1 - Your UCI, Fall '08

youruciCAMPUS LAUNCHES COMPREHENSIVE CAMPAIGN TO RAISE $1 BILLION BY 2015A billion ways to Shape the Future

f a l l ‘ 0 8 a l u m n i m a g a z i n e

| fall ’08 your uci www.alumni.uci.edu | page 3

Gold Medal PerformanceSee the story on page 9 with John Speraw, Team USA assistant volleyball coach and head coach of UCI’s Men’s team

Publisher Jorge E. Ancona

Editor Michelle Williams

Administrative Intern Writer Diana Thai

Contributing writers Kathy Bold, Patricia DeVoe, Allison Dolan, Kristen Hughes, Bob Olson, Michael Reza, Bill Ross, Blake Stone, Heather Wuebker and Liz Toomey

Graphic Design Intern Katrina Dikitanan Your UCI is published quarterly for members of the UCI Alumni Association and friends of the University of California, Irvine. You can reach the association by phone: 949-UCI-ALUM (824-2586) or toll free 888-824-2466; by fax: 949-824-7383 or by e-mail: [email protected].

UCI ALUMNI ASSOCIATION STAFF

Jorge E. Ancona Executive Director

Michelle Williams Associate Executive Director

Allison Dolan Associate Executive Director

Kristie Kee Director of Programs and Chapters

Helen Little Director of Finance and Administration

Michael Reza Membership and Marketing Manager

Jeff Minhas ‘04 Programs Coordinator

Blake Stone ‘05 Alumni Relations Coordinator

Fall2008 Issue www.alumni.uci.edu

9 TIRELESS SUPPORT UCI coach, alumnus improving Nicaraguan community

10 ELECTION 2008Political science faculty discuss upcoming general election

16 BILLIONS OF WAYSUC Irvine launches first campus-wide fund raising campaign

13 MAPPING THE FUTURE New engineering dean taking in the landscape of UC Irvine

27 ON FIRE ICS alumni develop VOIP company

31 ATTENTION, PLEASE COMMENTARY: Liz Toomey talks politics and getting out to vote

page 2 | fall ’08 your uci www.alumni.uci.edu | page 3

See the story on page 9 with John Speraw, Team USA assistant volleyball coach and head coach of UCI’s Men’s team

4 PUBLISHER’S LETTER 5 UCI NEWS 8 ATHLETICS

24 CLASS NOTES28 UCIAA MEMBERSHIP30 UCI CALENDAR

youruci

Welcome Anteaters!

In your hands is a piece of Anteater history, the first-ever issue of Your UCI, the new magazine of the UCI Alumni Association.

While the name has changed, the theme has not. Your UCI will continue to share with you stories about UC Irvine and about our most amazing university “product” — our alumni.

This issue marks the beginning of another first, the University of California, Irvine’s first campus-wide fund raising campaign. The “Shaping the Future” campaign is designed to do just that, shape the future of UCI, Orange County and the world around us.

We’ve dedicated an entire section in this inaugural issue to sharing with you the details of this historic campus undertaking: A billion ways to Shape the Future. Because of the generosity of alumni and friends, UC Irvine is able to begin the “public” phase of its campaign having already raised more than $400 million toward our $1 billion goal.

We at the association know that not only are our alumni and friends generous in their financial support of the campus, but also in giving of their time and talent to the university and the world at-large. In this issue, you will learn about assistant coach David Kniffin’s ’03 housing project in Nicaragua; details about branding global companies from Wright Massey, M.B.A. ’92; the end of an era as Charlie Brande ’69 retires and the entrepreneurial spirit that sparked a group of ICS alumni to create CallFire.

Working on a university campus, one could take for granted all of the expertise and resources that are a stone’s throw away. UCI is overflowing with expert faculty and staff who, if asked, gladly help us navigate today’s national issues.

With the Presidential election quickly approaching, we’ve asked faculty from the political science department to highlight some key election issues including voter turnout and the breadth of the next President’s powers. You’ll also hear from a dear colleague, Liz Toomey, assistant vice chancellor for government and community who asks “Are you paying attention”? to the election and state of U.S. affairs.

She is, and so should we.

And speaking of attention, thank you for giving us yours. We hope you enjoy this first issue of Your UCI and we look forward to sharing more of our story with you in future issues. Best from campus,

Jorge E. Ancona Assistant Vice Chancellor, Alumni Relations Executive Director, UCI Alumni Association

letter from the publisherUCI Alumni AssociationBOARD OF DIRECTORS

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

PresidentJenny Doh ’91

Immediate Past PresidentSteve Capps ’69

Secretary/HistorianCathy Stites ’92

VP AdvocacyEd Raskin ’02

VP DevelopmentAnne Rosse, M.A. ’90

VP FinanceRick Evans ’69

VP MembershipKent Yamaguchi ’83, ‘84

VP ProgramsJen Cole-Gutierrez ’97

VP ScholarshipJohanna Wilson ’98

VP Volunteer RelationsDavid Fanous ’03

DIRECTORS-AT-LARGE

Michael Adams ’04

Rebecca Kanter ’00

Christine R. Lee ’90

Manfredo Lespier ’81

Dennis Nguyen ’94

Serafina Raskin ’02

Rita Santangelo ’86

Salvador Sarmiento ’73

Sabra Smith ’92

Brett Williamson ’86

CHAPTER REPRESENTATIVES

African-American ChapterCosmos Eubany ’00

ICS ChapterFarshad Farhand ’94

Santa Ana Alumni ChapterCharles Dobson ’70, MS ’79

EX-OFFICIO

Chancellor’s DesignateTom Mitchell, Vice Chancellor

UCIAA Executive DirectorJorge E. Ancona, Assistant Vice Chancellor

ASUCI RepresentativeMegan Braun

AGS RepresentativeCarrie Carmody

Student Alumni AssociationAylin Zafar


industry, known as “m-banking,” which could make financial services and the security they provide available to millions of poor people for the first time.

It also funds research in developing countries, hosts conferences and provides scholarships to those who conduct such research.

UCI anthropologist Bill Maurer is the institute’s founding director. The Institute for Money, Technology and Finan-cial Inclusion is housed in UCI’s School of Social Sciences where Maurer chairs the anthropology department.

continued on page 6


the wire:news from the community

One of the nation’s most acclaimed hand surgeons has joined UC Irvine to start the Center for Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery.

Dr. Neil Jones comes to UCI from the renowned UCLA Hand Center

where he was director for 15 years. He serves as an orthopedic surgery professor with a second affiliation with Children’s Hospital of Orange County.

The center will provide comprehensive diagnosis, surgical treatment and

rehabilitation for patients with fractures and nerve and tendon injuries involving the hand, wrist, elbow and shoulder, as well as chronic problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome and arthritis.

Jones’ research has focused on limb transplantation and nerve transplantation, areas that may lead to improved techniques for reconstruction of severe upper-extremity injuries. He has been recognized in the “Best Doctors in America” since 1992 and is president of the American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery.

UC Irvine’s first employee, L.E. Cox, passes away at 94

campus construction. Cox died in August from com-plications of a fall.

“He was very proud of being the first employee at UC Irvine,” said his son,

Allan Cox.

Cox, who had helped build 24 air bases for the Army Corps of Engineers, arrived at the future site of UCI in

Lavonne Edwin Cox, better known as L.E. Cox, was the first vice chancellor of business and finance. His job: To oversee the $30 million

1961 driving a station wagon stuffed with of-fice supplies. He set up his desk in a second-floor bedroom of the Irvine Ranch house, which was located across Irvine Boule-vard from The Irvine Company’s agricultural headquarters. The family home became an eclectic mix of its cowboy past and its high-tech future.

“The bunkhouse lunches were almost an institution,” said Raymond Watson, vice

president of The Irvine Company at the time, who worked downstairs from Cox. “Everyone wanted to be there. Nixon came by, and Ford... There were lots of ranch hands, but only 10 of us working on the planning side.”

Cox continued to oversee building, landscaping and other facilities projects until his retirement in 1978. He is survived by his wife, Edna; sons Allan and Stephen; and four grandchildren.

Top hand surgeon joins UC Irvine

Institute explores “m-banking”

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded UC Irvine a $1.7 million grant to create a research institute focused on the growing use of mobile technology in providing banking and financial services to people in develop-ing countries.

The Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion is the first to explore how the world’s poor-est people spend, store and save money. The institute will study how these habits are affected by the emerg-ing mobile banking

continued on page 7


A team of UC Irvine scientists has been awarded a $4 million grant from the U.S. Army Research Office to study the neuroscientific and signal-processing foundations of synthetic telepathy.

The research could lead to a communication system that would benefit soldiers on the battlefield as well as paralysis and stroke patients, according to lead researcher Michael D’Zmura, chair of the UCI Department of Cog-nitive Sciences.

The brain-computer interface would use a noninvasive brain imag-ing technology like elec-troencephalography to let people communicate thoughts to each other.

For example, a soldier would “think” a message to be transmitted and a computer-based speech recognition system would decode the EEG signals. The decoded thoughts, in essence translated brain waves, are transmitted using a system that points in the direction of the intended target.

D’Zmura will collabo-rate with UCI professors Ramesh Srinivasan, Gregory Hickok and Kourosh Saberi as well as researchers from Carn-egie Mellon University and the University of Maryland.

The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Multidisci-plinary University Re-search Initiative program, which supports research from both science and engineering disciplines. Its goal is to develop ap-plications for military and commercial uses.

Scientists to study synthetic telepathy

Student housing to combine amenities, green features Construction has begun on a $221 million stu-dent housing project that combines desirable amenities with many green features and will allow UC Irvine to lead the University of California system in the percentage of student population housed on campus.

In addition, the project will enable UCI to move closer to its 50 percent on-campus housing goal.

The community will optimize energy and water efficiencies and is situated on campus to promote the use of public transportation, bicycles and walking. Ad-ditionally, it will reduce light pollution, waste water and construc-tion waste, and utilize regional materials.

At move-in, students can expect fluorescent light-ing, low-flow plumbing fixtures, tankless water heaters, and drought-tolerant landscaping irrigated with reclaimed water. The project will be a part of UCI’s green building education program that includes

sustainable curriculum and building tours.

Ovarian cancer drug trial reveals promising new treatment Women with recurrent ovarian cancer can be helped by an experi-mental therapy using a drug already touted for its ability to fight other cancers, a finding that provides hope for im-proved treatment of this deadly disease.

Dr. Bradley Monk, a UC Irvine gynecologic oncologist who led the worldwide phase III clinical trial, said trabect-edin is the most recent addition to a short list of active drug therapies for recurrent ovarian cancer. “These are exciting results because positive trials in recurrent ovar-ian cancer are rare and have almost always led to federally approved treatments,” said Monk, an associate professor who studies and treats ovarian cancers at the Chao Family Comprehen-sive Cancer Center at UC Irvine. “This treatment undoubtedly will be evaluated carefully by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and, if ap-proved, will give women with ovarian cancer another much needed

option.”

Phase III studies are mul-ticenter trials on large patient groups designed to be the definitive assessment of a drug’s ef-fectiveness. Such a study is often the last step before a drug is reviewed by a regulatory agency like the FDA for approval

as a safe, effective treat-ment.

When ovarian cancer is detected early – when it is confined to the ovaries – more than 90 percent of women will live at least five years, accord-ing to the American Can-cer Society. Only about 20 percent of cases are

detected that early. If the cancer is detected after it has spread, only about 30 percent of women survive five years. Each year, approximately 20,000 American women are diagnosed with ovar-ian cancer and about 15,000 die of the disease.

news wire


UC Irvine choral ensem-bles, under the direc-tion of music professor Joseph Huszti, won top awards at the Interna-tional Eisteddfod compe-tition in Llangollen, Wales, one of the world’s most prestigious choral competitions. Dozens of choral groups partici-pated from universities and music conserva-tories representing 34 countries.

The Women’s Chorus won first place in their division and won prize money for best perfor-mance of the piece re-quired of all contestants, “Wellspring,” commis-sioned by revered Welsh composer Hilary Tann.

The Concert Choir

placed second in the youth choir competition and sixth in mixed choirs.

“This is the equivalent of winning an Olympic medal,” Huszti said. “The top choirs all audi-tion and are invited to participate in the top six divisions. It’s a big deal all over the world – there were choirs from Argen-tina, Belarus, Malaysia, India, Denmark, Algeria, the Philippines. We don’t have anything like this in the U.S.”

The UCI choir students paid most of their own trip expenses, and schol-arships covered the rest. To watch videos of the UCI choirs, visit: www.llangollen.tv/en/clip/172.

UCI choirs win international honors

Environmental stress threatens global security, UCI study finds Environmental stresses such as climate change and resource scarcity pose enormous threats to global stability. Armed conflicts over food and water and the effects of increasingly severe storms and flooding might be avoided if the private sector, non-profit and government entities partner to take action, according to a new report prepared for the International Peace Institute by Richard A. Matthew, director of UCI’s Center for Uncon-ventional Security Affairs.

The solutions to problems created by scarce natural resources, ecosystem damage, cli-mate change and other forms of environmental degradation are often within our grasp, says Matthew.

Drawing on more than a decade of climate change and environmen-tal security research by economists and social scientists, Matthew came up with recom-mendations to lessen the impact of water, food and fuel shortages on the world’s poorest com-munities.

“The challenge,” he says, “is bringing together a critical mass of groups with a variety of interests to create enough mo-mentum to make a dif-ference. The thousands of micro-level actions being taken around the world are important and often courageous, but now is the time for a step up in scale.”

Doctoral student earns prestigious NASA fellowship

Ali Behrangi, a third-year civil and environmental Ph.D. student, has been awarded NASA’s Earth and Space Science Fel-lowship, which aims to ensure the continued training of a highly qualified workforce in disciplines required to achieve NASA’s scien-tific goals. Behrangi was selected from a highly competitive pool of students in the area of Earth Science research to receive a two-year award – with the option to extend the fellowship to

a third year – and will re-ceive $30,000 annually to continue his research in precipitation estimation using remotely sensed satellite images. Beh-rangi is the first student from The Henry Samueli School of Engineering to receive this distinction.

Women over 90 more likely to have dementia than men Women over 90 are significantly more likely to have dementia than men of the same age, according to UC Irvine researchers involved with the 90+ Study, one of the nation’s largest studies of dementia and other health factors in the fastest-growing age demographic.

The UC Irvine study, conducted in Laguna Woods, Calif., is among the few to look at dementia in people over age 90.

It found that the likelihood of having dementia doubled every five years in women after reaching 90, but not in men. The results also showed that women with a higher education appeared to be as much as 45 percent less likely to have dementia compared to women with less

education.

With women comprising three-quarters of the 90-plus population, the study raises questions why these women nonagenarians are more

likely to have dementia than men.

The study appeared in the July 2 online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

By Kristen Hughes UCI Athletics

Coaches are always floating in and out of the offices at UC Irvine, hus-tling from practice to the next recruiting trip, from one tournament to the administration building. Tracking down a coach can be a job in itself. To track down Men’s Vol-leyball Assistant Coach David Kniffin, one some-times has to go to even greater lengths.

Kniffin ’03 often disap-pears to Central America during his time off to help develop a sustain-able housing community in rural Nicaragua. Knif-fin, who earned his de-

gree in humanities with a major in philosophy, has had an interest in sustainable housing and community involvement. So when friend Tim Kelly mentioned that he was going to begin invest-ing time and money in a Nicaraguan community, Kniffin jumped at the op-portunity to volunteer.

Kelly purchased 140 acres of land outside of San Juan del Sur, a costal Nicaraguan fishing town known for its surfing, and parceled off six lots for an experiment in sustain-able development. Knif-fin calls it “Casa Llanta,” which translates to “Tire House.”

Brande to retire at end of season

sports news

The land is meant to support socially sensitive houses, referred to glob-ally as Earthship build-ings, that catch drinking water, create electricity, cultivate food and treat sewage without impact-ing the local municipali-ties.

As the Casa Llanta name implies, recycled tires are used in the construction process; specifically they are stacked and rammed with dirt and used in place of traditional concrete block or wood framing.

In addition to re-using tires, Earthship homes

Coach never tires of helping people, environment


Charlie Brande ’69 has announced his retire-ment, effective at the conclusion of his ninth season at the helm of the Anteater women’s vol-leyball team.

Brande, a member of the Anteaters 1965-66 basketball team, is a 1969 graduate of UC Irvine from the School of Social Sciences, where he studied economics.

While he is retiring from his coaching duties, Brande will remain in a

fundraising capacity with UC Irvine Athletics.

“I am extremely proud to have been a part of the growth of both the men’s and women’s programs at UCI and I look for-

ward to continuing as a member of the Anteater family,” Brande said.

In 2007, Brande led the Anteaters to a third-place finish in the Big West and had five Anteaters named to All-Big West teams for the first time in the program’s history. As the program’s fourth head coach, he has produced 27 All-Big West Conference selections, two American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Americans, a Big West

Player of the Year and an AVCA Freshman of the Year.

Brande began his UCI coaching career as the head coach of the men’s

program and served as the Director of Volley-ball from 1999-2002. In 1999, he was awarded Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Coach of the Year honors .

continued on page 25

UC Irvine will have three regular-season men’s basketball games on ESPN and Fox Sports Net West.

The Anteaters’ home game with UC Davis Saturday, Jan. 17 will have a 1 p.m. start time on FSN PRIME TICKET.

UCI hosts Cal State Northridge Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 8 p.m. on ESPNU and travels to Cal State Fullerton Saturday, Mar. 7 for a 5 p.m. tip on FSN WEST.

Coach Pat Douglass’ squad opens its 2008-09 schedule Nov. 8 with an exhibition game against Cal Poly Pomona at 7 p.m. in the Bren Events Center.

UCI travels to USC for the regular-season opener Saturday, Nov. 15 at 1 p.m. UCIAA is hosting a pre-game reception in Los Angeles before the game. See page 14 for details.

Women’s basketball hires new head coach

Molly Goodenbour, 36, comes to UCI after two successful seasons at Chico State, where she compiled a 52-11 record.

Last season, Goodenbour was named California Collegiate Athletic Association Coach of the Year after guiding the Wildcats to a 28-6 record, tying the Chico State single-season record for victories. Her 2007-08 team ended the year ranked 17th in the final USA Today/ESPN Division II Coaches Poll, won the CCAA regular-season and tournament titles, as well as advancing to the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Women’s West Regional.

PROCRASTINATION PAYS IN GOLD


By Michelle Williams UCI Alumni Association

John Speraw is finally home. After nearly two years on the road as an assistant to Hugh McCutcheon and the U.S. Men’s Na-tional volleyball team, Speraw is enjoying his own bed – finally.

Speraw, often found by Olympic videographers pacing the floor during the men’s matches, just completed his first trip as an Olympic coach.

“I’m not sure if everything has sunk in yet,” Speraw says with an easy laugh. Rightfully so, the seventh-year head coach of UC Irvine’s Men’s Volleyball team returned from China just to catch a flight to Argentina where he led the Anteaters as they competed in a rare overseas tournament.

Exhaustion aside, Speraw couldn’t downplay the impact the Olympic Games left on him. “The Olympics actually live up to the hype,” Speraw says.

While acknowledging that his Chinese experience wasn’t terribly authen-tic, spending his time in the athletes’ village and inside the gym working with the team, the allure of the Olympics wasn’t lost on him, “I think the Chinese did a remarkable job. The Olympics are truly an amazing feat.”

And to think, a little less procrastination on his part, and John Speraw might be “doctor” today instead of the coach who helped the U.S. men’s team earn its first volleyball gold since the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

While finishing his bachelor’s degree in microbiology and molecular genetics at UCLA, Speraw took his time scheduling his MCAT test. It was during that downtime that he found his life’s passion -- from the end of a college bench.

Having just completed his final season as middle blocker under legendary Coach Al Scates and, in his words, being the lone Bruin not headed for a pro volleyball career, Speraw took Scates up on his offer to help out; han-dling statistics and some coaching duties on the UCLA sideline.

“I enjoyed being on the bench and eventually grew into a role where I was helping affect the team’s outcome based on giving the guys feedback,” Speraw recalls. “I really enjoyed that and a year and a half after I graduated, I decided that coaching was something I wanted to do.”

UCI hoops on ESPN, Fox


To learn more about

UCI’s political science

department, visit

www.polisci.uci.edu.


It’s an election year and the entire country is abuzz with

talk of who will become the nation’s 44th President. As

we get ready to elect a new leader to the Oval Office, nu-

merous questions arise surrounding the political process

and its potential outcomes. For some help in deciphering

answers to the 2008 election puzzle, such as voter par-

ticipation and the impact of race on the election why not

turn to the UC Irvine political science department which

is ranked among the top 35 programs in the nation?

Election 2008

By Heather Wuebker, School of Social Sciences

In each issue of Your UCI, we will highlight

alumni in their work-place.

The following alumni are just a few of the Ant-eaters who have made public service their career.

— Compiled by Blake Stone ‘05

Janet Nguyen ‘00, is a member of the Orange County Board of Supervi-sors. Upon her election, she became the first woman to represent the First District, the first

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 64 percent of U.S. citizens of legal age and status voted in the 2004 Presi-

dential election. This may not appear to be a large turnout rate but it is significant when considering that many factors may reduce the motivation and opportunity for individuals to vote.

One factor, associate professor Carole Uhlaner explains, is obli-gation. “Often when people join together,” she says, “they have been moved by a sense of obligation triggered by a candidate or leader they feel will represent their individual interests.”

In the U.S., she says, this obligation often involves identifying with a candidate based on like ethnicity.

WHAT FACTORS DETERMINE HOW DIFFERENT RACES AND ETHNIC GROUPS VOTE?

Looking at the electoral behavior of African Americans, Profes-sor Katherine Tate says, “In the past, race has been a divisive factor both between and within political parties. Now, you see 40-60 percent of Blacks supporting policies that staunch liber-als would be hard-pressed to support.”

She cites a move toward increased support of welfare, immi-gration, mandatory sentencing reforms and more.

“Blacks have become much more politically incorporated, not only as voters, but as key leaders in political organizations and as candidates themselves,” says Tate. “Blacks have never been closer to the Democratic Party than they are today,” she adds; a factor which will have an impact at the polls.

Also showing up in record numbers to vote in primaries across the country are Latinos, the fastest growing ethnic group in America. “Historically, however, Latinos have a low voter turn-out record on election day when compared with other ethnic groups,” Louis DeSipio, Chicano/Latino studies department chair, explains pointing to surveys conducted by the U.S. Cen-

Asian-American and the first Vietnamese-American to serve on the Board of Supervisors, and the youngest Super-visor elected in Orange County.

She is only the fifth wom-an to serve on the Board of Supervisors, and was named one of OC Metro

Magazine’s 2006 “25 Hot-test” People in Orange County.

She was awarded the We Give Thanks 2004 Women of Vision Award, recognizing outstanding women who have provided exceptional services to the community.

Anteaters in public service


sus Bureau. When they do vote, DeSipio says that Latinos gen-erally gravitate toward the Democratic side due to the party’s focus on education, healthcare and other social services.

DeSipio argues that lackluster attendance of Latinos on Elec-tion Day may not be directly linked to ethnicity, but rather to those factors responsible for bringing others to the polls.

“Generally speaking, the typical individuals who go to the polls are older, more educated citizens with higher incomes,” says DeSipio. “Latinos as a whole have a greater concentration of younger, less educated citizens who earn below-average incomes.”

WHAT STRATEGIES WILL BRING VOTERS TO THE POLLS?

DeSipio’s point is well-founded; previously, candidates have failed to mobilize growing key constituent groups and have instead focused a majority of their efforts on the average voter. Voter turnout results from the primary season, however, may indicate change in the trend as record numbers of minor-ity and non-traditional voters are “turning out the vote.”

In other UCI studies within Latino and minority communities, findings suggest that come Election Day in California, face-to-face canvassing of low-income and minority communities di-rectly contributes to dramatic increases in voter participation within these populations. The study shows that ignoring low-propensity voters can be a risky oversight – or opportunity – for any politician seeking votes from marginal communities.

Professor Russell Dalton says youth participation also is chang-ing. “The efforts of Presidential candidates – particularly in the Democratic Party – to mobilize young people are transforming the political landscape,” says Dalton. “As a population that lives in the digital age, technology-driven tactics to reach young voters via Web sites, ‘viral’ e-mails, YouTube and Facebook

have certainly hit their mark. “

HOW MUCH INFLUENCE DOES THE PRESIDENT HAVE AT HOME AND ABROAD?

On November 4, the American public will choose a new Presi-dent to lead the country, and after spending the past eight years under the same leadership, this changing of the guard will be felt around the world. Matthew Beckmann, assistant professor, studies the Presidency and leadership styles differ-ent Presidents bring to the Oval Office.

“During his/her tenure, the President is the dominant force in American politics, the one person citizens consistently look to for policy leadership,” says Beckmann. “A President’s greatest impact on the country is helping decide which of the nation’s problems will receive the lion’s share of pundits’ and politi-cians’ attention.” What matters, he adds, is not only which policies Presidents support or propose, but also which policies they will fight to achieve.

WHAT ROLE DOES THE PRESIDENT PLAY IN PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS?

One of the top issues our next President will face the fight to end global terrorism. The underlying premise behind this fight is that all people have basic human rights deserving of protection. Professor Alison Brysk says, “Human rights involve a number of factors including diplomacy, foreign aid disburse-ment and refugee policy.”

“Examining the global citizenship of other countries will bet-ter enable the United States to reshape policies to positively impact human rights,” she adds – the act of which would directly relate to the U.S.’ combat against global terrorism, an issue very much at the forefront of the 2008 political debate.

As a senior at UC Irvine, Jose Solorio ‘92 got his first taste of politics when he was elected student body president.

Today, the California

State Assemblyman focuses on improving schools, preventing gang violence, creating jobs and maintaining a strong infrastructure.

Solorio serves as Chair of the Assembly Committee on Public Safety and as a member the education, transportation and ap-propriation committees.

Lindsay Hopkins ’07, serves as director of the Democratic Party of Or-ange County’s Santa Ana headquarters.

Hopkins honed her cam-

paign skills while getting her bachelor’s in political science. She got her first exposure to politics her junior year through the political science depart-ment’s Public Affairs Internship Program.

She hopes to someday become a chief of staff for a key political office. First, though, she plans

to take the GRE in 2009, “when it’s not an election year,” and go to graduate school.

“I’ll probably float between politics and nonprofits,” she says. “I want to work for some-thing I believe in, and be sure I’m trying to make the world a better place.”

By Ted Gaulin

UCI Doctoral Student

Generally speaking, the American electorate is not well informed. Voters often know more about leaders’ personal foibles and political missteps than they do about their policy positions. This is especially true of younger Americans, who are less politically knowl-edgeable and less likely to vote.

Last fall, as the 2008 presidential campaign was beginning, psy-chologist and Calit2 researcher Robert Beck wondered if information technology could reverse this trend and reinvigo-rate political participa-tion. Young voters, Beck reasoned, might be less politically engaged, but they are tech-savvy and drawn to online commu-nities. Beck assembled an interdisciplinary team of researchers from UC Irvine, including myself, and Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisc. to cre-ate an interactive Web site that encouraged voters to focus on issues rather than personalities.

MyElectionDecision.org is the result. Launched in October 2007, the site gives users a “blind taste” of the presidential candidates. Users com-plete questionnaires in which they rank pressing national issues. Next, they read policy state-ments on these issues without knowing who authored them and “score” them on a Likert-type scale, indicating their level of agreement. The software tallies and weights this data, and presents users with their candidate preference in rank order.

Overall, the project has been well received. The most inspiring feed-back came from users commenting that they were surprised by their results and interested in learning more about a candidate they had not previously considered. This indicates we have succeeded in separat-ing the attributes of the candidates from their specific policy propos-als. The project design, we believe, leads users to suspend their politi-

Election 2.0: Web site helps voters select next president

cal biases and preconcep-tions, and see the candidates anew.

Two aspects of the project sur-prised us. The first was the site’s popular-ity with non-academic users. We envisioned the Web site as a way to supplement course material in class.

While the site is being used in that capacity, 70 percent of our users are logging-in from non-educational domains. Equally interesting are the foreign users — they’re from more than 30 different countries and each of the seven continents.

The quality of dialog on the Web site’s discussion forum also surprised us. Users seem genuinely interested in pursuing some of the topics raised in the surveys.

Lively debates span-ning the war in Iraq, the viability of bio-fuels

as an energy alterna-tive and whether Mike Huckabee’s proposed flat tax would hurt the poor have populated the discussion forums

Participants marshal sophisticated arguments for their views and often provide links to other Web sites with support-ing data. In one instance, a member of Ron Paul’s campaign staff weighed in to answer a question that had been raised about his boss’ energy policy.

One challenge has been keeping up with the evolving policies of the candidates. Even slight changes in position require site updates.

Our findings? Political engagement is very high for this election. We plan to conduct an extensive survey of users after the general election in November to determine its impact. What we can say at this stage is that our data appears to be representative of nation-al trends.

We invite readers – even those firmly committed to a particular candidate – to test drive the Web site. You might be surprised at your results!

Ted Gaulin is a doctoral candidate in political sci-ence with a keen interest in politics and technology. He serves as political consultant for the Calit2-supported MyElectionDecision.org.


By Diana Thai UCI Alumni Association

Having spent the last few weeks unpacking, Rafael L. Bras, Sc.D. good-naturedly chuckles about his move from MIT to UC Irvine. He and his wife, Patricia, who have been taking things out of box after box in no particular order, find themselves in awe over all they’ve amassed after nearly 32 years in the same place.

When Bras finally found his map collection among the boxes, the Puerto Rican native knew a negotiation was in the making. Finding space for his 100+ treasures in their University Hills house, Bras admits, likely will require some com-promise with his wife.

“My wife gives me limits, tells me what space I can have for them,” Bras chuckles. “Otherwise, I’d fill the entire house with maps.”

His affection for maps should come in handy as he plots the future of UCI’s engineering school from his new post as its dean. Bras is replacing Nicolaos G. Alexopoulos, Ph.D., who retired in June.

“The UC Irvine campus

Mapping the futureNew dean takes lead in engineering change

has done very well over the past ten years,” Bras says of Alexopoulos’ ten-ure. “The people here are young, driven and willing to try new things.”

What exactly those new things are, Bras hasn’t yet decided. He believes he has much to learn about the UCI campus before suggesting changes.

His initial plan is one of listening and learn-ing; spending his time discovering where he is most needed before stepping in.

“I realize there are areas in which my help prob-ably isn’t needed,” Bras explains. “I see, and hope that everyone who works with me sees, that my role, that our role, is to facilitate.”

That is not to say the 57-year old is lacking a vision for the school.

Bras says he was most taken by the university’s almost innate collabora-tive nature. One area he foresees growth and increased global excel-lence is in the science and technology of human health, and in particular biomedical engineering, where there are opportunities for collaboration with

the School of Medicine, Beckman Laser Institute and with local industry.

That type of new chal-lenge was behind his 3,000-mile move.

“It was time for some-thing new. I needed some engagement that enables me to build, to bring people to their best,” he explains.

And striving to be his best is something of a calling card for Bras.

As a student in Puerto Rico, Bras consistently found himself at the top of his classes. What he didn’t know was he would be a small fish in a much bigger pond once he began his college career.

“So much so, that I failed

my first physics test,” Bras says of his first days at MIT. He took those early hurdles in stride and went on to earn three de-grees from MIT: a bach-elor’s in civil engineering (1972), a master’s in civil engineering (1974) and a doctorate in water resources and hydrology (1975).

Today, Bras is using his expertise in water systems to lead an international panel of experts with the charge of constructing a $7.9 billion development to protect Venice, Italy from floods during un-usually high tides.

His research spans soil-vegetation-atmosphere system modeling, and he is world renowned for his innovative work describ-

ing and forecasting floods and precipitation.

His landscape-river basin-evolution models are widely used in hydrol-ogy and geology. Bras also has pioneered ideas about how the defor-estation of the Amazon will impact regional and continental climates.

Finding a temperate cli-mate in his own life, Bras shares his simple, yet effective, strategy. “My strategy has always been to eliminate the things that you do not like. Pick something you enjoy and do it.

“Never look back.”

For more about Dean Bras and the engineering school, visit: http://www.uci.edu/uci/features/feature_bras_081006.php

ABOVE: Rafael L. Bras, Sc.D. distinguished professor of civil and environmental engineering,

was named dean of The Henry Samueli School of Engineering, effective September 1.

Photo by L. Barry Hetherington.


Lauds & Laurels Nominations UCIAA is seeking nominations for its 39th annual awards celebration.

Since 1971, UCIAA has been honoring alumni, students and friends for their extraordinary support of the university.

Help us recognize outstanding members of the Anteater community by submitting your nomination. Deadline for nominations packets is Friday, Dec. 19.

For nomination forms, visit: www.alumni.uci.edu

Join UCIAA as the UCI Men’s Basketball team tips off an exciting year in its season opener against Sporting News pre-season #11 USC Trojans in Los Angeles.

Prior to the game, UCIAA will host a reception for alumni and friends before heading to Galen Center to cheer on ’Eater Nation. Longtime UCI Men’s Basketball Coach Pat Douglass will be stopping by to give a preview of the game and the upcoming season.

Saturday, Nov. 15 11 a.m.: Reception Davidson Alumni Center, 3415 S. Figueroa St. 1 p.m.: Tip off USC Galen Center Tickets: $20 members; $25 non members. R.S.V.P.: www.alumni.uci.edu Reception menu: Hosted quesadilla and salsa bar, beer and sodas *The tickets will include price of the basketball ticket and reception. Parking is not included.

Nearly a decade later, Speraw was named an assistant coach to the U.S. National team. “I jumped at the oppor-tunity to coach in the Olympics,” Speraw says. “I jumped knowing that it would be a tre-mendous sacrifice, no downtime, no vacation for two years.”

But the two year’s on the sideline with the U.S. Team will pay divi-dends to UCI’s men’s program. It was while in the gym and watch-ing the competition that Speraw earned an appreciation for the difference between collegiate and pro players.

“I’ve learned what it is to be a professional athlete and an Olympic athlete, and therefore, have seen how to

better prepare our athletes to reach that level,” Speraw explains. “We are now able to look at what we’re

doing as a program and make it a hard and fast goal to produce future Olympians and profes-sional athletes.”

UCIAA EVENTS Saturday, Feb. 28 Homecoming

Saturday, April 18 Wayzgoose Thursday, May 14 Lauds & Laurels


’Eaters vs. Trojans

Benched: Speraw, right, enjoys a photo opp with U.S. National head coach Hugh Mc-Cutcheon (center) and first assistant coach Ron Larsen (left).

continued from page 9

GET INVOLVED


The anteaters are coming …The Tierre de las Palmas exhibit at the Santa Ana Zoo is currently out to bid and the contract will be awarded in November with habitat construction starting before the end of the year.

The zoo is currently in talks to obtain a pair of anteat-ers, scheduled to arrive at the zoo before the exhibit opens. The anteaters will need to go through a 30-day quarantine like all new neighbors at the zoo to make sure they are healthy and happy. Then they will be given time to get used to their new home before the grand opening next year.

Watch the Santa Ana Zoo Web site for updates: www.santaanazoo.org

Social Ecology mentors needed!The School of Social Ecology is looking for alumni and friends with professional experience in Social Ecology related fields, such as criminology, psychology, social work or community planning. Sharing your knowl-edge and direct experience would be a wonderful way to stay connected to your alma mater.

For more information, visit: www.socialecology.uci.edu/mentor or contact Patricia DeVoe at: 949-824-1278 or [email protected].

Ralphs updates charitable giving programRalphs’ Supermarket has created a secure Web site for registering your Ralphs Rewards Card. If you have already registered your card, but have not created a login and password, please do so that UCIAA contin-ues to receive funding from Ralphs.

If you have not yet registered your Ralphs Rewards card, please consider it. By registering your card and designating UCIAA has your charity of choice, Ralphs will contribute a percentage of each purchase you make back to the association to help support our pro-grams and events. To date, Ralphs has contributed more than $3,000 to UCIAA from its charitable giving program.

“Anthropologist Mar-cel Mauss wrote that a gift has three parts: the obligation to give, the obligation to receive and the obligation to recip-rocate,” writes Megan Braun, UCI student body president and UCIAA Distinguished Anteater awardee. “I will only be able to truly thank you when I reciprocate your gift by making a similar gesture later in life.”

Braun is one of 18 stu-dents UCIAA has chosen to honor through its scholarship program.

For more than three decades, the associa-tion has been awarding merit-based scholarships to outstanding Anteat-ers – those who are both leaders in the classroom

and on campus.

In 2008, more than $80,000 will be awarded to UCI students through the association’s two programs – the UCIAA Scholar program, award-ing $2,500 per year to incoming students and the Distinguished Ant-eater Award that honors outstanding current UCI students with a $1,500 award.

Besides supporting cur-rent students, the UCIAA scholarship program

helps cultivate future philanthropists.

“Undoubtedly, your contributions are a key factor in my success of becoming a UCI alum-nus where I can follow in the footsteps of alumni before me and contrib-ute to the success of future Anteaters,” writes UCIAA Scholar Isaac Thornton.

To learn more about the scholarship program, visit: www.alumni.uci.edu/uciaa_services/scholarships.html

UCIAA Scholars

Hao Chen Major: Biology Hometown: Irvine

Kattie David Major: Anthropology Hometown: Modesto

Michelle Dyo Major: Psychology and Social Behavior Hometown: Torrance

Nicholas Gerda Major: Political Science Hometown: Valencia

Daniel Kim Major: Political Science Hometown: Fresno

Madiha Shahabuddin Major: Political Science Hometown: Walnut

2008-09 UCIAA Scholarship RecipientsKelsey Skaggs Major: Arts and Humanities Hometown: Lodi

Isaac Thornton Major: Elec. Engineering Hometown: Missouri City, Texas

Maryjane Vennat Major: Biology Hometown: Irvine

Amanda Wong Major: Biology Hometown: Cypress

Chun Hei Wong Major: Math and Economics Hometown: Fountain Valley

Distinguished Anteaters:

Graciela Arguelles Major: Chicano / Latino Studies and Sociology Hometown: North Hollywood

Rachel Bell Major: Biology and Engineering Hometown: Escondido

Megan Braun Major: History and Philosophy Hometown: St. Paul, Minn.

Yetunde Fatunde Major: Biology Hometown: Nigeria

Andy Hoang Major: Neurobiology and Comparative Literature Hometown: Garden Grove

Arin Torabian Major: Biology Hometown: Tujunga

Monica Trigoso Major: Sociology Hometown: Long Beach

Giving Back: Students learn about giving from UCI alumni


A billion ways to Shape our Future

A billion ways to Shape our FutureSparking breakthrough discoveries and tackling issues

that matter to people in their daily lives will be the goal of UC Irvine’s just announced $1 billion fundraising cam-paign.

The “Shaping the Future Campaign” was announced by Chancel-lor Michael V. Drake, M.D. at the Bren Events Center on Oct. 4 during “A Celebration of Stars – The 2008 Medal Awards.”

The announcement kicks off the public phase of the campaign. The quiet phase, which took place during the past three years, has already seen donors give more than $405 million.

“The challenges we face in the world today have not overwhelmed hope, and so-lutions can be found. That’s what great universities do,” said Chancellor Michael V. Drake, M.D. as he announced the initiative that will raise $1 billion by 2015.


equipment and labs; create and enhance academic pro-grams; and fuel interdisciplinary collaborations to address global challenges. It also will provide funding for campus-wide priorities, including attracting and retaining world-renowned faculty. Additionally, the campaign will further the campus’ capacity to play a leadership role in supporting Orange County as a national center of business and a gate-way to world economies and global cultures.

The university ended the 2007-08 fiscal year with a record-breaking $130 million in gifts and pledges – the third consecutive year the university has seen donors contribute more than $100 million.

“Our campus is an innovative and dynamic university, and it is also among the youngest universities ever to embark on a $1 billion fundraising campaign,” said Thomas J. Mitchell, vice chancellor of University Advancement and president of the University of California, Irvine Foundation.

“Our alumni, community friends and donors share the con-viction that supporting UCI is a great investment in human potential. Their participation in this campaign will help us solve issues that matter to us here in Orange County and around the world.”

Now, more than ever before, UCI is focused on shaping the future by finding hope in opportunity, innovation and the aspirations of our students and faculty.

The campaign will focus on increasing private support for five key areas: health, the environment, sustainable en-ergy, educating tomorrow’s leaders and embracing global opportunities on cultural and business levels. Every school and unit on campus, from health affairs to the sciences; from the humanities to arts and athletics; is represented in the campaign. By increasing funding through the cam-paign, the campus will increase its ability to make improve-ment in people’s lives in addition to helping drive regional economic growth.

The campaign launched a new Web site, www.UCIFuture.com, to tell the stories of community lead-ers, alumni, students, parents and faculty who are involved in the campaign. An ongoing advertising effort to introduce the campaign to the community has also begun.

“We are one of the best public universities in America, and more students want to come to UC Irvine than ever before,” Drake said. “We’ve just completed our new hospital, which already is ranked among America’s best. We have half-a-billion in capital improvements under way for our students, and we’re opening the first new public law school in Cali-fornia in more than 40 years. I can’t imagine a more exciting time to be at UC Irvine.”

The campaign will encourage donors to support more scholarships and graduate fellowships; add new buildings,

Multi-year campaign aims to transform campus, regioncontinued from page 15


This wasn’t just any box. It was a Tzedakah box. And it belonged to 5-year-old philanthropist Zofia Kirshbaum.

Before the Jewish Sabbath, Zofia would pass the special box around for charitable donations. Zofia’s parents, in keeping with the Jewish imperative to heal the world through good deeds, would fill it with coins and bills. Zofia’s Tzedakah box, in many ways, embodies the values her parents have tirelessly instilled in her: compassion, the importance of family and a responsibility to help the needy. These are the very values practiced everyday at UC Irvine Health Affairs, the recipient of Zofia’s largesse and where she and her younger sister Temma were born by emergency C-section. At UC Irvine, physicians provide compassionate care, while nurses treat patients like loved ones, alleviating their suffering with hugs, smiles and extra pillows. So committed is Zofia to UC Irvine and its vision of nursing the sick to health that she has asked her parents, friends and other loved ones to skip birthday toys and instead to make donations on her behalf to the university.

It began with a wood box. Four simple sides with a cover.

Multi-year campaign aims to transform campus, region

Shaping the Future: Addressing issues that matter to you


collaboration with industry, will make an invaluable contribution to the entire nation and the world.

Our EnvironmentMini-malls have replaced fields and forests. Smog sullies our cities and children no longer drink water from the tap. Invasive species inhabit our water-ways, and the world’s food supply is at risk from deforestation and erosion.

But at UC Irvine, our scientists take on these challenges and find practical so-lutions. From environmental law to wa-ter research, from earth system science to biology, our faculty and students are making a difference.

A clean, safe environment is our birthright. Being green isn’t about red or blue states - it’s about living in a healthy state. People may debate glob-al climate changes, but our scientists are discovering ways to better under-stand the intricacies of the environ-ment so we can protect and restore it.

All across the campus, UC Irvine’s people are working together to make the world better. Our priorities are crystal clear.

Tomorrow’s LeadersWe’re building enthusiasm for higher education and readiness for careers in a globally focused economy. The future of California depends on how well we prepare young Californians for success in higher education.

The university is committed to producing a new generation of

Your HealthWe are fundamentally improving health and access to health care for our families and our community by creating 21st-Century diagnostics and treatments.

We are focused on three vital areas to improving medical care for all of us. We must pursue exceptional medical research and provide the most up-to-date medical technology. We also must establish efficient business models that provide affordable and sensitive care. UC Irvine is demonstrating how these key elements of health care can work hand-in-hand.

UC Irvine is tackling some of the world’s toughest diseases and conditions: Alzheimer’s, cancer, Parkinson’s, blind-ness, heart disease and diabetes.

By combining the power of one of the world’s top research universities with compassionate care, we truly are shap-ing the future of health care.

Sustainable EnergyWe’re helping California and the nation find more sustainable and efficient en-ergy sources through hydrogen power, fuel cells and other rapidly evolving new technologies.

Energy independence is not just a possibility, it’s our future. And through technologies that tap renewable and available resources, we will help reduce pollution and environmental damage - especially important as new economies develop worldwide.

These initiatives, combined with UC Irvine’s expertise in computing and continued on page 23

Apage 20 | fall ’08 your uci www.alumni.uci.edu | page 21

After earning his degree in biological sciences from UC Irvine, Greg Vacca’s career path took a decidedly different turn when he enrolled in the San Francisco Theological Seminary and was or-dained as a Presbyterian minister. He became a hospital chaplain in both civilian and military life - including Desert Storm, where he met his wife, Sheryl, who was an army nurse at the time.

Greg later entered the financial services industry as a corporate officer and then was a consultant to major insurance companies. He is the founder of a technology company that provides a unique application used in over 200 banks nationally, and he is an indus-try leader serving on the boards of several trade associations.

Following her father’s lead, Vanessa Vacca earned her bachelor’s degree from UC Irvine in 2002 and is now a senior consultant with Deloitte and Touche, LLP. And, like her father, fond memories of UC Irvine have made her want to stay connected. Not long after

Greg joined the Chancellor’s Club, he encouraged Vanessa to do the same.

While at UC Irvine, Vanessa found great satisfaction serving as a Student Parent Orientation Program staffer. Lately, she has led young alumni workshops and has spoken at Chancellor’s Club events on the benefits of membership.

“We feel that the Chancellor’s Club is a great way to network and reconnect with the campus,” says Greg. “It has been great to meet the people working so hard to make it a better place to get an education,” Vanessa adds. “GO ’EATERS!!!”

Like father, like daughterGreg ’71 and Vanessa ’02 Vacca


Jenny Doh, ‘91 spent her early years in Seoul, Korea. But she

was born at UC Irvine.

“I see the university as something I cannot and will not ever abandon,” said Doh. “It is my family, it is where I was really born.”

She came to campus in 1986 as a new freshman straight from Bakersfield, Calif., where her family had settled after immi-grating some 10 years earlier and, by her own account, simply fell in love with the campus. “I loved everything about it, even the design. It’s a circle, you could never get lost.”

From those first few days on campus, Doh has managed to never lose her way and has come full circle. In July she took over as the president of the UCI Alumni Associa-tion, leading the univer-sity’s largest volunteer organization. More than 111,000-strong, the alumni family is one to which Doh is unques-tionably committed.

“As an alumna, I have a sense of obligation to make sure that I continue to support the institu-tion that helped shaped me. It is with extreme

pride that I can attach my name to UCI, to be associated with such a strong university.”

While a student, Doh earned the unrepeated honor of being selected UC Irvine’s first student regent, representing the student body within the University of California Board of Regents and the UC Office of the Presi-dent. It was during that time that she was taken under the wing of some

of her most influential mentors, including alumna Martha Newkirk.

Newkirk, along with Chancellor Emeritus Jack Peltason and his wife Suzie, remain an integral part of Doh’s life today.

“They continue to offer me a great level of sup-port. It is because of each of them that I under-stand my responsibility to the university,” Doh said. “As president of the

alumni association, I am responsible to my fellow alumni in ensuring that our voice continues to be heard. As personnel at the university change, it is the alumni voice that remains constant.”

Sustaining the alumni voice isn’t just a one-woman activity. Doh be-lieves that each alumnus can - and should - take part. And, one way do to so is to recognize that the association is the life-

line between university and alumni. “It’s impera-tive that alumni continue to support the associa-tion,” Doh said. “The first step in doing that is to purchase a membership to help preserve our fiscal health. Those dues help ensure that the as-sociation remains strong and autonomous.

“And the university will become a better place through alumni involve-ment.”

UCI gives birth to alumna’s passionJenny Doh ’91

UC Irvine: Alumni Connections

Ninetta and Gavin Her-bert recently made the largest gift ever received by the Department of Ophthalmology - one which will help estab-lish an eye institute on campus that will be named after Gavin. The proposed institute will further the Department of Ophthalmology’s mission of developing educational programs, technologies and clinical solutions to enhance visual health and per-formance for the people of Orange County and beyond.

“I have been closely affili-ated with the UC Irvine Department of Ophthal-

mology and its outstand-ing clinicians and scien-tists since its inception more than 30 years ago,” Gavin says. “With the completion of the Eye Institute, UC Irvine will host one of the premier eye health research insti-tutions in the country. I am extremely pleased to be a part of it.”

Gavin is founder, chair-man emeritus and the former CEO of Allergan, Inc., a global specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company in Irvine. Through his direction, Allergan has supported the Depart-ment of Ophthalmology at UC Irvine - sponsor-

ing research fellowship programs, collaborat-ing with retina clinical research faculty and providing lab space, research materials, men-toring and development opportunities.

A friend of founding Chancellor Daniel G. Aldrich, Jr., Gavin was in-strumental in designing and implementing the Department of Ophthal-mology - including the Irving Leopold Chair. He was the first president of the Chancellor’s Club, and he recently received the university’s highest honor, the Medal, for his extraordinary service and support.

Donors eye future vision advances

Laguna Beach couple Sue and Bill Gross like to contribute to cutting-edge organizations that have a major impact. In making a $10 million gift to establish the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center at UC Irvine, their impact is certain to provide benefits on global levels.

Sue and Bill developed a keen interest in stem cell research after watching a “60 Minutes” program that profiled Hans Keirstead’s work at UC Irvine. The show described his use of a treatment derived from human embryonic stem cells to improve mobility in labora-tory animals with spinal cord injuries. The couple was later invited to tour UC Irvine’s Reeve Irvine Research Center, and after learning more about the break-through stem cell research being performed by Hans Keirstead, Peter Donovan, Susan Bryant and others, they knew they wanted to get involved.

“UCI is at the forefront of scientific research because of the interdisciplinary collaboration among its fac-ulty, staff and departments,” Bill says. “This cross-func-tional approach has enabled the campus to become a hub of stem cell research in Southern California.”

Bill is founder and CIO of the Newport Beach-based international investment firm PIMCO. He is the world’s most prominent bond investor, managing over $700 billion, and the couple is known for their generous gifts to educational and healthcare institutions.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to help facilitate research that will save lives and provide vast benefits for the citizens of Orange County and beyond,” Sue adds.

Gift to impact future of stem-cell research


educators and leaders who will improve the state’s performance in business, the arts, innovation and entrepreneurship.

At UC Irvine, the best and brightest of young Californians are achieving their dreams.

For 12 long years, Jose Romero-Mariona’s family tried desperately to flee war-torn El Salvador, and by the time they were permitted to immigrate to the United States, Jose was already in high school.

The relief he felt from no longer having to wit-ness shootings outside his home – or relatives “disappearing” from their neighborhood – was clouded by an apprehen-sion of working at menial jobs to help support his struggling family. His father, a civil engineer in El Salvador, settled for a job as a machinist, and his mother picked up work doing catering and office jobs.

At first Jose spoke little English, but he was a fast learner. Even so, his high school counselor told him he should apply to trade school rather than

college. But his parents thought otherwise, so Jose took it upon himself to learn how to apply to colleges and fill out the complicated forms nec-essary to get into school. UC Irvine welcomed him and ultimately became his salvation.

Having earned his bachelor’s degree here, Jose is now a fourth-year graduate student working alongside Dean Debra Richardson in the Donald Bren School of Information and Com-puter Sciences, because of the financial support he’s been able to receive.

His current research in-volves looking at unique ways of developing software-specific security that is more efficient than the general virus detection programs that most people use today.

Without financial help,

Jose believes none of this would have been possible.

“My fellowship has helped me so much,” he explains. “It was always a big question as to how

Graduate student secures safer future

I would pay for school, and now that I am able to focus on my research, I hope I can give back to others someday.”

With the goal of becom-ing a university profes-

sor, and the fact that he spends extracurricular time mentoring students from disadvantaged backgrounds – on top of his long research hours – Jose is already giving back in a big way.

That keeps California competitive, creative and prosperous.

Global OpportunitiesOrange County, Cali-fornia, with its diverse and vibrant cultures, is a microcosm of the world. Here, when we think

“world,” we also think “family,” since many of us have family in places like China and Vietnam, Mexico and Honduras, France and Russia. That cultural mix brings great opportunity for our uni-versity and our region.

UC Irvine can be the cornerstone of a new era

of prosperity for Cali-fornia. Imagine tapping into the academic power and cultural knowledge of our incredibly diverse students and alumni.

We are perfectly posi-tioned to take advantage of world markets and advance California’s in-ternational leadership.

Our research and academic programs focus on understanding our differences and embracing our shared future.

By working together, our students are building strategic collaborations to benefit our state and the world around us.




BIRTHS / MARRIAGES Brian [M.A. Hum ’99] and Jacqueline Carver [Hum ’93] welcomed the birth of their son, Freal Wesley Carver, on June 19.

Jeff [SocSci ’04] and Maggie Minhas [SocEco ’05] welcomed Logan Charles into the world on July 10. He was 8 lbs, 1 oz and 20.5 inches. They are thrilled to present the newest addition to the Anteater family!

Thuy and Brendan Purdy [Ph.D ’08] an-nounced the birth of

their first child, son Liam Hao Purdy, on July 2.

1970sMichael Short [Eng ’74] has been elected vice presi-dent at Southern California Edison responsible for engineer-ing, fuel management and decommissioning activities at SCE’s San Onofre Nuclear Generat-ing Station.

Richard Whittaker [Bio ’75, SocEco ’75] received a master’s degree in divinity from the Episcopal Theologi-cal School/Claremont School of Theology on May 17 and was or-dained to the Transi-tional Diaconate in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles June 7.

Keith Serxner [Bio ’77] climbed Oregon’s Mt. Hood on June 7 to raise money for breast cancer. He is a lifetime member of UCIAA.

Gordon Mitchell [Bio ’75, Ph.D. ’78], professor

and chair of the depart-ment of comparative bio-sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, was selected as a councilor to the American Physiological Society.

1980sHouston Arts Alliance announced the ap-pointment of artist and public art administrator Helen Lessick [M.F.A. ’82] as the organization’s director of civic art and design.

CalOptima has named Steve Epstein [SocEco ’83, Bio ’83] director of network management. He will direct and over-see provider relations, network operations, provider enrollment, and provider contract-ing. Epstein is a lifetime member of UCIAA.

Bradley Evans [PhySci ’84, Art ’00] recently

published a new book entitled “Modal Stratifica-tion in the First Move-ment of Symphony No. 5 of Ralph Vaughan Williams.”

Eugene J. Kim [SocSci ’84] has joined STV Inc. as western region plan-ning manager with the firm’s transportation and infrastructure division

Greg Gutierrez [M.D. ’86] was promoted to associate professor for the department of family medicine at University of Colorado, School of Medicine.

1990sStephanie Flood [So-cEco ’90] graduated with her master’s degree in speech language pathol-ogy from San Diego State University on May 23.

Major David J. R. Frakt [Hum ’90], UCIAA Out-standing Senior in 1990, has been voluntarily recalled to active duty for one year to the Office of Military Commissions Defense in Washington D.C. and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

After 10 years in private law practice, John Lee [SocEco ’91] has joined Union Bank of California as vice president, senior counsel for Corporate Real Estate. Lee is a life-time member of UCIAA.

Theodore S. Gonzalves [M.A. Hum ’97, Ph.D. ’01] has been promoted to associate profes-sor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in the department of American studies.

CLASSNOTES: updates from anteatersSHARE YOUR NEWS WITH US!We love to hear from UCI alumni! To be included in the classnotes section, send your updates to [email protected].

You are welcome to send high-resolution photos (300 dpi or greater) with your submission.

How many words can you create from the word ANTEATER?We found 43. Visit our Web site to see our list!

Anagrams for Anteaters


CLASSNOTES: updates from anteaters

Brian W. Carver [M.A. Hum ’99] accepted a tenure-track position as an assistant professor at the University of Califor-nia at Berkeley’s School of Information.

2000sKimberley Coles [M.A. SocSci ’00] recently had her research published with U Michigan Press as “Democratic Designs: International Interven-tion and Electoral Prac-tice in Post-war Bosnia-Herzegovina.”

Jamison Power [SocSci ’03] received his juris doctorate from the UCLA School of Law. He will begin his legal career at Snell & Wilmer L.L.P. in Costa Mesa.

Rishi Mhapsekav [Bio ’04] graduated with a doctor of medicine degree from the Chicago Medical School at Rosa-lind Franklin University of Medicine and Science on June 6.

IN MEMORIAMWilliam C. Kimpel [M.D. ’54] passed away May 4 at his home in Roll-ing Hills Estates. Kimpel is survived by his wife, sons, 3 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchil-dren.

Edwin H. Jacobson [M.D. ’57] passed away March 11. He was 78.

Donald Earl Seapy [M.D. ’61] passed away on March 27 after a long

battle with a neurological disorder. Seapy will be remem-bered as the first family doctor in Scotts Valley and the founder of the Scotts Valley Medical Center.

Willis Pickel [M.D. ’65], a respected Sacramento area ophthalmologist and surgeon, passed away on February 29.

Dana Reed [ICS ’74] passed away on June 25 in a bicycling accident. He was 56.

Teresa Hepler [Hum ’74, M.A. Hum ’84] passed away January 30 from heart complication

Sally Salavea [SocEco ’90] passed away Febru-ary 9 in Newport Beach.

Carolyn Kimme Smith [Ph.D. ’82] passed away July 23 at the age of 74.

A breast cancer survivor who tirelessly do-nated her time and energy to many issues, Smith primarily focused on early detection of breast cancer. Smith earned her Ph.D. at the age of 48 from UC Irvine.

She resided in Newport Beach with her hus-band of 32 years, Hal W. Smith, Jr. She is survived by her three chil-dren and their families, including four grandchildren.

The family request that donations be made to the UCI Foundation/Center for Citizen Peace Building, Attn: Center for Citizen Peace Build-ing, Paula Garb, University of California, Irvine, 3151 Social Science Plaza, Irvine, CA 92697-5100, www.socsi.uci.edu/~cpb.

IN MEMORIAM:use recycled plastic and glass bottles to create stained glass-like walls that reflect light into rooms. Water is recycled through rainwater catch-ments and electricity is produced by using solar panels and wind tur-bines.

The Earthship homes, Kniffin hopes, will ulti-mately benefit residents in rural Nicaragua by teaching the local com-munity skills to foster their own independence, despite limited economi-cal and natural resources.

As an intern for archi-tect Michael Reynolds, a proponent for radically sustainable living, Kniffin learned how to build Earthship homes from the concept’s founder. Reynolds built the first Earthship home in the 1970s. Four decades later, Earthships are be-ing constructed around the world from Zwolle, Netherlands to Negril, Jamaica.

Kniffin’s goal is to travel to Nicaragua every cou-ple of months for about three weeks at a time to work on his house with help from the Anteater and local communities.

UCI Athletics trainer Mike Burns and Justin Neer-hof, UCI Women’s Soccer assistant coach, joined Kniffin on a recent trip.

“David has involved the

whole community in the construction of this house,” says Burns. “It was amazing to see the collaboration of all the people in helping to build this house and to grow the community.”

Once his first house is built and sold, Kniffin says that he plans to use the funds to build more houses, water systems and sewage systems for the local community.

Although these houses can use solar power to provide modern ame-nities to their owners: dishwashers, washing machines and dryers, computers and printers, the goal for Casa Llanta is to first build a model home as a means of demonstrating afford-able and sustainable housing to the local people.

“Every time I go to Casa Llanta, I appreciate more and more the two very different worlds that I am involved in,” Kniffin says. “I get so much from both the athletes I help to coach and from the com-munity in Nicaragua. I’m just thrilled to be apart of both worlds.”

alumni notescontinued from page 8

HOW TO REGISTERIf you registered on the old Web site between August 4 and September 22, your participation is still in effect. If not, follow the instruc-tions below and get regis-tered today!

Log in to 1. www.ralphs.com

Click on Sign In/ 2. Register

Click on New Custom-3. er? Sign up today!

Enter your zip code 4. and click on ‘find’

Click ‘Select’ next to 5. the store you primarily shop at

Enter account 6. information

Click Confirm7.

Click on agree to Terms 8. and Conditions

Click on ‘Confirm’9.

Click on Edit Com-10. munity Contribution Program Information

Enter the card number 11. as shown on your Ral-phs rewards card

Click on ‘Save Changes’12.

Confirm or enter any 13. corrections and click on ‘Save Changes’

Key in UCIAA’s NPO 14. number (90133) and click ‘Search’

In the ‘Select Your 15. Organization Section’, click on the bubble next to your organiza-tion’s name

Click on ‘Save Changes’16.

Your organization 17. selection will appear on the right side of this page

You have now com-18. pleted your Online rewards card registra-tion AND your Com-munity Contributions registration.

Click on ‘Logout’ at the 19. top of the page

Ever wonder why the Starbucks experience was so popular

that the coffee chain has become one of the most recognizable brands in the world? Wright Massey knows, he cre-ated it.

Massey, who earned his M.B.A. from UCI in 1992, is credited for creating the Synergistic Rollout Program to build one store per day (from 200 per year to 350), which saved Starbucks $20M a year. He is also credited for creating the Creative Service Group with the design of Starbucks’ brand identity and the

image for the store design that launched a national and interna-tional brand.

Prior to his acclaimed work with Starbucks, Massey worked as the director of design for Disney Stores: “that was the first time that some-one had actually built a brand experience for a retail concept and so I was on the ground floor choosing music, script writing and developing a brand story – working with the stores on mar-keting and communica-tions as well as packag-ing and design,” Massey explains.

Already an established architect, Massey was 39 years old when he entered UCI’s M.B.A.

program, “I had kind of exhausted my ability to move forward in archi-tecture - I had done basi-cally everything that you can do in that field, so I was looking for someway to expand my horizons… I thought that the M.B.A. at UCI was a good way of doing that.”

Massey is now a principal at Brand Architecture in Orlando, Florida and has managed more than a billion dollars of hos-pitality, retail, market-ing and facility design/construction worldwide. Earlier this year, the Coca-Cola Company and The Museum of Mod-ern Art selected Brand Architecture’s distinctive design for the Coca-Cola sign that is displayed

branded.in Times Square. Since then, Massey and his firm have continued to work with many high-profile brands, including their award winning re-brand-ing efforts for Outback Steakhouse.

With so much success, Massey still feels he has a connection to UCI, “ I’m always pleased when I hear UCI in the news, or hear that someone from UCI did well.” Massey still recalls some of his classes and favorite professors at UC Irvine and credits his MBA with opening doors to him in corporate America.

For the complete interview with Wright Massey and his thoughts on branding, visit: www.alumni.uci.edu/

By Allison Dolan

UCI Alumni Association



Integrating a 100-year-old medium – the tele-phone, with a 30-year-old medium – the Internet, rekindled the friendship of four Bren School of ICS alumni. This led to the creation of CallFire.com, a Web service that allows users to send out voice broadcasts to groups, sometimes as many as hundreds of thousands, in minutes.

“CallFire.com blossomed from both inspiration and necessity,” says Dinesh Ravishanker ’03, company co-founder.

Working as independent software consultants in 2004, Ravishanker, Vijesh Mehta ’02 and Komnieve Singh landed several consulting projects that required the use of VOIP technology, which uses

the Internet Protocol to transmit voice over a network.

Several service and custom application contracts later, the team decided it was time to focus on building a prod-uct that could handle the recurring issues they experienced on their own projects. CallFire.com was born.

Ravishanker and Mehta, however, quickly real-ized they would need help, and they knew the best people to ask were friends from their under-graduate days in ICS.

FORGED FELLOWSHIP

The founding partners came together in a way that showcased the tight network that the UC Irvine community fosters.

Ravishanker and Punit Shah ’02 both lived in Middle Earth and shared the same friends, including Mehta, whom Ravishanker had met before coming to UC Irvine. TJ Thinakaran ’01 and Mehta were teach-ing assistants for ICS 21, which Shah happened to be taking at the time.

The foursome’s friend-ship grew during their time at UC Irvine and after graduation Ravis-hanker, Shah and Mehta tried their hand at some early unsuccessful start-ups, leading the three to go separate ways and attend graduate school.

In 2005, the team began building what is now CallFire.com. By early 2006 CallFire.com beta was made public, and the

company has grown ag-gressively ever since.

“CallFire.com was built after lots of experience in failures and successes,” Shah now says. “If there was one silver bullet in creating a company, I would have to say it is execution.”

SWEAT CAPITAL PAYS

The group pitched angel investment groups and venture capital firms, but ended up going with no seed capital. The team was able to fully fund the venture using residual profits from existing consulting projects.

“There were times fund-ing would have made things easier, but we didn’t need it. By keep-ing operating costs low and biting the bullet as our own investors, we are now in a great position as owners,” says Shah.

The company had a simple mantra for its

product: make it inno-vative, easy to use and provide a great customer experience.

FRUITS OF LABOR

After lots of sweat capi-tal, the team launched CallFire.com in May 2006. And with fewer than six full-time employees, the company is on track to see several million dollars of revenue in 2008 and boasts more than 6,000 current accounts.

Despite staggering num-bers, the team isn’t ready to breathe easy just yet.

“I don’t think we’ve quite made it yet,” says Thinakaran, “Whenever we achieve a milestone, we’ll pat ourselves on the back, but then get right back to work . CallFire.com is our obsession.”

For more information, including a video profile, visit: www.ics.uci.edu/callfire

On fire:ICS alumni create Voice-over IP solution

By Eric Kowalik, ICS



Set for Life!The following alumni became life members of the UCI Alumni Association between March 15 through September 30, 2008. UCIAA would like to thank all of our members for their continued support.

UCIAA Members Help Fund Programs

MEMBERSHIP MATTERS

Muhammad Akmal ’08Audrey Au ’08Clare Bayens ’06Bridgette Berry-Smith ’80Eduardo Bouzas ’08Laura Buntrock ’08Patricia Busch ’87Andrew Campbell ’08Mirna Campos ’99Kathryn ChangTimothy Chen ’08Tiffany Chinn ’08Kimberly Chua ’07Dillon Cone ’08Daniel Conger ’75, ’77Paulo Correa ’08Susan Cotsonas ’71Brian Cruikshank ’08Sheryl Cruz ’08Mark De Jesus ’08Michael Delay ’08Vinay Deo ’08Zlatko Devcic ’08Satoru Emori ’07Kaye Evleth ’71Anthony Fortier ’08Jessica Frischling ’74Julie Goldsmith ’08Alan Gorenberg ’81Howard Grundy Deborah Hahn ’08Alison Haider ’08Naomi Halili-Dove ’99Kimberly Hanson ’08Ladan Hariri ’94Ryan Healy ’08Jason Hinchman ’95Michael Huang ’08Lincoln Hurlbut ’08Linda Jenkins ’08Shawn Jones ’08 Daniel Karpeles ’08Kelly Kato ’08 Ryan Kielhorn ’08Jungwook Lee ’08Kristin Leeper ’08Shahram Lotfipour Lisa Lotito-Byers ’91Jessica Lundquist ’08Paul Mac Alpine ’08Glenn Mackinnon ’08Edward Madokoro ’06

Joyce McClure ’80Sarah McKearnan ’08Christopher McKenzie ’95Aaron Metzler ’08Mark Miller ’78Sharageem Mirghanbari ’08Steven Morris ’08Douglas Morrison Catherine Morrison ’88Tristan Muntsinger ’08Loren Nakamura ’76Erik Nelson ’08Au Nguyen ’08Patrick Nguyen Huu ’07Johnny Nhan ’08Jacqueline Oertli ’93Lana Oson ’08Vivek Pai ’08Victoria Parvin ’80Curtis Parvin ’80Frank Phu ’03Megan Pluth ’08Susan Ridgeway ’95Bijan Sadri ’08Bharat Shah ’08Angela Shiah ’08Aditya Sithamraju ’08Justin Smith ’05Young Son ’08Hemanth Sundararaj ’04Suman Sundaresh ’08Eileen Surya ’08Glen Takahashi ’73Jennifer Tam ’06Julia Teodorescu ’08William Thompson ’90Andrew Thompson ’08Randall Tom ’08Shan Tsai ’08Fiona Tsang ’08Wei-Yu Tseng ’08Phillip Van ’05Peter Van Batenburg-Staffo ’08Virginie Viaene ’06Nicolas Voss ’08Frederick Webb ’08Timothy Wen ’08Laura Wetherbee ’08Brittney Whitaker ’08Mitchell Winans ’08Kevin Wiseman ’08Adrienne Yi ’89, ’92

BENEFIT YOUR CAREERUCIAA is partnering with the UCI Career Center to offer our alumni members free access to ZotLink, the career centers’ online job database.

Employers from across the country, in all disciplines, regularly post job openings. From entry-level to career, ZotLink is a resource that can help you in your job search. Visit us at: www.alumni.uci.edu and go to membership and benefits to learn more.

Members are the lifeblood of the UCI Alumni Association. Dues they pay support scholarship and student programs, alumni chapters and clubs, events, career and online services, as well

as this publication. Supporting UCIAA is not the only benefit of membership, it’s just the beginning. Members receive exclusive access to discounts and services, from campus to nationwide partners. Our members also are given opportunities to participate and get involved with events across the country that enrich both the individual and UC Irvine.

UCIAA is constantly working to provide its members with new benefits and a reason to stay connected. If you are interested in becoming a member, giving the gift of membership or simply renewing your membership, visit us online at: www.alumni.uci.edu.

Friends of UC Irvine also are welcome to become associate members, support UCIAA and take advantage of many of the benefits offered.

Membership Rates

Alumni $50 $500

Student $30 $400

Recent Grad* $30 $400

Associate $55 $600 To learn about our joint membership options and installment payment plans, contact UCIAA at: 949-824-ALUM.

* Recent graduate is defined as having graduated in the last two year.

ANNUAL LIFE


Set for Life!

IMPORTANT PRIVACY INFORMATION

Q O S S G L E A S O N N C

S Z T H O J D I X O S A G

N G E O L Z A S O T P M R

O K V P L D N S N P M D O

S C E S O A I A S F O E K

L I N E N L E R L R O E R

E N S M G H L G S Q R T I

K I H O C X O E S A E S K

C A T R N C Y D B N D B W

I S E L E L U O S O A M E

M C H O L M K E V C R V N

U B N O S D I V A D W T E

N A M H C I R F I E L D S

1968-69: Michael GOLLONG ‘66

1969-70: Jack MCCUE ‘68

1970-72: Dia DORSEY ’67, M.S. ‘73

1972-74: Adreana SOULELES ‘71

1974-76; 77-79: Cheryl MOORE ’69, C.R.E. ‘70

1976-77: Robert STEEDMAN, M.D. ‘59

1979-81: Neil GLEASON ‘71

1981-83: Marie RICHMAN ’70, M.S. ‘79

1983-85: Doug DAVIDSON ‘68

1985-87: Fred SAINICK ‘74

1987-89: Peter STEVENS, M.S. ‘76

HELP! The UCIAA presidents are lost. Can you find them?

(Note: You are looking for last names only; running horizontally, vertically, diagonally and backwards)

1989-91: Richard EVANS ‘69

1991-93: Martha NEWKIRK ’72, M.S. ‘76, Ph.D. ‘81

1993-95: Al DE GRASSI ’77, M.S. ‘79

1995-97: Greg MICKELSON ‘84

1997-99: Steve MCHOLM ‘72

1999-01: Debbie DANIEL ‘73

2001-03: Carl FIELDS ‘73

2003-04: Bernadette STROBEL-LOPEZ, M.B.A. ‘87

2004-07: Steve CAPPS ‘69

2007-09: Jenny DOH ‘91

You have the right to control whether we share your name, address and electronic mail address with our affinity part-ners (companies that we part-ner with to offer products or services to our alumni). Please read the following information carefully before you make your choice below:

Your Rights You have the fol-lowing rights to restrict the sharing of your name, address and electronic mail address with our affinity partners. This form does not prohibit us from sharing your information when we are required to do so by law. This includes sending you information about the alumni association, the university, or other products or services.

Your Choice Unless you say “NO,” we may share your name, address and electronic mail address with our affinity part-ners. Our affinity partners may send you offers to purchase various products or services that we may have agreed they can offer in partnership with us.

Time-Sensitive Reply You may decide at any time that you do not want us to share your information with our affinity partners. However, if we do not hear from you, we may share your name, address and elec-tronic mail address with our affinity partners.

If you decide that you do not want to receive information from our partners, you may do one of the following:

(1) Complete our online form: www.alumni.uci.edu/ nopartnermailing

(2) E-mail us at: [email protected] (3) FAX us at: 949-824-8516

Regardless of the method, be sure to include your Personal ID number (the 10-digit number above your name on the mail-ing label), name, address and phone number.

WHY DO WE SHARE THIS INFORMATION?One of the ways the UCI Alumni Association generates the income needed to fund programs that benefit UCI is by engaging in partnerships with carefully selected businesses.

Partner candidates compete for the privilege of marketing their services and products to highly desirable UCI graduates.

We select these partners based on the quality, value, price and appropriateness of their offer-ings and their reputation.

We hope our judgment is sound and you find any part-ner solicitations useful and relevant. But even if you do not respond to such offers, you’re still helping us simply by allowing us to continue to send these offers to you. We remain committed to your privacy.

It is our standard practice to block commercial solicita-tions to alumni and friends who request such. You may always make such a request by contacting the UCI Alumni Association. On behalf of UCIAA, thank you for your understanding and continued support.

I LEFT MY HEART IN S.F.Peter the Anteater enjoyed his summer taking a trip to San Francisco’s Pier 39 with alumna Jane Ong ‘03.

If you’ve taken Peter on a trip recently and would like to share your photo with other Anteaters, e-mail a high-resolution (300 dpi) photo to: [email protected].

“


November 2008Monday 3 UC Irvine Healthcare Community Education. Diabetic Diet. 4-6 p.m., UCI Manchester Pavilion, 200 S. Manchester Ave., Suite 840, Orange. $20. More: 877-824-3627.

Biology. “Learning, Mem-ory and the Brain” with Erin Schuman. 7-8 p.m., Beckman Center. Free. More: 949-824-2500.

Extension. “Sneak Previews” with Michael Berlin (6 meetings). 6:30-9:30 p.m., Theatre #6, Edwards University Cen-ter, Irvine. $150. More: 949-824-5414.

Wednesday 5 University Club Forum. “Among the Mud People of PNG” with Dowrene Hahn. 11:15 a.m., Univer-sity Club. $11-$13. More: 949-824-7960.

Thursday 6 Humanitech. The Future of Writing. HIB 135. Free. Continued through Nov. 7. More: 949-824-7445

Extension. Project Management in a Scientific and Research Environment (3 meet-ings). 8:30am-4:30pm,

UCI Learning Center, 200 S. Manchester, Orange. $675. More: 949-824-5414.

Monday 10 Extension. Visual Studio 2008: Windows Com-munication Foundation (MS Course 6461) (6 meetings). 6-10 p.m., 4199 Campus Dr, Suite F, Irvine. $950. More: 949-824-5414.

Wednesday 12 University Club Forum. “The Great Southern California Shake-Out – Ready or Not?” with Lisa Grant Ludwig. 11:15 a.m., University Club. $11-$13. More: 949-824-7960.

Biology. Biological Sci-ences Mentor Program Kick-Off Reception. 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Doheny Beach. Free. More: 949-824-4742.

Thursday 13 Newkirk Center. “Dan-ger and Disorder: New Developments in Violence Risk Assessment and Management” with John Monahan. 5:30-7 p.m., University Club. More: 949-824-9336.

Friday 14 Drama. West Side Story. 8 p.m. Irvine Barclay The-

atre. $25-$28. Continues through Nov. 16. More: 949-824-6614.

Saturday 15 Extension. Fundamen-tals for Green Spas (2 meetings). 8 a.m.-5.p.m., UCI Learning Center, 200 S Manchester, Orange. $655. More: 949-824-5414.

Monday 17 Music. UCI Wind Ensem-ble. 8 p.m. Winifred Smith Hall. Free. More: 949-824-4281.

Tuesday 18 Calit2. Igniting Technolo-gy - H2Ology: Tapping into technology to solve water demands. 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. Calit2 Auditorium. $20. More: 949-824-3317.

Library. Immigrant Lives in “The OC” and Beyond. 5:30 p.m., Langson Library. Free. Exhibit continues through April. More: 949-824-4651.

Wednesday 19 University Club Fo-rum. “The Beauty of the California Coast: Paintings from 1880 to 1930” with Jean Stern. 11:15 a.m., University Club. $11-$13. More: 949-824-7960.

Friday 21 Center for Immunol-

ogy. 6th Annual UC Irvine Immunology Fair 2008. 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Calit2 Auditorium. Registration required. More: 949-824-9648.

Humanities. Friends, Fellows, and Forms of Freedom: Premodern Civil Societies. 9 a.m.-4 p.m., HIB 135. Free. More: 949-824-6237.

School of Medicine. Symposium in Global Health: Malaria in the 21st Century. Beckman Center. More: 949-824-0589.

Saturday 22 Drama. Take Me Out. 8 p.m., Little Theatre. $10-$11. Continued through Nov. 23. More: 949-824-6614.

Sunday 30 Barclay. An Irish Christ-mas. 2 p.m. Irvine Barclay Theatre. $22-$48. More: 949-824-4646. December 2008 Wednesday 3 University Club Forum. Nuestra América: Latino

History as U.S. History with Dean Vicky Ruiz. 11:15 a.m., University Club. $11-$13. More: 949-824-7960.

UCI Jazz Orchestra. Fall Jazz Concert. 7:30 p.m. Claire Trevor Theatre. $11-$13. More: 949-824-6929.

Thursday 4 Dance. New Slate. 8 p.m. Winifred Smith Hall. $11-$12. More: 949-824-6614.

Monday 8 UC Irvine Healthcare Community Education. Diabetes Management Overview. 4-6 p.m., UCI Manchester Pavilion, 200 S. Manchester Ave., Suite 840, Orange. $20. More: 877-824-3627.

Friday 12 Barclay. Festival Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker. Irvine Barclay Theatre. $33-$38. More: 949-824-4646.

For a comprehensive listing, visit: today.uci.edu/calendar

AROUND THE CIRCLEevents taking place on and off campus

Saturday, Dec. 6 Drama. Clownzilla: A Holiday Extravaganza. 4 & 7 p.m. Claire Trevor Theatre. $10. More: 949-824-6614.

“

Liz Toomey Assistant Vice Chancellor Community & Government Relations

“Kids, are you paying attention?” Hmmm, I wonder how many times I asked my children that question as they were growing up. My daugh-ter is now 33, my son is 31. It was a refrain heard often around our house.

During the past 19+ months I found myself once again asking them that question. Why and what for? On November 4, no matter which party prevails, the election of ’08 will be historic.

Yes, it will be historic for one or the other obvious reason – the first African American elected Presi-dent of the United States, or the first woman to be elected Vice President of the United States. There

is another historical opportunity, one not as obvious and that’s the one most on my mind when asking, “Are you paying attention?”

The present state of our union requires a creative re-examination of our national interests. Our next President must have a comprehensive vision, be a leader with the ability to organize and marshal the best people and resources and be the leader with the capac-ity to communicate this vision to us and the world. If all of us aren’t paying attention, if all of us aren’t exercising our

right to vote, how can we be sure that leader is tak-ing up residence in the White House.

Today our 2008 can-didates clearly face a dilemma. If they tell the truth to voters about the tough choices ahead – on national security, health care, entitlement reform, climate change, public education and more – they risk losing a

presidential post.

No politician these days likes to talk about sacrifice or higher taxes. But if a candidate wins by ducking the hard questions, it will nearly be impossible to govern successfully. Voters don’t trust Presidents who bait and switch.

What to do? Given the magnitude and ur-gency of choices ahead, surely the best advice is revealed in history: our best Presidents have been those that have taken prudent and courageous risks. If we’re not paying attention, if we’re not exercising our right to vote, that Presi-dent will not be elected.

COMMENTARY

America today faces profound challenges at home and abroad. Taken together, they constitute nothing less than a “gath-ering storm,” the likes of which our nation has not seen in many years. In order to meet these challenges effectively, the next President must unite the nation and both devise and carry out a grand strategy for American renewal.

We need an historical number of voters to par-ticipate in Election ’08.

“Kids, are WE paying at-tention?” We need your input on November 4.

Join me in making sure we are heard this election year.

Liz Toomey Assistant Vice Chancellor

Community & Government Relations

Are you paying attention?

ONLINE RESOURCESElection ‘08 If you need information about the upcoming election, visit: www.advocacy.uci.edu/vote

Anteater Advocate Find out how you can help advocate on behalf of UC in Sacramento and at home! Visit: http://www.ucforcalifornia.org/ucirvine/home/

I N C L O S I N G


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A note to parents: If this issue is addressed to a daughter or son who has established a separate permanent residence, please notify us of that new address by sending an e-mail to: [email protected]. Please include your child’s alumni ID number found on the mailing label above.

Receiving duplicate copies? If you are receiving more than one copy of Your UCI please forward the mailing label panel from each issue you receive to:

Phineas Banning Alumni HouseUniversity of CaliforniaIrvine, CA 92697-1225

‘Eater Pride: Anteaters young and old came back to campus for the 2008 Homecoming festivities on March 1 and enjoyed an 82-66 win over Cal State Northridge at the Bren Events Center.

Photo: Laurel Hungerford

Gold medal eveningThe Papa Doo Run Run entertain more than 700 UCI friends at the 2008 Medal ceremonies that were hosted on October 5 at the Bren Events Center on the UC Irvine campus. Photo by Carlos Puma.

1 - Your UCI, Fall '08

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Transcript of 1 - Your UCI, Fall '08