A Sampling of Clips for July 1, 2011

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

UC Data Shows Big Jump in Nonresident Students
Associated Press, June 30 -- The University of California's campaign to recruit more high-paying nonresident students appears to be paying off. New data released Thursday showed big jumps in out-of-state and international students who intend to enroll at UC's nine undergraduate campuses this fall. The number of out-of-staters among incoming freshman and transfer students rose 58 percent to 2,613, while the number of international students increased 25 percent to 5,723. The most selective campuses will see the biggest increases in out-of-state and international students. Nonresidents will make up about 30 percent of incoming freshman at UC Berkeley, 18 percent at UCLA and 18 percent at UC San Diego. Increasing nonresident enrollment is part of UC's efforts to cope with deep cuts in state support. More

Similar story in
Los Angeles Times

Millions of Fishes: The Ultimate Marine Library
Wired, June 30 -- Immersed in thousands of gallons of isopropyl alcohol in a California warehouse, two million fish sleep forever. Marine biologist Phil Hastings is their keeper. Hastings, who curates the Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s library of fish, inherited the responsibility in 1999. He’s been sorting, identifying, preserving and studying the jarred specimens ever since. The library’s first specimens arrived in 1875 with a fisherman’s catch, but it wasn’t until the 1940s that the collection grew in earnest. Today the shelves cradle creatures gathered during some 21,000 collection cruises. Another 27,000 fishes will soon be added after sitting in formalin for half a century. More

Nearly 1 in 10 Fish Sampled Contain Plastic Debris
San Diego Union-Tribune, June 30 -- Local researchers said Thursday that fish in the middle depths of the North Pacific Ocean probably consume tens of thousands of tons of plastic debris each year. Two graduate students this week published the first scientific results from a high-profile cruise in 2009 by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. The voyage targeted a giant swirling water mass known as the great Pacific garbage patch or the north Pacific gyre. It was dubbed Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition, or SEAPLEX, and it capitalized on growing concern about what plastic pollution is doing to the world’s marine ecosystems. More

Similar stories in
Los Angeles Times
KPBS
Science 2.0

Program Offers New 'Reality' for College Hopefuls
San Diego Union-Tribune, June 30 -- The man who steers homeless teens and ex-gang members to the Ivy League is expanding to La Jolla, Solana Beach and suburban San Diego. Christopher Yanov and his nonprofit Reality Changers, founded a decade ago, will debut a spinoff operation in the fall, marketing to paying clients who can tap the expertise navigating college applications that has earned the organization national recognition. The program works because of a rigorous five-year commitment that includes three-hour weekly tutorials, preparation for the SAT college admissions exam and summer classes at UC San Diego. UC San Diego will give the new college application program added credibly since it has approved the course and will offer college extension credits to those who complete it. (Quotes Edward Abeyta, who oversees UC San Diego’s extension program.) More

O'Brien Goes from UCSD to Santa Clara
San Diego Union Tribune, June 30 -- The desire to return to the Bay Area ---and climb to the Division I baseball ranks in the process -- prompted Dan O’Brien to leave alma mater UC San Diego to become head coach at the University of Santa Clara. O’Brien, a two-time national coach of the year who guided the Tritons to the Division II College World Series’ championship games as West Regional winners in 2009 and ’10, said “We’ve been a top 10 program for last six, seven years, so we’ve had interest from division I players who are turning down very lucrative offers at the division level to come to our place.” O’Brien coached at UCSD the last 14 seasons and compiled a 454-283-1 record. “[Dan’s] performance as a coach was excellent on all levels and he provided his athletes a positive experience, emphasized their academic development and created a winning environment," said UCSD Athletics Director Earl W. Edwards in a statement. More

Similar stories in
North County Times
The Patch

Our View: Research Suffers, Too
Bakersfield Californian, June 30 – (Editorial opinion) Elected leaders like to talk about how economic conditions are prompting California businesses to pull up stakes and move elsewhere, Texas in particular, but look at what their approach to the state budget mess may be doing to research. Some of California's best and brightest are moving to Texas — and potentially taking some of this state's most brilliant young minds with them. Case in point: UC San Diego, which is losing three of its top cancer-research scientists to Houston's Rice University. But the sought-after scientists, all members of the National Academy of Sciences, admit that declining state funding for the University of California plays a big role, too. (Quotes physicist Jose Onuchic.) More

Diet Soda May Make You Pack on the Pounds
Fox News Radio, June 30 -- By analyzing the results of a 10-year longitudinal study of 474 people, researchers were able to determine that the participants who drank two or more diet sodas a day experienced a waist size increase 70 percent greater than those who stayed away from diet soda. Dr. Martin P. Paulus, a professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego, and an author of the study, offered this theory as to why something without calories can lead to weight gain:
“Your senses tell you there’s something sweet that you’re tasting, but your brain tells you, ‘Actually, it’s not as much of a reward as I expected,‘ he explained. “So you chase that no-calorie soda with something more caloric, like a salty snack. The sweet taste could also trigger your body to produce insulin, which blocks your ability to burn fat.” More

Movies That Smell: Keep Your Mind and Nose Open
The Globe and Mail, June 30 --There’s something in the air these days and it smells like the future of the movies. A new version of smell-o-vision may be in the offing. This week, scientists at Samsung Electronics in Korea in conjunction with UC San Diego, published results of their research into a compact device that could fit on the back of a television, and emit smells in programmed sequences. One of the scientists, Sunho Jin, has already said it will take just one deep-pocketed movie producer to take the idea from concept to practical use. More

Public Still Remains Skeptical of QE2 Effectiveness
St. Louis Today, June 30 -- The Federal Reserve's $600 billion bond-buying spree is over, but its effects will be with us for a long time. On a political level, the quantitative easing program known as QE2 made the Fed a high-profile target for Tea Party activists. Fed officials prefer to remain above politics, but they may not have that luxury during the next election cycle. For financial markets, QE2 and its $1.7 trillion predecessor, QE1, have created new worries. Because the bond market has never had such a big buyer, the Fed could roil the markets when it decides to start dumping its holdings. (Quotes James Hamilton, professor of economics at UC San Diego.) More

* Subscribe with In the News and receive our clips automatically