Gleaming in Gold

News on the awards front just went from good to great for UCSD-TV. On the heels of last week’s announcement that we took home four Bronze Telly Awards, we’re thrilled to report that two UCSD-TV programs have been honored with Gold Aurora Awards! The annual independent film and video competition honors excellence in commercials, cable programming, documentaries, industrial, instructional and corporate videos.

Congratulations to health producer Jennifer Ford, whose documentary “Parkinson’s Disease: A Dose of Hope,” took home its second award of the season, and to our entire UCSD-TV production team who contributed to the April 2011 installment of “UCSD@50,” UCSD-TV’s year-long series honoring UC San Diego’s momentous 50th anniversary. The award-winning episode was hosted by Barbara Sawrey, Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education, and featured stories on the new field of translational biology, UCSD’s Stuart Collection, profiles of three graduate students and their roles in driving UCSD’s research agenda,  and the men’s baseball coach.

What a way to kick off 2012!

It's a Wrap! Don't Miss the Series Finale of "UCSD@50"

As UC San Diego concludes its yearlong 50th anniversary celebration with the upcoming Alumni Weekend, UCSD-TV premieres the final installment in its 6-part magazine program, “UCSD@50,” which profiles the people, research and innovative spirit that make this campus an institution of national and international distinction.

In the season finale — online now and airing throughout the month — host Mary Walshok, professor of sociology and UCSD’s Associate Vice Chancellor for Extended Studies and Public Programs, presents stories on Physical Sciences, Engineering and Dance Theatre. We also visit with a staffer at Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s wonderful Birch Aquarium, wrap up the campus’ successful Volunteer 50 program, and treat you to a montage of UC San Diego’s Green Open House event.

Mary Walshok hosts the series finale of "UCSD@50"

“After such a spectacular year of anniversary celebrations, I’m honored to host the final episode of UCSD@50,” said host Mary Walshok, who helped launch UCSD-TV in 1993, as well as the successful CONNECT and San Diego Dialogue organizations. “Over the years, I’ve participated in and witnessed the transformation of this campus into a leader in everything from the sciences to theater, as well as cross-border collaboration, high-tech business development and so much more. It’s all the more exciting that we can share these accomplishments with the San Diego community through UCSD-TV. ”

You can find all six episodes of UCSD@50, as well as other anniversary-related programs, at our 50th website. And don’t miss the premiere of new programs from UCSD’s Innovation Day Expo and Symposia (IDEaS), airing Monday nights at 8pm beginning June 20. Programs include panel discussions with UCSD alumni, students, faculty and staff about the current state and future of education.

We hope you enjoyed this video snapshot of UC San Diego’s past, present and future, and we look forward to sharing much more with you in the years ahead!

UCSD-TV Grabs Aurora Awards for UCSD@50 and Diabetes Programs!

We’re thrilled to announce that two UCSD-TV produced programs, “UCSD@50” and “Taking Control of Your Diabetes,” have received Aurora Awards!

Taking top honors with the Platinum Best of Show Award in the News Magazine/Interview category is the November 2010 edition of “UCSD@50,” UCSD-TV’s year-long magazine program honoring UC San Diego’s 50th anniversary. This memorable installment, hosted by Dr. David Granet, profiles UCSD By Design, the book and speaker series about UC San Diego’s unique built environment, and features interviews with Arts and Humanities Dean Seth Lerer, campus architect Boone Hellman and author Dirk Sutro. The 30-minute program also includes research on fighting antibiotic resistant “superbugs” at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, a conversation with “Avatar” actor and UCSD alumnus Dileep Rao, a wrap-up of the “Meet the Beach” Volunteer 50 clean-up event, and a chat with UCSD staffer Darren McKay, a junior development engineer at UCSD’s Englekirk Structural Engineering Center.

All “UCSD@50” programs are available online and make sure to tune in April 11 at 8pm for the the next installment, hosted by UCSD’s Barbara Sawrey. The six-part series wraps up in June, along with UCSD’s celebratory anniversary year.

UCSD-TV’s “Taking Control of Your Diabetes” (TCOYD) series was also a big winner, taking home a Gold Award in the Fitness/Health category for its episode on weight management. This long-running series hosted by Dr. Steven Edelman was totally revamped in 2010, making this award especially meaningful.  All TCOYD programs are available online and the 2011 season premieres in June.

The Aurora Awards is a international competition designed to recognize excellence in the film and video industries. It specifically targets products, programs and commercials that would not normally have the opportunity to compete on a national level, by focusing on non-national commercials, regional or special interest entertainment and corporate sponsored film and video. Entries come from across the US, and abroad.

What I Did This Summer

Shannon Bradley here, checking in at the tail end of summer. Summertime at UCSD is sweet.   The campus is quiet, lunch lines are short, parking is easy, and…most important for us, we mostly air re-runs in July and August.  All of that freed us up to focus on creating a new magazine-style series, premiering this […]

Shannon Bradley here, checking in at the tail end of summer.

Summertime at UCSD is sweet.   The campus is quiet, lunch lines are short, parking is easy, and…most important for us, we mostly air re-runs in July and August.  All of that freed us up to focus on creating a new magazine-style series, premiering this fall, that honors UC San Diego’s 50th anniversary. The six-part series, called  UCSD@50, premieres September 13, with a new installment  every six weeks through June of 2011.

As with all of my favorite magazines, this program will offer an eclectic menu of stories — some serious and some light-hearted –  all centered around our goal of sharing what excites us about this place. In the upcoming months, look for reports from Rich Wargo (Science), John Menier (Arts & Humanities), Jennifer Ford (Health and Medicine)…and yours truly on Public Affairs.

I’m starting the first show with a piece on UCSD’s Center for Community Well-Being. This group, run by Bud Mehan and Mike Cole, is a collection of faculty, staff and students who are doing research and service projects in Southeastern San Diego.  We spent some time with UCSD undergrads tutoring at Gompers Preparatory Academy, the middle school in Chollas View that’s modeled after our own Preuss School.

We also showed up for the first Community Market at the Jacobs Center, where free food and clothes were distributed to needy families under the guidance of the CCW’s Makeba Jones and her partners from Project Safe Way.

And finally, we visited the Town and Country Learning Center in Mountain View where Mike Cole and Srinivas Sukumar, from Cal IT 2, work with kids after school.  It was great to visit these communities and see UCSD folks engaged in finding ways to improve the lives of fellow San Diegans.

Also in the first show, Rebecca Tolin reports on the ground-breaking work that Eric Courchesne and Karen Pierce are doing at the UCSD Autism Center of Excellence. This husband-and-wife team has made startling discoveries about the brains of autistic children and what can be done to help those who are most at risk.

Later in the first show, Ken Kebow takes us to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where Dean Tony Haymet describes research on underwater plants that could lead to new medicines, and how new high-tech robots will help monitor the health of the oceans.

Oh, and Rachel Bradley (no, no relation) profiles Giancarlo Ruiz, a UCSD staffer who produced a film that was screened at Cannes! How cool is that? And yes, he made it on his own time.  Thanks to Sherman George for telling us about him.  Sherman retired awhile back but is still a presence around here…something we all appreciate.

So…lots going on here this summer. Next up is Chancellor Marye Anne Fox coming to our studio September 2 to tape her segments as the honorary host of our first program.  UCSD @50 will start airing Sept 13….just a week before the students come back (good!) and parking gets difficult again (not-so-good).