A Sampling of Clips for 
December 18 - 20, 2004

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

Profiles of the Patient Advocates
San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 18-The 10 patient advocates who took a seat Friday on the board directing California's high-profile venture in stem-cell research are a largely unknown collection of doctors, fund-raisers and active members of disease lobby groups -- seasoned with a bit of Hollywood glamour. (Profiles Dr. Edward W. Holmes, vice chancellor of health sciences at UCSD, and Dr. Leon Thal, chair of the neurosciences department at UCSD.) More

How Prop. 71 Came to Life
San Diego Union-Tribune, Dec. 19-California Stem Cell Research and Cures Act was work of eclectic group that included film director, finance expert, Republican and researcher. (Refers to research conducted by Larry Goldstein of UCSD.) More

Deaths from Natural Causes Spike During the Holidays
Los Angeles Times, Dec. 20-A new study led by UCSD researcher David Phillips has found that people are at the highest risk of dying from natural causes, such as heart attacks, on Christmas, the day after and New Year's. More

Sharper Minds
Los Angeles Times, Dec. 20-The age of smart drugs is dawning and an array of brain-boosting medications -- some already on pharmacy shelves and others in development -- promise an era of sharper thinking through chemistry. (Refers to research by UCSD neuroscientist Mark Tuszynski.) More

Pressing the Mute Button on Our Daily Soundtrack
Los Angeles Times, Dec. 19-Dozens of once-familiar sounds, -- the pop of flashbulbs, the gurgle of coffee percolators, the clatter of home-movie projectors -- are fading into oblivion as technology advances. While audio junkies scramble to preserve samples for future generations, psychologists debate the consequences of this noise exodus. (Quote by Diana Deutsch, a UCSD psychology professor.) More

Novel Heats Up Debate
Newsday, Dec. 19-Michael Crichton's fictional work bothers researcher, who says climatologists are misrepresented. (Refers to research conducted by Naomi Oreskes, a science historian at UCSD.) More

Homeless Solutions
Boston Globe, Editorial, Dec. 20-What's Cheaper: housing the homeless or letting them cycle through shelters, hospital emergency rooms, jails, and the street? Too often the question is overlooked. (Refers to research conducted by the UCSD Medical Center.) More

Why Machines Should Fear
Scientific American, Dec. 15- Once a curmudgeonly champion of "usable" design, cognitive scientist Donald A. Norman argues that future machines will need emotions to be truly dependable. (Refers to research by Norman while at UCSD.) More

Condition that Leads to Heart Disease in Kids Often Undiagnosed
Kentucky Herald, Dec. 20-For many frantic parents, typing "fever, rash, swelling and red eyes" into an Internet search engine is the first clue they have that their child may have Kawasaki disease, a little-known disorder that is the leading cause of acquired heart disease in children. (Quote by Dr. Jane Burns, director of the Kawasaki disease research program at UCSD.) More

Similar article appeared in:
Kansas City Star, Dec. 20

County Air Still Hasn't Come Clean, Report Says
San Diego Union-Tribune, Dec. 18-San Diego County remains on a federal list of 225 counties that have some of the nation's dirtiest air, although area officials said they've taken steps to reduce pollution. UCSD researchers recently won a three-year, $678,000 grant to study particulate pollution in California. More

Jack in the Box to Restate Past 3 Years' Financial Data
San Diego Union-Tribune, Dec. 17-Following a rival's lead, San Diego's Jack in the Box said yesterday it will restate its financial results for the previous three years due to a stricter accounting treatment of its leased properties. (Quote by Michael Willoughby, a professor of accounting at the UCSD.) More

Benefits, Drawbacks Seen in Gender-Separate Classes
San Diego Union-Tribune, Dec. 20-The U.S. Department of Education argues that after three decades of Title IX, there's far more equal gender opportunity in schools. In March, the department issued proposed changes to Title IX that would make it easier to establish single-sex public schools and classes. (Refers to research conducted by UCSD.) More

Doctor Accused of Sexual Assault
San Diego Union-Tribune, Dec. 20-Dr. Nasser Alavi, a La Mesa family doctor, is facing sexual assault charges in connection with his treatment of a 23-year-old woman who says he molested her over several months during visits to his office. (Quote by Dr. Joseph Scherger, who teaches in a UCSD School of Medicine program for doctors who have been ordered by state medical regulators to take refresher courses on ethics and medical procedures.) More