Media Highlights
October 2008
This summary highlights media placements members of the UCSC community have garnered during the month of October 2008.
National and international
Bill Domhoff was quoted in a New York Times column about the super-rich that appeared in the paper's "Week in Review" section. . . . And Domhoff's work was cited in a Seattle Post-Intelligencer story about the nation's power elite.
Astronomer Gregory Laughlin was featured in a Discover magazine article about the search for Earth-like planets.
Professor emerita of economics Peggy Musgrave penned a letter to the editor of the New York Times, calling on the federal government to address the problem of rising unemployment and adopt a Keynesian fiscal policy that including a "crash program to develop alternative sources of energy and grants to the states to finance infrastructure construction."
Eileen Zurbriggen of psychology was quoted in a story about sexy Halloween costumes for young girls that was distributed by Newhouse News Service after originally appearing in the Post-Standard of Syracuse, New York. Zurbriggen, who chaired an APA task force on the sexualization of young girls, said racy costumes provide a "teaching moment" for parents, who can take the opportunity to talk with their daughters about the popularity of "naughty nurse" costumes.
Biologist James Estes was interviewed by CBC Radio (Canada) about his research on sea otters in the Aleutian Islands. Science news web sites Discovery News, Science Daily, ScienCentric, Innovations Report, Space Daily, and Hindustan Times also covered the story.
The Irish Times quoted linguistics professor Jim McCloskey for an article about attitudes towards the Irish language in Ireland.
Graduate student Hoyt Peckham's research on sea turtle deaths off Baja California was covered by SFGate.com, KTVU.com, UPI, Science Daily, Science Centric, PhysOrg.com, Innovations Report, and Red Orbit.
The Times of London quoted Shelley Stamp, chair of the Film and Digital Media Department, for a story questioning the existence of an alleged colorful Hollywood publicist of the silent movie era who was featured in a new book by a British publicist.
Economist Mike Dooley was mentioned in an article in Investors Chronicle about a rise in annuity rates.
Astronomer Jason X. Prochaska and undergraduate Kyle Kaplan were featured in coverage of their research on quasars in Science Daily and UPI.
Biologist Daniel Costa was featured in a Scienceline story about the use of electronic tags carried by marine animals to gather oceanographic data.
Denver's Rocky Mountain News interviewed Shakespeare Santa Cruz artistic director Marco Barricelli for an article about Glengarry Glen Ross, David Mamet's 1983 play about real estate salesmen desperately trying to prosper.
Environmental toxicologist Russell Flegal was quoted in an article in Chemistry World magazine about the U.S. EPA's new air quality standards for lead.
Theater Arts professor Kathy Foley contributed book and theater reviews to Asian Theatre Journal.
The Daily Collegian, which covers the University of Massachusetts community, covered a panel discussion about racial conflict in South Africa with Thomas Pettigrew, research professor of social psychology. Pettigrew described being spied on by the secret police and having to keep his friendships with blacks secret.
Physicist Anthony Aguirre was quoted in an article about the Foundational Questions Institute in the South Bend Tribune.
The Women's Review of Books reviewed Bodies in the Making, a 2006 book created by UCSC's Institute for Advanced Feminist Research, for a survey of works about remaking the body.
Astronomer Michael Bolte was quoted in a Honolulu Star-Bulletin story about plans for the Thirty-meter Telescope.
Social Sciences Dean Sheldon Kamieniecki has fielded a flurry of election-related calls lately. Reporters from the Arizona Republic, the UCLA Bruin, and KUSP Radio are among the recent callers.
State and regional
The San Jose Mercury News published a story about the fossilized remains of a mammoth that will be featured in an upcoming exhibit being developed in collaboration with psychology professor Maureen Callanan.
The Mercury News ran stories about the Baskin School of Engineering's Research Review Day that featured electrical engineer Ali Shakouri, computer engineer Sri Kurniawan, and acting dean Michael Isaacson; and the inauguration of the Large Hadron Collider, which featured physicists Abraham Seiden and Michael Dine.
The Mercury News and the Santa Cruz Sentinel ran stories on how professor of art Dee Hibbert-Jones is using art and technology to capture the emotions and memories of the inhabitants of international cities and putting them on display. . . . Both papers also published articles a community celebration of environmental poet Robinson Jeffers--featuring four noted poets--hosted by the Humanities Division with support from the National Endowment for the Arts. . . . And both papers featured Todd Newberry, professor emeritus of biology, in coverage of the Monterey Bay Birding Festival.
Biologist Peter Raimondi was quoted in a story about the growth of kelp along the California coast in the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat.
News that a class action lawsuit involving video gaming employees at Sony resulted in $457,000 in financial aid for computer game design students at UCSC was reported in various media--from the Mercury News and Sentinel to gaming sites, to technology blogs--including siliconvalley.com and gamasutra.com.
Local
This month in the Santa Cruz Sentinel:
A profile of professor Mary Silver described her pioneering career in ocean sciences. . . . A story about the Baskin School of Engineering's Research Review Day featured electrical engineer Ali Shakouri, computer engineer Sri Kurniawan, and acting dean Michael Isaacson. . . . Economist Michael Hutchison was tapped for comment on the recent drop in regional home prices and support from area congressional representatives for the bailout. . . . Physicists Abraham Seiden and Michael Dine were featured in a story about the inauguration of the Large Hadron Collider. . . . An article ran about a research collaboration between psychology's Maureen Callanan and Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose. . . . Alumna Dana Priest's Pulitzer Prize-winning work at the Washington Post and her campus talk with students about the elections were featured in the paper in addition to coverage of the 2008 UCSC Founders Day gala dinner. Priest was also interviewed on local NPR radio affiliate KUSP and on KZSC Radio. . . . Feminist studies professor Bettina Aptheker and history of consciousness professor and chair Donna Haraway were quoted in a story about the retirement of professor Angela Davis. . . . The Sentinel and hispanictips.com reported on a bilingual Latino literature conference at UCSC featuring public readings by eight noted writers.
CalTeach center director Gretchen Andreasen was quoted in coverage of new funding to train math and science teachers in the Sentinel, Watsonville Register-Pajaronian, and Salinas Californian.
Coverage of UCSC's record funding for research in the Sentinel, San Jose Mercury News, and Monterey Herald included quotes from vice chancellor for research Bruce Margon, engineering dean Michael Isaacson, and ocean scientist Jonathan Zehr.
Economist Lori Kletzer was a guest on KUSP Radio's "Talk of the Bay" program, where she discussed the economy, jobs, and more. . . . KUSP's "7th Avenue Project" aired an extended interview with political scientist Sheldon Kamieniecki, who discussed election polling and voter behavior on the eve of the election. . . . And economist Michael Hutchison sat down for an hour-long interview about the financial crisis with KUSP as well.
KSBW-TV covered a visit to the UCSC Farm by middle-school and high-school students who were treated to apple pressing, pie making, pumpkin carving, and other activities designed to make learning about the food system fun.