The chancellor and provost give them away. The Cal Aggie Alumni Association has its own version, sold for $1. The athletics department has one, too.

They are blue-and-gold pins reading "UC Davis," "UC Davis Alumni" and "UC Davis Athletics."

Now UC Davis Staff Assembly has a pin. The cost is $5, with the proceeds going to Staff Assembly activities, including the new scholarship program for staff dependents.

Staff Assembly Chair Lin King explained why the pins are not free: "My thinking is, this pin is worth something. It represents that you are part of a great group of people, part of a great institution."

As UC Davis researchers go about solving the world's problems, King said, people need to be reminded that such research is not possible without staff.

"The pins show people who we are," said King, manager of the R4 Recycling Program. "They show all the people who work behind the scenes."

King said people can buy pins for themselves or for their colleagues to recognize them for their great work.

Besides pride, there are other rewards in the offing. King said everyone wearing a staff pin to the Thank Goodness for Staff Picnic on May 9 will receive a $1 raffle ticket for free. He added that other prizes are in store for pin-wearing staff at other events.

Pins and Thank Goodness for Staff merchandise can be purchased by credit card through April 16 at the Staff Assembly Web site, staff.ucdavis.edu (click on "TGFS" and then click on "TGFS Merchandise"). Pin orders placed after April 16 will require payment by check made out to the Regents of the University of California; to inquire about ordering after April 16, e-mail Jennifer Lucero, Staff Assembly coordinator, jlucero@ucdavis.edu. She said a limited supply of pins and TGFS merchandise will be sold at the TGFS Picnic on May 9, and cash and checks will be accepted then.