There have been a lot of big names gracing our campus with their presence lately, most of which we’ve only been able to read about in the newspaper. If, like us, you decided to spend your time sleeping rather than camping out to nab a ticket to see His Holiness speak The Hard Word film on Saturday, then you’re probably kicking yourself for choosing unconsciousness over a global spiritual leader.

But you didn’t have to wait in any inconvenient 16-hour lines to see Thursday’s important speaker; in fact all you really had to do was walk up and sit yourself down. Former Vice President, Academy and Grammy Award winner, Nobel Laureate and environmentalist hotshot Al Gore was the honored speaker at Thursday’s opening of the Blum Center for Developing Economies (aka that thing they’ve been building on North Side forever).

Looking spiffy in a green tie, Mr. Gore began with a very Dr. King-inspired line: “increasing CO2 anywhere is a threat to climate everywhere.” He then talked about the problems facing our generation including you guess it: global warming and global poverty. But we prefer the way he put it: “the fabric of society is frayed and the task of the university is to train weavers.” Great use of metaphor, Al. We approve.

Bobby Birgeneau made a little flub when he introduced Gore as “our 45th President of the United States” which was only topped by him making the same mistake AGAIN. Let’s just say Al’s face complimented his tie well at that point. Birgeneau tried to cover it up with something about wishful thinking and what would have happened if the votes were counted correctly in Florida.

The groundbreaking ceremony culminated with the shoveling of a transplanted pile of dirt on the stage and oddly Gore was the only one left hardhat-less. Birgeneau got one last jab in (to redeem himself?) telling Gore: “wait a second Mr. Gore, you’re VP not President.”

In a surprising turn of events, Birgneau awarded Mr. Gore a Berkeley Medal, Berkeley’s highest honor and the award also given to Liberian president Ellen Sirleaf just two weeks ago. He can put that on his shelf next to his Academy Award and his Grammy.

Image Source: Ruby Lee
Al Gore Praises Blum Center, Students [Daily Cal Mistaken Identity move

• download The Tigger Movie

]Edtv divx

• Cloak & Dagger movie

Dynes announced his resignation Monday and stated that he will stay on as president no later than June 2008. Wyatt Hume, provost of the UC, will take over as chief operating officer during the search for a new president.

Sources speaking to the Chron said that UC Regents Chairman Richard Blum met with Dynes three weeks ago in Emeryville and told him that the Regents were getting restless with Dynes’ ability to run UC.

Of course Blum really isn’t talking.

“I know you have a job to do,” Blum told The Chronicle, “but the answer to everything else is going to be, ‘No comment.’ “

If the Chron is right, then the Regents must have been fed up with all the controversies that occurred under Dynes’ reign as president. And maybe the Regents knew that they were going to ask for Dynes’ resignation last May, and maybe that’s why they just gave Dynes a slap on the wrist. Obviously, this is all speculation.

And then, of course, this may also end this whole scientists-leading-the-largest-university-in-the-world thing.

One state official familiar with the meeting said several regents had concluded that after nearly four years on the job, Dynes, a former physicist and UC San Diego chancellor, was in over his head at the top of the 10-campus system.

“But then, what do you expect?” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Spending 17 years in laboratories doesn’t exactly set you up for running what is, in effect, a multibillion-dollar corporation.”

Word.

Earlier: Breaking: Dynes Steps Down as UC President”

Matier and Ross: UC president didn’t bail, he was pushed out, sources say [SF Gate]