A Sampling of Clips for November 23^th, 2009

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

Dirt Can be Good for Children, Say Scientists
BBC News, Nov. 23 -- Messy play should be encouraged, according to the hygiene hypothesis. Children should be allowed to get dirty, according to scientists who have found being too clean can impair the skin's ability to heal. Normal bacteria living on the skin trigger a pathway that helps prevent inflammation when we get hurt, the US team discovered. The bugs dampen down overactive immune responses that can cause cuts and grazes to swell, they say. Their work is published in the online edition of Nature Medicine. Experts said the findings provided an explanation for the "hygiene hypothesis", which holds that exposure to germs during early childhood primes the body against allergies. Many believe our obsession with cleanliness is to blame for the recent boom in allergies in developed countries. Researchers from the School of Medicine at UCSD found a common bacterial species, known as Staphylococci, blocked a vital step in a cascade of events that led to inflammation. More

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Bills Yielding Zero as Stocks Soar Make 1938 Moment
Bloomberg, Nov. 23 -- For the first time in seven decades, Treasury bills are paying no interest while stocks continue to appreciate -- a divergence in U.S. financial markets that might be perilous if Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke didn’t know all about 1938. That’s when the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 25 percent even as bill rates tumbled to 0.05 percent from 0.45 percent. As 1939 began, stocks began a three-year, 34 percent decline after the Fed increased borrowing costs prematurely to stymie inflation that never materialized. (Quotes James Hamilton, a former visiting scholar at the Fed who teaches economics at UCSD) More

Getting to the Facts in the Debate on Mammograms
Los Angeles Times, Nov. 23 -- It's such an appealing idea -- catch breast cancer early, treat accordingly and your patients will live. So perhaps it's no wonder the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force -- a panel of primary care physicians -- caught major flak when it revised its guidelines to say most women don't need mammograms until they turn 50, and thereafter every other year. Previously the recommendations had been to start getting mammograms at age 40, and then every one or two years. (Quotes Dr. Anne Wallace, director of the Moores UC San Diego Breast Cancer Program) More

Is a Wonder Pill Necessarily Wonderful for People with Down Syndrome?
Los Angeles Times, Nov. 18 -- Scientists are hard at work developing a cure for the genetic disorder Down syndrome. But even if they succeed, nearly 60% of parents whose children have Down syndrome might take a pass.
In a survey conducted by researchers from the psychiatry department at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, 27% of parents said they would not cure their children, and another 32% said they were unsure. Many parents expressed concern that a cure would change their child’s personality, said Angela Inglis, a genetic counselor who worked on the survey. (Mentions researchers at UCSD) More

Only a Game
NPR, Nov. 21 -- With an ownership change during the NBA offseason, the New Jersey Nets made headlines in Sports sections across the country.  Since then, though, the team’s outlook has been decidedly less rosy.  Bill talks with Dave D’Alessandro of the Newark Star Ledger about the NBA’s worst team. (Features interview with UCSD history professor Robert Edelman who talks about his new book, Spartak Moscow, that chronicles Russia’s most storied team) More

Einstein Robot 'Albert Hubo' Brings Physicist Back To Life
Huffington Post, Nov. 21 -- The famed physicist Albert Einstein may no longer be living, but his robotic double almost seems to bring the scientist back to life. The engineers at Hanson Robotics have created a robotic head designed to look like Albert Einstein's and put it on top of the "HUBO" bipedal robotic frame. The following video demonstrates the intricate facial movements that Hanson Robotics has been able to achieve with "Einstein's" face, giving the robot a surprising range of facial expressions. The video even pictures Albert Hubo walking surprisingly well by itself, then shows it stopping to have a chat. (Albert Hubo currently resides at UCSD with researchers who are working with the robot to help it emote, perform more realistic facial expressions and interact with humans) More

Amid Fee Hikes, UC Publicizes Tax Breaks
Fresno Bee, Nov. 22 -- Lost amid the hubbub of campus protests last week was a message University of California leaders desperately want middle-class families to hear: Yes, the new fee hikes mean you'll have to come up with more money to pay for your child's education – but you'll get a lot of it back when you do your taxes. The federal stimulus package included many changes to the tax credits that parents can claim for children in college. It upped the maximum credit from $1,800 to $2,500 per student, raised the household income ceiling for eligibility from $116,000 to $180,000 and increased the length of time parents can claim the credit from two years to four. (Mentions UCSD) More

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Voter Support Unclear for Projects
San Diego Union-Tribune, Nov. 22 -- The emerging vision for downtown San Diego’s skyline includes nearly $1.4 billion in grand civic projects that would serve residents for generations to come. But who should have the final say on each project: voters or elected officials? The proposed projects — a domed downtown library, a sail-shaped City Hall and a bayfront convention center expansion — could all be approved without a single taxpayer casting a vote. That’s a scenario that doesn’t sit well with some voters who feel they’ve been burned by city leaders touting the benefits of past civic deals.  (Quotes Steve Erie, a political science professor at UCSD) More

The Music Man: Ken Anderson
San Diego Union-Tribune, Nov. 22 -- Ken Anderson’s generosity of time, talent and spirit attracts an ever-growing number of students, singers and admirers into his sphere. He is a tenor, a choir director, a music teacher and a church pastor, and that’s just the professional side. Consider his 21-year stint as director of the Gospel Choir at UCSD, where the group continues to thrive. At the beginning of his first year of teaching in 1989, there were 370 students; by the end of his fourth year, 1,627 students were registered for his two classes — about one-tenth of the university population at that time. More

School Absence Hotline Helps Track Sick Students
KPBS, Nov. 17 -- An absence hotline at a Poway elementary school is helping campus officials identify student health problems before they get out-of-control. Parents at Monterey Ridge Elementary School used to call-in or leave a message if their child was home sick. Now when they call, they respond to questions like this: Have you taken your child's temperature? Is there a rash? Sore throat? Runny or stuffy nose? Which ones? Through a series of prerecorded questions, parents provide quick and accurate information about their child's health. UCSD professor David Kirsh developed the call-in system. He secured a $200,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to test the hotline at the Poway school. More

Dry Spell is No Measure of How Wet San Diego’s Rainfall Year Will Be
San Diego Union-Tribune, Nov. 23 -- A pessimist would look at the numbers, see an empty glass and cringe. An optimist would see a fine glass that could still hold a lot, then say the emptiness is nothing to worry about.
The first four months of the rainfall season, Lindbergh Field, San Diego’s official weather station, recorded no measurable rain at all. That’s only happened eight times since record-keeping began in the city in 1850. (Quotes Dan Cayan, a researcher for the U.S. Geological Service and UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography) More

With Teddy Cruz on "Power" and "Powerlessness"
Archinect, Nov. 19 -- Why Teddy Cruz? UCSD Visual Arts professor Teddy Cruz has been conducting research that interests those of us who believe that there is no “and” with politics for architecture and planning practices. Participation is the buzzword for urban transformation for such a long time but the nature of participation has mostly perceived to be consensus. As the political theorist Chantal Mouffe argues, conflict is already participation that does not need to end in resolution. Borders in a “globalized” world bring the issues of autonomy, conflict, mobility and exchange which have been the main interest of Cruz along the political equator idea he suggests. More

Construction Begins on High-Tech School of Medicine
XETV, Nov. 20 -- Construction began Friday at UCSD’s School of Medicine on a 99,000-square-foot facility that will be used to teach future physicians high-tech ways of delivering health care, from telemedicine to robotic surgeries.
The UCSD Medical Education and Telemedicine Center is scheduled to open in the fall of 2011. More

UCSD to Open New Sustainability Resource Center
San Diego Daily Transcript, Nov. 20 -- UCSD unveiled a new Sustainability Resource Center Friday that will soon offer information about green jobs and sustainability-related courses. Located in the Price Center, the Sustainability Resource Center will house campus sustainability staff and the Student Sustainability Collective. The facility includes a public outreach space and a library showcasing sustainability research projects at UCSD. In the spirit of sustainability, UCSD is seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification, the highest rating for efficiency available under the U.S. Green Building Council rating system. More

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