A Sampling of Clips for
April 19, 2006
* UCSD faculty and staff may obtain a copy of an article by e-mailing the University Communications Office
Is the World Economy Oil Price-Proof?
Detroit Free Press, April 19 -- So what if oil prices have just set yet another record? They have been soaring for years without stunting global economic growth, profits or share prices, and without stoking high inflation, the curse of past oil crises. So far so good, but for how long? As oil topped $72 a barrel on Tuesday, some economists began to ask again if the latest spurt in a four-year rally will push costs beyond tolerance levels, sparking inflation in earnest or a drop in business activity as companies buckle under bills. (Quotes James Hamilton, professor of economics at UCSD.) More
Prominent U.S. Physicists Send
Letter to President Bush, Call Nuclear Weapons Against Iran ‘Gravely Irresponsible’
Payvand Iran News, April 19 -- Thirteen of the nation’s most prominent physicists have written a letter to President Bush, calling U.S. plans to reportedly use nuclear weapons against Iran “gravely irresponsible” and warning that such action would have “disastrous consequences for the security of the United States and the world.” The physicists include five Nobel laureates, a recipient of the National Medal of Science and three past presidents of the American Physical Society, the nation’s preeminent professional society for physicists. (The letter was initiated by Jorge Hirsch, professor of physics at UCSD.) More
Bringing Earthquakes Into Focus
San Diego Union-Tribune, April 19 -- Scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla have gone to great lengths to monitor Earth's rumblings. They've descended 1,000 feet into a Siberian nickel mine, camped in the Arabian desert and hiked above a bleak and windy port on the Falkland Islands near Argentina. Setting up and maintaining a worldwide network of seismic instruments also has taken them into the Anza-Borrego Desert. A seismic station there monitors a restless Earth in San Diego's back yard. (Quotes Deborah Kilb, a Scripps researcher.) More
UCSD Program
Brings International Business People to Vista
North County Times, April 15 -- As war rages in the Middle East for the third time in 15 years, the importance placed on bridging the cultural and political differences between the U.S. and the region has never been more vital. Institutions across the world are making efforts in this arena, and in San Diego, The Beyster Institute of the Rady School of Management at UCSD is at the forefront of carving a different future between cultures, utilizing commerce in place of conflict. More
Patent Offending
San Diego Union-Tribune, April 19 -- For the first 150 years or so of its existence, the nuts and bolts of the U.S. Patent Office was mostly nuts and bolts. Patent applications tended to be inorganic, describing tangible inventions, mechanical devices, better mousetraps. Then, in 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that a bioengineered, oil-eating bacterium met the four basic requirements of a patent: It was novel, useful, non-obvious and “enabling,” with fully disclosed details that allowed others to use it. (Quotes Michael Kalichman, a UCSD professor of pathology and co-founder of the San Diego Center for Ethics in Science and Technology, and Steven Briggs, a professor of biology at UCSD and former head of corporate research for Diversa, a San Diego-based biotech firm.) More
Living the (Mexican-) American Dream
North County Times, April 16 -- Macario's decade of hard work has begun to bear fruit. The extra money earned from 10- and 12-hour days has started to provide financial security for the 26-year-old Escondido resident. He got married two years ago. Plans to have children, and send them to the best schools, of course. To top it off, three months ago, he purchased a 30 percent stake in a local home renovation business. By most measures, the enthusiastic young man is closing in on the American dream. Except for one glaring detail: Macario is an illegal immigrant. (Quotes Wayne Cornelius, director of UCSD's Center for Comparative Immigration Studies.) More
A Beautiful Start: ‘We Hit It Off Right Away’
San Diego Union-Tribune, April 16 -- When dancer-choreographer Rebecca Bryant (a UCSD alumna) and composer-percussionist Don Nichols (a doctoral student at UCSD) appeared three years ago at a downtown fundraiser for Sushi Performance & Visual Art, their piece – “Untitled No. 1” – was unabashedly unusual. Dressed in white jumpsuits akin to those worn by toxic-waste workers, they positioned themselves on the ReinCarnation Building's rusty spiral staircase, where Nichols made music by using everything from percussion mallets to knitting needles on the metal structure. Meanwhile, Bryant coiled herself around the two-story staircase, dangling in assorted poses. More
