Spotlight on…

The Slant Step comes home for goodPhoto: Slant step

The Slant Step, the art icon born at UC Davis nearly 50 years ago, has come home — not just for a visit, but for good, as a gift to the Fine Arts Collection. Alumni artists Frank Owen and Art Schade made the donation, as the last active members of the New York Society for the Preservation of the Slant Step. [ More, with slide show… ]

NEWS SUMMARY

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

Regents back tax initiative; freeze tuition, but only if measure passes

The regents say Gov. Brown's proposal is UC's best option for avoiding a steep, midyear tuition increase and protecting university quality. … President Mark G. Yudof addresses the tax proposal and other issues in an interview on Los Angeles' KNBC-TV. [ More… ]

Tech sector's glass ceiling

In an opinion piece in today's San Francisco Chronicle, GSM Dean Steven Currall writes that the male ad executives in the retro TV drama Mad Men would feel right at home in modern-day Silicon Valley, where more than a third of the companies have no women in the top executive and board positions. [ More… ]

Researchers outline national low carbon fuel standard

The Institute of Transportation Studies, which helped California create the nation's first low carbon fuel standard in 2009, joins five other leading research institutions in releasing a series of studies designed to establish a national standard. In a bipartisan briefing on Capitol Hill, the researchers said that a national standard will ensure fuels of the future are cleaner, cheaper and "made in America." [ More, with video… ]

Egghead blog: Large Synoptic Survey Telescope moves to design stage

With this action by the National Science Foundation, writes blog editor Andy Fell, the project led by physics professor Tony Tyson becomes eligible for construction funds in a future budget request. The 8-meter LSST, to be built on a Chilean mountaintop, will be used for investigations of dark matter and dark energy, as well as to keep an eye on fast-changing or moving objects like gamma-ray bursts or near-Earth asteroids. [ More… ]

IN MEMORIAM: Norm Haard and Ming Wong

Professor Emeritus Norman Haard, 70, a food biochemist in the Department of Food Science and Technology, died June 29; and Professor Emerita Ming Wong, 84, a parasitologist in the School of Veterinary Medicine, died June 28. [ More… ]

Fulbright scholars: Yeh, Mascal and Spiller

Professor Emeritus Yin Yeh (applied science) and Associate Professors Mark Mascal (chemistry) and Henry Spiller (music) are going overseas in the 2012-13 academic year as Fulbright scholars. [ More… ]

CSI meets UC Davis

Engineering professor William Ristenpart teams up with forensic science grad students to analyze bloodstain patterns to determine whether and how a crime might have been committed. The research could tell investigators if the weapon used was a gun, a crowbar, a baseball bat ... or something else entirely. [ Video… ]

Defenders of the Salish Sea

In the Pacific Northwest, veterinarians with the SeaDoc Society — a program of the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center — are working to protect the health of marine wildlife and their ecosystems across 6,900 square miles of coastal waterways from Washington state to British Columbia. [ More… ]

On the radio: New athletics director Terry Tumey

Terry Tumey, who takes up his new post Aug. 1, chats with Aggies' play-by-play announcer Scott Marsh on Sacramento's KHTK The Fan 1140 AM. [ Audio… ]

News briefs: Retirement plan contribution rates go up

A payroll reminder: Checks for your work in July may reflect a higher deduction for the UC Retirement Plan. … UCOP renews the Employee-Initiated Reduction in Time Program and the Supplement to Military Pay policy. … The Fall Welcome calendar is being assembled, and contributions are welcome. … Today (July 20) is the deadline to buy tickets for next weekend's UC Davis Family Picnic at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. [ More… ]

DIRECTIVES and ANNOUNCEMENTS

No directives or announcements were issued this week.

EVENTS

COSMOS lectures: 'Dark Side of Our Universe' and STEM education

Wednesdays, July 25, and Aug. 1, 1-1:50 p.m., ARC Ballroom

The California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science presents physics professor Tony Tyson, on "Exploring the Dark Side of Our Universe" (July 25); and Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi, on "Why STEM Is So Important for Your Future and for America's" (Aug. 1). Free and open to the public. [ More… ]

Strong! Julie Wyman's documentary on female weightlifter

Friday, July 27, 11 p.m. (KVIE Channel 6, Sacramento)

The associate professor chronicles Cheryl Haworth's struggle to defend her champion status as her lifetime weightlifting career inches towards its inevitable end. More presentations are scheduled; check your local listings. [ More… ]

More calendar listings…