What:
"Foundation for the Future," a cornerstone ceremony to mark completion of the building foundation of the Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences. The ceremony takes place the day before the annual Lake Tahoe Environmental Summit.

When:
Saturday, Aug. 20, 4 p.m.

Where:
Sierra Nevada College's Lake Campus in Incline Village, Nev.

Who:
The lead officials will be U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.); Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn; U.S. Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.); UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef; and Sierra Nevada College President Paul Ranslow.

Other officials will take part from Tahoe Regional Planning Agency; University of Nevada, Reno; Desert Research Institute; Nevada Power Company; and the RAND Corp.

Visuals:
In an outdoor ceremony at the construction site, the officials will make brief remarks, then sign their names in the wet cement of blocks that will become the building's cornerstones.

Background:
The new $24 million Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences will be an international leader for science and teaching on the preservation of alpine lakes and their watersheds.

It will house offices and laboratories of the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC) and of the Desert Research Institute; exhibits and educational programs in the UC Davis Thomas J. Long Foundation Education Center; and offices, laboratories and classrooms for Sierra Nevada College students.
As a joint project of UC Davis and Sierra Nevada College, supported by federal, state, private and foundation funding, the facility is a national model for multi-institutional collaboration. In keeping with its conservation mission, the building is being built using many energy-efficient "green" technologies. It is expected to be completed in August 2006.



More information about the center: http://www-news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=7105


On the following day (Sunday, Aug. 21), UC Davis and Sierra Nevada College officials will take part in the annual Lake Tahoe Environmental Summit, being held this year at Commons Beach in Tahoe City, Calif. The summit program also will be led by Sens. Feinstein and Reid, and Gov. Guinn. Key issues to be discussed include Tahoe Basin water quality, wildfire danger and future planning efforts.

Directions and Parking:
Sierra Nevada College is located in Incline Village, Nev., at State Highway 28 and Country Club Drive. Parking for media is directly in front of Prim Library: Take the third driveway entrance on the right off of Country Club Drive. Media check-in is located to the left and outside the main entrance to Prim Library across from the TCES construction site.