Recent News

The Data Science for the 21st Century (DS421) NSF Research Training Program (NRT) is now accepting applications for Fall 2016.  DS421 is a two-year interdisciplinary graduate training program with the mission to prepare a new generation of researchers and policy makers to address challenges at the intersection of natural, social and data sciences by translating data into evidence-based analysis of impacts and solutions. The DS421 program is open to incoming and first year PhD students from all…

As I’ve done for the last few years, I’d like to take a moment on this day before Thanksgiving to think about the spirit of the day and to reflect on our mission and purpose as a School of Public Policy. As a School of Public Policy, we have a special duty to think about how we can create and restore good government and a sense of community in localities, states, and nations.  The…

The 31 US governors who have refused to accept Syrian refugees, the majority of whom are women and children, seem to have forgotten that we are a nation made up entirely of people who have traveled from far and wide - perhaps during this generation or perhaps generations ago - to seek refuge from persecution and conflict. As one of millions of Afghan refugees fleeing the Soviet war of 1979-1989, I would not be here today if it were not for…

Thanks to the generosity of alumni, friends, faculty, staff and students, the Goldman School raised more than $20K in the BIG GIVE for student fellowships! The GSPP community also banded together to campaign on social media on behalf of the school. Our efforts garnered an extra $4K in prize money for fellowships!

American public schools do a good job of getting students into college, but a poor job preparing them to succeed once they’re there. While more than two-thirds of high school graduates enroll in college, nearly two-thirds of those arrive on campus unprepared for college-level rigor. Instead of trying to solve this problem together, high schools and colleges typically operate in silos — high schools concentrate on increasing graduation rates, while universities pay little attention to what’s…

Gov. Jerry Brown talks with University of California president Janet Napolitano during a UC Board of Regents meeting in San Francisco on March 18. (Jeff Chiu / Associated Press) This year's very public showdown between Gov. Jerry Brown and University of California President Janet Napolitano over raising UC's tuition ended in a compromise that in no way addressed the real issue: Where will the money come from to keep the state's world-class public colleges and universities…

A solar panel is installed in mid-October on the roof of the Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park in Sacramento. California consumers are embracing rooftop solar with practical enthusiasm, bringing the state halfway toward its goal of a million solar rooftops by 2020. New rules proposed by a state agency, however, would impose fees that would wipe out the savings of solar, effectively ending customer choice for middle-class California ratepayers. Whether Californians continue to have the choice to generate some…

Unmitigated climate change is likely to reduce the income of an average person on Earth by roughly 23 percent in 2100, according to estimates contained in research published today in the journal Nature that is co-authored by two University of California, Berkeley professors. The findings indicate climate change will widen global inequality, perhaps dramatically, because warming is good for cold countries, which tend to be richer, and more harmful for hot countries, which tend to be poorer. In the…

The widened Gatun Locks (foreground) on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal (seen behind) are still under construction, with completion anticipated next spring. The West Coast ports, including the Port of Oakland, have enjoyed decades of success serving as the point of entry for billions of dollars worth of goods, mostly from China and East Asia. Imports from Asia to the United States generated 9 million American jobs, 4 million in California, Oregon and Washington, in 2014, according to the Pacific Maritime…

The announcement on Wednesday by the New York restaurateur Danny Meyer that he was eliminating tipping at his restaurants shows that he understands the impact tipping really has: It has created a two-tiered wage system with deep social and economic consequences for millions. Mr. Meyer’s move to establish a transparent, fair salary for his staff is laudable, and I hope it will help set a new standard for the industry. But to achieve change across the…