Media Highlights
March 2008
This summary highlights media placements members of the UCSC community have garnered during the month of March 2008.
National and international
Sociologist Marcia Millman was quoted prominently in a New York Times article about the news that the gang-life memoir Love and Consequences was a fake, a revelation made by the author's sister. Millman, author of the book The Perfect Sister: What Draws Us Together, What Drives Us Apart, noted that people were almost as fascinated by the sisterly relationship as by the hoax. . . . Also in the New York Times, Steve Gliessman of environmental studies was quoted in a trend story about the growing number of young people who are becoming farmers. Consumer demand for food produced locally and on a small scale is expanding opportunities for entry-level farmers, said Gliessman. . . . The New York Times called on social psychology's Elliot Aronson for a story about buyer's remorse that focused on the "blissful ignorance" phenomenon. Aronson, an expert in cognitive dissonance, discussed the ways consumers justify their decisions and ultimately come to terms with their purchases. Aronson was also tapped by the Las Vegas Sun for insight into the news that a group of Las Vegas medical clinics reused syringes. Postulating that the psychological theory of "social facilitation" was at work, Aronson described how people can lull themselves into thinking their actions aren't dangerous. The story was distributed to numerous newspapers by the Scripps Howard News Service. . . . Astronomer Gregory Laughlin was quoted in a New York Times article about the ultimate fate of the Earth. Also, research by Laughlin and graduate student Javiera Guedes on the presence of habitable planets in nearby Alpha Centauri was covered in the Telegraph and Daily Mail (U.K.), Hindustan Times, New Scientist magazine, Wired News, National Geographic News, FoxNews.com, Physics World, Science Daily, Space Daily, Space.com, and World Science, Discovery News, and the Finnish magazine Stars and Space. . . . The Canadian weekly news magazine Maclean's interviewed assistant professor of film and digital media L. S. Kim for a story about how women are portrayed in HBO's acclaimed television drama The Wire. . . . A study of invasive rats in the Aleutian Islands led by biology graduate student Carolyn Kurle was covered by the Christian Science Monitor, National Geographic News, U.P.I., Daily Post (U.K.), Aberdeen Press & Journal, Thaindian News, Hindustan Times, Live Science, Red Orbit, PhysOrg.com, Mongabay.com, and Innovations Report. . . . Astronomer Douglas Lin was quoted in a story about the new scientific view of our solar system that ran in the Miami Herald, Kansas City Star, Charleston Gazette, Macon Telegraph, Myrtle Beach Sun-News, Deseret Morning News, Nanaimo Daily News, and other newspapers. . . . Britain's Morning Star ran an interview with history of consciousness professor Angela Davis about her work to reform the prison industrial complex. . . . Redbook magazine ran a blurb about research by psychologist Campbell Leaper on the relative loquaciousness of men and women. . . . Astrophysicist Jonathan Fortney was quoted in a Science Now article about the detection of organic molecules in the atmosphere of an extrasolar planet. . . . A study of Saturn's moon Tethys by planetary scientists Erinna Chen and Francis Nimmo was covered by the Hindustan Times and BBC News online. . . . A Space Daily story about research on the origins of life included a quote from biochemist William Scott. . . . Canada's Post-Leader newspaper is the latest to pick up economist Ricard Gil's research on the high price of movie popcorn. . . . Astronomer Mark Krumholz was quoted in stories about his research on the formation of massive stars in Science News and Space Daily. . . . Research on distant galaxies led by astronomers Garth Illingworth and Rychard Bouwens was featured in Science News. Science News covered biologist Bruce Lyon's study of mating behavior of lark buntings.
State and regional
Earth scientist Paul Koch was quoted in a story about California's prehistoric flightless duck that ran in the Oakland Tribune, Hayward Review, Fremont Argus, San Mateo County Times, and Alameda Times-Star. . . . Evolutionary biologist John Thompson was quoted in a San Francisco Chronicle story about the evolutionary arms race between garter snakes and newts. . . . Biomolecular engineer David Haussler was quoted in a San Jose Mercury News story about a proposed "biobank" for research on disease-related genes. . . . The March issue of California Farmer magazine featured a nice spread on the trendsetting role of the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. . . . KGO TV's View from the Bay program ran a two-part segment on the Seymour Center's Ocean Explorers spring and summer camps for kids, featuring youth programs educator Katrina Hart London and marine biologist Kristy Lindemann.
Local
The Santa Cruz Sentinel ran a story about the robotics competition for students in the engineering school's Mechatronics class, with quotes from assistant professor Gabriel Elkaim and students Kevin Nelson and Kelly Kitagaway. And KSCO Radio, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, and Dr. Dobb's Portal also covered the winners of the competition, engineering students, Bill Hogan, Kevin Hichborn, Scott Therien, and Laurel DeMarco. . . . Alan Richards of environmental studies was interviewed by Community Television for a program marking the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The station also rebroadcast a 2002 teach-in about the war that featured Richards. . . . The Educational Partnership Center was featured in the Watsonville Register-Pajaronian's coverage of the 2008 MESA Day Preliminary Competition. . . . Michael Hutchison of economics sat down with Robert Pollie, host of KUSP Radio's Talk of the Bay program, for an hour-long "remedial course in economics" that aired March 3. Pollie, who promised to "ask the dumb questions so you don't have to," archived the program on the station's web site. . . . Computer engineer Sri Kurniawan was interviewed by KION TV about her project to deliver speech therapy via cell phone, also covered in Speech Tech magazine. . . . ACE Program director Nancy Cox-Konopelski was quoted in a Santa Cruz Sentinel story about the Expanding Your Horizons conference on campus.