Roughly 1,600 people attended the Science Friday radio show at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts last weekend, and soon the whole world can hear a recording of the show.

UC Davis scientists are featured in the episode titled “Life Without Water,” to be presented on Capital Public Radio (90.5 FM) from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 9 to 11 p.m. this Friday (Sept. 30). Ira Flatow’s show also plays on more than 375 other National Public Radio-affiliated stations.

The show, recorded Sept. 24, included:

• Tessa Hill, associate professor, discussing ocean acidification and oyster shells
• Research scientist Oliver Kreylos and graduate student Jeanette Newmiller, presenting a show-and-tell with their Augmented Reality Sandbox
• Professor Emeritus John Crowe, describing the connection between blood platelets and tiny, dehydrated bugs that come back to life
• Forest ecologist Christina Restaino, describing how drought, climate change and bark beetles combine forces to kill trees
• The Martian author Andy Weir, a Davis native, pitting journalists against UC Davis grad students Ann Willis and Brad Arnold in a water quiz show.

Campus Store grand opening, Oct. 4-7

The first week of school is behind us, so you’d think the Campus Store in the Memorial Union would take a breather! No way: Next week the completely remodeled store celebrates its grand opening!

It’s a four-day open house: Tuesday-Friday, Oct. 4-7. Come on in any time for 20 percent off clothing, gifts and other items.

From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day, the store will serve popcorn and cookies, and invite visitors to spin a wheel for prizes.

Plus, Gunrock and the Cal Aggie Marching Band-uh! will stop by at noon on Tuesday and Friday.

The Amazon@UC Davis store next to the Campus Store held a grand opening earlier this month.

Canvas course count exceeds 1,000

The transition from SmartSite to UC Davis Canvas is well underway. As of last Friday (Sept. 23), approximately 1,000 instructors were using the new campus learning management system to teach more than 1,100 published classes with enrollment of 29,600 students.

“That’s more than the number of courses that are still using SmartSite,” said Todd Van Zandt, learning management system program manager. “It’s an excellent start. We appreciate the hard and thoughtful work that many people have done to get us here. We especially appreciate the work of the faculty as they have begun to adopt Canvas.”

UC Davis Canvas is replacing SmartSite during a transition that began in June and will last through the 2016-17 academic year. SmartSite is available for teaching through spring 2017, although most of the transition will have occurred by then. About 910 published courses are using SmartSite this fall.

The main goal now is supporting the new users of Canvas, especially instructors. Toward that end, the Move to Canvas project continues to offer a wide range of resources, from “getting started” workshops and in-person assistance for faculty, to drop-in hours and self-guided tutorials. More information is available online.  

— Bill Buchanan, TechNews

Open houses on campus development plan update

The draft planning scenario — a revised update of the campus’s Long-Range Development Plan — is available online and will be the subject of public forums next week.

See the draft planning scenario here. Want to learn more? Come to one of these outreach events:

• Tuesday, Oct. 4 — open house, 2-6 p.m., UC Davis Coffee House (Memorial Union)
• Wednesday, Oct. 5 — tabling, 5-8 p.m., Davis Farmers Market, Central Park
• Thursday, Oct. 6 — open house, 6:30-9 p.m., Davis Senior Center, 646 A St. (corner of Seventh and A streets), co-hosted by the city of Davis

Earlier coverage.

TANA silkscreen demo precedes fall workshop

UC Davis’ TANA community art center presents a silkscreen printing demonstration from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday (Sept. 28) for people interested in participating in the center’s fall quarter silkscreen workshop.

TANA — Taller Arte del Amanacer (Art Workshop of the New Dawn) — holds its silkscreen workshop quarterly for ages 13 and up, encouraging the exploration and representation of culture. The fall quarter workshop dates are Sept. 29 to Nov. 30. Spaces go quickly, so sign up soon. Send an email to TANA manager Drucella Miranda for more information.

For the demonstration, TANA co-founder and master printmaker Malaquias Montoya will produce a multicolored silkscreen print. He is a professor emeritus in the Department of Chicana/o Studies, which runs TANA at 1224 Lemen Ave., Woodland.

Davis Neighbors Night Out, Oct. 16

Neighbors are coming together all over Davis to plan street parties for Sunday, Oct. 16, for the 11th annual Davis Neighbors Night Out, a celebration of community and campus, sponsored by the city, the university and Associated Students of UC Davis.

Other communities across the country have night-out events earlier in the year. But here in Davis, we wait until the university is back in session — so students can participate. Organizers have a goal of seeing students and permanent residents start the year on a positive note, by meeting one another in a friendly setting, establishing good communication and forging connections to foster neighborhood safety and minimize conflicts.

Anyone can be a “party sponsor,” say, for a block party or a neighborhood association party, or a party in an apartment complex. The sponsor will take the lead in setting up an activity such as a potluck dinner, barbecue, dessert party or ice cream social to give neighbors an opportunity to introduce themselves and exchange phone numbers for neighborhood watch lists or future events.

The organizers suggest holding block parties in common areas to create a more welcoming feel (and to make the events easier to find, for people who may be unfamiliar with the neighborhood). Party hours should fall within the noon to 7 p.m. timeframe.

Be sure to invite everyone in the neighborhood, and consider personal invitations to newcomers. Sponsors can make and distribute their own invitations (there’s a template on the Davis Neighbors Night Out website, in the “Documents and Templates” section), or the city will prepare and mail invitations.

Sign up to be a party sponsor here. You can also see where other parties are being held.

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