A Sampling of Clips for July 17^th, 2009

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

California: Invasion of the Giant Squid!
The New York Times, July 17 -- Thousands of jumbo flying squid, aggressive 5-foot-long sea monsters with razor-sharp beaks and toothy tentacles, have invaded the shallow waters off San Diego, spooking scuba divers and washing up dead on beaches. (Quotes Nigella Hillgarth, executive director of the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography) More

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FOX News
BBC News
USA Today
KPBS

When to Let a Bank Fail
The New York Times, July 17 -- Does it send the wrong message to the banking sector when big banks are rescued when they engage in behavior that would otherwise be fatal for smaller institutions? UCSD economist James Hamilton discusses the issue. More

Classrooms Go High-Tech
to Engage Students
U.S. News & World Report, July 16 -- Unlike many teachers, Beth Simon hasn't banned her college students from using their cell phones or the Internet during class. Instead, the computer science professor encourages them to text message responses to her questions and research information on the Web while she is lecturing. "They're going to use it no matter what," said Simon, of UCSD. "How do you use this ubiquitous technology that's out there to change the dynamic of the classroom, to engage the students?" More

Similar stories in
Education Week

National Parks Not Always
Refuges for Kenyan Wildlife
Christian Science Monitor, July 16 -- Most of us tend to think of national parks as places that provide abundant protection for wildlife. But that’s not necessarily so. A recent UCSD study says that populations of elephants, giraffes, and other wildlife inside Kenyan national parks have declined at the same rate as animals living outside the parks – 40 percent from 1977 to 1997, with the steepest losses in the 1990s. More

12 Ways to Protect Your
Skin and Prevent Skin Cancer
San Francisco Chronicle, July 16 -- For years, researchers had puzzled over the fact that sunscreen users seemed more likely to develop melanoma than those who didn't protect themselves. But now scientists from UCSD may have figured out why. More

Are You Too Sensitive?
San Francisco Chronicle, July 16 -- Scientists report that sensitivity runs rampant in certain family trees. And I'm not alone: 15 to 20 percent of the population is thin-skinned. (Mentions research at UCSD) More

UCSD Medical Center Ranks High in Report
San Diego Union-Tribune, July 16 -- U.S. News & World Report ranked six specialties at UC San Diego Medical Center among the nation's best, it was announced today. UCSD Medical Center's respiratory diseases program was ranked 14th in the nation, psychiatry 20th, rheumatology 21st, urology, 39th, kidney 43rd and cancer 47th, according to the university. More

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San Diego Daily Transcript
San Diego News Network

San Diego Police Help Homeless
Alcoholics Clean Up Their Act
KPBS, July 17 -- Homelessness and alcoholism often go together. And that's a big problem for California hospitals. Homeless alcoholics tend to be frequent users of emergency rooms, at considerable expense. San Diego is one city that's trying to do something about it. It's another busy afternoon in the emergency room at UCSD Medical Center. More

Hotline for UCSD Patients Swamped
San Diego Union-Tribune, July 17 -- The hotline established by UCSD's Moores Cancer Center after a hacker breached the center's computers and gained access to patients' personal information has been swamped with hundreds of calls from worried patients. More

Testing Einstein with a Box Left on the Moon
Voice of San Diego, July 16 -- UCSD physicist Tom Murphy wasn't alive for the famous moon landing. But these days he is one of the greatest beneficiaries of the achievement. Murphy is the latest in a line of scientists to use the box to push Albert Einstein's theory of relativity to its limits. More

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