May 17, 2002

Media Contact: Michael Dabney, (858) 822-3432

WHAT: Top undergraduate students at the University of California, San Diego will present their scholarly work on topics ranging from medical research and engineering to political science and playwriting at UCSD's 15th Annual Undergraduate Research Conference. The conference is intended to recognize scholarly excellence by UCSD undergraduates, in addition to encouraging more undergraduates to pursue doctoral degrees and careers in research and college teaching. All student participants have been nominated by members of the UCSD faculty who have judged their work to be outstanding.

WHEN: 8:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., Saturday, May 18, 2002

WHERE: UCSD Faculty Club (on the UCSD campus in La Jolla, just north of Gilman Drive and Mandeville Lane).

DETAILS: A total of 95 students will be presenting papers at the conference, an event sponsored by UCSD's Academic Enrichment Programs with the support of UCSD Student Affairs, and Academic Affairs. Students will present their research in small roundtable discussion groups during morning and afternoon sessions, with one or more UCSD faculty members moderating each group. Each student has 15 minutes to discuss his or her paper and five minutes to answer questions.

Students will present papers representing such disciplines and areas as: psychiatry, film studies and playwriting, history and literature, physics and engineering, anthropology and archeology, computational chemistry and bioinformatics; biology; cognitive science; contemporary public policy; communication and economics; sociology; medical research, and student life at UCSD.

Papers and discussions at the conference's morning session, which begins at 9 a..m., include: Racial Differences in Early Childhood Achievement: Investigating the Role of Parental Expectations About the Future; Conflicting Clones: A Comparison of the Portrayal of Cloning in Scientific and Popular Press; Can Mood Variability be Predictive of Treatment Response in Women with Pregnancy or Post Partum Depression?; The Threat from Within: Treatment of 'Enemy Citizens' During Times of National Crisis and War. Topics for the afternoon roundtable, which begins at 1 p.m., include: Social Class, Financial Aid and Academic Performance; Drinking, Driving and Peer Intervention; The Ugly and the Beautiful: How Accuracy of Physical Self-Perception Affects Male Satisfaction; and The Capability of Breast Cancer Cells to Form Metastasis in Genetically Engineered and Modified Host Animals.

MEDIA/PHOTO OPP: Interview students on their research and what influenced them to investigate such topics; photograph students as they present their work before faculty; interview David Artis, director of UCSD's Academic Enrichment Programs (AEP), on how the annual conference and other AEP initiatives motivate undergraduates to pursue doctoral degrees and careers in research and college teaching.