Media Highlights
September 2009
This summary highlights media placements members of the UCSC community have garnered during the month of September 2009.
National and international
AIDS vaccine research led by Phillip Berman, professor and chair of biomolecular engineering, was covered by the San Jose Mercury News, Santa Cruz Sentinel, Medical News Today, Medilexicon, Genetic Engineering News, Genome Web Daily News, and Biospace. KGO Radio ran an online news story about Berman's AIDS vaccine research. In addition, Berman was quoted in a San Francisco Chronicle story about promising results from an AIDS vaccine trial that included a vaccine Berman invented.
Economist Carl Walsh's remarks during a recent meeting of the Federal Reserve Bank were incorporated into a New York Times article about Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's nomination to a second term. The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Bloomberg News, and other national and international news outlets also covered Walsh's remarks from the principal paper he delivered at the conference.
Physicist Anthony Aguirre is featured in a story in the October issue of Discover magazine about a conference he organized to investigate the idea of multiple universes and the possibility of detecting evidence of collisions between universes.
Economist Rob Fairlie was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal and Entrepreneur magazine on the topic of entrepreneurship in the midst of the recession.
Earth scientist James Zachos was quoted in a Christian Science Monitor story about the role of methane gas in global warming.
USA Today tapped economist Joshua Aizenman for a recent story about the outlook for China's economy.
Astronomer Garth Illingworth's research on distant galaxies using the Hubble Space Telescope was covered in Science News, U.S. News & World Report, Wired News, and CBC News (Canada). He was also quoted in a Science News story about new images from the recently repaired Hubble Space Telescope.
Electrical engineer Wentai Liu's achievements in developing a retinal implant are mentioned in a Wired News story about similar efforts at MIT.
History professor Dana Frank was interviewed by the Associated Press for a story about the type of political pressure the U.S. is putting on the interim Honduras government to restore the ousted president. The story was picked up by the Canadian Press.
Wikipedia's decision to introduce the WikiTrust program developed by computer scientist Luca de Alfaro was reported in Wired News, PC Magazine, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Techweb, EWeek.com, vnunet.com, and SantaCruz.com.
Feminist studies professor Bettina Aptheker was interviewed by the Associated Press for a story about advice for executive mates on how to best survive in the corporate world.
Film scholar B. Ruby Rich of community studies, a panelist at the Toronto International Film Festival, opined to the Toronto Star about this year's entries.
Research by astrophysicist Stan Woosley on conditions inside a star before it explodes as a supernova was covered by Science Daily, Innovations Report, and UPI.
Technology Review featured Digital Arts and New Media M.F.A. program graduates Michael Dale and Abram Stern in an extensive story about how “open video” could lead to the next big wave in Web innovation.
Alum Chuck Savitt was featured in a New York Times article about Island Press, his struggling publishing company that focuses on land use.
AllaboutJazz.com reported that SFJAZZ, the leading non-profit jazz organization on the West Coast, has appointed music lecturer Paul Contos as the new director of the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars.
Sociologist E. Melanie DuPuis posted an opinion piece on Grist.org.
State and regional
The Los Angeles Times covered the results of a new statewide public-opinion poll about attitudes toward the death penalty. Conducted by psychology professor Craig Haney, the poll revealed eroding support and growing public concern about the possible execution of innocent people, among other insights. Other media outlets that covered the story were KTVU TV, KCBS Radio, the Los Angeles Daily Journal, Bay City News, Santa Cruz Sentinel, and the San Francisco Chronicle, which ran a story by the Los Angeles Times. The Oakland Tribune published an opinion piece about the poll's findings, and Haney's results were also picked up and circulated by the ACLU of Northern California, the StandDown Texas Project, and others.
The San Francisco Chronicle ran an editorial on the need for new funding ideas for the University of California, including a proposal for tiered tuition that put UCSC in a middle tier with Davis, San Diego, and Santa Barbara.
Forensic anthropologist Alison Galloway was mentioned in a Fresno Bee story about guilty pleas entered by two suspects in a murder investigation. Galloway's analysis provided key evidence in the case.
Scott Berlin of Dining Services was quoted in a Los Angeles Times story about campus dining halls that are going "trayless" to reduce food waste.
Climate scientist Mark Snyder contributed to a study on the effects of climate change on California birds that was reported in the San Jose Mercury News, Santa Cruz Sentinel, San Francisco Chronicle, and Science Daily.
The San Jose Mercury News published an op-ed by history professor Dana Frank describing how the recent Honduran coup has been far from bloodless and urging Americans to demand a full condemnation of the military regime's violent repression. . . . She also made another appearance to discuss the issue on KPFA Radio news.
In an article about financial challenges faced by theater companies, the San Francisco Chronicle noted that Shakespeare Santa Cruz raised more than $400,000 last December allowing it to stage its 2009 summer season. . . . Also in the Chronicle, University Librarian Ginny Steel and Head of Special Collections Christine Bunting were quoted in Leah Garchik’s column about a reception hosted by alumnus Nion McEvoy to support the Grateful Dead Archive.
The San Jose Mercury News profiled art alumnus FJ Anderson, an aspiring artist who specializes in large scale paintings of ocean waves.
The work of art professor and photographer Lewis Watts was featured in an article written by UCSC alumni Adrienne Sky Robberts for the blog of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, in commemoration of the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
Local
The Mid-County Post ran a story about biochemist Ted Holman and his research on compounds with potential for cancer treatment.
Biochemist David Deamer was featured on KUSP Radio's interview program "7th Avenue Project."
Santa Cruz Weekly ran an interview with retired biologist Todd Newberry.
The Santa Cruz Sentinel and San Jose Mercury News reported on marine scientist Brandon Southall's research into the effects of sonar on beaked whales. . . . Both papers quoted Arboretum director Dan Harder in a story about state plans to eradicate the light brown apple moth.
Also this month in the Santa Cruz Sentinel:
There was a front-page story about wildlife ecologist Chris Wilmers's research on mountain lions and recent efforts by researcher Paul Houghtaling to assess the wellbeing of local pumas in the wake of the Lockheed Fire, which charred a portion of the big cats' territory. . . . It was reported that Spanish language lecturer María Victoria González-Pagani has been awarded the IV Cristóbal de Villalón Award for "Innovation in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language."
. . . The successful completion of the Grow a Farmer Campaign to raise funds for permanent apprentice housing at the UCSC Farm was noted.
. . . An announcement ran that the UCSC Center for Labor Studies and the Living Writers Series will present a reading on campus by award-winning novelist Monique Truong. . . . It was noted that alumna Mary Anne Carson has been named Woman of the Year by the Aptos Chamber of Commerce. . . . An announcement ran that UCSC’s third annual Founders Day event will take place on Oct. 23, honoring five individuals for outstanding achievements with a theme of "Fulfilling the Promise."
The Santa Cruz Sentinel and the Salinas Californian ran articles about how 11 dedicated community college transfer students will attend UCSC this fall as recipients of $20,000 Karl S. Pister Leadership Opportunity Awards.
The Santa Cruz Good Times ran profiles of arts dean David Yager and engineering dean Art Ramirez. . . . In addition, a Good Times reporter discussed human memory with psychology professor Avril Thorne.