February 8, 2012 by The California Aggie

serving the uc davis campus and community since 1915

www.theaggie.org

volume 131, number 18

wednesday, february 8, 2012

New affordable housing located on Mahogany Lane Units are still under construction

Davis in offering affordable homes to those who would like to purchase a house in Davis but cannot afford the over-$600,000 homes. Warmington builds and markets these units. Four two-bedroom and four threebedroom two-story duplexes will be for sale, ranging from 935 to 1,146 square feet. Two-bedroom homes are $220,000 each and three-bedroom homes are $240,000 each. According to the Davis Affordable Housing website, to be qualified for ownership, total household income cannot exceed 120 percent of the Yolo County area median income values that are dependent on household

By CLAIRE TAN Aggie Staff Writer

Mahogany Lane floor plans

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South Davis will soon house a new neighborhood. The Mahogany Lane Affordable Ownership Housing Program will have eight units available for qualified City of Davis residents, with the first few units to be completed in April. Warmington Residential, a housing agency, is in collaboration with

Student Recognition Awards recognize students’ contribution to community Nomination deadline is this Monday By AKSHAYA RAMANUJAM

Aggie News Writer

The UC Davis Student Recognition awards are given out each year in order to recognize outstanding students on campus. The Mary Jeanne Gilhooly Award, established in 1942, and the Veloyce Glenn Winslow Jr. Award, established 1966, are for outstanding graduating senior woman and man, respectively. The Margarita Robinson Student Leadership Award, established 1982, is for outstanding juniors. “The awards are in place

to recognize students who have made a significant contribution through participation in campus or community service,” said Laura Hall, associate director of Campus Recreation, in an e-mail interview. “Evidence of socially responsible, ethical and outstanding leadership either in specific positions of responsibility or while engaged in service activities are indicators of a nominee’s qualifications for the award.” Staff, faculty and other students can nominate students for these awards or they can self-nominate. Once they have been nominated and the Student Affairs Vice Chancellor’s Office has confirmed that they meet the GPA requirements, the nominees are sent an application. The

Winslow and Gilhooly awards require a 3.0 average GPA, and the Robinson award requires a 2.5 average. “It’s treated like a job interview,” said Ellen Yoshimura, office manager in the Student Affairs Vice Chancellor’s Office. “[A committee] screen through nominations, then it’s narrowed down to an interview, then they make a final selection. It’s a competitive process.” Hall chairs the committee that decides the winner of the Margarita Robinson award. “They actually spend a lot of time reading through the applications,” said Don Ho, recipient of the Margarita Robinson Student Leadership Award in 2011. “The selection committee does a good job of trying to find a good balance

Small fire at the MU put out quickly

between being very strong academically and what they’ve done for the community.” The winners of the senior awards receive a small gift, a $500 check and a plaque at graduation. The winner of the junior award gets a small gift and a $100 check. All the winners are treated to a luncheon with the vice chancellor and the chancellor if she is also available. “I really think this is one of the few opportunities where students who do a lot for the campus can get some recognition for it,” Ho said. The deadline for nominations and applications for these awards is Monday, Feb. 13. AKSHAYA RAMANUJAM can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Lo Swim offers fashionable competition suits By LANI CHAN

Aggie Features Writer

Today’s weather Partly Cloudy High 63 Low 41

courtesy

Sheeva van Gemeren, right, and Annie Babicz model their Lo Swim competitive swimsuits. so many years. It’s just primary colors and geometric designs.” Van Gemeren and Babicz sent their first prototype, a swimsuit made of cutup pieces of their old suits, to a manufacturer based in China that they found online. Suits were shipped back to the U.S. in batches of 1500 and stored in van Gemeren’s, Babicz’s and their parents’ garages until they were sold on their website, www.loswim.com. Lo Swim products are an attempt to bridge the gap between beach and competitive swim, Babicz said. To do this, the basic two-piece suit has a braided and adjustable neck strap and T-back strap, a tie around the band and pads in the front. The bottoms have a similar tie and cinch detail in the back, and both pieces are in bright, fun colors such as turquoise and fuchsia. Tops and bottoms cost $22 each. Forecast It’s been cold for TOO long. I always like to look forward to a time when warm weather will be back in our Aggie Weather Forecast, so, keep in mind that Picnic Day is only a short 75 days away! Kenneth Doss, atmospheric science major Aggie Forecasting Team

“Picking the colors is the best part,” van Gemeren said. “And that’s a lot of the feedback we get, too — people always want more colors.” The product’s features help the suit stay on through starts and sprints and give it a fashion-forward appearance at the same time. The colorful braided straps and gold hardware are both inspired by brands such as Betsey Johnson, Vix and Vitamin A. “You sort of sacrifice some of your femininity when you jump in the pool,” van Gemeren said. “You have your hair back, in a cap, and then you put on a generic suit and that’s the way it has to be. I wanted to find a way for girls to be able to keep their personal style in the pool.” The suits have gotten plenty of positive

See SWIMSUIT, page 2 Thursday

Friday

Sunny

High 66 Low 39

High 65 Low 39

See MAHOGANY, page 2

News iN Brief

Former Aggie swimmer’s swimsuit company flourishes Creative and driven college students who always wished to turn their side passions into successful business ventures can indeed make their dream a reality. Lo Swim, an athletic swimsuit company founded by former collegiate swimmers Sheeva van Gemeren, UC Davis alumna, and Annie Babicz, UC Berkeley alumna, has been successfully operating out of Oakland, California since the fall of 2009. Lo Swim is the embodiment of the women’s collaborative style-conscious intellect and effort to make more functional and fashionable racing suits available to competitive swimmers. “It started with some really basic thoughts, when Annie and I worked and coached together at the Claremont Swim Club,” said van Gemeren, who graduated in 2009 with degrees in international relations, political science and philosophy. “We thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just adjust your suit so that it stays on? Wouldn’t it be nice if your suit was actually flattering, cute, and if you were excited to go shopping for your suit?’” Both founders swam competitively on the Division I teams at their respective schools and have extensive backgrounds in the swimming world. Throughout their aquatic experience, van Gemeren and Babicz noticed several issues with women’s practice and competition suits that, while relatively minor, would increase comfort and confidence if fixed. “We wanted something that was functional. That’s where the adjustable factor came in. We wanted something to stay on the entire time,” said Babicz, who graduated from Berkeley in 2007 with a degree in American studies. “Additionally, being fashion-minded, we wanted the suit to be an extension of a swimmer’s personal style on the pool deck. The suit market is pretty stagnant — it hasn’t changed in

size. “There is a whole realm of qualifications that people need to figure out,” said Warmington Residential Vice President of Marketing for the Northern California division Joanne Anderson. “There’s income limitation and there’s a whole program set up by Davis.” For each new home community in Davis, there is a part of the approval process called inclusionary zoning, which includes affordable, belowmarket-rate houses as well as market-rate houses. For Mahogany Lane,

A small custodial closet fire at the Memorial Union (MU) Tuesday afternoon forced a complete evacuation of the building. “It was an accidental fire in a custodial closet. It was put out very quickly and there was very little damage to building,” said Gina Updegraff, acting Captain of the UC Davis Fire Department. Initial reports said that the fire was caused by lighting issues in the closet. People were asked to evacuate the MU, including the ASUCD Coffee House and Lower Freeborn. Firefighters allowed people to re-enter the building after approximately 20 minutes. No one was injured in the fire. —Hannah Strumwasser

Federal appeals court upholds gay marriage in California A federal appeals court ruled the 2008 Proposition 8, California’s ban on samesex marriage, unconstitutional yesterday. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 against the proposition. Those in support of the ban are expected to appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court or first ask for a review by a larger panel of the appeals court. The decision upholds the 2010 ruling by U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker that the ban violates gay individuals’ equal protection and due process rights. “By using their initiative power to target a minority group and withdraw a right that it possessed, without a legitimate reason for doing so, the people of California violated the Equal Protection Clause,” the majority wrote in a statement. “We hold Proposition 8 to be unconstitutional on this ground.” ProtectMarriage.com carried the appeal forward after former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and then-Attorney General Jerry Brown, now governor, declined to defend the ban in court. The California Supreme Court ruled in November 2011 that proponents of ballot initiatives could defend the measures themselves in such cases. The majority, in an opinion written by Judge Stephen Reinhardt, stated they ruled the gay marriage ban unconstitutional because it stripped gay and lesbian people in California of a right they previously enjoyed. “Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples,” the ruling stated. The judges did not consider the broader question of whether gay and lesbian couples may ever be denied the right to be married. Courtney Joslin, a UC Davis law professor who co-authored an amicus brief that was filed on behalf of 28 California family law professors in the litigation challenging Proposition 8, said it is unclear what will happen in the next stage of the process to review gay marriage and that the Supreme Court does not even have to accept the review. “The [appeals] court did so in a fairly narrow way; the ruling only directly addresses circumstances of California,” she said. “It didn’t address the question if excluding same-sex marriage generally violates the constitution.” In a dissenting opinion, Judge N. Randy Smith said he was not convinced the state had no legitimate interest in Proposition 8. He argued for judicial restraint when intervening in legislative enactments. — Angela Swartz For those of you still looking for a Valentine’s date, I’ve got some inside scoop to share. According to Yahoo!, the best cities for dating are Austin, Boston, Chicago, Miami, New Orleans, New York City, Phoenix & Scottsdale, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle. So, take your pick and jump on that plane fast! Amanda Nguyen

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2 wednesday, february 8, 2012

daily calendar dailycal@theaggie.org

TODAY Ribbon Rose Fundraiser 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Memorial Union Table 11 Tzu Chi Collegiate Association will be selling handmade ribbon roses for Valentine’s day. All the proceeds will go towards their Gift of Books program, which donates books to low-income children.

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.

RecycleMania Kick-off!

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 fiveminute pieces, your audition piece should be reﬂective of what you hope to perform.

Relay For Life Team Meetings 7 to 8 p.m. 202 Wellman Learn how to get involved with UC Davis Relay For Life. This week’s meetings will focus on the history of Relay For Life, preparing for the event and some cool fundraising tips. Meetings are open to all, so bring friends. There will be another meeting Friday.

“Make Music, Make a Wish” Benefit Show

Memorial Union Table 20 Noon to 2 p.m. The nationwide RecycleMania competition has officially begun! Stop by and learn more about this eight-week long competition and what you can do to help the campus reach its Zero Waste by 2020 goal. Play Plunk-A-Mug for a chance to win some snazzy reusable mugs.

7 to 9:30 p.m. Freeborn Hall This event, hosted by Delta Sigma Pi and Alpha Kappa Psi, is a benefit show to raise awareness and money for the Make-AWish Foundation.

Summer Abroad Info Sessions

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!

Noon to 4 p.m. Education Abroad Center, Third and A Streets From noon to 1 p.m. learn about the “Modern Literature of Taiwan” program, and from 3 to 4 p.m. learn about the “Spanish Art” program.

Facebook to LinkedIn — How To Get In 4 p.m. 114 South Hall 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.

Free Film Screening: Hero 5 to 8 p.m. 293 Kerr This free film screening of the Chinese kung fu epic Hero, directed by the acclaimed Zhou Yimou and starring Jet Li, is jointly hosted by the Comparative Literature and Chinese Majors. There will also be free pizza.

Circle K International Meeting 6 p.m. 6 Olson Help make a difference, and friends, at the same time.

The EDGE Auditions

THURSDAY Heart-Healthy Desserts

Botany and Environmental Horticulture Club Meeting 4 to 6 p.m. 108 Environmental Horticulture Help the club plant seeds for fundraisers. Free pizza and free plant raffle.

Picnic Day Applications Due 5 p.m. picnicday.ucdavis.edu Submit applications to participate in Picnic Day by 5 p.m.

American Red Cross Club Meeting 7:15 p.m. 230 Wellman For more information, check out www. arccdavis.co.cc and the Facebook page American Red Cross Club at UC Davis. 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.

er system called DISCERN that was meant to accurately simulate a human brain with schizophrenia. DISCERN has already accurately predicted hypotheses testable on human subjects. “A good [computer] model takes cues from biology and nature and builds a system of phenomena,” said Risto Mikkulainen, a professor of neuroscience and computer science at the University of Texas and one of the researchers who built DISCERN. “If the [computer] model is really good, you get more out of it than you put in. You get things that you were not thinking before and can create a predictive experiment that you can do on humans.” Scientists hope that the research coming from the DISCERN project, along with Minzenberg’s research at UC Davis, funded by a three-year $200,000 grant from the DANA Foundation, shows real promise for improving the lives of schizophrenic patients.

mind

Cont. from page 3 “We don’t completely understand how [schizophrenia] works,” said Cameron Carter, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the UC Davis Medical Center. “Brain scans taken during hallucinations are no different than those taken when the brain is receiving real information.” Creating new treatments is difficult because the human brain has no analogue in nature for us to experiment on. We have no idea how new treatments will affect the brain and body, and it is therefore nearly impossible to start clinical trials on humans. The best alternative to human testing is to create an extremely accurate computer model of the human brain where criteria can be tweaked to match the effects of new medications, and outcomes can be observed and quantified. Back in May 2011, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin created HUDSON LOFCHIE can be reached at a neural network comput- science@theaggie.org.

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Turns Democracy Into a Joke, claims it’s unlikely this stunt will do anything to damage the reality of the Citizens United decision. Whether or not you disapRajiv prove of it, super PACs will Narayan continue to mobilize dollars and political mercenaries. It seems as though nothing less than a constitutional amendment could challenge corporate personhood. While Colbert has garnered a considerable amount of attention, even his pulpit is too small to tephen Colbert is givreach the high bar for passing politics a run for its ing an amendment. money. When he went Does this mean that paroagainst the wishes of his dy is both the motive and the parent company Viacom goal? That doesn’t seem to be and set up a super PAC last the case either. There’s someJune, many in the media thing that separates Colbert’s took this to mean Colbert super PAC from the parody was parodying the 2010 you see on late night televiCitizens United decision by sion, satirical news and from the Supreme Court. A year comedians like Jon Stewart. later, it’s less than certain, When parody is the goal of but no less humor, the funny, what resulting Mr. Colbert is Colbert’s super PAC, “Americans sentiment up to. for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow,” is a kind The disenhas so far elicited $1,023,121.24 ... of Supreme gagement Court deciwith polsion, authored by Justice itics. Comedians discharge Anthony Kennedy, allows our frustration with politicscorporate entities to funas-usual by their pessimisnel unlimited amounts of tic, “politicians will be politimoney into political accians” punch lines. Colbert is tion committees so long as different. these super PACs don’t co As the running gag ordinate with political can- turned into a marathon didates. If you’ve heard over the course of a year, that corporations are peoColbert’s campaign has ple, this is the case that a participatory impact. made that so. Corporations, Where much of the aforenot unlike you and I, are mentioned humor is pergranted protection for formed to an audience, their donations as politiColbert performs with the cal speech under the First audience. By donating to Amendment. You read that the Colbert super PAC, you correctly: money talks. literally buy in to the hu Colbert’s super PAC, mor. It’s safe to say that “Americans for a Better those who are donating unTomorrow, Tomorrow,” has derstand what they’re doso far elicited $1,023,121.24 ing when they fund a super in donations (more than PAC that orchestrates abSarah Palin’s super PAC), surdist political attacks and ran attack ads naming Mitt campaigns on their behalf. Romney a serial killer (beTo take that further, the cause his former consultfolks who donate are more ing firm killed corporalikely to see their ads stack tions, which are people) up against those of othand propelled non-candier super PACs, their phony date Herman Cain to fifth candidates against the “seplace in the South Carolina rious” contenders. By buyRepublican Primary, ing into the humor, the auahead of Rick Perry, Jon dience is drawn further into Huntsman and Michele the political drama. Bachmann. Colbert would Read this way, Colbert have put himself on the is achieving via parody a ticket, but he failed to meet new kind of civic engagethe registration deadline. ment. People may tune in Where this all gets tricky for the hilarity, but they stay is in identifying his goal. (and hopefully, vote) as the While Colbert’s motive stakes grow. While Colbert seems clear through the is modest in naming the parody of federal elections PAC “Americans For a Better laws broadly and corporate Tomorrow, Tomorrow,” it personhood specifically, seems bent on making a real much less clear is what he impact today. wants to do with that parody. Russell Peterson, auYou can tell RAJIV NARAYAN whether his thor of Strange Bedfellows: idea for a SuperAggiePAC is genius or super dumb at rrnarayan@ucdavis.edu. How Late-Night Comedy

Performing art politics

housing

the program costs. “There is a limit as to how much value [the affordable home] can get,” Anderson said. “If the market went crazy and prices went up by 20 percent, a below-marketrate home can only go up maybe two percent.” Anderson said cities sometimes buy back belowmarket-rate homes, especially properties in foreclosure or distress. Housing coordinator for the City of Davis Affordable Housing Program Tom Callinan said new affordable ownership housing units are built by the developer and sold directly to income-qualified households, so the city does not usually own the affordable houses at any point. “The Affordable Housing Program does not typically involve the city purchasing affordable ownership units and reselling them,” Callinan said. “However, in certain situations, such as foreclosures, the city has purchased affordable units in order to preserve the affordable housing restrictions which otherwise may not survive foreclosure.” According to Callinan, the city stepping in to purchase affordable homes is unusual and generally a last resort. The deadline to turn in an application for an affordable home on Mahogany Lane is March 17. Applications will still be accepted after the deadline depending on the number of units still available. Although the affordable homes cost about $300,000 to build and are being sold for less, Anderson feels this isn’t a negative loss. “This is a really good program,” Anderson said. “Although it cost the developer a lot of money, in the end, it’s a great offering to the public.”

Cont. from front page there are 28 homes with eight of them below market-rate. “Davis is great because a lot of cities have gone away from their affordable housing program, but they still stick with their inclusionary zoning program,” Anderson said. Potential owners can go online to pre-qualify themselves, although they will also have to go through a loan process to see if they’re qualified for a loan. Anderson said once people have determined they are qualified, their names are put into a lottery. “We pull your name out of a hat and it just goes in order of whose name is pulled first,” she said. “Some people fall out at that point because either they make too much money or own too many houses.” If qualified, people will have to wait for their loans to be approved and then they may set the closing date on the house and move in. Depending on the size of the household and income, a person either qualifies for a two-bedroom home or three-bedroom home. To keep these homes cheap, there are deed restrictions set by the city. For the affordable homes in Mahogany Lane, the City of Davis states: 1) The household must remain the owner occupant of the home at all times and must live in the home a minimum of twenty-four months before selling it; 2) Future sales prices are restricted to a maximum of 3.75 percent annual appreciation from the original price and date of sale; and 3) The city has the opportunity to provide income-qualified buyers in event of a sale. This requires one percent of the sales prices to be paid to the CLAIRE TAN can be reached at city@ City of its designee to cover theaggie.org.

The california Aggie

The dining services nutrition hotline, for example, offers appointments with Linda for nutrition advice. Resident Advisors can invite nutrition talk programs Theresa for residents, and there are Richardson also services at the Student Health and Counseling Center that Linda recommends. Logging into the student health and counseling website gives you access to a wide range of free health workshops that vary from a weight loss series to healthy cooking, helping any students feel you set realistic goals, like college is to blame mine: Thou shalt not weigh when it comes to more than thy fridge. their health shortcomings Not only that, but even and weight gain, leading to Student Housing provides common misconceptions. its own nutrition support A popular one is that camwith off-campus housing pus food is the root cause workshops, food budgeting of an unhealthy diet. Is that and nutritious meal prepatrue? Here at UC Davis, the ration. So if your best recianswer is no. pe is Top Ramen and boiled For one, most students egg, you might want to have heard try one of that freshthese. Believe it or not, the health men gain Despite 15 pounds these restandards at the dining from eating sources, it commons are pretty high at the dinis still coming common for mons. Not only do studstudents to gain weight, ies disprove this, but also though “The Freshman the truth is that today, eat15” is definitely a myth. ing healthy on campus is According to research, most probably as easy as it’s gopeople between 17-20 gain ing to get. two to three pounds, and it Many students aren’t has little to do with college aware that healthy food op- attendance, dorm residence tions and wellness proor income. Unfortunately, grams are available on the number of students site. To learn about these overweight and obese has possibilities, I spoke still risen to 32 percent. with our Dining Services College dining is not the Director of Nutrition root cause, but stress can and Sustainability, Linda certainly have an impact. Adams, about why campus Over 50 percent of stulife can help you with your dents report feeling overnutrition goals. Let’s start whelmed with anxiety withwith the Dining Commons in the past year, about half (DC). of which is reported to Believe it or not, the come from academic-relathealth standards at the din- ed reasons. Unfortunately, ing commons are pretstudents reporting a highty high. “We focus on fresh, er stress level, inadequate whole food. Our goal is to sleep and lack of social supprovide students with food port for exercise are also that is healthy [and] addimore likely to gain weight. tive free,” says Adams. A primary reason for this Protocols are numerous, is that stress can lead you stipulating that almost evto make nutrition changes ery dish be cooked in oil, you may not be fully aware not butter. Fruits and vege- of. These include lack of tables often come from lomotivation to eat healthily, cal farms low in pesticides. emotional eating and forMany dishes are made from getting to have breakfast. scratch, including saucLack of sleep can also lead es, soups and house-made to increased hunger and French fries that are baked, eating out of boredom. On not fried. On top of that, top of that, increased alcovirtually every entree and hol consumption can also dessert is labeled for calorie lead to overeating. breakdown, allergens, and This is why maintainvegetarian, vegan and gluing a positive attitude for ten-free diets. making nutrition a prioriIn fact, the abundance of ty is just as important as the fruits and vegetables at the food itself. Of course, beDC was what made me acing bombarded with midcidentally lose weight as terms and tuition fees is a freshman. But if this all probably not helping you. sounds too healthy, I recSo to reach your nutriommend the broken cooktion goals, instead of focusie diet — everyone knows ing on food alone, I recomthere are no calories in mend you also focus on opthose. timism. Remember, if you Of course, while healthy gain five pounds, it’s water. eating on campus is posIf you lose five pounds, it’s sible, not everyone dines weight. here. If this is you, you might like to know that our You can contact THERESA RICHARDSON university offers a variety of with comments or questions at terichardson@ucdavis.edu. free health services.

Nutrition programs

swimsuit

and prior experience. “The fear of failure was a big obstacle. That’s why we started slow, and didn’t get any investors because we weren’t sure of ourselves. We just went little by little,” van Gemeren said. “It hasn’t been until now, until after three years, that I have enough confidence that I could pay any investors back. I’m glad that we started slow just to prove that we could get traction, because now we have the confidence to go big.” Indeed, van Gemeren and Babicz have come a long way since their original prototype. In the future, they plan to move production from China to Los Angeles and continue developing their brand and expanding their line further to create a line of functional apparel that will keep swimmers comfortable in and out of the pool. “It’s more than a design at this point. We want to revolutionize swimming all together — it’s a serious and sometimes monotonous sport. We want to help make it more lighthearted, beachy. You can be both athletic and fun, athletic and girly.” Lo Swim products are available for purchase online at www.loswim.com.

Cont. from front page reviews from coaches and swimmers. Jenna Wesley, former swimmer at UC Berkeley and coach of two East Bay swim teams, said they are like a second skin to her and her swimmers. “The look of the suit is a revelation and can be considered a fashion item in and out of the water,” Wesley said. “It’s extremely flattering in the pool and great accessory underneath a cute tank or tee in the summer time. I love Sheeva and Annie’s innovation and their commitment to providing great swim wear.” Product idea aside, the brand development of Lo Swim was unique in that both van Gemeren and Babicz had zero design or business experience and self-funded their production from the very beginning. “It was a process of trial and error,” Babicz said. “Essentially it all happened piece by piece. We made a lot of mistakes, and really learned from them, and had some good luck.” In this way, van Gemeren and Babicz were given the chance to see what could come out of starting a small business completely on their LANI CHAN can be reached at features@ own using their resources theaggie.com.

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Science &Technology

wednesday, february 8, 2012 3

Blast from the past

Scientists look at earth’s sedimentary record to analyze climate change By CLAIRE MALDARELLI Aggie Staff Writer

From using solar energy to replace fossil fuels to using robots to perform everyday tasks, science looks often into the future to solve the world’s problems, but the past could also be a link to the future. UC Davis geophysicist Gary Acton and his collaborators are using centuries old fossil records to make predictions about tomorrow’s cl imate changes. Acton spent two months on board the drilling vessel JOIDES Resolution collecting sedimentary deposits from deep below the ocean floor. This sedimentary record, if analyzed correctly, could contain thousands of centuries of climate records – giving scientists ample data to make more accurate predictions for our planet’s climatic future. From Nov. 17 through Jan. 17, the JOIDES Resolution collected data as it toured the Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar, which connects the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean. “This area is especially important and unique in that it contains thick, rapidly deposited sedimentary rock layers,” Acton said at a recent seminar in the UC Davis geology department. This arrangement has many different rock layers piled one on top of another, with the oldest on the bottom and newest on the top. Rock layers are created by currents, which are a major contributor to climate changes. Each time

the current changes, the rock layer will change. This phenomenon is analogous to a sand dune; each time the wind changes direction or force, it moves the sand around with it and creates distinctive patterns and layers. Thus, each rock layer represents a different climatic signal. Taking samples from this unique and rare rock formation allows geophysicists and other scientists to obtain an accurate record of prehistoric climatic conditions and changes to our global climate that have occurred over the past 100 million years or more. “Only a few places in the world have this type of rapid sedimentary build up,” Acton said. “They are virtual prehistoric observatories.” The drilling vessel, JOIDES – Joint Oceanographic Institutes for Deep Earth Sampling – has the unique ability to core far into the bottom of the sea floor. JOIDES is equipped with 10 meter long steel tubes called core drills that jut out from the bottom of the vessel. Scientists use a pressure core sampling technique that allows them to stack these 10 meter long core drills, one on top of another, to collect sediment samples 30 meters down. Then, by analyzing the difference in sediment layers, scientists are able to make inferences about the ancient climate record. For example, sea sediments often reveal how much ice existed during a certain time period and thus hint about past temperatures and weather patterns.

What denial?

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Gary Acton in front of the drill. Acton explained that the importance of understanding this climatic sequence is that climate change happens in cyclic patterns. “If we understand the patterns and cycles of climate change, we may be able to show how climate change affected evolution and how it will impact us in the future,” Acton said. Now that Acton and his collaborators have such important records at their fingertips, they are currently summarizing their data to present to the National Science Foundation in the hopes they will fund further research. This past cruise on the JOIDES Resolution was

Acton’s 10th cruise. In the future, he plans to continue research on sedimentary deposits and ocean drilling expeditions. He said this research is one of the best ways to analyze the past and make predictions about the future. He also admits he likes being out at sea and says that after scientists go on cruises they have one of two opinions: they thought it was fun but never want to go again, or they look for the next opportunity to go on another one. “I’m definitely in the second group,” Acton said. CLAIRE MALDARELLI can be reached at science@theaggie.org.

The schizophrenic mind Human doctors use computer models to find treatments for schizophrenia By HUDSON LOFCHIE Aggie Science Writer

Imagine not being able to function in society because you are unable to tell the difference between the people who are standing in front of you, and the people who only exist in your mind. About 1 percent of the world population suffers from schizophrenia, and that rate remains constant across all continents, all races and socioeconomic strata. There is no cure for schizophrenia, so treatment focuses solely on alleviating symptoms. However, new research at UC Davis is attempting to find improved treatments that will dramatically improve patients’ quality of life. It is a continuing struggle for doctors to find a balance of medications that will both alleviate the schizophrenic symptoms and improve

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Cloth embroidered by a schizophrenic patient. cognition. “Cognition is very important because it is a strong predictor of outcome,” said Michael Minzenberg, the UC Davis psychiatry researcher who is conducting the study. “It determines whether a person can be a contrib-

uting member of a community, stay out of the hospital and live independently,” Schizophrenia is a chronic and debilitating brain disorder in which the brain encodes every sensory input as important. This leads to schizophren Utility and leisure may not come together at the same time when the consumer’s most important priority is budget. One great option for consumers looking to buy a tablet on a budget is the Kindle Fire. The Kindle Fire offers video, music, books, apps, games, internet browsing and much more for somebody looking to get a tablet while not emptying the bank account.

Tech Tips A tablet for less

What features make the Kindle Fire worth getting? Since it is an Amazon product, it offers easy access to all of your con-

Aggie Digest

not cause AIDS: the scientific arguments themselves and the logic behind the arguments. However, lacking the room in this single column to address all the eviAmy dence (as I wish I could do Stewart here), I will focus on just one, as an example of how people can go astray. Let’s start with an easy one. In my conversation with Harris, one piece of evidence that he said was counter to HIV causing AIDS was the fact that HIV does not infect chimpanzees, despite humans’ close hen you think of genetic and physical simihow science is supposed to work, larities to chimpanzees. It’s true that HIV does what do you imagine? It’s not all lasers and col- not infect chimpanzees, as one can figure out from lecting animals — what the name of the virus itself. people think of as the fun, What is true is that chimexciting stuff. It can be panzees and other primates about that, of course, but it’s not the most important have a very similar version of the virus that does inpart. Science is about thinking fect them, called the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus, critically. It’s about finding or SIV. Over the thousands the closest approximation of years, they have coto the truth that we can, evolved with given the this virus, fact that In fact, Duesberg thinks that the resultwe can’t possibly AIDS is not caused by HIV at ing illness has lessened. know evall However, erything. when a mu This coltated variant umn is the occurs that does cause illresult of a phone call to The California Aggie office ness, the infection does result in AIDS. from a highly intelligent The reason HIV doesn’t man reaching out to me, infect other primates is betrying to convince me of something that is very im- cause every virus has a receptor site that is specifportant to him. Unfortunately, highly in- ic to the cell that it wants telligent doesn’t necessari- to infect. The one percent or so of genetic difference ly mean correct. between us and chimpan Mark Harris called to inform me about a report re- zees is enough to cause leased by UC Berkeley pro- variation in receptor sites of body cells; for HIV, this fessor Peter Duesberg. The study purports to show that means that a chimpanzee immune cell is too different there is no AIDS epidemic from a human immune cell in South Africa. to be infected. In fact, Duesberg thinks His argument here, that that AIDS is not caused by HIV is unlikely to cause HIV at all. AIDS in humans because Despite the overHIV doesn’t cause illness in whelming scientific conour closest relatives, chimsensus that the Human panzees, is an example of a Immunodeficiency Virus non sequitur. This is a log(HIV) causes Acquired ical fallacy that means the Immune Deficiency person was using an unSyndrome (AIDS), there is related fact to try to prove a small but somewhat vothat his claim was true. cal minority of people — As you can see above, it some scientists, some laydoesn’t work. men — who claim that AIDS has other causes. The But why am I spending so much time on this? most common alternative Experts have written that I was able to find was whole books on the subthat AIDS is in fact caused ject, giving a great deal by the use of recreational more detail than I have drugs, or even by the AIDS room for in this single coltreatment AZT. umn, debunking each de First, a (very) brief overnialist point. Why? view of HIV/AIDS. When It’s because HIV denial a person is infected with HIV via bodily fluid contact has real-life consequences, as some African leadwith an infected person’s ers, in countries where bodily fluid (either blood infection and transmisor semen), the virus goes sion is incredibly high into the blood stream until it attaches to an immune and treatments difficult to afford, claim that treatcell called a Helper T-cell, ments for HIV cause AIDS whose normal job in the rather than help them. body is to activate and direct immune cells to infec- They delay treatment protions. The virus may lie dor- grams, leaving people to sicken and die. mant for years until some Only a very small mithing (we still don’t know exactly what) activates it to nority of people think HIV divide and kill the immune does not cause AIDS, but they have a loud voice. system. The person becomes much more suscep- When such a health pantible to infections and can- demic is at stake, sciencers that a healthy immune tists cannot be afraid to be louder. system could easily fight off. There are two factors to AMY STEWART can be reached at science@ theaggie.org. this thought that HIV does

ics hearing imaginary voices, and even creating complex mental conspiracies such as believing that people are reading their minds and plotting to hurt them. Schizophrenics often recognize and fear the delusions, which can lead to them being extremely agitated and reclusive. This reclusive behavior can often deteriorate into a personality condition known as anhedonia. According to Minzenberg, patients with anhedonia are completely unable to experience pleasure from usually enjoyable activities like hobbies, exercise or sex. Anhedonia makes schizophrenia diagnosis difficult for doctors because they often confuse the symptoms with simple depression and then prescribe incorrect medication.

See MIND, page 2 tent on Amazon. Videos, Kindle books and music purchased or rented from Amazon are easily available on your Kindle Fire, whether it is streamed or downloaded. Although the Kindle Fire only has eight gigabytes of internal memory, Amazon offers free unlimited cloud storage for all purchased content. How does it compare to other tablets? The Kindle Fire allows for much of the same functionality as other tablets on the market. It does not have the same amount of

Football schedule UC Davis announced yesterday that the football seasonopener against Azusa Pacific will be played on Aug. 30, instead of the initially scheduled date of Sept. 1. The contest will mark the first

internal memory as other tablets, but the unlimited cloud storage for purchased content is an apt alternative. Besides functionality, the Kindle features a seven inch color touch screen and only weighs 14.6 ounces, making it very portable. So, what’s the price of the Kindle Fire? Here is one of the most appealing aspects of the Kindle Fire; it is $199. Compare this price to the iPad 2’s starting price tag of $499. At about $200, the Kindle Fire is one of the most cost-effective ways

time in school history that the Aggies have hosted a Thursday game. The 2012 season will be UC Davis’ inaugural season as a member of the Big Sky Conference, with the slate of games including eight league match-ups. The Aggies will host five games

for people looking to get a tablet, but not spend a lot of money. What else is cool about the Kindle Fire? The Kindle Fire offers eight hours of battery life while reading, and up to seven and a half hours of battery life during video playback. The device’s screen also supports multi-touch and is made with Gorilla glass, making the screen very hard to scratch. The Kindle Fire is a great way to get the tablet experience for less money. — Eric C. Lipsky

in the upcoming season, including homecoming Oct. 6 against Montana State and the Causeway Classic Nov. 17. UC Davis will announce the times for its home contests later this year. — Trevor Cramer

4 wednesday, february 8, 2012

The california Aggie

campus CHIC.

By STEPHANIE B. NGUYEN Aggie News Writer

Jon Ogata, junior political science and history double major The Aggie: What are you wearing? Ogata: “Clark’s desert boots from Nordstrom, wool Vince pants and a Hugo Boss shirt. The tie is Penguin. The cardigan and jacket are both Banana Republic. And the Jon Ogata

Stephanie Nguyen / Aggie

watch is Michael Kors.” How did you decide what to wear today? “I just kind of look in my closet and see what pieces look good together. I’m a stylist at Michael Kors so I’ve gotten pretty good at pairing things that look decent.” Where do you find inspiration? “My inspiration comes from anything. Part of my job is to keep up on trends. I’ve always dressed nicely — I wore

ties in high school. I think people vastly underdress; I don’t think there needs to be an occasion to dress nicely.” What’s your advice for staying chic during the winter? “For winter, layering is fantastic. People need to step out of their confined boxes — become adventurous, become a little braver and put something nice on!” STEPHANIE B. NGUYEN can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

classifieds YUANdWhatArmy!? by Angela Yuan

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Sudoku

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Room in House 4bd/2bath house in Woodland seeking 2 roommates. $550/mo plus utilities. Quiet neighborhood 5-10 minutes from campus. Large landscaped backyard with a covered patio. Contact Patti at (916) 396-1432 or hwwirz@yahoo.com Furnished room for rent. $550/m. Share PG&E. Male preferred. Available now. (530) 979-6664

Employment Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation Internship Hands-on experience career development UCD Athletic Training staff accepting applications from dedicated individuals interested in becoming Student Athletic Trainers. Apply at Athletic Training Facility, Hickey Gym (752-0647) or Pavilion (752-7515) http://ucdavisaggies.cstv.com/school-bio/ucda-ath-train. html Deadline March 2, 2012.

Pets Wonderful kitties want your love! Five 15mo old male neutered cats living at the vet school are looking for loving homes. If you are interested or would like to meet, please email me asap! arhedges@ ucdavis.edu

Hard

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