BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS

‘Lord of the Rings’ masters fund UCI research

UC Irvine, which has a dormitory named Middle Earth, got another connection to “Lord of the Rings” this week as Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson and producer Fran Walsh contributed $311,000 to the campus’ stem cell research program.

Jackson and Walsh, both of whom lost loved ones to cancer and Parkinson’s disease, established the Bill and Joan Jackson Scholars Fund through their contribution. The fund, named after Jackson’s parents, will support two students doing stem cell research over a four-year period.

The donation marks the second major gift to the stem cell program in the past month. Recently, Sue and Bill Gross contributed $10 million to the UCI Research Center, which has grown in reputation over the past five years.

“This is an incredibly exciting time in medicine,” Jackson wrote in a statement.

“Stem cell therapy has the potential to treat a multitude of diseases and illnesses, which up until now have been labeled ‘incurable.’?. I believe continuing advances in stem cell medicine will change all of our lives for the better.”

Hans Keirstead, an associate professor of anatomy and neurobiology who oversees UCI’s stem cell program, will direct the latest funds.

“I am immensely grateful to Peter and Fran for their support of this important research,” he wrote in a statement.

Arts Center to launch summer program

“Summer at the Center,” the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s 15th annual program for at-risk high school students, will begin on Monday.

A collaboration between the center and the Orange County Department of Education, the 11-day program features workshops in music, dance and theater. On Saturday, July 29, participants will give three public performances in the center’s Founders Hall.

Last month, the center chose the participants in the program through an interview process, measuring them by commitment rather than artistic talent.

On Tuesday, “American Idol” star Amy Adams, starring in the center’s production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” is scheduled to speak to the students.

Five-year degree program still has openings

Applications are still being accepted for the Coastline Community College Early College High School. The program, a partnership with the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, gives students the chance to achieve a high school diploma and Associate in Arts Degree in five years.

The Early College High School is funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Classes will be held on the Monte Vista/Back Bay High School campus, 390 Monte Vista Drive in Newport Beach. Freshmen begin the five-year program as ninth-graders.

Anyone interested in applying can call Mike Murphy, director of alternative programs, at (714) 424-8910. Applications can be picked up in the reception area of the Newport Mesa Education Center at Baker Street and Bear Street in Costa Mesa.