MAY • 2008 UC admits record number of freshmen INSIDE THIS ISSUE UC off ered admission to 60,008 California high school seniors, a record number UC President Dynes Q&A 2 despite looming state budget cuts. Colleges, universities unite Fulfi lling a commitment to off er a place to every eligible California applicant, the uni- in plea for support 3 versity increased the number of admissions off ers by 4.7 percent over fall 2007. A re- UC seeks animal researcher protections 3 cord number of applications, however, resulted UC Irvine reaches out to in a slightly lower admission rate: 75.8 percent UC FRESHMEN ADMISSIONS American Indians 4 of fall 2008 applicants were admitted compared Total applicants 79,661 to 77.4 percent in fall 2007. Universities across Total admissions 60,008 the country have seen a dramatic increase in Latino/Chicano 12, 432 16 % increase African American 2,305 11.3% increase RESEARCH IN ACTION WORKING applications due to the large number of high White 20, 616 1.2% increase FOR THE PEOPLE OF CALIFORNIA school seniors graduating this year. Asian 20,397 0.7% increase is special report highlights UC’s “We were very impressed with the academic American Indian 334 2.6% decrease research into the causes of qualifi cations of all the applicants, and we look California residents: 88.8% and treatments that can enhance the forward to an outstanding group of freshmen Female: 56.7% this fall,” said UCLA Chancellor Gene Block. Male: 43.1% quality of life and education for autistic Low-income: 36.8% children. (Inside) Continued on page 2 UC Center Sacramento aims to serve policy-makers UC Center Sacramento celebrates its fi ft h anniversary in May with a renewed eff ort to develop its role as a resource for the state policy-making community. Launched as a fi ve-year pilot project in 2003, the center has been awarded permanent status. Th at means UC students will continue to have access to a robust learning expe- rience in the state capital. Each year the center places dozens of students as interns in legislative and administration offi ces and Sacramento nonprofi ts. In addition to work- ing as interns, students attend classes at the center’s K Street building, write a public policy research paper and obtain a solid grounding in state government. But student learning is not the center’s only mission in Sacramento. It also hosts pub- did you lic seminars and speaker series and serves as a research resource for legislative offi ces, a role that will be growing. know? “We’re a front door for UC research in Sacramento, and that will expand,” said A.G. • If 2 percent more Californians Block, director of the center’s public aff airs student journalism program. “For us, re- had associate’s degrees and search and public service are very much intertwined. Our mission is to make available another 1 percent more to California policy-makers the research from all 10 UC campuses.” earned bachelor’s degrees, California’s economy would For every challenge California faces, Block said, there are likely UC researchers work- grow by $20 billion. ing on the same problem. If a legislator needs expertise for draft ing a bill or testimony before a committee, the center can help fi nd a UC expert to fi ll those needs, he said. • State and local tax revenues would increase by $1.2 billion Th e center is celebrating its fi ft h anniversary with a May 6 reception from 5 to 7 p.m. per year. at 1130 K St., Suite LL22, Sacramento. For more information about the event and • 174,000 new jobs would be center resources, call 916 445-5134. created. Be an advocate for UC!

Source: Th e Campaign for College Opportunity Find out what you can do and sign up today at www.ucforcalifornia.org For more information, contact Brandon Kline 510 987-0669 or [email protected] SYSTEMWIDE NEWS

Dynes reflects on his UC presidency As he prepares to step down as UC president on June 15, Bob Dynes looks back on five years at the helm of a university he fell in love with as a new physics professor in 1990. That year he joined UC San Diego’s faculty after a 22-year career at AT&T Bell Laboratories. He was UCSD’s chancellor in 2003 when he accepted the job of UC president.

Q. What were some of the high points of your presidency? thriving, faculty are Dynes: When I took this job in 2003, I pledged that my top enthusiastic and priority would be sustaining the quality of what I believe is the students are signing world’s finest university. We did that on three fronts. First, we up in droves. That has worked to stabilize state funding for the university in a period been very gratifying. when it looked like the bottom might fall out. Second, we Q. What’s next on went 3-for-3 in the national lab competitions, which seemed your horizon? to surprise everyone but me. Third, and most important, we Dynes: On the near laid out a long-range vision for the university, which had horizon, I will spend a lot more time with my wife, Ann, at never been done before. That vision is “One University with our home in San Diego and a lot less time with my Black- the Promise and Power of 10 Campuses.” Over the past year, Berry. I have an active laboratory with post-docs, graduate I have conveyed that vision to every part of the system, and I students and undergraduates, and I will see more of them. My have been gratified by the responses, which are contained in a lab has built a new superconducting tunneling microscope special “Power of 10” report. (universityofcalifornia.edu/presi- that is unique in the world for its ability to probe aspects of dent/powerof10report0408.pdf) high-temperature superconductors. It’s a thrilling project. On Q. You became president after serving as a department chair, the far horizon, I want to think very carefully about the third a campus chief academic officer and a campus chancellor. act of my life, following my first two acts at Bell Labs and UC, What have you learned as UC president that surprised you? and about how I can continue to pursue my passion for R, Dynes: The UC president sees the entire breadth and depth D & D: research, development and delivery of new ideas to of the state of California in a way that few people ever experi- benefit society and change the world. ence, and I have been most surprised at just how much UC Q. What advice will you give incoming UC President Mark reaches into the lives of all Californians. It is virtually impos- Yudof as you head out the door? sible to find anyone who does not benefit from our impact Dynes: I’ve already urged him to forge a strong relationship on health care, agriculture, science and technology, arts and with the governor, who is a huge UC fan, the leadership in culture, public policy, and, in a brand new development, K-12 the Legislature and the Academic Senate, and with his two education. UC had never taken on in a major way the chal- presidential advisory boards, the Agriculture Commission lenges facing K-12 education because we felt it was CSU’s job. and the Science and Innovation Board. I’ve known Mark for I thought it was important for all of higher education to play over a decade. He is an outstanding choice who has already hit a role, and we acted by launching our “Cal Teach” Science and the ground running. I urge everyone in the UC community Math Initiative. When I pushed that initiative forward with to give him their full support – I know I will – and I hope he the governor in 2005, I was told that faculty and students on savors every minute of his presidency. the campuses would never buy into it. Today, Cal Teach is

Admissions continued from page 1 ready been offered admissions, another to the Berkeley, Irvine, San Diego and 8,450 who were not accepted at the UCLA campuses. Those students can UC saw an increase in applications and campus they originally applied to will spend their freshmen and sophomore admissions among African American be offered admission at UC Merced or years at Merced with the option of (13.3 percent) and Latino/Chicano (16 UC Riverside. At UC Berkeley and UC transferring to another campus in their percent) students while American In- San Diego, another 3,000 students have junior year. dian admissions dropped 2.6 percent. been offered admission for winter or Nine out of 10 admitted UC students spring quarters. Those three underrepresented groups are California residents. International make up 25.1 percent of total fall ad- UC Merced will offer admission and out-of-state admissions numbered missions. through the Shared Experience pro- 7,545, an increase of 1,262 over last gram, now in its second year, to 820 year. Information about transfer student In addition to the students who have al- California residents who had applied admissions will be released later in May. 2 SYSTEMWIDE NEWS

California public colleges, universities unite in plea for state support Peter the Anteater usually is found and higher fees. Hundreds more attended romping on the sidelines at UC Irvine campus rallies throughout the state. athletic events. On May 8, Peter will On April 28, UC President Robert Dynes, apply his cheering skills to Capitol UC Provost Rory Hume, CSU Chancellor Mascot Day, an event Orange County Charles Reed and CCC Chancellor Diane higher education leaders organized Woodruff made a rare joint visit to Sacra- to call attention to the impact of state mento to urge policy-makers to resist the budget cuts on California’s universities deep budget cuts for higher education. The and colleges. proposed state budget would have devastat- Peter the Anteater with UC Irvine fans. The UC Irvine mascot will join with ing consequences for California’s economy, Cal State Fullerton’s Tuffy Titan and a lineup of community which depends on the state’s educated and highly skilled work college mascots to deliver thousands of letters to Gov. Arnold force to grow. Schwarzenegger and state legislators. Written by students, Future threatened. “We have an amazing system of public faculty, staff, parents and business leaders, the letters will ask higher education in California, where anybody has access at lawmakers to support the state’s investment in higher edu- any time of life to the finest education in the world, and that cation as a proven way to strengthen California’s economic opportunity will be damaged by these cuts,” Hume said during competitiveness. Together California’s three higher education a recent radio forum on the state budget crisis and its effects systems face a proposed $1 billion in state budget cuts. on education. United front. Those expected to speak at Capitol Mascot Day UC faces a $417 million shortfall if the proposed cuts go include UC Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake, CSU Fullerton through. As a result, UC students, said Hume, will find larger President Milton Gordon, Rancho Santiago Community Col- classes, less access to majors and a longer time to earn a degree, lege District Chancellor Edward Hernandez, North Orange which translates into higher financial burdens on families. County Community College District Chancellor Jerome Hunter, South Orange County Community College District Impacts to linger. A recent report from the Campaign for Chancellor Raghu Mathur and Coast Community College College Opportunity analyzed the cumulative impact of District Chancellor Kenneth Yglesias. budget cuts on the three systems. Both CSU and UC already enroll more students than current funding can support, the The May 8 event is just one of several budget-related activi- report noted. Further cuts will mean more students will be ties drawing support from a united coalition of community turned away. Even if funding improved next year, the report college, UC and CSU students, faculty and leaders. All have found, UC and CSU would have to turn away 27,000 eligible the same message: An investment in higher education is an in- students just to catch up. Community colleges will need to cut vestment in the future of California’s quality of life, economic classes and student services while increasing class sizes. growth, health and environmental sustainability. A recent report from the UC Academic Senate concluded that Students carry message. On April 21, more than 2,000 UC, increased philanthropic support and federal grants would not CSU and community college students carried that message make up for the lost state general fund support. to Sacramento as they marched to protest state budget cuts

UC seeks animal researcher protections Mateo, was ammended in the Assembly Judiciary Committee Assembly Bill 2296, sponsored by the University of California, on April 23 and referred again to the Assembly Appropria- aims to protect faculty and staff from the increasing cam- tions Committee. paign of violence and intimidation perpetrated by anti-animal AB 2296 provides that no person or organization can know- research extremists. ingly post or display on the Internet the names, home ad- The university supports the free-speech rights of activists to dresses and phone numbers and images of anyone engaged protest the use of animals in scientific and medical research. in lawful use of animals for education or research - or anyone At the same time, UC believes legislative action is needed to living in the same home - with the intent to incite great bodily protect employees and their families from escalating violence harm or to threaten the person. and threats at campuses throughout the state. Incidents of Animal research contributes significantly to medical break- violence include bombings, arson, vandalism and harassment throughs including cancer treatments, vaccine development at both the researchers’ workplaces and homes. and organ transplants. UC faculty who use animals must The bill, authored by Assemblymember Gene Mullin, D-San comply with strict animal care protocols. 3 New UC Irvine program reaches out to American Indians

Mike Estes treasures the ancestral back on track, graduated with a degree in heritage he learned about as a child environmental analysis and design and on a Lakota reservation. He is looking earned a master’s in resource manage- for a way to instill that heritage in his ment at Central Washington University. own children, and he may have found He launched an air quality program for the it in a new UC venture to strengthen La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians, but his the American Indian community by thoughts kept returning to Irvine. empowering its future leaders. “I did not want the same fate for future UC Irvine’s American Indian Resource American Indian students that came Program, now in its sixth month, is re- Nikishna Polequaptewa (left) welcomes Benny Estes through UCI,” he said. “So I wrote a cruiting every segment of the Ameri- and his father, Mike, to UC Irvine’s first American proposal to Dr. Manuel Gómez to see if can Indian population: teenagers, Indian Family Day. he would be interested in supporting the parents and tribal leaders, who are seeking partnerships to creation of an American Indian Resource Program.” help serve their people. Estes came with his son, Benny, to Gómez, UCI’s vice chancellor of student affairs, saw that the UCI’s first American Indian Family Day on April 19, and program could be a capstone of existing American Indian he plans on bringing his two daughters when they reach outreach. high school. “The tribes have immense needs in areas like health care, “I would love for all my children environmental sustainability and telecommunications, and —­ to come to UC Irvine because they don’t want their children to lose their cultural identity,” ““I would love for of this program,” said Estes, a said Gómez. all my children to financial management expert. “Our family really wants to get Stephanie Reyes-Tuccio, director of UCI’s Center for Educa- come to UC Irvine involved in what Nikishna has tional Partnerships, said she’s never seen a program take off because of this built here, and we would like to so quickly. “Nikishna is not only deeply knowledgeable about support what he’s done.” what Native American students need, but passionate as well, program.” and he has built on his relations with local tribes and organi- Mike Estes Nikishna Polequaptewa, the zations to make great strides.” program’s director, is a UCI alumnus from the Hopi Tribe in Citing new UC admissions data that show a 2.6 percent northeastern Arizona. Aban- decline in freshman American Indian students in one year, doned by his mother as an infant, and losing his father to Reyes-Tuccio said, “I believe this program will be a system- prison at age 3, Polequaptewa had no home or family of his wide model for work with this important student population. own. But he drew emotional support from his Hopi Badger Clearly, we have a long way to go with respect to increasing and Spider clans and his faith in a higher power. representation of Native American students at UC. If anyone can take us there, it’s Nikishna.” “When I was a little child in a foster home in Los Angeles, I believed that the Creator would keep me safe and guide me with the right people at the right times,” Polequaptewa said. Click for it! “That belief has taken me through many wonderful and dif- Visit www.universityofcalifornia.edu/youruniversity ficult experiences.” for these Web-only features: While in high school, Polequaptewa participated in UCI’s Join UC advocates on Facebook. American Indian Summer Institute in Computer Sciences, Connect with other UC alumni. Check out photos and videos. an eight-week residential program funded by the National What state would we be in without UC? Science Foundation. He enrolled as a freshman and served Explore UC’s new public awareness campaign to see how as president of the American Indian Student Association all the university contributes to California’s quality of life and four years. The position overwhelmed him, he said, because economic health. the need for American Indian programming far outpaced the Go back to school without leaving home! students who could help him sustain it. Listen to hundreds of podcasts from UC Berkeley classroom lectures and campus events and seminars. “After putting so much time and energy into raising awareness of American Indian issues and culture, my GPA fell to a 1.9 in How is the budget crisis hitting public higher education? my fourth year,” he said. Read the full reports from the Campaign for College Opportunity and the UC Academic Senate. With the support of his wife, Yolanda León, Polequaptewa got

Your University is produced 10 times per year by the Strategic Communications department of the University of California Office of the President. For suggestions or comments about this report, contact: Donna Hemmila, editor, 1111 Franklin St. 12th Floor, Oakland, Calif. 94607, 510.987.0793, [email protected] Research in Action Working for the people of California

Autism: UC hunts for causes and treatments

Autism is a developmental disorder now recognized as a growing public health crisis in California. Th e Centers for Disease Control estimate that 1 in 150 U.S. children has some degree of disorder, a developmental disability classifi cation that includes autism, As- perger’s syndrome, , childhood disintegrative disorder and nonspecifi ed pervasive developmental disorders. Th e University of California is leading the way in both autism spectrum treatment and research. Families can turn to UC medical centers for evaluation and diagnostic services as well as treatment programs. Th rough research centers on several campuses, doctors, psychologists and education specialists are working to discover the and effective treatments to improve the autistic child’s educational and social experiences.

M.I.N.D. Institute seeks to defi ne autism Th e ability to match an eff ective treatment to each type of autism would be a major breakthrough. Treatments take time to show re- David Amaral, professor, Department of and Behavioral Sciences, UC Davis, sults, and they must be employed at critical times when the is director of research, UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute developing. http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/mindinstitute “If you pick the wrong treatment, you’ve lost a valuable window,” says Amaral. Th e Autism Phenome Project at UC Davis’ Th ere are currently 110 families participating in the phenome proj- Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmen- ect, with two new families joining each week. Amaral’s goal is to tal Disorders Institute is the largest com- enroll 1,350 children, 900 with autism and 450 typically developing prehensive autism study ever attempted. Its children. Most of the study participants are from Northern Cali- goal is to identify diff erent subtypes of autism. Th at identifi cation fornia. Amaral would like to expand the study nationally to other could lead researchers closer to discovering the causes of the disor- university research sites. der and fi nding the most eff ective treatment for each subtype. Children enter the study when they are between the ages of 2 and 3 “One of the major stumbling blocks to understanding autism and ½ and are tracked over a number of years. In addition to behavioral treatment for autism is that it’s very heterogeneous,” says David observation, the children receive a comprehensive analysis of their Amaral, M.I.N.D. Institute director of research. genetics, brain structure and functioning, environmental exposures, Autism spectrum disorders are typically characterized by varying blood proteins and immune systems. degrees of impaired verbal and nonverbal communication skills, Amaral believes he may have identifi ed an immune system-related repetitive behaviors such as rocking or hand fl apping and diffi culty type of autism. He has found a link between prenatal exposure to with social interactions. But not every person with autism will ex- certain maternal antibodies and the repetitive behaviors charac- hibit the same symptoms. About 30 percent of children with autism teristic in autism. Antibodies from a pregnant woman’s blood are have seizures, Amaral says, while others don’t. Some have delayed transferred through the placenta and aff ect the developing fetus’s language skills, gastrointestinal conditions or enlarged heads and brain. Researchers are working to confi rm that the presence of these , but others show none of those signs. antibodies is a risk factor for autism. If that’s the case, Amaral says, He believes the types of autism could range from as few as six to 20 women could be screened for the antibodies and a treatment devel- or more. Th at is something the study will determine. oped to remove them and prevent one subtype of autism.

A REPORT FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESIDENT FOR FRIENDS AND ADVOCATES OF UC MAY 2008 Research in Action Working for the people of California

Parent training can alter autistic behaviors uses play and natural behaviors to enhance language and social development. Laura Schreibman, distinguished professor, Department of Psychology, UC San Diego, director of Children, who are referred to the autism center by pediatricians, behavioral therapy, UCSD Autism Center of Excellence undergo an intensive biological and genetic evaluation. As part of http://psy3.ucsd.edu/~autism/ the family’s participation in the center’s five-year study, they receive free behavioral intervention from Schreibman’s research group. The National Institutes of Health-designated This summer she will begin working with babies 18 to 24 months Autism Center of Excellence at UC San Diego old and their parents. Each child will receive 10 hours of work a is working to uncover the causes of autism and week with trained therapists in the home. Parents will receive addi- to identify biologically based treatments for tional hours of training to learn how to work with their babies. infants and toddlers. “What they do would look like playing and having fun, but regular Eric Courchesne, a professor of at the UC San Diego play doesn’t work with these children,” says Schreibman. “There are School of Medicine, is directing the program with a goal of develop- very specific skills the parents or clinicians need to have.” ing earlier diagnosis and interventions. Laura Schreibman, author of the book The Science and Fiction of Autism, is the center’s director One of the effective interventions involves using a child’s favorite of behavioral therapy. Her autism research has focused on develop- toy or something the child is motivated to want as a reward. Parents ing individualized behavior-based interventions and training parents have learned to teach babies to respond to their name by withhold- to use the techniques at home. Working with Robert Koegel at UC ing the object until they react to hearing their name spoken. Santa Barbara, Schreibman developed something called pivotal re- One of the research goals is to find which specific brain devel- sponse training, or PRT. opment patterns respond best to specific behavior treatments. This method teaches parents to help their autistic child learn to Someday in the future, Schreibman says, researchers may be able communicate, interact with the environment and family members to develop early interventions that can change the way the autistic and achieve some of the basic infant developmental milestones. PRT brain develops.

Simple interventions could improve school life quality of their friendships by asking children to respond to state- ments such as, “When I do a good job at something, my friend is Connie Kasari, professor of psychological studies, UCLA Graduate School of Education and happy for me,” or “I think about my friend even when my friend is Information Sciences not around.” It was clear that the children with autism weren’t get- UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment ting as much out of childhood friendships as other kids. http://www.autism.ucla.edu The study interventions explored ways to improve those social rela- tionships. Researchers tested four approaches. In one intervention, Many children with autism have a hard time they worked one-on-one with the autistic child on building social forging friendships. On school playgrounds skills. In another intervention, they worked only with the nonau- they may be isolated from their classmates, tistic children on ways to improve interactions with their autistic hanging on the outskirts of a group, not really engaging in the classmates. For a third group, they used a combination of the work activities. with autistic children and nonautistic children. The control group Connie Kasari, a researcher at the UCLA Center for Autism and Re- received no social skills intervention, which Kasari says reflects the search, also a National Institutes of Health-designated Autism Cen- current school district practices. The researchers visited the schools ter of Excellence, just completed a five-year study that tested twice a week for six weeks. ways to improve the autistic child’s social interactions and peer The combination intervention had the greatest effect. Kasari relationships. thought the one-on-one intervention with the autistic child would The study worked with 60 Los Angeles Unified School District first- come in a close second, but it didn’t. The intervention with the to fifth-graders with high-functioning autism. The students were peer-only group did, showing the valuable influence good peer in- included in regular classrooms with nonautistic children. teractions can have on autistic children’s quality of life. First the researchers assessed, with student surveys and playground As a follow-up, Kasari’s group is doing a small pilot study of the observations, the way autistic kids participated in the social interac- effectiveness of training classroom aides to carry out the combina- tions of their peers. tion interventions. They’re testing an afterschool activities club for both autistic and nonautistic children with classroom aides super- “Less than 15 percent were isolated, and that surprised us,” says vising fun, developmental activities. Kasari hopes to get funding to Kasari. “We had some kids who were even popular.” expand this study to more school sites. If aides are trained to carry Yet the children with autism had poorer friendship quality than the out the social interaction interventions, she believes it would be nonautistic kids, and they were lonely. Researchers evaluated the a relatively inexpensive way to make great improvements in the school experiences of autistic children.

Your University is produced 10 times per year by the Strategic Communications department of the University of California Office of the President. For suggestions or comments about this report, contact: Donna Hemmila, editor, 1111 Franklin St. 12th Floor, Oakland, Calif. 94607, 510.987.0793, [email protected]