Media Highlights
January 2008
This summary highlights media placements members of the UCSC community have garnered during the month of January 2008.
National and international
Sociology's Craig Reinarman was quoted in a widely circulated Associated Press story about the exaggerated differences between crack and powdered cocaine that were used to justify much tougher sentencing laws for crack offenses. In addition, an editorial in the Las Vegas Review-Journal quoted Reinarman and referred to the AP story, which appeared in numerous papers, including the Commercial Appeal, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, and Star-Ledger. . . . Research led by biologist Terrie Williams on brain proteins that enable marine mammals to tolerate low oxygen levels was covered by the Telegraph (U.K.), Medical News Today, Scientific American online, MSNBC.com, Science Daily, and Deeper Blue. . . . Literature professor Nathaniel Mackey, winner of both the Northern California Book Award and the 2006 National Book Award in Poetry, was featured on the front page of the winter issue of the quarterly literary newspaper Poetry Flash. . . . Biologist Burney Le Boeuf was interviewed on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday for a story about the annual migrations of elephant seals. . . . Australia's The Courier Mail ran a story quoting assistant professor of theater arts Brandin Baron-Nusbaum about how current fashion trends date back historically hundreds of years. . . . Biologist Mark Carr was interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered in a story about marine protected areas in California. . . . Psychologist Campbell Leaper's work on the "chat gap" between men and women made headlines in the Prince George Citizen, furthering awareness of Leaper's myth-busting research. . . . Findings by visiting researcher Simon Day on the value of oral traditions in helping coastal populations survive tsunamis were covered in the Hindustan Times, Yahoo News, Live Science, and Santa Cruz Sentinel. . . . USNews.com noted that Republican presidential candidate John McCain has embraced wage insurance, a proposal first put forth by economist Lori Kletzer. . . . Assistant professor of film and digital media L. S. Kim was quoted in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Contra Costa Times for a story about reality TV. . . . Earth scientists Adina Paytan and James Zachos were quoted in a Discovery News story about Paytan's research on carbon sequestration in the oceans. . . . Psychology's Craig Haney was quoted in a New York Times article about San Quentin, drawing a parallel between the prison's dilapidated dungeon and the "super-max" isolation facilities of modern prisons. . . . Astronomer Sandra Faber was quoted in articles about the planned shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope, including stories from BBC News, Reuters U.K., Discovery News, Aviation Week, Florida Today, Economic Times, Earth & Sky, Space.com, and Monsters and Critics.com. . . . Julie Guthman of community studies continues to stir up food scholarship, most recently when her article entitled "Can't Stomach It: How Michael Pollan et al. Made Me Want to Eat Cheetos®," was reproduced in the Utne Reader. Her work was also cited in an article that appeared in Slate magazine. . . . Research by Bill Domhoff of psychology was cited by the Daily Telegraph in an article about the content of dreams, as revealed by a survey of Telegraph readers. . . . Research on new materials for solar cells led by chemist Jin Zhang was covered by Science Daily, Meridian Nanotechnology and Development News, Thaindian News, Hindustan Times, Space Daily, Science Net, Nanounion, RenewableEnergyAccess.com, mysolar.com, china-vision.net, and VNUNet.com. . . . Andy Szasz of sociology continues to make media waves, publishing an essay in the Chronicle of Higher Education and fielding interview requests ffrom KVMR Radio, Sierra Club Radio, and KPFA/Pacfica Radio. . . . The latest research by sociology's Hiroshi Fukurai was covered by New York State's Jury Pool News, a publication of the New York State Unified Court System. . . . Biologist Tim Tinker was quoted in stories about his research on sea otters in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, U.P.I., Science Daily, and PhysOrg.com, and he was interviewed on the CBC Radio science program Quirks and Quarks. . . . The Chronicle of Higher Education cited history of consciousness professor Donna Haraway's book When Species Meet in an article about the Modern Language Association's annual convention in Chicago. . . . Research on human genetics by biomolecular engineer David Haussler was featured in an article about RNA in Seed magazine. . . . Research by psychology's Tom Pettigrew was mentioned in an opinion column about prejudice that was published in the Boston Globe. . . . Alabama's Press-Register ran a story about a lecture by history of consciousness professor Angela Davis, who spoke about finding solutions to racism at the invitation of the University of South Alabama to commemorate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. . . . The Wall Street Journal picked up on a paper coauthored by economist Ricard Gil about online betting and the 2002 Soccer World Cup for an article about sports betting. Gil cowrote the paper with Steve Leavitt, author of the bestselling book Freakonomics. . . . An article in New Scientist magazine about the hypothetical role of "information content" in evolution included a quote from biochemist David Deamer. . . . In an article about the U.S. economy, Investors Chronicle cited research by economist Michael Dooley. . . . Art in America ran an obituary for Gurdon Woods, the sculptor and visionary arts educator who helped establish the UCSC Art Department. . . . The Virginian-Pilot noted that the archives of science fiction author Robert Heinlein, held by UCSC in Special Collections, will be made available online.
State and regional
Climate researcher Lisa Sloan was quoted in an AP story on the effects of climate change in California that ran in the San Jose Mercury News and Woodland Daily Democrat. . . . Anthropology graduate student Chelsey Juarez was featured on KQED Television's Quest program, which did an in-depth segment about Juarez's innovative technique for identifying the remains of Mexican migrants who die crossing the border into the United States. . . . Wendy Baron of the New Teacher Center was quoted in a Contra Costa Times article about the shortcomings of the state's mentor program for new teachers. . . . A story about Herbie Lee, associate professor of applied math and statistics, and his use of chocolate chip cookies to teach statistics ran in the Contra Costa Times, San Mateo Times, Oakland Tribune, Santa Cruz Sentinel, and Tri-Valley Herald. . . . Anthropology professor Triloki Pandey was quoted in a San Jose Mercury News story about the Indo-American community's struggles to gain political power commensurate with its economic clout. . . . A review of history professor Dana Frank's new book Local Girl Makes History received a splashy placement on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle's Sunday Book Review section. An article on the book was also featured in the Chronicle's weekly entertainment pull-out section, 96 Hours, and Frank was additionally a guest on KPFA Radio to discuss the book. . . . The San Francisco Chronicle quoted Marco Barricelli, the new artistic director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz, for an article announcing the lineup of his inaugural season as head of the acclaimed UCSC summer festival.
Local
The Santa Cruz Sentinel ran a story about biologist Barry Sinervo's research on lizard mating strategies. . . . Coastal geologist Gary Griggs was quoted in a Mid-County Post article about the Pleasure Point seawall and a Monterey County Herald article about beach erosion. . . . The Santa Cruz Sentinel noted the publication of "Bass Cathedral," the fourth installment of literature professor Nathaniel Mackey's ongoing series of novels titled "From a Broken Bottle Traces of Perfume Still Emanate."