Author: Public Affairs

SANTA CRUZ, CA–What is the fate of our universe? Is there some deep reason why this universe allowed creatures to evolve who can try to understand it? Does it make sense to talk about other universes, perhaps governed by quite different physical laws? Those are some of the fascinating issues that noted cosmologist Sir Martin…

SANTA CRUZ, CA–The Office of the President of the University of California has approved the appointment of Ronald Henderson as dean of the Division of Graduate Studies at University of California, Santa Cruz. Henderson is a research professor of psychology and education. His appointment is retroactive to January 1. As dean, Henderson oversees programs and…

Cosmology Lightweight Neutrinos Zip Nicely Into Latest Models Of The Universe The discovery that the ghostly particles called neutrinos may have a small mass supports a special class of theoretical models of how the universe has evolved, according to a group led by cosmologist Joel Primack of UCSC. Physicists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have…

SANTA CRUZ, CA–The term Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a relatively new way of describing the psychological aftershocks of a trauma but the psychosis itself is nothing new, according to Boston psychiatrist John Shay. Shay, who treats Vietnam veterans, says that the condition was documented millennia earlier in Homer’s Iliad–the ancient Greek epic poem that…

Paper To Appear In Physical Review Letters Explains The Cosmological Consequences Of Neutrinos With Mass. It Also Predicts The Most Likely Scenario: Two Species Of Neutrino With The Same Mass. SANTA CRUZ, CA–The discovery that the ghostly particles called neutrinos may have a small mass supports a special class of theoretical models of how the…

SANTA CRUZ, CA–Scholars from around the country will gather at the University of California, Santa Cruz, to discuss the life and work of conservationist and former UCSC faculty member Grant McConnell at a memorial colloquium scheduled for 3 p.m. on Friday, February 17, in the Merrill College Baobab Lounge. McConnell, who died in his Bonny…

SANTA CRUZ, CA–Angela Davis, a professor of history of consciousness at the University of California, Santa Cruz, has been appointed to the Presidential Chair at UCSC. Davis is the third UCSC faculty member to receive appointment to the chair, following Professors Hayden White and Richard Wasserstrom. UC President Jack W. Peltason appointed Davis–whose research focuses…

SANTA CRUZ, CA–On Thursday, February 16, renowned UC Santa Cruz astronomer Sandra Faber will take listeners on a journey to the Hubble Space Telescope, as she recounts personal experiences of the instrument’s design, vision problems, and the mission to repair it. Her talk, entitled "The Hubble Space Telescope: Back From the Dead," will begin at…

SANTA CRUZ, CA–Portions of the aging archive of the country’s oldest mountaintop research observatory will be preserved through a $75,944 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grant will fund microfilming and computer indexing of holdings in the Mary Lea Shane Archives of the Lick Observatory, housed in the University Library at the…

SANTA CRUZ, CA–When sociologist David Wellman began an in-depth study of the Longshoremen’s Union on the San Francisco waterfront, he expected that he would ultimately write yet another book on the decline of American labor and the death of militant trade unionism. He was wrong. In his new book, The Union Makes Us Strong: Radical…

SANTA CRUZ, CA–Robert Kraft and Jerry Nelson, astronomers at UCO/Lick Observatory and the University of California, Santa Cruz, have earned two of the top awards in astronomy for their visionary work in the field. Kraft, a professor emeritus of astronomy and astrophysics, was named Henry Norris Russell Lecturer for 1995 by the American Astronomical Society…

SANTA CRUZ, CA–In 1992, a citizens’ group called the National Breast Cancer Coalition led a fight for more money from the federal government for breast-cancer studies. Congress responded with $210 million, but directed that the funds come from an unusual source: the U.S. Army. Now, despite misgivings about the military’s intent, hundreds of scientists have…