Nevertheless, we here at the Clog think it’s important to understand the biological makeup of our campus. Thus, here we are, telling you that in the fall you might see a few fewer freshman scampering through the brush and a few more transfer students slinking about. Thanks to a UC-wide freshman enrollment cap and renewed “commitment to inclusiveness,” transfer student enrollment jumped by a hefty 12 percent throughout the system.

Accordingly, freshman enrollment dropped, as did the percentage of admitted students who submitted SIRs. So what does this mean for you? Probably not a lot, but if you find yourself thinking that the fresh meat pickings are the teensiest bit slimmer when fall rolls around, you’ll know why. Or,  if you find yourself wondering why your walking paths feel a little less obstructed by large packs of confused chitlins, you’ll know why that is, too.

Image Source: Mikee Showbiz under Creative Commons
Enrollment Numbers Show Drop in Freshman, Jump in Community College Transfers [Daily Cal]
UC Accepts More Transfer Students [Daily Cal]

You know it’s getting time to sling out some line and reel in a new school of freshmen when the Berkeley news website starts putting up videos trumpeting Berkeley’s diversity and academic superiority and bureaucratic compassion, not to mention its, nudge nudge, gorgeous green lawns and peerless Californian sunshine. Observe! Sproul fountain spouts water. Also, people walk down streets.

Really, we applaud its ideals–among them the university’s emphasis on its holistic evaluation process, and the refutation of falsified impressions about the application procedure–but the video’s kinda the sanitized yawnfest you’d expect it to be.  But hey-at least there’s a nifty online aid Cal-culator to make it all better. Geddit?

Applying to Berkeley? [Berkeley News]

With that in mind, the Clog has compiled a shortlist of events that are – indeed! – worth the investment of your oft-wandering attention. Get ready to roll up your sleeves and get in touch with your inner child at the Archaeological Research Facility. Or you could make a pot. A lot of the museums on campus will be open to the public too, so maybe dropping a live tarantula down the shirt of a loved one at the Essig Museum sounds right up your alley. The options are endless!

* 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Cal Massage Therapy – Need a break? Pamper yourself with a complimentary 10-minute massage, offered by our certified massage therapists. Also on site, the San Francisco Institute of Esthetics and Cosmetology will be offering free beauty makeovers.
RSF

* 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Library’s $1 Book Sale. What a deal, and who knows what treasures you’ll find on Cal Day, when everything in this room is just $1!
303 Doe Library

* 9 a.m. -11 a.m.
Play With Clay. Learn how to make and decorate your own ceramics the way people did in the past. Clay available — bring your own kids!
Archaeological Research Facility, 2251 College Ave.

* 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Rock-Art Painting. Try your brush and hand — literally — at making paints and helping paint a rock-art mural.
Archaeological Research Facility, 2251 College Ave.

*11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Throw a Pot Near Sather Gate. Just steps from Sather Gate, try your hand at throwing a pot at one of six potter’s wheels. All ages are welcome!
Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, Art Studio, lower level

* 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Got Bugs? We Do! See the Essig Museum’s display of amazing insects and arachnids from its research collection, and take a look at live arthropods.
Wellman Hall, 2nd floor

* 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology Centennial Celebration! The MVZ is 100 years old this year, so it’s time to celebrate! The museum is a research facility — open to the public only one day a year. Take a look inside, learn how it’s evolved, and see some of the rarest, most fascinating specimens from a century of collecting. It’s fun for all ages: children can be field adventurers, touch live animals, play games, and see a puppet show; students learn how to get involved in research and museum programs. Museum staff will be giving presentations every half-hour. See the 1:30 p.m. presentation on “Bloods, Guts, Bones, and Flesh-eating Beetles.”
3101 Valley Life Sciences Building

* 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Marine Science Demonstrations. See live marine animals at the entrance of McCone Hall. Plus, in the lobby, watch demonstrations by Berkeley students of beach-bucket science and other projects.
McCone Hall, entrance and lobby

* 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Biological Science: Activities and Displays. See a touch tank with live sea animals, and discover other animals that students learn about at Berkeley. Don’t miss the games and activities for kids!
Valley Life Sciences Building courtyard

* 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
GamesCrafters: Undergraduate Game Theory Research. Play some of the games that freshmen and sophomores have created and added to the ongoing GamesCrafters research project.
310 Soda Hall

* 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Automated Robot Racing Cars. Student made vehicles race a 100-meter course under computer control, avoiding obstacles and staying on track.
Cory Hall, 2nd floor entrance

*3 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Having Fun With Robots. See small robots that make their own decisions, without benefit of remote control. Help set up obstacle courses, and find out how clever these robots are.
3108 Etcheverry Hall

* 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish in One Easy Lesson. Learn the language of Viggo Mortensen, Lordi, a-ha, and ABBA — or, if you prefer, Kierkegaard, Sibelius, Ibsen, and Bergman. In half-hour mini-sessions you will learn to communicate in short sentences, ask questions, and carry on a basic conversation. Come for one language, or stay for them all! (Level-appropriate for young adults, too.)
33 Dwinelle Hall

11 a.m.: Danish, Lecturer Karen Moller
11:30 a.m.: Finnish, Lecturer Lotta Weckström
Noon: Norwegian, Graduate Student Inger Nordhagen
12:30 p.m.: Swedish, Graduate Student Carl Olsen

* 10 a.m. -3 p.m.
Physics Poster Session. This poster display demonstrates the hard work and research being done by Department of Physics undergraduate students.
251 LeConte Hall

(What’s up with that last one? Did the physics department really feel the need to enter their poster display as an actual Cal Day event? Seriously now.)

For more information, check out the Cal Day site. If you’re feeling especially masochistic, feel free to browse through all 41,124 pages of the official program PDF. We lifted all our information off of it, anyway.

Cal Day 2008, UC Berkeley [Cal Day]

The Chron reports that Bowles Hall will continue to be what is today—home to 200 testosterone-saturated, immature freshmen. OK, that’s not exactly what the Chron said, but that’s what we gather from the report.

In November, the Haas School of Business stated its intentions to take Bowles and turn it into some special educational center and hotel for 30 to 40-somethings.

“Other options are being looked into, but nothing far along yet,” campus spokeswoman Marie Felde said.

The Bowles Hall Alumni Association must be relatively happy.

The alumni association questioned where it was “ethically appropriate for UC, or any university, to replace the wishes of donors of yesterday with the wishes of donors of today.”

At least the donors are assured that the largest sausage-fest on campus is still going to continue on next year.

UC backs down on plan to convert dorm [Sf Gate]

If we remember correctly, we got shit from CalSO and the Alumni Association, a really shitty DVD and some reading list from the library.

It turns out the library gives the incoming freshman class a summer reading list as it has done for the last 25 years. It’s happened for such a long time that the Oakland Tribune thought it be nice to “do a little story on it”:http://origin.insidebayarea.com/ci_6076181.

The Trib reports that this year’s “reading list is about (oh no!) disaster”:http://blogs.lib.berkeley.edu/readinglist.php.

So, pretty much, UC Berkeley faculty and staff members suggest that you incoming freshmen read books about depressing topics or about men devolving into beasts or about how horrible the next natural disaster is going to be.

Some notable books on the list include the always horrifying “Lord of the Flies,” some “book about Teddy Roosevelt”:http://blogs.lib.berkeley.edu/readinglist.php/2007/05/30/the_river_of_doubt_theodore_roosevelt_s_ and “77 Dream Songs.”

How that last book is supposed to instill fear in young freshmen, we don’t know. We hope it’s good though.

Doom, gloom and survival: Welcome to UC Berkeley [Inside Bay Area]
Survival! UC Berkeley Summer Reading [UC Berkeley Library]

With all the hype about incoming pole vaulter Allison Stokke, we decided to take a closer look at UC Berkeley’s class of 2011. We’ll try to be nice, but we can’t promise anything.

One thing’s for sure—this group is mighty eager. We present exhibit A, the event Berkeley Class of 2011 Freshman Roll Call!! (because one exclamation point just wouldn’t do it justice). About 256 members plan to go and 78 say maybe to the tradition of rolling down 4.0 Hill. The hill may see the most frosh ass it’s ever had in one day.

Kids, the Clog would like to let you know that we still haven’t gotten a 4.0. Don’t major in English.

The freshmen’s happy-go-lucky attitude almost scares us:

bq. First of all, Karen has this rocking new title for the event which is Roll CAL. lol and second of all, one of our goals shall henceforth be to make this event so bangin awesome

We are sad to admit we were once so jubilant too. They’re too joyous and too loving. More than 100 freshies joined the group Unit 1: I love my 2011 UC Berkeley habitat!, so happy to have a place called not-quite-home-but-where-we-will-consume-massive-amounts-of-Ramen. There’s one thread going on about Freeborn, the substance-free building of Unit 1.

“People who don’t need unnatural substances to make them feel better unite!,” one guy exclaimed. He will soon be smoking cloves just like everyone else.

And guess what? Someone’s “bringing the pixie sticks, AND the caffeinated beverages. what now.”

Maybe they should join The Party Group of UCB 2011. This team of freshmen is super organized and taking initiative … to have a beer pong tourney. It’s yet another freshman tradition.

If the phrase “2011 UC Berkeley habitat” wasn’t bad enough, get ready for the kicker.

Berkeley Survivers 2007-2011. Excellence, with an “e.”

They’re in it to win it. They’re sticking it to the man:

bq. “Cal, I will not only reach but surpass all of the expectations I have for myself at this university.” BTW, you should still join even if your goal is just to party and get trashed; we can help you do that as well!

Oh, childrens.