Announcements

Social Science Survey Center Releases Findings from the Third Annual 'Central Coast Survey:' The 2008 Central Coast Survey, a large-scale public-opinion poll of residents in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, asks residents a variety of issues affecting quality of life in the region. Read about the report's key conclusions.

New Endowed Chair in International Security Studies: UC Santa Barbara has received a $600,000 gift from UCSB alumnus Anton Vonk and his wife, Diane Boss, to establish an endowed chair in political science.

Economics to Host American Economic Association Summer (AEA) Program
Ssponsored by the AEA and the National Science Foundation, the summer program seeks to prepare talented undergraduate students for doctoral programs in economics and related disciplines.

Walter and Thelma Mead Establish Economics Endowed Chair: Economics Professor Emeritus, Walter J. Mead, and his wife, Thelma, have made a $1 million gift to endow a chair in Economics.

New Feminist Studies program approved! Women's Studies will begin recruiting students for the new M.A./Ph.D. program this fall.

Sara Miller McCune and SAGE Publications Establish Endowed Chair for UCSB Dean of Social Sciences: UC Santa Barbara has received a $500,000 gift from Sara Miller McCune and SAGE Publications Inc. to establish an endowed chair for the dean of social sciences. The gift will support the teaching, research, and special activities of Melvin L. Oliver, a distinguished UCSB professor of sociology and dean of the social sciences. In honor of the gift, the leadership position will be known as the SAGE Sara Miller McCune Dean of Social Sciences.

Verta Taylor, Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology at UC Santa Barbara, receives the John D. McCarthy Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Scholarship of Social Movements and Collective Behavior.

American Association for the Advancement of Science Names Fellows: Barbara Herr Harthorn, Associate Professor of Women's Studies and Director of the Center for Nanotechnnology in Society, was named 2008 Fellow for contributions in bringing together scientists, social scientists, policymakers, and the general public to gain awareness and understanding of the risks and opportunities in science and technology.

Mellichamp Academic Initiative,
Four Endowed Chairs to Join Faculty:
UC Santa Barbara is pleased to announce the creation of four distinguished professorships, two in the social sciences and two in the humanities, that will be clustered around the study of global civil society.

In the News

L.A. Times: 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
Policy is Reexamined
Aaron Belkin, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Michael D. Palm Center, comments on the 1993 law that prohibits gays and lesbians from openly serving in the military.

San Diego Union-Tribune: What Would Environmentalists do with ANWR? Matthew Kotchen, Assistant Professor of Economics, discusses "To drill or not to drill?"

ABC NEWS: Military Gays Don't Undermine Unit Cohesion
UCSB's Michael D. Palm Center sponsors study conducted by four retired military officers. Anne Flaherty from the Associate Press reports, "Gay troops unlikely to hurt a unit's ability to fight, study by retired military officers."

An Archaelogist Whips Indy: Professor Says Jones Breaks All the Rules (But Fulfills Some Fantasies): Brian Fagan, UCSB Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, comments on Indiana Jones and the profession of archaeology in the May 24, 2008, Wall Street Journal.

U.S. News & World Report: Sociology receives top rankings in Sex & Gender and Sociology of Culture.

U.S. News & World Report: UC Santa Barbara's Global & International Studies program is featured in the March issue, Best Graduate Schools, "How an International Approach Can Help Your Degree," by Diane Cole.

Laguna Beach's Lucky Schools Escape State's Funding Crunch: Jon Sonstelie, Professor of Economics, educates readers about school financing in the LA TIMES.

Ageist Language Affects Workplace Productivity, Profits: Howard Giles, Professor of Communication, discusses the role of ageist language and how it plays in age-discrimination lawsuits in the April 2008 issue of Occupational Hazards, the authority on occupational safety, health, and loss prevention.

In the News

THE UNION TRIBUNE (San Diego) : Military's Policy Stays Unchanged: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Doesn't Allow Nuptials Steve Liewer reports about the California Supreme Court's decision to allow same-sex marriage and the 1993 federal statute goveerning homosexuality and military service.

Chinese Americans Divided on Olympic Torch: Professor Pei-te Lien, Professor of Political Science, discusses the issueswith Sachi Fujimori, PBS New Hour.

Learning from Our Arid Past: Anthropology Professor Emeritus, Brian Fagan, writes about "More Droughts, Less Water--Our Future Depends on Adapting to Scarcity," in the LA TIMES. More

First-Class Honor for Brave Latino Journalist: The San Francisco Chronicle explores Ruben Salazar's career with UCSB Professor of History and Chicana and Chicano Studies, Mario Garcia.

HispanicBusiness.com: Sociology Professor Jon Cruz comments on pushing populist buttons in "Vodka Advertisement in Mexico Causes Uproar," by Leanndra Martinez.

The New York Times: Columnist Nicholas Kristof explores, "Our Racist, Sexist Selves," with John Tooby, Professor of Anthroplogy. Is racism easier to override than sexism?