All in the family page 12
VOLUME 45, ISSUE 52
WWW.UCSDGUARDIAN.ORG
THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2012
Academic affairs
hiatus
Gaining (Remote) Control Major Changes for Comm. Students The department lowers its major requirements from 15 classes to 13 and eases prerequisites for elective courses. By Zev HurwITz Associate News Editor
BY REN EBEL | HIATUS EDITOR — Drones are on the mind this month at Calit2. As user-friendly robotics and teleoperated technology have become staples of modern warfronts, films, hospitals and households, the domestication of what was once science fiction is now a point of debate among contemporary artists, engineers and researchers. See DRONES Page 6 Science and technology
A.S. Council
Researchers Make Breakthrough Council Adjusts in Treating Lou Gehrig’s Disease Committee System By Ayan Kusari Staff Writer
Senators pass new fourcommittee system to promote efficiency and accountability within council affairs. By Nicole Chan Associate News Editor A.S. Council will implement a new four-committee system starting Week 7 of Spring Quarter with its newly elected council. The committee system will change from its current structure of finance and campus-wide affairs committees to incorporate a new system composed of rules, finance, See Bylaws, page 3
UCSD scientists announced last week that a metabolism-boosting protein, PCG-1α, may help restore cell function in individuals afflicted by Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Lou Gehrig’s disease, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a progressive, fatal, adult-onset disease that occurs in roughly 0.0015 percent of the human population, and roughly the same percent of the population in mice — the model organism that was used in the UCSD study. About 5,500 people die from ALS each year. Humans afflicted with ALS generally begin to see symptoms in their late forties and live only three to five years after diagnosis. Most mice begin exhibiting symptoms of ALS at three or four months, and live a few weeks at most. The medication Rilutek is the only extant treatment for ALS aside from pain medication. Rilutek can extend survival times for many late stage ALS
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I put everything out on the line and I won. ” Jackie Rose
UCSD Track and Field Senior Sprints Captain
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patients by months. It does not provide any relief from symptoms. A faulty enzyme, copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD1) is implicated in both mouse and human ALS. How a faulty copy of SOD1 causes ALS remains unknown, however. The researchers tested the muscle and cardiovascular functioning of the mice to see if there were any significant physiological differences between normal mice that didn’t have ALS and ALS-positive mice that were injected with the gene for PCG-1α. ALS-positive mice of both varieties were also made to run on small treadmills until they fell off and even electrical shocks would not compel them to get back up and keep running. The team used two dyes, hematoxylin and eosin, to determine what fraction muscle cells in a tissue were actively performing mitosis at a given time. ALS-positive mice that had not received any treatment demonstrated slower response times, diminished
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endurance and reduced rate of mitosis, or cell reproduction. ALS-positive mice that had been treated with PCG1α, on the other hand, demonstrated none of these deficiencies. In fact, they performed as well on the fitness tests as normal mice without ALS. However, though they did not exhibit any symptoms of ALS, the mice treated with PCG-1α died just as early as the other ALS-positive mice: there was no significant difference in survival time. Despite this, the researchers said they are optimistic. One of the most heart-wrenching aspects of ALS is the suffering that patients face from diminished muscle function. In their paper, published in the May 2012 issue of Cell Metabolism, the researchers concluded that compounds including PGC-1α “increase muscle function, reduce atrophy and improve daily physical activity, thus resulting in a better quality of life for patients.” Readers can contact Ayan Kusari at akusari@ucsd.edu.
The UCSD communication department unveiled a new curriculum last week that lowers the number of required classes and eases elective restrictions for communication majors. Critical Gender Studies chair Patrick Anderson, along with several communication faculty members, announced the changes, effective Fall 2012, at a town hall on May 2. Students who have already taken communication classes will be able to apply them to the new requirements without needing to make changes retroactively. The communication major is originally 15 classes; the new curriculum lowers the number of required classes to 13 by removing one upperdivision and one lower-division course requirement. Undergraduate communication courses, which had been divided into general (COGN), culture (COCU), social force (COSF), human interaction (COHI) and media methods (COMT), will now run entirely under the four-letter code COMM. Students will now only need to take Introduction to Communication to fulfill lower-division requirements as opposed to the current two. After completing any two introductory upper-division courses, students will be cleared to take electives. Students can take up to three intermediate electives, or courses labeled COMM 101-119, and at least five Advanced Electives, which are listed as COMM 120-189. According to Anderson, the communication curriculum is nearly 30 years old and needs adjustments to reflect changing times. “We’re instituting these changes because the faculty has changed dramatically,” he said. “This curriculum is no longer applicable.” Communication Department Student Services Coordinator Jamie Lloyd said that the new curriculum would also make it easier for students to register for courses.
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FRIday Height: 1 ft. Wind: 3-10 mph Water Temp: 64 F
SATURDAY Height: 1 ft. Wind: 3-10 mph Water Temp: 64 F
SUNday Height: 0.5-1 ft. Wind: 3-12 mph Water Temp: 64 F
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INSIDE Pun Time................................2 New Business.........................3 At Wit’s End............................4 Letters to the Editor................4 Peanut Butter and Telly..........6 Sudoku...................................9 Sports...................................12