Mary Ann Mason Believes University Policies Bar Men from Active Parenting

The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 24, 2009 by Mary Ann Mason
http://chronicle.com/cgi2-bin/printable.cgi?article=http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2009/02/2009022401c.htm

If we want fathers to become equal participants in child raising, we must encourage them to do so. Family-friendly policies must include fathers as well as mothers. Cultural change occurs with participation; only then will the strongly held gender stereotypes against men as committed caregivers dissipate.

Erin Murphy Wants FBI to Give Scholars’ Access to National DNA Database

San Francisco Chronicle, February 24, 2009 by Erin Murphy
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/24/EDPI163A8L.DTL&type=printable

Given the broad reliance on the accuracy of DNA matches—whether for criminal convictions despite contrary evidence or the recent approval of “familial searches” that comb databases for a perpetrator’s relatives—the government cannot defend its refusal. Neutral, qualified researchers need access to this material to protect the rights of the accused and prevent conviction of the innocent.

Erin Murphy Says Judge’s Ruling Weakens Prosecution in Bonds Perjury Case

-The New York Times, February 20, 2009 by Katie Thomas
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/21/sports/baseball/21bonds.html?pagewanted=print

Illston’s decision dealt a serious blow to the prosecution’s case, said Erin Murphy, an assistant professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley. “I think they can try to package it as prettily as possible, but it is the critical evidence that shows that Bonds used steroids,” she said.

-KQED-FM, Forum with Michael Krasny, February 27, 2009 Host Dave Iverson
http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R902271000

“One thing about the charges that Bond is being pursued for is that they allow for a conviction, where there are two inconsistent statements that are irreconcilable under oath, without having to prove, necessarily, which one of those two statements are false. So that you don’t need to say, ‘this was true or this was true,’ as long as you can say that someone said under oath two things that were, in fact, inconsistent.”

Jesse Fried Explains Corporate Governance in Book, “Pay Without Performance”

The New York Times, Economix Blog, February 20, 2009 by Uwe E. Reinhardt
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/whom-do-corporate-boards-represent/?pagemode=print

With persuasive empirical research, Professors Bebchuk and Fried argue that corporate governance in America is more realistically described by a “managerial power” model in which C.E.O.’s have sufficient power over their boards to dictate their own compensation, subject only to what the authors call an “outrage” constraint.

Christopher Hoofnagle Describes Privacy Risks of Mined Public Data

FoxNews.com, February 20, 2009 by Joshua Rhett Miller
http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,497285,00.html

“This is the modern problem of public records. They are public, but they exist in practical obscurity. It’s much like how music companies didn’t foresee that consumers would rip CDs. It was thought that their sheer size would make ripping CDs impractical. Something similar happened with public records.”

Mary Ann Mason Explains Pitfalls for Women in Leadership Roles

San Francisco Chronicle, February 20, 2009 by Mary Ann Mason
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/20/EDVQ160QUV.DTL

As the only female dean at UC Berkeley for several years, I sat in on countless meetings where men held the floor. One day a female colleague made a presentation to a meeting of the deans and received a cursory, bordering on rude, response. Afterward, she asked me how she could have been more effective. “Speak lowly and slowly, but smile frequently,” I replied.