Study Guide Google Doc

All are welcome to use this resource, please add notes, ideas, and summaries!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yUPhn9cSrMhqzsefPl9lkus9pkBrtClupgvhzUDNccM/edit?hl=en&authkey=COOUw5YD#

Final Exam: 11:30am 141 McCone

Legitimacy and Crisis

I had to take a break from writing a paper on the Tea-Party for Gill Hart's class to share a few things.

These past two years have been pretty extraordinary in terms of the global reaction to the onset of austerity measures. Kris said something in class about the reverberating affects of various movements. Many things have happened, just in the span of this class. Last year in Greece there were massive riots and protests against the greek austerity-bail out ... And recently in Spain 3/4 of workers went on strike, the Air-traffic controllers refused to work and were forced, literally by gun-point, by the military (which occupied the airports) to continue working. Before these protests in France earlier this autumn, 3 million french students and workers took to the street to protest cuts to education, the raising of the age at which people are allowed to stop working without getting a penalty. (btw, lot's of people strangely reported that they were raising it from 61 to 62, that was just a small percentage of the population, most french-people are just like any other nation, they were raising it from 65 to 67 See this article. And now, in Britain the protests against education cuts were huge -- they were supported by a large percentage of students and workers and has changed both the student's and larger public's understanding of the present situation -- consciousness remains "hot". In the past few weeks in Italy there have also been riots and protests over austerity measures and education cuts. Now, in the past few hours with Berlusconi being narrowly allowed to continue his reign (by 2 votes), workers, students, concerned citizens, etc. have broken into various protests/riots across Italy...

Around the world Austerity is demanded. Around the world people have seemed to say: "Austerity for us? Austerity for the bankers, the very rich, not for us" ... well... there's lots to say, but I guess I'd like to point out that the world we know hasn't been around as long as living in it makes it seem. These are strange and changing times -- there's a lot to think about, especially when we are in school and learning all this stuff. I suggest though that dreaming from the space of your own life is very important. I don't think dreaming is idealistic, I think it's actually very necessary to understand what you want out of life and your problems with the current state of things: it lets your critique of the world flesh out into something relevant at all times of the day. The question of course is then that old nagging one: what is to be done. I might be naive, but I think humans are capable of so much good -- we shouldn't blind ourselves about the tenability of alternatives.

Bomb Burning in California Home

Hi Everyone,

I realize that everyone is in the depths of papers and finals, but I was following the developments of this story and found it relevant to our discussions on issues surrounding the bomb and nuclear facilities. The amount of effort, funding, evacuations and so forth surrounding a house full of home made bombs and materials highlights the massive needs of funding and effort that are needed to address the much larger issue of nuclear test sites and toxic dump sites. The burning of this house is expected to release toxic chemicals into the air surrounding air in a mile radius, and stories note the wind watch advisory for the day of the burn reminds me of the miscalculated wind measurements in the nuclear testing in the Bikini atolls.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/12/03/131755637/-bomb-factory-in-california-home-leads-to-state-of-emergency

"art is a permanent accusation"

Abu Ghraib
Fernando Botero

Botero's paintings depict the torture, abuse and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers.


Link to Botero's Abu Ghraib series

Botero Sees the World's True Heavies at Abu Ghraib

Washington Post Article, November, 2007

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"A painting is not thought out and settled in advance. While it is being done, it changes as one's thoughts change. And when it's finished, it goes on changing, according to the state of mind of whoever is looking at it." - Pablo Picasso

Guernica, 1937

My interpretation of this quote by Picasso is that art has the capability to transform and challenge to the point that we become different people. Theory is very much like this.

WIPP Nuclear Waste Markers

Just thought I would share a document that gives more pictures and ideas of how to possibly mark nuclear waste sites for thousands of years in the future.

I think it is interesting to think about how it is possible to mark a site for future generations, possibly after our languages have all disappeared...how can we communicate these dangers in pictures ? Also, by marking a site, you are also drawing attention to it merely by act of marking. Thus, marking it could have the reverse effect that we intend. How can we mark a spot to universally express danger for thousands and perhaps hundreds of years in the future when communication and civilization as we know it will have so drastically changed?

I think this is really interesting to think about because it conveys the massive extent and unbounded nature of this problem both spatially and temporally.

http://www.wipp.energy.gov/library/PermanentMarkersImplementationPlan.pdf

Understanding basics of Nuclear Weapons

Hi Everyone!

I realize that we are nearing the end of the semester, and that extra reading may not be on your ‘to-do’ list… However this website might prove interesting/helpful to understanding some of the basics of WMDs, and in our case nuclear weapons. It is recommended by Professor Muller who teaches “Physics for Future Presidents” which is a really interesting class. It is a lot of information, but I think it could be quite helpful…

http://www.fas.org/nuke/intro/index.html

solidarity

Photograph: Matt Dunham/AP / November 24, 2010

NEWS
BLOG
"Second day of student protests - how the demonstrations happened"
Link to news blog at guardian.co.uk

Hi All,
The above is a very interesting blog with live updates on the student tuition hike protests as they unfolded throughout the day in the UK. I am fascinated by the scale of their organization -- much to learn from.

Students march in protest in Glasgow, Scotland

south korea and north korea

Hi All:

I wonder how we can use the themes in class in analyzing or in attempting to understand the current occurrences between South Korean and North Korea. (this is sad and terrifying to begin with)

Here are the links of the news I have found in the past hour:

1.http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/world/asia/24korea.html?_r=1&hp

2.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11818005

If there is anyone who knows or has a link to local news agencies in both, please feel free to share them. (though i would doubt that N.K. has one that is not under strict restrictions or control)

Quick question about USA-Russia nuke treaty?

I'm just confused as to what this agreement is hoping to achieve? As I understand, both countries have enough nuclear weapons to obliterate the world many times over, so about from a sheer political move, what is the purpose of this?

Timely Debate Over Surveillance

An interesting very public debate over how far security can justify the public sphere (in this case the TSA) intruding on the private sphere (individual airline passengers) is raging in the media, which has an obvious parallel to Lyon's reading on surveillance.

For those who haven't heard about it the summary is that 70 airports throughout the nation are beginning to use "backscatter" x-ray machines which enable TSA employees to look through the clothing of individual passengers. The TSA has allowed passengers to opt-out of the machines but these passengers will have to undergo an extremely "intimate" pat-down as a result. Concerns range from radiation exposure, to usage of the images beyond purely security. For more information here are a couple articles:

http://www.npr.org/2010/11/15/131328327/new-airport-security-rules-cause-traveler-discomfort

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/11/12/travel.screening/?hpt=Sbin

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/nov/16/local/la-me-oceanside-scan-20101116

Lyon discusses how increasingly our personal information and images are compiled, categorized and used commercially and politically. If Lyon had written his piece a little later he would take into account the recreational piece of this especially with the advent of Facebook. In recent years this information is increasingly volunteered which signals more implicit acceptance of varieties of surveillance (I don't think that is going too far out on a limb) but implementation of this "backscatter" technology has seemed to cross a line. I'm curious if this line is simply the more tangible visual/physical element of being given the option of being viewed naked remotely or being aggressively patted down? What does it say about increasing intrusion into the private sphere that our security apparatus didn't anticipate any public reaction to this? How much privacy do we need to give up collectively in order to travel safely? What are your guys thoughts about this?

Lyon's Surveillance Society: Maybe a little over the top?

So I was reading Lyon, and he was mostly making sense, arguing good points, but the first time I started to question the extent to which he gives surveillance credit was in the first section when he argues that modern surveillance actually looks INSIDE the body. At first I balked, but then the argument that medical records are available online to people with access or the right hacking knowledge made sense.

On page 12, another argument caught my attention, when he links gender, the public and private spheres, and 'private property'. I wasn't sure exactly what he's trying to argue with this, and what its relevance to the rest of the essay was, exactly. Is he saying that women are generally associated with the home, and therefore private property? Or is he mistakenly harking back to times when women were actually considered private property? Either way, I felt that this argument was, if not highly generalized, then actually reinforcing of historical gender roles.

The essay as a whole makes some interesting points, and Lyon is right to point out and criticize the massive way in which information is obtained, distributed, and used in modern times. However, he makes some pretty massive blanket statements and assumptions, that I think generally don't hold up and severely weaken his overall argument.

Also, and more specifically, Lyon seems to both point out, and fall into the trap of technological determinism. throughout the piece, he argues that technology is making our interactions more and more abstract, causing 'disappearing bodies'. I wonder if maybe this argument doesn't fall into the same technologically deterministic trap that he warns about earlier, attributing too much agency to technology in our social interactions. Of course, we would all admit that technology has drastically changed the way we interact with each other and the world, but I'm not convinced it goes quite to the point that Lyon argues. What do you all think?

UC regents fee hike protest

(San Francisco Chronicle, Noah Berger / AP Photo / November 17, 2010)

I think most of us have seen this image and the YouTube videos from Wednesday's protest in San Francisco. Below are links to several news articles as well as photographs of the event that give us some context upon which to reflect. Clearly, it is an outrage and an abuse of power that is frightening, more so because it sets a precedent for how police may respond to moments of tension during future student protests.

Several of our classmates took part in the protest yesterday - it would really be valuable for us all to hear your thoughts on what took place.

ARTICLES
Los Angeles Times:
Huffington Post:
Washington Post:
L.A. Times photography:

"The Bomb" in the Everyday

Joseph Masco's article spoke about how the U.S. used images of a possible nuclear Armageddon to construct a new form of national culture, built upon the paradigm that arose out of the creation, detonation, and devastation of the nuclear bomb. This was because the U.S. government was panic as the true threat to national security. "Like the A-bomb, panic is fashionable. It can produce a chain reaction more deeply destructive than any explosive known. If there is an ultimate weapon, it may well be mass panic--not the A-bomb" (pg 366-367). So, in order to prevent this even more destructive weapon from taking hold of the American people and more or less leading to the end of American life, the government set about to transform the paralyzing effect of the threat of nuclear bombing from what Masco terms "nuclear terror" into "nuclear fear." A person can live with fear and still function in the everyday. Thus the goal of the government's "civil defense programs" were to train the public psychologically and make them impervious to the panic that would be likely to take hold after an atomic attack. This way, society could continue to function, even though its population and physical surroundings were damaged, and rebuild itself again, possibly stronger. Operation Cue was a prime example of the way in which this aim was achieved. Having the country witness the destruction of a "typical American suburban town" did more than show everyone the actual physical results of such an event, but also imprinted a vision in people's minds of they themselves as the victims of a nuclear attack. The result of this and other forms of propaganda over the ensuing decades made nuclear devastation an aspect of everyday life. It normalized mass destruction, and made it something that could be thought about, not in its true and terrible form, but in a manageable, after school special kind of way. At the same time, it became something sensational, that would be later replicated in movies and television shows. True, it was/is something to fear, but it's the kind of fear that one feels when watching a scary movie.

This is what I really want to focus on, the normalization of mass destruction and how that influences the way that people deal with it today. A scene that has constantly come back to me over the years is a scene in Hotel Rwanda when the protagonist turns to the American photographer and says that his pictures will bring help to those being massacred because the American people will see them and respond. But the photographer says that no, people will look at them and go back to their TV dinners, never thinking twice. I think that this scene is so poignant to me because it seems so true. But why? Why are we so desensitized to such images? I'm sure many of us in class today looked at those horrendous images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki only to leave the classroom and go have lunch with a friend, take a nap, catch up on your shows on Hulu. I'm not judging you. I do it myself a lot of the time. But again, why is it so easy for us to?

I think these programs have had a lasting effect, not only in how we perceive ourselves in relation to the bomb, but how we perceive its after effects, and moreover, on how we understand and relate to events that result in mass death and destruction. It has become normalized, something that happens all the time, everyday, and naturalized, in that it is a part of the everyday because it is meant to be a part of it, a force of nature, no more preventable than the wind that rustles the trees. (Of course if there was a nuclear apocalypse then there probably wouldn't be any trees to rustle. But I digress.)

Our desensitization, our acceptance of these images and occurrences have had several far reaching and possibly unforeseen effects. But this has no doubt been useful to those pressing the big red button, because if we see the aftermath as something normal and natural that we cannot prevent then opposition to their use has been effectively obliterated, less than the shadows left behind on the bridges of Hiroshima.

Operation Doorstep 1953 and Operation Cue 1955 Test Films

Here is a supplement for Masco's work on visual culture and the normalization process of nuclear warfare during the Cold War as the state is capitalizing on the Americans' "nuclear fear" and acceptability of a nuclear war. It permeates their quotidian lives (in this case middle-class Americans) and induces them to accept and believe that there is this imminent threat of an "atomic warfare," thereby, producing a form of consent on their part for the state to act on their behalf. Masco's "be afraid but do not panic!" section talks about this more.

today's article in guardian.co.uk

OBAMA'S SPEECH TO THE MUSLIM WORLD CALLS FOR A NEW BEGINNING

In a speech to university students in Jakarta, the US president speaks fondly of his boyhood home and acknowledges that relations are still frayed with the Islamic world. Link to video clip.

Wednesday 10 November 2010 13.15 GMT
White House planners initially considered Indonesia as the location for Barack Obama's much-anticipated speech to the Muslim world, which he eventually gave in Cairo in June last year. Expectations then were probably impossibly high, and his address in Jakarta today did not get the same dramatic billing. Seventeen months on, the mood has soured and polls show that his popularity is in decline across the globe as well as at home...click here to continue to article.

Link to 31:00 minute speech, University of Indonesia, Jakarta

Classification of land

When reading the Kuletz article, I noticed once how important classifying something within a certain category is to its perceived use or value. Kuletz talks a great deal in how the value of the land of the nuclear test sites changed without changing the perception of the land itself. The land that the US government chose to "allocate" for the Native American population was chosen on the basis of its nonproductive nature, since it was not valuable, it was desired to shove natives onto this land. Ironically, only a century later, the land was still not valuable and nonproductive, but it is exactly these characteristics that make it valuable now.Through nuclear testing, the non-valuable became valuable through its non-value. Interesting transformation.

NY Times article about Afghan women

This article was rather horrifying, and the topic is one that we discussed a few weeks ago, but I also wonder how much of this article involves serious cultural misunderstandings. I don't want to offend anyone, I just read it and thought about our discussions and readings about gender ("Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?"), and some questions popped into my head: How does this article impose Western values on Afghan culture? How might some of the words used in this article be misinterpreted by our Western norms like 'mental illness' or 'abuse'. What are the logical repercussions/solutions/problems that are implied by this article? Sorry if this offends, I don't mean it to, it is on the front page of the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/world/asia/08burn.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha1

The Third Jihad documentary

I was looking for a film to review for the class and found this:

The Third Jihad

It's a documentary on radical Islam's threat to the US, and has been labeled "propaganda" by many (I would tend to agree). The film follows the same lines as the anti-Muslim Cultural Center advertisements we watched in class, and just the message disseminated in the trailer (which is all I have seen thus far) is terrifying.

The film is put out by the Clarion Fund, which also distributed copies of "Obsession" (comparing Islam to Nazism) in newspapers during the 2008 Presidential Election.

The Predator War

According to the article by Jane Mayer, there are currently two drone programs in the U.S. The U.S military drone program as an “extension of conventional warfare” in Afghanistan and Iraq and the covert CIA program that targets terrorist internationally. Mayer describes them as “a radically new and geographically unbounded use of state-sanctioned force” and criticizes the CIA’s program specifically for its lack of visibility and accountability.

I feel safe in assuming the general class sentiment is that the current use of drones could have dangerous implications.

I’m curious of the class opinions on if the use of drones is ever acceptable. If so, what would be the conditions of acceptability?

What if we got rid of the CIA program and kept the military one?

What if we could somehow enforce a decrease in the amount of civilian deaths associated with the killings? Is even one civilian death acceptable?

What about the intelligence implications? Are we harming our national security by killing suspects instead of interrogating them? Would it even be possible to locate and capture them instead of killing them?

What are the human rights issues given the opacity of the target list creation? Is it more important that we are able to eliminate the potentially violent treat of the targets being alive?

What are your opinions?

Friday's Reading

For anyone looking for the Jane Mayer reading on Predator War, you can find it at this link:
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=44800523&site=ehost-live

"blackwater or xe services"

Just want to share these three articles from the nytimes about blackwater. Our discussion earlier was really interesting, as always. So here are the latest articles I could find that reiterate and resonate themes discussed earlier (accountability, litigation, and Eric Prince etc.,).

1. "Efforts to Prosecute Blackwater Are Collapsing"

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/21/world/21contractors.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=blackwater&st=cse

2. "Use of Contractors Added to War’s Chaos in Iraq"

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/world/middleeast/24contractors.html?ref=blackwater_usa

3. "Blackwater Founder Moves to Abu Dhabi, Records Say"

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/18/world/18blackwater.html?ref=blackwater_usa

Article on the Torture Memos

Here is a pretty good article by Peter Brooks on the reasoning behind the torture memos--how is it that they were regarded as legal and made to comply with the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment ?

http://www.slate.com/id/2113314/

Also, if you are interested in reading some of the memos yourself and seeing the chronology of their writing and the events surrounding them, check this page out from the American Civil Liberties Union

http://www.aclu.org/accountability/olc.html

A Question About Precarious Life

As I read Judith Butler's article I got a little confused as she tried to explain the relationship between sovereignty and governmentality. But there is one quote in page 56 that I find the most confusing.

"But my point is that precisely because our historical situation is marked by governmentality, and this implies, to a certain degree, a loss of sovereignty, that loss is compensated through the resurgence of sovereignty within the field of governmentality."

What do you think Butler is trying to say here?

the norm of "masculinity"

"...we have to start to question what the relation is between complying with gender, and coercion."

- Judith Butler


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLnv322X4tY

The question one asks upon viewing this poignant clip is why it is that we have this need for conformity to gender norms. And when the "feminine" or "masculine" is not displayed in the way society expects, why does this illicit so much anxiety? In the extreme it leads to violence as in Butler's story or the murder of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming. But there are also many ways in which one is made to "comply" and thus go against oneself...simply to avoid discrimination or alienation.

Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?

The other day in lecture we discussed a few points from this article. Particularly, how the "war on terrorism" can often be justified by the claim that our occupation is an attempt to liberate and safe Aghan women. We also talked about the politics of the Muslim veil and the controversy it created for American women who wanted to rid off this "sign of oppression."

However, there was something in the article that stuck with me and was not really discussed in lecture. That is, the idea that "liberation" and "social change" are situated ideas. I had never thought about this before but it may be the case that not all women may want to be "freed" from their supposed "oppressors." As Lila Abu-Lughod, asks, "Are emancipation, equality, and rights part of a universal language we must use?" Any other day, I would have answered yes, because of my own situated knowledge. I grew up with the conception that liberty and freedom were optimal ways of life. However, that was based on how I defined liberty-one aspect being the right to wear whatever I please. This article, consequently, made me more critical of universal wants. Perhaps, not everyone wishes to live in a democratic society where life, liberty, and property are the social norm.

Did any body else find that aspect of the reading interesting?

Spatial Ambiguities & Charter Cities

Talking about Guantanamo in class reminded me of something I came across recently. It's not directly related but it does kind of speak to the idea of spatial ambiguity and rethinking governmentality/sovereignty.

Economist Paul Romer (not related to Christina Romer) has proposed this idea of charter cities. The idea is that a lot of developing countries do not have the political legitimacy bc of histories of political/economic instability. SO his great plan is to have developed, First World countries, primarily those in the West (ie former colonizers), to rent unoccupied lands in "undeveloped" countries for contracted periods up to 99 years. During their lease, the FW tenants will set up what Romer believes are better rules of governance and lend their political legitimacy to attract foreign direct investors/transnational corporations.

When I first read this, I thought "Wow, what neocolonial bullshit!" It's problematic in more ways than I want to discuss in this post. But the scary thing is, the former president of Madagascar was in serious talks with Romer and potential tenant countries to implement this. However, he was overthrown by a coup-- a good example of how no matter how much you try to naturalize/neutralize ideas of free market capitalism, you can't remove the political from economics.

Crazy interview: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/07/the-politically-incorrect-guide-to-ending-poverty/8134/

( Excerpt of interview: Are the sweat shops in special economic zones desirable?
That is something you should ask the people who flock to places like Shenzhen. Charter cities would have to provide a lot of low-cost jobs in industries like garments and light manufacturing. Those jobs don’t look attractive to you and me, but to poor people struggling to make a living in rural areas, things look different. )

Article from The Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/07/the-politically-incorrect-guide-to-ending-poverty/8134/

Cultural Politics in the UC: Terrorism

Hi Geography Community,

This is the second round draft of proposed changes to the UC-wide Student Code of Conduct. I received this document through the ASUC with request to give feedback to UC Office of the President (UCOP). These three policy changes claim to be addressing "Hate Crimes" at UC, and I ask you to read these over and email me your feedback to the language: e.goldstein@asuc.org or reply to this blog post.

REVISED: Proposed Policy Changes to Address Hate Crimes

1. Terrorizing Conduct

The following new language would be added to the Policy on Student Conduct and Discipline (section 102.00 Grounds for Discipline):

“[The following is prohibited:] Conduct, where the actor means to communicate a serious expression of intent to terrorize, or acts in reckless disregard of the risk of terrorizing, one or more University students, faculty, or staff. ‘Terrorize’ means to cause a reasonable person to fear bodily harm or death, perpetrated by the actor or his/her confederates. ‘Reckless disregard’ means consciously disregarding a substantial risk. This section applies without regard to whether the conduct is motivated by race, ethnicity, personal animosity, or other reasons. This section does not apply to conduct that constitutes the lawful defense of one’s self, of another, or of property.”

2. Sanction Enhancement for Violations Motivated by Hate

The following new language would be added to the Policy on Student Conduct and Discipline (section 104.00 Administration of Student Discipline):

“Sanctions [for any violations of the Grounds for Discipline] may be enhanced where the victim was selected because of the victim’s race, color, national or ethnic origin, citizenship, sex, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, marital status, ancestry, service in the uniformed services, physical or mental disability, medical condition (cancer related or genetic characteristics), or perceived membership in any of these classifications.”

3. Discipline for criminal convictions

The following new language would be added to the Policy on Student Conduct and Discipline (section 102.00 Grounds for Discipline):

“[Students may be subject to discipline, i.e., discipline is possible, not mandatory, on the basis of] A conviction under any California state or federal criminal law, when the conviction constitutes reasonable cause to believe that the student poses a current threat to the health or safety of any person or to the security of any property, on University premises or at official University functions, or poses a current threat to the orderly operation of the campus.”

A Description of the different Initiative Committees

Specific requirements for Operational Excellence intiative design teams

Procurement

Sponsors: Mark Schlissel, Dean of Biological Sciences and Ron Coley, Associate Vice Chancellor, Business and Administrative Services

The procurement initiative comprises two broad goals. The first is to determine the optimal organization structure for procurement as a campus function (not limited to the central office). The second is to assess the campuswide spending base in key categories, and identify methods for reducing spending in those categories. In reaching both goals, significant change management will be required.

Requirements for design team members:

• Deep expertise in relevant procurement functions, such as vendor management, contract negotiation, or procurement accounting, as well as familiarity with online procurement systems, or
• Experience purchasing one or more of the high-volume categories such as lab equipment, travel and entertainment, or IT.

Organizational Simplification

Sponsors: Keith Gilless, Dean of the College of Natural Resources and Frank Yeary, Vice Chancellor

This initiative will examine the core business processes related to human resources, finance, and information technology, to develop an analysis of the most appropriate roles and responsibilities to achieve these functions in the most effective and efficient ways. The initiative also includes direct outreach to campus units to determine the most appropriate organizational structures for their operations, and will provide support to achieve those structures.

Requirements for design team members:

• Significant expertise in managing one or more of these functions: HR, IT, and Finance, or
• Experience as a customer of HR, IT, and/or Finance services in a distributed unit

Information Technology

Sponsors: Andrew Szeri, Dean of the Graduate Division and Shel Waggener, Associate Vice Chancellor-IST and CIO

The goal of the IT initiative is to optimize information technology across campus by focusing on five key areas: IT organizational structure, infrastructure management, application development and application management, IT procurement, and outsourcing.

Requirements for design team members:

• Deep expertise in relevant IT functions, such as application development, system administration, or desktop support, or
• An understanding of the IT needs of a diverse user group (.e.g., research faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, etc.)

Energy Management

Sponsors: Jennifer Wolch, Dean of the College of Environmental Design and Chris Christofferson, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Physical Plant and Campus Services

The goal of this initiative is to reduce campus-wide energy consumption by analyzing opportunities for infrastructure improvements and developing an incentive system to reward reduced consumption.

Requirements for design team members:

• Deep expertise in utilities and energy infrastructure projects, or
• An understanding of the energy needs of a diverse user group (e.g., research units, non-academic units, data centers, etc.)

Student Services

Sponsors: Cathy Koshland, Vice Provost of Academic Planning and Facilities and Harry Le Grande, Vice Chancellor, Student Affairs

This initiative will examine the portfolio of student services offered across UC Berkeley, including both undergraduate and graduate constituencies, as well as student services provided by individual departments. The critical objectives of this initiative are 1) to align the relevant organizations around effective student services delivery, and 2) to evaluate opportunities to resize services, improve productivity, and/or eliminate redundancies.

Requirements for design team members:

• Deep expertise in one or more areas of student services, such as academic advising, student life advising, residential programs, or
• An understanding of major student services expense categories (e.g., RSSP, Advising)

High-Performance Culture

Sponsors: Rich Lyons, Dean of the Haas School of Business and Jeannine Raymond, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Human Resources

This initiative will strengthen UC Berkeley’s operating culture by identifying pan-university opportunities within talent management, unit performance, communication, decision-making, and performance management. Extensive coordination with the Organizational Simplification initiative is expected.

Requirements for design team members:

• Deep expertise in talent management, unit performance management, communications, performance appraisal and management, or organizational behavior

Financial Management Model

Sponsors: Paul Gray, former Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost and Erin Gore, Associate Vice Chancellor, Budget and Resource Planning

This initiative will redesign UC Berkeley’s financial management model to enable pan-university resource allocation, greater financial discipline, and improved common goods funding.

Requirements for design team members:

• Deep expertise in finance and budgeting, or
• Extensive experience navigating the current financial processes.