May 10 - Health equity for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders, affordable course materials
Section 1
Two two-wheelers. Photo by Steve Zylius/UCI
UCI ANNOUNCEMENTS AND NEWS
How data can obscure true needs of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month. It was established in 1978 to celebrate accomplishments and contributions. But as Sora Park Tanjasiri articulates in this installment of the Bridging the Gap series, it is also a time to focus on specific challenges and opportunities when it comes to confronting health equity.
Affordable Course Materials Initiative aims to cut student costs
UCI estimates that the yearly cost of books and supplies is $1,346 per student. When students cannot afford the course materials they need, they may resort to using out-of-date materials or foregoing materials altogether, which can detract from their learning. Providing students with affordable course materials has been shown to make higher education more equitable and inclusive. It not only reduces the cost of education, but increases graduation and retention rates. The Affordable Course Materials Initiative, spearheaded by a team of UCI librarians and funded by an Innovation Grant from the UCI Libraries, seeks to expand student access to free and reduced-cost course materials. The next information session for faculty is June 7.
Study links sharing behavior by children to counting skills
Fair sharing behavior is a skill typically learned between ages 4 and 6. However, little is known about the cognitive building blocks that develop these skills. Researchers at UCI, Harvard University and Boston College examined children’s sharing behavior in relation to number knowledge, working memory and cognitive control. Their findings, published in Child Development, showed that symbolic counting skills were the single biggest predictor of children’s fair sharing behavior and that prompting children to count improved this behavior.
UCI team to launch skin biology training effort
A team from the UCI Skin Biology Resource Center has been awarded a five-year, $970,000 grant from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases to launch an interdisciplinary skin biology training program. The program will take advantage of faculty expertise in skin biology, systems biology and imaging. The grant will fund three graduate students and one postdoctoral fellow.
UC NEWS AND GENERAL NEWS
For 7th year, Grad Slam delivers research you can remember
The annual contest challenges grad students to sum up their research in three pithy and jargon-free minutes using language that a non-research audience can understand. Viewers who tuned into the livestreamed event on May 6 learned about a new way to dry food that cuts both food waste and carbon emissions; the health benefits of CBD; and how mutations in a single protein can influence circadian rhythms and health. UCI student Rachel Sousa took 3rd place at the systemwide event.
EVENTS
WhimCycle Festival of Bikes
Thursday, 10 a.m. (sponsored by UCI Transportation and Distribution Services)
Cannabis Medical Research in the Americas
Thursday, 11 a.m. (sponsored by UCI Global Engagement)
Resiliency: Bouncing Back after a Setback
Thursday, noon (sponsored by HR Wellness)
Patsy Takemoto Mink, First Woman of Color in Congress
Thursday, noon (sponsored by UCI Illuminations)
Using Canvas Assignments and Calendar to Enhance Learning Collaboration
Thursday, 1:30 p.m. (sponsored by Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation)
Nursing Excellence Awards
Thursday, 3:30 p.m. (sponsored by UCI Health)
Building Community to Confront Extremism
Thursday, 4 p.m. (sponsored by Office of Inclusive Excellence)
Ecological Erasure as a Site of the Continuing Terms of Order
Thursday, 5 p.m. (sponsored by School of Social Sciences)
Visit today.uci.edu to see and submit event listings. Events of general interest will be shared in UCI Digest two days before they occur.
UCI IN THE NEWS
Note: Some news sites require subscriptions to read articles. The UCI Libraries offer free subscriptions to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Orange County Register and The Washington Post for students, faculty and staff.
Where does student loan forgiveness stand? Borrowers wait anxiously on Biden
Los Angeles Times, May 10
Cited: Professor Dalié Jiménez, director of Student Loan Law Initiative
Should utilities rethink the power transmission model?
Marketplace (audio), May 9
Cited: Brian Tarroja, assistant researcher, Advanced Power & Energy Program
What surfing says about the importance of serendipity in life
Psyche, April 20
Cited: Aaron James, philosophy professor
#UCICONNECTED
Elizabeth Hafen, a political science and psychology senior, credits the student enrichment programs in UCI social sciences for inspiring her plans to be a community changemaker.
#UCIconnected spotlights student, alumni, faculty and staff photos, essays, shoutouts, hobbies, artwork, unusual office decorations, activities and more. Send submissions via email or post on social media with the #UCIconnected hashtag.