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Think you know someone who deserves to be on top (of Campus Chic)? Send an email to campus@theaggie.org, and check out this weeks Aggie’s Campus Chic on page 6.
Read about how the UC Davis Women’s Club Lacrosse overcame the odds to win the WCLA National Championship on page 4.
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volume 131, number 70
wednesday, may 23, 2012
Downtown Davis named a Cultural Arts and Entertainment District Three new art pieces unveiled at Flourish Davis movement
By ANI UCAR
Aggie News Writer
Concluding the struggle to expand art in public places fought by community members, artists, and gallery owner John Natsoulas, the Davis City Council on May 15 unanimously voted to make Downtown Davis a “Cultural Arts and Entertainment District.” Davis is among the first 20 cities in California to carry such a title. Currently the city has publicly displayed 18 pieces of art, all of which are part of the transmedia art walk. Of that total, 16 of the pieces are sculptures and two are murals. Natsoulas and his team plan to have 40 pieces exhibited in the public domain by January 2013. In an effort to restore the arts in Davis, Natsoulas has worked diligently at gaining community support and involvement. “This is all about creating community,” Natsoulas said. In celebration of the newly named district was the
Flourish Davis movement created by Natsoulas himself, held this past Saturday. Joined by Mayor Joe Krovoza, Natsoulas and his supporters unveiled three new pieces downtown. Two of the three new pieces are Susannah Israel’s new sculpture “Circus” and the California State colleges “Collaboration” piece. The third stands as the world’s first interactive mural envisioned and executed by Davis artist William Maul in collaboration with the Davis mural team, located on a wall fronting the E Street alleyway behind Peet’s Coffee & Tea on 231 E St. Titled “It Can Happen Now...TO YOU,” the towering mural highlights a scene of an actress screaming from the old horror movie The Devil Thumbs a Ride. Beneath the graffiti-proof gloss lies a small silicon chip known as a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag. Through the free mobile Evan Davis / Aggie
See FLOURISH, page 2 Susannah Israel’s piece, Circus, was just unveiled in Davis last week as a part of the Flourish Davis event.
New Entrepreneurship Fund gives student businesses a helping hand ASUCD grants new program $6,000 By ADAM KHAN Aggie News Writer
Last quarter saw the inception of ASUCD’s Entrepreneurship Fund, a new $6,000 grant established to support undergraduate business ventures and promote innovation among the undergraduate class.
The program runs on a twoquarter system in which winning applicants are picked from a diverse pool of business proposals and can be allocated up to $1,500 in funding. These projects, as stated on the Entrepreneurship Fund website, are supposed to be “socially-conscious businesses” that are aimed to “recog-
nize a social problem and use entrepreneurial principles to organize, create and manage a business venture that helps to achieve social change.” The Entrepreneurship Fund, as drafted in ASUCD Senate Bill 100, is organized into the entirely student-run Entrepreneurship Fund Special Committee, which in turn is divided into two sub-
committees. First, a selection committee comprised of various members of ASUCD, alumni and faculty is responsible for reviewing applications, conducting interviews and determining the recipients of the funding. Second, an entirely student-run advisory committee is responsible for
See BUSINESS, page 2
Farmers Market Vendor of the Week: Affi’s Marin Gourmet Family recipes passed down for 25 years By LANI CHAN Aggie Staff Writer
Who would have guessed that an eggplant dip could have developed into a culinary business of such scale? Over 25 years ago, the Panahi family developed a recipe for a special kind of baba ghannouge, an eggplant dish popular in the Middle East. Today the exact same dish, which Affi’s calls Aubergine, is available every Saturday morning at the Davis Farmers Market along with a complete line of dips, sauces and crackers that feature Middle Eastern and Mediterranean flavors. Made from fresh and natural ingredients grown in Fresno, Affi’s Marin Gourmet products are a family legacy, carrying the same flavor combinations through the generations. The Aggie sat down with Anton Bozcagna, manager of the Affi’s Marin Gourmet stand in Davis, to get a glimpse of the company’s history and what it has become today — all because of a revolutionary baba ghannouge recipe. “If the recipe ever changed that would be a riot,” Bozcagna said. “It’ll always be the exact same recipe. We’re not allowed to touch it.”
The products
The Aggie: What’s the Aubergine like?
Today’s weather Sunny High 81 Low 53
Bijan Agahi / Aggie
Affi’s Marin Gourmet developed an original recipe for baba ghannouge called Abergine. Bozcagna: The Aubergine is this really fantastic thing. It’s made from four different types of eggplant, grilled over mesquite and then finished with a really fantastic olive oil. Everything is done by hand, which makes it expensive, but it guarantees a certain quality. It’s not mass-produced, so each batch
Forecast As Davis continues to warm up, cats have started to prowl around my apartment with increased frequency. Can we say that the number of cat sightings around Segundo is directly proportional to the current temperature? I say yes! Kenneth Doss, atmospheric science major Aggie Forecasting Team
can be very different. All the eggplants are grown in-house and don’t even have common names, just scientific ones. They are very special eggplants and it tastes like that — the store-bought eggplants will not taste
See FARMERS, page 5
Thursday
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News iN Brief
Lecture today on teaching evolution in public schools Glenn Branch, deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, will be giving a talk on evolution in public schools today in Haring Hall. The talk, titled “Defending the Teaching of Evolution in Public Schools: After Kitzmiller — What?” will take place in 2205 Haring Hall from 7 to 9 p.m. The talk was organized by the UC Davis Science Policy Journal Club after legislation challenging the teaching of evolution was proposed this year in several states, including Tennessee, Indiana and New Hampshire. Colin Cunliff, a physics graduate student and member of the Science Policy Journal Club, says that the controversy keeps arising because opponents of evolution don’t need to win court cases. “They keep losing court cases like Kitzmiller v. Dover, but that doesn’t matter,” Cunliff said. “All they have to do is generate enough controversy that high school biology teachers are intimidated into watering down their instruction on evolution, or avoiding it all together.” The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) found that 97 percent of its members agreed that humans evolved over time. However, a recent report by the National Science Foundation found that only 47 percent of Americans think that humans developed from earlier species of animals, and only 61 percent think that scientists generally agree that humans evolved over time. The case of Kitzmiller v. Dover occurred in 2005, when 11 parents of students in the Dover Area School District of Pennsylvania sued the school district for advocating intelligent design as equally viable as evolution. The court decided that intelligent design is not science. “[After Kitzmiller v. Dover], we’re really entering a third phase, involving proposals to disparage and belittle evolution while remaining silent about any supposed alternative,” Branch said. The talk is free and open to the public. –– Amy Stewart
New research shows that there might be some health hazards associated with wearing skinny jeans. Watch out hipsters! Check out the evidence on Yahoo! News. Amanda Nguyen
page two
2 wednesday, may 23, 2012
daily calendar dailycal@theaggie.org
TODAY
events/362816877108668 davis.sjp@gmail.com.
Spring Book Fair 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. WRRC, Front Porch, North Hall Each quarter the Joy Fergoda Library at the Women’s Resources and Research Center hosts a book fair where books can be purchased for under $3. Proceeds will be used to buy new books for the library. The event will continue at the same time and location through Friday.
Circle K International General Meeting 6 to 7 p.m. Olson 6 If you are interested in doing community service, developing leadership skills, and gaining friendships, then go to this meeting to see what the club has to offer you.
H.E.L.P. Club Event “Empathy Not Apathy” 6 to 9 p.m. King’s Lounge This is H.E.L.P.’s annual event where they host a free banquet dinner and have guest speakers to inspire students and community members to be more involved in helping others within the community. The guest speakers will include a community leader who will discuss working with those in poverty and a currently homeless community member who will share his experiences being homeless.
Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous 7 to 8:30 p.m. Davis United Methodist Church, 1620 Anderson Road Free yourself from excess weight and/ or obsessional thoughts about food and body image. Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA) is a 12-step fellowship based on the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Meetings are open and free to the public. Go to foodaddicts.org for other meeting locations.
UC Davis Concert Band and Campus Bands 7 to 9 p.m. Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center Watch the UC Davis Concert Band, Campus Bands and more at this performance. Tickets are $8 for students and children and $12 for adults.
Poetic Resistance 7:30 to 9 p.m. Olson 206 Students for Justice in Palestine is hosting an event titled “Poetic Resistance” with nationally renowned poet Remi Kanazi from New York. Join them for spoken word poetry and a discussion. The event is co-sponsored by the Asian American Studies department. For more information, go to facebook.com/
or
Movie Night in the Arboretum 7:30 to 10 p.m. Mrak Lawn, Lake Spafford The Arboretum Ambassadors and UC Davis Entertainment Council present Movie Night in the Arboretum. Bring a blanket and enjoy seeing the epic Academy Award-winning movie Avatar in the Arboretum under the stars. There is no charge for the movie; parking is available for $7 in Visitor Lots 1 and 2 and the Mondavi Center parking structure. For more information, call 752-4880 or visit arboretum.ucdavis.edu.
The 12th Annual UC Davis Film Festival 8:30 to 10:30 Davis Varsity Theatre, 616 Second St. This is an evening of unpredictable and exciting short student films including comedy, drama, animation, documentaries and more. The festival begins Wednesday and continues through Thursday at the same time and location. Tickets are $7 for each night or $10 for a two-night pass; available at Davis Varsity Theatre starting May 16. For more information, go to theatredance.ucdavis.edu.
THURSDAY Shinkoskey Noon Concert 12:05 to 1 p.m. 115 Music Watch this Undergraduate Composers Concert in honor of Grant Noda’s 90th Birthday.
BME Alumni Seminar Series 4 to 5 p.m. 1005 GBSF Join Dr. Alesha Castillo as she gives a talk titled “Skeletal Mechanobiology, Regeneration and Aging.” For more information, contact BME Alumni Seminar Series at bmealumniseminar@ucdavis. edu.
UC Davis’ LocalTones 2012 Showcase 7 to 9 p.m. Freeborn This event features UC Davis’ a cappella groups The Spokes, The Afterglow, The Liquid Hotplates and The Lounge Lizards, and will be hosted by UCD’s Birdstrike Comedy Theatre. Tickets are $5 presale at the Freeborn Box Office or tickets.com and $10 at the door. For more information, go to davisspokes.com. 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.
campus judicial report Witness reports collaborating students A student in a philosophy class was referred to Student Judicial Affairs (SJA) for allegedly collaborating on an exam. A witness told the instructor that he had heard a group of students discussing how they were going to cheat before the class began. During the exam, the students sat together in the back corner of the room and were perceived to be cheating by the witness. In her meeting with a judicial officer, one of the referred students said that she did not have any recollection of engaging in behavior that could be perceived as cheating. In a later meeting, however, the student admitted that she had talked to some other students about cheating but claimed that she had gotten up and moved during the exam in order to avoid sitting next to people who planned to cheat. Although questions still remain about the student’s initial statements and her conduct during the exam, the University decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and resolve the case with an administrative notice. This is not a disciplinary sanction, but rather puts a student officially “on notice” about specific University policies, in this case the rule that prohibits collaborating on exams.
Photocopied quiz proves student in violation
A student in a physics class was referred to SJA for altering a quiz and submitting it for re-grading. The instructor was able to confirm that an alteration was made because he had photocopied the quizzes after they were graded and before they were handed back. The student agreed to be placed on disciplinary probation until graduation. This means that if the student is found in violation of campus policy in the future, he will receive more serious disciplinary sanctions the second time, most likely suspension. The student also agreed to complete 10 hours of community service.
Nerves lead to wandering eyes A student was referred to SJA for copying during an exam in a microbiology class. The TA noticed the student looking at the exam of the student sitting next to her and told the professor, who also perceived the student to be cheating. In her meeting with a judicial officer, the student admitted that she was nervous about the test and had copied from the other student. She agreed to disciplinary probation and 10 hours of community service. Members of the office of Student Judicial Affairs compile the CAMPUS JUDICIAL REPORTS. Additional information about SJA and the Campus Judicial Board may be found at sja.ucdavis.edu.
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I don’t like money. You wouldn’t have to hold a gun to my head to get me to enjoy the luxe life. I wouldn’t terribly mind Pamela weekend trips to New Nonga York, summers in Saint Ngue Tropez, shopping sprees on Fifth Avenue, fine dining, decked-out sports cars and invites to exclusive upper-crust parties. It wouldn’t kill me to never have to worry about money. I could tolerate it, but it’s not my main aspirawanna be a billiontion in life. It’s not the aire, so freakin bad end goal, the light at the … Buy all of the end of this long, dark things I never had...” scantron and Red Bull A billion dollars. Do any lined tunnel. It’s not what of us know what that realwill fulfill me. Honestly, ly is? I mean, on paper, it’s I don’t think the promise $1,000,000,000. The numof money alone can fulfill ber one followed by nine anyone. zeros. If you can actually I remember when I was conceptualize one billion in high school, my mom dollars in your mind, hats wouldn’t let me get a payoff to you. ing job. It’s I’m jealous. not that I’m ... slaving away in classes in she didn’t I personally can’t wrap hopes of maybe earning a semi- want me my head to have a decent living someday ... around it. I sense of even did a autonoGoogle search of “what can my or a strong work ethone billion dollars buy” and ic or any of the other benthe results were quite unefits of being employed. satisfactory. She told me directly that You think one billion is she didn’t want me to dechallenging? Imagine 20 velop a “love of money” billion dollars. This past — at least not at that age. Friday, that’s how much I needed to focus on my this 28-year-old CEO near- grades, and I could get the ly made in one day with same benefits from volhis company’s IPO (iniunteering. It was the right tial public offering). The decision. CEO is Mark Zuckerberg There are some of you — you’ve probably nevout there majoring in er heard of him. He creatsomething you can’t stand ed this site called Facebook because you want to have that apparently a lot of a lot of money in the fupeople use. His company’s ture. You might want to stocks went on the market take the time to think and the hype earned him about the long-term ima little bit of extra pocket plications of that decision. money. And there are some people When I heard the news out there who forwent getabout the Facebook found- ting an education or worker’s feat, I felt a range of ing hard, choosing instead emotions, from awe to disto take shortcuts in orgust to envy to disbelief. der to get rich quick. We The starting salary for a all know how that tends journalist? About 30 to 50 to work out (or not work thousand dollars. Here I out). am, sleep-deprived and I’ve gradually let go of stressed out. I’m incurring my quest for riches in exdebt and slaving away in change for a journey of classes in hopes of maybe following my passions. earning a semi-decent livNot that riches and pasing someday while somesions are mutually excluone is making billions in sive, but it’s better to purless than 24 hours. sue the latter and let the I definitely won’t be former come to you. I’m breaking any “youngest not saying anything that self-made billionaire” rehasn’t been said before, cords, and I’m OK with but it’s nice to be remindthat. The older I get and the ed of the big picture every more I explore my field of once in awhile. interest, the more I realize That being said, there’s that I’m really not in it for nothing fulfilling about the money. I love expressmy current status of Broke ing myself and connecting College Student, either, so if with others through writyou’ve got the hook up with ing. If I can continue to do a summer job, feel free to that with my future career get in touch immediately. and provide for myself and my family, I will be more She’s not joking. To receive her resume and than happy. cover letter, contact PAMELA NONGA NGUE at pamnonga@ucdavis.edu. That’s not to say that
Love of money
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business
— maybe bowling or card games or Monopoly. These are all rejected, probably by the same person that didn’t care what the group decided on doing. After that, more “I Nolan dunno” statements follow. Sheldon Eventually, nothing is decided on and plans are scrapped. If you’re texting, it ends with “We’ll figure out something tomorrow.” If this conversation happened in person, you all continue doing whatever you were doing before. Then people will slowly head home to avoid the boredom that ith summer vacastarted collecting like dust tion coming up, on everybody’s heads. my life is about to lose some structure. I won’t This situation has ochave class, or homework, or curred with slight variation a weekly column, or have to since Adam told Eve climbing trees and talking to go grocery shopping. Until snakes was stupid. What’s I find a job, I will mostly be doing things I want to happening here? do, like reading and watch- We live our lives through this prism of “no regrets,” ing TV. Yet when I’m asked so we live looking backward by one of my friends what on what I’m doing or we’ve done plan on doDoing nothing is accepted and oftening, what will my an- because it sounds like it wasn’t times already lookswer be? a choice ing backNothing. I ward on will say I’m what we’re about to do. If doing nothing. our eyes of the future think Of course, even when you’re doing nothing you’re we’ll regret doing something, that idea is shut doing something. Outside down. In these situations, of mundane autonomthere’s this fear that what ic functions, you’re still we choose to do will be watching TV, surfing the web, listening to music, etc. boring so we choose to do nothing instead. It’s better Maybe you’re just sitting there meditating. But rarely to not try than to fail. do we admit to doing any of You want to play poker those things. Why? Because tonight? C’mon man, live a doing nothing is the last ac- little. ceptable form of boredom. But why choose to do nothing, the most boring When we say we’re doing nothing, we’re admitting thing possible? Because it’s not just about what we did to the idea of boredom. We but where what we did took may not actually be bored, but what we’re doing may be place. Playing card games at my house isn’t excitseen as boring to someone ing. But playing those same else. And we can’t have our games at a bar? Now that friends think we’re boring, can we? They’d snicker at our sounds like a story I want to boxed-in boring lives of inac- hear. tivity as they pack their suit- We need plans, we need a story, we need to go out and case full of fun and leave us immerse ourselves into the for more exciting pastures. more exciting world. We think We all know how ridiculous that sounds. If you have our lives need to be perceived as entertaining at all times so friends that would leave the we work on making that persecond they perceive you ception a reality. Doing nothas boring then they need to ing is accepted because it lower their standards and wean themselves off adrena- sounds like it wasn’t a choice. line. Is it more likely we don’t We would never choose to be boring; there’s just nothing say anything because what better to do. we’re currently doing is ob That’s where we’re wrong. viously not the point of the Something is always better conversation? Probably. But let’s set up another scenario. than nothing; we just need to change our definitions You and your friends are and expectations. Not evtalking — maybe it’s in perery night can be spent doing son, maybe via group text or chat. The topic of discus- things worthy of a mention in the tabloids or emulated sion: what you’re going to do later that day. At first, no in a song or movie. But every night can be spent doing one offers any suggestions, just a variation of the phrase something. Next time you and your buddies get togeth“I dunno.” Then, frustraer, don’t let plans dissipate. tions start leaking out and Don’t let yourself do nothing. someone says something C’mon man, live a little. along the lines of “Let’s just do something, I don’t care what it is.” This is followed NOLAN SHELDON can be reached at nosheldon@ucdavis.edu. by a few meek suggestions
Doing nothing
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are working with the program, with three currently receiving full funding and a fourth officially selected to receive money sometime soon. Examples include The Runaway Robot, a T-shirt company created by sophomore Alexander Ogloza, that will print designs centered around the thematic elements of various local charitable organizations. Half of the profit made on each eco-friendly, student-designed, and water-based inked shirt will be donated to their respective partner charity. Cosine Concepts, another selected company, plans to create a smartphone application that links each student’s personal schedule to a calendar, complete with club events, practices, fundraisers and notifications on special happenings around campus. ASUCD Senator Justin Goss is excited about the implications and possible monetary benefits of such an endeavor. “I think this is really cool idea in that ASUCD potentially growing businesses is huge and totally unprecedented forward outreach for us,” he said. “Also, these projects can be clear targets for alumni to give back to UC Davis, as they might be more incentivized to give to a target instead of just this big ephemeral idea of the ‘university.’” The budget, which currently comes from ASUCD, is already actively trying to reduce the subsidy from the school and is coordinating with alumni, as well as starting a donation site. Holistically, members of the Fund seem energized about the future of such a unique program. “It’s just a mind-blowingly romantic idea, job creation,” Goss said. “At least it’s a beginning effort to try and combat job loss. We talk a lot about ‘small business,’ but we use that word so much it sort of loses its meaning. But [the fund] gives college students something to do and gives them clear directions after they graduate.”
Cont. from front page guiding the fledgling projects to meet their full potential. While ASUCD will be providing input on each selected venture, the Advisory Committee does not aim to assume control. Phillip Chu, a senior economics major and chairperson of the Entrepreneurship Fund, clarified the extent of influence the committee will hold. “We don’t actually consult them with what to do with their business,” he said. “We recognize that in a university without a business school, it would be ill advised to do that. We just want to offer outside advice as a springboard for discussion. It’s a good idea to give an outside opinion, and can be very useful.” Business proposals that are not chosen for funding are also welcome to seek advice from the committee. “I’m very much in favor for kind of an ‘open door’ policy, so students that don’t get selected don’t get ignored,” Chu said. “We would still answer questions about their strategy.” One such project was a microfinance company that would support economic growth in countries like Armenia. The Advisory Committee attempts to hire students with sound foundations in economics and finance. “The main thing is they do have a sound academic base,” Chu said. “They are hardworking, reliable, and also students that share the vision of the program — inspiring students to pursue their ideas. The consulting relationship is not the same that you would get from a professional consulting firm, but rather it’s with respect to the idea that some of these students’ ideas will not be fully formed. They just might not have had the opportunity to take a class on market research or how to write a business plan.” Approximately six companies ADAM KHAN can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.
flourish Cont. from front page app “Microsoft Tag,” participants can access the video files embedded in the transmedia sculpture plaques directly to their cellphones. “Personalization is what I am working on,” said Dr. Monto Kumagai, the transmedia designer for the Flourish Davis movement. “The goal is to try and get people involved in the art.” As an active partner in this transformative movement, Dr. Kumagai hopes to provide people with an outlet of physical interaction and expression. The RFID chips empower viewers to leave a message, whether that be a feeling that was evoked or one directed toward the artist. “Transmedia is exactly the right thing we need for this movement,” Mayor Krovoza said. “Voices can be heard and can be shared with the community.” As an avid supporter of the shift, Mayor Krovoza believes the city needs to figure out how to put aside permanent funding for this movement. Currently the artists on the team have been working for free and the majority of the funding has been subsidized by Natsoulas. “We are not wrapped up in the cost of all the supplies,” Natsoulas said. “We are doing this because we see a change happening in the city and we want it to flourish.” In the process of transforming these public spaces, Natsoulas and his supporters have a vision of engaging the community, and bringing people in from all over the world to witness the beauty. “We have a long history of Davis being synonymous with art,” Natsoulas said. “And the Davis mural team, Davis sculpture team and artists in Davis are taking over because we can’t wait anymore, we are making the change happen.” Guided tours are available every Saturday beginning at 11:15 a.m. in front of the John Natsoulas Gallery, located at 521 First St. ANI UCAR can be reached at city@theaggie.org.
The california aggie
Science &Technology
wednesday, may 23, 2012 3
Smoking drug effective in treating drinking
Strategical plants
‘It would save hundreds of lives every year’ By ERIC C. LIPSKY Aggie Science writer
A new study by UC San Francisco researchers indicates that the drug varenicline, a drug used to help stop smoking, can be used to reduce drinking. Varenicline, commonly known by the brand name Chantix, has been FDAapproved since 2006 for helping people to stop smoking, but only recently did the researchers theorize that the drug could reduce alcohol consumption and began testing the drug on rats. After yielding results that indicated this drug could be effective in reducing drinking, human testing was done and a significant re-
duction in heavy drinking was found. Howard Fields, professor of neurology at UCSF and director of the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center, and his colleagues split the participants into two groups and gave one group a placebo and the other group varenicline. He said that they started seeing results around the third week of testing. “We didn’t know what we were going to find,” Fields said. “We thought we would see something similar to the rat reduction.” The results confirmed the researchers’ hypothesis. Fields believes the drug to be a great treatment for
See SMOKING, page 6
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Could anti-smoking drug help curb drinking?
courtesy
Spacecraft “Dawn” reaches the Asteroid Belt Mission begins exploring asteroid Vesta
By BRIAN RILEY Aggie Science Writer
Last July a NASA-sponsored spacecraft called “Dawn” slipped into orbit about the first of its planned destinations — the asteroid Vesta, which is the second-largest asteroid in the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter. About 5 percent of meteorites recovered after falling to earth are believed to have come from Vesta’s surface. The Asteroid Belt is the name given to hundreds of thousands of asteroids, both large and small, that orbit the Sun in a band of space that stretches partway between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Were the asteroids once a planet in the past that broke apart? “Quite the opposite,” said Christopher T. Russell, the principal investigator of the Dawn mission. “The material tried to accumulate into a planet but never was able do so.” Russell coordinates and directs the science aspects of the Dawn mission as a part of his work as a professor in the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at UC Los Angeles. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena is in charge of the actual operation and flight of the space vehicle. Elizabeth Palmer is a first-year graduate student who is working as a research assistant under Russell’s guidance at UC Los Angeles. She studied astronomy as an undergraduate at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, but ended up deciding that planetary science was a better fit for what she wanted to do. She was able to find a planetary science internship at JPL. While at JPL, Palmer began learning about the technique of interpreting radar signals which have been bounced or grazed off the surface
rior taste. Thankfully, we learned our lesson by ... uh, making all of these bananas clones of each other. Well, live and learn. Researchers have Amy learned their lesson someStewart what, as they are working to make resistant hybrids that are still tasty enough for the mass market. Some species of plant are much more resistant to being eaten, and in fact are sometimes the ones doing the eating. Take a species of pitcher plant, Darlingtonia calmagine that a fire has ifornica. This plant is also just devastated a small area of forest. Trees have called the cobra lily for its burned to the ground, leav- almost predatory trickery. The basic strategy of ing stumps and cracked the pitcher plant is to lure trunks. All of the small bushes or grasses are com- hapless insects inside of its container, which is full of pletely blackened. digestive juices. What’s left? Tiny seeds. Why can’t the bug just The healing of the forest is fly out again, if they manpartially accomplished by age to get out of the deadthese seeds that only gerly liquid fast enough? Well, minate after a fire. When the inside of the container the old, dry trees burn down, the fire breaks these is slippery, first of all. It also has clear arseeds’ doreas, like litmancy and allows The next time you bite into an tle winnew, fresh apple, remember that what dows. The fly jumps up trees to you’re eating is an ovary to what it grow. thinks is an This exescape route, ample bumps against the wall and shows how plants are evofalls back into the liquid. lutionarily advanced organisms. Though they can’t Rinse and repeat until the insect is dead. Plants walk around like animals are more diabolical than we can, they are capable of a give them credit for. great deal of strategy, as well as offensive and defen- Most plants aren’t carnivorous and are just consive action. Simple defenses are com- tent to grow and spread mon among the plant king- their genes. This must indom, all to make them less volve some strategy as well, though. The leaves palatable or even deadare the organs that absorb ly to their many enemies. Thorns, pricks, irritants and the most sunlight; if the poisons are all to make sure plant grows in the deep forthat they won’t be devoured est and ends up covered by shade, how can they get the as soon as they sprout. sunlight that they so des Except, of course, the perately need? parts they they want to be They either must grow eaten. huge leaves (which is of The next time you bite ten what you’ll see in the into an apple, remember deep underbrush of a tropthat what you’re eating is an ovary. The idea from the ical rainforest) or they must plant’s point of view is that change where the leaves an animal will eat the entire grow. sweet, juicy fruit and walk a It’s difficult to see in real distance away before defe- time, but if you’re able to find fast-motion growth of cating out the seeds. a plant on YouTube, find Seeds reach the ground one and watch it. You’ll nowith ready-made fertilizer, tice that often, the stem will and the plant has successgrow in one direction, stop, fully spread its genes. then take a stem in a dif Human-cultivated fruit ferent direction. This is ofhas bypassed some of ten because the original these evolutionary mechstem wasn’t getting enough anisms, with worrying resunlight and it just wasn’t sults. The most common type of banana is called the worth the energy it would Cavendish banana, a seed- take to completely grow it. Roots do this, too. When less banana first cultivata plant is just starting to ed in the 1860s. In order grow its roots, they usuto propagate more trees, ally spread in all direcfarmers have to carefully tions. Soon enough, they remove and transplant the find that one location hapunderground stem where pens to have more nutrithey want the new plant to ents than another. The secgo. tion of roots in the low-nu When Panama disease, trient place will die, and the a fungal infection, nearplant now has more energy ly wiped out the entire bato spread in the place with nana population of the popular Gros Michel strain, the highest nutrition. breeders scrambled to find So when you look at a plant, remember that you’re a new type of banana that was resistant to the disease. looking at one of nature’s most strategical organisms. The result was the Dwarf Cavendish, a strain chosen for its hardiness and ease of AMY STEWART can be reached at science@ transport rather than supe- theaggie.org.
NASA model of asteroid Vesta.
of a planetary body and received on Earth. She hopes to be able to do the same type of work interpreting microwave transmissions from Dawn that have grazed the surface of Vesta in order to determine aspects of Vesta’s make-up, such as whether ice is present on the surface and in what amount. “It’s an opportunistic experiment that’s not perfect, since it’s hard to alter such concrete mission plans to the way that would be most ideal for our microwave experiment to work best,” Palmer said. “We are just waiting and hoping the geometry will work at some point.” If Dawn is able to successfully graze signals off Vesta, which are then successfully received here, Palmer will be able to compare that data with experimental data obtained from meteorites found on Earth. This mineral material was likely knocked off Vesta’s surface as a result of ancient
courtesy
collisions in space. Dawn gets its name from its primary purpose, which is the study of our solar system’s early history. Russell often stresses that he views Dawn as being a kind of time machine traveling back in time, since both Vesta and Dawn’s second target, Ceres, have likely preserved evidence of the Solar System’s formation in the contours of their crust and in their composition. Both Vesta and Ceres were formed 4.6 billion years ago. Dawn is currently scheduled to leave Vesta in August later this year and enter orbit about Ceres, the largest asteroid, in February 2015. According to Russell, it is the longterm thrust enabled by Dawn’s efficient ion-propulsion system which made the mission cost-effective and a visitation to two asteroids possible as a project goal. BRIAN RILEY can be reached at science@theaggie.org.
Crowdsource for truly unique musical experiences Researchers create the ultimate personalized music search engine By HUDSON LOFCHIE Aggie Science Writer
Our technological prowess is increasing every day, but the machines we use are still limited by the knowledge that the designers put into them. Researchers have started experimenting with a branch of computer science called “machine learning,” where computers can learn and adapt. The name evokes sinister Terminator imagery, but researchers at UC San Diego have been using machine learning to develop the most advanced music search engine ever created. The researchers are using the same methodology in their system as hospitals use to train new doctors. “When doctors learn how to diagnose diseases, they are trained to find patterns in patient data that indicate which disease the patient has. With many patients, patterns begin to emerge,” said Gert Lanckriet, a professor of electrical engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. People identify music by its characteristics, just like doctors identify diseases based on symptoms; is it jazz, rock or dubstep? Is it happy or sad, slow or fast, energizing or relaxing, piano or saxophone? The researchers started with a library of about 13,000 songs in their program, called Herd It, and started labeling each song with tags like those above. The program would then
Screenshot of Herd It game.
analyze patterns in the music and associate those patterns with the tags. As more songs were tagged, Herd It began to learn for itself what patterns constituted each genre or style, and it began to make its own tag suggestions. The re-
courtesy
searchers would simply confirm or reject the program’s suggestions. The more data Herd It received from confirmations and rejections, the better it became at suggesting tags. “The algorithms continuously adapt,”
said Doug Turnbull, a graduate student working in Lanckriet’s lab on the project. “People labeled music for us in the fun context of a game. People label the song with any tag [they think is appropriate] and we use the most common ones.” The music streaming service Pandora already does something similar. However, Pandora pays music experts to label songs. Each expert at Pandora takes about 30 minutes to tag each song by hand, making Pandora’s process very expensive. As such, Pandora has only about 900,000 songs in their library, compared to the near 20 million in the iTunes library. Herd It is an AI (artificial intelligence) that can tag any song it encounters in a matter of seconds, using plain english terminology to describe genre, feelings and settings. It does the same thing that paid musicologists do, but cheaper, faster and in simpler terms. The program works by analyzing the waveform of a song and identifying patterns in the frequencies that are indicative of each tag. The machine learning process is a continuous feedback loop. Users confirm or reject the program’s predictions, the machine learns something, and then it refines its predictions for the next guess. Every little bit of input from a user refines the algorithms’ accuracy on its future guesses.
See MUSIC, page 4
4 wednesday, may 23, 2012
The california Aggie
Staying afloat Women’s rowing continues success in second year as club team By DOUG BONHAM Aggie Sports Writer
The date April 16, 2010 will forever be remembered as the day that athletics changed forever at UC Davis. On that day, due to a $1.4 million budget deficit, four sports – men’s wrestling, men’s indoor track, men’s swimming and women’s rowing – were permanently cut by the university. With two years passing since that fateful day, only one sport, women’s rowing, has survived to compete as a club team. Although the squad has faced numerous struggles from funding to team membership, the stability given by upperclassmen and head coach Carissa Adams has allowed UC Davis women’s rowing to continue the program’s successful legacy. The program, which won back-to-back Division II national championships in 2002 and 2003, hopes to augment their success this weekend at the Division I level when they compete at the 2012 American Collegiate Rowing Association Championships in Gainesville, Ga. The journey to Memorial Day Weekend’s Championships has been an eventful one for the women’s rowing program. After discovering that the 73-member team had been cut, players and coaches faced a critical decision about what to do. With an annual operating budget of roughly $75,000, large concerns loomed over whether the team could be sustained as a club program. Following numerous fundraisers and petitions, the team was finally adopted by the university’s club sports program. “The hardest part about being a club team is managing a budget,” says junior rower Brianna Bieghle. “Although the team held fundraisers when it was ICA, we rely heavily on it to keep our team functioning [now].” Team membership was hit especially hard by the transition from an Intercollegiate Athletics program to a club sport. Although rowers would not lose their scholarships and priority registration, only 11 members returned to the team in the program’s first club season in large part due to the increased financial pressure on team members. With women’s rowing no longer being part of ICA, some members, like current team captain senior Danika Reddick, even considered joining another club team. “I looked at going to other teams,” said Reddick. “[But] I chose to stay with it because ... [no other sport] had the combo
courtesy of Danika Reddick
UC Davis Rowing has continued as a club sport despite being cut as an ICA program in 2010. that rowing had which is team and athletic intensity.” Although just a club team these past two years, UC Davis women’s rowing – thanks to their successful history – has been able to compete and succeed in the premier rowing events around the country at the Division I level. In last year’s ACRA national championships, all three competing UC Davis boats medaled as the Aggies brought home a gold, silver and bronze medal against teams that were fully funded by their universities. As well, head coach Carissa Adams was recognized as the 2011 ACRA Western Regional Coach of the Year. Much of the program’s success is due to the unchanging culture that the coaches and upperclassmen continue to instill. Great dedication is still needed by the cur-
rent 38-member team as players have practice at the Port of Sacramento from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. six days a week. “It’s a commitment,” says Reddick. “[It’s] different than other club teams because for this one, if you’re not there every day, the eight other people in your boat can’t go out.” The high standards of the program continued to pay off this year as women’s rowing worked hard to maintain a strong foundation for future success. At this year’s Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) Championships, the novice team finished second in the grand final — beating rival Sacramento State and losing to first-place Gonzaga by less than a second. “The upperclassmen that were on the team before it became a club sport are
valuable to the team,” said freshman rower Erin Glasspool. “They are really hard workers … and are there if we need help.” With UC Davis’ varsity eight-person team ranked fifth in the nation in ACRA’s May rankings, the future of this once-seemingly dead program is bright. Fundraising continues to be successful as coin drives, bowl-a-thons and many other efforts allow the team to cover over 50 percent of the costly program. In addition, with the help of reserve funds and additional fundraisers, the team hopes to buy a new boat in the next couple of years. “There’s a sense of pride,” says Reddick. “The other three teams that were cut [are] not here anymore so we’re really lucky to be able to continue.” DOUG BONHAM can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
Underdog Aggies take National title Tenth seed UC Davis pulls off series of upsets in national tournament
courtesy of Brett Colby
UC Davis Women’s Club Lacrosse won the WCLA National Championship over Colorado State.
By KIM CARR
Aggie Sports Writer
Exhausted but exhilarated, the newly reigning National Champion UC Davis’ Women’s Club lacrosse team walked past a sign that read, “I learned to win by learning to lose.” “I feel like that quote really summed up our season,” said freshman goalkeeper Amy Corstorphine. A few weeks ago, UC Davis did not even know if they would be seeded at the US Lacrosse Women’s Collegiate Lacrosse Associates (WCLA) Division I National Championship Tournament. It had been a rough season featuring some tough losses, as the Aggies had suffered
music Cont. from page 3 Once the program has correctly identified songs, it adds the song name to a database with its related tags. Currently, Herd It uses between 200 and 300 tags to identify music, but it will soon use close to 1000. According to the researchers, the machine learning was not the most impressive part of this project. Instead, the
all eight of their defeats by a single goal. “Every game we lost was by one point which is really frustrating,” said junior midfielder Molly Fensterwald. “When you lose by one point, it really kills you mentally.” However, those losses would ultimately fuel a fire, the likes of which UC Davis lacrosse has never seen before. UC Davis entered the National Championship Tournament seeded 10th and defeated Texas in the first round. The Aggies then faced against the No. 2 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos in the quarterfinals, where UC Davis fought back from a five-point deficit to win by one in a thrilling overtime finish.
most unique feature was the use of crowdsourcing to create training data for a computer program, where humans are teaching a machine. The final goal is for Herd It to not just identify a music type, but to identify the preferences of a listener, even if the listener is not consciously aware of those preferences. By analyzing listening patterns, Herd It will be able to give you the best possible match for your next song.
At that point, UC Davis had surpassed the expectations of everyone. “We’ve never made that far so I think was a huge breakthrough,” said Corstorphine. Senior attacker Lauren Colby shared those sentiments. “When I joined the team as a freshman Nationals wasn’t even a word in our vocabulary because we had never even gotten close to earning a bid,” she said. UC Davis was matched up against third-ranked Michigan for the semi-final match. The team came together to pull off another thrilling overtime win, earning a bid to the WLCA Div. I National Championship. Defending champions and number one seed Colorado State
For Luke Barrington, founder of the UC San Diego Computer Audition Lab where Herd It was created, the advantage of Herd It is that people can search for music in natural language, rather than technical jargon. “[Herd It] describes any piece of music in human words,” Barrington said. “You give [Herd It] words, it gives you music.” HUDSON LOFCHIE can be reached at science@ theaggie.org.
was riding a 14-game win streak as they faced off against UC Davis. “We prepared for that game,” Colby said. “We dissected their defense and we knew exactly what we had to do to win. “We watched film and came up with strategies and we just went out there and played. Everything came together and it was the best way to end the season.” The Aggies fought hard in the first half but Colorado State was still holding a 6-5 lead at the half. “We were down at half but we never gave up and pulled together in the second half,” Fensterwald said. “It was the best we have ever played.” Fensterwald lit up like a firecracker in the second half. She scored three consecutive goals to pull the Aggies to an 8-7 lead with just 13 minutes remaining in the half. While Fensterwald exploded on the offensive side of the ball, Corstorphine refused to let anything enter her goal. CSU had an average of 19.3 goals per game throughout the rest of the tournament but Corstorphine and the Aggie defense held them to seven on the day, and only one in the second half. “The defense really came together in the second half. We were playing as a unit and the communication was really strong,” Corstorphine said. Corstorphine was also quick to mention that the strong defensive performance in the second half was aided by the Aggie offense who simply refused to give CSU any chances to score. With UC Davis up by two points, the attackers managed to maintain possession of the ball for 12 of the last 13 minutes of the game. “Stalling is something we’ve practiced all season. There is no shot clock in lacrosse so you can keep the ball for as long as you want, as long as you don’t lose
possession,” said Colby. “I think we all were so sick and tired of losing by one point that we played our hearts out and refused to be second best,” said Colby. As the last few seconds ticked off the clock, the Aggies realized that they were about to finish their season in a well-deserved movie script fashion. “We definitely came in as the underdogs and to win — it was just great,” Fensterwald said. “We had all the California teams on our side rooting for us and it just gave us the energy to keep working hard.” “It was 20 smart girls playing the best lacrosse I’ve ever seen them play ... That’s what it takes to win a national championship,” said head coach Eric Valois. UC Davis graduates seven seniors this year but Colby is confident that the team will continue to succeed in the coming years. “When I joined as a freshman it was an up-and-coming club. Now we’ve won and it’s been a great opportunity for our team to be recognized by the lacrosse community as a whole,” Colby said. “It puts us in a great spot to show the nation what our club is all about.” In addition to their National Championship title, UC Davis earned several All-Division I team honors. Three Aggies made the All-Division team and Fensterwald earned Most Outstanding Midfielder Honors while Corstorphine was named Most Outstanding Goalkeeper. While the Aggies are looking forward to a little rest before next season, they will not be coming down from the clouds any time soon. “Seriously no amount of screaming could express the excitement we all felt when we won. It was absolutely crazy,” Colby said. KIM CARR can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
wednesday, may 23, 2012 5
The california aggie
farmers Cont. from front page like that or grill like that. It’s grilled on an open fire, over mesquite that gives it that flavor and extra smokiness that people prefer.
The Aggie: What types of ingredients are used in your other recipes? Bozcagna: Arabic food uses lots of salt because it’s meant to withstand certain conditions, like those of a workman’s schedule. The food is generally kept in a warm place in the sun, so the food has to measure up to certain standards. It’ll have a lot of garlic and olive oil and salt. In our kitchen, staying healthy is a concern so many of our products are healthy in the classical sense. We have a lot of items that are vegan; for instance, people always think the hummus has cream or something higher in fat in it, but it really is just that texture without it. It’s an easy way to trick your body into eating something that is good for it.
since then? Bozcagna: It’s sort of an oral tradition. There are legal traces of it, but most of what I know is what I’ve been told. The origins were when the Panahi family moved from Persia to France, which is where I’m assuming some of these recipes matured and where some of those special eggplants were picked up. The French connection had a very big impact on how the food tastes. So they lived there for a number of years before coming to the United States, to California because it’s similar to that perfect part of the world.
The Aggie: How did the inspiration come to start a food business? Bozcagna: In the Middle East, baking bread is a special bonding ritual. It’s a way to know the person and to know respect; it has a specific social function. You eat it a certain way, at a certain time. [After the move to the U.S.] this passion came back, and Affi decided that she wanted to have a food company, and started a catering business. [The movement into the Farmers Market] was a natural evolution; it happened very quickTheir story The Aggie: The birth of the company was ly. They decided Farmers Markets made over 25 years ago. How has it developed the most sense, as we are a farmer’s com-
pany. Today, the main focus is the Farmers well with goat cheese; it’ll highlight it well Market. because the flavors have such a stark contrast. Spread it on something Italian like pizza, or sandwiches. It just brightens evServing suggestions The Aggie: What are some of your favorite erything up. I think people are genetically products and how do you like to use them? programmed to like whatever’s in it. Bozcagna: The one that I’ve used the most is the olive walnut tapenade. It’s super usable At the Davis Farmers Market — sandwiches, salads, with goat cheese, The Aggie: You have your products at severyou can make pasta and throw that on for al Farmers Markets in northern California. a 10-minute lunch ... it really takes no time Is there anything about the Davis market in at all, it’s like comparatively very healthy particular that makes you look forward to fast food. I’ve used so much of it I think coming here each time? I’ve overused it. So for a while I’ve been in- Bozcagna: It’s a very special market for our fatuated with the lemon hummus. There’s company. Davis has this very vintage feel to it. no garlic, meaning you can eat it anytime, Besides the fact that the market’s been there with a bagel in the morning. It won’t upset for a long time and had the time to mature your stomach like it does to some people. and grow, you can feel that the market has Super healthy and super tasty. But what I been there for a long time. For the people that keep around all the time is the Aubergine, work there, it is like family, because they’ve not just because I like it, but because oth- been there forever. It’s a more pleasant Whole er people like it. Foods. There’s a nexus of common customers that I know by name who I don’t have to The Aggie: It always comes back to the ask them what they want, I just hand them the Aubergine. regular. It’s a very special place; if you want to Bozcagna: It’s a very easy way to please meet the nicest people in a neighborhood, go foodies. Nine out of 10 people that have to the Davis Farmers Market. tasted it say that they like it. Throw it over pasta or just use it as a dip. It goes really LANI CHAN can be reached at features@theaggie.org.
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6 wednesday, may 23, 2012
The california Aggie
Youth Empowerment Program shares immigrants’ stories Incarcerated children mentored by students
By CHELSEA MEHRA Aggie Features Writer
Carlos P. from Honduras was abandoned by his mother when they lost their home and she fled to the United States. He stayed with his grandmother until she passed away in bed next to him. Carlos’ historically absent father came to pick him up at the funeral, but only a week later his dad was shot 12 times by gang members in front of Carlos’ face. Living on the streets for months, Carlos finally got a job at a market with his dad’s friend, who helped him cross over to Mexico and then Los Angeles. Still, Carlos had no money or food and resorted to sleeping at bus stops. The happiest day of his life, he explains, was seeing and reuniting with his mother at a street light while begging for a hot dog. This is just one of many devastating stories written by incarcerated, immigrant youth and displayed at UC Davis’ Youth Empowerment Program (YEP) Awareness event last week on May 15. Founded in 2009 by UC Davis alumna Alison Jebrock, YEP provides a network of college student mentors to immigrant youths detained in Yolo County Juvenile Hall. At the awareness event, the lights in Griffin Lounge were dimmed, save for the few spotlights on poems, art and stories posted on black poster board. Members of YEP, formally known as YEP’ers, were also clad in all-black formal attire as maybe another way to turn the attention off of them and onto the otherwise hidden tales of displaced adolescents. “We held this event to give them a voice. It’s bringing light, letting students know that there are kids of the same age going through so much worse, and just because we aren’t, others are,“ said YEP’er and sophomore sociology major Anissa Ruiz. Growing up with a lot of immigrant youth and attending high school right by the Mexican border, Ruiz can remember a time when kids would come to school at 4 a.m. every day, attend classes and com-
courtesy of Andres Gonzalez
UC Davis’ Youth Empowerment Program (YEP) members Silvia Vargas (far right) and Jose Pedroza discuss artwork made by children in Yolo County Juvenile Hall. mute back home to Mexico. The idea of straddling two different lives is a familiar one to many UC Davis YEP leaders. Their motivations for joining the program and mentoring undocumented children at the Yolo County Juvenile Detention Center are varied, but all agree upon a positive message: There is opportunity for life outside of prison. “I was born in U.S. but I still consider myself a Mexican immigrant — I am stuck between two cultures. I know that I’m documented, but there are individuals, including people in my family, who can’t enjoy common rights like education,” said senior Chicano studies major Jose Pedroza. “My biggest message to these kids is, ‘Hey, you might be in here right now but one day you’re going to walk out. When you do, I want you to know there’s a better life for you. All you have to do is look for it, work for it, and know to take advantage of it.’”
Current YEP President and senior American studies major Roxanne Calimeris gets giddy when she speaks about “her kids” and inspiration for joining the movement. Her flaming red hair practically lights on fire from the excitement she gets out of visiting the youth. “YEP is just looking for all the love we can get. The moment someone comes out and hears what we’re doing – teaching lesson plans to dispossessed kids, listening to what they have to say, befriending them – they are immediately hooked,” Calimeris said. “We aspire to do something about their situation, to help advance their trials by providing them with enough knowledge to know that if they get deported, they can’t come back to the States for life but that they have the option to voluntarily deport themselves and come back within 10 years.”
campus CHIC.
Rachel Goldstein
smoking Cont. from page 3 drinking. He hopes that people will read the paper he and his colleagues published and use the drug to treat heavy drinking. One of the options patients have currently is to ask their doctors to write them a prescription of the drug to see if it helps. Fields said that the medical industry, in general, is “pretty conservative,” meaning doctors may be reluctant to prescribe the drug at first. Although it will probably take a
larger clinical study for the drug to gain approval for drinking by the FDA, Fields believes the drug is safe and effective. Varenicline can have some side effects, including nausea and heartburn. Fields also said that there is a black box warning of severe mood changes and suicidal thoughts, though the role of varenicline in these side effects is unclear. However, these side effects don’t deter Fields from recommending the drug. “It would save hundreds of lives every year if it [Varenicline] were being used widely,” Fields said.
Stephanie Nguyen / Aggie
Fields said that a good, large study might allow professionals to publish a guideline that will help physicians know to prescribe the drug to their patients. “We’d like to see more people quit heavy drinking, but there’s not much we can do about it,” Fields said. “There are a lot of hurdles from the time a drug is discovered to be effective.” Fields said that one of the reasons the drug might go unnoticed in the beginning is due to the fact most doctors won’t see the results just yet because they don’t have the time to read every journal. Jennifer Mitchell, clinical proj-
When asked what the children get out of the program, she retorts “You mean, what do we get out of them!” Program Leader and junior international relations major Daniel Kent said that they often feel like the kids teach them more about life than they teach the kids. “It’s amazing how much my own journey has changed because of these kids I mentor. They probably don’t fully understand their effect on us, but I feel odd at times because it seems like the relationship can be very uneven at times. Their impact on me feels like it’s in greater proportion to my impact on them,” Kent said. As you walk around the room and take in the sights, there are certain jarring images. A painting of a child being choked by letters and numbers reads, “Words hurts. Verbal abuse is still abuse.” Another is an intricate sketch of a boy sitting in court, and the caption explains that a youth on trial for MS13, the violent Mexican Los Angleles-based gang, asked for the tip of a pen when they refused to give him any writing utensil. He spent his entire trial drawing with the small ink point absolutely detailed images. Priscila Mendoza, another YEP’er and junior international relations major, closed the event by taking apart the word “immigrant.” Her message was that it’s hardly a foreign word, for at one point we can all relate to these young immigrants. YEP’ers hope the event brings awareness to a typically overlooked group of people in the U.S. Their optimistic message serves as a reminder that there are multiple ways of looking at difference, they said. “If you break the word ‘immigrant’ down, you get migrant. We can all consider ourselves a migrant, someone who has in one way or another been displaced and a traveler. When I broke the word down a second time, I thought it was neat it had the word ‘grant.’ To me, it means to bestow, to give, to agree or confer. The next time you hear the word ‘immigrant,’ think about that,” Mendoza said. CHELSEA MEHRA can be reached at features@theaggie.org.
By STEPHANIE B. NGUYEN Aggie News Writer
Rachel Goldstein, 2010 alumna in international relations, researcher and coordinator at the Center for Regional Change, College of Agriculture and Environmental Science The Aggie: What are you wearing? Goldstein: “The booties are from Nordstrom. I’m wearing J Brand mid-rise capri jeans in ‘cafe’ and my shirt is from American Apparel. My watch is Casio and my lipstick is called ‘Red’ by Bobbi Brown. My bag is vintage Dooney & Burke.”
ect director at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center in San Francisco, also believes that the drug is effective and that patients can get the drug from their physicians. “The FDA will reconsider [approving for treating drinking] once there is enough evidence,” Mitchell said. “Physicians can prescribe it ‘off-label’; it doesn’t mean you can’t get it for drinking.” Mitchell said that the drug can also bring new hope to people that have tried treatment for drinking before. Mitchell believes that people need to focus more on the “enor-
How did you decide what to wear today? “I had no idea what to wear this morning. I was in a rush, and it’s air conditioned in my office, so I had to wear layers. These booties are my go-to.” Where do you find inspiration? “Urban people watching. Just getting out of Davis and spending the day hanging out in San Francisco.” What’s your favorite item in your closet? “Probably my chunky heel platform gray booties that I got in Berlin.” STEPHANIE B. NGUYEN can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.
mous societal effects” of drinking. “People don’t realize that there are drugs out there that can help,” Mitchell said. “They need to take control of their own destinies.” According to the UC Davis Medical Center (UCDMC), drinking can have profound effects on the body. “Long term use [of alcohol] can cause cancer, brain damage, cirrhosis of the liver, weight gain and birth defects if drinking while pregnant,” the UCDMC website states. ERIC C. LIPSKY can be reached at science@theaggie.org.
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SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES DO NOT WORK