010, the number of incidents reported during the same time period in each of the past two years are about twice that many.

On Thursday, UCPD sent a letter to community members alerting them about alcohol-related incidents associated with Saturday’s football game and students’ return to Berkeley. Then at Saturday’s first home football game, UCPD officers were on site to enforce a zero-tolerance alcohol policy with the goal of reducing alcohol-related crimes and illnesses, according to a press release from UCPD Chief Mitch Celaya.

“Our experience has been that on game days, there is a significant increase in the illegal and unsafe alcohol usage in the campus area,” said UCPD Lt. Alex Yao.

At the same time, the campus has also implemented preventative measures to combat alcohol-related incidents, with a focus on freshmen.

The results from a survey in the 2011 AlcoholEdu program — a confidential, online alcohol education course that incoming students are instructed to take — show that 70 percent of respondents are nondrinkers, above the national average of 56 percent, according to Karen Hughes, coordinator for PartySafe@Cal.

Hughes said AlcoholEdu aims to “change wider student population alcohol-related behaviors and attitudes.”

However, among students who drink, 37 percent responded that they drink at fraternity houses, which is more than twice the national average of people who drink at fraternity houses. And according to Troy Gilbert, director of Academic and New Student Services in the Office of Student Development, there is no direct action if a student does not complete the program.

“We are interested in incentives that reward student completion and education on the issues as opposed to punitive actions,” Gilbert said.

Additionally, in May, students expressed concern about police officers from outside the city of Berkeley in the Alameda County Vice Enforcement Team policing activities around the campus.

Many alcohol-related illnesses are reported from the residence halls. Steve Sutton, executive director of the Office of Student Development, said that in the residential housing, protocol for students who appear intoxicated can include contacting the UCPD.

There is a different situation in Units 1, 2 and 3 — where students need to check in with a security monitor who could alert someone if a student seemed in need of assistance — than at the Clark Kerr or Foothill complexes, where students can reach their dorms without stopping at a security station, Sutton said.

Estaban Barragan, a campus senior, said he never completed any part of AlcoholEdu but learned about alcohol as he starting drinking.

“I didn’t have any alcohol experience before coming to college,” Barragan said.

Freshman Elisha Flores said she also has not yet taken AlcoholEdu but said it was not a priority because she has already learned all the information from the course many times before and is not interested in drinking in college.

Chloe Hunt covers crime. Contact her at cthunt@dailycal.org.

The post Campus community responds to rise in alcohol-related incidents appeared first on The Daily Californian.

UCPD officers responded to a total of 14 alcohol-related incidents that required transportation to the hospital since the beginning of August, according to UCPD Capt. Margo Bennett. Of the 14, 12 have occurred since move-in weekend.

Bennett said that last year, there were 11 alcohol-related incidents recorded during the month of August.

“It’s not a dramatic increase,” Bennett said. “But we’re not at the end of the month yet.”

The frequency, while similar to that of last year, is an increase from two years ago, when UCPD officers responded to only seven alcohol-related casualty calls between move-in weekend and Labor Day weekend.

UC policy prohibits student drinking that impairs “work performance, scholarly activities, or student life.”

The two alcohol-related incidents that occurred before move-in weekend involved students of legal drinking age living in I-House, according to Bennett.

“Usually a roommate or other resident will report that a student is in need of attention due to alcohol consumption,” said Marty Takimoto, director of marketing communications for campus Residential and Student Service Programs, in an email. “A resident may call 911 directly or seek assistance from an RA who will, in turn, contact UCPD.”

Karen Hughes, coordinator for PartySafe@Cal, said the data could represent more students calling to report situations, rather than more incidents. PartySafe@Cal — a campaign run through University Health Services — aims to reduce alcohol-related risks for the campus community through a variety of strategies.

“I think it’s possible that we are seeing a little more culture change,” Hughes said.

With Memorial Stadium set to reopen this season, more students will be on campus for gameday activities. Bennett said she expects to see an increase in the number of alcohol-related illnesses associated with football gamedays throughout the season.

Twelve of the 14 reports so far this month were for people under 21, according to Bennett. She said the one nonstudent reported this month thus far was probably acquainted with a student, because the incident was reported from a residence hall. Nonstudents must be checked in by a student to enter most residential facilities. She added that fraternity houses, co-ops and apartments are outside of UCPD jurisdiction.

Nevin Rao, a program coordinator at the Tang Center, said students consistently think more students are harming themselves than actually are.

“What is really important … is that students don’t overestimate how many people are using alcohol and don’t underestimate its harm.”

Chloe Hunt is the lead crime reporter. Contact her at cthunt@dailycal.org

The post UCPD reports increase in alcohol-related calls as school year begins appeared first on The Daily Californian.

On Aug. 15, SHIP will join insurance providers across the nation in starting to offer many female health services, such as birth control, pap smears, virus testing and mammograms, without requiring co-payments from patients.

The SHIP women’s preventative health care plan was developed last year ahead of the mandate from the Affordable Care Act — commonly known as Obamacare — at the UC Office of the President when groups of students and executive leaders debated many new health care benefits and their costs, according to Kim LaPean, communications manager for the Tang Center at UC Berkeley.

LaPean said the Tang Center is thrilled to be able to offer this type of comprehensive sexual health coverage.

“Whatever national laws go into effect, our plan is going to align with that,” LaPean said. “We’re going to comply and try to go above and beyond (the national regulations) whenever we can.”

Currently, SHIP members pay $5 a month specifically for birth control coverage. While this fee will no longer be administered in the upcoming school year, the annual health insurance cost added to tuition for those without off-campus insurance can still be expected to rise as a result of medical inflation and the implementation of proactive benefits, according to LaPean.

Staff coordinator for the Sexual Health Education Program — a group of student-peer sexual health educators on campus — Robin Mills said she hopes that students who previously saw cost as a prohibitive factor will begin to use the preventative services, but that it all depends on whether or not students are aware of the co-paying change.

“We already talk about the methods available at the Tang Center,” Mills said. “It will be exciting for us to tell students they can receive many of these methods free of charge.”

At the Tang Center, LaPean said women’s health and contraceptives in general are the leading reasons behind patient visits, and about 50 percent of the center’s primary health care visits are related to sexual health.

Campus senior Christina Avalos, who receives SHIP coverage, believes the attitudes on campus toward birth control and other women’s preventive services will change once the plan is implemented.

“(Birth control is) not much of a taboo thing right now, but I think it will become less so as it will become so easily accessible,” Avalos said. “There’s not going to be that negative social context attached to it hopefully in the future, as getting this kind of preventative care will perpetuate better social conditions for women.”

The post Tang Center to provide free sexual health services to women with SHIP insurance appeared first on The Daily Californian.