UCI will mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with a traveling photography exhibit and a four-day conference. "Icons of a Border Installation," running through Nov. 2 in the Student Center, features images of wall remnants in unified Berlin. A conference called "1989: 20 Years After" is set for Nov. 5-8 and will feature a keynote address by Leszek Balcerowicz, Poland's first post-communism finance minister. The photo exhibit is hosted by the German department and sponsored by the Goethe Institute of San Francisco. UCI's Center for the Study of Democracy is hosting the conference.   More »

UC Irvine's Center in Law, Society & Culture is hosting "Covering the Law," a conference Nov. 9 and 10 exploring justice issues in the media. The event features a screening of "Outrage," a documentary about the gay rights voting records of closeted politicians and the media's complicity in keeping their secrets. Afterward, director Kirby Dick will talk with Lucas Hilderbrand, assistant professor of film & media studies. The screening and conversation will take place from 4-6:30 p.m. Nov. 9 in Pacific Ballroom C at the UCI Student Center.   More »

Locally owned small businesses don't insulate communities from layoffs and closures in bad economic times. Rather, corporate headquarters do the most to protect cities from employment reductions, reports a new study co-authored by a UC Irvine economist. This debunks a popular argument that owners of "mom and pop" stores are less likely to lay off employees, relocate or close their businesses when the economy sours, says David Neumark, UCI economics professor and a Bren Fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. The findings validate the efforts of many local governments to attract and retain corporate headquarters, he says.   More »

A new study has found that teens often lack the social and emotional maturity to control impulses. In contrast, intellectual abilities such as logical reasoning reach adult levels long before psychosocial maturity is achieved. "Many crimes committed by adolescents are done in groups and not premeditated. It's difficult for a 16-year-old to resist peer pressure and fully appreciate the riskiness of dangerous situations," says Elizabeth Cauffman (pictured), study co-author and UC Irvine psychology & social behavior associate professor. The study appears in the October issue of American Psychologist, a journal of the American Psychological Association.   More »

The nearly 80,000 immigrants older than 65 who arrive in the U.S. each year are often overlooked by society because they don't hold paid jobs or speak fluent English, says UC Irvine sociology professor Judith Treas. "Elderly immigrants remain in the shadows," says Treas, whose research on them was recently published in Generations, a journal of the American Society on Aging. "They never win spelling bees. They don't join criminal gangs. Nobody worries about Americans losing jobs to Korean grandmothers." Over the last 15 years, Treas and her students have interviewed many foreign-born seniors and their relatives and friends. The immigrants have come from a wide range of countries, including Iran, Mexico, Korea, Pakistan and Cambodia. Treas hopes her research will raise awareness of the issues facing elderly immigrants.   More »

Network analysis models can be used to predict the spread of HIV or the collapse of the U.S. economy, and two UCI researchers are at the forefront of this rapidly expanding field. Sociologist Carter Butts (pictured) and anthropologist Douglas White recently published articles in Science magazine stressing the need for researchers and policymakers alike to regard network analysis as an evolving science. "As we learn more about networks in a wider range of contexts, we are discovering sometimes surprising things about what does and does not matter for understanding social systems," says Butts. Papers are available here: www.sciencemag.org/content/vol325/issue5939/index.dtl.   More »

UC Irvine sociologist Andrew Penner's research has shown that, over time, changes in social standing - such as income level, employment and incarceration status - alter the way people racially categorize themselves and others. Now Penner and University of Oregon colleague Aliya Saperstein are expanding the study, thanks to a $35,000 grant from the Russell Sage Foundation to explore how thinking about race as fluid provides insight into inequality. "By recognizing that perceptions of race are fluid and connected to stereotypes about social status," Penner says, "we hope to be able to explain some of the reasons that racial inequality persists in today's society and inform policies aimed at addressing it."   More »

California lawmakers may want to rethink a cost-cutting proposal to release at least 27,000 inmates from state prison in light of a new study linking parolees to increases in violent crime. Led by UC Irvine criminologist John Hipp, the study found that, in most cases, reports of aggravated assault, robbery and burglary go up when parolees return to their neighborhoods - and that if they have violent backgrounds, murder rates increase. However, crime rates decrease when parolees move back to neighborhoods with longtime residents, and they increase at a slower rate in areas with nonprofit groups offering economic resources and youth intervention programs.   More »

Roxane Varzi's journey from Tehran to suburban Michigan was difficult at first-classmates teased her and news reports depicted her homeland as brutal and repressive. Ultimately, her bicultural upbringing helped inspire her new documentary, Plastic Flowers Never Die. Varzi wrote, edited and selected music for the film, which deals with the aftermath of the Iran-Iraq War, an eight-year conflict that killed more than 1 million people. It explores the physical and emotional scars of war as well as Varzi's feelings about her homeland.   More »

Nikishna Polequaptewa, director of the American Indian Resource Program at UC Irvine, has been selected for "Native American 40 Under 40" recognition by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. The honor, new this year, is reserved for outstanding young Native Americans who have distinguished themselves in their community and/or profession. Recipients will be feted at a special reception prior to the Indian Progress in Business awards banquet Sept. 18 in Tulsa, Okla. A Hopi tribe member, Polequaptewa graduated from UCI in 2005 and earned the campus's 2008 Living Our Values Award for his efforts to "create an American Indian presence on campus and in the community."   More »

Rep. Loretta Sanchez, who represents the 47th Congressional District, comprising much of central Orange County, visited key research centers at UC Irvine Tuesday, Aug. 4, to learn about emerging technologies. Graduate students Shane Stephens-Romero and Allie Auld joined National Fuel Cell Research Center director Scott Samuelsen in telling Sanchez about the future of hydrogen power. The congresswoman then climbed behind the wheel of a fuel-cell-powered Toyota hybrid and drove to the Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center. There she heard from Hans Keirstead and Peter Donovan, center co-directors, and Frank LaFerla, director of the Institute for Memory Impairments & Neurological Disorders, about their work. She urged them to educate the community about the value of stem cell therapy.   More »

For almost 20 years, Marlon Boarnet has studied the links between land use and transportation networks - research generally of interest only to policy wonks. That's why the UC Irvine professor of planning, policy & design and economics relishes the current national debate over how to use $787 billion in economic stimulus funds to improve U.S. roads and communities. To articulate some of the planning community's ideas, Boarnet recently co-wrote and edited "Transportation Infrastructure: The Challenges of Rebuilding America," published by the American Planning Association. "The current economic and environmental crises have focused people's attention, and hopefully one outcome will be a transportation system that is greener and more efficient and that responds to the needs of the future," said Boarnet.   More »

Orange County has undergone several demographic transformations over the past four decades, and John Hipp has witnessed most of them. The associate professor of criminology, law & society at UC Irvine studies the social impact of neighborhood changes and recently focused on shifts in the county between 1970 and 2000. He discovered some unsettling trends: Orange County is more racially diverse than ever, but its neighborhoods are increasingly segregated. Job growth is led by low-paying industries, and median household incomes remain flat compared to the rest of the nation. His findings are reported in "The Orange Crush: The Squeezing of Orange County's Middle Class," released in June by UCI's Center on Inequality & Social Justice.   More »

Floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, mudslides, volcanic eruptions-Indonesians have seen it all. Now they're getting help with healing from a UC Irvine psychologist who specializes in stress and coping. Roxane Cohen Silver, who serves on Psychology Beyond Borders' board of directors, and Edwin Tan, UCI psychology and social behavior graduate student, are teaching coping skills to about 400 adults and their children in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The families are learning how to manage fear, and are given information on how to react calmly in stressful situations. "The goal is to help people deal with their emotions and identify factors that facilitate or hinder coping," Cohen Silver says.   More »

Layoffs and looming education cuts may dominate news headlines, but that should not deter prospective teachers from pursuing a career in education, according to Karol Gottfredson, coordinator of UC Irvine’s Intern Teaching Credential Program. California’s Department of Education projects that the demand for K-12 teachers will continue to grow as almost a third of the state's 300,000 teachers will retire within the next 10 years. “Orange County still is a growth area and enrollment in schools will continue to increase,” Gottfredson says. “Districts demand accountability, high standards, and highly qualified teachers, especially in the impacted areas of math, science and special education.”   More »

In Los Angeles' Skid Row district, homeless camps, shelters and drug treatment centers share the streets with upscale lofts and restaurants. This dynamic fascinates Michael Powe, UC Irvine planning, policy & design doctoral candidate, who heads a project to recommend development and policies to city officials and businesses that would foster economic diversity on Skid Row. This spring he won a $10,000 Public Impact Fellowship from UCI's Graduate Division that supports students whose research could have significant local, national or global benefit. Powe wants to shape a future in which longtime Skid Row residents and loft dwellers work together for the common good.   More »

In three years, UCI's Baghdad School Project has shipped 7,500 packets of notebooks, pencils, erasers and rulers to schoolchildren in the war-torn country. A branch of the Dean’s Ambassadors Council in the School of Social Sciences, the organization works with the U.S. Military Postal Service to deliver the supplies, saving thousands of dollars in shipping costs. But raising money is still the group’s biggest challenge. To that effect, the group is hoping to raise funds and awareness at a reception and panel discussion 7 p.m. Thursday, May 21, in Social Science Plaza A, Room 2112. “Rebuilding Iraq: One Student at a Time” will feature social sciences lecturer Bojan Petrovic, an expert on the Middle East; Iraqi-born former Washington Post reporter Omar Fekeiki; and Iraq War veterans John A. Hanson and David Curry. More: 949-824-9229 or teresa.neighbors@uci.edu.   More »

When Tom Boellstorff began researching Second Life, not many people were interested in the online phenomenon. Five years later, more than 80,000 people are part of the virtual community, and Boellstorff has spoken about the topic to media from all over the world. Boellstroff, UC Irvine anthropology professor, is the author of Coming of Age in Second Life, in which he explores how virtual worlds can change ideas about identity and society. Boellstorff uses an avatar, or graphic representation of a virtual world resident, to replicate fieldwork methods he uses in the real world – such as observing social interactions and conducting discussion groups with other avatars.   More »

Growing up in Connecticut with working parents, UC Irvine education doctoral candidate Maria Parente had a well-defined after-school routine: "I'm from a strict Italian family," she says. "My mother and father told me to come home, sit on the couch and not move until they returned." According to the 2005 U.S. Census, 5.2 million children ages 5 to 14 regularly experience unsupervised time outside school. With a $10,000 Public Impact Fellowship from UCI's Graduate Division, Parente is studying the effect of this on children's academic performance and behavior. Parente hopes to determine which self-care settings are most beneficial for children and their families.   More »

A forum on Irvine's efforts to embrace its diversity and address the resulting issues will be led by Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang from noon-1 p.m. Tuesday, May 12, at the UC Irvine Cross-Cultural Center. Kang kicks off the Office of Equal Opportunity & Diversity’s Campus Conversation Series, which provides opportunities to talk about equal opportunity and the varied ethnic groups and cultures at UCI and in surrounding communities. Event co-sponsors include Cross-Cultural Center, Office of the Vice Chancellor Student Affairs, Difficult Dialogues, Asian American Studies, Staff Assembly/Staff Ambassadors, UCI ADVANCE Program, and the Office of Community & Government Relations.   More »

People looking for love on Internet dating sites often follow racial stereotypes, according to a new study by UC Irvine sociologists. Cynthia Feliciano (pictured) and Belinda Robnett collected data from Yahoo personals between September 2004 and May 2005, randomly selecting profiles of people ages 18-50 in the Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Atlanta metropolitan regions. While white men were more open to dating outside their race than white women, both had specific racial preferences. White men preferred Asian and Latino dating partners to African Americans; white women were more likely to exclude Asian men. According to Feliciano, negative portrayals of African American women and Asian men in popular culture could contribute to these preferences   More »

As VHS tapes become a thing of the past, UC Irvine’s Lucas Hilderbrand doesn’t want us to forget the significant impact of analog media on American culture. In a new book, the film & media studies assistant professor details how video technology transformed home entertainment by allowing consumers to view movies and TV programs at their leisure and redefined government interpretation of copyright laws. “VHS held an important role in our society for three decades – from leading the home-video revolution to igniting format wars and legal battles over copyright-protected material,” says Hilderbrand, author of “Inherent Vice: Bootleg Histories of Videotape and Copyright.” “Knowing the history of analog helps us understand where we are today.”   More »

Former Mexican president Vicente Fox discussed the future of democracy in Mexico and Latin America in front of a packed audience Wednesday at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. "Democracy is not for granted in Latin America," Fox said. "It has to be nourished, defended and promoted." Fox's lecture was part of the Chancellor's Distinguished Fellows Series. UCI Chancellor Michael Drake praised Fox for "promoting ambitious humanitarian and economic reforms" in Mexico and presented Fox with an honorary plaque and a stuffed Peter the Anteater.   More »

Candice Odgers will catch a glimpse into preteen decision making using an unconvential research tool: text messaging. Odgers, UCI assistant professor of psychology and social behavior, will hand out smartphones to kids ages 10 to 13 and send them-via-text-two surveys daily. The goal is to determine settings in which they're most likely to encounter drugs and alcohol and help officials develop more effective intervention programs and public health policies. The five-year study is funded by the William T. Grant Scholars Program.   More »

In a break from their usual governing duties, Irvine City Council members welcomed UC Irvine mascot Peter the Anteater to their March 10 meeting to celebrate the UCI basketball teams’ victories over cross-town rivals Cal State Fullerton March 7. For the third year, Fullerton Mayor Don Bankhead and Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang had issued a friendly wager on the matchup. The Anteaters defeated the Titans (men’s 65-62, women’s 67-59), so Bankhead will sport a "Rip 'em 'Eaters" T-shirt and Anteater baseball cap -- presented to him by Peter -- at the next Fullerton City Council meeting.   More »

Elizabeth Loftus, Distinguished Professor of Social Ecology at UC Irvine, will receive the 2009 Distinguished Contributions to Psychology and Law Award from the American Psychology Law Society at its annual meeting in March in San Antonio. The award is given to researchers who have made distinguished theoretical, empirical and/or applied contributions to psychology and law. Loftus studies the malleable nature of human memory, and her research on the reliability of eyewitness reports and memories “recovered” through therapy has affected how law enforcement agencies and the courts consider such testimony.   More »

Wang Feng, UC Irvine sociology professor and chair, recently received a $500,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation to study China's controversial one-child per couple birth control policy. Wang and colleagues will study the policy's social and economic implications in light of the country's looming healthcare and labor shortage crisis. "With China's low fertility level, we're certain to see the number of new entrants to the workforce cut in half within the next 10 years," he says. "We also will see the median age of the entire country increase to 50 years old by 2050 if the current demographic trend continues."   More »

The U.S. could learn a lot from other countries when it comes to human rights, according to a new book by Alison Brysk, UC Irvine political science professor. In "Global Good Samaritans," Brysk provides a comparative look at human rights practices around the world. Canada sits at the top of the list, partly due to its compassion toward refugees and generous foreign aid. The book praises Sweden and the Netherlands as historic leaders in human rights and highlights Japan and South Africa as up-and-coming promoters of human rights. Brysk discussed the book at the International Studies Association's annual meeting Feb. 17 in New York.   More »

Michael Dukakis, former governor of Massachusetts and the 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, will speak on “American Politics and Presidential Campaigning” at 1 p.m. Monday, March 2, in the UC Irvine Humanities Instructional Building 100. Dukakis, a visiting professor at Northeastern University's political science department since 1991, is appearing as a featured speaker in the 2008-09 Peltason Lecture on Democracy, presented by UCI’s Center for the Study of Democracy. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required well in advance due to limited seating. To reserve a seat, contact Sheila Hayden at snhayden@uci.edu or 949-824-2904.   More »

A new study co-authored by UC Irvine economics professor David Neumark (pictured), finds that California's Enterprise Zone Program has no measurable effect on new job creation for businesses located within zone boundaries. The state created the program in 1984 with the goal of stimulating business investment in depressed areas and creating jobs. Critics of the program say it costs the state nearly $330 million in lost tax revenue each year, while proponents tout its success at decreasing poverty and unemployment rates. "If this fairly expensive program doesn't appear to be achieving its main objective, it's important that its continuation be reevaluated," Neumark said. Findings from the study are available as a working paper on the National Bureau of Economics Research's website.   More »

UC Irvine faculty, students and staff marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – a document that laid the foundation for international human rights law – with a public reading and teach-in Dec. 10. The declaration set out to recognize the inherent dignity of all people, although parts of the world fall short of full social and economic protection for their citizens, said Alison Brysk, (pictured) director of UCI’s Human Rights Program. “From genocide in Darfur to refugees in North Korea, from torture at Guantanamo Bay to political prisoners in Iran, human rights still are threatened around the world,” Brysk said. According to Kevin Olson, political science associate professor the document is as relevant today as it was in 1948. “It's only now coming into its proper place on the international scene,” he said. Graduate students and undergraduate representatives of Amnesty International and Invisible Children joined in the event.   More »

Henry Pontell, UC Irvine professor of criminology, law and society, was inducted as a fellow of the American Society of Criminology at the organization’s annual conference in St. Louis, Mo., Nov. 12. The award recognizes major contributions to scholarship in the field, as well as to the career development of other criminologists and organizational activities of ASC. This year, Pontell was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Macau and gave the 17th Distinguished Lecture in the Jing Shi Forum Series at Beijing Normal University. He also delivered the keynote at the Australian-New Zealand Criminology Conference in Canberra in November.   More »

An era of mass migrations, porous borders and easily obtained fraudulent documents is blurring the definition of citizenship and putting national security at risk around the globe, says UC Irvine political science professor Kamal Sadiq in his new book, "Paper Citizens: How Illegal Immigrants Acquire Citizenship in Developing Countries." The book is now available through Oxford University Press. Sadiq’s research focuses on “documentary citizenship” – immigrants’ use of forged documents or illegally obtained authentic passports to prove residency or citizenship. Weak and erratic bureaucracies in developing countries allow fake documents to flourish. The result is a thriving underground process for attaining citizenship.   More »

"Immigrant Lives in ‘The O.C.’ and Beyond,” a new exhibit that traces the history of immigration in the county, opens Tuesday, Nov. 18, at UC Irvine’s Langson Library. A collection of books, pamphlets, newspaper articles and historic photographs chronicling the area's often-turbulent immigrant heritage from the 19th century to the present will be available for browsing. The exhibit begins at 5:30 p.m. with a presentation by Frank Bean, UCI Chancellor's Professor of Social Sciences and will continue through April 2009.   More »

In his new book, "Minimum Wages," UC Irvine economics professor David Neumark warns against increasing the federal minimum wage, contradicting beliefs held by the now Democratically-controlled White House, Senate and House. According to Neumark, minimum wage increases hurt younger workers by pitting them against older, more skilled adults when competing for the same jobs. "Teenagers either wind up working less and thus have less work experience to draw from in the long run, or they quit school to work because they can make enough money to survive without a formal education," Neumark said. The increase hinders their ability to acquire advanced skills and earn higher wages, he argues. The book hits shelves Friday, Nov. 7, and draws on 15 years of economics research.   More »

Richard Matthew, UC Irvine associate professor of planning, policy and design, addressed international policymakers at the World Conservation Congress Oct. 7 in Barcelona, Spain. Matthew and other researchers presented evidence that managing the environment and natural resources is key to improving security and building sustainable peace. Matthew was part of a panel of researchers sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the UN Environment Programme. His presentations were based on research conducted by UCI's Center for Unconventional Security Affairs.   More »

Jeanett Castellanos, UC Irvine social science and Chicano/Latino studies lecturer and director of the Social Sciences Academic Resource Center, has been honored for her outstanding service to the Latina/o community. A ‘94 UCI psychology and sociology alumna, Castellanos received the 2008 Star Vega Distinguished Service Award from the National Latina/o Psychology Association. Her nationally recognized work merges the fields of counseling and higher education with a particular focus on Latina/os. She also mentors dozens of Latina/o undergraduates each year on how to conduct individual, data-oriented research projects, many of which have resulted in published articles and book chapters. “My life here at UCI is about mentoring,” Castellanos says. “That’s the foundation of all I do.”   More »

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded UC Irvine a $1.7 million grant to create a new research institute focused on the growing use of mobile technology in providing banking and financial services to people in developing countries. The Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion will be the first to explore how the world’s poorest people spend, store and save money. It will study how these habits are affected by the emerging mobile banking industry, known as “m-banking,” which could make financial services and the security they provide available to millions of poor people for the first time. The institute, headed by UCI anthropologist Bill Maurer (pictured), launched Thursday, Sept. 18.   More »

Elizabeth Loftus, UC Irvine Distinguished Professor of Social Ecology, will receive the 2009 John P. McGovern Award Lecture in the Behavioral Sciences at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in February. The lecture honors prominent behavioral scientists from around the world. Past recipients include Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman. Loftus studies the malleability of human memory and applies her research to the legal field.   More »

The Ford Foundation has notified UC Irvine that it will receive a second-round grant for its Difficult Dialogues program. Overseen by Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Manuel Gomez and his staff, Difficult Dialogues provides a forum for all sides of potentially divisive social issues to be discussed. The aim is to foster greater understanding and civility on campus and throughout the community. Only about half of first-round grantees win renewed funding, which is based on the success of the program.   More »

UC Irvine anthropologist Susan Greenhalgh’s latest book, Just One Child: Science and Policy in Deng’s China, has received positive reviews from Nature and Science magazines. Described by the latter as “our most surefooted guide to China's adventure in mass birth planning,” Greenhalgh explores how scientific policymaking by a team of aerospace engineers led directly to widespread social suffering as China developed into a technologically advanced state. “Through compelling storytelling and [penetrating] analysis,” reviewed Nature, “she draws together field and archival studies that cover the two decades from 1982 to 2007, spanning huge social, political, cultural and geographical distances.” Greenhalgh's book was published in February.   More »

Cheryl Maxson, associate professor of criminology, law and society at UC Irvine, has been elected vice president of the American Society of Criminology. The society supports and promotes research on the prevention, control and treatment of crime and delinquency. Maxson's research interests include youth violence, street gangs and the juvenile justice system. She serves on the editorial boards of six academic journals in criminology and public policy, and as an adviser to the National Youth Gang Center, the National Evaluation of Safe Schools/Healthy Children and the Costa Mesa Police Department.   More »

UC Irvine political scientist Etel Solingen has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the Carnegie Corp. to examine the effects of positive and negative inducements on preventing nuclear proliferation. The research is timely in light of the debate over Iran's nuclear policy. Last weekend, diplomats from six countries, including the United States, met with Iran to propose an incentive-laced package that, if accepted, could lead to a suspension of the country's uranium enrichment program. By studying which actions have discouraged other nations' nuclear development, Solingen hopes to contribute to successful nonproliferation policy. Some preliminary results of her study will be released in 2009, before the crucial 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.   More »

Networking is seen as necessary to succeed in business, and Latina professionals are no exception. According to a recent study by UC Irvine sociology graduate student Jody Agius Vallejo, ethnic professional associations are key to a Latina businesswoman's ability to thrive in Orange County's corporate world. Previous research suggested Latinas lack involvement in professional organizations. Agius Vallejo found this is not the case. "These organizations and associations help Latinas develop skills that aren't learned in a classroom - like business etiquette and socializing through golf – which are very important in the area’s corporate culture," she says. Agius Vallejo will present her work at the American Sociological Association's annual meeting in Boston Aug. 4. The study will be published in the association's City & Community journal.   More »

Victoria Basolo (pictured), associate professor of planning, policy & design at UC Irvine, and Victor Becerra, director of UCI’s Community Outreach Partnership Center, are finalists in the National Urban Initiatives Competition. Their paper, “Sustaining Affordable Housing through Maintaining Stable Urban Neighborhoods,” proposes opportunities for nonprofits to purchase foreclosed homes and preserve the units as affordable housing. Basolo and Becerra, along with graduate student co-authors Arlene Granadosin and Michael Powe, argue that selling foreclosed homes to low- and moderate-income families could prevent neighborhood decline. The competition, which awards winners $20,000, is administered by Clark University, Community Development Training Institute, Freddie Mac, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and the National Community Development Association.   More »

Louis DeSipio, political science associate professor at UC Irvine, will examine trends in voter-supported bans on state affirmative action programs thanks to a $50,000 grant from the nonprofit Public Interest Projects. Using data from entrance and exit polling, DeSipio and UC Berkeley researchers Lydia Chavez and Andres Jimenez will determine how factors such as demographics, media and special advocacy and interest groups impacted voter decisions about affirmative action in California, Washington and Michigan. DeSipio says the findings should be of interest to both pro- and anti-affirmative action groups looking to sway the November elections in states like Arizona, Nebraska and Colorado, where anti-affirmative action ballot initiatives are in the works.   More »

Justin Richland, assistant professor of Criminology, Law & Society at UC Irvine, explores the contemporary Native-American legal system in his new book, Arguing with Tradition: The Language of Law in Hopi Tribal Court. Based on Richland's extensive research on the Hopi Indian Nation of Arizona, the book explains how Hopi laws are shaped by Hopi cultural traditions. Richland studies the language of Hopi law to show how cultural politics influence indigenous legal and government practices around the world. He’s not only a scholar of Hopi law but a practitioner as well: In 2005, he was appointed Justice Pro Tempore of the Hopi Appellate Court, the highest court of the Hopi Nation.   More »

Fascinated by China? Check out the China Beat blog, recently named one of the "Best of the China Blogs" by The Wall Street Journal. Contributors include UC Irvine history professors Kenneth Pomeranz, Yong Chen and Jeffrey Wasserstrom (pictured). Based at UCI and edited by doctoral student Kate Merkel-Hess, the news and analysis blog features posts on a variety of topics, including contemporary Chinese life, the 2008 Olympic games and Chinese/Tibetan relations. Other contributors include graduate students Nicole Barnes, Pierre Fuller, Xia Shi and Maura Cunningham. The China Beat: Blogging How the East is Read can be found at thechinabeat.blogspot.com.   More »

Each year, the nation’s top law firms spend 3 to 5 percent of their time on pro bono work. That figure has inspired UC Irvine sociology graduate student Steven Boutcher to study the influence law firms have on social movements through the causes they choose to represent. Boutcher has received a $10,600 award from the National Science Foundation to analyze pro bono cases taken on by top firms over the past 10 years and determine whether patterns exist in the types of causes firms represent. "A significant chunk of social change is driven by elite lawyers in large law firms," says Boutcher, who notes that pro bono work has more than doubled across the nation's top 200 firms since 1998.   More »

When it comes to faculty gender equity, academia earns a “needs improvement,” according to a new UC Irvine study. "Gender inequities and discrimination toward women in academia exist both at the individual and institutional level,” said Kristen Monroe, political science and philosophy professor and director of the Interdisciplinary Center for the Scientific Study of Ethics and Morality, who interviewed female faculty at UCI for the study. She found the culture devalues the authority of women in high-level positions and leaves little room for flexible work-family alternatives, and the issues are not unique to the campus. Published in the June issue of the American Political Science Association’s Perspectives of Politics, the study was funded in part by the National Science Foundation ADVANCE program, which seeks to increase the representation and advancement of women in academia.   More »

David Snow, Chancellor's Professor of Sociology at UC Irvine, will receive the 2008 Lee Founders Award from the Society for the Study of Social Problems at the society’s annual meeting in Boston Aug. 1. Snow is widely recognized for his work on homelessness and social movements. His 1993 book, Down on Their Luck: A Study of Homeless Street People, co-authored with Leon Anderson, received a number of awards, including Best Book of the Year from the Pacific Sociological Association. He’s now studying homelessness in Los Angeles, Paris, Tokyo and Sao Paulo, and plans to publish his findings in a book.   More »

Nearly 400,000 Russians die each year due to heart disease, but a study by a recent UC Irvine graduate found that about 5 percent of such deaths could be avoided by the year 2025 if the country strengthens its environmental standards. "A poor environment can lead to a number of cardiovascular-related health problems, resulting in death at a younger age," says Natalia Milovantseva, a Demographic and Social Analysis program graduate. "In Russia, if laws for air, water and environmental quality continue to go unenforced, the cost will be measured in lives lost." A Russian native, Milovantseva received the 2008 Southern California Edison Award for Research on Energy and the Environment in recognition of her study. The $1,000 award will help fund her next research venture as she moves on to the UCI School of Social Ecology's environmental analysis and design doctoral program in the fall.   More »

Like Margaret Mead before him, UC Irvine associate professor of anthropology Tom Boellstorff understands the value of cultural immersion. But instead of Samoan villages, Boellstorff spent two years "living" in the online virtual world of Second Life, a community where businesses, homes, money and relationships are created through the click of a mouse. What he learned about human culture is detailed in his new book, "Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human," available now at the campus bookstore. The book is reviewed in the current issue of Scientific American and will be officially released June 18 following a virtual celebration in Second Life's Cetus Gallery District.   More »

UC Irvine anthropology professor Kristin Peterson will travel to France, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Malawai and parts of the U.S. to begin a National Science Foundation-funded study of the ethical and scientific issues surrounding international clinical drug trials. Peterson will perform a three-year study on the implementation, effectiveness and perception of a 2004 clinical trial for the HIV drug Tenofovir. The trial was shut down due to ethical and scientific questions surrounding the study, and Peterson and her research partners will examine the causes for its termination. A preliminary survey revealed some disturbing information, according to Peterson. "Four out of five participants who signed informed consent forms didn't actually know they were part of a study," she says. "Many viewed the program as free healthcare and mistakenly understood that the 'preventative' drug would keep them from contracting HIV."   More »

Is personal Internet use at work strictly the domain of low-paid employees? A recent study co-written by UC Irvine political science professor James Danziger offers some surprising findings about who spends the most time surfing the Web on company time. According to the study, "cyberslacking" is more frequent among those with higher workplace status. In particular, highly paid managers and professionals, as well as employees with greater workplace autonomy, spend substantially more time online for personal purposes during the workday than those below them in the workplace hierarchy. The study also found men are more likely to use the Internet for non-work purposes than women. The study appears in the Journal Cyberpsychology and Behavior.   More »

Edwin Amenta, UC Irvine sociology professor, has received a $150,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study the rise, decline and persistence of social movement organizations throughout the last century. Armenta will track changes within and across social movements using coverage from national newspapers to determine which movements and organizations have received the most media attention and what accounts for their media coverage. Armenta's study will serve as the first long-term mapping of social movements that have impacted public sentiment over the last 100-plus years. The program will cover a two-year period.   More »

UC Irvine has created a new research institute dedicated to the study of how the environment and society interact. The new endeavor – called the UC Irvine Environment Institute: Global Change, Energy and Sustainable Resources – will bring together scientists from across campus to work on projects specific to these areas. For example, projects could include studying how climate change will alter public health and welfare; whether people will accept the living patterns of green cities; and the environmental impacts of new energy technologies. Michael Prather (pictured), the Fred Kavli Chair and professor of Earth system science, will be the institute’s inaugural director.   More »

Joseph L. White, UC Irvine professor emeritus of social science, has been named San Francisco State University's 2008 Alumnus of the Year. He will be honored at the university's 107th annual commencement May 24. White has been widely recognized for his extensive contributions to psychology and is a founding member of the Association of Black Psychologists. He is considered by many the 'father' of black psychology and a pioneer in changing psychology to respect and understand the black community. In 2004, he received the UCI Alumni Association's highest honor --the Lauds and Laurels Extraordinarius Award. He is highly regarded for his teaching, research and mentoring of generations of students.   More »

Rein Taagepera, professor emeritus of political science at UC Irvine, has been awarded the Johan Skytte Prize for his analysis of the function of electoral systems in representative democracy. The Skytte Foundation is based at Uppsala University in Sweden and awards the prize annually to the scholar who has made the most valuable contribution to political science. Taagepera will accept the award and a $75,000 prize at a ceremony in Sweden in September.   More »

Elizabeth Loftus, Distinguished Professor of Social Ecology at UC Irvine, will receive an honorary doctorate in philosophy from the University of Oslo. The university is honoring Loftus for her achievements in the study of memory -- specifically the malleable nature of the human mind. The doctorate recognizes significant scientific contribution or work of outstanding quality furthering the scientific endeavor. Loftus will accept the award at a gala dinner in Oslo in September.   More »

Arab American women, while highly educated, often have lower levels of employment than women of other racial or ethnic groups, according to a new study by UC Irvine sociologist Jen'nan Read. Read's findings suggest that cultural and familial traditions -- rather than career aspirations -- are a driving force behind Arab American women's motivation to obtain college degrees. "Arab Americans place a strong emphasis on higher education for women," Read said. "However, they stress education not as a means toward achieving a high-powered career as is often the case with U.S. women, but more as a resource to ensure that women can properly teach their children while caring for the family and maintaining their religious and ethnic identity." The study will be published in the April issue of the American Sociological Review.   More »

Barbara Sarnecka, cognitive sciences professor at UC Irvine, has been awarded a two-year, $152,000 grant from the National Institute of Health to study early childhood education. Sarnecka and her research team will work with preschool-age children and direct different education games in which the youngsters perform cognitive tasks such as counting different objects and grouping them into different boxes. Their goal is to determine how and when children start learning number concepts. "Children learn to count at a very young age," Sarnecka said, "but the conceptual understanding of what the number words actually mean comes later." Parents with children under age four who are interested in participating may visit www.cogsci.uci.edu/cogdev/index.html, call 949-824-5492 or e-mail cogdev@uci.edu.   More »

New research by UC Irvine political science professor Bernard Grofman suggests shifts in political party control over the U.S. House, Senate and Presidency occur roughly every 14 years. The study, published in the February issue of the American Political Science Review, found that cycles of support for the Republican or Democratic parties, and the shifts in party control that accompany them, occur more frequently than previously thought. Conventional wisdom has been that party dominance cycles roughly every 30 years. Grofman's study, conducted with Samuel Merrill, III (Wilkes University) and Thomas Brunell (University of Texas at Dallas), explores party dominance from 1856-2006 and looks at whether realignment cycles actually exist; if change is random or regular and whether the cycle interval is the same for the U.S. House, Senate, and Presidency; and whether observers can identify the forces that drive these cycles. According to the study, the recent Republican ascendancy is likely soon to be replaced by Democratic ascendancy.   More »

Susan Greenhalgh, professor of anthropology at UC Irvine, has written a new book called Just One Child: Science and Policy in Deng's China. The author argues that scientific policymaking by a team of aerospace engineers led directly to widespread social suffering while giving birth to a technoscientific state. Greenhalgh draws on 20 years of research into China's population politics to explain how a nation of one billion decided to limit all couples to one child. The book has been called "remarkably well-researched and thoughtful" by Peter L. Galison, history of science professor at Harvard University. The book was published by University of California Press.   More »

UC Irvine economics professors Francesca Mazzolari (pictured) and David Neumark have received a $35,000 Labor and Employment Research Fund award from the UC Office of the President to study the economic impact Asian and Hispanic immigrants have on local communities. Using data from population and business surveys, Mazzolari and Neumark's study will be one of the first to look at the effects of immigration in terms of increases in product and service demands -- a point they argue may actually be helping communities with large immigrant populations. "Our project will estimate to what extent immigrants raise the demand for U.S. workers through their consumption and the induced rise in product and labor demand," Mazzolari said. The project will span about one year, ending in December.   More »

UC Irvine political science professor Bernard Grofman will be the inaugural Jack W. Peltason Endowed Chair, named for the former UC president and UC Irvine Chancellor. The chair was established in November with a $1 million donation. Grofman also is the new director of the Center for the Study of Democracy. A leading authority on representation, voting rights and redistricting, Grofman has served as an expert witness in key court cases around the country. His current research focuses on how the U.S. compares with other major democracies in terms of institutions, values and public policies. He plans to continue his research in this area with funds established through the Peltason Chair.   More »

UC Irvine anthropology chair Bill Maurer shows that money has meaning beyond commerce in a new slide show produced by the Orange County Register. In a piece titled "Did you know... money isn't always simply money" Maurer discusses cultural, religious and ritualistic practices involving money in Orange County's ethnic communities. Maurer is an expert on various aspects of finance, from Islamic banking to offshore financial services centers in the Caribbean. He teaches a course on the anthropology of money.   More »

Etel Solingen, political science professor at UC Irvine, is receiving positive attention from international policymakers and the press for her recent book, Nuclear Logics: Contrasting Paths in East Asia and the Middle East. A range of experts have praised the book, including former UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix, who called it a "valuable and timely contribution" to the debate over curbing nuclear-weapons proliferation. Solingen also has been invited to speak on nuclear issues at the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique (Paris), the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry (Moscow, Russia), the Center for Security Studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Zurich), Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and UCLA's Burkle Center for International Relations, among many others.   More »

Lindsay Hopkins was selected the new political director to the Democratic Party of Orange County Monday, Dec. 17. A recent graduate of UC Irvine, she received her bachelor's in political science and had been an intern at the DPOC for the past year. "From her work with California Public Interest Research Group as a student to her work for the party as a volunteer organizer, she demonstrates a comprehensive skill set and an ability to grow with experience," said Melahat Rafiei, DPOC executive director. "We all look forward to working with her." Hoffman said she wants to help develop Democratic leadership in Orange County and build bridges between groups with common goals. "This position gives me the unique opportunity to turn my volunteer path into a career path," she said   More »

Andrea Ballestero, a second-year anthropology graduate student at UC Irvine, will travel to the coastal community of Cocles, Costa Rica, next month to study its innovative system of water pricing based on the collective purchasing power of its residents. A driving force behind Ballestero's research is the fact that 4 out of 10 people in the world lack access to water. The trip is made possible by fellowships from the Center for Unconventional Security Affairs at UCI and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. In Costa Rica, Ballestero will study a national subsidy program that covers water bills for people living under the poverty line to see if it has been successful in providing water to the poor and can be implemented in other areas.   More »

Dave Morris, a graduate student in UCI’s MFA fiction writing program, has won a $25,000 Literature Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. The fellowship recognizes writers and provides funding for them to produce new work. Morris has worked in a television factory, as a rock climbing guide, a bike messenger, a photographer and a Marine infantry officer. He has covered the war in Iraq for Salon.com and the Virginia Quarterly Review since 2003 as an embedded reporter, and is currently working on a memoir of the Iraq war. Morris is author of Storm on the Horizon: Khafji—The Battle that Changed the Course of the Gulf War (Free Press). His piece, published in the Virginia Quarterly Review and titled “The Big Suck: Notes from the Jarhead Underground” was chosen for The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2007.   More »

Tom Boellstorff, associate professor of anthropology at UC Irvine, has been selected by the American Anthropological Association to edit its flagship journal, American Anthropologist. The 109-year-old publication features academic articles, commentaries and reviews related to anthropology. Boellstorff's research focuses on gay and lesbian studies, HIV/AIDS in Indonesia and Internet and virtual communities. He will publish a book next year titled Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human (Princeton University Press), in which he explores issues like gender, race, sex, money, conflict and antisocial behavior in the virtual world.   More »

A new study by UC Irvine psychologist Elizabeth Loftus shows that digitally altered photos influence our memories and attitudes toward public events. In the study, 299 participants viewed doctored and original photos depicting the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest in Beijing and a 2003 anti-war protest in Rome. Those who viewed the digitally altered photos remembered the events as being bigger and more violent than they really were, suggesting that viewing doctored photographs might affect people’s memories of past public events.The study, published in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology, was designed by Loftus along with University of Padua researchers Franca Agnoli and Dario Sacchi.   More »

Face-to-face canvassing of low-income and minority communities dramatically increases voter turnout within these historically low voter participation populations, according to a new study released by the James Irvine Foundation. Researchers, including UC Irvine professor Lisa Garcia Bedolla (pictured), found other personal contact outreach methods - including live phone calls - to be much more effective at turning out the vote than direct mail, recorded phone messages and other commonly used voter mobilization tactics. The James Irvine Foundation launched the California Voter Initiative in 2006 as a multi-year effort to increase voter participation in targeted areas and evaluate nonpartisan strategies for increasing voting rates.   More »

Henry Pontell, Criminology, Law & Society professor at UC Irvine, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture and conduct research at the University of Macau, China. Pontell will research economic crime and the region's casino gambling industry, teach a course on international white-collar and corporate crime, and advise the university's sociology department on curriculum issues. Pontell is one of about 800 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright Scholar Program. The purpose of the program is to build mutual understanding between people of the United States and the rest of the world.   More »

John Dombrink, professor of Criminology, Law & Society at UC Irvine, has co-authored a book examining morally and politically charged issues titled Sin No More: From Abortion to Stem Cells, Understanding Crime, Law, and Morality in America. The book explores laws and attitudes regarding gay rights, assisted suicide, stem cell research and legalized gambling to show how public opinion of these issues has evolved over time. Dombrink co-authored the book with Daniel Hillyard, assistant professor of Law & Society at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. The book is published by New York University Press.   More »

Roberto G. Gonzales, a doctoral candidate in the UC Irvine Department of Sociology, has published a study in support of the recently defeated Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) act in the latest Immigrant Policy Center publication. Gonzales' study cited the potential benefits of the act for 360,000 high school graduates. The bill, which would have created a path to citizenship for children of illegal immigrants if they attended college or enlisted in the military, failed to pass a procedural vote in the U.S. Senate Wednesday, Oct. 24. Gonzales joined UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau and Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill) in a national news conference Tuesday to support the act.   More »

James Diego Vigil, professor of criminology, law & society at UC Irvine, will receive the Robert B. Textor and Family Prize for Excellence in Anticipatory Anthropology from the American Anthropological Association. The association will recognize Vigil’s fieldwork focusing on poor youth in Latino immigrant communities in Southern California. Vigil studies gang membership, patterns of educational achievement and parental involvement. He will receive the award at the association’s 106th annual meeting Nov. 28 in Washington, DC. The 10,000-member association is the world’s largest professional organization of anthropologists.   More »

Kenneth Small, professor emeritus of economics at UC Irvine, is the subject of a special issue of the Journal of Urban Economics, which published a selection of essays in his honor. Small was named a fellow of the Regional Science Association International in 2006 and was recently recognized as the 2007 UC Irvine Lauds & Laurels Faculty Achievement honoree. He is best known for his work on how charging drivers a toll can reduce congested highways.   More »

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a 2007-08 state budget Aug. 24 that includes funding for student enrollments, faculty and staff compensation, academic preparation programs, and key research initiatives at the University of California. “We greatly appreciate the support the governor and Legislature have provided in this budget for the teaching, research and public service missions of the University of California,” said UC President Robert C. Dynes. “In a challenging budget year, our state’s elected leaders have made an important decision to continue investing in the promise and impact of public higher education.” Under the final spending plan, UC’s state-funded budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 will total $3.27 billion, an increase of $196 million or 6.4 percent over the prior year.   More »

The hosts of the Kevin and Bean morning show on KROQ 106.7 FM spoke for about 10 minutes Wednesday, July 25, to Ted Huntington, a programmer analyst with UC Irvine's Science Library. The subject? You name it. Huntington covered everything from his antipathy for violence to the importance of science education. Huntington came to the attention of the rock jocks because of the more than 40 questions he posted on YouTube for the Democratic presidential debate. To see some of his videos, go to   More »

Despite years working with troubled teens, psychologist Elizabeth Cauffman was surprised by the results of her new survey of kids in juvenile detention centers. Detained girls face very different psychological issues than average teen girls and, in some ways, more severe problems than incarcerated boys. Although girls generally internalize problems, Cauffman found that girls in detention are twice as likely as boys to externalize problems with aggression or anger, and just as likely as boys to report worrisome levels of alcohol or drug use. The study, which appears in the July issue of Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, will help state officials and staff members at youth correctional facilities better understand the mental health of troubled teens in their care.   More »

In his new essay collection, China’s Brave New World – And Other Tales for Global Times (Indiana University Press), history professor Jeffrey Wasserstrom shares with readers his unique experiences and observations of Chinese cultural changes. Part memoir, part history lesson, China’s Brave New World takes a deliberately non-academic tone as Wasserstrom recounts his visits to Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Nanjing, Taipei – 10 trips in the last 20 years – seeking better understanding of China’s past and future. Wasserstrom warns against simple interpretations of the changes he’s observed, such as Mickey Mouse becoming a beloved household figure or McDonald's becoming a popular restaurant for special-occasion dinners. This does not signify the Americanization of China, Wasserstrom says. China’s history, like the history of globalization, is complex, nuanced and “messy.”   More »

Jeanett Castellanos, a lecturer in UC Irvine’s Social Sciences and Chicano/Latino Studies and director of the Social Sciences Academic Resource Center, was named recipient of the Samuel M. Turner MENTOR Award by the American Psychological Association. MENTOR stands for Minority Education, Nurturing, Training, Organizational advocacy and Research. The award honors a psychology faculty member who has demonstrated a commitment to teaching and training clinical psychologists to work more effectively with ethnic minority clinical populations. Castellanos, who earned bachelor's degrees in psychology and sociology from UCI in 1994, will receive the award during the APA convention in San Francisco this August.   More »

A study by researchers at the Center for Evidence-based Corrections found that 4 percent of the 322 surveyed inmates report being sexually assaulted in California prisons. Among transgendered inmates, 59 percent reported being sexually assaulted while incarcerated -- 13 times more than the general prison population. In general, inmates were at greater risk of being raped if they were non-heterosexual, black, had mental health problems or were of smaller stature. The researchers found that most sexual assaults in prison were not related to gang or racial dynamics. By helping officials better understand the rate and causes of assault in prison, the study contributes to the goal of the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003, which is to reduce, prevent and respond to inmate-on-inmate sexual assault in California correctional facilities. Valerie Jenness, study author and professor of criminology, law and society, is presenting the research in a San Francisco trial for a transgendered inmate who reported being assaulted repeatedly in state prison.   More »

Scott Bollens, respected for his research in the world’s most conflicted and chaotic regions, assumed UC Irvine’s endowed chair dedicated to researching pathways to peace and international cooperation effective July 1. Bollens, a professor of planning, policy and design, has traveled the globe interviewing more than 220 urban professionals in places such as Jerusalem, Belfast, Johannesburg, Sarajevo and Spain’s Basque region. His research reveals how local city planners can help ameliorate major inter-group conflicts nationally. The Drew, Chace, and Erin Warmington Chair in the Social Ecology of Peace and International Cooperation -- which Bollens will fill -- was created in 1989 by a donation from Robert and Lori Warmington of Corona del Mar, and was named for their three children.   More »

Min Ouyang, assistant professor of economics at UC Irvine, recently received a fellowship sponsored by the American Economics Association and the National Science Foundation. Designed to increase the participation and advancement of women and underrepresented minorities in economics, the fellowship will allow Ouyang to spend this summer at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. While there, she will participate as a member of the research department and continue work on two of her research projects, “The Virtues of Bad Times Revisited: Theory and Evidence on Cyclical Innovation” and “Labor Reallocation, Business Cycles, and Labor Market Institutions.”   More »

Susan Turner, professor of criminology, law and society, and associate director of UC Irvine's Center for Evidence-Based Corrections, has been appointed to serve on the new California Rehabilitation Oversight Board. Created by the state legislature, the 11-member board is responsible for examining the various mental health, substance abuse, educational and employment programs for inmates and parolees operated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Turner was appointed by University of California President Robert C. Dynes, who was asked to select one faculty member from the UC system who has expertise in rehabilitation of criminal offenders. The board meets for the first time Tuesday, June 19.   More »

Jen’nan Ghazal Read, sociology assistant professor, has won a scholar-in-residence grant from the Albert and Elaine Borchard Foundation that will send her to a castle in the French countryside for scholarly work. Read will spend fall 2007 completing publications about her research on Muslim-American political incorporation in the idyllic setting of Chateau de la Bretesche in Missillac, France. She is one of just two scholars selected annually for this prestigious program, which aims to give faculty a home base for completing research and writing for scholarly publications. Read spent last year as a Carnegie Scholar analyzing national data on Muslim-American political incorporation.   More »

The count is complete: A May 27 event raised more than $145,000 to support guest speakers, cultural events and undergraduate research projects in Middle East studies at UC Irvine. Guest of honor Tony Shalhoub, star of the USA Network show “Monk,” expressed his support for the Middle East Studies Student Initiative program, which aims to generate support for a comprehensive Middle East education program on campus. Comedians Maz Jobrani and Aron Kader entertained the 100 businessmen and women, scholars and students in attendance.   More »

Tom Boellstorff, associate professor of anthropology, has been named editor-in-chief of American Anthropologist, the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association. Published for 109 years, the journal features academic articles, commentaries and reviews related to the field. It is sent to all 12,000 association members and major research university libraries across the country.   More »

UCI’s Center for Citizen Peacebuilding is asking for help calling for the release of Ali Shakeri, a founding member of the center and a local businessman who has been jailed in Iran for two weeks. Since 2000, Shakeri has been involved with UCI’s center, which promotes peace around the world through research, education and action. The center and Human Rights Watch are encouraging Shakeri’s supporters and other concerned citizens to write to the Iranian mission at the United Nations, requesting his release. All letters must be submitted from individuals in a personal capacity, not as representatives of UCI.   More »

The Asian Business Association of Orange County honored four members of the UCI community at its annual Asian Pacific American Month Celebration May 12 in Irvine. Janet Nguyen ’00, Orange County supervisor, won the Community Leader Award; Anne Frank, Southeast Asian Archive founding librarian, and Linda Trinh Vo (pictured), Asian American studies associate professor, received Role Model Awards; and Diana Nguyen, Vietnamese American Coalition president, received the Outstanding Student Award.   More »

Jen'nan Read, assistant professor of sociology, has won a scholar-in-residency grant from the Albert and Elaine Borchard Foundation that will send her to a castle in the French countryside for scholarly work. Read will spend fall 2007 completing publications about her research on Muslim-American political incorporation in the idyllic setting of Chateau de la Bretesche in Missillac, France. She is one of just two scholars selected annually for this prestigious program, which aims to give faculty a home base for completing research and writing for scholarly publications. Read spent last year as a Carnegie Scholar analyzing national data on Muslim-American political incorporation.   More »

Sociology lecturer Chuck O’Connell was recently selected as the graduating senior class’s Outstanding Professor in the social sciences. This marks the ninth year O’Connell has been named Outstanding Professor, quite an accomplishment for a lecturer who has only been with the university for 12 years. Other honorees include Catherine M. Famiglietti, mathematics lecturer; Jennifer J. Fisher, dance assistant professor; Michael Franz, computer science associate professor; Michael McCarthy, mechanical and aerospace engineering professor; Lauren M. Steimer, film and media studies lecturer; Cameron J. Talley, criminology, law and society lecturer; and Arthur Weis, ecology and evolutionary biology professor.   More »

Economist Marianne Bitler was recently named a faculty research fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research, the nation's leading nonprofit economic research organization. Bitler, who will serve on NBER's Program on Children, studies social insurance programs and the impact of welfare reforms on women and children. An assistant professor of economics, she is the fourth UCI faculty member to join the NBER.   More »

Harvard University's Graham Allison will discuss what he considers the imminent threat of nuclear terrorism on American soil in his talk, "Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe," at the 16th annual Margolis Lecture at 5 p.m. on Monday, May 21 in Social Science Lecture Hall 100. A former advisor in the Department of Defense under presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, Allison has the the unique distinction of twice having been awarded the Department of Defense's highest civilian award. At Harvard, he founded the John F. Kennedy School of Government, which he developed from a small program into a major profesional school of public policy and government.   More »

Although young men have tended to be associated with alcohol-related crashes, young women are beginning to show an alarming increase in fatal automobile crashes related to alcohol use and a failure to use seatbelts, according to a study led by Dr. Virginia Tsai and emergency medicine physicians with the Center for Trauma & Injury Prevention Research at UC Irvine. Results showed that over a 10-year period (1995-2004) women began to “catch up” to men in risky behaviors related to alcohol use and driving. In addition, they found while seatbelt use increased for both young men and women, the increase for women was smaller.   More »

While considering comprehensive immigration reform, Congress called on UC Irvine sociology professor Rubén Rumbaut, a leading scholar on assimilation of immigrants and their children. He testified Wednesday, May 16, before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law at a special hearing, “Becoming Americans – U.S. Immigrant Integration,” in Washington, D.C. Rumbaut is the author of the award-winning Legacies: The Story of the Immigrant Second Generation, and is currently leading a major study about social mobility of immigrants in Los Angeles.   More »

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has appointed UC Irvine professor Joan Petersilia to a “strike team” to implement statewide prison reform. Petersilia, an expert on prisoner re-entry, will serve on the Rehabilitation Strike Team, which is charged with developing rehab classes for prisoners and evaluating existing education, training and substance abuse programs. Petersilia directs UCI’s Center for Evidence-based Corrections and has advised the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations in recent years.   More »

Former President Jimmy Carter called on UC Irvine students Thursday to make peace in the Middle East their passion and to demand action from congressional and presidential candidates in the 2008 election. "Long-term prospects for peace in the Middle East are not discouraging," he told a crowd of students, faculty and staff in the Bren Events Center, but he added that the issue is not debated enough in the national arena. Missed the talk? Hear the former president and the question and answers session at www.kuci.org.   More »

New research from a UCI economist suggests that Southwest Airlines exploits its low-cost reputation with last-minute travelers who feel they don’t have time to shop around. In a survey of ticket prices for 238 routes, economist Volodymyr Bilotkach found that the cheapest last-minute fares on Orbitz.com averaged $34.46 -- 8.5 percent -- less than comparable deals available through Southwest, which is known for its low prices. Southwest sells most of its tickets online but does not make its fares available via major online travel agents such as Orbtiz or Travelocity, which allow customers to compare prices.   More »