Caliber Magazine – Issue 5

IS S UE

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S PRING

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k e e r G ards Aw An Undocumented

Student’s Day at Cal The Repeal of

Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

Guide to

Coachella

2012

Cuddle Sutra

AndDrop!

A Guide to Cuddling

iStupid

Two DJs and Their Experiment with Electronic Dance Music

Are You Fluent in Mac? +

Awesome Shit to Put on Popcorn

Thrifting 101: The Essentials

UC Berkeley’s Award-Winning Entertainment and Lifestyle Magazine

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Issue 5 10 A Day in the Life of an Undocumented Student

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13 Berkeley Culture Then and Now: A Look Into the 60s

18 Repeal of DADT 22 Fictional Items That Would Make College Easier 25 Thrifting 101 28 AndDrop! When The Proverbial Beat Drops 32 Caliber’s Guide to Coachella 34 2k11 Culture Zeitgeist 42 iStupid: 10 Things You Can Do with a Mac 45 Trapped in a World That Was Never Made: A Photo Editorial

51 2012 Caliber Greek Awards

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54 Sex, Drugs & Religion 56 Cuddle Sutra 58 You Are Not Sleeping Enough 60 Quiz: What is Your Sleeping Score?

61 Awesome Shit to Put on Popcorn

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62 On Inhaling Chocolate 64 Bay Area Bar Crawl

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67 Quiz: What Drink Are You? 68 Coupons Visit Caliber on the Web at www.calibermag.org

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The Staff Dear Readers,

Editor-in-Chief & President Melissa Meagher

We are obsessed with you. Every day all

Executive Board Griffin Cassara, Vice President Cassandra Stephens, Assistant to Editor-in-Chief Gabbie Guison, Head of Journalism Jackie Ngo, Head of Copy Editing Silvia Cernea, Head of Photography David Herschorn, Editorial Photographer Jonathan Rodriguez, Editorial Manager Kate Jessen, Head of Business Laljeet Mann, Head of Events/PR Lara Sarkissian, Advertising Manager Colleen Murphy, Distribution Manager Haleh Nourani, Marketing Manager

we think about are the articles you want to read, the photos that capture your attention, the page designs that will intrigue you and the events you want to be in the know about. Your interests entertain us; they drive us. We have always yearned for your readership and reciprocation. As a grand gesture of sorts the Caliber staff has put together this issue for you in order to win over your heart. Consider it a declaration of our devotion to you.

And, if you’re reading this, it seems we’ve already caught your eye. We promise you a unique, relevant and awesome magazine. Each page was made with love by all of the members of Caliber Magazine.

From someone who was lucky enough to work her way up the Caliber ladder, I have personally seen this organization blossom and can wholeheartedly say that I am so happy and proud of how far Caliber has come. I am excited for its future. So, turn the page, read on, smile and etch a little spot for us in that heart of yours—Caliber is here to stay.

Melissa Meagher Editor-in-Chief & President

Business Team Gina Tai Julia Nagel Sarah Milik Lauren Closson Isabella Lo Brenden Beckley Alex Dickey Nick Carter Kelsey Moty George Syrop Photographers Dylan White Yuka Ogino Gina Tai

Journalists Kamyar Jarahzadeh Lara Hovsepian-Ruby Anisa Young Taylor Fugere-Cale Shannon Najamabadi Sucheta Salgaonkar Jeannine Ventura Diana McCaffrey Briana Flin Liz Jackson Nam Le Alex Lee Cara Cerino Copy Editors/Journalists Mark Alshak Nakta Alaghebandan Jaime Gamblin Manon von Kaenel Designers Maya Kulkarni Stephanie Cai Jessica Feng Jill Wong Bloggers Surmayee Tetarbe Katherine Sziraczky Kiara Daswani Jaemie Paraon Jo Wu Nina Udomsak Joyce Liu Henry Huang Rohit Upadhya Isaac Wolf Molly Henneberry Mariam Sleiman Ashley Tsai Katie Ginsburg Publisher & Designer Nick Anastasiades

Cover photo credits Photographer: Steven Sun / Assistant Photographer: Dylan White / Models: Joe Wiseman, Harris Kauffman

While Caliber is a part of the Associated Students of the University of California at Berkeley, the content of the magazine does not reflect the opinion of the ASUC in any way.

The Caliber Executive Board

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perspective

A Day In the Life of an

Un documented Student

by Briana Flin

By the Numbers

437 Undocumented Berkeley students (AB 540 recipients)

115 49% 45% Potentially undocumented students

Are of Latino descent

Are of Asian descent

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On paper, Ju Hong is just like any other Cal student. He’s a senior majoring in Political Science. He plans to go to law school. He lives with friends in an apartment, goes on Safeway-runs to buy food and plays basketball at the RSF. He likes a good house party on the weekends. He’s even an ASUC Senator, representing the entire student body here at Cal. But there is something that sets him apart from other students, something that has led him to become the activist he is today: he is an undocumented student.

Ju moved to Alameda, California, from South Korea with his mom and his sister in 2001, after the 1997 debt crisis left his family’s restaurant in dire straits. In Korea, the (sometimes violent) threat of debt collectors forced his family to move from town to town. Eventually, the restaurant failed and his parents divorced, leaving him to live with his mother and his older sister. Together they struggled to survive the tough times. Often, he was only able to eat one or two meals a day, and at one

Caliber Magazine / Spring 2012

perspective

point, all three of them had to share one room. It was these difficult conditions that led his mother to make the bold decision to immigrate to America, despite the fact that they had limited financial means, didn’t speak English and had only one contact in the country. Despite these obstacles, Ju eventually adapted to life here quite well, becoming a very active student in high school. He took many AP classes, joined student organizations and played several sports.

was like, wow, I have a opportunity to stay here, to potentially go to college, to potentially get financial aid, to potentially get legalized,” he says. Following this discovery, he slowly became himself again, but with one difference: he had a newfound interest in politics. He enrolled in community college, taking political science courses. He got involved with student government.

He learned about immigration issues and joined non-profit organizations.

He was completely unaware of his immigrant status, however, until he began filling out college applications and realized he didn’t have a Social Security number.

It was then that he discovered he was undocumented. “There’s a Social Security section… and I didn’t know what to put,” Ju tells me. “So I asked my mom about it, and that’s when she told me everything.” They had come on tourist visa, which they had extended once but had long since expired.

They were illegal.

It was at this point that he took a big step. “I could not wait anymore,” he says. “I didn’t want to be silent any longer. I decided to come out as an undocumented student to empower other undocumented youth, specifically Asian-American undocumented youth.” Feeling the need to get involved, he began to share his story with the media, encouraging other students to come out.

After transferring to Cal, he continued this activism. He’s an ASUC senator who has made supporting AB540 and the Dream Act a central part of his platform. Over the summer, he was arrested in San Bernadino, California, a hot spot for anti-immigrant attitudes, for an act of civil disobedience meant to empower undocumented immigrant youth. And he plans to continue working on these issues after he graduates, with ambitions of becoming an immigration lawyer.

Not understanding the full repercussions of his status, Ju was initially okay with this news. But this soon changed. “Slowly I realized I’m unable to work, apply for scholarships, internships, receive any governmental financial aid, either state or federal government. Worst of all, I was, and still am, at risk of deportation at any time.

If anyone were to dislike me and found out my immigration status, they could report me at any time. When I heard about that, I became a different person.”

Rather than being the active, gregarious student he once was, Ju became very withdrawn, avoiding friends, teachers, counselors and even family members, because of fears and embarrassment about his status.

Both his mother and cultural stigma in the Korean-American community pressured him to keep quiet about his immigration status. Though he had the option to return to South Korea, he didn’t want to—he felt American. But he couldn’t afford college in America without financial aid. “I was very confused. I was only 18. I had no idea what the heck I needed to do to figure out my life.”

But when he heard about AB540 and the Dream Act and the opportunities that came with them, he began to regain hope.

“When I heard about those legislations, I

But for now, Ju wants Cal students to recognize at least one thing about the undocumented community: its diversity.

“This is not only a Latino issue,” he says.

“It also affects Asian-American communities, as well as other communities. And especially at UC Berkeley, almost half of AB540 students are Asians.” He wants to encourage faculty, professors, AsianAmerican student organizations on campus and other organizations (particularly Korean-American churches) to discuss this issue. He hopes that this will enhance the potential for undocumented students to come out and bring more attention to the issue as a whole.

Needless to say, Ju has faced a set of struggles that many Cal students have never had to consider. But, with his incredible show of courage and his perseverance, he has turned these hardships into something positive for himself and for the undocumented community as a whole.

A GUIDE TO THE LAWS AB540 A California state law that allows qualified undocumented students (among others) to pay in-state, rather than out-of state tuition at public institutions of higher education.

AB130 (California DREAM Act, Part 1): A state law that allows qualified AB 540 students to apply for and receive private (non-state) scholarships.

AB131 (California DREAM Act, Part 2): A state law that allows qualified AB 540 students to apply for and receive public financial aid, from state and university sources. It will go into effect January 1, 2013.

Federal DREAM ACT This act was introduced in 2001, and has been reintroduced several times since then. It has not passed yet. It would: o Stop penalizing states that provide in-state tuition to undocumented students o Make undocumented students eligible for federal loans o Provide qualified undocumented students with a pathway to citizenship

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campus

Berkeley Culture THEN AND NOW: A Look into the 60s

by Lara Hovsepian-Ruby

Sather Gate in the 1960s and today.

All 1960s photos courtesy of the Daily Cal. All color photos taken by Dylan White.

Fifty years ago, Berkeley students walked the same paths as we do now. They hurried past the same buildings and heard the same Campanile strike the hour, but it was their activities that carved the reputation we have come to live by, and their voice that has made ours so prominent. Their actions made Berkeley in the 1960s a tour de force so strong

that echoes of the era’s student culture will forever remain embedded in history. Since then, times have changed and certain ways of life have been transformed beyond return.

The next few pages take a look at the three biggest aspects of Berkeley culture half a century ago, along with the difference students have come to endorse since then.

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COUNTER-CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT: Mario Savio speaks to students in Sproul Plaza in November 1964; Students protest the UC budget cuts and fee hikes in 2010; People gather in Sproul Plaza the day after the December 3, 1964 sit-in at Sproul Hall; Budget cut protest of 2010 in front of the MLK Jr. Student Union.

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Caliber Magazine / Spring 2012

campus

Student Activism We protest. We go to lecture. We study. We have trouble getting back to class because people in Upper Sproul are still protesting.

Five hours… six hours… STILL protesting. Okay—so there’s good reason why Berkeley has developed somewhat of a reputation as being liberally active. But exactly when and how did this happen? The answer, my friends, lies in the 1960s, with a little something called the Free Speech Movement (FSM). The movement kicked off in 1964 when the school board solicited student fundraising tables for political parties other than the Democrats and Republicans at Bancroft and Telegraph. The small group of radicals that had been fighting for free speech up until this point erupted into a school-wide force of protest that would carry through until the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. Students and faculty began rallying the community with illegal sit-ins of thousands in Sproul Hall and marches through the neighboring streets. Cops resorted to literally dragging students out of buildings, although such resistance on part of the protestors was justified by the student spearhead of the FSM, Mario Savio: “You can’t disobey the rules every time you disapprove. However, when you’re considering something that constitutes an extreme abridgement of your rights, conscience is the court of last resort.”

Cop cars were even surrounded and forced to stop if they attempted to arrest peaceful protestors. According to Mark Kitechell’s film Berkeley in the Sixties, one of the most memorable demonstrations of the FSM occurred when students took turns standing on top of a cop car and belting their thoughts to the school for three minutes at a time. By 1965, the activist movement had acquired a kind of momentum that continuously pushed the frontier of student protest forward. In looking for new means of expressing themselves, however, certain protestors left behind the peaceful ideals of the FSM and endorsed violence. The continuation of the Vietnam war and the fear of being drafted compelled students to turn from the Martin Luther King Jr./Gandhi school of thought, in the mindset that in order to convey to people the full meaning of the war, they needed to bring it into peoples’ backyards—literally. Fences were torn down, private property destroyed and civil peace disturbed, all in the name of protest. Michael Lovas, the Daily Californian’s chief photographer from 1966-68, recalls a specific account of violence in the

summer of ‘68: “Students in Berkeley were sympathizing with students who were protesting in France. That’s when a lot of violence broke out on Telegraph Avenue— windows were broken, they brought in the National Guard, and they shut the city down for a couple of days.”

The ‘60s were characterized by a certain raw, school-wide energy that will probably never again be experienced here at Berkeley. John Searle, a professor of philosophy who was teaching here in the ‘60s, believes that the answer lies in the nature of today’s concerns. “There are some interesting issues about things like affirmative action, but they don’t excite the passions that straight racism and the war in Vietnam did,” he says. “They’re not the sort of issues where a lot of students can make a difference to the issue by going out and marching in the streets.” An example lies in the fact that the country’s main concern since 9/11 has been the more nebulous threat of terrorism. Searle explains, “In order to be intelligently active, you have to have a well-defined question, and then you have to have a proposal to solve that problem.

I can’t see that in today’s protests.” The problem is that while students of the ‘60s clearly demanded their proposal with two words (“free speech”—keep up with me here), today’s activists don’t clearly articulate what they want. We demand more money for the university, yet we pick up our signs and clear our throats at the first notice of tuition increases. The frontier of activism so visible in the ‘60s has long stopped expanding—even our sit-ins in Wheeler and Sproul don’t produce the same excitement they used to (“They’re pathetic,” says Searle).

Instead, activists of today have learned to take a different approach to getting their point across rather than marching through the streets. “In terms of activism, it’s not so much protesting as it is doing the behindthe-scenes work to get students educated about the issues,” says second-year Megan Majd, who serves on the executive committee of CALPIRG (California Public Interest Research Group), one of Berkeley’s largest student activist groups.

Even if we have traded yelling on top of cop cars for passing out informational flyers, we’re still Berkeley students. If there’s something to be said, the world knows we’re going to say it.

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Drug Culture You’ve seen a hippie, right? Long hair, no socks, peace and babies…

Well, to clarify, the hippie culture and radical culture of the ’60s were two completely different movements. While many tend to group them together based on their emergence in the same time era, the hippies were generally non-activists and non-Cal students, focused on liberation and highly invested in drug use, while the radicals were a group protesting for basic human rights on the Berkeley campus. Because of the sheer number of hippies surrounding the campus, radicals of the time naturally turned to them with hopes of recruiting them in their campaigns. But knowing what we do, I’m sure you can imagine how well that turned out. Although students of the era succeeded in rallying tie-dye support for a few days at a time, the LSD and ecstasy seemed

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Caliber Magazine / Spring 2012

just too strong to elicit long-term commitment and organization suited to the radicals’ needs. So on they went, looking for a different source of support—but not before the hippies’ way of life had permanently infiltrated the school.

While the center of drug culture in the ‘60s was a facet of hippie culture rather than of student culture, its development at Cal quickly translated into Berkeley’s reputation as a drug-liberal university (and for good reason, too). If you find the daily dose of second-hand marijuana you involuntarily smoke on the way to class each day to be intolerable, just be glad you weren’t around 50 years ago.

Weed in addition to hard drugs were socially acceptable to nearly the entire student body and—wait for it—the faculty. Believe it or not, according to Dr. Searle, marijuana cigarettes commonly made their rounds at faculty dinner parties.

Can you imagine? I just can’t seem to get the concept of quantum harmonic oscillators across to my students… pass me the blunt.

Marijuana usage in the ‘60s was also justified by its role as a power play. “You were asserting your rejection of the power structure by smoking marijuana,” says Searle.

Leave it to Berkeley students to get high in protest. But given the fact that social and intellectual life of the time strongly revolved around activism, it comes as no surprise that drug culture did as well. Over the years as the hotplate of Berkeley activism slowly cooled, more and more students began getting high simply for the sake of getting high. Nowadays, weed is generally used as a dealing mechanism for academic stress rather than as a means of rebellion. But hey, whatever works, works, right?

campus

Lifestyle You know the tiny spasm of joy you feel when there’s a little red Facebook notification indicating that you have friends?

Well, our parents never felt that growing up. Since the ‘60s couldn’t even boast boom boxes, let alone the Internet, students of the era had less easily accessible distractions and thus were much less inclined to stray from their studies as we are today.

People never walked into Sather Gate because they were changing the song on their iPod, and they didn’t check Twitter every time the professor went off on a tangent. Naturally, the students of the time still found ways to procrastinate, but they did so by focusing on their political activity rather than plugging into the digital world. According to George Chang, a current professor in the Department for Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology who enrolled here as a graduate student in ‘63, “The distractions now are very, very clever.

People have been driven by profit motive for decades to learn how to hypnotize us and how to get us attracted to our digital devices—they’ve succeeded far beyond anybody’s fears.”

By coming to expect decreased focus in their students over the last few decades, school districts have dumbed down high school curricula and discipline demands by a tremendous amount. Says Chang, “Subconsciously in our minds, [professors] have our vision of the student as somebody who can study about as hard as we did with as little effort as we did, because it

didn’t take much effort to study hard in the old days. When we make that assumption and then hit our students with an exam, they act like a bomb went off.” Consequently, even organized, well-disciplined students find that they’ve greatly underestimated their workload upon their arrival at Cal. In a way, Berkeley was somehow both harder and easier in the ‘60s than it is today. Although students back then didn’t have virtual distractions and the pressure of self-discipline weighing their studies down, they did have to deal with the FSM and the Vietnam War. “The education of a lot of students was seriously damaged by the fact that their intellectual development took a back seat to their political activities,” says Searle. Mario Savio in particular paid dearly for the plastering of his face all over the walls of the Free Speech Movement Café—his immense devotement of so much time and energy into the FSM eventually “wrecked” the educational career he traded for activism, said Searle.

Racial diversity presents another immense change that reformed the campus. When Chang studied here in ‘63, the school was only two percent Asian. Today’s

number—40 percent, according to UC Berkeley’s SAGE Scholars Program—is drastically higher. As can be expected, students of racial minority groups had to deal with issues of racism back then. “If you were Jewish or Asian, chances are you would not get into most of the fraternities or sororities,” says Chang. Indeed, minorities were forced to create their own Greek chapters or to sidestep the system altogether. Nowadays, people of all ethnicities can be found studying, dating and heading to frat row together. While racial prejudice may still exist, Berkeley has undoubtedly gained the reputation of a liberal school accepting of all kinds of eccentricity. After all, where else would you find intellectuals and homeless all coexisting on the same campus? As I sit here contemplating the best end to this article, there are helicopters circling the skies above campus. There are news reporters and media trucks all over the city capturing the Occupy Cal movement—a small reminder of the FSM that shows how little we’ve actually changed.

Because no matter how much Berkeley culture evolves, we will always be the protesting, love-making, weed-smoking students of the ‘60s.

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politics

THE REPEAL OF

DON’T ASK DON’T TELL

By Manon von Kaenel

“Can I tell you something? Will you love me, serious?” The young man, his brow furrowed in worry, asks into the phone. “Dad, I’m gay.” Pure relief is evident on his face when his dad answers, without missing a beat: “I love you, son.”

This moment is testament to the young man’s incredible courage, and that of many other gay service members in the military. Randy Phillips is an active-duty gay soldier kept “in the closet” due to a ban on openly gay service in the U.S. military.

Hours after the repeal of the ban went into effect, he posted a video on YouTube of him coming out to his father under the moniker “AreYouSurprised.” The poignant video soon became an Internet hit as Americans paid tribute to their gay service members and celebrated the repeal of the 17-year old ban.

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Caliber Magazine / Spring 2012

President Obama and other high-position administrators certified the repeal of the law commonly known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) in July of 2011. The repeal went into effect two months later on Sept. 20th. As the official United States policy since 1993 up until its recent repeal, DADT banned homosexual individuals from openly serving in the U.S. military.

By signing the repeal into law, Obama joined the rest of the NATO countries (except Turkey) and most other first-world nations in permitting LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) people to openly serve in the national military. Although the long-awaited repeal was greeted with joy and celebration in LGBT circles and many American households, many believe that gay service members still face a difficult road to safe and just integration in the military.

“It’s going to be like hell for people,” says Clark Fitzgerald, an army veteran and current senior. “It’s still going to be extremely hard to be openly gay [in the military].”

Fitzgerald was a paratrooper for the U.S. army from 2004 to 2008, during which he was deployed to Afghanistan for 12 months.

“I can just remember people making gay jokes all the time [in the military],” Fitzgerald says. “We’d all be going to sleep in a tent together, and the commander would call out to the first one: ‘Hey, are you sleeping on your belly tonight?’ like he was going to come over and have his way with him.”

Fellow veteran Phillip Levya also remembers witnessing discrimination against homosexuals during his military career.

He is currently a junior transfer majoring in English at UC Berkeley.

politics

“It’s not like there weren’t any gay people in the military before; it’s not like all of sudden they’re going to come in. It’s just they were already there and now it won’t cost them their career.”

He recalls, “I met this guy from South Carolina, and he’s just openly telling me and all the other people around in the hall how he and his buddies went to a bar and they beat the crap out of this gay guy, and I was like ‘Why would you do that?’. And he was like ‘because he was a faggot.’” Levya joined the infantry at the age of 17 - “I had the parental consent waiver,” he says with a smile - and was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, later deployed to Afghanistan in February 2007 for 14 months. He remarks, “That’s one general feeling or tendency that a lot of people have in the military; there’s just high levels of discrimination against gay people.”

Gay jokes and discriminatory attitudes can create a hostile environment which has, at times, escalated into harassment and anti-gay violence. At least three military murders have been reportedly linked to the victims’ sexual orientations. In addition, DADT directly prevented many gay men and women from serving. According to data obtained for the DADT Digital Archive project from the Secretary of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Army National Guard Bureau, a total of 14,055 service members were discharged from military duty because of their sexual orientation between 1994 and 2005. But the impact of DADT on LGBT service members and veterans goes well beyond numbers, as Heliana Ramirez, a second year social welfare doctoral student at Cal, explains.

in the military. The threat of being called a lesbian – and hence instigating a potentially career-ending DADT investigation – keeps many sexual assault victims quiet.

“This really reinforced an environment that left both male and female soldiers at risk of being sexually assaulted by their colleagues,” she says.

This difficulty in reporting assault extends to general anti-gay harassment as well.

LGBT service members often had to endure in silence, because the military equal opportunity office was prevented from receiving complaints about homophobia. When a report did occur, it would frequently instigate a DADT investigation. “So it’s like the victim being re-victimized,” Ramirez says.

According to Ramirez, LGBT veterans report having to censor and limit their communication with loved ones for fear that the military was monitoring their emails, phone calls, Skype sessions, and other modes of communication. Casual workplace conversations also required careful censoring for LGBT service members. “In any work environment, you’re going to have a typical water-cooler conversation with your colleagues - ‘Oh, what did you do over the weekend?’ ‘Who are you going to spend the holidays with?’” Ramirez explains. “For LGBT service members, often times, those very common conversations could actually threaten their very careers and futures.”

“What we know from the scientific literature in general is that when people are forced to be closeted, it takes an extreme toll on their psychological and even physical health,” she says. “For example, LGBT service members will not seek medical care, even for common every-day things, because they’re concerned that in the process of meeting with their doctor, it would somehow come out that they had a samegender preference.”

LGBT service members had to, then, find ways to hide their sexual orientation. According to Ramirez, they would change one letter of their partner’s name to make it seem of the opposite gender, and some would cohabit with a gay person of the opposite gender to cover for each other as a couple. “Gay people did create ways to connect with one another to give each other support, but it was an underground network,” Ramirez says.

She also points out the “frightening interplay between sexism and homophobia”

Thus, the effects of DADT also reached beyond the LGBT service member to his or her

partner and family. “I think, for myself, as the daughter of gay fathers, the impact on the children of LGBT service members can not be overstated,” Ramirez says. “There’s this whole other group of people who are also impacted by this policy.”

For example, because LGBT service members could not report their same-gender partner to the military, the military would not inform their partner of their death if he/she died in battle. Also, military law requires service members to report any dependents (children) to the military. But oftentimes, for LGBT service members with families, reporting a child would entail having to report his or her same-sex partner, which would place his or her career in danger. “So people were really caught in the middle,” Ramirez says.

The repeal will try to change all that.

In a publicly accessible memorandum regarding the repeal of DADT, the Department of Defense instructs its different military departments that “all service members are to treat one another with dignity and respect regardless of sexual orientation...

The Department of Defense is committed to promoting an environment free from personal, social, or institutional barriers that prevent service members from rising to the highest level of responsibility possible regardless of sexual orientation.”

The repeal was applauded across the nation in various ways. In celebration, one Navy lieutenant and his partner even got married shortly after the repeal became official, and many gay service members took to YouTube and other social media sites to share their thoughts and experiences.

“In the [LGBT veteran] support group that I formed in the VA [Veteran’s Affairs Hospital], we had a big celebration,” Ramirez remembers of her personal reaction. “In the conversation, it was really clear: people said that [the repeal] is great, that this is a huge step forward.” calibermag.org

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politics Reactions to the repeal were generally very positive and hopeful.

Says Levya, “I think it’s [the repeal] great.

It’s a step forward. It’s great that even after there was red tape put in the way to keep it from happening, when the military had to determine whether or not that law was going to hinder or make the military less effective, it still passed after all that. So that’s just proof that it was the right thing to do.”

UC Berkeley hosts members of the military’s new post-DADT generation in its Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program. ROTC is a nationwide program that trains college students to be commissioned into the US military sometime after graduating. Unlike many other college chapters with only one or two military branches, the Berkeley ROTC hosts three branches of

other colleges, can engage in new ROTC programs on their campuses. Senior Warren Grunwald, also an Air Force cadet in the Berkeley ROTC, believes the military will benefit from bringing ROTC back to high-ranking universities. “[The new ROTC programs] will provide a higher degree of officers, and that will definitely help out the integration [of LGBT service members],” he says. “It’s a big deal now, but I think in a year or two, it’ll [the military] be more open, more diverse, more free of expression.”

Grunwald had a similar perspective to Wittenberg’s on the repeal, but held some reservations as to the reactions in different branches of the military. Grunwald is the cadet wing commander, in charge of all the cadets in the program, and is majoring in mechanical engineering. He will be commissioned into the Air Force as a Second

members can share showers or sleeping quarters, and bring up concerns about the effect this would have on the morale and discipline of the unit. The general opinion of the military during DADT was that having LGBT service members serve openly “would create an unacceptable risk to the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability,” according to a section of Title 10 of the United States Code regarding military personnel. Levya remembers fellow veterans saying that “they didn’t think it [the repeal] was a good idea, because if they were in combat units where there were only men, they would be afraid of gay men looking at them funny.”

In response to these concerns, Ramirez points out that DADT did not prevent LGBT people from participating in the military; it just made it harder for service members to know who is gay and who is straight.

“It’s not like there weren’t any gay people in the military before; it’s not like all of sudden they’re going to come in,” Wittenberg agrees. ‘‘It’s just they were already there and now it won’t cost them their career.”

the military -- Air Force, Navy and Army -- and currently counts about 50 cadets, according to Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Negin, professor of military science at UC Berkeley. He and other Berkeley military officers declined to comment about DADT .

Fifth-year Rachel Wittenberg, majoring in geography, is a cadet in the Air Force branch of the campus ROTC. She reacted positively to the repeal of DADT. “I was happy about it, because [DADT] is discriminatory,” she says. She is currently in charge of the Maintenance Squadron at the Berkeley ROTC and will be commissioned into the military next year as a Second Lieutenant, working as a Combat Systems Officer. “I just feel like you shouldn’t regulate people that way... I don’t care what anybody’s personal life is; if they have my back and they’re doing the job and I can trust them and work with them, that’s more important than whatever’s going on in their personal life.”

One tangible effect of the repeal is the return of ROTC programs in many colleges.

Certain schools had banned ROTC from their campuses for decades, first in objection to the Vietnam War and then to the DADT policy. Since the repeal, students at Columbia, Yale and Harvard, among

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Lieutenant and will become a Fighter Pilot after he graduates next spring. “I think that, especially in the Air Force, a more diverse group will make the unit stronger,” he says.

“But I was just worried about the different branches that have different mentalities.

When you’re down range [on-the-ground combat], I just see there might be possible situations where it [the culture shift] could hurt the unit or the person who is coming out, but that just takes some time.”

Fitzgerald echoes Grunwald’s concerns about different receptions of the repeal in particular parts of the military. As a former member of an all-male combat unit, he calls the civilian and on-the-ground sides of the military “two different worlds.”

“There were females who worked in some support capacities, who were pretty openly lesbian,” he recalls. “It was totally condoned, as I recall. We all knew, but nobody was really making a big deal about it. That was for those people working in those capacities.”

On the other hand, the attitude towards gay servicemen in all-male combat units tends to be more hostile and uncomfortable. Those against the repeal question whether or not gay and straight service

The relative success of the repeal of DADT, then, depends on the environment in each part of the military. Ramirez says that, according to numerous studies, the majority of the military is okay with having LGBT service members serve openly. “It’s the older generals and majors and people who are higher up, who tend to have more challenges around homophobia,” she says.

The roots of the military’s oftentimes homophobic environment can thus be traced back to certain, generally older, individuals.

Says Fitzgerald, “You have what I’ll call these crusty old sergeant majors who are very conservative, generally, and they’re used to the army how it used to be. They have tremendous pull within the enlisted personnel - they’re the top dog,”. Fitzgerald hypothesizes that the more conservative attitudes, enforced by these commanding officers, will linger until the next generation of officers takes over. “My first initial thought [after the repeal] was ‘How are these guys going to handle this new change? It’s going to just blow their minds.’

I kind of wish I was there to watch the sparks fly,” he says with a chuckle.

The continued presence of anti-sodomy laws in the military means that LGBT service members are still vulnerable to this still-existing homophobia affecting their

politics

Clark Fitzgerald careers. “If, let’s say, there’s an up-and-coming gay Marine who’s really doing a great job, but their supervisor feels threatened because of how successful they’re being, that service member could still be accused of breaking one of these anti-sodomy laws,” Ramirez explains.

Moreover, inequality still exists in the way gay couples are treated within the military.

Married gay couples do not receive the same types of military benefits because the military doesn’t recognize same sex marriage as a federal organization bound under the Defense of Marriage At (DOMA).

On Oct. 27, a group of active and retired military personnel, who are married and gay, sued the federal government regarding this issue; they maintain that DOMA violates their constitutional rights and demand equal benefits like straight couples.

Rachel Wittenberg Another obstacle for gay rights activists lies with the fate of transgender service members. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, transgender people are still listed as having “gender identity disorder,” and are thus barred from the military. Says Ramirez, “That’s part of the challenge here - that we oftentimes will lump LGBT people together, but in reality, the law and policies affect them differently.”

For LGBT service members, then, the official policy shift brought upon by the repeal of DADT won’t immediately bring about the safe integration into the military. “I feel like it’s kind of the same thing, [discrimination] over and over again, but just pointed at a different group,” Wittenberg agrees. “[DADT] is pointed at that group [of LGBT people].”

Warren Grunwald Just like it took time for the US to accept the changes brought upon by the Civil Rights movement, Levya, along with many others, believes it will simply take time for homophobia in the military to abate.

“Changes are going to occur [in the military] in the same way that the changes occurred after the Civil Rights movement in the ‘60s for African-Americans, or the way they started to change after World War II towards Asians,” he hypothesizes. “It’s just going to take time. It’s something that has to eventually happen – that tolerance has to happen because there’s a lot of gay men and women out there who want to serve.” *Caliber would like to emphasize that all sources interviewed for this article expressed their personal opinions only and should not be generalized to represent the whole of the military.

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lifestyle

FICTIONAL ITEMS THAT WOULD MAKE

COLLEGE EASIER

by Diana McCaffrey and Jaime Gamblin

There comes a time in every Cal student’s life when his or her shit is absolutely ruined.

Caliber has come up with the top fictional or just plain imaginary items that we could all benefit from at one time or another.

Replicator from Star Trek When you’re hungover and about five seconds away from doing lines of B-12 off your pillow, wouldn’t it be nice to have every energy-boosting food available in seconds? The Star Trek replicator can create any food or drink (as well as most other items) as long as it has the molecular makeup in its database. Of course, its usefulness for a hangover is only as good as the fact that it can also make just about any alcoholic beverage you can think of. As an added bonus, the machine can recycle old matter—from empty beer cans to the cell phone of that obnoxious ass at your party—into delicious treats for your lazy enjoyment.

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Caliber Magazine / Spring 2012

lifestyle

In-Ear Bullshit Translator This item would come in handy when you’re faced with someone who just can’t or won’t quite get to the point. This includes the one obligatory lazy group partner, the professor who rambles on for half an hour on a one-sentence slide or, more importantly as of late, that public official who’s all pleasantries and handshakes in public and then gouges students with another round of fees. This device would consolidate the lengthy excuses and euphemisms, or in short, the bullshit, that Cal students face on a daily basis.

The Hoverboard from Back to the Future You got to a little bit too much Mojito Monday drinking with your roommates, and your ass is positively dragging on Tuesday morning. After hitting snooze a few times, you hear the Sather Tower bells and realize you’re going to be very late. Fortunately, if there’s one good thing the ‘80s brought us besides Woody Harrelson, it’s Back to the Future. Marty McFly’s hover skateboard (and maybe those awesome Nikes, if you’re lucky) would get you to class with a nice wake-up from the cool breeze whipping by. One drawback, though— UCPD would be surely be on the prowl on Friday nights. Don’t drink and fly.

Mary Poppins’ Carpetbag The morning after unexpectedly crashing at a co-op party, it’s pretty damn embarrassing to do an obvious walk of shame in your rainbow glitter hotpants. If you had Mary Poppins’ bottomless purse, though, you could easily slip into something less noticeable for your triumphant journey home. In addition to the design being a hipster’s wet dream—whether that’s good or bad is for you to decide—the bag could also carry some aspirin and maybe a little hair of the dog for prompt recovery. Jameson, anyone?

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lifestyle

Crossroads Additive

Invisibility Cloak to Avoid Sproul Fliers Sproul is a fantastic place. Clubs and organizations can congregate, state their cause and gather recruits. But let’s be real here. There are days where you simply don’t have the time to take every flier, buy every cupcake and talk to everyone who asks, “Do you want to save polar bears today?” or “Do you want world peace?” If you brush these people off, you end up looking like a complete asshole, but sometimes you simply must because you’re not in the mood.

So take a cue from Harry Potter and use an invisibility cloak to get through Sproul swiftly when it’s just not the right day to save the polar bears.

I remember my first meal at Crossroads. I thought to myself, “Wow, this place is incredible! Look at all the choices—I’ll never get tired of eating here!” But my god, was I wrong. By the end of the first month I wanted out, the reason being that everything tastes the same. From the french fries to the unidentifiables, everything tastes so bland. The solution? An additive which will transform your meal from “bland” to “Oh man, this shit is tasty.”

Unicorn Companion There are days when it feels as though the world is against you. It’s those types of days that call for a loyal friend. A friend that will help you get to class, carry your backpack, shit rainbow skittles, give wise advice, impale muggers and comfort you when you cry. But what could possibly be so fierce, yet so gentle? A unicorn of course!

Imagine having a companion to take you from class to class.

And imagine having the protection of a unicorn’s horn for those late night walks. Life will be rainbows.

Berkeley Time Watch UC Berkeley is its own little world–heck, it even defies time. Freshman are able to understand that class and class ONLY abides by Berkeley time. But sophomore year and beyond, students seem to get too comfortable. Soon students think that Berkeley time applies to real life. Unfortunately, that job interviewer won’t wait ten minutes without getting pissy and nor will that plane take off ten minutes after the hour. But what IF you could make Berkeley time apply to real life with a simple push of a button? A watch with a “Berkeley time” activation button would make life all the more dandier. As Cal students have discovered, an extra ten minutes can work wonders.

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lifestyle

Thrifting

101

by Anisa Young

So you want to learn more about thrifting, do you? Thrifting is not a skill that can be picked up on demand; it is an art form that requires practice, patience and a little bit of raw talent. Thrifting is all about the possibilities—the possibility that the pair of Levi’s you bought were torn off the body of a corpse, the possibility that those black flats in the corner are actually worth $200, the possibility that you will find something that no one else has even laid eyes on before. Sounds fun, right? Let’s run down the four W’s of thifting: the who, what, where and why of thrifting.

Who thrifts? A better question is, who doesn’t thrift? While thrifting once carried negative connotations, it is more popular than it has ever been.

Some blame the economy, some blame the eco-kids and others blame the hipsters, but who cares! Thrifting is in, so get with the game. Even celebrities like Kylie Minogue and Angelina Jolie are known to be thrifters—Angie wore a $26 dress on the red carpet once! Who thrifts and why people thrift are often interconnected, much like peanut butter and jelly.

Fashion-forward people thrift to get the best deal, while eco-friendly folks may thrift to help minimize the effects of mass production by recycling clothing.

It can be a combination of any, all or numerous other reasons. Besides the who and the why, the what is also important; anything from vintage Chanel to

an old school ‘70s refrigerator to an original Beatles record can be found at a thrift store or a flea market.

The possibilities are literally endless.

Where to thrift? With the economy dropping like bird poop, frequently and consistently, the where is quickly becoming the easiest and most sought after.

Thrift stores come in all shapes and sizes, and there is no way to tell if one shop will be better than the next based on superficial aesthetics. Sometimes the smallest, dirtiest basement stores contain the best treasures. In the end, it’s just like a game of poker— no one knows what card will come up next. In order to get the full experience, you must be ready to go into a store with an open mind, leave your preconceived notions on the streets and just shop.

Eventually, you will mark your favorite stores and cement your familiar routes. You will create your own lists of places to see and places to avoid—and that is when you can call yourself a true and certified thriftier.

Thrifting is not an easy task to begin out of nowhere; it is easy to feel overwhelmed amongst the cramped, smelly lanes of the used and vintage. But fear not, for here is a full-on class syllabus on the topics that we will be covering, complete with detailed directions that need to be carefully studied. No one said Thrifting 101 was going to be an easy A.

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lifestyle

Welcome Week

WASTELAND

Still not sure about taking the leap from retail to resale? Not to fret, Wasteland is the place to go if you want to dip your toes in the shallow end, as the store itself is split into two, one side with beautiful vintage finds and the other with contemporary goodness. A bit pricier than your local Salvation Army, the to-die-for inventory makes up for it. Uncomfortable sifting through used clothing that may or may not smell like your grandma? Just walk on over to the other side, which is stocked with amazing new pieces that will tickle your nose’s—and every other body part’s— fancy. Located smack dab in the middle of the famous Haight Street, you can be sure to find a great deal on something extraordinary, whether it is pre-loved or not.

1600 Haight St., San Francisco wastelandclothing.com

Pop Quiz!

BERKELEY FLEA MARKET

Take a whiff, let it linger and simmer for a while—welcome to the first official lesson of “Thrifting 101.” Still considered consignment due to the fact that sellers and buyers are involved in the filtering process, these stores sell clothing that are relatively new, in fashion and often tailor-made for their targeted audience. Looking for something crazy, out there and just flat-out weird? Go to Buffalo Exchange. Or are you in the mood for something more so classic in brands and shape? Check out Crossroads Trading Co. With their wide selections of preselected clothing at reasonable prices, it is almost a guarantee that you will find something that fits your taste, need or desire.

The Berkeley Flea Market is usually described as a hit-or-miss. No more handholding or spoonfeeding—at the Berkeley Flea Market, it’s every thrifter for his or herself. Located right by the Ashby Bart Station, the local flea market is held every Sunday, and no two Sundays hold the same stalls. Eyeing that ring? Better get it before the seller leaves or you may never see it again! With sellers rotating in and out, the selection is always different, for better or worse. The best part of the Berkeley Flea Market is not the food truck nor the festive music, but the ability to bargain and barter.

Be sure to drag down the prices; difficult as it may be, the sellers usually end up dropping a couple dollars or so, or more if you’re that smooth of a talker. One tip to always follow is that towards the end of the day, sellers are nicer than ever because they want to get rid of everything they have!

2338 Shattuck Ave. / 2585 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley buffaloexchange.com / crossroadstrading.com

1937 Ashby St., Berkeley berkeleyfleamarket.com

First Day of Class

BUFFALO EXCHANGE / CROSSROADS TRADING CO.

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lifestyle

Midterms

GOODWILL

This is the make it or break it point. It is either time to say Auf Wiedersehen or “Make it work!” to thrifting. Goodwill is like the gateway drug; it is where the real thrifting begins. No more pre-selection, no more pretty aesthetics— let’s jump right into the nitty-gritty throng of smelly, old clothes. Goodwill can either make you very happy or very disappointed; it takes time to hunt around from rack to rack, and coming out with nothing to show after all that work? Worst feeling ever. Understandable, but build a bridge, cross it and get back to thrifting! If you can successfully find even one item you love, then congratulations, you pass! Intimidating and stressful at first, these stores get easier with practice as you develop strategies of what to hit first and what to pass up as success looms nearer.

2058 University Ave., Berkeley goodwill.com

Finals

THRIFTTOWN

So you thought Goodwill was insane—well, say hello to Thrifttown! With its two large stories of endless racks and tables, it will take a lifetime to sift through each section meticulously. This is a prime time to break out those skimming mechanisms that you have surely developed to get through ridiculous amounts of assigned readings; at Thrifttown, it is not about looking at each particular item, but getting the gist and going through the racks with speed and precision, a skill that comes with experience. The floors are separated by clothing downstairs and home goods upstairs, so you should always know which floor to attack. As with any thrift store, knowing what you are looking for will help you avoid buying that awkward unicorn T-shirt that just looks so lonely hanging on the rack all by its lonesome self. Always keep in mind that these clothes were donated for a reason, so be sure to check around and make sure there are no gaping holes or uneven hems. Prices are always super low, and because there are no filters, the people usually have no idea what labels and brands mean, so you can usually find designer items at dirt cheap prices. At Thrifttown, they have color sales as well and colored tags that coordinate with the ‘Color of the Day’ is 50% off. Check. Mate.

2101 Mission St., San Francisco thrifttown.com

Grade A Thrifter

ALEMANY FLEA MARKET

Congratulations! A+! You have learned it all—the tricks of the trade, the way to handle endless racks and even how to shop, so what else is there? Now we get to the fun part: the Alemany Flea Market. The great thing about flea markets is the fact that that they are usually very inclusive of thrifters of all kinds, so they have anything and everything you will ever want. The Alemany Flea Market is consistently voted as the best flea market in North California for its wide variety of vintage, old and generally glorious items. Whether you are on the hunt for a vintage cabinet or an authentic pair of ‘70s bellbottoms, this flea market is sure to have it all. It takes place every Sunday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., but be sure to get there early in order to get first dibs on all the goodies!

Cardinal rule of flea markets: do not, I repeat, do not forget your cash because vendors rarely take credit cards, and cash allows you to bargain your way to a lower price. The perfect mix of vintage, nifty, and just plain awesome, make sure you spend a whole Sunday morning at the Alemany Flea Market, you have earned the right to do so!

100 Alemany Blvd, San Francisco

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cover

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cover

by Angela “Gabbie” Guison

Have you ever imagined producing your own tracks, DJing in front of two thousand people, then hearing those same tracks on the radio in a foreign country—all while thinking about your upcoming finals?

When meeting Joe Wiseman and Harris Kauffman of AndDrop! (anddrop.com/official), you get the impression that they are just average college students with an interest in music—but that interest, coupled with an intense drive, makes possible what others can only imagine. With strong roots in hip-hop, Wiseman, a D.C. native, and Kauffman, raised in Fresno, Calif., continued experimenting with that particular genre into college. Wiseman and Kauffman, seniors at Cal majoring in Media Studies and English respectively, met their freshman year in 2008.

Wiseman enrolled in the “DJ DeCal” during his first semester, a time when electronic dance music (EDM) experienced a huge resurgence that exposed both members to artists such as Justice and Deadmau5. The class inspired their experimentation with EDM by revealing its similarities to hip-hop in that, as Kauffman puts it, “you can do it all on the computer, all by yourself.” Wiseman began to incorporate more elements of electronic music into his sets while spinning at co-op and frat parties. At this point, Kauffman and Wiseman decided to collaborate around EDM, a decision that was influenced by the

DJ DeCal; as Wiseman explains, “I bet if I hadn’t taken that DJ DeCal, we would have still been doing something hip-hop related.” After determining that Wiseman would handle the live DJ aspect while Kauffman produced, they decided to bring on board Harris’ younger brother, Sylvain Kauffman, a high school senior and a skilled pianist with an in-depth knowledge on musical composition, as the final member of AndDrop!. The inspiration for the group’s name comes from the definitive feature that epitomizes EDM: that climactic moment when the proverbial beat drops, or “this aspect of tension and release,” as Wiseman puts it.

During the spring semester of 2011, Wiseman and Kauffman separated to study abroad in Cape Town, South Africa and Leeds, Great Britain. While in Cape Town, Wiseman came across an incredible opportunity: co-headlining with Haezer in front of an audience of nearly two thousand at Discothéque, the biggest club in South Africa, which has housed some of the biggest names in EDM, like Steve Aoki, Crookers and The Bloody Beetroots. “It was my first really, really, really big club gig,” reports Wiseman. The audience responded well to AndDrop!’s original tracks, leading to further performances at the venue as well as international publicity. “It was an incredible show,” he says. calibermag.org

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cover After the performance, AndDrop! began to gain media attention, receiving air time on foreign radio stations and spotlights on international blogs. Wiseman reflects on the Internet’s role in the EDM movement, “Our primary goal is to get our music on blogs, which generates a lot of free publicity for us, and gets us into all these other communities.”

To both Kauffman and Wiseman, the Internet plays an enormous role in contributing to the success of AndDrop! and the greater electronic music scene. “The movement is dependent on the Internet as a way of spreading the artists and songs. It’s

all computers,” comments Kauffman.

The Internet’s capacity to help artists distribute tracks to a wide audience and gain a following without adhering to others’ parameters has downplayed the need to be signed with a music label. According to Kauffman, “In this industry, the artists have an unprecedented control over what they’re putting out there. It’s not so label-oriented.”

When hearing them speak about AndDrop!, their growing résumé eclipses the fact that they’re still Berkeley students. Balancing school with this massive musical endeavor has been a contrasting experience for Kauffman and Wiseman. Wiseman relays that he has been able to apply the material he has encountered as a Media Studies major in regards to public relations, branding, and management. On the other hand, Kauffman reports that his English classes have not been as applicable to producing EDM: “I’m getting lectured on Ulysses, then going home and trying to make techno.”

The pair agree that the demands of being a student impedes their ability to perform anywhere they want.

Says Wiseman, “We can’t just show up to some random city on the fly.”

Despite being restricted to the Bay Area, however, AndDrop! still enjoys a global audience, attests Wiseman: “The Internet provides a platform where you don’t need to be in any geographical place. So you can be anywhere in the world and create a name for yourself.”

You gotta be diehard about it if you want to take it seriously.

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In a genre littered with innumerable sub- and sub-sub-genres, it’s difficult to categorize AndDrop! under just one, with songs falling under genres like moombahton, electro-step, drum ‘n’ bass, electro and Dutch house.

“We pick up elements from every genre,” says Wiseman, “but it’s all electronic music.” Experimenting with varying styles has helped them discover what genre best suits them, Kauffman asserts: “We definitely put out a lot of tracks, but it’s all a part of this journey of trying to figure out our sound.” By catering to diverse musical tastes, AndDrop! further establishes their presence in the EDM community.

In the past two years, the Kauffman brothers and Joe Wiseman have managed to attain global attention and opportunities. This past fall, AndDrop! has been sought out to open for other notable EDM music artists, like Daedalus and LA Riots. The duo has turned their musical interest into something that has grown beyond their expectations. As they show us, the average Cal student is never average; at UC Berkeley, you never know if you’re sitting next to an internationally known DJ or producer.

cover

Joe’s Top Artists Zeds Dead Overwerk Cyberpunkers Dirtyloud Dillon Francis

Harris’ Top Artists Zeds Dead Above & Beyond Foamo Cold Blank Jack Beats

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entertainment

Caliber’s Guide to

Coachella

by Diana McCaffrey

Those who have attended the Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival seem to reach a consensus that it’s one of the most exciting and breathtaking weekends of the year.

Spanning three days every April, Coachella weekend consists of about 250 musical acts, as well as comedy shows, art displays and craft booths. One reason for Coachella’s popularity is that its diversity in music and art pleases a wide audience.

The Coachella festival has increased in popularity since its debut in 1990. Due to its immense success in 2011 (tickets sold out in six days), event organizers have since announced that starting this year, the festival will be expanded into two consecutive weekends: same lineup, same location, different people.

This two-weekend innovation is the first of its kind in music history. Such a novel measure emphasizes Coachella’s enormous popularity and significance in modern culture.

For those interested in attending Coachella 2012, you will have a fantastic time no matter which weekend you attend. But despite the carefree environment of the festival grounds, you should take specific measures in order to optimize your Coachella experience. Read on for the official Caliber guide to Coachella!

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Tickets Tickets should be bought as soon as you can fork out the money.

The dreams of many would-be Coachella goers have been crushed because they were too sluggish in buying their tickets.

Festival passes start at $320—don’t forget to tack on another $20 for Ticketmaster’s additional fees. For those unable to procure all the money at once, consider the layaway option. Moreover, many scalper websites buy tickets and sell them to desperate folks for up to $1000. Coachella is expensive, but the bottom line is that people who want to attend need to save up all year. Or maybe beg their parents for money.

Food Some people drank beer and ate Cheez-Its for three days straight, but we know you’ll be smarter. Yes, there’s so much to see and do at Coachella, but you must take time to eat! Eating healthy meals with protein and carbs is essential in maintaining your energy throughout the strenuous days and nights. There are a variety of food vendors throughout the festival grounds, along with plenty of vegan and vegetarian options. But be wary of how expensive vendors are. And given that the majority of the day is spent on festival grounds, and that bringing outside food into the festival is prohibited, it’s necessary to buy at least one meal a day from a vendor. Be prepared to spend more than you would like to on food. One way to cut down on costs is to stash food at your campsite or hotel room, where you can eat for less before and after each day’s festivities.

entertainment

Shelter

Fashion

If you are not one of those fortunate people who gets to stay at a house near the festival, you’ll have to shell out even more dough. As Coachella Valley is situated in the middle of the desert, houses located nearby are limited.

The two main options of where to stay for the weekend are hotels and camping. Although both have their perks and disadvantages, make the decision depending on what kind of experience you are looking for.

Coachella is a bit of a fashion show. Everyone secretly wants to be the hippest person there. However, keep in mind that Coachella is too hot and physically demanding for nice ensembles. Instead, wear basic outfits that work for hot weather, and bring a warm sweater for sleeping, because temperatures drop drastically at night. I basically wore the same outfit each day until I didn’t care what I looked like—after all, abandoning your insecurities is key in having a good time! I witnessed girls trying to put on makeup only to have it melt off, or even worse, wobbling around in heels all day. It’s not a good idea.

Don’t do it.

HOTELS: PROS AND CONS There are many hotels and motels in the areas around the festival. But keep in mind that owners rack up their prices like crazy over Coachella weekend because there simply aren’t many other places to go. If you are interested in staying in a hotel, make a reservation as soon as you are able to—reservations fill up quickly.

The benefits of staying in a hotel are the air-conditioning, a bed, running water and privacy. Despite how nice these comforts are, however, there are some negatives. First off, you will have to drive and park in the festival grounds each day, which can be difficult. And more importantly, camping is an experience within itself, and missing out on this adventure will probably dilute the craziness of the stories that you can tell your friends later.

CAMPING: PROS AND CONS From personal experience, I can guarantee that there are times where you will just want to go home. The tremendous desert heat will wake you up by 7:30 in the morning. There will be ridiculous lines for the shower, and you will have to defecate in a hole in the ground. You will only get three hours of sleep each night because there will inevitably be several people blasting music throughout the night. But, these experiences, good and bad, combine to produce an adventure that’s unlike anything else. For example, one night I was woken up by my neighbor’s techno at four in the morning. I walked up to him and motioned him to turn it down. He glared at me and said in all seriousness: “No. It’s Saturday. It’s party time.” Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep that night. I remember ranting with my brother about the ways we could have revenge on the techno man. He made us so angry that we concluded that we would never camp again. But now, that experience is more hilarious than anything else. If you abandon your inhibitions and just accept the fact that a good night’s sleep will be nearly impossible and that you will get sweaty, smelly and irritated, the camping experience is a uniquely memorable experience. The brave souls out there should buy camping passes swiftly because, like everything else, they sell out within a couple of days. Also decide between car camping and tent camping. Each pass designates a certain amount of square feet, and you can fit as many people and tents into one space as long as it all fits.

Heat Coachella is a desert. Temperatures reach over 100°F during the day and drop drastically at night. There are a few crucial tips to keep in mind in order to stay alive. First, take it easy. Take frequent breaks in the shade. Second, drink plenty of water.

Water bottles are sold for $2, and there are also water fountains where bottles can be refilled. Additionally, eating well is essential to stay energized throughout the day. Although food sold within the grounds is expensive, you can keep plenty of food and snacks stashed at your campsite, hotel room or other place of residence. And unless you want to have a gnarly sunburn, wear sunscreen and reapply it often—the Coachella sun is unforgiving. Although Coachella is a great place to party, remember not to go too hard. Heat causes fatigue, so the consequences of drinking heavily and doing excessive drugs become even more extreme. I know people who partied too hard and passed out for hours, risking their lives—not to mention missing many of the acts they wanted to see. Just remember your personal drug and alcohol threshold and scale it back; the Coachella heat itself is a like a drug. It’s not worth paying hundreds of dollars to pass out and put yourself in danger.

In Conclusion...

Coachella reigns high in the world of music festivals. For three days, people flock to Coachella to forget work, school and the mundanity of daily life. It’s easy to lose yourself in the magic and freedom of Coachella, but consider incorporating these guidelines into your experience to make Coachella even more phenomenal. My siblings and I had wanted to attend Coachella for years, and last year, we finally made it happen. So we borrowed our dad’s truck, filled it up with all the necessities and drove to the desert. We weren’t sure what to expect, but the experiences we had surpassed anything we could have dreamed of. I urge all of you interested in attending to go for it.

It’s a bit intimidating, but if you bring along good friends, the right attitude and these guidelines, it will be an unforgettable weekend!

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entertainment

2K11

by Nakta Alaghebandan

Zeitgeist (n.) – the defining spirit or mood of a particular period in history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time Once upon a Mesozoic era, our primitive ancestors accidentally became acquainted with a concept called “preference.” Imagine, if you will, that it all began with the revolutionary discovery of fire, something they may or may not have expressed in excited grunts. You could say Caveman #1 sparked a feeble flame and discovered that a new world of choices had opened up before his extended forehead and sunken eyes. On that ancient, serendipitous day, he may have realized that he preferred roasted gazelle rump-on-a-stick (just pretend) to his routine woolly mammoth brunches. And maybe, just maybe, he found that he would prefer to share his meals with Cavewoman #1 to any other Cavewoman in all of Pangaea. That, my readers, would be what Caveman #1 would call his picks of the year.

Fast forward. Welcome to 2011—the year of Charlie Sheen, planking and more people devoting entire blogs to weird fixations, like famous people with cheese heads (read: Justin Brieber and Manchego Guevara). You might go to sleep only to wake up and find that a new trend has emerged; yes, it’s true, some people actually want to buy

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Caliber Magazine / Spring 2012

recycled paper made from elephant poop. With each passing minute, a new batch of books, films and albums rolls out, and the options continue to grow with no sign of slowing down. When your number of choices and categories of interest matches the grand number of times Lindsay Lohan has made trips to rehab, it becomes virtually impossible to determine an absolute list of what should be considered 2011’s best cultural contributions. The beauty of life, “human edition,” is that aesthetics are relative to each individual, that we are able to look at the same things and see completely different worlds and feel incredibly different emotions. It’s true that preference is universal in all categories—there will always be something we like more than others—but a “pick” is inevitably relative thanks to all the different options out there that can tickle our fancies. In sharing our picks, though, we might find a hidden awesomeness in a previously ignored song or film. Caliber’s unique picks have been compiled in what are deemed the most relevant categories for this year in hopes that it may tickle the fancy of someone else out there in the universe, or just in Berkeley’s little niche.

entertainment

Music For: The One with the Brooding Mood Suitable Climate: Rainy, foggy, cloudy Suitable Mood: Relaxed, hazy, contemplative These albums are like strong cheeses and caviar; you’re going to have to develop your palate for the strong, if not foreign, flavors. Go in with an open mind.

Modeselektor (Monkeytown) Listen To: Shipwreck & This

Radiohead (King of Limbs) Listen To: Lotus Flower

Little Dragon (Ritual Union) Listen To: Ritual Union

Lykke Li (Wounded Rhymes) Listen To: I Follow Rivers

Lupe Fiasco (Lasers) Listen To: Words I Never Said

Kanye & Jay-Z (Watch the Throne) Listen To: Ni**as in Paris

Bon Iver (Bon Iver) Listen To: Holocene

Toro y Moi (Underneath the Pine) Listen To: Got Blinded

For: The One Who Wants to Relax but Simultaneously Head Bop Occasionally in Place Suitable Climate: Sunny with a hint of cloudy Suitable Mood: Relaxed, lounging, zoning out Both Swedish singers, Li and Dragon deliver soul in their quirky beats. It would be worth a few minutes to check out their earlier albums if you want some tunes that are rawer and less experimental.

For: The One Who Thinks “That Sh*t Cray” Suitable Climate: Really sunny or really cloudy Suitable Mood: Must rap or will die Rap is like a sushi roll; you swallow it as a whole. Its lyrical focus tends to make each song typically more unique than it would be in a non-rap album. It’s better to just take the whole album in. Don’t pick it apart into the avocado, seaweed, and imitation crab.

For: The One Who Wishes Their iPod Could Sing Lullabies Suitable Climate: Whatever climate your bed is Suitable Mood: Sleepy, moody, relaxed, withdrawn It can’t get any airier and lighter than this. Replace the earplugs with some lulling ear buds.

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entertainment

Music For: The One Who Feels Empowered to TP An Ex’s House Suitable Climate: Any climate is dancing climate!

Suitable Mood: Energetic, occasionally angry, hyper

Adele is more “I hate you, ex-boyfriend, so sleep with one eye open for your own sake,” while Lady Gaga could be considered more of a 21st century “Rosie the Riveter” with a more modern take on “We Can Do It!” Pick accordingly.

Lady GaGa (Born This Way) Listen To: Scheiße

Adele (21) Listen To: Rolling in the Deep

tUnE-yArDs (Whokill) Listen To: Es-So

The Strokes (Angles) Listen To: Under Cover of Darkness

Kaskade (Fire & Ice) Listen To: Turn It Down

Avicii Listen To: Seek Bromance

For: The One Who Wants to Start a Revolution Suitable Climate: Summatime Suitable Mood: Happy, “I will listen to anything that’s about to come up on my shuffle” Garbus of tUnE-yArDs will slap you in the face with her show-stopping vocal chords and Kenya-inspired West-African jams. Give it a go and you’ll be wanting to howl along with her. The Strokes are the strokes.

For: The One Who Likes to Dance to High-Energy Beats in Strobe Lights Suitable Climate: Sweaty dance floor climate Suitable Mood: Dance-mood, restless, energetic While Avicii doesn’t have an album, his list compilation of singles deserve an honorable mention, especially for the amount of raging they have inspired.

For: The One Who Loves Coldplay Suitable Climate: The album appeals to most climates Suitable Mood: Ranges from calm to nostalgic to happy and energetic They have always been one of the biggest bands in the world. This widely listened-to band deserves its own category. Closeted Coldplay-lovers shouldn’t fear supporting the album, considering the fact that the band itself believes they have put all their heart and soul into it and have nothing else left to give. Even if the collaboration with Rihanna was unexpected, the band deserves a little props for trying to branch out and appeal to an even wider audience. Just remember, it’s okay to like Coldplay, people.

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Caliber Magazine / Spring 2012

Coldplay (Mylo Xyloto) Listen To: Major Minus

entertainment

Movies

Horrible Bosses For: The one who is looking for inspiring ways to end their boss’s life In the Mood For: A blackcomedy film Bring Along: Your fellow, commiserative friends who liken their job conditions to that of sweat shops.

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo For: The one who is a fan of the original Swedish trilogy In the Mood For: A drama and thriller Bring Along: All the fans who squeal when they see the trailer, as long as they’re not going to squeal during the actual movie.

Midnight in Paris

MI: Ghost Protocol

For: The one who is nostalgic In the Mood For: A lighthearted romantic comedy Bring Along: Loved ones.

Someone with whom you’d be happy to teleport to the Renaissance.

For: The one who likes to engage in acts of bad-assity to the classic MI theme song In the Mood For: A classic Mission: Impossible spy film Bring Along: You won’t need to bring anyone – everyone will already be there.

Drive

Tree of Life

Shame

The Descendants

For: The one who’s into creative murders and scorpion jackets (or just Ryan Gosling) In the Mood For: An actionpacked crime drama Bring Along: Your favorite partner-in-crimes. An innocent civilian who has no idea how gory the movie gets.

For: The one who is wondrous about life and the universe In the Mood For: An eyeopening, heart-opening art film Bring Along: Your loved ones.

Your favorite companions to contemplate the universe with.

For: The one who is interested in the downfalls of addiction or explicit sexual scenes In the Mood For: A British erotic drama film Bring Along: Your closet nympho friend who is in need of an intervention. Anyone you know with an addiction.

For: The One Who Enjoys a Family-Oriented Story Ironically Centered Around an Affair (or Just George Clooney) In the Mood For: A comedydrama Bring Along: Anyone in want of 115 minutes of amusement and heart-warming scenes.

Caliber Asks

21%

Convenience sample of 44 students

How do you watch movies?

Movie Theater

38%

Internet Stream

9%

DVR / On Demand

17%

Shh. It’s a Secret

15%

Like I have the time...

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entertainment

Websites

Snappetite

Proust

Pinterest

“Whatcha eatin’, stranger” snappetite.com – Do you want to share that toasted ciabatta sandwich with melted brie and thyme you had for lunch? This site is for the food voyeurist. It’s simple—you take a picture of your meals, upload and share with friends, and keep track of what you’re eating (and what your friends are eating, too.). You can even list your favorite foods and restaurants.

“Know the Ones You Love.” proust.com – An elegant, interactive scrapbook, Proust allows family members and friends to share their life stories, thoughts, and meaningful conversations in an attempt to learn more about who we all are. Inspired by writer Marcel Proust’s incredible novel, Remembrance of Things Past, the site opens up a world of inspiration with topics like “Remember the Time…,” “Love Firsts,” and “Home Sweet Home.” Proust will ultimately allow the individual to rewrite the story of their life in a whole different, easily preserving medium.

“Organize and Share Things You Love” pinterest.com – Pinterest is a virtual pinboard where you can compile all the inspirational photos and tidbits you find on the web, instead of taking up your computer’s memory by drag-and-dropping every photograph that makes you go “ooh!” onto your desktop, only to most likely never find it again. The boards can even be used to plan weddings, birthdays, or find inspiration for future (or dream) homes. The inspiration continues by being allowed to browse others’ pinboards.

Get Human

People Who

If you hate automated phone systems gethuman.com – Are you tired of pressing 1 for English, only to be redirected to elevator music for 10 minutes before hearing a human voice again? The GetHuman movement guides consumers in bypassing automated phone systems in order to speak with an actual human when they just want to know what to do about that unexpected charge in their checking account. In short, we have found a way to have more direct contact with companies, and the humans who actually run them.

Started by “a frustrated anthropologist in search of an outlet to identify those people who confounded him with their CONTINUED, PERSISTENT EXISTENCE.” peoplewho.us – At some point, we are all amazed by the incredible annoyingness of some particular individuals of our species. This compilation serves as a reminder that you’re not alone in wanting to punch “people who use hashtags on #Facebook” and you’re definitely not alone in relating to “people who watch themselves walk down the street in the store windows.”

Wolfram Alpha Computational-Knowledge Engine wolframalpha.com – Have you ever wanted to know what the volume of the moon would be if it were made of Swiss cheese (and how many calories)? Did you ever wish someone could actually know how much magnesium is in forty-three cubic miles of fried chicken or why the sky really is blue? Wolfram Alpha, the engine that powers the new iPhone 4S’s computer assistant Siri, basically knows everything. It actually knows how much wood a woodchuck could chuck (about 361.9237001 cubic centimeters per day). It will tell you how to translate any sentence into Morse code. It’s genius, it’s sassy, it’s informative, but most importantly, it’s really entertaining.

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Caliber Magazine / Spring 2012

On the Bro’d “Every sentence of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, retold for bros.” onthebrod.com – If you’ve ever thought about what kind of 21st-century bro Kerouac could be, Mike Lacher’s ironically genius remake of the influential novel will answer for you: a lover of Maxim and Megan Fox, Quiznos and Kanye West.

You could say what makes it so applaudable is the manner in which he somehow manages to reincarnate Kerouac’s trademark stream-of-consciousness style amidst foul language and vapid bro-isms.

Word on the Street “A Daily On-the-Spot Interview with a New Yorker” wordonthestreetnewyork.com – If you’ve ever wondered how to make opium tea, what an eight-year-old in New York wants to be when they grow up (Lego designer) or why homeless people like libraries so much, “Word on the Street” will explore the individuals that make up quirky New York through daily interviews with random people on the street.

It’s eye-opening, and refreshing.

The Burning House “If your house was burning, what would you take with you?” theburninghouse.com – With just one picture, individuals try to answer one of the oldest value-related question. It provides a window into the values and priorities of the people who surround us, and the various ways in which we interpret practicality, worth, and sentimentality.

entertainment

Tumblrs

by Nam Le

breadpeople thosewerethe90s

geekymerch

Ever long for a simpler time when the only things you had to worry about were the playground bully and what you could trade your ham sandwich for at lunch?

Thosewerethe90s takes you on a trip back to childhood on the nostalgia machine. It’s a Tumblr entirely dedicated to celebrating the things that defined our childhood, both the long-forgotten and still fondly adored, from Lunchables and Rugrats to Tamagotchis and Furbys. You’d be surprised how much you remember, but more surprised at how much you’ve forgotten.

Dedicated to highlighting the coolest, nerdiest trinkets you can buy, Geekymerch gathers together products from “every corner of the internet” to show you where you can get anything geeky, ranging from Indiana Jones mouse ornaments or earrings in the shape of the Rebel Alliance logo. My personal favorite is a desk organizer in the shape of an N64 controller. Actually, hold that thought. Sorry, wallet—I just found some black and grey Batman Converses.

I admit it: I love puns. I can’t get enough of them. So, of course, I had to point you to Breadpeople, which constantly adds new pictures of celebrities with a slight culinary twist. “Celebreadies,” if you will. Some of the names and images are quite clever, like “Matzo Man Randy Savageberg,” “James Earl Scones,” or “Michael J. Foccaccia”.

Definitely worth a look. At worst, you can’t deny that it’ll make you hungry, am I right?

iamdonald

foulbachelorfrog animalstalkinginallcaps Blissfully simple in concept, but brilliant in execution, Animalstalkinginallcaps delivers exactly what it says it does—pictures of creatures subtitled with fictional and hilariously loud dialogue. This one’s for those of you who loved “The Wild Thornberrys” too much as a child, or who has ever wondered what your cat might be thinking when it’s staring off into space.

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Caliber Magazine / Spring 2012

You have some pretty weird habits. I have some pretty weird habits. We all have some pretty weird habits. And that’s what Foulbachelorfrog aims to capture—weird things we do in text, plastered on top of an image of a disapproving amphibian. You thought you were the only one to make a mountain of garbage bags when you’re too lazy to take out the trash? Nope. And that’s the genius behind FBF; it makes us laugh at the things we do while reminding us that we’re not alone in doing them.

This Tumblr belongs to the one Donald Glover, a.k.a. Troy from “Community,” a.k.a Childish Gambino, a.k.a. one of the funniest young comedians working today.

One of the great things about Tumblr is that it allows you to really get into the mind of some of the people you admire, and reminds you that they still have likes, dislikes and thoughts, just like us. Donald Glover makes the list not just for his humor, but for his genuinely normal and fairly dorky personality as well. Tumblr allows celebrities to express themselves in a casual, unfiltered way, unlike most TV interviews and media appearances. Still, if he’s not quite your style, you might want to check out some other celebrities on Tumblr, like Kreayshawn (kreayshawn), Joesph Gordon-Levitt (hitrecordjoe), or Zooey Deschanel (zooeydeschanel).

Kluegel House Student Housing Weird Name, Cool House.

Kluegel House is a private student rooming house located two blocks north of the UC Berkeley campus.

You can live in a gorgeous old mansion, in a spacious and sunlit room, surrounded by 100-year old redwoods, amid a couple of dozen other UCB students.

Rent includes utilities, highspeed wifi, common-area cleaning, shuffleboard, ping pong, T-rex, flamingos, and George Clooney (the cat).

Life can be good.

2669 Le Conte Avenue, Berkeley, CA (510) 356-3523 kluegel-house.com

technology

Ten Things You May Not Have Known a

iStupid

Mac

Could Do

by Mark Alshak

Let’s face it: Macs are amazing computers. They have the simplicity that we love while being more powerful than we need. However, there are a lot of tricks on the Mac that most people simply do not know about that make the experience that much better. So what are you waiting for? Learn and enjoy!

SCREENSHOTS > Take a screen shot of your entire desktop: Need a picture of your entire desktop to show to your friends? No problem! Just press shift-command-3. > Take a screen shot of anything you want: Need to embarrass your friend with what he just said over Facebook chat? Just hold shift-command-4 and crosshairs appear. Click and drag to create a picture area, then release to take a picture at your friend’s expense. > Take a screen shot of one window: Need a picture of Scarlett Johansson your homework? After holding shift, command, and 4, press the space bar and you can take a picture of one window.

TURN YOUR MAC INTO A LIGHT SABER! Don’t lie—you went around as a little kid with a plastic light saber pretending to fight against all sorts of enemies. Why does the fun have to stop just because we’re adults now? Simply download the application “macsaber” and wave your new light saber around like a little kid again. Plus, people find it amazing that Macs have an accelerometer, so you’ll be able to really impress them. Especially the ladies.

NOTE: Girls will want to play with your light saber.

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Caliber Magazine / Spring 2012

INVERT/REVERT SCREEN COLORS

12

34

Tired of reading against a white background? Read against a black background when you invert all colors on your Mac! Just press control-option-command-8. It’s a funny trick to do when your friend leaves his or her computer alone, doesn’t know what happened and freaks out.

CHANGE YOUR ICONS! Sick of the standard icons on your Mac? Just a hipster who feels like the Apple icons are too mainstream? Simply go to a website with Mac icons, such as xicons.com, and download the icons you wish to get. Once it’s downloaded, find it in your downloaded folder, highlight it and copy it (command-C). Find the app whose icon you want to switch and open it from your Finder (go to Finder, click on Applications, and find it). Right click on your icon and click “get info.” Go to the little picture on the top left, click it, and paste your image into there (commandV). That’s it! If your app is open, quit it and remove it from your dock and put it back in there.

When you do, your new icon will be there! Another quick prank: change your friend’s Internet homepage to Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” and switch his icons so that when he opens iTunes, he gets rickrolled.

technology

TURN YOUR MAC INTO A NINTENDO 64!

HIDE YOUR WINDOWS When having an application open, pressing command-H will hide every window associated with that specific app. So the next time you’re watching porn and your roommate walks in, save the embarrassment and just hide it. To get your porn windows back, just press the icon of the application you just hid. But be careful—only unhide it when your roommate is out of the room because the windows stay intact! NOTE: Sound continues to play when you hide it, so be careful.

TIME MACHINE Having my computer crash is one of the saddest things to have ever happened to me. Having it crash without having all my files backed up makes it so much worse. So instead of risking losing all your files, back up all your personal data every time you plug in your external hard drive! Your computer will automatically do it, no extra effort necessary. Perfect.

78

Icons courtesy of studiobenben at xicons.com

DESTROY A PC WITH IT! With its strong “unibody” aluminum body, it can give and take a serious beating. It can also give one. Pick up your computer and just start smashing your friend’s PC with it. It’s a funny prank. NOTE: You will get your ass beat if you do this.

More Cool Tricks

56

91o

Or really any old station, really. Emulators, applications that emulate an old gaming system, exist all over the Internet, but my favorite is SixtyForce, a Nintendo 64 emulator.

The actual emulator is legal, but the ROMs— the actual games for the emulator—are not, unless you actually own the game in real life.

For instance, if you own Super Smash Brothers in real life, it is legal to own the ROM on your Mac and play it on your Mac. Be careful!

But then again, is that really a problem?

ACTUALLY BE PRODUCTIVE FOR ONCE WITH SELF CONTROL! Disgusted with yourself that every time you do work, you somehow end up on Facebook, YouTube, or Tumblr? Well, fear no more. With the Self Control app, you can input a time and a website and it will block you from accessing that website until the timer runs out. Simply google “Self Control App” and you’ll find it right away. Finally, you can actually do work in peace without social media bothering you.

TURN YOUR MAC INTO A WINDOWS COMPUTER After destroying a PC with your Mac, you can turn your Mac into a Windows computer by either running Parallels or Boot Camp. Simply purchase the Windows operating system you want, along with the corresponding Parallels or Boot Camp software to run it, and then install it. However, installing is a little tricky (like everything Windows-related), so just make sure you know what you’re doing. Why would someone want to go from the glorious, simple Mac operating system to the clunky Windows system? Well, in order to run certain games or programs, a windows operating system is needed, and like most things with Apple, there’s an app for that.

Watch your Stacks or Dashboard open up in slow motion by holding down shift and then clicking the dashboard icon or a Stacks file.

You can use Spotlight (command-space) to do quick math problems like 9876-5432.

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fashion

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Caliber Magazine / Spring 2012

fashion

TRAPPED IN A WORLD THAT WAS NEVER MADE Production Lead: Jonathan Deniol Rodriguez Production Team: Lara Hovsepian-Ruby, Melissa Meagher, Silvia Cernea, Jeannine Ventura Photographer: David Herschorn Model: Tanya Sanderson Hair and Make-up: Annalise Petriello

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fashion

Window Pain Sparkly Sweater ($26), Sway; Yellow Skirt ($21.50), Buffalo Exchange

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Caliber Magazine / Spring 2012

fashion

Light Me Up Two Toned Dress ($28.50), Sway; Fur Vest ($42), Buffalo Exchange; Turban ($10.50), Sway; Gold Hoop Earrings ($12), Sway; Bracelet ($14) Sway; Cornelli Flower Belt used as Bracelet ($31), Jigsaw; Necklace ($207), The Sacred Space

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fashion

Secret Garden Silk Front Button Up ($158), Sway; Fur Vest ($42), Buffalo Exchange; Brown Skirt ($24.50), Buffalo Exchage

Portrait of a Woman

Wandering Thoughts Silk Front Beaded Shirt

50

Beaded Dress ($26.50),

($158), Jigsaw; Paisley

Buffalo Exchange;

Jacquard Skirt ($198);

Giselle Necklace used

Heels ($31.50), Buffalo

as Belt ($38), Jigsaw;

Exchange; Necklace

Heels (Model’s own)

($207), The Sacred Space

Caliber Magazine / Spring 2012

fashion

Tapestry of Dreams

Sequin Jersey Dress ($272), Jigsaw; Fur Jacket ($60), Buffalo Exchange; Gold Heels ($32), Sway; Bangle Bracelet ($14), Sway; Necklace ($207), The Sacred Space

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20% Discount

New Patient Special

For Cash Paying Patients

For X-Ray, Exam, and Cleaning

$99

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(510) 444-0971 oaklandcitydental.com

awards

2012 Caliber Greek Awards

0 S! 0 E R8

E OV

by Anisa Young

OT

We here at Caliber are a curious bunch.

After weeks of voting among the students of Cal, we have compiled the best of the best of frat row. Some winners may have you nodding in agreement, and some may have you casting this magazine away in disgust. But seriously though, who is not dying to find out what frat bathroom will not smell like day old urine or what sorority school apparel has the whole school buzzing?

From the crazy nights we don’t remember to the philanthropic events that help countless charities, Greek life is an important aspect of our years at Cal. So get ready and buckle down for the 2012

V

ФГΔ

The obvious winner of Best Looking Fraternity House, Fiji, formally known as Phi Gamma Delta, is hard to miss or forget. Sitting large and in charge on the corner of Piedmont and Channing, FIJI’s gorgeous and rather regal exterior makes it hard to distinguish it from a typical fraternity house. Built in 1928, the classic Mediterranean style villa actually became a Berkeley Designated Landmark in 1990. The interior makes up for its comparatively smaller size in quality; beautiful stained glass windows and a carved wooden bench are only two of FIJI’s amazing decorative features. There is no doubt that FIJI is the frat house that everyone knows about and loves to stare at, inside and out.

ΔХ

ƩK

Best Looking Frat House: FIJI

Caliber Greek Awards. Experience frat row, minus the hangover.

Best Looking Sorority House: Sigma Kappa

The sorority houses at Cal are all uniquely different, but one stands out—or rather, shines from up top. Built in 1936, Sigma Kappa’s adorable house is nothing less than a fairy tale home. From its luscious front yard foliage and pointy cottage-like roof to the soaring ceilings and huge old-fashioned windows, everything about the house screams beautiful.

The house was originally built to look like that of their Lambda chapter, but after the addition of new wings it now resembles a question mark.

Because of these additions and renovations, the Sigma Kappa house is now the largest sorority on campus in terms of square footage and number of sisters in the house. Plus, with an expansive private sun deck, a TV room and a jaw-dropping view of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge, just to name a few, Sigma Kappa definitely lives up to its happily ever after reputation.

Best Themed Parties: Delta Chi

Everybody loves a good party, and dressing up for a themed party is the best part of it all. While the Delta Chi house may be small, it has never been an issue for Delta Chi’s annual themed parties that the campus looks forward to months beforehand. Diversity is key when it comes to the fraternity’s themed parties. One major event is the psychedelic Electric Delta Chi, bringing some neon EDC magic to campus. Moreover, parties like the Delta X-Mas, Delta Cairo and the Wonderful World of Delta Chi bring students out of study mode and into party mode faster than you can say “hella.”

Besides figuring out what to wear, as the dress code is always “dress to impress,” the hardest part will be getting in the door as everyone will be elbowing, shimmying and flirting their way in.

АФ

Best Themed Invites: Alpha Phi

With 12 sororities passing out invites every semester, recycled themes for these exclusive off-campus parties can be common. But not from Alpha Phi, the reigning queen of cleverly and creatively themed invites that will make anyone chuckle. Besides the classic toga theme, Alpha Phi takes off and uses great puns to incorporate a wide variety of themes for their invites. For example, World War Phi, an army of sexy soldiers and their hot counterparts; HyPHI, complete with bling and neon galore; and MaPHIa, with guns, black ties and fedoras.

Never ordinary and always innovative, Alpha Phi is widely known for their carefully thought out themes that are always a hoot-and-a-half to dress up for!

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awards

ƩХ

АΔП

Best Dance Floor: Sigma Chi

What’s worse than a party with cheap drinks? A party with a terrible dance floor. A great dance floor is much like a complicated math equation: hard to solve but rewarding when it works out. One frat that never seems to let us down is Sigma Chi, who have perfected their recipe for a fantastic night of boogying by providing the right mixes, ensuring the perfect flow of drinks and getting the right crowd at the right time— all of which sounds like a simple process in theory, but is far more difficult to execute in reality. But Sigma Chi nearly always guarantees a night of endless bumpin’ and grindin’—at least until the police roll by.

АТΩ

L-O-V-E ADPi till the D-A-Y we die! Alpha Delta Phi is THE sorority of choice when it comes to spirit—for the Greek community, our wonderful school and, of course, ADPi’s own sisterhood. With over one hundred encouraging and enthusiastic sisters, ADPi has always exhibited enormous support for the Greek system. By consistently demonstrating the greatest attendance at Panhellenic events like Cal Greeks Warriors Night and Think Pink, ADPis are like the unofficial cheerleader of the Greeks; they can always be found together at football games, showing just how loud and proud they are of our Cal Bears. It is no surprise that such a dedicated and passionate group of girls won the Most Spirited award. Give it up for ADPi!

Cleanest Bathrooms: Alpha Tao Omega

Always a kind of mystery to the general student body, ATO is as elusive to the eye as its parties are rare and exclusive. While most frat bathrooms are the place to avoid at all costs, ATO’s golden thrones were overwhelmingly voted the cleanest of all the bathrooms on frat row. Now THAT is quite the honor. What makes their bathrooms cleaner than the rest? Having a cleaning company come on a weekly basis is definitely a plus in our book. The frat’s relatively young age also contributes to the house’s cleanliness; it wasn’t easy for their forbearers to secure the money needed to renovate the house to its current tip-top shape, so the boys take great pride in keeping their house in great condition. We like our boys like our bathrooms: pretty, clean and nice-smelling, and it certainly seems that ATO fits all of our criteria.

ƩN

Best Party Drinks: Sigma Nu

What’s a party without good drinks? Besides the usual downright dirty Vitali that seems to plague every party on frat row, Sigma Nu is known for their never-ending Jello shots, beers and other thirst-quenchers that seem to last all night long. As everyone knows, frats always hold out their legit drinks for exchanges, when Sigma Nu is known to pull out the big guns; drinks include Mike’s Hard Lemonade and Smirnoff Ice, always a crowd pleaser, and the ladies likey.

Besides those, the house makes specialty drinks for each theme, so you never know exactly what you’re going to get—but you can bet that they’ll be as delicious.

Most Spirited: Alpha Delta Pi

ΔГ

Best Sorority Apparel: Delta Gamma

It’s impossible to forget the slogan, “Hot damn, Delta Gamm!” Proud Delta Gamma sisters are known not only for repping their signature anchor symbols around campus, but for their original sorority apparel as well. While all sororities undoubtedly showcase cute apparel, DG always goes a step beyond and comes out on top in the fashion game. From their 2011 Bid Day “New Bids on the Block” shirts to their adorable annual Game Day tees and tanks, DGs are consistently, eye-catchingly clad in awesome sorority swag. It’s hard not to notice the anchorfied gear; it has rightfully become an iconic part of DG.

АХΩ

Best Sisterhood: Alpha Chi Omega

With the open motto, “Together let us seek the heights,” Alpha Chi Omega is the sisterhood of all sisterhoods. AXO is the sorority that is always together, whether it is screaming their hearts out at football games, dancing up a storm at parties or raising money for philanthropy. One of the more active sororities on campus, AXO holds numerous events each year, including social invitationals, date parties and philanthropy events like AXO Runway, a Project Runway-style competition between Greek houses to fundraise money for domestic violence survivors. The sisters of AXO are everywhere on campus, and through it all, they support each other and create bonds that will last a lifetime. Gracious and kind, everything associated with AXO comes with a great big smile.

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society

Sex, Drugs

& Religion

by Taylor Fugere-Cale

Back home I have to be completely covered in church. Attendees are not supposed to interact with one another in any way and only Latin is spoken during mass. According to my Grandma, natural disasters are a direct result of various countries not believing in Jesus Christ…obviously.

“Catholic Guilt” was always my most common form of punishment.

Any normal form of teenage rebellion or experimentation was never even an option. So now I am at Berkeley where there are parties and boys. A lot of boys. It would be incredibly easy to obtain just about any illicit substance I could imagine. I want to branch

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out from my 18 previous years of sheltered existence, but I don’t want to go to the other extreme either and end up doing things I regret. How do I draw that line? Most people just seem to know what they’re comfortable with doing, what about those of us in a state of moral flux? Am I the only one without it all figured out?

I am embarking on a quest for answers to see how others determine what is right for them. How they make choices when their upbringing and desires no longer correlate.

How they find their own, perfect, personal combination of sex, drugs and religion.

And hopefully, I will find what is right for me along the way.

One of the biggest issues for me to tackle is alcohol and drug use. My mom gave me a talk about “making the right choices in college” before I left and reminded me that underage drinking is illegal. Like I didn’t know. However, I know all of my cous-

ins mastered beer pong long before they graduated high school and that my parents drank before they turned 21, so why is it all of a sudden bad now that I would be the one doing it?

A friend from church, Thomas*, claims to drink and smoke, but never to the point of excess, “[I’ve] never been tipsy…unless I don’t remember,” he said with a big goofy smile. Okay, so maybe it’s fine in moderation. Sarah*, a Conservative Jew, explains, “drinking is a part of Judaism,” as she has wine at Shabat every Friday. For others, drinking is strictly forbidden in any form.

Dhyaneshwar’s* personal beliefs pair well with his Hindi culture because he has decided not to drink. He mentioned a story about his first encounter with alcohol, “I smelled it one time and said ‘I’m not drinking this shit!’” Fatima*, a practicing Muslim, agrees that Muslims shouldn’t drink, but also thinks that a couple of shots won’t send her to hell.

society

“...a couple of shots won’t

send [you] to Regardless of whether or not these people drink, they seem comfortable in their decisions, even when it contradicts their religion. They were confident in their decisions and exuded no guilt for their actions.

Maybe I am the only one.

Sex. They talk about it in the weekly health tips posted in the dorm bathrooms. My RA advertises the free condoms she keeps in her candy jar. At many parties, it seems to be the ultimate goal. At home however, it would be my mother’s worst nightmare. Legally, I’m allowed, but morally, I’m not so sure.

Ruth*, a nondenominational Christian, hasn’t had sex with her long term boyfriend and does not plan on doing so, even though both her religion and family would not condemn her. The couple shares similar views on sex and are sure of their decision. Her personal beliefs coincide with her religion’s ideals. Dhyaneshwar similarly agrees with what his religion says is right.

He isn’t even supposed to have a girlfriend.

“If I did something,” he explained, “I just wouldn’t talk about it…I would feel really guilty.” In fact, he has never even kissed a girl and doesn’t plan on it until he gets married, which he assumes will be arranged.

“To my family, love is bad,” he added, “The main purpose of life is to have a family and nurture it…they think love can get in the way of that.” Fatima, however, differs away from what she was told was right.

She does what she is comfortable with, despite her religion, although she doesn’t plan on having sex because of what others would think if they ever found out. “If I do anything, it’s always low-key so I could deny it,” she confidently states, “In Arab culture, reputation is so important.”

The most enlightening response to this question, however, came from Ryan*, a young Mormon here at Cal. “I disagree

hell.”

with the whole sex before marriage thing, as most teenage boys would,” he said with a smirk. Ryan has already had sex, despite the strong beliefs of his religious community and family. This decision came with a lot of guilt, “I felt like I was betraying my parent’s trust; I had to lie to them” he somberly recounted.

Maybe I’m not the only one who has not figured it all out. When it comes to premarital sex, a topic nearly every major religion finds taboo, some controversy starts to arise. Some accept what their religion says is right for them, while others bend the rules to suit what they want to do. This moral ambiguity is strangely comforting.

Then came the ultimate question: how does one decide where to draw their own line of right and wrong? I asked their advice of how to find the happy medium between one’s impulses and religious teachings.

Thomas handled the situation logically: “My actions and religious conscience shouldn’t conflict, so I changed my morals.” He also recounted that being raised in a certain way shapes one’s beliefs, but doesn’t define them. He joked, “You can try meth or go to a giant orgy, whatever is right for you.” Ryan seemed to agree with this advice. “Listen to things with a logical ear, rather than a religious ear,” he carefully articulated. Ruth, however, finds her definitions of right and wrong based on her instincts rather than logic, “I don’t really have too much trouble making those decisions…if I had to, it would be more [based on] a personal feeling.”

his own person to marry; “The wedding…is going to be interesting,” he chuckled. However, he wishes that he wasn’t so bound by his beliefs. “I can see why [these rules] are there, but they should be more like guidelines and less like restrictions.”

This same ideal especially resonates with Fatima. “Everything American college stands for, we’re against,” she explains, “I agree with it all, but that doesn’t mean I follow it all. I understand why the rules are there…. I always go with what I believe over what I was taught.” Upon coming to college, Fatima claims she “went crazy” and now wishes she handled the transition differently, “Don’t do what I did and go straight for party life, figure out what being [religious] in college is like before you choose; spend your first semester seeing both paths.”

Maybe there isn’t a clear right and wrong for any of us, and that is okay. It’s fine that I don’t have all the answers and that I don’t know exactly what to do in every possible situation. Regardless of what religion they subscribe to, everyone has a different strategy to balance their morals and their actions, I just need to find mine. Like many of my interviewees stressed, I have to take all of the influences in my life into consideration and decide what is right for me; part logic, part intuition, part following my beliefs. And those things may change as well. It will be a lot of trial and error, I’m sure, but I think that will be the fun part— the part that defines college itself. * Indicates name has been changed

Sarah encouraged getting involved more with your religion as a solution, “Meet other Jews!” she claimed. Whereas, Dhyaneshwar explains how hard it can be to differ from one’s religion. His cousin was the first to break with tradition and find calibermag.org

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love & sex

Cuddle Sutra

Spooning

Variations: The key variation here is typically with the legs.

Some couples let them sit side by side, some intertwine, and some prefer a special configuration: the wrap around. To create an even tighter bond, have the big spoon wrap his or her leg around the legs or torso of the little spoon and apply a light pressure. Now little spoon gets to feel protected, and big spoon feels like a provider. Everyone wins.

by Kamyar Jarahzadeh

The art of cuddling, much like its cousin (the art of making love) is something learned,

Tree Trunk Variations: The tree trunk is known to be the most comfortable position when a side-sleeper and a back sleeper end up in the same bed together. The partner on his or her back (the tree trunk, let’s say) plays a vital role here. Arm placement defines the experience for the tree hugger, so experimenting and communication is key.

not taught. Just as research after research continues to come out of the scientific world regarding our need to cuddle, you may find yourself needing to spice up your cuddle life. To aid your close-contact adventures, Caliber presents here a comprehensive guide to the

B2B

When to use it: The butt to butt is great for couples who can’t seem to fall asleep in full on cuddle positions, but still want the warmth.

B2B allows for maximum warmth and still maximum freedom in the bed. Consider this the best position for non-cuddlers.

essential cuddling positions.

Pictures courtesy of The Secret Language Of Sleep: A Couple's Guide To The 39 Positions,

by Evany Thomas and Amelia Bauer

Caliber Asks

Are you satisfied with your cuddling life?

46% Yes 39%

No

6%

Hookups don’t cuddle

9%

I wouldn’t know

Convenience sample of 42 students

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Caliber Magazine / Spring 2012

love & sex

It’s Okay

Dual Lotus Basics: Entering the dual lotus typically begins with one partner (the outer lotus) sitting up crosslegged while the other partner (the inner lotus) sits directly in front of him or her to be cuddled. Hint: this is a good time to give a spontaneous and oh-so romantic massage.

To Be Little Spoon

Front facing spoon Caveats: Although this is a variation on the classic spoon, there are some distinct challenges. The Forward Facing Spoon allows for an unrivaled level of intimacy—bringing two people face to face to stare into each other’s eyes. However, this is also the time to breathe into each others’ faces and stare at each others’ complexions. For those with breath issues or selfimage issues, reconsider before settling on this position for the night.

The Plank Variations: When the lower plank is on her or her stomach, upper plank should feel free to essentially “play” on top of his or her partner. This means adjusting positions or moving slightly off center so that lower partner can kiss the partner plank from the side. You see one such “aww” moment recreated all over the media: the lower plank is on his or her stomach, texting, reading, or just laying there aimlessly, while the upper plank is on his or her respective stomach, planting kisses and whispering into the ear of their partner. Go ahead and be corny like that—we won’t tell.

It’s a scene played out in bedrooms all over America: after minutes or hours of cuddling, the big spoon rolls off the little spoon and turns his or her back. Most often, both partners will fall asleep, but really that big spoon is dreaming of one thing: to be on the receiving end of the cuddle.

as a little-spoon desirer seems like relationship suicide. Coming out as a big person who likes to be the little spoon is almost tantamount to admitting you cry yourself to sleep every night, and the conversation seems more daunting than explaining that STI you picked up over winter break.

Most people won’t allow the thought, but many big spoons dream of being the little one and feel that coveted sense of love and protection. It’s hard being the dominant partner in any relationship. Blame it on society, the media, or conditioning, but there often seems to be one member of the relationship who has to play the role of the protector. Usually, it makes sense—the 6 foot tall male in some sense should be the one wrapping his arms around his 5-foot-3 girlfriend, but who says this has to be an unbreakable norm?

But really, big spoons all over should realize their fears are unwarranted.

These boundaries are more immutable in our heads than they are in reality. In a real relationship, the little spoon will want to reciprocate his or her affection by taking on the role of big spoon every now and then. Night after night, big spoons march into battle dedicated to making their partner feel warm, safe and most of all, wanted. Big spoons brave hair and uncomfortable arm positions to show their affection in a silent struggle that may seem to go unnoticed.

Really, if the relationship is really meant to be a simple request along the lines of “hey, can I be little spoon?” is more likely to be met with acquiescence and laughter than real contempt.

Any healthy relationship needs a steady dose of breaking down these seemingly concrete boundaries. Building a relationship is about letting yourself be vulnerable, so let’s admit it: even tall people like to be little spoon occasionally.

Many dominant partners fear bringing up the topic. Ultimately many big spoons have such a fear of showing any crack in the strong façade they try to present to their partners that the thought of coming out

And on the off chance that your partner does not accept your request and seems put-off, feel free to play it off as a joke.

But ask yourself: if your partner won’t be there for you in bed, will they be there for you in the rest of your life?

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health

You AreNot Sleeping Enough.

by Nick Anastasiades

Kevin Lee, a Cal junior, has a rhetoric paper due the next day. No problem—he injects his body with multiple doses of caffeine and decides to pull an all-nighter. This does not faze him, however, because he is able to slowly glue words together and construct sentences coherently enough for his GSI to nod his head and mark his seal of approval.

Procrastination, they call it. That’s what Kevin called it too when he updated his Facebook status at 4:21 AM to inform the world about his achievement. Five people even “liked” the comment and his best friend wrote a few words of approval. And so, the paper is turned in the next morning and the incident is behind Kevin.

30%

of college students sleep under eight hours a night. And it is worse at Cal.

The Sleep Cycle

This was two months ago. Since then, four of these incidents have occurred, one for each class in which he is enrolled.

It has become a routine. Writing a paper has become a process equated with all-nighters and dangerously low amounts of sleep. Even worse, the process is accompanied by copious amounts of caffeine in the form of shots, energy drinks, coffee and in some cases, pills. Kevin is not alone; a study of 1,125 students published in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that only 30 percent of students sleep at least eight hours a night—the average requirement for young adults. A sample survey administered to 300 Cal psychology students shows that they sleep around 6.75 hours a night on average and that over 80% have pulled an all-nighter in the last six months.

The short story: you are not getting enough sleep. And before you leap into a world of caffeinated haze, it is best to be informed about the health and performance risks that you are imposing on your mind and body.

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REM Sleep Rapid Eye Movement Sleep when the body is completely paralyzed but eyes jerk rapidly. Most dreams happen during this stage.

Slow Wave Sleep Deep stages of non-REM sleep when most memory consolidation occurs. It is hardest to wake a person up from this stage.

health

Your Mind The obvious reason to pull an all-nighter is time. Who would reject an opportunity to extend the current workday an extra eight hours? What students often ignore, though, is the impact sleep deprivation has on their performance during tests, specifically their ability to retain memories. Studies have shown that sleep deprivation impairs both semantic (fact-based) and procedural (skill-based) memories. More specifically, sleep aids in the acquisition, consolidation and association of memories whether sleep occurs before or after acquiring information. This has been proven by numerous studies where sleep-deprived participants performed significantly worse than their well-rested counterparts in visual, motor and word-association tests. For example, in 2010, Current Biology published an experiment in which participants memorized word pairs after several repeats and then were asked to recall as many word pairs as possible after some interference (a second set of word pairs).

Well-rested participants were able to recall more than twice the information after interference than the sleep deprived group.

Say you are studying for a test the next day and you have a choice between getting five hours or eight hours of sleep.

If you clock in more hours of sleep you are more likely to retain memories and integrate them with the information already present in your brain. Without any conscious effort on your part, your brain is working to relate the facts retained before sleep and extract all relevant information to store in your neural networks. Skipping sleep results in clumps of short-term facts that are out of context with the massive information bank in your head. As a result, most of them are transient and will slip away as soon as other chunks of data replace them.

Your Health Sleep deprivation exposes your body to foreign infections and contributes to high levels of hunger and obesity. And if that is not scary enough, it even puts you in a condition that is similar to pre-diabetics. A study has shown that after ten days of vaccination against the flu, sleep-deprived individuals exhibit an antibody response that is half as prevalent compared to the control group. Even after plenty of recovery sleep, a difference between the two groups persist.

Another study proves that sleep deprivation induces a greater feeling of hunger by increasing the levels of ghrelin, a hormone that is responsible for boosting appetite, and decreasing leptin, a hormone responsible for signaling satiety. What makes this worse is the participants’ choice of food the next morning.

Sleep deprived individuals tend to choose more carbohydrate-rich foods than the control, amassing more calories and less nutritional benefits.

2 AM runs to Top Dog, anyone?

Finally, measuring the blood glucose levels of sleep deprived participants reveals a striking trend. Glucose tolerance, which is the efficiency of clearing glucose from blood, decreases by over 40%. These levels are significant enough for a physician to diagnose prediabetes, i.e. a stage preceding diabetes where a patient runs a great risk of developing diabetes.

Your Looks We all know that you do not look your best the morning after an all-nighter. A study by Axelsson in 2010 confirms this point. He gathered 23 healthy, sleepdeprived adults (age 18-31) who were photographed and 65 untrained observers (age 18-61) who rated the photographs on a 1-100 scale using three different factors: tiredness, healthiness and attractiveness.

The results? Sleep-deprived folks scored nine points higher on tiredness, five points lower on healthiness, and two points lower on attractiveness.

Who would have thought that all-nighters had such far-reaching consequences, including diabetes, incoherence and ugliness?

Given the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation, will you remain part of the 1 in 3 students who substitutes a coffee mug for a blanket? If you are still not convinced, I urge you to try it out for yourself on your next midterm or final: plan ahead, finish studying before 10 pm, get a full night’s sleep (whatever number of hours your body is comfortable with) and take the test.

Your mind, body, and GPA will thank you.

This article was written as a part of the Sleep Outreach Project by Professor Matthew Walker’s Psychology of Sleep Class (Psych 133).

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health

Pop Quiz

What Is Your Sleep Score?

A- On average, how many hours do you sleep?

D- Check all the activities that you perform 4 hours or less before going to bed: 1- Check your email

B- On average, how many “all-nighters� (defined as 3 hours or less of sleep) do you endure in one month?

2- Listen to your relaxing music 3- Drink coffee or tea

C1- On average, what time do you go to bed on weekdays?

4- Excercise 5- Study in bed

C2- On average, what time do you do you wake up on weekdays?

6- Read a book 7- Take a warm shower

C3- On average, what time do you go to bed on weekends?

C4- On average, what time do you do you wake up on weekends?

Your Score A- Subtract three points for every hour you deviate from the recommended sleep time, which is around 8 hours (this can vary).

B - Subtract three points for every all-nighter/month.

C- Subtract two points for every hour difference between C1 and C3. Then subtract five points for every hour difference between C2 and C4.

D- Subtract two points for options 1, 4, and 5.

Subtract three points for option 3.

Add two points for options 2, 6, and 7.

E- Subtract two points if True. Nothing if False.

F- Subtract one point for every deviation from 3.

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Caliber Magazine / Spring 2012

E- True or False: You feel more tired than energized during the day.

F- On a scale from one to ten (1= Easy, 10=Hard), how hard is it to wake up in the morning?

100

90s 80s 70s

Great sleep score. You are among the few who wake up and own the day.

Average sleep score. Tweak a few habits and you are set.

Poor sleep score. Serious changes in your lifestyle are needed to make you a happier and healthier person.

food & drink

Awesome Shit to Put on

Popcorn Popcorn: so tasty, so dependable, so right. You could almost call it a companion. Watching a movie? It’s there, by your side. Listening (probably singing horribly along) to Adele? That bowl of popcorn next to you is listening, ahem, putting up with you, too. And, if you’re having friends over, you better believe those kernels are ready to co-host. So fresh and so warm, popcorn is always ready for a late night snuggle.

But let’s face it, over time, shit gets real. Pop-

corn’s with you every night and even though you love to eat it, something’s missing. Like any healthy relationship, you two need some spice. No offense Orville, but sometimes you just gotta bust out the toys.

Here are some ways you can enhance that popcorn bite. Tested by several people in committed relationships with

by Melissa Meagher

popcorn (popcorn’s getting around), they’ve proven to bring that extra zing. Relationships with the ones you love are tough, but Caliber’s here to make sure they keep poppin’.

Note: All of these recipes go with one packet of Orville Redenbacher’s butter popcorn.

Heat up a packet and combine the popcorn with all of the ingredients in a bowl, stir, and let the nom fest begin.

Fiesta in My Mouth

The Santa Bourgeoisie Sat Here

Mafia Munch

The Katy Perry

Es muy delicioso.

Because you’re classy.

When you need Santa in your life.

A dangerous Italian delicacy.

Glitter optional.

-1 ½ cups of shredded pepper jack cheese -1 cup of broken up corn chips -2 tbsp of chili powder -2 squirts of limejuice

-1 ½ cups of shredded Parmesan cheese -5, aka 10 squirts of butter spray -1 tsp of pepper -2 tsp of garlic salt

-1 tbsp of cinnamon -3 tbsp of sugar -1/8th cup of melted butter

-2 cups of Mozzarella cheese -1 tbsp of pesto sauce -3 tsp of basil

-2 cups of whipped cream -1/2 cup of rainbow sprinkles -1/2 cup of cut up candy cane bites

calibermag.org

63

food & drink

On Inhaling Chocolate

By Lara Hovsepian-Ruby

Chocoholics of the world, please, take a seat, for I present to you Le Whif, the world’s first chocolate inhaler. Yes, you read that correctly—this bottle of decadence allows you to experience all the taste of chocolate sans the guilt. According to its website, “Le Whif uses particle engineering to form natural food substances, like chocolate, in particle sizes that are small enough to become airborne though too large to enter the lungs.” Using the technology that Harvard professor David A. Edwards and his large-brained minions came up with in 2008, the chocolate-y powder rises up through the inhaler and settles on the tongue with just one calorie per 200 milligrams of powder. Producers cite this low calorie count to market Le Whif as a dieting tool to curb appetite, given that the product’s innovation was based on Edwards’ observation of human eating habits: “Over the centuries we’ve been eating smaller and smaller quantities at shorter and shorter intervals. It seemed to us that eating was tending toward breathing, so, with a mix of culinary art and aerosol science, we’ve helped move eating habits to their logical conclusion. We call it “whiffing.” To accommodate different palates, creators of Le Whif have made the inhalable powder available in mint chocolate, raspberry chocolate and mango chocolate flavors, as

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Caliber Magazine / Spring 2012

well as the original milk chocolate. For all the caffeine addicts out there, you were not forgotten; inhalers branded with the same Le Whif logo house Whiffable Coffee Powder rather than chocolate powder. Being the Berkeley student that you are, I think you will also find satisfaction in knowing that each 300 milligram tube is 100 percent biodegradable. Whether you make the transition from ingesting to inhaling, however, I leave up to you. Keep in mind that a BBC News health study in 2007 showed that allowing dark chocolate to melt on your tongue doubles your heart rate and causes increases in brain activity for four times longer than the most passionate kiss.

Try beating that with an inhaler.

Le Whif $6.99 thinkgeek.com

Caliber Asks: How often do you eat chocolate?

12% 38% 26% 24%

Once a day or more Few times a week Once every couple of weeks Once a month or never Convenience sample of 48 students

food & drink

Bay Area Bar Crawl

By Jaime Gamblin With X’s freshly scrubbed off the backs of my hands, I’ve stumbled upon three great places to get your lush on. I’ve included the number of aspirin you’ll need the next morning as a basic measure of the price and potency of drinks, the quality of the other typical clientele as new drinking buddies, and the basic setup and décor of the bar itself.

Thalassa Bar and Billiards If Ariel had discovered this place under the sea, maybe she never would have left home for that frilly-shirted idiot on land.

Alas, Thalassa didn’t hit the Berkeley scene until about ten years ago, and the chic ocean-themed bar and pool hall still gives something special to the area. The different plateaus scattered around the oddlyshaped building lend a feeling of mystery, while any of the multitudes of pool tables are a good way to pass time with friends or a new acquaintance--one perhaps made at the elegantly decorated bar, which boasts a wide array of liquors and beers. Surprisingly to my freshly of-age self, decent mixed drinks as well as shots are available for less than $5, which is a good deal when compared with similarly fashionable bars in the bay area. There is a solid array of 14 beers available on tap, and 12 more in bottled form, all of which I intend to explore in my next few drunken forays down to Shattuck. The atmosphere plays well into Thalassa’s theme, with a cool blue lighting that is seductive, yet isn’t reminiscent of

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Caliber Magazine / Spring 2012

places where the bartender is going to slip something into your buttery nipple shots (which are delicious, by the way).

A sign of the excellence of the bartender is that he was quite accommodating even when I was that girl trying to order a drink. As the bouncer had informed me on my way in, there’s a free first drink for those who are turning 21. So I stumbled up to the bar and immediately forgot the alcoholic wonders I had discovered in my years of underage drinking. Maybe it was the excitement of my first legal drink, or maybe of my FREE first legal drink, but the bartender noticed my waffling and kindly asked if I simply “wanted something delicious.” Never one to turn down things for which “delicious” is an adjective, I obliged his offer. While it may not sound like the manliest of first drinks, the birthday cake shot I received will certainly give your BAC a respectable boost. The mix of Frangelico and lemon vodka with a fun sugared lemon wedge chaser is officially the only

cake you should have, and drink, too. After instructing me on the proper procedure for taking the shot, the bartender then served my friends a bottled Stella Artois and a potent Kamikaze cocktail. These came to $9, which one of my companions was actually surprised to find was for both of their drinks together.

As bars very close to campus go, it’s hard to find a place open past midnight that’s good for both meeting new people or for keeping to your group. There’s plenty of seating in private booths, or at tables where it’s easy to converse with new neighbors, and the reasonably priced drinks ensure that Thalassa will be a good time for all- in the words of that annoying Jamaican lobster, “take it from me.”

2367 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley

Drinks: Patrons: Scene:

food & drink

The Graduate A Berkeley classic, The Graduate is a cozy spot if you’re not the type to get claustrophobic. A little further from the frat and Game Day scene, this bar manages a perfect mix of dive and full service, although its small space can certainly get packed on a weekend. I had a near scuffle with a very territorial patron over a bar stool, but the relaxed atmosphere in the bar helped to diffuse what would have likely been a very comical drunken bar fight. There was the list of conveniently cheap specials I’ve come to view as a requirement for an allaround worthwhile bar, which included my favorite combo--a beer and a shot of whiskey. Even though the place was standing room only as the Saturday night progressed, one of the most memorable things about The Graduate is its collection of attentive and efficient bartenders. It was easy to get a drink within a moment of standing at the bar with cash out (while slightly less inconvenient because of a Bank of America across the street, The Graduate is a cash-only institution), and

the drinks were hefty enough to earn the respect of the graduated crowd.

After a few of these moderately priced drinks, you’ll begin to notice whiffs of one of the most primitively appealing scents known to man--that of freshly made popcorn. Taking up some of the precious space inside the bar is an adorable miniature popcorn popper, the contents of which are free, plentiful, and delicious. Grab a bowl and a few squirts of the supplied Sriracha chili sauce, and eat until you’re ready to drink some more. Drunk food at its finest, courtesy of The Graduate. If you can stand the occasional tiny girl getting uppity about her claim to your seat, the perfectly upper class and yet still Berkeley bourgeois feel at The Graduate is a must.

6202 Claremont Ave, Oakland

Drinks: Patrons: Scene:

Toad Hall Bar For those who prefer wider spaces in which to get drunken tunnel vision, the Toad Hall Bar is worth a trip to the Castro District. The location obviously means it’s a rather crazy gay bar, but the setup of the place lends itself pretty well to whether you feel like dancing, roosting at the bar for the night, or having a cigarette and a conversation on the patio. This patio happens to be my favorite quality of Toad Hall, as it’s a quaint back area that isn’t too loud or devoid of ample seating and standing room. It’s also nice to have a place within the bar where any smokers or overheated dancers can hang out without having to go

out onto the street. Inside, there’s a decent dance floor and space for a DJ tucked into the back, and a rather glorious bar that goes on for days (just like the legs on the drag queen a couple seats down from you).

There was a handwritten list of drink specials the night I went, which included a some form of a Long Island Iced Tea for $5.50. As a bit of a Long Island enthusiast, I was surprised to see it for anything less than $7. While it appeared to be something of a reduced ingredient list from what I saw the bartender do (the typical Long Island has around 7 ingredients, including

5 different types of alcohol), the drink was still pretty potent and delicious. The atmosphere was more focused on interaction among the clientele anyway; I wouldn’t go here expecting too much showmanship from the bartender. Toad Hall was quite busy, and if you’re in the Castro there’s usually quite a bit of excitement just beyond the horde trying to flag down a drink.

4146 18th Street, San Francisco

Drinks: Patrons: Scene:

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Why Dance?

Why $19?

It's not always easy to see the connection between our cause and our event. How does the battle against pediatric AIDS relate to a 12-hour dance marathon? We dance to feel our bodies. We dance to recognize and push our limits. We dance to stand in solidarity with those who suffer while also celebrating our power and potential. That's the connection. Dancing forces us to recognize, through the pain and soreness, our immense strength and health. For this, we are lucky. We dance because we can.

While $19 may seem like an arbitrary registration fee and fundraising target, it was actually a very intentional decision. $19 is the medical cost to prevent one mother-to-child transmission of pediatric AIDS. All of the money raised from Dance Marathon goes directly to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. None of it goes to our programming or administrative costs. Therefore, every dancer saves 2 babies' lives. With over 1,000 registered dancers each year, that's a lot of lives we have the power to save.

April 13-14 / 8PM-8AM Pauley Ballroom, MLK Building

To register for DM or find out more about our organization, please visit www.berkeleydm.org.

To find out more about the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS foundation, please visit www.pedaids.org.

When there’s a cure, we’ll dance for joy. Until then, we’ll dance for life.

quiz

POP QUIZ

What Drink Are You?

Fill In Answers Here Be er bs in th e Ju ic y Ju ic e Re Bo d x W in e Vi ta li Vo dk a

5) What most resonated with you from the Occupy Movement is: A. Listening to Carl Dix and Cornel West’s dialogue at Cal B. Awesome crowds at the Sproul protests that shared their weed C. Wearing a helmet and padded clothing when the popo chased after you with their batons.

D. Transferring housing from the Telegraph apartments to Sproul Hall’s front steps E. Being inspired to start your own raging “Occupy Frat House” movement

A

4) Your bookshelf might include: A. Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange B. Kerouac’s On the Road C. People, US Weekly, Cosmopolitan D. An extensive anime collection E. Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past or Shakespeare’s Hamlet

8) You’re on your way to CREAM when a shady guy whips out a machete; you: A. Offer to take off your top for a five second peep show if they let you pass.

B. Scream at the top of your lungs and automatically drop into a fetal position.

C. Ask them to kindly yield to pedestrians and offer them a five in exchange for your life.

D. Walk them to CREAM and trade your ice cream sandwich for their machete.

E. Whip out your samurai blade from your belt and engage in sword battle.

You like your hallucinogenic liquids green. “Go hard or go home!” is your philosophy for all areas of life, and you like to occasionally dance with the green fairy. You’re that person who’s into freaky stuff like charming snakes and Swedish heavy metal opera.

Most likely to: become the next psycho Berkeley icon Least likely to: carry on a normal conversation

“JUICY JUICE” JUICE BOX You’re the boring, preschool-friendly box of Juicy Juice.

Odds are you’ve never experienced anything more dangerous than plaque or bad grammar. You depend on mommy and daddy to guide you through college and tough times. You’d rather play it safe than sorry.

Most likely to: own a personalized first aid kit Least likely to: survive a typical frat party

RED WINE You are the classiest soul to have ever been associated with Pinot Noir. You like your cheese aged and your cars German. The finer things in life attract you more than the sweaty, cheap stuff—and it’s worth the cost. You much prefer to take things slow and with composure, and you drink more for the taste than the effects.

Most likely to: enjoy silent noir films Least likely to: ever wear flip-flops

ne r

3) During sex, you are most likely to: A. Be switching off between two partners.

B. Excuse yourself to the bathroom and call mom.

C. Keep just your tie on and serve champagne with strawberries.

D. Lay back and let your partner do everything for you.

E. Make good use of your BDSM gear.

PILSNER BEER You’re everyone’s favorite cup of Corona. If there were such a thing as a soul reincarnate, you’d be Berkeley’s very own Big Lebowski: a bro-y soul, laidback, able to go with the flow. You drink to socialize and have fun.

Most likely to: have your every other word be “dude”, “bro” or “man” Least likely to: wash your clothes more than once every two months

ABSINTHE 7) You prefer to study in: A. Moffitt Main Stacks from the moment it opens until the time that it closes.

B. A tree C. Caffé Strada D. What is this studying you speak of?

E. Your own personal office that smells of fine mahogany.

ls

2) When I say GO you say: A. Stop!!!

B. How hard?

C. Bears!

D. How would you like it?

E. Ladies first.

6) Your relationship with the bartender: A. You call him/her “Broseph” or “Brosephine” B. Friends with benefits…without the “friends” part.

C. You wouldn’t know. Whenever you try to get into a bar, they ask you how you climbed out of your crib.

D. The two of you discuss intellectual tidbits over Cognac while he or she wipes down the counters after hours.

E. He or she is the hitman/woman you’ve hired to eliminate select targets.

Pi

1) Your day-to-day outfit typically includes: A. Boardshorts and Rainbows B. Last night’s bangin’ skintight dress – today’s Walk of Shame outfit C. Argyle sweater vest or khaki pants that always seem to be too short for you D. The classiest button-down the world has ever seen E. Something out of Edward Scissorhand’s closet

by Nakta Alaghebandan

1 - A___

E___

C___

D___

B___

2 - C___

B___

A___

E___

D___

3 - D___ E___

B___

C___

A___

4 - E___

A___

D___

B___

C___

5 - B___

D___

C___

A___

E___

6 - A___

E___

C___

D___

B___

7 - C___

B___

A___

E___

D___

8 - D___

E___

B___

C___

A___

Total ____

____

____

____

____

VITALI VODKA You’re the trashiest piece of work since Ke$ha. You’ll get down anywhere at any time in any circumstance.

You’re like the Martin Luther King, Jr. of alcohol in that you don’t judge liquor by it’s bottle or price and are accepting of any alcoholic beverage to cross your path. If you were to ever write a memoir, you’ll have a lot of trouble after all those blackouts.

Most likely to: wear a name card that says HELLO, MY NAME IS ____ IF LOST, PLEASE RETURN TO ____ Least likely to: remember last night, or the night before, or the night before that, etc.

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Caliber Magazine / Spring 2012