Education

Education, Media, Riverside County March 1, 2020

NYT columnist says this is ‘golden age’ of journalism at UC-Riverside lecture series

It may seem counter-intuitive considering the rapid decline of newspapers, but New York Times columnist Dave Leonhard told UC-Riverside students that “In terms of high-quality, ambitious journalism, we are living in a golden age right now.” Leonhard made that comment, and others, on Feb. 27 as he gave the 51st Hays Press-Enterprise Lecture on Feb. 27 at the UC Riverside Extension Center, 1200 University Ave, Riverside,…

California, Education, San Diego, The World, Weather March 1, 2020

Coastal wetlands protect property, study says

In coastal communities prone to hurricanes and tropical storms, people typically turn to engineered solutions for protection: levees, sea walls and the like. But a natural buffer in the form of wetlands may be the more cost-effective solution, according to new research from the University of California San Diego. In the most comprehensive study of its sort to date, UC San Diego economists show that…

Books, Education, San Marcos February 14, 2020

Zombies, vampires, witches and #MeToo

Cal State San Marcos professor Natalie Wilson wants us to look at zombies, vampires and witches as warriors for social justice. Wilson, who teaches primarily for the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Department and who has written extensively about horror in popular culture, has released a new book, “Willful Monstrosity: Gender and Race in 21st Century Horror,” examining characters in the current horror renaissance as…

Animals and pets, Education, San Diego, Tourism February 14, 2020

Baby Weedy Seadragons breeding anyone?

For the first time ever, Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego has bred and successfully hatched two rare Weedy Seadragons. This is a first for Birch Aquarium, now one of the few aquariums in the world to hatch this unusual fish. The inch-long babies display the characteristic camouflaging appendages of the elaborate adult Weedy Seadragons in miniature, and have already had…

Education, San Marcos February 12, 2020

Mismanagement plagues Palomar College

After a campus visit, a state-funded agency, the Fiscal Crisis Management Assistant Team (FCMAT) issued its November 8, 2019 report, describing Palomar College’s financial position and management practices. The news wasn’t good. The report gave the school’s Fiscal Health Risk Analysis a 44.5% rating, indicating its probability of insolvency in the near future. According to FCMAT, in two years the school will have drained all…

Education, San Marcos February 12, 2020

Palomar College president quits but will get $600,000 in salary and severance pay

Palomar College President Joi Lin Blake, who’s been on paid leave since December for unknown reasons, has agreed to quit and will walk away with more than $600,000 in pay and severance. The resignation agreement, finalized Wednesday when Blake’s attorney signed it, allows her to continue on paid leave until she officially steps down on June 30. The college district’s governing board voted 3-1 to…

Education, Entertainment, Entertainment/Arts, San Marcos February 6, 2020

CSUSM: Students dancing for the community

Karen Schaffman has been drawn by the allure of dance since she was a young child growing up in Bloomfield, Connecticut. When Schaffman was a toddler, her mother enrolled her in a summer creative dance class at the playground down the street from their home. “That was the beginning of knowing that I loved dancing in a community setting,” said Schaffman, who has been teaching…

Agriculture, Education, Food, Riverside County February 2, 2020

No sour notes for UC Riverside Citrus Day

The message at UC Riverside’s Citrus Day for the Industry event was clear: Huanglongbing poses an existential threat to California citrus growers but the defenses are holding and scientists will find better weapons. Over 200 people from the citrus industry and UC Riverside gathered on a windy January day to hear experts talk about the current status of the citrus disease Huanglongbing and the tiny…

Arts, Community, Education, San Marcos January 14, 2020

CSUSM Democracy in Action touts public art

When San Marcos city officials were looking for guidance on how to proceed with their plan to install public art in the emerging North City neighborhood, they knew just where to turn.  They went to their trusted community partner in Cal State San Marcos and tapped into the collective brainpower of 25 Art, Media and Design majors. Last month, members of the upper-division class Art and…

Agriculture, Education, Health, Public Policy January 11, 2020

Coal-fired plant shutdowns saves lives, improves crop yields, UCSD study says

The decommissioning of coal-fired power plants in the continental United States has reduced nearby pollution and its negative impacts on human health and crop yields, according to a new University of California San Diego study. The findings published this week in Nature Sustainability use the U.S. transition in recent years from coal towards natural gas for electric power generation to study the local impacts of…