Spotlight on…

Making stem cells stick to business Photo: Test tube

Horses and humans are benefiting from Kent Leach's solution to keeping stem cells focused on the job. The assistant professor of biomedical engineering has developed a way to generate tissue using an individual's own stem cells — and also keep those cells where they're needed. [ More, with video … ]

NEWS SUMMARY

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

UC Day: Cold, hard reality — and some Lady Gaga, too

Make no mistake: UC Day at the Capitol was a serious affair, as the university faces a cut of $500 million in state funding — prompting President Mark G. Yudof to lament the potential loss of jobs at UC Davis and elsewhere. But on a less serious note, he asked to hear some Lady Gaga, by the Cal Aggie Marching Band-uh! When the Band-uh! offered up "Bad Romance," Yudof described the song title as "a metaphor for UC's relationship with the state of California." [ More… ]

Survey asks about campus e-mail service

The Campus E-Mail Committee is launching an online survey next week to determine the features that people need in a future e-mail service for the Davis campus. E-mail messages announcing the survey are set to go out on Monday, March 7, to all faculty and staff and a representative sampling of undergraduate and graduate students — some 20,000 to 23,000 people altogether. [ More… ]

Boom-time: New magazine, and a symposium, too

A new magazine focusing on California issues and edited by two UC Davis professors launches this month. Titled Boom: A Journal of California, the publication is produced by UC Press. To mark the occasion, UC Davis is hosting a symposium, followed by a reception, on Thursday, March 10. [ More… ]

Hopes for Aggie hoops

The UC Davis women's basketball team hosts UC Irvine in The Pavilion at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, in the first round of the Big West Tournament. When the season ends, retiring mentor Sandy Simpson will pass the coaching torch to a familiar face: former Aggie star Jennifer Gross, who in 1997 led UC Davis to a 29-3 record and a third-place finish at the national tournament. [ More… ]

News briefs: Protests, German ambassador, International Programs leader

About 80 people gathered March 2 to protest budget cuts and other issues, including the university's Organizational Excellence Initiative and the closing of the Baggins End domes. … The German ambassador to the United States, Klaus Scharioth, is due on campus on Wednesday, March 9, to deliver a talk on "The Transatlantic Agenda." … Adrienne L. Martín, professor of Spanish, is UC Davis' new associate vice provost for International Programs in the office of University Outreach and International Programs. [ More… ]

Stebbins Cold Canyon's new season (hopefully not the last)

Among the two dozen nature adventures at Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve this season is "A Celebration," a fundraiser for the trails and the nature programs at the UC Davis-managed reserve. Jeff Falyn, who coordinates the nature programs, announced the May 21 fundraiser in fairy-tale fashion — hoping for a happy ending. "Once upon a time there was a beautiful nature spot loved by many," he wrote in the spring calendar of events. "But then one day, budget cuts threatened to end the Nature Outings program and significantly reduce the trail maintenance." [ More… ]

Anti-social mice could give clues to depression

For the first time, UC Davis psychology researchers have been able to produce a "social withdrawal" syndrome in female rodents. The development could yield new insights into the physical basis of human mood disorders such as depression and anxiety, which are twice as common among women than men. [ More… ]

Professor Marion Miller, outstanding student mentor, dies at age 55

Marion Miller, former chair of the Department of Environmental Toxicology and an expert in men's reproductive health, died Feb. 25. "She faced the pancreatic cancer that took her life with great courage and determination," her family said. [ More… ]

DIRECTIVES and ANNOUNCEMENTS

Announcements: Bio sci dean candidates; spring commencement regalia

Dates have been set for open forums for each of five candidates for the position of dean of the College of Biological Sciences. … The campus's Materiel Management unit and the bookstore are taking orders for caps, gowns, tassels and hoods for spring commencement. [ More… ]

EVENTS

Gates lecture postponed

A lecture by Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. in the Mondavi Center's Distinguished Speakers series has been postponed from next week until May. Gates had been scheduled to speak on Monday, March 7, but postponed due to the recent death of his close friend and Harvard University colleague, the Rev. Peter J. Gomes. Gates' lecture is now set for 8 p.m. Monday, May 9, still in Jackson Hall. [ More… ]

Arboretum plant sale preview, and next week, the real thing

Saturday, March 5, 2 p.m., Arboretum Teaching Nursery (preview)

Saturday, March 12, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Arboretum Teaching Nursery (plant sale)

Tomorrow's free tour will highlight the garden plants that will be available a week later at the first plant sale of the spring season. The sale, which celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum, is for members only — but anyone can join at the gate and get a free plant as well as a 10 percent discount on purchases. [ More… ]

Music: Of math and science, and monumental feats of engineering

Wednesday, March 9, 7 p.m., Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center

If you've seen the concert title, "Celebrating Physical Sciences and Engineering," it may have left you wondering: "What in the world are they playing?" The program by the UC Davis Concert and University bands comprises works inspired by the fields of mathematics and geometry (Fannin's Hexagon), architecture (Salfelder's Cathedrals), chemistry (Ticheli's Nitro) and physics (Schmidt's Chaos Theory), along with pieces saluting monumental feats of engineering: Daugherty's The Brooklyn Bridge (with Deborah Pittman, clarinet), Sousa's The Pathfinder of Panama and Schuman's George Washington Bridge. [ More… ]

More calendar listings…