“Boot camp,” advanced training and a “train the trainers” class for UC Davis Canvas, the campus’s new learning management system, are scheduled for next week. All classes are free.

Clearing Out Lake Spafford

The Arboretum Waterway cleanup crew started in on Lake Spafford today (Sept. 6), as the project to clear the water of algae and aquatic weeds entered its third week. The crew has already cleared the waterway’s west end.

Andrew Fulks, assistant director of the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, said another contract will be prepared for cleanup of the waterway’s middle section, roughly between California Avenue and the Putah Creek Lodge.

At the east end, work is about to begin on a separate project: one that will create a 15-inch slope in the waterway. Then, weirs will be placed along the waterway, so that the water will cascade down to Lake Spafford. The idea is to improve the flow in what is really a pond, not a creek, and thus make the waterway less hospitable to algae and weeds.

Related stories:

• “Too Green: Arboretum Cleanup Begins”
• “Waterway Improvement Project to Begin”

The “boot camp” sessions and advanced training are intended for instructors who will teach UC Davis Canvas this fall, although all UC Davis faculty are welcome.

“Take the introductory session first if you’ve never started with Canvas,” said Todd Van Zandt, UC Davis LMS program manager. “But if you know Canvas already, feel free to skip the introduction and take the advanced class.”

• Train the trainers — 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 12, for staff whose jobs include teaching others how to use UC Davis Canvas.
• “Boot camp” — This introductory session will be presented three times: 8:30 a.m.-noon and 1-4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13; and 8:30 a.m.-noon Wednesday, Sept. 14.
• Advanced session — 1-4:30 p.m. Sept. 14.

All classes will be held in 75 Hutchison Hall. Separate registration is required for each class. Registration links are included in this TechNews article.

Instructors interested in UC Davis Canvas and other academic technology might also wish to attend the daylong Summer Institute on Teaching with Technology, this Friday (Sept. 9). Read earlier story.

Career Resource Showcase

Human Resources and Staff Assembly announced their second annual Career Resource Showcase, to help employees plan, develop and reach their career goals at UC Davis. The showcase began last year on the Davis campus, and this year it will be held on the Sacramento campus — everyone’s invited, regardless of your home campus.

Four standalone workshops are planned, all during the noon hour, Sept. 20 and 21, and 28 and 29, in the auditorium at the Comprehensive Cancer Center. Preregistration is not required. Light refreshments will be served.

The programs include “Career Journeys” (Tuesday, Sept. 21), in which three UCDHS employees will share their career journeys — the winding road to the present, the surprises, the challenges, the opportunities, and the role that mentoring played along the way; “Optimizing Your UC Davis Employment Application” (Wednesday, Sept. 21), for jobs on either campus; and “Telling Your Success Stories” (Wednesday, Sept. 28), about demonstrating your ability to share with employers what you can do for them and how you can solve their problems.

The final program is health system-specific: “Managing Your Career at UC Davis Health System” (Thursday, Sept. 29).

Sale alert: Apple products and more at the Campus Store

UC Davis Stores announced a one-day Apple sale, Friday, Sept. 16, along with a Tech Fair, and discounts on other products, including UC Davis-imprinted clothing and gifts, at the Campus Store and TechHub (which is located, temporarily, inside the Campus Store at the Memorial Union).

Faculty and staff already are eligible for Apple’s educational discount at the TechHub, and the one-day sale will provide an additional discount of 8 percent (up to a maximum additional discount of $200) on computers and select styles of the iPad. UC Davis Stores is extending the 8 percent discount to Dell and Microsoft Surface computers as well. The TechHub invites people to submit this one-day sale order form, to "tell us which computer(s) or iPad you would like us to hold for you."

Other sales are planned that day throughout the Campus Store, including 25 percent off all UC Davis-imprinted clothing and gifts.

Blood drive: Another ‘successful lifesaving event’

The last campus blood drive of the summer drew more than 350 participants, and 265 pints of blood were collected.

“What a wonderful way to end out Summer Session 2 with a successful lifesaving event,” said Felicia Roper of BloodSource. “We had an incredible amount of participation and collected more pints of blood than we anticipated.”

The drive, held Aug. 30-31, drew 356 participants, among them 108 first-time donors.

The next blood drive will be the ninth annual Causeway Classic Blood Drive, a friendly competition with California State University, Sacramento, to see which university can get more faculty, staff and students to donate blood. UC Davis’ turn at the competition will run for three days, Tuesday-Thursday, Nov. 1-3, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. all three days.

Sac State claimed the trophy last year, giving each school four victories. Each donor matters — in 2014, the Aggies edged out the Hornets by only 11 people.

Q-Line timetables incorrect in Unitrans’ printed schedules

If you’re using Unitrans’ printed schedule for 2016-17, be advised there are errors in the Q-Line timetables on Pages 32 and 33 (regular and finals service) and Page 43 (summer/break service). The Q Line runs the Davis perimeter, clockwise, via the Memorial Union Terminal.

Unitrans says the Q Line is unchanged from last year. Q-Line fliers with the correct timetables are available on buses. Or, you can download the corrected Q-Line timetables here.

All Q-Line timetables are correct when viewed online, either on Q-Line-specific webpages or in the complete Unitrans schedule (PDF). Also, all Q-Line information is correct on Google Maps and Nextbus.

On the plus side, the 2016-17 schedule — in print and online — features new, easier-to-read maps of Unitrans’ weekday and weekend bus lines.

West Village: Auto theft arrest and a stolen bike

Campus police reported the following cases at UC Davis West Village last Thursday (Sept. 1):

Around 9 a.m., while conducting a follow-up investigation into a rash of auto burglaries, a detective spotted a man who appeared to be casing vehicles in a parking lot, according to police. The detective said he followed the man as he fled in a small car, and stopped him when he ran a red light.

Police identified the man as Jeremy Humphries, 30, of Sacramento, and said they determined that he was driving a stolen vehicle and was in possession of stolen property from Davis and Sacramento. Officers booked Humphries on charges of auto theft and possession of stolen property. 

Later that day, police took a report of a burglary of a locked apartment. The burglar rummaged through personal property and took a bicycle, officers said.

The victim stated that the burglary occurred between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. while he was away from the apartment.

Anyone with information about this or similar incidents is asked to call the Police Department, 530-754-COPS (2677). Updates regarding this incident, when and if available, will be posted on the Police Department website.

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