The men’s and women’s crew teams raced on opposite ends of the East Coast in their respective Division 1 National Championships this weekend. The men’s team placed fifth overall at the 2021 International Rowing Association National Championships in West Windsor, New Jersey. The women’s team competed in warmer climes at the NCAA D1 National Championships in Sarasota, Florida, taking eighth place.

Women’s team tops all Ivies in Sarasota

The women’s crew team raced through 90 degree heat en route to its eighth place finish — the team’s 23rd top-ten finish at the NCAA National Championships in 24 years of competition.

After races on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the women’s team finished with 88 points, the most among all Ivies. Its eighth place result was Brown’s best finish since 2017. Each of the team’s three boats competed in their respective petite finals, with the first varsity eight placing eighth, the second varsity eight placing seventh and the varsity four placing 12th. 

“Where they ended up was unbelievable given what they had to overcome,” said Women’s Crew Associate Head Coach Phoebe Murphy. “I’m really proud of them, and I thought they just raced their guts out.”

“I think we had a really strong performance,” said stroke Beate Kaz ’22. “It’s a really good place to jump off for next year. I think everyone’s already excited to build on it because we really feel like our team can only keep getting faster.”

The women’s team was unable to compete against other Ivy League schools during the regular season — a factor that jeopardized its ability to compete in the NCAA Championships, which require each participating team to race three times during the season. “That was a major hurdle,” Murphy said. “We were able to race the University of Rhode Island at home, and then we went to Boston to race Boston University and (then) Northeastern.”

Despite the late start to official practice and an abbreviated regular season, the women’s crew team spared no time returning to competitive form when they first touched water in March. Over the fall “we were not allowed to give them any kind of workouts or track any data,” Murphy said. “So it was all a big unknown, but when they got back and we actually set eyes on them and they performed their usual workouts in front of us, it was not a matter of resurrecting them at all — we could see that they had the foundation that we could work with.”

For athletes on the team, falling out of competitive shape wasn’t an option, especially given the nature of the sport. “Unlike some other sports, it’s not like you can just kind of pick it up two weeks before practice starts and then be fine,” Kaz said. “You’re building on that base and you just have to keep on working, so the summer is traditionally the time you build the base for the fall, and then for the winter, and then ultimately for spring racing.”

“When they shut us down last March, the team just really didn’t accept that as their new reality,” Murphy added. “Over the summer, they trained pretty hard. Over the fall, they trained totally by themselves — in their basements, wherever they could find a (rowing) machine.” 

Though the prospect of any semblance of a spring season was uncertain in February, with a “50 percent chance of being allowed to race and being allowed to get to the position where we could be selected for the NCAA Championships,” Murphy said, the athletes were undeterred. “You can’t match that 50 percent of possibility with a 50 percent effort, you have to just be all in and 100 percent prepared.”

“A lot of us used our frustration (over the season’s cancellation) to work and keep that speed going for next year,” Kaz said. “I think my parents thought I was insane because I was just running and lifting way too much (over the summer). It was just a lot of time that we spent focusing on working out and growing.”

It helped that instead of opting for an extra year of eligibility, upperclassmen members of the team’s roster remained in the Providence area for the spring and summer in hopes of competition taking place. “Every junior returned, all the seniors returned, and they all decided to be in the area so that if they got the green light to practice together and train for the championship, they would be able to,” Murphy said.

“(Our class) kind of said, ‘Let’s stay this year so we can all be together and train really hard, because then we’ll have that base to build on for next year,’” Kaz said. “And I’m so thankful we did because it turned out we had not only a full season but got to the NCAA Championships, which was the end goal.”

Murphy and Kaz both eagerly await the fall, which should herald a return both to normalcy and championship aspirations. “We had a meeting with our two captains-elect yesterday, and they were absolutely shaking with excitement,” Murphy said. “We haven’t seen that kind of purpose in a long time. I think we’re in a really, really good place to go at it.” 

“There are so many people on the team who are working toward the same goal — we’re all on the same page,” Kaz said. “Normally you end your season and you’re a little burnt out and want to take time off. But I think for all of us, it’s been two days since the NCAA Championships and we’re all saying ‘Okay, I think it’s time to start working out again.’”

Men’s team outperforms ranking with fifth place finish

The men’s team scored 277 points during races Friday and Saturday in New Jersey to take fifth at the national championships, earning a higher spot in the standings than all other Ivies with the exception of Dartmouth, which finished third.

The first varsity eight finished in ninth place after missing out on the grand final — which pits the top six teams against each other — by just half a second in a close semifinal race. The second varsity eight placed second in its petite final for eighth overall. The third varsity eight, racing against a smaller field of competitors, qualified for its grand final and placed sixth. 

The national championship followed an abbreviated regular season in which the team only saw official competition twice and was prohibited from practicing on the water until March.

“We weren’t sure we were going to race anyway, so we just really tried to focus on the fundamentals and trying to bring everyone up to as close to championship standard as we could,” said Head Coach Paul Cooke. “In terms of winning the championship, we still had a little bit of a way to go, but the team did a good job of getting those fundamentals and then taking them as far as they could in the time that we had.”

In addition to the shortened season and practice schedule, the team raced with a limited roster due to a number of athletes opting for leaves of absence to preserve their eligibility. “We had probably 12 athletes that took the year off,” Cooke said. “The majority of those that didn’t come back were sophomores, but some of the juniors and seniors didn’t come back either.”

In Friday’s semifinal race, the first varsity boat crossed the line just .514 second behind Stanford University, a photo finish that kept Brown out of the grand final and cost the team valuable points. “That was the one race I would point to that says this team got very close to championship standard,” Cooke said. “The fact that they got as close as they did is a significant achievement.”

Despite the bitter result in that specific race, Cooke lauded the team’s competitive spirit. “When you lose, it stings, but you feel like you really competed. And I think that was what that semifinal race was: I think our team really did put it all on the line.”

Though the men’s and women’s teams’ experiences this spring have differed and each have faced unique obstacles, Murphy and Cooke both eagerly anticipate greater achievements and a fuller competition schedule in the 2021-22 season.

“Next year is probably going to be the most competitive year in rowing, ever,” Cooke said. “We’ve got a lot of things in the right place, but we still need to gain an understanding amongst our whole team of what it really takes to win a championship.”

As the weather warms up and masks mandates are lifted across the state, local businesses are slowly opening their doors to guests once again, offering pre-pandemic joys such as dine-in services and live music performances.

First Avenue is among the multiple venues that have announced the return of in-person shows, recently releasing a list of over 30 shows set for 2021 and 2022, featuring a variety of local and national artists.

The announcement came Tuesday, amid the lifted Minneapolis city mask mandate as COVID-19 cases decrease and vaccinations increase.

“We haven’t opened yet, but we’re really feeling like we’re back,” Ashley Ryan, the director of marketing for First Avenue, said.

The venue received the green light for live performances for the beginning of June, but they are waiting an extra month before reopening to give artists a chance to acclimate back to the Twin Cities music scene after quarantine separated band members from each other.

Well known artists such as Soccer Mommy, Beach Bunny, Watsky, girl in red and Princess Nokia will take the stage as well as local gems such as Gully Boys and miloe throughout the rest of 2021 through the beginning of 2022.

According to Ryan, First Avenue plans to announce an additional 25 shows next week and this number may increase as bands and artists continue to coordinate their return to the stage with local venues.

“For a lot of the year, bands couldn’t even get together to practice,” Ryan said. “Music kind of took a weird pause.”

But now, it’s back right in time for summer concerts.

Quarantine also gave artists the opportunity to focus solely on their music and as a result, Ryan said “there’s going to be a boom of new music.”

“There are a lot of venues that are hanging on by a thread right now,” Ryan said. “It feels so special to have the chance to reopen and have one of the best music scenes in the country.”

According to Ryan, the venue continues to adhere to state and citywide COVID-19 guidelines. Masks will not be required at shows unless COVID-19 guidelines change, and shows will be held at full capacity.

For the fourth time in the last six full seasons, the Georgia Southern baseball season has come to an end in the Sun Belt Conference Championship game.

Mason McWhorter hit his conference-leading 18th home run of the season to begin the scoring. An inning after McWhorter’s home run, Noah Searcy and Steven Curry both drove in a run, which gave the Eagles a three-run lead after three innings.

However, South Alabama quickly responded, knotting the game at three runs apiece after a Richard Sorrenti home run. The bomb off Sorrenti’s bat sparked the Jaguar offense to accumulate a grand total of 10 runs.

McWhorter recorded his final career RBI in the ninth inning, but the Eagles ultimately fell to the Jaguars, 10-4.

Pitching, or lack thereof, can be pinpointed as the Eagles’ kryptonite during the championship game. After playing three games over the three days prior to the championship, the entire GS bullpen was noticeably gassed.

Tyler Owens got the start for GS on the mound and nine pitchers entered the game, but Hayden Harris was credited with the loss. Harris’ record fell to 2-3 on the season.

GS finishes the 2021 season with a final record of 34-23 (14-10 SBC), which was the second best overall record of any team in the conference.

Rodney Hennon’s squad will lose at least 16 players this offseason, which is a cause for concern around the immediate future of the Eagle baseball program.

Everything I wanted: A confessional

UC Berkeley wasn’t my dream school. 

It was beyond that. An impossible school. A school I couldn’t even dream of. I wouldn’t dare. How could someone like me, a plain-Jane, hoodie-wearing, bench-warming, part-time lunch-lady who built a formidable reputation for in-class panic attacks ever dream that big. 

But the dreams I wouldn’t dare to dream came true. 

When I opened my decision letter and confetti fell across the page, my first thought was “I don’t deserve this.” My second thought was “I need to run.” Not just any run, a run up a hill. And not just any hill — it had to be Hill Street, the route my cross country friends loathed. If I couldn’t make it to the top, I obviously didn’t have the mental fortitude to make it at UC Berkeley, and my acceptance was clearly a mistake. 

Surprisingly, after months of little to no exercise and a bit of quarantine fluff, I did clear the hill. For a fleeting moment, I allowed myself to indulge in the delusion that my mediocre cardiovascular health proved I was UC Berkeley material. 

Unsurprisingly, my delusions lost their staying power. I replayed the doubts in my head on a continuous shuffle, with no time for ad breaks. I found an old text from an “friend” saying I wouldn’t be able to handle the academic rigor at UC Berkeley. At the time, I didn’t bat an eye at it. I would never get into UC Berkeley. And I figured they were probably right anyway. 

But now, I had an acceptance letter that proved my initial reaction wrong. What would happen now? Was my “friend” right? 

Instead of using the doubt as fuel, I surrendered, and found myself in a spiral of over analysis. Everytime I’d tell a person I went to UC Berkeley, I’d always make a mental note of their reaction. Of course there was the standard “Congratulations!” and “All your hard work really paid off.” As nice as they were, the compliments fell on deaf ears. Instead, the remarks I retained were in more of a gray area (not even insults, so why do I care so much?). My favorites include: 

“You’re too nice for Berkeley. Oh no, I don’t mean it like that –” 

“I had a friend that went there, she’d call me every weekend in tears. But I’m sure you’ll be OK.” 

“Oh wow, It’s very cutthroat, or so I heard.” 

“Cal? Doesn’t seem like you.” 

“Where? Cow? Oh Cal! You? That’s great!” 

Eventually, I stopped telling people where I went to school. If I knew they’d stay strangers, I’d usually say I was still in high school. 

Now that I was disguising my impostor syndrome with lies, I finally decided to use my fear as fuel. No, not as fuel, as a weapon. A weapon that would thwart all the challenges, that I’m obviously not equipped to handle, dead in their tracks.

As soon as I received my acceptance letter, my mad dash for resources began. I applied for 20 scholarships because I’d obviously fail a few classes and need an extra year to graduate if I didn’t drop out first. With an Expected Family Contribution of $60, I certainly couldn’t afford that without outside help. I sought out alumni and pitched them a now cringeworthy recap of my high school stats. Were people with an SAT score as low as mine passing classes at UC Berkeley? 

My feverish anxiety continued into the school year. In terms of storytelling, you’d expect a grandiose description in grueling detail of my freshman year experience at this point in the article. But the truth is, I couldn’t give you one even if I wanted to. Honestly, I don’t remember much. At this point, it feels like a nightmare. Not the teeth-falling-out, monsters-in-the-closet kind. Have you ever woken up and instantly forgotten the details of a dream but remembered the palpable fear and anxiety of it all? That’s how I view the year.

Ironically, the paper trail of my school year tells a different story entirely. I’ve managed to keep straight A’s. I’ve spoken to Olympians, star college athletes and award-winning journalists. I’m an editor at The Daily Californian now. For the first time in my life, I have a savings account. I’ve even nabbed a summer internship. I did it all while balancing a part-time job, a couple side hustles and some volunteer work. 

It feels crass and insensitive to list out my accomplishments that way. Am I just being ungrateful? I mean, I have a savings account! With actual money in it! Why am I so unhappy?

Sometimes I feel like I’m going to jinx it: If I say everything I’ve done this year out loud, then magically it’ll all disappear. I’ll wake up and realize that I’ve dropped out, I couldn’t handle UC Berkeley and that this year was all an accident. 

But on paper, I’ve proved myself wrong. I proved everyone wrong. But I still can’t believe it. Am I still dreaming? 

Then, my doubts remind me that I’m wide awake. 

I only have good grades because I’m in easy classes.
I only got those interviews because people felt bad for me, and out of their pity they decided to talk to me.
I only have a summer internship because I’m lucky. I’m not actually qualified. 

I’m only an editor because no one else applied. 

After I’m sobered by my doubts, I realize nothing has changed. A year later, and I still feel the same. Underqualified. Afraid. A fluke in the admissions system.

Maybe, in publishing this piece, I’ll realize that I should be a little more certain. After all, I’ve made it, right? Right? 

Or maybe some employer will read this and decide not to hire me. Or some boomer will say I’m fishing for compliments and ridicule me on Facebook. Or maybe no one will read it, and my confessional will just drift along by itself on the internet, another confused soul just wandering about.

Maybe I’m just being delusional. I know delusions never last.

“Off the Beat” columns are written by Daily Cal staff members separate from the semester’s regular opinion columnists. Contact the opinion desk at opinion@dailycal.org or follow us on Twitter @dailycalopinion.

The Daily Californian

“Friends” was the series that changed the blueprint of sitcoms forever. While it garnered a cult following during its years on air, its resurgence in popularity, due in part to streaming services like Netflix and HBO Max, made it a staple in the past year of social isolation.

On May 27, the titular “friends” reunited to celebrate the 15-year anniversary of wrapping the show’s production. The show was hosted by James Corden and featured the six main cast members — David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow and Matt LeBlanc.

The One Where They Have a Reunion

Although the reunion was targeted towards the fans, it was just as special for the cast, who had not all been in the same room together since they wrapped filming in 2004. As the six of them reunited, one could not help but get emotional — within minutes the actors had jumped back into “bits” as if no time had passed.

An unforgettable segment from the night included a remake of a trivia game from “The One With The Embryos” in season four. In this reunion version, the cast was quizzed about the series as a whole, with questions about lines, past guest stars and more presented in clever ways to celebrate iconic moments.

A question about Monica’s (Cox) answering machine brought actor Tom Selleck, who played Richard in the series, out onto the floor. When the cast members argued over the answer to a question, viewers saw that they themselves were the biggest “Friends” fans of all.

Ross and Rachel

One unexpected moment from the reunion was the reveal that co-stars Aniston and Schwimmer had “huge crushes” on each other during their first season of taping. Shocked that no one had figured it out, Schwimmer and Aniston assured everyone that they never “crossed that boundary” to which co-star LeBlanc muttered, “Bullsh*t.”

There is no denying that the two always had phenomenal chemistry, but now there is absolutely no excuse to not root for their characters of Ross and Rachel — the behind-the-scenes footage from season one showing them flirting with each other only confirmed this chemistry. 

Reunion vs. Reboot

During the course of the evening, the conversation around a reboot came up — it makes sense that “Friends” could follow in the footsteps of  “Gilmore Girls” and “Will and Grace” and jump in right where they left off. Many fans have also been urging the creators for a reboot since the show ended. However, none of the “Friends” cast members are interested in revisiting the series. When asked, Kudrow answered with a strong “no.” “They ended the show very nicely,” she said. “Everyone’s lives were very nice, and they would have to unravel all those good things in order for there to be [more] stories.” 

The theme song lyric, “So no one told you life was gonna be this way,” has a different meaning during a global pandemic. All of us had to figure out life as we went through it, the characters from “Friends” beside us, as the show witnessed a 30% viewership jump in 2020.

While the reunion special was not the reboot that die-hard fans were hoping for, it was the reunion that they needed, full of priceless nostalgia while leaving the lives of the characters untouched. 

Watch the reunion or binge the series on HBO Max.

makena.reynolds@dailyutahchronicle.com

@MakenaReynolds

The post ‘Friends: The Reunion’ Full of Nostalgia and Surprise appeared first on The Daily Utah Chronicle.

The no. 24 Gophers softball team headed west in pursuit of a long postseason run, but they were unable to advance past regional play. The team lost to powerhouse UCLA, ending their season.

After earning a 29-11 record in the Big Ten conference Gopher softball finished second place and secured an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament. Playing in the Los Angeles regional, Minnesota dropped their first game against Fresno State on Friday, May 21. With two wins on Saturday, May 22, the Gophers were set to face UCLA in the final Sunday.

Minnesota’s other Saturday win over Long Beach St. put them against UCLA for the Sunday final, where they were narrowly defeated 2-1.

Friday, May 21

On Friday, the Gophers were involved in a tense pitching duel against Hailey Dolcini one of the “top pitchers in the nation,” according to Gophers Head Coach Piper Ritter. Dolcini pitched a 1.01 ERA in the regular season with a 21-4 record. Amber Fiser took the circle for the Gophers. Fiser was a part of the 1-2 starting pitcher punch alongside Autumn Pease.

Through five innings, the game was scoreless. Minnesota’s lone hit came with an Ellee Jensen lead off single in the bottom of the first inning.

In the sixth inning, Fresno St. finally broke the tie as a pair of singles put runners on first and second base with one out. After a sacrifice bunt by Adrianna Noriega moved both runners to second and third base, Hayleigh Galvan was hit by a pitch, making the bases loaded with two outs.

Up next to bat was Schuylar Broussard, who singled to right field bringing home the Bulldogs’ runners from second and third base. This made the game 2-0 Fresno St. The inning concluded after Center Fielder Natalie DenHartog threw out pinch runner Liliana Mejia at home off of a Avery Lawley single.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, MaKenna Partain singled to CF and DenHartog walked, making a lucrative comeback opportunity for the Gophers down by two. But the next three batters all failed to reach base before the inning ended.

In the top of the seventh, Fresno St. added to their lead with Miranda Rohleder scoring from first base off of a Keahilele Mattson double to right field.

The final half-inning of regulation didn’t bode well for the Gophers with Dolcini pitching a 1-2-3 inning, striking out Sara Kinch, Sydney Strelow fouling out to the catcher and pinch hitter Chloe Evans striking out.

Dolcini finished with a complete game shutout, striking out 13 batters. Fiser pitched all seven innings for the Gophers, allowing 3 earned runs.

Fresno St. won 3-0 and advanced to play UCLA in the winners bracket while the Gophers would face Long Beach St. in the losers bracket.

The message in the locker room after the game was to “stay alive” by taking one game at a time, focusing all of their energy on that matchup to get to play another game, according to Ritter.

Saturday, May 22

On Saturday, the Gophers made quick work of Long Beach St, winning 11-0. A solo home run by Kinch and a grand slam by Natalie DenHartog were the highlights of the game. Fiser pitched six shutout innings and Ava Dueck sealed the win over pitching in the final inning.

After the Gophers’ first elimination game victory they would proceed to rematch Fresno St. after the Bulldogs lost earlier in the winner’s bracket to UCLA. The Gophers would need to defeat Fresno St. to move onto the regional final.

Minnesota got off to a hot start quickly, with DenHartog homering to deep CF off of Dariana Orme that brought in two runs in the first inning, giving the Gophers a 2-0 lead.

That home run was DenHartog’s second straight long ball after hitting a grand slam in her final at bat versus Long Beach St. Ritter talked about DenHartog’s surge at the plate on Saturday.

“For her it’s all about timing. She worked most of yesterday and today on being on time for the pitches she wanted to hit,” Ritter said. ”So when you get that swing off and see the ball as well as she did today, it feels good.”

In the bottom of the first inning, Mattson hit a solo shot off of Gophers starting pitcher Pease to cut the lead down to one and through one inning the score was 2-1.

In the third inning, DenHartog knocked in another RBI from a single to center field, allowing Partain to score. The lead returned to two runs for the Gophers, ahead 3-1 over the Bulldogs.

Fresno St. answered with a double by Mattson, who scored two runners from second and third to tie the game at three apiece.

In the top of the fourth, Strelow homered to center, bringing home Kinch. The lead extended to 5-3 Gophers in the top of the fifth with a Partain home run to left field.

Fiser was tasked to close out the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. She got out of a bases loaded jam with a defensive play, knocking a hit from UCLA’s Mattson in the air with her glove. The ball ricocheted to the Gophers short stop Carlie Brandt to throw Mattson out, winning the game.

Sunday, May 23

After a scoreless first inning, Pease hit a batter by pitch but still gave up no runs in the second inning while in the circle for Minnesota. Megan Dray hit a leadoff home run to left center to give the Gophers a 1-0 lead.

The Gophers continued to attack UCLA offensively and had a bases loaded opportunity to increase their lead but ace relief pitcher Rachel Garcia (15-0, 0.82 ERA, 137 Ks, 102 IP) halted the Gophers offensive pursuits.

The Bruins took the lead in the top of the fourth inning as Kinsley Washington hit a two RBI single to score Rachel Garcia and Maya Brady to take a 2-1 lead. Garcia reached base from a single and Brady doubled down the left field line to reach second base as Garcia advanced to third.

The next three innings featured no scoring, but the Gophers almost tied the game up in the bottom of the seventh inning with Chloe Evans reaching second base on a pinch hit ground ball error by UCLA SS Briana Perez.

With one out and a runner in scoring position, Delanie Cox came to pinch hit for Brant and struck out and Partain flew out to left with two outs to end the ballgame — and the Gophers season — in Los Angeles, losing in a close 2-1 battle.

After the final game, Ritter commented on how much she appreciated the leadership of the fifth-year seniors on the team.

“They meant a lot to me because they have been through so much and their dedication to this program really speaks volumes,” Ritter said. “A lot of coaching changes have occurred during their tenure and they helped our upperclassmen a lot, especially during COVID-19 when team bonding was essential.”

Those fifth year seniors included Carlie Brandt, Fiser, Katelyn Kemmetmueller and Partain.

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UC Berkeley researchers provide blueprint for campus COVID-19 surveillance testing

Roxanne Makasdjian, Berkeley News/Courtesy

A team of UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory affiliates led the Innovative Genomics Institute to conduct a study on campus. The study was meant to develop Free Asymptomatic Saliva Testing.

As it became clear that COVID-19 was here to stay, the Innovative Genomics Institute, or IGI, entered summer 2020 with two goals in mind: to launch surveillance testing on the UC Berkeley campus as quickly as possible while enticing people to take advantage of the resource.

Led by a team of campus and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory affiliates, IGI conducted a study on campus to develop Free Asymptomatic Saliva Testing, or FAST. Typically, such a test requires a long process of validation before it can be clinically ordered, according to Alexander Ehrenberg, the study’s clinical investigator.

During the early stages of the pandemic, however, time was of the essence. The study provided campus with a way to distribute experimental COVID-19 tests in a more timely manner, the results of which could be verified with a clinically ordered test for those whose outcomes were “positive” or “inconclusive,” added Erica Moehle, a molecular biologist and site coordinator for kiosk testing setups.

“We wanted to help campus get things up and going sooner,” Ehrenberg said in an email. “In doing this, we were able to start testing people working on campus to try and catch folks who might infect others before an outbreak happened.”

Although the study examined 11,971 tests from a cohort of 3,653 participants, it was eventually discontinued due to a couple of reasons.

According to Moehle, campus needed to consolidate its resources in the fall so that it could provide self-collected swab tests to faculty, staff and students then on campus. Additionally, a study was also no longer required for the saliva-based test, as it had been clinically validated and could be ordered for specific purposes, Ehrenberg added.

“For example, children on the autism spectrum or those with sensory-motor difficulties might have a hard time with the swabbing so saliva might be the best way to help them,” Ehrenberg said in the email. “We have no reason to think that we were systematically missing positive cases by having picked saliva for IGI FAST, the decision with campus mostly came down to costs and technical feasibility.”

Though the saliva-based testing was determined to be a viable option and was continued in its use for at-home testing, the switch to swab-based testing had little effect on participation, if any.

Overall, surveillance testing programs are very good at detecting COVID-19 in asymptomatic individuals, Moehle said. Making these tests accessible, as well as being transparent about the goals and decisions made behind the scenes, are key to boosting testing participation rates, Ehrenberg added.

“A one-size fits all solution doesn’t work when you have a heterogeneous population like UC Berkeley,” Ehrenberg said in the email. “It’s important to listen to the people you are serving to collaborate on creating a culture of safety, rather than just forcing them to do things.”

Contact Veronica Roseborough at vroseborough@dailycal.org, and follow her on Twitter at @v_roseborough.

The Daily Californian

Members of the University’s administration and faculty discussed amendments to the Faculty Rules and Regulations, the Fiscal Year 2022 budget and hopes for the 2021-22 academic year at the final faculty meeting of the semester Tuesday.

Johanna Hanink, associate professor of classics and Faculty Executive Committee chair, opened the meeting with a motion to “clarify ambiguities and inconsistencies” in the Faculty Rules and Regulations regarding “what is allowable for undergraduate teaching assistants and to align with current best practices.” 

The motion proposed shifting grading from “the exclusive responsibility of appointed faculty members” to include undergraduate teaching assistants who “will work collaboratively with course instructors on how assignments should be graded to ensure an equitable evaluation of student work,” according to the motion. Despite some pushback, the motion passed with a 76 percent majority.

While undergraduate TAs are currently allowed to grade the work of other undergraduates, the motion would formalize the process and clear up certain contradictions in the rules and regulations by explicitly stating that undergraduate TAs can assume grading responsibilities.

In support of the motion, Thomas Doeppner, associate professor of computer science, said that undergraduate teaching assistants allow professors of large lectures to provide students with “a lot more feedback than possible on their own.”

David Sheinberg PhD’94, professor of neuroscience, added that if grading was the sole responsibility of the faculty, as is currently the case, professors would not be allowed to “take full advantage of an incredibly valuable resource” in undergraduate TAs.

The motion received some negative feedback from those faculty members concerned about undergraduate student bias bleeding into their grading practices for their peers.

“I think there’s just that there’s just too much of a temptation or too much of an opportunity for something going very wrong there,” said Gregory Elliot, professor of sociology. “I would feel uncomfortable allowing the undergrads to say, ‘This student deserves an A or a B or an NC for that matter.’”

Provost Richard Locke P’18 led the meeting with an overview of the 2021 Fiscal Year and discussed the 2022 Fiscal Year Budget, highlighting the significant decrease from the projected $118 million deficit to the actual $80 million deficit. He attributed this improvement to an increase in revenue through sponsored research, greater sourcing from the endowment and a reduction in operating expenses and wages.

“We came together as a community and engaged in collective sacrifice so that we could do what we’re known to do,” said Locke. “To basically offer a world-class education and experience for our students … in ways that kept our community healthy.”

Locke discussed a projected $35 million deficit for FY22, due almost entirely to COVID-19 costs including hosting an extra summer semester, allocating additional financial aid and purchasing resources for student testing, he said.

“I really strongly believe that next year, as we emerge from this pandemic, … we will not only have a balanced budget, but actually a positive surplus,” Locke said. “Our financial fundamentals are excellent.”

President Christina Paxson P’19 reported on the Academic Affairs Committee’s recent discussions about the status of a working group charged with examining doctoral education for modern languages, literatures and culture, undergraduate admission and the status of women faculty in the life sciences.

Paxson also shared updates on the Budget and Finance Committee’s approval of renovations on the Lincoln Field Building, renovations on 22 Benevolent Street for the new location of the LGBTQ Center and discussions about the Brook Street residence halls.

Recent new faculty hires, the move into DIAP Phase II and the promotion of the Brown Arts Initiative to “institute status” are all causes for excitement, Paxson said.

“We got through an extraordinary year, and I think we did it well,” Paxson said. “We did it with integrity, and respecting our academic mission, advancing our education, advancing our research and we owe that to (faculty).”

Paxson expressed hope and optimism for a return to normalcy for the 2021-22 school year with near-universal vaccination rates. The University plans to welcome all employees back to campus, while still allowing for hybrid work arrangements as needed by some staff, she added.

Paxson’s priority areas moving forward include focusing on recommendations from the Ad Hoc Committee on Promoting Financial Health and Sustainability and establishing a task force on the status of women faculty in physical sciences and engineering.

Hanink officially stepped down from her FEC chair position, passing on the title to Vice-Chair Govind Menon PhD’01, professor of applied mathematics.

Leigh Tarentino, associate professor of visual art, spoke on behalf of the Committee on Nominations. Tarentino listed recommendations for members to be appointed to the interim committee, which passed with a 95 percent majority, and summarized the Spring 2021 committee elections.

Kate O’Connor-Giles, associate professor of neuroscience, summarized the Academic Priorities Committee Report. Over the course of the last semester, the committee supervised external reviews and offered recommendations to four academic departments, reviewed four proposals for new centers and name changes and approved a master’s program in Data-Enabled Computer Engineering and Science.

The faculty also passed a motion to update certain procedures for the faculty meetings and to update the list of additional master’s degrees in the Faculty Rules and Regulations.

‘Own a part of history’: UC Berkeley to sell nonfungible tokens of scientific discoveries

David McAllister/Staff

Campus is going to auction two nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, which are digital objects printed on a blockchain that can be owned. The auctioned NFTs include digital art pieces related to Nobel Prize-winning inventions.

UC Berkeley will auction two nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, relating to Nobel Prize-winning inventions for the funding of future research and innovation.

The NFTs being sold include digital art pieces consisting of the original patent disclosure forms behind former campus professor James Allison’s cancer immunotherapy research, for which he shared the 2018 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, and CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, for which campus biochemistry and molecular biology professor Jennifer Doudna shared the 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

NFTs are digital objects printed on a blockchain, or a decentralized and immutable database, that can be owned, according to Rich Lyons, campus’s chief innovation and entrepreneurship officer.

“Nonfungible tokens are digital objects that can be unmistakably and forever owned,” Lyons said. “We’ve tried to create a new category of digital object — one that represents profoundly important science.”

There have never been NFTs representing intellectual property, according to campus alumna and project contributor Justine Humenansky. She added that the project shows that blockchain and cryptocurrency are more than just “hype” and can be used for incredibly meaningful work.

Lyons appreciated campus leadership supporting the team through critical junctions and said campus never deemed the project too risky.

Campus alumna and project contributor Margaret Valentine said she was also impressed with campus taking advantage of the opportunity.

Humenansky added that auctioning the NFTs will bring awareness and visibility to scientific breakthroughs made on campus in an innovative way.

“Being able to marry Berkeley as a 150-year-old institution with this cutting-edge technology made me really excited,” Valentine said. “And we can use that to fund even more innovation within this space.”

A Berkeley News article noted that 85% of the NFT auction price and 10% of any subsequent sale will go to campus to fund research and offset costs from minting the NFT.

Minting and auctioning the NFT in itself is an innovation that goes beyond research, Lyons noted. He added that the publicity and indirect effects of selling the NFT will outweigh the direct monetary gain.

“Imagine how many more 18 year olds are going to apply to Berkeley because it feels fresh and exciting,” Lyons said. “Imagine how many more grad students will want to come to Berkeley because of the innovation and opportunity.”

The NFTs for auction are the invention and technology disclosures for the inventions and represent the “very first public instantiation” of the scientific discoveries, according to Lyons.

Lyons added that potential buyers will own the digital object “uniquely and forever” unless they decide to resell it, but no intellectual property rights are involved. All relevant patents will stay owned by campus, according to the Berkeley News article.

“The invention disclosures are very meaningful in that they represent some of the most significant breakthroughs of the 21st century,” Humenansky said. “The auction gives people a chance to own a part of history as well as fund really important research.”

Vani Suresh is a research and ideas reporter. Contact her at vsuresh@dailycal.org, and follow her on Twitter at @vanisuresh_.

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