MINORITY REPORT: UC Davis ranked seventh among 100 institutions nationwide in producing minority student degrees, according to the Black Issues in Higher Education magazine. The Davis campus graduated 2,541 African American, Latino, Asian American and American Indian students in 2004 — or 45 percent of its total number of graduates. Four of the top 10 institutions producing minority degree students were UC campuses — the others and their rankings are UCLA (1), UC Berkeley (2) and UC Irvine (4). …

EAVESDROPPING: A proposed law in the state Legislature would allow UC police to "overhear" or "record communications" like regular law enforcement officials are authorized to do without an individual's consent. The UC Academic Council is opposed to AB 992, stating that the "UC campus is an environment which must do everything possible to facilitate the free exchange of views" and that this bill would produce a "chilling effect" upon academic discourse. The bill, introduced by Todd Spitzer, R-Orange, failed at a June 14 hearing in the state senate's public safety committee but reportedly will come up for reconsideration. …

WORLDS AWAY: UC astronomers recently announced they discovered what could be the first "rocky" Earth-like planet ever found outside the solar system. It is a lifeless, hot world almost eight times larger than Earth orbiting a small star in the constellation Aquarius. The team detected the new "extra-solar" planet by observing a tiny wobble induced in the star by the planet's gravity. The team made more than 150 observations over three years with precision measuring instruments. Team leader Geoffrey Marcy, a UC Berkeley astronomer, said, "For the first time we are finding our planetary kin among the stars." …

FIT SYSTEM: Registered UC students are now eligible to use recreational facilities at any UC campus. Under the one-year pilot program, visiting students with valid UC student IDs will be admitted at no charge to recreational sports facilities system wide. At specialty facilities ( i.e. aquatic centers, equestrian centers, etc.), the visiting students may participate by paying the standard campus student rate. …

PUBLISHING LIBERTY: Federal officials have asked the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences not to publish a Stanford University researcher's paper on biological terrorism. The journal has pulled the paper from its May 30 online edition and is evaluating whether to revise it before publication. The paper by business professor Lawrence Wein details how terrorists might attack the nation's milk supply with botulinum toxin. Officials at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services made the request — the first time the agency has done so. …

CAIN GOES TO WASHINGTON: Bruce Cain, a UC Berkeley political science professor with almost 30 years of experience, has been named director of the UC Washington Center. He will continue the work of UC Davis political science professor Larry Berman, who has served as the center's director since 1999 and will now return to campus. Based in the nation's capital, the center offers student coursework and internships and sponsors policy debates and symposia. "I look forward to going from one exciting and active political region ... to another," said Cain, whose five-year appointment begins Sept. 1. …

BURGEONING BIODEFENSE: The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has awarded UC Irvine $40 million over four years to establish the Pacific-Southwest Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research –- one of only 10 federally funded regional centers dedicated to bioterrorism. The largest grant ever received by the university, the funds were awarded to UCI infectious disease expert Alan Barbour, who also will serve as director of the new center. Barbour is internationally known for first isolating the cause of Lyme disease. …

TERRORISM CASE: A Palestinian former university professor began his trial last week in a Florida federal court on charges of raising money for Palestinian suicide bombers in one of the most high-profile terrorism prosecutions in the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Sami al-Arian, who is being tried in Tampa with three other men of Palestinian descent, is accused of supporting and raising funds for a terrorist group. He has said he is innocent and is being punished for his vocal advocacy of Palestinian rights. …

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE: Doctors at the University of Pennsylvania are working with Tai Sophia Institute, an alternative medicine school in Maryland, on a program to teach medical students about herbal therapies, meditation and other approaches that are increasingly popular with the public but largely exist outside the realm of mainstream medicine. …

COLLEGE PREPPING: The Los Angeles Board of Education approved an academic reform plan last week that will require high school students to complete a set of college prep courses. Starting with the class of 2008, high school students in the state's largest school district will be required — unless they opt out — to complete the 15 courses required for admission to the UC or California State University systems.