UC Santa Cruz graduate Gary Novack was selected to serve as one of two alumni members to on the UC Board of Regents by the Alumni Association Council on Feb. 1.
During Novack’s first year as an alumni Regent (June 2003 to June 2004), he will attend all meetings and participate in policy discussions as a Regent designate without voting rights. In his first year, Novack will also serve as treasurer of the Alumni Associations of the University of California.
In his second year, Novack will become a voting Regent and will also serve as vice president of the Alumni Associations of the University of California.
Novack will be the third UCSC alumnus to serve on the Board of Regents. His predecessors include Los Angeles Superior Court judge Allan Goodman from 1979 to 1981 and San Francisco Bay Area attorney Paul Hall from 1991 to 1993.
In addition to graduating from UCSC in 1973, Novack also received his doctorate from UC Davis in 1977, was an National Institutes of Health postdoctoral trainee at UCLA, and taught at UC campuses in Santa Cruz, Davis, Irvine and San Francisco.
UCLA to build nanosystems institute building
To develop the nanotechnical advances that will dominate science and the economy in the 21st century, UCLA is breaking ground for a new building that will house the California NanoSystems Institute.
The CNSI is one of Gov. Gray Davis’ four UC Institutes for Science and Innovation to expand California’s role as the leader in technical invention. The CNSI will take a multidisciplinary approach to developing the information, biomedical and manufacturing technologies necessary to meet the scientific and economic demands of the new century, with an emphasis on nanotechnology.
UCLA’s new building will span an existing parking structure, allowing for a large laboratory floor plate above. The building’s primary design theme is to encourage interaction, as well as to mitigate acoustic noise, low-level noise and vibrations. Facilities to be located within the building include information technology infrastructure, imaging and spectroscopy, integrated molecular systems, incubator labs, a data center and interactive space.
Local scholars to present research on San Diego
Outstanding scholars who have received grants from the UCSD Civic Collaborative will present summaries of their current research on the San Diego region at the collaborative’s fourth annual “”San Diego Briefing”” on Feb. 20 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in UCSD Extension Complex Rm. 101.
The four 10 to 15 minute reports will include “”The Spanish Language Database Project”” by department of linguistics assistant professor Eric Bakovic; “”Globalization, Politics and Planning the Future of the San Ysidro Community”” by Ph.D. at the SDSU School of Public Administration and Urban Studies Lawrence Herzog; “”Public Schools and the Empowerment of Poor Communities Across the U.S.-Mexico Border”” by CSUSM assistant professor of migration studies Jorge Riquelme; and “”Just Getting By: The Experience of Temporary Workers in San Diego’s Economy”” by Center on Policy Initiatives Director of Research Sundari Baru.
Discussion will follow the presentations.
To attend, RSVP to Abe Shragge, coordinator of public programs, at (858) 822-3124 or e-mail [email protected].
Bacterium contains organic insecticides
In a discovery that could pave the way for the development of an inexpensive and environmentally safe means of controlling parasitic roundworms, UCSD biologists have discovered that Bacillus thuringiensis — a bacterium that produces natural protein insecticides that have been used by organic farmers for five decades — can also produce similar natural proteins that kill nematodes.
Each year, parasitic roundworms destroy billions of dollars in crops, cause debilitating diseases in farm animals and pets, and now infect a quarter of the world’s human population.
Scientists have been increasingly concerned about parasitic nematodes developing resistance to the drugs now being used to treat or prevent their infestations. But an even larger impediment to the widespread use of those drugs is their cost. The UCSD discovery represents the first time scientists have verified that Bt toxins can widely affect nematodes.
The scientists’ findings appear in the March 4 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
