Producing an alumni magazine is often an interesting puzzle. You quickly learn that what is newsworthy when you are planning the issue may not be newsworthy when it is dropping in mailboxes. At about the time we were putting this issue together, the election campaigns were in full swing. The daily news outlets were feeding us a dizzying deluge of campaign sound bites ranging from emigration, to gender and race, to Iraq, to the soaring price of gasoline. Then the economy imploded and the news cycle added soaring unemployment, the collapse of the real estate market, toppling financial institutions, and more recently the plummeting price of gasoline. Will these subjects still top the news cycle as you read this? Truthfully, I haven’t a clue.
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letters to the editor
alumnieditor@ucsd.edu

Unveiled at Last
I had the honor of speaking at the UCSD Triton Statue Unveiling. After 10 years, the new statue is a reality. It took a lot of hard work by the 1998 and ’99 classes as well as the committees that worked on the details. There were many details that went into the making of the statue and hours of committee work was involved too.

What I noticed at the event was that UCSD is transformed both culturally and visually (new buildings everywhere). Culturally, the spirit on campus was even more pro-UCSD and pro-Triton. The band was there. They had conch shells blowing to kick off the meeting. Hundreds of students and staff came out to partake in this historic UCSD event.

Visually, I was amazed by the new buildings. The new Price Center expansion is a marvel. It doubles the space of the original Price Center. The overall vision of the campus is evolving as well. Myers drive will also be closing to make way for a new central open space for students. It will lead to the new statue and “Spanish steps” of Price Center East that mimics the steps in Rome.

I can say the current students are grateful for our efforts as alumni to transform the campus and lead the way for them as we
represent UCSD in our lives.

Ping Yeh, Muir '99, M.S. '01

MORE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letters to the editor
alumnieditor@ucsd.edu

DEJA VU

Some updates on our recent stories.

The article in the September 2008 issue of @UCSD on Professor Oscar Romo’s work on the Tijuana River & Paver Project has prompted alumni to volunteer. Alumni Affairs sponsored trips to work with Professor Romo constructing frames for pervious pavers—to help slow water flows, prevent excess erosion, and lessen flooding in Los Laureles Canyon, Tijuana.

Link to @UCSD article: alumni.ucsd.edu/magazine/vol5no3/features/borderline.htm

In the May and September (2008) issues we made calls for medical books to be donated for use in Afghanistan. Many alumni and others have donated over 4,500 pounds of medical texts. However, on a sad note, it was only recently reported to us that two people in the Kabul DHL office who had worked on the book shipments were murdered in late October outside their office. Link to @UCSD article: alumni.ucsd.edu/magazine/vol5no3/capital/qa.htm

In a follow up to the “Sound Design” feature in the September 2008 issue, the Alumni Association’s UCSD Near You program hosted alumni at a presentation given by Professor Shahrokh Yadegari in October. Yadegari was performing with
cellist Maya Beiser at Carnegie Hall in New York. Another presentation will take place on campus when Beiser and Yadegari perform in The Loft on April 30, 2009.

Link to @UCSD article: alumni.ucsd.edu/magazine/vol5no3/features/sounddesign.htm

Our September issue of Currents led off with a feature on “Surgery Without Scars.” TIME magazine covered the same UC San Diego surgery program in its December 4, 2008 issue.

Link to @UCSD article: alumni.ucsd.edu/magazine/vol5no3/campus/index.htm

WRITE TO @UCSD

Share your thoughts!

Something on your mind? We want to share with you BUT we also want you to share with us. We invite you to respond to our articles with letters to the editor, either posted or emailed to alumnieditor@ucsd.edu. We also want you to vent, praise or question us by joining in the discussion boards.