A Sampling of Clips for May 26^th, 2009

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

New Rules on Stem Cells Threaten Current Research
The Washington Post, May 25  -- When President Obama lifted restrictions on federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research in March, many scientists hailed the move as a long-awaited boost for one of the most promising fields of medical research. Since then, however, many proponents have concluded that the plan could have the opposite effect, putting off-limits for federal support much of the research underway, including work that the Bush administration endorsed. (Quotes Lawrence S. Goldstein, director of the stem cell program at UCSD) More

Similar stories in
Dallas Morning News
Chronicle of Higher Education

Herbert York, 87, Top Nuclear Physicist
Who Was Arms Control Advocate, Dies
The New York Times, May 24 -- Herbert York, a physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project developing the atomic bomb and later became a leading advocate of arms control and nuclear test bans, died Tuesday in San Diego. He was 87. Mr. York spent the later years of his career teaching physics at UCSD. He served as the university’s chancellor from its founding in 1961 until 1964, and again from 1970 to 1972. More

Similar story in
San Diego Union-Tribune, Opinion

Obama Gives NASA's New Chief Pilot a Difficult Flight Plan
Miami Herald, May 23 -- Charles Bolden's task as new chief will be more difficult and complex than merely restoring the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to its glory days of the 1960s, when the United States raced and beat the Soviet Union to the moon. (Quotes Jeffrey Bada, a professor of geosciences research at UCSD) More

Similar stories in
Kansas City Star
News & Observer, Charlotte, N.C.
San Diego Union-Tribune

Low Vitamin D Levels May Initiate Cancer Development
U.S. News & World Report, May 22 -- Low levels of vitamin D may contribute to cancer development, U.S. researchers have found. "The first event in cancer is loss of communication among cells due to, among other things, low vitamin D and calcium levels," study leader Cedric Garland, an epidemiologist at the Moores Cancer Center at UCSD, said in a university news release. More

Electric Car Infrastructure Trials: Some Progress, Long Road Ahead
Reuters, May 25 -- For at least one of the 26 partners that the Renault-Nissan Alliance has lined up so far — utility San Diego Gas & Electric — the vision for how to support plug-in vehicles at even a pilot scale is just beginning to take shape. (Mentions UCSD) More

Voyage to the Centre of the 'Plastic Vortex'
Agence France Presse, May 24 -- A group of conservationists and scientists is due to set sail for an obscure corner of the Pacific Ocean in the coming months to explore a vast swirl of waste known as the "Plastic Vortex." (Quotes Jim Dufour, a senior engineer at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California, who is advising the trip) More

Regulating Tobacco
San Diego Union-Tribune, Opinion, May 23 — Among the scarier bits of news this week was the abstract published by retired UCSD professor David Burns, one of the top tobacco scientists in the country, summarizing two years of research by Burns and a UCSD colleague on smoking and lung cancer. More

Interested in Oceans?
Discover Magazine, May 24 -- When in Long Beach earlier this month, I had the pleasure of hanging out with Wolf Berger; Professor of Oceanography Emeritus and Research Professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.  Wolf has a terrific new book out called “Ocean: Reflections on a Century of Exploration” which covers, well… nearly everything! More

Calls for Reform are Growing  a Year Away from Next Election
Contra Costa Times, May 24 -- The movement to hold a constitutional convention is growing, as is the push — mainly by Democrats, but also good government groups — to eliminate the two-thirds vote required on budgets and, possibly, taxes. (Quotes UCSD political scientist Thad Kousser) More

Commencement Star Power
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 23 — This year, three local universities have plucked speakers from the pop culture pantheon. Mike Judge, father of “Beavis & Butt-Head,” is at UCSD! Jim Parsons from “The Big Bang Theory” is at the University of San Diego! Lisa Ling from “The Oprah Winfrey Show” is at National University! More

Studies Chart Humans' Huge Effect on Sea Life
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 25 — Humans have been exploiting the oceans for far longer and with more devastating effect than anyone had imagined, scientists report in advance of an international conference on the state of the Earth's oceans and marine life. (Mentions a Scripps Institution of Oceanography study published this year by Loren McClenachan and others documented how much marine life in the Florida Keys has changed in 50 years) More

UCSD Has the Smarts for Div. II Title
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 24 — The Navy may have kick-started San Diego, but powered by cerebral horsepower, UCSD has taken the city for a ride. Nobel laureates dot its campus like so many eucalyptus trees. Nothing that has happened in this area has been more important than this incredible institute of higher learning. It changed our region for good, for the better. It diversified us. It cultured us. It dotted our i. More

Holocaust Survivor Reflects On Day U.S. Troops Saved Her
10News, May 25 -- Dr. Edith Eger is a licensed clinical psychologist and clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the UCSD Medical School. Eger is also a holocaust survivor. More

UCSD Educator Artfully Elevates Eccentricity
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 24 — An admittedly “eccentric interview style” helped artist Ernest Silva get his job teaching in the Visual Art Department at UCSD. How eccentric? He brought a garment bag with him to the Washington, D.C., interview for a one-year position. Inside: a selection of men's suits he had painted. One of his interviewers that day, UCSD faculty member and artist Eleanor Antin, “saw it as a sort of mini-performance,” Silva recalled with a smile. More

$1 Million Given to Honor UCSD Math Founder
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 26 — The late spouse of a UCSD academic heavyweight has left $1 million to the La Jolla campus. The gift from the Ilse Warschawski trust was given in honor of her late husband, Stefan E. “Steve” Warschawski, founder of the mathematics department at UCSD. More

Rethinking Commerce Quotient on the Border
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 24 -- It's been 15 years since the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect. Since then, we have had one business group after another trying to figure out how San Diego County and Mexico can build a better future together. (Quotes Steve Erie, a public policy professor at UCSD) More

La Jolla Ensemble Sets an Ambitious Season
San Diego Union-Tribune, May 24 — The La Jolla Symphony & Chorus has announced a 2009-2010 season featuring music director and UCSD professor Steven Schick in five of the six concerts and a wide range of repertoire including Bernstein's rarely performed “Mass.” More

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