Revelle Forum presents Sen. John Danforth
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and three-term U.S. Senator John Danforth will speak on Wednesday, Oct. 4, from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., as part of UCSD’s Revelle Forum at The Neurosciences Institute.
Danforth, who is also an ordained Episcopal priest, will discuss his views of the changes in today’s politics and other divisive issues, which he also documented in several opinion pieces for the New York Times.
“I think people of broad political self-identifications have a real sense of respect for Danforth and for what he accomplished in his public life,” said Dan Atkinson, director of arts, humanities and languages at UCSD Extension. “He will be an interesting person to hear from, especially with his background as an Episcopal priest. He is uniquely positioned to understand both sides of the religious and political issues.”
In his new book “Faith and Politics,” which was recently released, Danforth advocates a more secular vision of politics, and hopes the country will return to forming common ground for all citizens.
The talk will be followed by a book signing, and copies of “Faith and Politics” will be available for purchase.
The event will be held in the auditorium of The Neurosciences Institute, 10640 John Jay Hopkins Drive, and advanced registration is recommended. Tickets are $35 per person.
For more information, or to register, call (858) 882-8000 or visit www.extension.ucsd.edu/revelleforum.

Event celebrates 25 years of brain research
The Neurosciences Institute, a nonprofit scientific research organization in La Jolla, will celebrate its 25th anniversary on Saturday, Sept. 30, from 2 to 6:30 p.m. at the campus auditorium.
With a focus on understanding brain functions, the institute has been present in La Jolla since 1993, when it was moved from its original location at the Rockefeller University in New York.
On Saturday, several of the institute’s researchers will present their latest discoveries in areas including molecular biology of drugs, theoretical modeling of brain functions and music perception.
Dr. Gerald Edelman, a recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1972, will discuss advances made at the institute over the past 25 years.
The Neurosciences Institute is located at 10640 John Jay Hopkins Drive. For more information about the event or The Neurosciences Institute, contact Rachel Jonte, (858) 626-2018, or visit www.nsi.edu.

Council OKs Eruv line
San Diego City Council on Monday, Sept. 18 approved Congregation Adat Yeshurun’s request to install three, 20- to 30-foot-high poles in La Jolla to complete a symbolic religious boundary.
The La Jolla Shores Association had appealed the Planning Commission’s approval of the Eruv line on June 22, which brought the issue before City Council.
The boundary will weave through La Jolla and University City to transform the area into a private domain for Orthodox Jews, which will permit them to carry possessions on the Sabbath. Jewish law prohibits Jews from carrying any item outside the private home on the Sabbath, including groceries, canes and car keys.
The poles will connect at the top via thin wire and existing fences and canyons will join the rest of the boundary.
Twenty minutes before the council hearing, Adat Yeshurun asked the mayor’s office not to require that reflective tape cover the wire because Jewish law mandates that the line be invisible. The mayor’s office conceded and the provision was removed. If it appears that birds are striking the wire, however, City Council reserves the right to reopen the requirement, said George Biagi, spokesman for the mayor’s office.
The city also stipulated that if it needs to replace, remove or modify utility poles in the future that a substantial conformance review be conducted.

UC will test new ‘smart meters’
Calling out the meter reader to assess electricity usage may soon be an archaic practice. San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) plans to replace all of its electric meters and gas modules with an updated version that allows for two-way communication between customers and SDG&E, dropping the meter reader out of the loop.
The “smart” electric reader will send usage data, either through utility lines or radio signals, to SDG&E every hour for residents and every 15 minutes for businesses. Energy representatives will be able to provide real-time response to customer needs, and SDG&E expects that it will be able to better identify problems before outages occur. Customers will also be able to better manage their energy use, according to SDG&E.
To ensure the viability of the smart meters, the utility company will first install approximately 350 electric meters and 150 gas modules in University City, in neighborhoods surrounding Rose Canyon, in downtown San Diego and in Fallbrook.
If state regulators approve the system, SDG&E will begin replacing the 1.3 million electric meters and 825,000 natural gas meters in 2008, with completion expected by 2010.

Public can review UCSD grad housing project
The North Campus Housing Project that will accommodate graduate students at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) is available for public review.
The housing project will include a maximum of 1,220 beds in approximately ten buildings on an approximately 8.5-acre site. The housing project will be located on the west campus, southeast of the North Point Drive and North Torrey Pines Road intersection.
A draft Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) document has been prepared for the project, which means that mitigation measures are included for some of the project’s impacts.
The university has determined that the North Campus Housing Project will not have a significant effect on the environment that has not already been examined in UCSD’s 2004 Long Range Development Plan Environmental Impact Report.
To view the project on-line, visit http://physicalplanning.ucsd.edu/pub_notice.html. The state review period will extend from Sept. 8 to Oct. 9, 2006 at 5 p.m.
Comments on the draft MND can be mailed to: Catherine Presmyk, UCSD Physical Planning, 9500 Gilman Drive, MC 0965, La Jolla, CA 92093-0965. For information, email [email protected] or call (858) 534-3860.