Toothsome mystery
UC anthropologists were aching for answers when they found an unusual
cache of animal and human teeth deep inside a cave in southern China.
Reporting at a conference in Hawaii earlier this year, assistant professor
Lynne Schepartz pointed out that not only was the number of 200,000-year-old
teeth overwhelming, most were from very large animals who could not have
lived inside the Panxian Dadong cave. After careful investigation, Schepartz
and her Chinese collaborators believe they have solved the puzzle. Since
there was no stone in the area hard enough for toolmaking, prehistoric
peoples probably collected the teeth as they hunted and used them later
for simple cutting tasks.
photo left/Lisa Ventre
photo right/courtesy of Lynne Schepartz
Service
matters
Courteous, helpful and prompt employees are unquestionable assets in the
business world, but UC is also committed to extending a more customer-friendly
face across all its campuses this school year.
Last May, President Joseph Steger announced the formation of a university-wide
customer service program, primarily to offer improvements that impact
students' campus experience. He has designated this effort the "Fifth
Imperative," of equal importance with UC's other strategic imperatives:
academics, campus open space, connectivity between campuses and quality
of life and services.
One of the first tasks for the program's advisory committee is a careful
review of results from the spring 2000 Student Satisfaction Survey, the
most comprehensive survey of its kind ever conducted at UC. Students reported
high satisfaction with the quality of faculty at UC, the availability
of faculty members outside class and the level of safety at UC, whether
in dorms, waiting for shuttles or inside parking garages.
On the other hand, students were unhappy about the cost and availability
of parking on the main and medical campuses, as well as basic student
services, many of which are already being addressed through the Collaboration
for Student Success and the construction of a One-Stop student services
center.
It's
elementary
Making room for a new public elementary school on the campus of Raymond
Walters College certainly proves UC's community spirit. It also may be
the first time such a school, scheduled to open in August 2002, will operate
independently on a college campus.
When the Sycamore Community Schools could not find a site for a new 84,870-square-foot
elementary building, Raymond Walters' administrators offered space at
the southeast corner of their 132-acre campus. In appreciation, the school
district is adding an adult-education wing to be used for district teacher
development during the day and for college classes on evenings and weekends.
"Creative thinking on the part of all involved will provide continuing
opportunities for collaboration," says Dean Barbara Bardes. "Students
of all ages are sure to benefit."
Link: More information available.
