A Sampling of Clips for April 5, 2010

* UCSD faculty and staff may obtain a copy of an article by e-mailing the University Communications Office

Surprisingly, Family Time Has Grown
The New York Times, April  5 -- Working parents perpetually agonize that they don’t see enough of their children. But a surprising new study finds that mothers and fathers alike are doing a better job than they think, spending far more time with their families than did parents of earlier generations. The study, by two economists at UC San Diego, analyzes a dozen surveys of how Americans say they use their time, taken at different periods from 1965 to 2007. More

Similar story in
The Washington Post

For Hoarders, the Mess Begins in the Mind
NPR, April 5 -- We've all seen the TV shows and heard the stories: people who collect so much stuff they can hardly move in their own home. Some even sleep in the car or yard because their homes are so crammed. Researchers now believe these people have always been hoarders, and that compulsive hoarding is an anxiety disorder that gets worse with time. At the UC San Diego Department of Psychiatry, psychologist Catherine Ayers specializes in anxiety disorders and late-life hoarding. More

Do Informed Voters Make Better Choices? Not Necessarily.
The Washington Post, April 4 -- Knowledge is power -- except maybe when it comes to voting on ballot initiatives. Then it doesn't seem to matter so much. That's the conclusion of an intriguing new study, "The Dilemma of Direct Democracy," by researchers Craig Burnett of UC San Diego and Elizabeth Garrett and Matthew McCubbins of the University of Southern California. More

In Syria, a Prologue for Cities
The New York Times, April 5 -- Archaeologists have embarked on excavations in northern Syria expected to widen and deepen understanding of a prehistoric culture in Mesopotamia that set the stage for the rise of the world’s first cities and states and the invention of writing. (Quotes Guillermo Algaze, an anthropologist at UC San Diego and an authority on early urbanism in the Middle East, who was not involved in new research) More

One Death Reported in Baja Quake
Los Angeles Times, April 5 -- At least one man died and several homes burned in northern Mexico after the magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck near the California-Mexico border Sunday. (Quotes Frank Vernon, a research seismologist at UC San Diego) More

Powerful Baja Quake Less Devastating Than Haiti
Boston Globe, April 5 -- Twenty million people in three U.S. states and Mexico felt Sunday's Baja California earthquake -- a more powerful temblor than the Haiti quake yet the death toll and devastation were far less. Why? Scientists say part of the answer is location, location, location. (Quotes Jose Restrepo at UC San Diego) More

$75-Million Gift Will Help Start New Southern Calif. Hospital
Chronicle of Philantrophy, April 2 -- The telecommunications mogul Irwin Jacobs and his wife, Joan, have pledged $75-million to UC San Diego to launch a new hospital project, The San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The university announced plans Thursday for the $664-million, 245-bed facility next to its existing Thornton medical center in La Jolla, Calif. More

Similar story in
San Diego Business Journal

Team Leader Seeks Nature's Ultimate Secret
San Diego Union-Tribune, April 5 -- Vivek Sharma seemed destined to become a scientist specializing in particle physics. Now he heads a team of 2,500 physicists and engineers from 38 countries searching for far tinier parts — those that may hold answers to how the universe began. The researchers conquered a milestone last week when the Large Hadron Collider successfully smashed two protons traveling almost at the speed of light. Sharma is a physicist on UC San Diego’s faculty. More

Bilbray’s Seat Seen as Secure
San Diego Union-Tribune, April 5 -- Over the past half-decade, Brian Bilbray has proved to be Democrats’ most inviting, and most elusive, Republican congressional target in San Diego County. Three times in the past four years — including the special election after the resignation of Republican Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham — Democrats have trained their sights on the Carlsbad representative in optimal political climates and come up empty. (Quotes UC San Diego political scientist Gary Jacobson) More

SDSU Joins Downtown Art Scene
San Diego Union-Tribune, April 5 -- After years of planning, negotiations and delays, San Diego State University is finally opening its long-awaited Downtown Gallery on Friday. (Mentions UC San Diego’s visual arts department)  More

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