July 23, 2001 Making the News A widely published Associated Press story about the health effects of obesity included quotes from Chancellor M.R.C. Greenwood, an expert on nutrition and obesity. Ann Pace, assistant director of the Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering, and Harry Noller, Sinsheimer professor of molecular biology, were quoted in a Santa Cruz Sentinel article about the Human Genome Symposium that will take place on campus in August. Several reporters covering the discovery of a new type of hydrothermal vent on the seafloor contacted Andrew Fisher, associate professor of Earth sciences, for an expert opinion. The vents are unusual in that they are found over relatively old seafloor, have formed enormous carbonate chimneys and other structures, and derive their energy mainly from nonvolcanic processes, said Fisher, who was not part of the team that found them. Fisher took calls from the Los Angeles Times, Science News, Boston Globe, and Seattle Post-Intelligencer. A story in the Boston Globe about the theory that human hunters caused the extinction of mammoths and other prehistoric animals in North America included quotes from Paul Koch, associate professor of Earth sciences. A Los Angeles Times article about alumnus and preeminent planet hunter Geoffrey Marcy included a nice description of the role played by professor of astronomy and astrophysics Steven Vogt in making Marcy's team so successful in the search for planets outside the solar system. Shakespeare Santa Cruz's 20th anniversary prompted lengthy articles about the company in the San Jose Mercury News and the Santa Cruz Sentinel. And the San Francisco Chronicle gave a favorable review to SSC's A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Tim Ocel, which opened July 14. Jim Estes, adjunct professor of biology and ocean sciences, was featured in stories about the annual sea otter population survey in the San Jose Mercury News and the Santa Cruz Sentinel. The Good Times ran a cover story on pinniped research at Long Marine Lab, focusing on the work of Ron Schusterman, adjunct professor of ocean sciences. Graduate students Colleen Kastak and Brandon Southall were also featured in the article. Brian Walton, coordinator of the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group, was featured in a story in the Ventura County Star about efforts to save endangered island foxes on the Channel Islands. Walton's group is working to protect the foxes from golden eagles that have invaded the islands. Gary Griggs, director of the Institute of Marine Sciences, was interviewed on KUSP-FM's Talk of the Bay by host Donna Gerardi Riordan, who is also a special assistant to Chancellor M.R.C. Greenwood in the area of higher education and science policy. Griggs discussed the variety of ways UCSC researchers are involved in science and policy issues in the Monterey Bay Area.