A Sampling of Clips for March 30^th, 2009

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

Sugar-Coated
Nanoparticles Find Hidden Tumors
Discovery Channel, March 30, 2009 -- Nanoparticles that first illuminate, and could then destroy hidden tumors have been created by scientists at UCSD. If approved for clinical use, the new technique could improve the odds of survival for cancer patients by letting doctors diagnose and treat cancer earlier. It would also, in theory, minimize the toxic side effects associated with traditional chemotherapy. More

10 Healthy Ways to Heal After Heartbreak
FOX News, March 26 -- From ice cream to martinis ...  the go-to antidotes for a bad breakup are often about distraction rather than relief. What's more, they tend to injure more than assuage, as if the breakup itself didn't cause enough pain. So, we've identified 10 healthy ways to deal with getting dumped that don't include booze, food or flings. (Mentions research from Harvard and UCSD about happiness being contagious) More

If You Can Raed Tihs,
You Msut Be Raelly Smrat
FOX News, March 30 -- Chances are you've seen this in your inbox: "Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteers be at the rghit pclae.” (Quotes Keith Rayner, professor of psychology and director of the Rayner Eyetracking Lab at UCSD) More

Review: 'San Diego and the Origins
of Conceptual Art in California'
at Cardwell Jimmerson Contemporary Art
Los Angeles Times, March 26 -- San Diego is a sleeper in the art world, always overshadowed by that rather larger cultural engine 120 miles to the north. If institutional and commercial infrastructure has often been the city’s weakness, its community of artists has consistently been its strength. Much of the credit goes to UCSD, whose visual arts department was founded in the late 1960s as a conceptual enterprise in itself and emerged over subsequent decades as a haven for experimentation, interdisciplinary practice and impassioned irreverence. More

Tracing Evolution to a Founding Grandfather
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Opinion, March 30, -- Benjamin Franklin is famous for many things: founding libraries and organizing fire companies, investigating electricity and inventing bifocals, printing newspapers and proclaiming revolution. But evolution? Could Franklin also be the father - or at least the grandfather - of the doctrine of natural selection? Hard to conceive, perhaps, but the evidence is intriguing. (Written by Alan Houston, a political science professor at UCSD) More

Bioscientists Focus on the New,
Vast Potential of Epigenetics
San Diego Union-Tribune, March 30 -- The human genome is an indisputably stunning piece of work: 25,000 or so genes containing all of the essential instructions for building a being. (Quotes Bing Ren, an associate professor of cellular and molecular medicine at UCSD, which recently received a five-year, $16.6 million grant from the federal National Institutes of Health to establish The San Diego Epigenome Center at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research on campus) More

Joining Dots Between Social
Sites Reveals Anonymous Users
New Scientist, March 30 -- It's not unusual for people to have accounts on many social networks – for example, on both Facebook and MySpace, as well as LinkedIn for professional networking and, perhaps, Flickr for photo sharing. But few of those people would guess that their different networks can be connected to reveal a detailed account of their life, even when they have made an effort to keep their accounts separate and anonymous. (Quotes Charles Elkan, a computer scientist at UCSD) More

Bright Ideas
San Diego Union-Tribune, March 30 – Good design or public art equals less crime. Community gardens trump public parks. Asphalt parking lots can be made more environmentally friendly. And high-speed mass transit is a better investment than additional freeway lanes. These and other big ideas are among this year's “grand challenges” research projects completed by 54 urban studies and planning students at UCSD. More

Group Assists Former Foster Youths
San Diego Union-Tribune, March 30 -- For foster-care youths who become adults, it is the little things that can cause big problems. For some, money for a basic car repair can make the difference between holding on to a job or losing it. For others, it's a mattress to sleep on in their first apartment. For Meredith Hall, it was a pair of eyeglasses. Hall is now a UCSD alumna and a program director for the Just in Time program, which supports students who have aged out of the foster care system. More

More Unions Favor Legalizing Workers
San Diego Union-Tribune, March 30 – The dynamics of the farm labor population have changed since César Chávez and others began organizing workers in California's fields. (Quotes Jorge Mariscal, who teaches Chicano studies at UCSD) More

Lack of Harmony Plays
Quite Well in Fine 'Opus'
San Diego Union-Tribune, March 28 -- Minor chords meet major discord in “Opus,” a play that starts with a stately chamber piece and concludes like a Who concert. Kyle Donnelly, who is on the UCSD theater faculty, directs an excellent quintet of actors who somehow did not get around to becoming instrumental virtuosos in rehearsals. More

Keeping Languages Alive
Voice of San Diego, March 27 -- To Ana Celia Zentella, you are what you speak. Zentella, a professor emerita of ethnic studies at UCSD, has studied how languages shape our identities for decades, focusing on the role of language in Latino families. More

San Diego Prepares to Celebrate
César E. Chávez Holiday
With Annual Breakfast & Parade
La Prensa, March 27 -- Plans are well underway for this year César E. Chávez Commemorative Events, as the late United Farm Workers founder and civil rights hero is honored with a series of events throughout the region, including is the 11th annual César Chávez Breakfast and Parade. March 31st is a state holiday in honor of the man who along with Dolores Huerta founded and made it his life work to organize farm workers to attain livable wages and humane working conditions. (Lists UCSD’s activities to commemorate Chavez) More

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