Dateline archive:

Budget crossroads, chancellor's open house — 6.5.09

UC Davis FRIDAY UPDATE

6.5.2009

News and information for faculty and staff


Spotlight on…

Better milkgoat

Scientists in Brazil and at UC Davis are teaming up to develop genetically modified dairy goats whose milk will help the world's children avoid diarrheal diseases that claim the lives of more than 2 million annually. Read more and watch a video. [ More… ]

NEWS

UC at crossroads on budget cutbacks

UC President Mark G. Yudof told legislators during a June 1 hearing that California's commitment to higher education is "unraveling," due in part to $800 million in state funding cuts to UC over the last 14 months. But while Yudof on May 29 announced a 5 percent pay cut for himself and other senior leaders, including chancellors, there have been no announcements regarding employees' pay and work schedules. [ More… ]

A medal, music and memories

Since 2002, Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef has awarded the campus's highest honor — the UC Davis Medal — to a dozen deserving recipients. But on May 30, the 13th such medal was draped around Vanderhoef's own neck in a surprise turnabout that presenter Bob Grey described as an act of "popular insurrection." Grey also announced that an area next to the Mondavi Center will be named the Larry N. Vanderhoef Quad and the Mondavi Center's Studio Theatre will be named for the chancellor and his wife, Rosalie. [ More… ]

New transfer student efforts paying off

As broader efforts are made to increase the number of California community college students who go on to earn a degree from a four-year university, the campus is taking major steps to recruit transfer students and support their successful graduation. Student Housing will guarantee housing for transfer students this fall, and Advising Services is planning a $30,000 center for transfer students. [ More… ]

Supreme nominee: Profs analyze Sotomayor's high court bid

When President Barack Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor as the first Hispanic justice of the U.S. Supreme Court last week, media from around the country called on UC Davis experts for comment. Read what four campus experts have to say about the historic significance of Sotomayor's nomination, her social and ethnic background, and the question of her stance on abortion. [ More… ]

North Korea crisis: National security expert advocates 'minimal' response

North Korea's nuclear testing and sword-rattling rhetoric are raising the stakes for the U.S. and the global community. Rather than take the bait, the U.S. and its allies should act "unimpressed with the nuclear brinksmanship," says Miroslav Nincic, an international relations scholar at UC Davis who studies war, U.S. foreign policy and national security. [ More… ]

Aggie Pride — on your coffee table

Employees and departments have until June 30 to take advantage of a discount on the new book UC Davis Aggie Pride: A Showcase of the University Through Photos. The coffee table book includes more than 160 photos of the campus featuring its distinguished academics, the medical center, natural reserves, athletic events, diverse student body and historic moments. [ More… ]

Book project seeks volunteer summer readers

Those looking to get a jump on their summer reading may want to consider being a part of the 2010 campus community book project. The campus is calling for nominations of books and people to join the selection committee. The theme for 2010 is "value of education or barriers to higher education," and committee members must be willing to read books throughout the summer, and decide if they sufficiently address the theme. [ More… ]

At last: We know how plants make eggs

A UC Davis team has solved the longstanding mystery surrounding a fundamental process in plant biology, discovering that a plant hormone called auxin is responsible for egg production. The study's results provide tantalizing new insights into the evolutionary pathway that flowering plants took 135 million years ago when they split off from gymnosperms, the "naked-seed" plant group that includes conifers, cycads and ginkgo trees. [ More… ]

Study shows link between depression and cognitive decline in older Latino couples

UC Davis researchers studying older Latino married couples found that a husband's depression impairs his wife's well-being — but not vice versa. The findings are from an eight-year National Institute of Aging-funded study published online in Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders. [ More… ]

DIRECTIVES

No new directives were issued this week.

EVENTS

Open house at the Chancellor's Residence

Today, June 5, 4-6 p.m., Chancellor's Residence, 16 College Park

Outgoing Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef and his wife, Rosalie, are inviting faculty, staff and students to an open house today at the Chancellor's Residence. Soon the Vanderhoefs will vacate the home, as the chancellor steps down from his post after 15 years. [ More… ]

MIND Institute lectures: The brain's executive functions

Wednesday, June 10, 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., MIND Institute, 2825 50th St., Sacramento

The institute's 2008-09 Distinguished Lecturer Series, free and open to the public, concludes with two talks by Adele Diamond, a founder of developmental cognitive neuroscience. In her 6 p.m. general-interest presentation, Diamond will discuss the brain's executive functions, having to do with paying attention and remembering what we have learned, and impulse control. Her 4 p.m. technical presentation is titled "Prefrontal Cortex and Developmental Neuropsychology: Genetic and Environmental Influences." [ More… ]

Tickets now on sale for Madama Butterfly

Thursday, June 25, 7 p.m., Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center

The Mondavi Center will screen a performance of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, originally filmed at San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House. The 2-hour, 45-minute opera (with a 10-minute intermission) is sung in Italian with English supertitles. [ More… ]

More calendar listings…