The next Dateline UC Davis is due out July 15, under our reduced schedule this summer, but look for us earlier if events warrant.

— The Dateline staff

Spotlight on…
Photo: Book jackets

Our amazing authors

Few subjects escape the eyes and pens of UC Davis faculty and alumni. Consider these examples from our summer reading list: Maceo Montoya has two books out, including Letters to the Poet from His Brother, and Yiyun Li has written a mysterious new novel. An emerita examines how medieval scholars attempted to understand same-sex orientation, and an emeritus reviews 50 years of Hemingway criticism. An anthropology graduate looks at the demise of movie musicals, while Professor Maxine Leeds Craig reveals in her new book (and in our video) why men, or at least white men, decided to depart the dance floor over the past several decades. [ More, with video… ]

NEWS SUMMARY

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

Chancellor: Campus assessment and planning

Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi introduces a new website that shows the results of an inventory and analysis of 51 campus planning reports and self-assessments issued over the past few years. The site includes a matrix summarizing the progress the campus has made in implementing the recommendations, and a summary of the work that remains to be done. [ More… ]

Provost: 2020 Initiative

A full report on 2020 progress is due in September, but Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter gives some highlights in a letter to the campus community. He addresses enrollment growth, faculty hiring and physical infrastructure. [ More… ]

Provost: Affordability and accessibility

The provost encourages the campus community to read the recently released final report of the UC Davis Study Group on Accessibility and Affordability. "There is probably no more urgent issue for our students, and indeed all of our campus community, than the sharply rising cost of a UC Davis education in recent years," Hexter writes. [ More… ]

Beachy appointed to National Science Board

Roger Beachy, founding director of the World Food Center, has been named by President Obama to the National Science Board, which serves as the policymaking body of the National Science Foundation and in an advisory capacity to the Congress and the president on science and engineering policy. [ More… ]

Currall to move to chancellor's adviser role

Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi appoints Steve Currall, dean of the Graduate School of Management, as an adviser on UC Davis' possible opening of a third campus, and as a catalyst between UC Davis and the Northern California business community. As such, he will step down as dean after five years. Katehi and Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter will appoint an interim dean as the Oct. 1 transition date draws closer. [ More… ]

IN MEMORIAM: Jan Conroy, led campus publications unit

Jan Conroy, the campus's graphics guru and keeper of the university seal, dies in a car crash at the age of 67. He worked on every issue of UC Davis Magazine from its inception in 1983 until his retirement nearly three decades later. [ More, with slideshow… ]

California's blackbird in sharp decline

"It's our responsibility (to care about conserving this species) because it's our bird," staff researcher Robert Meese says of the tricolored blackbird — considered California's blackbird because more than 90 percent of the colonial songbird's population lives in the state. That population is in serious decline, according to the most recent survey, which Meese coordinated. [ More… ]

Clear message for pregnant women: Steer clear of ag chemicals

A new study from the MIND Institute validates the results of earlier research that found associations between women who, while pregnant, lived in close proximity to agricultural fields where chemical pesticides were applied, and having children with autism spectrum disorder or other developmental delay. "The message is very clear," says lead study author Janie F. Shelton, a UC Davis graduate student who now consults with the United Nations: "Women who are pregnant should take special care to avoid contact with agricultural chemicals whenever possible." [ More… ]

Rauchway named associate vice provost for honors

Carolyn de la Peña, vice provost of Undergraduate Education, announces the appointment of history professor Eric Rauchway as associate vice provost for honors and acting director of the University Honors Program for the 2014-15 academic year. [ More… ]

MORE APPOINTMENTS: Dragona at Study Abroad, Reed at SSC

Aliki Dragona, a lecturer in the University Writing Program, has been named the director of UC Davis Study Abroad's faculty-led programs. She's been leading one of those programs for 12 years: "Travelers in Greece." … Sara Reed is moving from the BFTV Administrative Cluster to the Shared Services Center, as the new director, effective July 1. [ More, with video… ]

NEWS BRIEFS: Chancellor Katehi to receive honorary degree

Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi will receive an honorary degree from the American College of Greece during its commencement this Saturday (June 28). Plus …

TRENDING: Time-lapse beans, future Aggie, Facebook flap

UC Davis, UC Davis, how do your beans grow? See for yourself in our #TLT (time-lapse Thursday) video. ... After her first college visit to UC Davis, read what Hannah (@Rensy12) wants to be in two years! ... A great egret "too beautiful not to share" on Facebook.

FEATURED COLLOQUIA

ANNOUNCEMENTS

EVENTS

Blood and Marrow Drive

Wednesday-Thursday, June 25-26, 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m., bloodmobiles on the Quad

Every participant will receive a $5 Togo's card and MyBloodSource reward points. [ More… ]

WORKLIFE AND WELLNESS: 'Band Camp' goes on the road

Wednesday, June 25, noon-1 p.m., Shared Services Center

Not a musical band, but a figure-8 band for exercise! This brown bag will be off campus, in Suite 150 at 260 Cousteau Place. Loaner bands available. [ More… ]

WORKLIFE AND WELLNESS: 'Tea, Charming Tea!'

Thursday, June 26, noon-1 p.m., multipurpose room, Student Community Center

For 4,000 years, tea has been used as alternative medicine to maintain a healthier body in China. Now, tea is the most popular beverage in the world, after water. What's the charm? And what can you do with your Chinese tea at home? Join Danna Cao for this program, taste some tea — and find the answers! [ More… ]

Amateur Radio Field Day

Saturday, June 28, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., University Airport

The public is invited to observe as UC Davis Amateur Radio Communications and two other groups communicate with other ham radio operators all over the world as part of a drill. [ More, with video… ]

'A VERY SPECIAL CONCERT': Pat Metheny Unity Group

Tuesday, July 15, 8 p.m., Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

The guitarist makes a stop in Davis in a warmup for the U.S. leg of his world tour. UC Davis affiliates get a head start on tickets in a special presale through Thursday (June 26). All tickets general admission, $25 each, available online or by phone, (530) 754-2787, or at the box office. … And just added to the 2014-15 Mondavi Center season: Experience Hendrix (Oct. 16) organized by the family of the late rock star Jimi Hendrix. [ More… ]

EXHIBITIONS: Art-science fusion, clay sculpture, screen prints

Through Sept. 12, various venues

Photography: Bridging Art and Science, through June 30, Buehler Alumni Center. Octopus's Garden, through Aug. 1, Craft Center Gallery; this show opened June 23, but you can still make the opening reception: 3-6 p.m. Saturday (June 28). Screen Prints 1970: The Art Institute of Chicago, through Sept. 12, C.N. Gorman Museum. [ More, with slideshow… ]

More calendar listings…