Volume IV, Issue 3

Getting in tune with patients
A program launched by UCI medical students brings the therapeutic sound of music into hospital rooms. Founder Matt Fradkin says playing and listening to “silent instruments” helps ease pain and aid healing.

Measuring mental aftershocks
Graduate student Dana Garfin works with Chilean officials to assess the psychological toll of the devastating 2010 earthquake. She’s found that children living near the epicenter were “highly traumatized.”

Can robots take over rehab?
Machines that help people regain use of their arms and legs are no longer the stuff of science fiction. At UCI, professor David Reinkensmeyer develops devices designed to restore movement to damaged limbs.

Volume IV, Issue 2

Plato meets pilsner
UCI alumnus Matt Lawrence pairs beer with deep questions on life. His new book, Philosophy on Tap, aims to give people a taste for important ideas by Socrates, Nietzsche, the Buddha and other great thinkers.

Sharing the fruits of his labor
Renowned UCI geneticist and vineyard owner Francisco Ayala’s $10 million gift to the School of Biological Sciences is the largest donation ever by a professor here.

Lighting the way
Three UCI researchers come up with a device to protect the top layer of skin during laser treatment for vascular birthmarks – enabling the early, painless and safe minimization of port-wine stains.

Volume IV, Issue 1

Freshman bucket list
Want to maximize your UCI experience? Here’s a list of 50 things to do during your undergraduate years, according to older (and presumably wiser) upperclassmen. They came up with the roster in honor of the university’s 50th anniversary in 2015 – when current freshmen will graduate.

Morality unmasked
Are you conservative or liberal? Which do you value more – fairness or loyalty? Are you confident when it comes to solving ethical quandaries? Find out at a survey website co-developed by UCI researchers. The results might surprise you.

Patents pending
UCI’s licensing officers help campus researchers protect their inventions. They work to transform ideas into viable products that benefit people – from tiny cochlear implants that restore hearing to devices that warn of infants’ health problems.

Volume III, Issue 10

If he ran the zoo? (Actually, he does)
As director of the Santa Ana Zoo, Kent Yamaguchi has seen the arrival of a pair of giant anteaters and the birth of their baby. The UCI alumnus couldn’t be more proud.

A higher goal
UCI soccer player Kala Gabler has teamed with friends to help increase Ugandans' access to clean water. They run sports camps for kids to raise money for the cause.

Summer syllabus
It’s time to put away the textbooks and indulge in a little seasonal reading. Some new titles by UCI faculty and alumni could be just the thing to bring to the beach.

Volume III, Issue 9 – Beyond Our Borders

Blueprint for hope
Rebekah Gladson draws on her experience as UCI campus architect to build an orphanage in India. For her, the comparatively small project has offered big challenges – and even greater rewards by sheltering and educating street children.

Building better lives
Engineers Without Borders takes students far beyond the classroom to assist communities in developing countries. The UCI chapter has been working to bring safe drinking water and sanitation facilities to a remote Kenyan village.

Volume III, Issue 8

Fostering their potential
Youths released from foster care at 18 too often find themselves without a diploma, a job or even a home. UCI and the Guardian Scholars Program are helping emancipated young adults, such as UCI undergraduate Cecelia Brody, work toward college degrees and a promising future.

Expanding the role of robots
SpineAssist system adds to UC Irvine firsts in the operating room. Surgeons continue to find innovative uses for the technology, including thyroid, lung and colorectal procedures.

All the lonely people
Professor Karen Rook studies relationships and how they affect one’s health and happiness. Her research has shed light on the psychological toll of loneliness on the elderly.

Volume III, Issue 7

Giving others a break
While their peers party on, some UCI students spend spring vacation working on various service projects, from planting a garden at a Native American reservation in San Diego County to putting the shine on the Golden Gate national park in San Francisco.

Sharper images
UCI ophthalmologist Dr. Roger Steinert has been on the cutting edge of laser eye surgery, developing techniques that have helped improve the eyesight of millions.

Leader of the pack
What makes Charles Jock the fastest half-miler in UCI history? “A brilliant desire to be the best,” says his coach, Vince O’Boyle.

Volume III, Issue 6

Clan of the Anteaters
Undergraduate and tennis standout Kristina Smith comes from an extended family of UCI alumni that includes her grandmother, mother, nine aunts and uncles and a cousin or two.

Safe haven
UCI law students have joined efforts to help Iraqi refugees trapped in a legal limbo. The displaced can’t go home again, but resettling in the U.S. or another welcoming country can take months or years of complicated paperwork.

Matters of the heart
Dr. Dawn M. Lombardo directs a UC Irvine Medical Center program to combat cardiovascular disease through research, treatment and education. She’s especially interested in improving care for women.

Volume III, Issue 5

For the birds
UCI cactus restoration program aims to boost the population of a rare wren. Biologists are creating a welcoming habitat near campus that they hope will help the species thrive.

Vice and virtue
Criminology, law & society professor John Dombrink studies changing mores — how what’s considered a sin today can become accepted behavior tomorrow.

Building better Roombas — and other machines
Though her studies on instant messaging, iTunes and even robotic vacuums might make some people LOL, alumna Rebecca Grinter has a serious quest: to understand the social impact of technology and improve human-computer interaction.

Volume III, Issue 4

For prolific African author, the stories never end
Ngugi wa Thiong’o has garnered worldwide acclaim for his novels about Kenya, but he says there’s still more work to be done. Writing against powers that attempt to defeat the human spirit remains a daily endeavor.

UCI botanist is America’s scientist abroad
Michael Clegg is a man on the move. As foreign secretary for the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, he travels the world helping scientific groups tackle “issues of the 21st century.”

Breathing lessons
Leigh Poirier Ball, acting director of the UCI Health Education Center, shows the campus community how calming the mind benefits the body. She teaches relaxation techniques that can have a lasting impact on people’s health.