Media Highlights
August 2008
This summary highlights media placements members of the UCSC community have garnered during the month of August 2008.
Media coverage of firebombings targeting UCSC science researchers on August 2 was widespread. Below is a sampling of editorial comments published about the incidents.
Santa Cruz Sentinel editorial: As We See It
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/opinion/ci_10112699
San Francisco Chronicle editorial: Firebombing shows the danger of domestic terror
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/04/EDSP124T4K.DTL
Inside Higher Education: After Attacks on Researchers, Caution and Steadfastness
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/08/06/attacks
SF Chronicle columnist: The war on scientists in America
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/04/ED6D124QS1.DTL
National Institutes of Health: Statement on Recent Terrorism at University of California, Santa Cruz
http://www.nih.gov/about/director/08062008statement_santacruz.htm
In other news:
National and international
The Wall Street Journal ran a story on Shakespeare Santa Cruz, reviewing three plays and noting "Loud cheers for Marco Barricelli, the festival's new artistic director, who has put together a debut season that bodes well for the future."
Planetary scientist Francis Nimmo was quoted in a USA Today story about Saturn's moon Enceladus.
The Wall Street Journal tapped anthropologist Nancy Chen for comment in a story about the absence of Chinese martial arts, known as wushu, at the Olympics. The story appeared in the paper's Asian edition, as well as the edition published in the United States.
Nate Dominy of anthropology was featured on Evolve, a program about human evolution produced by The History Channel. If you missed the broadcast, Dominy's appearance in the segment on "Eyes" is available on DVD and iTunes.
Stories in Popular Mechanics and National Geographic News about using elephant seals to study the oceans featured biologist Daniel Costa.
The Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture got a plug in O, The Oprah Magazine in a recent article about the revolution in eating habits that focused on eating locally grown, organic food. And Sunset magazine did a nice spread about apprenticeship grads Jered Lawson and Nancy Vail, owners of Pie Ranch.
Sociologist John Brown Childs was interviewed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for a show about income and wealth inequality in the United States.
In an article about the growing number of food-focused courses on college campuses, the Washington Post singled out the Anthropology Department's popular Food Through Culture class taught by Melissa Caldwell.
The New York Times, in a gardening Q&A about backyard vegetable gardens, referred to Alan Chadwick--founder of what is now the Alan Chadwick Garden--as one of two "gurus of organic gardening."
Research on dark matter by astrophysicists Piero Madau and Juerg Diemand was covered by Science News, UPI, Space Daily, Space.com, and SpaceRef.
Astronomers Kevin Schlaufman and Constance Rockosi were quoted in stories about research on the Milky Way galaxy in New Scientist, Space Daily, and Live Science.
Biologist Scott Shaffer was quoted in a New Scientist magazine story about new technology for tracking bird migrations.
Back Stage East published a feature story on Shakespeare Santa Cruz artistic director Marco Barricelli.
Eileen Zurbriggen of psychology was quoted in a New Pittsburgh Courier article about the sexualization of young girls. Zurbriggen, who chaired an American Psychological Association task force that issued a report on the topic last year, said the consequences for young girls are "very real" and are likely to have a negative influence on girls' healthy development.
Top Tech News reported on data storage technology developed by computer scientists Mark Storer, Kevin Greenan, and Ethan Miller.
Psychologist Cam Leaper's recent study of sexual harassment, which found that 90 percent of teen girls report having experienced sexual harassment at least once, continues to get media attention. Under the headline "That isn't Flirting," the (Kentucky) Herald-Leader reported the results and ran a question-and-answer column with Leaper's coauthor; a columnist with the Syracuse New Times opined about the study; and Leaper's findings were also picked up by winknews.com, a web site managed by WINK-TV of Florida.
An article in the Village Voice about the late acclaimed novelist Louis Owens--a former professor of literature at UCSC--described his time on campus in the early 1990s.
State and regional
San Francisco Chronicle theater critic Robert Hurwitt reviewed two productions in the 2008 Shakespeare Santa Cruz summer festival. Reviews of Shakespeare Santa Cruz productions also appeared in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, San Francisco Examiner, Metro Santa Cruz, Good Times, and San Jose Mercury News.
Also in the San Jose Mercury News this month:
In a story about development that's threatening mountain lions, Chris Wilmers of environmental studies was tapped for comment. As director of the Bay Area Puma Project, Wilmers is studying the habits and habitat of mountain lions with an aim toward developing strategies to protect the animals. . . . Jamie Vargas of the Educational Partnership Center was quoted in a story about students who recruit minority students to attend the University of California. The Contra Costa Times also ran the story. . . . Reporter Lisa Krieger gave a thumbs up to the newly revised edition of The Natural History of the UC Santa Cruz Campus, edited by Tonya Haff, Martha Brown, and W. Breck Tyler. The first edition was written in 1982 by the late professor of natural history Kenneth Norris. . . . And the Mercury News and the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that graduate student Kimberly Bautista received a Princess Grace Award for her work in UCSC's Social Documentation master's program. The Sentinel also ran a follow-up story on Bautista's film, quoting her and B. Ruby Rich, chair of the program.
The work of research professor Bill Domhoff, who studies the concentration of wealth and power among the nation's elite, was cited in a letter to the editor of the Modesto Bee.
The San Francisco Bay Guardian's "Best of the Bay 2008" issue hailed Arboretum director Daniel Harder as a "local hero" for his investigation of the light brown apple moth.
The San Francisco Chronicle noted that the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop will perform the West Coast premiere of Michael Daugherty's Troyjam, narrated by Shakespeare Santa Cruz artistic director Marco Barricelli.
Local
The discovery of a new mode of gene regulation by biochemist Monika Martick and biologist Lucas Horan was covered in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Medical News Today, Science Daily, and Science Centric.
The Monterey County Herald noted that literature professor Julianne Burton-Carvajal will be presenting an overview of the significance of Mexican cinema at the National Steinbeck Center's 28th annual festival celebrating Nobel-Prize winning author John Steinbeck.
The Santa Cruz Sentinel and Register Pajaronian ran articles announcing that UCSC water polo teams will compete in NCAA Division III during the 2008-09 academic year.