A Sampling of Clips for June 6^th, 2009

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

Ocean Trash Problem 'Far From Being Solved,' U.N. Says
CNN, June 8 -- The world's oceans are full of trash, causing "tremendous" negative impacts on coastal life and ecology, according to a U.N. report released Monday. The oceans will continue to fill up with junk discarded from cities and boats without urgent action to address this buildup of marine debris, the United Nations Environment Programme says in a report titled "Marine Litter: A Global Challenge." (Quotes Peter Niiler, a distinguished researcher and oceanographer at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography) More

Scientists: California's Draught Expected to End Due to Incoming El Nino
Xinhua, June 6 – Long-term forecasts generated at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD indicate that an El Nino is forming, as the conditions seem ripe for an increase in sea temperatures and ocean levels off Peru. More

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NBC Los Angeles
NBC Bay Area, San Francisco, Calif.
San Diego Union-Tribune

Search for Downed Plane Highlights Ocean Trash Problem
CNN, June 5 -- The massive amount of garbage in the ocean likely complicates the search for the remains of an Air France flight that went missing Monday near Brazil, oceanographers who spoke with CNN said. (Quotes Peter Niiler, an oceanographer and distinguished researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography) More

Venice is Doubly Enamored of Bruce Nauman
Los Angeles Times, June 7 -- Given his stature among the crucial artists of the last 40 years, Bruce Nauman is no surprise as the artist whose exhibition was chosen to receive the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 53rd Venice Biennale, which opened Sunday. Among Nauman's established masterpieces is "Vices and Virtues," designed as a commission for the Stuart Collection at UCSD in 1983 and installed in 1988 around the top of the boxy Powell Structural Systems Laboratory, near the center of the campus. More

Modernist Minotaurs
The Times of London, Book Review, June 3 -- As UCSD historian Cathy Gere demonstrates in her fascinating and consistently entertaining account of the discovery of the Minoan world, the boundaries between Cretan myth and modernist neurosis were almost as blurred amid the dust of Knossos as they were in the pages of Ulysses or on the canvas of “Guernica”. More

Stagflation Scenario Stalks U.S. as Commodities Jump
Bloomberg, June 8 -- As if General Motors Corp. didn’t have enough to worry about, a 60 percent jump in gasoline prices this year may cause inflation to soar as it did in 2008 and throw another roadblock in the way of recovery. (Quotes James Hamilton, a professor of economics at UCSD) More

Of Animal Bondage
The Washington Post, Book Review, June 7 -- In "The Wauchula Woods Accord," Charles Siebert provides a book-length exploration of the role humans play in inflicting mental disorders on intelligent animal species, particularly great apes. (Written by Kathryn Shevelow, whose most recent book is "For the Love of Animals: The Rise of the Animal Protection Movement" and who teaches at UCSD) More

New Lung Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise
WKOWTV, Madison, Wis., June 5 -- Doctors at UCSD treated the very first patient with a new lung cancer vaccine - now in its final testing phase. The findings up to now show that patients who receive the vaccine, called lucanix, live longer than patients who receive a placebo. More

Amnesia: A Mystery With No Easy Answers
Houston Chronicle, June 7 -- The real world of the functional amnesiac is one seldom marked by tidy happy endings. Sometimes many or all of their memories never come back, or they return in frustrating drips and drabs. Sometimes doctors suggest it might be best that the memories stay gone, arguing there was a good reason they were locked away in the first place. (Quotes UCSD researcher Mark Kritchevsky) More

Yes, Bankruptcy Helps the Undeserving
Dallas Morning News, Opinion, June 5 -- America is the most bankrupt nation on earth. Our government is for the nonce relatively solvent, its AAA rating intact. But our citizens declare bankruptcy at a rate that astonishes the rest of the world. (Mentions research by UCSD economist Michelle J. White) More

Looking for a Better Bathroom in Space
San Diego Union-Tribune, June 7 – Having resolved what to do with urine and other fluids produced by astronauts in space (Answer: Recycle it as drinking water), NASA is now searching for a better, more comfortable way of collecting it. And where better to go than UCSD? Or more specifically, the Jacobs School of Engineering, where a handful of undergraduate students are parsing the fluid dynamics of space bathrooms. More

Severing the Link That Gave Us Dr. Chavez
Bakersfield Californian, June 7 -- Rocky Chavez comes home next month, hopefully for good. He'll take up residency at Kern Medical Center, starting a new life in the very place where he first glimpsed this world 26 years ago. He graduates today from the UCSD School of Medicine. More

Tour de Force
San Diego Union-Tribune, June 7 – UCSD researcher Oded Tour isn't trying to reinvent the wheel, just the engine that turns it. He has the makings of a simply better internal-combustion engine. With his father, a former Israeli air force mechanic who conceived the original design, and a handful of supporters, Tour has formed a start-up company to develop and promote their modified version – the Tour Engine – which he says can run on almost any kind of fuel with significantly improved energy efficiency and significantly less pollution. More

New Loop Bus Route to Debut Next Week
San Diego Union-Tribune, June 7 -- A different breed of bus in the UCSD and University City areas will soon have people going in circles. The new “Super Loop” route begins a pilot run June 15. When completed late next year, it will circle through a jampacked community that includes the university, hospitals, a cluster of high-rises and Westfield University Towne Centre shopping mall. More

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10News

The Tony Contenders Agree: It's All in the Family
San Diego Union-Tribune, June 7 – The oddsmakers say that with its 15 nominations, the boy-does-ballet charmer “Billy Elliot” is the show to beat at tonight's Tony Awards. But there's a sleeper in the mix, and the 11 nods for the musical “Next to Normal” are hardly next to nothing. (Quotes Michael Greif, a UCSD alum and Broadway veteran who was artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse from 1995 to 1999 and directed “Next to Normal”) More

Ocean Health Declining
KPBS, June 5 -- It's World Ocean Day. The international celebration is designated by the United Nations as day to take action to protect marine ecosystems. UCSD research shows the health of the oceans has declined in recent decades. Scientists say pollution, declining fisheries and climate change are causing severe deterioration of the oceans. More

Study Predicts Illegal Migration from Mexico
Will Increase When US Economy Rebounds
KPBS, June 5 -- A new study study from the Center for Comparative Immigration at UCSD shows migrants from Mexico are willing to brave tougher border enforcement if they know there's work on the U.S. side. More

Similar story in
San Diego Union-Tribune

New Pharmacists Shaped by Experience in Vietnam
KPBS, June 5 — The fourth graduating class from UCSD's Skaggs School of Pharmacy will receive their doctoral degrees tomorrow. Three of the graduates spent their final clinical rotation in Vietnam. More

UCSD Drops the Giant Watermelon
NBC San Diego, June 5 -- Seven stories later, a stain is all that is left of one of UCSD's oldest traditions. This year a pair of Watermelon Queens were given the honor of dropping the fruit from the seventh-story balcony of Urey Hall. The sacrificial watermelon gave up its life shortly after noon on Friday, to the delight of the assembled students, faculty and staff. More

Similar story in
La Jolla Light

How to Treat Snake Bites
KUSI, June 5 -- As you enjoy the great outdoors this summer, pay close attention to your surroundings. Snakes are most active when the weather is warm, and doctors are reporting more powerful bites than usual this season. Doctor Richard Clark, Director of Toxicology at UCSD, was here to tell us what we should do if we're bitten. More

SANDAG to Study Artificial Reef
North County Times, June 5 -- A regional planning agency is setting the stage for a 2012 sand replenishment project like the one that dumped enough sand on county beaches in 2001 to fill Qualcomm Stadium. (Quotes Reinhard Flick, an oceanographer with the California Department of Boating and Waterways and a researcher for UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography) More

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