A Sampling of Clips for 
January 08 - 10, 2005

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

Bad Drug Day
Time Magazine, Jan. 17-Filling a prescription at the beginning of the month could be bad for your health. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, analyzed more than 130,000 fatal prescription-drug poisonings and found that they spiked during the first few days of each month--when government assistance checks arrive in the mail. Part of the blame, say the study's authors, may be the increased workload--and higher error rates--as patients flock to their pharmacies. More

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WebMD, Jan. 7

How to Eat Smart
Psychology Today, Jan. 10-You are, as the expression goes, what you eat. No surprise, then, that over the past 15 years, perhaps spurred most intensely by health concerns and the performance demands of elite athletes, a burgeoning body of literature has documented the intimate connections between food and health. (Refers to research conducted by Philip Langlais, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the UCSD Medical School.) More

Joint Ph.D. Program in Education is a First
San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan. 9-It has taken more than a decade to create, but an unusual partnership among the University of California, San Diego, San Diego State University and Cal State San Marcos, has led to the creation of a three-year-long doctorate of educational leadership, the only public university doctoral degree in education in the county. More

Linguist Urges Democrats to Heed Power of Words
Baltimore Sun, Jan. 9-George Lakoff, a University of California, Berkeley professor of linguistics and cognitive science, recently wrote a book that has become a surprise best seller, making "framing" the season's hot fashion and yielding a growing legion of followers - as well as critics. (Quote by Samuel Popkin, a political scientist at UCSD.) More

Health Alert: Night Owl Syndrome
WIS 10, South Carolina, Jan. 10-If you can't sleep until 2:00am or 3:00am and then can't wake up before noon, you may have a sleep disorder. Doctor Daniel Kripke, a sleep researcher at UCSD says it's "delayed sleep phase syndrome. That means a night owl." More

When the Question is Life or Death
Chicago Sun-Times, Jan. 9-Hospitals are required to make ethics consultations available for difficult cases, such as whether to withdraw life support, what to do with a patient who refuses treatments on religious grounds or whether a doctor should reveal to parents their teenage daughter's request for birth control. (Refers to a study led by Dr. Lawrence Schneiderman of the UCSD Medical Center.) More

Federal Law Needed to Settle Asbestos Cases
Korea Herald, Jan. 8-President George W. Bush has targeted abusive litigation for reform. At the top of the list are asbestos lawsuits, which have ruined companies, left victims uncompensated, and clogged the courts. (Quote by Michelle White, an economist at UCSD.) More

Blood Substitute Saves Trauma Patients
Channel 8, Austin, Jan. 9-Each year, thousands of accident and trauma victims will die on the way to the nearest emergency room. But a new blood product that could soon be in the ambulance that takes them there could change that fate. (Quote by Dr. David Hoyt, a trauma surgeon at the UCSD Medical Center.) More

Rain may or May not Signal Drought's End
North County Times, Jan. 8-Our recent storms may signal the beginning of the end for the drought that has strangled California, weather experts say. Then again, this winter's rain could just be a tease, and a wet spike in an ongoing long dry spell. Only time will tell. (Quote by Dan Cayan, a climate researcher for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.) More

With Wet Weather Comes Ants
San Mateo Daily Journal, Jan. 10-No other sight can conjure dread like lines of black ants marching across the kitchen floor, teeming in pet food dishes and swarming over garbage cans. (Refers to research conducted by UCSD.) More

Point Man for Bush Pushes New Cure for Homelessness
Honolulu Advertiser, Jan. 9-Philip Mangano, President Bush's coordinator for homeless programs, toured two facilities on O'ahu yesterday and invoked the words of Albert Einstein to point out what has been wrong about America's approach to one of its growing social problems - more and more people with no place to stay. (Refers to study by UCSD.) More

Forecast for S.D.: Business as Usual
San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan. 8-The San Diego economy is poised for a boring year in 2005. And that's good news, local economists and community leaders said yesterday at the annual San Diego County Economic Roundtable. (Quote by Ross Starr, an economist at UCSD.) More

Oil Firm's LNG Plan Gets OK of Mexico
San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan. 7-ChevronTexaco yesterday announced it has received all the Mexican federal approval needed to build its $650 million liquefied natural gas project next to the Coronado Islands, off the Baja California and San Diego County coasts. (Quote by Jeremy Martin, director of the energy program at the Institute of the Americas at UCSD.) More

Some Claims of Benefits from
Moderate Alcohol Use Fail to Go Down Easily
Copley News Service, Jan. 9-With common sense, you know that imbibing too much alcohol is bad for your health. But it seems every week, another confusing study cheers the benefits of moderate consumption - one small glass of wine daily for a woman and two for a man. (Quote by Dr. Michael Criqui, director of the UCSD department of family and preventive health.) More

Troupe Rises to Challenge of Upbeat `Cabaret Dances'
San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan. 8-San Diego Dance Theater is not a repertory company; it exists mainly to serve as a showcase for the work of Jean Isaacs, who's been making choreography in San Diego for more than three decades. (Mentions work by UCSD-based choreographer Yolande Snaith.) More

Airport Naysayers Jeopardize San Diego's Future
North County Times, Opinion, Jan. 8-Opponents of a new San Diego County airport are trying a new tack. Now they claim that projections of robust demand for air travel in the region are based on wishful thinking and are grossly inflated. (Article written by Steve Erie, a professor of political science at UCSD.) More

A Solid Economic Year Seen
Ahead ---- with One Potential Pitfall
North County Times, Jan. 8-San Diego County can expect a repeat of 2004's low unemployment and strong high-tech and biotech growth this year. But if the upcoming round of military base closures hits the county, local business and economic experts said in a panel discussion Friday, that promising outlook could be upended. (Quote by Ross M. Starr, a professor of economics at UCSD.) More