February 7, 2012 by The California Aggie

serving the uc davis campus and community since 1915

www.theaggie.org

volume 131, number 17

News iN Brief

Sundt Construction, Inc. wins contract to build new Tercero housing

tuesday, february 7, 2012

Community members run Unofficial Scrabble Club Group plays on Wednesdays, year-round

UC Davis awarded Sundt Construction, Inc. with a $71 million design-build contract for a 1,200-bed student housing project to be completed in June 2014, the company announced Monday. Construction is set to begin in June of this year for the 330,000-square-foot Tercero Student Housing Phase III project. The project consists of seven buildings with 108 single units and 537 double units, as well as several lounges, study areas, computer centers and gathering spaces. The project will create over 350 jobs over the two-year construction period, the company estimates. The project is funded through student housing capital reserves and loan funds, not state or tuition money. Dave Downey, pre-construction project manager for Sundt, said the company is ecstatic about being awarded the project. The competition for the contract began last April. Downey said the choice was based on both price of their proposed project and qualifications. Sundt also worked on the Graduate School of Management’s Maurice J. Gallagher Jr. Hall and the UC Davis Conference Center. –– Angela Swartz

Student Regents holding public forum today

Scrabble club

courtesy

By CHLOE BREZSNY Aggie News Writer

The UC student Regents will be holding a public forum today to provide students with information on how to apply to be the next student Regent. The forum will be today from noon to 1 p.m. at the Student Community Center in Meeting Room B. Lunch will be provided. — Hannah Strumwasser

It is probably safe to say that the majority of UC Davis students have played, or at least have heard of, the smartphone application Words With Friends. A lesserknown fact, however, is that the City of Davis has its very own Scrabble club. The Unofficial Scrabble Club of Davis plays year-round, every Wednesday night from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. In the warmer months, April to October, members gather at the Davis Farmers Market to play alongside the food and live music of the Picnic in the Park. Beginning in November, the group moves inside to the

tables of Crepeville where they weather the cold with some friendly scrabble competition. Jack Norman, a sophomore statistics major and Scrabble Club member, explained that playing scrabble on Wednesday nights gives him a healthy break from his busy schedule. “If I’m stressed or if I have had a tough beginning to the week, I can always look forward to Scrabble night,” he said in an e-mail. Norman said that he is one of the younger players. Most of the club members are not college-aged; nevertheless, the club welcomes all people and all skill levels to come and play. The layout is

UC Davis students arrested at Occupy Oakland

family-style, with four to a board. Lynne Conrad-Forrest, another Scrabble Club member, plays in her free time when she is not working in Sacramento. She joined the club not only to exercise her mind with the popular word game, but also to socialize with other members of the community. “I enjoy the camaraderie and mental stimulation and sometimes silly fun that goes on,” she said in an e-mail. The Unofficial Scrabble Club follows all of the rules outlined for the game. The only exception occurs during a formal word challenge; if the challenger is

Davis taps into its agricultural roots Students, residents share gardening as common hobby

Arrests spark protest march among students last week By ALICIA KINDRED

By DEVON BOHART

Aggie News Writer

Aggie Features Writer

An estimated 300 protesters were arrested Saturday, Jan. 28 by the Oakland police. Ten UC Davis students were among those arrested. The events included marching through streets and an attempt to occupy Oakland’s city hall and the vacant Henry Kaiser Convention Center. Protesters were met with tear gas, rubber bullets and mass arrests by the Oakland police, a press release stated. “There were a couple of times I was close enough to the front lines where I was near tear gas and concussion grenades,” said Deanna Johnson, a sophomore environmental horticulture and urban forestry major. “Once I was arrested, I was kept in an overcrowded holding cell in the Santa Rita Jail. I was one of the first arrested and one of the first released, after 12 hours.” At 3 a.m. guards began to mop the floors as a way to keep the protesters awake in their cell, Johnson said. “I was arrested at around 8 or 9 p.m. outside of the YMCA building during a kettle that lasted two hours,” said Geoffrey Wildanger, an art history major. A kettle is a police tactic for controlling large crowds. “I got on a bus eventually. It was pretty disgusting; vomit was inside the bus. I was eventually taken to Santa Rita Jail,

Carrots, tomatoes and peas, oh my! From learning to eating to just having fun, Davis students and residents participate in the world of gardening with the establishment of over nine non-domestic gardens throughout the UC Davis campus and community. “I chose to come to UC Davis because it is one of the few schools that teaches agriculture, and what I wanted to learn in my time here is the union of community and agriculture,” said Lauren Cockrell, a junior sustainable agriculture and food systems major. Cockrell works at a public garden on campus that is a part of the Experimental College (EC), hence its name, the EC Garden. This garden rents out plots for a small fee, supplying gardeners with water, mulch, manure, tools and advice, giving anyone the opportunity to develop their green thumb. “This is a swath of land that showcases different forms of agriculture. The student farm is more efficiency-based, the Domes are more house-based and [the EC garden] is the amalgam of the two,” Cockrell said. “If you don’t have enough room in your backyard, you can just come out here and have your own little plot and be part of a greater community of gardening.” Another gardening option, also offering a public gardening community, is the Davis Community Garden, run by the city. This gar-

Today’s weather Rain High 53 Low 43

Brian Nguyen / Aggie

UC Davis students were arrested and held in the Santa Rita Jail after the protest events held in Oakland last Saturday. and kept in a holding cell with 16 people,” he said. After being transferred a number of times to overcrowded holding cells and being held in a cell of 55 people without access to working water, Wildanger was released at 8:30 p.m. Monday night, he said. “I was never fingerprinted or booked. So, if people called looking for me, there was no record that I was there,” Wildanger said. Those standing in front of the YMCA building were chargedto-hold with misdemeanors. Those inside the building were charged-to-hold with felonies. Those felonies have been

erased, however, according to Wildanger. UC Davis students participated in a protest last Wednesday in response to arrests at Occupy Oakland and to demonstrate support. Protesters met at the Memorial Union (MU) at noon and marched through the ASUCD Coffee House (CoHo) while chanting “Show me what democracy looks like; this is what democracy looks like” and holding trash bins that resembled police riot gear. Drums were used throughout the march, but protesters were

See PROTEST, page 2

Forecast Rain, rain, go away~ Come again another day~ It’s just one day of rain! Stay strong and look forward to the sunshine early next week. Raymond Chan, atmospheric science major Aggie Forecasting Team

See SCRABBLE, page 2

Wednesday

Thursday

Partly sunny

Sunny

High 62 Low 40

High 65 Low 40

Nathan Chan / Aggie

Sophomore international relations major Grace Emery picks some veggies in the Salad Bowl Garden. den has a similar concept as the EC Garden with minor variations and an off-campus location, which can better suit certain gardeners. Jane Schafer-Kramer has been the Davis Community Garden coordinator for the past 11 years. Gardening is one of the reasons that she lives in Davis; she said that she has been interested in gardening since she was young. After having to give up her plot due to time constraints, she returned for a part-time position to help with upkeep and to continue her hobby. “I got involved because I am

See GARDENING, page 2 Scientists have recently uncovered fossils in Namibian national park that they believe are the first animals. If this is true, this would push back the emergence of animal life back 100 to 150 million years. Fascinating, right? Amanda Nguyen

page two

2 tuesday, february 7, 2012

daily calendar dailycal@theaggie.org

WEDNESDAY Soran Bushi Fundraising Event 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Rostini Italian Kitchen, 1411 W. Covell Blvd. The Japanese American Student Society will be hosting a fundraising event to support the Soran Bushi dance group. Twenty percent of your purchase will be donated to the formation of Soran Bushi when you present a flyer with your order. To receive a digital copy of the flyer, e-mail cmlu@ucdavis.edu.

Facebook to LinkedIn — How To Get In 4 p.m. South Hall 114 An expert panel will discuss how social media can help you network and open doors and how to manage your image on social media sites. Employers are looking! How to manage your image on social media sites and what to be aware of concerning your privacy settings.

The EDGE Auditions 6 to 10 p.m. Wyatt Theater Auditions are open to UC Davis students, faculty and staff. Bring a resume and head shot. Sign up in Art 101. To audition

for the One Acts, review any of the sides that are provided in Art 101. For the Hour of 5’s, a new component to the EDGE that is comprised of an hour’s worth of five-minute pieces, your audition piece should be reﬂective of what you hope to perform.

THURSDAY Heart-Healthy Desserts 2 to 3 p.m. Student Health & Wellness Center, Conference Room 2 Who wants chocolate? Learn about the benefits of chocolate and superfoods that are heart-healthy. Samples of desserts prepared are included!

Picnic Day Applications Due 5 p.m. picnicday.ucdavis.edu Submit applications to participate in Picnic Day by 5 p.m. To receive placement in the AGGIE DAILY CALENDAR, e-mail dailycal@theaggie. org or stop by 25 Lower Freeborn by noon the day prior to your event. Due to space constraints, all event descriptions are subject to editing, and priority will be given to events that are free of charge and geared toward the campus community.

police briefs FRIDAY

Two children were playing with fire in a playground on Birch Lane.

Taco Hell An intoxicated person was throwing food at customers in Taco Bell on G Street.

Razor-sharp wit Several men were screaming insults while riding scooters on Hartley Street.

Kids these days A group of children were riding bikes and one had a gun on Pacific Drive.

SATURDAY

SUNDAY Having a ball People at a party were loudly playing with a bouncy ball on Portage Bay East.

Practice hits Several people were smoking marijuana on a tennis court near Tulip Lane.

Beats the swings

scrabble

Police Briefs are compiled by TRACY HARRIS from the City of Davis daily crime bulletins. Contact TRACY HARRIS at city@ theaggie.org.

who has arrived late. On the other hand, it is to be expected that there will be at least four or five diehards who will stay and play until 11 p.m. Playing the game does have some benefits other than being a good way to pass the time, members said. Norman said that he has learned many new words by playing Scrabble, since it is frowned upon to play a word without knowing its meaning. In addition, a study by researchers at Brandeis University in Massachusetts, among others, has shown that playing Scrabble regularly boosts cognitive and analytical capabilities, and also lowers the risk of dementia in aging adults.

Cont. from front page correct, then he or she receives a 10-point bonus while the player with the incorrect word loses a turn. Conrad-Forrest also said that it is not considered fair to consult a dictionary during play except during a word challenge. Players are allowed to check spelling between or after games. “We often take breaks from our own games and observe other ongoing games, discussing words and possible combinations and placements,” Conrad-Forrest said. On a typical Wednesday night, members can fit in two to three games, with rotations based on who is there, who has won, who CHLOE BREZSNY can be reached at has to leave early and city@theaggie.org.

PROTEST

police department. “[The events at Occupy Oakland] affected Occupy UC Davis partially because about 10 people from the group were arrested. It also reminded a lot of people that the police use violence against protesters and it brought that discussion back up,” Johnson said.

Cont. from front page soon asked to stop using them by CoHo employees. The marchers continued through campus, stopping at the Silo Union and ending at the UC Davis Police Department. A general assembly was conducted in front of the ALICIA KINDRED can be reached at locked front doors of the campus@theaggie.org.

accuracy The California Aggie strives to ensure that all of its facts and details are accurate. Please bring any corrections to our attention by calling (530) 752-0208.

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and a struggling economy Obama hasn’t done any better, producing about a 145 percent debt increase in his term. So what’s going on Danny here? Why are the men we Brawer elect to lead our country dragging us deeper and deeper into debt? The answer is that the U.S. debt doesn’t really matter. Imagine a guy who keeps taking out loans and maxing out credit cards to pay for debts he already has. Theoretically ccording to this could go on forever Republicans, as his debt just gets on Aug. 1, 2011, transferred from one America faced a potential lender to another. With an Armageddon resulting individual, however, all from years of fiscal the fun comes to an end irresponsibility. The United when the line of credit States was just one day runs out and he is stuck away from defaulting on holding the bill. its debt because those The reason our country’s same Republicans refused debt isn’t really an issue is to raise the debt ceiling, that our line of credit isn’t which stood likely to at almost ever run Why are the men we elect to lead out. With $14.294 trillion. our country dragging us deeper our status Luckily for as the and deeper into debt? Americans world’s everywhere, only Republicans strapped on superpower, we are always their shiny armor and saved going to be able to borrow the day at the last second, money. Countries that have passing a bill that raised the money to invest know that, debt ceiling by $900 billion, even with our debt, putting to $15.194 trillion. money into the U.S. is Everybody knows the still an incredibly safe bet, debt of our country is arguably safer than putting huge, but whether or not it it anywhere else in the matters is widely debated. world. How can owing $15 trillion A more legitimate concern dollars not be a big deal? is the fact that if our debt Let’s find out by looking continues to pile up, it may at what exactly the debt is become more expensive for and where it comes from. us to borrow money. This is A lot of people don’t actually a serious concern know where our country’s as when you owe upwards debt comes from, but it’s of $15 trillion, a 1% increase actually rather simple. No, in interest rate equates to the president of the U.S. $150 billion. Yes, that’s right: doesn’t give Hu Jintao (the Even the government has to President of China) a call pay interest when it borrows and ask for a couple billion. money. The United States simply This could prove to be a offers bonds with different problem, despite experts’ maturity dates, and sells warnings that this has them to whomever has the not been the case yet. The money to buy them. When United States has been able those bonds mature and to borrow at a consistent need to be paid back, we interest rate even with simply get more money by increasing debt. This is due selling new bonds and use in large part to the fact that it to pay off our old ones. even with an increasing It’s a never-ending cycle of debt, the United States is using other people’s money still an incredibly secure to pay off other people who and safe place for investors. also gave us money — fiscal This security comes from responsibility at its finest. a combination of factors, The United States debt is the two most important as old as our country. It was being our over $15 trillion born out of debts incurred Gross Domestic Product during the Revolutionary (GDP) — our country’s War and has been with national income — and us since, 236 years in our military might, without the making. Despite the a doubt the strongest and founding fathers’ warning most advanced military in against the accumulation the world. of debt, it has steadily been In other words, the increasing by a couple United States isn’t going percent every year. anywhere and we are always That was until the going to be able to pay back second George Bush came our debt. That isn’t going to into office. Our fearless change anytime soon, and Texan inherited a debt of as long as that remains the almost $6 trillion and in case we will always be able his two terms managed to to borrow money. come just short of doubling it, leaving Obama with a If you want to lend DANNY BRAWER billions debt of over $10 trillion of dollars trusting him at his word to pay — an increase of over 185 you back, let him know at dabrawer@ percent. With multiple wars ucdavis.edu.

The debt debate

gardening Cont. from front page interested in seeing this succeed and keeping it going. I consider it my health club, actually. I do this for exercise and for therapy,” Schafer-Kramer said. “It’s also a very social place with a very diverse group of people. Gardeners tend to be pretty mellow and they are nice people to hang around with.” Similar to Schafer-Kramer, Cockrell finds gardening to be very rewarding as well, and she shed light on why she and others are so involved with this hobby. “My favorite thing is seeing those little seedlings come up,” Cockrell said. “But I think what other people would say is tasting a real tomato for the first time, one that you have grown. Foods never taste the same in the store as having them freshly picked and grown on your own.” Gardening, however, does present some problems, as people have to deal with the elements, as well as pests, such as squirrels and rabbits that wander into the gardens to eat their crops. However, such problems only bring the gardeners together, for these gardens foster a community among the owners of the plots in which everyone

Regardless of the specifics, having an unequal dynamic makes the parts of the fantasy involving domination or submission feel more natural (not all Sam fantasies involve those Wall factors, but they tend to be the most popular). The dom/sub aspects of role-play can be fun because they can offer release; if you are someone who has to maintain an image of control, it can be exceedingly pleasurable to let someone else take the e all know the reins. Just make sure to set cliché surrounding clear guidelines for what “role-playing.” The kind of behaviors are or are wife, at the suggestion of not allowed. a certain brightly colored Build-up in role-play women’s magazine, is necessary because, in surprises her hubby by most cases, the appeal of wearing a cheerleader the characters is not just outfit. Hubby is pleased. attached to the clothing. But the outfit is something Not to say that you in a “special,” used only hot outfit won’t get a lover grudgingly for birthdays going, but a large part of and the fun is moments pretending There are two key aspects of to be when the marriage a satisfying role-play: power someone needs you’re not. dynamics and build-up “spicing So change up.” As with up your so many sex clichés, this mannerisms, move with image gives an unfair spin more or less confidence to a wonderful activity. than normal, change the Role-plays, or “games,” pitch of your voice. You can are an excellent way to add try an accent, but the scene new elements to your sexy- may become Pythonesque times. A main reason they rather quickly, so proceed are useful is that they are a with caution. safe space to test out sexual If your costume is not too activities that you are outlandish, you can consider curious about but hesitant beginning the game while out to try. For example, you, on the town (something like the mild mannered college boss/secretary would work). student, may want to try You may feel a little silly, but spanking, but don’t want remember what I said about to somehow contradict good sex and laughter? Of your image. But you, the course, if you’re more selfnaughty secretary in need conscious or your outfit is of discipline, may not feel something overt like a maid such inhibitions. By putting costume, build the scene on a different persona, you in your bedroom. You don’t leave yourself open to new need to construct a set or sexual adventures. anything. A bed, a chair and As with any fantasy, there your imagination is usually is a conversation that needs enough. to happen before a role-play As far as selecting can become reality. Let’s say costumes go, you can buy that you have a Sherlock whatever you/your partner Holmes-based fantasy. Before likes. If you are going to you don your deerstalker, you splurge on something I need to feel out your partner’s recommend that it be either thoughts on that scenario. versatile, like a skirt that Do this prior to being really works for multiple games, in the mood, just so there is or relate to something you no pressure on you or them. play frequently. Since most of Try a phrase like, “Honey, you reading this are college would you be willing to play students (meaning broke), Sherlock Holmes tonight?” make your closet your If they say no, don’t pressure first stop. Odds are there is them. If they say maybe, talk something in there that’s about a way to do it that you’d close to a desired outfit. If both enjoy. If they say yes, something is missing, try then go for it. a thrift store. You can also There are two key add stockings, lingerie aspects of a satisfying role- (men’s or women’s) or high play: power dynamics and heels to make the ensemble build-up (yes, costumes scream “sex!” I suggest Aella are important, but bear Boutique here in Davis, with me). Think of the which has a selection of classic games and count stockings and shoes, plus a how many hinge upon an student discount. unequal balance of power. So there it is, your roleSome are obvious, such as play primer. Now, if you’ll secretary/boss or teacher/ excuse me, I need to go student. Others, such as clean my deerstalker and cheerleader/rebel, rely on magnifying glass. differentials of experience. Milder games rely on SAM WALL would like to apologize to the the interactions of very ghost of Arthur Conan Doyle and ask that different personalities, you send sex questions to sewall@ucdavis. such as Holmes/Watson. edu.

Let’s play a game

is supportive of the others’ goals and successes. Schafer-Kramer described how her fellow gardener gave her a tomato that he considered to be “the best he had ever grown,” leading her to plant its seeds into her own garden. “When it comes to growing crops, people are stoked if their neighbor has 12-foot tall sunflowers. Everyone is excited for each other and what they are growing,” Cockrell said. Similar to these gardens, the concept of sustainable food is practiced at the Plants and Environmental Sciences building with the Salad Bowl, a smaller-scale garden available for people to pick leaves and other veggies to make a personal salad. Once a week, they offer a wash station, a salad spinner and dressings for people on campus who are looking for a freshly picked and tossed salad for lunch. Sophomore environmental policy major Alicia Halpern helped plant some of the crops in the Salad Bowl as a volunteer and has visited the garden for some harvesting of her own. “It’s awesome that there are so many gardens on campus,” Halpern said. “It goes with the whole eating-local thing and knowing where our food comes from.” As far as knowing where food comes

from, the Davis community offers various opportunities for its residents to eat locally. Davis is home to the Student Farm and the famous Davis Farmers Market, as well as on-campus co-operatives and the Domes for student living options that all encompass a gardening community and the concept of eating homegrown food. This sort of natural-food concept is shared in the gardening community, with many gardens in Davis contributing to residents’ household meals. “I think in general we have a food culture,” Cockrell said. “With our Farmers Market, with the Davis Food Co-op and the living co-ops on campus, and the fact that initially we were just the farm of UC Berkeley, it’s in our history. With the great soil that we have here, I think this whole area just breathes agriculture.” But regardless of your reasoning for working in a garden, whether its food for your home, crops for sale, a chance to learn, a service opportunity or just for fun, all gardens have a common theme. “It teaches you patience,” SchaferKramer said. “It teaches you the value of hard work; you are always at the mercy of nature.” DEVON BOHART can be reached at features@theaggie.org.

OPINION

The california aggie

tuesday, february 7, 2012 3

editorials

tobacco ban

Education before citation UC President Mark Yudof wrote a letter to the UC chancellors in January to ask each campus to form a committee to implement a tobacco-free policy by 2014. In his letter, Yudof wrote, “The enforcement of the smoke-free policy should be primarily educational, with an emphasis on cessation resources.” As the UC Davis committee begins to shape our own campus policy, they should follow this educational model of enforcement. Punishing those who continue to smoke on campus will not be an effective way of promoting a smokefree environment. The committee should be weary of implementing any policies that would restrict the individual’s right to consume carcinogenic tox-

ins via both cigarettes and chewing tobacco. A smoke-free campus policy would be difficult to enforce and punishing offenders with a fine or penalty would result in inconsistent enforcement and a hostile relationship between smokers and the administration. There already exists an anti-smoking culture in California that does not encourage non-smokers to pick up the habit. This type of environment is far more useful to promoting nonsmoking than a campuswide ban. Promoting education on tobacco use and providing resources for quitting is a positive way to address the issue of tobacco on campus and should be our campus committee’s main way of implementing the UC policy.

think before you move

Second-year dorms UC Davis Student Housing will be guaranteeing a bed for all secondyear students beginning Fall 2012. This can benefit students and create a more lively campus life. Finding housing as a second-year can be stressful for students, and having the opportunity to fall back on the dorms could provide students with peace of mind. Furthermore, transitioning from dorm to apartment life can be complicated, from picking out which apartment to live in to learning how to cook your own food. Second-year on-campus housing is guaranteed at many private schools and other UCs. With the dining commons and classes close by, living on campus has the potential to make life easier for students. Of course, this is primarily a business decision. Living on campus is expen-

sive, with a bed in a shared room costing upwards of $12,700 for 3 quarters. While having a place to live on campus may be beneficial, students should be aware that student housing can be much more expensive than living in an apartment. The City of Davis has many apartments that are student-friendly, and many are cost-friendly as well. Students should consider the benefits and costs of living on campus for a second year, and be aware that living on campus is significantly more expensive. However, providing second-year housing could make UC Davis a more campus-oriented school. This shift could bring the campus closer together, and provide students with a less stressful living option for their second year. Students should strongly consider all of their options when choosing where to live after their first year.

courtesy newsday.com

Letters to the editor Incident at WRRC

As you may know, on Monday, Jan. 30, interns of the Women’s Resources and Research Center (WRRC) found their life-size critique representation of Barbie with its neck wrapped with a noose and tied to a water pipe above in the basement of North Hall. The Life-Size Barbie Project was constructed by engineering students to show the unrealistic, life-size proportions of Barbies. The incident was reported to the Ethic Point Campus Hate and Bias Incident Reporting System and the WRRC filed a police report.

Response Now?”

“Apocalypse

I found the Jan. 31 article “Apocalypse Now?” about the 2012 end of the world scenario a little bit lacking because in my opinion you failed to interview anyone who might know what they’re talking about. The quote attributed to John Hall was particularly misleading because, although he remarks that the fact that “the calendar ends a particular cycle is significant,” he fails to explain why. The long count Mayan calendar will flip from 12.17.19.19.19 — the last date possible — to 0.0.0.0.1. In other words, Dec. 21 2012 will be the new Day One. This isn’t just a mathematical phenomenon, however.

Some occupiers respond to EOP building takeover We apologize to the Educational Opportunity Program, those students whom EOP serve and the general student body for taking over the EOP building. We appreciate the hard work EOP does on campus, and we envision a day when EOP and Occupy can work together.

Sam Hoel

Editorial Board Jason Alpert Editor in Chief Becky Peterson Managing Editor Melissa Freeman Opinion Editor

Hannah Strumwasser Campus Editor Angela Swartz City Editor Erin Migdol Features Editor

Uyen Cao Arts Editor Trevor Cramer Sports Editor

Amy Stewart Science Editor Jasna Hodzic Photography Editor

Editorials represent the collective opinions of The California Aggie editorial board. The Opinion page appears Tuesdays and Thursdays.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

GUEST OPINIONS

The California Aggie welcomes letters from its readers. Letters must be typed and no longer than 200 words. As The Aggie attempts to represent a diversity of viewpoints on its letters page, we reserve the right to edit letters for length and clarity. Publication is not guaranteed, and letters become the property of The California Aggie. All correspondence must be signed with the author’s name and telephone number. Unsigned letters will not be considered for publication, although names may be withheld upon request.

The California Aggie welcomes guest opinions from its readers. Guest opinions must be typed with an approximate word count of 600 to 800, or character count around 3,000 to 4,000. The same standards of letters to the editor apply to guest opinions. Guest opinions may reflect a variety of viewpoints. Any member of the campus community is eligible and encouraged to highlight issues regarding UC Davis, regional or national issues. Address letters or guest opinions to the Opinion Editor, The California Aggie, 25 Lower Freeborn, UC Davis, CA 95616. Letters may also be faxed to (530) 752-0355 or sent via e-mail to opinion@theaggie.org.

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Republican candidates aren’t that bad

onventional wisdom has it that the Republican candidates are a sorry lot. After months of intense campaigning and the scrutiny that accompanies it, the four remaining contestants are known more for their vices than their virtues. Romney is uninspired and vacillating. Gingrich is a loose cannon. Santorum is sanctimonious and whiny. Paul is Jane Fondaesque on foreign policy and almost as old as the Constitution itself. For Obama, of course, the whole process has been delightful. With all eyes on the Republicans, he has managed to temporarily escape from the fruits of his own incompetence. Which is convenient, since in his first three years, Obama has managed to be uninspired, vacillating, sanctimonious, whiny, Jane Fondaesque and a loose cannon all at once. At least he isn’t old, although the presidency has a way of taking care of that. As for the Republicans, I can’t help but think that they’ve been unfairly written off. In politics, the perfect should never be the enemy

At this time, it appears that no other items were taken or damaged. It is also not clear how the perpetrator(s) accessed the basement at this time. A full police report and investigation is pending. While at this time we do not know precisely what the perpetrator intended to convey, the imagery is disturbing and any observer might well interpret it as an expression of hostility directed at women. For many who saw this, the impact was very hurtful. This imagery serves as a reminder of the perpetual acts of violence committed against women every day in our society and on our

college campuses. Our campus is no exception. It is an important reminder of our need to stay vigilant of our surroundings and to report acts of hate and bias immediately to the campus police and the University Hate and Bias Incident Reporting System. The campus administration remains committed to finding the perpetrators of acts of hate and bias who would assault our community and prosecuting them to the fullest extent possible. We ask for your support in both

This day is associated with prophecies inscribed into the walls of dozens or hundreds of separate Mayan and Aztec temples, which claim that this will be the day when the gods come back to Earth and bring about the next stage in humankind’s developmental history. The 2012 event is not just the start of a new calendar but the start of a new 5,400-year period of human history. I just wanted to point these things out because I felt that the article lacked in this content. People should also know that UC Davis is home to one of the foremost experts in the world on the Maya language, culture and religion. I hope that if you do a follow up to this article you will consult Professor Martha Macri, who

has been instrumental in the decipherment and cataloging of Maya inscriptions throughout her 40-plus years in the field. I hope you’ll also consult an astrophysicist on the very real dangers of solar storms and other phenomena, especially given that we are at this very moment being bombarded by radiation from the biggest solar storm in near history, which is expected to continue to get worse throughout the year. I don’t know if I believe in this apocalypse, but I think an article on the event deserves at least a bit of actual research rather than just speculation.

The General Assembly did not plan the takeover. As such, the majority of the members of Occupy were, like the rest of the student body, surprised at the takeover. The autonomous group that planned the takeover told us that the university had abandoned the building. We did not know that EOP was slated to move in. Once we learned that, indeed the building was not

in disuse, everyone except for the group who planned the takeover quickly vacated the building. Media reports claiming that Occupy UC Davis continued to occupy the building are misleading, since the UC Davis General Assembly neither approved of nor supported the occupation;

True Hatch

UC Davis student, linguistics

See EOP, page 4

When Paul first ran for president, of the good. And while they aren’t auditing the Fed or abolishing the perfect, each hopeful has a lot to TSA seemed kooky. But Paul stuck offer. So in the interest of positive thinking, here’s a non-exhaus- to his guns, and his conviction has made converts. He has sintive look at the good side of each gle-handedly mainstreamed liberRepublican candidate. tarianism in the Republican parNewt Gingrich is an undenity. There’s a lot to be said for a man able intellect with big plans for a big that actually believes in somecountry. Expansive to the point of thing. grandiosity, he knows how to tranRick Santorum isn’t my favorite scend petty political correctness and candidate. He has an off-putting isn’t afraid to violate the sensitivispeaking style and tends to brag a ties of mainstream pundits. It’s nice to see a candidate say things that just little too much (even for a pol) on aren’t supposed to be said. And man, stage. But here’s something I adcan Newt say it. That’s important –– a mire about the man; he’s steady. president has to be a communicator. You won’t see rhetorical fireworks from this most-unpresidential of Gingrich may be an egomanicandidates, but his overall consisac, but in an age of false humility, tency (both ideological and perat least he doesn’t fake it. His personal) is impressive. sonal failings are troubling, but Mitt Romney isn’t consistent. In there has to be some room for forgiveness in politics. (Or maybe not fact, his flip-flops on issues from abortion to health care are the big–– I can’t help but gest part of his think that if Newt wins the nomina- Struggling with a seemingly endless baggage, in this at least. tion, Democrats economic slump, Americans don’t election On top of that, will relentlessneed a celebrity in chief Mitt isn’t flashy. ly attack him beBut his muted cause of his infipersonality can delities, forgetactually be a positive if he’s electting their lockstep support of the equally troubled Bill Clinton.) With ed. Struggling with a seemingan anemic economy and a spirally endless economic slump, ing debt crisis, I’d prefer a flawed Americans don’t need a celebrity man with good ideas to a good in chief. They don’t need someone man with flawed ideas. Or someto channel their frustration. They thing like that. don’t even need someone to feel Ron Paul is perhaps the closest thing to a principled politician their pain. They need someone to that we’ve seen since, well, George do something about it. And that’s what Mitt Romney is good at. Washington? Maybe that’s a bit of In his cool, calculating way, a stretch, but Paul really doesn’t Romney is a turnaround rockseem care about public opinstar. From his days at Bain Capital ion or the possibilities of power. Regardless of the audience, he’s al- where he specialized in makways ready to tear into the Federal ing broken companies profitable again, to his miracle stint with the Reserve, American imperialism or our broken monetary system.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

See WRRC, page 4

See HOEL, page 4

GUEST OPINIONS

4 tuesday, february 7, 2012

The california Aggie

hoel Cont. from page 3 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, Romney has gotten the job done again and again, with little fanfare and less drama. Obama meanwhile, has had his chance to do a turnaround on the US economy, and has utterly failed to solve or even comprehend the problem. I’d trade all the adoring magazine covers that Obama has gotten for an economic

WRRC Cont. from page 3 resolving this current incident and helping us to create a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for all members of our campus community. Anyone who has information about the incident is encouraged to call the UC Davis Police at 752-1727. The WRRC provides valuable resources to the campus community and we ask that you join them in their call to oppose all manifestations of sexism, hatred, violence against women and gendered violence. We encourage everyone affected by this

future in a heartbeat. I suspect most Americans would too. If it takes a colorless northeastern Mormon to do the job, so be it. I haven’t decided who I’ll vote for in the primary yet. And I realize the headline isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement. But given the choice between a flawed candidate and a failed presidency, I’ll take my chances with the former. SAM HOEL can be reached at swhoel@ucdavis.edu.

disturbing incident to stop by the WRRC to talk, process or engage in dialogue reflective of our Principles of Community. The strength of our campus community lies in the recognition that each of us has an obligation to the community of which we have chosen to be a part. We will strive to build a true community of spirit and purpose based on mutual respect and caring.

Griselda Castro

Associate Vice Chancellor, Student Affairs

Rahim Reed

Associate Executive Vice Chancellor, Campus Community Relations

student inclusivity is vital if we are to claim to represent student interests. Yet, we Cont. from page 3 recognize that not every media used the name of our student can sleep on the movement to label an action quad, attend daily meetings that the majority of us were or navigate a complex opposed to. political web to have her However, we fully voice heard. As such, we recognize that taking part will start hosting a weekly in a movement also means UC Davis General Assembly. taking responsibility for This weekly assembly will be that movement when it goes central. It is where we will astray. make our major decisions. We have addressed the Everyone, even having never immediate problem. All participated in Occupy, is members of Occupy UC welcome to attend. Davis have now vacated We also recognize that the building, and we have those who participate in cleaned and vacuumed the Occupy put their reputations building for EOP’s arrival. If on the line when they do so, you permit us, we will help and shameful autonomous EOP move in next week. actions such as the EOP Furthermore, we are takeover hurt everyone currently addressing the associated with our structural problems that movement. So along with a allowed the EOP building stronger focus on inclusivity, takeover to occur. Occupy we recognize that those who UC Davis must become act as participants of Occupy substantially more must be held accountable transparent and accountable. for any harmful autonomous To this end, increasing action they may choose to

eop

pursue. As such, participants of UCD General Assemblies will be asked that when they act as part of Occupy UCD, they remain non-violent, respect General Assembly decisions and not break the law without prior GA approval. We believe that these changes will not only prevent future issues like the EOP building takeover, but will make our movement more effective and inclusive as a whole. While we were addressing the issues surrounding the EOP building takeover, the University of California administration continued to privatize, militarize and exclude. It continued the practices and policies that create the need for EOP in the first place. We must join forces to face our shared struggles.

Some of the Many UCD Occupiers

classifieds The Ag-gregate: Censorship by Vancey Le

vvle@ucdavis.edu

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tuesday, february 7, 2012 5

The california aggie

Aggies can’t beat Bears UC Davis falls to Cal for the third time this season gymnastics By KAITLYN ZUFALL Aggie Sports Writer

After a close competition with Cal at the Pavilion on Jan. 27, the Aggies had hoped to come out strong against the Golden Bears on Sunday to capture the first-place finish they had so narrowly missed. But it was not to be. Shaky performances on bars and beam once again put UC Davis in second place. Cal finished first with a final score of 193.275 over the Aggies’ 190.625. The Aggies opened on uneven bars, an event that the team has struggled with in the last two meets. It was their lowest score at each meet, coming in at only 46.825 against Air Force and 47.300 in the triangular meet against Seattle Pacific and Cal. Despite the Aggies’ hopes going into the meet, UC Davis was unable to see improvement in the event, opening the meet with a 47.200 after being forced to count two falls. Cal didn’t hesitate to take advantage of the shaky performance and swept the category, winning all three individual titles and finishing the event with a final score of 49.150. The score is the team’s season high. The lone high point for the Aggies on bars came with junior Katie Yamamura’s career-

Aaron Juarez / Aggie

UC Davis was unable to defeat a strong California squad over the weekend. high 9.825. She led UC Davis in the event. The Aggies were able to recover and put forward a strong performance on vault in the next round. Sophomore Anna Shumaker led the Aggies with a career-high

9.850 that tied her for first in the event. Shumaker was the at-large qualifier to the NCAA Corvallis Regional on the event last year as a freshman. “Anna [Shumaker] is really doing an

amazing job,” head coach John Lavallee said. “She’s returning from [shoulder surgery], which is difficult to do for a gymnast, but the last two weeks she’s been back on track with her level of vaulting from last year.” UC Davis looked to be gaining on Cal’s score in the third round when they put out their highest team score of the meet on floor (48.425). Yamamura and junior Michelle Ho went 1-2 in the category with scores of 9.800 and 9.775 respectively. Strong performances by sophomore Madeline Kennedy (9.650), Shumaker (9.600) and freshman Tiana Montell (9.600) completed the scoring for the team. But after two strong events, the Aggies were unable to finish on a high note. Competing on the balance beam in the fourth round, the team counted four falls on their way to a score of 46.700 — UC Davis’ lowest score in the event in nearly a year. Only Ho and Kennedy were able to hit their routines, each earning a 9.575. It was the second event in which the Aggies did not have an individual place in the top three. “We certainly didn’t have the kind of day that we were hoping to have,” acknowledged Lavallee. “Hitting five out of six is really the next step for this group… we need to double our efforts.” KAITLYN ZUFALL can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

Aggie Pinterest provides competition for Facebook Digest By Anjli Mehta

Women’s water polo UC Davis had a rough weekend at the Stanford Invitational Women’s Water Polo Tournament. The No. 14 Aggies were outmatched, facing four teams ranked higher nationally. The beginning of the season has been especially tough as the Aggies have faced multiple top-five opponents each weekend. After going 0-4 over this weekend, UC Davis slipped to 2-8 overall this season. The Aggies were completely outclassed against the defending national champions, as they lost to No. 1 Stanford 18-6. The Cardinal scored seven unanswered goals to open the action and held an 11-1 lead at the break. UC Davis managed to stay competitive in the second half, with junior Jessica Dunn and freshman Keelia Houston each scoring twice and helping the Aggies tally five goals total after halftime. The afternoon game was far more entertaining, with UC Davis coming back from three goals down to make it a one-score game heading into the fourth quarter. San Jose State was able to hold

Daily Texan (University of Texas)

off the Aggies for the third week in a row, however, handing UC Davis a 13-12 loss. Senior Carey Faber netted four goals and Dunn added three, while goalkeeper Riane Woods made 12 saves playing the whole game. It was Faber’s first hat trick since her sophomore season in 2010. UC Davis kept up with USC in the first half of Sunday morning’s game, trailing just 6-4 at the break. But the ladies of Troy were able to pull away in the second frame with a 7-2 scoring advantage, and UC Davis fell 13-6. Six different players scored for the Aggies in the contest. In Sunday afternoon’s seventh-place match, Michigan shut out UC Davis in the third quarter on its way to a 7-5 victory. Dunn led the Aggies with two goals, and Rachel Tatusko was impressive in net, tallying six saves in the game. UC Davis takes a weekend off from competition and returns to action February 19 at Sonoma State. It also hosts an Alumnae game on February 18. — Russell Eisenman

RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE

SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES DO NOT WORK

Recently, it seems some women have replaced the time they usually spend on Facebook stalking their friends and frenemies with stalking the virtual bulletin boards of social media site pinterest.com. From future wedding dresses to 100-calorie snack ideas, Pinterest works like a scrapbook, saving all of the things you know you’ll forget to remember. Pinterest stands out among its social media competitors as simplistic and user-friendly with an image-heavy grid design. With the click of a button an image can be pinned and saved onto a board that denotes a category, such as “DIY & Crafts” or “Hair & Beauty.” Each image becomes a “pin” and you can add a caption to label it. Lots of Pinterest users create a board to remember things they think will come in handy, like 10 ways to use a mason jar and how to sew your own reusable grocery bags. Pinterest is as much a resource as the people using it make of it. Users, or “pinners,” not only save pins that they want to remember but also discover new things that other pinners have to share. By following your friends on Pinterest — a system similar to Facebook — you can see what your friends are pinning, and when your profile is public, others can see your pins. Launched in March 2010 by a company called Cold Brew Labs. Pinterest is most popular with women under the age of 35 according to web information company alexa.com which also reports that Pinterest’s traffic ranks 24th in the United States. Despite still being an invite-only platform, Pinterest drew in over 7 million unique visitors this past December. Data from Google Ad Planner suggests that about 80 percent of Pinterest users are female. With virtual pins of craft ideas for old palette boards and homemade beau-

ty recipes, women aren’t just using Pinterest, they’re claiming to be “obsessed” and “addicted.” U. Texas senior journalism lecturer Robert Quigley, who teaches multimedia and social media, finds it interesting that Pinterest is the first major social network that appears to cater to a specific gender. “Recently, I asked my multimedia journalism students to raise their hands if they were active on Google+, which boasts more than 90 million registered users. No one raised a hand,” Quigley said. “When I asked how many were active on Pinterest, about two-thirds of the students said they were.” Fashion and beauty bloggers appear to be a driving force behind Pinterest. If they aren’t citing pins as inspiration for blog posts, it’s their content that’s going viral as it’s “repinned” by other users. Austin style blogger Lauren Holdsworth of cactuscollective. wordpress.com sees Pinterest as a communal, creative space that is an excellent source of inspiration for her blog posts on fashion and home decor. She also uses the site to promote her blog’s content. When she pins an image, readers of her blog who follow her on Pinterest might get a hint of what’ll be on one of her future blog posts. “Pinning gift guides, outfits or various other collages I’ve created on Pinterest gets my content out in a different way [than] the blog does,” Holdsworth said. Living in an age of rampant Internet sharing means that often, the source listed on a pin on Pinterest isn’t the true original source. Pins from Pinterest, like photos from other websites, can be saved to a computer and be uploaded on other platforms, while the original source gets lost along the way. In the Pinterest terms of use, the company states that they are not responsible for any infringement its users engage in. Oren Bracha, intellectual property law professor at UT, said that as long as Pinterest

falls in line with the many conditions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, it is immune from consequences of copyright infringement. “There are many things involved in this act, but simply put, to comply with this act, Pinterest needs to remain a passive host who doesn’t filter, edit, upload or control the user content,” Bracha said. “And if they should become aware of very specific infringement issues, then they are obligated under the act to act expeditiously.” Bloggers who feel that their copyrighted works have been infringed upon are urged to report any specific potential violations to an email address listed on Pinterest’s site. Craft blogger Amy Anderson of crafterminds.com acknowledges that Pinterest can be frustrating for bloggers who aim to control their original content, but sees it as a generally good resource. “I think it’s naïve to think that everyone on the Internet is going to care about sourcing as much as bloggers do. The whole premise of Pinterest is that it’s a quick way to bookmark something visually,” Anderson said. “Most pinners aren’t btloggers, nor do they own a website so they aren’t doing it out of maliciousness.” Anderson feels that with Pinterest, she takes the good with the bad. “Pinterest uses images to represent bookmarks, which makes the visual organization of ideas so easy and so quick. I think people are using it for the means that it was intended, which is to remember cool stuff they saw,” Anderson said. Quigley said now is a good time to be a content creator with Pinterest. “They get more use out of sharing than they see negative consequences,” Quigley, who currently has two pins to his name, said of Pinterest users. “If bloggers, or anyone else, fear social media for that reason, they’ll miss out on all the potential benefits of building an online community around you and your content.”

Apple settles lawsuit, reimburses consumers with faulty power adapter By David Maly

Daily Texan (University of Texas)

MacBook users with faulty power adapters will be refunded at full cost by Apple Inc., after the company settled a lawsuit out of court. Apple’s reimbursement is a result of the settlement reached with plaintiffs after the alleged faulty manufacturing of the MagSafe power adapters, according to a third-party website created under the terms of the settlement. The final hearing of the settlement will take place Feb. 27. The 2009 class-action lawsuit filed against Apple Inc. applies to MacBook and MacBook Pro laptop power adapters sold between 2006 and 2009. These defects allegedly caused the adapters to strain, fray, spark, overheat, melt or otherwise prematurely fail, according to a press release by the law firm representing the plaintiffs. Currently Apple Inc. is only replacing adapters showing signs of “strain relief damage,” and they have since discontinued the defective model. Users who have re-

placed their defective power adapter will be reimbursed for the cost of the new unit. Muhammad Imran, owner of Sam Computers on Guadalupe and 25th streets, said he has had experience with the faulty cords at his shop. “[The plugs] always go bad and they just buy a new adapter from us. I see different students come in for new adapters a few times a week, and this isn’t the first Apple defect that I’ve observed,” Imran said. “Apple is huge though, and this isn’t going to stop the Mac craze.” Christy Krames, UT alumna and Mac owner, said she is surprised that Apple did not correct this issue until it was brought to them in court. “It seems like a company like Apple would automatically make it right, but it is a major corporation,” Krames said. “I’m not surprised they would go for their bottom line. That’s where their loyalty is.” The nationwide group of plaintiffs include Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro users who own the 60 watt or 85 watt MagSafe

MPM-1 (“T”) model power adapter. Plaintiffs have until March 21, 2012 to file with the class-action lawsuit to be reimbursed for the replacement units. Craig Briskin and other attorneys at Briskin, Mehir & Skalet who are working for the plaintiffs, said the result is in the best interest of the consumer. “The cords are still out there and in use,” Briskin said. “So we think it’s a very good result for a class-action settlement, and I am especially pleased that we were able to accomplish this in such a relatively short amount of time.” Representatives at Apple, Inc. did not return requests for comment. Briskin said Apple’s evasive response to the lawsuit was only to delay reparations for a problem they already knew existed. “Their position was that this happened in only a small number of cases,” Briskin said. “However, they did have on their web page that this was an issue. So far, more than 20,000 of the cords have been returned in the U.S. alone.”

6 tuesday, february 7, 2012

The california Aggie

Alumnus resurrects Sacramento’s beer Jan-Erik Paino’s Ruhstaller beer now on tap By PRISCILLA WONG Aggie Features Writer

When UC Davis School of Management alumnus Jan-Erik Paino conducted a real estate project on Sacramento, he thought to himself that the best way to learn about the city was to understand its history. While most of the books that he read reiterated the usual Sacramento history, he found one that discussed a small beer brewing business. It was then that Paino’s interest in brewing began. Paino went on to learn all he could about Sacramento’s beer brewing history and discovered that a man named Frank Ruhstaller created the largest brewing industry west of the Mississippi, in the Sacramento region. Paino decided he wanted to bring back Ruhstaller’s legacy of creating a Sacramento beer using locally grown materials. Paino founded Ruhstaller Beer in 2011, which now brews three types of beer that can be found in restaurants around Sacramento and Davis, including de Veres Irish Pub and The Davis Beer Shoppe. “I’ve learned that Sacramento was the beer capital of the West Coast. Before Prohibition, Sacramento had a bigger brewing building than anything AnheuserBusch had anywhere, even in their own hometown. So this is something we did really well,” Paino said. “Hops and barley grew like weeds, we had the best source of water coming from the Sierras and American River, we were German, Austrian and Swiss and knew how to make beer.” Wanting to give Sacramento a beer of its own again in the name of Ruhstaller, he contacted Charlie Bamforth, dean of the School of Fermentation Science at UC Davis, to learn all he could about brewing beer. After researching it and still not knowing how to brew, Bamforth put Paino in contact with Peter Hoey, an already established brewmaster. With a great love of Sacramento and the region and a passion for beer, Paino brought back the history and legacy of Sacramento brewing and Frank Ruhstaller by creating two beers with the help of Hoey. The beers are manufactured out of three breweries located around the Sacramento region. His offerings include the 1881 California Red Ale, the Captain California Black IPA and the Hop Sac ’11. “He is a tremendous guy — full of energy and passion and determined to resurrect a great Sacramento brewing name in a bottled beer, a product that speaks very

courtesy

Jan-Erik Paino founded Ruhstaller Beer after graduating from the UC Davis School of Management. much to a local provenance,” Bamforth said. “He has a crystal-clear vision of the route to take in making a success of whatever he turns his hand to. He is also humble and prepared to listen and seek counsel, and he strives for the best.” Paino was born in San Francisco, moved to Houston, Texas when he was six months old and graduated from Memorial High School in Houston. He then attended Princeton University and studied architecture. Once finished, he returned to California and worked in the vineyard industry and construction. Eventually he enrolled at UC Davis and became a real estate agent. “One of my goals for Ruhstaller, when I know it’s successful, is when someone from Sacramento or Davis takes a Ruhstaller

with them to San Diego or Seattle or San Francisco and says, ‘Fellows and friends, this is my beer and I want you guys to try it.’ I want it to be something we all can be proud of,” Paino said. Eric Tang, a student at the UC Davis School of Management and intern for Paino, said that Paino’s work ethic, dedication, commitment to the community, history of Ruhstaller and quality of the beer are all aspects that make him successful. “I think it is great how Paino is making Ruhstaller beer into more than just another brewery. He is using the history of Ruhstaller to create a brand that the entire Sacramento region can rally behind and be proud of,” Tang said. “On the beer side, it is really exciting that Ruhstaller has found a way to join the movement toward

Geochemists develop new modeling techniques UC Davis researchers study how minerals and glass interact with water By BRIAN RILEY Aggie Science Writer

An article published in Nature Materials features a new theory to explain how minerals and glass interact with water. The paper was co-authored by James Rustad, a UC Davis Geology Department emeritus professor, and William Casey, a professor in the UC Davis Chemistry Department. Existing models “could explain anything and predict nothing,” Casey said. “Environmental chemists and geochemists inherited these models from gas chemistry and then tried to apply them to complicated materials in water,” Casey said. “To test the application, Jim [Rustad] and I looked at the isotope-exchange reactions in a structure where one or two atoms could be changed at will,” Casey said. “It turned out we couldn’t predict anything using those old theories.” The topic of how minerals interact with water is important because it informs many developing applications, such as generating electricity in an automobile by using waste heat created by the motor, finding a way to capture and store carbon dioxide produced by power plants to reduce greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere or obtaining oxygen for use from water molecules. Rustad, as a computational chemist, handled the computer-simulation aspects of the research project. He explained how he was able to create computer models based on the actual substances that Casey, an experimen-

Lindqvist hexamolybdate, an example of a POM.

courtesy

tal chemist, and his research group created. “What Bill’s research group did — they actually could make a real ‘chunk’ [of a mineral] that was similar in size to what a modeler can calculate, and then measure very precisely the lifetimes of each oxygen atom in that chunk,” Rustad said. Previous methods involved guesswork which hindered making effective findings, but under the new method the “different ways of predicting how rapidly the oxygen atoms exchange with the surrounding water” could be directly tested, Rustad said. “That’s really the first time that’s happened... in geochemistry,” Rustad said. The created substances, or “molecular models,” are made up of polyoxometalate ions, or POMs, which are negatively charged substances that contain metals linked together with oxygen atoms. By experimentally modifying clusters of POMs, Rustad and Casey were able to test predic-

tions about oxygen-exchange rates in the material. Existing models, prior to Casey and Rustad’s research, attempted to explain oxygen-exchange rates based on the rupture of just one or two chemical bonds. The structures Casey and Rustad examined were more complex and formed temporary configurations of atoms called “metastable” states, meaning higher-energy, less stable states. Metastable states can be described using the analogy of a ball resting in a recessed area on the slope of a hill, Rustad explained. When the ball is pushed out of the recessed area, it loses the extra energy and returns to a ground state. “We used the computer simulations to identify the metastable states,” Rustad said. These metastable states cannot yet be observed experimentally, due to the liquid environment. Tools such as the electron microscope can only be used to view substances in a vacuum, Casey said. “These metastable forms could be detectable, but only via methods suitable for wet samples,” Casey said. “These results are important to a wide range of fields, including materials engineering, nanotechnology and geochemistry,” said Andy Ohlin, a Queen Elizabeth II Fellow at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. The research team also included Eric Villa, a post-doc at the University of Notre Dame. BRIAN RILEY can be reached at science@theaggie.org.

local products. Sourcing the barley from California adds another element to the beer that all Californians can relate to.” Paino said that there are no shortcuts to success. You have to work hard and put in some time in order to achieve what you want, and you have to fight because there are going to be both good and tough days, he said. “There are two things. Follow whatever you are passionate about — if you’re passionate about something, whatever it is, you’re going to be successful. The other thing is you’re going to have opportunities you normally wouldn’t have if you just tried to copy someone. You won’t experience the top,” Paino said. PRISCILLA WONG can be reached at features@theaggie.org.

SHAWCing Tip: Spice Up Your Life! Whether you’re a spicy food enthusiast or you just can’t stand the heat, consuming spicy food does amazing things to your body. A recent study shows that capsaicin, found in chili peppers, can kill lung and pancreatic cancer cells without harming the surrounding cells. Researchers say that countries who eat a spicy diet tend to have lower rates of some cancers. Although it can be a pain when you take your first bite of chili peppers, capsaicin can alleviate inflammation caused by arthritis and psoriasis. In addition, spicy food can also relieve chronic pain that can be the result of either osteoporosis or headaches. Perhaps next time you have a midterm or a paper that is giving you a headache, maybe a quick spicy meal can just do the trick. Lastly, February is Heart Health Month, and what better way to take care of your heart than by eating spicy food, which is known to reduce cholesterol? So while you celebrate Valentine’s Day with a special someone or for some, Single Awareness Day, make sure to wear clothes that are easy to take off as the spice consumes your mouth and sweat starts to drip off of your face because you took a big bite of that chili pepper. The ASUCD Student Health and Wellness Committee (SHAWC) aims to promote and address important healthrelated issues on campus. We serve as the liaison between ASUCD and campus health organizations, clubs, and resources. If you have SHAWCing suggestions, questions, or tips, please e-mail us at shawcucd@gmail. com and/or “Like” our Facebook page.

All-nighters can have long-term consequences for students By Anne Elsea

The Breeze (James Madison University)

Some students might think that staying awake all night to finish a project or study for a test only means a day or two of exhaustion, but doing so could result in dropped GPAs. Dr. Stephen Rodgers, the medical director for the James Madison U. Health Center, has the science to back it up. He said recent studies prove that students with less sleep have lower GPAs than students who do get sleep. “The mean GPA for students is 2.8, but for sleep-deprived stu-

dents, it’s 2.65,” Rodgers said. Only 11.4 percent of students in the past week have gotten enough sleep to feel rested, according to the 2011 health survey by the American College Health Association. One contributor to this pervasive sleepiness might be all-nighters. They may be a great way to cram for exams, but all-nighters aren’t exactly the best idea. Lack of sleep causes depression and irritability, which affects the brain’s ability to retain information, Rodgers explained. A crucial part of adding new information to memory is the part of the sleep cycle called rapid eye movement sleep. During REM

sleep, the brain embeds the information it’s taken the day before. Without REM sleep, the brain can’t perform up to its full ability or retain memory. Jeff Dyche, a JMU psychology professor, said that cramming limits the amount of information the brain can actually learn due to an enzyme produced called protein phosphatase 1. “It is a molecular constraint to learning,” Dyche said. “In other words, it keeps you from learning things very well. The only way to avoid this is to distribute your studying over a long period of time.” Caffeine, after a certain point,

doesn’t help either. “Up to three cups of coffee or soda would help performance,” Rodgers said, “but anything more than that would lead to a crash and then more drowsiness the next day during a test.” Some students said exam week was the most popular time to pull all-nighters. JMU sophomore Katie Dudek has gone a few sleepless nights to study for exams. “I have done maybe eight total, and it was during midterm and finals time,” Dudek said. “The most I’ve ever done is two nights in a row, but I had naps during the day. It was finals week.”

JMU freshman Nick Minahan said all-nighters are a necessary evil. He said he gets hit harder with tests and projects on some weeks more than others. “I feel as if all-nighters aren’t even optional at times, especially around midterms,” Minahan said. “So with that said, they’re worth it because it’s the only way I can complete my work and study an adequate amount.” Dyche hopes to dispel the popularity of all-nighters. “I think there are students who think they haven’t studied enough unless they pull an all- nighter,” Dyche said, “so they think it is a requirement or something.”