Campus News

Phokion Kolaitis, a UCSC professor of computer science, has faced a number of challenges teaching the 85 to 100 students in his Introduction to Computer Science course. Many of these challenges–attendance problems, lack of appreciation of the subject’s core issues, and a wide range of student skills and expectations–are common to gateway classes such as…

SANTA CRUZ, CA–Coral reefs, beautiful barometers of the health of the coastal environment, are in grave danger. Rapid human population growth leading to pollution, development, overfishing, warming, and other disturbances threaten to wipe out 20 to 30 percent of the world’s coral reefs by 2010, according to some estimates. Already, civilization has degraded about 10…

SANTA CRUZ, CA–The American Association for the Advancement of Science, the country’s leading general scientific organization, has elected professor of biology Donald Potts of UC Santa Cruz to the rank of AAAS Fellow. According to the AAAS Council, fellows are members whose "efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications are scientifically…

SANTA CRUZ, CA–Arguably one of the most influential books ever written, Isaac Newton’s Principia stands as the foundation for much of modern science. Yet, with the release of editions of Newton’s other papers and letters, scholars are finding that there is still more to learn from and about the 300-year-old book. A symposium on these…

California Senator Bruce McPherson will visit the UCSC campus on Friday, March 7, for a late-morning public meeting. The one-hour session, beginning at 11 a.m., will take place in the Red Room at College Eight. During the meeting, Senator McPherson (R-Santa Cruz) will present his perspective on the current legislative session, invite discussion of issues…

Tucked away in an editing suite in the Social Sciences Media Lab, anthropology major Glen Williams puts the finishing touches on a videotape about the intersection of culture and tourism in Nepal. A critique of the costs and benefits of ecotourism, the video features tourists and Nepalis discussing appropriate behavior in one of the poorest…

A pizza night fund-raiser to benefit the Women at Work Retreat scholarship fund will take place on March 11 from 5 to 9 p.m. at Round Table Pizza at 1221 Mission Street. The scholarship fund, which helps make it possible for all interested staff women to attend the retreat, will receive a portion of all…

Sociologist Hiroshi Fukurai testified twice in superior court recently about the underrepresentation of racial minorities on California juries. Such underrepresentation contributes to a criminal justice system that is not seen as legitimate by racial minorities and the poor, says Fukurai, who proposed modifications to increase jury diversity. Early in February, Fukurai testified in Mendocino Superior…

Donald Potts, professor of biology, was elected to the rank of AAAS Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This year, the AAAS Council elected 283 new fellows nationwide whose "efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications are scientifically or socially distinguished." Potts was honored for his significant…

Tune in to KSCO radio (AM 1080) on Friday, March 7, from 7 to 9 p.m. to hear three UCSC researchers discuss issues faced by women in science. Scheduled to appear are anthropologist Alison Galloway, biochemist Lydia Gregoret, and biologist Martha Zuniga. Eileen Sundet, who hosts the weekly KSCO program "Sunset Salon," has organized the…

SANTA CRUZ, CA–Four young scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, are among 100 recipients nationwide of 1997 fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation of New York. Each prestigious fellowship is worth $35,000 over a two-year period. The winners, all of whom have joined the UCSC faculty within the last four years, are…

The following information was developed by the Office of Planning and Budget in response to questions raised about the current space-planning discussions: What is the background of this issue? A great deal of interest has been generated at UCSC by a series of proposals which would move a number of units from their current buildings…