Swanson Pool scheduled to close Feb. 19
University City’s Standley Recreation Center, 3585 Governor Drive, will close its swimming pool from Monday, Feb. 19, through May 25 due to city funding constraints.
The city is closing nine of its 13 pools for three and a half months as a cost-saving measure during the fiscal year, according to Pam Hardy, communications director for District 1 City Councilman/Council President Scott Peters’ office.
Last year, Peters used money from Prop 40, the State Parks Bonds measure, to keep Swanson Pool open two out of the three months it was scheduled to close, but that was not an option this year, Hardy said.
Programs such as open swim and water exercise are popular at Swanson Pool, according to Isabel Vargas, the city’s district manager of aquatics.
“I think most people are disappointed,” Vargas said of the pool closure. “If you are used to going to your community pool to swim and now you have to make plans to go someplace else, I think that most people are disappointed with that.”
Swanson Pool has about eight full-time city employees during the winter months, Vargas said. Although she has received several phone calls from concerned residents about the pool closing, Vargas said in order to keep the facility open, an additional $115,000 in funds would have to be raised.
The hours of operation until Feb. 19 will be 8 to 10 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday; 5 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday; and noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, according to a phone recording at the center.
For more information, call Swanson Pool, (858) 552-1653, or visit www.sandiego.gov/park-and-recreation/pdf/poolschedule.pdf.

Sleep forum promises to be an eye-opener
A forum titled “Waking Up to Sleep” will be presented by world-leading researchers on Friday, Feb. 9, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, Feb. 10, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Topics covered at the forum include the benefits of taking naps, the advantages and disadvantages of sleep-aid medications and sleep patterns in other species.
Roger Bingham, director of the Science Network, said he hopes that people will “get a better understanding of the search in sleep and fundamental issues that concern them on a daily basis.”
This event will be held at the Salk Institute’s Frederic de Hoffman Auditorium, 10010 N. Torrey Pines Road.
“Waking Up to Sleep” is a production of The Science Network (TSN), Crick-Jacobs Center for Theoretical and Computational Biology and CONNECT. In addition, this event is sponsored by the ResMed Foundation and the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind at UCSD. The forum open to the public, but registration is required at www.tsntv.org.

UCSD, Breeze collaborate for free bus rides
Students, faculty and staff members at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) can now ride the North County Transit District’s Breeze bus route 101 for free.
The 101 travels between Oceanside and University Towne Centre, with stops at UCSD and along Old Highway 101. Passengers must show a valid UCSD identification card and a bus zone sticker, which can be obtained from the campus’ Transportation and Parking Services Department.
For information and schedules, call (800) 266-6883 or visit www.gonctd.com or www.parking.ucsd.edu.

Boys and Girls Club, LJCD build indoor playground
Students and volunteers from the Boys and Girls Club of Greater San Diego and La Jolla Country Day (LJCD) School united Feb. 3 to build an indoor playground at the club’s Encanto branch. The project was completed in one day, starting at 8 a.m. and finishing at 3 p.m. with the ribbon cutting.
LJCD approached the Boys and Girls Club of Greater San Diego about wanting to help support building an indoor playground at one of its sites. Students at the school raised $13,000 through various fund-raisers, and an anonymous donor matched that amount, bringing in a total of $26,000 for the project.
“We started fund-raising with bake sales and caramel apple sales,” said Tanya Grewal, a senior at LJCD. “Then we had a big event called the rock-a-thon, where people would just sit in rocking chairs and rock all day long. The other challenge was where to build [the playground]. We’re fortunate to team up with the club because they already had a facility, so it was a lot easier for us.”
Grewal is one of the students who spearheaded this project, along with junior Rebecca Poliner.
“I think it’s great when community partners come together,” said Lacy Bienkowski, the communications coordinator for the Boys and Girls Club. “It’s really great that LJCDS wanted to do it, especially since two young girls are the ones who led it, so it’s just proof that even young kids see the need that we have and how great our organization is and that we do benefit the kids.”
After LJCD raised money for the project, the school approached the kids to design their dream playground. The designs were then submitted to the construction com pany. Preparations to build it commenced in October 2005. Use of the facility will begin Friday, Feb. 9.

Lung Association reviews 2006
The American Lung Association and the Tobacco-Free Communities Coalition (TFCC) released their review of 2006 and the policy milestones of the year, including the decision to make San Diego parks and beaches smoke-free. The groups pointed to advancements such as the California Air Resources Board’s finding that secondhand smoke is a toxic air pollutant and the Metropolitan Transit System’s vote to ban smoking at bus stops, a formal ordinance establishing a 25-foot buffer zone around all MTS stops.
The ALA also noted events that it did not receive so well, including the failed tobacco tax measure from the November 2006 elections that proposed a $2.60-per-pack cigarette tax. The association also expressed concern about what it described as the relatively unregulated hookah trend.
The ALA has offered 10 reasons to quit smoking. According to the association, smokers should quit because their pets get cancer more often. A Journal of Epidemiology study showed that dogs in smoking households had a 60 percent greater risk of lung cancer, while veterinarians from Tufts University found that smokers’ cats are three times as likely to develop lymphoma, the most common feline cancer. Pets can also have asthma and allergies exacerbated by secondhand smoke.
If those are not reasons enough, the ALA topped the list by noting that cigarettes are radioactive ” they contain Polonium 210, the same poison that recently killed a former Soviet spy, according to an article in Science magazine “” and that smokers would not pass smog tests if they were put to the same tests as cars. One puff of smoke into an auto shop’s smog tester pipe exceeds tailpipe emission standards.
For more information, visit www.lungsandiego.org.

Museum Month is back
San Diegans can explore the history and culture of the city for half-price admission to museums, historical sites and educational institutions during the month of February.
Beginning Feb. 1, a special Museum Month brochure will be available free of charge at all Macy’s department stores in San Diego County. A pass included in the brochure must be presented at participating museums or institutions in order to receive the discounted admission.
Macy’s stepped up to help foot the bill following the demise of Robinsons-May, the event’s previous sponsor.
“It presents such a great opportunity for San Diego residents and members to explore museums at a reasonable rate,” said Theresa Kosen, executive director of the San Diego Museum Council. “You could take a family of four roughly under $20 and spend a great afternoon.”
Participating museums and other cultural sites in this program include Birch Aquarium at Scripps, California Center for the Arts Museum, UCSD’s Stewart Collection of Sculpture, MCRD Command Museum and many others.
Sponsored by the San Diego Museum Council and Macy’s, Museum Month was created in 1989 in order to promote awareness and the liveliness of San Diego. For information on participating museums, call (619) 276-0101 or visit www.sandiegomuseumcouncil.org.