Math and science: In collaboration with partners in education and the corporate sector, UC is developing a new initiative to dramatically expand the training of high-quality mathematics and science teachers for California's public secondary schools. The university's goal, by 2010, is to produce at least 1,000 of these teachers every year – and since each teacher can reach more than 1,000 students in 10 years of teaching, each group of 1,000 new teachers will touch the minds of more than 1 million California children. UC hopes to be able to launch this initiative by fall 2006. ...

New UCOP offices: UC is eyeing up to 410,000 square feet of office space in Oakland, a move that could result in the city's first new office building in three years, according to the San Francisco Business Times. A request for proposals issued April 21 by the university is widely expected to draw bids from developers. The university wants to consolidate leased space for its administrative Office of the President, now spread across four buildings in downtown Oakland and one in Berkeley, for a total of 171,000 square feet. The possibilities range from leasing existing space to buying a brand-new building. ...

Stem cell capital: San Francisco bested three competing California cities last week in the battle to land the headquarters of the state's $3 billion stem cell program, scoring well ahead of the second-place finisher. In the competition to host the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, San Diego edged out Sacramento as the No. 2 choice, while a proposed site in Emeryville finished last. ...

Professional school fees: The agenda for the May 25-26 UC Board of Regents' meeting is expected to include proposals for additional professional school fee increases. UCOP will be asking professional schools, in consultation with their campus communications colleagues, to distribute information to students notifying them of the possible increases. ...

Military recruiters: The U.S. Supreme Court this fall will consider whether colleges and universities may ban military recruiters from their campuses without fear of losing federal funds. At issue is a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that found that law schools have a First Amendment right to exclude recruiters whose hiring practices discriminate against gay men and lesbians. The decision overturned a district judge's ruling upholding a decade-old law on the subject. ...

Student spirituality: A UC Davis student group recently surveyed fellow students about their inner lives. Soroush Parsa, one of the survey designers and a graduate student in nematology, said, "This effort was motivated by our observations of a growing recognition of the role of spirituality in helping alleviate the challenges faced by our generation." The survey by the UC Davis Baha'i club asked 121 undergrad and grad students what their three most important "social" and "spiritual" issues were. The four most popular responses were America's role in world affairs (47); bridging the divide: extremes of wealth and poverty (40); music, art and spirituality (39); and the harmony between science and religion (30). ...

Service worker contract: The union representing more than 7,300 UC service workers agreed May 9 to ratify a new three-year labor contract through Jan. 31, 2008. Highlights of the agreement include 3 percent across-the-board wage increases, effective Oct. 1, 2005; 3 percent across-the-board increases in year two; and a 4 percent increase in year three of the contract. The agreement also includes additional equity adjustments that will ensure all UC service workers will earn at least $9 per hour, and expanded career development training. The UC and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees began negotiations for service employees in July 2004. The union held a one-day strike on April 14. ...

Los Alamos: UC last week announced the appointment of Robert Kuckuck, a veteran of national laboratory management, a former National Nuclear Security Administration official and a leading expert in nuclear weapons testing and treaty verification technologies, as interim director of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Kuckuck received his doctorate in applied science from UC Davis. ...

UC abroad: In late April, UC president Robert Dynes made a number of stops in the United Kingdom and France to help strengthen the university's partnerships with academic institutions, industry and government there — and to meet with UC faculty, staff, students and alumni abroad. He visited the Royal Society in London and Oxford University, and then in Paris toured the Louvre Cyclotron, met with French government and academic officials, and attended an alumni event.