▶ UCSD Holds Annual Convocation Dinner: UCSD held its annual convocation dinner for freshmen and transfer students on Sept. 24 on RIMAC Field.
Keynote speaker Carol Padden, a UCSD communications professor, addressed the students on varying topics, from the importance of communication to commending the students for all that they have already achieved.
“A university education is not just about courses you will take and the friends you make here, but it’s about becoming a person,” Padden said during her speech. “Acquire flexibility in your point of view; see the world from the eyes of someone who lives in a world very different from this one.”
▶ Founder of UCSD Literature Department Dies: Carlos Blanco Aguinaga, one of the founders of the UCSD literature department, passed away in La Jolla on Sept. 11, 2013.
After holding positions at Colegio de México, Johns Hopkins University and Ohio State University, Aguinaga was recruited in 1964 to help form the literature department at UCSD. In 1994, Aguinaga gained Professor Emeritus status.
Aguinaga is survived by his wife Iris Blanco Arevalo, two daughters Alda Blanco and Maria Blanco, son Renato Barahona and two grandchildren Amaya Blanco Ramirez and Ernesto Barahona Mallen.
▶ Record Number of Admits to UCSD: A record number of 5,179 incoming freshmen and 2,645 incoming transfer students entered UCSD this fall quarter.
Since last year, the number of students who have accepted UCSD’s offer has increased by 22 percent.
The incoming freshmen have an overall GPA of 4.06 and SAT Reasoning scores of 612, 670 and 627 for Critical Reading, Math and Writing, respectively. The transfer students’ GPA was 3.52.
“UCSD continues to attract and enroll the best and the brightest students,” Interim Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Alan Houston said to ucsdnews.com. “Our ability to do so is testament to UCSD’s prominence as a world-class university that offers students extraordinary opportunities to thrive and succeed.”
▶ San Diego Student Wins Google Science Fair Award: Seventeen-year-old Canyon Crest Academy student and UCSD student lab researcher Eric Chen won the grand prize at the Google Science Fair for his project that utilizes computer technology to find new treatments to fight against influenza.
He beat thousands of competitors from 120 countries and was awarded a $50,000 scholarship, a ten-day trip to the Galapagos Island and the opportunity to visit the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Switzerland.
Eric began his project a year ago, aiming to develop drugs that can fight influenza in a more effective way.
“The current flu drugs we have are losing their effectiveness. More resistant flu strains are appearing. We urgently need new flu drugs, and that’s what I’m trying to do,” Eric said. “We need our future scientists.”
▶ UCSD Celebrates Native American Day: The 8th annual California Native American Day celebration at UCSD, themed “Honoring Tradition Through Culture and Education,” will run from Sept. 27 until May 2014.
The events will honor the past, present and future cultures of the Native Americans in San Diego, California and throughout the United States.
Since its conception, the California Native American Day has been held on the fourth Friday of September, but recently, UCSD has expanded the holiday to a yearlong celebration of Native American history and culture.
“We are dedicated to strengthening the relationship between UCSD and local tribal communities and raising awareness on our campus about the legacy and contributions of the Native American community,” Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla said.
