This month, in its annual ranking of graduate and professional programs at American universities, U.S. News & World Report boosted the standings of the College of Engineering and the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education. Engineering rose from 24th place last year to 21st (in a tie) and GGSE moved from tied for 54th place to tied for 51st place. The school's program in counseling and personnel services was ranked 15th in the nation. Expanded rankings can be found at the magazine's Web site <www.usnews.com>.

UCSB's Recreational Sports Program hosts its annual "Spring Run in the Sun" 5k walk/run on campus Saturday, May 1, as a fund-raiser for the student Medical Emergency Plan Fund, also known as the Jack Canfield Chicken Soup Fund. Prizes for winners and a raffle are planned; participants' fees purchase pizza and Jamba Juice for all. Call x3253 for details.

HONORS & AWARDS

Angelica DeAngelis, lecturer in the Writing Program, has won the national Rachel Corrie Award for Courage in Teaching from the Conference of College Composition and Communication. Her award was for promoting social justice through her teaching and for service to the community.

Roland Knapp, research biologist with UCSB's Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory Natural Reserve at Valentine Camp, has been awarded the 2003 Excellence in Wilderness Stewardship Award. The U.S. Forest Service award recognized the value of Knapp's research on the effect of stocking non-native fish in wilderness lakes.

Each month the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) awards two $50 gift certificates from the UCSB Bookstore to TAP participants. In January, the winners were vanpool commuter Mehnaz Sahibzada, Writing Program intern, and bus commuter Ginny Rhodes, communications services; in February, they were undergraduate bike commuters Ahn Tai Tran, of computer engineering, and Linh Nguyen, of global studies; in March, they were carpool and bus commuters Carrie Culver, a lecturer in marine sciences, and Qian Guo, a teaching assistant in East Asian studies.

PUBLICATIONS

Lynn K. Koegel, clinical director of the UCSB Autism Research Center, has coauthored "Overcoming Autism: Finding the Answers, Strategies, and Hope that Can Transform a Child's Life" (Viking Penguin, 2004) with novelist Claire LaZebnik. Koegel's book tour will take her to Chicago next month.

TRANSITIONS

Lisa Altschuler, UCSB Alumni Association receptionist and general program assistant, has been promoted to membership coordinator for the association. She replaced Darilyn Kisch, who has retired.