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Welcome August 2014 Make a Difference Invest in tomorrow's leaders today. Learn how!Follow us on 
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EITC doesn't benefit single parent families during recessions, study finds Results published in June issue of NBER Digest
American-grown gangs fuel immigration crisis from Central America Al Valdez, social sciences lecturer, provides perspective
Read on, courtesy of NBC News... Three myths about the brain Greg Hickok, cognitive sciences professor and Center for Language Science director, debunks some higher level misconceptions about the human brain
Read on, courtesy of The New York Times... Is there a role for NATO in Ukraine? Heidi Hardt, new UCI political science assistant professor, weighs in
Read on, courtesy of The Washington Post... Philosophers use game theory to understand how words, actions acquire meaning Research featured in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Read on, courtesy of Science Codex... The consequences of shaming politics in East Asia Op-ed by Tom Le, political science grade student, argues that in disputes over history and territory, the PR fight is intense...and damaging
Read on, courtesy of The Diplomat... UCI Distinguished Research Professor of political science, past president of the American Political Science Association and past vice president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
In memoriam: Robert "Bob" Newcomb UC Irvine Center for Statistical Consulting founding director, social sciences senior lecturer and 45-year member of the UCI community
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When the economy tanks, subsidy programs like the Earned Income Tax Credit can become unintended safety-nets for lower income working families trying to make
ends meet. A new study by UCI economist Marianne Bitler looks at this program's new role, finding that married couples with children benefit more from the
subsidy when times are worse than do single parent households, who otherwise constitute the majority of EITC recipients. Findings are published in the June
issue of the National Bureau of Economic Research Digest. 
Academic researcher Al Valdez was in El Salvador's capital city two years ago watching bewildered deportees from America step onto the tarmac. The plane was
full of undocumented immigrants sent back because of their criminal records, he said, including some gang members. A nun gave each one a banana or an aspirin,
and told them they were free to leave. There was no one offering to help rehabilitate them into Salvadoran society. "I was disturbed. They were simply
repatriated back into their country," said Valdez, the author of books on Southern California gangs and a former supervisor with the Orange County District
Attorney's gang unit. The lack of oversight has allowed gang members to assert control in El Salvador and neighboring countries, where tens of thousands -
including unaccompanied children - have made dangerous journeys to the U.S. border in recent months. In addition, Valdez said, the United States' own policy
has been an unintended driver of the pile-up on America's doorstep.
Today the neuroscience community uniformly rejects the notion, as it has for decades, that our brain's potential is largely untapped. The myth persists,
however. The newly released movie "Lucy," about a woman who acquires superhuman abilities by tapping the full potential of her brain, is only the latest and
most prominent expression of this idea. In recent years, a new myth about the brain has started to emerge. This is the myth of mirror neurons, or the idea
that a certain class of brain cells discovered in the macaque monkey is the key to understanding the human mind. The mirror neuron claim has escaped the lab
and is starting to find its way into popular culture. You might hear it said, for example, that watching a World Cup match is an intense experience because
our mirror neurons allow us to experience the game as if we were on the field itself, simulating every kick and pass. But as with older myths, this
speculation has lost its connection with the data.
In Ukraine, separatists controlling the site of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 have not provided a safe corridor for an international investigation to take place.
Despite the return of flight recorder boxes and some bodies, others are still missing and remains continue to decompose. Research shows that in crises speed of
response matters. Yet the media has said little about the response of the world's largest security organization whose member states border Ukraine. What options
does NATO have to respond to the crisis?
With defenses already bolstered in eastern Europe, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has only called for 'a full international investigation'. The 28
-member-state transatlantic security organization represents one of the few international actors with the capabilities and potential political will to act. My
recent study based on interviews with 30 NATO ambassadors and staff found that informal learning has improved NATO's crisis response capacity. Other
international organizations remain politically blocked. Russia retains veto power at the United Nations and OSCE and is also responsible for a significant supply
of natural gas to European Union member states. NATO has new options given the urgency surrounding the Malaysian Airlines tragedy and states' shared commitment
to regional security (Article 4). The following reviews the costs and benefits of different possibilities.
Why does the word "dog" have meaning? If you say "dog" to a friend, why does your friend understand you?
Elliott Wagner, UCI logic & philosophy of science alumnus and new assistant professor of philosophy at Kansas State University, aims to address these types of
questions in his latest research, which focuses on long-standing philosophical questions about semantic meaning. "If I order a cappuccino at a coffee shop, I usually
don't think about why it is that my language can help me communicate my desire for a cappuccino," Wagner said. "This sort of research allows us to understand
a very basic aspect of the world." His latest work appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It is rare for philosophy research to appear in the scientific journal,
Wagner said. Collaborators include UCI logic & philosophy of science professors Simon Hutteggar and Brian Skyrms and mathematician Pierre Tarres of the University of Toulouse in France. 
Recently, media outlets have paid a great deal of attention to territorial disputes between Japan and its neighbors, China and South Korea, fueling
considerable animosity in East Asia. Simultaneously, another heated battle is being waged, one over historical authority and the hearts and minds of the
international community. Specifically, these nations have engaged in emotion-laden public relations campaigns over possession of the islands, the naming of
the Sea of Japan/East Sea, and the comfort women issue. The intensified effort to fight the public relations battle is due to the closing window of
opportunity for aging victims of World War II to voice their story. Additionally, the alleged rise of Japanese nationalism, epitomized by Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe's recent decision to reexamine the Kono Statement, in which the Japanese government admitted its role in coercing women and antagonistic remarks
trivializing the issue by conservatives have further invigorated the opposition.
David Easton, UCI Distinguished Research Professor of political science and past president of the American Political Science Association, died Saturday
morning, July 19. He was 97.
Easton joined the faculty of the School of Social Sciences in 1982. He was one of the first campus appointments as UCI Distinguished Professor. His vigor,
both mental and physical, was matched only by his intellectual curiosity. One of the most prominent and cited political scientists during the second half of
the twentieth century, Easton was a very highly valued colleague.
When he “retired” from UCI in 1987, he continued to teach classes on empirical political theory, political systems analysis, the foundations
of modern political science, and structural analysis of politics until he was more than 90 years of age.
Robert "Bob" L. Newcomb, founding director of the UC Irvine Center for Statistical Consulting and 45-year member of the UCI community, passed away on July 10
at the age of 81.
Newcomb received his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He joined the UC Irvine faculty in 1969 as a lecturer in social
sciences, a position he held until his retirement in 2006. During that period, he served as acting associate dean of both undergraduate and graduate studies
in social sciences. Throughout his more than four decades of service to UC Irvine, he made an immeasurable impact on students and faculty through his
teaching, mentorship and statistical research support.
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