News for Faculty and Staff of the University of California, Riverside • Volume 6, Number 4• Feb. 24, 2010 • www.InsideUCR.ucr.edu

By Bettye MillerTo the titles Recipient of a National

Humanities Medal and Professor of History

Emeritus, Henry Snyder can add one more:

Offi cer of the Most Excellent Order of the

British Empire.

The award, which is presented to few

individuals outside the United Kingdom, was

announced by Queen Elizabeth II in December

and will be presented to Snyder at the British

embassy in Washington, D.C., in early spring.

Snyder, a scholar of British history, was

recognized for “service to English Studies

worldwide” for his work of more than 32 years

on the English Short-Title Catalogue. The cat-

alog is a searchable database of every known

publication in England and its dependencies

from the birth of the printing press in 1473 to

1800. It is the largest bibliography of its kind

ever attempted, Snyder said, and lists nearly

500,000 items, including books, handbills,

fl iers, pamphlets and warrants.

“This is the great early printed bibliogra-

phy of any language group,” he said. “It was

in many ways the pioneer.”

The catalog, whose American component

is funded by the National Endowment for the

Humanities, is a joint effort of UCR’s Center

for Bibliographical Studies and Research, the

British Library and the American Antiquarian

Society.

“It’s nice to get the recognition. I’ve put

a lot of effort into the project,” said Snyder,

who was nominated by the British Library.

The Most Excellent Order of the British

By Kris LovekinTwo UCR professors will be honored Thurs-

day, March 4, for their innovative teaching

styles and success in enhancing the student

learning experience during the 2009 Innova-

tive Teaching Award and Lecture. The event

starts at 2:30 p.m. in Bourns A265.

Ward Beyermann, associate professor in the

Department of Physics and Astronomy, will talk

about how to engage students in the lesson.

“To be successful, students must spend

much of their class time actively engaged in

doing, thinking and talking about the material,

not listening to a lecture,” Beyermann said. He

will share how he carefully measures the results

of any change he makes in his teaching.

Andrew Winer, assistant professor in the

Department of Creative Writing, will address

whether creativity can be taught and how

he successfully teaches students not only to

recognize good writing, but to create it them-

selves. Winer is a novelist and an artist.

Both professors were nominated by their

students and/or their colleagues for effec-

tively using innovative teaching techniques to

engage students in the learning process. Their

techniques have shown measurable results in

the classroom and this is refl ected in the excel-

lent evaluations from their students, according

to Gladis Herrera-Berkowitz, UCR’s director

of instructional development in the Offi ce of

Undergraduate Education.

“The event is a resource for our teaching

faculty,” she said. “We stop what we are doing

long enough to recognize what has gone right,

and to ask ourselves how we share those tech-

niques across the campus.”

The event is open to all but an RSVP is

requested by March 1 to gladis@ucr.edu.

Sharing a Wealth of Teaching Techniques

It’s Of� cial: Henry Snyder is Most ExcellentEmpire is an order of

chivalry created in 1917

by George V. There are

fi ve degrees of award in

civil and military divi-

sions; Offi cer is fourth

out of the fi ve degrees

and is not one of those

for which knighthood is

conferred. Snyder is one

of 11 individuals honored in this category.

Fully retired since Dec. 31, Snyder said

he will continue to offer some assistance to

the Center for Bibliographical Studies and

Research, which he previously served as

director. He plans to display his OBE medal

next to his NEH medal in a case in his TV

room at home.

Working to combat a steep slide in state

support for higher education, advocates for

the University of California are planning large

rallies in Sacramento this spring to persuade

lawmakers that public higher education

should be a funding priority.

The UC Student Association on March 1

will hold a rally and press conference at the

state Capitol. University of California Presi-

dent Mark G. Yudof, along with several UC

regents and chancellors, will join student

organizers later in the day for meetings with

key legislative leaders.

A second rally on April 27 is being hosted

by a coalition that includes UC, the California

State University and California Community

Colleges. Leaders and key stakeholders from

the three public higher education systems

will be joined by a select group of community

leaders from throughout the state for a joint

advocacy day in Sacramento.

Organizers hope to draw a broad spectrum

of participants, from parents and students, to

community organizers, business leaders, fac-

ulty and staff.

State support for UC has been eroding

since the 1990s, but last year, amid a severe

recession, lawmakers slashed UC funding

by 20 percent. The resulting fi nancial crisis

brought layoffs, employee furloughs, reduced

class offerings and higher student fees.

The UC Board of Regents in November

proposed a 2010-11 budget that asks the

state for $913 million more in funding, an

amount that would allow UC to restore core

funding for university operations.

UC’s efforts to build support for the

restored funding include the launch of an

online, grassroots movement to educate law-

makers and the public about all the ways

that UC serves California and its people. The

group is now nearly 300,000 strong — with

more than 130,000 people added to the list

of UCforCA.org advocates since November.

Campuses have also been active, hosting

teach-ins, visiting the district offi ces of local

lawmakers and sponsoring “write-ins,” like the

campiagn initiated by UC Riverside’s Citizens

University Committee. That effort branched out

to include service clubs, community groups,

chambers of commerce and professional

organizations. In addition, the directors and

presidents of UC’s alumni associations met in

January to begin mobilizing their members.

President Yudof and all 10 chancellors

have made frequent trips to Sacramento and

Washington, D.C., in recent weeks, advocat-

ing on UC’s behalf and highlighting the uni-

versity’s contributions to California and the

nation in terms of research, economic growth

and public service.

On Jan. 12, Yudof and UCSF Chancellor

Susan Desmond-Hellmann met with Assem-

bly Speaker-elect John Perez (D- Los Ange-

les). They discussed the need to re-establish

higher education funding as a priority in the

state budget, and also talked about how UC

and its campuses can help the state recover

from the current recession.

The pair met later in the day with the gov-

ernor on both fi scal and policy matters.

Yudof returned to the Capitol on Jan.

25, accompanied by UC San Diego Chancel-

lor Marye Anne Fox, this time meeting with

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg

(D-Sacramento) and Senate Appropria-

tions Chair Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego),

among others, to once again press the case

for increased funding.

UC advocacy continues on the federal

level as well. President Obama’s 2011

budget request included increased funding

for Pell Grants and key research agencies

including the National Institutes of Health,

National Science Foundation and the

Department of Energy’s Offi ce of Science.

As the budget process moves forward,

UC’s Washington offi ce will continue work-

ing with advocates, students, regents and

chancellors to persuade policymakers to

provide strong and stable funding for higher

education in the areas of education and

research, as well as in infrastructure and

other areas. UC is also working with nation-

al policymakers to re-examine the federal

role in supporting higher education and to

expand its support for other areas that are

critical to the university’s operations.

The concerted advocacy efforts seem to

be working. Gov. Schwarzenegger’s proposed

budget restores $371 million in funding for

the university, one clear signal that the uni-

versity’s message is being heard.

Find out more about UC’s advocacy

efforts at www.UC4CA.org.

Staff, Faculty Asked to Get Involved in Budget Advocacy

Henry Snyder

By Kim LaneFor many commuters “I need my car dur-

ing the day” is a stock response for why they

do not use alternative transportation in their

commute to UCR

But that excuse may not fl y anymore.

In an attempt to reduce traffi c congestion,

parking problems and improve air quality,

UCR has partnered with Zipcar, the world’s

largest car-sharing service, to offer four-fuel

effi cient car-sharing vehicles that are avail-

able for use 24 hours a day, seven days a

week. The cars are located in reserved spaces

in parking lots 1 and 15.

To take advantage of the service, faculty,

staff and students pay an annual membership

fee of $35. Rental fees are $8 per hour or

$66 per day on weekdays, and $9 per hour or

$72 per day on weekends.

Gas, insurance, 180 driving miles,

reserved parking and roadside assistance are

included in rates.

In addition, members 21 and older have

access to Zipcar’s network of more than

6,500 vehicles throughout the U.K. and

North America.

Local residents not associated with UCR

who are ages 21 and older can join for $75,

which includes a $25 one-time application

fee and $50 annual fee.

The service is designed

to help UCR manage the

increasing demand for park-

ing and associated conges-

tion, while also offering a

convenient, economical and

environmentally friendly

alternative to owning a car,

said Mike Delo, director of

transportation and parking

services.

“We are hoping that the

Zipcar program will con-

vince some people that they

do not need to bring a vehi-

cle to campus,” said Delo. “These cars can

be used for a doctor’s appointment or to run

errands during the day, for a pleasure trip to

the beach or in the case of students who live

on campus, a trip home for the weekend.”

Zipcar, which has been offering campus

car sharing since 2002, has programs at more

than 120 colleges and universities across the

country including MIT, Columbia, George-

town, American University, Harvard Univer-

sity, University of Minnesota, University of

Toronto, University of North Carolina, The

University of Chicago, UCLA and Amherst.

For more information, including how to

join UCR’s Zipcar program, is available at

www.zipcar.com/ucr.

Zipcar Program Provides Alternative to Owning a Car

Specially reserved spaces in lots 1 and 15

are home to campus Zipcars. Photo by Steve Brazil

In a rare mailed ballot election, Academ-

ic Senate members approved fi ve resolutions

relating to strategic planning and budget cuts.

The resolutions had been presented at the last

division meeting Dec. 4.

Four of the resolutions were proposed by

a concerned faculty group. Of those four, the

resolution that received the most favorable

votes — 82 percent of those cast — urged the

university “to provide meaningful guidance

and long-term planning to ensure continued

viability and equity in the provision of retire-

ment benefi ts.”

More faculty cast ballots on this resolution

— 36 percent of active faculty — than on any

other.

Emerti faculty are permitted to vote but few

do, said Academic Senate Chair Anthony Nor-

man.

The other resolutions (with approval per-

centages) called for:

• The university to reconstitute the Com-

mission on the Future and allow more time

for consideration of policy alternatives and

budget realities. (70 percent)

• The university to provide meaningful fi s-

cal transparency, halt cuts in instructional

staff positions until the consequences

are examined in a forum open to all, and

to avoid student fee hikes until further

administrative cuts, cost deferrals and new

sources of revenue, such as borrowing, are

presented.(60 percent)

•The availability of all reports in UCR’s

strategic planning process and for particu-

lar weight to be placed on issues of access

and diversity, unintended consequences of

the pursuit of AAU status and equitable

distribution of resources. (61 percent)

A resolution proposed by Professor Harry

Green asked the administration to make the

highest priority in the strategic planning pro-

cess the reduction of unfi lled faculty FTE to

less than 11 percent. It was approved by a plu-

rality of 44 percent, a three-vote margin.

Details of the resolutions and votes are

available on the Academic Senate Web site at

senate.ucr.edu.

Academic Senate Members Approve Resolutions

Staff, faculty and students can take part

in the national car-sharing program.

role of the engineer in society.

Honorary Doctorate for ZukMarlene Zuk, a professor of biol-

ogy, received an honorary doctorate

on Jan. 22 from Uppsala University

in Sweden.

The university

confers the title

of honorary doc-

tor, doctor honoris

causa, upon aca-

demics, primarily

from abroad, who

have established

ties with Swedish

academic researchers or other indi-

viduals who have not taken a doctor-

ate through academic studies but

should clearly be inducted into the

research community.

Zuk, an expert on the evolution of

behavior, did a sabbatical at Uppsala

University in 1999, and has since

returned a few times to teach short

courses at the university.

“I am honored that the university,

one of the oldest in Europe, gave me

the award,” she said. The honorary

doctorate originated at Uppsala Uni-

versity in 1839.

Name: Marla Jo Booth – a good ole Texas double fi rst name.

Department: Academic Senate

Job: Administrative analyst II

Length of employment at UCR: I started in September ‘85 in a tem-

porary position in the biochemistry department.

My work focuses on: Staff support for six Academic Senate standing

committees as well as ad hoc committees, as assigned. My duties are

everything from scheduling meetings, putting together agendas and

doing minutes to numerous detailed reports as well as everything in

between. As a committee analyst, my job is to make sure the commit-

tee chairs are informed and complete their tasks by assigned dead-

lines – sometimes I feel like a nag!

Things you should know: My three children are grown, but I have an

11-year-old grandson, an 8-year-old granddaughter, and in April, there will be a new grandson. I am a proud

Texan and bleed burnt orange — Hook ‘Em Horns! I have been a Yankee fan since I was 4 and will be ‘til my

dying day. I am a member of two home-brew clubs (yes, we brew beer) and secretary of the board of directors for

the California Homebrewers Association. We organize an annual brewfest that is a festival of about 28 home-brew

clubs at Lake Casitas. We sample each other’s brews, learn from professional microbrewers the art of brewing

through educational talks, enjoy great music, and have a great time by the lake. Yes, a few over-indulge, but all

the clubs promote responsible drinking, and we provide buses for the attendees from the campsites to the festival

area. The clubs have meetings, group brewings, pub crawls, competitions and tastings. Funny how beer brings

together people of all ages, genders, religious and political beliefs, and we all get along!

page 2 • Feb. 24, 2010 • www.InsideUCR.ucr.edu

Who Says? Getting Personal

“I think we have to crank out different kinds of doctors. So obviously

there’s a ton of California kids trying to get into medical school traveling

a long way.”

Dr. G. Richard Olds, founding dean of the UCR School of Medicine,

on the opportunities and obstacles present in opening a medical

school in Southern California.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

“The media treats Dow 10000 as if it is a big deal, but institutional

investors, hedge funds, mutual funds, and most experienced individual

investors don’t. Why should they?”

Peter Chung, professor of fi nance, on the misappropriation of im-

portance to the Dow 10000.

WALL STREET JOURNAL

“This is the critical point of this linkage between the two parts of this

reserve. We all believe that (lawsuit), which is a federal suit, should be

resolved before any fi nal decisions are made on either of these two proj-

ects.”

Len Nunney, professor of biology, commenting on his belief that

a 37-acre industrial and warehouse development plan near River-

side’s Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park, would pose a danger to

wildlife and other endangered species.

THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

“This is an entirely new interpretation of ancient ocean chemistry. Our

model provides a brand-new backdrop for the earliest evolution of animal

life on the planet. We show that the sulfi dic ocean wedge, along with an

absence of oxygen, can hinder the colonization of early animals on the

shallow seafl oor and infl uence their evolution as they take a foothold.”

Chao Li, assistant research specialist, on the importance of hydro-

gen sulfi de in explaining the evolution and symbiotic relationship

between animals and eukaryotes in the ocean.

CHEMINFO.COM

“She revolutionized Asian American studies. She helped create it as a

serious discipline. She was the fi rst scholar to write anything about the

women [in the early Chinese American community].”

Edna Bonacich, professor of sociology, on the death of Lucie

Cheng, a UCLA sociologist who was well known for her work in the

area of Asian American studies.

LOS ANGELES TIMES

”The BioStation technology coupled with UCR’s expertise in video bioin-

formatics will greatly facilitate our ability to understand dynamic cell pro-

cesses and will provide data essential for attacking degenerative disease.”

Prue Talbot, professor of cell biology and director of the Stem

Cell Center, speaking about the just-opened stem cell core facility,

which provides equipment and trained personnel not available in

most laboratories.

NORTH COUNTY TIMES

“Most intriguing ... is the theory of the Wells scholar Bernard Bergonzi

that the Holt edition was prepared from an entirely different, earlier and

now-lost manuscript,”

Melissa Conway, head of Special Collections at UCR Libraries, on

the recent UCR Libraries acquisition of a rare copy of the fi rst-

print American edition of H.G. Wells’ classic novel “The Time Ma-

chine”

NORTH COUNTY TIMES

“Some spider silks are really strong, but not all of them are. The ones

that are really strong can actually rival steel and approach the tensile

strength of Kevlar.”

Cheryl Hayashi, professor of biology, speaking of the properties of

spider silk and methods for replicating it.

WIRED.COM

To become a media source or to announce upcoming

published research or an award, contact the Offi ce of Strategic

Communications at (951) 827-6397 or (951) UCR-NEWS or

insideucr@ucr.edu.

Did You Know?

Marla Jo Booth

Awards & HonorsMahalingam Named ASME Fellow

Shankar Mahalingam, profes-

sor and chair of the Department of

Mechanical Engineering, has been

named a fellow of the ASME, the

preeminent professional organization

of mechanical engineers.

Mahalingam’s status as a fellow

recognizes his signifi cant achieve-

ments and contributions to the engi-

neering profession.

Candidates for the

honor are nominat-

ed by their peers

and selected by

the ASME Fellow

Review Committee

with fi nal approval

of the Committee

of Past Presidents.

Less that 3,000 of the ASME’s

93,537 members are recognized as

fellows.

Mahalingam’s expertise is in the

area of turbulent combustion, char-

acterized by unsteady three-dimen-

sional motion that can promote the

mixing of fuel and air, and lead to

more vigorous combustion. He was

among the earliest group of research-

ers to develop direct and large eddy

simulation methodology to study the

dynamics of co-fl owing jet diffusion

fl ames.

Over the last 10 years, he

has extended large eddy simula-

tion to the study of fi re behavior in

shrub fuels. He is one of the lead-

ing experts in the area of modeling

transition behavior in fi res, including

marginal burning and transition of

surface fi res to crown fi res, utilizing

both simulations and laboratory scale

experimentation.

Mahalingam has coauthored more

than 100 papers, including refereed

journal papers, refereed conference

proceedings and other non-refereed

conference papers. He has served

as an invited professor at the Laba-

ratoire EM2C, Ecole Centrale Paris,

and as a visiting professor at the Uni-

versity of Coimbra, Portugal.

Founded in 1880 as the Ameri-

can Society of Mechanical Engineers,

ASME is a not-for-profi t professional

organization that enables collabora-

tion, knowledge sharing and skill

development across all engineering

disciplines, while promoting the vital

The UCR Catastrophic Leave Program provides a means for UCR

employees to donate vacation leave to assist fellow staff and faculty who

must take extended time off due to catastrophic illness or injury.

Donations, which may be made in one-hour increments, will be used for

temporary salary and benefi t continuation for staff and fi scal-year academic

employees who have exhausted their accrued vacation and paid leave cred-

its.

Program guidelines are available at humanresources.ucr.edu/?content=

PoliciesAndContracts/LeaveSharingGuidelines.htm.

The Catastrophic Donation Leave Form can be downloaded at human-

resources.ucr.edu/Forms/CatastrophicLeaveDonationForm.doc. Completed

forms can be forwarded to Heidie Rhodes in Human Resources. For more

information, contact Rhodes at heidie.rhodes@ucr.edu or via phone at

Shankar

Mahalingam

CorrectionAn article in the Dec. 9 issue of Inside UCR incorrectly stated that

there would be no 2010 increase in insurance costs for employees.

While dental and vision insurance remain free for employees and the

university’s contribution to health insurance premiums remains 87.7

percent, there was an increase in premiums and employees may pay

signifi cantly more for health insurance this year, depending on their

pay band.

For example, when the higher-paid employees’ subsidy of lower-paid

employees’ premiums are factored in, the increases ranged from $4.36 per

month at the lowest pay band for a family in the Kaiser plan to $375.48 a

month in the highest pay band for a family in the Blue Cross PPO plan.

Marlene Zuk

UCR’s Sweeney Art Gallery has

closed in its current location and has

begun the several-month process of

moving down the block into the three-

story Barbara and Art Culver Center

of the Arts, which is located in an

under-renovation late-19th century

department store in the 3800 block

of Main Street in Riverside.

The gallery’s fi nal exhibit in its

current location closed on Feb. 6.

Once in the Culver Center,

Sweeney’s programming will expand

to include more performing arts,

screenings and large-scale instal-

lations, which will be presented in

their own galleries and in a two-story,

2,000-square-foot atrium, located at

the center of the Culver Center.

Both the Culver Center and the

Sweeney Art Gallery will open during

gala events Oct. 7 to 9.

Sweeney Art Gallery Director,

Tyler Stallings, says that “Sweeney

has always aimed to be a bridge

between campus and community

with its exhibitions and programs,

but the Culver will allow this to

become even more so. The atrium

will become a natural gathering spot

and a place for an exchange of ideas.

The screening room will fi ll a gap

in Riverside in which there are only

venues showing mainstream cinema.

The second-fl oor Media Lab for UCR

faculty and students will provide an

opportunity for an ongoing presence

downtown. Having more room for its

vast collections will allow the CMP to

create more study areas for faculty,

students and visiting scholars. Alto-

gether, they show UCR’s commitment

to the value of arts in the community

and as a signifi -

cant component

to research in the

humanities.”

During the

transition, the

gallery will hold

several exhibits

at other locations.

The gallery will

hold its annual

student exhibits

at the neighbor-

ing UCR California

Museum of Pho-

tography (CMP).

The M.F.A. Thesis

2010 exhibits will run from April 24

through May 15, the senior thesis

exhibit will open on May 28 and run

through June 12.

The Sweeney Art Gallery will co-

sponsor with the UC Institute for

Research in the Arts “Dry Immersion

3” a two-day event held March 6 and

7 in Wonder Valley and Palm Des-

ert. The event will include exhibits,

interventions, performances, read-

ings and screenings. The 19 art and

research projects were developed in

connection with an artists’ retreat

and roaming workshop held in Octo-

ber 2009 at the same locations.

Information about this event is avail-

able at sweeney.ucr.edu.

Sweeney Gallery preview events

will be held during the First Thurs-

day ArtsWalks, held on the Riverside

pedestrian mall on May 6, June 3,

July 1, Aug. 5 and Sept. 2.

The UCR Sweeney Art Gallery

opened on campus in 1963 in Olm-

sted Hall, and then moved to Watkins

House in 1978.

In 2006, the gallery moved into

a building next to the UCR/California

Museum of Photography, which has

been located in downtown Riverside

since 1990.

Scheduled to be completed in

2010 and open in October, the Cul-

ver Center of the Arts. The Culver

Center will provide new exhibition

space; a 100-seat fi lm and video

screening room; an atrium gallery for

installation, music, and performance

under a 40-foot-high naturally illu-

minated clerestory monitor; a public

café; a new seismically protected

home for the UCR/CMP’s Keystone-

Mast glass-plate stereo collection;

and an advanced faculty and student

research Media Lab.

The lower level basement facili-

ties of the Culver Center will be

devoted to collections and the pres-

ervation and support of archives.

More information is available at

www.artsblock.ucr.edu.

Sweeney Closes Temporarily to Reopen in the Culver Center

Sweeney will reopen in October in the Barbara and

Art Culver Center of the Arts.

www.InsideUCR.ucr.edu • Feb. 24, 2010 • page 3

Research & Scholarship

Chancellor: Timothy P. White

Associate Vice Chancellor for Strategic Communications: Marcia McQuern

Editor: Kim Lane

Editorial Assistant: Konrad Nagy

Inside UCR is published by the Of! ce of Strategic Communications, twice monthly, except December, July, August and September, when it is published once a month.

Send story ideas and comments to InsideUCR@ucr.edu

Issues are available online at www.insideucr.ucr.edu.

Speaking of HappinessSonja Lyubomirsky, professor of

psychology, was an invited speaker

at the American Association for the

Advancement of Science annual

meeting Feb. 18-22 in San Diego.

Known internationally for her

research on happiness, Lyubomi-

rsky’s topic was “The Science of

Interventions for Increased Well-

Being.” She presented a conceptual

model of happiness which proposes

that a person’s level of happiness is

governed by three types of factors:

the genetically determined set point

for happiness, which she says is

relatively immune to infl uence; life

circumstances, such as location,

income and marital status, “which

are diffi cult but not impossible to

change”; and “intentional cognitive,

motivational and behavioral activi-

ties that can infl uence well-being,

and are feasible but effortful to

practice.”

She presented data from sev-

eral positive interventions from her

lab and elsewhere that illustrate

“the happiness-boosting effects of

applying positive activities such as

expressing gratitude, committing

acts of kindness and visualizing best

possible future selves.”

Wu Co-authors Paper on Anti-icing Coatings

Jianzhong Wu, professor of chem-

ical and environmental engineering,

was co-author of the paper “Anti-

Icing Superhydro-

phobic Coatings”

in the American

Chemical Soci-

ety’s journal Lang-

muir. The paper

describes new

anti-ice coatings

for solid surfaces

such as roads, airplane exteriors and

power lines.

Inspired by the self-cleaning

ridged surface of lotus leaves, the

nanoparticle-based coating is an

extension of research on water repel-

lants. Because ice behaves differ-

ently than water, coatings must be

specifi cally formulated to repel ice

formation. The research team discov-

ered the superhydrophobic surfaces

they created that contained silica

particles less than 50 nanometers in

size prevented icing.

Applications for this technology

could result in safer roadways, less

likelihood of tree limbs breaking, and

the prevention of ice buildup on sur-

faces of airplanes and other equip-

ment subject to extreme weather

conditions.

The research was featured in

recent articles by US News and World

Report, Phys.Org.com, Science Daily

and United Press International.

Symposium Addresses Solar Incentives

Alfredo Martinez-Morales, man-

aging director of UCR’s Southern

California Research Initiative on

Solar Energy (SC-RISE) gave a pre-

sentation at a Feb. 9 symposium on

how to take advantage of California

Assembly Bill 811, which provides

for low-interest loans to stimulate

the use of solar panels and other

sustainable technologies.

Martinez-Morales noted that

incentives like AB 811 and greater

public awareness of the economic

and environmental benefi ts are

essential to the widespread adoption

of affordable solar technologies.

“We wanted attendees to think

of SC-RISE as a potential partner

in developing AB 811 programs in

the Inland Empire area, and for end-

users to know they are doing some-

thing of benefi t not only to them, but

also to society as well,” Martinez-

Morales said.

“Our goal is to work closely with

local government, utilities, technolo-

gy companies and contractors to pro-

vide the general public support and

information about energy effi ciency,

resource conservation and available

technologies,” he said.

Martinez-Morales also hosted a

meeting of regional colleges the fol-

lowing day to share expertise and

experience and to discover areas of

collaboration on solar energy.

Honor in the 19th CenturyCambridge University Press will

publish a book, “Honor, Politics and

the Law in Imperial Germany, 1871-

1914,” by Ann

Goldberg in May.

G o l d b e r g ,

associate professor

of history, focuses

on the tradition of

honor in 19th cen-

tury Germany.

Using court

cases involving

defamation lawsuits, newspaper

accounts and parliamentary debates,

she explores “the confl icts of daily

life and the intense politicization of

libel jurisprudence in an era when

an authoritarian state faced off

against groups and individuals from

‘below’ claiming new citizenship

rights around a democratized notion

of honor and law,” according to the

publisher.

High School Students Get College Physics

For the third year in a row, the

Department of Physics and Astrono-

my will host San Jacinto High School

students for the International Mas-

terclass in particle physics, March 2

and 3.

Through lectures and exercises,

physics faculty introduce particle

physics, experiments and detectors

to the students and facilitate a vid-

eoconference between the students

and groups of high school students

in Portugal, Poland and England.

Professors Bill Gary, Gail Han-

son, Bob Clare and Owen Long will

give the lectures on March 2. The

ALPHA Center’s Maria Chiara Simani

will help with the exercises and other

activities later that day. The video-

conference will take place March 3.

The masterclass is an annual

program of the European Particle

Physics Outreach Group.

Exploring SuperconductorsHigh-temperature superconduc-

tors are materials that lose their

resistance to the fl ow of electricity

at relatively high temperatures.

The quest to synthesize new

classes of superconductors is a

high-risk, high-impact endeavor.

Superconductivity already has

important applications, such as

medical diagnostic equipment, but

researchers say many more technol-

ogies will become possible if purely

organic high temperature supercon-

ductors become available.

Reporting online in the Feb. 5

Journal of the American Chemical

Society, Robert Haddon and his

research team are the fi rst to identi-

fy the occurrence of the Resonating

Valence Bond (RVB) ground state in

an organic solid state structure.

The RVB theory of the electron-

ic structure of metals is based upon

the idea that pairs of electrons,

occupying bond positions between

adjacent pairs of atoms, are able to

carry out unsynchronized resonance

throughout the crystal.

Some researchers believe that

the RVB ground state underlies the

electronic structure of the high-Tc

materials that were discovered more

than 20 years ago at IBM and cur-

rently exhibit the highest transition

temperatures of all superconduc-

tors. Grants from the Department

of Energy funded the research.

Santiago Contributes to Book Revision

Louis Santiago, an assistant pro-

fessor of physiological ecology in

the Department of Botany and Plant

Sciences, has added an important

detail to a section of Lierre Keith’s

book, “The Vegetarian Myth: Food,

Justice, and Sus-

tainability,” now

undergoing a revi-

sion.

The section

explores the diet

of Australopith-

ecus, an extinct

hominid believed

to be a human ancestor.

Santiago, the co-director of the

Facility for Isotope Ratio Mass Spec-

trometery on campus, explains in the

rewriting that Australopithecines did

not eat grass even though their fos-

sils in South Africa have been shown

to have a carbon isotopic composi-

tion similar to tropical grasses

“They must have been eating

animals that eat grass,” he said.

“This is important because it was

previously thought that they were

fruit eaters, an idea promoted by

vegetarians. But Keith found data

that suggests otherwise.”

Santiago interpreted the carbon

isotope data for Keith and helped

her properly describe how carbon

isotopes were used to determine the

carnivorous nature of the Australo-

pithecine diet.

Ocean Chemistry More ComplexA research team led by biogeo-

chemists Chao Li, Gordon Love and

Timothy Lyons in the Department

of Earth Sciences has developed a

detailed and dynamic three-dimen-

sional model of Earth’s early ocean

chemistry that can signifi cantly

advance understanding of how early

animal life evolved on the planet.

Working on rock samples from

the Doushantuo Formation of South

China, the research team is the fi rst

to show that Earth’s early ocean

chemistry during a large portion of

the Ediacaran Period (635-551 mil-

lion years ago) was far more complex

than previously imagined.

Their model for the ancient

ocean argues for a stratifi ed marine

basin, one with a chemically layered

water column. The overall picture

is a marine basin with co-existing

oxygen-rich, sulfi dic and ferruginous

(oxygen-deprived and iron-dominat-

ed) water layers — a new backdrop

for the earliest evolution of animal

life on the planet.

Reporting Feb. 11 in Science

Express, the researchers argue that

the sulfi dic water layer varied in

size and was capable of hindering

the colonization of early animals on

the shallow seafl oor, and infl uencing

their evolution.

Li, Love and Lyons were joined in

the study by David A. Fike at Wash-

ington University in St. Louis, Mo.;

Alex L. Sessions at the California

Institute of Technology; and Xuelei

Chu at the Chinese Academy of Sci-

ences, Beijing.

The NSF and the Agouron Insti-

tute funded the study.

Jianzhong

Wu

Malaria remains one of the most deadly infectious diseases. Yet,

how Plasmodium, the malaria parasite, regulates its infectious cycle has

remained an enigma despite decades of rigorous research.

But now a research team led by Karine Le Roch, an assistant professor

of cell biology and neuroscience, has identifi ed a mechanism by which

Plasmodium intensively replicates itself in human blood to spread the

disease.

In the cells of eukaryotes, such as the unicellular Plasmodium and

humans, DNA, which can be as long as two meters, is closely packed to

fi t into the cell’s tiny nucleus. Huge complex proteins called nucleosomes

facilitate this DNA compaction so that eventually the DNA is coiled in an

ordered manner to form chromosomes.

Made up of histone, a kind of protein, the nucleosomes are repeat-

ing units around which the double helix of DNA gets wrapped and vast

amounts of genetic information get organized.

Le Roch’s team found that 18 hours after Plasmodium enters a red

blood cell, a kind of “histone crash” takes place – a massive breakdown

of histone that explains how the parasite can replicate extensively its DNA

and coding gene in human red blood cells.

For cell multiplication to occur, the genes in a DNA strand need to

fi rst be transcribed and translated (converted) into protein. For this tran-

scription to take place, however, the nucleosomes must fi rst get evicted

(removed), a process that opens up the DNA strand to give special tran-

scription factors full access to the genes. The transcription factors then

convert these genes into protein.

While in humans such eviction of nucleosomes is specifi c to only

some sections of the DNA strand and performed only when needed, in

Plasmodium the situation is vastly different.

“We found in our experiments that histones are massively evicted

everywhere in the Plasmodium genome, resulting in most of the Plas-

modium genes being transcribed at once,” Le Roch said. “If we can fi nd

a candidate enzyme that can regulate this massive histone eviction, we

could halt or greatly limit Plasmodium replication.”

Study results appear this month in the journal Genome Research.

Le Roch was joined in the study by Nadia Ponts, Elena Harris, Jacques

Prudhomme, Glenn Hicks and Stefano Lonardi at UCR; and Ivan Wick,

Colleen Eckhardt-Ludka and Gary Hardiman at UC San Diego.

Uncovering the Mystery of Malaria

Jeannette Wing, assistant direc-

tor of the Computer and Information

Science and Engineering Director-

ate at the National Science Foun-

dation, gave a talk, “Computational

Thinking,” at the Bourns College of

Engineering’s 20th Anniversary Dis-

tinguished Speaker Series Feb. 17.

In her talk, Wing promoted the

idea of introducing computational

thinking early in students’ lives (i.e.,

in grades K-12). Wing discussed

abstraction and automation as foun-

dations for computation thinking.

“Abstraction is a function which

takes information at one level and

maps it to a higher level, ignoring

NSF’s Wing Makes Case for Computational Thinking

irrelevant details at the lower level,”

she said. “The process of doing that

– of getting machines to learn – is a

very creative process. That’s where

human ingenuity comes in.”

She supported her case with

examples of how computational

thinking infl uences a wide range

of other fi elds such as biology, eco-

nomics, sports, chemistry, medicine

and the geosciences.

Wing gave an example of ways

computational thinking can pose

legal questions by citing an Oral

B scientist’s challenge to discover

what pattern of toothbrush bristles

was most effective.

Louis

Santiago

Ann

Goldberg

African-American students at UCR continue beyond their fi rst year and graduate at higher rates than any other ethnic group, according to the latest retention and six-year gradua-tion fi gures.

African-Americans in the fall 2002 freshman class had a 73.9 percent graduation rate by 2008, while the overall campus graduation rate was 64.3 percent. Their fi rst-year retention rate was 92.8 percent, while the campus persistence rate was 84.9 percent.

Nationwide, about 54 percent of full-time students at four-year public universities graduate in six years, but the rate for African-Americans is 38 percent, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

“I’m delighted to see concrete evidence of what we have known anecdotally – that our African-Amer-ican students are doing as well, or in many instances, better, than UCR students overall,” said UCR Chancel-lor Timothy P. White. “However, our goal is to further increase both reten-tion and graduation rates for African-American students as well as for all student groups.”

Campus offi cials are not entirely sure why African-Americans do so well at UCR, but they believe a criti-cal factor is that African-Americans feel comfortable on the campus, which is the most diverse in the UC system and was ranked fi fth most diverse nationally by U.S. News and World Report.

“Critical mass matters,” said White, “and UCR’s undergraduate

student body refl ects the face of California.” African-Americans are 7 percent of UCR’s student body, not the 1 percent they are on some col-lege campuses.

A 2008 systemwide survey of undergraduate UC students found that a higher percentage of African-Americans on the UCR campus reported that “students of my race/ethnicity are respected on this cam-pus” than their counterparts at any other UC campus

At UCR a total of 71 percent of African-American men responding said this was true as did 83 percent of African-American women. In the overall UC system only 58 percent of male African-Americans and 63 per-cent of female African-Americans agreed.

In the same survey 91 percent of all UCR undergraduates respond-ing compared to 83 percent of UC system undergraduates agreed that “diversity is important on this cam-pus.”

African-American students in engineering and the hard sciences have lower retention and graduation rates than those in the social sci-ences and arts, but this is true for all ethnic groups.

At a recent Board of Regents meeting White said that eliminat-ing all gaps in graduation rates is a “defi ning feature of UCR’s commit-ment to excellence through diver-sity” and he reported data showing that for the past several years UCR is outperforming peer institutions nationally in this regard.

African American Students Do Well at UCR

page 4 • Feb. 24, 2010 • www.InsideUCR.ucr.edu

Campus Calendar

For the most up-to-date information on these and other events view the UCR Calendar at www.events.ucr.edu.

OngoingUCR/ California Museum of Photography

Exhibition: “Ansel Adams at Work: The Fiat Lux Commission.” Fiat Lux (Let There Be Light) is the motto of the University of California and the title of the book Ansel Adams published in 1968 to celebrate the UC’s centennial. Drawn from reproduction prints the photographer made for this commercial commission, the exhibition shows Ansel Adams at work.

Exhibition: “Mirjam Dröge : The Need to Hold Still.” This exhibition features the work of Mirjam Dröge, a contemporary artist based in Berlin, Germany. Dröge captures physical locations that emphasize privacy, stillness and contemplation, such as clandestine treehouses, self-portraits and still lifes. This is the artist’s fi rst exhibition in the United States.

The exhibits run through May 8. The UCR/CMP is located at 3824 Main St., Riverside. Informa-tion: www.cmp.ucr.edu.

February

24 WednesdayTraining: Making Excellence Inclusive: a UCR Di-versity Certifi cate Program, 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m., Human Resources Building (Personnel) Suite I. Free. Information: www.hrtraining.ucr.edu.

25 ThursdayTraining: National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI) - Prejudice Reduction Model; Chancel-lor’s Diversity Education Program, 8 a.m.–noon, Human Resources Building (Personnel) Suite I. Free. Information: www.humanresources.ucr.

edu/ed.

Reading: Michael Jaime-Becerra Debuts “This Time Tomorrow,” 2–4 p.m., UCR Campus Store. Free. Information: www.book-

store.ucr.edu.

Colloquium: Daniel Sternheimer- Keio University, “Deforma-tions, Quantizations, and the Geometry of Space-time: An Introductory Overview,” 3:40–5 p.m., Surge Building 284. Free. Information: www.mathdept.ucr.edu.

Screening: “Dolley Madison,” special sneak pre-view, 4–5:30 p.m., INTS 1128. Free. Information: www.ideasandsociety.ucr.edu/

Campus Activity: “Journey To a Hate-Free Millen-nium” Screening and Dialogue, 6–7:30 p.m., HUB 268. Free. Information: www.out.ucr.edu.

Performance: “Vagina Monologues,” 7–9 p.m., HUB 302. 12 pre-sale tickets; $15 at the door; $5 parking per car, Lot 1. The performance runs again on March 2. Information: www.wrc.ucr.edu.

Performance: “Marriage of Figaro,” a play by Beaumarchais, 8–10 p.m., Studio Theatre, ARTS 113. $14 general, $12 students/seniors. The performance runs through March 6. Information: www.theatre.ucr.edu.

Campus Activity: Mosaic’s Utterly Sophisticated Literary Salon and Open Mic Night, 8:30–10:30 p.m., The Barn. Free. Information: www.rside.ucr.

edu/barnseries/

Lecture: Fatima Badry, “Appropriating the Global: English in Identity Construction in the UAE,” 11:30a.m.–2:15 p.m., INTS 1111. Free, only 75 seats available. Information: www.globalstudies.

ucr.edu.

Lecture: Prue Talbot, “Unleashing the Potential of Stem Cells.” Noon, Graduate Club Room, UCR Palm Desert. Free. Information: www.ucrgift.org. Registration: (951) 827-6186.

26 FridayConference: Philosophy Annual Conference, “Sav-ing the Sacred in a Secular Age,” 10 a.m.–9:30 p.m., INTS 1113. Free. Information: www.philosophy.ucr.edu.

27 SaturdayScreening: Movie and Queer People of Color Panel, 7:30–9:30 p.m., HUB 260. Free. Information: www.well.ucr.edu.

28 SundayEnrichment: An Introduction to Digital Scrapbook-ing, 6–9 p.m., UCR Extension Center. $155. Information: www.extension.ucr.edu.

March

1 MondayColloquium: Fanny Price: “Is she solemn?—Is she queer?—Is she prudish?” 12:30–2 p.m., HMNSS 2212. Free. Information: www.english.ucr.edu.

Seminar: A Year of New Resolutions: Gaining a New Perspective on Life, 5–6 p.m., HUB 265. Free. Information: www.well.ucr.edu.

Training: From Self-Respect to Self-Defense, 6–8 p.m., Costo Hall Lower Level. Free. Information: www.wrc.ucr.edu.

2 TuesdayConcert: UCR Taiko Ensem-ble: Japanese Drumming, noon, ARTS Amphitheatre Steps. Free. Information: www.music.ucr.edu.

Reception: Celebration for a Day of Appreciation and Recognition of Women Students, 5–7 p.m., HUB 355. Free. Information: www.wrc.edu.

3 WednesdayConcert: Wed@Noon; UCR Composers Collec-tive - Laptop Orchestra, 12:10-1 p.m., Music Rehearsal Hall, ARTS 157. Free. Information: www.music.ucr.edu.

4 ThursdayPerformance: UCR is Dancing 2010, 8-9:30 p.m., UV Humanities 400. $10.50 general, $8.50 students, seniors and children. The performance runs through March 6. Information: www.dance.ucr.edu.

Concert: Student Musician’s Association, free Rock & Hip Hop Show, 8:30-10:30 p.m., The Barn. Free. Information: www.rside.ucr.edu/

barnseries.

5 FridayConcert: UCR Jazz Ensemble & Highlander Concert Band, 8-9:30 p.m., Performance Lab, ARTS 166. $10 general, $8 students/seniors, $6 children. Information: www.music.ucr.edu.

Conference: Re-Imagining American Religions; A Conversation on New World Cultures through the 21st Century, 10 a.m.-noon, INTS 1113. Free. Information: www.religiousstudies.ucr.edu.

8 MondayPerformance: Dance Showings; Winter 2010, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., ARTS 100, ARTS 300 and PE 102. Free. The performance runs through March 12. Information: www.dance.ucr.edu.

Michael Jaime-Becerra

UCR Taiko Ensemble

In honor of Women’s History Month

in March, the Women’s Resource Center

presents the second annual “Celebration

for a Day of Appreciation and Recognition

of Women Students” on Tuesday, March 2,

from 5 to 7 p.m. in HUB 355.

The event is free and open to the pub-

lic. Reservations are requested and may

be made at ucr.wufoo.com/forms/womens-

resource-center-celebration.

Yolanda Moses, associate vice chancel-

lor for diversity, excellence and equity and a

UCR alumna, will be the keynote speaker.

The event lauds the achievements of

outstanding women students, said Adrienne

Sims, director of the Women’s Resource

Center. Six students will receive awards for

academic excellence, civic engagement,

or overcoming adversity as well as demon-

strated efforts toward social justice, human

rights and equality. They are: Viet Nguyen,

Danielle Wickman, Christine Huynh Ho,

Hansheng Pan, Jennifer Wright and Genet

Tulgetske.

“Besides showcasing their inimitable

backgrounds, the celebration will illustrate

that regardless of circumstance, dedicated

women students cannot be deterred in reach-

ing their educational goals,” Sims said.

For more information contact Sims at

(951) 827-3337 or adrienne.sims@ucr.edu.

Outstanding Women Students Honored

UCR celebrated homecoming Feb. 8

through 13 with a series of events for stu-

dents, faculty and staff. Above, UCR’s mas-

cot, Scotty, joins students as they ice skate in

a rink in front of the bell tower.

Above right: It was a full house at UCR’s

annual Heat Music Festival, which featured

DJs and several bands in a tent in front of the

bell tower.

Right middle: Staff members welcome

students at the beer garden event during

Tailgate. Later, visitors attended the basket-

ball game against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo,

which UCR lost 87-84 in double overtime.

Bottom right: The Graduate School of

Education Dean’s Offi ce won the award for

the “Best Academic Department” in the Staff

Assembly’s Offi ce Decorating Contest. Other

winners were Student’s Choice: Child Devel-

opment Center Building; Best Administrative

Unit: AVC/ Dean of Students; and Best Resi-

dence Hall: Aberdeen/Inverness.

Homecoming 2010 — Ice, HEAT, Celebration

How would you rescue a wet cell phone? Does music affect your driving speed? Does sleep deprivation affect your IQ? Are bigger magnets also stronger magnets? And does sound affect the way tomato hornworm cat-erpillars eat?

More than 275 K-12 students from near-ly 25 local schools answered these and other questions at the 21st annual Science and Engineering Fair on campus Feb. 16-18.

A hands-on competition designed to cap-ture the interest of young people, the fair has in past years inspired students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

This year, the students presented nearly 260 innovative projects at the fair, which UCR hosted in partnership with the River-side Unifi ed School District (RUSD). The fair took place at the Pentland Hills Bear Cave on campus.

During the fi rst two days, students set up their projects; UCR researchers and RUSD volunteers judged the competition.

“Every year the fair gets better and bet-

ter,” said Thomas O. Baldwin, the dean of the College of Natural and Agricultural Sci-ences (CNAS). “What these young people are able to achieve is remarkable, and shows the excellent education they are receiving in science and math. Our faculty and gradu-ate students enjoy judging the entries, and our departments enjoy providing prizes for the winners. This is indeed fun!”

The Bourns College of Engineering co-hosted the event with CNAS. Researchers at the College of Engineering - Center for Environmental Research and Technology worked with students on their projects.

“It is always gratifying to observe the creativity and the energy of the participat-ing students as they apply what they have learned to real-world problems,” said Reza Abbaschian, the dean of the Bourns College of Engineering.

“These future scientists and engineers represent the promise for our future, and we’re pleased to host them and encourage their pursuit of new knowledge.”

UCR Co-hosts Annual District Science Fair

Following extensive remodeling, the Geology Building was reopened on Feb. 13 with a cer-

emonial ribbon cutting sponsored by the Department of Earth Sciences. Participating in the

ceremony were (left to right) Layne Arthur, a representative from contractor Barnhart Inc.;

Pam Touschner, from architect WWCOT; Tom Baldwin, dean of CNAS; Mary Droser, chair

of earth sciences; Chancellor Timothy P. White; Mike Gardner, Riverside councilmember;

Don Caskey, campus architect and associate vice chancellor of design and construction; and

Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge. Partially visible behind Baldwin are earth sciences alumnus

Bob Gaines (Ph.D. ‘03) and current student Monica Galaviz. About 200 alumni attended the

event. Photo by Sara Clausen