Understanding how gang identity is exhibited through appearance and whether certain clothing represents gang affiliation or simply current adolescent style is critical for those who work closely with youth. The issue will be discussed at the upcoming "Gang Identity and Clothing Style" seminar beginning at 9 a.m. Thursday, April 28, and continuing through Friday, April 29, at the University of California, Davis, in the Rec Pool Lodge. At the seminar, law enforcement and school officials, academics and youth leaders will discuss ways to avert potentially violent situations related to clothing style while allowing for creative expression through appearance. In addition, seminar participants will discuss future safety-intervention strategies. The seminar is being sponsored by UC Davis' environmental design and applied behavioral sciences departments, and the North Central Region of UC Cooperative Extension. Complicating policy decisions on gang-related clothing fashions is the phenomenon of how quickly the nuances of image and style change in both meaning and form, says Janet Hethorn, a seminar organizer and an environmental design professor who studies gang fashions. Seminar speakers will include Loren Evenrud, a Minneapolis police sergeant who is active in developing community and school programs and gang intervention strategies; Dyhan Lal, principal of Carson High School, in Carson, Calif., author of "Handbook on Gangs in Schools: Strategies to Reduce Gang-Related Activities;" Wes McBride, sergeant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and president of the California Gang Investigators' Association; Useni Eugene Perkins, president of the Association for the Positive Development of Black Youth in Chicago; Natalie Salazar, coordinator of the Community/Law Enforcement Partnership Program for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department; and Hethorn, whose research focuses on clothing trends and gang identity issues. Seminar session topics include understanding gangs from a law enforcement perspective, looking at the impact of gangs on communities, exploring gang identity and clothing style and developing strategies for schools and communities to provide positive environments for youth. The seminar is free, but registration is limited to the first 80 people whose registration forms are received in the mail; no on-site registration will be held.