The UC Davis Health Care Facilitator Program posted information on its website today (Jan. 6) addressing the Sutter Health-Blue Shield contract — the subject of a letter that Blue Shield of California sent Jan. 5 to more than 140,000 members who have used Sutter Health providers in Northern California.
 
The Health Care Facilitator Program website includes a link to a Blue Shield fact sheet describing a breakdown in negotiations between Blue Shield and Sutter, and what it means for patients. The website also includes UC's response, in regard to employees who may be affected.

Forum on ‘Police Conduct and Misconduct’

Student groups and the campus Police Department are collaborating on a series of community forums, starting this week with a discussion of “Police Conduct and Police Misconduct.” It is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday (Jan. 7) in the Activities and Recreation Center Ballroom.

“Several events have transpired over the last few months that have impacted our community here on campus and our nation as a whole,” reads a Facebook event posting.

It promotes the forum as a venue to discuss events across our nation regarding police-civilian relations and “create tangible actions that will collectively help us to push our university towards becoming a model of social justice and strong community.”

The posting describes the forum as “a safe space and opportunity to address issues and concerns regarding police conduct and misconduct across the United States.”

Law school’s bar exam pass rate 4th best in state

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 the last week of December. 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 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.”

Cold weather delays butterfly hunt

Professor Art Shapiro planned to set out today (Jan. 6) for the first time this year looking for a cabbage white butterfly. In a contest that he’s been running for 43 years, he’s hoping to find the first cabbage white of 2015 in Yolo, Sacramento or Solano counties —but if someone else finds one sooner, Shapiro will buy him or her a pitcher of beer.

Shapiro delayed going out earlier in the new year because the cold temperatures were not conducive to the butterfly’s emergence.

Even today, with the temperature barely getting above 60, he doesn’t expect to find anything soon. Still, he’s out there looking — hoping to win his own contest again (he’s lost only three times!).

He records the emergence dates as part of a study of biological response to climate change.

Earlier coverage. Check back with Dateline for more information on the contest.

Add the 7 and 5, skip the 9 and 1 when dialing!

Here are the basics of the dialing change that took effect Dec. 22 for campus phones:

• You must dial all seven numbers when dialing other campus phones. No more five-digit shortcuts; calls will not go through without the 7 and the 5 at the beginning of campus numbers.
• 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 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 this week launched expanded commuter service between Woodland and Davis, adding a second route between the cities and a new stop on the other Woodland-Davis commuter line, effective 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).

Arboretum seeks gardening, outreach volunteers

The UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden’s winter recruitment is underway, for people interested in serving as gardening volunteers or education outreach volunteers.

The application deadline is Friday, Jan. 16, for training sessions scheduled to begin in late January. Training will include a combination of expert instruction and hands-on projects.

• Gardening volunteers work in teams on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday mornings to help maintain and beautify landscapes. Training dates: Thursdays, Jan. 29-March 5.
• Education outreach volunteers work with staff and student interns on weekend days (mostly Saturday afternoons) to present educational programs for campus visitors of all ages. Training dates: Saturday afternoons, starting in late January.

The arboretum has set up a website with the forms (for downloading) and information on how to submit them (by email or fax). The earlier you apply, the better, because space is limited. A $20 training materials fee is due at your first scheduled training.

The same website also has more general information about the volunteer program.

Questions? Contact Roxanne Loe by phone, (530) 752-4880, or email.

Pediatric pulmonary hypertension clinic now open

The UC Davis Health System’s Pediatric Heart Center has added a pulmonary hypertension clinic, which can save Sacramento-area families from going to the San Francisco Bay Area for further diagnostic studies.

“We are a fully-equipped center that can provide assistance for children in this region,” said Stuart Berger, director of pediatric cardiology, who launched the clinic.

Pulmonary hypertension is high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs, often linked with certain heart, pulmonary or autoimmune blood diseases. Current therapies can profoundly improve patient outcomes, according to a UCDHS news release.

The news release described the clinic as a multidisciplinary program staffed by international experts. “We have an exceptional team of specialists from neonatology, pulmonary, critical care medicine and cardiology,” Berger said.

Previous to his appointment at UC Davis Children’s Hospital last year, Berger led a successful pediatric pulmonary hypertension clinic at Milwaukee Children’s Hospital.

The UC Davis clinic is open Wednesday mornings; referring physicians can schedule appointments by calling  (916) 734-3456.

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