A Sampling of Clips for May 9, 2011

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

Autism Rates may be Higher Than Thought
Los Angeles Times, May 8 -- The incidence of autism may be much higher than previously thought in the United States and elsewhere in the world, according to a rigorous, comprehensive study of the condition conducted in South Korea, researchers reported Monday. (Quotes Laura Schreibman, a veteran autism expert and psychology professor at UC San Diego) More

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Chicago Tribune

Are Humans Causing Animals to Shrink?
ABC Online, May 9 -- Humanity appears to be ushering in new age of minifauna, a kind of Lilliputian world full of runts and dwarves. (Mentions research by Phillip B. Fenberg and Kaustuv Roy of UC San Diego reported in a 2008 Molecular Ecology paper) More

Man-made Rock Reef is Part of a Welcome Seaweed Change
Los Angeles Times, May 7 -- It was a gamble when Southern California Edison crews pushed basketball-size chunks of rock from a barge off San Clemente three years ago. Eventually, the utility company hoped, the artificial reef it had assembled 50 feet below the waves would support a new kelp forest and fulfill state-imposed requirements to offset the damage its nearby nuclear power plant causes to marine life. But no one expected the 174-acre Wheeler North Reef would thrive the way it has. Or as quickly. (Quotes Ed Parnell, a marine ecologist with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography) More

Can Smartphone Apps Really Help You Lose Weight?
Los Angeles Times, May 9 -- When it comes to mealtime, I usually don't pay much attention to calories. I eat until I'm full, and then I stop. Briefly. But I can report that a recent breakfast — a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats, frozen blueberries and skim milk along with a few steak fries left over from the night before — added up to 343 calories, more or less.  (Quotes Dr. Kevin Patrick, a professor of family and preventive medicine at UC San Diego, who co-founded Santech Inc., a company that uses text messages to reinforce healthy lifestyle choices) More

University of California Weighs Varying Tuitions at its 10 Campuses
Los Angeles Times, May 9 -- Should an education at UC Berkeley cost more than one at UC Santa Cruz? Should a student pay $11,000 in tuition at UC Riverside while his friend is billed $16,000 at UCLA? Leaders of the 10-campus University of California system are considering such questions as they grapple with state budget reductions that already have led to tuition increases, staff layoffs and cuts in class offerings. (Mentions UC San Diego) More

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San Diego 6

Across More Classes, Videos Make the Grade
Chronicle of Higher Education, May 8 -- Film students aren't the only ones producing videos for homework these days. Professors teaching courses in writing, geology, forensics, sociology, anthropology, foreign languages, and many other disciplines now assign video projects, pushing students to make arguments formatted for the YouTube age. (Quotes Elizabeth Losh, director of academic programs for the Culture, Art, and Technology program at UC San Diego) More

Building GE's Ecomagination 'Ecosystem'
CNET, May 6 --In one respect, green-tech companies are realizing what IT manufacturers did many years ago: just selling a box will only go so far.
To get a high volume of products sold, technology suppliers need to combine hardware with software and with consulting services to solve a problem.  (Mentions UC San Diego, which is part of the SmartCity intiative with GE) More

Group Home Helps Women Learn to Cope With Eating Disorders
Kansas City Star, May 6 -- Thalia House is a a six-person, transitional group home for women with eating disorders that opened in March in a three-bedroom home in Fairway. (Quotes psychiatrist Walter Kaye, a researcher on eating disorders and director of the eating disorders unit at the UC San Diego Medical Center) More

IKEA Effect: Why Consumers Buy 'Assembly Required' Products
BNET.com, May 6 -- Why do shopper wait in long lines to buy stuff that needs assembly? Recent research from Harvard Business School’s Michael I. Norton and colleagues Daniel Mochon (UC San Diego), and Dan Ariely (Duke) may hold the key. Their data also helps explain the reason behind several common organizational downfalls. More

Wider Terrorism Challenge After Bin Laden
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 8 — Killing Osama bin Laden was no easy task, taking years of incremental intelligence work, painstaking analysis of clues and finally a risky decision to launch a nighttime raid in a foreign country. What comes after the death of the al-Qaeda founder and leader might be even harder, terrorism experts said. (Quotes Eli Berman, an economist and terrorism expert at UC San Diego) More

Fundraiser for Disabled Athletes Held at UCSD
10News, May 7 -- The "Swim With Mike" fundraiser for disabled athletes will make its first appearance in San Diego on Saturday at UC San Diego's Canyonview Pool. The event raises college scholarship money for disabled athletes. Since its inception in 1981, more than 100 athletes have been given $10.6 million. More

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CBS News 8

UCSD to Digitally Image 1,000 Donated Brains
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 9 — The underlying fabric of the brain remains a mystery. Science simply doesn’t have a comprehensive portrait of our “wetware,” a problem that could be partly solved by UC San Diego. More

Public Invited to UCSD Conference on Autism Research
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 6 — The public is invited to an all-day conference Wednesday on the latest research and information about autism, hosted by UC San Diego. More

Name-a-worm Contest Slides into San Diego
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 8 — For wanna-be scientists and witty residents it's the chance of a lifetime: name two new species of "beautiful" deep-sea worms. The Birch Aquarium at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography is giving the public that opportunity through May 25 in an effort to drum up support for the world's oceans. Just think of the possibilities. More

‘Palestine Week’ Raising Tensions
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 8 — Students, faculty and administrators at UC San Diego are preparing for a contentious annual event that is shaping up to be more confrontational than usual. More

$2 Million for Biofuels Research at UCSD
North County Times, May 6 -- The California Energy Commission granted $2 million to UC San Diego to speed up research into the viability of biofuels, the university said Friday. Coaxing a crude oil-like product out of algae is a major goal for energy companies because such a biofuel could fuel cars without contributing to global warming. Researchers can already make petroleum on a small scale, but ramping up production has been difficult. More

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The San Diego Daily Transcript

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