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December 8, 1997
If you were watching the night skies last week, you probably noticed the extraordinary lineup of eight neighboring planets that put on a beautiful show. Astronomer Frank Drake took a moment to interpret the show for readers of the Santa Cruz County Sentinel.
Psychologist Nameera Akhtar was interviewed by Parenting magazine recently for a story on how children learn to talk. Akhtar's research in precisely that area is unsettling some long-held notions in linguistics and speech development.
The Associated Press spoke with wildlife biologist Kevin Crooks about the impact of human development on coyotes, foxes, bobcats, and other mammalian carnivores in the Chino Hills, an ecologically sensitive area of southern California. Crooks is leading an 18-month study, funded by Caltrans, to determine the likelihood of survival of these predators in the face of encroaching urbanization.
The San Jose Mercury News gave nice play to a story about the kids from Aromas School, who recently made a trip to Washington, D.C., to make a presentation at the national conference of the Education Trust. The kids, accompanied by their teacher and UCSC administrators, told the story of working with UCSC to research, write, and publish their bilingual book about college life called Kids Around the University.