A Sampling of Clips for June 16, 2010

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

Local High Schools Listed Among America's Best
MSNBC, June 15 -- A dozen San Diego schools made Newsweek's list of the best high schools in the United States. Among those receiving recognitions was the Preuss charter high school at UC San Diego, which was placed at 16th on the list. More

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KPBS
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10News
La Jolla Light

Second Life: Sculpting 'Digital Legos'
CNN, June 15 – UC San Diego alumnus Philip Rosedale discusses what inspired him to create a virtual world of digital building blocks. Rosedale is profiled as part of CNN’s Visionaries series. More

Should People Be Paid to Stay Healthy?
The  New York Times, June 14 -- Many health insurers, hospitals and government programs have created physicians incentive programs to prod doctors to alter the way they practice medicine and to keep costs down. Some employers and insurers have also developed “wellness” programs that cut insurance premiums for patients who lose weight  or stop smoking. Do monetary incentives work? Do such payments raise ethical questions or alter the doctor-patient relationship? Uri Gneezy, an economist at UC San Diego discusses the issue. More

Gene-Based Detection Method Might Spot HIV Earlier
U.S. News & World Report, June 15 -- In a effort to improve the methods for early detection of HIV, UC San Diego researchers sought to determine if a program using "nucleic acid testing" (NAT) would increase the number of cases that could be detected early, and found that it did so by 23 percent. More

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FOX 5, San Diego, Calif.

Study Ties New Doctors to Jump in Hospital Deaths in July
Voice of America, June 15 -- Being a patient in certain hospitals in the month of July can be dangerous or even deadly. That was the finding of sociology professor David Phillips at UC San Diego and his student Gwendolyn Barker. More

Rare Gene Glitch a Clue to Genomics Mystery
Wired, June 156 -- The discovery of links between rare gene mutations and autoimmune disease could help solve one of modern medicine’s major dilemmas. Common diseases have largely resisted genomic analysis, leaving scientists unable to explain genetic underpinnings of diseases that clearly have a hereditary component. Ajit Varki, a UC San Diego geneticist, is a co-author of the latest study. More

Dismissing Climate Change Skeptics
The Washington Times, June 15 -- The authors of "The Merchants of Doubt" criticize the political right for creating doubt about what supposedly are irrefutably calamitous environmental issues. Naomi Oreskes, professor of history and science studies at UC San Diego, and Erik M. Conway, historian at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, speculate that conservatives do this out of fear of hidden socialist agendas. This book surely will incite outrage among environmentalists and cause them to be even more dismissive and spiteful to those on other side. More

UCSD Study Looks at Earthquake-Resistant Window Film
10News, June 15 -- As aftershocks continue from the Easter earthquake, a local company is hoping recent research by UC San Diego will help a specially designed window film end up in more homes and businesses. More

Concerns Mount as Quake Rocks San Diego Area
San Diego 6, June 14 -- One earthquake after another in San Diego is leaving many to question if "the Big One" will hit soon. (Mentions research at UC San Diego) More

Petco Park Deemed Safe After Earthquake
FOX 5, San Diego, Calif., June 15 -- Fans at the San Diego Padres-Toronto Blue Jays baseball game Monday night were entertained with more than just a game as a 5.7 magnitude earthquake rocked Southern California. (Quotes Peter Davis of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography) More

Continuing to Help Haiti
San Diego Union-Tribune, June 15 -- Some health providers and nonprofit groups in San Diego County are refocusing their relief efforts — from immediate emergency care to more specific needs such as housing, water and jobs. Some intend to head back to Haiti for more charity work, others are readying shipments of supplies, and still others are trying to raise money as public attention to the crisis has plummeted. (Mentions UC San Diego) More

Grads Cap Off UCSD Years in 11 Ceremonies
La Jolla Light, June 15 -- Eleven commencement ceremonies at UC San Diego awarded 7,673 graduates with diplomas over the weekend. Leading up to the majority of the undergraduate and graduate ceremonies was the university's third annual All Campus Graduation Celebration where former UCSD student and co-founder of the nonprofit organization Invisible Children, Laren Poole gave the keynote speech to 2,200 attendees. More

Experimental Music Event Closes Department's Season
La Jolla Light, June 15 -- "Experimentation is the DNA of UC San Diego 's Department of Music," it states on the department's website. And lately they've had some prime DNA on display. On May 20, to celebrate the completion of his three years as Composer in Residence for Calit2, an institute designed to bring together great minds and cutting-edge technologies, Distinguished Professor Roger Reynolds put on a show in the black-box theater of the Atkinson engineering building. More

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