January 7, 2002
Making the News
Literature prof John Jordan, director of the Dickens Project, appeared on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Sunday to discuss the role Charles Dickens played in reviving interest in Christmas in the early 19th century.
Paul Ortiz of community studies appeared on KQED Radio's Forum show, discussing the fate of political dissidents in the United States. The show was pegged to the case of John Walker, the Californian apprehended fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The Argentine economic crisis prompted Manuel Pastor of Latin American and Latino studies to pen an op-ed on the subject for the San Jose Mercury News, and he discussed the crisis on Marketplace Radio, as well.
Professor of computer science David Haussler and biology graduate student Jim Kent are featured in a new book about the human genome project by New York Times science reporter Nicolas Wade. Life Script: How the Human Genome Discoveries Will Transform Medicine and Enhance Your Health (Simon & Schuster, 2001) tells the story of the human genome project and how it will impact our lives. Wade documents the race between the public and private efforts to complete the first working draft of the human genome. An excerpt from the book on Amazon.com, recounts how UCSC scientists stepped in to provide critical computational analysis in the last stages of the project.
Angela Davis was one of 24 women of African descent asked by Essence magazine what the lasting lessons of the events of September 11 should be.
Anthony Pratkanis was quoted in a Boston Herald article about the release of the Osama bin Laden videotape, which he predicted would harden American resolve against bin Laden. Pratkanis was also quoted in an Associated Press Online article about how video images shape public opinion. Finally, he did a follow-up interview with the Los Angeles Times about using advertising to promote democracy in Afghanistan. . . . Also in psychology, Avril Thorne appeared in a Santa Cruz Sentinel article about waiting.
Anthropologist Susan Harding's book about Jerry Falwell won a rave review in Christian Century.
The San Francisco Chronicle contacted anthropologist Don Brenneis for comment on a new study that found racial profiling is not 'wired' into the brain.
David Wellman of community studies has become a leading expert on race and tenure in higher education, and his work as an expert witness in tenure cases involving allegations of racism was featured in an article in the American Sociological Association's newsletter Footnotes.
