UC President Offers Proposals to Reform
Pension Program, Stabilize Budget
UC President Mark G. Yudof today announced a series of proposed actions to reform the university's seriously overextended pension and retiree health programs, and to stabilize the university's budget for fiscal year 2011-12, in part by enacting an 8 percent fee increase. More

Conrad Prebys Concert
Hall Wins 'Grand Orchid' Award
Conrad Prebys Concert Hall at UC San Diego, which provides a local space for attendees to enjoy performances by renowned musicians from around the world, is being recognized as the 2010 Grand Orchid recipient—the highest honor of San Diego's annual Orchids and Onions Awards. The award was announced at the Nov. 4 ceremony at Culy Warehouse in downtown San Diego. More

'You Can Still Change the World,' Actor
and UC San Diego Alumnus Tells Students
In life, there are two choices: feeling powerless and passive; or trying to brighten up your corner of the world. That was the message that actor and UC San Diego alumnus James Avery brought to a classroom full of honors theatre students last week at UCSD. More

Ethnic Studies Alumna Leads Innovative School
EnCompass Academy in east Oakland, Calif., is an innovative public school that serves predominately low-income and minority students. The visionary behind this unique school is Minh-Tram Nguyen, a graduate of the class of 1996 at UC San Diego, and the founding principal of EnCompass. Nguyen spoke last week on campus during the ethnic studies department's 20th anniversary celebration. She is a member of the department's first graduating class. More

Chancellor Marye Anne Fox Named as Co-Chair
of San Diego Food Bank's Holiday Food Drive
Chancellor Marye Anne Fox will chair with San Diego State University President Steven Weber the San Diego Food Bank 2010 Holiday Food Drive. To kick off the drive, California State University at San Marcos, San Diego State, UC San Diego and University of San Diego participated in "Colleges Rock Hunger," sponsored by the Hard Rock Hotel. More than 13 tons of food were collected during the two-week drive. More

Academic Senate Adds Retirement
Plan Resolution to UC System Debate
UC San Diego’s Academic Senate passed a resolution Oct. 26 endorsing the “Option C” revision to the UC retirement-plan proposals being debated around the 10-campus system. Prior to the vote, the senate heard a presentation by UC Academic Council Chair Daniel Simmons and Vice Chair Robert Anderson, who said that UC President Mark Yudof had already decided to recommend Option C to the Board of Regents. More

Scripps Researchers Work
With BP to Monitor Gulf of Mexico
Researchers at UCSD's Scripps Institution of Oceanography are now successfully receiving data from a surface current mapping radar on the British Petroleum-operated oil platform Atlantis in the Gulf of Mexico. More

Discovery Could Reveal Secrets
of Ancient Martian and Terrestrial Atmospheres
Chemists at UC San Diego have uncovered a new chemical reaction on tiny particulates in the atmosphere that could allow scientists to gain a glimpse from ancient rocks of what the atmospheres of the Earth and Mars were like hundreds of millions years ago. More

Macrophage Protein Has Major Role in Inflammation
Researchers at the School of Medicine have discovered that a multi-tasking protein called FoxO1 has another important but previously unknown function: It directly interacts with macrophages, promoting an inflammatory response that can lead to insulin resistance and diabetes. Contrarily, it also generates a negative feedback loop that can limit damage from excessive inflammation. More

Chemistry Professor Receives
White House Science Award
A chemistry professor at UC San Diego was among 85 scientists and engineers who received the nation's highest honor awarded by the White House to researchers at the outset of their professional scientific careers. More

Scholarship Awarded to Biotech
Engineer with Vision to Help Developing Nations
Genentech engineer and UC San Diego graduate Sonali Nigam has been selected to receive a UC Alumni "Change the World" Scholarship from UC San Diego Extension to pursue biotechnology management with the goal of one day creating an organization which enables the transfer of biotechnology processes and products to the developing world. More

Four UCSD Students Recognized
For Stellar Library Research Skills
Four undergraduate students at UC San Diego have received the 2010 Undergraduate Library Research Prize in recognition of their stellar research skills. The prize, which is co-sponsored by the UC San Diego Libraries, the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, and the Alumni Association, is awarded annually to students who demonstrate outstanding use of library resources and services in support of their research. More