UC San Francisco
The number of teenagers satisfied with a sexless existence declines sharply with age, according to a new study released by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco.
The study traced over 600 Northern California high school students of various levels of sexual experience for a two-year period. Teens who remained sexually inactive while simultaneously reporting positive life experiences dropped sharply from 46 percent to 24 percent throughout the duration of the study.
The survey also revealed a range of negative consequences associated with not having sexual intercourse, including emotions such as “partner became angry,” “felt regret,” “felt left out” and “felt like you let your partner down.”
According to Ph.D. Sonya Brady, lead study author and a former UCSF post-doctoral fellow, while research has consistently examined how teens feel toward becoming sexually active, the current study is the first to examine how teens feel when they do not have sex.
The findings published in the January issue of the American Journal of Public Health suggest parents should provide teens with a balanced perspective of both the positive benefits of abstinence and negative side effects of refraining from sex.
UC San Diego
The University of California, San Diego has become the first campus on the West Coast and the seventh university in the nation to make going green bring in the green.
UCSD’s entrance into a legally binding trade agreement with the Chicago Climate Exchange, the only voluntary greenhouse gas credit trading system in North America, is intended to cut greenhouse gases to baseline levels by 2010. But by cutting emissions beyond the baseline specified in the commitment, the university plans to trade excess greenhouse gas credits on CCX’s open market.
UCSD operates a cogeneration facility that supplies about 90 percent of the campus’ electricity, making it less reliant on commercial utilities.
According to UCSD Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs Steven Relyea, since UCSD generates so much of its own power, the trade agreement will allow the university to sell surplus greenhouse gas credits saved through energy efficiency, a strategy that sets a precedent for other institutions.
Similar trading contracts may become mandatory for large-scale North American institutions with future legislation.
UC Irvine
With a contract worth up to $5.5 million from the U.S. Army, the University of California, Irvine will establish a research center to assist in the creation of new protective armor for soldiers.
The university announced on Jan. 2 that professor of civil and environmental engineering Maria Feng at the UC Irvine Henry Samueli School of Engineering was awarded the grant to develop sensor technology and research protective armor during the next five years. In order to create such technologies, researchers will analyze the damage sustained and the durability of armor after substantial ballistics tests.
The Army Program Executive Office Soldier, which promotes the creation of new military equipment, is funding the contract.
The facility – the Center for Advanced Monitoring and Damage Inspection – is located on the UC Irvine campus. It will focus on researching and designing gear used by individual soldiers, such as lightweight helmets and body armor. However, the technological improvements could also prove useful in tanks, helicopters and planes that utilize the same shielding materials.
UC Los Angeles
In an $11 million study, UCLA researchers have confirmed that women with full-time jobs and satisfying marriages are less stressed than women with unhappy marriages.
UCLA researchers analyzed the levels of cortisol, often known as the “stress hormone,” in 30 married Los Angeles couples who are raising kids while working full-time. According to the study, after a distressing day at the office, coritsol levels dropped substantially in happily married women, while less happily married women still retained a higher cortisol level. This discovery is part of a larger study conducted by the UCLA Sloan Center on the Everyday Lives of Families.
The study also showed that cortisol patterns are linked to marital happiness for women, but not for men.
To conduct this project, researchers had the participants complete a standardized test of marital satisfaction. Over the three days of the study, the parents gave saliva samples, which were examined for the cortisol concentrations, and they were asked to fill out questionnaires about their workdays.
