Physician on U.S. team in quake-ravaged Haiti

UC Davis physician and associate professor Doug Gross is in earthquake-ravaged Haiti with a U.S. Disaster Medical Assistance Team.

Gross holds a joint appointment in the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Cell Biology and Human Anatomy.

A friend said his colleagues in those departments have stepped up to teach his anatomy class and cover his clinical responsibilities at the medical center, so that he could go to Haiti.

Health unit gives advice on easing student stress

Health Education and Promotion is offering informational seminars to academic units on the negative effects of stress and what faculty can do to mitigate student anxiety.

The awareness program stems from a UC Davis study that found that students view faculty members as believable sources of health-related information, and that the first signs of student stress appear in the classroom. HEP is hoping that faculty will be able to recognize and address these signs.

The free presentations last about an hour. HEP also offers resources such as handouts that faculty can include in their class syllabi.

The online resources mentioned in this article are available at http://healthcenter.ucdavis.edu/hep/well/stress-helping-students.html.  

To schedule HEP’s Faculty Awareness of Student Stress presentation for your academic department or group, contact Amelia Goodfellow at (530) 754-7103 or amgoodfellow@ucdavis.edu.

Fire and smoke

Campus firefighters made quick work this week of two emergencies. No injuries were reported in either.

The first occurred around 6:30 p.m. Jan. 25 in a chemistry lab where a student had been conducting a distillation experiment. The student left the room, and upon returning, discovered flames in the fume hood. The fire in 331 Chemistry Building triggered a built-in fire alarm.

A smoke alarm brought firefighters to Tupper Hall in the Health Sciences District just before 2:30 p.m. Jan. 26. Assistant Chief Wes Arvin said an elevator motor had seized, putting out smoke and stopping the elevator between floors, with one person inside.

Firefighters rescued that person, then tracked down the source of the smoke. During the emergency, the Fire Department evacuated the building for 45 minutes to an hour.

Arvin issued this reminder: When a building’s fire alarm goes off, leave the building immediately. “We spent a lot of time going door to door, telling people to leave,” he said.

Repro Graphics news

Repro Graphics announced that online ordering is now available at reprographics.ucdavis.edu for standards-compliant letterhead and envelopes, as well as for banners and posters.

Customers should click on “letterhead” or “envelopes” under Quick Links, or “Larger than Life” under What’s New.

Printing and mailing is now simplified as well, with Repro Graphics and Bulk Mail Services collaborating on a single, combined work request. Click on “Bulk Mail/Repro Request Form” under Request Forms. The link brings up a form that you can fill out online; then print a copy for your records and hit the “submit” button.

Saturday shoppers shuttle

Unitrans announced the launch of the Saturday shoppers shuttle, on Jan. 30. The O line, a combination of the A and C lines, is intended to provide more convenient service to several Davis shopping destinations.

Officials said the O line will serve the core of downtown (Second and Third streets), the Farmers Market, the Target store and the University Mall, with direct service from the East Fifth Street corridor and the Amtrak station, as well as the UC Davis campus (including the Segundo, Tercero and Cuarto student residence areas).

The new line also will provide better access to the temporary location of the Yolo County Library on Pena Drive, officials said.

The O line will run hourly from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., similar to the P, Q, J and W
lines, which also run on Saturdays, along with the Yolobus 42A and 42B.

More information is available online, or by phone, (530) 752-BUSS (2877).

‘Excellent’ opportunity

Staff Assembly is seeking a chair for this year’s Citations For Excellence Awards selections. People interested in volunteering should send an e-mail to Tiva Lasiter, Staff Assembly coordinator, tlasiter@ucdavis.edu.