Staff members honored in program
The 20th year of UCSD’s staff recognition program honored 10 staff members who contributed significantly to the campus and the city of San Diego. The honorees were recognized at the UCSD Exemplary Staff Employee of the Year award ceremony last week.
Leann Cortimiglia, principal staff employee of the year, was honored for her work as a nurse at the UCSD Regional Burn Center. Cortimiglia also made an impact at home, as a foster mother to five burn-center patients.
Aaron Borovoy, a senior publications coordinator, has been a leading coordinator in UCSD Publications projects and has developed software that tracks and integrates campus publication projects. Borovoy’s software responds quicker to client needs and generates financial and staffing reports, saving hours of labor. Borovoy’s achievements reached celebratory status after city councilmember Toni Atkins proclaimed an “Aaron Borovoy Day” in the third district of San Diego.
Penny Dockry serves as program manager for the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and was honored for her role in CMBC’s growth into a multimillion-dollar operation.
Other honorees included senior custodian supervisor Theotis Duncun, Lourdes Felix, executive assistant to the vice chancellor of health sciences and director of catering Julia Engstrom.
White faculty leading on campuses
A national study by the U.S. Department of Education reported that white faculty members outnumber all other ethnicities in higher education teaching positions. On average, 80.3 percent of full-time college faculty members are white, according to the data.
The report also showed that, while Asian faculty members outnumber black faculty members at public doctoral universities, the number of black teachers is greater than the number of Asian teachers at community colleges.
The report also examined the gender ratios of college faculty, which are split almost evenly at community colleges, according to the data.
Teaching positions at public doctoral universities, however, are only 32.7 percent filled by females.
Scientists find new way to map quakes
Scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have found a new way of imaging the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, which caused a devastating tsunami last December and killed hundreds of thousands of people in South Asia.
The new methods have exposed unique perspectives on the location of the quake, which scientists now believe to have occurred farther north than originally reported.
By using the earliest seismic waves created by an earthquake to construct in-depth images of earth movements within 30 minutes, the scientists said they hope their research will aid in the development of public-warning and tsunami-alert systems.
Hidden emotions influence consumption
Exposure to subliminal facial expressions affects student consumption of liquids, according to studies led by UCSD associate professor of psychology Piotr Winkielman.
Study subjects were subliminally shown photographs of happy, angry or neutral faces, then offered water and lemon-lime Kool-Aid.
Winkielman found that subjects drank almost twice as much when exposed to the hidden smiles than frowns.
Test subjects were not aware of emotional change, even if their actions had changed after emotional cues.
Government to look at collegiate steroid use
The National Collegiate Athletics Association has become one of the many sporting leagues to come under scrutiny because of steroid scandals. Legislation was passed by a the Government Reform Committee last week that requires the Government Accountability Office to investigate steroid use of athletes on college campuses and steroid policies of college sports departments. The legislation would also establish a separate commission that would report to Congress the use of steroids in college athletics and suggest ways to stem steroid use. The bill requires approval from the House of Representatives before becoming law.
