RA receives award for her services to residential life

Kristel Fritz, a Thurgood Marshall College junior and resident advisor, received the Pacific Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls award for distinguished service to residential life at the PACURH No Frills Conference hosted at UC Berkeley on Feb. 21. She will represent the PACURH region at the national conference for the National Association of College and University Residence Halls.

Fritz is in her second year as a resident advisor and her third year as chair of the Inter-College Residents’ Association. She gave over 250 hours of service toward the annual Rezzies Ceremony her freshman year, co-hosted the event last year and authored the bid that won the 2003 PACURH title of Program of the Year.

Five UCSD residents, including Fritz, were honored for their contributions to residential life. Those recognized were John Muir College junior Daniel Crook, John Muir College junior Stephanie Lai, Thurgood Marshall College junior Theresa Vogel and Thurgood Marshall College senior Angie Cary.

First SD wildfire burn patient from UCSD center discharged

Rudy Reyes, the first patient brought to the UCSD Regional Burn Center during the October 2003 San Diego County wildfires, was discharged March 3.

Reyes, who burned over more than 65 percent of his body, spent 129 days in the hospital, undergoing 18 surgeries and 130 therapy sessions.

Reyes will return to his home near the Barona Indian Reservation to live with his mother and brother in a trailer until a new home is built for them.

The burn center treated 23 patients from the wildfires, whose burns covered 11 to 85 percent of their bodies. All of the burn patients, who ranged in age from 11 to 70 years old, survived. More than 120 square feet of donor skin given by Lifesharing Community Organ and Tissue Donation was used in treating the patients.

Researchers study effects of fishing in Gulf of California

Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography found evidence that fishing in the Gulf of California is making an to ecosystem-wide change in the marine environment of the region. An article published by researchers for Fisheries magazine calls for rigorous management of new fisheries in the region.

Using data from field surveys, statistics and interviews of fishermen, the researchers found that coastal food webs in the Gulf of California have been considerably impacted since the 1970s. In the article, the authors describe how the region has been “fished down” in the past 30 years. Even though there is a low human population density in the Gulf of California, the area is still subjected to intense fishing activities. Targeted species for fishing include sharks, bony fishes and rays.

The fish stock depletion has also forced fishers to move their fishing sites away from fishing villages. Results also show that species not targeted during the 1970s such as parrotfish, whitefish, spotted snapper and tilefish, are now the most common catches. According to the authors of the article, the study shows a trend that the fisheries in the area have fished down the food web, which is leading to effects on the entire coastal ecosystem.

The SIO researchers also suggest that management of fisheries and fish spawning activities is important to prevent further decline in the area.

Symposium to discuss role of brain in processing art

A symposium exploring brain activity in processing images and art will be held on March 20 at Price Center Theatre. The event includes a discussion of how human-built environments affect the way people think and feel. The event is sponsored by the UCSD Center for Humanities, the UCSD Stuart Art Collection, the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego and the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture.

The symposium will feature three sessions. One event will explore how spatial information is processed by the nerve cells.

Another session will feature architects who will speak about the interplay between inner and outer space and how a design for a habitat needs to reflect human needs and feelings.

The third session will feature visual, music and theatre artists speaking on the different approaches of dealing with space in their own specific creative activities.

The symposium will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and is free and open to the public.