Berkeley

OP-ED: Stem The Tide of Diabetes – Vote Yes On D

Published

12 years ago

November 3, 2014

Oakland Post

By Max Anderson

QUESTION:

Big Soda is spending millions of dollars to defeat Measure D. What is your personal connection to this issue?

Long before Big Soda decided to lay siege to any community that dared oppose its unhealthy crusade to saturate our communities with cloyingly sweet beverages and its billion dollar ad campaigns, my family suffered the ravages of diabetes.

My mother died at the age of 57 from complications of diabetes, including kidney disease and blindness. Every one of her four children has suffered from the disease.

Diabetes has cast a swath of disease and disability across a larger and larger demographic of families in this country and beyond.

The principle purveyors of this epidemic are the giant soda companies and their stockholders who prey upon the youngest and most vulnerable among us — costing us billions of dollars in healthcare, and leaving in its wake the damaged bodies and broken lives of more and more families.

The scientific evidence of the connection between sugary drinks and disease are legion and unshakable. Even big soda dares not contest the evidence.

QUESTION:

As you just noted, Big Soda spends little time or money denying the health risks of sugary drinks. Instead, most of their attack on D is to raise wording issues. As a health professional, can you address the issues at stake?

Here is the connection between sugary drinks and disease:

Increased consumption of liquid sugar is causing, not just correlated to, epidemic levels of metabolic diseases, most notably Type 2 Diabetes Melitus;
Robert Lustig, UCSF pediatrician, describes liquid sugar as a chronic toxin when consumed in excess. A 12 ounce can of soda is too much for any child to consume, and causes liver damage.
Dr. Lustig said: “Due to sugar consumption, our children are getting the same diseases as adult alcoholics.”
Health community professionals and nutritionists agree that the reduction in consumption of sugar sweetened beverages is central to curbing the incidence and prevalence of diabetes among children.
Eliminating diabetes among children must be the focus of our efforts.

QUESTION:

Berkeley seems remarkably united in the face of this well financed negative corporate media campaign. What is at stake for Berkeley and nationally if Measure D is passed by the voters here?

The Yes On D campaign is endorsed by every elected official and every candidate running for office in Berkeley. Our community is remarkably united on this issue. The Ecology Center, Healthy Black Families, League of Women Voters (Berkeley, Albany & Emeryville), Berkeley NAACP, Latinos Unidos de Berkeley and the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club are among the many organizations supporting Yes on D.

It is within our power to establish a much more promising and healthy future for our children and our community. The corporations behind big soda care only about profits, and have no interest in the health of our children and our communities.

Max Anderson

We must stem the tide of diabetes, obesity and heart disease by taking this first significant step of leveling a 1 cent per ounce tax on the distributors of sugary drinks. In doing so, we will have begun to reassert the rights and responsibilities of our communities to end the corporate control of our families and our neighborhoods.

Max Anderson is a member of the Berkeley City Council, District 3.

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Related Topics:Berkeley Measure D OP-ED Opinion Soda Tax

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Bay Area

UC Berkeley Named Top Public University in the U.S. and No. 7 in the World by ‘U.S. News’

Berkeley has been consistently awarded the distinction of the U.S.’s top public university since the Best Global Universities list was first published in 2014. “A strong position in the Best Global Universities rankings recognizes a school’s profound commitment to world-class research and cross-border academic excellence,” said LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News.

Published

1 week ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Photo by Keegan Houser/UC Berkeley.

The 2026 Best Global Universities rankings evaluated 2,250 research institutions from more than 100 countries

By Lila Thulin

U.S. News & World Report has ranked UC Berkeley No. 7 in its 2026 list of the best global universities, which assesses more than 2,250 research institutions worldwide.

Berkeley also claimed the honor of top public university in the U.S.

Released on Monday, the list evaluates universities from more than 100 countries on 13 metrics such as global and research reputation (as reported by academics and peers) and number of highly cited scholarly papers.

Berkeley has been consistently awarded the distinction of the U.S.’s top public university since the Best Global Universities list was first published in 2014.

“A strong position in the Best Global Universities rankings recognizes a school’s profound commitment to world-class research and cross-border academic excellence,” said LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News.

The rankings also assess a university’s strength in various subject areas; these assessments are separate from U.S. News’ 2026 Best Graduate Programs rankings released in April.

This year, Berkeley was named in the top three nationally in seven subject areas – environment/ecology, ecology, water resources, physics, computer science, chemistry, and engineering – and in the top five for a total of 17 subjects. Subject rankings are based heavily on scholarly publications and citations as well as reputation.

In September, U.S. News also released its 2026 Best Colleges list, in which Berkeley was also named the No. 1 public institution among American universities.

That honor joins other accolades judging campus to be the best public university in the country, such as those from Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education.

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Arts and Culture

Farwest Region Deltas Celebrate Centennial With “September Breakfast” Honoring Vivian Osborne Marsh

The region was established in 1925 under the leadership of Vivian Osborne Marsh, who became its first Regional Director. Marsh was a pioneering scholar and civic leader, earning recognition as the first Black woman to receive both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in anthropology from UC Berkeley.

Published

10 months ago

September 14, 2025

Oakland Post

Farwest Regional Director, Kimberly Usher, Mayor Barbara Lee, US Representative Lateefah Simon, and Farwest Regional Representative, Radiya Ajibade. Photo courtesy of Farwest Regional Photographer Vicki P. Love.

By Antoinette Porter

Hundreds of members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and their guests gathered at the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union at the University of California, Berkeley, to mark the 100th anniversary of the sorority’s Farwest Region.

Marsh went on to serve as Delta Sigma Theta’s 7th National President, where she launched the sorority’s National Library Project to expand access to books in underserved Black communities in the South. During her presidency, the organization also became a prominent voice in the civil rights movement, lobbying Congress to pass anti-lynching legislation.

Bak in the Bay Area, Marsh devoted her career to advancing educational opportunities, mentoring young people, and strengthening community life. That commitment continues to shape the region, which supports initiatives in education, social justice, and economic development. Current projects include raising scholarship funds for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, voter education campaigns, and health and wellness programs.

A century after its founding, the Farwest Region of Delta Sigma Theta remains active across California and other western states, carrying forward Marsh’s vision of service and advocacy.

Oakland Post

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Arts and Culture

Cal Performances Presents Angélique Kidjo & Yo-Yo Ma in Sarabande Africaine at UC Berkeley Greek Theatre on Aug. 30

On Saturday, Aug. 30, the pair will debut the Bay Area premiere of Sarabande Africaine, joined by pianist Thierry Vaton, percussionist David Donatien, and special guest Sinkane. The program illuminates centuries of musical interplay between African traditions and Western classical forms, using the Baroque sarabande dance, and its African ancestor, the Congolese spirit dance Zarabanda, as a gateway to exploring the deep, interconnected roots of global music.

Published

10 months ago

August 25, 2025

Oakland Post

Angelique Kidjo and Yo-Yo Ma. Wikimedia photos.

By Carla Thomas

On Labor Day weekend two of the world’s most celebrated musicians and cultural ambassadors, Grammy Award–winning vocalist Angélique Kidjo and legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma join forces for an evening of music, history, and cultural dialogue at UC Berkeley’s historic Hearst Greek Theatre.

Both Kidjo and Ma have built careers not only as great performers but as passionate advocates for cultural understanding. Sarabande Africaine is as much a conversation about shared heritage as it is a musical performance, blending genres, geographies, and histories.

“Every day there are moments when all of us can feel we are on the inside of something and also when we feel we are on the outside of something,” said Yo-Yo Ma. “To be able to understand both at the same time and oscillate between the two gives us a larger perspective on the world.”

“If your mind is open, and there is no fear, it’s easier to listen, and to question yourself,” said Kidjo.

The upcoming performance is presented within Cal Performances’ Illuminations: “Exile & Sanctuary” series for the 2025–26 season. The production explores exile as more than just physical displacement, but a disruption in identity and belonging, while sanctuary represents both refuge and the creative space where new connections and communities can take shape.

Cal Performances’ Illuminations bridges performances with UC Berkeley’s academic research, pairing the arts with conversations about urgent global issues.

Kidjo’s continued partnership with Cal Performances includes her 2021–22 artist-in-residence, premiering her music-theater work Yemandja, set in 19th-century West Africa during the transatlantic slave trade.

She also participated in the Bias in Our Algorithms and Society panel alongside campus leaders like Jennifer Chayes, and joined the Black Studies Collaboratory for a dialogue on music, diaspora, and the world.

She has since returned to Berkeley for multiple performances, most recently in 2024 at Zellerbach Hall.

Yo-Yo Ma’s history with Cal Performances spans decades, beginning in 1997. One notable project includes the 2018 performance of Bach’s complete cello suites at the Greek Theatre, a testament to his devotion to creating “transformative concert experiences in iconic spaces.”

For tickets and more information, visit calperformances.org.