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<dc:date>2008-05-13T07:32+31:00
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<title>SF Mayor Newsom to Speak at UC Davis Commencement</title>
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<description><![CDATA[ ]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8660">
<title>New Analysis Shows Important Slowdown in Lake Tahoe Clarity Loss</title>
<link>http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8660</link>
<description><![CDATA[LAKE TAHOE -- For the first time since researchers began continuously measuring Lake Tahoe's famed water clarity 40 years ago, UC Davis scientists reported today that the historical rate of decline in the lake's clarity has slowed considerably in recent years.

Scientists at the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center say that by using new, more sophisticated models for detecting trends and, by factoring out the effects of annual precipitation, they have concluded that the historic rate of decline in the lake's clarity has slowed since 2001.

"From 1968 to 2000 there was a near-continuous decline in lake clarity. There were several years at a time when things seemed to improve, but invariably we returned to the same trend," said Geoffrey Schladow, a UC Davis professor of civil and environmental engineering who directs the Tahoe research center. "But since 2001, we have had seven years in which the clarity has consistently been better than the long-term trend would have predicted. This is unprecedented."

Schladow cautioned that the data do not pinpoint a specific cause for the recent improvements, but noted that new modeling results show that runoff of fine particles from both urbanized areas and roadways around the lake are the primary factors that influence clarity levels. Fine particles scatter light and limit how far into the lake we can see.

In addition, Schladow and his UC Davis colleagues cautioned that it is difficult to use data from a small number of years (2001 to 2007) to draw conclusions about when the trend might change from a slowdown in clarity decline to an improvement in clarity. "Only with the commitment to long-term monitoring can we truly evaluate environmental changes over time," he said.

Even so, the report was welcomed by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and other agencies charged with protecting the lake, who suggested that the data provide evidence that years of investments in reducing runoff may now be paying off.

Federal, state and local agencies, as well as local homeowners and businesses, have invested more than $500 million in a coordinated effort to reduce runoff through Tahoe's Environmental Improvement Program, which was launched in 1997 by President Clinton and other officials.

"Our entire community shares the credit for these very encouraging new findings," said John Singlaub, executive director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. "Years of investments in reducing runoff to the lake have slowed the clarity decline. Now we must continue those efforts to clearly reverse the decline and to meet our long-term clarity goals."

Today's clarity findings are also striking in light of recent evidence that global climate change has increased air and lake temperatures in the Tahoe basin. Scientists are concerned that rising air and lake temperatures could increase runoff and the potential for algal blooms.

UC Davis reported last summer that the percentage of precipitation falling as snow decreased from 52 percent to 34 percent since 1911, and that lake waters in July have warmed by almost five degrees since 1999.

"Climate change poses a very real threat to the Tahoe basin's environment and economy," Schladow said. "But the new data that we are presenting today, and other models, suggest that the lake's clarity can be improved, even in the face of gradually warming temperatures."

UC Davis researcher Charles Goldman, who pioneered scientific studies of Lake Tahoe in 1959, today stressed the importance of simultaneously looking at the impacts of climate change and other localized factors, such as fire, on lake clarity.

How the new data were produced

The UC Davis research team produced the new data by using a more sophisticated statistical approach for evaluating the 40-year clarity record. Schladow said the new approach "provides a more realistic picture of current conditions."

The statistical technique allows the trend analysis during recent years to be more reflective of clarity measurements taken in those years and less by historic conditions, said John Reuter, associate director of the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center.

UC Davis' Tahoe research center scientists also developed and published a "time series" model that incorporates current scientific understanding of the year-to-year variation in clarity; in particular, this model allows researchers to consider important lake processes such as the amount of annual precipitation and depth to which the lake mixes each year.

Here is what those new models and approaches showed: Between 1968 and 2000, the rate of decline in clarity of the lake waters (approximately one foot per year) remained constant with virtually no suggestion of a significant change.

However, during the 2001-2007 time period, scientists detected a noticeable decrease in the rate of decline.

UC Davis researchers measure the lake's clarity every 10 to 14 days using the same instruments at two fixed locations. One key measure is the Secchi depth -- the depth at which a white disk, the size of a dinner plate, disappears from sight.

Reuter said the new analyses underscore the importance of considering the Lake Tahoe clarity trend over time and avoiding over-emphasis on a single year's average Secchi depth.

History of clarity efforts in the Tahoe basin

When UC Davis' Goldman first began studying Lake Tahoe in 1959, he introduced novel techniques for measuring the ecological health of the lake and was the first scientist to warn that Tahoe's famous cobalt blue color was threatened.

Today, many academic institutions and public agencies are working together to restore and preserve the Tahoe basin ecosystem. Some of the most active research programs are at: UC Davis; the Lahontan Region of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board (which helped fund this new trend study); Nevada Department of Environmental Protection; California Air Resources Board; U.S. Forest Service; Tahoe Regional Planning Agency; University of Nevada, Reno; Desert Research Institute; and NASA.

In 1997, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency launched the Environmental Improvement Program as part of its strategy to achieve the environmental threshold goals for the Lake Tahoe basin by healing past environmental damage.

The planning agency and other agencies' top priorities became reducing the amount of fine sediment in stormwater discharges from state and local roads and other urbanized areas, restoring key watersheds, and capturing runoff from homes and businesses.

In 2002, the states of California and Nevada cooperatively began to develop a water-clarity restoration plan for Lake Tahoe, known as the Total Maximum Daily Load or TMDL. TMDLs are required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency nationwide to improve impaired bodies of water.

Now the agencies are in the process of completing the TMDL, as well as a 10-year update to the Environmental Improvement Program and a new regional plan for the Tahoe basin.

As part of those efforts, the California Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection recently issued a Clarity Challenge that calls for an improvement in clarity to between 77 and 80 feet in 15 years. (In 2007, the waters of Lake Tahoe were clear to an average depth of 70.2 feet; in 1968, the depth was 102.4 feet.)

A recent report for the TMDL program demonstrates that this challenge is achievable, said Harold Singer, executive officer of the Lahontan Water Board.

Current best practices implemented through the Environmental Improvement Program and aggressive implementation of more innovative water quality treatment will continue to be the basis for clarity improvement.

"Source-control measures are the most effective means to reduce fine sediment reaching Lake Tahoe," Singer said. "Such efforts include restoring disturbed lands to increase infiltration and minimize soil erosion, along with more attention to the nature and amount of applied road abrasives. Efforts to treat storm water runoff also need to focus on removing these very fine particles."

UC Davis scientists, in cooperation with California and Nevada water-quality protection agencies, have developed one further restoration tool known as the Lake Clarity Model. This approach can simulate the lake's response to various combinations of pollution types and amounts. This tool is currently being used to evaluate management strategies as part of the TMDL program.]]></description>
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<item rdf:about="http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8652">
<title>Beyond Hemp Sacks and Scratchy Socks</title>
<link>http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8652</link>
<description><![CDATA[You have a hybrid in the garage, solar panels on the roof and drought-resistant native plants in your yard. But what's in your clothes closet? Join seven prominent sustainable fashion designers and consultants for a Sunday, May 18, symposium, "Designing with Conscience," sponsored by the UC Davis Design Museum.

The symposium, intended for design students, design professionals, clothing retailers and environmentally conscious consumers, will explore major issues facing the emerging sustainable fashion movement -- including how much clothing we really need, how our desire for new things can be balanced with our concern for the environment, and how sustainability can be made attractive to the consumer.

The symposium will be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Technocultural Studies Building on the UC Davis campus (just south of the Art Building). It is free and open to the public.

Among other goals, green fashion designers seek to reduce the 2.5 billion pounds of post-consumer textile waste generated in the United States each year -- the equivalent of 10 pounds for every person -- and to find alternatives to commercial cotton, whose production consumes 25 percent of all pesticides used in this country.

Some predict eco-fashion will go the way of organic foods and drinks, which, according to the Organic Trade Association, are now a $23 billion-a-year industry.

Symposium speakers will be:

Tierra Del Forte, former designer for Mudd Jeans in New York City and now owner of the Oakland, Calif.-based Del Forte Denim company, which features high-end organic cotton clothing.

Elissa Loughman, environmental analyst at Patagonia in Ventura, Calif., which is pioneering the use of recycled polyester made from used soda bottles and has earned widespread praise for its Common Threads program, in which consumers turn in used clothes for recycling.

Lynda Grose, of Muir Beach, Calif., a consultant for the Davis-based Sustainable Cotton Project, which promotes California-grown BASIC cotton, a crop that is farmed using techniques that reduce pesticide applications by as much as 73 percent. Grose has been quoted in articles about green chic in the New York Times, Newsweek and other major publications.

Amanda Shi, a Los Angeles designer whose brand, Avita, relies on such innovative sustainable materials as recycled cashmere.

Anna Blossom Cohen, former designer for Max Mara, Patrizia Pepe, Guess and Binicocchi in Florence, Italy, and now owner of the Portland, Ore.-based label Anna Cohen, which features sustainable fashion.

Sasha Duerr, founding director of the San Francisco-based Permacouture Institute, a collaboration with the Trust for Conservation Innovation to encourage the exploration of fashion and textiles from the garden to the hanger.

Tawny Holt, the Modesto-based owner of Armour sans Anguish, a line of garments constructed entirely from salvaged and recycled materials.


Susan Taber Avila, professor of design at UC Davis, will moderate the discussion.

For more information about the symposium or concurrent "Fashion Conscious" exhibit of sustainable garments, footwear and accessories at the UC Davis Design Museum, visit http://designmuseum.ucdavis.edu/.]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8638">
<title>UC Davis Experts: Sources on Food Shortages and Rising Food Prices</title>
<link>http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8638</link>
<description><![CDATA[The United Nations recently warned that the world faces a global food shortage, brought on by high fuel costs, bad weather, an increasing allocation of farmland to biofuels rather than food crops, and rising demand from countries like China and India.

The following UC Davis faculty members in the areas of agriculture, economics, engineering and transportation can discuss many of the issues related to this looming food crisis. For more information or for topics not listed here, contact Pat Bailey, News Service, (530) 752-9843, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu.

Rice production systems

Rice, biofuels and agricultural policies

Improving global food availability

Food and poverty in Mexico

United Nations millennium report

Crisis will spur innovation

Sustainability via genetic engineering and organic farming

Biomass in California's energy future

Economics of transportation

RICE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS -- Jim Hill, a UC Davis Cooperative Extension specialist, is an international authority on how rice crops are grown. His work focuses not only on increasing rice productivity but also on improving the environmental effects of rice-farming methods. For example, he and colleagues have conducted research and education programs that were instrumental in promoting irrigation systems designed to eliminate off-site flows of agricultural chemicals from rice fields. He recently spent three years at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, coordinating irrigated-rice research and outreach efforts throughout Asia's rice-production areas. Contact: Jim Hill, Agronomy and Range Science, (530) 752-3458, jehill@ucdavis.edu.

RICE, BIOFUELS AND AGRICULTURAL POLICIES -- Daniel Sumner, director of the UC Davis-based University of California Agricultural Issues Center, specializes in national and international agricultural policy. Sumner, the Frank H. Buck Jr. Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics, can discuss international commodity markets and trade, rice economics, and biofuels policies. Contact: Daniel Sumner, Agricultural Issues Center, (530) 752-1668, dan@primal.ucdavis.edu.

IMPROVING GLOBAL FOOD AVAILABILITY -- Montague (Tag) Demment is an agronomy professor and director of the UC Davis-based Global Livestock Collaborative Research Support Program. This global livestock program has done research that shows the value of animal-source foods for cognitive and physical development of children in developing countries. Ongoing research is directed at the role of animal-source foods in supplying the additional micronutrients and protein critical to the well-being of HIV/AIDS-infected mothers in Kenya. Demment also serves as associate vice president for international development for the National Association for Public Universities and Colleges, where he works on issues related to global food production. Contact: Montague (Tag) Demment, Plant Sciences, (530) 752-7757, mwdemment@ucdavis.edu.

FOOD AND POVERTY IN MEXICO -- Agricultural and resource economics professor J. Edward Taylor studies migration and its impacts on Pacific Rim countries, specifically Mexico, Central America and Ecuador. He can discuss rising food prices and their impact on Mexico, as well as the reasons behind a transfer of rural poverty from Mexico into the U.S. His recent research has explored the draw of Mexican immigrants into California, where they have created pockets of poverty throughout the Central Valley. Taylor also is an expert on salary remittances as economic multipliers, how immigration promotes survival in native villages and other economic issues triggered by immigration. Contact: Ed Taylor, Agricultural and Resource Economics, (530) 752-0213, taylor@primal.ucdavis.edu.

UNITED NATIONS MILLENNIUM REPORT -- UC Davis economist Wing Thye Woo, one of the world's leading experts on Asian economies, is the Asian economies adviser to the United Nations Millennium Development Reports, released in early 2005, about a plan to improve the living conditions for the world's poor. He has particularly deep knowledge of economic development in China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan. He was special adviser to U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin in 1997-1998. Contact: Wing Thye Woo, Economics, (530) 752-3035, wtwoo@ucdavis.edu.

CRISIS WILL SPUR INNOVATION -- Colin Carter, a professor of agricultural and resource economics and an authority on international trade, predicts that technological innovation and the adoption of improved techniques in agriculture will offset the 2008 food crisis. While American and European ethanol subsidies are wrong-headed and injurious to consumers at large, Carter argues that the artificial food crisis that these subsidies have spawned will spur innovation, including greater use of gene-splicing for the development of improved plant varieties. That, in turn, will boost farm incomes in developing countries and moderate the price of food worldwide. Contact: Colin Carter, (530) 752-6054, colin@primal.ucdavis.edu.

SUSTAINABILITY VIA GENETIC ENGINEERING AND ORGANIC FARMING -- Pamela Ronald and Raoul Adamchak are co-authors of "Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics and the Future of Food," published in April 2008 by Oxford University Press. Together, they are exploring the juncture where genetic engineering and organic farming can meet to ensure environmentally sustainable food production.

Ronald is a professor in UC Davis' Department of Plant Pathology. Her laboratory has genetically engineered rice for resistance to diseases and flooding. Her work has been published in Science, Nature and other scientific periodicals and has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Le Monde and on National Public Radio. She is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She also writes a blog at http://pamelaronald.blogspot.com/.

Adamchak has grown organic crops for 20 years, part of that time as a partner in Full Belly Farm, a private 150-acre organic vegetable farm. He has inspected more than 100 organic farms as an inspector for California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) and served as a member and president of that group's board of directors. He is now coordinator of the Market Garden at UC Davis' Student Farm. Contacts: Pam Ronald, Plant Pathology, (530) 753-8003, pcronald@ucdavis.edu; Raoul Adamchak, Plant Sciences, (530) 752-7655, rwadamchak@ucdavis.edu.

BIOMASS IN CALIFORNIA'S ENERGY FUTURE  -- The UC Davis Energy Institute brings together campus faculty and other investigators on critical energy issues in California. Affiliated with the institute are a number of research centers and groups, including the Bioenergy Research Group. UC Davis also administers the state's California Biomass Collaborative, charged with identifying approaches for the sustainable management and development of biomass resources, and has prepared a development roadmap to guide state and industry actions.

Energy Institute Director Bryan Jenkins, a professor of biological and agricultural engineering and past executive director of the California Biomass Collaborative, can discuss what biomass is (such as forest trimmings, rice straw, tree prunings, animal manures and urban waste). He also can talk about how biomass can be used to produce renewable fuels (ethanol, methanol, hydrogen, biodiesel, syngas, synfuels and biomethane) and basic materials for products (plastics, solvents, inks and construction materials), and how it can be sustainably employed to help meet state goals.

Other UC Davis biomass experts include Steve Kaffka, a Cooperative Extension plant scientist and incoming executive director of the California Biomass Collaborative, and David Neale, a professor of plant sciences and co-chair of the Bioenergy Research Group. Kaffka can discuss agricultural sustainability and its extension to the production of bioenergy crops, and Neale can discuss plant biotechnology and new approaches to biomass production. Contacts: Bryan Jenkins, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, (530) 752-1422, bmjenkins@ucdavis.edu; Steve Kaffka, Plant Sciences, (530) 752-8108, srkaffka@ucdavis.edu; and David Neale, Plant Sciences, (530) 754-8431, dbneale@ucdavis.edu.

ECONOMICS OF TRANSPORTATION -- UC Davis economist Christopher Knittel can talk about transportation economics, especially how the various markets relate to transportation function. A specialist in the economics of industrial organization, Knittel teaches about the various transportation industries: automobile, airline and oil. He also can explain the dynamics between demand for various autos and government regulation of the industry, and how consumers make decisions on cars with better mileage when gasoline prices skyrocket. Contact: Christopher Knittel, Economics, (530) 752-3344, crknittel@ucdavis.edu.]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8653">
<title>Proclamation, Event Honor Law Enforcement Officers</title>
<link>http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8653</link>
<description><![CDATA[UC Davis will "acknowledge the heroic men and women who have dedicated their lives to safeguarding public safety" on Friday, May 9, with the proclamation of Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial Day and a small ceremony.

Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial Day is held in conjunction with National Police Week, which recognizes the hazardous work, responsibilities and commitment of peace officers. The day commemorates those officers who have sacrificed their lives in the line of duty.

"These special observances provide an opportunity for the community to acknowledge the heroic men and women who have dedicated their lives to safeguarding public safety," Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef said in the proclamation.

Vanderhoef encouraged "all citizens to remember those law enforcement officers everywhere who gave their lives for the safety of their communities and those current officers who continue to dedicate themselves to making UC Davis a safer place to work, teach, learn, engage in research and provide patient care."

The ceremony, to be held at 10 a.m. by the flagpole in front of the Fire/Police Building on the Davis campus, will include:


	the presentation of colors by the ROTC Color Guard at UC Davis;
	reading of the proclamation by Stan Nosek, vice chancellor for the Office of Administration;
	reading of the roll call/end of watch by Lt. Nader Oweis of the UC Davis Police Department; and
	rendering honor/Taps by the UC Band Bugler and UC Davis ROTC


No UC Davis police officer has died in the line of duty, said Capt. Joyce Souza.]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8644">
<title>Making History in Solano County</title>
<link>http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8644</link>
<description><![CDATA[The History Project at UC Davis and the Solano County Office of Education have received $1 million from the U.S. Department of Education to improve history instruction in Solano County public schools, where only one in three students performed at or above the "proficient" level in U.S. history on the 2007 California Standards Test.

The three-year grant will enroll about 50 U.S. history teachers countywide in an "American History Academy" developed and administered by the UC Davis History Project and taught by historians at UC Davis and Solano Community College. Participating teachers will spend two years exploring America's past and strengthening their teaching skills with guidance from such faculty as UC Davis history professor Alan Taylor, winner of the 1996 Pulitzer Prize in History.

"The surest predictor of student achievement in history is a teacher's knowledge," said Ari Kelman, an associate professor of history at UC Davis and the project's principal investigator. "The ultimate goal of the History Project is to grow a corps of teacher-leaders capable of training their colleagues and disseminating their materials and experience to the broader teaching community in their districts, counties and beyond."

The American History Academy will serve 8th- and 11th-grade teachers who are responsible for teaching U.S. history to some 15,000 students in 15 middle schools and 16 high schools in six Solano County school districts: the Benicia Unified School District, Dixon Unified School District, Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District, Travis Unified School District, Vacaville Unified School District and Vallejo City Unified School District.

Enrollment priority will be given to teachers from the county's lowest-performing schools. Three Solano County school districts -- the Vacaville, Fairfield-Suisun and Vallejo City unified districts -- have been identified as "program improvement" districts under provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act. Such schools are overseen by an outside organization and must meet targeted goals for improvement.

The academy begins this August for 8th-grade teachers and next summer for 11th-grade teachers. Participants will attend seminars on the Solano Community College campus during the school year, take part in two-week institutes on the UC Davis campus in the summers and participate in historical book groups and online scholarly activities year-round.

Teaching history to English learners will be a special focus of the academy. Only 7 percent of English learners in Solano County overall -- and only 3 percent in Vallejo -- tested proficient in history in 2007.

The academy's success will be assessed at project's end by the UC Davis School of Education's Cooperative Research and Extension Services for Schools.

Established in 1991, the UC Davis History Project has been the lead partner on five similar grants with school districts in the Sacramento region: the Grant Joint Union School District, Sacramento City Unified School District, San Juan Unified School District, the Folsom-Cordova and Center Unified School Districts Consortium, and the Yolo County Office of Education.

The UC Davis History Project is a part of the California History-Social Science Project, which is one of eight California Subject Matter Projects supported by the state of California and the UC Office of the President. Launched in 1990, the goal of the statewide organization is to provide professional development for history and social science teachers at all grade levels statewide.]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8645">
<title>Fast-growing MBA Program Moves to New Bay Area Home</title>
<link>http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8645</link>
<description><![CDATA[Following three years of rapid enrollment growth in one of the nation's most competitive MBA markets, the UC Davis Graduate School of Management is moving its Bay Area MBA Program for Working Professionals to a new location at Bishop Ranch Business Park in San Ramon, home to such Global 2000 companies as Chevron, Wells Fargo and Verizon.

UC Davis officials have signed a 64-month lease on an 8,978-square-foot suite at Bishop Ranch that includes state-of-the-art classrooms, meeting rooms and a student commons area for dining and studying. Bishop Ranch, located about 30 miles east of San Francisco, also offers a conference center and shuttles to BART stations. The lease begins Aug. 1. The program is currently located in the San Ramon Valley Conference Center in San Ramon.

"Having a permanent campus at Bishop Ranch will allow the Graduate School of Management to make even stronger connections with the Bay Area business community and potential students," said Nicole Woolsey Biggart, dean of the Graduate School of Management. "UC Davis already has a significant presence in the Bay Area, with more than 60,000 UC Davis alumni in the region, and we hope to strengthen relations with those interested in management education and practice."

Enrollment in UC Davis' Bay Area MBA Program for Working Professionals has more than tripled since the program opened its doors to its first class of 45 students in September 2005. Last fall, the program added 77 new students for a total enrollment of 165.

The enrollment gains take place in a fiercely competitive market: Nearly a dozen other part-time or "executive" MBA programs operate in the Bay Area, including those offered by the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, UC Berkeley, Santa Clara University and St. Mary's College of California, located in Moraga.

According to the latest survey of recent executive MBA graduates by the Orange, Calif.-based Executive MBA Council, the degree is associated with a 21-percent jump in pay. The 2005-2006 survey found that students entered training with an average $107,000 annual salary and earned $130,000 after obtaining their MBAs. In addition, 43 percent received a promotion.

Students in the UC Davis Bay Area MBA program typically take two classes per quarter and graduate in three years, but can accelerate their studies by taking additional courses. Most classes are taught by members of the UC Davis Graduate School of Management's regular full-time faculty, a fact that distinguishes the program from many of its competitors. Classes meet Friday evenings and Saturdays.

The UC Davis Graduate School of Management also offers a Working Professional MBA program in Sacramento, which has graduated 844 MBAs over the past 14 years. On the Davis campus, it offers a daytime MBA program that enrolls 120 full-time students, an undergraduate minor in technology management and a four-day Wine Executive Program.

The UC Davis Graduate School of Management is one of the nation's most highly rated small MBA programs. U.S. News & World Report has ranked it among the country's top 50 business schools for 13 consecutive years. Other recent ratings: The Financial Times' Global MBA 2008 survey ranked the school second in the field of organizational behavior; the Wall Street Journal's 2007 survey of corporate recruiters rated the school sixth worldwide in its preparation of graduates for the technology, Internet and telecom industries; and Forbes' 2005 "Best Business Schools" ranked the UC Davis Working Professional MBA program 16th among part-time MBA programs nationwide, based on graduates' five-year return on investment.

For more information and floor plans of the new space at Bishop Ranch, visit: http://students.gsm.ucdavis.edu/bamba/bishopranch.htm.]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8646">
<title>UC Davis Creates iTunes U Site</title>
<link>http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8646</link>
<description><![CDATA[UC Davis has launched its own iTunes U site that features free access to audio and video files on campus news, faculty research, interviews, music, athletics and academic courses.

The Apple Inc.-hosted site can be reached through the UC Davis portal at http://itunes.ucdavis.edu/. Apple began promoting the UC Davis site on its main iTunes U site beginning today.

UC Davis is among the first 52 colleges and universities nationwide -- and the second UC campus, following UC Berkeley -- to establish a free iTunes U site within the company's iTunes Store.

"This project gives UC Davis a great opportunity to take advantage of free, existing technology and to help a vast audience come to know more about our programs and academic strengths," said Lisa Lapin, assistant vice chancellor for University Communications.

The audience for UC Davis on iTunes U includes many of the campus's prospective and incoming students who expect to be able to find UC Davis in all of the places they frequent online, Lapin added.

Members of the campus community are now being urged to not only be iTunes U users but contributors, too. They can begin putting media recordings up on UC Davis on iTunes U by following directions offered on the UC Davis portal http://itunes.ucdavis.edu/.

"It is IET's goal to provide our faculty, students, staff and visitors with easy access to UC Davis' high-quality audio and video recordings that are both of immediate interest and long-lasting value," said Elizabeth Gibson, director of Information and Educational Technology-Academic Technology Services.

For the UC Davis on iTunes U launch, the site has been populated with nearly 50 videos, mostly developed by University Communications' Broadcast Unit. Also included are speakers' series produced by IET-Academic Technology Services' Media Services Unit as well as "Frontiers," a 30-minute-long public affairs TV interview program jointly produced by University Communications and Academic Technology Services.

UC Davis on iTunes U also includes longer news features, such as the 2005 "Farm vs. Farm" video, which recounts UC Davis' upset of Stanford in football; a profile of UC Davis teaching prize winner Zuhair Munir; the campus's "Sustaining UC Davis" video on campus sustainability; and TV host Huell Howser's tour of UC Davis, "Road Trip: UC Davis." The site also features many brief "NewsWatch" segments about UC Davis, including our campus olive oil production, the future of plug-in hybrid vehicles, and a historian's insights into Buffalo Bill and his era.

UC Davis faculty members are encouraged to add academic courses to UC Davis on iTunes U. Bernd Hamann, a professor of computer science, is the first faculty member to put a course, "Advanced Visualization (ECS277)," on the site.

Windows or Mac OS users can obtain free iTunes software from the iTunes site http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/. They can then download files and play them on an MP3 player, Mac or PC, or burn a copy onto a CD.]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8639">
<title>Workshop Helps Graduates Face Tougher Job Market</title>
<link>http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8639</link>
<description><![CDATA[UC Davis graduate Holly Lee is hard at work -- looking for a job.

The Los Angeles woman, who completed the requirements for her degree in March, is among the thousands of university graduates who face a tougher job market this spring.

But at UC Davis, she is also among those supported by the services of the Internship and Career Center -- including a May 8 career fair and a May 14 workshop on how to find a job in a tough economy.

"It's actually quite scary out there," said Lee, who studied managerial economics. "I'm using the services of the center to kick-start my career."

Naomi Kinert, an internship and career services coordinator with the center, will offer the upcoming workshop. "It seemed very timely to help students make the most of their search," she said.

In its "Job Outlook 2008 Spring Update," the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that employers expect to hire more new college graduates this year than they did last year, but at lower levels than originally anticipated. In the fall, employers projected a 16 percent increase in hiring; they revised that to an 8 percent increase in the spring.

Meanwhile, California's unemployment rate was 6.2 percent in March, according to California's Employment Development Department, and the U.S. unemployment rate was 5 percent in April, as reported today, May 2, by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor.

Kinert said the basic techniques of searching for a job in a difficult market are the same as they are in a good market. "We just up the ante," Kinert said. "Everyone has to be on top of their game."

The career adviser will also offer workshop participants some advice for managing the stress and emotions of a job search.

The Spring Internship and Career Fair at the ARC Pavilion on Thursday is one of eight career fairs the campus holds during the academic year. About 160 businesses and other organizations are expected to participate.

In addition to individual career advising and tools to help students assess their skills and interests, the center offers workshops on search techniques, resume writing and interview skills.

Lee said a career adviser helped her focus her job search in the field of advertising and media. And in a recent workshop, she picked up some tips to use in job interviews with prospective employers in Seattle later this month.]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8640">
<title>Student Health Care Focus of Groundbreaking</title>
<link>http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8640</link>
<description><![CDATA[May 5, Monday -- The ceremonial groundbreaking for a new Health and Wellness Center at UC Davis will feature remarks about student health care. After Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef describes the new facility, Fred Wood, vice chancellor for student affairs, will discuss student health as an integral part of academic success, and Dr. Michelle Famula, director of student health care, will speak on trends and challenges in health care for college students. The new $50.3 million facility will replace the Cowell Student Health Center, which opened in 1952 as a hospital and infirmary. With about 48,000 assignable square feet, the facility will be almost twice the size of the existing center. The project is supported with student fees from an initiative passed by students in 2002. Construction is scheduled to begin this spring with occupancy for the summer of 2010. The ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. on the site west of La Rue Road and south of Orchard Road.]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8641">
<title>Family Recipes Served in UC Davis Dining Halls</title>
<link>http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8641</link>
<description><![CDATA[Editor's note: For photos of the mother and son with cookies, e-mail jaeasley@ucdavis.edu.

As a mother of two boys and their little league baseball teams, Joan Heylman of San Diego learned years ago to quadruple her snickerdoodle recipe and make big cookies.

Even so, she might be surprised at how many of the cookies were served at UC Davis one day this week: about 375 dozen or 4,500.

Heylman's snickerdoodle recipe is one of about 30 recipes submitted by students' families and adapted for service in the dining halls, where about 5,000 students eat daily. The program, called "Favorites from Home," is a 25-year-old tradition at UC Davis.

"It allows us to introduce foods that come from home and are favorites of students living with us," said Linda Adams, a registered dietitian with Sodexo, which operates Dining Services at UC Davis. "It adds diversity to our menu as we enter spring and the residents have been here for six months already."

Dining Services solicits recipes from families in the fall, and typically receives 150 to 200 submissions. Adams and Andy Burtis, the director of culinary services, review the entries with an eye toward taste, appropriateness to the dining service and the kitchen's ability to actually make the recipes.

Sodexo tests 45 to 50 of the recipes and selects about 30 to serve in the spring quarter. Among those tasty treats on the menu are Pasta with Blue Cheese, Ricky's Lemon-Pepper Broccoli, Butternut Squash and Peanut Soup, Comforting Cobbler and Cranberry Soy Chicken Strips. The number of servings prepared varies from 200 to 4,000, depending on the anticipated popularity of the dish.

"Students seem to enjoy it, but the parents seem to enjoy it more!" Adams said. "Sometimes we'll even have winning families come to campus to sample their dish."

Scott Heylman, who is majoring in managerial economics and plays shortstop on the UC Davis baseball team, recently enjoyed his mom's snickerdoodles on campus.

"My mom's been making them since I was a kid," he said. "All my friends like them."]]></description>
</item>

<item rdf:about="http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8642">
<title>Google Maps Public Transit in College Town of Davis</title>
<link>http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=8642</link>
<description><![CDATA[It just got even easier for people to use public transit to get around the college town of Davis, Calif. Riders of Unitrans, the student-run bus system that serves UC Davis and the city of Davis, can now use a convenient online service to plan their trips.

With Unitrans' participation, Davis becomes one of about 50 cities worldwide for which Google offers public transit information over the Web. In the same way that Google Maps provides driving directions between two points, Google Transit gives people detailed transit information -- including routes, schedules and bus stop locations -- for travel between their starting point and destination.

"We want to make it as easy as possible for people considering public transit as a way of travel," said Anthony Palmere, assistant general manager of Unitrans.

As part of its commitment to sustainability, UC Davis encourages students and employees to use public transit, bicycles and other transportation alternatives to single-occupant vehicles. Unitrans, which is largely run by UC Davis students, provides about 20,000 passenger rides on a typical day.

Unitrans offers route and schedule information on its Web site, and trip planning assistance is available by calling (530) 752-BUSS during regular business hours, Monday through Saturday. But Palmere said many people are more familiar with Google's mapping service.

The new service is available at http://maps.google.com/transit. "Take Public Transit" is also offered as an option when someone goes to http://maps.google.com and searches for driving directions between two points. It draws the recommended transit route on a city map and provides bus stops, schedule options and travel times.

Unitrans makes data available to Google through the Sacramento Regional Transit District as part of a regional coordination program, which is funded by a federal grant to the Sacramento Area Council of Governments.

Palmere said the transit recommendations provided by Google are sound for simple trips, but more complex routing may introduce some glitches -- such as directing someone to walk across a freeway. He said Unitrans is providing feedback to Google, and the computer search programs are improving.

The Unitrans Web site at http://www.unitrans.com provides tips for using Google Transit, such as entering an intersection instead of the university's mailing address for directions to and from campus. Bus riders can also verify Google Transit information through Unitrans.

UC Davis has about 30,000 students and 26,000 employees at its facilities in Davis, Sacramento and elsewhere. Davis has a population of more than 64,000.]]></description>
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