A Sampling of Clips for May 4^th, 2009

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

An Unforgettable Tale of Amnesia
CBS News, May 3 -- The amnesiac hero has long been a Hollywood staple. But in real life, the loss of memory is not an entertaining experience. To really wrap your brain around amnesia, there's probably no better place to go than the Brain Observatory, part of the UCSD Medical School. More

A Break from Classes to Learn How Waves Break
Los Angeles Times, May 3 -- Blake Cole, 19, of Redondo Beach emerged from the surf Saturday morning, longboard under his arm, and professed himself satisfied. "Having fun and doing science," he said. "That's what it's all about." Indeed, the essence of the Physics of Surfing, a 1-unit course for freshmen at UCSD, is to mix physical exertion and intellectual rigor. More

Oldest Dinosaur Protein Found -- Blood Vessels, More
National Geographic, May 1 -- The fossilized leg of an 80-million-year-old duck-billed dinosaur has yielded the oldest known proteins preserved in soft tissue—including blood vessels and other connective tissue as well as perhaps blood cell proteins—a new study says. (Quotes Pavel Pevzner, a computational biologist at UCSD, who was not involved in the new research) More

Rutgers Uses Robot Sub to Interest Students in Marine Sciences
The New York Times, May 3 -- Scarlet is a submersible glider, an unmanned underwater robot shaped something like a miniature jetliner, that was launched from Tuckerton, N.J., in Ocean County, last Monday by students and faculty members in Rutgers’s Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences. (Mentions the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD, which also has “flown” gliders in recent years) More

Ancient Tsunami 'Hit New York'
BBC News, May 3 -- A huge wave crashed into the New York City region 2,300 years ago, dumping sediment and shells across Long Island and New Jersey and casting wood debris far up the Hudson River. (Quotes Neal Driscoll, a geologist from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who is not associated with the research) More

2 Women Nominated as University of California Chancellors
Los Angeles Times, May 2 -- Two women, one a noted cancer researcher and the other an electrical engineering expert and veteran academic administrator, were nominated Friday to become chancellors at UC San Francisco and UC Davis, respectively. Currently, only one woman, Marye Anne Fox at UCSD, heads any of the system's 10 campuses. More

Similar story in
San Francisco Chronicle
Sacramento Bee
San Diego Union-Tribune

Rat, Toad and Mole Get Footnotes
Newsweek, April 27 -- As the old line about dissecting jokes says, if you try to explain the charm of “The Wind in the Willows,” you might end up with little more than a dead toad (and mole … and rat … and badger …). So the news that two annotated versions of Grahame's book would appear within a few weeks of one another, including one by Seth Lerer, UCSD’s dean of Arts and Humanities, raises some difficult questions. More

Mexico's Illegal-Reefer Madness
Los Angeles Times, Opinion, May 4 -- Last month, Mexico's Congress convened a special forum to consider marijuana policy reform as a remedy for that country's current crisis of violence. The forum bucked a century of staunch prohibitionist history in Mexico, a history that has contributed to the continued criminalization of marijuana use throughout North America. (Written by Isaac Campos, an assistant professor of history at the University of Cincinnati and a visiting fellow at UCSD’s Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies) More

Officials Celebrate Project to Cut Water Loss on All-American Canal
Los Angeles Times, May 2 - OnThursday, water officials gathered at the All-American Canal to celebrate what they called a rare example of cooperation in the often contentious arena of water politics. (Quotes Steve Erie, water policy expert and professor of political science at UCSD) More

America's Algae Capital?
San Diego Union-Tribune, Opinion, May 3 -- San Diego is about to become America's algae capital. That may not sound all that appealing until one considers the regional, national and international implications. Recently, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Scripps Research Institute, Salk Institute, San Diego State University, UCSD and some biotech companies formed the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology to promote research. More

In the Zone
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 3 -- Hungarian-born graduate student Katalin Lukacs was one of the first musicians to play in the state-of-the-art small concert hall in the new $53 million Conrad Prebys Music Center at UCSD. Soon the public will have the same opportunity to experience an acoustical environment that UCSD hopes, in the words of Rand Steiger, the music department chair, “will develop a reputation as being one of the best small concert halls in the world.” More

Finding Oz
San Francisco Chronicle, Book Review, May 3 -- How did a mediocre theater manager become the author of a best-selling children's classic? How did L. Frank Baum - who seemed incapable of succeeding at the theater, the newspaper and the dry-goods store - become the man who wrote "The Wizard of Oz"? (Written by Seth Lerer, dean of Arts and Humanities at UCSD and the author of "Children's Literature: A Reader's History," which won the National Book Critics Circle award in March) More

There's Light at the End of the Dark Tunnel Called Alzheimer's
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 4 -- On May 10, HBO will premiere a four-part documentary series called “The Alzheimer's Project,” which chronicles the lives of patients and their caregivers and the labors of scientists and doctors searching for effective treatments and, perhaps, an eventual cure. UCSD’s Dr. Paul Aisen is among researchers featured in the HBO series “The Alzheimer’s Project.” More

Flu Closes Three Local Schools
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 4 – Swine flu hit home in a big way yesterday when county health officials announced that three schools serving about 5,000 students probably will be closed until mid-May, throwing into chaos classes, sporting events and the prom. (Quotes Dr. Joshua Fierer, a professor of medicine at UCSD) More

Cracking the Swine Flu Case
Inside Mexico, April 30 -- One of the biggest questions being asked about swine flu is: Why is it hitting Mexico harder than anywhere else in the world? In other words, why are there more cases and, particularly, more deaths in Mexico when the flu to date seems relatively mild in the US, Canada and Europe? But even posing that question isn't so simple, explains Timothy Rodwell, an epidemiologist in the Division of Global Public Health at UCSD. More

A Timeless Work Explores Themes of Adaptation, Conflict
San Diego Union-Tribune, Opinion, May 3 -- “Madama Butterfly” is a love story, and timeless, but set in the very specific context of Japan's response to the West, and specifically to the United States, and as such evokes a lot of themes we discuss at UCSD's School of International Relations and Pacific Studies. (Written by Peter Gourevitch, a professor and founding dean at UCSD's School of International Relations and Pacific Studies) More

Researcher Explores the Psychology of Overeating
KPBS, May 4 -- The problem of being overweight in America is a problem of overeating. The habits that cause people to overeat are hard to break. But a researcher at UCSD will embark on a test that seeks to understand and overcome those bad habits. More

UCSD Electric Racecar Shifts Into Competition
KPBS, May 4 -- UCSD engineering students are driving into the future with an electric racecar. They hope to fuel the trend toward "green" vehicles. The engineering students will race their car against more than 30 college and university teams from across the globe. More

Sushi Takes it Sinewy, Then Prim and Outraged
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 2 -- Mary Poppins barricades herself behind a stack of suitcases against the insanity of war, and African animals gambol on a savanna in two dances, both premieres, by Yolande Snaith's IMAGOmoves at Sushi this weekend. Snaith heads UCSD’s dance program. More

A Better Understanding of the Brain
Voice of San Diego, May 1 -- Research is just now beginning to dispel long-held beliefs ranging from the effects of genes and environment on an individual's personality to how substance abuse changes the structure of the brain. At the forefront of this research is UCSD's Terry Jernigan. The 57-year-old neuropsychologist, and director of UCSD's Center for Human Development, is more apt to tell you how much she doesn't know about the brain than how much she does know. More

San Diego’s Premier Literary Festival Offers Stellar Lineup
La Prensa, May 1 -- There’s something for everyone at the 16th annual Border Voices Poetry Festival on May 9 in Balboa Park. Among the attractions at the free, all-day event: Four celebrated poets; Risa the Poetry Clown; music by the Celtic Ensemble, featuring Claudia Poquoc. Also featured isthe much-honored UCSD poet Rae Armantrout, “consummate in authority and yet so generous to her readers. More

On the Move
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 4 -- Susan Varnum has joined UCSD Extension as director of the Digital Arts Center, overseeing continuing education certificate programs in digital graphics. In addition to teaching digital arts, Varnum has experience in graphic animation, including 3D, motion and visual effects. She was graphics department head at the Discovery Channel. More

Similar story in
San Diego Business Journal

* Subscribe with In the News and receive our clips automatically