A Sampling of Clips for 
January 23, 2006

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

Tests to protect buildings
from earthquakes and terrorists
CBS News, Jan. 22 -- The earthquake that shook this seven-story building in Southern California wasn't the big one, it was a man-made one. Video just released by UCSD shows what happens to a structure hit with double the force found at the epicenter of a 1994 quake. That one killed 47 people and destroyed buildings and bridges near Los Angeles. Built over a giant moving platform that can simulate quakes, the test building swayed, cracks opened and closed, as if the building were breathing. But it didn't fall. More

Study finds evolution
doesn't always favor bigger animals
Dominican Today, Jan. 20 -- Biologists have long believed that bigger is better when it comes to body size, since many lineages of animals, from horses to dinosaurs, have evolved into larger species over time. But a study published this week by two biologists at UCSD in an early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that maxim, known as "Cope's Rule," may be only partly true. More

Death. And How to Avoid It.
Los Angeles Times, Jan. 22 -- Dr. Richard Houghten did not choose his parents wisely. His father died at 58, his mother at 51. One grandfather died at 57, another at 47. An uncle, three brothers and his sister all have Type 2 diabetes. He is 59. The awareness of his own mortality drives Houghten, president and director of the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies. It drives the rest of us too, of course, but Houghten and the other biotech cowboys on La Jolla's "Science Mesa" are actually doing something about it. (Mentions UCSD) More

Letters to the Editor:
For and Against UC Pay and Perks
San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan. 22 More

South Korea appeases
the North at the expense of human rights
Taipei Times, Jan. 21 (Editorial) -- Among the policy differences dividing the US and South Korea, one that stands out is divergence over the issue of North Korea's abuses of the human rights of its citizens. (Mentions research by UCSD) More

Expert: U.S., Europe tightly linked
The Desert Sun, Jan. 23 -- The United States and Europe may be deeply divided over such issues as use of military force, the environment and capital punishment but those differences have had little effect on the cooperative economies of these two entities, a foreign policy expert told members of the World Affairs Council of the Desert on Sunday. "Globalization is happening faster and deeper between Europe and America than ever before," said Dr. John E. Rielly, a visiting professor at UCSD. More

Going for broke in battle over gay vows
San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 23 -- Orange County attorney Richard Gilbert says the lawyers fighting for same-sex marriage across the country are leading the gay and lesbian community astray. The widely accepted strategy for legalizing same-sex marriage -- to push for legislation and court victories state by state -- is too timid, Gilbert said at his office in Santa Ana, the county seat of one of California's conservative bastions. (Quote by UCSD sociologist John D. Skrentny) More

Accidental traveler in a brave new world
San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan. 22 - Until a couple of years ago, Mary Ann Buckles had no idea her UCSD dissertation on computer games had made history. She only knew it had made her a kind of heretic. In 1985, Buckles wrote "Interactive Fiction: The Computer Storygame 'Adventure,' " a scholarly look at the early text-based game Adventure and the people who played it. More

Fox's use of vetoes is a start, he says
San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan. 22 - When President Vicente Fox vetoed a measure during his first year in office, it was the first by a Mexican president in 35 years. The reason there had been no vetoes for so long was that Congress had long been a rubber stamp for Mexican presidents, a Mexican congressman said last week at the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at UCSD. More

Youngsters
get into the spirit at jazz conference
San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan. 22 - Legendary musicians were everywhere at the International Association for Jazz Educators' (IAJE) 33rd annual conference here, among them Sonny Rollins, Chick Corea, Ornette Coleman and San Diego's James Moody. The focus of the conference, which was held Jan. 11-14 and drew more than 8,000 people, also extended to Tyler Lindsay (a trumpeter from Virginia Beach, Va.), and Eliza Seruton (a pianist and marimba player from Louisville, Ky). (Quote by UCSD professor Zeinabu Irene Davis) More

Women prepare to lead economy
North County Times, Jan. 23 -- Some economic trends are so momentous we recognize their significance immediately. Others occur so quietly and inconspicuously we do not recognize their significance until many years later. Something of this magnitude has been happening on our college campuses for several years now. Not since they received the right to vote in the 1920s have women made such huge strides forward in asserting their right to participate fully in our economy. (Mentions UCSD) More