The UC Student Association backed the Academic Senate’s proposed overhaul of admissions standards used by the University of California. The proposal is to be voted on by the UC Board of Regents on Wednesday.
Under the so-called “”comprehensive review”” process proposed by the UC Academic Senate, the University of California would no longer require that its campuses admit 50 to 75 percent of their incoming classes on the basis of academic criteria alone. Such criteria include GPA, standardized test scores, advanced placement credit and outstanding work in a particular subject.
Instead, all admissions would be based on UC eligibility — which would remain unchanged — and other factors such as special talents, life experiences, and achievements made in light of special circumstances such as a disability or low family income. Location of applicants’ secondary school and place of residence could also be taken into account.
The UCSA stated that it supports the proposal because it feels that the current admissions policy denies access to students who would be successful in the UC system, and who would contribute to their classmates’ education.
UCSD student receives $250 award for poster
Serena Moseman, a UCSD ecology, behavior and evolution sciences major, was one of eight undergraduates to receive an award for research posters presented at the 2001 Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science National Conference in Phoenix.
Moseman’s poster, titled “”Infaunal Density, Composition, and Diversity in a One-Year-Old Spartina Foliosa Marsh in Tijuana Estuary, California,”” centered on work done in ecology and environmental sciences under her faculty mentor Lisa Levin of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Moseman was one of three UCSD Academic Enrichment Program students presenting scientific posters at the conference. The meeting drew 2,000 participants nationwide and included more than 160 poster presentations. Winning students each received a $250 cash prize.
Through AEP, UCSD undergraduates can participate in a wide range of research-oriented academic programs intended to expose students early to research and encourage them to pursue doctoral or other advanced degrees after graduation.
Attendance at the conference for UCSD students was supported by the California Alliance for Minority Participation. Students developed their posters while working with mentors this year during the AEP Summer Research Program.
New drugs found to decrease symptoms of Alzheimer’s
Researchers at the UCSD School of Medicine and the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., have shown in cell cultures and mice that certain nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs also known as NSAIDs, decrease the harmful amyloid-beta 42 protein that forms brain plaques in victims of Alzheimer’s disease.
The new findings, published in the Nov. 8, 2001 issue of the journal Nature, suggest that NSAID therapy has a direct impact on the cause of the disease, which is believed to be the abnormal deposition of the AB42 proteins in the brain.
The best-known example of an NSAID is ibuprofen.
The new study is the first to demonstrate a specific pharmacological inhibition of AB42 production. Specifically, the NSAIDs ibuprofen, indomethacin and sulindac sulphide decreased AB42 by as much as 80 percent. Other NSAIDs, including aspirin, Naproxen and celecoxib, had no effect on AB42.
The research was led by Sascha Weggen of the UCSD neurosciences department, and senior authors were Edward Koo, also of the UCSD neurosciences department, and Todd E. Golde of the Mayo Clinic.
MMW students honored at 10th annual writing showcase
Eleanor Roosevelt College students Ben Gibbs, Sara Goetz, Madeline Miller, Yat-Suen Poon and Lucy Saltmarsh received awards Nov. 8 for outstanding writing in Making of the Modern World 2 through 6 for the 2000-2001 school year.
Nominees for the awards are selected by MMW teaching assistants, and winners are invited to speak about their papers at the showcase.
Goetz, Poon and Saltmarsh spoke at the event, describing the process by which they selected their topics, and each also gave a brief overview of the subjects covered in their papers.
Gibbs’ and Miller’s papers were presented by MMW professors because the students are currently studying abroad. The winning papers appear in a commemorative booklet.
