The public is invited to come hear national and international leaders tell the stories behind major issues facing the state -- war, natural resource shortages and culture clashes -- at the California Studies Conference, scheduled for April 24-26 at UC Davis.

Featured will be Anthony Swofford, former Desert Storm Marine sharpshooter and author of the best-selling memoir "Jarhead"; Dana Gioia, the new chair of the National Endowment for the Arts; actor and cultural activist Peter Coyote; and Deborah Madison, founding chef of Greens Restaurant and a national voice for California cuisine.

Many events will be free and open to the public.

"California Stories: Origins, New Starts, Coming of Age" is the theme for the 15th annual conference, co-hosted by the California Studies Association and the new Pacific Regional Humanities Center at UC Davis. It gathers political scientists, earth scientists, digital specialists, writers, artists, shapers of public policy, economists, urban geographers, elected officials, vintners, political activists and others.

The event explores a wide range of issues, including California's boom-and-bust economy (busted) and budget mess (again), the mixed legacy of the Silicon Valley, recent and coming fights over energy and water.

Other topics among the 23 panels are the obvious sanity of regional planning and why it is not adopted, the promise of and anxiety over bioengineered crops, choosing the image for the California quarter and the state's foundations and their hidden role in shaping public policy.

Among the scheduled speakers are:

• Anthony Swofford, "Jarhead" author, 3 p.m. Friday, April 25, MU II, Memorial Union, UC Davis campus;
• Gary Snyder, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and UC Davis professor emeritus, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 24, Wyatt Pavilion, UC Davis campus, public reception to follow;
• S. David Freeman, the California Energy "Czar," 3 p.m. Saturday, April 26, MU II, Memorial Union, UC Davis campus;
• Dana Gioia, newly appointed chair of the National Endowment for the Arts and a California resident, 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 25, Crocker Museum, public reception to follow;
• Deborah Madison, founding chef of Greens Restaurant and author of the best-selling "The Greens Cookbook" and "Local Flavor," 1:30 p.m. Friday, April 25, MU II, Memorial Union, UC Davis campus;
• David Mas Masumoto, Central Valley farmer and author of "Epitaph for a Peach," 1:30 p.m. Thursday, April 24, 202 Wellman Hall, UC Davis campus; and
• Peter Coyote, actor and 1960s cultural activist, 10:30-11:50 a.m. Friday, April 25, MU II, Memorial Union, UC Davis campus.

For conference program, registration and additional information, visit the Web site http://prhc.ucdavis.edu/cscpapers.html, e-mail prhc@ucdavis.edu or call Aaron diFranco at (530) 752-9857.