A Sampling of Clips for Oct. 13, 2010

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

Brain Damage May Not Harm Short-Term Spatial Memory After All
BusineessWeek, Oct. 12 -- New research suggests the short-term ability to remember bits of information involving spatial reasoning is not jeopardized by injury to the part of the brain that is central to memory. Lead author Larry R. Squire is a professor of psychiatry, psychology and neurosciences at UC San Diego School of Medicine. More

Similar story in
U.S. News & World Report

Clinton Taps UCSD for 'Global Initiative'
San Diego Union-Tribune, Oct. 12 -- Former President Bill Clinton says he will hold an annual public policy conference known as Clinton Global Initiative--University at UC San Diego from April 1-3, 2001. The decision represents something of a coup for UCSD, which will pull together experts from campuses around the world to focus on education, environment, climate change, peace, human rights, poverty alleviation, and public health. More

Wisdom—A Neuroscience Perspective
Journal of the American Medical Association, Oct. 13 -- Philosophers, poets, and pundits have long pondered human nature, positing psychological constructs such as consciousness, cognition, emotion, and resilience to stress. However, biological scientists have tended to ignore or avoid serious discussion and investigation of such constructs, considering them complex, or imprecise, and not measureable using conventional scientific methods. Recent research has shown that these constructs are scientifically valid and, importantly, that they rest on underlying biological foundations. (Co-authored by Dilip Jeste, of the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, and Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging at UC San Diego) More

A Carbon Trading System Draws Environmental Skeptics
The New York Times, Oct. 12 -- Carbon credit trading has long been decried by some climate change  experts as an ineffective way to combat global warming, compared with imposing regulatory limits on polluting greenhouse gas emissions. (Quotes Professor David G. Victor, director of the Laboratory on International Law and Regulation at UC San Diego) More

War is Hell; Just Ask a Child
Los Angeles Times, Oct. 13 -- For a 10-year-old boy, a family outing in Baghdad was nearly fatal. The doctor treating him in L.A. understands the fear of random violence. (Mentions the Children of War Foundation, co-founded by Amel Najjar, who majored in international studies at UC San Diego) More

Meg Whitman vs. Jerry Brown:
Can Tom Brokaw Steer Them Toward Substance?
The Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 12 -- In their third and final debate Tuesday, California gubernatorial candidates Jerry Brown (D) and Meg Whitman (R) will have their last chance to clear up the haze of scandal that hangs over each of their heads. Ms. Whitman is still being dogged for firing an undocumented maid and Mr. Brown’s campaign is in hot water for a sexist slur. (Quotes Thad Kousser, a political scientist at UC San Diego) More

Time to Discard the Myths on Hoarding
San Diego Union-Tribune, Oct. 12 -- The phenomenon of compulsive hoarding is a common, age-old human behavior, simultaneously repellent and fascinating, the subject of both cable TV series and of scientists. Among the latter is Dr. Sanjaya Saxena, a professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego and director of both the UCSD Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders Clinic and the VA Medical Center Anxiety Disorders Clinic in La Jolla. More

Medical Nonprofit Holding a Fundraiser to Aid Remote Honduran Village
San Diego Union-Tribune, Oct. 12 -- A nonprofit bringing medical care to a remote Honduran village is hosting a Saturday fundraiser in Coronado featuring a free movie and live entertainment. Director Sarahi Loya, a recent UC San Diego graduate traveled last year to Naranjito, a village of 12,000 that is a four-hour walk from the nearest medical facility. More

The Starting Line
Voice of San Diego, Oct. 12 -- Unlike Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, UC San Diego alumnus Raj Krishnan couldn't just start his company in a garage. His fledgling biotech needed centrifuges, fume hoods and refrigerators to store blood samples. Krishnan had made a big discovery that could turn into a very successful company: using just a few drops of blood to predict whether a person has cancer. But he couldn't just stroll into an investment company and tell deep-pocketed venture capitalists to write him a check. More

One Scripps Building Under Way; Other Stymied
San Diego Daily Transcript, Oct. 12 -- The $55.5 million, 120,000-square-foot National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Southwest Fisheries Center at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla is proceeding as planned. More

* Subscribe with In the News and receive our clips automatically