Riverside, CA: The Route to Happiness

Set ambitious goals, says a study.

As if you needed another reason to aim high: Ambition makes you happier, says new research.

People who set themselves ambitious goals tend to be more satisfied than those with lower expectations, says a study published online in the Journal of Consumer Research. (It will appear in the December print edition.)

Riverside, CA: The Great Picture - The World’s Largest Photograph & The Legacy Project

UCR Sweeney Art Gallery & Culver Center of the Arts present The Great Picture: The World’s Largest Photograph & The Legacy Project, an exhibition in three parts that tells the tale of the successful campaign to make the world’s largest camera and photograph. The photo’s mammoth scale of 32 x 111 feet earned it a place in Guinness World Records, and made it a photo history landmark. “It is also an exploration of the 172-year-old conflict between painting and photography, and the more recent waning of traditional, analog, darkroom photography in the wake of digital dominance,” says Tyler Stallings, artistic director of the Culver Center of the Arts and director of the Sweeney Art Gallery.

When: July 16 - October 8, 2011, Reception, Saturday, July 16, 6-9 p.m., free admission

Where: Sweeney Art Gallery, 3834 Main Street, Riverside, CA 92501

Admission: No Charge

Riverside, CA: Good Food and a Good Conscience

Bryant Terry, an acclaimed eco-chef, food activist and author, will visit UC Riverside at 6 p.m. May 17 in HUB 302.

The event, which is sponsored by UC Riverside Student Wellness Partners, is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Parking is $5. Find out more at the Well.

Terry will talk about vegan soul cooking and food justice, a concept that seeks to provide everyone with equal access to food, regardless of race, class, gender, ethnicity, citizenship or ability.

It’s an important topic, especially for students who don’t always eat right.

“Since students have hectic schedules, they are more inclined to eat food that is easily accessible. Fast food is not only cheap but quick to grab on their way to their next class, meeting or event,” said Rhiannon Little, a student affairs officer in African Student Programs, one of the sponsors of the event.

“Also, due to the restrictions of living in campus housing, it’s not always feasible to cook a meal at home, and that can make grab-and-go eating more attractive.”

During the presentation there will be a cooking demonstration, an opportunity to ask questions, and giveaways.

Terry is the author of “Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine” and co-author with Anna Lappé of “Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen,” which won a 2007 Nautilus Award for Social Change.

He has made dozens of national radio and television appearances, including Fox, NBC, PBS, BET and Sundance, and made a guest appearance on the eco-reality series “Mario's Green House.” He hosted “The Endless Feast,” a public television series that explores the connection between the earth and the food on our plates.

In 2002, Bryant founded b-healthy! (Build Healthy Eating and Lifestyles to Help Youth), which according to Terry’s website is “a multi-year initiative designed to empower youth to be active in creating a more just and sustainable food system."

Riverside, CA: Bagpipe, Scottish Drum Competition March 26

The award-winning UC Riverside Pipe Band will host its second sanctioned event.

RIVERSIDE, CA: The UC Riverside Pipe Band will host the second annual Harry Moore Memorial Solo Piping & Drumming Competition on Saturday, March 26, starting at 9 a.m. at Canyon Crest Country Club, 975 Country Club Drive, Riverside.

The event, named for the band’s first drum sergeant, draws bagpipers and drummers from the western United States and is sanctioned by the Western United States Pipe Band Association.

Competition categories are piping, solo snare and solo tenor grades 2-4, and bass drum. Piping and drumming workshops will be offered as well.

“This competition should be an exciting day for families and aficionados of Celtic music," said Mike Terry, band pipe major. “An entertainment area has been added with pipe band performances, Highland dancing and an appearance by the Celtic rock group Galway Hooker. In addition to a day full of traditional piping and drumming competitions, the UCR Pipe Band will also host a ‘kitchen piping’ contest where world-class bagpipers play faster tunes with the goal of crowd-pleasing entertainment. The top prize for this fast-paced event is $1,000.”

General admission is $10; students with ID $5; pipe and drum workshop $15; competitor general admission, workshop and entry fee, $20. Entry forms and more information are available at http://www.pipeband.ucr.edu/.

Event sponsors include the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Club Corp. and Canyon Crest Country Club, Gardner Trucking, Control Electrix, Tricounty Eye Institute and the Western United States Pipe Band Association.

The UCR Pipe Band competes at the Grade 4 level and has won the Western United States Pipe Band Association aggregate championship award for Grade 4 bands every year since 2008. Bands and soloists compete in Grade levels 1 through 4, with 1 high and 4 entry level.

Riverside, CA: Blue Sky Thinking is UC Riverside Specialty

UCTV show “State of Minds” is hosted from the Riverside campus this time.

RIVERSIDE, CA: UC Riverside’s role in improving air quality in Inland Southern California is one of four stories on the next “State of Minds” show from UCTV.

Hosted and produced by veteran journalist Shannon Bradley, the video magazine show airs between now and April 3, 2011 on channel 95 on Charter Cable and on channel 9412 of Dish Network.

The segment about UCR’s air quality research, produced by UCR videographer Jim Brown, looks at some of the people and projects that have cleared the air in the region, making a difference in the health of California’s people and plant life. Other subjects on the magazine-style show include stem cell treatments at UC Davis; Peace Corps volunteers from UC Berkeley and from UC Santa Cruz; and new insights into human evolution from the bones of Neanderthals.

By Friday, March 4, the episode will be available on the Web.

State of Minds highlights the people and projects from all 10 campuses of the University of California.

University of California Television (UCTV) is a non-commercial channel featuring 24/7 programming from throughout the University of California, the nation’s premier research university made up of ten campuses, three national labs and affiliated institutions.

UCTV explores a broad spectrum of subjects of interest to a general audience, including science, health and medicine, public affairs, humanities, arts and music, education issues, and even gardening and agriculture. Programs range from documentaries, faculty lectures, cutting-edge research symposiums, artistic performances and more.

In addition, UCTV’s Teacher’s P.E.T. reaches out to K-12 educators with its website teeming with standards-aligned programming, and its Med Ed Hour is dedicated to providing up-to-date research and vital information to health care professionals.

Riverside, CA: Oscar's Winning Experts

UC Riverside scholars available to discuss films, fans and the Academy Awards.

As Hollywood prepares for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards – a celebration of film that draws a global audience – on Sunday, Feb. 27, scholars at the University of California, Riverside are available to discuss movie-making, film fans and Oscar fantasy leagues.

Derek Burrill, associate professor of media and cultural studies

(951) 827-1261

derek.burrill@ucr.edu

Professor Burrill has studied the Academy Awards for years, and this year created an Oscars fantasy league for friends. He also has been following odds on potential Academy Award winners posted at betting centers in Las Vegas. "It’s big business, just like sports betting," he says. Burrill's scholarly research includes cinema, digital media and video games.

Charles Evered, associate professor of playwriting and screenwriting

(951) 827-7803

charles.evered@ucr.edu

Professor Evered has written screenplays for Paramount Pictures, Dreamworks and Universal Picture, and collaborated with Liev Schreiber on a screen adaptation of his play, "The Size of the World." He made his feature film directing debut with his adaptation of his play "Adopt a Sailor," starring Bebe Neuwirth, Peter Coyote and Ethan Peck, which was an award winner at several film festivals.

Stu Krieger, professor of filmwriting

(951) 827-1257

stuart.krieger@ucr.edu

Professor Krieger wrote the animated classic "The Land Before Time" and 10 original movies for the Disney Channel, co-wrote the Emmy award-winning mini-series "A Year in the Life" and been nominated for the Humanitas Prize for the Disney Channel original movie "Going to the Mat." He has been a story editor and writer on Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories and is the head writer and story editor of the animated preschool series "Toot & Puddle" on Nickelodeon.

Toby Miller, professor and chair of the Department of Media & Cultural Studies

(951) 827-5665

toby.miller@ucr.edu

Professor Miller is internationally known for his popular culture research, including the success of Hollywood overseas, media, sport, gender and race. He is the author and editor of more than 20 books, among them "The Contemporary Hollywood Reader" (Routledge, 2009), "Global Hollywood: No. 2" (co-author, British Film Institute, 2004), "Spyscreen: Espionage on Film and TV from the 1930s to the 1960s" (Oxford University Press, 2003), and the book series "Film Guidebooks" (Routledge).

Scott Silverman, coordinator, Orientation Programs

(951) 827-3469

scott.silverman@ucr.edu

Scott Silverman's research and expertise extends to the usage of social media as a phenomenon. He is available to discuss why "The Social Network" is so popular. "EVERYBODY knows about Facebook, and is either actively using it, or actively NOT using it," he says. "It is, by far, the most popular social network of its kind, and a dominant force in how people communicate. The fact that so many people flocked to the theaters to see it, and that there is much buzz about the movie, is unsurprising. People want to know the 'true' story behind the creation of a tool that they use on a regular basis."

Riverside, CA: Winston Chung Commits to a $10 Million Gift to UC Riverside

Prominent Chinese businessman announces his commitment to provide an endowment supporting UC Riverside’s Bourns College of Engineering

RIVERSIDE, CA: The University of California, Riverside announced Monday that Winston Chung, a Chinese battery technology scientist, inventor and entrepreneur, has expressed his intent to give $10 million to support clean battery power, solar energy and sustainable transportation research at the Bourns College of Engineering.

Chung and UC Riverside Chancellor Timothy P. White on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding that will lead to the gift, which will make Chung the largest individual donor to the campus in UC Riverside history.

Chung is the founder of Winston Global Energy Limited and inventor of the rare earth lithium yttrium battery.

“The University of California, Riverside welcomes Mr. Winston Chung as an integral partner in our educational and research mission,” White said. “His investment in this university will result in generations of students and faculty sharing their knowledge with local and global communities, and in new materials and new energy sources for an energy-hungry world. This gift is a wonderful testimony to the current strengths and aspirational future of the UCR Bourns College of Engineering.”

Reza Abbaschian, dean of the Bourns College of Engineering, said Chung’s work on electric vehicles is a perfect match with the Bourns College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research & Technology (CE-CERT) and the Southern California Research Initiative for Solar Energy (SC-RISE) at UC Riverside.

“Mr. Chung has created a clean and efficient energy storage that is an expression of a sustainable future,” Abbaschian said. “We are talking about vehicles that go for 180 miles on a single charge and can be recharged in the time it takes to stop and drink a cup of coffee.” He said he is excited by the prospect of future research collaborations, and by the opportunities the gift would mean for engineering students.

When an endowed fund is created in Chung’s name, UC Riverside will:

• Name the building currently known as Engineering Building II as Winston Chung Hall.

• Support two named professorships in the Bourns College of Engineering: the Winston Chung Professorship in Energy Innovation and the Winston Chung Professorship in Sustainability.

• Establish the Winston Chung Global Energy Center within CE-CERT. The center will initially focus on Life Source Rare Earth Lithium batteries, which Chung invented, bio-inspired technology and the development of clean energy and energy storage.

Since arriving in the United States, Winston Global Energy Ltd. announced it will provide $310 million to MVP RV, which is based in Riverside, to promote motorhome exports to China. Additional money will fund development of all-electric RVs and fast-charging electrical systems.

The deal was one of about 70 between the U.S. and China announced in connection with the official state visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao, in what was called a demonstration of cooperation between the two countries.

MVP RV expects to export more than 30,000 motorhomes, valued at approximately $5 billion, to China over the next three to four years. The joint venture will push the number jobs at MVP RV from 130 to more than 1,400.

In November, Balqon Corporation, a California developer and manufacturer of zero-emission heavy-duty electric vehicles and drive systems, and Winston Battery jointly showcased their drive systems and battery technologies at The World Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exposition in China. The companies demonstrated the world’s first all-electric recreational vehicle, with a range of 200 km on a single charge. The 45-foot RV can be fully charged within 20 minutes, as compared to 8 hours using traditional methods.

Riverside Medical Clinic Pledges $1 Million for UCR School of Medicine

Announcement Builds Momentum for Major Regional Effort on Health Care Education

RIVERSIDE, CA: Riverside Medical Clinic, a multi-specialty medical practice group long associated with the medical education program at the University of California, Riverside, has pledged a flagship private gift of $1 million toward development of the School of Medicine, it was announced today.

The pledge will establish the Riverside Medical Clinic Endowed Fund to support medical school activities. The gift will provide a source of funds for the medical school in perpetuity because endowed funds generate investment income while preserving the gift as principal.

“This pledge from Riverside Medical Clinic is an extraordinary endorsement of the UCR School of Medicine that recognizes the critical need to expand the physician workforce in this rapidly growing region,” said UCR Chancellor Timothy P. White. “I want to express our deepest gratitude to Dr. Steven Larson, the Board of Directors and the entire staff of Riverside Medical Clinic.”

Established in Riverside’s Mission Inn in 1935, Riverside Medical Clinic (RMC) has grown into the Inland Empire’s largest provider of ambulatory care, comprising a multi-specialty medical practice group of more than 120 physicians serving patients in clinics located in Riverside, Corona, Jurupa Valley and Moreno Valley. In addition to adult and pediatric primary care, RMC staff includes specialists in areas such as cardiology, dermatology, oncology, obstetrics/gynecology and rheumatology, as well as orthopedic, vascular and plastic surgery. The group also offers vision care and women’s health services.

“The physicians and staff at Riverside Medical Clinic are proud of our support of UCR and of our continued partnership in raising the level of health care throughout the Inland Empire,” said Dr. Larson. “The UCR medical school is the answer to the need for an increase in the local physician workforce. Together we are all stronger.”

The University of California Board of Regents in July approved establishment of the medical school, which will respond to the critical need to expand and diversify the physician workforce in the Inland Empire.

The region faces a physician shortfall as high as 53 percent by 2015 and currently has poorer health outcomes than most California counties for a number of significant diseases, such as coronary heart disease and diabetes. The medical school will also develop research and health care delivery programs to improve the health of medically underserved populations.

The first incoming class of 50 medical students is projected to enroll in the UCR School of Medicine in fall 2012. Concurrently, the medical school will launch residency programs to offer the required training for postgraduate medical students to achieve board certification and medical licensure. Enrollment will ramp up gradually to a total of 400 medical students, 160 residents and 160 graduate students.

Riverside Medical Clinic becomes the first medical practice group to join the UCR School of Medicine Founders’ Circle, recognizing leadership gifts to the medical school of at least $1 million.

“Philanthropic support from Riverside Medical Clinic, and others, will position the medical school to make a real difference in the future health care of the people of this region,” said White. “In addition to providing an extra measure of excellence, private funding will help us maintain the momentum that is so critical for this project.”

Riverside Medical Clinic has had a long association with the UCR/UCLA Thomas Haider Program in Biomedical Sciences, which offers the first two years of medical school instruction to admitted UCR students, after which students transfer to the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA to finish their M.D. degrees. Larson is one of about a half dozen group physicians to serve on the clinical faculty of the program. RMC also offers summer “externships” for UCR medical students to gain experience working with practicing physicians and several physicians serve as mentors to students.

Lady Lazarus coming to bookstores

My creative writing instructor and friend, Andrew Altschul has his first novel arriving in stores next week. It's called LADY LAZARUS, and here's the book description: LADY LAZARUS

"This spectacular, sprawling debut novel tells the story of Calliope Bird Morath, daughter of legendary punk-rock star Brandt Morath—whose horrific suicide devastated the world—and his notorious wife, Penelope.

The novel is narrated by both Calliope and her obsessive biographer, who follows her from her silent childhood to her first tortured, manic public statements about her father; from her highly publicized publication of a book of poetry to her mysterious disappearance; from her reappearance as the mute leader of a cultlike brigade known as The Muse to her spectacular showdown with the biographer.

A disturbing and razor-sharp meditation on twenty-first-century celebrity culture, Lady Lazarus is also a funny and moving story about the age-old question of the nature of the self.

"And here's his book tour schedule:
April 15 - BOOK LAUNCH at Books Inc., San Francisco, CA, 7pm.
April 17 - InsideStoryTime, Edinburgh Castle, San Francisco, CA, 6:30pm.
April 22 - Shannon Center for the Performing Arts, Whittier College, Whittier, CA, 7pm.
April 23 - UC Riverside, INTS-1128, Riverside, CA, 3pm.
April 24 - Vroman's Bookstore, Pasadena, CA, 7pm.
April 29 - Moe's Books, Berkeley, CA, 7:30pm.
April 30 -Books Inc., Palo Alto, CA, 7pm.
May 8 - Powell's, Portland, OR, 7pm.
May 9 - Elliott Bay Book Co., Seattle, WA, 7:30pm.
May 15 - Skylight Books, Los Angeles, CA, 7:30pm.
May 19 - Drunk Poets Society, Winston's Beach Club, San Diego, CA, 6:30pm.
May 21 - Stanford University, Margaret Jacks Hall, Stanford, CA, 7pm.

Andrew's a gifted writer--make sure to check out his book!

Gandhi's Grandson to Lecture on Nonviolence

Rajmohan Gandhi, a grandson of Mohandas Gandhi, will give a public lecture at UC Riverside on Friday, Feb. 22, at 5:30 p.m. in University Lecture Hall 1000. His topic will be "Gandhi's Legacy Today." After the lecture he will sign copies of his new book (which is available for sale in the campus bookstore) from 7:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. At 10 a.m. Feb. 23, he will lead a two-hour workshop for faculty and students in Humanities 2212 titled, "Are There Visible or Hidden Gandhis Today?"