Dateline archive:

Fighting hunger, museum gift, UC budget news — 1.8.10

UC Davis FRIDAY UPDATE

1.8.2010

News and information for faculty and staff


Spotlight on…

Tiny packets of hope tiny packets of hope

The food supplement looks like peanut butter, comes in little squeeze packages — and could save the lives of millions of malnourished children. UC Davis researchers are leading an international effort to make it affordable to the world's poorest. [ More… ]

NEWS

$2 million pledge launches fundraising drive for UC Davis art museum

Philanthropist Margrit Biever Mondavi has pledged $2 million to help UC Davis plan and build a new art museum that will house and display some 4,000 works that the university has collected over the past 40 years. The pledge marks the start of a $30 million fundraising initiative for the project. [ More… ]

UC likes governor's proposals, hopes for short-term help as well

Gov. Schwarzenegger this week made a bold proposal to amend the state constitution to guarantee a set percentage of general fund revenue to higher education. Chancellor Linda Katehi says "we must work hard to support (the governor's) vision and convince the Legislature and California's voters that universities should be restored as higher priorities than prisons." [ More… ]

Tiger Woods scandal cost shareholders up to $12 billion

Shareholders of Nike, Gatorade and other Tiger Woods sponsors lost a collective $5 to $12 billion in the wake of the scandal involving his extramarital affairs, according to a new study by researchers at UC Davis. Victor Stango, a professor of economics at the Graduate School of Management, and economics professor Christopher Knittel assessed shareholder losses in the days after the car crash that ignited the Woods' scandal. The research was reported on "Good Morning America" and by hundreds of other media outlets worldwide. [ More… ]

A selection of 2009 books by faculty and staff, and a price-match guarantee

Books that celebrate California's natural beauty, reveal campus cookie recipes and offer insights into sharks and snakes are among the publications from UC Davis faculty and staff in 2009. The books are available through the UC Davis Bookstore, which has just announced a new price-match guarantee for general books as well as textbooks. [ More… ]

UC Davis researchers identify autism clusters in California

Researchers at UC Davis have identified 10 locations in California where the incidence of autism is higher than surrounding areas in the same region. Most of the clusters are in locations where parents have higher-than-average levels of educational attainment. [ More… ]

Chancellor asks graduate students to participate in UC Davis vision

As the price of higher education rises, Chancellor Linda Katehi on Jan. 6 talked about brighter days ahead for graduate students and explained how they can help strengthen the institution. "It is in difficult times that decisions truly have impact," she told almost 90 students at the Graduate Student Association's monthly meeting. [ More… ]

Winter Olympics connections?

One of our assistant athletic trainers, Jill Radzinski, has signed on as a trainer for the U.S. women’s hockey team. One of our alums, Emily Azevedo, has a shot at making the U.S. bobsled team. Do you know of any other UC Davis folks with ties to the Winter Olympics, as participants or staff? If so, we here at Friday Update and Dateline would like to hear from you. [ More… ]

UC Davis recognizes distinguished alumni

A doctor who treats Myanmar refugees in Thailand, a father of modern trauma surgery and the founder of a nationwide college readiness program are among the UC Davis alumni who will be honored at an event on Saturday, Jan. 30. The Cal Aggie Alumni Association invites the public to attend the 2010 Alumni Awards Gala, beginning with an alumni winemaker reception at 6 p.m. and followed by a dinner and awards ceremony at 7 p.m. [ More… ]

GSM to host venture capitalist who once headed the CIA

The Graduate School of Management announced a talk Jan. 22 by R. James Woolsey, the one-time CIA director who today promotes national security in a different way, as a venture capitalist specializing in alternative energy. The program is free and open to everyone in the campus community; organizers are asking for RSVPs, because space is limited. [ More… ]

DIRECTIVES

No new directives were issued this week.

EVENTS

Winter series: 'Public Higher Education at the Crossroads'

Wednesday, Jan. 13, 4-6 p.m., 203 Art Building

Sociology professor John Hall and art history professor Blake Stimson have organized a winter quarter open reading-research group on the topic of "Public Higher Education at the Crossroads." The program is open to people from all walks of university life: students, faculty, administrators and other staff. Meetings are scheduled every other week to discuss recent publications focused on the fate of public higher education. (The Jan. 11 date that appeared in the e-mail version of Friday Update was incorrect.)