February 9, 2017

the California Aggie SERVING THE UC DAVIS CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY SINCE 1915

VOLUME 135, ISSUE 15 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017

Muslim students respond to recent Events Muslim Student Association curates five-part Davis Muslim lecture series

GENESIA TING / AGGIE

BY AARON LISS campus@ucdavis.edu The UC Davis Muslim Student Association (MSA) will host a fivepart Islam awareness lecture series on campus for students in response to the current political climate and prevalence of negative attitudes toward Islam.

The hour-long lectures, which include topics such as “The Chameleon Muslim” and the “Rituals and Practices of Muslims,” illuminate the shared and diverse experiences of Davis Muslims.

Kumran Islam, a Muslim alumnus of UC Davis, spoke at the opening event on Jan. 25, “What is Islam,” to dispel myths and spread accurate knowledge regarding the Muslim religion. Islam’s lecture provided an interactive introduction to the series, as he encouraged participation, questions and debate from the audience.

The recent Islamic Center of Davis hate crime emboldened Islam to speak and question the acceptance of his religion within America.

Islam spoke about the Jan. 22 attack on the Islamic Center of Davis, where an unidentified female vandal laid bacon on door handles and shattered windows.

“I thought it was important to come today considering the recent hate attack on the local masjid,” Islam said. “I think it’s not only important for us to be aware of our Muslim brothers and sisters, but to understand how incidents like this cause us to reflect upon ourselves and who we are as American people — whether we truly fulfill the ideals that we proclaim to [have] as an American society.”

Two days after the first Davis Muslim lecture, on Jan. 27, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to temporarily ban travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

Hansa El-Nounou, a first-year communication major, an MSA member and an upcoming speaker at the Feb. 15 talk, felt disenfranchised by the new president’s executive order.

“My personal, and others’, reaction was kind of that of mortification.” El-Nounou said. “We were holding onto the hope that he wasn’t

actually going to pull through with it. It was really scary, but also, in a weird way, it was empowering to the community because we realized we have to stick together. We’re doing our best to be good Americans.”

Aafreen Latheef, a third-year civil engineering major and MSA member, worked in conjunction with ASUCD to present the lecture series.

Latheef felt compelled to respond to political and social contention surrounding Islam.

“The problem, especially with the current president, is that there’s a lot of bigotry towards minorities and a lot of Muslim people are feeling threatened and attacked,” Latheef said. “We just wanted to spread knowledge about Islam.”

Adilla Jamaludin, a former ASUCD senator and a third-year international agricultural development major, started planning the series

BRIAN LANDRY / AGGIE

UC DAVIS TELLS ITS LOVE STORIES Students, alumni share how they met their partners in Davis

BY GILLIAN ALLEN features@ucdavis.edu From picnics at the Davis Farmers Market to weddings in the Arboretum, UC Davis Aggies have carved out time in their busy quarters for a little romance. In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, The California Aggie reached out to students and alumni through social media, asking them to volunteer their campus love storwies.

The story of Genie Obina, a fourth-year community and regional development major, and recent managerial economics graduate Cameron Do began in Segundo’s Ryerson Hall. After meeting through mutual friends, they eventually became so close that Obina was able to turn to Do when she had to go home to the Bay Area for a family emergency.

“I had to go home but didn’t have any way of getting there,” Obina said. “I messaged our friend group chat asking if anyone could give me a ride to the Bay Area, and [Do] responded

saying he would bring me. Him being there as a good support system and someone I could trust really helped me handle the situation and brought us closer, but was also the starting point of another relationship beyond friendship.”

Obina said her family always kept Do in mind because of how kind he was to take her to the hospital, and she noted that their relationship may have not ever had the chance to develop if she did not have to go home for an unfortunate circumstance.

“My family had never met [Do] but he came with me to the hospital where almost my entire family was,” Obina said. “At first they were confused about who he was, but later everyone, even my aunts and uncles, went up to him and told him how nice it was that he brought me to the hospital and how much they appreciated it.”

Obina said that this situation solidified her relationship with Do into something more than friendship. If it hadn’t happened, Obina and Do’s love story might have never lasted the year

last quarter.

“I came up with this idea when I was still a senator with ASUCD last year, and the whole idea was that with the current political climate, it just seemed like the right time to have an informational series of lectures about the Muslim faith,” Jamaludin said. ”For me, it’s really nice to see this series happen because there’s different experiences for different Muslims on campus. There isn’t just one mold of what a Muslim is and it’s important to have that type of diversity of experiences shared.

It’s also a great way for other students who are learning about Islam or the Middle East to be exposed to it on their own campus.”

Latheef invites and encourages non-Muslims interested in Islam to attend the remaining events.

“We wanted to target it towards non-Muslims who were curious,” Latheef said. “Maybe they’ll see that it’s a very peaceful religion.”

they have been together.

Tica Bragg, a second-year cognitive science major, was not an experienced soccer player when she joined a co-ed intramural (IM) team for fun during her freshman year. After some time, she decided that the team was not something she wanted to be a part of anymore, but she went to one last practice anyway. That fateful night, she began to fall in love with now-boyfriend of nine months Emile Rappaport, a second-year theater major.

“At the end of practice I asked if anyone wanted to go to the dining commons for late night knowing no one would pass that up,” Bragg said. “I just remember thinking he was unique and I liked that. We talked for a while that night, and the rest is history.”

Rappaport swore that it was a combination of his charm, funny personality and, most importantly, the two goals he scored during an IM game that helped him win over Bragg.

“Approaching summer, we had only been dating for three weeks,” Rappaport said. “At that point you don’t really know what the other person’s life is life back home, so there was an elevated amount of trust we needed to put in each other so that we could make it through the entire summer.”

Bragg believes that the distance over summer actually made them fall even more in love and proved that they were on the same page about wanting to make the relationship last. Bragg’s own likes and interests are now becoming a part of Rappaport’s life too, and vice versa. For example, Bragg was inspired enough by Rappaport’s passion for theater to audition for a role in a play, something she said she never would have done if it were not for him.

“I love dancing and just doing adventurous things, and [Rappaport] is someone who always wants to do things I love with me,” Bragg said. “For example, we just planned a trip to go skydiving together and I love that we can go do crazy things together.”

Regardless of whether or not she continues her newfound interest in theater, Bragg supports Rappaport by going to his shows and even surprising him by bringing his parents along with her.

Bragg and Rappaport both appreciate the many

different environments that Davis has to offer — especially IM sports — and agree that the campus is a place where amazing relationships can form.

“UC Davis is such a crazy-large campus with so many different types of people,” Bragg said. “It’s amazing when you put yourself out there in a different environment to see the people you’ll meet and the people you’ll eventually fall in love with.”

Falling in love is exactly what Alyssa Jenkins and Dan Elefant did, two UC Davis alumni from the Class of 1990. This happily married couple of 25 years met in 1987 in the Tercero snack shop where Jenkins happened to be playing arcade games.

“This guy came down and wanted to play the game next to mine,” Jenkins said. “At that moment, my game ended and I wanted to learn how to play his so he started showing me how and that sparked us talking. At the time I didn’t think anything of it.”

A week or so after they first met, Jenkins returned to Davis after spring break to find a note on her dorm whiteboard from Elefant inviting her to a party. Jenkins remembered Elefant as somebody she got along with and enjoyed talking to, but she was not on the prowl to meet someone, which was one of the reasons she attributes to their relationship working out. “[Elefant] didn’t meet me when I had makeup on, or was dressed cuter, or was being more flirtatious, so [for] the entirety of our dating period I never felt like I had to be anything other than myself,” Jenkins said. “When you’re trying to meet somebody you kind of put up a front, but the day we met I was just out there to kill time and he was there on a study break in the middle of finals, but instead he ended up down there for three hours talking to me.”

Jenkins was very confident in knowing what she wanted from a possible relationship.

“My first two quarters I dated people that really did not fit my value system, so that made me realize that they weren’t keepers,” Jenkins said. “[Elefant] and I share the same values and even though we have different traits, we complement each other. You have to have the same value system and that is the core of VALENTINES on 10

2 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

University of California Regents meet, approve first tuition raise in six years

ASHLEY VO / THE DAILY CALIFORNIAN

BY K E NTON G OLDS BY ca mpu s @ th e a ggi e .o r g

The Regents of the University of California (UC) met at UC San Francisco at Mission Bay on Jan. 25 and 26, approving the first tuition increase for the UC system in six years. Although other busi-

ness items were discussed at the meeting, tuition dominated the discussion.

ASUCD President Alex Lee was present at the meeting to provide a public comment.

“The reality is that these increases will not be moderate for us,” Lee said. “The Middle Class Scholarship is on the chop-

Regents approve tuition increase in 16-4 vote ping block in the proposed state budget [...] Too many students already skip meals or don’t buy necessary books to afford tuition or, even worse, may not be able to afford skyrocketing rents. We are facing a crisis of affordability.”

UC President Janet Napolitano, who was present at the meeting despite her recent hospitalization, explained that money for the UC must come from somewhere, but the state continues to not fully fund the system.

“We have done more with less, but at a cost: higher student-faculty ratios, fewer courses, fewer teaching assistants and student services that haven’t kept pace with student growth,” Napolitano said.

“We are working hard to secure state funding and other sources of revenue that support growth.”

This growth includes large increases in enrollment throughout the UC system.

“This fall we enrolled 7,500 more California undergraduates than last year, the largest one year increase in resident

enrollment since World War II,” Napolitano said. “This entering class is the most diverse ever and among the most accomplished academically. We are committed to another increase of 2,500 California students next year and 2,500 more the year after that.”

At the end of discussion, the board of regents voted to increase tuition by $336 per year: $282 in direct tuition increases and $54 for student fees. This will bring in-state tuition to $12,630. Out-of-state tuition was increased by an additional $1,688, raising it to $40,644.

One of the four regents (out of 20) who voted against the tuition increase was Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom. During the debate, he specifically focused his criticism on the unwillingness of the state government to increase funding to the UC. “I’m not going to vote against the budget [...] I just don’t like the revenue proposals,” Newsom said. “By doing the legislature and the governor’s work by

finding the revenue, we’ve let them off the hook [...] They will see this as an effort not to do their work — to find the $88 million [that are unfunded]. They don’t have to now.”

Before voting on the final budget, a motion to divide the approval of the budget into two motions took place: a first vote on increasing tuition, and then a second vote on the final budget. Under this motion, the budget could not be approved if tuition increases were blocked.

The motion to divide the question failed in a 12-8 vote.

In addition to Newsom, student Regent Marcela Ramirez, Assemblymember John Pérez and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson also voted against the tuition raise.

The UC Regents also voted to approve a new professional school at UC Irvine — the Sue and Bill Gross School of Nursing. In addition, Pérez was appointed as the new chair of the Academic and Student Affairs Committee.

News in Brief: A Valentine’s Day for everybody Davis Cemetery District hosts fundraiser with potted plants

NICKI PADAR / AGGIE

Project Toto aims to address questions regarding city finances Davis residents create financial model to make city’s financial state more transparent

BY B IANC A ANT UN E Z ci ty@th ea ggi e .o r g

To increase transparency between the city’s financial situation and the community, three residents created a model called Project Toto which aims to improve how the city communicates its finances in an easily accessible design.

Jeff Miller and Matt Williams, who are members of Davis’ Finance and Budget Commission, joined together with Davis entrepreneur Bob Fung to create the model plan to bring the project to the Finance and Budget Commission in February, according to Kelly Stachowicz, assistant city manager.

“City staff appreciate the efforts that have gone into this, and the interest in trying to look at the city’s potential financial position over the long term,” Stachowicz said in an email interview. “We all have a shared goal to plan for a sound fiscal future with few surprises. We believe the Project Toto effort will mesh well with our other efforts as we build the budget for the next fiscal year and beyond.”

Project Toto complements the city’s effort to amplify the transparency of city decisions to community members. The aim is to increase the understanding about the city’s financial situation and make the information more accessible and easier to understand.

The project is mostly a tool for public education, but can also make predictions about potential decisions regarding the city’s financial future. Once completed, the program will allow residents to manipulate variables to see their eventual consequences, such as tax increases or extensions and proposed developments

“This really isn’t a budget, it is a forecast to see the intervention of these decisions,” Williams said in an interview with The Davis Enterprise. “What happens if we extend the sales tax? What does it do given the other numbers that are in?”

Project Toto enables users, whether it be a curious Davis resident, a concerned community member or a city leader, with the ability to project city finances with differing variables.

The online program consists of the 400-page city budget for the 2016-2017 fiscal year, the previous budget, staff reports and consultant analyses. All of the documents are cited and accessible to the public within Project Toto.

“It’s a model that very easily lends itself to visual representation,” Mayor Robb Davis said. “You can see the impacts of decisions the council makes on the fiscal health of the city.”

Complementary to this program, there is also a more advanced version of the model with more indepth analyses of the city’s finances. However, for an easy-to-understand, simplistic overview, Project Toto should be enough to help residents comprehend Davis finances.

There is still more to do on the project, but its creators are hard at work trying to finalize it before the 2017-2018 fiscal year budget.

“It’s something I have been very much supportive of,” Davis said. “Transparency is not just something that I have been supportive of but something we have stated as a city council objective [...] this fits very well with our attempt to inform the public of our challenges with our fiscal situation.”

HANNAH LEE / AGGIE

BY YVONNE LEON G ca mpu s @ th e a ggi e .o r g

The ASUCD Senate meeting was called to order by Vice President Abhay Sandhu in the Memorial Union’s Mee Room on Jan. 26 at 6:10 p.m. President Alex Lee, Senator Shaitaj Dhaliwal, Gender and Sexuality Commission Chair Alison Tam and Internal Affairs Commission (IAC) Chair Nick Flores were absent

during quorum roll call. Lee, Tam and Flores arrived later in the meeting.

The meeting began with Stacy Wong, director of the Experimental College (XC), presenting a report about the XC’s collaboration with Creative Media on a new logo. The report also included XC hiring a new course coordinator, working with the dining commons to advertise to freshmen and looking to expand its social media to Twitter and Instagram.

MORGAN TIEU / AGGIE

BY DIANNA RIVERA city@t he aggie . org

Who said that Valentine’s Day is limited to young lovers? This Valentine’s Day, the Davis Cemetery District will allow friends and family to place orders for potted plants to put on the graves of those who are buried there.

The fundraiser is a part of a project to continue caring for and restoring the historic community cemetery located at 820 Pole Line Road.

Ashley Wilson*, a Davis resident whose grandfather is buried at the cemetery, said that she thinks the fundraiser will welcome families to continue thinking of their loved ones and keep them from forgetting about them.

“I like the idea of the fundraiser,” Wilson said. “I think it’s a warm gesture. I know for me it reminds me of how much my grandfather liked to give us roses on Valentine’s Day when I was younger.”

Each flowerpot will cost $15 or loved ones can purchase two for $20. On Valentine’s Day, staff will place the flowerpots on the gravesites. The flower arrangements themselves will follow the traditional color of Valentine’s Day — red.

Confirmations were then made. Three students were confirmed as External Affairs Commission members. There were no objections.

Next, Elections Chair Sevan Nahabedian made announcements about the upcoming Spring Quarter elections. Creative Media had online petitions available for candidates and UC Davis.

Following presentations and confirmations, legislations were presided over.

Senate Bill No. 35 clarified who the voting members of the Unit Relocation and Space Allocation Commission will be moving forward. With no objections, the bill was passed.

Senate Bill No. X requires that all members who voted yes on the bill attend an event to educate themselves on the Muslim community. There were concerns of ingenuity and already present “woke-ness,” or awareness of a community’s racial and social injustice, in student leaders. Chiang mentioned that Omar Awad, the president of the Muslim Student Association, would oversee the bill to keep student leaders accountable.

“Each arrangement will feature vibrant Bellisima Red English daisy in a beautiful environmentally friendly four-inch Ecoform pot. These cheerful seasonal blooms will be a symbol of friendship and affection for those who cannot be with us during this season of love,” said representatives of the Davis Cemetery in a news release.

Since 1855, the Davis Cemetery District has provided a space to honor those who have passed. They now have one of California’s newest arboretums which features over 150 species of native and adapted plants in California. The plants are specifically suited to bear the climate of Yolo County. The cemetery also features Gallery 1855, an art gallery located on the grounds.

According to the Davis Cemetery District and Arboretum website, the art gallery is “one of the finest premier art galleries in Northern California, featuring monthly shows by international, national, regional and local artists.”

This Valentine’s Day, make it a goal to spend time not only with that special someone, friends, family or whomever it might be, but also to remember those who have passed. *Name changed for anonymity

After further discussion, the bill passed unanimously.

Senate Resolution No. X concerns ASUCD supporting and advocating for more student housing on campus. With no objections, the resolution was passed.

Committee Amendment No. 50 concerns creating a new judicial council and judicial council oversight committee (JCOC) after the court was dissolved last quarter. The amendment will be more institutionalized by having five members where one is a chairperson and the other four are commissioners.The chairperson will check in with Senate Pro-temp, who will also be in charge of hiring.

Zach Nelson, a student who attended the meeting, brought up concerns of the JCOC being impartial and ASUCD closing its doors on students. Nelson’s concerns were answered by senators.

Chiang mentioned that the JCOC would only get involved if an appeal was made for the judicial council decision.

Flores was worried about students with entry-level experience having the power to overturn Senate decisions. Multiple

senators brought up disinterest in the student body to join the judicial branch and why internal hiring may lead to more motivated and invested judicial members.

Then the house was divided on having the vice president, chief justice and justice on JCOC. The motion failed in a vote of 1-7-3. Senator Sofia Molodanof was in favor and Senators Shaitaj Dhaliwal, Simran Grewal and Daniel Nagey abstained.

Chiang called to add subclauses to Article X, Section 2, Clause 2 so that in the event that the vice president, IAC chair or judicial council chairperson is authored or addressed in a bill or appeal in question they will be replaced by the controller, IAC vice chair or judicial council vice chair. The motion passed in a vote of 8-1-2. Molodanof was against the bill and Senators Martinez and Dhaliwal abstained.

Committee Amendment No. 50 was carried in a vote of 9-1-1 after its amendment. Molodanof was against it and Dhaliwal abstained.

Sandhu adjourned the meeting at 10 p.m.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017 | 3

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4 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Better together: UC Davis religious groups unite against hate

interfaith effort comes together to fight against hate crime, eradicate misconceptions

BY SAHI T I V EM UL A featu res@ th e a ggi e .o r g

On Jan. 22, a day after UC Davis’ Muslim Student Association (MSA) had one of its biggest charity programs, an unidentified female broke the windows, slashed bike tires and hung bacon strips on the door handles of the Islamic Center of Davis.

“A lot has happened in the past week,” said Omar Abdel-Ghaffar, a fourth-year political science major and board member of MSA. “I think one thing right after another has been a lot for MSA to deal with. Every time you try to stabilize yourself you are hit by something new.”

Soon after this event came news of President Trump’s executive order banning travelers of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United

REVEREND JOCELYNN HUGHES / COURTESY

States.

“I am anticipating really good [campaign] work to come in response to the travel bans,” Abdel-Ghaffar said. “I think this is something that hits a lot of students. There are plenty of Iraqi, Iranian, Sudanese and Yemeni students on this campus, and it’s important for us to address their concerns, and see how we can support them.”

The magnitude of these events requires a community effort. MSA has been active in establishing a network of Muslim students on campus to provide self-empowerment and to establish spaces where people can ask questions about Islam to dispel misconceptions.

“These types of events are really disgruntling to a lot of Muslim students,” Abdel-Ghaffar said. “And I think we as Muslims have to take the steps necessary

to ensure that we are safe and can live normal lives.”

Members of MSA table at the Memorial Union several times a week in collaboration with campus administration to ensure that students feel safe and comfortable on campus. “[The members] are there just to answer people’s questions,” Abdel-Ghaffar said. “Someone can come and say, ‘Hey, I was watching the news yesterday and I saw this.’ It has been really incredible to see people who keep coming with more and more questions.”

Even before the incident at the Islamic Center, MSA had been working on various projects focused on educating others about Islam and counteracting Islamophobia. These projects include “The Davis Muslim,” a month-long series of lectures and panels focused on sharing the

Online courses: the classes of the future

MORGAN TIEU / AGGIE

Hybrid, online courses impact students, campus life

BY ELI Z A BE T H M A R IN featu res@ th e a ggi e .o r g

In an era of smart cars, smart phones and smart homes, the world has become increasingly accessible with the click of a button. As the world becomes more efficient, the education system is unsurprisingly seeking to accommodate more students and different learning styles in innovative ways.

Universities such as UC Davis are finding new ways of using technological advancements to enhance students’ education, including incorporating online and hybrid courses into numerous undergraduate departments. Carolyn Thomas, the vice provost and dean for undergraduate education, has played a significant role in incorporating such courses at UC Davis.

“I think online and hybrid courses, if done well, will enable students to be more flexible in the ways they’ve learned to learn,” Thomas said in an email interview.

“I also think more online courses, especially in the summer, will help students complete their degrees within four years.”

Online courses at UC Davis are taught through video lectures and often supplemented with discussion boards, homework and quizzes. Apart from exams that require a proctor to supervise the students, the rest of the work is completed online. Hybrid courses offer a portion of a class online but also have a designated time during the week for students to meet with their respective professors or teaching assistants. Hybrid courses often allow for smaller class sizes so that students can ask questions and further discuss course material.

The flexible structure of these hybrid and online courses allows students to manage their time in a way that will be most productive for them. These types of courses can free up time during the week for students to participate in other activities they may not have been able

to do otherwise. Noy Shaked, a fourthyear managerial economics major, found that taking a hybrid course allowed her to more effectively manage her time.

“For example, on Fridays I have an online lecture [and] I don’t have to watch [it] exactly at the time it’s assigned,” Shaked said. “I’m actually able to go to my internship meeting at that time [instead]. So I think that it just allows for more opportunities and flexibility.”

Students can pause, rewind and rewatch video lectures as many times as needed — a benefit unique to the medium. Meanwhile, in-person office hours and hybrid class periods still give students a chance to ask instructors questions about the lecture so that not all face-toface communication is lost.

With these options, UC Davis has created a flexible environment for students without disrupting the campus atmosphere. Hybrid and online courses foster opportunities for students to learn online at home and bring their questions to their professors either in class or during office hours.

“I think more online and hybrid courses might also enable us to have more students working closely with faculty in learning environments that are truly high impact,” Thomas said. “We would be able to use our human resources more wisely [...in] discussion classes, seminars and in mentored internship or research experiences.”

Chi-Yuan Tsai, a teaching assistant for ECN 115BY — Hybrid Economic Development, found that students were able to ask more in-depth questions during his class after watching the lectures at home, making better use of class time.

“I think it’s more effective,” Tsai said.

“If they already watch[ed] the video online then they can understand [or] find out their problem and then come to class and ask questions.”

Often, students move away from home and attend college not only for education-

al purposes but also for the social aspects of the “college experience.” According to John Theobald, a continuing lecturer in the Department of Communication, online and hybrid courses may not require as much on campus and in-person interaction, which can detract from the sense of community on campus.

“I think it depends on how much instruction comes from the online courses,” Theobald said. “I benefited greatly from being on campus. The interactions I had with other people [...] were the most memorable influential parts of the whole experience. As long as that persists, I think the students will be benefited positively from online and hybrid instruction.”

Hybrid courses allow for smaller classroom sizes, allowing for increased flexibility. This creates space for more students to ask questions and for professors to cater lectures to the students’ needs.

“I would like our students to have a number of options when it comes to how and where they would like to learn,” Thomas said. “Classroom teaching, when students are engaged and in dialogue with their instructor, is wonderful and this is what we will always want the majority of our classes to be because there is no substitute for this kind of transformational learning. At the same time, online courses can be a very effective way to learn material, especially material that students need time to absorb or interact with in complex ways.”

The idea behind hybrid and online courses is not to transition entirely to online learning, but rather to enhance students’ educational experiences at UC Davis by broadening the way in which classes are taught. Online and hybrid courses offered at UC Davis are curated to supplement students’ education and maintain the unique experience UC Davis has to offer. “[This structure] will give students an opportunity […] to do a lot more with their time,” Shaked said.

lives of Muslim students with the rest of the campus.

In addition to their individual efforts, the Muslim community has received aid from an interfaith support system of campus religious groups. MSA has raised almost three times more money than needed to repair the damages to the mosque.

“We’ve had a lot of support from different religious groups, and that’s really heartwarming,” Abdel-Ghaffar said.

“Jewish Voice for Peace has been amazing, along with Orthodox Christian Fellowship, who has also reached out. In the wake of the attack, I spent hours and hours the day after just answering emails.

There were so many people that were concerned and wanted to help out.”

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi, a Jewish-interest sorority on campus, has had its own experience with intolerance on the UC Davis campus. Julia Lopez, a firstyear economics major reflected on an incident in which swastikas were written on the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house.

“I don’t really know why someone would go out of their way to put someone else down,” Lopez said. “We as a Jewish population understand what that feels like.”

The sorority sent the Islamic Center of Davis a letter of support because they could resonate with the feelings of hate crime.

“We sent them a letter saying that we stand behind them, and that no one should feel unsafe or scared about where they come from or what they believe in, especially on our campus,” Lopez said.

“We apologized for what happened, and sent along some cookies.”

The Interfaith Campus Council (ICC) is a group of religious organizations that work together in programming and exploration across multiple faiths.

They believe in different faith groups and non-faith groups collaborating for the common good and in the value of

building relationships with one another.

“Our community is obviously devastated that this happened,” said Reverend Jocelynn Hughes of The Belfry, a campus chaplain and convener of the ICC. “In January of last year, we put this sign on our building saying that we stand with our Muslim siblings against fear and hatred, believing that we were responding to a candidate [Trump] that would eventually dissipate. It’s shocking that a year later, that sign is still necessary, and that in light of this crime we have to double down harder.”

The ICC had planned a World Interfaith Harmony Week and, in wake of the attack, doubled its efforts in fostering interfaith conversations. It also planned an interfaith Shabbat at the Hillel House followed by an open mic night during which people could address their recent fears.

“We have more in common than not at the end of the day,” Hughes said.

“When religious groups are under attack, especially when it is seen as driven by another religious group, it’s really important for those of us that disagree with that to stand up and say that’s not us, and that’s not acceptable.”

Hughes believes in building relationships between different religious groups.

“When we are working together, even when we have some distinctions and differences amongst us, it makes all of us better [to do so] and it gives students the opportunity to live into what UC Davis is about as a community,” Hughes said.

In times when one religious group is singled out for hate, Hughes chooses to focus on how similarities can bring different communities together in support.

“I think that all the major world religions have some version of the golden rule,” Hughes said. “In their scripture or important writings, there is some instantiation of the idea that one should treat people well. I think that’s the basis that we all build upon.”

Sexcessful campaign launched in time for Valentine's Day

HANNAH LEE / AGGIE

Events to promote safe, respectful sex

BY LI NDSAY FLOY D c ampus@t he aggie . org

On Feb. 1, Student Health and Counseling Services (SHCS) launched its “Are You Sexcessful Campaign” to raise awareness about physically and emotionally safe sex. The campaign will run various events on campus through Feb. 14.

“The Sexcessful Campaign is launched every February with a focus to promote healthy sexual communication and raises awareness about the different components of sexcess on campus,” said Emilia Aguirre, sexual and mental wellness health educator and organizer of the campaign. “This year our campaign involves not only social media marketing on Facebook and Instagram, but also pushed messaging through the UC Davis official Snapchat story reaching over 2,380 student views.”

Many of the events focus on empowering individuals’ sexual choices and providing resources for safe and protected sex. SHCS’s Love Lab hosted a consent tabling event at the Student Community Center (SCC) the day after the campaign launched. The event provided pamphlets that gave tips on how to be sexcessful along with free safe sex products that can be found year-round at the SHCS Love Lab. At the event, JB Del Rosario, a fourth-year microbiology major, explained that events like the consent tabling are important for educating people who come from all backgrounds of sexual knowledge.

“The reason I’m part of [...] the Sexcessful Campaign is that a lot of people come from different backgrounds and different knowledge of sexual education and sexual health,” Del Rosario said. “The main reason I’m involved is to help spread awareness about healthy communication between partners, STI transmission and safer sex resources.”

Upcoming events include a Feb. 9 Love Lab visit to the Segundo DC for students to pick up safe sex products such as internal and external condoms and dental dams. On Feb. 10, the SHCS will host Healthy Relationship Bingo at the SCC to discuss the differences between healthy and unhealthy relationships in a game of Bingo. The final event of the program will occur on Feb. 14, and will be a Safe Sex Talk hosted at the Women’s Research and Resource Center.

This will provide students a safe place to discuss aspects of safe sex ad provide tips on how to be sexcessful.

According to Chloe Tsudama, a fourth-year psychology major, these events and the campaign will work to engage students on what consent means and provide a safe environment to learn about their sexual health and options.

“One of the Sexcessful Campaign’s main focuses is to promote consent among the UC Davis student body and beyond, so that all students can feel empowered and safe in their sexual adventures,” Tsudama said. “Consent is asking your partner if they’d like to have sex with you and is conscious, revocable, enthusiastic, willingly given, continuous and mandatory. We want students to know that asking for consent and communicating with partners may seem awkward at first, but that it gets easier with practice and is a positive aspect of sexual health.”

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017 | 5

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Happy Valentine’s Day Told you I’d do it! Keep this issue forever.

LOVE YOU, TRAVIS!

Aggie staff, Thank you for being our pride and joy.

- Scott and Ellie

Mia mumu,

Hey Mom,

This past year and a half has been the best of my life and I wouldn't trade the world for the adventures we've shared and memories we've made. I am so lucky to have you as my best friend and my love. Here's to many more Valentine's Days together.

Thanks for being The Aggie's biggest fan.

Happy Valentine's Day! Love,

Happy Valentine's Day my sunflower!

Sco�

Your habibi,

Hanni

Mia mumu, This past year and a half has been the best of my life and I wouldn't trade the world for the adventures we've shared and memories we've made. I am so lucky to Dear design team, have you as my best friend and my love. Here's to many all are truly amazing and more Valentine's Days together. You talented. The layouts and graphics exceed my expectations each week.

Keep up the great work!

Happy Valentine's Day my sunflower!

Your habibi, Love, Hanni

Hannah

Happy birthday

Naomi!

Jake the Snake: Happy birthday!

You don’t look a day over 45!

Don’t let this holiday overshadow you like my own birth did!

Love,

Your favorite daughter

your eldest

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6 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Shields Library hosts new exhibit for Davis’ centennial New showcase provides opportunity for students to learn about city’s history A L E XA FO N TA N I L L A / AG G I E

BY IVAN VA L EN Z U E L A ca mpu s@ th e a ggi e .o r g

A new exhibit recently opened at Peter J. Shields Library to celebrate the upcoming centennial of the City of Davis. The showcase, titled “Davis 1917-2017: Celebrating 100 Years of Community,” features material from more than 15 separate collections and will be on display until June 18.

Sara Gunasekara, a public services and archives specialist at the Shields Library, said that the project provides a lot of historical background pertaining to the founding of Davis, which was incorporated as a city on March 28, 1917. The previous year, a large fire had struck the downtown business district, creating a need for redevelopment.

“So one of the key things was that there was a fire in downtown Davis in November of 1916,” Gunasekara said. “It hadn’t yet been incorporated, there was talk of incorporation in 1911 and then in the spring of 1916 they had started talking about incorporating again but hadn’t really gotten their feet under them.”

The exhibit, which is free and open to the public during normal library hours, includes unique photographs and personal papers which document the city’s 100-year history.

Jessica Nusbaum, the associate director of communications and marketing for the library, said that much of the material provided from the library’s Special Collections has been well received.

“One of the things that’s cool about Special Collections here at the UC Davis library is that we have some stuff that no one else has,” Nusbaum said. “So even the city was like, ‘oh you guys have good pictures from the fire? Can we have those ‘cause we wanna help tell that story that was so integral to the founding of the city, too.’ So there’s some really unique pieces here at Special Collections that go beyond even what the city

itself has and we’re really proud to help tell the local history story that way.”

The library’s online page includes further material on the exhibit as well as links and information for the multiple collections from which the materials were gathered.

Stacy Winton, a media and communications officer for the City of Davis, said that Davis has been thankful for the exhibit.

“With our utmost gratitude, we thank UC Davis’ Special Collections staff for creating an impressive exhibit of the City’s history over the past 100 years,” Winton said via email.

For Gunasekara, working on the exhibit presented a fulfilling experience to examine the history of both UC Davis and the City of Davis.

“I think for me, it was just a really enjoyable exhibit to work on,” Gunasekara said. “They’re all fun but for me, it was such a large story to tell about the history. Of course I couldn’t tell the entire minutiae of the history, but I greatly enjoyed working on it and learning more about the town I come to work in everyday.”

Nusbaum said that the exhibit will be open long enough for students and their families to visit through Spring 2017.

As students continue to visit, Gunasekara hopes that they can understand the value in what the library has been able to gather through its many exhibits.

“Having exhibits like this out that I think people can really connect with is also a way to educate students about all of the amazing resources that Special Collections has here at the library,” Nusbaum said. “And without the exhibits, people might not have a way to find out that there are all these historic materials here at the library.

You know, people may not know that the library is a repository for that kind of storytelling of the history of the campus and the history of the local community if we didn’t do things like this.”

STUDENT HEALTH AND COUNSELING SERVICES HOSTS “STEP UP TO THE PLATE” CAMPAIGN The California Aggie 1/4 page BW 5.125 x 10.5

M EENA RUGH / AGGI E

PE classes may charge additional fees

New fees would pay for equipment replacement

BY LI NDSAY FLOY D campus@t he aggie . org

To compensate for a decrease in university-allotted funds, the Department of Physical Education has proposed adding a fee to physical education (PE) classes starting in the fall of 2017. The funds would be allocated to equipment replacement and additional costs associated with specific classes.

Previously, students could enroll in PE classes for a half-unit without paying any fees beyond baseline tuition costs. But starting next Fall Quarter, classes such as badminton or tennis that use additional equipment will cost between $1 and $2.50. Classes that don’t require any equipment, like fitness walking or swimming, will remain free of additional costs. The biggest increase will apply to archery, rock climbing, self defense and golf classes due to the additional resources and equipment needed.

According to Barbara Jahn, the supervisor of the Department of Physical Education, the department is aiming to keep costs as low as possible while also working to improve the quality of PE classes.

“In order to maintain these classes, which are extremely popular, we are proposing that we [apply a] charge,” Jahn said. “That’s so we can continue teaching classes and replacing equipment […] I don’t really like charging the students who are already paying for their classes, but we have to figure out a way to economically to continue. We are not getting the financial support in that area from the administration.”

Some students feel as though the additional fee is unwarranted, as they already pay tuition to take classes. Stephen Curry, a second-year chemical engineer major, is currently enrolled in a rock climbing class. Curry explained that the price hike would have deterred him from taking the class.

“It’s ridiculous,” Curry said. “I definitely wouldn’t have taken the class if it cost money, but they are lots of fun and they are a great way to maintain a balanced life. Some students don’t have the time to go to the gym and with PE classes it forced me to stay fit and it made time in my schedule to go to the gym.”

Jahn predicted that class enrollment would see little change. She said that the golf program, for example, already charges a fee to cover use at the Davis Municipal Golf Course but still consistently has full enrollment.

“It might [impact enrollment], but I don’t think so,” Jahn said. “Right now those golf courses are full and they are paying $23. For the self defense class, I don’t think that people would consider not taking that.”

Matthew Stuke, a second-year neurobiology, physiology and biology major, had considered taking a PE class but explained that an increased price on top of tuition for a low unit class would possibly make him reconsider.

“I’d think twice about taking a class,” Stucke said.

TEMPLETON COLLOQUIUM IN ART HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF ART AND ART HISTORY

Run Dates: FEB 9, 2017 Production: Morissa Rubin mrrubin@ucdavis.edu 530-752-0999

JAY GELVEZO N / ST UD EN T A F FA I R S M AR K E TI N G A N D CO MM U N I C ATI O N S

Students promote fruit and vegetable meals via social media

BY D EM I C AC ERES ca mpu s @ th e a ggi e .o r g

From Jan. 23 to 27, Student Health and Counseling Services (SHCS) hosted the “Step Up to the Plate” campaign on campus in order to encourage students to fill half of their plates with fruits and vegetables. The campaign, run by the Health Education and Promotion department within SHCS, included outreach events, such as tabling at the Student Community Center and the Activities and Recreation Center, to give out free bananas and oranges to students.

Based on the latest American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment, a research survey about college student wellness, less than 6 percent of undergrads and 10 percent of graduate students consume five or more servings of fruits and vegetables on a daily basis. The campaign aimed to increase that percentage and to educate students about the health benefits of consuming more fruits and vegetables daily.

The campaign slogan was “Step Up to the Plate. Make 1/2 Your Plate Fruits and Veggies.” The hashtag #aggieplate was used throughout the campaign to prompt students to post photos of their plates filled halfway with fruits and vegetables. A winner was drawn and awarded a $10 ASUCD Coffee House gift card. Daisy Valdez, a health education and promotion wellness student assistant who worked on the campaign, believes that students learned an important message from the campaign.

“I believe students gained a reminder of the importance of eating more fruits and vegetables as well as learned about easy ways to increase their consumption of fruits and veggies” Valdez said.

“Making half your plate fruits and veggies is such a simple way to increase the amount you are eating, so we received positive feedback from students about using it as a tool. One of the highlights of this campaign was the fresh fruit giveaways. Students were pleasantly surprised to receive free fruit.”

Stephanie Goley, a fourth-year science and technology major, likes eating fruit and is happy it is offered on campus.

“I particularly like berries,” Goley said. “Specifically blueberries and raspberries because they are rich in antioxidants.”

Yosenia Ruiz, a first-year biology major, likes how many healthy promotions and options UC Davis offers and is happy knowing there was a campaign encouraging students to eat healthier.

“It can be really easy to just choose the cheap, fast and fattening food option, especially in college when you are on a tight budget,” Ruiz said. “I have the dining commons where I still get a lot of food options but once I move out I need to find resources like this one that can provide for me healthy options.”

This is the second time SHCS has hosted the fruit and vegetable campaign, and it plans on hosting it again during the 2017-2018 school year.

The Life and Afterlife of Ancient Roman Architecture Feb. 10, 2017, 4 – 7 p.m.

Student Community Center, Multipurpose Room, UC Davis The colloquium theme will examine urban life of ancient Rome and its later reception.

“Wall, Stone, and Column: Process as Power in Augustan Rome” DIANE FAVRO, associate dean, School of the Arts and Architecture, and professor in architecture and urban design at UCLA Favro’s research explores the urbanism of ancient Rome, archaeological historiography, women in architecture, and digital applications of 3-D modeling in the humanities. Her publications include The Urban Image of Augustan Rome.

“Hubert Robert at the Flower-Strewn Abyss” NINA DUBIN, associate professor of art history at University of Illinois, Chicago A specialist of 18th and 19th century French art, Dubin is author of Futures & Ruins: Eighteenth-Century Paris and the Art of Hubert Robert.

The book examines Robert’s paintings of urban, ancient ruins.

Reception to follow presentations and discussion. arts.ucdavis.edu/art-history

College of Letters and Science

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017 | 7

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

AGGIE PROFILES: MARTIN KRIEG

The story behind the man with the giantwheeled bike

CHARLES MIIN / AGGIE

BY ALLYSON TSUJI features@theaggie.org Nearly five feet off the ground atop a high-wheel bicycle, clad with fingerless cycling gloves, brightly tinted sunglasses and a bike helmet, is the epitomic image of Martin Krieg. As an iconic figure in Davis, Krieg is someone whose presence is instantly noted by students, faculty and residents alike.

Though his high-wheel bicycle is one of his major identifying features around town, Krieg is better known elsewhere as a man who recovered from clinical death, a seven-week coma and paralysis, and then proceeded to cross the United States on his bicycle — twice.

“I’ve been a cyclist all my life,” Krieg said. “For me, cycling [is] emancipative. You know how it feels — the air rolling through your hair, [and] all of a sudden you just feel great.”

As a child, Krieg had a deep interest in bicycles.

In Hayward, Calif., Krieg started his journey on a prized Schwinn varsity tenspeed when he was 11 years old. “[My mother and I] were in a bike shop,” Krieg

said. “She said […] ‘If you got all A’s on your report card, I’d buy you it.’ She didn’t think there was any way I could do it. Well, I buckled down. I stopped watching TV. I just went ballistic [...] and sure enough, I produced an all A’s report card. She was in disbelief.”

From there, Krieg began to ride his bicycle all over the region, from Hayward to the peaks of the Santa Cruz mountains. He maintained this passion while in college at California State University, Hayward and went on to pursue a career as an accountant after graduation. Krieg continued cycling until 1977, when he got into the car accident that left him temporarily paralyzed.

“All of a sudden I was so low,” Krieg said. “I was as low as a person could go. My friend […] Bobby came over. He knew I was into bicycles, so he showed me his new one he’d gotten. Against his better judgment, he let me ride it, [and] I found a way I could do things again and not [...] be in so much pain. It was so amazing. From that point on, I resolved to get […] back on the bike.”

Traveling by bike rather than foot took away much of the pain from his accident, so Krieg returned to cycling. He started out with local rides and

BY JAYASHRI PADMANABHAN campus@theaggie.org UC Davis received $2.2 million in state funding last month from Assembly Bill 2664. AB 2664, the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Expansion Bill, was designed to propel new innovation and entrepreneurship efforts across the University of California (UC) system through investments in infrastructure, incubators and entrepreneurship education programs. Each of the 10 UC campuses received $2.2 million in one-time funding. The bill was authored by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-44) and was signed by Governor Jerry Brown in the fall of 2016.

“The UC system is the gold standard for research and innovation,” Irwin stated in a press release from the UC Office of the President. “The bill’s funding will help convert UC research into products that benefit society. It will lead to startup businesses and local economic growth.”

The state’s investments will support programs that benefit campus innovators and entrepreneurs as well as local entrepreneurs.

Each campus will execute long-term plans suited to the strengths and needs of that campus’ local context.

According to a statement on UC Davis Dateline, UC Davis’ AB 2664 program focuses on three areas. The first is expansion of grant programs that will demonstrate commercial feasibility for technology developed at the university. The second area of expansion is business training and mentorship programs to build professional skills and practical experience pertaining to business and entrepreneurship.

The final area is creating programs that will provide work and lab space, research and development equipment and support resources to entrepreneurs.

“AB 2664 funding is important because it allows us to amplify, expand and sustain the success of our uniquely collaborative programs at UC Davis, which enable campus innovators and the entrepreneurial community to interact effectively for regional impact,” said Dushyant Pathak, the associate vice chancellor of the Office of Research to UC Davis Dateline.

The program implementation will be managed by the UC Davis Office of Research, along with UC Davis’ Venture Catalyst and the Mike and Renee Child Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management.

Cleveland Justice, the executive director for the Institute of Innova-

worked his way up to rides through multiple states.

Eventually, Krieg took his first trip across the country in 1979, only about a year after the accident. The ride from Portland, Ore. to Washington, D.C. took Krieg 43 days to complete on a fifteen-speed bicycle that he purchased after trading in his Honda Accord.

“I was goofing around, going on a little sight seeing tour, until I got to […] Yellowstone,” Krieg said.

“I ran into some guys I’d passed, and they made fun of me. They said, ‘Gee, we thought you were gonna be gone by now. You’ve got this […] state of the art […] bicycle. We thought we’d never see you again.’”

The jesting from the group of cyclists angered Krieg. Motivated to stop his sight-seeing and finish the journey, Krieg powered through the last 15 days of the ride.

“I got fired up [...], hammering 100 plus miles a day,” Krieg said. “The last day I rode 200 […] miles nonstop. I was possessed.”

According to Krieg, upon arriving in Washington, D.C., he was regarded as a “total pariah” because of the scarcity of cyclists at the time.

“I felt real self-conscious of myself,” Krieg said.

“I was kind of embarrassed I’d done something like this. It was after that experience that I made my mind

up: ‘I’m gonna come back, and I’m gonna come back big, and I’m gonna make it such that cyclists were celebrated, […] not looked upon as […] pariahs.”

Krieg thus decided to make a more publicity-centered journey a second time in 1986 with the National Head Injury Foundation, as a pre-publication tour for his book “Awake Again.” This time, the ride took over three months, including stops for campaign work. “[The ride] helped me finally get my book published,” Krieg said. “I learned as a writer. I reached 40 million people with newspapers, radio talk shows and TV.” In 1994, after his recovery and both cross-country rides, Krieg published “Awake Again,” a book describing his post-accident experiences. He also began to spread awareness for the National Bicycle Greenway, a nonprofit organization encouraging coast-to-coast cycling on the Greenway route that stretches from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. While campaigning for the Greenway and promoting his book in Ireland, Krieg married and had his son, Cayo.

Krieg plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his first cross-country bike ride by making the journey with his son in 2029. Krieg also has future plans for the Greenway to incorporate bike boulevards, celebrated bike paths and bicycle signage.

“I love getting up in the morning and knowing that I’m going to be doing things with my mind that are making a difference instead of just passing time,” Krieg said.

Krieg has lived in Davis for a year and half and is currently planning the 15th annual National Mayor’s Ride, which will kick off in Central Park and hit cities such as Reno, Salt Lake City, Chicago and Washington, D.C. Through his accident, recovery and cycling accomplishments, Krieg has learned countless life lessons that he is enthusiastic to share with the Davis community.

“I want people to realize that when you commit to something, you don’t lose anything,” Krieg said.

“I committed to being a success, to prove my life is worth saving. Don’t be afraid to be a success. Being able to live the life I live right now didn’t come from thinking small and accepting prescriptions made for me. It came from willing to be different.”

Indeed, one cannot help but admire Krieg’s will to be different as he nails the running jump onto his high wheel and rides away, a distinct figure even as he merges into the crowd.

UC Davis receives $2.2 million from Assembly Bill 2664 Funding to expand innovation, entrepreneurship infrastructure

NATALIE SKLOVSKAYA / AGGIE

tion and Entrepreneurship, believes the university will be able continue to support and substantially grow the commercialization of important research from UC Davis and the surrounding region.

“At UC Davis we have strengths in so many areas of important need — food, agriculture, life sciences, engineering, medicine — and this funding will help our world-class researchers take their ideas out of the lab and into the world,” Justice said via email. “With this funding we’ll greatly expand our work with undergraduate entrepreneurs, build out new areas of support for entrepreneurs throughout the Central Valley and we’ll further connect partners on campus and with other universities in the region.”

Research is a significant aspect of UC Davis’ reputation. The campus attracts many students who want to conduct hands-on research in order to gain better knowledge and understanding of their fields. One such

student is Stegi Ilanthiraian, a third-year microbiology major.

“I am a pre-med and I really wanted to understand research and its role in medicine,” Ilanthiraian said. “Davis is a research based school. There are so many resources and opportunities for undergrads because of the amount of professors who do research.”

AB 2664-funded programs will create opportunities in fields such as human health, agriculture, animal health and engineering. Funds will also be allocated to existing programs serving postdoctoral trainees, graduate students and the undergraduate community, according to UC Davis Dateline.

“I find it important that we support research because it answers questions and opens new possibilities for cures or treatments,” Ilanthiraian said. “Research and the information it uncovers makes everything possible.”

8 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Opinion the California Aggie

editorial board

EDITORIAL BOARD

Valentine’s Day haikus by the Editorial Board SCOTT DRESSER Editor in Chief

Short tales of love and loss from Aggie editors

ELLIE DIERKING Managing Editor ALYSSA VANDENBERG Campus News Editor

Scott Dresser — Editor-in-Chief

SAMANTHA SOLOMON City News Editor

Today is the worst I had dinner with my cat

ELI FLESCH Opinion Editor

At least there’s Netflix EMILIE DEFAZIO Features Editor

Ellie Dierking — Managing Editor

Eli Flesch — Opinion Editor

Valentine’s? Who cares.

If you were born Nov.

It's girl scout cookie season.

Your birthday’s nine months away

Thin mints: here I come.

From this special day.

Alyssa Vandenberg — Campus News Editor

Amanda Ong — Arts and Culture Editor

Nothing better than

Oh no. He lives eight

Cheap candy the day after.

bus stops away from my stop.

I love you, Target.

Long distance is hard.

Sam Solomon — City News Editor

Ariel Robbins — Science and Tech Editor

My apartment is

There once was a man

infested with bed bugs, so

from Nantucket. He didn't

Netflix at your place?

text back. F*CK YOU, MARK

ALEX GUZMÁN Social Media Mangager

Emilie DeFazio — Features Editor

Bryan Sykes — Sports Editor

MADELINE ONG Newsletter Manager

Roses are red and

All these sad Haikus.

Cliches are ubiquitous.

Why don’t they like Valentine’s?

Valentine’s Day sucks.

I am very loved.

AMANDA ONG Arts & Culture Editor BRYAN SYKES Sports Editor ARIEL ROBBINS Science & Tech Editor

CHIARA ALVES New Media Manager JAY GELVEZON Photo Director HANNAH LEE Design Director EMILY STACK Copy Chief OLIVIA ROCKEMAN Copy Chief VERONICA VARGO Website Manager

LAURIE PEDERSON Business Development Manager

Bored? Meditate! (And spend less money) HOW BOREDOM LEADS TO THE INTROSPECTION VITAL TO COMBATING CONSUMERISM

BY TAMANNA AHLUWALIA tahluwalia@ucdavis.edu Our society is afraid of boredom. We surround ourselves with constant access to distractions and connections — phones, laptops, tablets. Our everyday routines revolve around devices to ensure we never slip into boredom.

But unplugging from technology and allowing yourself to be bored is essential to becoming a whole and peaceful human being.

While it’s important to fill your time with exciting and fun activities, it’s equally as important to carve out time to self-reflect and really be aware of yourself.

If this self-reflection doesn’t happen, feelings of anxiety and depression are bound to occur — it’s just a matter of time. And one of the best ways to self-reflect is meditation — the practice of mindfulness.

Meditation promotes inner consciousness and the idea of watch-

ing your thoughts in order to better understand your fears, feelings and experiences. Doing so allows the brain to process the day-to-day feelings you have in a healthy way and forces you to come to grasps with your thoughts, whether they be positive or negative. Self-reflection in the form of meditation propels self-improvement because it puts you in charge of your happiness, not a phone or other people.

Establishing this capacity for introspection must begin early on in a child’s life. Today, an iPad or video game controller is hastily shoved in any disgruntled child’s hand to prevent temper tantrums. In his book The Conquest for Happiness, Bertrand Russell writes, “The capacity to endure a more or less monotonous life is one which should be acquired in childhood. Modern parents are greatly to blame in this respect; they provide their children with far too many passive amusements.”

Instead of providing instant gratification for their child’s temporary unhappiness, it’s important for parents to help their children find the wonder of ordinary life. Rachel Macy Stafford writes, “Do

not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives. Such striving may seem admirable, but it is the way of foolishness.

Help them instead to find the wonder and marvel of an ordinary life. Show them the joy of tasting tomatoes, apple and pears. Show them how to cry when pets and people die. Show them the infinite pleasure in the touch of a hand. And make the ordinary come alive for them. The extraordinary will take care of itself.”

But so many are raised in the opposite fashion that individuals in American society now seek refuge from boredom by falling into what social psychologists call the “hedonic treadmill of consumerism,” in which one’s validation and sense of worth only comes from buying the newest or biggest object.

In relying on material objects such as technology for happiness that can only be fleeting, humans risk losing not only face-to-face interactions and the connection that accompanies them, but also the essential self-reflection that comes from being completely unplugged and alone.

Female comics expand the conversation on female sexuality WOMEN IN COMEDY HELP EVEN THE PLAYING FIELD BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN

BY STELL A SAPPINGTON sasappington@ucdavis.edu It doesn't need to be clarified that Amy Schumer, the stand-up comic and actor, is almost always talking about sex. It’s the lens through which most of us are familiar with her work, which is infamous for its ever-present sexual undertones. She explained it well David Greene in a 2016 NPR interview: “I do talk about sex because I do think that a lot of things translate from the bedroom into how you live your everyday life.”

Schumer doesn’t talk about sex abstractly, but from her personal experience — of which, she constantly hints, she has a lot. She characterizes herself as promiscuous slut, but with the intention of mocking the concept itself. By focusing her comedy around the idea of “slutiness” she criticizes a culture that often limits women more than it does liberate them.

Sexual taboos in comedy can come in surprising forms.

There are, for example, countless male comedians who spend the majority of their airtime talking about their sexual activity — or lack thereof — but far fewer men, or women for that matter, will utter the word “vagina” on screen. Schumer breaks the trend, and in doing so breaks down a lot of the stigmas and inequalities that surround female sexuality.

She argued in the NPR interview that inequity in the bedroom can seep into professional spheres as well. Just by joking about sex, these double standards become less pervasive by breaking long-held taboos. Jokes level the sexual playing field between men and women and free women from constraints on how they come to understand and express their sexuality –– both positive developments that will improve social life.

Maybe if women weren’t labeled sluts for having a sex drive and prudes for being modest — and maybe if they receive equal attention from their male partner in the bedroom — they would reclaim agency in their professional and home lives.

Amy Schumer, though perhaps the most prominent, is not the only female comedian talking about sex. Nikki Glaser, who also guest stars on Inside Amy Schumer, pushes her audience to reconsider their preconceived notions about sexuality.

“I like putting myself in uncomfortable situations” Glaser told Vanity Fair. She says that if she’s dreading presenting her material, “... that’s when I know I’m doing something good.”

Glaser makes it clear that there’s power behind the things that make us viscerally uncomfortable. When we feel this way, there is often a significant reason why –– and that reason should be explored.

By taking a personal and crude approach to sexuality, Glaser changes the protocol in comedy. She speaks openly and obscenely about

sex from a woman’s perspective — something men have been doing about their own sexuality forever.

Issues surrounding active discussions of women’s sexuality are also well-explored by comedian, writer and actress Lena Dunham in each of the many mediums in which she works. Not only does her show Girls touch on sexuality in a realistic and raw way, but her memoir, Not That Kind of Girl, rivals the show’s grittiness.

In a section dedicated to her romantic past, she speaks honestly about being raped in college by a mutual friend and the confusing and disarming force it created in her life.

Dunham does not parse words when speaking about her sexual experiences –– whether positive or destructive. She paints an honest picture of a girl discovering her sexuality, and in doing so offers a realistic point of reference to the girls and boys who read her work.

Comics like Dunham are beginning to build an honest, challenging and provocative discourse which girls can use to educate themselves on their own sexuality.

That Schumer, Glaser and Dunham have already entered the mainstream comedy scene indicates that their dialogue, and what it reveals about existing inequalities, is beginning to be accepted by society at large.

And this would suggest that the potential for change and a more open conversation is imminent.

DISCLAIMER The views and opinions expressed by individual columnists belong to the columnists alone and do not necessarily indicate the views and opinions held by The California Aggie. Letters to the editor can be addressed to opinion@theaggie.org.

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HANNAH LEE | AMY YE | CHRISTIE NEO | CINDY CHEUNG | JONATHAN CHEN | MISHA DEVILLE

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Turkey as a model for the Middle East THE TRADITIONALLY SECULAR NATION IS FACING NEW CHALLENGES FROM FUNDAMENTALISTS

BY SHOHINI MAITRA samaitra@ucdavis.edu On the morning of Jan. 22, the Islamic Center of Davis was vandalized. Windows were smashed and strips of bacon were left on door handles with the intent of intimidating the Muslim community, seeing as pork is a forbidden meat in Islam. This incident came as President Trump promised to take drastic measures against the Muslim community in the United States and a speech by Milo Yiannopoulos, the tech editor of far-right news outlet Breitbart, on the UC Davis campus was cancelled.

This incident, which is being treated as a hate crime, points to the recent trend of Islamophobia that seems to be growing around the world. In some ways, it’s not hard to see why. From terrorist organizations that seem to multiply each time one is eliminated to the ever-present instability in the Middle East, it can be hard for outside observers to separate terrorism from Islam — especially when violent acts are performed “in the name of Islam.” The Middle East has become, in the broad public consciousness, synonymous with chaos, terror and regressive mindsets. This bias is only confirmed when the news coverage on these countries relates to war, air strikes and refugees. The common denominator in these countries seems to be that

most of their citizens are Muslim.

Until recently, Turkey stood out as a nation that, despite a religious, Muslim majority, had built a functioning democracy with a written constitution and an established tradition of secularism. Turkey, with its robust and growing economy, served as a good example of how Islam and modern democracy can coexist and thrive.

Long held up as a model to Arab nations, Turkey’s peace is slowly unravelling. It’s inching closer to becoming an Islamist nation, abandoning the secularist views which have been the country’s foundation MAITRA on 10

Reinstate the Draft BRINGING BACK CONSCRIPTION WOULD RESTRAIN SOCIAL INEQUALITY AND MILITARY RECKLESSNESS

BY SID BAGGA sidobagga@gmail.com In today’s political climate, there are few opinions that 85 percent of Americans share. Revulsion towards a military draft is a rare consensus.

Conscription is branded in the American conscience as an unfair, unwise and undemocratic practice, largely due to the events of the 1960s, when conscription was the focal point of student demonstrations against the Vietnam War. The draft evokes the disastrous foreign policy and domestic unrest of that tumultuous era.

Young Americans believed themselves victorious when President Nixon’s Defense Department announced an end to conscription in 1973. The move was in fact a blow to democratic culture. America lost a cornerstone of its republic, a powerful force for government accountability and social equality. Warfare hasn’t been the same since.

Today, the burden of defense falls upon volunteers. These patriots disproportionately hail from regions of strong military culture, like the Deep South. To make up for enlistment shortages, recruiters target students from low-income families in inner-city schools who have few other options to improve their lives. Airstrikes in Syria and troop surges in Iraq are of peripheral importance to most other civilians.

When the draft still existed, the burden of military service was more equally shared. Because every 18 to 25-year-old male had an equal chance of being sent overseas, young men and their loved ones all had a personal stake in America’s military escapades. News anchors reported every declassified tactical maneuver. Music and film amplified cultural awareness of warfare. Victories were celebrated, and defeats mourned. Americans were immersed in war.

This is a key aspect of the ethos our country is founded upon — government by and for the people. In a liberal democracy, military BAGGA on 10

Political parody in the age of Trump HOW SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE IS CHANGING THE FACE OF POLITICAL COMMENTARY

BY JAZMIN GARCIA msjgarcia@ucdavis.edu It all started with a beauty pageant.

In 1966, billionaire Donald Trump bought the Miss Universe Organization, which includes the Miss USA, Miss Teen USA and Miss Universe pageants. Since 1960, all of the programs aired on CBS; that is, until Trump decided that he was unhappy with the network.

He eventually sold 50 percent of the stake of the company to NBC in 2002. Not long after that, "The Apprentice", which Trump hosted and co-produced, premiered on this new network. The show earned

him $1 million per episode, and its success led him to trademark his notorious catchphrase: “You’re fired!”

In 2004, he hosted NBC’s "Saturday Night Live" for the first time and appeared in a sketch with comedian Seth Meyers (who would later become one of his biggest late-night critics). In the years between that first appearance and his second time on SNL in November 2015 — this time as a presidential candidate — Trump found himself in trouble with NBC. He got into hot water for peddling the conspiracy theory that President Obama was not an Americanborn citizen. But it wasn’t until Trump announced his presidential campaign with a speech calling Mexican immigrants “criminals” and

“rapists” that NBC cut all its business ties with Trump.

Since his second SNL hosting gig, Trump has repeatedly slandered NBC and its long-running sketch comedy show. Despite the hosting gig (amid the disapproval of many), Trump later tweeted that the show was “not funny” and “one-sided.” While Trump rightfully points out that he is mercilessly mocked on the show, his reactionary tweets reveal a bruised ego.

SNL has a long history of political parody. The tradition goes as far back as 1976, when Chevy Chase portrayed President GerGARCIA on 10

HUMOR Bike forgets where it parked its student STUDENTS FACE PERILOUS CONDITIONS WHEN LEFT OUT IN RAIN

BY BRIAN L AN DRY bjlandry@ucdavis.edu Students at UC Davis are constantly forgetting where they parked their bikes. It’s a tale as old as time. But a recent event has turned the tide on this familiar narrative.

According to a police report recently obtained by The California Aggie, a bike called 9-1-1 saying that it could not remember where it

had parked its student. This is obviously strange, considering bikes don’t usually forget important things like that.

The Aggie got in touch with the forgetful bike to try and get more on the story.

“It’s embarrassing, I know,” said the bike, a third-year mechanical engineering major and 2020 Olympic pole-vaulting hopeful. “I got out of my last class and was walking back to my student when I realized that I had no recollection at all about where I had parked it. I

could have sworn it was by the CoHo. But I don’t know — it could honestly be anywhere. First I lost my son, and now this. It’s been days now and I still haven’t had any luck finding it. Poor thing. Hopefully it hasn’t gotten all rusty in the rain.”

A few days later, the bike finally found its student in the sea of parking spots near the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC). The LANDRY on 10

Draining the swamp — administration promises to clear out Russell Field after rains RUSSELL FIELD CONSTRUCTION HALTED AFTER GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT AND PRECIPITATION

BY ETHAN VIC TOR ejvictor@ucdavis.edu After the controversial proposal to build administrative buildings and housing on Russell Field, rain and local protests have halted the development of any new plots on the cherished fields. Russell Field, the home to club and intramural sports such as rugby and ultimate frisbee, has been the center of a conflict that pitted the UC Davis

administration against the community.

The construction was supposed to start in early February, but the nearly two feet of rainfall in the past month has prevented workers from breaking ground. Local protests throughout this weather showed the dedication that the community has to keep the space open.

“Watching the locals come together through hail and real, not light, rain was a wake-up call. I’m in charge and I want to get things

sorted out,” said Henry Rose, the director of housing. “For starters, we need to drain the swamp, literally. Sports must go on. I also don’t want to deal with the people that proposed this idea in the first place.

The community clearly cares.”

Rose will be firing those who were in support of the construction and plans to hire people who have their ear to the ground for what VICTOR on 10

Hero student reminds us all that he chose Davis over Berkeley FIRST-YEAR WHO GRACED US WITH HIS PRESENCE PROCEEDS TO PROVE HIS HEROISM

BY OLIVIA LUCHINI ocluchini@ucdavis.edu UC Davis student Robert Quail wasn’t just born; he was crafted by the gods. In many ways, you could say he’s an angel just by virtue of his very existence. It’s extraordinary to think that we almost lost our savior to the Golden Bears.

You see, Quail was admitted to both UC Davis and UC Berkeley.

He chose to go to Davis. This has never happened before. Ask anyone and they’ll tell you the truth: once you get that acceptance to Berkeley, your Davis letter spontaneously combusts because the universe has already decided your fate. Our precious Quail would not let this be so! He grabbed his Davis letter and held it with all his might.

“Those people need me!” Quail wailed. “I cannot let them suffer without me.”

Thankfully, his letter did not disintegrate in his grasp; his soul is

too pure for his form to be burned. When asked how he feels about his choice, Robert (per usual) stayed humble.

“You know, I don’t like to rub it in or anything,” Quail said. “I’ll just wear the Cal shirt every other week and take questions just to clear the air, if anyone is curious or something. Also, I comment on every single article that compares the two campuses so people know LUCHINI on 10

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our relationship.”

An important value for both of them was establishing themselves professionally and achieving their individual career goals. Jenkins, who was a biological sciences and English double major and is now the chair of the English Department at Terra Nova High School in San Mateo County, pointed out that many people today might reject the opportunity for a relationship because they want to climb higher in the workforce and establish their careers.

“Your graduate school won’t take care of you when you’re sick and it won’t share your joys and your sadnesses,” Jenkins said. “My experience at Davis was largely colored by my relationship and it was the most meaningful thing to happen to me besides the entire growing up process.”

While at UC Davis, Jenkins and her husband broke up a few times, but each instance became a learning experience. They would always come back together to renegotiate, change and grow.

When graduation rolled around, Jenkins and Elefant decided to break up because Elefant had made it clear that he did not want to have children later in life, whereas that was something nonnegotiable for Jenkins.

“We decided to end our relationship at that point, [...] because our goals were mutually exclusive,” Jenkins said.

“I then left the country to go live abroad for a while because I was so fried out from school. When I was in Israel, [Elefant] wrote me a letter and his [postscript] was ‘do you ever think of us the way that we were?’ That was the moment I knew he changed his mind about having kids. I called him when I got back to the United States and we met up in San Francisco, and from that moment on we’ve been inseparable. I don’t think I’ve been away from him for more than two weeks ever since then.”

When she met her husband back in 1987, Jenkins said she had made up her mind about the kind of person she wanted to end up. Luckily enough, the guy who came along that day at the snack shop happened all of those qualities.

“I’ve spent almost my entire adult life with him to the point where he knows me better than I know myself, and there’s comfort in that,” Jenkins said. “When everything in your life is constantly changing, you have a new set of classes and professors every ten weeks, when you’re worrying if you’re going to get into graduate school or where you will go to graduate school, having somebody who is a source of consistency in your life is essential to feel secure when everything else is constantly changing.”

GARCIA CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

ald Ford as a pathetic klutz in a series of sketches. Chase’s portrayal reinforced public opinion that Ford was an “accidental president,” influenced by the fact that he was sworn in not because he ran for the position, but because he succeeded both President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew after they resigned in disgrace following the Watergate scandal.

In 1992, Phil Hartman poked fun at President Bill Clinton with an exaggerated imitation of his Arkansas accent and by making light of his tryst with Monica Lewinsky. Other famous imitations include Will Ferrell’s dopey George W. Bush, Tina Fey’s dumb-and-underqualified Sarah Palin, Amy Poehler’s overly ambitious Hillary Clinton, Jay Pharoah’s stiff Barack Obama, and now Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump — a caricature of a caricature.

It’s worth noting that up until our current president, not a single politician has taken issue with their comic portrayals. Ford said he was able to laugh at himself through Chase’s impersonation, and Palin responded with a parody of Fey’s character from 30 Rock.

Lately, SNL’s political commentary is not as cloaked beneath a ridiculous wig. It merely reflects what it sees. The show’s monologues have become soapboxes. Since Trump’s inauguration, Aziz Ansari was the first comedian to tackle his contentious presidency. Ansari ditched the tongue-in-cheek tactics and instead directly addressed Trump and his supporters. He referred to some of Trump’s supporters as a “lower case KKK movement” and called out those who have said things like “Trump won! Go back to Africa!”

Somewhat seriously, he continued: “I think Trump should make a... real speech denouncing the lowercase KKK. [He shouldn’t] tweet about me being lame or the show.” Ansari finished on a thoughtful note by saying, “If you look at our country’s history, change doesn’t come from presidents. Change comes from large groups of angry people.”

NBC’s resistance to Trump through SNL marks a new instance in which the entertainment industry uses its platform to challenge the political landscape. Previously, sketches served to bring levity or gentle mockery for its own sake. Now, they’re protests. From a rhetorical standpoint, by acknowledging its former partnership with Trump, NBC says, “Look, we’ve worked with him before. You shouldn’t trust him.”

Or maybe by outrightly denouncing Trump, the network is attempting to distance itself from him. Maybe it’s a mix of both.

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

MAITRA CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

since its establishment in 1923. Many critics say that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is responsible for the country’s downward spiral. For over two decades, Erdoğan has served as Istanbul’s mayor, Turkey’s prime minister and president since 2014. Despite wielding an enormous amount of political power, he has tried hard to strengthen the presidency — traditionally weaker than the prime ministry — in a move that would require him to change the constitution. He has attempted to repress all challenges to his reign, especially from Fethullah Gülen, a moderate Turkish writer and Islamic preacher living in self-imposed exile in the United States.

Turkish calls for his extradition have soured relations with the U.S. in recent years.

The bedrocks of democracy — free speech and a free press — are in danger in Turkey.

Media freedom has steadily deteriorated since 2010, and has dropped drastically since 2016.

It’s no wonder that things came to a head in July 2016, when a faction of the Turkish military attempted a coup in major cities like Ankara and Istanbul. The military leaders of the failed coup left Turkey in an ongoing state of emergency with a shaky military. This has had significant consequences for the region, because Turkey is an important geopolitical location that connects the West and the Middle East, both historically and in modern times. It serves as gatekeeper to the European Union, helping filter the enormous number of refugees fleeing Syria. Its relations with the EU have soured over arguments about Turkey’s EU membership bid, with Turkey threatening to open the borders and let refugees across.

This makes Turkey a significant player in the Syrian Civil War. Turkey has provided humanitarian relief to fleeing Syrians and now hosts the largest number of refugees in the world.

It opposes Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government and has supported the rebels in fighting against Assad.

Faced by challenges on all fronts, including the long-standing problem of Kurdish rebels in the country, Turkey is in a tough spot. But if its foundations of democracy have been established strongly enough, it should be able to pull through this period of turmoil and stand upright again.

But questions remain. Will Turkey succumb to the same issues that other Muslim countries face in the Middle East? Is it truly possible for Islamic values and fundamental democratic principles to be followed side by side? Or will the Middle Eastern countries develop their own style of governance? Only time will tell.

BAGGA CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

conflict since the ‘70s, our country has not, since Vietnam, truly experienced war.

Outside the philosophical considerations, widespread awareness of war kept hawkish politicians and the military-industrial complex on a leash. A foolhardy overstep abroad would meet powerful and public backlash.

Vietnam and Iraq were equally prolonged and unpopular conflicts, but only one was met with intense media scrutiny and massive student demonstrations. The other was reduced to a partisan talking-point, on par with issues like the national debt and abortion in America’s political dichotomy.

This dichotomy is also relevant to conscription. In the past 20 years, technology has made the world seem smaller through making it more reachable while at the same time dividing our country further. The United States has culturally regressed into a set of echo chambers. What were once fundamental American values, like respect for the presidency and hatred for foreign dictators, are now dependent upon labels like race, geography and income.

A correctly-implemented draft would be blind to such identities. Young Americans from all walks of life would be exposed to one another and form lifelong bonds over the trials of military training.

One of the most reviled aspects of the Vietnam draft was the end of student deferments. University students chosen by the draft lottery were forced to delay their academic and career ambitions until their service came to an end.

But this was in fact one of the finest features of the draft. Many college students are on track for career success, and accept at face value the principles of a liberal arts education. They will rarely encounter how the other half lives. Being drafted is a true kick out of the bubble.

Our country is in sore need of unity, social equality and healthy civic involvement. Reinstating the draft would be one step in the right direction.

LANDRY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

VICTOR

Activities and Recreation Center (ARC). The student expressed relief at finally being located.

“I was really glad to finally be found after days of watching my owner go into the ARC to work out and not realizing that I was parked right outside,” said the student. “But by the time my bike finally found me, some of my parts had been stolen. Someone just went ahead and screwed off my left arm and took it to do who knows what.

It was honestly horrifying. I’m just lucky that nobody tried to take my ears. What else would my bike grab onto to steer while he’s riding me?”

Members of the Davis community weighed in on the situation after reports of the incident started circulating online.

“This explains a lot,” said Nicole Tube, a first-year chemistry major who appeared on TLC’s My Strange Addiction for her addiction to throwing her electronic devices across the room and out of windows. “Mostly it explains why I may or may not have bought a human left arm on the Free and For Sale Facebook page. I know people might judge me and think it’s weird, but I really needed a new one after what happened to my last one. Yikes.”

This story of forgetfulness should serve as a staunch reminder to the bike community that they should always remember where they parked their students. You never know how many arms your student will have — or not have — by the time you finally find them.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

students want. He wants to “drain the swamp” of an administration many students say is out of touch with the people of Davis.

“I’m glad that the school has decided to forego its plan,” said Warren Gates, an avid ultimate frisbee and rugby fan. The fourth-year human development major continued, “The school needs to have the interests of the students in mind. Apparently, the past administration didn’t.”

Russell Field’s new life has been met with overwhelming support from students. Keeping the interests of the community in mind makes for a happy campus, something that it seems the school often forgets. With a current administration that solely seeks to benefit those in charge, financially and for their own convenience, the school should seek to make changes that are less centered around what makes the powers that be happy and instead more focused on the well-being of its students.

Electing to preserve Russell Field, whether it be due to the rain or vehement protests from the people, is one of many steps that the university should be taking to ensure the happiness of the Davis community. Continuing on with amenities that benefit the few and not the masses only creates a further disconnect between the people and the powers at the top.

LUCHINI CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

DATA RESCUE

that, like, some winners go here too.”

Interim Chancellor Ralph Hexter meets with Quail once a week in order to pat him twice firmly on the back and gift him a muffin basket.

“We’ll probably give him the key to the city soon,” Hexter said. “It’s just so hard to find time to hold a ceremony like that because Robert has ‘be awesome’ penciled in his schedule 24 hours a day, every day.”

Quail, no matter how many times he graciously informs people, still encounters the occasional Aggie who has no clue what he did for this campus. He has proposed an easy solution to alleviate their embarrassment.

“We’ve danced around the idea of replacing the Egghead in front of Mrak with a bronze statue of myself,” Quail said. “I know it sounds so extra but, hey, anything to make our school the best it can be.”

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

MOTH CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

One of Kimsey’s colleagues, Steve Heydon, a senior museum scientist at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, helped collect this specimen and describes the specimen as an “LBM,” or little brown moth. According to Heydon, with its wings spread it still only measures about 1 to 1.5 centimeters.

“If you put [the moth] under the microscope it really does have those little scales on the top of the head that kind of flip up,” Heydon said.

The scales Heydon refers to are the microscopic feature that relate the Neopalpa donaldtrumpi to its name.

This moth was collected using a Malaise trap which Heyden defined as a tool primarily used to collect bees, wasps, flies and other insects, but is also capable of collecting certain moths. The trap allowed those on the expedition to acquire an insect so small and delicate in a terrain where a “little brown moth” would be able to easily blend in. For a visualization, Heydon equates the trap to a “modified tent.”

While both Heydon and Kimsey helped physically discover this moth, there is a entire separate process to researching and learning about a new species once it is found for the first time. According to Heydon, unless someone specifically chooses to research this new species of moth it could be “centuries” before it is fully understood.

“When it comes to insects there is almost no information for most of the species,” Heydon said.

Marc Epstein, a senior insect biosystematist, explained how the conservation of the dunes served as the foundation of the whole expedition.

“The case for conservation of the Algodones and other unique environments is always best when the case is made about the unique biota, the numerous examples of unique organisms found at a particular site, rather than a few,” Epstein said via email.

Politically charged moths and sand dunes aside, Heydon stresses the importance of surveys like this as something integral to our growth as a society.

“It just goes to show how much we don’t know about the world around us and why we shouldn’t stop collecting and examining things because there are a lot really interesting species out there,” Heydon said.

mate change links,” Baarda said. “At that point, I started thinking, ‘In a year, these data might not be here if they’re not backed up.’ If you Google it, you should be able to go to these government websites with reliable data because there’s so much misinformation out there. We want to back up what we know is accurate and reliable data so that they can be accessible in the future.” #DataRescueDavis’s dedicated volunteers made the event a true success; even at full capacity, volunteers continued to code and web crawl while sitting in groups on the floor and up against walls.

“I think what’s driving these numbers is that people are sensing that they have a skill that they want to use for good,” Miller said.

Upcoming DataRescue events are scheduled to take place at UC Berkeley, Georgetown University, Haverford College and MIT. No coding experience is needed in order to volunteer with the project.

SWIM PACIFIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15

“It definitely helps with the atmosphere,” Chung said. “A bunch of us came here early to help with the seniors, and we got really excited.”

Though Pacific held an early lead, the Aggies soon took control and built upon the lead as the competition moved along, placing first in 10 of 15 possible heats, including two first place finishes by diver Serena Yee, one of which was a school record of 301.05 in the 3-meter.

Brown (500 freestyle, 5:04.14, and 1,000 freestyle, 10:21.38), Chung (200 butterfly, 2:06.24, and 200 individual medley, 2:06.37) and sophomore Kristin Schumann (200 breaststroke, 2:19.11, and 100 breastroke, 1:05.08) all showed up strong on the day, each bringing their team two first-place finishes. Iris Brand (200 backstroke, 2:05.29), and Solie Laughlin (100 backstroke, 57.31) also brought in first place finishes.

For Chung’s first-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley, in which she inched out her opponent by a mere .07 seconds, Chung knew that she was going to have to finish strong to beat Pacific’s Whitney Jorgensen. In close races like that, she looks back on her training.

“It’s almost there,” Chung said. “I just race to the finish. I know we all worked really hard.

We push each other every day, and it’s not any different than pushing each other in practice.

Someone’s still next to me.”

Jahn was proud of her team, which now has its eyes set on Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title. The championships will be held from Feb. 15 to 18 in Pasadena, Calif, but she knows that repeating last year’s title run will not be an easy task.

“We’re not a shoo-in, even though we are the defending champions,” Jahn said. “There are three other teams that have just as much chance to take the title from us.”

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THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

SCIENCE+TECH CHARLES MIIN / AGGIE

CODERS AT #DATARESCUEDAVIS ARCHIVE FEDERAL, AT-RISK DATABASES

Moth species named after newly elected President New moth species named Neopalpa donaldtrumpi, raises awareness for environmental conservation

NAVRI VAZRICK / COURTESY

UC Davis volunteers compile archive of scientific data at hackathon

BY EM M A SA D LOWS K I s ci ence@ th e a ggi e .o r g

UC Davis community members gathered at the Peter J. Shields Library on Feb. 2 for #DataRescueDavis, a hackathon intended for archiving reliable scientific data.

Volunteers spent the day on their laptops backing up data specifically related to climate change and the environment.

The hackathon was sponsored by DataRefuge, a public and collaborative project by the University of Pennsylvania that aims to safeguard scientific, federal data and ensure that data remain accessible to researchers around the world. The project has inspired communities across the country to host DataRescue events and to contribute to preserving public databases.

“These events are meant to pull down federally funded and publicly available data on federal websites and back them up in a location that isn’t under control by the government,” said Kevin Miller, the university archivist at UC Davis. “We want to ensure that any digital form or research dataset survives and is accessible over the long term.” #DataRescueDavis began at 10 a.m. with an introduction of the project’s purpose and goals followed by a coding workshop. The volunteers were then split up into groups and worked on different coding tasks for the remainder of the day under the guidance of Shields Library staff members.

The DataRefuge Project kickstarted in December 2016 in anticipation of the U.S. presidential transition. Federally available data, such as the information found on the White House and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) websites, are often updated whenever a president begins a new term, which can result in lost data. Shields Library staff members were inspired by the project’s objective of archiving these data and began organizing an event for the UC Davis community shortly thereafter.

“Libraries are committed to ensuring the preservation of and public access to knowledge,” said MacKenzie Smith, a UC Davis university librarian, in an email interview. “It is critical that valuable scientific data remain available to researchers, so the UC Davis Library is offering its space and expertise in managing data to facilitate this important effort.”

Volunteers at #DataRescueDavis were divided into two main groups. The “nominator” group identified federal websites that had information about environment, climate, datasets or public research. These volunteers picked out websites that were “web crawlable,” websites that can properly index downloaded pages.

When a web page was loaded with large data or media (an uncrawlable website), it was flagged and sent to the “scraper” group, who reviewed the websites and dug deeper to “scrape” out and manually download the data. The web crawlable data was backed up into the Internet Archive, a nonprofit digital library based in San Francisco, while the scraped data was backed up into an archive provided by DataRefuge.

Fernando Espinosa, a third-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major, volunteered as a scraper at the event. He saw the project as a great opportunity for him to apply his knowledge of data science and coding toward a good cause.

“We know that we can prevent important scientific data from disappearing — data that can help us predict future climate change and other issues,” Espinosa said.

“We want to create a large enough database that can be accessible to not only Davis residents, but to data scientists around the world.”

The project is currently collaborating with the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative and the Internet Archive’s End of Term Project to archive data involving climate change and the environment. According to Miller, preserving this information is crucial to research institutions like UC Davis.

“A lot of strength and focus here at UC Davis is on the environmental sciences, and that’s a part of the reason as to why we want to focus on those types of websites,” Miller said.

Some volunteers at the event expressed concern about the possible censorship of these public databases.

Rachel Baarda, a physics graduate student and another scraper at the event, emphasized the importance of protecting reliable data so that future generations may use them with assurance.

“I remember it was only last quarter when I was trying to do research on my own about climate change, and I was using the EPA’s website to look at their cli-

UC Davis MIND Institute researchers explore effects of virtual realities on autism BRIAN LANDRY / AGGIE

Video games rarely carry a positive connotation. The mere mention of video games is often accompanied by images of nagging mothers and children staring at screens in zombie-like trances while fiddling tirelessly with controllers. Therefore, it may be surprising to learn that virtual realities are

Microscopic combovers and barren sand dunes have gifted the world with a new moth species named after a man with the country’s most infamous hairstyle. The Neopalpa donaldtrumpi moth was collected by a team from the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis.

The Neopalpa donaldtrumpi, named a couple of days before the inauguration of President Donald Trump, is a moth with a 7-17mm wingspan and light yellow scales on its head, according to the journal article that first described it. Some say that the moth bears a resemblance to its namesake: Donald Trump. Regardless of the moth’s physical appearance, its name brings attention to conservation issues around the Algodones Dunes, where the moth was found, and to habitat preservation in general.

Lynn Kimsey, the director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and a professor of entomology at UC Davis, led the expedition to the Algodones Dunes, which is a desert landscape located just north of the California-Mexico border. “[The expedition] was a contract with the Bureau of Land Management to do a complete insect survey of the dunes,” Kimsey said. “We collected several hundred thousand specimens down in the dunes and we have various specialists look at them to identify species.”

It was one of those specialists, Vazrick Nazari, who identified and named the moth. As to why Nazari named the moth N. donaldtrumpi, Kimsey suspects that the name stems from a variety of reasons and not just because of the yellow scales on the top of the moth’s head.

“I think his idea was to name it after someone visible [...] to make a point about

the importance of these habitats,” Kimsey said. “The average person thinks of deserts as just wastelands.”

In fact, according to Kimsey, the Algodones Dunes in particular are especially rich in insect species, which makes conservation all the more important.

“The Algodones Dunes are about 200 square miles of sand,” Kimsey said. “There are a few plants scattered around, but it’s mostly just sand. We got almost 2,000 different kinds of insects on those dunes and 6 percent of them were new to science, which is a fairly big number.”

In addition to being a hotbed of insect diversity, the Algodones Dunes are a traditionally hostile environment, which means that its inhabitants often have interesting biological adaptations.

“One of the things that we had discovered was that the insects that survive in desert situations often times have very special adaptations, both physiological and biochemically,” Kimsey said. “Some of those chemicals actually turn out to be incredibly useful in terms of pharmaceuticals or industrial compounds.”

According to Kimsey, some insects don’t just survive in the extreme desert heat— they thrive in it.

“Quite a number of insect are only active during the summer when it’s hottest [...] Sand temperatures in the dunes around June or July average around 160 to 170 degrees,” Kimsey said. “Insects are cold blooded, so they are whatever temperature they’re surrounded by. That means they’re tolerating temperatures that, except for bacteria, almost nothing else can tolerate, which means they must have some awesome heat shock proteins or other chemical adaptations that allow them to function at those temperatures.”

MOTH on PAGE 14

DATA RESCUE on PAGE 14

AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER: THE LATEST BREAKTHROUGH

BY HARNOOR GILL AND EMMA SADLOWSKI s ci en ce@ th e a ggi e .o r g

BY MERAL BASIT AND EMMA AS K E A s cie nc e @t he aggie . org

emerging as vital tools to aid the academic, cognitive and social development of children with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.

Autism is a complex disorder characterized by hindrances in communicative behavior and normal cognitive development.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, autism affects one in 68 American children and has increased in prevalence over recent years.

“While many individuals with autism vary in the amount of social skills they have, they all share these features of having restricted interests and problems communicating in social situations,” said James McCauley, a graduate research assistant at the UC Davis MIND Institute.

This social and communicative impairment that is characteristic of children with autism motivated researchers at the MIND Institute to develop new intervention methods that use virtual realities to help children with autism practice core communication and writing skills.

This form of digital neurotherapy — using interactive video games as a treatment option for neurodevelopmental disorders — targets the components of social interaction in which children with autism may be lacking.

Peter Mundy, a professor at the UC Davis School of Education and the director of educational research at the MIND Institute, is incorporating virtual realities into his neurodevelopmental research to help children with autism improve their sociability. In his study, Mundy had participants look into a virtual reality headset and engage in a classroom simulator.

“One thing we really wanted to do with the virtual reality was provide [individuals with autism] with an opportunity to practice communicating with other people,” Mundy said. “One way to do so is to practice public speaking.

We set up a virtual classroom where children and adolescents with autism could talk to virtual peers while we were asking them questions.”

In a task called the “fade condition,” participants were asked to make continuous eye contact and maintain conversation with their virtual peers to prevent them from disappearing, or “fading” away.

“We found that [the fade condition] was helpful in getting children with autism to increase the amount of attention they paid to other people while talking,” Mundy said. “We think we may have developed something quite useful in measuring how well children with autism can keep eye contact or look at faces while talking.”

Virtual realities also have the potential to play a critical role in improving the writing skills of individuals with autism, as suggested by UC Davis doctoral candidate Matt Zajic’s research in the field.

Zajic recognized that “Minecraft”, a popular video game that involves building with 3-D blocks and interacting with virtual characters, could also improve the course of language and communication development in children with autism. He created writing tasks revolving around “Minecraft” to appeal to children and engage them in the writing process.

“We learned during one of our first writing assessments was that kids liked to write about their favorites games,

and a majority of the kids were writing about ‘Minecraft,’” Zajic said.

In his study, Zajic had child participants watch a two-minute “Minecraft” gameplay video. After watching the video, the children were asked to recall everything they could remember and then write a story about what they thought happened in the gameplay.

These tasks, which may otherwise appear daunting or arduous, were completed with enthusiasm since the narrative prompts were associated with “Minecraft”-related themes and gameplay.

“Some of the things we’ve seen so far from the task, anecdotally, was that during our other writing tasks, we had some kids push back and refuse to write, versus this one where as soon as we mentioned ‘Minecraft’, we had no kids arguing against it,” said Zajic.

According to Zajic, interactive virtual realities such as “Minecraft” could gain insight into how individuals with autism process, organize and engage with ideas and information.

While the field of neurodevelopmental disorders is brimming with uncertainty, families of children that are affected by autism can take heart in the newfound and ever-improving technological treatment that virtual reality has brought to light.

“Virtual reality provides a safe place where people with autism can get a lot of practice in interacting in ways that may otherwise be difficult,” Mundy said.

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

12 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017

ARTS & Culture

HOPPED UP COMEDY X ARRIVES IN TIME FOR VALENTINE’S DAY WEEKEND

Seven movies from the seven countries targeted by President Trump’s IMMIGRATION ban Learn more about countries targeted by Trump’s executive order by checking out these movies

AS HLE Y LU GO / AGGI E

Los Angeles-based comedians bring their jokes to small town

JAY GELVEZON / AGGIE

BY PAR I SAG A F I a rts@ th e ag g i e . o rg

On Jan. 27, President Donald Trump issued an executive order restricting the travel of citizens from 7 Muslim-majority countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. In light of this, thousands of people of all backgrounds and ages have gathered around airports to protest this executive order in what can be only described as a moving display of humanity. This executive order — which many have interpreted as an Islamophobic ban on Muslims — is yet another sign of how the Trump administration dehumanizes entire groups of people.

But people are still people regardless of where they are in the world; they fall in love, struggle, have hopes and dreams. They may drink coffee in the morning — or not — and have friends and family that they care about. They feel and therefore create art.

Movies have always been a medium that can provide a glimpse into the everyday lives of people around the world. When entire populations are painted as the “evil other,” they are robbed of their humanity and their voices are silenced. Movies create a platform to tell their day-to-day stories. Seeing real, human complexity is incredibly important, as it serves as a necessary reminder of the existence and beauty of different cultures.

Here are seven movies from the seven countries targeted by Trump’s executive order.

1. Iran: Close-Up I’m ashamed to say that, as an IranianAmerican, I have seen far too few Iranian movies, but I’ve at least seen my share of Abbas Kiarostami films. The criticallyacclaimed director’s Close-Up is based on a true story — starring the people who were actually involved — about a man’s trial after he attempted to con a family into believing that he was the famous Iranian director Mohsen Mahkmalbaf. This heartbreaking film has been voted by many critics as one of the top 50 greatest movies of all time, and it’s being re-watched lately in light of the celebrated director’s recent passing.

Close-Up is available on iTunes and Amazon.

2. Iraq: The Dreams of Sparrows First-time director Hayder Daffar shot this post-war Iraq documentary from 2003 to 2004, interviewing many Iraqis about their opinions of the war and the effect that it has had on their lives. The hand-held camera footage captures the different emotions of civilians, and while the majority oppose the United States’ presence in Iraq, Daffar interviews some Iraqis who have a more positive reaction to it. Seeing the Iraqi perspective of the war gives audiences an angle that is often left out of discussions of the war in the United States.

The Dreams of Sparrows is not currently available online; a copy of the DVD is available to borrow at the Davis Public Library.

3. Yemen: A New Day in Old Sana’a This 2005 film was heavily advertised as being the first, and only, Yemeni feature film — and the only Yemeni film to be shown at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Set in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, this romantic drama is seen through the eyes of an Italian photographer, whose friend has to choose between two love interests. Critics have called this intense story one that “highlights inner struggle between family honor and love,” and gives us a tiny glimpse into Yemeni culture.

A New Day in Old Sana’a is available on YouTube.

4. Libya: The Message Most people may think only of the tragic 2012 Benghazi attack when they hear the word “Libya,” but this immediate connotation is dangerous, as the country has a rich history and culture that is often neglected in political conversation. A popular film to check out is the 1976 cult classic The Message, an epic historical drama about the Prophet Muhammad’s beginnings, which was nominated for Best Original Score at the 50th Academy Awards.

The Message is available on Amazon.

5. Somalia: Men in the Arena (documentary) This 2015 Kickstarter documentary is directed and produced by J.R. Biersmith, who was inspired by the drive and dreams of the Somalian National Soccer Team.

KEL SE Y G RE G G E / AGGI E

“When we turn on the news, we often hear about Somalia being a hotspot for terrorism and piracy, but rarely, if ever, do we see Somalia through the eyes of its greatest athletes born in its darkest hours,” Biersmith said on the Kickstarter page. ”By focusing on the national team, the relationship of two of its best players, and the shared dream for peace, we hope the Somali people and viewers around the world will be inspired by the light emanating from these young stars.”

The movie is yet to be released, as it still requires more funding for additional shooting, editing and translation.

6. Syria: Return to Homs (documentary) This Syrian-German documentary, which won the Sundance Film Festival award for Best Documentary in 2013, follows the lives of 19-year-old national soccer team goalkeeper Abdul Baset Al-Sarout and his media activist friend, 24-year-old Ossama. Their hometown of Homs is bombed and destroyed by the Syrian army, and the film explores how the young men deal with their now crushed hopes and dreams, as they turn from peaceful protesters into rebel insurgents.

Return to Homs is available on YouTube, iTunes, Amazon and Google Play.

7. Sudan: The Lost Boys of Sudan (documentary) Although this documentary was not produced or directed by a person of Sudanese origin, director and producer Megan Mylan is critically acclaimed for her work including The Lost Boys of Sudan, which won two Emmy Awards and an Independent Spirit Award. The documentary is about two Sudanese refugees, Peter Dut and Santino Chuor, who were orphaned as children and survived turmoil to finally reach a refugee camp in Kenya.

From there, they were chosen to come to America and must now deal with the different culture and loneliness of going from one life to a completely different one. It’s important to witness different immigrant stories like these, and The Lost Boys does an excellent job of capturing the spirit of this difficult experience.

Lost Boys of Sudan is available on YouTube.

BY BECKY LEE art s@t heaggi e. org

Get ready for Hopped Up Comedy X, which is funnier and dirtier than ever before. James Frey will be hosting the 10th event of the Hopped Up series at Sudwerk Brewery in Davis on Feb. 10, along with other talented comedians from Los Angeles.

Frey, a Los Angeles-based comedian, started performing stand-up comedy six years ago with the Upright Citizens Brigade and discovered his joy in making people laugh. Although he hosts large shows at Los Angeles venues such as Malibu Family Wines, Frey really enjoys bringing his work to the Davis community.

“We try to get everybody from Davis out here, from the college to the people who live and work locally. There’s really nothing better than to bring in the best quality entertainment from Los Angeles and bring them the highest quality of stand-up comedians up to areas that don’t necessarily have the cream of the crop of comedy,” Frey said. “These guys that we drive up from L.A. with are really funny. They’ve been on Comedy Central, Conan and Jimmy Kimmel. We just try to bring a great variety and the funniest comedians in the scene right now. You might not have heard of their names yet, but I guarantee one day you’re going to start seeing all of their names.”

In contrast to a big city like Los Angeles, where the potential audience might be overwhelmed with the bombardment of live entertainment available, Davis citizens are always on the lookout for some great shows.

“We absolutely love coming up there because it’s great to get out of the Los Angeles scene where people can be sort of jaded about entertainment,” Frey said. “And we give to a community that’s ready for it and hungry for it. Everytime we walk into that brewery to perform for those crowds, it couldn’t be more of a warm welcome.”

According to Ralph Guerra, one of the featured comedians, the best part of performing in Davis is that everyone is receptive to what he has to offer.

“Sometimes in Los Angeles you gotta change the material to best fit whatever city you’re in, but at Davis I felt like I could do whatever I wanted,” Guerra said. “That’s what I’m really looking forward to.”

Having the comedy show at Sudwerk Brewery will be a treat for Davis residents because of its warm atmosphere. Unlike many bars in downtown Davis, Sudwerk is characterized by its homey feel, providing craft beers with friendly people like hanging out in a friend’s backyard.

Kathleen Brandl, the dock store manager, thinks that this brewery upholds the values of strong community in Davis.

“It’s a very welcoming, very casual space,” Brandl said. “We’re not like a lot of the places in downtown where it’s catering a little more towards loud music and drinking a bit too much. We’re very much all about savoring the session, which is basically enjoying good beer and good company. We don’t have any television out here, too. It kind of ties in with enjoying the people that you’re with.”

With Valentine’s Day rapidly approaching, this show can be a great way to unplug with your significant other or a group of friends.

“Comedians kind of have a job to relieve tension,” Guerra said. “It’s really what comedy is. It’s building up tension and releasing it.”

Hopped Up Comedy X will start at 7 p.m. The show costs $20 and includes one draft beer.

THE BACHELOR engages viewers, prompts viewing rituals

Is the fourth time the charm for this season’s bachelor?

BY ABIGAIL WANG AND MYAH DANIELS arts @ th e ag g i e . o rg

Few can say they share their significant other with 30 other people, let alone with nine million viewers on national television. But when competition is tough, one must go to extraordinary lengths in order to win the love of his/her/their life.

This includes dressing up as a dolphin (though clearly in a shark costume), meeting the parents on the fourth date and even performing with the Backstreet Boys. These outrageous situations could only mean one thing: The Bachelor is back.

Airing every Monday night on ABC since Jan. 2, The Bachelor captivates a variety of audience members across the nation. The show features grandiose dates, over-the-top contestants and strange ceremonial customs.

“I just started watching last season. I had friends who watched it,” said Sofia Molodanof, a third-year English major and an ASUCD senator. “Every episode we got super excited about. We didn’t have ca-

ble last year, so we’d search online for the show at 10 [p.m.] after it was done. It was something I didn’t think I would enjoy, but it’s become my guilty pleasure and it’s so entertaining.”

The Bachelor is a reality TV show that centers on a single individual looking to get engaged. Thirty women or men compete for the final proposal from one bachelor or bachelorette.

Each week, the contestants partake in a variety of challenges and dates in hopes of winning one of the remaining roses from the bachelor or bachelorette.

During the season finale, the bachelor or bachelorette proposes to one of the last two contestants, giving them the final rose.

“Personally, I think it will be Vanessa or Rachel,” said Justin Wright, a second-year biological sciences major and 12-year Bachelor watcher. “This season is a little bit cheesy and raunchy, but I am intrigued by what Nick’s next move will be with his lovers.”

This year’s Bachelor veteran, Nick Viall, has been the runner-up on two seasons of The Bachelorette.

Viewers are hopeful Viall will finally find lasting

love.

“Every single time before The Bachelor or The Bachelorette comes on, I look at all the contestants a few weeks before and read their [bios],” said Kate Heller, a first-year economics major and seven-year viewer. “I see which one seems the most normal and the most sincere and kind and then I pick a top five that I think will make it.”

Many viewers even have their own Monday-night viewing rituals in order to see the spectacle.

“It’s a great way to de-stress after six and a half hours of class,” said Nicholas Valverde, a second-year undeclared life sciences major. “People are drawn to the comical aspect which is The Bachelor. It teaches you the way to a woman’s heart.”

The show gives people a two-hour period to relax, hang with pals and get in a good laugh — especially with this season’s drama.

Spoiler alert: this season contains yet another polarizing contestant, Corinne Olympios, whose infamous flirty behavior has led to tension with the other contestants.

“It’s just so entertaining to watch [...] it’s so out there and sometimes it does work,” Heller said. “It worked for the first couple on The Bachelor and it’s worked for the past few people. I think it’s such a weird concept, and such a different concept that people tend to want to watch it to see if it works out.”

The Bachelor and Bachelorette have often been criticized for their lack of diversity. All 12 Bachelorettes have been white and 19 of the 20 Bachelors have been white.

This season, however, Viall requested more diversity in his contestants, and 10 out of the 30 contestants are people of color.

“The Bachelor is known for lacking in this area, but it’s interesting to watch — in this season especially — more diversity through Nick’s choice in women,” Molodanof said. “The Bachelor is obviously getting the hint that it’s ‘too white,’ but it still has a long way to go.”

Tune in to The Bachelor on Monday nights at 8 p.m. on ABC.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017| 13

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

G ENE SI A T I N G / AGGI E

The best of times and the worst of times: A Valentine’s Day playlist Love or hate the holiday, it (and a sweet playlist) is here

BY C A ROL I N E RUT T E N art s@ th e ag g i e . o rg

Just like the cute, heart-shaped candies passed around this time of year, Valentine’s Day seems to leave a sweet or sour taste in everyone’s mouth.

Whether you celebrate or despise the holiday, I present to you two appropriate playlists.

Anti-Valentine’s Day Being alone is empowering. Recognizing the sad parts about love is necessary.

1. ”I Could Have Been Your Girl” — She & Him This coo from the ever-so-adorkable Zooey Deschanel is a reminder that being alone is okay and serves as the cure for the holiday blues. She & Him is not complicated; the songs are simple and the lyrics are clear, and sometimes that’s what one needs on Valentine’s Day. Yeah, “the pillow I cry on” is sad, but “we are free and never meant to be” is telling — sometimes it’s too little too late and things don’t work as expected.

Deschanel’s low notes acknowledge the sadness of a breakup, yet the smooth, old-fashioned and romanticized sound promises that there is always another lover to come.

2. “Solo” — Frank Ocean Being alone is scary, and, to Ocean, that fear is empowering. Ocean also thinks drugs help.

With or without a mind-altering substance, the song’s minimal instruments and the isolation felt in Ocean’s wails might provoke that much-needed pent-up cry. But always after pain, “there’s heaven.”

3.“You Won’t Be Missing That Part of Me” — Melody’s Echo Chamber If you’re simply trying to escape the day in itself, a hallucinogenic 1960s sound is a trustworthy remedy. Melody’s Echo Chamber, produced

by Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, brings a similar out-of-this world sound, yet with a much softer feel than the latter band. The groovy way Melody dismisses her ex-lover as she “lied with all her heart” exerts her newfound and celebrated independence. Maybe it’s okay, then, that “it won’t be that hard to forget me.”

Valentine’s Day Rejoice in the simplicity and innocence of love itself, and the idiosyncratic differences of the person you care about.

1. “Talk is Cheap” — Nick Murphy Who wouldn’t want to be serenaded by that luscious beard and chilling voice? Murphy, formerly known as Chet Faker, says directly to his lover that the different nuances in how they communicate are “cheap” — they are insignificant in comparison to the love he has for her. He would rather “make her move with confidence” and reach a deeper romance than focus on the details. Irresponsible or hopelessly romantic, Murphy hits a fundamental point of love — it makes minute details appear more and more insignificant.

2. “Someday” — The Growlers The Growlers are the epitome of indie-folk beach-rat music, and similar to Melody’s Echo Chamber, their sound is reminiscent of groovier times. Along with a quirky sound, the romantic lyrics are direct and simple — there is no room for analysis in “one day I’ll make you my wife.”

Songs like this capture the simplicity of love in, well, a simple way.

3. “Jackie and Wilson” — Hozier Hozier is a basic, borderline-cheesy choice when it comes to love music, but this song depicts the daydreaming innocence of love — making plans for the future together, like having two kids named Jackie and Wilson and “raising them on rhythm and blues.” These plans may or may not ultimately come true but, at the time, they mean the world.

4.“Sweet Child O’ Mine” — Guns and Roses.

I have to throw a classic in: love rocks.

MOR GAN TI EU / AGGI E

M O RG AN T IE U / AG G IE

Lantern Festival — The beginning of the year Traditional Chinese Lantern Festival a time for family, community

BY B E T T Y W U a rt s @the aggie .org

Chinese New Year, which fell on Jan. 28 this year, has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean the New Year celebrations have stopped. The Chinese Lantern Festival will be held on Feb. 11 and is yet another opportunity for celebrating and feasting. Typically, people gather together and have a large feast at night, the most important dish of which is tangyuan, a glutinous rice ball usually filled with sweet red bean paste.

“We eat those [tangyuan], because in Chinese they symbolize ‘tuantuan yuanyuan,’ which [roughly] means ‘get together’ in English and they taste really good,” said Minhong Yang, a second-year managerial economics major, who came to the United States from China at a young age.

In the lunar calendar, the 15th night of every month corresponds with the full moon, and the Lantern Festival marks the first full moon of the year.

People celebrate at night by making ornate paper lanterns with intricate designs, often in the shape of animals, houses and dragons. In some parts of China, there are also grand lantern parades at night. In addition to the lanterns on display, some smaller lanterns are hung from trees with riddles written on pieces of paper. When someone correctly guesses the answer to

the riddle, they win a small prize.

For Chinese international students studying at UC Davis, the arrival of the Lantern Festival can bring about feelings of nostalgia.

“It is quite different spending Chinese festivals in a foreign country, especially away from home. Without the decorations in the community, I sometimes even forget about Lantern Festival,” said Zona Jin, a Chinese international student and a second-year clinical nutrition major. “For sure I cannot spend this day with my family, which I haven’t been able to do so for about five years, but I will definitely call my family. At the same time, my roommates and I are probably making some tangyuan at home.”

Yulin Xu, a Chinese international student and a second-year communication major, tries to find her home away from home at Davis. As a member of Chinese Student and Scholars Association (CSSA) at UC Davis, she and fellow members are working to create a comfortable and supportive environment for UC Davis’ Chinese community.

“The whole CSSA is like a big family of mine,” Xu said. “We work hard on this celebration and trying to present the best to fellow Chinese students in Davis and others who interested in Chinese culture.

We want to make all Chinese students who are far from home feel the warmth of home.”

Critically acclaimed stand-up comic Brian Regan to perform at Mondavi Center Regan shares his passion for his craft, career beginnings

BY SYDNE Y O DMAN a r ts @the aggie .org

With all that’s going on in the world right now, sometimes laughter truly is the best medicine. For those who are comic buffs or simply looking for a laugh, Brian Regan, considered by many to be a veteran in the field of comedy, is coming to the Mondavi Center on Feb. 17.

Having appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on multiple occasions — in addition to performing on Comedy Central — Regan has mastered the art of observational comedy. His performance style is sophisticated, relatable and, most importantly, hilarious. Although he is known for his relatively clean acts, devoid of any profanity or vulgarity, Regan’s stand-up is the type that can be enjoyed by people of all backgrounds and ages.

“In my comedy, I like to have it as lean and mean as possible,” Regan said. “I do the comedy that I enjoy simply because I enjoy doing it.”

While Regan was in college, he majored in economics and planned on becoming an accountant.

After realizing he wanted to steer his career path in another direction, Regan changed his major to communications and theater arts. With the support of his

parents, he set his sights on becoming a comedian.

“One of my first classes in that new major was speech, and I used to try and make my speeches funny. The feeling of making the class laugh and making the teacher laugh was just overwhelming to me,” Regan said. “I remember thinking ‘Wow, I don’t know what this is but I like it and I want more of it!’”

The acclaimed comic tends to center his jokes around topics of everyday life. In his routines, he talks about seemingly mundane situations that most people might not give a second thought to. Then, Regan gives the audience his own take on these funny aspects of life, often incorporating some singing and physical comedy on the stage.

In regard to his own advice for those aspiring to make it in the world of stand-up comedy, the longstanding comic says the most important thing is passion.

“When I decided I wanted to be a comedian, my life immediately became filled with this passion,” Regan said. “So, if you hit on something that makes you feel passionate, maybe that’s worth pursuing, despite the naysayers.”

Brian Regan is performing at the Mondavi Center on Feb. 17 at 8 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at http://tickets.mondaviarts.org/. Student prices range from $17.50 to $27.50.

Jennifer Hirschfield

EVENTS CALENDAR FOR FEBRUARY Where to find the best Davis/Sacramento events

BY ALLY OVER BAY art s@t heaggi e. org

Open Mic Night Under the Stars, Feb. 9 Where? Arboretum Wyatt Deck When? 7-9 p.m.

What is it? Open Mic Night, a UC Davis classic, is set to hit the UC Davis arboretum. Unlike open mic nights at the CoHo, this “under the stars” version will be hosted by the Arboretum rather than Entertainment Council. There will be a spread of local talent — from music to spoken word to comedy — on Thursday evening at Wyatt Deck. In the event of rain, the performance will be moved to 146 Environmental Horticulture.

2nd Friday of Davis ArtAbout, Feb. 10 Where? Throughout downtown Davis When? 5-10 p.m.

What is it? Every second Friday of the month, the City of Davis hosts the self-guided “ArtAbout” tour, during which residents and visitors alike can explore the variety of art Davis has to offer. Whether it’s Mishka’s newest exhibit or Boheme’s Valentine’s Day special, there’s a variety of local art and community collaborations to explore.

Sudwerk’s Lunar New Year Celebration, Feb. 11 Where? Sudwerk Brewing Company, 2001 2nd St., Davis When? 3:30-8 p.m.

What is it? UC Davis’ Chinese Lion Dancing and Taiko Drumming groups are set to perform at the brewery. What better way to celebrate the Lunar New Year than with good food, specialty beers on tap and live music?

3rd Thursday at the Manetti Shrem, Feb. 16 Where? The Manetti Shrem Museum, 254 Old Davis Rd., Davis When? 5-9 p.m.

What is it? Every third Thursday of the month, the museum hosts “a night of all-in revelry that will open your eyes and your mind, and get your heart beating,” according to their website. Whatever that means, it seems worthy of attendance. Kickstart your weekend with museum festivities that include art, music and whatever you make of it.

The Growlers at Ace of Spades, Feb. 18 Where? Ace of Spades, 1417 R St., Sacramento When? 7 p.m.

What is it? For $25, check out the psychedelic pop group The Growlers before they head to the Bay Area for their performance at the Warfield. With its distinctly West Coast sound, this group is sure to bring the sunshine to your overcast California winter.

UC Davis Theater Department: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Feb. 23 Where? Main Theater, Wright Hall When? 2-4:30 p.m. or 7-9:30 p.m.

What is it? Catch the opening night of UC Davis’ rendition of the 2013 Tony Award-winner for Best Play. The show, about a family reuniting in modern Pennsylvania, is wildly funny and will run Feb. 23-25 and March 2-4. Tickets are $12 for students, $17 for faculty and staff and $18.50 for adults.

103rd Annual Picnic Day, April 22 Where? Everywhere When? All day What is it? Because it’s never too early for a save-the-date.

14 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

UC DAVIS CHIEF OF POLICE SEARCH

TOWN HALL MEETINGS Wednesday, February 15

Student Community Center, Multi-Purpose Room

General Town Halls for faculty, staff and students

10:00 - 11:00 a.m.

2:30 - 3:30 p.m.

Come discuss the qualifications you would like to see in the next

UC Davis Chief of Police RESPECT

COURAGE DIVERSITY

INTEGRITY INNOVATION

EXCELLENCE

Town Hall for students only

5:30 - 6:30 p.m.

SERVICE

Refreshments will be served We are committed to conducting an open, transparent search to attract a strong and diverse pool of candidates with the background and experience necessary for this critical position. The information gathered at these town halls will be used to inform the selection process.

Not able to attend? Send your comments to: chiefofpolicesearch@ucdavis.edu For more information, visit: http://interimprovost.ucdavis.edu/initiatives-and-activities/activities/er/chief_of_police.html

Special UC Davis student tickets

$10!

Mucca Pazza

Get ready to get rowdy! Combining marching band traditions, street theater spectacle, rock and roll sensibilities and a high level of musicianship, Mucca Pazza draws inspiration from Esquivel to Zappa.

SAT, APRIL 1

UC Davis student tickets price special: $10

upNEXT:

Edmar Castaneda Trio

special guest Andrea Tierra, vocals Colombian harpist draws on South American sounds and the improvisational language of jazz.

WED–SAT, FEB 15–18

Brian Regan “The best stand-up [comic] working today.”

—Patton Oswalt

FRI, FEB 17

Richter Uzur Duo Elements of classical music, rock, Eastern European folk and North American indigenous music.

SAT–SUN, FEB 25–26

mondaviarts.org/uc-davis-students

Your first ticket is FREE!*

50% off tickets all the time!*

All UC Davis students.

Limit one per student.

Full-time students enrolled in current academic year.

* Mondavi Center presents and UC Davis Department of Music events only.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017 | 15

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

IA N JON ES / AG GIE

INSIDE THE GAME:

IA N J ON ES / AGG IE

DA N I EL TA K / AGGI E F I LE

CHIMA MONEKE The California Aggie sits down with UC Davis men’s basketball star A N H-TR A M B U I / AG GIE

UC DAVIS WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING TEAM FINISHES SEASON STRONG WITH HOME WIN OVER PACIFIC Seven of team’s outgoing seniors close out regular season with one last win

BY BRADLE Y GEISER sports@theaggie.org

When the University of the Pacific came to town on Saturday, Feb. 4 under a gray, cloudy sky, it was the last time that many members of UC Davis swim and dive would compete in front of its home crowd.

The duel, which was the final regular season match of the season, marked an emotional goodbye for all seven of the team’s outgoing seniors — Kirsten Brand, Marissa Brown, Hilvy Cheung, Marrisa LaFreniere, Kaitlin Leung, Elise Roberts and Serena Yee. All of the seniors were honored at the first break for their contributions to the program during their time with the swim team.

Height: 6’6” Year: Junior Position: Forward Major: Communication Hometown: Canberra, Australia High School: Lake Ginninderra College Community College: Northeast Community

History: Played for Northeast Community, where he averaged 17 points per game, and for Lake Ginninderra College, where he averaged 16 points per game his senior year Accolades: Named Big West Player of the Week for Jan. 2, was first team allregion honors both seasons at Northeast Community, named MVP Team Player at the Australian Schoolboys Championships

BY L I Z JACOBS O N sports@theaggie.org

Basketball] Player of the Year, that’s when I’m going to celebrate.

Junior forward Chima Moneke is the star of the UC Davis men’s basketball team this season. If fans do not know him for his jaw-dropping basketball skills, they know him for his sports goggles.

The California Aggie had the chance to sit down with Chima Moneke to discuss his basketball career so far and his aspirations as both an Aggie and as a basketball player in general.

In the game against Hawai’i on Saturday, Jan. 21, you had a career-high 26 points and 13 rebounds — one shy of a career high — and you recorded your fourth 20-and10 game and program-record eighth double-double of the season.

Hawai’i was a great game for me. The crowd was pretty intense and they were very loud and there was a lot of people there. I like playing in those kinds of environments and it definitely brought out the best in me.

I feel like I played well defensively and I was energetic on that end and that’s what led to me playing pretty well offensively as well.

How long have you been playing basketball? What got you into the sport?

I’ve been playing basketball for eight years now and I just started playing because my friends suggested we play. I had just gone back to Australia for high school and I was playing soccer at the time and wanted to try something new.

Your hometown is in Australia. You went to Northeast Community in Nebraska, and now you’re here. How did you end up at UC Davis?

When I got to Nebraska, I was playing pretty well. After my freshman year, I played at a showcase in St. Louis, Missouri and Coach [Jim] Les saw me play and he was the first one to offer me [a spot on the team]. We just kept in touch the whole time and that was the year [the UC Davis men’s basketball team] ended up winning the [conference] championship. That really left a mark on me and I was like, ‘Oh, okay, I want to come here.’ I took my visit on Picnic Day and that sealed the deal.

Last year you were the Big West Conference’s representative at the 2016 NCAA Leadership Forum.

That was pretty big time and I didn’t understand how big a time it was until I actually went there. When I heard I got nominated, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s pretty cool.’ I didn’t really get it, I was just like, ‘Okay, four days in Arizona, that’s going to be nice,’ but when I got there it was amazing. It was a great experience that I’ll never forget.

How did it feel to be awarded Player of the Week earlier in the season?

It was cool. It was cool to get recognized by the Big West, but honestly, I just want to win, and if I get [Big West Conference Men’s

What is the ultimate goal for you to achieve athletically at UC Davis during your next couple years?

I definitely want to go to the NCAA Tournament both years and win the conference tournament and just put [UC] Davis on the map and make [UC] Davis relevant athletically for the years to come.

How do you feel the team is doing right now?

Right now we’re playing our best basketball and we’re playing really well defensively.

I feel like we’re sharing the ball offensively and we’re clicking at the right time. I feel like it’s scary for other teams to want to play us, especially coming here seeing as we’re undefeated here [at home].

How does the team react to your performance this season and the records you have been breaking and the accolades you have received? What is the level of support from them?

They’re very supportive, but at the end of the day, I’m one of them. I wouldn’t be able to break any of those records without them, so they treat me the same way. I’m still the same goofy guy. It’s nothing different, which is what I love. I don’t want them to treat me any differently.

What are your plans for after you graduate?

When I graduate, I want to play in the NBA. If I don’t play in the NBA, I want to play in Europe — I want to play professionally somewhere. I want to be able to take care of my family and just be able to see them because I haven’t seen them in so long.

“It’s just a very talented group of young women who are just starting off now,” said head coach Barbara Jahn. “We’re sorry to see them go. We’re always sorry to see seniors leave.”

For outgoing redshirt senior Marissa Brown, it will be a time that she looks back upon fondly.

“I’ve made a lot of really good friends,” Brown said.

“People who have been gone for a few years that I still keep in touch with. The coaches are amazing, and I think I’ve grown a lot as a person here.”

However, with all of the festivities and extracurricular activities surrounding the event, there was still a competition to be played, and the team showed up en route to its convincing 182-118 victory.

To non-seniors, such as sophomore Eva Chung, it was important to send her teammates off on a positive note.

SWIM PACIFIC on PAGE 14

LU CY KN OWL ES / AGGIE

UC DAVIS WOMEN DOMINATE IN BACKTO-BACK MATCHUPS

N ICH OL AS CHA N / AG GIE

Aggies sweep Stanislaus, Sonoma in weekend doubleheader

BY NICOLETTE SARMIENTO AND ROWAN O’CONNELL-GATES sports@theaggie.org

Under testy weather conditions, the UC Davis women’s tennis team came into Sunday’s match looking to gain momentum before its second road trip. Riding a two-game winning streak, the Aggies readied themselves for their first and only doubleheader of the season. Despite a strong effort from both of their opponents, the Aggies swept Stanislaus and Sonoma State 4-0 and 7-0, respectively, improving to 5-1 on the year.

To start the morning, the Aggies faced the CSU Stanislaus Warriors.

Stanislaus did not field a sixth singles player or third doubles team. Due to this, the doubles team of freshman Nikita Pradeep and senior Samantha Martino was forced to watch from afar. With sophomore Kelsie Bryant and junior Kristy Jorgensen winning their doubles matchup, 6-1, the Aggies took the doubles point and the 1-0 lead.

From there, it was all UC Davis. Stanislaus was missing a singles player as well, so senior Kamila Kecki won her match by default to give the Ags the 2-0 lead. Martino then dominated her match in a two-match 6-0 sweep followed by Pradeep posting a 6-0, 6-1 win to solidify the Aggies’ first

victory of the day.

In the second match against Sonoma State, the Aggies relished the opportunity to utilize the players who had sat out. UC Davis took all six of the singles matchups and all three of the doubles matches to sweep the day.

In light of the doubleheader, head coach Bill Maze indicated that although his players’ preparation for the two games doesn’t drastically change, mental toughness is key.

“Mentally as a player you just have to be prepared to play two [matches],” Maze said.

Pradeep continued to play strong by posting scores of 6-0 and 6-1 against Stanislaus State and 6-0, 6-0 against Sonoma State. The freshman has had a scintillating start to the season as she continued to build upon her wins at Sacramento State and San Francisco from the previous weekend.

Maze referenced performances such as Pradeep’s when discussing his excitement for the team’s future.

“It’s going to be a good year because [this team] is talented and strong,” Maze said.

Looking forward to his team’s upcoming road trip, Maze felt that the two wins prepared his team.

“Whenever you win a couple matches in a day it just helps,” Maze said. “By winning a couple matches I just think [the team’s] going to be a little more confident going into Hawai’i.”

The Aggies will look to utilize their continued momentum and confidence as they head to Honolulu, Hawai’i for matches against Chaminade and University of Hawai’i.

16 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

BACKSTOP IA N J ON ES / AGG IE F IL E

IA N JON ES / AGGIE FILE

UC DAVIS ATHLETES EXCEL ACADEMICALLY Aggies recognized on 2016 Big West Fall All-Academic Team KAT I E L I N / AG G I E FI L E

A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS

BY AL EX AREC H I G A sports@theaggie.org

Student-athletes are an integral part of the UC Davis campus community; their dedication to excelling in their respective sports provide both thrilling entertainment and a unifying sense of Aggie pride for students, faculty and community fans alike. Though their athletic prowess is easily reflected in competition, the members of the 23 varsity teams at UC Davis also commit a tremendous effort to their academic endeavors, just like the rest of the student population at UC Davis.

The recent release of the Big West Conference Fall All-Academic Team honorees boasted 26 Aggies, showing that UC Davis athletes bring their A-game both on the field and in the classroom.

The women’s soccer team heralded the most awards at nine, closely followed by women’s volleyball, with seven. Six cross country runners made the honor roll, four women and two men, and men’s soccer rounded up four awardees.

Several athletes claimed repeat academic nods.

Though the cross country, soccer and women’s volleyball teams piled on the accolades for Fall Quarter, the road to honor roll is anything but easy. Generally, in order to maintain athletic eligibility, student-athletes must maintain a 2.0 GPA, but the All-Academic team nod requires a 3.0 minimum GPA and a 50 percent minimum participation rate in their team’s contests for the year.

The NCAA Division I, which UC Davis competes in, allots twenty hours per week for training, and athletes commonly devote even more time weekly towards sport-related demands, which may include non-competitive events, team meetings, travel and gameplay.

“Playing a Division I sport and putting in 20-plus hours a week consumes a lot of time, energy and focus,” said said senior women’s volleyball player Aima Eichie. “When you finally make it home, exhausted, you just don’t have a lot of drive to study or prepare for classes.”

As a third-year honor roll recipient, Eichie’s focus has remained on keeping a balance between sport

and school.

“Although I love volleyball, school has always been my number one priority here at Davis, being a student-athlete,” Eichie said.

“I’ve learned one of the best ways to help balance everything out is setting schedules. It’s super important to remember the importance of self care and taking a few minutes to yourself every day to make sure you aren’t letting stress get the best of you.”

In addition to the Fall All-Academic Team honors, the sports teams have been making great strides in overall academic performance and shattering school records for scholarly achievement. As recently as Spring Quarter 2016, the 23 UC Davis teams averaged a 3.07 GPA, the highest ever recorded for the school.

15 teams in their entirety garnered a 3.0 or higher GPA, and the combined 3.18 GPA of the women’s teams tied the school record for highest GPA of all time.

“Our coaches bring in students who match the rest of the student population on campus, so they’re very bright student athletes,” said Michelle Roppeau, the director of athletic academic services. “They can compete in the classroom.”

In addition to regular studying techniques widely used by students — athletes or not — student athletes at UC Davis have access to a full-service academic advising office tailored to their needs and schedules. Five academic advisors oversee select teams and groups of students to ensure that they stay on track towards both their athletic and educational goals. Many athletes also take advantage of professor office hours and study halls appointed by their coaches.

Altogether, the combined effort of advisors, coaches, faculty and student athletes contributes to the academic success of the UC Davis sports teams.

“We are privileged to have the type of student athlete that we have here,” Roppeau said. “We have people who are really committed to school and what they’re doing academically, but they’re also incredibly committed to their sport and what they’re doing athletically.

It’s really just an amazing group of students to work with.”

UPCOMING GAMES Women’s lacrosse (Aggie Stadium)

Friday, Feb. 10 vs. Stanford at 5 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 12 vs. LIU Brooklyn at 12 p.m.

Women’s basketball (The ARC Pavilion)

Saturday, Feb. 11 vs. UC Irvine at 2:30 p.m.

Men’s basketball (The ARC Pavilion)

Saturday, Feb. 11 vs. UC Riverside at 5 p.m.

Softball (La Rue Field)

Wednesday, Feb. 15 vs. Stanford at 2:30 p.m.

BY DAVID FLORES sports@theaggie.org

Ever wondered how gymnasts win or lose an event, or what the deciding factors are that ultimately constitute one victory over the other?

Women’s collegiate gymnastics has its own point system that differs from that of the men’s collegiate or men’s and women’s elite level.

Women’s collegiate Code of Points, also known as the “perfect 10” scoring system, is used for scoring UC Davis women’s gymnastics. A “perfect 10” is the score that each performer starts out with, which is then marked down for any mistakes — if athletes manage to keep their 10 score, their performance is “perfect.” Before 2005, most levels of competitive gymnastics were scored with this system, but, after an overhaul at the elite level, only the women’s collegiate and junior levels continue to keep score this way.

There are two schools of thought for which point system is preferable. There are those who believe that the 10.0 system is too demanding of perfection because any unplanned movement could be the difference between a win and a loss, whereas the elite point system gives the gymnasts the opportunity to attempt riskier routines that can result in more serious injuries.

UC Davis women’s gymnastics team competes in four events — vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise — all of which have a detailed grading rubric that determines the overall score of each event.

Here are the basics for each event, pulled straight from the high volume of rules in the NCAA 2016-2017 Women’s Gymnastics Rules Modifications and Meet Procedures. This is only a small sample of what collegiate gymnasts are graded on.

1

For the vault, gymnasts are allowed three attempts toward one vault that will be scored. 1.00 deductions from each judge if a gymnast fails to land on the soles of her feet, or if they fail to touch or only get one hand on the vault table.

2

In the uneven bars, .05 will be deducted from the overall score for lack of variety in choice of elements, like the release move and/or connections. There must be at least two bar changes, and two flight elements.

3 4

If the level of difficulty is not sustained throughout the routine, .05 will be taken off on the balance beam.

If a gymnast is not using a sufficient amount of the of the floor area during a floor exercise, .05 will be taken away from their score, and the same amount could be deducted if the level of difficulty is not sustained throughout.

Almost halfway through their 2016-2017 season, the Aggies have averaged a score of 194.019 and have placed first in three of their five matches. Their next matchup is on the road against the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado on Feb. 11, and they will return home to The Pavilion on Friday, Feb. 17 to compete against the University of Alaska Anchorage.

N ICKI PA DA R / AGG IE

SUPER BOWL LI RECAP PATRIOTS TAKE THE WIN IN FIRST OVERTIME IN SUPER BOWL HISTORY

BY MICH AE L WE XLE R sports@theaggie.org

Tom Brady, how do you do what you do? How did you just pull off the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history?

I sat through the first three and a half quarters of this game thinking to myself “this game is going to be so forgetful.”

The Atlanta Falcons were up 28-3.

The game was over. The Patriots are an amazing team, but their offensive style really isn’t built for a comeback of this magnitude. They kill other teams by chipping away at their defense slowly with short routes, but those routes take a lot of time off the clock. A comeback didn’t seem like it was in the cards as the clock was dwindling down, but unfortunately for the Atlanta Falcons, the “McConnell Curse” kicked in at the wrong time and the tides turned the other way.

Atlanta was incredibly impressive out of the gate. They seemed entirely unfazed by the moment as Matt Ryan, aka “Matty Ice,” and the offense just kept piling it on the New England defense. On the other side of the ball, Atlanta’s defense was even more impressive. Tom Brady looked like a deer in the headlights for most of the game.

He was taking brutal hits left and right, and when you’re 39 years of age, getting cracked like that as frequently as he was can take a toll. Brady’s game usually looks effortless, but you could see he was sweating profusely this time around and he was visibly shaken.

When Robert Alford took a Tom Brady interception to the crib with 2:21 left in the second quarter, the game looked like it was going to be a repeat of the NFC Championship game two weeks earlier. At that point I thought to myself, “if this holds up, Atlanta could be in the process of completing the most dominant playoff run I’ve ever witnessed.” It seemed as if they were bound to win their first Super Bowl in franchise history.

Suddenly, a Matt Ryan fumble in the fourth quarter drastically shifted the

momentum. On 3rd & 1 on their own 36 yard line, the Patriots were showing blitz, yet Ryan still made the mistake of not getting rid of the ball quickly. He dropped back deep in the pocket and fumbled at the hands of Dont’a Hightower to set up a Patriots touchdown with a successful twopoint conversion to follow. This momentum shift provided the casual fan with the exhilaration that the Super Bowl is supposed to provide. In this very moment, the narrative of Super Bowl LI went from unexciting blowout to prospective classic due to one bad turnover in a mere moment.

The Falcons looked like they were going to fight off a comeback in a big way on the ensuing drive. Starting at their own 10-yard line, Devonta Freeman had a big play for 39 yards to get the Falcons to mid-field, and a few plays later a man called Julio Jones happened. Jones made a miraculous catch for 27 yards to put Atlanta on New England’s 22, and this should’ve effectively ended the game. This put Atlanta in field goal territory with under five minutes to go, which would’ve made an eightpoint game an 11-point game, and that probably would’ve been all she wrote, but instead it’s where Atlanta really choked. Trey Flowers sacked Matt Ryan for a 12-yard loss, and then a penalty to follow forced Atlanta to punt instead of tagging on those three crucial points. Matt Ryan absolutely needed to get rid of the ball there once again, but he held on to cost the Falcons greatly. Once the

Falcons punted on that possession, you knew Tom Brady was smelling blood; a comeback felt inevitable.

With a few minutes left, Brady drove the ball downfield in the exact fashion you’d expect the G.O.A.T. to do it, and with a little extra help from an impossible catch by Julian Edelman, the Patriots completed the impossible comeback to tie the game at 28. When overtime came around and the Patriots were awarded the football on the opening drive, you just knew that Atlanta would never get the ball back. It took Brady and the boys eight plays to score a touchdown to end the game, and boom, it was over. What seemed like an initial rout turned into a ridiculous, improbable comeback. Brady took home MVP honors and that beautiful moment I foreshadowed last week came to fruition. Roger Goodell had to bite his tongue and give the Patriots the recognition as the crowd relentlessly booed.

First it was the Golden State Warriors who blew a 3-1 lead to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and then the Cleveland Indians did the same at the hands of the Chicago Cubs in the MLB postseason. To complete the trifecta, the Atlanta Falcons blew a 25 point lead to give Tom Brady his fifth Super Bowl and fourth Super Bowl MVP. Congratulations to the Patriots, and thank you to both teams for giving us an instant Super Bowl classic that surely made up for unusually weak playoffs.