A Sampling of Clips for August 21^st, 2008

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

Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs Won't Cause Cancer
U.S. News and World Report, Aug. 20 --  Researchers who last year reported a possible link between cholesterol-lowering statin drugs and cancer now say that further analysis has disproved such an association.  (Quotes Dr. Daniel Steinberg, professor emeritus of medicine at UCSD, who wrote an editorial accompanying the report) More

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Forbes.com
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The Science Behind Refrigerated Baby's 'Miracle' Revival
U.S. News and World Report, Aug. 20 -- The seemingly miraculous revival of a newborn baby that had initially been pronounced dead and refrigerated in Israel is raising eyebrows among scientists and doctors. Some wonder if the baby really died before being put in a morgue refrigerator for more than five hours and then apparently reviving.  (Quotes Dr. Neil Finer, chief of UCSD’s division of neonatology) More

For Some College Freshmen, the First Day of School Comes a Bit Late
Los Angeles Times, Aug. 21 -- Colleges and universities face a demographic bulge of high school graduates who are qualified applicants. Yet schools still need tuition-paying students to fill classroom and dormitory slots left empty each spring by those who study abroad, take off-campus internships, drop out or graduate in December. So a bargain of sorts is struck: Colleges try to guarantee a fully populated campus, and some students accept an offer to arrive midyear at a top choice school rather than enroll elsewhere in the fall. (Quotes Mae Brown, assistant vice chancellor for admissions at UCSD) More

Manny Farber, 91; Iconoclastic Film Critic and Artist
Los Angeles Times, Aug. 21 -- Manny Farber, an iconoclastic stylist who achieved prominence in two careers -- as a painter of abstract canvases and still-lifes and as a film critic admired for his canny, muscular writing and advocacy of such directors as Sam Fuller, Howard Hawks and R.W. Fassbinder -- has died. He was 91. An emeritus professor of art at UCSD, where he taught from 1970 to 1987, Farber died of bone cancer Monday at his home in the north San Diego County community of Leucadia, a family spokeswoman said. More

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San Diego Union-Tribune

S.D. Company's Lucanix Extended Lives in Early Tests; Phase 3 Begins
San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 21--  Oncologist Lyudmila Bazhenova, who works at the Moores Cancer Center at UCSD, has a new weapon in her arsenal to help late-stage lung cancer patients fight for survival: an experimental cancer vaccine called Lucanix, developed in San Diego by privately held NovaRx. More

After the Games, China Must Face Reality
New Statesmen, Aug. 21 -- Journalists make poor prophets, but I think I'm on safe ground here: early next week the Chinese government will declare that the Olympics have been a roaring success. The International Olympic Committee - an organisation only marginally less authoritarian than the Chinese Communist Party - will agree. Someone will say, "It was the best Olympics ever." (Quotes UCSD political scientist Susan Shirk). More

Children's Books Lead to Life-long Love of Reading
KPBS, Aug. 20 – It's something that's marketed to kids and parents and generated by publishing houses. But what is it? That question is answered in a comprehensive book by Seth Lerer called "Children's Literature: A Reader's History from Aesop to Harry Potter." Lerer is the new dean of Arts and Humanities at UCSD. More

Fast Quantum Computers Come a Step Closer to Reality
North Korea Times, Aug. 21 -- A team of researchers in the U.S. has come up with the fastest quantum computer bit, which exploits the main advantage of the qubit over the conventional bit. The team-comprising experts from the University of Michigan, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, and UCSD has revealed that the use of lasers helped create an initialised quantum state of the solid-state qubit at rates of about a gigahertz, or a billion times per second. More

Jai Turns in a Memorable Performance
La Jolla Light, Aug. 20-- Attention dining enthusiasts: Wolfgang Puck has landed in La Jolla. No, we're not talking about a new line of gourmet pizzas in the freezer section of your local grocery store. We're talking about Jai (pronounced Jay), a brand new restaurant smack dab in the heart of UCSD's campus.  More

New Way To Build Data Centers: Use Commodity Network Elements
Science Daily, Aug. 21 -- Computer scientists at UCSD’s Jacobs School of Engineering have proposed a new way to build data centers that could save companies money and deliver more computing capability to end-users. More

6 Local Hospitals Cited By State For Medical Mistakes
KGTV, Aug. 20 -- Health care is important for everyone. Now, the California State Department of Public Health has released reports about medical mistakes at hospitals. Eighteen state hospitals have been fined for medical mistakes; six are in San Diego County. The hospitals cited are Scripps Green, Scripps Mercy, UCSD Medical Center, Sharp Grossmont, Promise Hospital and Palomar Pomerado. More

Longboard Legends Hit the Waves for Cancer Benefit
SD News, Aug. 21 -- Surfing for a Cure returns to La Jolla’s Scripps Pier Sunday, Aug. 24, for the 15th annual Luau & Longboard Invitational to raise funds for the Moores UCSD Cancer Center. Teams of surfers will hit La Jolla’s coast beginning at about 7 a.m. to compete for trophies and prizes.  More

Sex Work, Border Society and Stigma: Questions for Steffanie Strathdee
Voice of San Diego, Aug. 21 --  Earlier this year, UCSD researcher Stephanie Strathdee released a study chronicling various characteristics of female sex workers in Tijuana and other border cities. The results were shocking. Twenty-seven percent of the women Strathdee studied tested positive for at least one sexually transmitted infection; 14 percent almost always use drugs before sex; 73 percent have clients who use drugs.  More

The Blight Fight
Voice of San Diego,  Aug. 20 -- The recent media coverage and ensuing commentary about the city's efforts to turn Grantville into a designated redevelopment project area have raised important questions about the needs of the city, its Redevelopment Agency, other local governments, and -- of course -- the Grantville community. (Written by Vladimir Kogan, doctoral student at UCSD's Department of Political Science) More

Don't Ask, Just Pay
San Diego Reader, Aug. 21 --  Ever wonder why public works cost taxpayers so much? Consider the case of one small project, the new Otay Valley Regional Park ranger station and restroom. Under a joint powers agreement among San Diego County, the City of Chula Vista, and the City of San Diego, local politicians have been trying to develop the park since 1990. (Quotes George Hanson, who manages the remedial writing program at UCSD) More

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