A Sampling of Clips for July 12, 2010

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

Students, Meet Your New Teacher, Mr. Robot                                      
New York Times, July 10 -- In a handful of laboratories around the world, computer scientists are developing robots that are highly programmed machines capable of engaging people and teaching them simple skills, including household tasks, vocabulary or, as in the case of children with autism, playing, elementary imitation and taking turns. (Mentions UC San Diego) More

Similar stories in
NDTV.com 
Chatanooga Times 
Serasota Herald-Tribune

It’s Always the Economy, Stupid
Newsweek, July 10 -- For decades now, political scientists have been building election models that attempt to predict who will win in November without making any reference to candidates or campaigns. They can get within 2 points of the final vote, and they don’t need to know anything about the ads and the gaffes and the ground games. All they really need to know about is the economy. (Mentions Gary Jacobson, political scientist at UC San Diego) More

Similar story in 
The Washington Post

Ramon Eduardo Ruiz, Author and Expert
on Latin American History, Dies at 88 
The Sacramento Bee, July 10 -- Ramon Eduardo Ruiz, a renowned historian of Mexico and Latin America whose books included in-depth studies of the Mexican and Cuban revolutions, has died. He was 88.  Ruiz, an emeritus professor of history at UC San Diego, died Tuesday at his home in Rancho Santa Fe of complications from a recent fall and a battle with cancer, said his daughter Olivia Ruiz. More

Similar story in
Los Angeles Times 
Kansas City Star 
The Bellingham Herald

The Beat Goes On: Programs Analyse our Musical Tastes 
The Guardian, U.K., July 11 -- Would you trust the musical tastes of a computer? If you're shopping on Amazon, it's one thing to know that "customers who bought this item also bought..." whatever that might be. Internet radio station Last.fm and similar outfits such as mflow work by building profiles of their users' tastes and then cross-referencing that data: they're social networking services for music lovers.  (Mentions UC San Diego) More

McInnis' Record Shows Slow Steps to the Right                                
Denver Post, July 11 -- As McInnis attempts to become Colorado's next governor, a look at his voting history in Congress shows that, with a couple of exceptions, Coloradans can expect him to be a fiscally and socially conservative — but at times unpredictable — leader. (Mentions Keith T. Poole, UC San Diego political scientist) More

Similar story in
Grand Junction Free Press

How Our Laws are Really Made
California Chronicle, July 12 -- Lobbyists have long been known in California as the Third House, referring to their entrenched status alongside the Legislature's two official houses, the Assembly and Senate. But through interviews with current and former legislators and aides, as well as lobbyists and outside government experts, the Mercury News documented a changed pattern: Today, lobbyists function almost as a shadow legislature, pulling the strings at every turn for short-term lawmakers who have become accustomed to letting private interests monopolize the public debate. At the center of this reality is the sponsored bill.  (Quotes Thad Kousser, associate professor of political science at UC San Diego) More

Similar story in 
San Jose Mercury News
Contra Costa Times 
Santa Cruz Sentinel 
San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Standing in Solidarity at Survivor Beach
NBC San Diego, July 11 -- It was strange sight on a La Jolla beach Sunday.  Adults, kids and boards of all sizes were lined up nose to tail in a huge unbroken chain of surfboards.  Largely symbolic, this event is really a kick off for next month's moneymaker -- an annual surf contest and luau that over the years has raised $4.7 million for the Moores UCSD Cancer Center.  More

Similar story in
San Diego Union-Tribune
La Jolla Light

Funding Higher Ed Must be a Priority
San Diego Union-Tribune, July 11 -- Funding higher education, especially in times of economic struggle, is an investment in California’s ability to produce a talented and capable work force for the future. As chair of the Assembly Committee on Higher Education and a staunch advocate for higher education in Sacramento, I am working to make sure that we, as a Legislature, make good on this investment in order to bolster our systems of higher education and to continue producing the thinkers, teachers, doctors and scientists who keep California ahead of the innovation curve. More

Heart Transplant Pioneer Joins UCSD
San Diego Union-Tribune, July 12 -- Dr. Jack Copeland, a noted cardiac surgeon who helped pioneer the use of artificial hearts in the 1980s, has joined UCSD Medical Center, where he will help re-launch a heart transplant program that was shut down in 2007 because of low volume. More

Blair: Different Kind of Motoring for 2 Bus Drivers
San Diego Union-Tribune, July 11 -- It would appear that something’s recession-proof. In this year’s UC San Diego Senior Class Challenge, more than 1,200 graduates raised $24,288 to support scholarships for undergrads. That’s 40 percent better than 2009 — and a record. More

Help for a Cure, One Cup at a Time
San Diego Union-Tribune, July 11 -- Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation has raised more than $30 million for research, with much of the money coming from children selling one cup at a time on sidewalks outside houses on summer days all across America.  The nonprofit foundation has helped fund some 150 research projects, chosen by a medical advisory board, at more than 50 institutions around the country. One of this year’s grants went to David Traver, an associate biology professor at the UC San Diego. He uses zebra fish to study leukemia. More

619 Sports: San Diego’s Top 5 Sports Moments Halfway Through 2010
San Diego News Network, July 11 -- We’ve crossed the six-month threshold for 2010. Halfway home. Has it been a good year for San Diego sports so far? (Includes UC San Diego baseball team) More

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