Alice Waters Seeks Organic Bailout

Ah, California, that prodigious producer of fruits, nuts, and flakes. Alice Waters, the famous Chez Panisse chef, has seized on the national craze for bailouts to demand organic, unprocessed school lunches for all. More »

Bayer building in Berkeley gets visit from bomb squad

The Berkeley Police department responded to a call of a suspicious suitcase outside a building owned by Bayer AG on 7th street between Dwight and Parker. The pharmaceutical manufacturer has their biotechnology headquarters in the town and contributes grants to student research at the University of California. Officers cleared the area and the bomb squad detonated the suitcase — click for more photos from the scene. So the question is: Terrorist hippies for forgetful hobo? (Photo by vathryn)

Facebook chat beta required a 1500 SAT score, or at least a legacy

Facebook Chat launched in beta earlier this week, available first to students at Harvard, Stanford, University of Chicago, Berkeley, Brown, Dartmouth and MIT— schools known for their brilliant graduates who go out and change the world. Or at least make a lot of money. Or write nasty things about the people who do. Also: Harvard, Stanford, University of Chicago, Berkeley, Brown, Dartmouth and MIT were the first schools to make Facebook popular, having been the first networks allowed access Mark Zuckerberg's creation. So we have that to thank them for too. Harvard's Alexander Konrad begins to earn our forgiveness, panning the new feature in the Crimson.

UC Berkeley makes it easy to skip class

UC Berkeley is claiming to be the first university to provide full-length lectures on the popular video-sharing site YouTube. The university is positioning the move as "a public window into university life, academics, events and athletics, which will build on our rich tradition of open educational content for the larger community." But we all know this will mostly be used as a justification for hung-over undergrads to skip class and send their friends messages on Facebook.