Imagine learning how to navigate a virtual lab to splice a gene and extract DNA, then putting these newly acquired skills to real life use in a high school classroom equipped with top-notch lab equipment. Thanks to the UC Davis Partnership for Plant Genomics program and Biotechnology Kit Loan Program, high school students throughout the nation are able to use game-based software to acquire biotechnology skills.

Some of you may already be aware of the tree-sitting protestors at UC Berkeley that are currently preventing the construction of a new athletic facility (and if you weren’t, you certainly are now). I’m here to tell you that this protest is ridiculous.

Jason Mraz is coming to campus, and pre-sale tickets are being sold today starting at 10 a.m. Mraz is currently on tour promoting his latest May release, “We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things,” and will perform at Freeborn Hall on Nov. 3. Vocalist Lisa Hannigan, known for her work with Damien Rice, will open for Mraz.

Perhaps appropriate for a movie filled with stoners, Pineapple Express starts off doing one thing, goes to do something else, but forgets what, exactly, that other thing was along the way.

Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series on the major party organizations in Yolo County. The second part, featuring Republican organizers, will appear next Thursday. With a competitive election on the horizon that could result in the first Democratic president in eight years, Democrats in Yolo County are banding together and gearing up for the local campaign.

FRIDAY Friends of the Davis Public Library book sale Noon to 7 p.m. Davis Public Library, 314 East 14th St. Books will be sold for between 25 cents and $2, and DVDs, CDs and tapes will cost $1. The library has received a number of World War II, art and opera book donations, so look for these at the sale! The sale will also occur from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.

If you think your utility bills are high, just look at what the city of Davis may have to pay. The city is facing a legal requirement to upgrade its wastewater treatment system, a considerably complex undertaking. That issue is compounded by the fact that the city wants to upgrade its water supply system.

The July 31 article “Council considers ban on wood burning fireplaces” misstated the motion passed by the city council. The motion that passed unanimously was a motion to instruct the Natural Resources Commission to write a wood burning ordinance based on the commission’s recommendations, but without a permit system and with more criteria than just wind speed. The motion also instructed the commission and city staff to add a strong public education component to the wood burning regulation program. The motion did not respond to city staff recommendations regarding voluntary reductions in wood burning. The Aggie regrets the error.

Editor’s picks OK Ikumi, JP Haynie, All on Seven Saturday, 8 p.m., $5 Old Firehouse Jake Mann, The Spires, The Dazzling Strangers Saturday, 10 p.m., $3-5, 21 Sophia’s Thai Kitchen

University ofCalifornia President Mark Yudof announced thecreation of an accountability programdesignedto assess UC’s performance on multiple levels and generate reports available to the public.The firstreport isexpected to be released this fall. The report isintendedto make theuniversity more transparent and accessible to the public,aid in future strategic planning efforts for theUniversity of CaliforniaBoard of Regents and assist in managing budgeting issues.

As wildfires continue to blaze acrossCalifornia,one UC Davis group is aiming to learn more about the fires‘ potential effects on the ecosystem of theLake Tahoe basin. TheUC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center,a group of professors,researchers and graduate students studying sustainable use of the lake,recently installed a fourth air samplerdesigned to provide detailed analyses of the compounds and toxic materialsresultingfrom forest wildfires.

UC Davis expertsalongwith the Public Policy Institute of California concluded that a peripheral canalis the best solution to support both the economic and ecological value of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.