Campus News

With Barack Obama's presidential inauguration less than a week away, and an economic collapse seemingly even closer, students are nervous to hear what challenges Obama must face and hopefully defeat. On Tuesday, over 100 students and community members filled the Activities and Recreation Center ballroom to attend "Challenges for the President," where a panel of UC Davis professors discussed the social, economic, legal and foreign policy issues facing the future administration.

The wheels on the Unitrans buses may go round and round, but a different set of wheels on campus has slowed down lately. Adam Shapiro, a third-year clinical nutrition major, is in a wheelchair, and when he wants to get to class in Everson Hall, the uneven pathways are sometimes so rugged that he worries that his chair might tip over.

As of spring 2010, UC Davis students will no longer turn to the Cowell Student Health Center for their medical needs. Instead, they will be able to go to the Health and Wellness Center that is currently under construction on the west side of La Rue Road, just opposite from the Activities and Recreation Center and adjacent to The Colleges at La Rue.

In fall 2009, new students will enter UC Irvine's School of Law for the first time - all with free three-year tuition.

Set to open in August, the school will let in roughly 60 students and has plans to accept up to 200 students in years to come, said Rex Bossert, communications and public affairs director for UCI's School of Law.

Victoria Ortiz, dean of students and director of admissions for UCI School of Law, said that she expects roughly over 1,000 prospective students to apply by the Mar. 1 deadline.

For many students, getting to and from campus means being uncomfortably close to strangers. Unitrans officials say they have not recorded a significant increase in ridership over the past couple of years, but many students are complaining that the buses are packed.

When they're not in the classroom, UC Davis professors engage in cutting-edge research that expands scientific knowledge in their field of study. Some of the discoveries are small, but many have a far-reaching impact, attracting attention from national scientific organizations.

Six professors at UC Davis have been recognized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science for achievements like furthering the understanding of weight management and generating images of atomic molecules.

With President-elect Obama's inauguration just a week away, a panel of UC Davis professors will gather tonight to discuss the various challenges facing the new president.

The event will consist of individual presentations by four different professors who will discuss the economic, constitutional, social and foreign policy issues that Obama will confront when he takes office on January 20. Following the presentations, audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions of the panelists.

In protest of what they claim to be steadily decreasing levels of staffing at University of California Medical Centers and Student Health Centers, UC registered nurses at five medical centers have voted to authorize bargainers to call a strike if necessary.

This decision is in the midst of extended contract negotiations, which began in July 2008 in concern of staffing, wages and benefits.

A former UC Davis nutrition department employee was sentenced to 12 months in prison for stealing $160,000 of federal program funds for personal use over the course of six years.

Louis Sachs' winter break ended early this year.

He spent his break in Golan, a city in Northern Israel, with 10 other students on an all-Jewish educational trip. Halfway through his time abroad, on Dec. 25, five Israeli soldiers from his group were called to duty. The soldiers left for Gaza the next day, beginning what officials in the Middle East are calling the most deadly attack in the on-going Israeli-Palestinian conflict. To date, the campaign has claimed the lives of 880 Palestinians and 13 Israelis, according to BBC reports.

In times where the state budget is tight and student fees are on the rise, University of California officials are debating how to account for reduced funding. One option being considered is accepting a greater percentage of out-of-state and international students, whose heightened tuition fees will increase revenue.

For students, as well as the administration, the concept of waitlisting is a guessing game.

Barbara J. Noble, a senior associate at the Office of the University Registrar, says waitlisting is "a lot of forecasting," where the registrar never knows exactly how many students will choose a certain class, but they try to make the best guess.

UC Davis is expanding its language program with the Spanish department's recent introduction of Portuguese language classes.

UC Davis will join other UC schools such as UCLA and Berkeley who already offer similar programs.

"Most leading university Spanish departments, in the UC and elsewhere in the United States, offer some level of Portuguese," said Robert Newcomb, assistant professor of Luso-Brazilian Studies, who joined the Spanish department in the fall. "Our goal in introducing Portuguese into our curriculum was to make our department more compatible with this model and to make us more competitive in attracting undergraduate and graduate students."

2009 will mark Mark Yudof's first full year as president of the University of California system. There will be no shortage of challenges, as UC grapples with severe budget cuts while trying to increase accessibility and maintain affordability.

In a video posted on the UC president's web site, Yudof acknowledged that 2009 "will be a traumatic year." Still, he urged Californians to consider the impact UC has on the state, from cutting-edge medical research to solving global warming.

UC Regents to consider cutting freshman enrollment next fall

The University of California Regents will hold a special meeting Jan. 14 via teleconference to discuss a plan that would cut freshman enrollment at UC campuses for the 2009-2010 academic year as a result of insufficient state funding.