A Sampling of Clips for September 24^th, 2009

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

‘Eat Your Food or You’ll Get Zits’ and Other Lies Parents Tell
Wall Street Journal Blog, Sept. 24 – In my worst moments as a mother, I did some stupid or not-very-nice things to try to get my kids to behave. I remember losing my temper and yelling. Then there was the time I threatened to never, ever give them dessert again. Ever. I do not remember ever lying to them to gain compliance, however. And that, apparently, makes me unusual. A new study of 127 parents found 78% reported lying to their children, often as a way of influencing their behavior and emotions. Many parents tell their young children that bad things will happen if they don’t go to bed or eat their vegetables, says the study by Gail Heyman, a psychology professor at UCSD, and Kang Lee, a professor at the University of Toronto. More

Similar story in Washington Post on parenting blog

Two Arrested in Attempt to Crash Border
New York Times, Sept. 23 – Two Mexican men were arrested on federal human-trafficking charges Wednesday, a day after officials said three vans in which they were riding with scores of other Mexicans tried to run through the border station at San Diego. The attempted border-running, which led immigration and customs agents to fire on the vans, caused the authorities to close down the station — the busiest land crossing into the United States — for about four hours. (Quotes Wayne Cornelius, director, Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at UCSD) More

Loving our Oceans to Death?
San Diego Union-Tribune, Sept. 24 – It is more true than ever that from pollution to poaching we are loving our oceans to death. When we humans come to the ocean we look out to sea, not back at land. The oceans are a source of inspiration, protein, recreation and transport from nation to nation. Yet we don't always know how to look after them. (Written by Tony Haymet director and vice chancellor of UCSD's Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Steve Murawski director of scientific programs and chief science adviser for NOAA Fisheries) More

Pioneering Efforts Pay off with Grants
San Diego Union-Tribune, Sept. 24 -- Six local scientists will receive grants worth millions of dollars today to study outside-the-box ideas that could someday result in dramatic advances in medicine and health, such as the prevention of autoimmune diseases and the creation of self-repairing hearts. The National Institutes of Health's Pioneer Awards single out longtime researchers whose high-risk ideas promise great reward but aren't likely to find support through traditional funding processes. Each grant provides up to $2.5 million over five years, with additional money for some related costs. (Mentions UCSD) More

A Global Warming Summit of Good Intentions
Christian Science Monitor, Sept. 24 -- Tuesday’s UN summit on global warming ended with assertions from United Nations officials and several heads of state that the meeting injected fresh political momentum into negotiations for a new global-warming treaty, which begin in earnest in less than three months. But the road to some form of agreement in Copenhagen, Denmark, this December remains boulder-strewn. (Mentions UCSD political scientist David Victor) More

Glaucoma Tied to Gene Variants in Blacks
MSN, Sept. 22 -- Gene variants on chromosome 2 are associated with glaucoma in blacks, say researchers who studied 129 patients with the vision-robbing disease. The finding may lead to new treatments or a cure, the scientists added. Glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness among blacks, affecting close to 5 percent of the population. There is no cure or way to reverse glaucoma, which causes the gradual and irreversible loss of peripheral vision. But reducing intra-ocular pressure can slow the progression to blindness. (Quotes study co-author Dr. Robert N. Weinreb, director of the Hamilton Glaucoma Center and a professor of ophthalmology at UCSD and Dr. Kang Zhang, director of the Institute for Genomic Medicine and a professor of ophthalmology and human genetics at the Shiley Eye Center at UCSD) More

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Atlanta Journal Constitution

UCSD Teach-in to Rally Against State Budget Cuts
San Diego Union-Tribune, Sept. 24 -- Hundreds of UCSD faculty members, students and staffers are expected to gather at a teach-in today — the first day of fall classes — to rally against severe state budget cuts. Faculty organizers expect about 100 professors to attend, either by themselves or with their students, to discuss the long-term consequences of the state's dwindling support for higher education. Funding cuts at UC this year have led to layoffs, student fee increases, employee furloughs and a hiring freeze. These changes are prompting other universities to “cherry pick” UCSD's faculty and making it harder for students to afford a public education, said Brian Goldfarb, a UCSD communications professor who helped coordinate the teach-in. More

Hamilton to be Celebrated in Annual Lecture
The Irish Times, Sept. 24 -- Russian-born mathematician Efim Zelmanov, who will deliver the annual Irish Times/Royal Irish Academy Hamilton Lecture, has made huge contributions to algebraic research, writes Dick Ahlstrom.  A Russian mathematician who made spectacular advances in the field of algebra comes to Dublin next month to deliver a lecture about an Irishman who also transformed algebra 166 years ago. Prof Efim Zelmanov will give the annual Royal Irish Academy/Irish Times Hamilton Lecture on Hamilton Day, October 16th, choosing as his title Noncommutative Algebra: from Hamilton to our Time . (Professor Zelmanov heads one of the world’s leading groups in algebraic research at UCSD) More

Dinner Raises Funds for UCSD's Research Libraries
La Jolla Light, Sept. 23 -- UCSD Librarian Brian Schottlaender hosted the university libraries' sixth annual Dinner in the Library event Sept. 17 at the Geisel Library. Renamed Geisel Library in 1995, it stands in honor of Audrey and Thedor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) for their generous contributions to the library and to literacy. Audrey Geisel joined more than 100 other supporters who gathered before sunset to mingle and enjoy cocktails and appetizers provided by ChileCo Catering. Afterward they made their way into the library for a four-course dinner featuring Napa cabbage salad, edamame-encrusted Opah, ricotta pasta pillows, and a special huckleberry pot of crème. Guests dined by candlelight among the books at one long table decorated with stunning red rose bouquets. More

Up for Discussion; Book Clubs Restore Love for Reading
Del Mar Times, Sept. 23 -- There is a social networking phenomenon taking San Diego by storm. It doesn't involve Facebook, Twitter, iPhone applications or even the Internet. All it requires is a few hours once a month in exchange for a plethora of knowledge, entertainment, conversation and networking possibilities. The book club is back. While reading has never gone out of style (checking Facebook status updates and Wikipedia articles do count), the practice of reading a book and then discussing it seemed to have gone the way of car phones and pagers. (Mentions UCSD Alumni Book Club) More

UCSD Team Looks at Body's Clock

Del Mar Times, Sept. 23 -- A new finding reveals that many of the genes that regulate the daily rhythms of insulin responses can also alter the timing of the body's circadian clock. This suggests new approaches might be possible to treat disorders that result from chronic disruption of the sleep-wake cycle. Knowing that a molecular clock controls daily physiological rhythms, UCSD researchers engineered cultured cells to glow yellow when a particular clock gene switched on, thus making the cycle visible. More

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