May 11, 2023

Innovation and Research Lab created to increase STEM representation in ASUCD

The new unit was introduced to both analyze data and develop software for UC Davis students and organizations

BY LILY FREEMAN campus@theaggie.org

A new unit within ASUCD, the Innovation and Research Lab (IRL), was established through ASUCD Senate Bill #96 at the April 27 Senate meeting. This bill was co-authored by two ASUCD senators, first-year computer science major Shrey Gupta and fourth-year cognitive science and computational statistics double major Stephen Fujimoto.

Gupta outlined the purpose of IRL. “We want to build robust applications that apply software developments to the evolving needs of ASUCD bodies,” Gupta said. “We are developing software for the students. We see other UC schools making really nice software, and that’s something that we don’t have at UC Davis. That’s the kind of stuff we want to see, and we want to be the top UC that is making technology and leading the change in software.”

Gupta said that IRL will not only create applications and software in collaboration with various ASUCD units but also plans to hold luncheons, hackathons and technology events to increase the representation of the STEM community within ASUCD.

IRL is also going to integrate the work that the Research and Data Committee (R&DC) currently does into the new unit, according to Fujimoto. R&DC is an ASUCD committee created

ASUCD headquarters is located on the third floor of the Memorial Union. (Aggie file)

in 2020 that will be absorbed by IRL.

“[R&DC] was established to incorporate and elevate more student voices into the ASUCD student government by providing data to student representatives on issues that impact the student body,” Fujimoto said via text. “The committee has worked to obtain student input through surveys on a variety of issues, including but not limited to the prevalence of equitable access, the prevalence of food insecurity and physical accessibility of campus for students with disabilities.”

Gupta talked about how R&DC’s work will be included in IRL moving forward.

“We are essentially taking what the Research and Data Committee did in the past, and giving them more autonomy and more freedom,” Gupta said. “We will generate and analyze data from different sources, and use that to elevate student voices and provide recommendations as to topics of interest for ASUCD bodies. The two operational parts of this unit connect, where we want to hear back-

Yolo County district attorney’s restorative justice partnership to receive $2.1 million grant

Grant funds will go toward maintaining the existing Restorative Justice Partnership, developing two new positions

BY MADELEINE YOUNG city@theaggie.org

Last month, the California Board of Community Corrections approved a grant of $2,145,000 over the course of three years that will go toward the Yolo County District Attorney’s Restorative Justice Partnership (RJP).

Nicole Kirkaldy is the director of Yolo County’s Restorative Justice and Diversion Partnership and manages the program. She spoke about where the District Attorney’s office will allocate the grant funds.

“This grant will maintain the existing RJP by funding a paralegal, legal process clerk, social services assistant and social worker practitioner, along with a modest allotment for equipment, supplies, and training,” Kirkaldy said.

“The new grant replaces RJP’s outreach specialist and a second legal process clerk, funded by the prior grant, with a behavioral health case manager and a second social services assistant. The two new positions will allow RJP to provide clients with mental health and/or

substance use needs additional support in the areas of mental health services and connections to social/behavioral/ physical/health services.”

This grant amount awarded to Yolo County ranked #1 out of 10 midsized counties competing for funding. Kirkaldy said that the RJP, and many other innovative and collaborative programs that they work closely with, rely on grant funding.

“Like RJP, the majority of these programs rely on grant funding for their staffing and operations,” Kirkaldy said.

“This can present a unique challenge to program development and sustainability. When funding opportunities arise, we work incredibly hard to pursue the resources needed to allow our programs to continue. The grant process took long hours and countless meetings, but we knew success was the only thing that would enable us to continue RJP’s work. The BSCC uses scoring panels to rate and rank JAG proposals based on specific criteria and scoring matrices. Scoring panel members bring their own professional expertise to bear in reviewing proposals”.

Kirkaldy also said that much of the funding will be put toward mental health services, which require staffing.

“ RJP-CM currently has only one social worker practitioner and one social services assistant assigned to support these clients,” Kirkaldy said. “Their caseload is constantly growing, often in excess of 100 individuals, and includes a population that can require a very high level of support. Doubling our staffing for this program area will allow for a reduction in caseload per staff and an increase in time spent per client which we believe will result in improved success

in connecting clients to services and a better ability to track/monitor ongoing engagement.”

The Yolo County DA’s office also plans to use these funds to help RJP reach individuals who haven’t been able to get the support they needed in the past.

“Many are unable to access the benefits of diversion due to their inability to engage with or complete program requirements due to their struggles with mental health, substance abuse and socioeconomic issues,” Kirkaldy said. “By creating supported pathways to successful completion with the help of staff whose focus is on stabilizing and improving performance in those specific areas, these grants go a long way to reducing some of the historical barriers to successful community reintegration and recidivism avoidance for systemimpacted individuals.”

The RJP project has been demonstrated to prevent recidivism.

An independent evaluation in 2017 found that RJP graduates were 37% less likely to recidivate and only 5.9% of the program participants were rearrested within one year of completing the program, according to the District Attorney’s press release on the grants. The new funds will allow for the program to not only continue, but to improve moving forward.

“It was a great honor for Yolo [County]’s proposal to be ranked so highly amongst our peers, and reflects the years of work, critical thought, reflective analysis and data-driven decision-making that have informed this program’s growth and development in its nearly 10 years of operation,” Kirkaldy said.

and-forth and understand how we can use technology to improve the everyday lives of students.”

Nitin Kanchi, a first-year data science major and a previous R&DC committee member, shared his thoughts on IRL.

“It’s a fantastic initiative,” Kanchi said.

“I am thrilled to witness the transformation of R&DC into IRL, as it broadens the horizons and capabilities of our committee. The IRL establishment allows us to exercise creative control in building applications and analyzing data. By combining computer

science with data science, we unlock a powerful synergy that can drive a significant impact.”

Fujimoto also said that he and others are hoping that by IRL becoming a unit, R&DC’s projects will be able to receive more financial support, increasing the amount of paid students working on STEM projects in ASUCD and growing the group’s marketing capabilities.

IRL will employ students in a variety of positions, including a unit director, as well as associate directors, software developers and researchers. Applications for these roles will be available on the ASUCD vacancy website soon, according to Gupta.

“We are going to be hiring for a unit director at the end of this year,” Gupta said. “I think that anyone should apply if [they] have experience in the research and data aspect or the software development aspect. The researchers and software developers are going to be hired late summer or early next year.”

The unit will officially begin operations during the 2023-2024 school year.

“This unit is essentially a look into the future of ASUCD with technology,” Gupta said. “It’s time that we invest into the technology that we’re using every day as a university, as a student association and as people.”

City council candidate Donna Neville leading in unofficial election results

100% of precincts reporting, Neville has received a majority of votes

BY CHRIS PONCE city@theaggie.org

On May 9, the Yolo County Elections Office updated the precinct reports from the District 3 city council special election. The two candidates who ran to fill the seat vacated by Supervisor Lucas Frerichs were Donna Neville and Francesca Wright. The current election results have Neville leading with 60% of votes with 100% of precincts reporting.

Davis District 3 has a population of over 13,000 residents, but only 2,401 votes were recorded in the election as of May 5. Neville received 1,448 (60.31%) votes across both precincts while Wright received 953 votes (39.69%). Wright made a comment regarding the current unofficial election results.

“I loved meeting so many District 3 voters and am sorry I won’t have the opportunity to realize my visions for reinvigorated governance of Davis,” Wright said via email. “Thank you to the 40% who believed in me. I learned how important the support of the political establishment is to win a district election.”

In a statement, Neville discussed the unofficial election results and her campaign, but first she wanted to take a moment to address the recent stabbings in Davis.

“Before commenting on the election, I want to publicly extend my deepest condolences to the families and friends of David Henry Breaux and Karim Abou Najm,” Neville said via email. “Our entire community grieves the loss of these two extraordinary men. I also send words of support to Kimberlee Guillory who was able to survive her attack but will have a long recovery. These events left our community shaken and full of questions. [...] Our response showed that in times of tragedy we pull together and do what it takes to support one another, including those who are most vulnerable.”

In Wright’s comment, she also talked about Neville’s campaign and wished support for Neville as a council member.

“Donna Neville is a smart hard worker who wants to address our housing shortages, to revitalize our downtown, and to address fiscal responsibility,” Wright said. “I wish her the courage to make tough decisions that are rooted in a vision of an equitable and creative community.”

Throughout the campaign, Neville has expressed respect for Wright as well. Neville talked about Wright’s campaign and stated she was a dedicated candidate.

“I want to give well-deserved praise to my fellow candidate, Francesca Wright, who ran a great campaign, and stayed true to her commitment to make this race about the issues,” Neville said. “Hopefully anyone who observed the district 3 city council race recognized that there were two candidates who are both truly dedicated to Davis and to making a positive impact.”

Neville was a popular candidate, receiving several endorsements from local leaders and organizations such as Rep. Mike Thompson, Mayor Will Arnold, Councilmember Gloria Partida, the Davis Enterprise, the Yolo County Democratic Party and Davis College Democrats.

“We were impressed by the thoughtfulness of her answers to our questions and her vision for the future of Davis,” Davis College Democrats said in an Instagram post. “We have faith that Donna will continue to stand up for students and the issues that matter as a member of City Council!”

Mayor Will Arnold announced his support for Neville in a letter to the Davis Enterprise.

With

The Davis District 3 election is held at Davis City Hall. (Kayla Bruckman / Aggie)

UC Davis organizations oppose Thirty Meter Telescope Project

The telescope would be the fourteenth of its kind on the sacred land of Mauna Kea in Hawaii

BY RACHEL GAUER campus@theaggie.org

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is a project that, if completed, would be the first in a new class of extremely large telescopes. Currently, it is planned to be built on the mountain of Mauna Kea, located on the island of Hawaii, and would “allow us to see deeper into space and observe cosmic objects with unprecedented sensitivity and detail,” according to the project’s website. The project has received backlash from the native Hawaiian community though, who believe that the telescope would be invading sacred land.

The University of California (UC) has invested more than $68 million into the project so far, but student organizations, including the UC Davis chapter of Mauna Kea Protectors (MKP), have called for the UC to halt funding. In late March of this year, a new state-appointed oversight board for the project was put together that includes representatives from astronomical observatories and Native Hawaiian communities. The current prevailing compromise appears to be that TMT will be built in exchange for several other telescopes in the region being decommissioned. However, student efforts remain focused on removing UC funding from the TMT project entirely.

Valeria Cantor Mendez, a third-year community and regional development major, commented on the efforts that the UC Davis community has taken to encourage UC leaders to divest funds.

“Last quarter the [Mauna Kea Protectors] met with Chancellor May along with some ASUCD senators who helped us get the meeting with him,” Cantor Mendez said. “We brought the issue up to him and asked him

to intervene in front of the Board of Regents [representing] the UC Davis campus. [We] compromised and he made TMT investment an agenda item for his meeting with the other UC chancellors.”

Cantor Mendez also emphasized a future meeting that she is hoping will be impactful in the divestment efforts.

“The director of the University of California Observatories is going to come to UC Davis this next quarter and he is expecting a group of students to talk to him,” Cantor Mendez said. “He is supposed to listen to us and hear our perspectives which is something we are definitely looking forward to as MKP at UC Davis.”

Prior to the project, thirteen other telescopes of smaller diameters have been built atop Mauna Kea despite opposition from the community. Amanda Wong, a graduate student studying ecology who was born and raised in Hawaii, expressed her perspective on both the current project as well as the previous projects that have been completed.

“I don’t think it is appropriate for the UC system to continue to be invested in this project, especially with so much pushback from the native Hawaiian community,” Wong said. “With 13 telescopes already, so much hurt has been done and I think enough is enough. There has been a strong stance for years now against TMT from the native Hawaiian community.”

Wong also said that she finds the project hypocritical on the part of the university.

“UC Davis wants to promote and uplift marginalized communities, but by continuing to push for and funding

Entertainment Council debriefs Lawntopia at May 4 Senate meeting

the TMT, they are ignoring the voices of the native Hawaiian students that they’re trying to support,” Wong said. Cantor Mendez also works for the University of California Student Association (UCSA) and serves as Vice Chair for Students Enacting Environmental Defense (SEED). Cantor Mendez said that SEED actually selected urging the UC to divest from the TMT project for their environmental justice campaign this year.

“During the last conference that UCSA had, we decided that SEED should focus on divesting funds from the thirty-meter telescope and instead, investing in indigenous communities,” Candor Mendez said. “The 30-meter telescope is not a new project and so the goal of getting UC funds away from the project is also not new, but we wanted to bring it into the UCSA space because it is a UC-wide issue.”

As of May 9, the university has not responded to a request for comment.

Kealohi Sabate, a civil and environmental engineering graduate student, encouraged students to learn about the project and the impacts it would have on the Hawaiian community.

“I would like UC students to be more aware that the TMT project is not a good use of funds,” Sabata said. “Native Hawaiians have been trying to fight against the building of these telescopes — now there [could be] fourteen of them and we are still on the same topic and still trying to fight for our native lands and our home. It is really crushing native community voices, especially since it feels like our voices are not being heard.”

City of Davis begins pavement rehabilitation project

Pole Line Road project starts construction in May

BY ALMA CULVERWELL city@theaggie.org

The table also heard a quarterly report from the Student Sustainability Career Fair Committee

BY JADE BELL campus@theaggie.org

At 6:11 p.m, Vice President JT Eden called the May 4 Senate meeting to order. The meeting was conducted entirely via Zoom due to safety concerns at the time about the recent string of stabbings in Davis. Eden began by calling roll and reading the UC Davis Land Acknowledgement.

The meeting started with the confirmation of second-year political science major Albena Goulishera to the Judicial Council. Goulishera said that she is passionate about addressing social justice, equity and women’s rights issues.

“I applied to the Judicial Council because I felt that the position most directly aligned with my personal interests, my academic goals and my career goals,” Goulishera said. “I’ve always been very passionate about social justice, equality and equity, [which] led me to the political science major, where I learned and am still learning so much about the U.S. government and international relations. This position is such an amazing way to put those skills and procedures to good use in serving the Davis student body.”

After her confirmation, the Aggie Mentors Committee and Aggie Arts Committee member confirmations took place.

Amy Aguirre, a fifth-year music major and one of the Aggie Arts Committee nominees, shared what she hopes to bring to the role.

“[I want to] amplify those voices of not just only the music majors we have on campus but everybody on campus who is interested in music,” Aguirre said. “We have a lot of musicians, and I know how difficult it is to even minor in music. I want to be able to provide a space for them and also create diversity because I am a first-generation student, so I know how hard it is to navigate college. Music is a very powerful way to connect with others.”

After confirmations, the meeting moved to hearing quarterly reports.

Julianna Christofi, a fourth-year psychology and sociology double major and the chairperson of the ASUCD Entertainment Council (EC), provided

the council’s quarterly report.

“This is the biggest headliner we’ve ever had, in terms of budget and somebody that we paid for,” Christofi said. “Previously, we’ve had promoter shows like Khalid or Chance the Rapper and Drake, but those are all paid for by promoters like Golden Voice. This one was actually paid for by student funds. We’ve had over 16,000 interactions with our post.”

In terms of improvements, Christofi said that EC is hoping to receive an increased budget from ASUCD in the coming year in order to enhance security and improve the student checkin system.

Next, the Student Sustainability Career Fair Committee (SSCF) provided its quarterly report. Jordyn Kosai, a fourth-year sustainable environmental design major and the SSCF vice chairperson, said that this year’s career fair saw improvement from last year’s 2022 Sustainability Career Fair, with an increase from 90 students to 130 students in attendance.

After the quarterly reports, Eden called for elected officer and ex-officio reports to be completed and submitted.

The status of previous legislation was discussed next. Senate Bill (SB) #101 was an emergency bill passed with signature. This bill proposed redistributing $3,000 from Whole Earth Festival’s (WEF) Equipment Rentals budget to Equipment Purchases in order to buy enough solar generators to maintain WEF’s goal of being a “completely offgrid event.”

The table then moved into the consideration of old legislation.

SB #97, which would allocate $1,800 to the ASUCD Student Government for purchasing food for weekly Senate meetings and the 20232024 budget hearings, failed with a 3-4-5 vote.

SB #98, which increases the voting period for ASUCD general elections to at least five days, passed with a 9-2-1 vote. Eden adjourned the meeting at 8:35 pm.

DAVISELECTION

“Donna uniquely understands the issues and knows how to develop solutions,” Arnold said. “Donna can lead our community by providing innovative solutions that will keep Davis on the map for smart, sustainable, and responsible planning.”

Neville said that while the current results are unofficial, she is looking forward to addressing the major issues facing Davis.

On May 1, the city of Davis broke ground on its Pavement Management Program, which is intended to improve pavement condition by repairing streets and bike paths that have been damaged over time to make them more usable and prevent future damage.

The program includes a combination of lower-grade maintenance projects as well as complete rehabilitation and reconstruction ones. The first area that the project plans to repair is on Pole Line Road from the north end of Covell Boulevard to the city limit just past Moore Boulevard.

The project also aims to address several other areas including West Eighth Street between Sycamore Lane and Anderson Road, Fifth Street between Explorit Science Center and Alhambra Drive, Mace Boulevard between Covell Boulevard and Alhambra Drive (known as Mace Curve), Pole Line Road between the I-80 overcrossing and Cowell Boulevard, Third Street from the B Street to just west of the railroad tracks as well as various bike paths. These projects have yet to be scheduled.

The project was originally advertised for bids in January 2023 and was awarded by city council in March.

The contractor is still in the process of providing necessary planning documents to the city for review and is starting to set up material and equipment staging

areas within the city, as well as placing construction signage ahead of the upcoming work. Construction work should commence within the next upcoming weeks.

The city described the possible effects that the ongoing construction might have on local businesses and community members in an online announcement.

“As with all construction work, there will be temporary disruption to daily routines, noise and dust and inconveniences,” the announcement reads. “We hope to minimize these inconveniences as best as possible by working with the business community, taking input and responding with a construction effort that minimizes impacts to the businesses. The city has been in continued communication with businesses along this area regarding this work.”

The city decided to implement these changes after its most recent Pavement Planning Report, which is created every six years. Barbara Archer, the city of Davis’s communications and customer service manager, shared the process of making these changes.

“Using the pavement condition data from these surveys, which identifies the level of deterioration, the city uses a software to also consider other prioritization factors,” Archer

said. ”The prioritization considers the city’s available budget, the city’s overall pavement condition goals, the presence of bike lanes on a street, safe routes to school, proximity to police stations, fire stations and hospitals and maintenance and service request history. In addition, staff works with stakeholders throughout the city to determine if there are upcoming utility projects, maintenance or development projects that may require a shift in project scheduling.”

The project hopes to upgrade accessible curb ramps at various intersections and improve safety features like shortening the crossing distances at the intersections of Pole Line Road and Donner Ave and Pole Line Road and Picasso Ave intersections, which will reduce the amount of time pedestrians and cyclists will be in the street when crossing.

“Following the project, the community can expect improved quality of travel through all modes of transportation as street failures and defects are repaired, there is a smoother road surface, new striping and enhanced safety features,” Archer said.

The project is funded by existing city funds and SB 1 Local Streets and Roads funds. Construction is expected to last into late fall.

“Once the results are certified, I look forward to joining my colleagues on the Davis City Council on June 6,” Neville said. “The important issues remain the same – making housing

more available and more affordable so that low to moderate income individuals and families can actually afford to live in Davis; getting to work updating our General Plan; reinvigorating our downtown by putting in place a strong economic development plan; attracting and retaining innovative businesses that want to locate in Davis; addressing climate change and making Davis more climate resilient. We have a lot of important work to do, and I look forward to getting started!”

Madeleine Young contributed to this article.

AGGIE FILE

Construction work begins at Pole Line Road. (Cruz Martinez / Aggie)

Aggies in the area: Aaries ‘Big Aaries’ Harris

Meet the face of Aggie Studios, the studentrun ASUCD video production team

BY FAITH DEMEULENAERE features@theaggie.org

How the strawberry breeding program at UC Davis is cultivating ‘the next best strawberry’

Aaries “Big Aaries” Harris is a thirdyear communication and cinema and digital media double major who is best known for his involvement in Aggie Studios student interviews on the Aggie Studios Youtube or Instagram (@aggiestudios). According to Harris, his interest in being behind the camera began in high school.

“I was originally a part of video productions in high school,” Harris said. “Aggie Studios is the perfect opportunity to find something like that in college.” Harris tries to be his authentic self in the Aggie Studio interviews, which are posted on social media and YouTube.

“I just do the videos as if I’m talking to a friend,” Harris said. “I’m allowed to be myself.”

Despite his ease with interviews, Harris admits that being in the spotlight is not as easy as he makes it seem.

“Being in front of the camera is harder than advertised,” Harris said. “It’s

a bit more pressure. Walking around is one take usually. There’s like a live audience and we are getting real, raw reactions.”

He acknowledges the challenges that come with filming in public spaces, but he uses this to his advantage by drawing on the energy of those around him to create engaging content.

“I like the different and vibrant reactions I get,” Harris said. “Some of the people I run into are just characters, you know.”

Aside from his work for Aggie Studios, Harris also values the tight-knit community he has found at UC Davis. He encourages anyone considering attending UC Davis to explore all the opportunities available on campus.

“For anybody that plans on coming to UC Davis — take it from me, since I’m a transfer — there’s something for everybody to do here,” Harris said. “I want to dip my hands into as many things as possible.”

‘Rage and Resilience:’ UC Davis celebrates Pride Month in May

Tristan “TK” Morton, the director of the LGBTQIA+ resource center, discusses pride programming and the inspiration for this year’s theme

BY EMMANUEL FONSECA features@theaggie.org

May is UC Davis’s Pride Month, an annual tradition dedicated to bringing visibility and educating people on the lives of LGBTQIA+ individuals. UC Davis Pride centers around building a safe space for the queer community and is a movement that affirms the existence of queer people and brings the community together to partake in a celebration of self-expression.

This year’s theme, “Rage and Resilience,” takes us back to the origins of Pride, which began at the Stonewall Inn in 1969, according to Tristan “TK” Morton, the director of the LGBTQIA Resource Center at UC Davis. Morton supervises, leads and manages services supporting the success and retention of queer students of color through center resources.

“With the rise of anti-trans legislation and anti-LGBTQIA legislation,” Morton said, “as well as from the fascism we have seen not only across the country but on our very campus […], our team came together and decided we wanted to focus on rage and resilience because we know that, as a community, we are really resilient and have every right to be angry.”

At the Stonewall Riots, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar that served as a safe haven for the local queer community. Continuous raids of gay bars across the city that were heavily rooted in the vilification and criminalization of racialized queer folk influenced social unrest among community members and sparked a six-day protest.

At the forefront of this movement were Black and Brown trans women who advocated for equity and recognition for LGBTQIA+ individuals and rejected

harmful ideas that plagued the everyday lives of queer people of color.

The Stonewall Riots remain important to LGBTQIA+ history. One year after the monumental social movement, activists organized the first gay pride parade, a tradition that is still celebrated today.

“A lot of the focus in this year’s theme is honoring that history, the rage and the fight we have had as a community, specifically in this country,” Morton said. “At the end of the day, no institution in this country was made for trans people by trans people. We want to support LGBTQIA people in their rage and bring queer and trans joy to our community.”

UC Davis Pride serves to honor the legacy of rage and resilience of queer and trans communities in the face of oppression. With this year’s pride theme, the community aims to acknowledge the struggles and hurdles queer folks have historically overcome to make it to this moment in history.

Pride is a commitment to solidarity among our most marginalized community members, and this month, in particular, is dedicated to celebrating those who have faced adversity for trying to live their true and authentic lives.

While Pride is generally celebrated in June, UC Davis recognizes Pride during the month of May due to normal campus operations ending in June with the end of spring quarter. LGBTQIA+ Resource Center staff, campus partners and the volunteer Pride Month Planning Committee are committed to supporting queer communities by organizing a month of programming with workshops and events.

UC Davis’s selectively bred,

high-quality strawberry varieties are used in approximately 60% of the world’s strawberry

BY LYNN CHEN features@theaggie.org

A customer visiting the supermarket most likely has no second thoughts while picking up their usual carton of strawberries. They may glance here and there for any underripe ones, but then they move on to the next item on their list. However, getting those strawberries into a shopping cart is a surprisingly long, complex and scientific process, designed to perfectly cater to consumer taste buds. Everything begins with the development of a quality strawberry variety, an area of expertise at the Strawberry Breeding Program at UC Davis.

Researchers at the Strawberry Breeding Program have been breeding commercially useful varieties of strawberries since 1952. The program is currently housed in the Department of Plant Sciences in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and includes a teaching component for UC Davis students to learn hands-on. Varieties developed here at UC Davis constitute about 60% of the strawberries consumed worldwide.

In order to develop high-quality strawberries for growers, researchers at the program enhance different key traits of the berries, such as disease resistance, aroma, flavor and post-harvest traits like firmness, which are important for packaging and shipping.

“Disease resistance is a big one,” Dominique Pincot, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher with the program said. “There are so many different diseases that are of concern for growers.”

In recent years, a disease on growers’ radar was the Fusarium wilt, a soil-borne disease that, as the name implies, causes wilt in strawberry plants, according to Glenn Cole, a staff research associate.

“Fusarium was a disease that [took] off the last 10 years and even more rapidly in the last few years,” Cole said. “The disease started to pick up because a lot of acres are grown with susceptible varieties.”

According to Mitchell Feldmann, Ph.D., an assistant professor of strawberry genetics at UC Davis and direct-elect of the breeding program, the spread of the Fusarium pathogen was originally combated by the fumigant methyl bromide. However, in 2005, the product was banned by California

legislation. “Methyl bromide was a huge tool that protected strawberries against a ton of pathogens,” Feldmann said.

“Unfortunately, it’s also a really bad greenhouse gas and carcinogen.”

A year after the ban on methyl bromide, Fusarium spread from the soil, causing increasing cases of wilt in strawberries. It even led to concerns that a Fusarium epidemic could destroy the strawberry crop in California. Fortunately though, in mid-April this year, UC Davis announced the release of five new strawberry varieties, or cultivars: UC Eclipse, UC Golden Gate, UC Keystone, UC Monarch and UC Surfline — the first to be resistant to the deadly fungal disease.

“It was critical for us to release this current set of varieties to address the [Fusarium],” Cole said. “There have been other products on the market with Fusarium resistance, but they’re older genetics, so they don’t yield as well. Growers have started to move away from those varieties, and so we need to have a new set of higher-yielding varieties that are more relevant for today’s market.”

Other than having high yield rates and resistance to Fusarium wilt, the new varieties also have improved flavor and characteristics that enable year-round growing in California. According to Feldmann, the new varieties are tailored to grow in various regions that belong to three different market segments distinguished by temperature and daylight hours, including fall-planted, short-day varieties; fall-planted, dayneutral varieties; and summer-planted, day-neutral varieties.

Developing these strawberry cultivars was no easy task. To find plants that had the Fusarium wilt, the team at the Strawberry Breeding Program had to obtain and analyze the DNA of thousands of plants in a five-acre strawberry selection nursery. In September, new breeding crosses are planted in the field, and these seedlings grow throughout the winter until they begin to flower and fruit in spring. It is during this time that Cole collects data on the new experimental varieties.

“When fruiting begins, I walk the fields and make phenotypic or visual observations for different trait qualities for the strawberry varieties that we’re trying to develop,” Cole said.

This process has been made faster through genetic tools such as markers.

“Instead of picking fruit from 10,000 plants, we can pick fruit from 2,000 plants because we know which ones have the traits we want,” Cole said.

Breeding strawberries does not end with the development of immunity to one disease, though.

“There’s a very common analogy that you see pop up in plant pathology classes: There’s a constant arms race between a pathogen and the crop that you’re breeding resistance to,” Pincot said. “That’s the whole Fusarium story. We had race one in California. We found five different resistance genes that protect against that race. And now a race two has popped up, and we have to catch up finding a deliverable gene and get that into our material.”

Arboretum group invites community to experience the joy of folk music

Every Friday, Davis locals and students gather with instruments at the Wyatt Deck for an open jam session

BY MIA BALTIERRA features@theaggie.org

The Davis Arboretum is known for its sprawling grassy landscape, redwood trees and peaceful stream. But every Friday at noon, one may also encounter the sounds of fiddle, guitar, ukulele and singing join the rustle of leaves and flow of the stream, as community members gather at the Wyatt Deck, just across from the Music Building, for a folk music jam session. Regular attendees make up a group of around 10 musicians and singers, composed of locals and some UC Davis students. By 12:10 p.m., chairs have been placed in a semicircle, music stands are set up and instruments are tuned. Several guitars, a ukulele, a violin (or fiddle, depending on your style) and a harmonica are poised for song, and soon, the music begins. The somewhat free-flowing structure of the session is welcoming to attendees and audience members alike. Each member is given the opportunity to choose a song for the group to play.

“We don’t have any rules as far as what kind of music,” regular attendee Rick Hein said. “If you wanna play some oddball music, we’ll try it. You have to give us some parameters; you know, tell us what chords to play or what meter we are playing in, but we’ll try.”

The music selection is mostly folk, but also includes rock, country and even Celtic songs. Attendees can choose from a large collection of sheet music or bring their own. The folk music jam session has been a tradition at the Arboretum for over a decade and was started by Elaine

Fingerett, an Arboretum academic coordinator, who has since passed away. The group started on a bi-weekly basis, but within the past few years, it has become a weekly event.

Operations of the group halted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they had to move locations to Chestnut Park when the Wyatt Deck was under construction, according to Hein. Once the Wyatt venue opened back up to the public this past winter though, the group resumed regular meetings.

The jam session is advertised online on the campus website, as well as on a sign on the lower deck of the Wyatt location. First-year microbiology major and second-time attendee Simita Ananda said it was that simple sign that led her to join the group.

“I just passed by, and was like, ‘Oh there’s a folk music jam session; I listen to mostly folk music,’ so I was like, ‘Okay I’ll come by,’” Ananda said. “I sing and I play some instruments.”

At her first session, Ananda, who mainly plays the lyre, offered a Celtic song she liked, gave the group the chords and sang while they played. The group has since requested the song for her to sing again.

Recurring members have established an encouraging atmosphere, and Hein said they welcome everyone to try out the group.

“Even if you aren’t good, it’s okay,” Hein said. “We will help you, and it’s just fun.” The group has provided Hein with a weekly activity he looks forward to in

his retirement. Hein said that when he was still working, he saw an ad in the paper for the group, but couldn’t join due to his schedule. Now, he has been jamming with the group for over eight years, playing guitar.

“I love playing music,” Hein said. “Every day you play music is a good day to me. I don’t have any set genre, but I gravitate to rock-and-roll. The Rolling Stones are my band. I love AC/DC [and] ZZ Top; I’ll play some old Bob Dylan [and] some country music. I’ll play anything if I like the sound of it. [If] it feels good, I’ll do it.”

His passion for playing is what first drew Hein to the jam session, but he quickly learned that playing as part of an ensemble is a much different experience than what he was used to.

“I played a long, long, long time but not good enough to play with other people, really,” Hein said, “But once I started coming here, I started learning how to play with people, which is a whole lot of fun.”

Lauren Wesling, a third-year biological sciences major and fiddle player, said she is grateful for the space the jam session provides to play music in the beautiful environment of the Arboretum.

“I missed playing music with people,” Wesling said. “I joined a band when I came to Davis […] but they played a lot of metal, and I couldn’t keep up with it. I had a lot of fun the last time I came [to the folk jam].”

The group has also attracted a fair number of audience members each week, including passersby walking the trails of the Arboretum who stop for a bit to take in the sounds of a Rolling Stones song, a classic John Denver tune or even original work from a member.

“Recently, there have been a lot of people out here,” Hein said, motioning to the lower deck. “One girl came by one week, and she wanted us to play a song. She told us, ‘These are the chords,’ and we did that while she sang. It was nice, very impromptu.”

During his time at the jam sessions, Hein has been impressed by the students who play and their knowledge of older music. He hopes that with their everchanging playlist, more students will join the group and continue the tradition.

“I’m 70,” Hein said. “We aren’t gonna be around 40 years from now, so somebody’s gotta start coming down here and doing it to keep it going [and] keep that music alive.”

The UC Davis strawberry breeding is located at the Wolfskill Experimental Orchard in Winters. (Kayla Bruckman / Aggie)

(Aaries Harris / Courtesy)

CHRISTINA LIU / AGGIE

Folk music jam sessions are held on Friday afternoons on the Wyatt Deck in the arboretum. (Kayla Bruckman / Aggie)

PRIDEMONTH on 5

OPINION

Food shouldn’t just be about calories

Eating healthy and sharing food with family and friends can help boost physical and emotional well-being

BY MAYA KORNYEYEVA mkornyeyeva@ucdavis.edu

Most of the time, we don’t think about what we eat. Sure, we often try to figure out a balanced diet, or at least fight impulses to go to In-N-Out every couple of days. But a majority of the time, we just scarf down a granola bar before heading to our 9 a.m. class and then heat up some water for a ramen packet for dinner.

I know that, as a college student, time is always in short supply, and spending it eating can feel like a waste when there’s a mountain of work to get through before midnight. Then again, money is also in short supply, and rationing out what to spend on a good meal versus on affording your rent can be just as stressful.

All that being said, I am in favor of eating good food with good friends. Hear me out.

Historically, food has been tied with social tradition and creative expression. In fact, “food culture” — defined as practices, beliefs and attitudes associated with creating and eating food — is a part of every country around the globe.

For instance, I grew up eating the traditional recipe for borscht, a Ukrainian beetroot soup that my family would often share with other Ukrainian families in our area as a sign of kinship and bonding. Dim sum, originally from China, is another example of food tied to culture, as it is specifically served as an assortment of small Cantonese dishes that are shared with a large group of people in a social event that can last for several hours. Finally, Turkish coffee is an example of a special brewing tradition that creates a thick coffee from super fine grounds and is made in a group setting where people can sip the coffee and tell stories.

In this way, food has always been a

MAYA KORNYEYEVA / AGGIE

means of expression, social bonding and communication. It is no secret that food makes people happy — eating healthy, nutritious food and, most importantly, sharing it with others, has been proven to promote feelings of well-being and belonging.

I, for one, always feel proud of taking care of my body when eating a good bowl of brown rice, bok choy, pork, green onion and a fried egg. By putting healthy food into my body, I ensure that I am setting myself up for success. This, in turn, boosts my selfesteem and sense of accomplishment.

Besides nutritious food acting as a foundation for our physical well-being, it can also be a source for psychological health. In fact, research from the University of Oxford has shown that the more we share food with others — whether it’s a simple boba date with your roommates or a family dinner — the more likely we are to feel satisfied and content with our lives.

Harry Potter and the Colonialist Fantasy

BY GEETIKA MAHAJAN giamahajan@ucdavis.edu

Even before the “Harry Potter” book series was complete, it began to transcend the kind of popularity typically associated with works of children’s literature. Describing it as a “bestseller” didn’t really encompass the full extent of its reach — it was practically a cornerstone of early 2000s culture. However, as the author of the series, J.K. Rowling (JKR), became more vocal about her anti-trans views, people became more hesitant about expressing their love for the series. Some even called for a boycott of anything that would put money in J.K. Rowling’s pockets (and rightfully so — as she has gone on record to say that many of the royalties she receives go directly toward organizations that actively work to limit transgender rights.)

Rowling’s sudden shift from beloved children’s author to transphobe seemed shocking to many ardent fans of the series, but a more careful reread of the books themselves demonstrates that her regressive, Blairist politics were always apparent within her work, manifesting in the way that the Harry Potter books themselves function as a sort of colonial fantasy.

The Harry Potter books contain not just magical humans but a variety of various human-adjacent magical creatures — werewolves, centaurs, goblins, house elves and giants, to name a few. Though they all, to some extent, possess the same ability to perform magic as the wizards themselves, none of them are present as students of Hogwarts or are even seen in the wizarding world outside of the roles that have been predetermined for them. That is to say, all goblins appear as bankers and are apparently content to remain bankers forever; all house elves appear as docile workers who actively resent anyone who attempts to free them. The wizarding world seems to function as “a place for everyone and everyone in their place” — and this hierarchical structure may sound familiar, because it is.

It mimics the sort of stratified society that colonists would salivate over, in which the colonized do not resist inferiority, or even seem to prefer it. There are very few examples of nonhuman magical creatures being accepted into wizarding society; two prominent examples — Remus Lupin, a werewolf who was introduced as the Defense Against Dark Arts teacher in “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” and Firenze, a centaur who became a Divination professor in “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.” These are noteworthy exceptions because they are recognized in the text as particularly outstanding members of their species, more tolerable than their savage counterparts. This too, is an extension of the colonial fantasy,

What your favorite ‘70s band says about you

Food is also associated with identity: how many of your memories can you recall right now that contain food? Moments are created around food; from memories of childhood to memories of individual people and places, food is a sensory experience that we can capture not just through our eyes but also our senses of touch, smell and taste. With all of this in mind, I encourage you to put more consideration into food as a significant factor of your life. Cook and share meals with friends, go out to eat nutritious food and reconnect with your family by trying out some traditional recipes. Remember that food isn’t just something that we need to put into our bodies to survive: it can also be an emotional experience that connects your mind, body and soul.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by individual columnists belong to the columnists alone and do not necessarily indicate the views and opinions

wherein inferior members of society can aspire to a certain level of assimilation that will grant them access to the world of the colonizer. Of course, even then, they are not recognized as true equals; both Lupin and Firenze rely on the benevolence of those in power to maintain their positions and are still subjected to prejudices that even their elevated status cannot dispel.

If Rowling had wanted to write “Harry Potter” as an anti-colonialist text, she could have easily done so.

Throughout the seven novels, she lays out the framework of a society that is, essentially, stratified by class. She even discusses the prejudices that non-human wizards face in this society — yet the “resolution” does not bring about any sort of justice for them. Harry’s defeat of Voldemort, which has supposedly saved wizardkind, does nothing but preserve this stratification. Voldemort himself advocates for the subjugation of a certain class of wizards, claiming that those who were born to non-wizards should not be allowed the same level of access, education or privilege that pureblood wizards are granted. This is, essentially, what wizards themselves have been doing for centuries — classifying certain creatures as the “other” and restricting their rights on that basis.

It was not so much about the atrocities that the death-eaters and Voldemort were committing, but the fact that the atrocities were being leveled against humans, rather than the house elves, werewolves, goblins and other magical creatures that the atrocities were previously reserved for. When Voldemort is defeated, no efforts are made to create a more inclusive society, nor is there any indication that there is a demand for change. Such is the colonialist fantasy: the biggest threat to social order is never the liberation of the lower classes, because the lower classes do not even consider liberation a possibility.

It could be argued that the portrayal of certain characters in the series resist the stereotype of the colonist. In fact, Rowling makes it a point to demonstrate just how benevolent Dumbledore is in

particular. Multiple magical creatures extol upon his kindness for “accepting” them into the wizarding world — but the acceptance is simply tolerance, not complete inclusion. Often, the characters who are offered this kindness have something to offer to the wizards in return. Titular character Harry Potter’s compassion is less conditional, but he fits into the colonialist narrative in a different way; throughout the course of the series, the reader learns that Harry himself has been born into a position of power. Even if he had not defeated Voldemort as a baby, he would still have been the son of two wizards who were highly respected in society; the books do not chronicle the tale of some underdog who has no place in the world of wizards, but describe how Harry is able to return to his place at the top of this hierarchy. In Rowling’s world, the good guys are people born in positions of power and privilege, and the bad guys are people also born in positions of power and privilege but who abuse their elevated status. The only struggles are between these two groups, the former always emerges triumphant, and the subjugated classes around these dueling, privileged groups, are content to remain inferior forever.

HBO has recently announced that they plan to develop a Harry Potter reboot — a declaration that has been met with everything from positivity to indifference, to outrage. Already, people have been discussing the moral implications of watching a show knowing that some of the royalties JKR earns will go directly towards anti-trans organizations. But it’s important to remember that it was not her transphobic tweets that ruined the series post-factum — it is the fact that colonialist-like regressiveness has always existed throughout the novels.

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.

Disclaimer:

If you listen to any of these bands, you have great taste

BY YASMEEN O’BRIEN yjobrien@ucdavis.edu

Fleetwood Mac

You have a flair for the dramatic, great hair and lots of rings. When you were a kid you dressed up as a witch for Halloween. You shop exclusively at Trader Joe’s. If it weren’t for your commitment issues you’d totally get a tattoo.

Simon & Garfunkel

You’re pretty chill. You’re a quiet intellectual who can seriously groove. You probably have a crush on your best friend. Also, you should apply to write for The Aggie next year.

The Beatles Oh you like the Beatles? Name every beetle. Your taste is basic but solid. You most likely have a lot of hobbies and probably don’t listen to old music much. You own a record player but never use it. Your parents are your best friends. <3

The Rolling Stones

You don’t stand out in a crowd but you have the best one-liners. You’re down-to-earth and actually listen to KDVS. You can’t get no satisfaction.

ABBA You love a good dance party and sequins. You most likely learned about ABBA through “Mamma Mia.” You have a great sunglasses collection and a

Grateful Dead

You’re definitely going to the Whole Earth Festival. You’re probably a stoner. And also vegan. And you’ve been getting really into slack-lining. You think you’re pretty cool.

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts

You cut your own bangs last week. You also smoke cigarettes to look cool. You don’t know how to be vulnerable but you’re great in bed.

Pink Floyd

You’re pretentious with a tortured soul and only hang out at Mishka’s. You have a great appreciation for technical music skills and love World War II documentaries. You’re also into rockclimbing.

AC/DC

No one has ever seen you without headphones. You say yes when people ask if you play guitar, but only know one song. You give everything 100% and you’re probably a good kisser. You never respond to text messages.

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.

While some may advocate for separating the art from the artist, Rowling’s regressive views have always been present within the text

NATALIE CHENG / AGGIE

The Davis community must prioritize safety and long-term resources for unhoused individuals

The three brutal stabbings over the past two weeks brought to the forefront deep-rooted issues facing the unhoused population

On May 4, former UC Davis student Carlos Reales Dominguez, 21, was arrested for the homicides of David Henry Breaux and Karim Abou Najm and attempted homicide of Kimberlee Guillory. The violence and loss of community members unsettled the Davis area. Many classes were moved online, police presence and security measures were increased and the university imposed a 6 p.m. curfew in order to protect UC Davis students from the suspect while the investigation was underway.

A law enforcement conference announcing Dominguez’s arrest seemed to assuage the community’s anxiety, and city and campus operations are expected to return to normal this week as the immediate threat to safety has been allegedly eliminated. But the stabbings

Scan to read our editorial in response to the tragedies in our community last week.

have revealed long-term issues in Davis that will continue to affect residents unless addressed.

As Davis police issued a brief shelterin-place order for residents directly following the third incident, many were concerned about the unhoused population in Davis, who are unable to shelter in place or adhere to curfews. The third stabbing victim was an unhoused individual, attacked through her tent at a homeless encampment.

The Davis community has shown up for people experiencing housing insecurity in response to these attacks. Nonprofit organizations have opened more beds short-term at shelters like Paul’s Place and Davis Community Meals and Housing, and residents have donated over $51,000 to a GoFundMe to support the third victim as she recovers from her injuries and over $14,000 to a GoFundMe to provide protection and emergency supplies to unhoused members of the community. However, these solutions are only effective in the short term.

Unhoused populations are disproportionately targeted in violent attacks. In 2021, individuals experiencing homelessness made up 23% of homicide victims in Los Angeles despite being only 1% of the population, and in 2022, violent crimes against unhoused people in Seattle went up by 229%. Without access to shelter and basic needs, unhoused individuals are more vulnerable to violence. The Editorial Board urges the university and the city to allocate resources to protect unhoused individuals in our community and provide more affordable housing to help combat housing insecurity in

Davis.

Moreover, Davis police received a call from the homeless encampment two hours before the third stabbing incident saying someone in the area matched the description of the suspect, but no officer was dispatched to the location. Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel said the tip “wasn’t prioritized at the highest level” because the information provided by the caller was “rather vague,” but it was likely that the information was accurate.

Some, including a student who wrote to The Aggie, are concerned that this revealed a bias within the police department against unhoused populations or a lack of preparedness to handle the situation. While the department was dealing with a high volume of calls during the investigation that made it hard for officers to respond, it does appear that changes could be made to ensure that the unhoused population feels equally protected and prioritized by the police for crimes that disproportionately affect them.

The immediate crisis may be over, but that doesn’t mean we stop looking for ways to support the community of unhoused individuals. Certain issues became more apparent during recent events, and they continue to negatively affect our community outside of difficult times. The Editorial Board encourages community members to advocate for social reforms, and urges the city and the university to direct more resources to housing, healthcare and social services to create a safer environment and prevent future violence.

WRITTEN BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD

On the Davis Police Department

BY ERIKA “KIKI” GEDGAUDAS emgedgaudas@ucdavis.edu

KELLIE LU

AARON POTTER

MARY ANN LEM

The problem with fast fashion

Trendy trouble for our planet and people

BY EMILIE BROWN emrbrown@ucdavis.edu

Fashion trends may come and go, but the consequences of fast fashion are here to stay. As college students, most of us have fallen victim to the allure of inexpensive and trendy items from popular brands like Target, GAP, H&M or Zara. But it’s time we face the truth and understand the real price we pay for our trendiness. Brace yourselves for a journey through the dark side of the fashion industry, where social and environmental issues run rampant.

gas emissions, pun intended. The fashion industry and clothing production contribute a whopping 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Yes, you read that right.

For nearly two years, my friends and I have joked about how safe Davis is, how walking and biking at night is a common, enjoyable occurrence, how the unlit streets of Davis aren’t a problem because clearly seeing the stars is a joy. Over the last five days, though, my friends and I were proven wrong three times over. I have never felt a thicker air of paranoia shared amongst so many people following the week’s tragedies.

What is the city and campus of Davis doing to quell our fears? For starters, a shelter-in-place order was implemented — for four hours. My classes were canceled — for one day, and by the discretion of professors, not administrators. The consensus among the powers of Davis seems to be that residents of Davis should “really” be more careful about their activity; Police chief Darren Pytel put it best, saying, “People have to make smart choices about where it is they go, what it is that they’re doing and whether they’re able to pay attention to their surroundings.”

Pytel choosing to shift the blame onto the victims, students and residents of Davis isn’t just a mistake, it’s what the department does best. The Davis

PRIDEMONTH

FROM PAGE 3

Researchers have to be constantly wary of new pathogens, such as the destructive Macrophomina. According to Feldmann, the research program has placed a new plot of seedling nursery in Wolfskill Experimental Orchards to develop genetic resistance to future cultivars of the soil-borne disease.

Along the way, strawberry growers

Enterprise, reporting on the most recent stabbing, notes that the victim’s friends called the police two hours before she was stabbed, with no response. The group (yes, they were in a group, something the Davis Police Department (DPD) has repeatedly advised residents of Davis to do) correctly identified the suspect, but the local police incredulously chose to ignore the potentially life-saving tip.

In his press conference to the city of Davis, Pytel touted the number of resources that have been made available to the department, including, but not limited to, the Sacramento, West Sacramento, Yolo County and Elk Grove police departments, two K9 units and multiple crime labs, including one operated by the Department of Justice. Yet, their combined powers failed to apprehend the suspect who reportedly escaped on foot.

My qualm with the language directed toward the residents of Davis, therefore, lies in Pytel’s lack of explanation as to how the force dedicated to “protect and serve” our city is unquestionably failing to do so. He claims that in 40 years, the DPD has never seen incidents like these unfolding. How can we trust a police

from different regions are heavily involved in the process of selecting strawberry varieties. Growers eventually help whittle down the advanced selections of cultivars UC Davis plans to release to commercialized farmers.

With enough time, strawberries that make the cut end up beside a person’s kitchen sink as a juicy study snack they might casually munch on. The berries they just washed represent hours of experimentation and selection by a group of people in a research facility. While it is an endless, arduous task to develop the “perfect” strawberry, it is

force that is so clearly incompetent at addressing crime? Were the victims of the stabbings simply forgetting to make “smart choices”? How are we, a majority population of students under the age of 27, meant to take care of ourselves when those whose job it is to keep us safe admit to not being able to do so? It is difficult to put my outrage into words, and difficult to find a moment to grieve when enrolled at an institution that has barely taken a moment to pay respects to the lost life of a student. We, as a campus and as a community, suddenly find ourselves adjacent to tragedy yet unsure how to proceed. I am, of course, grateful that there have been some moments of closure among the community, through vigils, social media posts and email blasts, sentimental or hollow as they may be; I cannot continue living in fear without condemning the actions — or rather, the inaction — taken by those we are told to trust.

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.

nevertheless rewarding to continuously improve and pursue the next variety. “My favorite strawberry is the ‘next strawberry,’” Cole said. “The strawberries we’re releasing right now — I’ve looked at them for three to five years. I know their values, and I know what’s good about them, but I also know what’s coming. There are [strawberries] that are going to have better disease resistance [and] better taste. And so, I think it’s the next best strawberry. That’s my favorite strawberry.”

Let’s start with the environmental havoc caused by fast fashion. From production to disposal, this industry leaves a trail of destruction. The fashion industry is the second largest consumer industry of water, requiring about 700 gallons to produce one cotton shirt and 1,800 gallons of water to produce a pair of jeans. This level of consumption is simply unsustainable, especially when droughts are already parching our world.

The fast fashion industry isn’t just using up precious water — it also contributes to water pollution, as many textile factories still regularly dump untreated toxic waste waters directly into waterways, often resulting in dyed, toxic waters. In fact, it is estimated that 70% of the rivers and lakes in China are contaminated by the 2.5 billion gallons of wastewater produced by the textile industry.

But it doesn’t end there.

Fast fashion also has a toxic relationship with greenhouse

STRAWBERRY

FROM PAGE 3

“A couple programs I want to highlight happening in May [are] a new student group that is hosting a ‘Gayme Night,’ which aims to center and support queer men and masculine folks within our center and space to connect with one another,” Morton said. “Another event the center is

Perhaps this percentage is not so surprising, considering we consume around 80 billion new pieces of clothing every year, 400% more than was consumed twenty years ago. The increase in clothing consumption has inevitably led to an increase in clothing waste, with the amount of clothing Americans throw away also doubling in the last 20 years. Unfortunately, about 66% of clothing ends up in U.S. landfills and the average American generates 82 pounds of clothing waste every year. These increases come with massive effects on our environment as making clothing wastes energy and affects our lands and clothes’ decomposition can take over 200 years.

Fast fashion is not only an environmental disaster, but it’s also a social one. Fast fashion pieces are often produced in sweatshops, where workers are paid low wages and subjected to poor working conditions. The workers who make our clothes are often not given fair wages, safe working conditions or the power to unionize. In many cases, these workers are women and children who work long hours in unsafe conditions.

So, what can we do about this? It’s time.

collaborating on [with Asian & Pacific Islander Queers (APIQ)] is Queer Prom, a space where students are able to be in a formal space as their authentic self. I believe this is a great way to demonstrate resilience. Other events are queer and trans mixers, movie nights, voguing class and workshops.”

Organizers of UC Davis Pride hope people realize community and togetherness are vital for the joy of queer and trans people and that challenging yourself to open your mind is the first step to a bigger conversation.

AGGIE FILE

ARTS & CULTURE

Graduating seniors share their biggest college regrets

Tips for making the most of your undergraduate experience

BY CORALIE LOON arts@theaggie.org

Commentary: Heartbreak can be an opportunity for growth

Things to take away from experiencing the uncomfortable feeling

BY RUMA POUDELL arts@theaggie.org

No one wants to have regrets. At the same time, as a newly admitted freshman, the idea that you still have your entire college experience to do the things you want to do can sometimes overpower your will to do those things. And, next thing you know, you’re being handed a diploma and saying goodbye to the world you feel like you just entered.

So what does it really mean to make the most of your college experience? And do most students do everything they want to, or do they walk away wishing things were different?

According to one survey of recent college graduates, most students surveyed reported having no regrets, and those with regrets most commonly mentioned student loans, areas of study or the ability to network. Another source cited common college regrets as not getting enough work experience, not making or maintaining enough friendships and not traveling or studying abroad. Many of these examples point to regrets that aren’t tied to academic success. Few graduating seniors seem to think they didn’t study enough, but many feel they didn’t try hard enough in other areas.

Kai Uchio, a fourth-year environmental science and management major, shared his college regrets.

“I wish that I had applied for more internship and job opportunities and

GYMBUDDY

FROM PAGE 12

Following Liu’s lightbulb moment, he went straight to Bagale, sharing his idea for an app that could immediately connect gym-goers looking for workout partners. Bagale loved the concept, and he and Liu began working on the app that night. Liu and Bagale created and coded the app.

“I had previous experience coding a website that helped fashion designers raise money (as seen on WWD and CBS),” Liu said.

With this experience, he was able to code the first version of GymBuddy in two weeks.

Then, GymBuddy was successfully launched through a presentation to one of Bagale’s classes at UC Davis and has taken off since.

GymBuddy is currently only directed toward UC Davis students. All UC Davis students can sign up for the app using their UC Davis email

OAKLANDASMOVE FROM PAGE 12

There was discussion of building a new stadium near Oakland called the Howard Terminal project. In early April, the city prevailed in a court case deeming that the project’s environmental impact report was sufficient. This was significant progress for the A’s to get a new ballpark in Oakland, but Fisher still decided to buy land in Las Vegas, which apparently “blindsided” Oakland Mayor Sheng Mao.

“Based on the A’s desire to achieve certainty in 2023, we laid out a detailed and specific plan to bring the project forward to city council vote this summer,” Thao said. “But it has become clear that we are not able to reach acceptable terms and that the A’s

communicated with TAs and professors more,” Uchio said. Work experience, in fact, is the regret Career Addict puts in the #1 slot. With school and student jobs taking up so much time, it’s no wonder careerrelated work experience is difficult to prioritize. Talking with more people and expanding social horizons, however, is something that may require less time to achieve.

“I would tell myself that professors aren’t so scary and you should get used to going out of your comfort zone to talk to people,” Uchio said when asked what advice he would give to his freshman self.

Bella Masterson, a fourth-year psychology and human development double major, shared her regrets as well.

“I think what I regret is not making more connections and putting effort into meeting new people and trying new things,” Masterson said.

While Masterson was busy studying and gaining work and internship experience, she said she wished she had participated more socially and joined on-campus clubs.

“I think I tend to stick to what I know, but college is a great time to try new things because there are so many opportunities to do that,” Masterson said.

Recent college graduate Cate Sievers also wished she had gotten out of her comfort zone more.

address, which ensures that they will be matched with other UC Davis students and meet people from within the Davis community.

The app has two central ways of finding gym buddies around Davis. To start, you can match with people through their profiles, which describe their interests and gym goals. Specifically, users can look at others’ uploaded pictures, level of gym experience and preferred workout times in order to find people with similar preferences.

GymBuddy’s profile feature is similar to dating apps like “Tinder” in that you can choose to match with other users based on their profiles.

The second function of GymBuddy is for users looking for quick matches to workout with.

“Quick Pair” is the second and newest feature of GymBuddy, which allows users to be paired with another user looking for a gym buddy within an hour based on their profiles. This feature is key in the main concept of connecting students in immediate need of a workout partner much like Liu was the night GymBuddy was created.

are not good partners in the effort.”

Still, the relocation is far from finalized. In a recent article from the Nevada Independent, Nevada Assemblymember Steve Yeager revealed that the state’s legislature could “run out of time” on a potential deal to use public money to help construct the A’s new ballpark in Las Vegas. For the funding to be included in this year’s state budget, the deal would need to be finalized before June 6.

“If something was going to happen, it really should have been in place last week,” Yeager said about getting a deal done for the A’s new ballpark.

If the A’s and Nevada do not come to a deal by June 6, there is still an opportunity to do so in a “special session” after the deadline. However, Yeager said he would prefer to have a deal done during the regular session. Despite this, it seems doubtful that the A’s will stay in Oakland.

“I definitely regret allowing fear and anxiety to hold me back for so long,” Sievers said. “Once I learned how to overcome those obstacles it felt like a whole new part of the world was available to me. I got to meet so many wonderful people and do things I never thought I’d be capable of doing.”

Sievers, who graduated last quarter with majors in sociology and communication, believes that college is all about embracing discomfort, something that took her a while to fully embrace.

“College is a time for major selfgrowth, and to really allow that to happen you need to really allow yourself to explore the unknown,” Sievers said.

When asked what advice they would give themselves as college freshmen, those interviewed unanimously agreed that not letting self-doubt get in the way of new experiences was the best way to conquer fears and limit regrets.

“Choose confidence and understand the power you have,” Masterson said. “It is easy to second guess yourself and what you are capable of, but that is only selling yourself short.”

Getting out of your comfort zone could be something as big as signing up for a student-led backpacking trip or as small as giving a friendly compliment to a fellow classmate.

Whatever it is, just don’t wait until you graduate to do it.

So far, GymBuddy has paired over 100 UC Davis students with gym buddies and over 200 students are current users of the app.

Liu and Bagale have plans to make GymBuddy available on other campuses and in other areas, in hopes of connecting more gym buddies everywhere. This expansion may be a slow process, as the app focuses on only UC Davis students right now, but it will possibly include other universities in the future. Liu and Bagale have also discussed expanding to geographical areas outside of universities by making the pairings location-based; however, that will likely occur much further in the future.

As of now, GymBuddy is a studentmade resource for UC Davis students to not only find like-minded gym goers but also people with similar recreational activity interests. Since it includes the ability to add photos to your profile, users can find others with similar workout interests outside of the gym too, such as spikeball or rowing.

Bagale said that his and Liu’s main focus is to create “the best experience for the students.”

“I think [my] overall reaction is just sad,” Oakland A’s fan Jonah Pelter said when asked what he thought about the potential move. “I really think that Oakland deserves better and the Oakland sports fans [too]. The fans there are die-hard [fans], and they really care about the team and the team’s history, so it’s really sad. I think it is important to note that it’s not official yet, but I think it’s probably 70/30 that they move to Vegas given that the MLB supports the move.”

The A’s will be in Oakland for the remainder of this season and next season at least, as their lease in Oakland Coliseum will not expire until after the 2024 season. Yet, this remaining time in Oakland seems like it will merely be a shell of what once was as the A’s continue to perform poorly and their fans refuse to support an owner that they feel is abandoning them.

Heartbreak: whether it’s over a romantic relationship, a crush or maybe even an unrequited love, it sucks. All of the cliches come to life as you sob to rom-coms and eat ice cream while sitting in bed. You wake up everyday with that person on your mind, then feel guilty about having them in your mind in the first place. Overall, being heartbroken is a nuanced, heavy feeling that requires time and attention for it to pass.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about heartbreak is the fact that you’re heartbroken over what you can’t have or what you have just lost. If your life outside of what is causing this feeling is going well, why does it suck so much?

The answers to questions about love and heartbreak come with time and personal experience. On heartbreak, here are some things that I have learned.

Once you let that go of the person or situation that is weighing on your heart, it clicks. A newfound sense of freedom and a fresh start feels better than almost anything else. And then, of course, that feeling can be fleeting and two days later you can still be thinking of them and missing them. The healing process is not linear in nature — cyclical is a better word.

Throughout that healing process and the ups and downs of it, you might realize many things about yourself and

the other people involved. You may ask yourself questions, such as “Why did I allow myself to get treated in a way that was not so great and even go back to them afterwards?” Or maybe you’ll think, “Sheesh, I will never go back to texting anyone daily ever, ever, ever again.” Perhaps you’ll even decide that you want the way you approach relationships as a whole to change in the future.

Each relationship that you have, romantic or not, can teach you. And, in particular, romantic relationships can teach you a lot about yourself and things you need to work on. For example, there are well-known attachment styles, such as anxious and avoidant. If you identify which you are, it can be a lot easier to outline ways to become more secure in your relationships.

One of the biggest things that a breakup can do for you is align you with your heart. Yes, at the time it will suck. You may even feel physical pain. But being able to experience your emotions, walk around and function while you go through it, and, eventually, overcome it, will help you understand what others may be going through.

Having a broken heart can be an opportunity to grow kinder and more sensitive not only towards yourself, but others as well.

NATALIE CHENG / AGGIE

AGGIE FILE

The Backseat Lovers provided a lively, intimate performance at Oakland’s Fox Theater

Concertgoers matched the indie music act’s energy

BY ANA BACH arts@theaggie.org

The Arts Desk’s weekly picks for music, movies and more

BY OWEN RUDERMAN arts@theaggie.org

Movie: “The Emperor’s New Groove” (2000) dir. by Mark

Dindal

I’ve been watching “The Emperor’s New Groove” almost every year since its release in 2000, and let me tell you personally that no movie has aged so gracefully. This semi-hidden gem from Disney is hilarious and incredibly quotable. But it’s also incredibly well-acted, with heavy hitters like David Spade and John Goodman starring in the film. Trust me, this isn’t just a kid’s movie — there’s something in here for all ages to enjoy.

Album: “The Head on the Door” by The Cure (1985)

I know that for a lot of people, choosing a favorite album is hard. It’s difficult to pick between albums that are consistently good throughout and albums that have a few mind-blowingly good songs. For me, though, the decision has never been difficult. That’s because The Cure’s sixth album, “The Head on the Door,” consists purely of mindblowingly good songs from start to finish. Robert Smith’s legendarily ethereal, tragic and sometimes whispered lyrics are accompanied by swinging guitar, pounding drums and sinking bass. And you don’t even have to be emo or goth to enjoy the album — there’s something on it for everyone. Give this all-time classic album a chance.

TV Show: “Spongebob Squarepants” (19982007)

On April 24, The Backseat Lovers, an American alternative rock band, performed at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California as part of their North American tour. The California Aggie had the opportunity to send a staff writer for a thorough review of the band’s performance. The Backseat Lovers are based out of Utah, and according to their Spotify page, their music focuses on “the feelings at hand.” The band consists of four members whose music feels like an indie take on modern rock.

At their performance in Oakland, the band’s setup consisted of a few asymmetrically patterned carpets spread across the stage and white sheets as the backdrop behind their instruments.

Three members of the band started the show by collectively tuning their guitars and segueing into a riff. Each member slowly built up the tune by adding their own unique play on the initial chords. This part of the show wasn’t immediately transitioning into any particular song, but rather, was improvised. The assortment of melodies and beats was drawn out, building up anticipation until ultimately resolving into a song familiar to the audience.

This showcased not only the abilities of the musicians but also their chemistry with one another as they were able to build a cohesive sound.

Throughout the show, the band played many of their more popular songs, most of which come from their album titled “When We Were Friends.”

One of their most well-known hits (and a viral TikTok sound), “Kilby Girl,” is on this album, along with other fan favorites such as “Maple Syrup,” “Pool House” and “Watch Your Mouth.”

Throughout the concert, melodies and even little strums of the guitar here and there were never fully sedentary. Each transition into a new song consisted of the same energy as the initial build-up, during which the band members would re-adjust their instruments and seamlessly move into the next song based on a little improvised melody.

When the band began to play “Pool House,” the white sheets used for the backdrop showed colorful projections and lighting. The visuals were relaxing and simple, showing shadows of leaves and trees on the colorfully lit stage.

The atmosphere felt intimate, with the carpets, colors and rawness of

the music creating a comforting and personal experience for the audience.

The band performed “Kilby Girl,” and — as expected — the energy of the performers and the audience response matched the hype surrounding the track. During the main guitar riff sequence, the general admission area appeared lively and engaged.

The band closed with “Snowbank Blues,” a song from their most recent album, “Waiting to Spill,” which was softer and more folk-like than their other music. Ending with this song felt similar to a campfire sing-along, stripped to just the guitar strums and the lead singer’s vocals.

As someone who was only somewhat familiar with The Backseat Lovers before attending their show, the live performance surpassed any expectations I had from purely listening to their recorded music. They sounded even better in person because of the clear notes coming from their instruments and microphones. Throughout their performance, The Backseat Lovers truly showcased their ability to make each attendee a part of the musical experience.

The history of Converse

Taking a look into how the iconic shoe brand changed the fashion game

BY SARAH HAN arts@theaggie.org

Let’s get something clear right off the bat: I’m talking only about the first five seasons of “Spongebob Squarepants.” These are the quintessential episodes I grew up with. Now, I’m not trying to discredit the neo-modern episodes — in fact, I hear they’re pretty good. But for me, nothing comes close to the first few seasons. The humor and writing are just so incredibly well done, and the art and visual gags still hold up today, even if some think otherwise. Recently, I’ve heard deplorable comments like, “Phineas and Ferb is just a better Spongebob.” First off, the shows aren’t really comparable, and it isn’t against the law to enjoy both. But also, watch the second season of “Spongebob Squarepants.” You’ll be surprised at how much it makes you laugh.

Book: “The Stories of John Cheever” by John Cheever (1978)

This book, possibly more than any other, changed the way I view everyday life. Cheever’s stories evoke a sort of universal American nostalgia, featuring unforgettable imagery, scarily realistic characters and plots that leave you thinking, “Uhm, what just happened?” The book consists of 61 short stories, making it easy to read just a chunk or two at a time. It’s a timeless book that contains some of the best stories ever written by an American author. But don’t just take it from me — in 1979, “The Stories of John Cheever” won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and in 1978, the book won the National Book Critics Circle Award.

attracting millions of athletes and regular consumers nationwide.

In 1969, Taylor passed, and in the years that followed, Converse lost its title as one of the most popular shoe brands. Nike and similar companies began dominating the basketball shoe industry, introducing high-performance technologies and sleek designs. However, Converse poured its efforts into targeting regular consumers by characterizing the shoes as comfortable, leisure-friendly and casual.

Fortunately, this change in marketing strategy appealed to a whole new group: musicians. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, punk-rock musicians hopped on the bandwagon and started to wear Converse sneakers, which paved the way for the company to create funky and fresh colors and patterns. Soon enough, millions were on board with the shoe’s effortless and minimalist style.

From tying your outfit together to working out, Converse makes some of the most timeless sneakers in the shoe industry — the classic All-Star logo, polished toe cap and numerous styles all contribute to their revolutionary design. Here is a rundown on how this versatile shoe came to be.

In 1908, Marquis Mills Converse launched the “Converse Rubber Shoe Company” in Malden, Massachusetts.

The first Converse “All-Star” was an elite basketball shoe that was made with the original canvas and rubber, both materials that are still used for

production today. At this time, Converse shoes were made for functionality. Thirteen years after the launch, American basketball player Chuck Taylor joined the Converse team, which revolutionized the company’s design and ultimately led to increased sales. Taylor pitched unique designs and marketing ideas, one of which centered around spreading awareness about basketball: He held basketball clinics in schools nationwide, taught basketball to kids and shared shoes and Converse yearbooks. Due to his tremendous contributions, “Chuck Taylor” was

century ago, have become a staple in footwear for decades now. (Alexis Perez / Aggie) top model, which was added to the basketball teams’ collection. Players, from the NBA to college and high school, all wore either white All-Stars or black All-Stars, making Converse one of the most popular, unique shoes in the industry. Following the high-top’s massive popularity, Converse introduced the “Oxford” model — a low-top version of the iconic style. This model was particularly tailored toward consumers who wanted an every day, leisurefriendly shoe. Various colors and prints also debuted with the Oxford,

In July 2003, Nike bought Converse. It was assumed that Converse’s popularity would plummet, but it did the exact opposite. The sneakers became a fashion statement for pop artists and daily shoes for skateboarders. By 2012, the company had generated $450 million from Chuck All-Stars.

imprinted on the All-Star logo.

In 1936, the partnership with Taylor also increased the shoe’s popularity among basketball players, especially when he helped design the white hightop model with the red-and-navy rim for the USA’s 1963 Olympic basketball team. This particular design resonated with the players and the fans because of an increased sense of patriotism as a result of World War II. The white, red and navy-colored shoe was also worn by the United States Armed Forces. After World War II, Converse designed the black-and-white high-

Today, Converse has made over $2.3 billion in revenue, with millions of children, teenagers, athletes and adults wearing its products. The well-known shoes also became popular among celebrities, politicians and influencers, from Michelle Obama to Millie Bobby Brown. However, the most appealing aspect of the company is its consistency. It has been operating for over 100 years and has yet to change its timeless design. Collaboration after collaboration, the company remains true to its wardrobestaple roots.

Cover photo for The Backseat Lovers. (Courtesy of Mick Management / fair use)

A pair of classic Converse All Star’s which, from their creation over a

Overthinking

BY LIDYA SHCHERBAKOVA lvshcherbakova@ucdavis.edu

Love Lab’s safer sex materials now include bubble wrap and knee pads

Yeah, pregnancy is a big deal. But what if I scrape my elbow?

BY ANNABEL MARSHALL almarshall@ucdavis.edu

What’s the worst thing that could happen as a result of sex? Unwanted pregnancy? STIs? Emotional damage?

What about jamming your finger?

Sixty percent of college students will injure themselves during sex, with 15% breaking bones and 7% losing teeth or nails. These figures are startling, and not just because I made them up.

Safer sex is possible and practical.

Across Yolo County, California and the U.S., educators are making a conscious effort to promote safe sex. I visited a new Love Lab workshop, where Ava Gillian teaches the best practices for avoiding injury. Sixteen students sat at rapt attention. “Don’t bend it,” Gillian instructed, writing the words out on the whiteboard. “It’s not a toy.”

These workshops are part of a UC Davis initiative to reduce sexrelated damage on campus. Attendees are invited to share their intercourse injuries: sprained ankles, accidental

WLAXSENIORDAY FROM PAGE 12

The Aggies’ offense had a strong third quarter; they scored five straight goals, which put them ahead 8-6 with 5:41 minutes left in the period. Gebhardt contributed two of those five goals and Lawrence contributed to one.

“We had a slow start to the game, and we knew we needed to step it up on the offensive side and on the draw to get more possessions,” Gebhardt said. “Defense was doing exactly what they set out to do, but we were not translating their hard work into goals. At halftime, we all agreed that offense was going to step it up, and we were going to win this game together.”

SDSU ended their scoring drought with 1:34 left to go, but UC Davis responded with a goal in the last five seconds of the game. Agnew scored with an assist from Lawrence, making the score going into the fourth quarter 9-7, Aggies’ lead.

“Leading by two, we knew we needed possession,” Lawrence said.

BSBVSCALPOLY

FROM PAGE 12

The most impressive moment from Green was in the top of the third inning when he picked off second-year infielder Ryan Fenn at first base. Not only was Green able to pick off Fenn in the third inning, but he was also able to keep Fenn to only one hit during the game — an impressive feat, as the Mustang is

UCD to offer Frat Boy classes

So the frat boys can frat better!

BY CARMEL RAVIV craviv@ucdavis.edu

piercings, broken toes, dislocated shoulders, scalping, etc.

“If you weren’t a contortionist before, you are not a contortionist once you take off your clothes,” Gillian reminded them.

The education is paired with resources for UC Davis students. Alongside condoms, dental dams and lube, students can also find knee and elbow pads, safety goggles, helmets, bubble wrap and more at the MU and Silo. Stickers promoting the project read “Safe is Sexy!”

“My safe sex icon is Bob the Builder,” Aidan Brunette, a student at the workshop, said. “Because he always wears protective gear. We all know he pulls.”

Disclaimer: This article is humor and/or satire, and its content is purely fictional. The story and the names of “sources” are fictionalized.

“Our attack knew we had to be smart; we wanted to take time off the clock to not allow them to be able to get the ball and score with limited time on the clock. With the shot clock winding down, we all knew we needed one last shot to either score or reset the shot clock.”

The Aggies looked pretty confident going into the fourth quarter, but so did SDSU, who scored a goal in the first 40 seconds of the quarter and another less than a minute later. The score was tied at 9-9.

“I think I can speak for the whole team when I say we had confidence in one another,” Gebhardt said. “No matter where we were on the field, we knew whoever was near us or the ball was ready to carry out the game plan, and we didn’t let our opponent get in the way of that.”

While SDSU failed to score another goal, Agnew scored again, putting UC Davis ahead 10-9 with 4:58 remaining in the game. The Aggies’ game plan was to dominate defensively and prevent the Aztecs from scoring another goal to tie the game.

Lawrence made a crucial goal with 2:08 left in the game — it would be

currently ranked third in the Big West for hitting with a 0.359 AVG. Closing out the last two innings of the game, Carrion came in to pitch for the Aggies. In those innings, he didn’t allow the Mustangs a single hit and struck out three of the seven batters he faced. While he allowed one batter on base with a walk, he didn’t allow any Cal Poly players to get on base after that; he finished out the game for the Aggies with a strikeout. Carrion’s impressive performance lowered his ERA to 1.78

the lowest ERA on the team.

very difficult for the Aztecs to come back from the two-point deficit in just two minutes. The game ended with a score of 11-9, the Aggies taking out the Aztecs and their lead when it mattered most, in crunch time.

“It felt great going out with a win. The UC Davis lacrosse team is filled with love, support, sisterhood and grit,” Lawrence said. “The success that we have had over the years started from our alumni; they have built the program, and we are continuing to grow. I am excited to see what this team does in the PAC-12 next year; I know they will do great.” The senior ceremony was held before the game where three seniors were recognized. There are more than three fourth-year students on the team, but a couple will take an extra year of eligibility. The graduating seniors were Julie Byrne, Miriam Lebastchi and Mia Lawrence.

“With my last game, I wanted to go out having fun,” Lawrence said regarding her experience. “I wanted to be able to look around and see everyone smiling and loving the sport that we are able to play together.”

Despite the fast-paced game mainly being a back-and-forth of fly balls and strikeouts, it did allow a moment for UC Davis’s pitching to shine as Green and Carrion proved to be a tough pitching duo for the Aggies. The shutout was the second of the season for the team but was the first in conference play. The Aggies went on to lose Saturday’s game 8-1 — a tough loss following Friday’s win. They came back to beat Cal Poly in their third matchup on Sunday with a score of 8-1, securing the series win.

After a superintendent meeting discussing the vitality of fraternities at UC Davis, Chancellor Gary May realized that we need to do better to accommodate them. After all, they have done so much for campus social life and student alcoholism, without doing any real work at all.

After evaluating the difficulty that frat bros have to endure balancing a stressful course load in Managerial Economics and attending fraternityrelated events while also being involved in consequential activities such as bicep curls in the ARC, playing spikeball and badgering their friend with a med card, the committee has developed a plan to bring on change.

UCD will be adding the School of Bruhhh, a fifth college that consists of classes that will enhance the skills, critical thinking and bright futures of Davis frat boys. Some classes that will be instructed are:

BRO 002: The Biochemistry of Alcohol Circulation

BRO 003 :The Biochemistry of Alcohol Circulation While Crossed af BRO 015: The Morals and Ethics of “They weren’t that drunk!”

BRO 032A: Constructional Engineering: Beer Pong Table BRO 032B: Constructional Engineering: Die Table BRO 072: Women’s Studies: What Zodiac Sign to Tell Girls You Are BRO 069: Relationship Psychology: Coz these b*tches crazyyy BRO 099: Creative Writing: Party Themes and Canva Invites

BRO 113: Sound Engineering: How to Mix “Pursuit of Happiness” and “No Hands” on a Loop

BRO 120: The American History of the Backwards Hat

BRO 150: Business Networking

Strategies: Getting that Deloitte Internship

BRO 420: Aaaahhaahhahaa

FRS 125: How to Tell a Group of Dudes to “gtfo” While Working Security All majors are welcome to strengthen their Frat Boy understanding by taking these classes.

Disclaimer: This article is humor and/or satire, and its content is purely fictional. The story and the names of “sources” are fictionalized.

MIRANDA LEE / AGGIE

MIRANDA LEE / AGGIE

Sudoku

Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces. Every row, column and 3x3 square must contain each digit. Each Sudoku has a unique solution that can be reached logically without guessing.

Crossword

Use your five senses to ground your busy mind in the present moment.

5 look Look around for five things you can see. Notice the colors, shapes and textures.

4 feel Pay attention to your body, and notice four things you can feel.

3 listen Listen for three sounds. Some sounds might be close by or more distant.

2 smell Shift your attention to notice two smells in your environment. Sometimes closing your eyes can help sharpen your attention.

1 taste Focus and think of one thing you can taste right now.

SCIENCE AND TECH

Anesthesiologists are reducing greenhouse gas emissions in operating rooms

Fresh gas flow rates and more eco-friendly anesthetics are allowing medical staff to reduce their impact on climate change

BY KATIE HELLMAN science@theaggie.org

University of California medical facilities, including UC Davis, have been making multiple changes to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during surgical procedures, according to a recent study in the Journal of Medical Internet Research Publications.

“Real-time clinical decision support (CDS) systems lower anesthetic gas waste by prompting anesthesia professionals to reduce fresh gas flow (FGF) when a set threshold is exceeded,” the study reads.

Desflurane, which is frequently used in operating rooms by anesthesiologists, is a greenhouse gas that causes a significant amount of pollution. One hour of using the gas is equivalent to the emissions produced from driving a car for 400 miles. UC Davis Health has replaced desflurane with sevoflurane, a more eco-friendly option, in its operating rooms as a result.

Emily Methangkool, co-author of the study and an anesthesiologist at UCLA Health, commented on the impact of these gases.

“The gases we use for putting patients to sleep and keeping patients asleep are potent greenhouse gases and ozone depleters,” Methangkool said via email. “There are certain gases that are worse offenders than others, so we are trying to use the ones with less greenhouse gas impact.”

Nina Schloemerkemper, a professor and clinical director of obstetric anesthesia at UC Davis Health, provided insight into an often-overlooked impact that medical facilities have on the planet.

“The healthcare sector in the U.S. is probably responsible for 10-30% of U.S. greenhouse gas [emissions],” Schloemerkemper said.

A typical surgical procedure involves administering sedation to patients and helping them breathe through tracheal tube intubation. The patients are kept unconscious by using a breathing machine that continuously supplies them with anesthetic.

Allowing more anesthesia to be re-used by the patient every time they

breathe can also significantly reduce the production of greenhouse gases during surgeries, without negatively affecting patients or altering their unconscious state during procedures.

“The patient exhales and then breathes back in, and we recycle the air,” Schloemerkemper said. “We are taking out the carbon dioxide that they have produced and adding extra oxygen.”

UC Davis is working on providing medical staff with fresh gas flow rates and displaying their sevoflurane usage on an online dashboard, which would alert them when an anesthetic exceeds a specific usage. Researchers hope this will reduce emissions from anesthesia by over 50%, and these changes are being put into effect at other institutions as well.

“We can decrease how much oxygen and air is delivered to the patient while maintaining patient safety, and that will reduce how much anesthetic gas is needed for the procedure (and also how much is sent into the atmosphere),” Methangkool said.

UC Davis study improves measurements of galaxy composition

Knowing what makes up a galaxy can tell us about how it first formed

to a certain wavelength of light.

“Atoms of different elements emit light at a combination of very specific wavelengths (colors), and we can use the unique fingerprint of wavelengths from each atom to measure the chemical makeup of the gas in a galaxy,” Sanders said via email.

One method involves finding the temperature of the gas inside a galaxy and using this temperature value to calculate the amount of oxygen. The other requires extremely precise measurements of oxygen emission features using state-of-the-art telescopes.

“The problem is that these two techniques do not agree,” Sanders said. “The temperature-based method gives oxygen abundances that are a factor of 2 lower than the temperature-independent method [does]. Unless we know which of these two techniques gives the right value, we can’t be certain about the exact chemical makeup of galaxies.”

spectroscopy in the infrared spectrum, which is not visible to the human eye.

The observations were taken with a telescope called SOFIA, which is flown in a 747 airplane to a height of 40,000 feet, where it has an easier time observing these infrared wavelengths.

“In the galaxy we observed, we found that the infrared method agrees with the temperature-based optical method,” Sanders said. “This result implies that large gas temperature fluctuations are not present in this galaxy and that the optical temperature-based method is accurate.”

Sanders noted that despite this groundbreaking finding, it will need to be tested in other galaxies in order to safely say that the temperature-based method is truly accurate for measuring galaxy composition.

BY LILLY ACKERMAN science@theaggie.org

A new study from researchers in UC Davis’s Department of Physics and Astronomy measured the composition of oxygen in the Markarian 71 galaxy, which is about 11 light-years from Earth. The researchers looked to improve upon previous methods for measuring galaxies’ oxygen composition, which

have been in question in the field due to a consistent discrepancy between results.

Oxygen is the element of choice to measure when exploring galaxy formation because it is abundant in galaxies, third only to hydrogen and helium. Measuring hydrogen or helium composition does not give insights into when or how galaxies formed, since these elements existed before stars and galaxies arose in the universe. On the other hand, oxygen and other heavier elements only

came into existence once stars began creating them via nuclear fusion, making these elements more useful in analyzing the birth of galaxies. According to Dr. Ryan Sanders, a postdoctoral researcher in the department and a co-author on the study, two methods have been widely used to measure oxygen concentrations in galaxies. They both rely on spectroscopy, which breaks the light from a galaxy into its individual colors, each corresponding

A theory has been proposed to explain this disagreement; if the temperature is different throughout different regions of a galaxy, then the temperature-based method would give inaccurate results. However, these temperature fluctuations have not been proven to exist yet.

In this recent study, the authors used a different temperature-independent method that they could compare to the two disagreeing methods, allowing them to determine which method is accurate. Instead of solely using light in the visible spectrum, the new method also used

However, in the meantime, this study serves as an important first step in improving the accuracy of composition measurements. It also informs scientists that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which makes use of spectroscopy with the temperaturebased method, has likely been taking accurate measurements of galaxies’ oxygen composition.

“Our results provide important evidence that measurements of galaxy chemical makeups from JWST are reliable,” Sanders said. “Knowing that, we can use these chemical composition measurements to understand how some of the first galaxies formed.”

Taylor Swift: A pop icon, lyrical mastermind and remote plant photosynthesis sensing machine

How the new Plant Optics Lab machine “TSWIFT” could help isolate climate-change resistant crops

BY SONORA SLATER science@theaggie.org

Taylor Swift isn’t a stranger to things being named after her — from the millipede species dubbed Nannaria swiftae in 2022, to the entire city of Glendale, Arizona being temporarily renamed Swift City in honor of the kick-off of the Eras Tour this year, it’s safe to say that she’s left a legacy on the world. But in spring 2023, she added a new honor to the list with the creation of the remote sensing instrument for plants known as the Tower Spectrometer on Wheels for Investigating Frequent Timeseries — or for short, TSWIFT.

Troy Magney, an assistant professor in plant sciences at UC Davis and one of the senior authors on the report about the new technology, is a well-established fan of both plant science and pop music. Previously, he worked at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a research scientist working on satellite imaging technology to analyze photosynthesis and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere — then becoming curious about how this technology could be repurposed for plant research.

“I got interested in building some sensors [for UC Davis] that could measure similar things to satellites but at a smaller scale; that’s sort of how TSWIFT came about,” Magney said.

Magney said that the UC Davis Plant Optics Lab, which was behind the creation of TSWIFT, uses “optical techniques” to look at plants. In other words, they measure how well the plants are reflecting light, which is tied to how much photosynthesis the plant is doing.

“The ways that plants reflect light [...] can tell us about their health and their stress and their productivity,”

Magney said. “We can bring [TSWIFT] out to a field and put it on a tower, and it can look down at the ecosystem and collect data throughout the day and throughout the season so that we can look at the performance of these plants [in response to stress].”

We know the toll stress can take on a person: say, Joe Jonas breaks up with you over the phone in a 27-second phone call, or the masters of your first eight albums are sold without your knowledge. Maintaining your productivity and focus would understandably be difficult. But what does it mean for a plant to be “stressed?”

“Basically when I say stress, I mean anything that reduces the plant’s ability to do photosynthesis,” Magney said. “Stress from drought if there’s not enough water in an ecosystem, [...] different pathogens, [...] stresses coming from temperature, [...] bark beetles, wildfire smoke. Stress could come from any number of things [...], but normally, I would say drought is the big one in California.”

Essentially, they look for any factor that might be causing an increase or reduction in photosynthesis for a plant and then try to understand why.

While it can be used to analyze real-world fields, TSWIFT is primarily meant to be used in experiments: researchers simulate stressful conditions, such as drought, in a field, and see which plants perform the best in these subpar conditions.

“We’ll impose drought stress, for example, by turning off the irrigation for the rest of the season,” Magney said. “Then we’ll be able to track which of these plant genotypes is performing the best under the water-limiting conditions. If you’re trying to choose a genotype of wheat that might be the most productive

under future climate change scenarios, the idea is that we simulate what the climate change scenario might be by imposing drought in the controlled field study, and then track which genotypes of wheat would perform best.”

Taylor Swift is known for planning things out far in advance, from the perfectly curated Reputation-era social media rebrand to planting lyrics from her album Midnights in a speech she gave at NYU months before the album’s release. If plant researchers are able to do the same sort of forward-thinking planning when it comes to preparing crops for climate change, the agriculturedependent California economy would likely benefit.

TSWIFT builds off of previous work UC Davis researchers have done to try to preemptively adapt agriculture to changing climate conditions. The main advantage of the new technology is that it saves time, and allows for data to be collected on both a day-to-day and long term basis.

“We can begin to see when a plant might be undergoing stress, and we can see that at a daily resolution,” Magney said. “Historically, you would assess the performance of plants just by walking out in the field every day and making some measurements of photosynthesis on the plants, which is very timeconsuming and labor intensive, and the idea with TSWIFT is that we can just deploy the instrument and monitor it all remotely.”

In future versions of the technology, Magney said that they hope to be able to take measurements at night or in cloudy conditions by using blue LEDs to shine light on the plants, and equip TSWIFT with a thermal imager to measure how much water plants are using by analyzing their temperature.

repeat while building the machine. But his true favorite Taylor song? “Well, I’m not sure if it’s appropriate for print,” Magney said. “But it would have to be Vigilante Shit.”

Magney worked on the project and the paper alongside Chris Wong, Taylor Jones, Devin McHugh, Matthew Gilbert, Paul Gepts, Antonia Palkovic and Thomas N. Buckley. In a highly relatable move, he streamed ‘folklore’ on

JOANNE SUN / AGGIE

ALLISON VO / AGGIE

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

UC Davis women’s lacrosse closes out the season with a win over San Diego State

On senior day, the Aggies played their last Big West Conference game before their move to the PAC-12 Conference next year

BASEBALL

UC Davis baseball shuts out Cal Poly in first game of series

The pitching efforts of UC Davis’s Bryan Green and Danny Carrion keep Cal Poly to a zero-run game

BY CAROLYN (CARI) FENN sports@theaggie.org

On Friday, May 5, the Aggies faced off in the first game of a three-game series against Cal Poly on Phil Swimley Field at Dobbins Stadium. With Cal Poly being ranked eighth in the Big West and UC Davis being ranked ninth, it was a close battle between the two teams to see who would come out on top. After less than two hours though, the Aggies won the game, shutting out the Mustangs in a low-scoring encounter, 1-0.

The most eventful inning for UC Davis’s offense came in the first inning where they gained their only run. After third-year outfielder Damian Stone hit a single and slowly advanced to third, a fly ball from third-year Alex Gouveia allowed Stone to make a sprint for the home plate, beating out the throw from center field and giving the Aggies the lone run of the game.

Following the first inning, the Aggies were only able to get three more hits, and from those hits, they were only able to reach third base. A big part of the reason they were unable to get another run is that they were facing off against third-year Bryce Warrecker — Cal Poly’s best pitcher — who had scouts clocking the speed of his throws during the game. Warrecker was on the mound for the

rest of the game and he did not allow the Aggies to get another hit, showing just how difficult of a pitcher he was for UC Davis to face.

While UC Davis was struggling to get hits, so was Cal Poly. They were only able to get a total of three hits in the entire game and only got to third base in the first inning. Despite UC Davis being ranked eighth in fielding among the Big West teams, both the infield and outfield made some impressive plays that were crucial to the team’s success in the game.

Where the Aggies shined the most throughout the game was easily in their pitching duo: second-year Bryan Green and third-year Danny Carrion. They allowed an impressive combination of just three hits and five walks. and struck out six batters. The rest of the batters either hit ground or fly balls that their teammates on the field kept from becoming hits.

Opening the game was Green, who pitched a total of seven innings. Within those innings, he only allowed three hits and three walks and struck out three Mustangs. This was one of his best performances of the year, but Green is a consistent pitcher in UC Davis’s rotation and this season, he is ranked 12th among pitchers in the Big West with a 3.76 ERA.

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Freshman midfielder Ella Brislin defeats two opponents as she scores one of her many goals in the victorious game against Oregon on April 9th, 2022. (Aggie file) was a close match.

BY ELOISE ENGS sports@theaggie.org

On April 29, the UC Davis women’s lacrosse team played their last game of the season against San Diego State University at UC Davis Health Stadium. The Aggies secured a win over the Aztecs with a score of 11-9.

Typically, at the end of a season, a conference tournament would be held, but due to Fresno State University’s loss of their women’s lacrosse team, the conference was only left with UC Davis and SDSU. The PAC-12 Conference made a statement on May 31, 2022, saying that they would extend the invitation for UC Davis and SDSU to join the conference beginning in the 2023-2024 season.

PAC-12 Deputy Commissioner Teresa Gould said that women’s lacrosse is rapidly growing in popularity and that the PAC-12 hopes that the addition of these two teams to the major west coast conference will further promote growth in western regions of the United States. PAC-12 will be going from six total teams to eight.

UC Davis and SDSU’s final battle against each other — before their addition to the PAC-12 next season —

In the first quarter, SDSU started the game off strong with a goal at the 11:34 mark of the 15-minute quarter. The first quarter showed both teams’ defensive strengths, as neither was able to score for nearly 10 minutes. With five minutes left in the quarter, though, UC Davis fourth-year midfielder Alex Agnew secured a goal to tie the score at 1-1.

It was looking like the first quarter would end in a tie, but the Aztecs put up a goal just before the 15 minutes was up, making the score 2-1 going into the second quarter.

The second quarter did not have a score on the board for over five minutes, when the Aggies’ second-year attacker Grace Gebhardt netted a second goal for the team with an assist from Agnew.

“I was feeling fired up,” Gebhardt said. “[Our] attack had a bit of a drought in the first half with such a low-scoring first quarter. That being said, we knew we had to step it up on the offensive end and generate more shots and contribute more to the game. We were focusing on riding off each other’s energy and putting the ball in the back of the net.”

Then, between minutes 9:31 to 6:33, SDSU netted four goals, putting them ahead at 6-2.

New GymBuddy App launches at UC Davis

Two UC Davis students introduce new app in hopes of connecting students who need workout buddies

BY EVA MACHADO sports@theaggie.org

Working out, especially at the gym, can be intimidating. GymBuddy is an app engineered by two UC Davis students in hopes of diminishing that fear and opening up the gym community to everyone.

GymBuddy is a new app available for all UC Davis students looking to expand their workout circles and gym experiences. Through GymBuddy, gymgoers can connect with other workout enthusiasts who may be searching for a new workout partner and friend with similar interests.

UC Davis students may ask, who are the creators of GymBuddy and what prompted them to create the app?

Eugene Liu, a third-year at UC

“When SDSU had a four-goal lead during the second quarter, we knew it was time to step up,” Gebhardt said. “I was thinking one play at a time, [...] and trying to control the controllables. At this point, there wasn’t much time left in the quarter, but we were able to put one more goal on the board which gave us a little bit of momentum going into halftime.”

Fourth-year attacker Mia Lawrence started to cut in on SDSU’s lead with a goal at the 5:58 mark in the second quarter. After Lawrence put the ball through the net, there was not another goal scored in that quarter, so the Aggies trailed 3-6 going into the second half of the game.

“We needed to value our attacking possessions by initiating to be able to find the best shot. On defense, we needed to make big stops, which would take the entire defense upping their communication to stay on the same page,” Lawrence said. “The energy from the sideline to the field was amazing, smiles were everywhere and we knew if we continued to go hard and keep our energy high we would win.”

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BASEBALL

The Oakland Athletics agree to purchase land for new ballpark in Las Vegas

The rich history of the Oakland A’s may be coming to an end with potential relocation to Las Vegas

Davis’s King Hall School of Law and Matthew Bagale, a fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in communication, created GymBuddy together at the end of winter quarter.

Liu and Bagale met after becoming roommates this past year and have formed a friendship based on their love of going to the gym. Both Liu and Bagale would often go to the gym together in their free time, solidifying not only their new friendship, but also their shared passion as gym enthusiasts.

Liu and Bagale described a predicament they found themselves in when one night, Bagale was too tired to work out, leaving Liu wishing he could find another gym-goer who would be able to work out with him. This led Liu to come up with the concept for GymBuddy. GYMBUDDY on 6

JOANNE SUN / AGGIE

BY PATRICK FIGUEROA sports@theaggie.org

On April 19, sources confirmed to the Nevada Independent that the Oakland Athletics (A’s) agreed to purchase land in Las Vegas to build a new, long-awaited stadium. This news came out shortly after the A’s completed a six-game homestand, during which they lost all six games and their record fell to 3-16. In a city that has already lost two of its professional sports franchises in recent years, the A’s relocation would end an era of professional sports in Oakland.

Just five years ago, Oakland had three professional teams: the A’s, the Golden State Warriors and the Oakland Raiders. Each of these teams had a rich history embedded within the city of Oakland. The Warriors went to five straight NBA finals and won three between 2015 to

2019 while in Oakland. The Raiders won two Super Bowl championships in 1976 and 1980, and, even in the years when they struggled to maintain their “commitment to excellence,” fans packed the Oakland Coliseum. Still, neither of these teams match up to the A’s history in Oakland.

Unlike other Oakland franchises, the A’s are exclusively tied to Oakland. The Warriors were more associated with the Bay Area than Oakland itself and the Raiders moved from Oakland to Los Angeles in 1982 before eventually moving back over a decade later. But the Athletics, arriving in 1968, have built a rich baseball history exclusive to Oakland. Notable moments from Oakland

A’s history include their “three-peat,” in which they won three consecutive World Series championships from 1972 to 1974. The only other franchise in MLB to ever match such a feat is the

New York Yankees. The A’s 2002 season was also memorable as they broke an MLB record for winning 20 consecutive games. In 2011, a blockbuster movie, “Moneyball,” starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, told the story of the A’s historic 2002 season.

Despite this rich history, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is an advocate for the A’s relocation to Las Vegas. In a meeting with the Associated Press Sports Editors, Manfred mentioned that the A’s relocating would allow the team to put a “more competitive on-field product.” He also defended A’s Owner John Fisher, who many fans are blaming for the potential relocation.

“I feel sorry for the fans in Oakland, I really do,” Manfred said. “But for the city of Oakland to point fingers at John Fisher, it’s not fair.”

In the A’s first home game since the agreement to acquire land in Las Vegas, over 6,000 fans showed up to chant, “Sell the team!” Others also hung signs on the railing in right field with phrases like “Fisher out” and “Sell.”

Fisher has been criticized for allegedly tanking the A’s on purpose in order to alienate fans and expedite the move out of the Oakland Coliseum.

Despite having the sixth-largest media market in MLB, the A’s have the lowest payroll out of all teams. They had merely six wins through the first month of the 2023 season. They also traded away young, talented players, like first baseman Matt Olson and catcher Sean Murphy, in previous offseasons to save money. As a result, A’s fan attendance is reaching record lows.

UC Davis shuts out Cal Poly in their first game in the series. (Jersain Medina / Aggie)

James Williams’ time at bat allows a runner to score for UC Davis against Cal Poly. (Jersain Medina / Aggie)

NATALIE CHENG / AGGIE