Can drinking a little bit help you live longer?

Having a little wine or beer to unwind most days may help lower the odds of a premature death as long as that drink or two doesn’t routinely turn into more, a new study confirms.

Researchers examined health survey data on more than 333,000 U.S. adults, following them for an average of about eight years to see how their drinking habits influenced their survival odds.

Compared with people who never had a drop of alcohol, light to moderate drinkers were more than 20 percent less likely to die early of any cause, or of heart disease in particular, the study found.

Heavy drinkers and binge drinkers, however, were at least 10 percent more likely to die from any cause during the study, and they had at least 20 percent higher odds of an early death from cancer in particular.

“If alcohol is consumed, it should be consumed in moderation,” said lead study author Dr. Bo Xi of the School of Public Health at Shandong University in China.

Heavy drinking has long been linked to a variety of medical problems including liver disease, heart disease and certain cancers. But previous research has offered an inconclusive picture of the survival odds associated with light or moderate drinking.

The current analysis attempts to tackle two issues that have contributed to inconsistent results in much of the earlier research: `abstainer bias’ and `sick quitter bias.’

Many other studies compared moderate drinkers to people who currently didn’t drink, making it impossible to separate people who stopped drinking due to addiction or other health reasons from people who were lifelong abstainers.

To exclude `sick quitters,’ the current study left out people who died in the first two years of follow-up. To avoid `abstainer bias,' researchers created separate categories for adults who never drank at all and for ex-drinkers.

They sorted adults into six categories for the current study: lifetime abstainers; people who have always had alcohol on rare occasions; ex-drinkers; current light drinkers who have fewer than three drinks a week; moderate drinkers (more than three drinks a week but fewer than 14 for men or 7 for women); or heavy drinkers (more than 14 for men or 7 for women).

During the study period, 34,754 people died, including 8,947 fatalities from cardiovascular diseases and 8,427 from cancer, researchers report in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Male heavy drinkers had a 25 percent increased risk of death during the study and 67 percent higher odds of deaths from cancer than men who never drank. These differences weren’t statistically meaningful for women, however.

The study wasn’t a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how heavy drinking might hasten death or light to moderate alcohol consumption might help people live longer. Researchers also relied on survey participants to accurately recall and report how much they drank.

Scientists aren’t sure why light or moderate drinking might have a protective effect, said Dr. Eugene Yang of the University of Washington School of Medicine.

“It may improve the health of your blood vessels by reducing inflammation and your ability to form blood clots, increase levels of good cholesterol, and promote antioxidant pathways,” Yang, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.

Even if it doesn’t explain why drinking a little might lead to a longer life, the study does confirm that the risk of death tied to alcohol use increases sharply when people regularly drink more than they should, Dr. Giovanni de Gaetano, author of an accompanying editorial and a researcher at Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo Neuromed in Pozzilli, Italy, said by email.

“The clear message is to avoid excessive drinking, either on a regular basis or even on any one day, to reduce risk,” Dr. Gregory Marcus, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email. “Those prone to alcoholism or addiction are also likely best served with alcohol abstinence.”

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Kobe Paras' dad, coach speak up on UCLA withdrawal

LOS ANGELES - Two years of hoop dreams, excitement and anticipation took a twist this week for the Paras family when PBA legend Benjie Paras found out that his son Kobe was no longer going to attend the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

The younger Paras, who was Division 1 qualified to play, had already checked in and had begun summer school, but suddenly the admissions department said he did not meet some of the academic requirements causing the former slam dunk champion to withdraw.

"It was really a surprise for us and of course Kobe was really devastated. I was talking to him, and honestly, he was crying," said Benjie.

Despite reports citing Cathedral High School's principal saying that the issue involved his Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) score, Paras' Coach William Middlebrooks said no exact details were given.

"That was a shock to the entire athletic department. Our understanding was as long as he's a full qualifier academically, he'd be in school and for whatever reason, the head of admissions made a different decision. It was taken out of context. I think it came across strange to people. Various people interpret it the way they interpreted it but we don't know what the reason is. Even the principal has not talked to anybody at UCLA admissions so therefore whatever the reason is they chose to make this decision we don't have a fact to as why they made the decision," said Middlebrooks.

Middlebrooks admitted that these issues do happen at all colleges and not just to student athletes. With Kobe now withdrawn from UCLA, it's back to the recruitment process for the Division 1 eligible 18-year-old Paras.

With a couple of months before the school year, at least 80 Division 1 schools have reached out to the 6-foot-5 inch wing.

As Paras will weigh his options, he is expected to be in school and on the court in time for the 2016 college basketball season.

"He's a hot commodity right now. We're just back to the drawing board about finding the right fit, the right opportunity; that they understand who Kobe is, what his game is all about, what he means to the Philippines," his coach said.

Benjie added, "We want for Kobe to pick a good school that he can play, and at the same time, getting good academics. I'm just here to support Kobe, support coach and Cathedral and the organization. Whatever decisions they make I'm going to be fine with it."

Benjie, who flew to Los Angeles immediately after the withdrawal news came, has stayed positive and while his son has built a large following, he shared a message to the fans.

"Don't worry. He's going to be ok. He's in good hands, Cathedral, Middlebrooks, they're one big family. They will help each other when someone becomes successful they will be happy for him and when someone's down they will help him get up. He's in good hands right now and for sure you will see him play again," he said.

Middlebrooks and Benjie said Kobe will not make any public comments or appearances as he continues to visit schools and workout on the court.

Read more on Balitang America.



source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Why Kobe Paras pulled out of UCLA

LOS ANGELES, California -- There's been a change of plans for Kobe Paras, one of college basketball’s most high profile, highly anticipated recruits: He will no longer be a UCLA Bruin.

The University of California in Los Angeles announced the withdrawal of 18-year-old Filipino on Wednesday morning.

In a statement, the school said: “Incoming freshman guard Kobe Paras, admitted upon condition to UCLA, has withdrawn from the university due to academic conditions of his admission not being met."

But his coaches at Middlebrooks Academy said he is academically eligible to play for an NCAA Division 1 program.

The Los Angeles Times quoted Cathedral High School officials as saying that there was an issue with Paras's Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) score, despite being a consistent honor student.

Paras had verbally committed to UCLA in the fall of 2014 as a high school junior. He went on to have a phenomenal junior season attracting fandom at many of his games as a player for Cathedral High School.

He went on to participate in several high-profile camps.

Due to an issue in his transfer and credit this past school year, Paras suited up for the Middlebrooks Academy, a basketball prep program that is also run by Cathedral's coach William Middlebrooks.

Last February, Cathedral High School announced that Paras had scored 1750 on his SAT, which is regarded as a high score.

However, the average incoming UCLA freshman has a score of 2064.

The withdrawal comes just weeks after Paras checked in on campus with the school, tweeting his visits and his locker room nameplate. He even had a chance to meet his fellow class of 2016 recruits during his visit.

“The issue is SAT. Based on UCLA’s standards and his announced score, he fell below the UCLA average,” coach William Middlebrooks said.

Although Paras is no longer UCLA-bound, his coaches said he will still play college basketball at a Division 1 level. According to reports, some schools have already contacted his coaches.

Just as when he first arrived in LA, they expect a number of suitors lining up to bring in the 6-foot-5 wing player.

Paras himself has been silent throughout the ordeal with Middlebrooks basketball requesting for privacy.

The program said they will clarify the issues and details surrounding the young athlete's withdrawal soon.

No matter where Paras will eventually play, that school will have a well-conditioned athlete. The hoops phenom has been in tip top basketball shape, spending most of his time in the gym and getting ready for the next phase of his basketball life.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Short sleep may be tied to infection risk

Adults who sleep no more than five hours per night or who have a diagnosed sleep disorder are more likely to have suffered a recent cold than those who sleep more, according to a new study.

“In many countries, particularly western countries, sleep takes a back seat to productivity, which may make some sense in the short term but certainly not the longer term,” said coauthor Aric A. Prather of the Center for Health and Community at the University of California, San Francisco. “Sleep happens with whatever time is left after all of the other ‘necessary’ tasks are attended to.”

Getting too little sleep can have a direct impact on cardiovascular, endocrine and immune functioning that may increase disease risk over time, Prather told Reuters Health by email.

In addition, “poor sleep may lead to health behaviors that also raise one’s risk for poor heath,” he said. “Short sleepers are less likely to exercise and more likely to engage in less than ideal nutrition that, again over time, can affect health.”

The researchers used responses from more than 22,000 adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys between 2005 and 2012. The participants reported their typical weekday hours of sleep, history of diagnosed sleep disorders and whether they had ever told a doctor about having trouble sleeping.

They also answered questions about having a head or chest cold, the flu, pneumonia, or an ear infection over the previous 30 days.

Almost 14 percent of people said they slept no more than five hours per night, 23 percent slept for six hours, 56 percent slept for seven to eight hours, and 7 percent said they slept for nine or more hours per night.

One quarter had told a doctor about trouble sleeping and 7 percent had been diagnosed with a sleep disorder.

Over the previous 30 days, 19 percent of ‘short sleepers’- that is, those with five or fewer hours of sleep per night - had a head or chest cold, compared to 16 percent of those who slept for six hours and 15 percent of those who got seven or more hours.

After accounting for factors like age, sex, race, education level and smoking status, those with a diagnosed sleep disorder were also more likely to have had a cold or infection than others, the researchers reported April 11 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

“This data does not allow us to know whether sleep causes an increase in susceptibility to respiratory infections,” only that the two are somehow connected, Prather said.

But in a 2015 study, he and his team experimentally exposed people to the cold virus after assessing their typical sleep, and those who slept six or fewer hours were roughly four times more likely to develop a biologically-verified cold than those who slept more than seven hours, he said.

“It is our hope that this work will help raise the profile of sleep as a critical health behavior that should be considered as an additional vital sign for optimal health,” he said.

“Very little if any training about sleep happens in medical school so most physicians do not know anything about sleep,” said Dr. Sanjay R. Patel of the Center for Sleep and Cardiovascular Outcomes at the University of Pittsburgh. “As a result, they do not feel comfortable talking about sleep with their patients.”

“Similarly, society does not stigmatize the person getting in their car and driving after only four hours of sleep the way it does the person driving after drinking, even though the risk to others on the road may be the same,” Patel told Reuters Health by email.

Chronic poor sleep increases the risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease, he said.

“Sleep deprivation studies in the laboratory have clear effects on immune function, and other clinical studies have shown that poor sleep before exposure to the cold virus influences the risk of actually developing a cold,” said Dr. Daniel J. Buysse of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, who was also not part of the new research.

“Like most things, it’s a complicated story, but sleep is likely to play an important role,” he told Reuters Health by email.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

App shakes up earthquake science by turning users into sensors

NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Smartphones could become the makeshift quake detectors of the future, thanks to a new app launched Friday designed to track tremors and potentially save the lives of its users.

MyShake, available on Android, links users to become an all-in-one earthquake warning system; it records quake-type rumblings, ties a critical number of users to a location, and could eventually provide a countdown to the start of shaking.

Its inventors say the app, released by the University of California, Berkeley, could give early warning of a quake to populations without their own seismological instruments.

"MyShake cannot replace traditional seismic networks like those run by the U.S. Geological Survey," said Richard Allen, leader of the app project and director of the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory.

"But we think MyShake can make earthquake early warning faster and more accurate in areas that have a traditional seismic network, and can provide life-saving early warning in countries that have no seismic network."

Earthquake-prone countries in the developing world with poor ground-based seismic network or early warning systems include Nepal, Peru, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Iran, he said.

The algorithm behind MyShake, developed by a handful of Silicon Valley programmers, relies on the same technology smartphone gamers depend on to sense the phone's orientation, known as the accelerometer, in order to measure movement caused by quakes.

What smartphones lack in sensitivity - they can only record earthquakes above magnitude 5 within 10 kilometres (6 miles) - they make up for in ubiquity.

Currently, 300 smartphones equipped with MyShake within a 110-km square area are enough to estimate a quake's location, magnitude and origin time.

There were some 3.4 billion smartphone subscriptions worldwide in 2015, according to the Ericsson Mobility Report, so the app's creators hope to build a seismic network covering the globe.

"We want to make this a killer app, where you put it on your phone and allow us to use your accelerometer, and we will deliver earthquake early warning," Allen said.

Sophisticated early-warning systems can warn of coming quakes as much as a few minutes before they begin, but cannot stop them causing death and destruction on a large scale.

Nepal is still rebuilding after two separate earthquakes in April and May 2015 that killed 9,000 people, injured more than 22,000 and damaged or destroyed nearly 900,000 houses.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

1st Fil-Am in NBA expects more Pinoy college players

BERKELEY, California - The University of California, Berkeley Bears celebrated the third annual Filipino Heritage Night with an 84-51 victory over Coppin State University.

The Filipino community definitely made their presence known when Filipino American guard Brandon Chauca, the face of the only Filipino heritage night celebration in all of collegiate sports, checked into the game.

“It’s an honor to feel the support of the entire Filipino community,” said Chauca. “When I got out there, there was a big ovation so I think that just says a lot about the culture and where I come from and I’m just proud to represent more than myself.”

Chauca, who has seen his playing time reduced this season, was able to contribute two assists during his time on the court.

“We’re a really talented team this year so we have high expectations to obviously win the PAC-12 title and hopefully make some noise come March,” said Chauca. “My goal is always to win and obviously, personally I want to be able to contribute to my team and play more.”

As the first Fil-Am to play in the NBA, former Golden State Warrior Raymond Townsend is proud to see Chauca play at the collegiate level.

Townsend said, “People don’t understand PAC-12 basketball is tough and he’s learning at one of the highest levels so I think it not only will build his own dreams or give him the opportunity to reach his dreams but it also sends a message to all the young Filipino-Americans that they can play at this level.”

Townsend said that while he expects to see more Filipinos playing at higher competitive levels of basketball he emphasizes that school should remain a priority.

“The biggest thing that I preach or that I speak to young people about is to get educated in basketball, get educated in college, get your degree – that’s important, that’s your foundation,” said Townsend.

The Cal Bears currently have a record of 10 wins and three losses, with an undefeated home record (9-0).

Read more on Balitang America.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

'Small screens' prevent kids from sleeping: study

MIAMI -- Children who have access to tablets or smartphones in their bedrooms get less sleep than children who do not have the devices with them at night, a US study said Monday.

The findings in the January 5 edition of the journal Pediatrics show that having a so-called "small screen" within reach was slightly worse than a television set when it came to sleep deprivation in a group of 2,000 middle school kids.

Overall, those with access to smartphones and tablets got nearly 21 fewer minutes of sleep per night than children whose rooms were free of such technology, and they were more likely to say they felt sleep-deprived.

Those with a TV in the bedroom got 18 minutes fewer of slumber than kids without televisions in their rooms.

"Presence of a small screen, but not a TV, in the sleep environment, and screen time were associated with perceived insufficient rest or sleep," said the study led by Jennifer Falbe of the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health.

"These findings caution against unrestricted screen access in children's bedrooms."

Participants in the study included 2,048 fourth- and seventh-graders enrolled in the Massachusetts Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration Study from 2012 to 2013.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Obama rips climate change deniers in graduation speech

ANAHEIM, Calif. - With a feisty tone and a touch of aggravation, President Barack Obama on Saturday laid into Republicans who question the science of climate change and urged graduating college students to take on global warming as a cause.

A few weeks after unveiling rules to limit carbon emissions from power plants, Obama used a commencement address for the University of California, Irvine, to rally support from young people and slam opponents for denying that climate change is real.

"When President Kennedy ... set us on a course for the moon, there were a number of people who made a serious case that it wouldn't be worth it ... but nobody ignored the science. I don't remember anybody saying that the moon wasn't there, or that it was made of cheese," he said.

"Today's Congress, though, is full of folks who stubbornly and automatically reject the scientific evidence about climate change. They will tell you it is a hoax, or a fad."

Obama said some climate questioners ducked the issue by asserting they were not scientists themselves.

"I'm not a scientist either, but we've got some really good ones at NASA. I do know that the overwhelming majority of scientists who work on climate change, including some who once disputed the data, have put that debate to rest."

Most scientists say the earth is warming and human beings are contributing to it, but the issue is politically controversial. Many Republicans and some Democrats oppose Obama's plans to limit emissions from power plants because of the potential economic consequences.

Obama's record on climate change is also under fire from some environmentalists, who are pressing his administration to deny approval for the Keystone XL pipeline, which would bring oil from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Young people make up a critical part of the Democratic Party's political base, and Obama urged the graduates to be motivated to fight global warming as they left the world of academia.

Climate change is becoming a major legacy issue for Obama and a hot topic in this year's congressional elections. Before the commencement ceremony, the president attended a Democratic fundraiser at the home of environmental activist Anne Earhart.

About 25 supporters attended, contributing up to $32,400 each, according to the Democratic National Committee.

In his speech, Obama announced a competition for communities hit by extreme weather to compete for $1 billion in funds to rebuild from and inoculate themselves against natural disasters.

(Editing by Peter Cooney)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

7 health benefits of chocolate

No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you, and no, it’s not just wishful thinking – chocolate really is good for you! Dark chocolate has a whole host of health benefits and is good for just about every part of your body. If you’re looking for an excuse to indulge on one of the world’s most popular treats then look no further – here are 7 health benefits of chocolate.




1. Chocolate makes you slim
Chocolate may not be an obvious food choice for dieters, but research findings suggest that eating chocolate in moderation could actually keep you slim. The study conducted by the University of California tested the theory that, as chocolate is believed to increase your metabolism, these benefits may cancel out the calories consumed. The results suggested that chocolate may not only be calorie-neutral; it can also help you to lose weight. The researchers discovered that adults who consumed chocolate frequently had a lower BMI than those who didn’t, despite them often eating more calories and not exercising more.

2. Chocolate makes you smarter
Got a tough exam coming up? Boost your IQ and indulge your taste buds at the same time by snacking on a few squares of chocolate. Dark chocolate is rich in brain-boosting chemicals, called flavonoids, which can enhance your cognitive skills by inducing the creation of new neurons in the brain and improving their ability to form new memories, as well as improving blood flow to the brain. One study of adult women found that when given flavonoid-rich chocolate drinks, the blood flow to participants' brains increased within two hours and they performed better on a complex mental task.

3. Chocolate gives you energy
Chocolate not only offers many amazing health benefits, it is also a great pick-me-up snack so can help you stay energized for your workouts. Chocolate is high in energy-boosting chemicals including theobromine (a stimulant found in many popular energy drinks) and caffeine. Furthermore, chocolate is a great source of magnesium and chromium, which both play a role in energy production. Have a few squares of chocolate in the afternoon or before a workout to help stay energized for longer.

4. Chocolate prevents wrinkles
While skin creams are great for keeping your skin looking more youthful, they can only do so much; to really keep the wrinkles at bay, you need to look to your diet. Antioxidants, found in fruits and vegetables, help to fight the free-radicals that can lead to wrinkles, and luckily there is an even tastier way to get your fill. Research has suggested that, when it comes to fighting free-radicals, chocolate could be even healthier than fruit! When tested and compared to juices from "superfruits" such as blueberries and pomegranate, dark chocolate was found to be higher in antioxidants.

5. Chocolate slows down muscle ageing
This may sound too good to be true, but shockingly scientists have discovered that small amounts of dark chocolate can improve your health in a similar way to exercise! Researchers from Wayne State University found that a plant compound (epicatechin) found in chocolate stimulated the same muscle response as vigorous exercise, which could help to slow down muscle ageing. Now, we’re not suggesting you should swap your workouts for chocolate, but surely this is a good excuse to treat yourself post-workout with a few squares of your favourite bar!

6. Chocolate helps you live longer
Jeanne Louise Calment – the oldest verified human being to have ever lived – lived a grand total of 122 years and 164 days, and put her good health down to her regular chocolate consumption. Now researchers have found that there may be some truth in the claims that chocolate can help you to live longer. Cocoa beans are packed with antioxidants which studies have found can help fight disease and cut your risk of heart disease – the biggest killer in the Western world. Indeed, US researchers published in the British Medical Journal believe that chocolate can lower your risk of heart disease by over a third.

7. Chocolate makes you happy
If you ever find yourself reaching for chocolate to ease a bad mood, it seems you could be onto something. Chocolate is known to be high in mood-boosting chemicals, and findings published in the scientific journal Nutritional Neuroscience have suggested that the food can even help reduce the symptoms of depression. The popular treat is not only high in magnesium, which can aid relaxation, but it contains anandamide, a neurotransmitter which can help to regulate mood, and phenylethylamine, which raises endorphin levels. Read more at www.realbuzz.com.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Big quakes no more likely than in past, says UC Berkeley study

WASHINGTON - Massive earthquakes are no more likely today than they were a century ago, despite an apparent rise of the devastating temblors in recent years, US researchers said on Monday.

The deadly 9.0 earthquake this year in Japan, an 8.8 quake in Chile last year and the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake that registered 9.0 on the moment magnitude scale have raised alarm in some science and media circles that such events may be linked.

But researchers at the University of California went back over the world's earthquake records dating back to 1900 and found over time there was no statistically significant rise in the number of big quakes 7.0 and higher.

"One has to be careful, because humans have a tendency to see patterns in random sequences," lead author Peter Shearer of the UC Berkeley Department of Statistics told AFP.

"So what we wanted to do here was apply statistical tests to see whether you could say it wasn't just a random sequence of events," said Shearer, whose study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Those tests showed that you can't say that it is not random; that is, there is not a statistically significant degree of the clustering of events," he said.

Even though there is "a disproportionate number of very large 8.5 earthquakes between 1950 and 1965," there were uncommonly fewer of these during a much longer period afterward from 1965 to 2004.

And although there has been a more frequent rate of 8.0 and larger quakes since 2004, with the last five years in particular at a record high, "there have been rates nearly as high in the past," said the study.

The researchers also looked for any clues from the Earth's crust that could explain why or how big quakes might be linked.

"And the conclusion was no, there isn't a likely physical cause that would link for example a large earthquake in South America to one in Japan," Shearer told AFP.

"The events are just too far away for it to be very likely that there is a physical link between them."

Taken together, the two approaches "suggest that the global risk of large earthquakes is no higher today than it has been in the past," concluded the study.

The findings are in line with a study in Nature Geoscience earlier this year that found the regional hazard of larger earthquakes is increased after a main shock, but the global hazard is not.

That study countered an earlier 2009 paper in Nature that suggested seismic waves might have an effect on distant fault lines, potentially increasing the risk of earthquakes far away. — Agence France Presse

source:gmanetwork.com

FilAm named as California SC chief gains unanimous nod

CHICAGO – The Commission on Judicial Appointment unanimously confirmed on Wednesday the nomination of Justice Tani Gorres Cantil-Sakauye for Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court.

Matt Connelly, deputy press secretary of the office of the California governor, said the three-member Commission on Judicial Appointments, composed of current Chief Justice Ronald George, Court of Appeals Justice Joan Dempsey Klein ad Attorney General Jerry Brown, confirmed Cantil-Sakauye.

Cantil-Sakauye was earlier nominated by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to replace Chief Justice George, who is retiring on January 2, 2011.

In light of the confirmation of her nomination, Cantil-Sakauye’s name will be placed on the November ballot unopposed.

If approved by voters, she will serve a 12-year term to become the first Filipina-American, and the youngest, Chief Justice in the history of the California Supreme Court.

In a statement following her confirmation, Schwarzenegger said, “Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye is immensely qualified to be the next Chief Justice of California and I applaud the Commission for its unanimous confirmation vote."

“She is an experienced jurist, who has the respect of her peers in the court, and she possesses administrative and legal skills that make her uniquely qualified to lead California’s judicial branch. Justice Cantil-Sakauye understands that the role of a Justice is to administer the law, not to create law, and for that reason I am absolutely convinced she will be a fair and prudent Chief Justice of California," he added.

The confirmation hearing was held across along McAllister St. across the California Supreme Court and was the first hearing to be broadcast throughout the whole state.

Sacramento-based Cantil-Sakauye, 50, earned a juris doctorate from the University of California, a law degree from the Davis School of Law and an undergraduate degree from the University of California, Davis.

Since 2005, Cantil-Sakauye has served as an associate justice for the Third District Court of Appeals in Sacramento. Previously, she was a superior court judge of the Sacramento County Superior Court from 1997 to 2004 and a municipal court judge of the Sacramento County Municipal Court from 1990 to 1997.

Cantil-Sakauye is a member of the California Judicial Council and of the Commission on Impartial Courts. She is the chair of the Judicial Branch Financial Accountability and Efficiency Advisory Committee, and president of the Anthony M. Kennedy Inn of Court.

Currently one of only two women, and one of only two persons of color, in the Court of Appeal’s Third District, she was the first woman of Asian ethnicity to serve as judge in Sacramento County. She was then one of the youngest judges in the state at 31.

She is married to Sacramento Police Lieutenant Mark Sakauye, and has two daughters: Hana, 14, and Claire, 11.

Before Cantil-Sakauye, the late Benjamin Menor, a native of Ilocos Norte, was the first Filipino-American to be appointed in a state’s highest judiciary as justice of the Hawaii State Supreme Court. —LBG, GMANews.TV

source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/199655/filam-named-as-california-sc-chief-gains-unanimous-nod