Vigil for Daniel Lee Cho to be held on May 10
A candlelight vigil for Daniel Lee Cho, the Sixth College freshman who disappeared on April 14 off La Jolla Shores beach, will be held May 10 at 7 p.m. at Price Center Plaza.
The event is sponsored by Sixth College Provost’s Office. For more information, contact (858) 822-5956.
UCSD receives additional funding for bomb simulator
Jacobs School of Engineering received a new $4.4 million contract for a bomb blast simulator from the federal government on May 5. Including the new contract, the federal government has committed $8.6 million to the school’s Explosive Loading Laboratory Testing Program.
The simulator is supported by the Technical Support Working Group, which is the federal interagency organization for combating terrorism. This contract brings TSWG’s total financial support to $8.6 million.
The simulator would be the world’s first laboratory designed to study the effects of bomb blasts without actually detonating explosives. Researchers at UCSD are currently applying earthquake retrofit techniques to bomb-proof buildings. Several embassies and military facilities have already been outfitted with technology developed by UCSD researchers.
Construction of the facility is expected to be completed by the end of 2004. The facility is expected to open in 2005.
Davidow to speak on Mexican/American relations
Institute of Americas director Jeffrey Davidow will discuss his new book, “The U.S. and Mexico: The Bear and the Porcupine”, at 4 p.m. on May 11 at the Faculty Club. His book examines the forces bringing the two countries closer together and those impeding cooperation, which he argues include the nations’ presidents, drug trafficking across the Mexican border and U.S. immigration policies.
Davidow has previously served as the U.S. ambassador to Mexico and assistant secretary of state for Latin America. When he retired from the State Department in 2003, Davidow was America’s highest-ranking diplomat and one of only three diplomats to hold the rank of career ambassador.
Grove Caffe now accepting meal points for first time
The Grove Caffe now accepts Dining Dollars, following an agreement made early last week between former A.S. Commissioner for Enterprise Operations Jeremy Cogan and Director of Housing and Dining Services Mark Cunningham. The agreement marks the first time meal points will be accepted at a facility not run by Housing and Dining Services.
Grove Caffe will also update its menu to reflect the adoption of meal points. According to Cogan, items purchased with meal points will be slightly more expensive than those purchased with cash to support the operational costs of the program.
Researchers develop gene computational model
Researchers at UCSD, led by bioengineering professor Bernhard Palsson and alumnus Markus Covert, have created the first ever genome-scale computational model of the gene regulatory system of the E. coli bacterium. The computational model helps define the way genes are expressed in E. coli cells and the way they affect the cell’s functions.
The team’s results were published in the May 6 issue of Nature.
Researchers created the model by running a series of experiments involving E. coli’s reaction oxygen deprivation. The team created a model that predicted the results of experiments run on E. coli, both with and without oxygen, then updated their model when their predictions were incorrect. The model can now be used to design better experiments, interpret experimental results on E. coli, and engineer better strains of E. coli.
UCSD has filed a patent on the model and is negotiating a licensing agreement. In addition to developing the E. coli model, Palsson’s research group is also beginning work on a regulatory model of yeast, a single-celled organism which is more closely related to human cells.
