Berkeleysider Wendy Cohen spotted this sure sign of a new school year: stacks of mattresses stacked outside Christian Hall on Durant Avenue. The UC Berkeley fall semester begins Aug. 16th.

Frances Dinkelspiel, Berkeleyside and CItyside co-founder, is a journalist and author. Her first book, Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California, published in November...