A Sampling of Clips for July 9-11, 2011

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

Is Black Carbon Affecting the Asian Monsoon?
British Broadcasting Company (BBC), July 8  -- Although a normal monsoon has been forecast for South Asia this year and rains have begun normally in many parts of the region, people are still anxious about the rainy season that lasts for four months. Scientists have been looking at the possible role of soot and urban smog pollution in disrupting this weather system. (Refers to Veerabhadran Ramanathan of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.) More

U.S. Decrees That Marijuana Has No Accepted Medical Use
Los Angeles Times, July 9 -- Marijuana has been approved by California, many other states and the nation’s capital to treat a range of illnesses, but in a decision announced Friday the federal government ruled that it has no accepted medical use and should remain classified as a highly dangerous drug like heroin. The decision comes as researchers continue to identify beneficial effects. Dr. Igor Grant, a neuropsychiatrist who is the director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at UC San Diego, said the federal government’s position discourages scientists from pursuing research needed to test the drug’s medical effectiveness. More

Similar story in
The Atlantic Wire

Thirst for Career Happiness Is Bumming Us Out
MSNBC, July 11 -- Is happiness a wise career goal? Maybe we should just be happy to have a decent job, some experts argue. (Quotes Elizabeth Gibson, director of UC San Diego’s Extension Career Transition and Development for Professionals Program.) More

Plastic From Pacific "Garbage Dump" Found in One in Ten Fish
ABC Radio (Australia), July 8 -- Scientists are setting sail for the Pacific garbage patch today to study its effects on the whole marine environment. Their launch comes days after U.S. researchers published findings about fish living in the northern Pacific. The study, published by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, shows just how much rubbish is entering the marine food chain around the Pacific "garbage patch." The scientists found plastic in almost one in ten fish from the area and estimate that fish are ingesting as much as 24-thousand tons of plastic each year. (Interviews with Scripps graduate student researcher Rebecca Asch.) More

Similar stories in
International Business Times (UK)  
New York Times 

Training Doctors as a Shortage Looms
San Diego Union-Tribune, July 9 -- The country faces a looming doctor shortage in the next decade. Federal health-care reforms will hasten the shortage as millions of people get health insurance and regular medical care for the first time. The shortage is expected to be acute for doctors in primary care medicine, who will serve as the gateway to medical care under federal reforms. The UCSD School of Medicine graduated 127 doctors last month. Trainees said debt often influences whether they do primary care — with its comparatively low pay, long hours and high stress — or a post-residency, three-year fellowship to train for a highly-paid subspecialty. (Quotes Dr. Dustin Lillie, director of UC San Diego’s Family Medicine Residency Program.) More

Paying Primary Care Doctors
San Diego Union-Tribune, July 9 -- If a shortage of primary care physicians is coming and demand for their services is growing, why can’t those doctors raise their rates to earn salaries on par with specialists? As with most things medical, Medicare and Medicaid essentially run the show. Whatever rates the federal programs pay also governs what private insurers will pay. And rates for primary care physician services are lower. (Quotes Dr. Lauge Farnaes, a first-year pediatric resident at UC San Diego.) More

The Sober News on Drinking and Driving
San Diego Union-Tribune, July 9 – (Editorial) According to an important new study by two UC San Diego researchers, the only driver truly OK to drive is the one who hasn’t had anything to drink, period. The more one drinks, the more severe the accident. That’s intuitive. But a driver who has consumed a small amount of alcohol is significantly more likely to be involved in a serious accident than a sober driver, this study showed. (Refers to UC San Diego sociologist David Phillips and co-author Kimberly Brewer.) More

Flexible, Printable Sensors Detect Underwater Hazards
R & D Magazine, July 7 -- Breakthroughs in nanoengineering often involve building new materials or tiny circuits. But a professor at UC San Diego is proving that he can make materials and circuits so flexible that they can be pulled, pushed, and contorted—even under water—and still keep functioning properly. Joseph Wang, a professor in the department of nanoengineering in UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering, has successfully printed thick-film electrochemical sensors directly on flexible wetsuit material, paving the way for nano devices to detect underwater explosives or ocean contamination. More

Horn, Slater-Price Mum on Why They Favor Map
North County Times, July 8 -- Citing legal threats, North County Supervisors Bill Horn and Pam Slater-Price refused this week to explain why they have endorsed a map that will reshape the county's supervisorial districts -- and may help preserve their places on the board -- for the next decade. (Quotes Steve Erie, a political science professor at UC San Diego.) More

As UC Tuition Rises, Quality Outranks Access
Contra Costa Times, July 10 -- Rice University's jarring hire of three prominent UC San Diego cancer researchers earlier this year sent shock waves through the University of California system, and UC leaders are using the issue to illustrate why students will be asked to pay more than ever for their education this year. The discussion comes two weeks after state leaders cut the UC and Cal State budgets by $650 million each. More

Daniel Atkinson Aims for a Total Immersion in Jazz
San Diego Reader, July 8 --  Daniel Atkinson, director of Arts, Humanities and Languages at UC San Diego Extension, has been involved in expanding the San Diego jazz scene exponentially through his work at UC San Diego and as director of the Jazz at the Athenaeum concert series. He founded the UC San Diego Summer Jazz Camp which just completed its 9th season."The camp aims to expose students to a full spectrum of jazz from 1940 to now. I call it a total immersion in jazz--similar to learning a language abroad," said Atkinson. More

Scientists Tie Colorado River Flooding to San Andreas Quakes
PhysOrg.com, July 10 -- In a new study led by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, scientists found that the floodwaters that periodically flowed through faults helped trigger earthquakes in the area, including several large ones along the mighty San Andreas. More

Rare Black Jellyfish Spotted Off the Coast of San Diego
CBS 8 San Diego, July 7-- A kayaker stumbled upon what is believed to be a rare black jellyfish. (Refers to Vince Levesque with Birch Aquarium at Scripps and quotes Greg Rouse from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.) More

Similar story in
La Jolla Light 

Remembering 9 Shuttle Astronauts With Ties To San Diego
San Diego Union-Tribune, July 8 – Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space, became NASA’s best-known shuttle astronaut and later developed a respected San Diego company that promotes science education. Ride flew two shuttle missions, traveling aboard Challenger in 1983 and 1985. She eventually left NASA, joining the physics department at UC San Diego in 1989. Ride, now 60, also became director of the UC San Diego California Space Institute. More

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