Campus News

Cesar Chavez Commemoration Week, hosted by the La Raza Law Students Association at UC Davis School of Law, continues today through Saturday. Events are free and open to the public, with lunch provided daily by El Mariachi.

Kathleen Rojas, the week's co-chairperson, said she is excited about the outreach involved with the week.

It's important to make sure we're reaching the community and furthering our goal of diversifying the legal profession, she said.

Altering an Exam

Student Judicial Affairs recently resolved a case involving a junior who altered an exam and submitted it for a re-grade. The student created a new version of the exam based on the original and made substantial modifications to the answers. Because of the striking differences between the two versions of the exam, the professor was thoroughly convinced that the student had altered his test. The student soon admitted to academic misconduct and agreed to 20 hours of community service along with the sanction of Deferred Separation until graduation. Deferred Separation means that a student can continue to attend school unless he or she engages in academic misconduct again.

Though newly appointed University of California President Mark Yudof has yet to officially assume his position, he has received praise from students and faculty alike.

Yudof, 63, was the president of the University of Minnesota before becoming the chancellor of the University of Texas system in 2002. He will replace departing UC President Robert Dynes this summer at a date yet to be determined.

The UC announced Yudof's appointment Mar. 27, seven months after Dynes announced his intent to step down after facing political pressure amid an executive compensation scandal. The university identified approximately 250 candidates to replace Dynes before narrowing the list down to fewer than 10, said UC spokesman Brad Hayward.

UC Davis is offering a two-day short course on the growing of olives and production of olive oil from Apr. 18 to 19. The course, held in Lodi, will feature professional olive growers, tree-fruit research specialists, and international olive experts. Attendees do not need a background in olive oil production to attend.

The course is specifically designed for beginners, said Paul Vossen, organizer of the event and Farm Advisor for the Sonoma and Marin Counties Fruits and Vegetables Marketing.

The course covers olive-related topics like orchard establishment, olive production in Spain, harvesting equipment and dealing with pests like the olive fruit fly.

Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef surprised UC Davis professor Brenda Deen Schildgen with a $40,000 teaching prize during her lecture at Olson Hall on Tuesday.

The UC Davis Prize for Undergraduate Teaching and Scholarly Achievement has been awarded to one outstanding professor each year since 1987 and is believed to be the largest undergraduate teaching prize in the nation.

The winner is selected based upon the recommendations of faculty, students and research peers, said Meg Stallard, chair of the UC Davis Foundation Board of Trustees.

This prize is presented each year in the belief that excellence in undergraduate teaching, combined with distinguished scholarly achievements, is what distinguishes universities, she said.

cholarships ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 are available for aspiring Hispanic engineers through the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.

The deadline for the Advancing Hispanic Excellence in Technology, Engineering, Math and Science scholarships is Apr. 1 and undergraduate and graduate students interested are encouraged to complete applications available on SHPE's website.

Students awarded the scholarship money can use it for a variety of education expenses, such as books or tuition, said Rafaela Schwan, director of programs for AHETEMS.

For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology will be hosting the third annual UC Davis robotics competition as a qualifier for the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) national robotics competition Mar. 20 to 22.

Approximately 40 teams from Northern California, averaging 20 high school students per team, will be competing in this weekend's event.

In addition to being an exciting event to watch, the event brings a number of talented and motivated high school students to campus, said Karen McDonald, director of the UC Davis engineering program and event coordinator, in an e-mail interview.

The next bald person you see might be trying to raise cancer awareness. St. Baldrick's Foundation will be hosting a head-shaving event today at the UC Davis Cancer Center from 5 to 8 p.m.

St. Baldrick's is a nonprofit organization that raises money for children's cancer research throughout the year. Participants raise money through donations and shave their heads to raise awareness for children who have cancer and may be going through chemotherapy. This year will be the fifth consecutive year that a St. Baldrick's event takes place at UC Davis, organized by the Keaton Raphael Memorial.

UC Davis Cancer Center researchers have found a probable explanation for some tumor cells' resistance to the breast cancer drug trastuzumab, commonly known by its designer name Herceptin.

Herceptin targets the protein HER2, which is a receptor of tyrosine kinase, an enzyme that encourages cancer cell growth.

In a Mar. 1 study published in Cancer Research by David Shattuck, Jamie K. Miller, Kermit L. Carraway III and Colleen Sweeney, initial results conclude that another molecule known as a MET receptor can act similarly to HER2 in some HER2-positive breast cancer patients, thus inhibiting Herceptin's effectiveness.