SPRING 2013 VOL.8 NO. 2
THE MAGAZINE OF UC RIVERSIDE
10 Ways to
Find Happiness
UCR Research Leads You to Joy
Page 8
The UCR School of Public Policy:
Research to Serve the Inland
Community and the World
Page 24
UCR SpringIP
2013
AD! | 1
Play the Game of Happiness Online at
MAGAZINE.UCR.EDU
NOW
AVAI
ON
LABLE
THE
INTERIM CHANCELLOR
Jane Close Conoley
VICE CHANCELLOR, ADVANCEMENT
Peter Hayashida
PUBLISHER
James Grant
EDITOR
Lilledeshan Bose
WRITERS
Vickie Chang
Ted Kissell
Litty Mathew
Sean Nealon
Phil Pitchford
SENIOR DESIGNER
Brad Rowe
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Luis Sanz
CONTRIBUTORS
Alyssa Cotter
Konrad Nagy
Susan Straight
E D I T O R I A L A S S I S TA N T
Bethanie Le
I L L U S T R AT I O N S
Colin Hayes
Alex Eben Meyer
Mike Tofanelli
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Lonnie Duka
Carlos Puma
Peter Phun
Carrie Rosema
DISTRIBUTION
Virginia Odien
UCR Magazine is published by the Office of Strategic Communications, University
of California, Riverside, and it is distributed free to the University community.
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Contact Kris Lovekin at kris.lovekin@ucr.edu
SPRING 2013 VOLUME 8 NUMBER 2
COVER STORY
THE MAGAZINE OF UC RIVERSIDE
08
10 Ways to
Happiness
F E AT U R E S
UCR research reveals steps
that can guide you along the
path to joy
18
20
Water Works
DEPARTMENTS
Professor Sharon Walker talks
about why her endowed chair
is hugely important for
her research
03 | R View
A message from Interim
Chancellor Jane Close
Conoley
04 | R Space
Catch a glimpse of the
latest news at UC Riverside
22
24
From Mind to Market
The School of Public
Policy
La Reina
Yadong Yin’s research on
nanoparticles has put
color in a whole new light
An excerpt from Susan
Straight’s latest novel,
“Between Heaven and Here”
27 | How I See It
30 | Alumni
Connection
Incoming freshmen tweet
and hashtag their joy upon
getting accepted into UCR
31 | Class Acts
28 | Page Turners
1
2
3
D
Nurse practitioner Darlene
Tyler (‘82) and theater
founder Wayne Scott (‘81)
tell how UCR helped them
find their unexpected
career paths
A
B
C
A
B
C
A
B
C
D
A
B
C
D
C
D
D
Celebrate the Class of 2013!
#UCRgrad13
Use hashtag #UCRgrad13 for your favorite UCR photos
and memories on Instagram and Twitter.
Feeling nostalgic? Relive graduation on commencement2013.ucr.edu!
UCR hopes to work with the
Inland community to solve
local and national problems
36 | C Scape
Don Carey (‘70), football
official for the National
Football League
Play the Game of Happiness online:
MAGAZINE.UCR.EDU
UCR Spring 2013 | 1
EVENTS
HAPPENINGS
www.artsblock.ucr.edu
“Monuments of Void: Wolf Von
Dem Bussche’s Photographs of
the Twin Towers”
6.1-7.6
www.artsblock.ucr.edu
“Geographies of Detention”
6.1-9.7
www.artsblock.ucr.edu
“Around the World in Forty
Pictures”
6.1-7.27
www.music.ucr.edu
Concert of Mexican Music and
Dance
6.6
www.music.ucr.edu
Music of Indonesia: UCR
Gamelan Ensemble
6.7
www.commencement.ucr.edu
Commencement 2013
6.14-6.17
www.extension.ucr.edu
Video Game Design and Content
Creation — Information Session
6.15
www.chancellorsdinner.ucr.edu
Chancellor’s Dinner
10.19
2 | UCR Spring 2013
This exhibit looks at the recontextualization of the World Trade
Center towers alongside the issues of memorialization and the
meanings associated with sites and images post-9/11.
Through the photos, we, as the viewers, see the towers in a
different aesthetic light that forcefully defamiliarizes us with the
subject.
Presented on two floors of the California Museum of Photography,
“Geographies of Detention: From Guantánamo to the Golden
Gulag” combines historical and contemporary photography, film
and first-person audio interviews to examine how the naval base
has been “closed” and reopened for more than a century leading
up to the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. These new perspectives on
Guantánamo’s history as a “legal black hole” provoke discussions
about the limits of democracy and the meaning of mass
incarceration in a global present and future.
Celebrating the CMP’s 40th anniversary, “Around the World in
Forty Pictures” takes as inspiration the classic novel “Around the
World in 80 Days” by Jules Verne, first published in 1873. The
exhibition culls 40 pictures from the Keystone-Mast Collection
(part of the CMP permanent collection) to retrace the steps of
Verne’s colorful characters as they circumnavigate the globe.
The UCR Studio for Mexican Music and Dance features student
vocals and instrumentation in Mexican ranchera-style music, with
UCR’s Mariachi Mexicatl performing live with the UCR Ballet
Folklorico. The ballet company will perform choreography from
the Mexican regions of Michoacán and Nayarit.
Experience a variety of Indonesian gamelan music from profound
to lighthearted and serious to sentimental. A gamelan is an
ensemble of instruments that includes a set of tuned bronze
gongs suspended from a carved serpentine dragon, metal-keyed
instruments, xylophones and drums. The UCR Gamelan Ensemble
performs traditional and contemporary Indonesian music.
UCR will hold seven commencement ceremonies June 14 through
17 on the Pierce Hall lawn, near the bell tower. More than 3,000
students are expected to make their way across the stage during
the four days of the 59th annual event.
Learn about UCR Extension’s Specialized Professional Program in
Video Game Design and Content Creation Summer Academy. For
serious participants, the full program offers approximately 100
hours of professional-level instruction. Parking is free
for attendees.
Save the date! The fifth annual Chancellor’s Dinner will be held
on Oct. 19 at the Highlander Union Building. Enjoy the company
For more
on UCR
events,
visitand
www.ucr.edu/happenings
of UCR
friends,
alumni,
students
community members as
we come together in support of our best and brightest scholars,
artists, leaders and volunteers.
R
VIEW
Congratulations to the Class of 2013 –
the newest additions to our alumni family!
A Positive
Outlook for a
Growing Campus
The best gift any university can give to its alumni is to
opening of our new School of Public Policy. (Read about
grow in excellence and prestige. Our graduates should
it on page 24.) This will bring together faculty from
be proud of their alma mater. As our alumni read
across campus and partners from across the world to
through this edition of UCR Magazine, I think they will
study health, population, environmental, immigration
find themselves even prouder of UC Riverside than they
and social mobility issues. We accept the challenge of
were on graduation day.
translating our research into meaningful public policy.
UCR has come a long way in a very short time.
Accessibility is another matter altogether. Tuition has
Faculty research has gained significant recognition, as
risen substantially since many of our readers have
evidenced from the large number of awards won by
graduated. Although we do not anticipate another rise
faculty, increasing grant support, prestigious publications
in tuition for a year or so, the state’s disinvestment in its
and media attention. Student applications are way up
educational commitments is pushing the burden of
(almost 43,000 for fall 2013) while student qualifications
university tuition and fees onto students and families.
are also improving. UCR has been ranked highly by
The University of California remains affordable for
national magazines as a best value and as a place where
low- and middle-income families, but we recognize that
students contribute to community service.
it’s a strain to take on any new debt in this tenuous
We are a university with a mission to be excellent,
economy. Don’t forget to keep telling your legislators the
diverse, engaged and accessible. Our incoming freshman
story of UCR and its ability to change lives and energize
class is likely to be as diverse as in years past and to
the economy.
reflect greater readiness for success as university students.
We remain optimistic, however, that our energetic
The relationship we have with Riverside and Inland-area
focus on private philanthropy for student scholarships
communities is a model for the entire UC system. We are
will assist many students to earn a degree with low levels
making a difference in the lives of citizens in our region
of debt. Our award-winning psychologists have
and in our world.
illustrated the power of optimism; it can be dynamic and
A clear sign of this engagement is the fall 2013
opening of the UCR School of Medicine. The school is
useful, especially when paired with positive motivation
and hard work.
conceived from a completely different paradigm than
that of other medical schools. We will prepare
physicians who are committed to this region, to
prevention and wellness, and to the finest in cutting-edge
medicine. This is so exciting.
Another sign of our commitment to engagement is the
Jane Close Conoley
Interim Chancellor
UCR Spring 2013 | 3
SPACE
R
Milestones in 2013
Application Pool
President Yudof to Step Down
Mark G. Yudof is stepping down as
president of the University of California
system; his five-year tenure will end
on Aug. 31. “The moment comes with
a mixture of emotions,” he said in a
statement. “UC remains the premier
public university system in the world,
and I was both honored and humbled to
serve as its president.”
Yudof cited taxing health issues as the
reason for his decision, and he plans to
return to the Berkeley campus to teach
law. “I will leave it to others to judge
4 | UCR Spring 2013
what difference my leadership made, if
any, but I will say that I entered each day
with a laser focus on preserving this great
public treasure, not just in the present
day, but for generations of Californians to
come. And in the end, what matters most
is what still remains: a vibrant public
university system, the envy of the world,
providing California with the beacon of
hope and steady infusion of new thinking
that are necessary for any society to
flourish.”
More than 30,000 potential freshmen
were part of a record-breaking 42,178
applications received by UCR during
the application period for the 2013-14
academic year.
UCR exceeded the 40,000 mark in
total applications and the 30,000 mark
in freshman applications for the first time
in school history. The pool of 42,178 was
composed of 33,809 freshmen, a 13.2
percent increase from 2012, and 8,369
transfers, an 8.3 percent increase from
2012.
“The numbers show that UCR
continues to grow as a campus of choice,”
said Emily Engelschall, director of undergraduate admissions.
Study Finds Link Between ‘Critical Mass’
and Respectful Racial Climate
Universities that maintain higher
levels of “critical mass” have AfricanAmerican and Latino students who are
more likely to feel respected on campus.
This is according to a study by William
Kidder, assistant provost at UCR. The
study, “Misshaping the River: Proposition 209 and Lessons for the Fisher
Case,” analyzed surveys from nearly
10,000 African-American and Latino
undergraduates.
Published in the Journal of College
and University Law, a peer-reviewed
journal at the University of Notre Dame
Law School, the study found that on
campuses with more African-Americans
in the student body, including UT Austin
and UCR, between 72 percent and
87 percent of African-Americans felt
students of their race were respected on
campus.
By contrast, on campuses with fewer
African-Americans in the student body,
including UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC
San Diego, between 32 percent and
71 percent of African-Americans felt
respected on campus. Latino undergraduates were also more likely to feel
respected on campuses where there were
higher levels of diversity.
The racial interactions on campus
can be influential in academic success,
according to Sylvia Hurtado, a professor
at UCLA and director of the Higher
Education Research Institute. “Lower
racial diversity not only results in
increased reports of campus incidents
but members of underrepresented groups
and majority students show lower
scores on college outcomes as a result of
negative cross-race encounters,” she said.
Former Riverside
Mayor Heads UCR
Research Center
Ronald O. Loveridge, the former
Riverside mayor who has played an active
leadership role in local, regional and state
government for more
than 30 years, was named
director of the Center for
Sustainable Suburban Development at UCR in January.
“The center will support,
and connect, the best of
academic research with
important policy choices
for a sustainable future for
this region and Southern
California,” Loveridge said.
Loveridge has been an
associate professor of political science
at UCR since 1965. With his retirement
as mayor of Riverside, he will focus his
attention at UCR on research related to the
growth of suburbs, public policy, urban
planning, transportation, air quality and the
intersection of cities and natural lands.
UCR Spring 2013 | 5
SPACE
R
UCR Has New
University Librarian
Steven Mandeville-Gamble, the
former associate university librarian of
Washington University in Washington,
D.C., joined UCR in March as the
campus’s ninth university librarian. He
replaced Ruth Jackson, who recently
retired.
Early on, Mandeville-Gamble
impressed staff and faculty with his
leadership skills and friendly, outgoing
personality. But Mandeville-Gamble
made an even better impression at his
welcome reception, held on March 22
at the Raymond L. Orbach Science
Library. He presented the UCR Special
Collections with a first American
edition copy of Charles Darwin’s
“The Expression of the Emotions in
Man and Animals” from his personal
collection.
Published in 1873, the rare book is
a classic — and a very generous gift ­—
said Melissa Conway, head of special
collections at the Rivera Library.
Executive Vice Chancellor and
Provost Dallas Rabenstein said
Mandeville-Gamble distinguished
himself with his vision, enthusiasm,
depth of knowledge and
commitment to
creating a 21st
century library. He
added, “It became
very clear that
Steven was the one
who could provide
leadership for the
library moving into
the future.”
6 | UCR Spring 2013
Japanese University Expands Presence at UCR
Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan,
Riverside’s sister city since 1957,
expanded its relationship as one of
UCR’s strongest international partners
by opening the Tohoku University Center
at UCR Extension in February. The
center is funded by a $10 million grant
that Tohoku received from the Japanese
government to develop global skills for
its students by expanding international
educational opportunities, said Bronwyn
Jenkins-Deas, associate dean of UC
Riverside Extension and director of
international education programs.
Tohoku University plans to send
160 students to UCR each year. The
first 44 students came to UCR at the
beginning of February and enrolled in
three programs: environmental sciences,
where students will do service-learning
projects with Riverside community and
government groups; economics, where
they will spend five weeks learning
English and a week visiting JapaneseAmerican companies in Los Angeles;
and engineering to introduce students to
alternate energies, which are important
for Japan to consider as it faces issues
with nuclear power.
The grant money also allows 20 UCR
students to take part in a 10-day studyabroad experience at Tohoku each year;
30 Tohoku employees to go to UCR
Extension to learn how to set up international education programs and provide
support services to students; and a
part-time student exchange coordinator
to be hired to facilitate the relationship
between Tohoku and UCR.
A New Leader for
UCR Alumni Relations
UCR Nanotechnologists
Help Launch New
National Center Devoted
to Microelectronics
Roland Kawakami, a professor of
physics and astronomy; Ludwig Bartels,
a professor of chemistry; and Cengiz
Ozkan, a professor of mechanical
engineering, are members of a new
national research center—the Center
for Spintronic Materials, Interfaces
and Novel Architectures (C-SPIN)
— focused on developing the next
generation of microelectronics. All three
are part of the Materials Science and
Engineering Graduate Program at UCR.
C-SPIN is aimed at developing
technologies for spin-based computing
and memory systems. Unlike today’s
computers with their electrical charges
moving across wires,
the spin-based
computing
systems will
process and
store information through
spin, a fundamental property
of electrons. Spinbased computing
can combine memory and logic at
the device and circuit level, and if it is
based on the hybridization of magnetic
materials and semiconductors, it has the
potential to create computers that are
smaller, faster and more energy-efficient.
Led by the University of Minnesota,
C-SPIN is being supported by a
five-year, $28 million grant awarded by
the Semiconductor Research Corp. and
the Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency. Out of that grant, about $3
million is allocated to UCR.
Following a
yearlong, nationwide
search, UC Riverside
found the new
head of its Office
of Alumni and
Constituent Relations
about 40 miles west,
in the city of Irvine.
Jorge E. Ancona has been appointed as
the new assistant vice chancellor for Alumni
and Constituent Relations and executive
director of the UC Riverside Alumni
Association. He has served as assistant
vice chancellor for alumni relations, and
executive director of the UCI Alumni
Association since 2002.
At UCR, Ancona will lead a staff of
12 full-time employees and oversee the
management of hundreds of volunteers and
advocates. He will also be responsible for
stewardship of the Alumni Association’s
endowment funds, and for further
developing fundraising for the alumni
association and alumni relations programs.
Highlights of his career at Irvine include
establishing the UCI Student Alumni
Association; growing the association’s
scholarship endowments from $1.5
million to $4 million; and increasing the
association’s assets from $3.4 million
to $8 million. Under hi­s leadership,
the association earned 18 Council for
Advancement and Support of Education
(CASE) district awards for outstanding
alumni events and communications as
well as national honors from CASE for its
alumni appreciation program in 2004.
Ancona succeeds Kyle Hoffman, who
held the position for 23 years before leaving
in May 2012 to become vice chancellor for
Development and Alumni Relations at UC
Merced.
Numbers Show
Achievement at UCR
1
10
35
New wasp species named
after UCR. Serguei V.
Triapitsyn, principal
museum scientist at the
Entomology Research
Museum on campus,
discovered several
tiny female fairyflies in
Russia and named them
Gonatocerus ucri.
UCR’s natural sciences
and engineering spot in the
annual Leiden ranking of
the top 500 major universities in the world.
UCR’s overall ranking in
the sciences worldwide,
also from the Leiden
ranking.
8
The number of times Ian
Whitelaw, music director
of the UCR pipe bands,
has placed at the Western
United States Pipe Band
Association.
1
The number of UCR
faculty members who are
part of the prestigious
American Philosophical
Society. Plant geneticist
Susan Wessler was given
the honor in April.
6
The number of UCR
faculty who are members
of the National Academy
of Sciences. Xuemei
Chen, a professor of
plant cell and molecular
biology, was elected into
the academy in April.
UCR Spring 2013 | 7
F E AT U R E
FINDING
HAPPINESS
There’s a science to attaining joy,
and researchers at UC Riverside say
it could be as easy as 1 to 10.
BY
VICKIE
CHANG
Whether you believe in destiny, divine intervention or just
pure luck, obtaining and maintaining a blissful life may seem
like a total shot in the dark. However, in recent years science
has increasingly demonstrated that happiness can be controlled.
Happiness, after all, isn’t merely an emotion. Happy people
often enjoy good health, good social relationships, even good
salaries. At UCR, the research, understanding and cultivation of
happiness is serious stuff. (The College of Humanities, Arts, and
Social Sciences has even made happiness its theme, holding
yearlong conversations on the topic of bliss.) The findings are
so beneficial that governments and places of employment are
listening carefully – and so should you.
8 | UCR Spring 2013
Play the Game of Happiness online and
watch the “Happiness at UCR” video at
MAGAZINE.UCR.EDU
Illustrations by
Alex Eben Meyer
1
Dispel the Myths of Happiness
What you believe about happiness may be getting
you down.
Some people believe finding happiness is
contingent on certain events happening first — say,
landing a dream job or getting married.
But according to Sonja
Lyubomirsky, a professor of
psychology and the director of the
UCR Positive Psychology Laboratory,
this thought process actually gets in
the way of finding happiness.
“When we have a baby, when we
get married, when we get a new job,
when we earn more money, of course,
that makes us really happy initially, but
then we adapt to those experiences.
And our happiness eventually returns
to its original baseline.”
Lyubomirsky, who defines
happiness as “the experience of
joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined
with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful,
and worthwhile,” is one of the world’s leading
researchers on happiness. The author of “The
Myths of
Happiness: What
Should Make
You Happy, but
Doesn’t, What
Shouldn’t Make
You Happy, but
Does,” she has
dubbed these the myths of happiness. A person
might think something is wrong if their dreams
come true and they aren’t as happy as they thought
they would be. They may then think that changing a
relationship or a job would solve the problem. “Those
things really do make people happy, but
they don’t make people happy for as
long or as intensely as they think they
will,” Lyubomirsky says.
Living with a less restricted notion
of happiness may end up for the
better — and can help you properly
determine the (really) good from the
(really) bad.
The other myth has to do
with resilience. Lyubomirsky’s
research reveals that people often
underestimate their own ability to
recover from disastrous events.
“We often think that, ‘Oh my
God, my life will be over if I get a divorce, if I don’t
find a life partner, if I don’t have as much money as
I want, if I don’t accomplish what I want to with my
life,’” Lyubomirsky says.
That’s not actually the case.
Lyubomirsky says, “Research
shows that when people
experience adversities —
even when they fall ill, even
when they get divorced —
they recover and rebound
incredibly well.”
“When we get
married, when
we get a new job,
that makes us
happy initially,
but we adapt to
those
experiences.”
UCR Spring 2013 | 9
2
Think Big
Careful: Those lowered expectations
you label as realistic can be more harmful
than you think.
People who achieve ambitious goals
attain a larger level of satisfaction
compared with those who set and achieve
more conservative goals, according to a
study by Assistant Marketing Professor
Cecile K. Cho and
co-author Gita
Venkataramani Johar, a
professor at Columbia
University. In other
words, aiming high leads
to a larger quantity of
happiness.
“Our finding shows
that people who set low
goals and achieve them
end up feeling like they fell
short, because people often
compare their performance
to what could have been,”
Cho says.
For example, a student
who aims for a B in a
highly challenging class
and achieves it is unlikely to be content
with the grade and will wonder whether
she could have done better, Cho says.
It’s difficult to predict how happy your
performance will make you, so it’s better
to set high goals and strive for them
regardless of whether you achieve them.
The happiness from higher achievement
in turn can trigger
motivation to
raise work
performance and
even enhance
one’s personal
life.
So think big
– your happiness
may be at stake.
“People often
compare their
performance to
what could have
been.”
10 | UCR Spring 2013
3
Eat That Not-so-Negative
Slice of Humble Pie
Humility isn’t the most sought-after
of virtues. But in addition to making
someone much more likable, it may
just have a direct relationship with
happiness.
“People don’t often talk about
the emotional benefits
of humility,” says
UC Riverside
psychology
graduate
student
Elliott Kruse,
“but it’s
possible that
it may be
one way to
become more
content.”
Kruse, along with
fellow grad student
Joe Chancellor, is
studying the effects
of humility and how
people attain that
quality.
“We felt that some of the popular
views of humility didn’t fit well with
our own experiences interacting with
the humble people in our lives,”
Kruse says. “Many folks assume
that the humble are overly modest,
perhaps boring and even
weak, or that the experience
of humility is somehow
negative.”
From that perspective,
Kruse says you’d think that
humility might make people
unhappy, because they’re not
expected to like themselves.
But Kruse and Chancellor
have discovered the opposite:
Feeling humble is related to
feeling secure—and experiencing fewer
negative emotions in general.
“Humility may lead to happiness
[by] making it easier for people
to experience gratitude,” Kruse
explains. “Which may in turn increase
satisfaction with life.”
“Humility
may be
one way
to become
more
content.”
UCR Spring 2013 | 11
4
Be Positive
On Purpose
Want to hear something really
uplifting?
Being intentionally positive – that is,
performing acts of kindness, employing
optimism, counting your blessings –
may lead you not only to happiness,
but out of clinical depression as well.
Psychology Professor Lyubomirsky
says there’s a connection between doing
intentionally positive
actions and depression.
“Research shows
that people can become
happier by engaging in
positive activities,” she
says. “We have found, for
example, that people who
are prompted to express
gratitude on a regular
basis, or who are instructed to do kind
acts on a regular basis, become happier.”
Depression affects about 100
million people worldwide — and
more than 16 million adults in the
United States alone. In approximately
70 percent of reported cases in the
United States, the person suffering
from depression either fails to pursue
recommended treatment or declines
any treatment.
Intentionally positive acts are a
novel option for those who do not
respond to antidepressants or refuse
to take them. They are inexpensive,
less time-consuming, carry
little to no stigma and have no
side effects. “Studies suggest
that people with mental health
conditions can supplement
their treatment by engaging in a
variety of happiness-increasing
strategies. There are probably
hundreds of such strategies they
can do,” Lyubomirsky says.
For example, acting prosocially
– helping others — has been
found to lift negative moods
and bolster self-esteem.
Being good
to others,
is actually
good for
you.
12 | UCR Spring 2013
5
“Who lives long, healthy and happy
lives … and why?”
This was the driving question
behind the study called The Longevity
Project (www.howardsfriedman.
com/longevityproject). The project,
which began in 1921, followed 1,500
Americans their entire lives — from
childhood to death.
“It turns out that always being
cheery and fun-loving was not
healthy,” says Howard S. Friedman,
distinguished professor of psychology
at UCR. “The thrivers were those
people who were conscientious
— they were prudent, planful and
persevering.”
That meant they were less likely to
abuse drugs, smoke or drink to excess.
They were more likely to do things like
wear seat belts or even follow doctor’s
orders. Being conscientious, Friedman
found, also meant having healthier
experiences and relationships, from the
workplace to the home.
“These were the people who
had stable marriages, got a better
education, succeeded in their careers
and gave back to their communities.
They became mature, flourishing
Live Conscientiously
(to Live Longer)
adults, not self-centered happiness
seekers! We also found that good
social relationships are a major
contributor on the road to health and
fulfillment.”
Friedman also found that
conscientious people got involved in
worthwhile activities and stuck with
them – but a certain intricate balance
was required: “It was not the partiers
“It turns out that
always being
cheery and funloving was not
healthy.”
and retirees, nor those who chilled out
and played golf, who stayed healthy
and lived long,” he says.
“In fact,” adds Friedman, “I just
went to visit one of the participants,
who is now 101 years old. He still
works part time – and he volunteers
by raising money for a medical
foundation.”
6
Feeling Blue?
Hold on to Your Wallet
If you’re feeling blue after a
and, thus, are more likely to opt for
traumatizing workweek, treating
immediate incentives. Unfortunately,
yourself to a new purchase – a bag,
that could come with considerable
a pair of heels – may make you feel
financial loss. “Sad people are espebetter. Ye Li, assistant professor of
cially attracted to instant gratificamanagement at the School of Busition. ... Our research suggests that
ness Administration, has found that
people should be aware of these
sadness makes people want to spend
effects and avoid making major
money immediately. And while
financial decisions and purchases
the idea of buying stuff to lift your
when sad,” says Li.
spirits — commonly
Sadness affects you
known as retail therain more ways than you
py — seems relatively “Sad people are know. When you’re
harmless, the concept
sad, it’s best to take
especially
is very real. (It doesn’t
a step back from any
attracted to
just happen in bad
vital decision-making.
episodes of “Sex and
So that shiny new
instant
the City”!) “When
iPhone you’ve been
gratification.” eyeing? Don’t buy it if
people feel sad, they
want to restore their
you’ve had a bad day.
devalued feelings
In the long run, avoidabout themselves by going out and
ing buyer’s regret will make
acquiring new things – and to do so
you happier.
as soon as possible,” Li says.
In the study Li co-authored, researchers found that people who are
sad are willing to relinquish greater
future monetary gains to receive
instant financial gratification. Those
in distress have less patience to spare
UCR Spring 2013 | 13
7
Sleep More
What can help you look
younger, lose weight, reduce stress,
enhance your sex life, and — best of
all — is free? Napping.
According to research performed
by Sara C. Mednick, author
of “Take a Nap! Change Your
Life” and assistant professor of
psychology at
UCR, naps can
improve your
everyday life. They
help you think
better and more
clearly, and have
no side effects.
“The research
that we’ve been
doing has been
looking at memory
consolidation
and creativity,”
Mednick says. “We know that
sleep is important for memory
consolidation and has other
cognitive benefits. The
question is whether a short
60- to 90-minute nap has
all the same ingredients as
a full night of sleep. ...
What we’ve been showing is that, in
fact, it can.”
Mednick’s research has found
that naps improve cognitive
performance even better than
caffeine, so next time you’re in need
of a boost, don’t reach for that
second mug of bad coffee – take a
little snooze.
After all, Mednick
points out, there are
many advantages
to taking a breather
once in a while.
The culture in the
American workplace
is to persevere and
work on, she says, but
that doesn’t improve
productivity.
“You do better after
working for an amount
of time and then taking a
break – even if it’s just taking
a walk or switching tasks.”
Taking breaks, Mednick says,
is “incredibly restorative
and allows you to come up
with new ideas.”
“A short 60- to
90-minute nap
has all the
same
ingredients as
a full night of
sleep.”
14 | UCR Spring 2013
8
Be a Parent
Despite the cell phone bills,
the late nights and endless saving
for college, parents aren’t an
unhappy bunch. This is what
UCR Department of Psychology
doctoral candidate and member
of the Positive Psychology Lab
Katie Nelson and her colleagues
have found in their
research.
“Most parents
I talked to said
that becoming a
parent was one
of the best things
they had done with
their lives,” Nelson
says. “I wanted to
understand why [previous]
scientific studies didn’t match
personal accounts of parenthood.”
In investigating the emotional
experiences of both nonparents
and parents, Nelson and her
colleagues found that parents
reported higher global happiness,
life satisfaction and
thoughts about
meaning in life.
“Parents reported
greater positive
emotions and meaning
in life when they were
spending time with
their children than
during their other
daily activities,”
Nelson said.
Nelson has also
looked at what kinds
of parents are happier:
“We found that
parents’ happiness
depended on a few
key factors: marital
status, age and gender.”
For parents, the level of
happiness depends on many
additional factors, which may
change over the life course. For
example, parenting very young
children or adolescents appears
to be a trying time, but parenting
adult children may have well-being
benefits.
“Parents
reported
greater
positive
emotions ...
when they
were
spending time
with their
children.”
UCR Spring 2013 | 15
9
Invest in Experiences,
Not Worldly Possessions
Money can’t buy happiness.
spend their money to be happier.
Or, at least, that’s what the research
He found that people with cash
says. Spectrem Group, a consulting
on hand opt to purchase one of two
firm that covers affluent and retirement
things: an object or a thing to do.
markets, recently released a survey that
In Howell’s research, he found that
found that only 20 percent of affluent
experiential purchases – such as dining
investors say money can buy happiness.
out or tickets to the theater – resulted
Almost half of those surveyed disagreed
in an increased sense of well-being
with the statement.
because they fulfill the human desire
Why, then, do so
for social connectedness
many people believe that
and vitality.
“Life
acquiring wealth would
As objects deteriorate
experiences are over time (say, a car
also mean acquiring
happiness?
unique to us ... or an iPad 1, iPad 2 or
That’s a question
iPad 3), so does your
we don’t really happiness level. Keeping
UCR alumnus and
San Francisco State
compare them up with the Joneses may
University Assistant
become an issue as well:
to other people’s
Professor of Psychology
“Comparison
Ryan Howell set out to
happens. If you get a new
memories. “
answer.
pair of shoes, part of your
“It struck me as
decision on how nice your
odd,” Howell says. “Either money has
shoes are is based on how nice other
to have a positive effect on quality of
people’s shoes are,” Howell says.
life or we should really try to figure out
The same kinds of comparisons don’t
why people think it does. ... Everyone
occur with nonmaterial life experiences,
will tell you that they think if they have
he says. “Life experiences are unique to
more money they will be happier.”
us ... we don’t really compare them to
So Howell — co-founder of
other people’s memories. There’s really
beyondthepurchase.org, a site that
no way to do that.”
educates people on how their spending
habits impact happiness — focused his
research on asking people how they
16 | UCR Spring 2013
10
Consider this: Facebook has 1 billion
users.
YouTube garners more than 4
billion views every day.
Twitter boasts more than 140 million
users. Instagram has more than 80
million registered users – and 4 billion
photos. Tumblr plays host to around
60 million blogs. Pinterest, despite
launching just three years ago, has 20
million users.
“Social media has
the potential to
meet people’s
fundamental
needs.”
These impressive figures have
prompted UCR professors of
marketing and co-directors of the
Sloan Center for Internet Retailing
Donna Hoffman and Tom Novak to
examine how feelings of closeness and
connectedness may arise from different
types of social media. In short, how
does social media impact happiness?
“It’s clear that social media is not
Get Connected
on Social Media
only an activity that appeals to the
troubled and lonely,” Hoffman says,
“but also has the potential to meet
people’s fundamental needs in some
positive and important ways.”
A not-so-surprising finding is
that when people use social media to
interact with others, they’re likely to
feel more related to others, she says.
However, Hoffman and Novak
have also found that when people use
more content-focused social media
(for learning new things or spreading
information), that behavior also has
the potential to trigger a feeling of
connectedness.
The next question, though, is
whether both these paths lead equally
to positive outcomes like happiness
and satisfaction. According
to Hoffman and Novak’s
research, the answer is
yes. This suggests that
the reasons people use
social media have
a large impact on
whether these uses
will lead to positive
outcomes.
Questioning Happiness:
Why Proving Joy Scientifically
Is So Important
Happiness is a common goal among people around the world
— defying social strata, age, geography, gender, ethnicity and
nationality.
“But happiness is not just a simple, hedonistic pleasure,”
Sonja Lyubomirsky says. “People who are happy have been found
to be more productive; they make more money, they have better
relationships, they’re healthier, they’re more charitable, they’re
better leaders, and they’re more creative.”
Happiness is not just about feeling good. Multiple benefits
accrue if you are happier.”
That’s why investigating and analyzing happiness has become an important field of research — not just for psychologists,
but for economists and policymakers as well. The way personal
happiness is manifested in daily lives is slowly becoming a barometer by which countries measure their achievements. Before
the science of happiness was taken seriously, countries usually
measured their success in monetary terms, such as the gross
domestic product (GDP). Now, governments know that the wellbeing and betterment of their inhabitants are as fundamental as
their monetary health. This is why a United Nations committee
has recently proposed that governments begin measuring the
happiness index levels in their countries.
Bhutan, France and Britain have long kept track (it turns out
that France is pretty miserable). The United States government is
now considering doing the same.
But how do you calculate something so seemingly subjective?
“Happiness is subjective, of course. No one else can tell you
if you’re happy. Only you know if you’re happy,” Lyubomirsky says.
“But researchers measure a lot of things in life that are subjective — a lot of things that we can’t see,” Lyubomirsky says.
“For instance, physicists study quarks even though no one has
ever seen one. Medical scientists study features of the body that
they have to infer. Just because something is subjective doesn’t
mean we shouldn’t study it.”
UCR Spring 2013 | 17
Go With the Flow
SHARON WALKER’S RESEARCH ON
OPTIMIZING EFFECTIVE WATER TREATMENT
AND DISTRIBUTION HAS LED HER THROUGH
A SERIES OF SERENDIPITOUS EVENTS
18 | UCR Spring 2013
BY
SEAN
NEALON
Sharon Walker, an associate professor of
chemical and environmental engineering in the
Bourns College of Engineering, is a native of
Los Angeles who moved east to earn her
master’s and Ph.D. at Yale University. She
returned to California in 2005 when UCR
offered her the John Babbage Chair in
Environmental Engineering.
What has the John Babbage Chair
allowed you to do?
A number of things, but perhaps two are the
most significant.
It has allowed me to pay a couple Ph.D.
students when they were doing projects that
wouldn’t have been funded anywhere else. It’s
great when a student comes to you and you can
say, ‘Great idea, let’s do it.’ That’s the intellectual
freedom that the Babbage Chair has given me.
It also provides travel money. If I have travel
money on a grant, I want to send my student. I
want them to have the exposure. So I use my
Babbage Chair money to cover expenses for
travel. While traveling, I make a point of getting
the UCR name out. I try to recruit graduate
students and I have had some really successful
research collaborations develop from the
relationships I have made.
How did you end up at UC Riverside?
After earning my Ph.D. at Yale, I was set to
do a post-doc in Germany when I decided —
because I am from California — [to] throw my
name in the hat for a few positions that were
open in California. I had absolutely no
expectation of getting an interview. And
wouldn’t you know, Riverside called me up and
invited me to interview.
For a video on Sharon Walker’s research go to
I came out here nervous as all get-out. But it
was such a wonderful day. I remember meeting
people and thinking what an amazing group of
faculty in the department. I was really blown
away. I remember getting back to the Mission
Inn after a very exhausting, rigorous day and
thinking, ‘Gosh, I hope I get the job.’ I was
really shocked. I don’t think I realized how
much I wanted it until after I had been here and
met everybody. I was flabbergasted when they
called and said they wanted to offer me a position.
Can you talk about the program you
developed that brings Riverside
Community College District students to
your lab?
I work with
Heather Smith at
Riverside City
College. Each year
we select two
students. They spend
an intensive summer
internship in my lab.
We put them up in the dorms. They participate
in wonderful professional development
programming. And they just get absolutely
immersed in collegiate life. I’ll tell you, there is
nothing like that to turn a young student
around and say, ‘Wow, I want to go to a
four-year college, I want to go on in science.’
After that intensive summer, we continue to pay
them as a research intern during the academic
year. So, instead of being a barista at Starbucks,
they keep going in science.
To date, 100 percent of the students have
gone on to a four-year institution. Two are in
Ph.D. programs and the other is in a nursing
program.
MAGAZINE.UCR.EDU
In 2009-10, you spent the academic
year in Israel on a Fulbright
scholarship studying how the country
uses and reuses water. Why did you
apply for the Fulbright?
My husband and I were looking for a bit of
adventure. I was putting in my tenure file.
Someone gave me the brilliant advice when
your tenure file is in, get out of Dodge – because
nothing is more stressful than sitting around
waiting to be reviewed. We thought, ‘We don’t
have kids yet, this is the time to go.’ And, funny
enough, I got pregnant. So, we knew we were
going to be having a baby while we were away.
Because my daughter was born in Israel, we
wanted to give her an Israeli name. So her name
is Ma’ayan, which means a spring of water,
which is fitting for my research area.
Talk about your current research.
The biggest thing I’m working on now is the
fate of nanomaterials that are getting into our
environment. Nanomaterials are being used in
everything from cosmetics to food to paints to
tennis rackets. Gym socks don’t smell because
there are silver nanoparticles in there. They are
what make our cell phones small and light.
They are part of our new lifestyle.
The problem is that these materials get
released into the water as they are produced
and used. I’m looking at how traditional
engineering approaches can remove
nanomaterials and, if they don’t, how to change
the design of treatment plants to make sure our
water is safe.
UCR Spring 2013 | 19
La Reina
His mother knew
trees. Showed him how to
find bees in the pepper
tree trunks, spiders in the
eucalyptus bark shedding
long flat sheaves.
In fourth grade, they
studied California
Indians, and Victor found
a perfect piece of bark for
his project. She took him
to the riverbed, where the
paddle-shaped cactus
grew everywhere, and on
the smooth green skin
were cottony white
insects. Their blood was
magenta, a color he’d
never seen, even among
her eyeshadows and nail
polish. She showed him
how to paint the bark
with designs in bug
blood.
She used to keep the
bark picture in her trunk.
The lock had been busted
over and over, when
Seventeen-year-old Victor loved his beautiful, troubled mother, who wasn’t like any of the other mothers
AN EXCERPT FROM SUSAN STRAIGHT’S LATEST NOVEL, “BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HERE.”
20 | UCR Spring 2013
people broke into it, but
they threw the bark aside
looking for money or
rock or jewelry. Then
someone got pissed when
he couldn’t find anything,
and he broke the bark in
half and threw it on the
floor.
So she glued it
together, and wrapped
magenta ribbon from
Rite Aid around each
end, and hung it on the
wall. No one would care
about it then. And he saw
her staring at it
sometimes, when she lay
on the couch. At each
apartment, she hung it on
the wall near the door.
The bug was
cochineal. An SAT word.
Back on the first
Saturday in May, he was
registered to take the SAT.
His high school history
teacher, Marcus Thompson,
had paid for it—and he’d
left ten dollars for Victor to
buy the number two pencils
and some coffee for that
morning.
“Make sure you eat,”
Marcus said, awkwardly.
Victor said, “We got
plenty of food.”
He remembered being
really hungry when he was
three. She didn’t come home.
He sat on the balcony.
Maybe Jessamine Gardens.
He couldn’t remember
anything except his stomach
was eating his backbone. He
could feel something
creeping up there. Vertebrae.
He couldn’t breathe and so
he sat outside, and his uncle
Reynaldo found him
because they were looking
for his mother.
from the Eye?”
The Eye of Water. Jesus
Espinoza, this guy in AP
History, said that was from
a town in Michoacan, where
his father was born. Some
shrine.
The shrimp burrito had
beans, rice, cabbage,
tomatoes, sauce, and fried
shrimp. $3.99. It was the
size of a small log. A dusty
white log. And Victor ate
one every Tuesday.
Wednesday was fish tacos.
Thursday was tamales.
Friday was Chess, and
Saturday she was gone until
dawn. Sunday she slept. He
ate whatever his grandfather
brought from Sarrat —
gumbo or beans and rice or
ham. Always oranges.
She had her part as
down as she could, and
Victor had his part down
cold. Perfect 4.0. Registered
for the May 6, 2000 SAT.
Last one of the year.
***
Brown-haired girl
Logan had green eyes like
olives, one of those girls
who wore her hair in a
ponytail and it was thick
and long so you could see
the reason they called it
that. She asked him all
casual as often as she
could without seeming
insecure, “So what’d you
get on the test?”
“What I always get.”
Victor loved saying that.
He didn’t even have to
give her the percentage. It
was always 97 or 98. Mrs.
Mumbles had to take off
two or three points for
everyone—even if she had
to make up some shit
about one word being
awkward or you forgot a
comma or a space in
MLA format.
But he loved Mrs.
Mumbles. Mumford.
and cold, her skin got
dulled like the gold-leaf
frame of a painting if soot
and years laid a patina of
darkness or haze. Then
she would sleep for two
days, and when the sun
came out, they’d go out to
the orange groves. Eat
gumbo and oranges, see
the grandparents, and
she’d take a long shower
and put almond oil in her
hair.
She’d be gilt again.
And the other moms at
Open House hated the
way she gazed bemusedly
at their fleece vests and
mom jeans for two
seconds before dismissing
them and staring at the
paintings on the
classroom walls.
The SAT plan was to
get number-three scores.
Logan had taken it twice,
Amitav three times. Logan
in school. But he knew she loved him, too, because she always bought him ramen and orange juice.
Kindergarten? When he
coughed really hard and
finally she came home and
put him in the shower with
her and they sat in there all
night, the moisture beading
up on her hair like pearls
and then collapsing into
nothing. The water going
inside his lungs and
somehow cleaning out the
burn.
But now she had it
down. He was seventeen. So
she left ramen, orange juice
(and she bought Tropicana,
not that Sunny Delight shit),
and pistachios in the
kitchen. The staples. And
most nights, she brought
home the scheduled items
from El Ojo de Agua. He
said to her, “Shrimp burrito
Everybody else would be
juniors, but he could finish
college apps late and Marcus
would help him.
It must have pissed those
other moms, when their kids
mentioned him. This black
dude with weird hair and
he’s really light so he’s like,
not even really black, and
his mom is, like, a crack
ho—that’s just what
everybody says, okay, she
is—and he gets like, 97 or
98 on everything. Like,
never lower. For reals.
He had the secondhighest grade in the class in
AP European History, the
second-highest in AP US
History, and the thirdhighest in AP Art History.
Susan Straight talks about real places in the city of Riverside
that served as inspiration for her novel. Read the interview at
Mrs. Mumbles didn’t
buy into all the hype, and
the old families and
fundraisers and the right
mom or wrong mom at
Back to School Night. She
never looked any of them
in the face. She stared at
some spot in the room
and mumbled about
funeral art of India and
Impressionists and
Cubism. She didn’t give a
shit that Victor’s mother,
who came to Open House
because he’d told her it
was the last time she
could ever do that, sat in
the back like the most
beautiful zombie statue in
the history of the world.
She was luminous. In
winter, the nights shitty
MAGAZINE.UCR.EDU
got a 1500, perfect score,
and Amitav 1490, in
October. Victor didn’t
have the money in
October, and in
November she got
pneumonia after a cold
windstorm when she
stood in the alley too long.
His aunt Famine helped
him one weekend with
vocabulary words. He
chanted to himself all day
and most of the night.
Luciferous.
Loquacious. Lucid.
Lucent.
Susan Straight is a
distinguished professor of
creative writing at UCR.
“Between Heaven and
Here” is her eighth novel.
UCR Spring 2013 | 21
FROM MIND TO
MARKET: COLOR
TECHNOLOGY
1
Thinking small — as in nanoparticle
small — has led Yadong Yin into
developing COLR Technology for a
world of unlimited possibilities
BY
B.
KISSELL
Yin created his colloidal nanocrystal clusters in 2006. He wanted the
100- to 200-nanometer diameter particles, which he describes as
“spherical, with a rough surface,” to be able to bond to certain proteins.
Once the particles had been created through a chemical reaction in
liquid, Yin had what looked like rusty water. Hardly surprising: The
particle essentially is rust, just very small, and in a very specific shape.
2
But when his assistant put it on the magnetic stirrer, he called Yin over,
saying, “We have something kind of strange here,” Yin recalls. The liquid
had begun to change color into beautiful, iridescent hues. Yin quickly
realized that the color of the particles varied based on the strength of the
magnetic field: Weaker fields made red, and then on up the visible-light
spectrum to violet, as the field got stronger. “It’s basically an optical
effect—it follows everything you know about optics,” he says.
Almost immediately after his paper was published in 2007, “We got a
lot of phone calls and emails,” Yin says. “Everyone had different
ideas.” One of the earliest notions: Creating anti-fraud banknotes by
embedding the particles into the bills so they could change color in a
magnetic field. Other ideas flowed from numerous sources, from toy
companies to car manufacturers, all of whom were interested in
offering completely customizable colors for their products.
22 | UCR Spring 2013
TED
To find out more about Yadong Yin’s research go to
3
MAGAZINE.UCR.EDU
When Yadong Yin, an associate professor of chemistry at UCR,
developed a new kind of nanoparticle from iron oxide, he was
aiming for some kind of medical application. He was not trying
to invent a new kind of futuristic nail polish. And yet that’s one
possible application now being explored for what has been
dubbed COLR Technology, through which the material changes
color as it is exposed to a magnetic field. Yin, a compact
4
39-year-old with a gift for explaining scientific concepts in
plain language, earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in
his native China before getting his doctorate from the University
of Washington. Ranked by Thomson Reuters as second in the
world among materials science researchers and a top 100
chemist of the decade, it wasn’t long after Yin’s arrival at UCR
in 2006 that he made his serendipitous discovery.
But what if someone wanted to pick a color and stick with
it in a “dry” application like a tunable paint? Not long after
the initial discovery, Yin figured out that by zapping the
solution with UV light, a particular color could be set
permanently — which would be ideal for things like car
paint color.
5
In his dealings with large companies, Yin notes, he generally ends up talking to
technical people about the process. Idea Zoo was able to present his invention not
to the techies, but to the decision-makers at large firms. Idea Zoo’s efforts led, in
2012, to a partnership with chemical giant BASF to help bring Yin’s nanoparticles,
now trademarked as COLR Technology, to the marketplace. Yin says that the
process is now at the “scaling up” stage as BASF and Idea Zoo do some “serious
R&D” into the most viable and sellable forms of COLR. Could be toys, could be
cars, could be shoes—and yes, the nail polish concept is still in the works.
Illustrations by Colin Hayes
All of these discussions were interesting, but none of them led to a firm deal
to develop the particles for the market. Then, in early 2010, Yin heard from
Idea Zoo, a firm based in Silicon Valley. They had their own, very sci-fi idea:
programmable nail polish, where you could change nail polish in a second
like in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Total Recall.” (“I have that movie!” Yin
offers with a chuckle.) While Idea Zoo didn’t have much experience with
chemistry, Yin was impressed with how seriously they took his idea and its
potential applications, so he soon signed a licensing agreement with them.
6
UCR Spring 2013 | 23
24 | UCR Spring 2013
SERVING
THROUGH
KNOWLEDGE
The newly launched UCR School of Public Policy
will bridge the university and the Inland
community by generating research-based
solutions to local and global problems
BY
From traffic on Highway 91 to air pollution
in Mira Loma and poverty in Coachella, the
Inland Empire is wrestling with many of the
same problems that face emerging countries
around the world.
The new UC Riverside School of Public
Policy aims to train the policy professionals
who can help identify potential solutions to
such problems. Their work could help
governments across the globe with problems
like water quality and access to health care,
while also providing much-needed guidance to
decision-makers closer to home.
PHIL
PITCHFORD
“We need people who can determine which
public policies are going to be the most
cost-effective because many of these issues are
quite complex,” said Anil Deolalikar, an
economics professor and the school’s founding
dean. “A lot of the policies we have in place
now are a knee-jerk reaction to some situation
that has occurred. We need people who are able
to distill that knowledge, determine what the
options are and what the likely (intended and
unintended) outcomes are.”
The School of Public Policy, currently
scheduled to admit its first students in fall 2014,
UCR Spring 2013 | 25
“Public policy as a discipline
pertains to almost
everything we do on this
campus, which is why this is
such an exciting program for
so many people at UCR.”
Anil Deolalikar, an
economics professor and
the school’s founding dean
will be designed to produce just such problemsolvers for jobs in local, state and federal
governments and in nonprofit organizations.
Depending on pending curricular approvals, the
school will begin accepting students in early
2014 and eventually will have 30 doctoral and
120 master’s degree candidates.
“The professionals that we are going to be
producing here will be trained to take positions
across the United States as soon as they leave
school and contribute at a very high level,” said
Joseph Childers, English professor and dean of
the Graduate Division. “It also creates another
26 | UCR Spring 2013
way for us to underscore the importance of
what we do on campus to the community that
has been so supportive of us.”
Graduate students will be able to pursue a
Master of Public Policy (M.P.P.) and an
M.D./M.P.P. in conjunction with the UCR
School of Medicine. A Ph.D. and a Ph.D. minor
in public policy are planned. A 15-month
Executive M.P.P. program will be available for
experienced professionals already working in
related fields. Nondegree certificate programs
will enable existing public employment
professionals to pursue career enhancement.
Four areas of specialization are planned:
environmental and sustainable development
policy, population and health policy, higher
education policy, and immigration policy. In the
same way the new School of Medicine aims to
improve health outcomes in the Inland area, the
School of Public Policy is being designed to play
an active role in the region.
“The public policy school will serve as a
bridge between the university and the public,”
said Ken Baerenklau, an associate professor of
environmental science and an associate
environmental economist. “They will have a
better understanding of what we do, and we
will have a better understanding of what they
want.”
Students who pursue an advanced degree in
public policy will carry on the UCR tradition of
treating the surrounding area as a “living
laboratory” that generates research-based
solutions to problems here and abroad.
“It’s not just learning from the rest of the
world, but also teaching the rest of the world,”
said Deolalikar, who is known internationally
for his work on poverty, malnutrition and
illiteracy. “Public policy as a discipline pertains
to almost everything we do on this campus,
which is why this is such an exciting program
for so many people.”
The school is expected to strengthen the
overall mission of UCR by bringing together
academics from many disciplines across
campus, including some that rarely interact
with one another.
“Right now, there is kind of a disconnect
between the science side of campus and the
social sciences and the humanities,” said Kevin
M. Esterling, an associate professor of political
science and associate dean of the Graduate
Division. “Science has a lot of practical
applications, but it takes an interdisciplinary
approach to determine what those applications
might be. This school will bring people together
and foster interaction between the colleges.”
Ron Loveridge, an associate professor of
political science who recently completed a
33-year career as Riverside mayor and
councilman, said the Inland counties will need
sound policy planning more than ever since
they are expected to be two of the largest
counties in the state by 2060, trailing only Los
Angeles County.
“So much of what [our] faculty does is
research for each other,” Loveridge said. “It’s
important to get that research into the policy
arena, and a School of Public Policy will
do that.”
“Science has a lot of
practical applications, but
it takes an interdisciplinary
approach to determine
what those applications
might be. This school will
bring people together and
foster interaction between
the colleges.”
Kevin M. Esterling, an
associate professor of political
science and associate dean of
the Graduate Division
Remember how happy you
were the moment you got
your UCR acceptance letter?
We found tweets from
potential Highlanders this
fall, and they seem pretty
stoked to be going to UCR.
HAPPINESS IS …
That Time I Got Into UC Riverside!
Autumn Crisantes @CrisantesAutumn
First UC acceptance letter to UC Riverside
#firstUCacceptance#college #yay #finally
#hardworkpaysoff
Kenny Kostiv @SickWhiteMamba
Got accepted into UC Riverside!
Yee that’s wassup! #goingtocollege
Joshua Gomez-Zavala @mrjogo2j
OMG UC Riverside!!! I am so
beyond happy right now. Thank
you to everyone who has helped
me reach this!
Calvin Kwan @calvinhkwan
Got into my first choice,
UC Riverside @
UCRAdmissions
Jess Oh @JessItaliaOh
My ID and UC Riverside
acceptance letter came [in] the
mail. (: It made my night.
David Thomas @dsthomas94
I got into UC Riverside.
Yip-a-dee-doo-dah-hey-wah-way.
Michael Mashigian @mashigian
Claudia Jimenez @cloud_y_ahh
Got accepted to UC Riverside
with a scholarship!!
So I got a special email today. I’ve been
accepted to UC Riverside; I need March
to get here quick.
Alex Velasquez @Suuuupalex
Got accepted to UC Riverside!!!!!
Sw@q Sw@q Sw@q Sw@q
Marina Quinonez @MarinaQ17
I was just minding my own business
when I received an acceptance letter from
UC Riverside. I’m so proud of myself.
Aaron Rodriguez @Slushy_KiddXD
When you get accepted to UC
Riverside >>>>>> #AmazingFeeling
Berhan Eskinder @BerDaddy
Accepted to UC Riverside :)
Thank you God.
Eakta Sharma @esharma_
AHHHHH I got accepted to
UC Riverside! Hollllaaaaaaa
Tom Amir @tomsabovearth
Just got accepted into
UC Riverside cuz I
worked for it
Maluh Costa @Niallbeminex
Sam Garrison@sam_garrison04
I got accepted into UC Riverside,
who wants to party with me?
Got accepted into UC Riverside!!!
Pretty pumped that one of my
top 3 universities accepted me!
UCR Spring 2013 | 27
PAGE TURNERS
UCR Goes
Around the
World in Page
Turners: From
the Kibbutzim
of Israel to
Metaphors in
the Chinese
Language to
the Music of El
Salvador
These books are available for
purchase at the UCR Campus Store
and online at www.ucrcampusstore.
ucr.edu They have been discounted
up to 30 percent.
28 | UCR Spring 2013
The Renewal of the Kibbutz: From
Reform to Transformation
By Raymond Russell, Robert
Hanneman and Shlomo Getz
Rutgers University Press
May 2013, 192 pages
In Israel, a kibbutz is a
communally owned agricultural
settlement, governed under
collectivist principles by its
members. Starting in the late
1980s, many kibbutzim — whose
members work, reside, eat together
and share income — underwent
varying degrees of reform. Members
could work outside of the organization, but wages went to the
collective. Apartments could be
expanded, but housing remained
kibbutz-owned. In 1995, change
accelerated. Kibbutzim began to
pay salaries based on the market
value of a member’s work. As a
result of such changes, the
“renewed” kibbutz emerged. By
2010, 75 percent of Israel’s 248
nonreligious kibbutzim fit into this
new category.
This book explores the waves
of reforms since 1990. Looking
through the lens of organizational
theories that predict how open or
closed a group will be to change,
the authors find that less successful
kibbutzim were most receptive to
reform, and reforms then spread
through imitation from the
economically weaker kibbutzim to
the strong.
Raymond Russell and Robert
Hanneman are professors of
sociology at UCR.
Term Limits and Their Consequences: The Aftermath of Legislative Reform
By Stanley Caress (’78) and Todd
Kunioka
State University of New York Press
September 2012, 205 pages
The Myths of Happiness: What
Should Make You Happy, but
Doesn’t, What Shouldn’t Make You
Happy, but Does
By Sonja Lyubomirsky
Penguin Press
January 2013, 320 pages
Legislative term limits remain
a controversial feature of the
American political landscape. This
book provides a clear, comprehensive and nonpartisan look at all
aspects of this contentious subject.
Stanley M. Caress and Todd T.
Kunioka trace the emergence of the
grassroots movement that
supported term limits and explain
why the idea of term limits became
popular with voters. Utilizing a
blend of quantitative data and
interviews, Caress and Kunioka
thoughtfully discuss the impact of
term limits, focusing in particular
on the nation’s largest state,
California. They scrutinize voting
data to determine if term limits
have altered election outcomes or
the electoral chances of women and
minority candidates and reveal how
restricting a legislator’s time in
office has changed political careers
and ambitions.
In “The Myths of Happiness,”
Sonja Lyubomirsky isolates the
major turning points of adult life,
looking to both successes
(marriage, children, wealth) and
challenges (divorce, financial ruin,
illness) to reveal that our misconceptions about the impact of such
events are perhaps the greatest
threats to our long-term well-being.
Lyubomirsky argues that we
have been given false promises —
myths that assure us that lifelong
happiness will be attained once we
hit the culturally confirmed markers
of adult success. Because we
expect the best (or the worst) from
life’s turning points, we shortsightedly place too much weight on
our initial emotional responses.
“The Myths of Happiness”
empowers readers to look beyond
their first response, sharing
scientific evidence that often it is
our mindset — not our circumstances — that matters.
A corrective course on
happiness and a call to regard life’s
twists and turns with a more open
mind, “The Myths of Happiness”
shares practical lessons with
life-changing potential.
Stanley Caress is professor of
political science at the
University of West Georgia.
Sonja Lyubomirsky is a professor
of psychology at UCR.
M
E
E
T
M I N G L E
NETWORK
CONNECT
An Anatomy of Chinese: Rhythm,
Metaphor, Politics
By Perry Link
Harvard University Press
January 2013, 376 pages
During the Cultural
Revolution, Mao exhorted the
Chinese people to “smash the four
olds”: old customs, old culture, old
habits and old ideas. Yet when the
Red Guards in Tiananmen Square
chanted, “We want to see Chairman
Mao,” they unknowingly used a
classical rhythm that dates back to
the Han period and is the very
embodiment of the four olds. “An
Anatomy of Chinese” reveals how
rhythms, conceptual metaphors
and political language convey
time-honored meanings of which
Chinese speakers themselves may
not be consciously aware and
contribute to the ongoing debate
over whether language shapes
thought, or vice versa.
Inquiry into the workings of
Chinese reveals convergences and
divergences with English, most
strikingly in the area of conceptual
metaphor. Particularly provocative
is Link’s consideration of how
Indo-European languages, with
their preference for abstract nouns,
generate philosophical puzzles that
Chinese, with its preference for
verbs, avoids. The mind-body
problem that has plagued Western
culture may be fundamentally less
problematic for speakers of
Chinese.
Perry Link is a distinguished
professor of comparative
literature and foreign languages
at UCR.
Senegal Taxi (Camino del Sol)
By Juan Felipe Herrera
University of Arizona Press
March 2013, 128 pages
“I wish I could find the words
to tell you the story of our village
after you were killed.” So begins
“Senegal Taxi,” the new work by
one of contemporary poetry’s most
vibrant voices, Juan Felipe Herrera.
Known for his activism and writings
that bring attention to oppression
and injustice, Herrera turns to
stories of genocide and hope in
Sudan. “Senegal Taxi” offers the
voices of three children escaping
the horrors of war in Africa.
“Senegal Taxi” weaves
together verse, dialogue and visual
art created by Herrera specifically
for the book. Phantom-like
televisions, mud drawings, witness
testimonies, insects and weaponry
are all storytellers that join the
siblings for a theatrical crescendo.
Each poem is told from a different
point of view, which Herrera calls
“mud drawings,” referring to the
evocative symbols of hope the
children create as they hide in a
cave on their way to Senegal, where
they plan to catch a boat to the
United States.
Juan Felipe Herrera is a
professor of creative writing at
UCR. He is currently the
California poet laureate.
Join UCR alumni
in your area for
a fun evening
of casual
conversation and
refreshments,
and welcome
the new Class of
2013 alumni!
Hosted by the UCR
Alumni Association,
members in
attendance will
receive a gift and
a chance to win
two tickets to the
Hollywood Bowl
or Del Mar Races
alumni events.
Save the date for the event in your area!
Los Angeles . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Riverside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Orange County . . . . . . . . . . . . .
San Francisco . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7/11
7/17
7/24
7/30
The event is free for all alumni to attend.
Registration required. Sign up at
alumni.ucr.edu/meetgreet or call 951-827-2586.
UCR Spring 2013 | 29
ALUMNI CONNECTION
gh
Alumni Association Awards
The Student Alumni Association was
recently honored with a Gold Award
from the Council for Advancement and
Support of Education for its Career
Conference Series.
Co-sponsored by the Alumni
Association, the Conference Series
brings alumni in the fields of business,
medicine and law back to campus to
speak to students about their potential
careers.
To volunteer to participate in the
Conference Series or to get involved in
any other student outreach programs,
please visit the alumni website (www.
alumni.ucr.edu) and click on “Get
Involved.”
CALENDAR
J U LY 2 7
L.A. Chapter Annual Hollywood
Bowl Event: “Chicago: The
Musical”
Alumni and friends are invited to join the
L.A. chapter at its annual Hollywood Bowl
outing. Come early for a preconcert picnic and
meet fellow Highlanders. This year’s program
is “Chicago: The Musical” — a brilliantly sexy
tale of fame, fortune and all that jazz, set
amid the razzle-dazzle of the 1920s. This
winner of six Tony Awards will come to
decadent life with a sensational all-star cast in
a one-of-a-kind Bowl production. Tickets are
$44 for Alumni Association members and
guests, $49 for nonmembers. Order tickets
online at www.alumni.ucr.edu/hollywoodbowl.
AUGUST 4
Travel the Globe and Expand Your Horizons
Sixth Annual Alumni Day at the
Races – Del Mar, Calif.
The UCR Alumni Association
travel program offers a mix of
exploration, education and
adventure in partnership with
reputable, prescreened tour
operators.
Join alumni and friends in a private sky
room where one can watch and wager on
exciting thoroughbred horse racing. Tickets are
$40 for UCRAA members, and $45 for
nonmembers. Space is limited; this event has
sold out every year. Order tickets online at
www.alumni.ucr.edu/delmar.
•Villages and Vineyards of Italy:
Take part in educational
programs and fun excursions,
Sept. 10 to 20
•Spain: Immerse yourself in the
local culture and lifestyles of
northern Spain, Oct. 6 to 15
Visit the Alumni Association
website (www.alumni.ucr.edu) to
view pricing and details of these
two upcoming trips.
Tour participants, whether
UCR alumni or not, must be
members of the UCR Alumni
Association. Each member may
bring one travel companion as a
guest.
OCTOBER 19
Fifth Annual Chancellor’s Dinner
The UCR community comes together at
the Chancellor’s Dinner to support our best
and brightest, but it’s also a time to honor our
notable alumni. The 2012 UCR Medallion
will be presented to Randy and Manuela (’66)
Sosa. Virginia Phillips (’79), Ronald Stovitz
(’64) and Ernesto (Ernie) Rios (’07 MBA) will
also be honored as the recipients of the 27th
Annual Alumni Awards of Distinction. For more
information, go to www.chancellorsdinner.ucr.edu.
How to contact the UCR
Alumni Association:
Website: alumni.ucr.edu
E-mail: ucralum@ucr.edu
Phone: (951) UCR-ALUM or
(800) 426-ALUM (2586)
30 | UCR Spring 2013
’57 Hal Durian was a UCR charter
student, one of the first 125
students who enrolled in February
1954. After he graduated, Hal
taught history and government for
41 years at Chaffey High School in
Ontario. From 2005 to 2012 he
worked for The Press-Enterprise,
writing weekly columns on history.
Recently, he wrote “True Stories of
Riverside and the Inland Empire,”
a book that highlights the
remarkable stories of Inland
Southern California’s forebearers.
60s
’64 Gloria Macias is a
newly elected member
of the San Bernardino
Community College
District Board of
Trustees. Prior to that,
she was president of Crafton Hills
College from July 2000 until her
retirement on July 2, 2012. She
was also the vice president of
instruction at Crafton Hills College
for six years and dean of humanities at San Bernardino Valley
College for three years. Gloria has
more than 20 years of teaching
experience.
’64 Stephen Fry retired as UCLA’s
music librarian with emeritus
status in 2002 after a 30-year
career at UC. While retired, he
wrote a book on the English
country dances published in The
Gentleman’s Magazine (London)
from 1737 to 1757, complete
with music and dance instructions.
He was also a contributor for “The
Grove Dictionary of American
Music” (second edition), for which
he wrote the article “Musical
1
What’s your favorite memory of UCR?
2
Can you name a defining moment in your life?
3
What’s the best part about your job?
4
What are some of the awards that LifeHouse Theater has won?
5
What are you most proud of?
gh
Wayne
Scott
B.A. POLITICAL SCIENCE AND
RELIGIOUS STUDIES ‘81
Wayne is the founder
and president of
LifeHouse Theater, a
nonprofit community
theater in Redlands that
puts on original plays
and musicals for more
than 30,000 guests
each year.
gh
I was very fortunate to have classes with Ron Loveridge,
who later became the mayor of Riverside. His leadership
in the class and his caring attitude meant a lot to me.
Even [though] everyone knew he was brilliant, he remained
extremely down to earth and relatable. He would even go
out of his way to write detailed comments on papers that
we submitted and I really appreciated that individualized
relationship.
While working at the state Capitol one summer near UC
Davis, I watched a revival of the movie “Mary Poppins.” I
saw this unique mixture of acting, music and animation,
all combined to tell a story with a potent message, and I
thought, “I want to do something along those lines.” While I
was grateful for my job at the Capitol, there was something
missing. I realized that I needed to release the creative
side dwelling within me. I want to use the arts to influence
people positively. While good government is extremely
important, I feel that the real battle in life is influencing the
hearts and minds of men and women.
Maybe it’s the teacher in me, but my greatest joy is seeing
young people discover their hidden talents, something
valuable that they didn’t know they could do, and then
taking that newly attained skill and parlaying it into making
their dreams come true.
We’re a part of the Inland Theatre League and we’ve
received countless wonderful awards from them in almost
all areas of theater, especially in writing and music
composition, but also in costuming, scenic design and
acting. We’ve been really blessed with tremendous
talent here.
I am blessed to be working with people that I’ve seen
transform because of [LifeHouse Theater]. These people,
who were about to – frankly – take their lives and were
going down a path that they may have not have returned
from, discovered that they are valuable and that there is
something they can do. They have been able to make a
complete turnaround and that’s what I’m most proud of, that
I could be used in a small way to help someone else.
Watch an interview with Wayne Scott — and other notable alumni — at
Philately,” which includes a
complete list of music-related
postage stamps issued by the U.S.
Postal Service from 1898 to the
present. He is married to fellow
alumna, Frances Fry ’63 (’69 M.A.).
’66 Michael Kraft is the co-editor
and contributing author of “The
Oxford Handbook of U.S.
Environmental Policy,” released in
Names printed in blue indicate members of the UCR Alumni Association.
To update your membership, visit www.alumni.ucr.edu
October 2012. The book is a
collection of state-of-the-art
reviews of key topics in U.S.
environmental policy and politics
by more than 40 of the nation’s
leading scholars in the field. It is
intended to summarize scholarship over the past four decades
and set research goals for new
work in the field.
MAGAZINE.UCR.EDU
70s
’72 Juan Ulloa, a Superior Court
judge in Imperial County, is the
recipient of the 2012 Aranda
Access to Justice Award. The
award, named for the founding chair
of the Judicial Council’s Access and
UCR Spring 2013 | 31
CLASS ACTS
50s
TAKE FIVE
CLASS ACTS
“Without scholarships, I would
not be in college — end of story.”
- emancipated foster youth Kassy Peterson,
explaining the impact of scholarship support.
Scholarships Change Lives
Less than 3 percent of
emancipated foster youth
graduate from college. Donor
support helped Kassy beat the odds.
After graduation in June, Kassy’s
joining Teach America, where
she’ll share the value of her
education with inner city youth.
Change lives! Make
a gift today to the
UCR Foundation
using the envelope
included in this
issue, or online at
www.ucr.edu/giving.
Use code 13AFMAG03.
Make a difference.
Make a gift.
32 | UCR Spring 2013
Fairness Advisory Committee,
Benjamin Aranda III, honors a
trial judge or an appellate justice
whose activities demonstrate a
long-term commitment to
improving access to justice. He
was recognized for establishing a
collaborative relationship with
court and consulate officials from
Mexico to better serve the legal
needs of his community, and for
being a leader in court reform
efforts and working to improve
access to justice for all Imperial
County residents. Through the
Imperial County Blue Ribbon
Commission, Juan used international collaboration to improve
the services to binational families
in the juvenile and family court
systems. They worked with the
state government of Baja
California, the family court and
court-appointed counsel, the
university and the Mexican
government to remove jurisdictional and informational barriers
and resolve cases. Juan has also
participated in the Judicial
Council’s California Tribal Court/
State Court Forum working group
with Claudette White, chief judge
of the Quechan tribal court, to
establish protocols for coordinating, transferring and monitoring cases that involve Quechan
families in Imperial County. The
Judicial Council, the State Bar,
and the California Judges
Association co-sponsor the award
in association with the California
Commission on Access to Justice.
’74 Michael Bartee, coach at
Riverside North High School,
recently became one of only 26
coaches in California to mark 600
basketball game victories.
Michael came back to coaching
after retiring in 2011. He began
his coaching career in 1973, first
as a freshman coach and then as
a junior varsity boys basketball
coach, before accepting his first
teaching position at Perris Valley
Junior High School.
’75 John Samson was the
construction coordinator for this
year’s Academy Award-winning
Best Picture “Argo.” John has
worked as a construction
coordinator for movies such as
“The Hangover” (I & II), “The
Back-up Plan,” “Spider-Man 3,”
“Just Married,” “Stuart Little”
and “Iron Man 3.” … Yolanda
Moses received the Frederick
Douglass Medal from the Institute
for African and African-American
Studies at the University of
Rochester. This medal is the
highest award given by the
university for work pertaining to
matters of diversity. She
dedicated three years to the
exhibit, “RACE: Are We So
Different?” seeking to understand
the rationalizations that support
racial discrimination in the
United States and abroad.
’79 Marshall Johnson,
UCR Extension
specialist, entomologist
and lecturer, has
received the
Distinguished Scientist
of the Year Award from the
International Organization for
Biological Control — Nearctic
Regional Section. Only one
individual is recognized annually
for the award. Nominees must
have spent most of their career in
the Nearctic Region, which
encompasses the United States
and Canada, and have made
significant contributions to the
area of biological control. In his
research he has explained the
relationships between economically important pests and their
natural enemies, and used this
information to enhance biological
control, thereby improving pest
control and reducing reliance on
insecticides. He has also been a
leading contributor to understanding and mitigating negative
effects of pesticides on pest
control, including pesticide
resistance, pest resurgence and
secondary pest outbreaks. His
many awards and honors include
being named a fellow of both the
Entomological Society of America
and the American Association for
the Advancement of Science. He
is a recipient of the C.W.
Woodworth Award from the
Pacific Branch of the
80s
’84 Darren Johnson
serves as the chair of
the Department of
Orthopedic Surgery
and Sports Medicine
at the University of
Kentucky and the head orthopedic
surgeon for UK Athletics. He was
named the 2012-13 Southeastern
Conference Team Physician of the
Year by the Southeastern
Conference (SEC) member
institution athletic training staff,
as announced by the Southern
Orthopedic Association (SOA). He
will be honored at the 2013 SEC
Men’s Basketball Tournament
when the SOA has its annual
meeting at the 2013 SEC Sports
Medicine Committee Meeting in
Opelika, Ala.
’84 (M.A.) Kevin Enns-Rempel was
recently appointed director of the
Hiebert Library at Fresno Pacific
University. After completing his
degree at UCR in the program for
historic resources management,
Kevin has served as the Fresno
Pacific University archivist for
more than 25 years.
’86 Froukje Schaafsma-Smith is an
artist and arts educator with more
than 20 years of experience.
Recently, her work was on display
at the Walter’s Mercedes-Benz
showroom at the Riverside Auto
Center. Her autobiographical art
has been featured in one-person
and group exhibitions and is in the
public collections of UCR and
UCLA. She received the Curatorial
Award, Members’ Art Exhibition
2012, Riverside Art Museum and
The Fred Bird Memorial Award,
Artist Council Exhibition 2011
and Palm Springs Art Museum
awards.
1
It was just a real fluke. In 2003 I got a part-time job as a nurse
practitioner with the UCLA School of Nursing Health Center in
downtown Los Angeles, where we provided health care to uninsured,
homeless and indigent people. It was a really good learning
experience for me; eight years later, due to reorganization, I left
my position with UCLA and began looking for a similar position
closer to home. I got an invitation from Riverside County. I put in an
application and they called me and said, “We’d like to interview you
for our Mobile Health Clinic.” So here I am, again, doing what I love,
which is providing health care to people who don’t have any health
care access.
TAKE FIVE
gh
Darlene
Tyler
B.A. MUSIC, ‘82
How did you end up working with the medically underserved in the
Inland region? Was it something you always wanted to do?
2
But you graduated with a bachelor’s in music. That’s quite a leap — from
music into medical sciences!
My first bachelor’s degree was in respiratory therapy before I was
given the opportunity to study music at UCR. My third bachelor’s
degree, from Cal State San Bernardino, was in nursing, and I have
a master’s degree in nursing from Loma Linda University, a postmaster’s nurse practitioner credential from Azusa Pacific University,
and my doctorate in nursing is from UCLA. I have gone to graduation
too many times!
3
What was it about higher education that attracted you so much?
4
What kind of advice would you have for people who don’t know what to
do with their lives right after graduating from university?
Darlene is a nurse
practitioner who works
for the Riverside County
Regional Medical
Center.
As the sole provider for the
Riverside County Mobile Health
Clinic, she covers 11 sites —
I think it’s important for people to find out what they are passionate
about. And when they find that out, to follow that passion as far as it
will take them.
from downtown Riverside to
Mecca in the Coachella Valley
to Temecula — providing basic
health care and chronic disease
treatment. “[Our clients] may
be U.S. citizens or they may be
undocumented; our care is given
for free to people who don’t have
access to health care in any other
capacity,” she explains.
gh
I started [my career] as a respiratory therapist and when I got
my bachelor’s, I wanted to go back to school to do what I really
loved doing — playing the cello. I knew I couldn’t make a living
playing music, which is why I was a respiratory therapist. But I still
wanted to study music. After I got my degree at UCR, I decided that
medical school was a good avenue because I like science and I like
technology. I was doing all my prerequisites for medicine when I was
offered a spot at the [then] brand-new nursing program at Cal State
San Bernardino.
As soon as I got done, I was told that I was so good with working
with the patients that I really needed to be a nurse practitioner so that
I could use all of my science and technology courses.
I went into the nurse practitioner program and that’s how I ended
up at UCLA. In my first interview for the position, my boss asked,
“Do you have a Ph.D.?” And his second question was, “Do you want
one?” He said we needed more people who are nurse practitioners
who have Ph.D.s., who are able to do research but also have a clinical
background working with patients. … Yes, I have a lot of degrees, but
they have built one skill on top of another.
5
What’s the best part of your job?
Being a nurse practitioner allows me to do patient counseling and
treat patients as human beings, holistically, with names and stories,
with a past, present and a future. That’s the nursing aspect that I
really like. And I get to impact that!
The staff of the Mobile Health Clinic goes out daily with a 40foot mobile home, loaded up with our medicine and charts and
equipment. Once we park at our site, we just open the door and the
clinic is open. I can change people’s futures. Wherever we go, the
whole community comes in and they can get treatment. In a typical
day, we get into a van, we go some place, we do our thing and we
come home. And every day is different because we’re at a different
place every day. Riverside County is the fourth-largest county in
California. And we cover all 7,000 square miles.
UCR Spring 2013 | 33
CLASS ACTS
Entomological Society of America
and the Entomological Society of
America Recognition Award for
Contributions to Agriculture.
’89 K.T. Leung was elected to serve
as secretary/treasurer in November
2012 for the California Board of
Accountancy. He currently serves
as principal of the Leung
Accountancy Corp. He previously
served as manager of several
investment groups, as principal of
Leung and Wong Accountancy
Group, and Leung and Associates.
He also serves on the boards of
various philanthropic and business
organizations.
90s
’90 Renato Izquieta received the
2012 Humanitarian of the Year
Award for his contributions to the
Homeless Outreach Court Program
at the Orange County Superior
Court. A longtime UC Irvine
Extension instructor, Renato was
recognized for his dedication to
expanding the program, which now
serves more than 1,300 people
(up from 322 in the past two
years). Every Wednesday, he
assists the homeless and veterans
with direct representation in the
areas of family law, Supplemental
Social Security income, public
benefits, landlord/tenant,
consumer, tax and other civil
matters. At UC Irvine Extension,
he teaches civil litigation, family
law, torts and legal writing.
’92 Rigoberto González is an
associate professor of English at
Rutgers University - Newark. He is
the author of 13 books of poetry
and prose and is the editor of
“Camino del Sol: Fifteen Years of
Latina and Latino Writing.” He is
the recipient of Guggenheim and
NEA fellowships and a grant from
the New York Foundation for the
Arts, and winner of the American
Book Award, The Poetry Center
Book Award, and The Shelley
Memorial Award of The Poetry
Society of America. He is
34 | UCR Spring 2013
contributing editor for Poets &
Writers Magazine and a member of
the executive board of the National
Book Critics Circle.
’92 Francis B. Allen completed his
doctorate in clinical psychology at
Palo Alto University, Pacific
Graduate School of Psychology,
and is the director of the
Transitional Program, a community
mental health program, also based
in Palo Alto.
’99 Nathan Gonzales (’06 Ph.D.) is
the archivist and head of special
collections at the A.K. Smiley
Public Library and curator of the
Lincoln Memorial Shrine in
Redlands. Prior to this he served
as associate archivist at Smiley
Library. He is also involved in the
community, serving as president of
the Redlands Area Historical
Society, the University of Redlands
Town & Gown and the Redlands
Association of Mid-Management
Employees. He is the founding
chairman of Redlands Modern, a
committee of the Redlands
Conservancy. He is also the liaison
to the Redlands Historical Museum
Association and is on the boards of
the Rotary Club of Redlands,
Kimberly-Shirk Association and the
Zamorano Club of Los Angeles.
Nathan has co-authored three
books with former Smiley Library
director Larry Burgess: “Images of
America: Redlands” in 2004,
“Redlands in Transition” in 2008
and “Faithfully and Liberally
Sustained: Philanthropy in
Redlands” in 2010. He also has
written scholarly articles appearing
in historical journals.
00s
’03 Dominick Povero was hired by
the Redlands Police Department
in 2005 and has worked various
assignments, including patrol,
investigations and the Multiple
Enforcement Team. In 2011, he
was named the Footprinters
Association Police Officer of the
Year. This year, Dominick was
promoted to corporal. … Carol
(Preston) Nickoson recently married
Mike Nickoson. She has worked
as a campus fraternity/sorority
adviser for eight years at
Wittenberg University in Ohio. She
is also an international volunteer
for Gamma Phi Beta, serving as
sorority director of Panhellenic
Development, and serves as the
editor for Connections, a quarterly
fraternal leadership publication of
the Association of Fraternal
Leadership & Values.
’05 Sid Dixit recently began a new
adventure at Nokia and welcomed
a new baby boy.
10s
’10 Jasmine Hester stars in a new
Web series called “Redwood.”
The six-episode series premiered
on Jan. 15, and filming for
season two is already under way.
Jasmine co-produced this series
with creator Alisha Peats. She has
held roles in other shows, such as
“Touye Pwen,” “I Didn’t Know I
Was Pregnant,” “Ghostwriter” and
“The List.” She has also
appeared in music videos and a
Kentucky Fried Chicken
commercial.
’11 John Huerta has received the
2013 Levi L. Conant Prize from
the American Mathematical
Society (AMS) along with UCR
Professor John Baez. They were
awarded the prestigious prize for
their article, “The Algebra of
Grand Unified Theories,” which
appeared in the Bulletin of the
AMS in July 2010. He is
currently a postdoctoral fellow at
the Center for Mathematical
Analysis, Geometry and
Dynamical Systems at Instituto
Superior Tecnico in
Libson, Portugal. …
Serena Abeyta is in her
second year at
Southwestern Law
School in Los Angeles.
Serena ranks in the top 30
percent of her class, is a member
of the Law Journal Honors
Program and is the recipient of
the Wildman Schumacher
Scholarship. During her first
semester, Serena earned the
Witkin Award for receiving the
highest grade in her Legal
Analysis and Writing course.
During her second semester,
Serena placed as a quarterfinalist
in the Intramural Trial Advocacy
Competition. She works at the
midsize firm Kimball, Tirey & St.
John LLP in downtown Los
Angeles. Serena was also recently
engaged to be married.
’12 D. Xavier Medina Vidal is an
assistant professor of political
science at Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University. …
Rey Martinez was commissioned
to paint an Egyptian-themed
mural for the College of
Humanities, Arts and Social
Sciences at UCR a few years ago.
Recently, after graduating from
UCR with a master’s in special
education, his two loves of art
and helping others with disabilities have come full circle: He will
paint a mural for a school called
Villa Esperanza, located in
Pasadena, for children with
autism. It is an interactive mural
with a reusable surface, allowing
students to write and paint their
own dreams right into the mural.
Are you celebrating a
milestone event? Maybe you
published your latest book,
you got elected to office or
you just turned 100. Tell us
all about it, send a picture,
and we’ll celebrate with you!
Email us at news@ucr.edu
and we’ll include it in the
next UCR Magazine.
R E M E M B E R
Faculty
John B. “Jack” Vickery
Distinguished professor
emeritus, John B. “Jack” Vickery,
87, died on Feb. 7. Vickery was a
passionate and effective advocate
for the UCR Writing Program.
Colleagues respected him for
combining tough-mindedness with
fairness and integrity. Students
praised his lucidity, his savvy and
his interesting lectures.
Vickery was born on Aug. 20,
1925, in Toronto, Canada. He
received a master’s from Colgate
University in New York and a
Ph.D. from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison. He joined
the UCR English department as an
associate professor in 1966.
He was known for his work on
myth and 20th century literature.
His published work includes
“Robert Graves and the White
Goddess” (University of Nebraska
Press, 1972); “The Literary
Impact of The Golden Bough”
(Princeton, 1973); “Myths and
Texts: Strategies of Incorporation
and Displacement” (Louisiana
University Press, 1983), as well
as more than 50 book chapters,
journal articles and reviews.
In addition to being a faculty
member of UCR’s English
department, Vickery was associate
executive vice chancellor
from 1984 to 1988, and vice
chancellor of faculty relations
and academic support from 1988
until his retirement in 1993.
After retiring from UCR, he
maintained an office in the English
department and was a regular
visitor to campus.
His daughters, Anne E. Floto
and Elaine C. Shankar, and a
stepson, Daniel Carter, survive
him.
Lowell S. Jordan
Lowell S. Jordan, professor
emeritus of horticultural science
and a plant physiologist in the
Department of Botany and Plant
Sciences, died on March 2. He
was 82.
Jordan’s research interests were
in the areas of herbicide efficacy,
herbicide physiology and the mode
of action of herbicides. Among
his achievements was explaining
the way herbicides work. It was
once thought that herbicides killed
weeds by inhibiting their photosynthesis. Jordan showed that the
chemicals impair the manufacture
of proteins within plant cells.
Jordan was named a fellow
of the Weed Science Society
of America and of the Western
Society of Weed Sciences, and in
1982 he received the Outstanding
Teaching Award of the Weed
Science Society of America. He
was active in professional societies
and on university committees.
Born on April 23, 1930, in
Vale, Ore., Jordan received his
B.S. in agriculture from Oregon
State College (now University) in
1954 and his Ph.D. in agronomy
and agricultural biology from
the University of Minnesota in
1957. He joined the Department
of Horticulture at UCR in 1959
as assistant plant physiologist.
In 1967 he received professorial
rank in addition to the Cooperative
Extension title. He retired in
1993.
Jordan is survived by his wife,
Catalina; daughters Diane Hankla
of Santa Cruz and Sharon Luster of
Riverside; sons Gary of Riverside
and James of Murrieta; and
stepdaughter Luralyn MontecilloCruz of North Carolina.
Victor Shapiro
Victor Shapiro, professor
emeritus of mathematics, died on
March 1.
An expert on trigonometric
series and differential equations,
Shapiro was internationally
recognized for several solutions to
specific problems in mathematics.
One reviewer wrote that he was
“this country’s leading authority
on Multiple Trigonometric Series.”
He was the author of more than 80
research articles, and continued to
conduct research, write and teach
after his retirement in 1994.
Shapiro was born on Oct. 16,
1924. He received a B.S. in
1947, an M.S. in 1949 and a
Ph.D., all in mathematics, from
the University of Chicago. Before
joining UCR in 1964 as a full
professor, Shapiro spent five years
on the faculty at Rutgers, four
years at the University of Oregon
and three years at the Institute
for Advanced Study in Princeton.
In 1978, he was selected by the
Academic Senate to deliver the
Faculty Research Lecture.
He is survived by his wife,
Florence; two daughters; and two
sons.
Robert H. McDonald
Robert Herwick McDonald died
from complications of old age in
Berkeley on Jan. 16. He was 80.
Born in Philadelphia on Jan.
13, 1933, McDonald will be most
remembered for his tenure as a
museum professional. He worked
at the Berkeley University Art
Museum, the La Jolla Musem of
Contemporary Art, the Art Museum
of Santa Cruz County, the Laguna
Art Museum and the de Saisset
Museum at Santa Clara University.
A UC Berkeley graduate,
McDonald taught European history
and Western civilization at UCR
and UC Berkeley before leaving
academia to become gallery
director at Daniel Weinberg Gallery
from 1974 through 1976.
McDonald was passionate
about contemporary art and
championed the work of a number
of West Coast artists in exhibition
reviews. He authored numerous
catalog essays, most notably for an
exhibition he’d curated of Christo’s
work at the La Jolla Musem and
for a catalog of the Rene Di Rosa
Art Collection. McDonald was also
a proud advocate for gay rights.
Staff
Oscar Clarke
Oscar Clarke, the first curator of
UCR’s Herbarium, died on March 2
of prostate and bladder cancer. He
was 93.
“He was the expert on local
flora,” said Andy Sanders, who took
over from Clarke in 1979 as the
second curator and knew him for
40 years. “He had a great breadth
of natural history knowledge. Oscar
put the Herbarium on the map as a
public institution. He connected the
place to the larger community.”
Clarke was born in Colton, Calif.,
in 1919, and was the tree climber
for noted ornithologist Wilson
Hanna as a youth. He attended
San Bernardino Valley College and
joined the Citrus Experiment Station
in 1941. He was drafted into the
Army soon thereafter and served
until the end of World War II, when
he returned to the Experiment
Station. Once UCR was founded,
Clarke worked for the Department
of Nematology until 1966, when he
was named curator of the recently
established Herbarium. He retired
in 1979, but continued to volunteer
at the Herbarium until shortly
before his death. Also during his
retirement, Clarke researched and
was the main author of “The Flora of
the Santa Ana River and Environs”
(2007).
Clarke is survived by his wife,
Marsia; and children, Taffy, Ken and
Diane.
UCR Spring 2013 | 35
CLASS ACTS
W E
SCAPE
C
Don Carey (‘70)
The Football Official
LITTY
MATHEW
There was a time when UCR had a
football team, and National Football League
(NFL) official Donald Matthew Carey was
on it. “The coaches were Pete Katella and
Gary Knecht, who, like all good coaches,
were good teachers first,” says Carey. “I
learned a lot about how the game is coached
and played by observing them.”
Carey caught football fever as a child
growing up in San Diego, Calif. He
36 | UCR Spring 2013
Illustration by
Mike Tofanelli
remembers watching the 1958 NFL
championship game between the Baltimore
Colts and the New York Giants on TV. It
was the first playoff game that went into
sudden death during overtime — and
Carey still refers to it as “the greatest game
ever.”
The love for the game led Carey into
officiating. Encouraged by his brother,
Michael, an NFL referee, Carey started in
his hometown by joining the San Diego
County Football Officials Association in
the mid ‘70s and worked his way up to the
Pacific Coast Athletic Association Big West
Conference. In 1995, Carey officiated his
first regular season NFL game between
the San Diego Chargers and the
Oakland Raiders. It was a coincidence
that his first assignment was officiating
his hometown team.
“When I started, my dream was
to be a high school varsity referee,”
says Carey. Today, he has completed
18 NFL seasons and has officiated
12 games. Seventeen seasons were
spent as a back judge, where he was
responsible for calls 20 yards into
the defensive backfield on the wide
receiver’s side. In the 2009 season, he
worked as a head referee, supervising
the six other officials on the field with
the final authority on all rulings.
Being an NFL official is a
part-time job, but it requires a
constant, high level of focus
and a depth of knowledge that
only comes with time on the
field. While the basic NFL
requirement is 10 years of
experience at the major
college level, working in
front of at least 50,000
spectators, it requires 15
to 20 years to achieve the
proper experience. This was
the challenge that replacement
officials faced during the
2012 referee strike while NFL
officials negotiated pension and retirement
benefits. “When referees reach the NFL,
they’re faced with a new and complicated
rule book and officiating philosophy,” says
Carey.
And like everyone, Carey has made
mistakes. “On most occasions, I learn more
from examining the causes of an incorrect
call,” he says. “There’s a tendency in all
walks of life to take success and accuracy
“THERE’S A
TENDENCY IN
ALL WALKS OF
LIFE TO TAKE
SUCCESS AND
ACCURACY FOR
GRANTED. THIS
IS NOT THE PATH
TO IMPROVED
PERFORMANCE.”
for granted. This is not the path to improved
performance.”
Carey, who graduated from UCR with
a degree in history, just retired from the
United States Department of Defense after
a 30-year career as a contracting officer
and program integrator for advanced cruise
missiles. He’s found an uncanny parallel
between his two careers: “In my business
career, I learned the value of unbiased
analysis, preparation and execution. Those
lessons have influenced my NFL career and
the rest of my life,” says Carey.
Health  Sustainability  Policy  Technology
LIVING THE
PROMISE
Real World Solutions
Explore more sustainability impacts
Clearing the air: Using the world’s largest indoor atmospheric research
chamber, UCR engineer Akua Asa-Awuku studies air-polluting black carbon
particles and the role they play in cloud formation and global warming.
promise.ucr.edu
Sustainable Agriculture
Invasive Species
Green Energy
Preserving Ecosystems
UCR Spring 2013 | 37
Calling the
U C R
TARTAN
ARMY!
UCR Homecoming is moving to the fall, so save the date
November 16, 2013
UCR vs. Montana State
Come home to your alma mater and enjoy a day of great food, good
friends, fond memories and a chance to cheer on your Highlander
Men’s Basketball Team as they kick off the 2013-14 season.
Watch for more details at www.alumni.ucr.edu/homecoming