By Lou Fancher
Correspondent
Carlos Bustamante was fixing breakfast when he got the call.
Emmanuel Saez was in his office when he got the call.
Dawn Song was having lunch with friends when she got the call.
And on a Thursday in April, the East Bay MacArthur Fellowsgathered at the Lafayette Library and Learning Center to explain howthey became recipients of the $500,000 no-strings-attachedfellowship awards. Informally, these have come to be known as"genius grants.?
"I had just come home from a trip,? Bustamante explained. "Atfirst, I thought they were calling for donations and said ?Nah ??before I realized what was happening. Turns out there?s anotherBustamante -- at Berkeley -- so they started reading this otherbiography, and I said, ?Oh no, how can this be?? Then they said,?We?re just kidding?.? Who does that?? he told the audience gatheredin the library?s community hall. "But I still took their money!? headded, to appreciative laughter.
The grants, each a cool half million dollars delivered over afive-year period, arrived without reporting or spendingrequirements.
"After I found out, I only called my wife, because they tell youthat you can only tell one person,? Saez said in an interviewmoments before his formal presentation.
Asked how it felt to be a "genius? and what he might do with thefunds, Saez joked he would use the money to buy five SUV?s beforeadmitting, "You know, I?m already paid to do what I do, so I willjust continue. But now, I will be able to fund additional studiesand hire students to assist me.?
Each year, approximately 100 nominators roam the United States,looking for scientists, musicians, choreographers, writers,mathematicians, teachers, and other creative individuals whose workfalls into the "genius? category. A selection committee reviews thenominations, then makes recommendations to the president and boardof directors of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Unlike the popular media and the general public, the foundationavoids using the term "genius,? calling the term too narrow todefine the qualities the grants are intended to honor.
The MacArthurs formed the large, private philanthropy in 1970,directing their money to effective, creative people whose workcontributed to a peaceful, just world.
The list of 828 recipients has few familiar names. Perhaps tocombat their obscurity, the Commonwealth Club-sponsored theLafayette library event, giving the trio an opportunity to explaintheir projects, which centered on three subjects hot on the minds ofBay Area residents -- income taxes for the wealthy, health carecosts and Internet security.
Central Contra Costa seems like a good audience for theseachievers, and the new Lafayette library a good venue, said KathyMerchant, executive director of the Lafayette Library and LearningCenter Foundation.
"When the Lafayette community conceived its Library and LearningCenter, a key part of the vision was the Glenn Seaborg LearningConsortium,? Merchant said. "What more appropriate program could theCommonwealth Club bring than the MacArthur ?geniuses? who havereached the pinnacle of intellectual and entrepreneurialaccomplishment??
Bustamante, a professor in the Department of Genetics at StanfordUniversity School of Medicine, studies DNA data to learn aboutpopulations.
"The human genome project has had a tremendous spillover intoother areas,? he began, before asking, "Will the billions of dollarsinvested in it pay off??
Not bothering to wait for a reply, he answered the questionhimself.
Because of it, we can map genes for traits, study things likeBipolar disorder, Type 1 and 2 Diabetes, strokes, schizophrenia ?andunderstand diseases between populations and between individuals.?
Suddenly, Bustamante leapt to grapes, pointing to a graphic imageand saying, "Each of these [clusters] represents a pattern ofvariation; wild grapes separated from domesticated grapes. You cansee it?s a tour through parent and child relationships becausegrapes are actually from a single family.?
In a blink, he catapulted off grapes, drawing surprisingly clearlinks between increased diversity in medical research and reductionsin diseases and their associated costs.
Saez, an E. Morris Cox Professor of Economics at UC Berkeley,began his presentation with a familiar question: How should we taxupper incomes?
His data showed that income distribution has followed a "U?-shaped pattern over the past 90 years. He pointed repeatedly to theevidence that one percent of the population currently holds most ofthe country?s wealth.
His comparative studies also revealed a vast discrepancy betweenthe United States, France and Japan.
"All three countries are similar in the first period, in theearly 20th century,? he said. "What is really striking is thedivergence in the last period. Growth in France and Japan stayedrelatively constant from 1950s on. The U.S. is extreme in that thetop income have increased immensely. Technology has made top talentmore valuable and squeezed out ordinary workers. But this hasn?thappened in continental Europe or Japan, so technology can?t be theonly explanation.?
Saez, running over his allotted time, finished quickly, saying,"I have yet to write about what tax reform in this country shouldbe. You hear a lot about tax cuts, but I really think with the upperincome, we should go the other direction.?
Dawn Song, an associate professor in the Department of ElectricalEngineering and Computer Science at UC Berkeley, had her ownquestion.
"Do you know what may happen when you click a link?? she asked."The link may be leading you to a malicious website,? she said,mentioning worms, botnets and Trojan horses, and describing virusesthat alter their symptoms to avoid elimination.
"Around 2007, we saw a new change. The interactions of componentsand protocols caused new problems. Today, sensitive information isbeing kept in the clouds. It?s expensive and challenging for serviceproviders to protect consumers from Internet hacks. We aredeveloping new technologies to protect users? data and to make iteasier for the information to be managed securely,? she said.
In a brief Q and A session, library audience members asked abouthow the grantees choose their projects.
"The highbrow answer is, ?things I?m interested in.? Therealistic answer is, ?where the funding is invested,? ? Bustamanteanswered.
Another question came from Lafayette City Manager and moderatorSteve Falk: What can you tell us about the types of people whobecome threats to Internet security?
In the early 2000s they were people who wanted to explore famefor fun. Eventually, we saw cyber criminals move into the space whenthey realized they could make money. Now, more and more, you seesophisticated attacks involving nuclear facilities and people with alot more resources,? Song responded.
Saez fielded a double-pronged question asking if we could learnfrom the Japanese and French and how to convert his findings intopolicy.
If you look at them one by one, it's hard to find (answers). Youhave to look at the market, labor practices, social norms. That iswhy I start from a simple place: share more broadly by having thosewho have benefited most, share more of the burden,? he said.
Charged with packing the genius of three into 60 minutes, theevening inevitably left loose ends. A phone call had changed theirlives: only the passage of time will tell if their work will changeours.
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