Service unit employees authorize a strike ...

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the union that represents the Service Unit workers at UC Davis and the UC Davis Health System, has announced that Service Unit employees have voted to authorize a strike for April 14.

Negotiations between AFSCME and the university are continuing.

Those who have questions related to the potential strike, or the status of negotiations, can visit http://atyourservice.UCOP.edu/employees/policies/labor_relations or call Employee and Labor Relations at 734-8892 (on campus) or (916) 734-3362 (at the health system).

Close friends help keep teens out of trouble

Hollywood's fascination with "mean girls" and its repeated portrayal of teen girls' friendships as catty and cruel belies the benefits of real-world friendships. Say two UC Davis sociologists: Teens with close female friends are less likely to commit crimes.

"Media attention on 'mean girls' may go too far, ignoring that girls have many positive effects through their relationships," said sociologist Bill McCarthy.

McCarthy, Diane Felmlee of UC Davis, and John Hagan, a colleague at Northwestern University, studied teens living at home and attending high school, and homeless teens who did not go to school. Researchers asked teenagers of both sexes to describe their friends and their involvement in property crimes such as shoplifting.

Having female friends was associated with reduced criminal activity for both boys and girls who lived at home. Homeless girls were also less likely to engage in crime if they had close girl friends. But the pattern did not hold for homeless boys.

"It's hard to get data on the homeless, and it was surprising that we could predict anything at all for them," Felmlee said.

McCarthy noted: "There are many things about the environment of homelessness that increase the likelihood that people will turn to crime. For example, most young people on the streets do not have a legal income. To see something limiting crime was surprising."

Teresa Casey, a graduate student working with the researchers, is building on their investigation to find out whether romantic relationships have similar crime-preventing benefits for young people.

Comments sought on revised electronic communications policy

Comments are requested by April 20 on a proposed update to the Electronic Communications Policy. The update was recently announced by UC Provost and Senior Vice President M.R.C. Greenwood and Senior Vice President Joe Mullinix in an effort to clarify the applicability of existing law and university policies to all forms of electronic communications used by members of the university community.

Among other things, the proposed update: adds procedures regarding search warrants and subpoenas; adds procedures for reporting violations of law or suspicion of improper governmental activity; offers updated definitions of public records and university administrative records; and provides recommendations for access to employee e-mail in the event of absence, separation or death.

The proposal is available online at http://www.hr.ucdavis.edu/Policy/Development. Comments can be sent to Beverly Wilcox in Human Resources or via e-mail to bmwilcox@ucdavis.edu.

Med school grads matched with residency programs; pediatrics popular

One hundred UC Davis School of Medicine students learned in late March where in the United States they will be continuing their medical training over the next several years to become licensed to practice medicine.

In an emotional and informal gathering at the Mondavi Center on the UC Davis campus, the students opened letters of placement in the presence of their family, friends, medical school deans and staff. The placements are based on the computerized results of the National Resident Matching Program, which uses a computer algorithm to match the preferences of applicants with the preferences of residency program directors to fill the available training positions at U.S. teaching hospitals.

At UC Davis, the majority of students (62 percent) will remain in California for training. About 20 percent will remain at UC Davis Medical Center. Almost half (47 percent) chose residencies in primary care, which includes family practice, general pediatrics and internal medicine. About 20 percent of the graduates were accepted into advanced subspecialty programs.

The most popular choices of training programs among UC Davis graduates were pediatrics (18 percent), internal medicine, (14 percent), family medicine (13 percent), psychiatry (11 percent) and emergency medicine (11 percent).

"The 11-percent figure for psychiatry is especially notable, as it is much higher than the national average," said Michael Wilkes, associate dean, Medical Education.

Nationally, medical school seniors applied to residency programs in record numbers this year. More than 14,700 applied for residency positions through the NRMP, the highest number in almost 20 years.

"The growing number of participants each year demonstrates continued confidence in the match process and illustrates just how important the match is for medical education," said NRMP president Melissa Thomas.

The NRMP is a private, not-for-profit corporation established in 1952 to provide a uniform date of appointment to positions in graduate medical education.

Disability Pride Week, Soaring to New Heights set for April

Disability Pride Week and the lunchtime event Soaring to New Heights will partner this month for a Principles of Community Celebration focused on diversity issues and sponsored by the Office of Campus Community Relations.

The campus will celebrate the 19th annual Disability Pride Week from April 18-22, hosting events that encourage all members of the campus community to engage in active learning about the lives and experiences of those who have a variety of physical, mental or learning disabilities.

The schedule of free events includes a discussion with UC Davis alumna Janie Kryski about her new book Malchance: From Walking to Wheelchair; an "Understanding Disabilities" class offered by Staff Development; a panel presentation by UC Davis students with disabilities about studying abroad; a screening of the Academy Award-winning film A Beautiful Mind; a presentation on autism by the MIND Institute; and a Resource Faire with a guide dog demonstration.

Details about the programs are available at http://dpw.ucdavis.edu/. For further information, contact Disability Pride Week Chair Keltie Jones at (530) 752-3184, kejones@ucdavis.edu.

The Soaring to New Heights 13th Annual program, to be held 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. April 20, in Freeborn Hall, will include multicultural entertainment and an international buffet. The program also features table displays by campus constituent groups and the announcement of the Annual Diversity and Principles of Community Achievement Recognition Awards and the Disability Pride Awards.

Ticket information for the buffet is available at http://occr.ucdavis.edu/soaring. Or for further information, contact Tammy McNiff at (530) 752-2071 or tdmcniff@ucdavis.edu. Tickets are $4 each and must be purchased by April 12. Tickets will not be sold at the door.

"Supervisors should urge all staff to participate in the Soaring to New Heights event and all Disability Pride Week activities," noted Rahim Reed, associate executive vice chancellor for campus community relations, and Dennis Shimek, senior associate vice chancellor for human resources, in a recent campus directive.