VILLAGE NEWS
Scott Appleby & Kerry ApplebyPayne
LA JOLLA
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THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2011
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www.SDNEWS.com Volume 16, Number 37
Ancient bones a grave matter for UCSD, tribes BY KENDRA HARTMANN | VILLAGE NEWS In the mid-1970s, there were no archeologists working for the University of California, San Diego. Archeology, in fact, didn’t make an appearance at UCSD until 1991. That’s why, when human bones were found eroding out of the earth on the grounds of UCSD’s University House — home to the UCSD chancellor — in 1976, the university turned to Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) and former SIO researcher Jeffrey Bada, who was developing a dating method using human bone. An archeological excavation revealed a surplus of bones, including a rare burial site containing two 9,000-year-old bodies buried together. The anthro-
pological significance of such a find was evident, so a group was formed to study and test the bones. Gail Kennedy, a skeletal biologist at UCLA, recovered the skeletons and began a long study of the remains, followed by a short paper, which included basic information about the pair, such as their genders (one male, one female) and the considerable, though indeterminate, age difference between the two. Nothing else of much significance could be determined at the time. “We had no genetics, no known relationship between the two and no idea why they died,” said Margaret Schoeninger, a professor of anthropology at UCSD and Bada’s wife. “All we knew is that they
SEE BONES, Page 3
In 1976, an ancient double burial was uncovered on the grounds of the chancellor’s house at UCSD. Tests on the skeletons were conducted following the discovery, but the specimens have been caught up in a web of controversy involving UCSD administration, scientists and local Native American tribes in the years since. Courtesy photos
C H I LD R E N ’ S P O O L C O N T R OV E R SY
Watermelon queens take center stage n one of the oldest traditions at the University of California, San Diego, “Watermelon Queens” Daya Raman and Shilpa Chode tossed a watermelon from atop UCSD’s Urey Hall on June 3. But their melon’s splatter came up far short of the 167-foot record, measuring only 60 feet, 2 inches. In it’s 47th year, the tradition began in 1965, when a physics professor asked students to find out the terminal velocity — the constant speed of a falling object once gravity and drag cancel each other out — of a watermelon, as well as how far the pieces would scatter. The terminal velocity, they found, was 112.
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A seal lounges at the Children’s Pool. DON BALCH | Village News
Opponents unite at LJ planning meeting Debate continues after Superior Court ruling to take down rope BY MARIKO LAMB | VILLAGE NEWS
“Watermelon Queens” Daya Raman and Shilpa Chode toss a watermelon from the seventh floor of UCSD's Urey Hall during the 47th annual Giant Watermelon Drop on June 3. The furthest splattered pieces ended up at 60 feet and 2 inches, far short of the 1974 record of 167 feet and 4 inches. Raman and Chode performed a "watermelon dance" before an amused campus crowd of about 200 before the 47th annual event. DON BALCH | Village News
Don Daneri, a representative from the city’s Park and Recreation Department, presented a city proposal to the La Jolla Community Planning Association (LJCPA) on Thursday to close the Children’s Pool beach during pupping season for seals. If adopted, a barricade would be placed in front of the pedestrian walkway that provides access to the beach area located at 850 Coast Blvd. at the end of Jenner
Street, and the beach would be closed to the public from midDecember to mid-May. Following Daneri’s announcement at the meeting, 14 community members were given two minutes each to comment on the proposal. All 14 were against it. Although arguments made by the concerned divers, parents and beachgoers were varied, they were united in one idea — SEE SEALS, Page 4