A Sampling of Clips for Feb. 24 - 25, 2011

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

Cardiac Patient Kept Alive With Two Hearts
FOX News, Feb. 24 -- When a cardiac patient undergoes a heart transplant – surgeons almost always remove the damaged heart and replace it with a new one. But that was not the scenario that unfolded in an operating room at a San Diego hospital this month. Instead of removing Tyson Smith’s enlarged heart, a team of doctors from the UC San Diego Center for Transplantation kept his heart in place, and transplanted a second one. That’s right – the 36-year-old now has two beating hearts. More

Renowned UCSD Alumus Returns to Speak
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 23 – Kip Fulbeck – a filmaker, author, slam poet and UC San Diego alumnus – is scheduled to present the keynote address Friday at the university’s Innovation Day Expo. More

50 Years of UCSD Ideas
KPBS, Feb. 24 -- Following a week-long series of lectures and exhibitions, the one-day expo honors UC San Diego’s golden anniversary with a hands-on exhibit open to the public through Friday evening. Stephen Mayfield is a UC San Diego professor and biofuel expert; he is also a presenter at Friday’s expo. More

Can Geoengineering Put the Freeze on Global Warming?
USA Today, Feb. 25 -- Scientists call it "geoengineering," but in plain speak, it means things like this: blasting tons of sulfate particles into the sky to reflect sunlight away from Earth; filling the ocean with iron filings to grow plankton that will suck up carbon; even dimming sunlight with space shades. Each brings its own set of risks, but in a world fretting about the consequences of global warming, are these ideas whose time has come? (Quotes UC San Diego international relations expert David Victor) More

Rising Oil Prices Raise the Specter of a Double Dip
The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 24 -- A sustained and significant rise in oil prices could derail the U.S. economic recovery by stirring inflation and putting the brakes on spending. (Quotes UC San Diego economist James Hamilton) More

Spiking Oil Prices: Time to Worry Yet?
NPR, Feb. 24 -- Watching the price of oil go up these days is a little like watching a river rise. At what point do we need to get the sandbags? When should we sound the warning horns? What is flood stage? On Wednesday, the main U.S. oil contract hit $100 a barrel before retreating to $98.10. That was the highest price in more than two years. (Quotes UC San Diego economist James Hamilton) More

People With Emphysema at Higher Shingles Risk
FOX News, Feb. 23 – People with emphysema or chronic bronchitis may be at higher than average risk for a painful rash known as shingles, a study published Tuesday suggests. (Quotes Dr. Michael Oxman at UC San Diego) More

Study: We Need More Vitamin D -- Way More
Consumer Affairs, Feb. 23 -- Researchers at the UC San Diego School of Medicine and Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha have reported that people taking vitamin D to protect against breast cancer and other major diseases will need to take much more than healthexperts originally thought. More

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Pelosi Leads Rhetorical Charge in Fight Against House Republican Platform
The Hill, Feb. 23 -- Although a radioactive figure in parts of the country, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) isn’t hiding in the shadows in her new role as minority leader. She’s leading the rhetorical charge in the House as Congress prepares for a showdown over a Republican proposal to cut billions of dollars in federal spending this year. (Quotes UC San Diego political scientist Gary Jacobson) More

Schizophrenia Risk is Increased With a Particular Gene Mutation
Chicago Tribune, Feb. 23 -- Scientists announced a significant step in understanding the genetics of schizophrenia this week. A large nationwide consortium of scientists led by Jonathan Sebat of UC San Diego has identified a gene mutation that is strongly linked to the disorder. Understanding the signaling pathway of this mutation creates a target for future therapies. More

Budget Plan in California Could Force Closure of Famed Oceanographic Library, Others at UC-San Diego
LibraryJournal.com, Feb. 23 -- If the $500 million cut that California governor Jerry Brown has proposed to the University of California's budget for FY11/12 were to pass the state legislature, it would likely claim among its many victims a library pearl, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library at UC San Diego. More

New Initiative Aims to Put More Electric Vehicles on Local Roads
KPBS, Feb. 23 --  As recent gas prices have reached as high as $4 in San Diego, alternative energy sources for vehicles becomes a pressing issue. A collaborative program called Smart City San Diego is tackling some of these concerns. This morning we speak with Byron Washom, director of strategic energy initiatives at UC San Diego and Lisa Bicker, President and CEO of CleanTECH San Diego, to discuss how Smart City San Diego is involved with the future of electric cars in San Diego. More

Two Eras of Revolution, a Generation Apart
San Diego Union-Tribune, Opinion, Feb. 24 – Is 2011 in Cairo and the Arab world like 1989 in Eastern Europe? In 1988 and 1989, I was a 22-year-old student. Today I am a UCSD professor teaching Middle Eastern history. I spent half of 1988 and most of 1989 in Eastern Europe and Turkey. I hung around with people my own age in Prague, East and West Berlin, Budapest, Belgrade and other cities of the East Bloc. I drank liters of cheap subsidized beer, went to underground music shows and listened to my new friends plot the overthrow of their governments. Their success the following year was not a surprise to me. (Written by Michael Provence, an associate professor of Middle Eastern history at UC San Diego) More

Engineer-turned-composer Roger Reynolds is Organized Yet Highly Adventurous
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 24 – Roger Reynolds is a groundbreaking composer whose music has earned recognition from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the Library of Congress, Columbia University (which awarded him the Pulitzer Prize in 1989) and the University of California (whose regents named him a University Professor in 2010, the first time an artist has been recognized with the highest rank in the UC system). Reynolds is on the UC San Diego faculty. More

UCSD Protest Ends When Police Threaten Arrests
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 24 – Campus police had to be called Wednesday to break up a raucous demonstration in the offices of UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. More

E-mail Reignites UCSD Racial Tension
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 24 -- A racial flare-up has hit UC San Diego again, a year after it had to endure a number of unsettling incidents that targeted African-American students and rocked the campus. More

Genetically Engineered Bacteria Turn Garbage Into Plastic
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 24 -- You could call it recycling at the molecular level. A local biotechnology company says it is working to develop microbes that can help convert garbage into plastics. Genomatica has already genetically engineered a bacteria to feed on sugar and make a chemical typically produced from oil and natural gas. The company was co-founded by UC San Diego alumnus Christopher Schilling. More

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