A Sampling of Clips for 
August 16, 2004

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

The Blue Planet
U.S. News & World Report, Aug. 16—The seas cover some 70 percent of our planet's surface, obscuring Earth's deepest valleys, longest mountain ranges, and most of its active volcanoes. Our ancestors may have forsaken the watery cradle of life hundreds of millions of years ago, but the very land we evolved to walk upon is constantly being born anew as a crystalline mush of magma oozes up out of the mantle and hardens to form rock at ridges running like zippers down the major ocean basins. Yet for all the mysteries that await, human eyes and scientific probes have seen a scant 5 percent of the vast underwater world, leaving oceanographers and biologists to grumble that we know more about the surface of Mars and the dark side of the moon than we do about our own oceans. (Quote by Jeremy Jackson a marine biologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.)
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/040816/misc/16intro.htm

Father's Quest Seeks Two Medical Miracle
Newsday, Aug. 16—Scientists working on Batten disease have mixed feelings about embarking on a human gene therapy trial without an animal model of the disease in place - meaning a way to study the disease process using an animal created with the same genetic defect. The green light for the gene therapy trial in Batten children rested on the millions of dollars worth of mice and monkey studies that one parent funded out of desperation to help his two sons battle the disease. But whether it will work in humans is anyone's guess, and Batten scientists are divided on the issue. (Quote by Theodore Friedmann M.D., a professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego.)
http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-hsbatt153931587aug16,0,1323293.story?coll=ny-top-headlines

Beluga Whales Have Distinct Voices
Discovery, Aug. 16—Beluga whales, nicknamed singing or canary whales because of the melodic tones they produce, possess their own unique voices that can range in pitch from bass to high soprano, according to a recent Russian study. The paper, published in Acoustical Physics, also suggests that Beluga, or white, whales communicate using words that consist of multiple syllables. Together, the findings indicate that whale vocalizations likely are much more sophisticated than previously realized. (Quote by John Hildebrand, a professor of oceanography and adjunct professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.)
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20040816/whaletalk.html
 
Norman Kroll, 82; Former Head of UCSD Physics Department
San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 15—As its physics department began taking shape in 1962, the University of California, San Diego recruited Norman M. Kroll, one of the emerging leaders in the field of quantum electrodynamics. Dr. Kroll, who had done graduate work at Columbia University with Nobel laureate ate Willis Lamb, became chairman of UCSD's Department of Physics in 1963. Before retiring from teaching in 1991 as an emeritus professor, he would serve a second stint as department chairman in the 1980s and explore a variety of facets of physics dealing with the application of theoretical methods. Dr. Kroll died of natural causes Aug. 8 at UCSD's Thornton Hospital in La Jolla. He was 82. (Quote by Julius Kuti, the acting chairman of UCSD's physics department.)
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040815/news_1m15kroll.html

Pains, Gains of Overhaul Are Aired
Los Angeles Times, Aug. 14—During the first public hearing on plans to streamline state government, senior citizen groups, housing advocates, labor unions and lawmakers raised concerns Friday that the creation of "super-agencies" that would take over the duties of several departments could reduce public access and neglect crucial problems. The hearing at UC Riverside attracted about 600 people. At issue were the recommendations of a 275-member panel appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to overhaul the state's bureaucracy.
The next hearing is scheduled Friday at UC San Diego.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-arnold14aug14,1,676056.story

New on Campus
Los Angeles Times, Aug. 15—Though much of UCLA's housing stock was built more than 40 years ago, seven new apartment buildings and three residence halls will be opening over the next few years, providing housing for 4,000 students -- the most bed spaces that UCLA will have ever built at one time.  The decade-long construction campaign is scheduled to be finished by the academic year 2011-12. On Southern California campuses, the goal is to add 4,300 beds at UC Irvine, 1,900 at UC Santa Barbara, 5,900 at UC San Diego and 4,500 at UC Riverside.
http://www.latimes.com/classified/realestate/news/la-re-college15aug15,1,5294935.story

Candidates Skirt Controversies, Complexities of Stem Cell Research
Houston Chronicle, Aug. 16—As they spar over stem cell research, both President Bush and Sen. John Kerry say they want to develop the technique so it can cure such afflictions as Alzheimer's disease and paralysis. But each candidate is oversimplifying the issue and avoiding a hard truth: If stem cell research is to deliver on its enormous promise, the government must cross an ethical line and fund the creation and destruction of human embryos. (Quote by Larry Goldstein, a professor of cellular and molecular medicine at University of California, San Diego.)
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/politics/2738827

Similar article appeared in:
Philadelphia Inquirer, Aug. 16
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/special_packages/election2004/9407608.htm?1c


Experts: West is Feeling the Heat
Sacramento Bee, Aug. 16—Nearly 13,000 feet up in the Sierra, Lyell Glacier is melting. Surveys and historic photographs show it has shrunk by about 50 percent in a century. Scientists say it is one piece of evidence the climate of California and the West is undergoing a fundamental shift, but it is not the only one. (Quote by Dan Cayan, a climate researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.)
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/v-print/story/10397394p-11317084c.html

Climate Change
San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 15—Many of us in climate science have been reluctant to climb on the climate-change bandwagon because we are, more than most, familiar with climate's remarkable tendency to fluctuate naturally. However, mounting numbers of symptoms of warming have made it impossible to ignore the important ways in which climate changes are occurring. Over the past five years, a good share of our attention in the Climate Research Division at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography has been given to regional climate effects in California, focusing on a few key issues such as water, energy, wildfire and human health. (Article written by Dan Cayan, director of the Climate Research Division at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.)
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040815/news_lz1e15cayan.html

Physician, Heal Thyself
San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 15—Dr. Jim Ochi doesn't have a receptionist. When patients arrive at his Carmel Valley office, they flip a light switch in the waiting area to tell him they're there. Medical assistants or nurses? Ochi says he doesn't need them, either. He gets the patients from the waiting room himself and brings them into his small examination room. In most respects, he's a conventional pediatric ear, nose and throat specialist. He just runs his practice in an unconventional way. Ochi, who did his residency at UCSD Medical Center, is an assistant professor of surgery at UCSD. He gives lectures on how physicians can simplify their practices.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20040815-9999-m1m15ochi.html

Locals Recall Child's Friendship, Contributions; Culinary Icon Was Regular S.D. Visitor
San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 14—When Julia Child was growing up in Pasadena, her family paid summer visits to San Diego County. She retained an affection for the area, returning regularly over the years. Child, who died yesterday in Santa Barbara, left a lasting impression here by helping to bring a major cookbook collection to the University of California, San Diego, but also by maintaining warm friendships in the local culinary community. (Quote by Lynda Claassen, director of the Mandeville Special Collections Library at UC San Diego.)
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040814/news_1n14juliasid.html

Drought's Grip has the West by Throat
San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 16—A persistent drought has upset lives and livelihoods from Montana to New Mexico, drawing comparisons to the Dust Bowl days. Fields have been left unplanted. Homeowners are being paid to tear out lawns. Hydropower generation is threatened. Ducks are disappearing and forests are becoming kindling. Although Mother Nature has punished the West for several years in a row, the developing crisis also can be traced to other factors: growth, resistance to tough conservation, global warming and an overly optimistic estimate of the Colorado River's ability to deliver water. (Quote by Dan Cayan, a climatologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.)
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20040816-9999-1n16drought.html

It Takes Real Talent to Play a Toy Piano
San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 15—No matter how inspired the performance, there are some cases in which the artist cannot transcend his medium.  So it is with the toy piano. Second-grader Ben Kesner exhibited remarkable poise while playing "Ned's Messy Room" yesterday before an audience of 70 in the basement of the Geisel Library at the University of California, San Diego. (Quote by Scott Paulson, the outreach coordinator for the UCSD arts libraries.)
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040815/news_1m15pianos.html

District's Summer Spent on Division
San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 15—In anticipation of a major high school reform effort, the San Diego school district is working to accomplish a tricky planning feat: carving up three big, urban high school campuses into more than a dozen autonomous academies.  San Diego Unified is among a growing number of districts across the nation developing small schools, a movement that has been fueled by millions of dollars in private and government education grants. Local charter schools already have seen success with this concept. At The Preuss School at UC San Diego, a similar program for disadvantaged students sent every member of its first graduating class in June to college.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040815/news_1m15revamp.html
 
Mind Games
San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 15—In the halls of Congress, on newspaper opinion pages, in the fevered nightmares of worried parents, the debate continues: Are video games good or bad? On college campuses, though, the talk has moved on. There, the games are increasingly seen as an important social and cultural force worthy of serious study. (Quote by Sheldon Brown, a UCSD visual arts professor and director of the school's Center for Research in Computing and the Arts.)
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/computing/20040815-9999-1c15gamers.html

Pair of Powerful Lineups on Tap
San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 15—The 2004-05 performing arts season will present both opportunities and challenges for UCSD and the East County Performing Arts Center, whose respective artist rosters are as varied and distinct as the communities they serve. UCSD's ArtPower! series will feature 19 dance, world music, jazz, classical and spoken-word performances between the season-opening Oct. 13 show by Brazil's Grupo Corvo dance troupe and April 30's concluding concert by the Romanian Gypsy music group Taraf de Haidouks and French Gypsy guitar phenom Bireli Lagrene. The lineup also features such noted artists as Laurie Anderson, the Emerson String Quartet, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20040815-9999-1a15seasons.html

Palomar Participating in Telemedicine Research Study
North County Times, Aug. 14—Medical researchers are hoping a new clinical study involving Palomar Medical Center will speed up the diagnoses and treatment of acute stroke victims, which in turn could dramatically improve their prognoses. The Escondido medical center is one of four California hospitals participating in a telemedicine program called Stroke Doc. It was launched at the local hospital May 24 by neurologists at UC San Diego. (Quote by Brett Myer M.D., co-director of UC San Diego's Stroke Center.)
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/08/15/special_
reports/science_technology/17_18_038_14_04.txt