[Currents headergraphic]

July 13, 1998

Making the News

Economist K. C. Fung weighed in on the timely subject of the Chinese economy and how it relates to the Asian financial crisis for the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. Among the participants with Fung in the live panel discussion were Larry Summers, a top Treasury Department official. The show aired during President Clinton's recent trip to China.

Alumnus Geoffrey Marcy, astronomer Steven Vogt, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics, and their coworkers received widespread attention, including articles in Science News, the Washington Post, and the San Jose Mercury News, for their discovery of a planet around a nearby star.

An article about careers in science journalism in the scientific journal Nature featured words of wisdom from John Wilkes, director of the Science Communication program.

The grim discovery of human remains in San Benito County prompted officials to call on forensic anthropologist Alison Galloway, whose involvement in the mystery was reported by the Santa Cruz County Sentinel and KGO-TV. . . . Galloway's recent testimony in a Kern County murder case was also covered by the Californian.

Chancellor Greenwood was pictured in the Santa Cruz County Sentinel hoisting a shovel of dirt at groundbreaking ceremonies for the University Town Center, which will house the offices of UC Extension and apartments for foreign students.

The work of the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group, led by coordinator Brian Walton, was highlighted in stories about the recovery of peregrine falcon populations in California. Walton's group released two groups of captive-raised chicks at Muir Beach in Marin County in June, and the story was covered by the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Examiner, the Associated Press, and KTVU-TV, KRON-TV, KPIX-TV, and KGO-TV.

An article on Antarctic research in USA Today featured Marcia Gowing, a research biologist in the Institute of Marine Sciences, and her studies of algae growing on Antarctic ice.

Agroecology's Sean Swezey was one of three entomologists profiled in Organic Gardening magazine's story about the "quiet revolution" in the world of pest control. Swezey, whose photograph graced the opening spread of the article, predicted that state universities across the country will soon expand the services they offer to farmers by adding organic specialists to their staffs. . . . Also on the farm beat, the Watsonville Register-Pajaronian has done a fine job covering the ongoing story of research on organic apple production by Sean Swezey and the folks at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, so it was no surprise when the paper announced the upcoming publication of a production manual and a grower's guide.

The Santa Cruz County Sentinel selected UCSC junior Thomas Oechel as one of two "College Athletes of the Year" and ran a long profile on the two-time national tennis champion.

The latest media outlet to get wind of recent work by Manuel Pastor of Latin American and Latino studies was Gilroy's Dispatch, which picked up on an Associated Press story about the Silicon Valley workforce, which Pastor described as ethnically and professionally segregated. . . . And in the wake of UC Regent Ward Connerly's recent comments, Pastor spoke up in defense of ethnic studies in interviews with the Santa Cruz County Sentinel and KUSP radio. Judy Yung of American studies also defended ethnic studies in an interview with the San Francisco Examiner.

More coverage of psychologist Dom Massaro's work with deaf children in Portland: The Oregonian's story ran on the Newhouse News Service wire, appearing in two Michigan dailies.

IMS director Gary Griggs appeared on a panel discussing the outcome of the National Ocean Conference; the discussion was broadcast on community TV and on radio station KUSP; joining Griggs on the panel were congressman Sam Farr, state senator Bruce McPherson, and Vicky Nichols of Save Our Shores.

The research of Michael Poole, an IMS research associate, was featured in a Discovery Channel documentary on spinner dolphins.

The Santa Cruz County Sentinel ran a story on UCSC students taking part in a new course on juvenile justice, which includes a six-month internship working with teens who have been in trouble with the law. Students Teresa Noonan and Georgina Peralta were quoted in the story.


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