TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK ▶ OPINION, PAGE 4 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO www.ucsdguardian.org Thursday, November 6, 2008 The Student Voice Since 1967 EXTENSION ELECTION 2008 GRANTS POLITICAL FEVER SWEEPS CAMPUS EPSEN $100K TO J RIK UNEMPLOYED & E By Kelly Pleskot INTERHALTER Contributing Writer W AVID UCSD Extension announced D Y plans last week to apply $100,000 B in grants geared toward educa- tion programs for unemployed San Diegans amid the current economic crisis. The grants will allow the first LLUSTRATION 500 San Diegans who apply to take I free career-seminar classes at the HOTO extension. P ERIC WANG/GUARDIAN According to Ed Abeyta, the Top right: Students at Great Hall celebrate upon the announcement of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama’s victory against UCSD Extension registrar and direc- Republican candidate Sen. John McCain. Top left: As of press time, Obama had taken 349 electoral votes while McCain received 163. Left: tor of student services, the seminars Student activists demonstrate in support of Proposition 4 at Price Center Nov. 4. Bottom: Proposition 8 sparked protest on Library Walk. were designed to instruct students in basic, critical career skills in areas like personal finance, leadership, BY JOYCE YEH • STAFF WRITER networking and business etiquette. ELECTION RECAP Participants will learn about cor- porate politics, salary negotiation, n epic two-year race came to a career changes and creating resumes, close Tuesday evening as students and develop other necessary abilities NATIONALObama 53% such as interviewing. gathered across campus to wit- McCain 46% UCSD Extension began distrib- uting the grants Oct. 30, when the ness Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) offer went into effect; within the open a new chapter in American first five days, 60 grants had been STATEObama 61% RICHARD CHOI/GUARDIAN handed out. history, claiming a landslide victory against Sen. Participants may choose up to McCain 37% three seminars at once, normally JohnA McCain (R-Ariz.) to become the 44th presi- priced at $45 to $75 each, with limited dent of the United States. availability. UCSD Extension spokes- PROPOSITIONS man Henry DeVries said the distri- National exit polls suggest that between 21.6 and 23.9 million vot- 1A YES 7 NO bution of these grants will help the ers between the ages of 18 and 25 participated in the election, com- High-Speed Rail Alternative Energy extension achieve its overall goals. pared to 2.2 million in 2004. The San Diego County Registrar’s Office “We saw that part of our mission estimated that 5,000 ballots were cast at on-campus polling stations. 2 YES 8 YES is helping to train the San Diego Political science professor Thad Kousser said Obama’s age, back- Animal Confi nement Gay Marriage Ban workforce,” he said. “We think it ground and message of change made him more appealing to young 3 YES 9 YES will help people discover jobs that voters than any previous presidential candidate. Hospital Bonds Victims’ Rights are out there that they didn’t know “We see this huge increase in youth registration and turnout about.” because we have this candidate who is clearly different,” he said. 4 NO 10 NO While the UCSD Extension has “[Obama] is closer in age and appeals to the younger demographic. Parental Notifi cation Alternative Fuel never before offered these types of His positions may be similar to others, but he looks different and 5 NO 11 YES grants, the decision to do so comes talks different.” Drug Rehab Redistricting on the heels of a plan to promote Kousser added that the McCain campaign’s use of Facebook 6 NO 12 YES professional education, workforce Police Funding Veterans’ Bonds development and public service in See ELECTION, page 2 JIMMY KAN/GUARDIAN Source: California Secretary of State, as of press time the community. Abeyta also stressed that these seminars will allow participants to enhance their career skills by inter- acting with peers. Protein Discovery Could Reverse Genetic Disorders “During times like these, being able to come together in the class- ing. Previously, only proteins that opposite. Schimke immuno-osseous dyspla- room is one of the key components A new piece of the unwound DNA were known to exist. “It is the first time anyone has sia. Symptoms of the disease include [of the program],” Abeyta said. genetic puzzle gives DNA is a double helix with four observed DNA actively being strokes, congestive heart failure, According to DeVries, the exten- bases in the middle — guanine, cyto- rewound,” UCSD professor of biology kidney failure and premature death sion program’s new efforts to pro- scientists the tools to sine, adenosine and thymine — whose and project supervisor Jim Kadonaga among children. vide aid are meant to combat harsh exercise greater control sequence determines an organism’s said. “Often, it has been presumed that “We assumed that [the new pro- economic conditions — which have genes. The two strands are comple- the strands always find themselves.” tein] had a more mundane function,” left many in the United States strug- over human DNA. mentary to each other, meaning that This DNA zipper binds at the fork, Kadonaga said. “It was actually the gling to make ends meet — and By Christina Homer their bases fit together like puzzle where double-stranded DNA becomes reverse of that. We found that it binds rising unemployment in California Senior Staff Writer pieces. two strands of single-stranded DNA. to the fork and burns up ATP. ATP is and San Diego County. During replication and gene The protein is actually a motor pro- like gasoline for a motor protein. If “We saw that we could help the Two UCSD biologists announced expression, the two strands come tein, which means that it travels along something binds a fork and burns up local economy by making these the discovery of a human protein last apart. This process is often facilitat- the DNA and burns ATP as its fuel ATP, you would assume it is a helicase. grants,” DeVries said. “Our mission week that rewinds single-stranded ed by a protein called DNA helicase, source. Timur, who was doing the experiment, is to have a local impact.” DNA into its normal double-stranded which uses energy stored in the form Scientists working on the project had the brilliant idea that it might be According to the California form, potentially preventing critical of ATP to pull the strands apart. The stumbled across the new function the reverse of a helicase.” genes — such as those responsible newly discovered protein, known as while studying mutations in HARP See GRANTS, page 2 for genetic disorders — from form- HepA-Related Protein, does just the that cause the rare genetic disorder See PROTEIN, page 3 INSIDE ONLINE WEATHER HIATUS The World SPORTS Limping to Poorly Drawn Lines .........2 Poll: Are you most concerned as a Stage the Finish New Business ..................3 about local, state, or national Nov. 6 Nov. 7 Screenwriter-turned-director Women’s soccer: The Letters to the Editor ........4 issues in the 2008 election? H 77 L 52 H 77 L 54 Charlie Kaufman wraps epic Tritons went 1-1-2 in their Word Up ..........................4 Classifieds .....................10 themes in everyday woes with a last four games before the Nov. 8 Nov. 9 reality-warping ensemble. PAGE 6 league championships. PAGE 12 Sudoku ..........................10 Tell us at www.ucsdguardian.org. H 76 L 55 H 66 L 53 2 NEWS THE UCSD GUARDIAN THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2008 POORLY DRAWN LINES BY REZA FARAZMAND Matthew McArdle Editor in Chief Hadley Mendoza Managing Editors Simone Wilson Teresa Wu Allie Cuerdo Copy Editors Nicole Teixeira Reza Farazmand News Editor Jesse Alm Associate News Editors Yelena Akopian Janani Sridharan Sports Editor Neil Joshi Associate Sports Editor poorlydrawnlines.com David Harvey Focus Editor Joanna Cardenas Associate Focus Editors Stephanie Tsank Sonia Minden Hiatus Editor Edwin Gonzalez Associate Hiatus Editors Chris Kokiousis Erik Jepsen Photo Editor Emily Ku Design Editor Christina Aushana Art Editor Patrick Stammerjohn Web Designer Page Layout William Chuong, Regina Ip, Emily Ku, Sonia Minden, Kent Ngo, Jonathan Shan, Kathleen Yip Copy Readers Smruti Aravind, Amy Guzdar, Anita Vergis, Danielle Warren, Teresa Wu Monica Bachmeier General Manager Mike Martinez Advertising Manager Michael Neill Network Administrator Business Assistants A.S. Teams With Registrar to Facilitate Polling S.D. Employment Salvador Gallegos, Charissa Ginn, Tiffany Han, Maggie Leung, Frank Pak ELECTION, from page 1 ▶ Proposition D, which bans alcohol on political views to action,” he said. “I Advertising Design and Layout Rate Lowest George Chen, Brandon Chu, and other popular media outlets also San Diego beaches. think this election is a historic elec- Kim Cooper, Jenny Ting Wang accounted for the spike in youth Students protested both proposi- tion both in terms of national and Distributors interest. tions on Library Walk in the weeks state politics. Both the candidates Since Mid-1990s Alaric Bermudez, Charissa Ginn, Poll clerks at the Revelle College leading up to the election. were claiming to be agents of change Scott Havrisik, Josh Ottoson ▶ GRANTS, from page 1 Marketing and Promotion Reps voting booth in the Why Not Here? Revelle College freshman Josh King and I wanted to impact this change.” Dara Bu, Tracy Hua, Priya Kanayson, Maggie Leung, Lounge said students began lining The San Diego Registrar reported Employment Development Kathleen Ngo, Lisa Tat up 15 minutes before the scheduled 7 2,328 ballots cast in San Diego County, Department, the state’s unemploy- The UCSD Guardian is published Mondays and Thursdays during the academic year by UCSD students a.m. opening. By midafternoon, all of with 53.18 percent supporting Obama, ment rate was 7.7 percent, as of and for the UCSD community.