Ella Gower is handling correspondence for Gov. Gray Davis this summer, Amy Tan is mingling with astronauts and Heather MacFarlane, well, she's scooping poop at the Sacramento Zoo. The three are among the more than 5,500 University of California, Davis, students who intern around the world each year. They develop skills, add experience to their resume, gain insight into a field and make contacts. In fact, more than 70 percent of recent graduates have had at least one internship experience. "There is not another program in the country placing students in the number and diversity of internship opportunities that UC Davis does," says Linda Hughes of the campus's Internship and Career Center. For political science major Ella Gower of Concord, working in the governor's executive office "makes everything come to life." Amy Tan of Daly City, a physics and communication major, is at the public affairs office at NASA's Washington, D.C., headquarters. Through the UC Davis Washington Center, about 150 students a year intern on Capitol Hill, at the White House or government departments and agencies. It's an opportunity, Tan says, "to see how you would fit in if you're going to be in their shoes." At the Sacramento Zoo, Heather MacFarlane of Mountain View helps prepare the animals' food, cleans their cages -- even scrubs the hippo pool. But in exchange, the animal science major gets to ask zookeepers all the questions that an aspiring zoo veterinarian has. About 50 students a year have internships with an international twist -- they're serving in diplomatic posts, ranching in Australia or researching markets for U.S. companies. Students sometimes earn up to 12 academic units toward graduation. Some, like Chris Balaon of Benicia, end up with employment, too. A 1999 graduate with a degree in computer engineering, he credits a six-month internship at Intel's Folsom site with helping him land a job with the company as a technical marketing engineer. Media contacts: Marcie Kirk Holland, Internship and Career Center, (530) 752-7260, makirk@ucdavis.edu; Julia Ann Easley, News Service, (530) 752-8248, jaeasley@ucdavis.edu.