February 2008 News Archive

Biotech students learn about neglected diseases from alumna Nina Grove

As director of the malaria program at the Institute for OneWorld Health, alumna Nina Grove is involved in a unique public health project that is applying the tools of the biotechnology industry to the battle against one of the most devastating diseases in

Alumna Dana Priest wins major journalism award for Walter Reed exposé

Pulitzer Prize-winning <i>Washington Post</i> reporter Dana Priest (B.A. politics, 1981) and her colleague Anne Hull have won the prestigious 2008 Selden Ring award for their exposé of deplorable conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Staff invited to a panel discussion on work/life balance

The Staff Advisory Board is hosting a panel discussion for all staff on work/life balance on Wednesday, March 12, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Room 71 of Social Sciences 2.

Attack on home of researcher covered widely in media

National, state, and local media have covered the attack on the home of a UCSC cancer researcher.

Summer Orientation for 2008

UCSC in the news

UCSC in the News is a weekly column summarizing prominent media placements UCSC faculty, staff, and students have received.

Academic Senate to meet March 7

The UCSC Academic Senate will hold its winter quarter meeting on Friday, March 7, at 2:30 p.m. in the Colleges Nine and Ten Multipurpose Room.

Soccer star Brandi Chastain headlines Girls and Women in Sports Day at UCSC

Soccer star Brandi Chastain, one of the best-known women athletes in the world and a role model for a generation of girls, will headline the March 8 celebration at UC Santa Cruz of National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

UCSC Natural Reserve System appoints new directors

Gage Dayton is the new administrative director of the Natural Reserve System, and Mark Readdie has been appointed as resident director of Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve.

Financial management seminar offered for retirees, those retiring soon

Reserve your spot now for a financial management seminar for retirees on Wednesday, March 26, from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Porter College.

Chancellor pledges support for researcher at staff forum

Chancellor George Blumenthal opened his remarks at the winter-quarter taff Brown Bag Open Forum by addressing the Feb. 24 confrontation at the Westside home of a UCSC researcher.

Chancellor's forum with staff covers a number of topics, including state budget

In his winter-quarter "brown bag" lunch meeting with UCSC staff, Chancellor George Blumenthal progress the campus has made on a number of fronts, included continued efforts toward campus sustainability, the record number and increased diversity of freshma

Harvard backs open access initiative similar to one passed by UCSC in 2005

On February 13, 2008, Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences unanimously carried a resolution supporting a form of free online access, termed "open access," for scholarly articles. Harvard's resolution brings into practice the principles put fo

Pre-med athlete selected for prestigious health policy program in Washington, D.C.

Angel Martinez was 12 years old when his baby sister was born four months premature. So tiny she would've fit in the palm of his hand, baby Dilia was kept in isolation and wouldn't know her brother's touch for two months.

UCSC holding its own in recycling challenge

Week four of the nationwide RecycleMania competition is now in the can, and UCSC is reducing, reusing, and recycling its way to some impressive standings in its rookie year in the challenge.

Proposed Revisions to UC Nondiscrimination and Affirmative Action Policies

Rats on islands disrupt ecosystems from land to sea, researchers find

The ecological impacts of introduced rats on islands extend far beyond seabird nesting colonies, according to a new UCSC study that provides support for efforts to eradicate rats from the Aleutian Islands.

Chancellor condemns attack on researcher

Memorial for College Eight Student, Michael C. Wilson

Retirees to meet for potluck lunch

The UCSC Retirees Association will hold its annual Super Soup Luncheon on March 4 at the UCSC Arboretum Horticulture Room.

Banff Mountain Film Festival screens at the Rio Theater Feb. 29-Mar. 1

Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour will be in Santa Cruz on February 29 and March 1 at the Rio Theater. The festival benefits the UCSC Wilderness Orientation Scholarship Fund.

Death of UCSC Student, Efrain Sanchez

UCSC in the News

UCSC in the News is a weekly column summarizing prominent media placements UCSC faculty, staff, and students have received.

Environmental studies professor, graduate director receive top Alumni Association awards and April 26 luncheon honors

An agroecologist and a Graduate Division director have been selected to receive the Alumni Association's highest honors for 2007-08.

Doctoral candidate heading to DC after graduation

Lauren Malone will be heading to Washington, D.C., after earning a Ph.D. in economics this spring.

Award-winning journalist Alexander Stille to be keynote speaker at statewide Italian Studies conference hosted by UCSC

Award-winning author and journalist Alexander Stille will be the keynote speaker at a statewide conference presented by the California Interdisciplinary Consortium for Italian Studies at UC Santa Cruz, February 29-March 1.

EOP launches textbook drive to benefit low-income students

In an effort to help low-income students achieve academic success, the Educational Opportunity Programs Office is launching a textbook drive to provide books to students who can't afford to buy them.

Why does popcorn cost so much at the movies?

Movie theaters are notorious for charging consumers top dollar for concession items such as popcorn, soda, and candy. Are moviegoers just being gouged?

Max M. Levin, former psychology instructor and Crown preceptor, dies at 91

Max M. Levin, a lecturer emeritus of psychology whose ties to the campus go back to 1967, died on Saturday, February 16, in Portland, Oregon. He was 91.

'Finding their niche' is critical to underrepresented student success, study reveals

A new study has produced an unusually intimate portrait of the college experience for UCSC students from underrepresented groups, including those who are among the first in their family to attend college.

McHenry Library Is Moving!

Trees planted as McHenry Library addition nears completion

Tree planting began this month around the new reading lawn and garden at McHenry Library as construction of the addition nears completion. Nearly 30 new coast redwoods, coast live oaks, and flowering cherries will be planted.

Sciences dean donates 357-year-old book to Library's Special Collections

Dean of Physical and Biological Sciences Stephen Thorsett has donated a first edition of English philosopher Thomas Hobbes's famous 1651 book, <i>Leviathan</i>, to the UCSC Library's Special Collections.

Chancellor Blumenthal appointed to state science/technology council

UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal has been appointed to the California Council on Science and Technology, a group of 30 eminent scientists, engineers, scholars and business leaders from the state's major public and private research and instructio

Staff Toolkit makes finding business information easier

The revised Staff Toolkit web site makes it easier to find detailed information on the web on buying, event planning, facilities, finance, people, campus safety and security, technology, and travel.

Past greenhouse warming events provide clues to what the future may hold

Scientists studying an episode of extreme global warming in Earth's past are piecing together an increasingly detailed picture of its causes and consequences.

Earth scientist James Zachos elected fellow of the American Geophysical Union

James Zachos, professor of Earth and planetary sciences at UCSC, has been elected a fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

Staff invited to attend Women@Work Retreat

The 2008 Women@Work Retreat will be held April 24-25 at St. Francis Retreat Center in San Juan Bautista; staff may apply now to attend.

Assistance for visitors coming to UC Santa Cruz this spring

UCSC signs cooperative agreement with Korean University

Chancellor Blumenthal signed an academic cooperation agreement with representatives of a Korean Buddhist University that calls for the reciprocal exchange of faculty, staff, and students; joint research projects; and the exchange of academic publications

UCSC in the News

UCSC in the News is a weekly column summarizing prominent media placements UCSC faculty, staff, and students have received.

CEMELA hosts research symposium at UCSC Inn

The Center for the Mathematics Education of Latinos/as (CEMELA) recently hosted a research symposium that attracted more than 60 participants from four states.

Animated tutors help remedial readers, language learners, autistic children

Tools developed by researchers exploring language and speech comprehension can become powerful aids for remedial readers, children with language challenges, and anyone learning a second language, according to psychology professor Dominic Massaro of the Un

Who is Sammy Slug? A look behind the yellow veil

Inside, Sammy the Slug is just like you and me. Human, that is. The role of UCSC's beloved mascot, the Banana Slug--aka Sammy--has been filled by various students, faculty, and staff.

UCSC project aims to provide a virtual speech therapist via cell phone

UCSC researchers have received funding from Microsoft Research to develop a virtual speech therapist, accessible on a cell phone, to aid stroke survivors in Malaysia.

Winter Open Staff Forum with Chancellor Blumenthal

Important Thumbs Up Award Update, please resubmit nominations!

Astronomers find one of the youngest and brightest galaxies in the early universe

NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes have uncovered what may be one of the youngest and brightest galaxies ever seen in the middle of the cosmic "dark ages," just 700 million years after the beginning of our universe.

Ocean scientist Mary Silver to give Rachel Louise Carson Lecture at AGU meeting

Mary Silver, professor of ocean sciences at UCSC, has been chosen to give the Rachel Louise Carson Lecture at the Spring American Geophysical Union Joint Assembly in May.

Incidents of Vandalism and Harassment

Alums teach UCSC film students about life in the movie biz

Four successful alums in the film industry returned to campus on February 2 for a roundtable discussion on how to succeed in the business of making movies.

UCSC's new Center for Integrated Water Research will help cities and regions secure safe and reliable water

A new interdisciplinary research center at the University of California, Santa Cruz, is bringing an innovative, regional approach to the challenge of meeting the demand for safe and reliable water.

School of Engineering Dean Finalists, Campus Visits Update

Scholarship Benefit Dinner raises funds for students in need

Nearly 250 people attended the fifth annual Scholarship Benefit Dinner Saturday, raising an estimated $160,000 for undergraduate scholarships.

Community Television to rebroadcast MLK Jr. Memorial Convocation

Community Television of Santa Cruz County plans several rebroadcasts of this year's Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Convocation, which was January 30.

UCSC in the News

UCSC in the News is a weekly column summarizing prominent media placements UCSC faculty, staff, and students have received.

UC/CSU/CCC Sustainability Conference calls for presentations

The Seventh Annual UC/CSU/CCC Sustainability Conference will be held July 31-August 3 at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Conference organizers are seeking posters and presentations from students, faculty, and staff. Registration for the conference begins in Mar

Biologist Bruce Lyon's research featured on cover of Science

Research on lark buntings by UCSC biologist Bruce Lyon and his former graduate student, Alexis Chaine, was featured on the cover of <i>Science</i>.

Rescheduling School of Engineering Dean Finalists, Campus Visit

Frank Child, former dean of social sciences, dies at 86

Frank C. Child, a professor of economics who served as dean of the UCSC Division of Social Sciences from 1983 until 1987, has died of congestive heart failure. He was 86.

Let the trash-talking begin: UCSC joins national college recycling competition

UCSC has become a first-time entrant in ReycleMania, an annual 10-week competition among college and university recycling programs nationwide.

UCSC's Banana Slug among ESPN's top 10 best team names

UCSC's Banana Slug mascot has been named among the top 10 best team nicknames in college basketball by ESPN Sports Travel.

CruzPay electronic workflow update

Four UCSC faculty selected to represent National Women's Studies Association at international conference

2007 Thumbs Up Awards

NAACP chairman says King's spirit can help overcome racial divides

NAACP chairman Julian Bond sharply criticized the Bush administration and the nation's electoral process in his speech for the 24th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Convocation January 30.

UCSC in the News

UCSC in the News is a weekly column summarizing prominent media placements UCSC faculty, staff, and students have received.

Documentary on multiracial comedians to screen at Merrill College Feb. 7

Merrill College will host a film screening of the documentary <i>Crossing the Line: Multiracial Comedians,</i> with producer Darby LiPo Price on Thursday, February 7.

Dave Kastak, researcher scientist in the Pinniped Cognition program

Dave Kastak, a researcher scientist in the Pinniped Cognition program at Long Marine Laboratory, died Jan. 12.

UCSC Recreation offers trip to Kuumbwa Jazz Center for Latin jazz concert

UCSC Recreation is offering the campus community a trip to the Kuumbwa Jazz Center to see the Kat Parra Latin/World Jazz Ensemble on Thursday evening, February 7.

Hundreds attend Seventh Annual Campus Earth Summit

The Seventh Annual Campus Earth Summit January 31 featured speakers, exhibits, workshops, organic food, and a few hecklers. Several hundred students, staff and faculty participated.