UCSC purchases Terrace Point property

UC Santa Cruz has acquired approximately 55 acres adjacent to the campus's Joseph M. Long Marine Laboratory and the new Seymour Marine Discovery Center. The property was purchased from Wells Fargo Bank for $4 million.

It is expected that UCSC will permanently protect the wetlands and some other portions of the site, possibly as a natural reserve. Although UCSC has not developed plans for the remainder of the site, other potential uses of the land include development of ocean and coastal research facilities and some complementary housing. In addition, there is discussion of the development of a science park for children that would augment the educational programs slated for the Seymour center.

"This is a very positive decision for everyone," noted Chancellor Greenwood. "UC Santa Cruz welcomes the opportunity to enhance our existing coastal research and teaching resources, and at the same time, we take seriously the responsibility for careful stewardship of this unique property. This acquisition advances our prospects for new research partnerships."

Found at UCSC: Horoscope written by Johannes Kepler

A400-year-old manuscript penned by one of history's greatest astronomers was
recently discovered at UCSC.

The manuscript is a horoscope authored by 16th-century astronomer Johannes Kepler sometime in the late 1500s or early 1600s. The discovery was made by Anthony Misch, an astronomer at Lick Observatory.

Misch was researching solar eclipse expeditions in the University Library archives when he discovered the unassuming six- by eight-inch framed paper in a drawer of miscellanea. The horoscope was annotated in German.

Misch, a book collector who speaks German, had an immediate sense of the significance of what he held in his hand.

"It was a pretty thrilling moment," Misch said. "I knew right away this had potential to be a pretty spectacular discovery. As I looked the document over my hand was shaking."

Kepler, who lived from 1571 to 1630, is best known for his discovery of the laws of orbital motion. He was also a phenomenal mathematician and was responsible for major breakthroughs in telescope optics. He is considered to be, along with Copernicus and Galileo, among the most important astronomers of the modern era.

$17.7 million grant for marine research

Aconsortium of marine scientists from UCSC and three other major universities has received a grant of $17.7 million from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to conduct ecological research aimed at improving the conservation of marine ecosystems.

The Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) brings together four leading centers of marine science research: UC Santa Cruz, UC Santa Barbara, Stanford University, and Oregon State University. By combining their strengths, PISCO will enable researchers at these institutions to conduct coordinated studies of coastal ecosystems on an unprecedented scale.

The grant will fund research into the interactions of marine organisms such as rockfish (above) and rock lobster (below). The five-year project will involve researchers from diverse fields working toward an integrated picture of the coastal environment and ecosystems.

A major focus of the group's efforts will be to study the movements and interactions of fish and other marine organisms over a 1,200-mile stretch of ocean from Oregon to southern California, said Peter Raimondi and Mark Carr, biology professors at UCSC and two of the project's principal investigators. "This partnership allows us to look at marine ecological processes at the scales at which things really happen," Raimondi said.

UCSC psychologist to receive field's 'Nobel'

Anyone who has taken an introductory psychology class or read a best-selling self-help book has been touched by the work of Elliot Aronson, a man whose research has fundamentally shaped our knowledge of what motivates human behavior.

From cognitive dissonance to the causes of interpersonal attraction, Aronson's research has pushed the envelope, often challenging established theories and always addressing important social problems, including prejudice reduction, energy conservation, and AIDS prevention.

One of the most distinguished social psychologists of our time, Aronson, a professor emeritus of psychology at UCSC, will receive the American Psychological Association's 1998-99

Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award at the APA's convention in August. Considered the "Nobel Prize of psychology," the award is the highest recognition offered to psychologists for a lifetime of research. Previous recipients include B. F. Skinner, Carl Rogers, Jean Piaget, and Leon Festinger.

Aronson, 67, who came to UCSC in 1974, credits his mentors and students with his success. "I've been very lucky to have had some brilliant teachers and to have worked with some terrific students along the way," said Aronson. "Social psychology has always thrilled me because it is such a wonderful blend of art and science. To tell you the truth, I don't think I'm that smart--I just found the perfect thing in the world for me. I can't imagine I would've been as happy or productive doing anything else."

$1.5 million gift for Jewish studies

With a gift of $1.5 million, a San Francisco Bay Area couple has established an endowment for Jewish studies at UCSC. The gift is the largest private donation ever received by the Humanities Division.

The gift comes from Helen and Sanford Diller of Woodside. Named the Helen and Sanford Diller Family Endowment in Jewish Studies, the donation will support and expand UCSC's interdisciplinary program, which focuses on modern Jewish history, life, and cultures.

"We are honored that the Dillers selected UCSC as the home for this endowment," said Chancellor Greenwood. "Their generous gift constitutes the cornerstone of a major UCSC effort to build Jewish studies."

The gift was made through the Jewish Community Endowment Fund of the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation.

New policy increases UC-eligible students

The university's board of Regents has approved changes in freshman eligibility that will make the top 4 percent of students from all California public high schools eligible for UC.

UC faculty developed the new criteria following more than a year of considering ways for the university to increase the number of UC-eligible students in order to meet its obligation to the state to enroll from the top 12.5 percent of California high school graduates and continue to maintain academic quality.

Granting eligibility to students who rank in the top 4 percent of each high school class based on UC-required courses will make nearly 3,600 additional students eligible for the university.

Those new students increase the percentage of high school graduates eligible for UC from 11.1 to 12.5 percent as required by California's Master Plan for Higher Education.

This new path to eligibility greatly enhances UC's ability to attract students from across the state, particularly from rural and inner-city schools, said UC President Richard C. Atkinson.

UCSC considered for adaptive optics center

Acommittee from the National Science Foundation visited UCSC recently to evaluate a proposal to create a national Center for Adaptive Optics on campus. The center would coordinate the efforts of researchers across the country working in the new field of adaptive optics, which has major applications in astronomy and vision science.

Adaptive optics is a method to actively compensate for changing distortions that cause blurring of images. Turbulence in the atmosphere causes blurring of images obtained by ground-based telescopes. Similarly, internal imperfections and small motions in the eye result in blurred vision and interfere with efforts to study the living human retina.

The adaptive optics system at UC's Lick Observatory uses a laser beam (captured in the time-exposure photo above) to measure turbulence in the atmosphere.

Chancellor urges scientists to expand role in K-12 education

Speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advance- ment of Science, UCSC's chancellor urged her fellow scientists to become directly involved in efforts to improve science education and the public's understanding of science.

Presiding as president of AAAS, Greenwood advocated changes throughout the educational pipeline and proposed a national campaign to promote the involvement of scientists
on school boards.

While recent scientific discoveries and advances give scientists ample cause to celebrate, the United States may be slipping behind other nations in its ability to inspire and educate the next generation of scientists, Greenwood said at the meeting in Anaheim this past January.

"We can already see indications that the next generation is not receiving the preparation necessary to maintain the excellence that U.S. science currently enjoys," Greenwood said, pointing to the results of recent surveys that show U.S. 12th graders near the bottom in international comparisons of science and math ability.

Greenwood urged scientists, engineers, and other scientifically literate professionals to get involved in K-12 education by serving on school boards. She proposed an AAAS program called "Project 20/20" to sustain and support these board members with information and advice to help them protect and enhance scientific content and accuracy in schools.

"Education for our children, and lifelong education for all of us, must be paramount in this evolving era," Greenwood said.

Celebrating the arts at UCSC

"In these walls, future generations of Picassos, Coppolas, Oliviers, and Beethovens will study and learn."

UCSC made May 2 a day to celebrate the arts as a dedication ceremony and open house officially inaugurated several major new arts facilities on campus. left: Onlookers watch a bronze-pouring demonstration by Art Department staff and students. right: Performing at the celebration were two UCSC groups, Taki Ñan, one of UCSC's Latin American ensembles; and Swara Sauti, UCSC's Balinese gamelan ensemble.

When hundreds of people turned out for UCSC's Celebration of the Arts in early May, the halls echoed with the sounds of music, theater, and art in action. The afternoon event featured an open house that offered performances, backstage tours, lectures, rehearsals, concerts, and demonstrations.

In addition, many guests attended a dedication ceremony celebrating the completion of a number of new arts facilities. Among those facilities are music and art studios, a 391-seat Multimedia Theater, the Experimental Theater, and the Music Center.

The event was initially conceived simply as a dedication of new arts facilities, but rather than emphasizing the walls that were raised, the day's program celebrated the learning and creativity that have and will take place within those walls.

Edward Houghton, dean of the arts at UCSC, led the decade-long push to secure funding and space for the new facilities, but Houghton was the first to point out that the buildings are not the only accomplishment of the last decade. "We have many reasons to celebrate: the completion of these exceptional facilities during a time when funding for the arts was shrinking, the expansion of academic programs in the arts at UCSC, an all-time high in enrollments in the arts at UCSC, and the emergence of tremendous collaborations between the campus and the community. As teachers, artists, parents, and audience members, the arts belong to all of us, and we all have cause to celebrate this exciting time for the arts in Santa Cruz."

The May 2 dedication ceremony featured works by film and video students and a collaborative work by Arts Division faculty members Nobuho Nagasawa, Sharon Daniel, and Peter Elsea. Titled Opening, the work featured video and electronic music components, written text, and--strung colorfully outside the Multimedia Theater--bright red binoculars so that guests could better read the text. Special guests at the dedication were UCSC alumni Anne Flett-Giordano and Chuck Ranberg (co-producers of the TV show Frasier) and Lance Linares, executive director of the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County.

In her comments at the dedication, Chancellor Greenwood noted that, "In these walls, future generations of Picassos, Coppolas, Oliviers, and Beethovens will study and learn. The teachers of our grandchildren and great grandchildren will begin here. Perhaps our next mayor or governor, or the CEO of a major corporation, will gain a new way of looking at old problems because of time spent inside the walls of the arts at UC Santa Cruz, honing his or her creative potential."

In Memoriam

Angus Taylor, third chancellor of UCSC, vice president of academic affairs under four UC presidents, and chairman of the universitywide Academic Council during the Free Speech Movement, died in a Berkeley hospital in April after a brief illness. He was 87.

Chancellor from February 1976 to July 1977, Taylor is credited with helping build an organizational foundation upon which the campus has grown.At his family's request, contributions in Angus Taylor's name may be made to the UC Santa Cruz Foundation and designated for the "Angus and Patsy Taylor Fund," an endowment that supports the academic activities of UCSC's Cowell College.

Sheila Hough, a lecturer emerita in social sciences, died in April; she was 67. Hough worked at UCSC from 1966 until her retirement in 1991 as a lecturer for the Modern Society and Social Thought Program, a lecturer in the Stevenson Core Course, administrative coordinator for the Stevenson core course, and counseling psychologist.

Gurden Mooser, whose decades-long association with the campus included 13 years as the founding head of University Relations, died in February in his Santa Cruz home after a lengthy illness. He was 85.
Assistant chancellor for University Relations from 1965 to 1978, Mooser helped the campus attract major gifts that established the college system and provided private support to many other emerging academic and administrative programs.Mooser formed the UC Santa Cruz Foundation in 1974 and served as the foundation's first executive secretary.

At the family's request, donations in Mooser's name may be made to the UCSC Foundation for the Seymour Marine Discovery Center.

Alumni class gifts generate $230,000

Participating in the gift ceremony were (l-r): Michael Twombly (Cowell '69), David Graves (Crown '74), EVC John Simpson, Alumni Association president Steve Klein, Ronna Perelson (Porter '79), and Dobro Goodale (Kresge '94).Angus Taylor

The generosity of four classes of UCSC graduates has generated nearly a quarter of a million dollars for the UCSC Alumni Association Scholarship Fund and other campus programs.

Representatives of the classes of '69, '74, '79, and '94 presented checks totaling $180,000 to Executive Vice Chancellor John Simpson at an alumni reunion luncheon during UCSC's Banana Slug Spring Fair in mid-April. The UCSC Alumni Association added $50,000 in the form
of a challenge grant, producing a total of $230,000.

"I want to thank all alumni, particularly the pioneers and the classes of 1974, 1979, and 1994, for their remarkable support of this campus and its students," Simpson said. "It is so wonderful that while celebrating the time you shared as students at UCSC, you have chosen to support today's students, who follow in your footsteps."

Some $140,000 of the gift will go to the UCSC Alumni Association Scholarship Fund, which provides support to students with financial need. Approximately $90,000 will benefit other areas of the campus such as college programs and academic divisions.

UCSC, California Academy of Sciences formalize ties

UCSC and the California Academy of Sciences (CAS) have agreed to combine strengths in pursuit of their common interests in biological research and public education. Chancellor Greenwood and CAS Executive Director Patrick Kociolek signed a memorandum of understanding formalizing the ties between the two institutions in a ceremony in April at the UCSC Arboretum.

"The California Academy of Sciences has resources and expertise that complement those of UCSC, particularly in areas related to the increasingly important issue of understanding the value of biodiversity," Greenwood said.

The extensive collections of natural history specimens at CAS are among the world's largest and provide essential tools for comparative studies in biodiversity. Experts in the academy's eight scientific departments include leading authorities (known as systematists) on the classification of different types of organisms.

"The academy has biologists and systematists whose work dovetails nicely with research at UCSC in biology, chemistry, and marine science, and we hope the memorandum of understanding will foster cooperative interactions in these areas," Kociolek said.

Chancellor Greenwood and CAS Executive Director Patrick Kociolek shake hands over an agreement formalizing ties between their two institutions.

Work is also continuing on a new Fitness Center in the East Field area of the campus. The 12,000-square-foot center is sited immediately to the south of the existing tennis courts. The facility will feature window-filled exercise areas, and work is expected to be completed this coming fall.

Construction started in fall 1997 on the Marine Discovery Center, which the UC Santa Cruz Foundation is funding at the Joseph M. Long Marine Laboratory. Work is expected to be completed this coming summer on the 20,000 square feet of aquarium and exhibit hall space, a seawater teaching laboratory, a conference and meeting room, and office space.