A Sampling of Clips for August 11, 2011

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Spoiler Alert! Knowing the End of a Story Makes It Better, Study Finds
Time, Aug. 11––We might have to change the name of "spoilers" to "giveaways." They may not be that bad after all.
A recent study shows that people enjoy movies, books and other stories when they know the ending ahead of time. Nicholas Christenfeld, a UC San Diego professor of social psychology, along with Jonathan Leavitt, a PhD candidate at UC San Diego studying psychology, organized an experiment where volunteers were given three stories of different genres, written by well-known authors such as John Updike and Anton Chekhov. More

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X-rays Provide Nano Views
MSNBC, Aug. 10­­–– A new lens-less microscope that harnesses X-rays is able to see details at the scale of a single nanometer and could help usher in an era of smaller computer hard disks that hold more memory, researchers report in a new study. The technique is also scalable, and as X-ray sources are improved, the technique should allow researchers to resolve down to the subatomic scale, Oleg Shpyrko, an assistant professor of physics at UC San Diego, told me today. More

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Very Influential Professors
Washington Monthly, Aug. 11––Professors can have a long-term impact on their students’ lives. Sometimes that influence is direct (the chemistry professor who inspired a student to become a doctor) and sometimes that influence is, well, rather less direct.
From Buzzfeed comes news that in fact Beavis and Butthead are based on academics.
Mike Judge, creator of the popular animated television series Beavis and Butt-head (1993-1997), graduated from the UC San Diego in 1986. He was a physics major.
Two physics professors at UCSD bear an astonishing physical resemblance to Judge’s title characters. David Kleinfeld, professor of physics and neurobiology, looks like Beavis. Jim Branson, professor of physics, is Butt-head. More

Tottenham riots: Violence may be Contagious in London, but so is Altruism
Chicago Tribune, Aug. 9––The violence that erupted in the low-income London neighborhood of Tottenham after police shot and killed 29-year-old Mark Duggan last weekhas quickly spread to other areas, reportedly devolving from political statement to unchecked criminality, according to a KPCC story on the riots this morning. "Croydon was on fire last night," BBCreporter Anita Anand told Madeleine Brand Tuesday morning. (Features research from UC San Diego). More

The Life Out Loud: One Man's Journey From Baseball Champ to Rock Star to Entrepreneur
Huffington Post, Aug. 10––It was a Wednesday afternoon around 2pm. I'd just bought a big screen TV and was watching some stupid show. I sat there looking around at my stuff. I had it all: a nice apartment, a brand new BMW, a hot girlfriend -- everything. But I'd gotten fat. I hadn't read a book in months. I hadn't done any personal development. So I started thinking, 'What happened to you, Jeff?'
That was a defining moment in my life. I reconnected emotionally with what's important: following your sense of purpose, making a difference, and connecting to other people. There's something about having money when you're not mature enough to handle it -- it can really take over your life. I'd turned into this jerk with no self-awareness, and I hated it.
So said Jeff Riddle with a sheepish grin, shaking his sandy blond hair from side to side in disbelief. In his 30 years on this planet, Jeff has been an all-star baseball player, rock star, real estate magnate, spiritual seeker with a vow of celibacy, motivational speaker and, now, entrepreneur. With his daring approach to career and life choices, warm and enthusiastic persona, and fearlessness in taking on challenges, he personifies the Life Out Loud. (Features interview with UC San Diego alumnus Jeff Riddle) More

Off the Shelf: Haim Steinbach Returns
New York Observer, Aug. 9­­––In 1965, the artist and visual arts professor at UC San Diego, Haim Steinbach, then 21, took a hiatus from his studies at Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute and went to Paris for a year. One day, walking through the city, he saw something strange.
“There was a big window, and there was art—well, it didn’t look like art, but there were these paintings, of a washing machine and other products,” Mr. Steinbach, now 67, told The Observer. “I was interested in Surrealism and the Cubists. An illustration of a washing machine? That’s bullshit.” More

Conversational Critic, Talking Poet David Antin
San Diego Reader, Aug. 10––David Antin, a native New Yorker, was already a well-known figure in the avant-garde poetry and art circles of Manhattan when he flew west in 1968 to take a look around for a potential appointment at the University of California San Diego. Painter Paul Brach, the chair of the school’s then-new Department of Visual Arts, was trying to recruit people with considerable reputations in the art world. Antin made the trip on his own, without his wife Eleanor, who was to become an important performance, conceptual, and feminist artist in the 1970s. But he remembers his call to her. (Atin is a professor emeritus of visual arts at UC San Diego). More

Alzheimer's Disease Symptoms More Subtle in People Over 80
Science Daily, Aug. 10––A new study suggests that the relationship between brain shrinkage and memory loss in Alzheimer's disease changes across the age spectrum. The research is published in the August 10, 2011, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
"Those who are 85 and older make up the fastest growing population in the world," said study author Mark Bondi, PhD, with the UC San Diego School of Medicine and VA San Diego Healthcare System. "Our study shows how age has a dramatic effect on the profile of brain atrophy and cognitive changes evident in Alzheimer's disease." More

Rady School’s Program Picks Up Accreditation
San Diego Business Journal, Aug. 10––UC San Diego’s Rady School of Management has received accreditation from AACSB International, aka the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
The university announced the achievement Aug. 2, noting that the Rady School is among the youngest schools to ever gain such recognition. UCSD’s business school was founded in 2003 and offers undergraduate, MBA and doctoral programs. More

Our View: Las Patronas Represents La Jolla Well
La Jolla Light, Aug. 10––Every August, La Jollans turn out for the Las Patronas Jewel Ball, which was held on Saturday. It’s a sign of summer and a great representation of the good work that all of La Jolla’s charities do for our community and other parts of San Diego County.  This 65th anniversary event goes a long way toward helping the organization raise the money it needs to fulfill grant requests, which this year totaled 180 applications for $3.8 million. (Mentions UCSD Medical Center Bannister Family House and UCSD Shiley Eye Center) More

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