A Sampling of Clips for November 12^th, 2008

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

Does a Much-Hyped Cancer Treatment Actually Make Tumors Get Bigger?
Scientific American, Nov. 9 -- Turning off a protein that helps grow blood vessels that feed tumors actually makes cancers get bigger, not smaller, according to two new studies, including one at UCSD. More

Parsing the Genetics of Behavior
Science, November 2008 -- For some of us, it's satisfying to attribute social awkwardness to anxiety genes or to think that the driver who cuts off other cars as he zips across lanes is pumped up by the "warrior" gene. But as scientists are discovering, nailing down the genes that underlie our unique personalities has proven exceedingly difficult. (Quotes UCSD political scientist James Fowler) More

Unemployment: How to Slow the Bleeding
MSNBC, Nov. 11 -- It's now become apparent that the most painful part of the economic downturn -- the part where many thousands of people lose their jobs -- is picking up speed. (Quotes UCSD economist James Hamilton) More

A Golden, Global Evening with Chorale
Los Angeles Times, Nov. 11 -- With a remarkably wide global context, a concert commemorated the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the single night when, throughout Germany, nearly 100 Jews were murdered and thousands were arrested and deported to concentration camps. In "Spiral XII," Chinary Ung, who moved to the U.S. in 1964 and teaches at UCSD, reflects on the Cambodian holocaust, the murder by the Khmer Rouge of more than a million people. More

Brain Sees Fine Line Between Speech and Song
New Scientist, Nov. 11 -- A sound curiosity, in which a spoken phrase seems to morph into a song when repeated, is shedding light on the difference between speech and song. Diana Deutsch, a psychologist at UCSD, first noticed the illusion in the mid-1990s when editing a recording of her own voice. One phrase - "sometimes behaves so strangely" - began to sound like a song when she replayed it several times. More

Stem Cell Research Focus of Meeting
San Diego Union-Tribune, Nov. 8 –Think about stem cells acting as a surrogate for the human heart to determine whether experimental drugs would be toxic. Scientists from across the country, including UCSD’s Larry Goldstein, discussed that and other research projects yesterday at the third annual Stem Cell Meeting on the Mesa at the Salk Institute. More

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Xconomy

UCSD, a 'Tree Campus,' Plans to Plant Some More
San Diego Union-Tribune, Nov. 11 – UCSD plans to celebrate its designation as a Tree Campus USA with an environmentally friendly event. The university will mark the recognition, given for environmental initiatives such as a tree-planting campaign during Earth Week, by planting 100 trees tomorrow to replace trees killed by recent droughts. More

Scripps Mercy Announces $203 Million Expansion
San Diego Union-Tribune, Nov. 12 – Scripps Mercy officials announced a $203 million makeover for the Hillcrest hospital yesterday that will double the size of its emergency department, expand the intensive care unit and centralize cancer services. (Mentions UCSD) More

Medicare Won't Pay Hospitals for Errors in Care
San Diego Union-Tribune, Nov. 12 – For decades, the federal government paid hospitals to care for patients injured by the mistakes of doctors and nurses. The arrangement created an odd, if not dysfunctional, system that essentially rewarded hospitals for blunders they should have avoided. (Quotes Paul Craig, chief risk and safety officer for the UCSD Medical Center) More

Preuss Recognized as Top-Performing School
San Diego Union-Tribune, Nov. 12 – The Preuss School at UCSD has been recognized by a professional association as one of the state's top-performing schools at serving children in poverty. More

Giant Kelp Reef Project Completed
10News, Nov. 11. -- Southern California Edison announced Monday the completion of a 175-acre artificial giant kelp reef just north of San Diego County, which the utility calls the largest environmental restoration project of its kind in the U.S. (Quotes Ed Parnell, a marine ecologist at UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography) More

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San Diego 6
News8, San Diego, Calif.
La Jolla Light

Susan G. Komen Gives Local Researchers Big Donation
News8, San Diego, Calif., Nov. 10 -- Whether it's a small group of friends, or Team Girlfriends Never Forget or the thousands who walk in the Annual Susan G. Komen 3-Day. They do it to pay tribute to those who've died from breast cancer and to raise money to find a cure for the disease. (Quotes UCSD researcher Weizhou Zhang) More

Improving Access to Clinical Trials is Goal of New Partnership
KPBS, Nov. 10 – The UCSD Medical School is entering into a new partnership with Palomar Pomerado Health. Doctors say the arrangement should improve access to clinical trials for patients throughout the region. More

Similar story in
San Diego Daily Transcript

Republican Party Revising Game Plan Following Election Day Defeat
KPBS, Nov. 10 – The Republican Party isn't going away, and the conversation over what should be the party's future will go on for some time. These Days host Tom Fudge and guests, including UCSD political scientist Thad Kousser, hold a conversation about what, aside from Barack Obama, seems to have gone wrong with the GOP. More

Election Reveals Growing Coastal-Inland Rift
North County Times, Nov. 11 -- President-elect Barack Obama garnered a lot of votes on the North County coast but tended not to do well in the area's inland communities, according to unofficial results from the Nov. 4 general election. (Quotes UCSD political scientist Gary Jacobson) More

UCSD to Host Veterans Recognition Event
Wednesday, Continues Student Veteran Support Efforts
San Diego Daily Transcript, Nov. 11 – UCSD has initiated several new programs designed to help student veterans as the campus gears up for an expected increase in the number of students who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. More

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