*Michael Arkelian has been elected president of the 2,500-member California Public Defenders Association. Arkelian is a supervising assistant public defender in the homicide section of the Sacramento County Public Defender's Office.

*Steven P. Belzer, J.D., joined Livingston & Mattesich Law Corp. in Sacramento as senior counsel, where he represents clients on real estate, eminent domain and inverse condemnation issues. Belzer has worked in both the public and private sectors and is an experienced arbitrator and mediator, trained by the American Academy of Attorney-Mediators.

George Kagonyera, M.S., is now the chair of the Appointments Board at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, after serving for several years as a minister in the Ugandan government.

David Bainbridge, M.S., has been appointed coordinator of environmental studies at the U.S. International University in San Diego. He will teach courses while developing a bachelor's degree program in environmental studies. Students from 54 countries studied at the university last fall.

*Claudia Coleman was recently appointed vice president of corporate development of U.S. Computer Services in Rancho Cordova. She has more than 20 years of experience in planning and corporate development, including 10 years as an investment banker with Alex Brown and Sons.

R. Scott Yoo, M.S. '76, Ph.D. '79, has been appointed vice president of water quality at the San Jose Water Co. Before joining the company in 1985, he served as the water quality supervisor and laboratory director for the East Bay Municipal Utility District in Oakland. Yoo is a nationally recognized expert on water quality and a member of the American Water Works Association.

Max Rothschild, an animal science professor at Iowa State University, was awarded the Rockefeller Prentice Award in Animal Breeding and Genetics from the American Society of Animal Science. Rothschild's research has centered on quantitative genetics, immunogenetics and molecular genetics, primarily in pigs. He initiated some of the first research demonstrating the genetic control of immune response to several commercial swine vaccines and currently serves as the USDA's genome coordinator for the national swine gene mapping effort.

*Keith T. Kramer recently left the Oregon Court of Appeals to become an associate attorney with the Roseburg, Ore., law firm of Walton, Nilsen, Johnson & Guerra, P.C.

*Nan Turner, a fashion designer, recently took a position with Federated Department Stores product development, designing Charter Club brand career sportswear in New York City. Turner writes, "My dream is still to return to
California."

Ed Blonz, M.S., Ph.D. '83, a nutrition columnist, has written Your Personal Nutritionist: Fiber & Fat Counter (Signet). Blonz lives in Kensington.

Gary Starr, along with James McGreen and Michael Mack, founded ZAP Powersystems, which makes and markets the "ZAP pac" or zero air pollution, power-assisted cycling system, otherwise known as an electric bicycle. The ZAP system consists of a 12-volt battery that powers a 400-watt motor that turns the bicycle's back wheel. ZAP-fitted bicycles can travel at about 18 mph and about 20 miles before they need recharging. Starr became interested in electric vehicles as a student at UC Davis, and his interests led to his founding electric vehicle operations for U.S. Electricar. He was also named as one of the 10 most influential authorities on electric cars by Automotive News. Starr lives in Forestville.

Lowell Zelinski, Ph.D. '95, has been named Delta and Pine Land Company's new director of agronomic services. In his new position, Zelinski will help develop management information about cotton and soybean varieties and provide this information to growers. Before joining D&PL, Zelinski was a private cotton consultant in the San Joaquin Valley. He and his wife, Becky, live in Cleveland, Miss.

*Patricia Hammond-Karapinar recently opened her own architecture office in Placerville. Hammond-Karapinar received her master's degree in architecture from the University of Oregon in 1986. She and her husband, Sam Karapinar '78, have two daughters, ages 6 and 8.

John W. Hanes has retired from his civil engineering career in order to pursue his new life as a sculptor, working mostly in stone and bronze. Some of Hanes' works were recently shown in the Scottsdale Celebration of the Arts. He lives in Boonville.

*Janet (Dole) Krovoza, UC Davis' director of development for the College of Engineering, writes that she is "putting down roots in Davis." She and her husband, Joseph F. Krovoza, J.D. '94, bought a house in West Davis, where they live with their two daughters, ages 2 and 5. Joe Krovoza is practicing water law in Sacramento.

David J. Ross, M.D. '83, is currently an associate professor of medicine at UCLA and the medical director of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Lung/Heart-Lung Transplant Program.

David Warner joined the firm of Electronics for Imaging Inc. as a vice president of finance in March. Warner brings to his new firm 18 years of experience in managing the finances of high technology companies. His areas of expertise include finance and control, acquisitions, strategic planning, international operations and taxation. Electronics for Imaging Inc. produces hardware and software products to increase the output speed and improve the print quality of color copiers and desktop color laser printers.