A Sampling of Clips for Feb. 7, 2011

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

Earth Networks Prepares for Shift
in Direction With Greenhouse Gas Initiative
The Washington Post, Feb. 6 – Earth Networks, formerly known as AWS Convergence Technologies, is moving to create a network that will tally greenhouse gas emissions at 100 locations around the world. The project, a joint venture with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, represents a shift in direction for the company and one of its largest undertakings since its formation in 1993. More

First Stars May Still Shine
Discovery Channel, Feb. 4 -- Talk about glimmers from the past. Some of the universe’s first stars may still be shining in the Milky Way 13.4 billion years after they formed, new simulations suggest. (Quotes Michael Norman of UC San Diego, who was not involved with the study) More

Similar story in
U.S. News & World Report
Wired News

STEAM is Gathering Steam
The Huffington Post, Feb. 4 -- More people are discovering that George W. Bush signed into law a bill called "The America Competes Act", also known as the STEM initiative for Science Technology Engineering and Math. And they're saying -- as I did last October -- why just math and science? Why not the arts, too? (Mentions UC San Diego) More

Counting the Crowds in Cairo
The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 4 -- My print column this week examines the difficulty of counting protesters, such as those who have been gathering in Cairo’s Tahrir Square this week. Without high-resolution aerial photos such as those taken by satellites, it can be tough to do more than estimate an upper bound for the number of protesters who could possibly fill the gathering space. (Quotes Nuno Vasconcelos, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC San Diego) More

Ant Harm: Can Genetic Weapons Roll Back
the Expansion of Argentine Ant Supercolonies?
Scientific American, Feb. 4 -- In an effort to better understand and help combat Argentine ants, a group of researchers led by Neil Tsutsui at the University of California, Berkeley, sequenced the genome of L. humile. The results were published January 31 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (Quotes David Holway, an ecologist at UC San Diego) More

10 Things to Ask Your Boss for Instead of a Raise
Forbes, Feb. 4 -- The economy may be thawing, but companies are still reticent to offer promotions or significant raises this year. However, employees can round out their employment packages and boost the value of their jobs by negotiating for nontraditional perks that ultimately benefit both parties. (Quotes Henry DeVries, an assistant dean of UC San Diego and co-author of “Closing America’s Job Gap”) More

A Tricky New Classic
New York Magazine, Feb. 4 -- When Air Force One lowered onto the stage of a packed Metropolitan Opera last week and a familiar figure appeared in the doorway with his jerky wave, “Nixon in China” completed its journey into the heart of American opera. (Mentions James Ingalls, who is on the UC San Diego faculty) More

Hormone Therapy and Menopause
Los Angeles Times, Feb. 7 -- Join us at noon CT (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT) on Tuesday, February 8, to chat about hormone therapy and menopause with Chicago Tribune's health reporter Judy Graham and panelists Dr. Richard Santen and Dr. Cynthia A. Stuenkel. Stuenkel is a clinical professor of medicine at UC San Diego, and immediate past president of the North American Menopause Society. More

Robert 'Roy' Ritchie Helped Revitalize the Huntington
Los Angeles Times, Feb. 7 -- He's an expert on pirates of the Caribbean, and we're not talking Johnny Depp. He wrote his doctoral thesis on the social history of 17th century New York, a task that required him to learn Dutch. "Not the easiest thing I've ever done," said Robert "Roy" Ritchie, director of research at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens since 1992. Ritchie came here from UC San Diego, where he’d been a professor of early American history and later served as an associate chancellor. More

After a Frugal Year, 2011 May See a Jump in Top Donors’ Giving
The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Feb. 6 -- The year 2010 brought a lot of talk of philanthropy by the super-rich—but not much giving.  (Mentions the new medical center at UC San Diego) More

Peirce: Training Millions of New Skilled Workers
Denver Post, Feb. 4 -- There's a clear road map out of America's big job gap - our stumbling recovery from the Great Recession. And it's not just about restoking our consumer economy. Rather, it's about training millions of new skilled workers -- as rapidly as we can. And the secret lies in targeted efforts inside our metro regions. That's the message of "Closing America's Job Gap," a new book whose lead author is Mary Walshok, the dean of university extension at UC San Diego, who is well-practiced in the art of regional skill-building. More

Scottsdale Specialist was Physician to Three Presidents
The Arizona Republic, Feb. 6 -- When patients joke that physician Connie Mariano runs a tight ship, the analogy is an apt one - and it's meant as a compliment. Mariano, a Scottsdale internal-medicine specialist and first-time author, is a veteran of 24 years in the Navy, the last nine as White House physician to three presidents. She retired from the service in 2001 as a Navy rear admiral, the first Filipino-American to reach that rank. Mariano is a UC San Diego alumna. More

'Before He Became a Doer, He Was a Reader':
Professor Alan Houston on Benjamin Franklin.
OC Weekly, Feb. 4 -- As you've probably gathered if you've read my rave review of the current Bowers Museum exhibition on the life of Benjamin Franklin, I've become a bit of a Franklin enthusiast overnight. The exhibition's consultant scholar, UC San Diego professor of political science Alan C. Houston (an authority on all things Benjamin), talks about the founding father. More

UCSD Researcher Gets More Time to Fight for Job
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 4 -- An Indonesian stem cell researcher fired by UC San Diego has won a last-minute concession allowing her to say in the country until Feb. 27 to fight her termination. More

Creativity, Innovation Blossom
as UCSD’s Dance Theatre Program Comes of Age
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 6 -- The Molli and Arthur Wagner Dance Building at the UC San Diego looks like a place that would encourage thinking outside the box. Internationally known architect Antoine Predock, who also designed Petco Park and the Mandell Weiss Forum, gave the three-studio dance building an elegantly curved wall. More

Focus on Women’s Heart Health
KPBS, Feb. 4 -- The American Heart Association encouraged women to wear red today to raise awareness that heart disease is the number one killer of American women over age 20. Cardiovascular disease kills more women than all cancers combined. Dr. Ricki Green, a cardiologist at UC San Diego Medical Center, discusses risk factors for heart disease. More

Is La Nina finally Turning Off Rain Spigot?
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 7 -- Scripps Institution of Oceanography researcher Dan Cayan told the U-T's Rob Krier the wet weather was "is one of those cases that make us look foolish.” But Cayan also said that unusually dry weather could follow later in the winter. And that may be happening. More

Local Protesters Offer Support to Egyptians
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 4 -- Dozens of people rallied Friday near the federal building in downtown San Diego to show solidarity with people protesting for change in Egypt. Here are a couple of their stories, including that of Amr Shabaik, 26, a UC San Diego graduate, who returned three weeks ago from a family trip to Egypt. More

La Jolla Symphony Makes Music Just for the Joy of It in Weekend Program
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 5 -- They were accountants, lawyers, surfers, students, and goodness knows who else, playing violins, trumpets, and all manner of orchestral instruments, just for the fun of it. And on Saturday at UC San Diego’s Mandeville Auditorium, they performed an improbable, some might say impossible, program including the United States premiere of a monumental work by the 20th century master Iannis Xenakis, “Metastasis (Alpha Version),” and a world premiere by 21st century master Phil Kline, “A Dream and Its Opposite,” framed by two works by Debussy, the “Nocturnes” and the too rarely programmed “Jeux.” More

Nifty 50 Spreads Word on Science Careers
La Jolla Light, Feb. 3 -- Fifty science role models — 30 of whom are from UC San Diego — have joined the “Nifty 50,” a speaker series that is part of the San Diego Science Festival. The 50 science professionals from a wide range of fields and backgrounds are visiting classrooms around the county to raise interest and awareness in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Life Technologies Foundation, a platinum corporate sponsor of the festival is the lead sponsor. More

* Subscribe with In the News and receive our clips automatically