UC Davis News: Broadcast

Bigotry

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

[Narrator:] From the University of California at Davis, this is NewsWatch.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Is racial prejudice less common today or just less acceptable? As it turns out, people do not get any more racially prejudiced as they age, but they do become less able to hide it. In a study that assessed biases among whites toward blacks, it was easier for younger people to pair pictures of black faces with positive words than for older people.

[Jeffrey Sherman, UC Davis Social Pscyhologist:] Why is it that as people age they show more of this bias? And so, in particular we wanted to compare two different hypotheses. One, is that as people get older they have more negative associations – this idea that older people grew up in a different cultural environment and maybe from the time they were young they just developed more negative associations with black people than younger people have.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] The other hypotheses were that as people ages they lose some of their ability to regulate their automatic responses or impulses.

[Jeffrey Sherman:] We found that the self-regulation explanation was the one that was supported by our analyses.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] The researchers concluded that negative associations are present across the age spectrum, but older people are less able to overcome them when pairing faces with words.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] When African Americans took the test, the results were surprising.

[Jeffrey Sherman:] The fact that a third of African Americans show a pro white bias on the measure is one of the data points that suggests that it is something cultural."

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Sherman says biased behavior may become an increasingly common social problem as the population ages. Paul Pfotenhauer, reporting from UC Davis.

[Narrator:] For more information please log on to broadcast.ucdavis.edu.

Gas Prices Up

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

[Narrator:] From the University of California at Davis, this is NewsWatch.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Drivers have noticed that it costs more to fill their tank these days. The price of a gallon of gasoline has risen sharply.

[Christopher Knittel. UC Davis Economist:] The reason why oil prices are going up now is that traders believe that the recovery is occurring faster than initially thought so on the one hand you have faster recovery — more economic activity — that's a benefit but that also what comes along with it are higher oil prices.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Some analysts are saying that if oil prices continue to go up, it may kill any economic recovery.

[Christopher Knittel:] Any rise in the price of oil is going to have somewhat of a drain on the economy — certainly if we get back up to 100 dollars a barrel than we'll really have to worry that it will have inflationary pressures and so on but I would argue that anything between $60 and $80 a barrel the economy can absorb fairly easily.

[Christopher Knittel:] Knittel says oil prices — that are hovering around $70 a barrel — are driven by world demand.

[Christopher Knittel:] If California cuts their demand by 50 percent it wouldn't have much of an effect on world oil prices. The second factor is that prices today for oil are driven just as much by demand next year and the year following that as it is demand this year.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] He says there is no reason to expect gas prices will reach the $4-plus levels of last summer, but it might certainly feel that high to many consumers who are fighting to make ends meet. Paul Pfotenhauer, reporting from Davis.

[Narrator:] For more information please log on to broadcast.ucdavis.edu.

California's Economy

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

[Narrator:] From the University of California at Davis, this is NewsWatch.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Most of what we hear and see about California's state economy is bleak. While the road ahead does look stormy, there are some bright spots in that dark cloud. Just ask economic historian Greg Clark.

[Greg Clark, UC Davis Economic Historian:] Surprisingly the state budget shortfall is really chicken feed relative to the overall economy. It is about one percent of the income of California. The federal budget deficit of the present is about 13 percent of national income and so we could make the entire state budget problem go away for about $600 dollars per person — whether this is solved or not it is no going to make any profound difference in the future of California.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Clark, an internationally recognized expert in economic growth, says business — not government — drives California's engine.

[Greg Clark:] In the long run our wealth, income depends on the efficiency and productivity of industry and the good news seems to be that these downturns don't damage that and in fact there is some evidence that in may actually improve productivity performance of industry and so once we get through this in those terms there isn't much to fear for the future of the California economy.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Being an economic historian, Clark says if history is a guide than there is reason for optimism on the horizon. He says that economic crises typically come with a reverse side of opportunity. Paul Pfotenhauer, reporting from UC Davis.

[Narrator:] For more information please log on to broadcast.ucdavis.edu.

Stem Cells

Mon, 25 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

[Narrator:] From the University of California at Davis, this is NewsWatch.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] With the cut of the ribbon, UC Davis opened its newest veterinary medical laboratory, designed to provide stem cells to horses to treat bone, tendon and ligament injuries.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Thousands of horses suffer these kinds of injuries every year.

[Sean Owens, UC Davis Dir., Regenerative Medicine:] If you go across the spectrum of horses it is probably the number one training related and use related injury that horse owners see.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] In the past, treatment consisted of rest and lots of anti-inflammatory drugs. Now, with the use of stem cells, the goal is to regenerate healthy tissues so the animal can be as sound as it was before the injury.

[Gregory Ferraro, UC Davis Dir., Center for Equine Health:] The difference is we were able to heal tendons before. But we healed them with a scar…scar tissue. What we are doing with stem cells is healing that tissue with its own natural…with tendon tissue, with natural tissue. So we are recreating the damage tissue in a natural way — that's the big difference.

[Julie Burges, UC Davis Stem Cell Lab Technician:] Clients will usually pull bone marrow and collect it a bag for us and once they send it to us we put it into a system called AXP which isolates the stem cells. Once those stem cells are isolated we give them to the regenerative medicine lab techs and they then culture and process them.

[Sean Owens:] If stem cells offer perhaps one tenth of the promise that we hope they do for both us and human researchers hope that they do, it may be akin to the discovery of penicillin.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Stem cell procedures may soon be available to dogs. Paul Pfotenhauer, reporting from UC Davis.

[Narrator:] For more information please log on to broadcast.ucdavis.edu.

Phys Ed Class

Mon, 18 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

[Narrator:] From the University of California at Davis, this is NewsWatch.

[Andrea Khoo, UC Davis P.E. Instructor:] Nat. sound open demonstrating kick boxing routine.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] The most popular physical education classes at UC Davis are taught by Andrea Khoo. In fact, they are so popular that hundreds of students are turned away every quarter.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Andrea Khoo's purpose in life is to get young people to think about the importance of a total body workout.

[Andrea Khoo:] It is a combination of weight lifting and cardio and the last part — genetics. I always tell the students, I'm going to work with your genetics, not against your genetics.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] She teaches three classes back-to-back and at the end of the three hours, she's still full of energy. In addition to her brutal workouts, she competes as a bodybuilder and is a freelance fashion designer.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] More than half her class are students who enroll year after year in her three-phased routine…step aerobics, kick boxing, abs and back. Dave Shira (shy-ra) , a senior mechanical engineering student, is one of those.

[Shira:] Lost about 20 pounds from starting, feel better, look better, more flexibility, more endurance.

[Heather Jackson, Senior, Civil Engineering Major:] There is always something new in her class. She keeps me going…she always finds a new way to kick my butt. I have never felt this strong in my life.

[Sierra Feldmann, Sophmore, Political Science Major:] She's really enthusiastic, she wants you to learn, she wants you to succeed and she knows that you may be beginning, you maybe advance and she'll work with you.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Khoo's 9 percent body fat is achieved through a rigorous schedule that focuses on proper nutrition and hard workouts.

[Andrea Khoo:] I'm just very intense.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Paul Pfotenhauer, reporting from UC Davis.

[Narrator:] For more information please log on to broadcast.ucdavis.edu.

Gorilla Study

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

[Narrator:] From the University of California at Davis, this is NewsWatch.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] The world's estimated 740 remaining Mountain Gorillas are found in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The number one killer of these animals is illness.

[Kirsten Gilardi, UC Davis Wildlife Veterinarian:] They are threatened by diseases that are transmissible between humans and livestock and gorillas. We're very closely related to gorillas so the diseases that humans have can be transmitted to gorillas and that is one of their biggest threats.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] So UC Davis has joined the battle to save these animals by creating a new "One Health" program that will provide health care for the whole ecosystem. A veterinarian who has worked closely with these animals for years says the biggest need is education.

[Michael Cranfield, Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Director:] There is a huge educational component. I mean I think we have the gorilla medicine down well, the treatment but I think there is lot of research to be done to get more answers, more definitive answers in what we call critical control points and those are points where diseases are going between the populations.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Veterinarian Laurie Harris, who is now earning her Ph.D. at UC Davis in epidemiology will be joining this UC Davis team in Africa this summer to study the specific diseases among mountain gorillas.

[Laurie Harris, UC Davis Graduate Student:] The next biggest threat to gorilla health is respiratory disease. We can work on methods to prevent the transmission of those diseases between people and gorillas.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] The goal is to create a buffer around this gorilla population by protecting them from humans and livestock — and the diseases. Paul Pfotenhauer, reporting from UC Davis.

[Narrator:] For more information please log on to broadcast.ucdavis.edu.

Farm Economy

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

[Narrator:] From the University of California at Davis, this is NewsWatch.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Even with recent rains, California faces its third consecutive year of drought. And economists are forecasting hard times for farmers.

[Richard Howitt, UC Davis Resource Economist:] My models predict that even with the recent rains we're going to get an additional 25,000 people out of work in the San Joaquin and Tulare valleys this year.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Howitt, a professor and chair of the Agricultural and Resource Economics department at UC Davis, is an expert on how the Central Valley would be impacted by reductions in water exports from the Delta.

[Richard Howitt:] Howitt, a professor and chair of the Agricultural and Resource Economics department at UC Davis, is an expert on how the Central Valley would be impacted by reductions in water exports from the Delta.

[Richard Howitt:] It forces the value and shortage of water to go up tremendously and then the farmers have to reorganize their cropping patterns accordingly. One of the problems is that they have increasingly planted perennial crops which really doesn't give them much leeway as they used to have and so we see the effects of some quite valuable annual crops such as melons or tomatoes being taken out of production."

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] The good news is that farmers have been responsive to water supply issues.

[Richard Howitt:] Actually the ag community has always been smart about how to use water because in those places where water has been either scarce or expensive, they adopted technologies pretty early on and so as an economist I see farmers being quite clever in responding to prices.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] He does predict that if the drought continues, many irrigated pastures would disappear, more fruits and nuts would be grown and farmers would have to sell their water rights to others. Paul Pfotenhauer, reporting from UC Davis.

[Narrator:] For more information please log on to broadcast.ucdavis.edu.

Cardiac Kids II

Mon, 04 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

[Narrator:] From the University of California at Davis, this is NewsWatch.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Congenital heart defects are among the top killers of babies in Russia. Treated early enough, they are almost 100 percent treatable. UC Davis Medical Center heart surgeon Nilas Young helped develop a program, 20 years ago, to train teams in Russia to diagnose and operate on children. His first impression of their hospital care was surprising.

[Dr. Nilas Young, UCDMC Heart Surgeon:] I think we all had the impression that the Russians were very advanced scientifically and so we anticipated seeing at least somewhat contemporary types of medical settings but in fact they appeared at least on the surface and than after further investigation to be decades behind where we were.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] It turned out that Soviet physicians were completely isolated from Western medicine. They simple couldn't treat Russian children born with heart disease.

[Dr. Nilas Young;] We brought all of our equipment. We tried to do everything, soups to nuts, if you will that we did here so we disassembled heart lung machines, disassembled anesthesia machines, disassembled eco-cardiogram machines...these are big bulky pieces of equipment, crated them and shipped them with us and then reassembled them there.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Over two decades, more than 7,000 children have been saved as a result of this initial volunteer effort by a few Northern California doctors. Today, it includes physicians from across the United States who volunteer their time to serve in Russia as part of Heart-to-Heart foundation. Paul Pfotenhauer, reporting from the UC Davis Medical Center.

[Narrator:] For more information please log on to broadcast.ucdavis.edu.

University Medal

Mon, 04 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

[Narrator:] From the University of California at Davis, this is NewsWatch.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Two Northern California giants, Pulitzer Prize winning poet Gary Snyder and painter Wayne Thiebaud, were recently honored with the UC Davis medal not only for their professional accomplishments but also for their years of service as faculty members at this UC campus. The two had never met before this event.

[Gary Snyder, UC Davis Pulitzer-Winning Poet:] The main reason I wanted to come to this was to meet you.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Remarkable parallels run through their lives. (Both Snyder and Thiebaud were farmers; they're early years were shaped by the Depression.Omit) Both emerged amid experimental art movements of the 1950s and 60s — Snyder during the Beat Generation poetry movement and Thiebaud alongside pop art.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Snyder says poetry has never had a mass audience.

[Gary Snyder:] But it always has a specific and somewhat trained audience that really follows it. Poetry is like that. And that is how it carries its influence through the centuries.

[Louis Warren:] Students who worked with Gary got to work with one of the great creative minds in the 20th and early 21st century. He is one of America's greatest poets and I do know that people who have been in his seminars that it was a truly fabulous experience.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Now 88 years old, Thiebaud still teaches art at UC Davis.

[Wayne Thiebaud, UC Davis Painter:] Teaching is the hardest thing I have ever done…next to painting. And never, I think feel that you know how to do it but it still is intriguing.

[Wayne Thiebaud:] And I feel very very lucky to be able to still do it.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] The UC Davis medal recognizes individuals of rare accomplishment and is the highest tribute bestowed by the university. Paul Pfotenhauer, reporting from UC Davis.

[Narrator:] For more information please log on to broadcast.ucdavis.edu.

Goat Milk

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

[Narrator:] From the University of California at Davis, this is NewsWatch.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] These dairy goats are not your average, run of the mill farm animals. They have been genetically engineered to carry a human gene that protects against diarrheal diseases that can kill more than to 2 million children a year.

[James Murray, UC Davis Animal Scientist:] The gene we've put in is human lysozyme and that is actually a gene which is very prevalent in human milk. It is also something you eat every time you swallow saliva. So we know it is not allergenic, we know it is not toxic and of the various lysozyme's genes it actually one of the more active in terms of its antimicrobial function. So it seemed to us as a perfect choice.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Scientists from Brazil are hoping to begin human trials in their country with this genetically enhanced goats' milk where diarrhea-causing bacteria are a problem.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Researcher Elizabeth Maga, said she applauds Brazil in being the first country interested in using biotechnology to combat intestinal diseases.

[Elizabeth Maga, UC Davis Animal Scientist:] We're very excited that Brazil has decided to go ahead with this type of work. They have put an emphasis on it to use biotechnology to try to improve human health and human lives in their country.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] UC Davis hopes to be shipping semen and embryos from their goat population to Brazil, where it is hoped a new herd will begin producing this enzyme-enriched milk. This potent digestive ingredient is in far greater amounts in humans than in animals.

[James Murray:] A goat has 1,600 times less lysozyme in its milk than does human milk.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] The researchers hope that in the future, the milk produced from goats will be distributed in a liquid or powder form to improve children's diets around the world. Paul Pfotenhauer, reporting from UC Davis.

[Narrator:] For more information please log on to broadcast.ucdavis.edu.

K-9 Memorial

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

[Narrator:] From the University of California at Davis, this is NewsWatch.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Several law enforcement agencies in California have come here to UC Davis to honor police dogs who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Since 2002, 11 more California police dogs have died while pursuing suspects.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Retired L.A.P.D. K-9 Officer John Lopata who lost his dog, "Rooster" nearly 28 years ago, still thinks of his faithful partner every day.

[John Lopata, Retired, LAPD Officer:] Certain things will trigger memories certain times when I reminiscing about the job, I'll think about what happened and how the dog died. It comes up quite often.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] The UC Davis vet school is home to the "Faithful Partner" memorial. Many police dogs injured on the job are treated here.

[Dr. Stan Marks, UC Davis Veterinarian:] The veterinary medical teaching hospital here at UC Davis is a really, really unique environment. And we are very fortunate to have a large group of experts who are advanced in their training in medicine, surgery and a variety of other disciplines that require advanced medical or surgical intervention.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] UC Davis K-9 officer Walt Broussard says losing a dog is terribly painful.

[Super: Walt Broussard, UC Davis K-9 Officer:] It's very devastating to lose a K-9 in the line of duty. He's the first in and the last out.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] The memorial plaque currently displays the names of 23 dogs that ended their watch. Paul Pfotenhauer, reporting from UC Davis.

[Narrator:] For more information please log on to broadcast.ucdavis.edu.

All Star Plants

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

[Narrator:] From the University of California at Davis, this is NewsWatch.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] Experts here at the UC Davis Aboretum have selected 100 All-Stars for you — they're garden plants that do well in the Central Valley even under drought conditions.

[Ellen Zagory, UC Davis Horticulture Director:] you can get some delicious fruit from these plants.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] The UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery will be have a special day for those wanting to find out more about how to have a vibrant ecological garden.

[Ellen Zagory:] We selected plants that were tough and adaptable that could be grown without a lot of extra water but also if they got put in your lawn they would be able to tolerate that too. In addition, we picked plants that were native that are good pollen and nectar sources and they can provide food for hummingbirds and beneficial insects and butterflies.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] The plants have been tested for the last three years on the 100-acre UC Davis Arboretum. They have been stressed by heat, cold and varying amounts of water.

[Ellen Zagory:] We also wanted to have plants that people could use that would create a year around garden where something would always be featured.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] A visit to the demonstration gardens reveals a world of color and fragrance.

[Ellen Zagory:] This is one of the plants that we've selected to be an all star. It is a California native plant with really great fragrance to the foliage. It is important to Native Americans. This one with these gorgeous red flowers is really a good plant to bring hummingbirds.

[Ellen Zagory:] and this is a shrub, germander, it is called, and it has this dark blue flower, which is beautifully highlighted by its silver foliage.

[Paul Pfotenhauer:] More than 10,000 plants will be available to the public at this location, which is adjacent to the UC Davis Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Paul Pfotenhauer, reporting from Davis.

[Narrator:] For more information please log on to broadcast.ucdavis.edu.