A Sampling of Clips for January 9^th, 2008

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

Supergene Labs Design Microbes to Change Sun to Fuel, Eat Waste
Bloomberg, Jan. 9 -- High on a wall facing celebrity gene researcher Craig Venter's desk, there's a poster-size photo of unique colonies of bacteria that look like two luminescent sky- blue blobs. Venter is a UCSD alumnus. More

Tijuana Crime Bad for Tourism
Marketplace, Jan. 9 -- A rise in violent crime in Tijuana since the summer has put a damper on American tourism, which the city relies heavily on. (Quotes UCSD economist and immigration expert Gordon Hanson) More

Profs: Your Destiny is in Your First Initial
Seattle Times, Jan. 9 -- If William Shakespeare had lived a few centuries later and spent an hour with Leif D. Nelson and Joseph P. Simmons, a pair of academics with a great deal of time on their hands, he might not have used that line about what's in a name. As Nelson, a UCSD researcher, and Simmons explain it, the letters of your name might predict your life outcomes. More

Hospitals Meet Marks on Bypasses
San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan. 9 – San Diego County hospitals performing heart bypass surgery met state expectations in 2005, with risk-adjusted death rates close to California's average of 3.08 percent. (Quotes Dr. Anthony DeMaria, director of UCSD Medical Center's Cardiovascular Center) More

Like Preuss, Other Schools Face Pressures to Soften AP
Voice of San Diego, Jan. 9 -- Colleges fear that schools have misused the AP name to inflate the status of lesser courses, bolstering their reputations without actually toughening classes. Teachers cited just that scenario during the recent Preuss School scandal, claiming that the school's principal and counselor pressured them to make APs easier. If so, experts say Preuss isn't unique. More

Pfizer's Biotech Incubator Gets 2 New Members
San Diego Union-Tribune, Jan. 9 -- Wintherix, a company founded by Dennis Carson, director of the Moores Cancer Center and a professor of medicine at the UCSD School of Medicine, will work on molecules that inhibit signaling pathways in cancer cells that play a role in the development of cancer. Carson believes these “Wnt-signaling pathways” are a potential new way to treat cancer, according to Pfizer. More