Quote of the Day

SF Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll points out what ASUC elections have shown time and time again.

"You thought that the Daily Cal endorsement might actually sway voters? Tell me, in your long -- perhaps overlong -- political career, do you know of any Berkeley race that has been won or lost on the basis of a Daily Cal endorsement?"

Catch the babies!

Personal Record: 825 points.

Post your high score in comments.

Bonus points to anyone who can explain the use of Hitler.

Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates caught stealing at Saks


Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates was arrested today after attempting to shoplift several suits from the Saks store in downtown San Francisco this afternoon.

The surprising turn of events occurred just hours news sources reported that Bates apologized for stealing Daily Californians during his election.

According to the manager of Saks, Bates was spotted putting several thousand-dollar suits into his Macy's bag.

Security guards confronted Bates and arrested him.

Reached for comment, Bates declared that he was set up.

"The security guards set me up," Bates said. "The courts will exonerate me."

Bates claimed that he was buying the suits for City Council meetings.

Berkeley politicians were speechless when they were informed of the news.

"Uhhhh, let me get back to you," progressive Berkeley City Councilmember Dona Spring said.

Others stepped up in the Mayor's defense.

"I'm sure that the truth will prevail," progressive Berkeley City Councilmember Kriss Worthington said. "He was obviously set up by the security guards."

Daily Cal scales back to one double-sided page


Facing increasing financial constraints, the Daily Californian has been forced to scale back to a single double-sided sheet of paper.

"Unfortunately, it's something we just have to do to continue providing the UC Berkeley campus with this fine service," Daily Cal Editor-in-Chief Ron-Gong Lin said.

With the collapse of the dot-com industry and the slow economy around the country, the Daily Cal has been slowly cutting back on its size. It will now have news and corrections on the front and sports on the back.


The front page. (www.dailycal.org)


The back page. (www.dailycal.org)

Students reacted ambivalently to the news.

"Really?" asked senior Katie Dixon. "I guess that's fine as long as they keep the crossword puzzle."

Berkeley Daily Planet goes out of business, residents mourn


The media scene in Berkeley took a major hit today when the Berkeley Daily Planet announced that it has been forced to declare bankruptcy.

"Unfortunately, we were never able to be fiscally successful," a short notice said in what was its final issue today.

Before the news, Berkeley was considered a hotspot for excellent journalism with both the Daily Planet and the Daily Californian.

With the latest City Council hot topic, random AP stories, scintillating ads, and the finest coverage of Berkeley high school sports, the Daily Planet will be missed by Berkeley residents. Some will especially miss the op-ed section.

"Whenever I was feeling bad, I could always read the letters to the editor and feel better about myself," local resident Ian Chaffee said.

Others shrugged off the news.

"I guess I'll start having to use the Daily Californian to pick up the dog crap," John Deek said.