GA President, Miguel Daal, at Anthony Hall

“Grad students don’t hear about us unless we’re not doing our job,” says Miguel Daal, doctoral candidate in Physics and three-term Graduate Assembly (GA) President. Thus many of the GA chief executive’s activities, like helping to set RSF hours or advocating to keep the Tang Center open during spring break, go unnoticed.

So what does the GA President’s job entail? Most of Daal’s time goes to orchestrating, preparing for, and attending meetings. In addition to the monthly GA delegate meetings, Daal has separate monthly meetings with the Chancellor, Academic Senate Chair, and Graduate Division Dean. The GA President, not the University administrators, sets the agenda, ensuring it reflects the desires of the Graduate Assembly. These meetings provide a forum for addressing issues that impact graduate students and they help to maintain relationships between the graduate student government, the campus administration, and the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC).

Advocacy at the national, state, and campus level is another of the president’s responsibilities. As a member of Student Advocates for Graduate Education (SAGE), graduate students from Berkeley along with student leaders from other public universities lobby Congress. SAGE is currently lobbying for fellowship and grant tax exemptions as well as student loan forgiveness for graduate students pursuing careers in public service. Last year the GA joined the Chancellor to lobby the State Legislature for funding, as part of the first-ever joint UC-CSU-Community College lobbying effort, and they secured a promise from then Governor Schwarzenegger not to make cuts to education. (It is important to note that national and state advocacy is spearheaded by the GA’s External Affairs Vice President, although the President is a participant in and ensures funding for these efforts.) Daal’s on-campus advocacy work has included getting expanded mental health care coverage for students.

In his first two years as president Daal feels his biggest accomplishments have been the passage of the plan to revitalize Lower Sproul Plaza; crafting a revenue sharing agreement between the ASUC and the GA; coordinating graduate student government presidents at all the UCs to advocate for graduate student support; being involved with the commission tasked to figure out the direction of the UC system as it weathers the budget storm; as well as changes internal to the GA to make its technological infrastructure more dependable and to restructure its finances.

In the future, Daal would like to see the GA be more relevant to graduate students, secure more funding, and have greater independence from the University. As for himself, serving at the GA has expanded Daal’s vision of what he might do after graduation. Work with the GA has opened his eyes to how a Ph.D. could be put to use in business, policy, or administration in addition to a more traditional academic career path.

Finally, when I asked Daal what he wished graduate students knew about the GA, he replied, “grad students tend to feel disempowered because they are typically balkanized into their departments.” There they have a variety of experiences that affect their quality of life as well as the quality of their working conditions and education, but their frustrations are often borne alone or shared with only a small group of colleagues. But, “If they would only realize that their collective participation in the GA empowers us to make the changes they desire, then I think we could be more effective at making those changes and improving their lives.”

Image by little blue hen

These pretty watermelon radishes, an unusually peppy root vegetable with their hot pink core, are in farmer’s markets now. Bring one home to add a splash of color to your next salad.

West Berkeley trailer taken with a vintage Diana camera

Editor’s note: Last semester, a reader requested information on graduate student hobbies. So this semester we are occasionally featuring the activities different graduate students have taken up in their free time. Please let us know if you have a hobby you’d like to share.

Enjoy using your smartphone apps to create photos with a vintage feel? Ever wonder what it would take to create those shots with real film? It’s actually a lot easier, and a lot more fun, than you might think. Lee Otis, a recent Anthropology Ph.D., along with several friends from his department developed a keen interest in photography using vintage or “toy” cameras to create images with a nostalgic feel. The basic idea is to use a camera or film that is so old, or poorly made, that the resulting images reflect a certain low-fidelity aesthetic.

“It was just something that we started doing to take a break from school. We’re all archaeologists, so we’re naturally drawn to old stuff, like these cameras,” Lee Otis explains. Part of the thrill of toy camera photography is that you never know what you are going to get. “With digital, you get crystal clear shots that you can see immediately. With a toy camera, you won’t see your photos for a few days at best, and even then you may have light leaks, lens distortion, or who knows what other defects—but for me, that’s the best part.” The vagaries of using a cheap plastic camera or expired film may produce some headaches, but when everything goes right (or wrong, as the case may be), it’s not hard to see why smartphone applications try to mimic the effects.

Getting started…

The gold standard of toy camera photography is the Holga—a cheap plastic camera mass-produced in China since the 1980s.  The most basic Holga model is the 120N, which is a simple box camera with a fixed shutter speed that uses 120 format film—hence the model name.  The Holga also has a tripod mount (a rarity among toy cameras), allowing for long exposures such as those necessary for night or infrared photography. Holga has now diversified to offer a number of variants of its classic 120N, as well as models that use 35mm film. Holgas start at about $30.00.

Maine lighthouse taken with a Holga 120N

The Diana is probably the second most popular toy camera on the market. The Diana 151 as well as myriad clones and knock-offs proliferated from Hong Kong factories in the 1960s and 1970s. Like the Holga, Dianas use 120, or medium format, film. The most prized toy camera is the Fujipet. This camera has space-age styling and was only sold domestically in Japan during the late ’50s and early ‘60s. Accordingly, it is very difficult to find in the U.S., and examples on internet auction sites typically sell for over $200.00. Original Dianas can be had for less than a quarter of that price.

Film is still readily available at specialty shops. Looking Glass Photo in Berkeley stocks a wide variety of 120 film from various suppliers. Most pharmacies can’t develop 120 film, but Looking Glass as well as Photolab (also in Berkeley) can process your film and create prints of your photographs. As Lee Otis suggests, however, “In the digital age, even analog photography is online. Most of the fun is sharing your photos on sites like Flickr.” In that case, you may want the lab to scan your negatives for you—or for a somewhat larger investment, you can pick up a flatbed scanner with an insert for medium format negatives.

Want to get into analog photography, but don’t want to have to wait to get your photos developed? Instant cameras are also a big part of the vintage photography scene. Polaroid film is officially discontinued, but the spirit lives on at the Impossible Project (Fuji still makes instant film and cameras for the time being too).

Oakland motel shot with a Polaroid camera using expired film

Sensing there must be many people with similar goals, Mark Bittman of the New York Times recently shared three recipes that fit the bill.  I tried and highly recommend “Lentils and Rice With or Without Pork.” (Follow the link for the recipe and several ideas for variations on this theme: next up at my house, smoky red beans and rice.) I included the optional bacon and would encourage other omnivores to do the same since it adds a nice smoky flavor, but the dish will still be good as well as less expensive if you exclude the pork.

All together I spent $13.51 on ingredients, but that inflates the cost of this meal, although it may accurately reflect what you need to spend out of pocket to get started. It’s definitely possible to spend less because, despite my resolution to save, I didn’t always buy the cheapest options or the smallest quantities. At Trader Joe’s I bought 5 cups of brown rice for $2.99 (enough for 5 batches of this recipe),  a package of Niman Ranch bacon for $4.69 (my most expensive purchase, but good for 3 batches if you freeze the remainder), and celery for $1.69 (probably can be purchased cheaper elsewhere). At Safeway I spent $1.14 on lentils and at the farmer’s market I spent roughly $3 dollars on a bunch of carrots, a bunch of parsley, and an onion (at most stores you could buy a single carrot to bring the overall cost down further or you could use the leftover carrots and parsley to make this recipe again). I had oil, garlic, and bay leaves on hand.

One pot of lentils and rice fed two hungry people (we both had seconds) for dinner and for lunch the next day and appeared again as part of an all leftover dinner later in the week, making the price per person per meal roughly $2.70. Keep in mind that this estimate is a little high since I now have enough extra of some ingredients to make this again with a much shorter shopping list, and I could have shopped smarter by buying from the bulk section of the store and picking my produce more carefully.

If you’re looking to eat well while saving money, be sure to check out this recipe. Enjoy!

By phoosh

Welcome back to campus and classes. Here at the Berkeley Graduate, we hope your vacation was refreshing and the new semester is productive.