A Sampling of Clips for October 9^th, 2009

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

Obesity, Politics, STDs Flow in Social Networks
CNN, Oct. 8 – Meet "network man." He has basic desires of his own, but has many arbitrary preferences, such as in music or clothes, that have been influenced by the people he knows. Network man's likes and dislikes, in turn, affect the behavior of his friends, and their friends, and their friends. For example, when he gets into an obscure indie rock band, he shares an album with his friend, who likes it so much that he recommends it to his cousin, who spreads the word to her friends. This is the view of human behavior put forth in "Connected," a new book by Dr. Nicholas Christakis, professor at Harvard University, and James Fowler, associate professor at UCSD. More

No Fair! Leonardo Got the Good Side of the Room!
The New York Times, Oct. 9 – What stopped Michelangelo from even starting the battle mural he was commissioned to do on the same wall as Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Battle of Anghiari”? Before we get to some imaginary dialogue between the two painters (in response to my previous post about the murals), let me give you an answer from Maurizio Seracini, who has been leading the search for the lost Leonardo painting. He believes the answer may be found in the layout of the hall, which Dr. Seracini has constructed with the help of colleagues at the Center of Interdisciplinary Science for Art, Architecture and Archaeology at UCSD. More 

Forbes: U.S. Awards $60 Million for Vaccine Boosters
Forbes, Oct. 8 -- The U.S. government awarded $60 million to researchers and companies on Thursday to develop vaccine adjuvants -- substances designed to boost the immune response and can help stretch short vaccine supplies. 'The goal of these awards is to find safe new adjuvants that will boost the effectiveness of vaccines,' Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, which awarded the grants. (Mentions researchers at UCSD, who received other awards) More

UCSD Named One of the Greenest Campuses
XETV, Oct. 8 – UCSD was ranked among the nation's 26 greenest campuses in the 2010 College Sustainability Report Card, it was announced Thursday. UCSD received an overall grade of "A-" -- the highest ranking awarded in the report card and an achievement shared with only 25 other campuses nationwide, according to the university. Our campus is off to a great start, and we will continue to aggressively pursue our goal to be among the world's greenest campuses," said Russell Thackston, UCSD's assistant vice chancellor of auxiliary and plant services. More

Similar story in 10News

The Choices in Afghanistan
San Diego Union-Tribune, Oct. 9 -- Eight years after our Oct. 7, 2001, entry into Afghanistan, the United States is faced with two starkly different choices about how to proceed. One choice, outlined by Gen. Stanley McChrystal in his recent report on Afghanistan, is to pursue an enhanced counter-insurgency strategy. The logic here is that the best way to prevent al-Qaeda from launching additional attacks against the United States is to stabilize Afghanistan. Make ordinary Afghans feel secure and they will stop supporting the many fighting factions attempting to depose the current government. (Written by Barbara F. Walter, a professor of political science at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at UCSD) More

UCSD Adds Arts Ph.D.
Del Mar Times, Oct. 7 -- UCSD's Department of Visual Arts welcomes the inaugural class for the Ph.D. concentration in art practice, one of the first doctoral programs in the country designed for practicing artists. Incoming students will have a wide range of resources on campus, including Departments of Music, Theater and Dance, CALIT2 (a center for new computing technology) and the extensive collections of the libraries. Grant Kester is chairman of the Visual Arts Department. The art practice concentration is housed within the Ph.D. program in art history theory and criticism. Like the other Ph.D. concentrations, art practice requires 2 1/2 to three years for course work and one to three years to complete the dissertation. More

Pat Launer on San Diego Theater: 'Sammy,' 'Creditors'
SDNN, Oct. 7 -- Sammy Davis, Jr., “a 5-foot-two typhoon,” spent 60 of his 64 years in show business. It seemed he could do anything: sing, dance, act (onstage, screen and television), play multiple instruments, woo innumerable women. But did he ever feel satisfied? What really drove him to repeated self-destruction and self-renewal? We never find out in the fast-paced, lightweight musical homage penned by his old pal, Leslie Bricusse who, with the late Anthony Newley, created some of Sammy’s signature songs: “What Kind of Fool Am I?,” “Who Can I Turn To?,” “Once in a Lifetime,” “Gonna Build a Mountain,” “The Candy Man.” (Mentions “pitch-perfect” costumes by Judith Dolan and lighting design by Alan Burrett, both professors in UCSD’s Department of Theatre and Dance). More

* Subscribe with In the News and receive our clips automatically