A Sampling of Clips for August 31^th, 2009

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

Men at Work: Finding Humor in Missteps
The New York Times, Aug. 27 -- Even as a boy the filmmaker and animator Mike Judge had a hard time suspending disbelief when it came to the economic lives of fictional characters. Judge is a UCSD alumnus. More

Similar story in
The Washington Post

Research Expedition
Looks into Pacific Garbage Patch
Los Angeles Times, Aug. 31 -- It can be hard to find what you're looking for in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. But scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD on an August research cruise had no problem tracking down their subject. "We did observe a lot of plastic out there in the ocean about 1,000 miles from anything," said Miriam Goldstein, chief scientist on the Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition. "It's pretty shocking." More

Similar stories in
The New Zealand Herald
KVOA, Tucson, Ariz.
KESQ, Palm Springs, Calif.
Discover Magazine
News Channel 13, Albany, N.Y.

Japanese Voters Reject Longtime Ruling Party
Los Angeles Times, Aug. 31 -- Japanese voters on Sunday handed a humiliating defeat to the Liberal Democratic Party after its half-century of nearly unbroken rule, opting for an untested opposition party that pledged to revive the nation's ailing economy. (Quotes Ellis Krauss, a professor of Japanese politics and policymaking at UCSD) More

Similar story in
Chicago Tribune

U.S. Must Address Somalia Crisis
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Aug. 31 -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's recent meeting with Somali President Sharif Ahmed was a reminder of his country's importance to American foreign policy and a step in the right direction. (Co-authored by Farah Abdi and Ridwa Abdi, former Somali refugees who recently graduated from UCSD and are working on a research project on the health needs of refugee women in San Diego County, and Jeremy Prestholdt, an Africa specialist and associate professor of history at UCSD) More

Profits in Peril as State Stalks Private Companies
The Sydney Morning Herald, Aug. 31 – China’s two richest steel magnates, Du Shuanghua and Zhang Zhixiang, are hardly novices when it comes to lobbying for political favour. But in the past five weeks they have discovered that neither their modern management techniques nor their fabulous riches are adequate defences against the greatest vested interested of them all: the Chinese Communist Party. (Quotes UCSD Professor Barry Naughton) More

Similar story in
The Age, Australia

Universities Look for Boost to Top Tier
Houston Chronicle, Aug. 31 -- After years of urging, state lawmakers passed a bill this spring that lays out a pathway to flagship status and a pot of money for seven emerging research institutions, including UTSA, UT-El Paso and the University of Houston. (Mentions UCSD) More

Art Institute Lecture Series Launches with FBI Suspect
The Kansas City Star, Aug. 31 -- Hasan Elahi, an artist who once was investigated by the FBI as a terrorism suspect, heads up this fall’s Current Perspectives lecture series at the Kansas City Art Institute, with a 7 p.m. talk Thursday in the school’s Epperson Auditorium. Also part of the lecture series will be talks by leading African-American art scholar Krista A. Thompson and award-winning filmmaker Cauleen Smith, who is on the UCSD faculty. More

Popular Majors Resist Recession
San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 31 -- With high levels of unemployment and employers cutting back on college recruiting, you would think students would be flocking to the majors that most consistently land jobs: accounting, computer science and economics. They're not. (Quotes Emily Gonzales, an academic counselor at UCSD) More

Independent PDHS Grad Studies Abroad in Spain
The Desert Sun, Aug. 27 -- Shandy Pinkowski is going places, literally and figuratively. The 20-year-old Palm Desert High School graduate and junior at UCSD, recently returned from a trip to Cadiz, Spain, where she took part in the university's Global Seminars program. More

Plastic Surgeon Gets a Slice of Television Fame
San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 29 – No lights, no cameras. And now that filming for “Addicted to Beauty” is finished, the action at Changes Plastic Surgery & Spa has returned to a sense of calm. The Carmel Valley practice, owned by soft-spoken Dr. Gilbert Lee, is the setting for a new reality show focused on a cast of eccentric characters who can be seen Tuesday nights on the Oxygen Network. Lee graduated from the UCSD School of Medicine in 1986. More

Mind Games
San Diego Union-Tribune, Aug. 31 – Today at noon, the 12- and 13-year-old All-Stars face San Antonio, Texas, at Howard J. Lamade Stadium for the United States championship of the Little League World Series. (Quotes Dr. Saul Levine, a professor of psychiatry at UCSD) More

County's Renowned Trauma System Marks 25 Years
North County Times, Aug. 29 -- Designating a handful of San Diego County's hospitals as specialized trauma centers was a bold and somewhat unpopular idea in 1984, but saving thousands of lives during the past 25 years has brought the system national recognition and inspired many to call it a model. Trauma centers include UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest. More

A 'Different' Summer
North County Times, Aug. 29 -- The ongoing heat wave notwithstanding, residents of San Diego and Riverside counties have enjoyed a relatively pleasant summer. (Mentions research by UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography and quotes Alexander Gershunov, a climate scientist at Scripps) More

Biotech: San Diego’s Industry Comes Full Circle
San Diego News Network, Aug. 29 -- The San Diego biotechnology sector has a rich history, with Hybritech being the first company founded in 1981 by two UCSD researchers. More

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