Kenneth D. Kaunda, founding president of the Republic of Zambia, AIDS activist and champion of independence for African countries, will give a lecture titled “”HIV/AIDS in Africa”” in Robinson Auditorium on March 7 at 3 p.m.
As Zambian president from 1964 to 1991, Kaunda was one of the first African heads of state to acknowledge the destructiveness of AIDS. In September 2002, he established the Kaunda Children of Africa Foundation, which includes a research and training institute, educational radio programming, mobile clinics, boarding schools and community centers for African children.
Kaunda is currently serving as the first Balfour African President-in-Residence at Boston University, a one-year appointment sponsored by the Balfour Foundation.
For more information about Kaunda’s visit to UCSD call the department of literature at (858) 534-4618.
‘Wheel of Fortune’ to hold auditions at Warren Mall
“”Wheel of Fortune”” will be holding auditions for its College Week on March 6 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Warren Mall.
Symposium to explore molecular medicine
The 3rd Annual Days of Molecular Medicine symposium, themed “”Immunotherapy: A Technology Platform for Molecular Medicine,”” will be held March 13 to March15 and will include presentations by several world leaders in medical research.
The program, which is sponsored by UCSD’s Institute of Molecular Medicine, the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences and the journal Nature Medicine, will be held at the Salk Institute.
The keynote address, “”The Standard and Contrasting Roles of 1h-2 and 1h15: Implications for Immunotherapy,”” will be presented by Thomas A. Waldmann of the National Cancer Institute.
A special forum titled “”Building the Translational Highway: Towards New Partnerships between Academia and the Private Section”” will feature speeches by Claude Lenfant, director of the National Institute of Health’s National Heart Lung and Blood Institute; Sir George Radda, executive director of the United Kingdom’s Medical Research Council; Kelly Schwartz of France’s Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Edward W. Holmes, vice chancellor of UCSD Health Sciences; David G. Nathan; Andrew Chan of Genentech; and Drew E. Senyei of Enterprise Partners.
Humans affect size of marine snails and limpets
Due to collection by humans, the average size of marine snails and limpets along the Southern California coast has declined significantly over the past century, according to a study conducted by UCSD biologists.
The new information sheds light on an ecological problem linked to human population growth on the coast, which has led to a striking decrease in the sizes of many marine invertebrate species in coastal habitats.
Researchers compared museum collections of shells with field samples of four species of gastropods along 120 miles of Southern California coastline. Of the four species, only the owl limpet was extensively collected by humans as a food item. However, the researchers found that the average body sizes of all four species declined significantly over time.
The study was conducted by Kaustuv Roy, Allen Collins, Bonnie Becker, Emina Begovic and John Engle. The results of the study are published in the March issue of Ecology Letters.
Grad student to perform unconventional percussion
UCSD graduate student Nicholas Hennies will perform “”This is a Cultural Icon”” on April 16 at 8 p.m. in the Mandeville Recital Hall.
The solo percussion recital will consist of unconventional works for the drum set by contemporary American composers. The program will include “”Naked”” by Hennies, “”Two Lights”” and “”Brush”” by Stuart Saunders Smith, and “”One4″” by John Cage.
Hennies is currently pursuing a master of arts degree under percussionist Steven Schick. His past teachers include Smith, Gerhard Staebler, Jurg Frey, Mark Saric and others.
Hennies has performed around the United States and England. As a performer, he is most interested in music as a mechanism for social change. He has performed with David Gross, Mike Bullock, Bhob Rainey, the SONOR ensemble and the UCSD resident percussion group Red Fish Blue Fish.