Media coverage of top UCI stories: Nov. 2, 2007

1. The Associated Press, Nov. 2, 2007
Legal fights highlight church’s message
UCI MENTIONED:     Westboro has been effective in getting its name and message out, but most people will not be able to make a logical connection between homosexuality and soldiers’ deaths, said David Meyer, a sociology professor at the University of California, Irvine. “Sometimes you actually want to provoke a fury, because the action of protest is meant to be polarizing,” he said. “But you hope when you do that more people break on your side than the other side.”

First Paragraph:     The fiery message of the Westboro Baptist Church has led its followers into a fight for what they say are their First Amendment rights.

2. Scientific American, Nov. 1, 2007
Bystander stem cells keep original neurons humming, restore memory
UCI MENTIONED:     A new study finds that neural stem cells may be able to save dying brain cells without transforming into new brain tissue, at least in rodents. Researchers from the University of California, Irvine, report that stem cells rejuvenated the learning and memory abilities of mice engineered to lose neurons in a way that simulated the aftermath of Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and other brain injuries.

Second Paragraph:     Researchers expect stem cells to transform into replacement tissue capable of replacing damaged cells. But in this case, the undifferentiated stem cells, harvested from 14-day-old mouse brains, did not simply replace neurons that had died off. Rather, the group speculates that the transplanted cells secreted protective neurotrophins, proteins that promote cell survival by keeping neurons from inducing apoptosis (programmed cell death). Instead, the once ill-fated neurons strengthened their interconnections and kept functioning.

3. Fox News, Nov. 1, 2007
Superhero science? Zombie studies? Colleges offer offbeat courses
UCI MENTIONED:     There’s also “The Science of Superheroes” at the University of California at Irvine. Michael Dennin is teaching the freshman seminar again this semester, and said the course focuses on the very real principles of physics using the very fictitious superpowers wielded by the likes of Spider-Man, Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman. “It gives me a chance to talk about real science but in a context that is very familiar to the students,” said Dennin.

First Paragraph:     In the hallowed halls of some of America’s most elite — and expensive — educational institutions, students are taking classes in subjects like garbage, superpowers and zombies. And the sticker price? As much as $5,000 a pop.

4. The San Diego Union-Tribune, Nov. 2, 2007
Termite season keeps homeowners on the lookout for telltale signs
UCI MENTIONED:     Termites are social insects that live in large colonies. Colony sizes range from a few thousand members to several hundred thousand depending on the species, according to a University of California Irvine study. In Southern California, a drywood termite colony reaches its maximum size in four to six years.

First Paragraph:     If you notice sandy-textured brownish pellets in an area of your home, knock on wood and hope they’re just sand. Because if they aren’t, it’s likely a pest control inspector can knock on wood and find termites.

5. Los Angeles Times, Nov. 2, 2007
Never have dinner with this guy (column)
UCI MENTIONED:     Members of the UC Irvine baseball team that reached the College World Series last season practiced in costume on Halloween. Among the participants: pirates, a Santa, a penguin, Gilligan and the skipper too, and a buxom maid. Center fielder Ollie Linton, one of the team’s standouts, went as Steve Urkel, the character from the 1990s sitcom “Family Matters.”

First Paragraph:     There are certain portraits that announce you’ve arrived.

6. OC Weekly, Nov. 1, 2007
The fire of the century … of the year
UCI MENTIONED:     Controversial UC Irvine history professor Mike Davis is best-known for his scathing social history of Los Angeles, City of Quartz. But he’s also something of a prophet of doom, having predicted the 1992 LA Riots just months before they happened and, that same year, publishing the essay “Let Malibu Burn,” in which he argued that fire-prevention (and property-protection) efforts were only making Southern California more susceptible to apocalyptic wildfires.

Second Paragraph:     Many rolled their eyes at that essay, but Davis’ thesis appeared to be borne out four years ago, when massive fires (stoked by the state’s driest year on record) destroyed more than 1,000 wilderness-adjacent homes from Malibu to Big Bear to San Diego, leaving hundreds of thousands of people temporarily homeless and blanketing the region in hellish smoke for three straight days.

7. Daily Pilot, Nov. 1, 2007
UC Irvine seeks international collaboration
UCI MENTIONED:     Nicolaos Alexopoulos has big plans for UC Irvine. You would think a $2 million endowment from the engineering school’s namesake to start an exchange program with Israel would be enough. Not for Alexopoulos, dean of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering.

Second Paragraph:     “I consider it to be just the beginning. I anticipate we’ll get more donors,” he said. “I assume we’ll get more endowments. It has a scope that is much larger than the universities in Israel.”

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