Summer job fair set

The UC Davis Summer Job Fair, will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 8, in Freeborn Hall. Sponsored by the Student Employment Center, the fair will bring to campus as many as 80 companies from Davis and nearby communities. UC Davis students will have the opportunity to visit with prospective employers to obtain job information, applications and to sign up for employment interviews.

For those campus departments, the job fair is an opportunity to recruit student employees for the summer.

Interviewing, Tai Chi

The Staff Development and Professional Services will hold a brown bag discussion on job interviewing skills from noon to 1 p.m. on Feb. 16. The session, titled "So You've Landed the Interview," will take place in the TB 121 Classroom Trailer, near the corners of California and LaRue avenues. During this interactive workshop, participants will learn how to interview effectively. The course instructor is Susan Torguson.

Also, from noon to 1 p.m. on Feb. 18, Staff Development will hold a brown bag on "Tai Chi Principles for the Workplace." This workshop will teach participants how to be more centered and calm with the use of Tai Chi. The course instructor is Tara Stiles.

Both workshops are part of the Career Catalyst Series. For information, visit sdps.ucdavis.edu.

New law bans hazardous waste garbage disposal

A new state law that took effect Feb. 8 prohibits the disposal of hazardous wastes in the garbage.

The different hazardous waste materials included in this ban are: electronic devices with a circuit board (VCRs, cell phones, microwaves, telephones, printers, radios, computers, monitors, TVs), batteries, motor oil, latex or oil based paints, solvents, household cleaners, pesticides, herbicides, poisons, fluorescent bulbs or tubes, electrical switches/relays, pilot light sensors, and mercury thermostats.

There is still a way to dispose of these items because many of these hazardous waste items are recyclable on campus and in Yolo County. On campus, the R4 Recycling Program has various multibin locations where anyone can drop off cell phones, batteries, CD's, and inkjet cartridges. To find locations on campus, visit the R4 Web site at r4.ucdavis.edu.

Other items such as computers, televisions and other electronic devices can be taken to the Bargain Barn, on campus, to be resold.

Yolo County also offers drop-off locations in special containers at the landfill, motor oil recycling locations, battery recycling, and bimonthly household hazardous waste drop-off days.

Visit www.yolocounty.org/recycle or call (800) 728-6942 for more information on the new law.

Workshops feature diversity, cultural issues

The Diversity Education Program will hold the following upcoming seminars:

• Culturally Respectful Training — Feb. 15, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mee Room, MU. Facilitated by Karen Roth. Roth plans to work with trainers on programs that address the diverse needs of all trainees.
• Cross-Cultural Communication — Feb. 23, 1 to 4:30 p.m., East Conference Room, MU. Facilitated by Moira Delgado and Roth. Organizers said this workshop will explore communication differences across various cultural groups.
• Unraveling Racism — Feb. 28, 1 to 4:30 p.m., Garrison Room, MU. Facilitated by Laurie Lippin and Judy Helfand.

For details, contact Roth at (530) 752-2071 or kmroth@ucdavis.edu.

Child development experts featured on TV

Over the next two weeks, UC Davis' child development experts will be communicating on hot-button topics with parents throughout the Sacramento region during KXTV Channel 10's "News10 Good Morning" program. As part of the February sweeps period, a two-week period that begins this week, KXTV has interviewed seven faculty experts on a wide range of child-raising dilemmas — from discipline and appropriate toys to the pros and cons of universal preschool. During its early morning show, which airs 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., KXTV will use interviews with professors to start the conversation. Viewers will be asked to give their reactions via e-mail to the station.

The faculty chosen to participate are Ross Thompson and Kristin Lagattuta from the Department of Psychology and Rand Conger, Katherine Conger, Larry Harper, Joanne Deocampo and Janet Thompson from the Department of Human and Community Development.

Applications for staff advisor to regents

All eligible UC staff and non-Senate academic employees who are interested in serving as the 2006-07 Staff Advisor to the regents are encouraged to apply. The application period will ends Feb. 15.

The UC Staff Advisor pilot program, a two-year program approved by the Board of Regents and instituted in 2005-06, is intended to allow the regents to benefit from hearing staff and non-Senate academic employee perspectives on relevant matters that come before regents‚ committees and the board. More information is available at www.ucop.edu/staffadvisor.

Awards focus on community service

Students, staff and faculty put in thousands of hours annually in community service, often with little recognition. One way of honoring these volunteers is by giving them Community Service Awards — and nominations are now being accepted for this year's awards.

The nomination form is online, humancorps.ucdavis.edu/CSA/index-new.html, and the deadline for submission is Feb. 15. Pam Swartwood of the Human Corps office, which runs the Community Service Awards program, said award recipients will be announced in spring quarter and will be honored at a reception in May.

For details about the awards or other community service opportunities, contact Human Corpsat 752-3813 or hrcorps@ucdavis.edu, or stop by the office in 225 S. Hall.

Enrollment figures issued

Almost 40,000 high school seniors, prospective transfer students and others applied to study at UC Davis, for fall 2006 — a 6.1 percent increase over fall 2005. Systemwide, UC applications are up 6.6 percent overall, from 100,138 for fall 2005 to 106,784 for fall 2006.

A total of 39,936 students applied to study at UC Davis for fall 2006, compared with 37,656 applicants for fall 2005. There are 32,611 applicants for freshman status this fall, for an 8.6 percent increase from last year's 30,016. A total of 7,325 applicants are seeking to transfer from another college or university, for a 4.1 percent decrease over last fall's 7,640.

For fall 2006, UC Davis is aiming to enroll about 4,850 new freshmen directly from high school and about 1,755 new transfer students.

A total of 30,650 California high school students applied for freshman status at UC Davis in 2006, compared with 28,346 for fall 2005. Those from traditionally underrepresented groups — African American, American Indian and Chicano/Latino — increased 11.2 percent. For fall 2006, they account for 17.6 percent, or 5,404, of all California high school applicants, compared with 17.1 percent for students who applied to study at UC Davis for fall 2005. All ethnic groups experienced increases this year: African American, from 1,025 last year to 1,141 this year, or 11.3 percent; American Indian, from 152 last year to 201 this year, or 32.2 percent; Asian American, from 9,484 to 10,972, or 15.7 percent; Chicano/Latino, from 3,682 to 4,062, or 10.3 percent; Filipino American, from 1,255 to 1,293, or 3 percent; and White/other, from 11,223 to 11,438, or 1.9 percent. Students for whom an ethnicity is missing increased farom 1,525 to 1,543, or 1.2 percent.

A total of 5,873 domestic applicants are seeking to transfer from a California community college this year, compared with 6,187 last year. Those from traditionally underrepresented groups account for 17.6 percent, compared with 16.4 percent last year.

Pamela Burnett, director of Undergraduate Admissions at UC Davis, says community college enrollment declined, and, with the exception of UC Berkeley, all UC campuses saw a decrease in transfer applications. Applicants will be notified of admission decisions beginning in mid-March. They can review the status of their application online at myadmissions.ucdavis.edu. UC Davis applications generally reflect trends in UC systemwide data. Statistics for the system are available at www.ucop.edu/news/factsheets/2006/06app.html.

Breast cancer event

The Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization will hold the first annual Sacramento Walk to Empower on Mother's Day on May 14. Plans call for raising $100,000 to ensure that no one in Northern California faces breast cancer alone. Proceeds from the Y-ME's Sacramento Walk to Empower benefit programs and services offered free of charge to those seeking information and support when facing breast cancer.

To find out how you can be part of the Walk to Empower, attend one of these informational meetings:

• Feb. 16, noon to 1 p.m., UC Davis Women's Resources and Research Center, North Hall, on campus.
• Feb. 18, 11 a.m. to noon, Covell Gardens, 1111 Alvarado Ave., Davis.

For information on the walk, contact Diane Adams at dladams@ucdavis.edu or (530) 297-4699. Also, Sandy Walsh formerly a staff researcher at UC Davis, has been honored with the soroptimist Mae Carvell award for her support of Y-ME. The purpose of the Mae Carvell Award is to honor and pay tribute to people who have consistently and effectively made an effort to advance the status of women.

Staff member arrested

UC Davis police reported the arrest of a university staff member in her office for possession of methamphetamine. Lt. Nader Oweis said Kathleen Frazer, 57, of Elk Grove was taken into custody at 10 a.m. Jan. 26 in the Social Sciences and Humanities Building. The campus's Web directory identifies Frazer as an academic personnel analyst in the College of Letters and Science.

Oweis said police had obtained a search warrant on a separate matter, unrelated to narcotics, and during that search they discovered methamphetamine in Frazer's purse. Oweis would not specify the amount of drug found, except to say it was "enough for personal use." Police booked Frazer at Yolo County Jail for investigation of possession of a controlled substance, a felony. She was released on $10,000 bond the day of her arrest. As of Tuesday, the district attorney's office had not formally charged her in the case. Oweis declined to say what led police to Frazer's office in the first place. He said that investigation was still under way.

Executive program

This year's UC Davis Executive Program begins on March 16. Seminar topics include Strategic Leadership, Workplaces that Work, Leading in a Complex and Litigious World, Leading Change, and Personal and Professional Ethics. The seminars will be taught by preeminent professionals with specific expertise within the topic areas.

Executives and senior managers will find this program valuable. The UC Davis Executive Program meets from 1:30 to 8 p.m. from March 16 throigh May 11. The location is Sutter Square Galleria, 2901 K St., Sacramento.

Life science lectures set

The Storer Lectureship in the Life Sciences Series features a seminar on infectious diseases on Feb. 15. Bryan Grenfell, alumni professor of the Biological Sciences at the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics at Pennsylvania State University, will give the lecture entitled "Infectious Diseases in Space and Time" as part of the Major Issues in Modern Biology lecture series in 1005 GBSF. The session starts at 4:10 p.m.

Grenfell and his colleagues are investigating numerous disease dynamics and control strategies, including measles, human influenza, whooping cough and foot and mouth disease. His extensive research, spanning zoological to human disease, led to his being honored as a Fellow of the Royal Society of London and a member of the Order of the British Empire. Grenfell was a previously a professor at the University of Cambridge.

On Feb. 27, Elinor Ostrom will speak on "The Danger of Institutional Monoculture to Preserve Biological Diversity" as part of the Major Issues in Modern Biology lecture series. The lecture starts at 4:10 pm. and will be held in ARC Ballroom A.

Ostrom is the Arthur Bentley Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Institutions, Population, and Environmental Change at Indiana University and a member of the National Academy of Science.