Ground broken for family house
Ground was broken April 15 for a new, $4.3 million Kiwanis Family House, to be located on 50th street south of the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute.
The house provides temporary quarters for families of patients at the medical center, mostly children, who live in other communities where the specialized care they need is not available. The new home will accommodate 32 families and is scheduled to open by Thanksgiving. The current home has 13 rooms and must turn away about 10 families a day due to a lack of space.
Since its opening in 1984, the Kiwanis Family House has housed more than 10,000 families.
The medical center has donated the land for the house and pays for its utilities, provides linens, landscaping, janitorial services and $18,000 annually for operating expenses. Families also have free shuttle service to the hospital.
To qualify for a stay, families must live at least 35 miles away. Rent, typically $15 a night, is sometimes waived.
Hundreds of bikes to go up for bid
Members of the public can bid their way to a bike at the semi-annual bicycle auction set for May 1 on campus. More than 350 bicycles will be offered for sale.
The bikes are of many sizes, types and conditions, and the average selling price typically runs $20 to $30 at the sales. Cash or checks with identification will be accepted as payment, and bicycles may be licensed at the sale. The auction will take place -- rain or shine -- in a new location behind the office of Transportation and Parking Services on Extension Center Drive. For more details, call (530) 752-BIKE or visit http://www.taps.ucdavis.edu.
Communication's role in politics examined
Jon Krosnick, a researcher who studies the intersection of politics and psychology, will talk on Thursday, April 29, about how the structure of polls and other political communication can have unintentional effects on audiences.
The talk starts at 4:10 p.m. in the University Club Lounge.
Krosnick, a professor of psychology and political science at Ohio State University, is the author of four books and more than 100 articles on survey questionnaires, attitude formation and the psychology of political communication. Krosnick will talk about how poll questions can yield inaccurate results, how policy debates affect voters' attitudes and how candidate name order on ballots can influence elections.
Expert to discuss how spiders lure prey
Ken Yeargan, a UC Davis alumnus and professor of entomology at the University of Kentucky and an author of several books and papers on spiders, will present a seminar on campus May 13.
Chosen to lead the 2004 Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Seminar, Yeargan received his doctorate in entomology from UC Davis in 1974. Since then he has been a member of the faculty at the University of Kentucky.
The title of his seminar will be "Ecology and behavior of bolas spiders: predators that lure their prey." It will take place at 3 p.m. in the University Club. A reception will follow the event.