Campus News

Evidence has existed for quite some time implying the possible benefits of animal companionship, including lower blood pressure, reduced anxiety and more active lifestyles. Many benefits, however, are only anecdotally or correlationally supported – a situation that scholars at UC Davis have taken an interest in rectifying. UC Davis researchers recently conducted an empirical study along with Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) that showed quantitatively significant improvements in reading skills when children read aloud to animals. The experiment was one of the first of its kind.

As the result of UC’s ongoing budget deficit, administrators and faculty are looking to online instruction to expand access to courses as university space and resources diminish. At last week’s UC Commission on the Future meeting, the education and curriculum work group recommended that online education should have a greater role in the undergraduate and graduate curricula to reduce costs and hasten student time to obtaining degrees. Keith Williams[cq], associate professor of exercise biology and co-chair of the work group, referred to an ongoing pilot program of 40 courses to evaluate the quality and cost effectiveness of online courses. The Office of the President and the systemwide Academic Senate currently coordinate the program.

The clanging of barbells, pounding of treadmills and smell of exercise can sometimes make even the most fitness-conscious people reluctant to work out. But what about students who don’t feel the magnetic pull to the ARC to begin with? “The space at the gym can be intimidating for anyone, especially LGBT people,” said Liz Montegary, a fitness trainer and graduate student in cultural studies. “It’s a place with very rigid gender roles – where men are expected to do things to get their body to look a certain way and women are supposed to do other things to get their body to look another way.” Circuit Party, one the classes offered by Fitness and Wellness’ new Small Group Training program, aims to create a comfortable environment to introduce LGBT students to the gym. Taught by Montegary, the class is specifically for LGBT identified and LGBT-friendly students of all fitness levels.

Students hoping to live in the Davis Student Cooperative (DSC) house in the fall are in luck – the house is staying open for at least one more year.

Following the student protests and occupation of Mrak Hall last November, the Yolo County District Attorney (DA) is continuing with its case against one arrestee on charges of assault on a police officer.

After months of meetings and public forums, five working groups revealed their proposals to The UC Commission on the Future -created last July to assess the future of the university in light of budget deficits.

Evolutionary biology professor Rick Grosberg got his cake and ate it too, along with a $40,000 prize.

ASUCD Senate Meetings are scheduled to begin Thursdays at 6:10 p.m. Times listed are according to the March 11 meeting locations, the Silo Cabernet Room and the Memorial Union’s Mee Room.

According to the numbers, most of you never saw the inside of a U-DASH minibus, and probably never will.

After initially denying that anyone was hit with a Taser during campus protests on March 4, the California Highway Patrol changed its story in response to a California Aggie investigation published yesterday.

Question: Is it legal to pull a fire alarm? And if not, what are the consequences?

In light of recent hate crimes that have swept UC campuses, the UC Office of the President (UCOP) has rolled out a program intended to help employees maintain a healthy work environment. The compliance briefing, titled “UC Ethical Values and Conduct,” was officially introduced online on Mar. 3 through the Office of Ethics, Compliance and Audit Services (ECAS), a subdivision of UCOP. The newly revised program will be implemented systemwide, although the individual campuses are allowed some leeway in determining such provisions as whether or not undergraduate student employees will be required to take the survey or what the consequences for non-compliance will be.