Passionate about prevention... Members of the English Department communicated a strong, non-verbal message via color last Friday. Their bold showing of bright red -- through shirts, blouses, blazers and sweaters -- spoke to the dozen staff members' shared interest in getting the word out about heart disease. The Voorhies Hall employees coordinated their wardrobe for the American Heart Association's inaugural National Wear Red Day for Women. "The campaign spotlights heart disease, especially among women," says Cindy Dufern, who brought it to the attention of her coworkers.
According to the heart association, cardiovascular diseases kill some 500,000 women each year -- more than the next seven causes of death combined, including all forms of cancer. "We've always been told to watch out for breast cancer," says Terry Antonelli, sporting a bright red vest. "Now we're aware of the dangers of heart disease as well."
The red "glow" did not go unnoticed, says Merlyn Potters. "Faculty and students have commented on how radiant we all look."
Department participants included, from left above standing, Lynda Jones, Vita Simonsen, Cindy Dufern, Janie Guhin, Mary White, Terry Antonelli, Pam Self, Merlyn Potters; seated, Melissa Lovejoy and Maria Saldana-Seibert; and, not pictured, Sally Gunter.
Color her appreciated ... Also on the red attire front, congratulations go to Amparo Villablanca, director of the UC Davis Women's Cardio-vascular Health Program, who received a Red Dress Award last week from Woman's Day magazine. Amparo was among seven individuals and groups nationwide to receive the inaugural awards on Feb. 4 in New York City. She was chosen for founding and directing the Women's Cardiovascular Health Program, the first of its kind in the nation, in 1994.
Stampeding media attention ... The recent mad rush for mad cow facts has given UC Davis unprecedented media coverage -- nationally and internationally -- thanks to several faculty members who have devoted countless hours to interviews for TV, radio and print news. Giving out their cell and home phone numbers, campus experts in animal and human health, food safety, consumer attitudes and the economy conducted interviews throughout the recent holiday season -- often doing so on their own time, and making themselves available from remote locales. As a result, the campus's depth of expertise has been underscored on every major network, from primetime's ABC, to cable's CNN, and in national newspapers spanning the country, from the New York Times to the Seattle Times.
Especially active campus experts have included: Dean Cliver, John Maas, Jim Cullor, Bennie Osburn, Fred Murphy, Don Klingborg, Daniel Sumner, Christine Bruhn, Jerry Gillespie, Jim Oltjen, Niels Pedersen, Alex Ardans, Gail Feenstra and Robert Moeller.
Featuring insight from many of these experts is UC Davis' newly-launched mad cow disease multimedia Web site at http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/mad_cow/.
High-flying honors ... Bill Ferrier, director of the California Raptor Center at UC Davis and a falconer for more than 35 years, took second place overall in the recent California Falcon Sky Trials. The annual event attracts the West Coast's best falconers and their birds. Falcons are scored in several categories as they pursue a homing pigeon (which, Bill says, usually escapes). Bill and his bird, a male, 2-year-old gyrfalcon-peregrine falcon hybrid named Paco, had the highest overall score in six of seven categories. Bill also shows off his bird's abilities during his winter-quarter undergraduate raptor biology class.
On Saturday, birds of prey like Paco will take the spotlight, as the raptor center hosts an open house 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
At the crossroads of art and science ... Staff member Skip Huckaby has long considered that what he does for science is really an art form. Now art enthusiasts from throughout the area are being prompted to think of it that way, too. Sacramento's Gregory Kondos Gallery recently asked Skip, the campus's scientific equipment glassblower, if the gallery could design an exhibit around his work.
On Oct. 18, 2002, Dateline carried a story on how Skip bridges science and art, shaping molten glass into forms as unique as they are useful -- from simple measuring flasks, to elaborate, multi-piece devices with moving parts, used to create new forms of molecules. Coverage by KVIE's "Central Valley Chronicles" followed, noting that Skip is one of only three to four hundred scientific glassblowers in the world. The media attention piqued the gallery's interest.
The show, "Gregory Kondos Gallery Presents Skip Huckaby Science Glass," runs through Feb. 20 at Sacramento City College, in Room 9 of the Fischbacher Art Building.
In the beginning, there was Jeff Kane ... Folks at Bodega Marine Laboratory this week celebrated the retirement of their longest-standing employee, Jeff Kane, who has worked there for the last 34 years. The lab is only 39 years old, and of the 150 people employed there, Jeff was the only one who went back to its earliest days. He started working in the receiving department in 1975 and later moved to the physical plant, where he remained until his last day, this Wednesday.