Media Highlights
February 2008
This summary highlights media placements members of the UCSC community have garnered during the month of February 2008.
Media coverage of UCSC faculty and staff during the week of February 25-29 was dominated by stories about an attack at the home of a UCSC cancer researcher. Coverage of the story appeared in the national, state, and local media (see complete list of headlines and hot links by date).
National and international
A study of mating behavior in lark buntings by biologist Bruce Lyon was covered by the Washington Post, Daily Telegraph (U.K.), Financial Times (London), CBC News (Canada), Christian Science Monitor, Vancouver Sun, Times of India, Science Daily, LiveScience, Innovations Report, and the Santa Cruz Sentinel. Lyon's work was also featured on the cover of the January 25 issue of Science (see Currents story). . . . Sociology's Andy Szasz penned an opinion piece for the Chronicle of Higher Education about "inverted quarantine," the subject of his new book, Shopping Our Way to Safety. . . . The New York Times published a review of literature professor Nathaniel Mackey's latest book, Bass Cathedral. A review also appeared in Paste magazine. . . . Language and gender expert Campbell Leaper of psychology appeared on National Public Radio's Bryant Park Project, which did a segment on the emergence of "yo" as a gender-neutral pronoun. . . . Biologist Barry Sinervo was interviewed by Philadelphia-based talk-radio host Michael Smerconish. . . . USA Today featured economics professor Joshua Aizenman in a recent article about governments around the world holding off on calls to stimulate their economies by easing interest rates, cutting taxes, or embracing major new spending initiatives. "They don't see the urgency that we face," Aizenman told the paper. . . . Science Daily and Space Daily ran stories about research on black holes by astronomer Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz. . . . Assistant professor of art Derek Conrad Murray contributed a review of art historian Darby English's book, How to See a Work of Art in Total Darkness, to Art Journal. . . . Economist Ricard Gil fielded calls from the Wall Street Journal, San Jose Mercury News, and Santa Cruz Sentinel about his work on the price of popcorn at the movies. . . . Astrophysicist Stan Woosley was quoted in an article about his research on supernovae in Science & Spirit. . . . A study of paired earthquakes by seismologist Thorne Lay and others was covered by U.P.I. and Space Daily. . . . Astronomer Jurg Diemand was quoted in an article in New Scientist about dark matter. . . . Assistant professor of film and digital media L. S. Kim was quoted in The Augusta Chronicle for a story about reality television and race. . . . Astronomer Garth Illingworth was quoted in stories about the discovery of a distant galaxy in USA Today, Science Daily, SpaceRef, and Space.com. . . . Fox News.com featured psychology's Dominic Massaro in a story about new technology that enhances learning. Massaro has developed an animated tutor that can be used to help remedial readers, autistic children, and those learning a second language. . . . Assistant professor of theater arts Patty Gallagher was featured in a Tucson Citizen story about her performance in Samuel Beckett's demanding two-act monologue, Happy Days, at the Rogue Theater. . . . Electrical engineer Wentai Liu was quoted in a story about network technology for medical and consumer devices in Electronic Engineering Times. . . . An episode of the British TV documentary series Extraordinary Animals called "The Smartest Sea Lion" focused on Long Marine Lab's Rio and the researchers who work with her: Ron Schusterman, Colleen Reichmuth, and Kristy Lindemann. . . . Recent findings by climate researcher James Zachos were reported in the Hindustan Times, Science Daily, Santa Cruz Sentinel, Contra Costa Times, and Tri-Valley Herald.
State and regional
"Baloney" is the one-word quote attributed to environmental toxicologist Donald Smith in a Los Angeles Times article about infrared saunas that supposedly enable users to "sweat out" toxins such as mercury and other metals. . . . A story about hummingbirds at the UCSC Arboretum in Bay Nature magazine includes a quote from biologist Todd Newberry. . . . The presidential primary prompted calls to several political experts on campus, including Michael Brown, who fielded a call from the Riverside Press Enterprise about Barack Obama's support among inland black voters, and Sheldon Kamieniecki, who spoke with KAZU Radio. . . . A report on bird deaths at the Altamont wind farms by biologist Brian Latta of the UC Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group was covered by the San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Chronicle, and Associated Press. . . . An hour-long interview with physicist Bruce Schumm was aired on KUSF Radio's "Static Limit" program. . . . The San Francisco Chronicle noted that Marco Barricelli was recently named the new artistic director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz in an article about recent shifts in the artistic leadership of Bay Area theater companies.
Local
The Santa Cruz Sentinel reported on water-related research by UCSC's Lisa Sloan, Andy Fisher, and Brent Haddad in its coverage of a recent community forum that attracted a crowd of 150 people. Santa Cruz Metro also covered the announcement of Haddad's new Center for Integrated Water Research, which was unveiled during the forum. Fisher has also done three interviews recently with local radio stations KSCO and KUSP about water, and Haddad was featured in a Good Times article about local water issues. And The Monterey Herald reported on a regional water initiative led in part by the Center for Integrated Water Research that has proposed, among other things, an inland desalination plant powered by burning methane produced by garbage waste. . . . University Librarian Virginia Steel and associate librarian Robin Dale were quoted for a front page story in the Santa Cruz Sentinel about UCSC's participation in Google's digital book project. Steel was also featured in a segment that aired on KSBW-TV, and stories also appeared in the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley Business Journal, Monterey County Herald, and SFGate.com. . . . Metro Santa Cruz quoted history professor Dana Frank about a public conference hosted by the UCSC Center for Labor Studies titled "Imagining International Solidarity: Models for U.S. Labor Solidarity with Workers in Latin America and China." . . . The Santa Cruz Sentinel ran a feature story about alumna author Reyna Grande, who was honored with a 2007 American Book Award for her debut novel Across A Hundred Mountains. . . . Actress and theater arts alumna Camryn Manheim was spotlighted in feature stories that ran in the Santa Cruz Sentinel and the Santa Cruz Good Times about her connection to UCSC and her appearance as keynote speaker for the campus's Scholarship Benefit Dinner. . . . Biologist Burney Le Boeuf was featured in a cover story about elephant seals in Good Times. . . . Film and Digital Media Department chair Shelley Stamp was quoted for a Santa Cruz Sentinel story about four successful UCSC alumni in the film industry who returned to campus to advise students about the business of making movies. . . . Sociology's Dane Archer sat down for a question-and-answer session with Good Times about the link between war violence and an increase in violence at home. . . . Music professor Linda Burman-Hall was featured in a Santa Cruz Sentinel story about the 35th anniversary season of the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival. . . . The Mid-County Post ran an article about chemist Jin Zhang and his research on solar energy technology. . . . Sociology's Paul Lubeck appeared on KUSP Radio's Talk of the Bay program to discuss the results of the elections in Pakistan. . . . Literature Department chair Mary Kay Gamel and assistant dean of humanities Dario Caloss were quoted in a Santa Cruz Sentinel story about a memorial event held at UCSC for longtime faculty member Gary Lease, former chair and professor of the History of Consciousness Department. . . . The Santa Cruz Sentinel noted the publication of two new oral histories by the UCSC Library's Regional History Project: The UCSC Arboretum: A Grand Experiment and I Respond: Alissa Goldring's Photographs of Mexico in the 1950s. . . . A Metro Santa Cruz article featuring new books by local writers spotlighted Sticks and Stones: The Philosophy of Insults by professor of humanities Jerome Neu, Local Girl Makes History by history professor Dana Frank, and New Mexico's Palace of the Governors by humanities lecturer Emily Abbink. . . . Students Bryan Gigantino and Kevin Holmes were quoted in a Metro Santa Cruz story about UCSC's Kinetic Poetics Festival, the largest collegiate spoken word festival in the country. The Santa Cruz Sentinel also ran a story on the event.