A Sampling of Clips for December 17^th, 2009

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

Female Facial Beauty Now Has New 'Golden Ratios'
MSNBC, Dec. 17 -- Beauty is not only in the eye of the beholder but also in the relationship of the eyes and mouth of the beholden. The distance between a woman's eyes and the distance between her eyes and her mouth are key factors in determining how attractive she is to others, according to new psychology research from the University of California, San Diego and the University of Toronto. Pamela Pallett and Stephen Link of UCSD and Kang Lee of the University of Toronto tested the existence of an ideal facial feature arrangement. They successfully identified the optimal relation between the eyes, the mouth and the edge of the face for individual beauty, according to a release from University of Toronto. More

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How to Slow Climate Change for Just $15 Billion
Reuters, Dec. 16 -- Weaning humanity from its fossil fuel habit will take decades, and it will take decades more for global warming to stop. But one simple measure could slow warming in some of Earth’s most sensitive regions, effective immediately — and it would cost just $15 billion. That’s a rough price tag for providing clean stoves to the 500 million households that use open fires, fed by wood and animal dung and coal, to heat their homes and cook. Those fires produce one-quarter of all so-called “black carbon,” a sooty pollutant that’s adding to the planetary heat burden. “We know how to cook without smoke,” said Veerabhadran Ramanathan, a UCSD climatographer. “A clean stove costs $30. Multiply that by 500 million households, and it’s only $15 billion. This is a solvable problem.” More

Scientist Creates Graphic Translation of Climate Change Data
Yahoo! India, Dec. 17 -- A scientist has developed a series of graphics that translate key figures from the fourth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report for public audiences. The scientist in question is Tom Bowman, an expert in communicating scientific issues to the public and president of Bowman Global Change. These new graphics provide non-experts access to the authentic scientific information they need to make informed decisions about climate change risks and opportunities. (Mentions research by Dr. Richard Somerville, a distinguished Professor Emeritus at UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography) More

Rebecca Ruiz on Health and Wellness
Forbes, Dec. 18 -- After this year's dust-up over new mammography recommendations, one might think that free screening tests for cancer are a constitutional right. The controversy over such tests will continue next year as physician panels continue to put forth common-sense guidelines on when and which patients should be screened for various types of cancer. Members of Congress have already seized upon the new mammogram guidelines as evidence of "rationing," and will keep the issue back into the spotlight if the health reform debate drags on into 2010. (Mentions Dr. Nicholas Christakis of Harvard University and UCSD political scientists James Fowler’s ground-breaking research in 2009 that linked social networks to health outcomes like weight and happiness) More

Two Highly Praised Gompers Schools Will Merge Next Fall
San Diego Union-Tribune, Dec. 17 -- Two charter schools that helped restore one neighborhood’s faith in public education will merge to establish a single institution enrolling students in middle through high school. Gompers Charter Middle School will consolidate with Gompers Preparatory Academy in the fall. The schools already share the same campus in Chollas View. Director Vince Riveroll said the merger will simplify the schools’ operations and finances. It also will help the middle school avoid falling into government oversight under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. (Mentions UCSD’s partnership with Gompers Middle School) More

UCSD Keeps Building Despite Financial Crisis
KGTV, Dec. 16 -- Construction on the campus of UCSD has many wondering how it is possible to build in light of major financial problems for the school. 10News learned there are currently $570 million worth of construction projects under way at the school, even as student fees increase by 32 percent. According to Associate Vice Chancellor Boone Hellmann, most of the projects were funded five years ago, before the current financial crisis. Hellman said money earmarked for construction could only be used for construction, not for campus operation costs. More

In the Beginning
San Diego Magazine, Dec. 2009 -- A veteran sportswriter, who covered the Chargers from their first days in San Diego, reminisces about how the team came here—and came home. San Diego had the blahs. They set in following World War II, after which pretty much anything would have been an anticlimax for a community whose involvement in the war had been as pronounced as this one. The city slept. (Mentions UCSD’s influence on the City of San Diego) More

Study Quantifies Information Consumption
La Jolla Light, Dec. 17 -- A UCSD researcher has quantified how much information U.S. households consumed in 2008 in a report released Dec. 9 and noted that for an average annual growth rate of 5.4 percent. According to the report, the average American's information consumption of 34 gigabytes a day is the equivalent of about one-fifth of a notebook computer's hard drive, depending on the model. More

Radiation Labeling May be Headed to Cell Phones
Fox 5, Dec. 16 -- Cell phones sold in San Francisco may soon come with labeling depicting the level of radiation emitted by the phone. San Francisco would be the first city in the country to require such labeling. If the legislation passes, retailers would have to post the levels next to the phone in font as big as the price. They would also have to explain what the radiation levels mean. The concern is over whether or not cell phones are hazardous to people's health. Scientists don't agree on whether radiation from cell phones causes health problems. "It's not 100% so no one really knows yet," said Dr. Santosh Kesari, Director of neuro-oncology at the UCSD Moores Cancer Center. More

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