UCSD will be hosting its annual Urban Studies and Planning exposition, which will showcase over 40 research projects completed by UCSD students that examine regional and urban planning issues in San Diego. The fair will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on March 12.
The exhibit is sponsored by the urban studies and planning department and will feature projects dealing with regional planning, transportation, housing, architecture and education in the San Diego area. Specific topics will include the region’s shortage of affordable housing, complications in effective teenage pregnancy prevention programs and the development of the life sciences industries in the San Diego area. Student displays will include posters, photography, brochures and other visuals.
The expo will be held in Price Center Ballroom B, and admission to the event is free and open to the public. For more information contact the UCSD urban studies and planning department at (858) 534-3690.
Conference to present links between heart and brain
Medical researchers will be discussing links between the brain and heart at the Days of Molecular Medicine symposium, which will run from March 13 through March 16.
Conference attendees will learn about groundbreaking discoveries in heart and brain research, such as the new developments in topics such as chronic degenerative diseases and excitability diseases. The heart and brain, according to recent research, have more in common than previously thought. Scientists have recognized the relationship because the two different organ systems share similar molecules and signaling pathways.
Co-sponsors for the event include the UCSD Institute of Molecular Medicine, the Salk Institute and the journal Nature Medicine. For more information on the conference, visit IMM on the Web at http://imm.ucsd.edu/dmm.
Students asked for imput in assistant vice chancellor search
UCSD students can meet applicants this week for the appointed position of assistant vice chancellor of student life. Forums organized by the Division of Student Affairs will allow students to ask questions of the candidates.
A forum was held Friday and five more will take place this week: Monday and Friday from 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. at the Mandeville East Room; Tuesday from 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. at the Chancellor’s Complex, Room 111A; Wednesday from 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. at the Price Center Davis-Riverside Room; and Thursday from 3:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. at the Price Center Gallery B.
Chinese pop culture examined in book edited by UCSD professors
Richard Madsen of UCSD’s sociology department and Paul Pickowicz of the history department are co-editors of “”Popular China: The Unofficial Culture in a Globalizing Society,”” a new book that examines the various lifestyles and social issues not officially recognized by China itself.
The collection of essays in the new book covers the vast social spectrum in China, ranging from the poorest sweatshop workers and migrant laborers to the new wave of young and boisterous entrepreneurs. Essays also examine social issues that are not noted at all by the Chinese government, such as political corruption, domestic violence and homosexuality.
Perry Link, a professor at Princeton University, also co-edited the book, which is published by Rowman & Littlefield. The same trio has authored several books on modern Chinese culture and society.
First optical network for earth sciences unveiled at Scripps
UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, along with a handful of other institutions and corporations, has set up the first optical network visualization system to be used for research in the earth and ocean sciences field.
The system will allow scientists to monitor behavior in the covered area, which runs between Scripps and San Diego State University’s Center for Immersive Telecommunications. It will also serve to gather data in real time that could be helpful in managing crises caused by natural or man-made damage to the region. This is the first phase of a venture proposed by Scripps, SDSU, the California Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology, as well as four corporations that are working toward connecting as much of Southern California as possible with cameras and fiber optic sensors.
The system includes 44 miles of fiber optic cable with 3.2 gigabyte-per-second optical switches that essentially allow scientists at both SDSU and Scripps to view the environment in real time. The Scripps visualization center is located at the Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics.
