UCSC in the News is a weekly column summarizing prominent media placements UCSC faculty, staff, and students have received.
Research on West Nile virus by biologist Marm Kilpatrick was covered by Reuters, MSNBC, the Tehran Times, Windsor Star, Saskatoon Star Phoenix, Science Daily, Santa Cruz Sentinel, and Red Orbit News, and Kilpatrick's field work in Maryland was featured on WJZ-TV (CBS) in Baltimore.
In a Denver Post article, renowned social psychologist Elliot Aronson reassured fans of popular reality TV shows that it's natural to feel better about oneself after watching "American Idol" contestants sing off-key or "Survivor" competitors get the boot. Social comparison--especially at a distance via television--can even be healthy, he said. The Sunday feature story appeared in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Times Colonist, and other papers.
Newsweek magazine ran a brief interview with biochemist David Deamer on the subject of creating artificial life in the lab.
Sales of popcorn subsidize the price of movie tickets, according to economist Ricard Gil, but as the price of corn forces theaters to increase ticket prices, moviegoers may decide to stay home, predicted Parade magazine, the latest publication to feature Gil's work.
An article in the New York Times titled "Using Technology to Bring Politics Out of the Darkness" described "Metavid"--a project created by two graduate students in UCSC's Digital Arts and New Media (DANM) graduate program--which is now hosted by the campus. One of those former students, Michael Dale, was quoted in the piece about how the online, open-source archive of U.S. House and Senate proceedings uses public domain video feed from C-SPAN to help make government archives easily available and accessible.
Pioneering environmental studies professor Michael Soulé was quoted in a Chicago Tribune story about conflicts emerging near national parks in developing countries, where an influx of funds from conservationists is increasing living standards--and attracting new residents whose activities may threaten the protected areas. Tensions in 'gateway communities' underscore the need for limits to sprawl in and around parks, said Soulé.
The Associated Press tapped prison expert Craig Haney of psychology for comment about fights that broke out in three separate Oklahoma state penitentiaries recently. Haney cited overcrowding as the "most significant, problematic fact of contemporary prison life in the United States."
Glaciologist Slawek Tulaczyk was featured in an AP story about the glaciers on Mt. Shasta that ran in USA Today, San Francisco Chronicle, and Santa Cruz Sentinel.
The artificial retina chip developed by electrical engineer Wentai Liu was the subject of an article in EE Times and was mentioned in a story about high-tech prosthetic devices in the San Jose Mercury News.
Staff tree trimmer Jessica Petrini was featured in a front-page story in the Santa Cruz Sentinel for her tree-climbing championship win in the women's division of the Western Chapter International Society of Arboriculture Tree Climbing competition. Petrini is now gearing up for the organization-wide International Tree Climbing Championship, which will take place later this month in St. Louis, Mo.
The Santa Cruz Sentinel published a feature story about new Shakespeare Santa Cruz artistic director Marco Barricelli and his vision for the future of the theater company.
Stories in the Santa Cruz Sentinel and San Jose Mercury News about a proposal to ban krill fishing on the West Coast featured biologist Baldo Marinovic.
The Wikipedia project of computer scientist Luca de Alfaro was featured in the Chronicle of Higher Education's "Wired Campus" column.
Psychology professor Campbell Leaper's study of sexual harassment of teen girls prompted a lengthy letter to the editor of the Tampa Tribune.
Biologist Glenn Stewart was quoted in articles in the Santa Cruz Sentinel and San Jose Mercury News about plans to remove the peregrine falcon from the California endangered species list.
Marine biologist Guy Oliver was quoted in stories in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Monterey Herald, and San Jose Mercury News about the carcass of a giant squid found in Monterey Bay.
Local NPR affiliate KUSP Radio ran a lengthy interview with professor of humanities Jerome Neu about his latest book, Sticks and Stones: The Philosophy of Insults.
Astronomer Gregory Laughlin was quoted in a Space.com story about "what makes Earth special."
Physicist Joel Primack was quoted in a New Scientist story about NASA's plans to study dark energy.
Media Highlights provides monthly summaries of "UCSC in the News" columns.
