Vietnam war memorial

This Date in UCSF History

This Date in UCSF History: What Veterans Day Means to a Soldier

[Originally published in Synapse on Nov. 12, 2009.] Before coming to UCSF, I was a soldier in Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2005-07. My duties were as an Area Reaction Force Task leader and providing convoy security in Iraq for the delivery of supplies to the military units serving in the region I...

November 11, 2025

Campus

Robot thinking

In the Age of AI: What Makes Us Human? Lessons from Timeless Tales

October 14, 2025

Ashel Chelsea Dsouza

Fables written centuries ago still echo in the present — quietly, powerfully — reminding us of what it means to...

Mother and daughter and barbie dolls.

The Barbie Dreamhouse

September 30, 2025

Michelle Seeler

Young girls are seeing more Barbie dolls on shelves with careers ranging from scientists, future leaders, and astronauts, and imagining...

Crowded airport

Lessons from the Runway: How Southwest’s System Crash Illuminates Healthcare’s Technical Debt Problem

February 18, 2025

Aaron Kornblith

When Southwest Airlines canceled system-wide flights during the 2022 winter holidays, stranded passengers sleeping in airport hallways made headlines. The...

Ukraine war

The Selfish Case for Supporting Ukraine

January 28, 2025

Drew Despereaux

We are in the third year of the three-day Russian “military exercise” into Ukraine, and with the incoming American political...

UCSF police shut down a pro-Palestinian tent encampment on May 14, 2024

Civil Disobedience: The New Hippocratic Oath

January 21, 2025

In his essay “ Resistance to Civil Government, or Civil Disobedience,” Henry David Thoreau writes: “Can there not be a...

UC New Green Deal graphic.

UCSF Admin — Follow Through with Strong Decarbonization Plans

December 10, 2024

UC Green New Deal Coalition

According to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change service, 2024 is set to be yet another hottest year ever recorded...

College class

This Date in UCSF History: Student-Teachers Demand Full Employee Rights

September 24, 2024

[Originally published in Synapse on September 22, 1988.] Our colleges and universities have come under highly critical consideration of late...

Lawrence Livermore weapons laboratory.

This Date in UCSF History: Split from Weapons Lab

September 17, 2024

[Originally published in Synapse on September 24, 1987.] On Sept. 12, the University of California Student Association voted overwhelmingly to...

Indignant operagoers

This Date in UCSF History: A Night at the Opera

September 10, 2024

[Originally published in Synapse on Sept. 14, 1989.] Friday evening Sept. 8 was opening night at the San Francisco Opera...