New rankings for California law schools show UC Davis with the fourth-best overall pass rate on the July 2014 State Bar exam.

Dean Kevin Johnson broke the news in a blog post on Dec. 29: “Congratulations again to the Class of 2014!”

The rankings are based on the scores of first-time test takers from all American Bar Association-approved schools in the state.

Each school already knew its own pass rate, as announced in November. Johnson termed his school’s 85.6 percent “outstanding.”

The school-by-school rankings did not come out until this week. Here are the top 10: UC Berkeley (88.3 percent), Stanford University (87.6), University of Southern California (86.6), UC Davis (85.6), UCLA (81.7), Loyola, Los Angeles (79.9), Pepperdine University (77.7), UC Irvine (77.1), Chapman University (74.8) and University of San Diego (72.7).

The State Bar also provided average pass rates for all first-time test takers from ABA-approved schools (69.4) and for all schools (61.4 percent).

In his blog post this week about the school-by-school rankings, Dean Johnson gave “special thanks to Chris Ide-Don, who has redefined our academic support program, and Senior Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Hollis Kulwin for her leadership in those efforts.”

Don't forget the 7 and 5 when dialing!

Working on campus during winter break? Calling another campus phone? Remember: You must now dial all seven digits!

The dialing change, which took effect Dec. 22, eliminated the five-digit shortcut, whereby you could get away with skipping the first two numbers in the 752 or 754 campus prefixes. Now, calls will not go through without the 7 and the 5.

On the plus side, there’s no more dialing 9 to get an outside line, or 9 and 1 for calls outside the 530 area code. Only the seven- and 10-digit numbers are needed, just like the way we dial numbers on cellphones.

Making an international call? Skip the 9 for an outside line. Start your dialing with 011 and proceed with the country code, city code and local number.

Another change has to do with authorization codes, which are furnished to employees to charge calls to designated accounts. The new procedure: Skip the 9 (for an outside line) or the 9 and 1 (for calls outside the 530 area code), and begin by dialing 1001 (instead of 5). The rest of the process is unchanged. So, simply dial 1001 and the phone number you are calling, and enter your authorization code when prompted.

Yolobus boosts Woodland-Davis commuter service

Yolobus next week launches a second commuter route between Woodland and Davis and adds a new stop on the other Woodland-Davis commuter line. The changes are effective Monday (Jan. 5).

• Commuter Route 243 — New service, Monday-Friday, between the Spring Lake neighborhood and the County Fair Mall Transit Center, and the Silo Terminal. Two buses each morning, arriving on campus at 7:51 and 8:21; and two buses each evening, departing at 5:09 and 5:39.
• Commuter Route 242 — New stop at the County Fair Mall Transit Center. Monday-Friday service. One bus each morning, arriving at the Silo Terminal at 7:31 a.m. and at Cowell Boulevard and Drew Avenue at 7:40. One bus each evening, departing Cowell and Drew at 5:10 and the Silo Terminal at 5:21.

Yolobus’ Route 42 remains unchanged, running seven days a week between Woodland and Sacramento, with a stop at the Memorial Union Terminal. Route 42A runs clockwise; Route 42B counterclockwise.

UC Davis employees are eligible for discounted Yolobus passes through the goClub (alternative transit).

Live from The Pavilion: Men's basketball on ESPNU

The UC Davis men’s basketball team will play in a nationally televised game, in The Pavilion, for the third year in a row come Saturday, Jan. 10. The conference matchup with Long Beach State will be on ESPNU, starting at 8 p.m.

“We are excited that ESPN will return to The Pavilion and showcase UC Davis on a national stage,” head coach Jim Les said.

The Aggies drew a sellout crowd for their first ESPN game from The Pavilion, in the 2012-13 season, and a near-sellout crowd for their second ESPN game, in the 2013-14 season. Les and his team are hoping for another big crowd on Jan. 10 "to show the country what makes this university and program special.”

After a 6-0 start for the first time in 102 years, the Aggies are 9-2 now, the only team in the Big West Conference to make CollegeInsider.com's Mid-Major Top 25 — claiming the 25th spot two weeks in a row, despite a Dec. 28 loss at Washington State (in a game that was televised nationally on ther Pac-12 Networks).

Tonight (Dec. 30), the Aggies close out their four-game winter break road trip with a nonconference game at Seattle University. Game time is 7 p.m. Radio: KSAC (105.5 FM). Online audio. Online video.

Then comes a three-game home stand: 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 3, against Cal Maritime; 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 7, against Cal State University, Northridge; and 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 10, against Long Beach State. Tickets.

Free, online course: '10 Things' to know about materials science

Distinguished Professor Emeritus James Shackelford is going online to share “10 Things Engineers Should Know About Materials Science.” It is a free course for engineers and engineering students.

UC Davis Extension is offering the self-paced course, with discussion forums, Feb. 2 to March 9 on Canvas Network.

Shackelford, of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, has published more than 100 scientific papers and books, focusing on the structural characterization and processing of materials.

The “10 things” in the course title range from the menu of materials available to engineers in their profession, to the many mechanical and electrical properties of materials important to their use in various engineering fields. The curriculum includes the principles behind the manufacturing of those materials.

Here are the topics:

• The Menu of Materials
• Point Defects Explain Solid State Diffusion
• Dislocations Explain Plastic Deformation
• Stress vs. Strain
• Creep Deformation
• The Ductile to Brittle Transition
• Fracture Toughness
• Fatigue
• Making Things Fast and Slow
• A Brief History of Semiconductors

Enroll here. More information about UC Davis Extension’s engineering courses ia available online; by phone, (800) 752-8641; or email.

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