From the Stacks

Daily Cal Archives: Smoking in school, ‘Sex on Tuesday’ goes way back

By Ajith Araiza-Singh | Staff · Feb. 20, 2026

Metaphorically dig through archived issues of the Daily Cal to get a glimpse of life in Berkeley, from noteworthy headlines to everyday reporting that has been otherwise lost in the stacks.

Feb. 1, 1924: The Wheeler crush

While most editorial cartoons from 1924 have lost their relevancy today, “Ye Wheeler Hall Mob Scene” should resonate with anyone who’s shown up to the auditorium right as an overbooked Computer Science lecture tries to egress 700+ students all at once.

Feb. 1st, 1924: Smoking in school

Today, UC Berkeley maintains strict smoke-free campus policies. This interview with professor Ira B. Cross in 1924 predated the first campus restrictions on smoking by more than 60 years. Cross argued that smoking in wooden buildings could result in a fire, and that refraining from the habit would be a necessary exercise of willpower for students whose postgrad employment might not allow them to smoke as often. Notably missing from his early arguments for a (partially) smoke-free campus are health concerns associated with tobacco use, which were eventually cited by the campus in 1990 when Chancellor Chang-lien Tien finally banned indoor smoking.

Feb. 8, 1983: Being Black at UC Berkeley

In the first February print issue of 2026, The Daily Californian headlined that UC Berkeley was controversially designated as a Black-Serving Institution. Less than 50 years ago, Venita Kelley wrote an opinion piece titled “The difficulty of being Black at UC Berkeley,” which outlined a litany of “atmospheric pressures” affecting Black students. “Being Black at Cal is having to put up with so much pride in voluntary cultural ignorance that you sometimes just go home and sit in the dark.”

Second protest cover — In the first February print issue of 2026, The Daily Californian headlined that UC Berkeley was controversially designated as a Black-Serving Institution. Less than 50 years ago, Venita Kelley wrote an opinion piece titled “The difficulty of being Black at UC Berkeley,” which outlined a litany of “atmospheric pressures” affecting Black students. “Being Black at Cal is having to put up with so much pride in voluntary cultural ignorance that you sometimes just go home and sit in the dark.”

Feb. 5, 12, and 19, 1987: Protesting Prop. 63

First protest cover — The late 1986 vote on California Proposition 63 established English as the official language of the state. The Daily Cal protested its passage by periodically printing with its nameplate translated into different languages for several months, accompanied by a short message urging Californians to organize a rescission of the law.

Second protest cover — The late 1986 vote on California Proposition 63 established English as the official language of the state. The Daily Cal protested its passage by periodically printing with its nameplate translated into different languages for several months, accompanied by a short message urging Californians to organize a rescission of the law.

Feb. 9, 2012: Sex Issue

The Daily Cal’s February Sex Issue is an annual tradition that comes out around Valentine’s Day and features pieces on sex and sexuality. It consolidates a culture of college newspapers covering sex, which was started by the Daily Cal in 1997 with the introduction of the first-ever college paper sex column — Laura Lambert’s original “Sex on Tuesday.” The 2026 special issue has several parallels to one from more than a decade ago, such as sex in Main Stacks and relationships with GSIs. Unique to the 2012 issue is a curated sex playlist organized by gender and stage.