could a ucsd playwright be the next coppola?

UCSD theatre grad student Jennifer Barclay has joined the ranks of Francis Ford Coppola and Eric Roth. Roth and Coppola have both won the Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards Competition and Barclay was recenlty named as one of the five finalists of the 2009 awards competition.

After receiving more than 150 submissions, the Samuel Goldwyn Foundation narrowed the field down to five feature-length screenplays from Barclay and four other students from UCLA.

As a finalists, Barclay will receive a cash prize. Winners will be selected by Hilary Swank, Colin Callender and Catherine Tarr, and awards will be presented Nov. 2at UCLA. To read the story in Variety.com click here.

To learn more about Jennifer click here.

the bicycle diaries

Two students came to UC San Diego from Lompoc by way of bike and surfboard last week. Muir College sophomores Perry Naughton and Casey Owen spent six days cycling along the coast towing their tent, wetsuit, surfboard and a week’s worth of food in a trailer behind their bikes.

“It was a lot of fun,” Naughton said. “The first day we road 73 miles and that was tough, but by the end of the trip we felt like we could keep on going.”

The two childhood friends were roommates last year at Muir College and were inspired to go on the journey after reading about similar trips in Surfer Magazine. “Neither of us applied to colleges that weren’t on the coast and Black's Beach was a big part of choosing UCSD for us,” Naughton said.

The students stopped at Leo Carrillo State Beach, Salt Creek and Trestles to surf along the way and they camped out at a State Beach every night of the journey.

The two are dedicated surfers who have made a pact to surf at Black’s beach everyday this quarter. “We have a lot of buddies at Muir College who surf so it’s easy to walk across the street every day with our surfboards.”

To read about UC San Diego's ranking as a top school for surfing go here.

students focus on future

Welcome Week at UCSD is in full swing. Last night internet pioneer Larry Smarr gave the key note speech at the Welcome Week Convocation. His message -- climate change is the biggest problem facing our society and it’s up to individuals to make a difference. “I wanted to make sure that the students knew from the first day they got here that they can be a part of finding the solution.”

Smarr said UCSD’s award winning student video, “A Living Laboratory For Real-World Solutions” changed his life and he encouraged new students to watch the film.

"After watching the film, I doubled my commitment to living more sustainably." For the full text of Smarr's speech click here.

so many events, so little time

From apocalyptic masterpieces to all-night dance parties and free surf lessons … next week is jammed packed with a slew of fun-filled events that are FREE to new and returning students. Welcome Week kicks off with the all campus dance in the price center lawn on Sunday night. On Tuesday night students can grab a free dinner and mingle with professors at the Welcome Week Convocation dinner. Also next week, ArtPower! is kicking off the season with a free screening of Dr. Strangelove on the Price Center East lawn.

Friday students can “follow the candy lane” to the Price Center where there will be prizes, free snacks, entertainment and candy, of course. Later that night there will be a free concert by Keak da Sneak.

The week caps off with day at the beach where kiddies will be treated to a free lunch and get complimentary surf lessons, kayak rental, and tide pool/pier tours. In this economy it's hard to beat anything that's free.

new freshmen share the spotlight at annual picnic

It was all smiles at the annual Summer Send-Off Picnic on Sunday at UCSD as new students from the San Diego area mingled and got the inside scoop about the university from alumni. Chancellor Marye Anne Fox, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Penny Rue, and Armin Afsahi, '90, executive director of the UCSD Alumni Association, were joined by new students, such as Revelle College freshmen Axel Gonzales. Gonzales, a biochemistry major who plans on attending medical school, attended the picnic with mom, his grandparents and great aunt. Gonzales is from San Ysidro and graduated as valedictorian from Mater Dei Catholic High School in Chula Vista. He chose UCSD over Cal, UC Santa Barbara, and UCLA. Nice.


The La Jolla Light highlighted the heart-warming event in this story

here come the Econauts!

When school starts this month, the EcoNauts, a corps of environmental student educators, will fly into action. Seven students have been hired to help their peers and the residential staff learn more about sustainable practices, and ultimately, help UC San Diego lower its carbon footprint. EcoNauts will work with student groups on campus wide events involving: recycling, composting, water conservation amd conservation, and social sustainability.


ABC 7 in Los Angeles recently highlited the econaut's commitment to being green. Click here to read the full story

back to school in the age of facebook

More than 1,700 incoming students are making friends, exchanging information and learning about UC San Diego through Facebook’s UCSD Class of 2013 page. The group was created last winter quarter by Aaron Burt, a high school senior from Thousand Oaks, Calif. who was hoping to attend UC San Diego. As acceptance letters went out to Burt and thousands of others last spring, the group’s site got an influx of traffic.

Students write to each other daily to exchange information about UC San Diego before their first quarter begins. Some chat about their respective colleges while others, like Patrick James Holman, ask if there are any students who can practice tennis with him before tryouts.

The discussion board also is rampant with activity. The topics range from “who surfs?” to "who's an engineering major?" and “who’s ready to party?”

“I had no idea the site would grow so much, but I’m happy students are making friends,” Burt said. “It’s definitely made me less nervous about starting school; I’m excited to meet the other students in just a few weeks."

san diego's social media maven hails from ucsd

She just may be the hardest working girl in San Diego -- May Jacob, ’05, balances several careers as a club developer, promoter, event coordinator, fashion show producer, model, clothing designer, and web and graphic designer. Oh yeah, she’s also a burgeoning rock star.

The theatre and dance major, who goes by May Star, was inspired to produce fashion shows after she co-wrote, co-directed, produced and starred in her own play during her senior year at UC San Diego. “Producing a play all on my own taught me how to cast shows, make flyers, and organize and direct people,” she said.

Jacob never studied marketing or web design, yet she is a self-taught virtuoso in both fields. As a social media maven, she seemingly lives online. Jacob built four MySpace profiles that reached out to thousands of users and she successfully transitioned onto Facebook where she has more than 1,000 friends. She just started a new blog and she tweets too.

Jacob uses the net to promote “Club Fashion Whore,” a themed discotheque and fashion show that she hosts the first Saturday of each month at the Ruby Room. Past themes have ranged from “depression era garden party”, to “disco” and even “trailer chic.”

When she’s not modeling or myspacing, Jacob performs in an indie rock band. Her band is finishing up recording the MAYSTAR album and she has plans to collaborate with producer Marcos Curiel of the band P.O.D.

So what’s next for the Karen O-esque fashionista? Jacob hopes to open up her own night club venue soon and wants to start a new band.

Mike Judge Mentions ACGC

Mike Judge, an alumnus of UC San Diego, and creator behind cult films and TV shows such as “Office Space,” and “King of the Hill,” has a new film, “Extract,” coming out this weekend. Judge has been in the news recently and he mentioned his talk at the All Campus Graduation Celebration in this Washington Post story.


WASHINGTON POST: So Mike, you recently gave the commencement address at our alma mater [the University of California at San Diego]. How'd it go?

MIKE JUDGE: I felt pretty good about it. But now there's YouTube, so if you slip up, it adds kind of a new level of stress and nervousness. I'm just glad I didn't make a mistake worth [posting].

... He certainly didn't slip up. In fact, he was a big hit with the students. If you missed his speech you can go to this link to check it out.