At The Edge Of Knowing International leaders in human genetics and biomedical research will hold a free public forum on August 25 at UCSC. Francis Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, will give the keynote address. www.ucsc.edu/research/genome_forum Photo: Thom Marchionna Grad student stars in Human Genome Project Jim Kent. Photo: Don Harris A UCSC graduate student in biology made national headlines earlier this year as designer of a computer program that produced the draft sequence of the human genome. While working on other research, Jim Kent had written a program that caught the eye of computer science professor David Haussler. A Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and a leader in the field of bioinformatics, Haussler began collaborating with Kent. Shortly thereafter, Eric Lander, director of the Genome Center at MIT's Whitehead Institute, asked Haussler to help analyze the human genome. Working for a month in his garage office, Kent wrote the "GigAssembler" program. Haussler led the team of UCSC researchers, including Kent, that used the program to analyze data from the genome consortium's laboratories and piece together a draft of the genome sequence. Kent, Haussler, and other members of the UCSC team were coauthors on three scientific papers on the human genome, published in the February 15 issue of Nature.   This poster is part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's campaign to prevent lead poisoning. Pinpointing the source of lead poisoning A technique that detects the "fingerprints" of various lead sources may help target the causes of childhood lead poisoning. In a published study, UCSC researchers used the method to identify the environmental sources that caused lead poisoning in three Santa Cruz County children. "It is typically very hard to identify the source of lead poisoning in children," said Donald Smith, an associate professor of environmental toxicology. Smith performed the study with lead author Roberto Gwiazda, an assistant researcher in environmental toxicology. The technique they used exploits the fact that lead comes in several varieties, called isotopes. Their research was reported in a recent issue of Environmental Health Perspectives. "This test is not always successful at identifying sources of exposure, but it provides a lot of information that should allow public health officials to reduce household lead contamination more effectively," Smith said. Almost one in every 20 children in the United States under age six suffers from lead poisoning. Exposure to even low levels of lead can cause aggressiveness, hyperactivity, impaired growth, a drop in IQ, learning disabilities, and other behavioral problems. Children are most vulnerable, because their bodies absorb lead more readily than adult bodies do, and their nervous systems are still developing. The main sources of lead exposure in children are lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust and soils. Although lead-based paint was banned in 1978 and leaded gasoline was phased out in the 1970s, about 38 million homes in the U.S. still contain leaded paint, and urban soils contain residual lead. "People think the problem is solved because we've eliminated lead in gas and paint," Gwiazda said. "But the number of children being exposed, mostly in old housing, is staggering."   UCSC musicians perform at Carnegie Hall How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice. It also doesn't hurt to be a member of UCSC's Wind Ensemble. To perform at Carnegie Hall is to have arrived on the musical scene--and in late May, the 55-member UCSC group, under the direction of Robert Klevan, did exactly that, performing in the Ensemble Spotlight Series. The Wind Ensemble has only been in existence since fall 1998.   Which came first: Toxics or minorities? Manuel Pastor. Photo: R.R. Jones   A new study of metropolitan Los Angeles documents that neighborhoods that were selected to house toxic storage and disposal facilities (TSDFs) were more minority, poorer, and more blue-collar than census tracts that did not receive TSDFs. The study charts the arrival of all high-capacity TSDFs in Los Angeles County against changing neighborhood demographics over the 1970, 1980, and 1990 census surveys. The research was conducted by Manuel Pastor, a professor of Latin American and Latino studies at UCSC, and was sponsored by the California Policy Research Center. Simple comparisons looked at the character of an area before a TSDF siting and the demographic and other shifts that occurred in the years after a siting, as compared to the rest of the county. Subsequent complex statistical exercises confirmed that the racial/ethnic makeup of a given neighborhood mattered in the timing of a TSDF siting, while a similar analysis of demographic changes offered no evidence that TSDFs attract minorities.   Gopher rockfish is one of the commercially important species being studied by UCSC researchers For the past two years, UCSC researchers have been studying and monitoring coastal ecosystems as part of a long-term collaborative research project involving four major universities in California and Oregon. Photo: Giacomo Bernardi Now the organization funding the project, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, has augmented its original $17.7 million grant to the four institutions with an additional $2,285,000 grant for the UCSC portion of the project. Called the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO), the project involves researchers at UCSC, UC Santa Barbara, Oregon State University, and Stanford University who are studying organisms in nearshore habitats along a 1,200-mile stretch of coastal waters from Oregon to southern California. Located from the shoreline to about six miles off shore, the study zone is heavily influenced by human activities, but the natural dynamics of the ecological communities are not well understood, said Peter Raimondi and Mark Carr. They are leading a UCSC team responsible for all of PISCO's field research in northern and central California, as well as some of the research in southern California.   Chancellor honored by Silicon Valley group In recognition of her leadership and achievement, UCSC Chancellor M.R.C. Greenwood received a Women of Achievement award in a ceremony in San Jose this March. Nominated by Susan Hammer, trustee of the UC Santa Cruz Foundation and former mayor of San Jose, the chancellor was among 14 women feted at the annual event, which is sponsored by the Women's Fund of Silicon Valley and the San Jose Mercury News. The honor recognized her career, noting her efforts to support the success of other women and to inspire girls to excel in math and science.   Report cites value of colleges, urges clearer academic role An advisory group has made recommendations to guide the development of UCSC's distinctive college system. College Eight is shown. Photo: Don Kenny The success of the college system at UCSC is evident in the sense of place and identity that students enjoy through their college affiliations, but the academic role of the colleges has eroded over time and needs to be clarified. Those are among the main conclusions of a recent report on the college system, one of the most enduring and distinctive features of UCSC. The report, known formally as the "Report of the Advisory Group on the Colleges, Fall 2000," was compiled by members of an advisory group convened by Campus Provost John Simpson to examine the state of the colleges and make recommendations to guide their development as the campus grows to 15,000 students. "The college system is part of what makes UCSC a unique campus, and as we grow, they play a critical role in making the campus personal and supportive," said Lynda Goff, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education. The review concluded that among the greatest strengths of the college system is its ability to provide a "sense of place" and to deliver Student Affairs services. An important and less-recognized service is the role they play in offering academic advising to students. The system's greatest weakness is the academic role of the colleges. Planning for Colleges Nine and Ten ushered in a new model of academic affiliation. Colleges Nine and Ten are affiliated with the Division of Social Sciences, and the provost of College Nine reports to Dean Martin Chemers, who has engaged faculty in the planning of the college academic program.   The flight of a magnificent bird A new study focuses on the flight of wandering albatrosses, such as this juvenile in the Crozet Islands. Photo: Scott Shaffer A new study of flight performance in wandering albatrosses reveals significant differences between males and females and between adults and fledglings, and suggests that these differences influence where birds of different ages and sexes forage for food in the open sea. Wandering albatrosses have long been admired as graceful masters of soaring flight. They spend most of their lives at sea, using the wind to travel tremendous distances in search of food. The study is part of an ongoing research program investigating the physiology and ecology of these magnificent birds. Scott Shaffer, a UCSC research biologist, is lead author of the study. He and UCSC professor of ecology and evolutionary biology Daniel Costa began working with Henri Weimerskirch of the French National Center for Scientific Research in 1997. Their study is published in the April issue of the journal Functional Ecology. Photo: R. R. Jones   Shakespeare Santa Cruz Shakespeare Santa Cruz will bring its summer audiences tales of love, magic, and tragedy as it celebrates its 20th anniversary season. The summer festival selections are Shakespeare's Macbeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream and Anglo-Irish author Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer. The plays will be running in repertory July 11 through September 2. For more information, see www.shakespearesantacruz.org.   Ecologist boosts forest restoration   Karen Holl plants a native seedling in an area cleared of pasture grass in Costa Rica. Photo: Courtesy of Karen Holl In an unparalleled ecological disaster, more than half of the world's tropical forests have been lost since 1950, due in large part to the developed world's appetite for agricultural and wood products. While environmentalists lobby for conservation, some scientists are trying to find ways to restore tropical forests that have been cleared and abandoned. So far, however, they are finding that they have much yet to learn. Karen Holl, assistant professor of environmental studies at UCSC, is one of the few ecologists who has completed multifaceted studies of tropical forest restoration. In the December 2000 issue of Restoration Ecology, Holl reviews the results of her own work on abandoned pasture in Costa Rica and warns that the challenges of habitat restoration demand far greater site-specific knowledge than is currently available. "Tropical forests have been impacted by humans for a long time, going back to before the Mayans, but we're seeing a scope of destruction now that is unprecedented," said Holl. "By contrast, recovery efforts are very new, and we don't know very much, especially when we try to put all the pieces of the ecosystem puzzle together." The pressure is on, although even the most successful restoration projects couldn't keep pace with the grand scale of the ongoing destruction, noted Holl. Tropical forests are disappearing throughout Asia, Africa, and Central and South America, and the future of the Brazilian Amazon--the greatest remaining tropical rainforest in the world--is bleak: Up to 40 percent of the Amazon may be cleared within 20 years if proposed infrastructure projects are approved, according to a report in the January 19 issue of Science. Unlike many researchers, whose work focuses on a piece of the puzzle, such as soil nutrients or seed dispersal, Holl takes an ecosystem approach to forest restoration. Her research and that of others suggest that the chances for recovery depend a lot on the intensity of the disturbance--whether heavy equipment was used to clear the forest and whether a nearby source of seeds remains. "Some problems, like seed dispersal, are common to all tropical forest restoration projects, but others are site-specific," said Holl. Ecologists lack data on natural forest recovery processes, which makes it difficult to compare the effectiveness of human-managed intervention strategies with nature's own power; but Holl's work in Costa Rica has illuminated some success stories as her team tries to accelerate the natural recovery process. The most successful strategies Holl has identified include planting native tree seedlings and shrubs to enhance seed dispersal and shade out pasture grasses.   Evidence found of extreme warp in galaxy This image of the Andromeda spiral galaxy is reproduced at increasing contrast levels. The highest contrast image (bottom) shows evidence of a substantial warp in the outer portion of Andromeda's stellar disk, especially noticeable on the left side. Photo: Puragra Guhathakurta, Philip Choi, and Somak Raychaudhury Astronomers at UCSC have obtained new evidence of an extreme warp in the stellar disk of the Andromeda Galaxy (also known as M31), our nearest galactic neighbor. The findings were presented at the American Astronomical Society meeting in January by Puragra GuhaThakurta, UCSC associate professor of astronomy and astrophysics; graduate student Philip Choi; and David Reitzel, now at UC Irvine. Previous studies had suggested the presence of a warp in the outer parts of Andromeda's stellar disk. The new findings appear to confirm those observations and suggest that the warp in Andromeda may be the most extreme case of a warped stellar disk ever observed in a spiral galaxy. Possible causes of the warp include interactions between Andromeda and its smaller satellite galaxies. Many spiral galaxies, including the Milky Way, appear to have warps in the outer reaches of their stellar disks. The rotating body of stars and gas that characterizes a spiral galaxy is generally flat, but the outer regions may deviate from the plane of the disk, like an old record album exposed to too much heat. The warp tends to occur at the outer edges, while the inner part of the stellar disk remains flat. These warps are very difficult to demonstrate conclusively, however, because the outer portions of the stellar disk are extremely faint compared with the bright central region.   Kent Nagano featured at L.A. alumni event Kent Nagano. Photo: Christian Steiner Opera lovers are invited to a special UCSC Alumni Association event this fall in Los Angeles, featuring Grammy Award–winning alumnus Kent Nagano (Porter College '74). Recently appointed principal conductor of the Los Angeles Opera by the company's artistic director Plácido Domingo, Nagano will conduct the Wagnerian classic, Lohengrin. The performance will take place on Saturday, September 15, beginning at 2 p.m., in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Tickets are $125 or $175 per person and include a reception afterwards honoring Nagano. For more information or to make reservations, call the association at (800) 933-SLUG.   Coastal erosion linked to El Niño The city of Capitola suffered heavy damage during the 1998 El Niño. Photo: Curt Storlazzi Erosion of seacliffs, damage to coastal structures, and the comings and goings of beach sand along California's central coast are all closely linked to the intense winter storms associated with El Niño. Two studies by UCSC researchers reveal the connections between this climatic heavy hitter and the processes that shape California's coastline. Postdoctoral researcher Curt Storlazzi and professor of Earth sciences Gary Griggs found that damaging coastal storms are three times more likely to occur during an El Niño winter than in other years. As global warming causes sea levels to rise, storm damage on the coast will only get worse, Griggs said. In a related study, Griggs and graduate student Cope Willis found that although winter storms during El Niño can erode beaches down to bare rock, the same storms ultimately replenish the beaches by washing tons of fresh sediment from rivers and streams into coastal waters. Their preliminary results show no long-term changes in the amount of sand on central California beaches.   Latino studies program a new department Campus Provost John Simpson has approved the establishment of the Latin American and Latino Studies Department. The program began as Latin American studies in the 1970s and was renamed in 1994 to reflect the importance of building intellectual bridges with the study of Chicano and Latino populations within the United States. The new name coincided with a reorganization designed to bolster the study of cross-border issues. The department is by far the largest and most established program in the U.S. that bridges the fields of Latin American and Latino studies, said department chair Jonathan Fox. "We're developing the analytical tools needed to prepare our students for the 21st century in California." The broader focus allows students to address contemporary issues such as globalization, transnationalization, and the ways in which groups reproduce their regional culture in binational settings. The innovative approach has attracted broad interest from other universities.   Gift from Taiwan boosts East Asian studies The Collected Drawings on Protecting Life, one of the books donated by the Buddha Education Foundation in Taiwan, features a woodcut by the famed artist Feng Zikai (1889­1975) on its cover. Thanks to an extraordinary gift from a Buddhist foundation in Taiwan, UCSC has become one of the leading resources in the country for the study of Buddhist China. The gift of more than 9,000 books, CD-ROMs, VCDs, and video- and audiotapes comes to UCSC from the Buddha Education Foundation. The donated materials comprise a rich body of original and reprinted items from the 16th century through present day. The materials will be housed in the University Library. The gift provides U.S. scholars with access to materials that were once nearly impossible to find without traveling to East Asia. At the core of the collection is a modern reprint of an important 18th-century 165-volume edition of scriptures and commentaries titled The Dragon Treasury. Art history professor Raoul Birnbaum, who specializes in Buddhist studies, was instrumental in securing the gift for UCSC.   UCSC plays role in oak ecosystems study California's coastal oak woodlands are threatened by biological factors as well as development. Photo courtesy of John Thompson. The UC Natural Reserve System (NRS) has received a $263,600 grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to develop the framework for a long-term research, monitoring, and training program to restore and manage California's threatened coastal-oak ecosystems. UCSC faculty members Daniel Press and John Thompson will be part of an extensive nine-month planning effort by UC environmental field scientists and staffs. More than 3 million acres of California's oak woodlands and grassland ecosystems have been identified as being at risk. These ecosystems are in decline biologically and are also being lost to residential and agricultural development. "We've had this piecemeal approach for decades," said Thompson, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, citing news stories about a fungus threatening oak trees as one example. "The idea here was to take a concerted look." An interdisciplinary team of experts will assess the current state of scientific knowledge of California foothill woodland and grassland ecosystems. It will also identify suitable sites-- both NRS reserves and non-UC sites--where research, monitoring and training programs can be conducted over the next decade. Thompson and Press bring two different areas of expertise to the project. Thompson, whose specialty is plant and insect interactions, will be looking at the biological side of the problem. Press, associate professor of environmental studies, will draw on his background in environmental policy, particularly land preservation in California. Press noted that many of the state's oak woodlands are in areas that are both desirable and easy to build in. "Any successful efforts are going to require that private landowners face incentives for restoration," Press said.   Accounting firms snap up UCSC students For UCSC accounting instructor Robert Shepherd, the proof is in the numbers, and the numbers are looking good: Four of the "Big Five" international accounting firms are recruiting UCSC students, and--by early this spring--more than 70 percent of seniors in the business management economics accounting program had jobs lined up after graduation. "The big national firms are grabbing virtually everybody we've got," said Shepherd, a certified public accountant who has taught accounting at UCSC for 20 years. As entry-level associates for such household names as PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte & Touche, graduates will be earning an average starting salary of about $50,000--a figure that will likely double after five years of employment with a firm. Most associates will be working as financial advisers in the areas of auditing and taxes, said Shepherd. "There's a tremendous learning curve, but students who get on with these national firms are on the fast track," he said. "These are among the top 25 firms that M.B.A. grads want to work for. They give you an opportunity to stretch and develop. Of course, they're paying you pretty good money, so they work you, too." Fifty- and 60-hour work weeks are typical, especially during the busy months of February and March. The business management economics major, introduced in 1998, is satisfying a strong interest among students--and prospective students, noted Michael Thompson, UCSC's associate vice chancellor for Outreach, Admissions, and Student Academic Services. The Big Five firms restrict their recruiting to a few select schools.   Regents reverse stance on affirmative action Meeting in May, the University of California Board of Regents adopted a resolution that rescinds two anti–affirmative action resolutions the board adopted six years ago. "This is a great day for the University of California and the people of California," said UC President Richard C. Atkinson after the vote. UCSC Chancellor M.R.C. Greenwood attended the board's meeting in San Francisco. In a message distributed to the campus community, she said, "I am very pleased to let you know that the Regents of the University of California have voted unanimously to rescind SP-1 and SP-2." SP-1 and SP-2, the regental policies that prohibited the use of preferences in university admissions, employment, and contracting practices, were approved in July 1995. While eliminating SP-1 and SP-2, the university is still governed by a similar ban incorporated into the California Constitution through Proposition 209, the state measure passed by California voters in November 1996. Regent Judith L. Hopkinson, who introduced the resolution, said the action "sends a clear and unequivocal message that people of all backgrounds are welcome at the University of California." Consensus on the resolution was reached in part by reaffirming the shared governance role of the UC faculty in determining admissions criteria, including the "two-tier" process through which the campuses admit 50 to 75 percent of an incoming freshman class on the basis of academic achievement alone. Atkinson earlier requested that the Academic Senate begin this review to develop admissions criteria that allow a more comprehensive, holistic evaluation of applicants. That review is under way and is anticipated to be completed by the end of the year.   Images of cellular protein factories   New images are adding to scientists' understanding of ribosomes, the protein factories of all living cells. Photo: Marat Yusupov The workings of a tiny molecular machine crucial to all forms of life are emerging from highly detailed new images obtained by UCSC researchers. In a paper published by the journal Science in March, the researchers describe the structure of the ribosome, a complex particle just one millionth of an inch in diameter, in sufficient detail to begin to understand how it works. The images were obtained using a technique called X-ray crystallography. The improved resolution of these new images is the result of fine-tuning some two dozen variables in the group's experiments. "This allows us to see what all the key parts are and how they interact," said Harry Noller, Sinsheimer Professor of Molecular Biology and head of the group that obtained the new images. Ribosomes are the protein factories of all living cells. They hold the equipment necessary to read the genetic code and translate it into specific protein structures. The images obtained by Noller's group show not only the ribosome itself but also messenger RNA and transfer RNAs in the positions they occupy during the process of protein synthesis. They also located the sites where the ribosome interacts with the transfer RNAs. "We are now in a position to understand the structural rearrangements of the ribosome during protein synthesis," Noller said. This achievement has practical significance because many antibiotics work by binding to and disrupting bacterial ribosomes. Understanding the ribosome's structure may lead to the development of new and more effective antibiotics.   Astrophysicist is in distinguished company Joining the likes of Madeleine Albright, Woody Allen, and King Juan Carlos I of Spain, a UCSC astrophysicist has been elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Stanford Woosley, professor and chair of astronomy and astrophysics, and other new members will be formally inducted in ceremonies at the academy's headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in October. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, founded during the American Revolution by John Adams, is one of the oldest honorary societies in the United States. Its purpose is "to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent and virtuous people." The academy has about 4,000 members and elects approximately 200 members each year. Woosley joined the faculty at UCSC in 1975. Woosley's research centers on supernovae, massive explosions of dying stars. One of his accomplishments has been to construct a mathematical model for how stars explode. Stanford Woosley