Ella Gower is handling correspondence for Gov. Gray Davis this summer, Amy Tan is mingling with astronauts and Heather MacFarlane, well, she's scooping poop at the Sacramento Zoo. The three are among the more than 5,500 UC Davis, students who intern in the capital region and around the world each year. They develop important skills, add experience to their résumé, gain insight into a career field and make valuable contacts in the working world. In fact, more than 70 percent of the university's recent graduates have had at least one internship experience. "There is not another program in the country placing students in the number and diversity of internship opportunities that UC Davis does," says Linda Hughes, a program manager at the campus's Internship and Career Center. Ella Gower of Concord has a plum internship. Since March, she has been immersing herself in a living textbook on California government and politics--she--s working in the governor's executive office. "I'm learning a lot about Assembly and Senate bills and the Cabinet's role in the governor's decisions. "It makes everything come to life for me," adds the political science major. "Internships are the only way you can do that." As she tends to correspondence for the governor, answers telephone calls and greets visitors, she mixes daily with senators and assembly members. Through the UC Davis Washington Center, about 150 students a year serve in internships at the Smithsonian Institution, the National Institutes of Health, the CIA, the FBI, the White House, Capitol Hill and numerous other sites. As a child, Amy Tan of Daly City dreamed of becoming an astrophysicist and working at NASA. Now the physics and communication major is interning in the public affairs office at the Washington headquarters of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Tan helped to write an article for newspaper opinion pages commemorating the 30th anniversary of the first lunar landing and to organize a women's conference celebrating the first shuttle flight commanded by a woman. She has met the first woman to go into space and seen astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Trying out the "shoes" She's also accompanied the associate deputy for the department to meetings. "I think that's the purpose of all internships--to see how you would fit in if you're going to be in their shoes." About 50 students a year have internships with an international twist--they're serving in diplomatic posts abroad, ranching in Australia, studying the environment in South America or researching international markets for U.S. companies. Marcie Kirk Holland, who oversees international internships, says 10 UC Davis students are currently working at five children's homes in Japan. They help the children with their daily routines, tutor them in English and assist with case management. For Heather MacFarlane of Mountain View, the tasks at the Sacramento Zoo are not complicated. She helps prepare the animals' food, cleans their cages--even scrubs the hippo pool. In exchange, she gets to be around the animals she loves, learn about their behavior and ask zookeepers all the questions that an aspiring zoo veterinarian has. "I've learned how different all the animals are and how much you have to know about each one and its behavior," MacFarlane adds. "A vet can't just go up to a zoo animal and treat it like a cat or dog." Staff up keeps internship network Al Harrison, professor of psychology and director of the Internship and Career Center, says a professional staff of 16 work the telephones, make personal visits and do a lot of networking to develop and maintain the diversity of internships for all majors. Students are also able to propose and develop their own internships. Internships range from four to 40 hours a week and are 10 weeks to 12 months in length. Some internship sponsors cover students' expenses while others in high-demand fields like engineering and computing may pay as much as $3,000 a month. Many interns, like MacFarlane, are unpaid volunteers. In fact, Harrison says about 80 percent of the internships meet a state definition of community service, including internships involving health education, counseling and other work with nonprofit organizations. Students may have internships noted on their academic transcript and sometimes earn up to 12 academic units toward graduation. Some, like Chris Balaon of Benicia, end up with employment, too. A 1999 graduate with a degree in computer engineering, he credits a six-month internship at Intel's Folsom site with helping him land a paid position with the manufacturer of computer chips. "Interning there really helped me decide I wanted to work there," says Balaon, who starts his job as a technical marketing engineer in August.