UC Board of Regents Chairman Gerald Parsky has appointed UC Davis law professor John Oakley, chair of the systemwide Academic Senate, to search committees for two new positions in the Office of the President: chief operating officer and chief financial officer. Oakley also is among 14 people named to an advisory committee to assist UC President Robert Dynes in the search for a new chancellor for UC Merced. Carol Tomlinson-Keasey, the campus's founding chancellor and a former administrator at UC Davis, announced in March that she plans to step down on Aug. 31 to return to teaching and scholarship in psychology. She was a professor and administrator at UC Riverside for many years before coming to UC Davis as vice provost for academic planning and personnel in 1992. She served as dean of the College of Letters and Science in 1994-95. ...

Former Aggie basketball player and assistant coach Kevin Nosek is returning to UC Davis, again to be an assistant coach. Head coach Gary Stewart made the announcement. Nosek recently completed a three-year tenure as head coach at Menlo College, a private, undergraduate institution in Atherton, on the San Francisco Peninsula. He was a member of the Aggies' 1997-98 squad that compiled a 31-2 record and won the NCAA Division II national championship. Menlo is a Division III school. In returning to Davis, Nosek is joining a program that is preparing to move up to Division I in 2007-08. Nosek played for the Aggies from 1996 to 1999, then spent four years as an assistant coach. He is the son of Stan Nosek, vice chancellor of UC Davis' Office of Administration. At Menlo, Kevin Nosek helped turn around a program that won four games two years ago to one that finished 17-11 in 2005-06 for its most wins in seven years. Nosek guided the Oaks to the California Pacific Conference Tournament semifinals in 2004-05 and the tournament title game this past season, losing to Holy Names 86-69. Nosek's successor at Menlo is Brandon Laird, an Aggie alumni who served as an assistant under Nosek for the last three years. Laird played for the Aggies from 1997 to 2001, and joined Nosek on the 1997-98 championship team. …

Seven judges had quite a lunch on May 19, taste-testing 15 batches of chili in a cook-off put on by the Department of Military Science. The contest drew eight individual entries and seven from departments, with all entries prepared by staff members. Anthropology, represented by Elizabeth Guerra, took the top departmental honor. In the individual competition, first place went to Brenda Lance of Undergraduate Admissions, second place to Laurie Treacher of the Agricultural Issues Center and third place to Barbara McLaughlin of the Office of the Registrar. John Vochatzer of athletics headed the judging panel, and Lt. Col. Mark W. Connelly, chair of military science, presented the awards.