A Sampling of Clips for February 2^nd, 2009

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

Alcoholism: What You Might Not Know
CNN, Feb. 2 --  A recent survey of alcoholism studies in the Lancet suggests that men have more than a 20 percent lifetime risk of developing alcohol-use disorders, while women's risk is 8 to 10 percent. Studies show that as much as 60 percent of the risk of alcohol-use disorders is genetic, said Dr. Marc Schuckit, professor of psychiatry at UCSD, and director of the alcohol and drug treatment program at the Veterans Affairs-San Diego Healthcare System, who wrote the Lancet article. More

Using Chaos Theory to Revitalize Fisheries
Scientific American, February 2009 -- When George Sugihara reads about credit crises and federal bailouts, he is inclined to think about sardines—California sardines, to be precise. Sugihara is a mathematician and theoretical ecologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. More

Shedding Light
on Vitamin D Deficiency ‘Crisis’
MSNBC, Feb. 2 -- Deficiency in vitamin D, a fat-soluble supplement needed to maintain normal levels of calcium and phosphorus in the blood, does appear to be a growing problem. (Quotes Cedric Garland, professor of family and preventive medicine at UCSD) More

A Chaotic Kenya Vote
and a Secret U.S. Exit Poll
The New York Times, Jan. 30 -- For three days in December 2007, Kenya slid into chaos as ballot counters steadily took what appeared to be a presidential election victory for the challenger and delivered it to the incumbent. As tensions mounted, Kenneth Flottman sat in Nairobi and grew increasingly frustrated. He had in his hands the results of an exit poll, paid for by the United States government, that supported the initial returns favoring the challenger, Raila Odinga. Clark C. Gibson, chairman of the political science department at UCSD, oversaw the design of the questions, the surveying of voters and the collection of data. More

Similar story in
San Diego Union-Tribune

Chalk Dust Memories
The New York Times, Jan. 30 -- Anyone expecting Sarah Shun-lien Bynum to follow up her first novel, the National Book Award finalist “Madeleine Is Sleeping,” with another sepia­-tinted dream of pseudo-Victorians and fairy tale grotesques will be surprised by the comprehensive ordinariness of “Ms. Hempel Chronicles.” Bynum is an associate professor in the literature department at UCSD.  More

Similar story in
The Toronto Star

A City Made of Waste
The Nation, Jan. 29 -- The international border between the United States and Mexico at the San Diego-Tijuana checkpoint is an urban juncture like no other in the world, where some of the wealthiest real estate in suburban San Diego lies barely twenty minutes away from some of the poorest settlements in Latin America, on Tijuana's southern fringes. (Written by Teddy Cruz, an architect and professor at UCSD) More

New Clues to Stopping Colitis-Linked Cancer
U.S. News & World Report, Feb 2 -- Two immune system proteins may someday help doctors treat and prevent colitis-associated cancer (CAC), a new UCSD study suggests. More

Of Voodoo and the Brain
Newsweek, Jan. 31 -- It is a brave, or perhaps foolhardy, scientist who uses the term "voodoo" to describe results in a high-profile field of science, and in retrospect psychologist Hal Pashler of UCSD, concedes that the word might have been just a teensy bit incendiary. More

Classical Music
The New Yorker, Feb. 2 -- With City Opera saved from the gallows by the appointment of George Steel as general manager, this season’s occasional, small-scale concerts continue. The next is a collaborative effort with Harlem’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and Opera Noire, a tribute to the important African-American performers and composers whose work has been offered at City Opera through the decades. The program includes music from such operas as UCSD professor Anthony Davis’s “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X.” More

Similar story in
New York Daily News

Give Bankruptcy Judges
a Chance to Fix Home Loans
Los Angeles Times, Opinion, Feb. 2 -- You know you're in a tight spot when Bankruptcy Court begins to look like the least bad solution to a pressing economic problem. But the housing foreclosure situation is pretty ugly, so there we are. (Mentions research by UCSD economist Michelle J. White) More

California Heads for a Third Dry Year in a Row
Christian Science Monitor, Jan. 30 -- It’s imperative for Californians to conserve water immediately at home and in their businesses.” That’s the message California’s Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow left Golden Staters on Jan. 29 as the state released its latest information on how much water this winter’s snowpack holds. (Mentions research by Tim Barnett and David Pierce, with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography) More
 
Michelle Chang: A Catalyst for Change
The Scientist, U.K., Feb. 2 -- After only a handful of introductory science classes her freshman year at UCSD, Michelle Chang became so excited about chemistry and molecular biology that she couldn't resist science. More

Winning Strategy? GOP Stakes
its Future on Opposing Obama
Sacramento Bee, Feb. 1 -- Has the Republican Party, whose presidential candidate and dozens of congressional hopefuls were rejected by voters in November, already been reinvigorated by its opposition to President Barack Obama? (Quotes UCSD political scientist Gary Jacobson) More

Similar story in
Seattle Times
Charlotte Observer

Statin Side Effects Are a Growing Concern
NBC San Diego, Jan. 29 -- Dr. Beatrice Golomb, associate professor of medicine at UCSD and director of the UCSD’s Statin Study group cites nearly 900 studies on the adverse effects of statins, a class of drugs widely used to treat high cholesterol. More

Government Spending
is Tool to Revive the Economy
San Diego Union-Tribune, Opinion, Feb. 1 – As politicians on Capitol Hill debate how much money to pour into the latest stimulus package, they may take heart from the findings of a recent study from UCSD, which suggests that government spending programs can be very useful in revitalizing the economy. More

'Amistad,' the Music Suite,
to Get World Premiere at UCSD
San Diego Union-Tribune, Feb. 1 – In 1997, Anthony Davis was in the audience when the Lyric Opera of Chicago gave the world premiere of “Amistad,” his ambitious opera based on the 1839 Amistad Rebellion onboard a Spanish slave ship. Next Saturday and Sunday, Davis will be in the audience at UCSD's Mandeville Auditorium when the La Jolla Symphony performs the world premiere of his genre-leaping “Amistad Symphony,” a 30-minute suite that draws from – and expands upon – the music in his award-winning opera. More

How to Survive A Major Heart Attack
News8, Jan. 30 -- Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States, but your chance of surviving a heart attack in San Diego County is better than ever. If you have a heart attack, grab the phone to call 911 - not your car keys. "Absolutely whatever you do, don't yourself, and don't have a family member drive you to the hospital," Dr. Ehtisham Mahmud of UCSD Medical Center said. More

Environmentalists Explain Why UCSD,
Wal-Mart are Leaders in Sustainability
KPBS, Feb 2 -- What does low-price retailer Wal-Mart have in common with academic powerhouse UCSD? Well, surprisingly both institutions are leaders in the effort toward sustaining the earth's resources and environment. More

Greening the Internet
in a Carbon-Constrained World
Xconomy, Feb. 2 -- The California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology co-hosted with the California Public Utilities Commission a workshop on greening the Internet economy. The two-day event, held at UCSD a week ago, brought together 200 leaders from industry, academia, and the public sector to discuss how to reduce ICT’s carbon footprint, while using ICT innovations to build out the smart grids, buildings, and transportation systems necessary to achieve the goals set by AB32. More

Cancer Center Blends
Medical Care with Patient Support
North County Times, Feb. 1 -- San Diego Cancer Center, with branches in Vista and Encinitas, combines high-tech treatments, some developed in partnership with UCSD, with programs to help people with cancer cope with their disease. More

NBCC Names Awards Finalists
Library Journal, Jan. 29 -- The National Book Critics Circle has announced the contenders for its prestigious annual awards. Along with finalists in six categories, the group is bestowing the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award to the Pen American Center. Additionally, Ron Charles received the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing. Seth Lerer, the new dean of Arts and Humanities at UCSD, is a finalist for criticism. More

Seriously Fun Science Festival Nears
San Diego Metropolitan, Feb. 2 -- The physics of skateboarding, the chemistry of chocolate, and dozens of other relevant topics will be explored in March during the inaugural month-long San Diego Science Festival. The activities will culminate April 4 in a daylong Expo in Balboa Park. Larry Bock, a special limited partner of Lux Capital, and Jeremy Babendure, director of Bio-Bridge, a science education initiative at UCSD, are the festival organizers. More

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