UCLA
Students Celebrate Peace Pole Planning
On Jan. 23, about 100 spectators witnessed the dedication of a peace pole in UCLA’s Meyerhoff Park. Engraved with the words “May peace prevail on Earth” in 14 languages, the limestone edifice is the first of its kind installed at a large American university.
In a press release, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said the peace pole offers the campus a physical embodiment of the goal of world peace.
“You all recognize as well as I do that peace is not a passive process,” Block said. “It happens because of effort… It’s compassion; it’s understanding; it’s willingness to recognize that human beings are all the same. If everyone recognizes that, that gives us a real chance to have world peace.”
Third-year political science major Ben Moore, the student credited with initiating the idea for the pole, also spoke at the monument’s unveiling.
After a series of brief remarks, a group of UCLA students recited the pole’s message in various languages. The event concluded with the UCLA eight-clap, but instead of chanting the typical “Fight, fight, fight” at the end, the crowd shouted “Peace, peace, peace!”
UC Irvine/UC San Francisco
Study Says Space Travel Weakens Bones
According to a newly released study, astronauts spending a few months in space lose significant bone strength and are increasingly at risk for bone fractures later in life.
The joint UC Irvine-UC San Francisco study, which evaluated 13 astronauts who spent between four and six months on the International Space Station, found that the astronauts’ hipbone strength decreased 14 percent during their stay. Additionally, three astronauts experienced bone losses of 20 percent to 30 percent, comparable to those seen in older women with osteoporosis.
Most alarming to the researchers, the results of the study have revealed a greater rate of bone deterioration than previously measured when using less powerful technologies.
Traditionally, orthopedic researchers delving into the effects of long-duration spaceflight study the hipbone or spine. A hip fracture almost always requires hospitalization and major surgery.
According to study leader Joyce Keyak, the study’s findings are startling for future space exploration.
“If preventive measures are not taken, some of our astronauts may be at increased risk for age-related fractures decades after their missions,” Keyak said in a press release.
UC Santa Cruz
Love May Keep Teens Out of Trouble
In a study about sex, violence and drugs, UCSC researchers found that teenagers in love are less likely to become involved in crime and substance abuse.
Additionally, the study reveals that although teens in stable relationships are as law-abiding as their celibate counterparts, young people who had casual sex were more than 20 percent more likely to have been involved in criminal behavior. Furthermore, these promiscuous teens were as much as 58 percent more likely to have engaged in drug and alcohol use.
In a press release, UC Davis sociology professor Bill McCarthy and graduate student Teresa Casey wrote that having a loving relationship during teenage years may offset rebellious behavior.
“Romantic love may fill a void that occurs in adolescence between the weakening of parental control and the onset of a marital bond,” McCarthy and Casey wrote. “Romantic love might discourage offending by strengthening adolescents’ social bond.”
