A Sampling of Clips for January 12^th, 2010

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

Watching the Border: The Virtual Fence
60 Minutes, Jan. 10 -- Terrorism and homeland security have been back in the news the past few weeks, and once again the focus has been on intelligence failures and airport security. But the easiest way for terrorists to get into the United States may well be across the nation's porous 2,000 mile border with Mexico. And it is no secret. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigations have revealed that hundreds of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and countries associated with terrorism have entered the country through Mexico, and according to a study done for the Border Patrol, around 90 percent of the people who try to get in that way eventually make it. (Features interview with Wayne Cornelius, former director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at UCSD) More

Colleges offer More Green-Themed Classes
San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan. 12 -- Driven by economics and altruism, America’s colleges are rapidly adding environmentally themed classes and students are flocking to them at what university officials call a brisk pace. Some professors compare it with the boom in information technology during the 1980s, while others liken the phenomenon to interest in the civil-rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Green-tinged courses are popping up at small private campuses, such as Point Loma Nazarene University, and large public colleges, including UCSD and San Diego State University. They span fields such as science, engineering, public policy, business and law. More

UCSD Students to Help Run New Fund
San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan. 12 -- UCSD’s Rady School of Management is launching a student-assisted venture capital fund that could provide a new source of funding for local startup companies in addition to teaching graduate students about venture finance, investment analysis and fund management. The Rady Venture Fund, announced yesterday, will initially make one or two investments per year in early-stage companies or startups involved in information technology, life sciences or clean technology. A typical investment will range from $75,000 to $150,000, although the fund would first ensure that other independent investors would be willing to provide more funding. More

Similar story in Del Mar Times

New Guidelines, New Anxiety
San Diego Union Tribune, Jan. 12 -- Taking measures to protect our health and safety is usually a no-brainer. We automatically snap on a seat belt or slap on sunscreen, because most agree these are simple ways to reduce the risk of pain and disease. But when it comes to screening for cancer, it’s not so simple. Not only do medical experts disagree on how and when to test patients, some aren’t sure that routine cancer screening is effective at all. (Quotes Dr. Steven Plaxe, chief of the division of gynecological oncology at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center) More

State Budget Calls for Big Cuts
San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan. 9 -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday unveiled a $118.8 billion state spending plan that avoids general tax increases but proposes deep cuts in services for the neediest Californians, setting off an immediate battle with legislative Democrats. After the recession left California with a $60 billion budget deficit in the past two years, declining tax revenue leaves the Republican governor’s proposed 2010-11 budget with a new hole of $19.9 billion. He proposes to fill that gap by cutting health, social-services and transportation programs, reducing the pay of state workers, rolling back recent corporate tax breaks and hitting up the federal government for money he claims is owed the state. (Quotes Gary Matthews, vice chancellor for resource management and planning at UCSD) More

Monica Pearce of Elk Grove is One
of Three Winners of Clinique's Fresh Faces Contest
Sacramento Bee, Jan. 10 -- It was oh-so-perfect that Monica Pearce got the good news – she was a Clinique Fresh Faces winner – in a familiar place where she's admired for both her brains and her beauty. On her holiday break from sophomore year at UCSD Pearce, 19, was hanging out with fellow alumni at Franklin High School in Elk Grove when she retrieved a voice mail. "It was from Teen Vogue (magazine), informing me that I was one of the three winners!" Pearce says. "I had been visiting with the (Franklin) students and teachers, and they were talking about the contest, but I couldn't tell them the good news at that moment – only my parents and immediate family." More

Enero Zapatista is ‘a Call for Us to Organize
San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan. 10 -- A network of human rights organizations in San Diego will host a series of events this month inspired by the ideals of the Zapatista movement to empower residents to better their lives. The sixth edition of Enero (January) Zapatista, which kicked off with a panel discussion on human rights in the border region Jan. 2 in Sherman Heights, seeks to educate the public about various community initiatives. (Quotes Cecilia Ubilla, coordinator of languages and English writing at UCSD) More

Singer Will Share Life With ‘La Bohème’
San Diego News Network, Column, Jan. 10 -- I swear that opera is not all about the fat lady with the horns screaming at the top of her lungs in a weird language. Sometimes there are no horns. And I’m here to tell you that I didn’t know a darn thing about opera when I started singing it. Now, that’s not so glamorous, but it’s the truth, with apologies to those who have been studying since the womb. While I was cranking out papers at UCSD, opera sort of hit me by accident (much to my parents’ chagrin), and now I valiantly try to pay my bills with it. Most days I wake up and would rather jump in front of traffic than stop singing (well, those are not the days I have to pack three months into one suitcase, or use up one month’s rent for an audition trip). More

The Goal: Fancy Footwork, Maintain Balance
San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan. 10 -- Programming a genuinely vital arts series takes a gambler’s nerve, as well as a juggler’s ability to balance proven crowd-pleasers with more adventurous fare. La Jolla Music Society keeps hitting the jackpot with its dance season, entering its third year.Last season’s debut performance by Pilobolus quickly sold out, and a second show was added. The Music Society also did well with its more ambitious offerings, Shen Wei Dance Arts and Ballet Preljocaj. (Mentions Marty Wollesen, director of UCSD’s ArtPower!) More

Drumming up Respect: S.D. Rhythm Masters Plan Summit
San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan. 10 -- What do you call a drummer without a girlfriend? Homeless. What do you call a drummer wearing a suit? A defendant. What do you call someone who hangs out with musicians? A drummer. Duncan Moore has heard all these jokes many times before. In fact, he enjoys telling them himself, with or without a rim shot for added punctuation. (Mentions UCSD professor of music Steven Schick) More

* Subscribe with In the News and receive our clips automatically