A Sampling of Clips for December 18^th, 2008

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

Free-Range Research Could Save Chimps — and Our Conscience
Wired News, Dec. 18 – It's part vacation retreat, part blood drive, part zoo — and it could be the future of chimpanzee research, if not the species itself. With wild chimp populations plummeting — some populations by 80 percent in three decades — and captive research slowed by rising costs and ethical qualms, UCSD primatologist Pascal Gagneux has a compromise: free-range research sanctuaries. "You can learn incredible things by not mistreating chimpanzees," said Gagneux, who is also a geneticist. More

First Cases of Touch-Emotion Synaesthesia Discovered
New Scientist, Dec. 18 -- For a 22-year-old woman known as AW, denim evokes feelings of depression, disgust and worthlessness. Corduroy causes confusion, and silk provides utter contentment. She is one of two people known to experience a newly discovered form of synaesthesia, where textures give rise to strong emotions. (Quotes V. S. Ramachandran, a neuroscientist at UCSD) More

Texas Experience a Plus, but Not a Requirement, for UT Chancellor
The Austin American-Statesman, Dec. 17 -- When University of Texas System regents meet in Austin on Thursday, they could emerge from a closed-door session with a public announcement of a finalist for chancellor. (Mentions UCSD Chancellor Marye Anne Fox) More

Fruits of the Fly
San Diego Union-Tribune, Dec. 18 -- When Therese Markow moved to UCSD this past summer, flies followed. This was a good thing. Markow is a professor of biology and an expert on speciation – the process by which one species becomes two or more. She's also director of the National Science Foundation's Drosophila Species Stock Center at UCSD, a kind of scientists' supermarket for fruit flies. More

UCSD Medical Center Saves Little Girl's Hand
News8, Dec. 17 -- A nine-year-old Ramona Girl is recovering from a horrible dune buggy crash. It happened Thanksgiving weekend near Ocotillo Wells. Kaley was sent to UCSD Medical Center, where after marathon surgery, her fingers started to move. More

SDSU, Moores Cancer Center to Share Grant
10News, Dec. 17 -- San Diego State University and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center will share a $15 million federal grant for studying racial disparities in cancer rates, it was announced Wednesday. More

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Uncovering the Secrets of Kahn, da Vinci and Solomon's Mines
Voice of San Diego, Dec. 18 -- It is a typical moment in the life of the UCSD’s Center for Interdisciplinary Science in Art, Architecture and Archeology. In just under two years the center, dubbed CISA3 and situated inside the ultra-modern Atkinson Hall, has become a hub for the marriage of science, technology and culture. More

UCSD Experiencing Building Boom Despite Construction Crunch
San Diego Daily Transcript, Dec. 17 -- With 37 projects under way or in the planning phases, UCSD offers a wealth of construction contracts, nearly all with green building elements. More

Plans Continue Apace to Extend San Diego Trolley to UCSD
San Diego Daily Transcript, Dec. 17 -- Under the San Diego Association of Government's projected $1.2 billion preferred alternative plan, the San Diego Trolley would be extended from the present Old Town station north to University Towne Centre and UCSD appears to be moving forward, but it could be June 2018 before it is fully operational. Under the proposed financing plan, half of the $1.2 billion would come from TransNet, the other half would be from federal transportation funds. More

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