Packed Academic Senate Ponders
Damages of Vanishing State Support
A standing-room-only crowd attended Tuesday's meeting of UC San Diego's Academic Senate, drawn by the main topic on the agenda—how the faculty can help the university adjust to steep cuts in state funding. Intended not to present definitive numbers, but to focus faculty attention and resolve, the meeting succeeded in painting a foreboding picture of steadily declining state support—and in suggesting the (probably controversial) remedies. More

Former Harvard President Calls for
Major Shift in Teaching in Higher Education
Professors need to think about teaching the same way they think about their research, former Harvard President Derek Bok said last week during a talk at UC San Diego. He called for a major shift in the way faculty members think about and go about teaching in their classrooms. A change is both badly needed and inevitable, said Bok, who quoted a wide variety of studies to make his case. More

UC San Diego Named a 'Holy Grail'
College for Low Cost and High Return
UC San Diego has been ranked by Bloomberg Businessweek as a top college for its exceptional 30-year return on investment based on what students spend on their undergraduate education. The ranking factors in the median salary of UC San Diego graduates and the university's robust financial aid programs. More

Volunteers Put Hands and Minds
to Work at San Diego Middle School
More than 150 students, staff and faculty kicked off UC San Diego Cares Week with a large volunteer project Saturday at Bell Middle School, an underserved school which educates many children from low-income families in Paradise Hills, in south San Diego County. The tutoring and beautification project, called Hands On San Diego, was organized by students with UCSD's Volunteer 50 program and Associated Students Volunteer Connection. More

Watch a Slideshow of the Volunteer50 Project at Bell Middle School

Book on Global Warming: Replace
Wishful Thinking with Bottom-Up Initiatives
A new book on the bogged-down international politics of global warming lays out a detailed roadmap on how to leverage the self-interest of countries to address climate change rather than relying on high-profile international climate conferences that accomplish little. "Global Warming Gridlock: Creating More Effective Strategies for Protecting the Planet" is written by David Victor, a professor at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies. More

UC San Diego Named Official Site of Clinical
Study to Identify Biomarkers of Parkinson's Disease
The School of Medicine is one of 18 official study sites for the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative, a landmark observational clinical study sponsored by The Michael J. Fox Foundation. The study will use a combination of advanced imaging, biologics sampling and behavioral assessments to identify biomarkers of Parkinson's disease progression. More

Scientists Create Stable,
Self-Renewing Neural Stem Cells
Researchers at School of Medicine, the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco and colleagues have reported a game-changing advance in stem cell science: the creation of long-term, self-renewing, primitive neural precursor cells from human embryonic stem cells that can be directed to become many types of neuron without increased risk of tumor formation. More

Electrical Oscillations Found to be
Critical for Storing Spatial Memories in Brain
Biologists at UC San Diego have discovered that electrical oscillations in the brain, long thought to play a role in organizing cognitive functions such as memory, are critically important for the brain to store the information that allows us to navigate through our physical environment. More

"Swim With Mike" Creates
Scholarships for Physically Challenged
Student-Athletes with Swim-a-Thon
As a high school athlete, UC San Diego sophomore Jacob Robinson played basketball, rugby, volleyball and football. When not at practice, he enjoyed surfing, snowboarding and riding his dirt bike. In addition to sports, Robinson was actively involved in mission trips through his church and in the summer of 2008 traveled to Africa to volunteer at the Tumaini Children's Home. More

High School Students
Can Win Scholarships to Hawaii
by Creating Videos to Save the Planet
What would you teach the world about saving the planet? High school students have a chance to win an all expenses paid scholarship to study for a week in Hawaii in August by creating a video on how to care for the planet. More

Historian Wins 2011 Guggenheim
Eric Van Young, professor of history at UC San Diego and a specialist in the history of colonial Mexico, has won a Guggenheim Fellowship for 2011-12. Awarded by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and often characterized as "midcareer" awards, the prestigious fellowships support scholars and artists who have already demonstrated "exceptional capacity." More

Campus Librarian Takes Old Records for a Spin
Brian Schottlaender, UC San Diego's university librarian, doesn't just work hard at preserving books. He also is a fan of vinyl records—and has collected 3,000 of them. He stars in a video as part of Preservation Week, a time when thousands will turn to libraries across the United States for information and expertise on how to preserve collectibles, photos, family records and other valuable materials. More

First Business Officer to Manage
Two Departments Recognized With Award
Steve Ford has been named the recipient of the 2011 Betsy Faught Award, which recognizes excellence and outstanding achievement in the management of general campus academic units. Ford serves as the business officer for the departments of cognitive science and communication. The Betsy Faught Award honors the memory of Betsy Faught, an exceptional department manager who adeptly and skillfully managed an academic program at UC San Diego for more than 20 years. More