Dateline archive:

Budget, tuition, summer diversions — 7.8.11

UC Davis FRIDAY UPDATE

7.8.2011

News and information for faculty and staff


Spotlight on…

Summer diversionsPhoto: Origami mule deer

Next week's MathFest, featuring a talk on the science of origami, is one of several fun, free summer diversions for faculty, staff and their families. Other events include the Band-uh's Summer Jam-uhs, a Pilates workshop, a talk by our very own "Pudding Guy" and SummerMusic on the Quad. [ More… ]

NEWS SUMMARY

More stories at Dateline UC Davis and UC Davis News and Information

UC Davis avoids further budget cuts; students face new tuition increase

UC Davis is likely to escape further budget cuts in 2011-12, despite the state's decision last week to slash an additional $150 million in funding for the UC system. But students are facing their second tuition increase of the new academic year: 9.6 percent, on top of the 8 percent that took effect with this summer session. The newly proposed increase, if approved by the Board of Regents next week, would take effect in the fall quarter — boosting systemwide fees for California resident undergraduates, as an example, to $12,192 — almost double what they paid five years ago. [ More… ]

Early career award to fund plant immunity research and training

A UC Davis plant pathologist has won a five-year, $975,305 early career development award from the National Science Foundation to support research and science education related to plants' innate immune responses. The award to Gitta Coaker, an assistant professor, will fund research on proteins involved in the disease-fighting immune responses of plants, an area of research that is key to increasing global food production. [ More… ]

Bringing history to life

At the UC Davis History Project, top historians and old documents help school teachers go beyond check lists of dates to engage their students with the country's past. Read more about the program in the latest issue of UC Davis Magazine. [ More… ]

Viewpoints: Court's ruling on video games should have factored in maturity

In this Sacramento Bee op-ed piece, UC Davis law professor Alan Brownstein discusses the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to strike down California's law banning the sale or rental of violent video games to minors. "Age matters, and there is a continuum of rights that increases along with the child's maturity and experience," he writes. [ More… ]

Students win national geothermal energy competition

A virtual reality model of a patch of New Mexico has won a team of UC Davis students first place in a national competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. [ More… ]

Component of common cough medicine may help treat multiple sclerosis

A drug widely used in over-the-counter cough medicines appears to protect against symptoms of multiple sclerosis, a finding that could offer a new and inexpensive therapy for a condition with few effective treatment options, a study by UC Davis researchers has found. [ More… ]

Health System: Dean's Lecture Series, Summer Institute

The UC Davis Health System announced another talk in the Dean's Lecture Series, featuring a noted authority on the organization of academic medical centers, and the annual Summer Institute on Neurodevelopmental Disorders. The July 12 lecture is free and open to the general public, whereas the Aug. 5 summer institute, with tuition, is designed for clinicians, educators, students and therapists, as well as parents of children and adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities, including autism, and caregivers of children and adults with such disabilities. [ More… ]

News briefs: Livestrong bike ride, MySpace, blood drive

An estimated 1,500 Team Livestrong participants are expected to bicycle through the campus on Sunday (July 10). Campus police plan short road closures from 7:30 to about 7:45 a.m. … IET plans the retirement of the MySpace file storage tool this fall. … Bloodmobiles drove off with 449 pints of blood after the June 29-30 collection on the Quad. [ More… ]

DIRECTIVES and ANNOUNCEMENTS

Recharge rates for Occupational Health Services to be eliminated

A new funding model takes effect July 1 for Occupational Health Services, the campus-based medical service that provides treatment for work-related injuries and illness; preventive medicine related to on-the-job injury and illness; mandated medical surveillance programs; and pre-employment physicals. [ More… ]

EVENTS

Free arboretum tour: All-stars and pollinators

Saturday, July 9, 10 a.m., Arboretum Teaching Nursery

This tour offers a look at new demonstration gardens, comprising plants especially suited for the region's climate. The tour will focus on Arboretum All-Stars, beautiful, reliable, and heat- and drought-tolerant; and plants that attract butterflies, hummingbirds and other native pollinators. [ More… ]

Math talk for kids: The science of origami

Wednesday, July 13, 1 p.m., ARC Ballroom

Origami artist Robert J. Lang will give this year's MathFest talk on "From Flapping Birds to Space Telescopes: The Modern Science of Origami." This free public event is aimed at high school students but is also suitable for younger children. Lang will discuss how mathematical techniques have been applied to the ancient Japanese art of paper folding, enabling the folding of shapes of stunning complexity and realism. [ More… ]

Cajun band opens SummerMusic series on the Quad

Saturday, July 16, 7:30 p.m., the Quad

This year's free SummerMusic series starts next week with the Cajun sounds of Steve Riley & The Mamou Playboys and wraps up Aug. 13 with Non Stop Bhangra, celebrating Punjabi folk music and dance. Each program offers a preview of special themes in the Mondavi Center's 2011-12 season: Spirit of New Orleans and Focus on India. The Quad opens at 6 p.m. for picnicking. [ More… ]

More calendar listings…