Media Highlights
July 2009
This summary highlights media placements members of the UCSC community have garnered during the month of July 2009.
National and international
The New York Times interviewed sociology professor Paul Lubeck about the recent outbreak of violence in Nigeria. Lubeck, who was in Nigeria, attributed the violence to the nation's dire economic circumstances.
Astronomer Gregory Laughlin continues to attract media attention as an expert on planets: He was quoted in an article in the New York Times about the role of Jupiter in the history of our solar system; he was featured in a Planet Quest article about the future of our galaxy; and a front-page story in the Santa Cruz Sentinel covered his interview for a History Channel documentary at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, where he used bumper cars to illustrate how planetary liquids form.
Susanne Jonas of Latin American and Latino studies was interviewed by the Venezuelan daily newspaper El Nacional about the coup in Honduras.
History professor Dana Frank was interviewed on Boston Public Radio’s WZBC about the political situation in Honduras. Frank also contributed a piece about the history of sit-down labor strikes in the U.S. to Labor Notes.
A New York Times column about health care and entrepreneurship cited research by economist Rob Fairlie before concluding that "the health care mess is clearly weighing down entrepreneurship in this country." In addition, Fairlie was quoted in a U. S. News & World Report story about the struggles of small businesses during the economic downturn. Fairlie was also quoted in a Miami Times article on the same topic.
UCSC faculty, including Sandra Faber, Mark Krumholz, Stefano Profumo, Quentin Williams, and Chancellor George Blumenthal, have been prominently featured in coverage of the UC budget cuts in the San Francisco Chronicle, Science and Nature magazines, NPR's Morning Edition, and local TV stations KION and KSBW. Faber was also interviewed by the Economist magazine for a story about the damage being done to the university by budget cuts. Faber and Krumholz organized a letter from hundreds of UC faculty to the governor decrying the impacts of the cuts.
A Chronicle of Higher Education story about the long-term effects of budget cuts on the UC system noted the scholarship of UCSC history professor and Chinese historian Gail Hershatter.
The Boston Globe quoted Jewish Studies program co-director and professor of literature and history Nathaniel Deutsch in an article about the struggle of Mandean-Americans from Iraq to preserve their culture in the United States.
Physicists Robert Johnson, Marcus Ziegler, and Michael Dormody were featured in coverage of their discovery of radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsars using the Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope, with stories appearing in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, San Jose Mercury News, UPI, Space Daily, Science Daily, SoftPedia, Asian News International, and Hindustan Times.
Professor of literature and history Nathaniel Deutsch was quoted in an Associated Press article about the struggle of Mandean-Americans from Iraq to preserve their culture in the United States. The story was picked up by Canada’s Brantford Expositor.
New technology for biological sensors developed by electrical engineer Holger Schmidt was covered by Medical News Today, MediLexicon, Science Daily, SoftPedia, and Controlled Environments magazine.
Benedict Paten, a postdoc at the Center for Biomolecular Science & Engineering, was quoted in a LiveScience article about the possibility of resurrecting extinct animals from frozen tissue.
A Los Angeles Times column about organic farming that cited community studies scholar Julie Guthman's book appeared in the Herald-Sun of Durham, North Carolina.
DotMed News ran a story about chemist Pradip Mascharak's research on light-sensitive compounds for cancer therapy.
Postdoctoral fellow in cultural studies Eben Kirksey had an op-ed published in the Saint Petersburg Times about Indonesia's bleak record on human rights.
Alumna singer Judy Wexler (B.A. psychology and theater arts, Crown College, 1977) was profiled in the Seattle Times.
Alumna journalist Azadeh Moaveni (B.A. politics, Oakes College, 1998) appeared on ABC News's Nightline to discuss recent events in Iran.
Six graduates of the Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture and an environmental studies alum were included in a Mother Nature Network story featuring "40 Farmers Under 40." CNN Money/Fortune picked up the story, as well. Four apprenticeship graduates were also profiled recently on the Epicurious web site in an article entitled "Farmers Making a Difference: Eight Farms Devoted to Their Crops and Their Communities."
The Seattle Times profiled theater arts/psychology alumna Judy Wexler, a former actress who has recently been praised by critics as one of the most compelling new jazz singers performing today.
Candy Berlin of Dining Services was featured in an article about waste management that appeared in Foodservice Equipment and Supplies.
Jazz News reported that legendary Indian musician and former UCSC distinguished adjunct professor of music Ali Akbar Khan died at 87.
State and regional
Professor of history Dana Frank contributed an op-ed piece titled "President Obama's Honduran Test" to the San Francisco Chronicle about the military coup in Honduras. She also made three guest appearances on KPFA Radio to discuss recent events in Honduras.
Wildlife biologist Tim Tinker was quoted in San Francisco Chronicle and Santa Cruz Sentinel stories and on KCBS Radio about the annual survey of the sea otter population.
In a food column in the Los Angeles Times, Russ Parsons cited work by Julie Guthman of community studies, including her "splendid book," Agrarian Dreams.
Coastal geologist Gary Griggs was featured in a KQED TV Quest program about the tsunami hazard on the West Coast.
The San Francisco Chronicle ran a profile of art alumna Caitlin Williams Freeman, who as pastry chef for a new café at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, creates desserts that pay homage to works of art featured in the museum.
An article about Año Nuevo Island in the San Francisco Chronicle featured graduate student Abe Borker and reserve manager Pat Morris.
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat ran an editorial by Arboretum director Daniel Harder and UC Davis entomologist James Carey claiming that current efforts by state and federal agencies to control the light-brown apple moth are futile.
SF360 covered B. Ruby Rich's participation in an onstage conversation at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts with Argentine director Lucrecia Martel.
The Ventura County Star published a first-person column by undergraduate Yesenia Ramos of Oxnard. Originally written as an application for the Orfalea Scholarship at the Ventura County Community Foundation, the piece describes her childhood, family background, and professional aspirations.
Alum Ricky Le (B.A. politics, College Eight, 1999) was named political director of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's gubernatorial campaign, according to a report in the California Chronicle.
Local
The 40th anniversary of the moon landing shone the media spotlight on former Lick Observatory director Joe Miller. He was interviewed by the Santa Cruz Sentinel, KSBW-TV, and KION-TV about the observatory's role in one of the first experiments conducted by astronauts on the moon: an effort to accurately measure the distance to earth. The story also appeared in the San Jose Mercury News.
Also this month in the Santa Cruz Sentinel:
There was an announcement that anthropologist Adrienne Zihlman had been selected as the recipient of the 2009 Martin M. Chemers Award for Outstanding Research in the Social Sciences. . . . A story ran about how well UCSC did in the 2009 UC MultiCampus Research Programs and Initiatives Competition, quoting vice chancellor for research Bruce Margon, history professor Brian Catlos, and associate professor of education Ronald Glass, and noting the diversity of the four UCSC programs that received awards. . . . The paper ran a story about the Cabrillo Music Festival’s renowned conductor Marin Alsop bringing orchestral music inspired by the Grateful Dead to this year’s festival as a salute to the band's archive being housed at UCSC, noting she heard about the archive from friends at the Baltimore Symphony, where she is the resident conductor. . . . Farm & Garden apprenticeship graduate Godfrey Kasozi of Uganda was profiled. . . . A photograph of students working on a mural project at Live Oak Elementary School ran in the paper. The project is part of a year-long research project being run by psychology graduate student Danielle Kohfeldt.
KSBW TV interviewed marine biologist Baldo Marinovic about changes in ocean conditions along the coast that may be related to El Niño.
Ocean scientist Christina Ravelo was quoted in stories in the Santa Cruz Sentinel and Victoria Times Colonist (Canada) about an expedition she is leading to the Bering Sea.
A new research project by Judith Scott of education was featured in the Santa Cruz Sentinel and the San Jose Mercury News.
Biologist Donald Croll was quoted in a story in the San Jose Mercury News and Santa Cruz Sentinel about a ban on krill fishing along the West Coast.
Biologist Mark Carr was interviewed by KGO TV for a story about the impact of new fisheries management strategies on West Coast rockfish.
Mike Rotkin of community studies was quoted in a SantaCruz.com story about local activist and dedicated community volunteer Franklin Williams.