A Sampling of Clips for November 6^th, 2009

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

Why India Is Playing Hard to Get on Climate Change
Time, Nov. 6 -- If U.S. diplomats consider India to be a major obstacle to global climate-change negotiations — and they do — it might be because of Sunita Narain. The director of the influential Centre for Science and Environment, Narain can be as caustic as she is intelligent, and never more so than when she is taking rich nations to task for what she sees as their hypocrisy on global warming. (Quotes V. Ramanathan, a climatologist with UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography and director of the Center for Clouds, Chemistry and Climate) More

Preuss Teacher Wins top Honor from State
San Diego Union-Tribune, Nov. 6 -- Kelly Kovacic’s parents wanted her to be a lawyer when she was growing up, but the San Diego social science teacher is thankful she picked a career in education.  “I felt it was a calling,” said Kovacic, 31, a teacher at The Preuss School. California is grateful, too. Yesterday, Kovacic was named one of five state Teachers of the Year and will represent California in the National Teacher of the Year competition next year. More

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Gene Therapy Makes Major Stride in 'Lorenzo's Oil' Disease
Los Angeles Times, Nov. 6 -- In the third gene-therapy success of recent weeks, French researchers have arrested the progression of the rare and fatal degenerative disorder adrenoleukodystrophy, which was at the heart of the popular movie "Lorenzo's Oil." The disease has stabilized in two boys who were 7 years old when the therapy was performed two years ago, the team reported today in the journal Science. "This is a disease that never, ever stabilizes" on its own, said Dr. Katherine A. High of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who was not involved in the research. "The fact that they were able to achieve that means they are getting a therapeutic effect." This is the fifth disease for which gene therapy has been shown to be beneficial, said Dr. Theodore Friedmann of UCSD, who was also not involved. More

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Algae Guru Heading to UCSD
Voice of San Diego, Nov. 6 -- Stephen Mayfield, a world-renowned researcher who studies the use of algae as a biofuel, is leaving his post as the dean of graduate studies at The Scripps Research Institute for a faculty job at UCSD. Mayfield, who is also a co-founder of locally-based biofuel company Sapphire Energy, will join a dream team of biofuels experts at UCSD. It includes Steve Kay, who is dean of UCSD's Division of Biological Sciences; Steve Briggs, who was recruited from the San Diego biotech Diversa; as well as Susan Golden and James Golden from Texas A&M University. More

Weekend Preview: Mary Pickford Silent Film Festival,
Beer Wars, And Singer Songwriter Matt Costa
KBPS, Nov. 5 -- Features interview with Liz Bradshaw the curator of The Loft at UCSD) More

UCSD Expert: China Air Force Much Improved
San Diego News Network, Nov. 5 -- China’s rapidly modernizing air force is planning a display of its new military might for its 60th anniversary, showcasing a wide-ranging technical upgrade that has boosted its capabilities, though it still lags far behind its main rival, the United States. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force is marking the occasion this Sunday with an aerial show and skydiving exhibition, using some of the state-of-the-art combat aircraft that have replaced hundreds of antiquated MIG fighters. (Quotes Cheung Tai Ming, an expert on the Chinese military at UCSD) More

Local Research Teams Awarded $75M in Funding
Del Mar Times, Nov. 5 -- Four local research teams have been awarded nearly $75 million in funding from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine for projects to develop drugs for leukemia, Lou Gehrig's disease and brain tumors. The local grants include:$20 million to a team led by Dennis A. Carson, M.D., director of the Moores UCSD Cancer Center and professor of medicine, and Catriona Jamieson, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine and director of the Cancer Stem Cell Research Program at the Moores center. Their team will work to develop novel drugs against leukemia stem cells, collaborating with a Canadian research team. More

'You First' Debate Pits Economies Against Each Other
San Diego Daily Transcript, Nov. 5 -- The United Nations climate talks that are supposed to produce the successor to the controversial Kyoto Protocol don't get under way in the Danish city for another eight weeks but have already been declared dead. Why? Because an intractable "you first" debate continues to pit major economies against each other and developed nations against developing nations. It persists despite how much more the world knows about global warming than it did when Kyoto was being negotiated. Despite the evidence, still no party wants to look the fool and be the first to make a serious commitment to breaking free of its fossil fuel use. (Written by Robert Monroe, editor of UCSD's Scripps Institution of Oceanography Explorations online magazine) More

The Hub, Shelby Lynne, and Reptet
Santa Barbara Independent, Nov. 4 -- This autumn, there has been a good local harvest in the subterranean realm of computer/electronic music. While still generally constrained to off-the-pop-radar quarters such as academia, special festivals, and hard-to-find spaces, computer music of the abstract, exploratory, and artistic sort (i.e., electronic music without dance beats, easy harmonic lingo, and assorted other accessible shtick) is one of the more fascinating underground frontiers in contemporary music. A few events and important figures in the field have passed through the UCSB campus already, including a visit from French composer Philippe Manoury, now teaching at UCSD. More

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