A Sampling of Clips for 
December 11 - 13, 2004

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

The Polarization Express
Washington Post, Dec. 12, Editorial-The title of the conference held here last weekend, appropriately enough, included a question mark: "The Polarization of American Politics: Myth or Reality?" The 45 academics, politicians and journalists, including UCSD professor John Evans, who gathered at Princeton University's Center for the Study of Democratic Politics never reached a vote, but all the evidence pointed toward the second alternative. More

Similar articles appeared in:
Miami Herald, Dec. 12
Seattle Times, Dec. 12
San Diego Union-Tribune, Dec. 12

A Need to Know: Is it Alzheimer's?
Los Angeles Times, Dec. 13-Until recently, PET scanning has been seldom used in the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's, even though it is billed as "a window to the brain" and is the only test, other than an autopsy, to offer physical proof of the disease. (Quote by Dr. William Bradley Jr., chairman of the department of radiology at UCSD.) More

Climate: Discovering the Role of Aerosols
Washington Times, Dec. 12-One of the mystery villains in global climate change is the role of aerosols -- dust and small particle emissions -- on climate and temperature. (Quote by Lynn Russell, associate professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.) More

Similar article appeared in:
UPI, Dec. 12

Nominee Pool Grows for Stem-Cell Czar
San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 12-Some of the architects assembling California's $3 billion stem cell project are pushing for a competitive process to select a chairman to lead the experiment, rather than automatically backing the man considered to be the likely candidate for the job. One possible nominee is former University of California President Richard Atkinson, a cognitive scientist who holds a faculty post at UC San Diego. More

Viagra Used to Prevent Pulmonary Edema at High Altitudes
Los Angeles Times, Dec. 12-In the beginning, it gave hope to older men trying to give their sexual performance a lift. Now sildenafil, better known by its trade name, Viagra, is gaining popularity for a different use among skiers and mountain climbers. (Quote by Dr. Robert "Brownie" Schoene, professor at the UCSD School of Medicine.) More

Overturning a Wartime Act Decades Later
San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 12-The evening was getting on, and 85-year-old Fred Korematsu, said to be the living embodiment of the governmental injustice, was still gamely shaking dozens of hands. Frail health has slowed Korematsu, who in 1942, challenged the World War II removal of Japanese Americans from the West Coast and 56 years later, won a Presidential Medal of Freedom for that lonely stand. (Discusses role of Peter Irons, UCSD professor of political science in Korematsu's legal case.) More

Vaccine to Reverse Asthma Shows Promise in Tests
Contra Costa Times, Dec. 10-A vaccine made with synthetic pieces of bacterial DNA has been shown in animal studies not only to stop asthma in its tracks but also to reverse the lung damage caused by the disease, according to California scientists, including UCSD. More

Industry Turning to UCSD for a Sense of Direction
San Diego Business Journal, Dec. 13-Though they both deal in video games, the people working at Sammy Studios, Inc. and at UC San Diego's Experimental Game Lab may as well operate on different planets. (Interview with Sheldon Brown, a UCSD visual arts professor and director of the university's Experimental Game Lab.) More

Q & A with Sheldon Brown
San Diego Union-Tribune, Dec. 13-Sheldon Brown is director of the UCSD Center for Research in Computing and the Arts. The center's Experimental Game Lab recently received a grant of $290,000 from Carlsbad video-game company Sammy Studios. More

Fox Announces New Human Rights Program
Washington Times, Dec. 10-Mexican President Vicente Fox Friday unveiled his National Human Rights Program, outlining the country's plans to improve its practices in a variety of areas, including the criminal justice system. (Quote by David Shirk, professor and coordinator for the Project for the Administration of Justice in Mexico at UCSD.) More

Research Finds Link between Obesity, Sleep Shortage
Kansas City Star, Dec. 13-New research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Stanford University and the University of Chicago are boosting earlier findings of a relationship between sleep and weight: The less sleep a person gets, the more weight is gained. (Quote by Daniel Kripke, a sleep researcher at UCSD.) More

Similar articles appeared in:
Monterey Herald, Dec. 13
San Luis Obispo, Dec. 13
Kentucky Herald, Dec. 13

Pennies in a Tray
Science News, Dec. 11-Mathematicians have long pondered the problem of packing identical circles inside a variety of geometric shapes. (Quote by Ronald L. Graham, a computer science professor at UCSD.) More

County Airport Authority Appointee was a Surprise
San Diego Union-Tribune, Dec. 11-The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority gets a new board member Monday: Robert L. Maxwell, who teaches a class on transportation policy and planning in the UCSD Extension program. More

Atypical Higher Learning
San Diego Union-Tribune, Dec. 12-It's a cold December night, and UC San Diego senior Erik Borowitz is huddled in his home of the moment: a 1973 Dodge Commander motor home. More