March 14, 2019

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

@thecaliforniaaggie

SERVING THE UC DAVIS CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY SINCE 1915

the california aggie

THEAGGIE.ORG

@californiaaggie

@californiaaggie

VOLUME 137, ISSUE 20 | THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019

ARC EXPANSION SET TO BE COMPLETE AFTER SPRING BREAK

BY B OBBY JO HN sports@theaggie.org It’s almost done. Gym-goers have been teased for months by fresh squat racks and state of the art Olympic weightlifting platforms that can be seen through the windows but cannot be accessed when walking between the Pavilion and the ARC to get to the La Rue entrance.

The $15.8 million construction project, funded from reserves and bonds, was slated for completion back in January, but a confluence of factors delayed the project, according to UC Davis Campus Recreation and Unions Director of Recreation Deb Johnson.

Mother Nature halted construction for a period in November after smoke from the Camp Fire blanketed Davis. In December, many of the contractors and laborers working the project took some vacation time, which is typical of construction projects.

Add to that required inspections with the added challenge of expanding from the core of the building to add the necessary electrical components for future equipment needs. The Boldt Company has finished renovating and adding around 20,000 square feet to the newly-designed ARC which will open for use on March 27.

This won’t be the very end of renovation, however, as the ARC will also close its fourcourt basketball gym starting March 25 for re-flooring. This additional project is set to be done some time in April.

Johnson gave The Aggie a tour of the new space near the end of its construction phase in early March.

Some equipment was there, like the newly designed weightlifting platforms innovated

NEW 20,000 SQUARE FOOT SPACE OPENS MARCH 27

VENO OS M OS H AYE D I / AGGIE

by Matrix Fitness and Eleiko, which will be incorporated into 15 Matrix squat racks and six standalones.

Eleiko makes platforms designed to dampen the noise when dropping weights. Johnson says that in most college gyms across the country, you aren’t allowed to drop your weights due to noise and damage.

“I asked Matrix to partner with Eleiko,” Johnson said, noting that this is the first time two companies in the equipment industry have collaborated for a project. “For the first time ever, we’ve got two companies working together.”

Users will now be allowed to drop their weights when using this equipment without worrying about damage or excessive noise.

Still, this on its own does little to address one of the community’s most common complaints, which is that the wait for the squat racks during peak hours is too long.

“It’s really frustrating especially when you have to get somewhere,” said third-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major Jessica Wong.

While waiting in line to use a squat rack, Wong explained that at times she has had to end her workout earlier than

ASUCD CREATES NEW COMMITTEE TO COMBAT HOUSING DISCRIMINATION IN DAVIS

Davis Housing Discrimination Committee created in response to student concerns over unfair treatment of student renters

planned to get ready for class.

Johnson says one of the overarching goals of the expansion was to reduce work out waiting times.

ARC employees and fourth year students, Erica Rubio and Claudio Carillo, explained how staff currently deal with the overcrowded gym floor.

“When the line get super long and goes all the way out the door, it’s stressful to us because we have that pressure,” Carillo said, calling attention to the fact that staff try to encourage people to work in pairs to help the line move faster.

This strategy works for some people, but for others, they just

want to work independently, said Carillo.

“At the end of day, some people actually make friends,” Carillo said. “That’s nice to see.”

“It’s not healthy to stand in line, your body and muscles get cold,” Johnson said. “Our patrons are unique here, they’re waiting to wait in line for a long time for a rack and willing to stay in that rack for kind of as long as they want to.”

Johnson says that when gathering feedback from gym users, squat racks, benches, more cardio machines and natural lighting topped the wish list.

With a combination of LED daylight harvesting lights and ceiling fans, the workout spaces throughout the gym will add a refreshed feeling In addition, crossfit enthusiasts can expect a new station stocked with supplies like TRX bands and a jungle gym.

Anyone who felt left out because they train in the strongman style will find a new outdoor area that can accomodate this basic yet punishing and body-taxing activity of carrying atlas stones, pulling sleds and flipping tires. But until the outdoor temperature allows the surface to be laid properly, strongman enthusiasts will have to wait until later in Spring Quarter The project has been nearly two years in the making, from gaining approval from former Chancellor Linda Katehi to then getting the green light and beginning construction under then-Interim Chancellor Ralph Hexler.

This expansion is just one part of UC Davis’ many growth initiatives. A West Village expansion that will add approximately 3,300 beds is expected to be fully completed in 2021.

Nishi would add 2,200 beds, and Lincoln40 adds 130 units with two to five bedrooms per unit. The UC Davis Long Range Development Plan aims to house 18,600 students on campus by 2030, which represents a 9,050 increase in students currently housed on campus.

While this ARC expansion may free up some traffic on the gym floor and adds new fitness features, the housing and following student body expansion will test its capacity.

The ARC will close from March 25 to 26 to move the equipment and will reopen the main entrance March 27.

FUTURE OF UC DAVIS SET IN MOTION AS ACCEPTANCES, WAITLISTS, REJECTIONS SENT OUT Undergraduate Admissions released freshman decisions on March 8

DA N IEL L E MOF FAT / AGG IE

C AIT LY N SA M P L E Y / AGGI E

BY SA BRI N A HA B C H I are a college town, we want to make sure that we protect our campus@theaggie.org students and our student tenThe Davis Housing Dis- ants,” Wali-Ali said. “Many of crimination Committee, a the students don’t really know new ASUCD committee, was what to do if they’re facing disrecently formed as the result of crimination — they may just a bill authored by Nayzak Wa- swallow it and continue.” li-Ali, a first-year political sciLandlords might tell stuence major and chairperson of dent tenants to leave if they the ASUCD External Affairs express any frustration or unCommission. happiness with specific housStudents have expressed ing arrangements and, addiconcerns about being discrimi- tionally, students of color find nated against in their off-cam- it particularly difficult to find pus housing experiences. housing, Wali-Ali said. WaWali-Ali will primarily serve li-Ali also mentioned hearing marginalized student commu- reports that landlords refused nities, which often experience to change or fix items in stuthe most housing discrimina- dents’ apartments or are partion. ticularly hostile for no reason.

The committee aims to ed“The main goal with this is ucate students on housing dis- that it is a safe space for stucrimination so they are aware dents to come to these people of their rights and to generate who will be knowledgeable in awareness on this type of dis- what is going on, telling them crimination and ensure that that no, this is not normal,” students feel safe — “making Wali-Ali said. sure that students understand Edgar Masias-Malagon, the that a form of discrimination ASUCD External Affairs vice being enacted against them is president and a fourth-year not normal,” Wali-Ali said. global disease biology major, “Housing discrimination discussed the ramifications of is an issue and, because we the City of Davis’ extremely

low vacancy rate and its impact on student renters.

“Given that we have a 0.2 percent vacancy rate, we decided that we wanted to address [housing discrimination] because there’s only so many units there, and people are not willing or wanting to lease these units to students based on how they identify, or their race,” Masias-Malagon said. “[This discrimination] really sets them up to live somewhere that’s not as nice, overly priced or poorly managed.”

Francois Kappealin, the public engagement director for the Office of the External Affairs Vice President and a second-year chemical engineering major, also spoke on the issue.

“A normal vacancy rate would be like three to five percent,” Kappealin said. “We don’t have any housing, the rents are going up and people are being forced to cram into these family-sized homes — people are sleeping living rooms and garages because they have nowhere else to go. A

HOUSING on 11

BY O LIVIA LU CH INI features@theaggie.org Located across from the Mondavi Center, the Welcome Center, home to Undergraduate Admissions, is on the outskirts of the central campus. Unless they become tour guides or take a class there, many students don’t return to the Welcome after their initial campus tours. Within the building, however, professional staff and student public advisors have been in a whirlwind since March 8 — when decisions were released to all freshman applicants, the class of 2023.

Brenda Fudge Jensen, associate director of public advising and admissions advising, spoke to the amount of effort needed by the office in the weeks after decisions are released. Just on Monday alone, the back office of Undergraduate Admissions was ablaze with calls as five student public advisors manned phones with queues racking up left and right. They answered calls to give students their MyAdmissions ID num-

Cheese March Madness

ber, but they also answered calls consoling students who were rejected from school they had dreamed of attending.

“Everybody pulls together to answer questions either on the phone or on the field,” Fudge Jensen said. “Everyone is available to answer questions. We all pitch in as one big team to help anyone who is confused or has questions about what the next step is.”

With rejections and students who are now confronted with questions about financial aid and their ability to invest in an education, the office’s stresses pile up easily.

“There aren’t enough hours in the day for the amount of work and for all of us,” Fudge Jensen said. “We are all working hard, reading applications, advising people out front, advising people on the phone... there just aren’t enough hours in the day.”

According the Fudge Jensen, the year looked like a lot of other years —similar application numbers and all. The admit rate, however, was lower.

“It was just super competi-

tive [this year],” Fudge Jensen said.

Fudge Jensen and her coworkers started reading applications for freshmen in mid-December, then moving onto transfer applications in mid-to-late-January. Months of effort went into this moment on March 8, and it acts as a catalyst for the workload for the rest of the year. Along with Fudge Jensen, student public advisors work to keep the stresses of applicants at bay via phone lines or sitting at the front desk to offer drop-in advising.

“The most stressful part of being an advisor during admissions season is having conversations with students who weren’t admitted,” said Jessica Boensch, a fourth-year political science and communication major who serves as a public advisor. “Admission to UC Davis gets more competitive every year, and we receive so many applications that there are some very qualified students who aren’t admitted

ADMISSIONS on 11

FREE EVENT!

March 18 – 24 • 11 - 2 PM • In Store We’re pitting our top cheeses against each other in the battle of the century, er... week.

Stop in & taste the two competing cheeses & vote for your favorite! The winner will be put on sale for an entire week!

DAVIS FOOD CO-OP

OPEN DAILY 7AM—10PM 620 G ST, DAVIS • (530) 758-2667

DAVISFOOD.COOP

@DAVISFOODCOOP

2 | THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

CA IT LY N SA MPL EY / AG GIE

Stranger danger February 27 “Mediation with granddaughter who is currently moving out of resident and yelling/causing a scene reporting party has AirBnB tenant staying at location and doesn’t want to expose them to granddaughter’s behavior.”

“Open line with faint conversation then x faintly saying she called by mistake.”

“On the bike path behind above location — two car batteries in close proximity to a transient camp. Reporting party concerned the batteries could shock a child. Request they be picked up.”

February 28 “Transient sleeping in the elevator. Request subject be moved along.”

March 2 “Second floor near elevator, male transient playing loud music from boombox.”

“Request advice for legality of what constitutes stalking.”

March 3 “Female subject told employee to ‘keep an eye out for her because she doesn’t know the person’ keeping her company.”

March 4 “Open line with talking heard, no obvious distress.”

UC Davis police rally around bill that would allow DACA student recipients to enter law enforcement

KATE SH AS KY / UC DAVI S P O LI C E

BY P RI YA N KA SH R E E DA R campus@theaggie.org In order to promote opportunity and increase UC student hiring eligibility, the UC Davis Police Department, led by Chief Joseph Farrow, is pursuing action to pass a bill exempting DACA students from the California citizenship requirement to become a peace officer.

DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, was announced on June 15, 2012 by the Department of Homeland Security and grants certain legal privileges, including the right to work, to undocumented individuals brought to the U.S. as children. DACA is not the same as citizenship and is a deferment of deportation action.

Farrow’s goal is to enact change at the state level that would only affect the UC system. Under the proposal, DACA students would be able to become peace officers. “[Currently,] persons with DACA status are not eligible because there is no pathway to citizenship,” Farrow said.

According to the police department’s website, the academy strives to provide “opportunity for UC Davis seniors and graduate students interested in law enforcement, forensics, criminology and array of other related professions.”

Witnessing a DACA student’s difficulties in the UC Davis Police Department’s Cadet Academy inspired Farrow to pursue this legislative action. Farrow described the student as “distinguished” and “an outstanding cadet.” Issues arose when Farrow wanted to hire him but could not due to legal restrictions.

“The reason I was interested in changing the law supports the very reason I choose to work here,” Farrow said. “Universities are places of social change. We can see things, ask why and perhaps make a change. I saw what I believed to be a problem with a possible resolution.”

Farrow also cited a report from President Barack Obama’s National Task Force on Policing, published in May 2015, as an inspiration for working on the bill. He found that Obama’s report on policing outlined ideals that could be proactively applied to this situation. According to the report, the task force was initiated in order “to strengthen community policing and trust among law enforcement officers and the communities they serve.”

“One of the Pillars of their recommendations was to hire officers who reflected the communities they served,” Farrow said. “I strongly support their findings and the college campus is perhaps the best example of where this is true.

One key recommendation is that law enforce-

Legislation would amend citizenship requirement for law enforcement ment agencies should strive for a workforce that contains a broad range of diversity including race, gender, language, life experience and cultural background at all levels of the organization.”

According to California Government Code Sections 1031 and 1031.5, to be a peace officer in the state one must either be a citizen or a candidate for citizenship. Neither of these Government Codes are inclusive of the population of the United States residents that have DACA status, since DACA students are not eligible for citizenship.

Currently, Farrow and others are in the gradual process of moving legislation into law, which includes working with the University of California Office of the President.

“Right now we are at the stage of gathering information [and] we do not have a draft text,” Farrow said. “When we look at this issue a little closer, we realized we would have to address a Federal statute [...] which means we would have to clear both the state and federal legislative processes. We simply need more time to prepare for such an undertaking.”

Farrow also stated that while the legislation did not receive UCOP’s approval to move forward, that “Chancellor [Gary] May was a strong supporter as is the University President.”

In response to this proposed legislation, UC Davis’ Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Dana Topousis, emailed The California Aggie the following statement on behalf of UC Davis, including May’s view.

“On behalf of UC Davis, I can say that undocumented students contribute to the rich diversity of cultures and perspectives that is integral to our success as a university that serves all Californians,” Topousis said. “They are paving a future for themselves and their families so they can give back to our society. UC Davis graduates who have DACA status have blossomed with careers in medicine, law, science, social work and much more. UC Davis stands firmly in support of all of our undocumented students.”

Farrow stated that this legislation is a continuation of the UC Davis Police Department’s efforts to respond to the campus’ needs and build community trust.

“Policing on a college campus calls for the most contemporary and modern law enforcement agency,” Farrow said. “At the UC Davis Police Department, we are working from the principles in the task force report and taking a critical look at our policies and practices. We want to meet the highest standards of professionalism and make sure our policies are current and relevant.”

Feb. 28 Senate: Meeting adjourns early for Aggie basketball game Gender and Sexuality Commission expresses frustration over lack of support

BY DE ANA ME DINA campus@theaggie.org The Feb. 28 ASUCD Senate meeting was called to order at 6:10 p.m. by Vice President Shaniah Branson. Senators Mohammad Qayum and Maya Barak were absent.

The meeting began with the Campus Center for the Environment’s (CCE) quarterly report by its unit director, Liv Gray. Gray said although last quarter had a few bumps that hindered growth for the organization, it is now heading in a better direction. Staff was fully hired along with a few interns, allowing for five events this quarter as of Feb. 28 with two more planned.

Highlights of the report included Project Compost, which aims to keep compost runs consistent and active at the CoHo, Scrubs Cafe, BioBrew and nursery. Additionally, Project Challenge, a big part of CCE’s revenue, aims to instill “monthly goals on how to rethink sustainable measures in individual life,” Gray said.

Gray finished her report by discussing the unit’s budget and asked Senate members to consider including a $1,500 dollar charge every five years to account for necessary battery changes for the CCE’s golf cart so as to avoid emergency legislation.

Gender and Sexuality Commission Chair Joelle Judeh then gave a quarterly report for GASC, which is close to having a full committee. The work completed so far this quarter included rebuilding connections and learning how to facilitate and hold events while also creating a social media presence. First-year political science major Khalil Malik was also confirmed as a member of GASC. Judeh expressed frustration with Senators on

the table, expressing the belief that not enough effort had been made to support and attend GASC meetings, stating this as “disrespect for the queer community and the trans community in particular.”

Kia Aliakbar gave the quarterly report for the Committee on Committees. One of the committee’s main goals has been trying to clean up the Administrative Advisory Committee’s process that doesn’t always follow their recommendations for student participation.

Lastly, a quarterly report was given for the External Affairs Commission by Chair Nayzak Wali-Ali. The EAC will continue to focus on housing shortages, police accountability, student advocacy and activism. Some of the commission’s biggest accomplishments include the creation of the Davis Housing Discrimination Committee and ASUCD Representative Police Accountability Commission. In an effort to be more transparent with students, EAC members live streamed their report.

The quarterly report for the Mental Health Initiative Committee was pushed to next week due to an absence of available speakers present.

Senate Bill #60, which amended Section 205(C)(b) of the ASUCD Bylaws, and Senate Bill #61, to amend Chapter 7 of the Bylaws, both passed as amended.

Six senate bills were introduced and sent to commissions and committees. Two of the newly-introduced bills were SB #65, which would “establish a newsletter for ASUCD Senators to know about campus events for outreach hours”, and SB #66, which would regulate slates during campaign season for ASUCD elections.

This meeting adjourned early at 8 p.m. as Senate members planned on attending a UC Davis men’s basketball game at the Pavilion.

JER EMY DA N G / AGGIE

ASUCD Office of External Affairs helps introduce agricultural bill to State Assembly UC Davis students doing their part in a global green movement

BY ALLY RU SS E LL campus@theaggie.org UC Davis students submitted a bill designed to reduce water usage on farms to the California State Assembly on Feb. 22. The bill, AB 1086, was authored and introduced by California Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan in collaboration with students.

The bill would provide grants to farmers who convert to micro-irrigation systems, which are more efficient and sustainable than traditional irrigation methods. Unlike sprinklers, which apply water to the field’s surface, micro-irrigation reduces water waste by directing water to the roots of plants. Micro-irrigation can lower water usage by up to 60 percent and increase crop-yields by 90 percent, according to Bauer-Kahan’s website.

Adam Hatefi, a third-year political science and science and technology studies double major, wrote the language for the agricultural bill.

As Chief of Staff for the Office of the External Affairs Vice President (OEAVP), Hatefi reached out to members of the California State Committee on Agriculture in hopes of finding someone willing to author the bill. Hatefi and other bill contributors eventually convinced Bauer-Kahan’s staff to bring AB 1086 to her attention.

From there, Bauer-Kahan agreed to author the bill.

AB 1086 was one of 13 bills introduced to the state assembly on Feb. 22 by Bauer-Kahan, a Democrat who represents the 16th Assembly District. Other bills addressed issues of gun and public safety, education and human trafficking.

Bauer-Kahan released a statement regarding her 2019 legislative bill package.

“These bills demonstrate my support for my

constituents, our students, protecting the environment and our most vulnerable while at the same time promoting fiscal responsibility and transparency in our government,” Bauer-Kahan said.

Moving forward, the bill will enter into a process of hearings and discussions before being voted on. AB 1086 will be seen by a policy committee, go through the House of Origin and the Second House to a third reading stage. Most bills need a majority vote to pass and will eventually need the approval of the governor. If approved, the bill will end up before the Secretary of State to be codified into California law.

Working with a collaborative team of agricultural experts, legislative aids and other students, Hatefi commented on his initial motivation to turn the idea behind this bill into a reality.

“I think one big reason we decided to go with this bill was that we wanted to contribute our part to the green movement,” Hatefi said.

“California has been experiencing a water crisis for years now. Our aim here was to address these issues in whatever small way we can and do our part to contribute to the environmental sustainability of our state.”

Students introduced this bill just two weeks after Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. announced plans to create a Green New Deal that will tackle current carbon emissions and address climate change. AB 1086 is a small part of a national movement lead by young people that demands greater focus on the issue of climate change.

“Moving forward, we hope that small changes like this occur throughout the U.S. and that we can all continue to push green legislation across all cities, counties and states,” said Edgar Masias-Malagon, the ASUCD External Affairs Vice President.

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019 | 3

A L LYS O N KO / AG G I E

Davis police encourage residents to sign up for YoloAlert warning network after downtown shooting

MICHA EL LEA HY / AGG IE

BY T IM LALO NDE city@theaggie.org

UC Berkeley Retirement Center pilots home-sharing program for retirees, graduate students Home Match as a housing solution that could be explored for Davis

BY AN N E F E Y city@theaggie.org The UC Berkeley Retirement Center has started a program where retired UC Berkeley faculty can provide housing to UC Berkeley graduate students. So far, three pairs of students and retirees have been matched through the Home Match pilot program, with hopes to match three more. The vision is that the program will be mutually beneficial, saving students 10 percent in rent and offering retirees support to stay in their homes longer, with the center and its resources present to assist both parties throughout the process.

The program, developed in conjunction with the center’s partners including Ashby Village, Legal Assistance for Seniors, At Home With Getting Older, SEEDS Community Resolution Center, Transition Network Home, Covia and six others — is funded by a Chancellor’s Community Partnership Fund grant, which the center received last fall.

According to Cary Sweeney, the retirement center’s director, Covia has been a key partner in providing additional seed money, guidance and materials. Covia also has a home-sharing program for retirees that is being expanded and is not limited to only students.

The idea was also implemented in Santa Cruz, Boston and Canada, according to Sweeney. Sweeney hopes that Berkeley can offer leadership for other colleges if the program goes well but said that the “verdict is still out” regarding how adaptable the program might be for other colleges in cities with housing crises like Berkeley’s.

“We certainly have a vision of creating a model that’s scalable out to other campuses,” Sweeney said. “It just takes time and effort, so that’s what I think we’re learning. We’re six months into the program, only a couple weeks into the matches […] I think we’ll have a better sense of [adaptability] once we’re complete with the grant, which is at the end of the academic year.”

If a similar housing program were to be piloted by the UC Davis Retiree Center, the admin-

istration would be interested in supporting the program, according to Emily Galindo, the vice chancellor for student affairs at UC Davis.

“I think it’s a great option for students,” Galindo said. “It’s certainly something worth exploring. It seems like it will be a win-win for both parties, and, in fact, there are a lot of faculty and staff that routinely do provide opportunities in housing for students — I just don’t know of a formalized program.”

Galindo added that although UC Davis does not necessarily have a grant parallel to the one at UC Berkeley that the center received, the university is still interested in providing opportunities for programs like this.

“Individuals are always welcome to put forth ideas,” Galindo said.

Launching the program, however, required a lot of time and effort, so it would be a big commitment and project for the UC Davis Retiree Center and community partners.

For Berkeley’s program, the center met with Legal Assistance for Senior and the City of Berkeley, and shared the program’s documents with stakeholders on campus for input about details and policies to consider. They have also held recruitment meetings for students and orientation sessions for homeowners and received advice from SEEDS Community Resolution Center about how to get ahead of potential conflicts.

Lou Ziskind, the director for the UC Davis Retiree Center, confirmed that a home-sharing program is not currently in the works in Davis.

“At this point in time the UCD Retiree Center has not begun any discussions about the program UC Berkeley is piloting,” Ziskind said via email.

Sweeney said that graduate student Rachel Bell created an evaluation protocol to determine the program’s success, particularly in its emotional impacts, which could be a useful element in determining whether and how to implement it in other places.

“We hope that this will be able to show that it’s beyond the value of sort of just getting affordable rent or just having someone live with you, and that perhaps we can move the needle on levels of stress and loneliness,” Sweeney said.

CA ITLYN SA MPLEY / AGGIE

JUMP’s bikeshare service more popular than Uber in Sacramento 53 to 47 percent margin indicates bikeshare preferred over rideshare

BY H A N N A N WA L I U L L A H city@theaggie.org A study conducted by Uber indicated that its bikeshare service JUMP has become more popular than its ridesharing counterpart in the Sacramento area. JUMP bikes are more popular than the ride-service by a 53 to 47 percent margin. Sacramento and the surrounding area are the only location out of 16 studied in which this is the case.

While the study was conducted in October of 2018, the numbers were released this February. Uber acquired the JUMP bikeshare service in April of 2018. Last May, the bikeshare service launched in Davis, with 60 bikes currently sprinkled throughout both the city and the UC campus. By the end of last summer, there were around 900 bikes in the Sacramento area. Despite the high number of bikes, not even Uber predicted that the bikeshare service would soon reach this level of popularity.

“We were honestly surprised,” said Alex Hagelin, head of Uber’s JUMP bike program in Sacramento to the The Sacramento Bee. “Uber has been around for years, and in just five months, our bikes were generating more trips. This is the first time we have seen this in any of our cities to date.”

According to Ramon Zavala, the transportation demand manager for UC Davis Transportation Services, there aren’t enough JUMP bikes at

UC Davis or the city of Davis to keep up with the demand in Davis.

“We currently don’t have enough JUMP bikes in Davis [and] at UC Davis to meet all the demand and demand will certainly increase as more people feel like they can rely on finding a JUMP bike nearby when one is needed,” Zavala said via email.

Zavala also acknowledged, however, that since he’s not a student, his needs for a JUMP bike might not reflect everyone else’s needs.

“Demand is relative and hard to measure,” Zavala said. “When I take Unitrans in to campus instead of riding my bike, I rely on JUMP to get around campus. 50 percent of the time, I can find a JUMP bike near me or along my errand route that doesn’t require me to go out of my way.

But my daily travel needs don’t reflect a student’s needs or every other employee’s needs.”

According to Zavala, there are a few reasons why one would use a JUMP bike over ordering an Uber. For trips of smaller distances or errands, a JUMP bike would be more efficient than an Uber.

“If you’re traveling less than 3 miles [...] a JUMP bike just makes sense,” Zavala said. “One can easily go 3 miles in 15 minutes on a JUMP bike, use only a quarter of one’s daily allotted JUMP time, and not break a sweat (a benefit of the electric pedal assist system). Those three miles will cost you $7-$15 (depending on congestion) via a ride-hailing system.”

A JUMP bike costs $2 for the first 30 minutes

Police are urging Davis residents to enroll with YoloAlert, an emergency notification network, after issues with other notification systems came to light following the shooting of Officer Natalie Corona.

On the evening of Jan. 10, a manhunt was underway for the man who shot Corona. With a presumably armed cop-killer at large somewhere in the city, police wanted Davis residents to remain indoors as much as possible. Warnings were posted on Twitter and Facebook, along with an ABC10 video interview with the latest updates available at the time. In the video, Lt. Paul Doroshov of the Davis Police Department advised residents to stay where they were until the killer had been found.

“If you live here, please stay in your house,” Doroshov told residents via ABC10. “Shelter in place. Don’t come out if you don’t need to. If you don’t live here, and you’re thinking of coming to central Davis right now, please don’t. It’s very dynamic — we have a lot [of ] law enforcement here, and we still have somebody that’s out there that’s dangerous.”

But only those who had social media accounts had any chance of coming across these posts. Separately, the UC Davis emergency system WarnMe had also sent out an emergency notification about the shooting but failed to notify the majority of students and staff in its network.

Warnings also went out across the YoloAlert network, the city’s emergency notification network on the Everbridge platform. Texts warning residents to stay indoors went out to Davis residents using phones within AT&T and Verizon’s networks, as well those who had already opted into the system.

Doroshov said that the challenge of notifying Davis residents during the manhunt prompted the Davis police to attempt to raise awareness of the YoloAlert network. The problem with Face-

and $0.07 for every 15 minutes thereafter. This cheaper price might be another reason why students would choose a JUMP bike rather than a rideshare service.

“If I miss the bus, and if I need to get to a place quickly on time, I think the JUMP bike is the best way to go, just because it’s cheaper than Uber,” said Yash Dani, a second-year computer science major at UC Davis. “If you need to go somewhere farther — like from my apartment to maybe downtown or somewhere that has some distance with no easy bus access — then JUMP bikes would be what I would use.”

Additionally, Dani said that the bike culture of Davis adds to the convenience of using JUMP bikes.

“Biking is definitely the fastest way around

Issues with previous emergency notification channels during manhunt highlight need for better warning system in Davis

book and Twitter, according to Doroshov, is that important messages are unlikely to reach the majority of community members.

“The only problem with social media is that you have to be actively on it and looking for that [information], whereas with this system, we can notify people via text on [their] phone, even if they’re not prepared to hear something’s going on,” Doroshov said.

The Davis Police Department announced the launch of the program in 2014 in a bulletin on the City of Davis website, noting that both unlisted and listed numbers in the AT&T and Verizon networks would be automatically added to the database. It encouraged users with other service providers to register their information with the new network. In addition to situations like the Corona shooting, YoloAlert also provides important information about road closures, weather warnings and missing person reports.

“Alerts and notifications that residents might receive through this system include time-sensitive messages about flooding, levee failures, severe weather, disaster events, unexpected road closures, missing persons and evacuations of buildings and neighborhoods in specific geographic locations,” the post read.

As the name suggests, the YoloAlert network includes residents from all of Yolo County, not just the city of Davis. Similar systems are set up nearby in Sacramento and Placer counties.

Doroshov said the police want as many Yolo County citizens as possible to register in order to create a more robust emergency alert network.

“We’re trying to significantly raise membership if we can,” Doroshov said. “It’s the system that’s uniformly used throughout our county and multiple other neighboring counties, so it’s one that’s good to have.”

To add contact information with YoloAlert network, visit yolo-alert.org and register for an account. Information about other social media notification systems used by the Davis PD can be found on the City of Davis website.

Davis, except the winter,” Dani said. “ [The bikes] work really well specifically for Davis since Davis is already known as a bike school. It’s well established for biking, there’s a lot of bike paths. You can get place to place through bike in a relatively safe manner.”

According to Zavala, the convenience of using a JUMP bike might make it easier for newcomers to the bike scene.

“Almost every bicyclist at UC Davis has purchased a new or used bike and most of those bicyclists had no clue what they were doing the first time.” Zavala said. “[...] You don’t have to worry about that with a JUMP bike. You sign up, pay your $30, adjust the seat height, wear a helmet, and ride. When you’re done, you lock it to a bike rack and walk away.”

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

4 | THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019

CAN’T TOUCH THIS: AVOIDING ILLNESS AT UNIVERSITY LU I S LO P E Z / AG G I E

Students discuss the preventive measures they take to avoid getting sick

BY ANJINI VENUGOPAL features@theaggie.org Gesundheit! Being sick is never fun, and the prevalence of sickness during the winter, accompanied by gloomy days, early sunsets and crowded Unitrans buses full of wet umbrellas, can be particularly discouraging. A violently loud sneeze during lecture may garner a “bless you” from the professor, while during a certain midterm, sniffles seem to harmonize all around. On top of actually being sick, college students are no longer at home and find themselves with added responsi-

bility when taking care of themselves.

Students like first-year biochemistry and molecular biology major Aparna Manoj find getting sick inconvenient. Manoj said that by constantly being surrounded by so many more people than she would be at home, it feels easier to get sick and harder to recover.

“When someone gets sick, everyone gets sick,” Manoj said. “Usually when I get sick it lasts a few days, but here it lasts [a] week, even with all the medication.”

First-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major Palavi Lodhia agreed with this.

When Lodhia was sick recently, she also found it

BATTLE OF THE BURGERS

hard to recover. Manoj tries to drink warm water and avoid cold food, something that Lodhia would have liked to do, but was unable to.

“Being at home, I have parents to help,” Lodhia said. “But here I am on my own with limited food and resources to help me recover […] the market doesn’t have vegetarian soup and I can’t drink tea, so I barely drank any warm liquids.”

Going to classes became challenging, according to Lodhia, in part due to a lack of motivation when classes are far away from the comforts of home. Students who live off campus have the added step of getting to campus and then going from class to class. Not only are there classes to stay on top of, but there are also other responsibilities, including club involvement and work obligations.

Many students try to avoid getting sick by taking precautions beforehand. For some, like second-year environmental policy analysis and planning major Liliana Jeske, this includes getting a flu shot. Lodhia generally gets an annual flu shot, but was unable to this year because of the insurance she has.

“I get [my flu shot] just to be safe and think others should too,” Lodhia said. “I only went to the Wellness Center once to try to get a flu shot, and they didn’t accept my insurance and said there was no one available to give me one regardless at the time I went. So that kind of sucked.”

The Student Health and Wellness Center can be hard to navigate as students have concerns about the UC Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) waiver, insurance and payment options. Neither Jeske nor Manoj have gone before, though Manoj considered it when she had a long-lasting cold.

Lodhia makes sure to hydrate and drink Emergen-C, a staple in many dorm rooms (the classic flavor of Super Orange has a distinct smell that can remind anyone of storm clouds around Tercero). When the weather is bad, she controls the amount of time that she spends outside and what she wears. Once she is sick, she tries to

catch up on sleep and sometimes homework as well if she can focus on it.

Manoj, on the other hand, doesn’t typically get a flu shot. Her preventative measures are similar to Lodhia’s, and she also tries to eat healthier.

She says that although “it seems kind of silly,” she sometimes just tells her body not to get sick as “a desperate measure.”

“I get all my vaccines and everything of course, because it’s important to be protected against serious illness,” Manoj said. “But if the flu doesn’t seem really abnormal, my family usually doesn’t get the flu shot.”

Manoj understands that everyone has different reasons for choosing or not choosing to get the flu shot each year, but her reasons reside in her health history.

“For me personally, it’s because I don’t get sick that often at all, and usually I don’t get the flu, but my family also kind of thinks that getting sick at times is better, ironically,” Manoj went on.

“I guess the logic is to let your body really get sick and fight it off to kind of revamp your system, but of course this only applies with the common cold, not anything serious.”

Although many students try to stay on top of classwork and other responsibilities, prioritizing one’s health is important as well. And all things considered, nobody wants to get sick.

“Don’t go to class if you’re really, really sick, [especially] if you’re working with or next to other people,” Jeske said. “You don’t really want to catch what other people have.”

Of course, this advice can be more easily said than done. Many classes require a doctor’s note for absences or have strict attendance policies.

Though this can prevent students more attached to their pillow than their textbooks from missing weeks of lecture, it comes at the expense of sniffly students coming to crowded classrooms and spreading what no one wants to have during finals season.

This being said, take care of yourself, and in doing so, you will be taking care of your fellow Aggies.

JA MIE CHEN / AGGIE

Cool Cuisine Burger Battle offers competition for plant-based burger artisans

BY SIERRA BURGUENO features@theaggie.org This year, March is all about being green: not just for St. Patrick’s Day, but for the Cool Cuisine Burger Battle happening in Davis. Cool Cuisine is a partnership between organizations and individuals that searches for the tastiest plant-based burgers. According to the Cool Cuisine website, “restaurants in Davis will compete to create the most mouth-watering, enticing, planet-friendly, plant-based burgers and diners will vote on each one they taste!”

There are many different restaurants here at Davis that are participating in the contest, even some on campus. See below a list of restaurants and the name of their plant-based burgers:

Chef Arturo Gonzalez Solomon’s Delicatessen- “Pastrami Burger” created by Chef Aimal Formoli Spokes Grill- “Beyond Bulgogi” Tercero Dining Commons- “Eggplant Parmesan Burger” created by Chef Robert Reilly The Gunrock- “Beyond Bella” The Hotdogger- “Bratwurst with Sauerkraut” created by Chef Ivan Franks Yeti Restaurant- “Bara Bara Nepalese Burger” created by Chef Prajwal Bajracharya

Bistro 33- “Impossible Burger” created by Chef Manny Cruz

Zumapoke & Lush Ice- created by Chef Rachael Ryen

Chay Corner at Lazi Cow- “Grilled Goodness Burger” created by Chef Chay (Brandon Dinh)

As of March 1, anyone and everyone is invited to visit these restaurants and vote on each burger based on a five point scale of “ok” to “awesome” in the following categories: taste, presentation, texture, unique flavor, juiciness and similarity to real meat.

The voting form is located online. Each vote gives you one entry into a raffle for the chance to win a one night stay in a Grass Valley guest house. The site also indicates that “we will tally all of the rankings at the end and give awards to our competing chefs as well as calculate the Burger Battle’s environmental impact on savings of water, energy, and contributions to greenhouse gas.”

Having a plant-based burger competition is Cool Cuisine’s way of attempting to crush the misperception surrounding plant-based food and encourage the public to recognize the possibili-

Cuarto Dining Commons- “Road Runner Burger” created by Chef Janos Levin Davis Food Coop- “Pakora Fritter Burger” created by Chef Terry Brooks and Kathryn French De Vere’s Irish Pub- “Southwest Vegan Burger” Segundo Dining Commons- “Falafel Burger” created by Chef Cesar Cienfuegos Smokin’ Ewe BBQ at G Street Wunderbar“Smokey Quinoa Portobello Burger” created by

ties, according to Anya McCann the founder of Cool Cuisine.

“COOL Cuisine hopes that after an excellent experience with something as approachable as the all-American burger… with a twist,” McCann said. “Diners will be willing to eat more sustainable foods more often, seek them out and support them in restaurants, too. The burgers in the competition] offer generally more healthy, nutritional content: lower fat, low cholesterol and are full of good things your body needs to function well and feel good, like vitamins from vegetables and fiber from grains and protein from nuts and legumes.”

Richard Ronquillo, the associate director of Departmental and Student Outreach for Student Housing and Dining Services, said, “UC Davis has incredibly talented chefs who work hard to create a variety of great food and this is an opportunity to show everyone how good the good on campus really is.”

UC Davis Dining Services has created an eggplant parmesan burger, a falafel burger, a sweet

potato and black bean burger and a “Beyond” burger. The toppings range from vegan mozzarella and marinara to roasted pasilla, avocado puree and roasted red pepper to spicy mayonnaise, kimchi, Portobello and chimichurri sauce.

To encourage the public to try these new burgers, Ronquillo said the Dining Services department has made an effort to create unique recipes that attract students.

“In the last 15 months, [the Dining Services Program] have created some incredible recipes, forged relationships with even more local growers and really are doing some amazing and delicious things with our campus dining program,” Ronquillo said. “Eating a meal is a great way to create memories and explore different cultures, and I encourage everyone to step out and try new things.”

If you like eating burgers, especially plantbased ones, you should participate in the Cool Cuisine Burger Battle happening all throughout the month of March. In the words of Anya McCann, “Go forth and eat.”

WITH ONLY FOREVER 21 AND TARGET, WHERE ELSE DO STUDENTS SHOP? ZACHA RY LACSON / AGGIE

Small town Davis’ lack of clothing shops causes students to resort to online resources

BY LINH NGUYEN features@theaggie.org Davis is undeniably smaller than well-known California cities like Los Angeles or San Francisco. Due to its small town nature, there are fewer resources. The only mall in Davis is the University Mall, whose only retail shop is Forever 21.

There’s also a Target, but that is a bit further away from campus, making it difficult for students living in the dorms to get there.

The two closest large commercial shopping centers are in Vacaville and Sacramento, both about 20 miles from the UC Davis campus. The expense of gas and the time taken out of the day to drive to these cities makes it inconvenient and a burden for many students, especially those living in the dorms who don’t have cars. While there are many stores in downtown Davis, like thrift stores and independent jewelry, shoe and clothing shops, there are no big-name stores to satiate a commercial interest. With this struggle, students must resort to other ways of shopping.

“Mostly everything is online shopping,” said Minna Luu, a second-year international relations and French major. “I shop more online and pre-

fer to shop online because I feel like I have more options, and I usually find more things on sale than if I go into the stores and try to find the same thing. It’s easier for me to be decisive online because it doesn’t really feel like I spent money because I don’t have the physical item yet.”

While there are many benefits to shopping online, such as what Luu described, there are also some pitfalls.

“One con about shopping online, though, is that I spend way more time online because I lose track of time and sometimes spend more in order to receive free shipping because I am one of those people that will refuse to pay for shipping,” Luu said. “Also, it’s hard to shop online because I can’t physically try on what I’m buying and make sure it fits correctly, and then it’s a pain to return afterwards if it doesn’t fit.”

Luu said that she does shop in-stores sometimes when she goes back to her hometown, where she used to shop about every other month before moving to Davis.

“On the other hand, while shopping in person, I can easily try something on and see if I like it or not,” Luu said. “I buy less because I’m either too lazy to get in line and wait to pay for it or I

am indecisive so I change my mind a lot more when I physically have [an item] and I question whether or not it’s worth it.”

First-year electrical engineering major Sabri Kuc said that before moving to Davis, he used to go shopping about once a month. Now having moved up to Davis, he says he shops about once every two months.

“I don’t shop online,” Kuc said. “Shopping in stores is usually easier because I know what I want so I walk in, buy it and just walk out.”

Kuc noted that since there are not a lot of shopping options in Davis, he does not shop as often as he did and only goes when he’s back in his hometown.

Students who used to shop often and no longer can in person suffer from the lack of retail stores available in Davis, yet still reap the benefits of online shopping. Meanwhile, those who did not shop often at all and feel no desire to shop now are in the clear and are not heavily affected and find Forever 21 and Target sufficient enough.

THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019 | 5

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Aggie Racks ReCYCLE project offers opportunity for designers and adds character to campus

KU LJIT SAH OTA

Freshly decorated newsracks echo traditions of Davis with eco-friendly art

BY OL I V I A LU C H I NI features@theaggie.org When an employee of The California Aggie enthusiastically offers you a copy of the latest paper, take it. You might not realize it, but an incredible amount of effort went into getting that issue in print, and some of the soon-graduating members of the newspaper’s staff are just old enough to remember a time with no newspapers, no newsracks and no reason to hand out copies from a Memorial Union table every Thursday.

With bright blue newsracks sprinkled all over the central campus in even the most peculiar places, the history of The California Aggie’s battle to get physical copies of their paper to distribute seems distant. From 2014 to 2016, however, the campus was barren of physical papers, following in the unfortunate footsteps of many publications leaving print in the twenty-first century.

The newspaper was taken out of print for two years, returning two years ago with a mission to bring news to the community. Now, The California Aggie looks to bring eco-friendly art representative of Davis’ character to these many blue racks with the help of student designers and artists.

Hired by the university in Jan. 2017, new business manager Laurie Pederson was challenged to rebuild the advertising department by marketing the newspaper, online media and products to a student community who never fully knew The Aggie or learned the importance of traditional newspapers. She started with The Aggie’s public presence: its distribution stands.

Due to the newspaper being out of print for two years, the 36 racks were in no condition to be used once the newspaper returned. Therefore, the Aggie Racks Restoration project was born through the efforts of not only Pederson but student managers and designers from three different teams: The California Aggie, Unitrans and The Bike Barn. Unitrans retrieved all the racks and primed, sanded and painted them to be ready for

their rejuvenation.

The second phase of this project began in Jan. 2018, thanks to a $2,000 Green Initiative Fund granted from ASUCD TGIF fund. This went entirely to student designers who would use recycled parts of bicycles to decorate the racks in a way that reflected the campus. The Bike Barn provided materials for the creators: wheels, gears and even bike frames. The new racks, as much as they are for The California Aggie, are largely for the campus, and this is precisely why the mission for designers involved the town’s primary mode of transportation.

The fund was to cover the creation of 15 units of distributions (newsracks). The primary goal was to mirror the spirit of the campus all while demonstrating the sustainable use of recycled bike parts in a creative new way. Parts were donated by The Bike Barn and TAPs, the call for artists was sent and the Aggie office became the dedicated storage space for spare parts. Student designers not only got to leave a permanent mark on the campus, but they got to work with design mentor, Jord Nelson, who offered his space, time and tools to students so that they could create freely.

Not only does this opportunity allow designers to leave their own legacy on campus, but it also saves bike parts from being added to a mountain at the local dump by giving them new life.

The UC Davis campus is defined a lot by its eccentric art, with the Eggheads by Robert Arneson being the subject of senior pictures and first-visit-celebration photoshoots alike. The Aggie Racks ReCYCLE project offers students a chance to contribute to this spirit of the campus through their own artistic vision.

With four units completed and now residing on campus, The Aggie is still looking for designers to tackle the 11 remaining racks with their own artistic vision. Students interested in designing their very own rack can contact Laurie Pederson at lmpederson@ucdavis.edu or by calling (530) 752-9877.

M AT T WO NG & J O R D NE L S O N

LAURI E P E D E RS O N / AGGI E

S H E LB IE CO NDIE

L AU RIE PEDERSON / AGG IE

MELANI E FAZI O

LAU R IE PEDER SON / AGGIE

L AU RIE PEDERSON / AGG IE

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

6 | THURSDAY, March 14, 2019

Opinion THE

C ALIFORNIA A GGIE EDITO R I A L B OA R D EMILY STACK Editor-in-Chief

Student loans make up majority of young Americans’ debt Realistic solutions are needed to tackle trillion dollar crisis

OLIVIA ROCKEMAN Managing Editor HANNAH HOLZER Campus News Editor KAELYN TUERMER-LEE City News Editor TARYN DEOILERS Opinion Editor OLIVIA LUCHINI Features Editor LIZ JACOBSON Arts & Culture Editor DOMINIC FARIA Sports Editor HARNOOR GILL Science & Tech Editor

SYDNEY ODMAN New Media Manager BRIAN LANDRY Photo Director TREVOR GOODMAN Video Production Manager OLIVIA KOTLAREK Design Director JONATHAN CHEN Layout Director HANNA BAUBLITZ Copy Chief CECILIA MORALES Copy Chief ZOË REINHARDT Website Manager HALI ZWEIGORDON Social Media Manager GRACE SIMMONS Newsletter Manager LAURIE PEDERSON Business Development Manager

Debt among 19 to 29-year-old Americans exceeded $1 trillion by the end of 2018, the highest debt level for this age group since the global financial crisis hit in late 2007. A financial figure of that size is unfathomable, but what’s more unfathomable is the fact that the majority of this debt comes from student loans. During a time when U.S. economy boasts low unemployment and positive economic growth, it is unacceptable for young people to continue to face steep financial hurdles in order to pursue higher education.

In the U.S., a majority of total debt for all age groups comes from mortgage loans. That being said, student loan debt has increased by 102 percent since 2009, while mortgage debt has only increased by 3.2 percent. Additionally, 11.42 percent of student loan debt is 90 or more days overdue, the highest delinquency rate of all debt types. These two facts paint a clear picture: the cost of an education is getting more and more expensive, and it isn’t becoming any easier to pay.

The burden of debt on young Americans takes a toll on their ability to make long-term investments in things like cars or homes. This lack of spending by Millennials and Generation Z could limit the pace of economic growth, according to a report from the University of Michigan. Policymakers, universities and even venture capitalists have introduced ideas to address concerns about debt and the slowed pace of consumer spending among young consumers, but many of them are disorganized, unfair or overly optimistic.

The U.S. Department of Education offers the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program, which forgives student loan debt for Americans who work in government organizations or for nonprofits and have already made 120 monthly payments. While the program sounds

great, there are so many rules for qualification that most applicants get turned away. Last year, only 2 percent of applications for loan forgiveness were approved under the program, according to Buzzfeed News.

In another effort to address student loan debt, Senator Kamala Harris reintroduced the Debt-Free College Act along with 42 other senators on March 6. The program would create a partnership where the federal government would match higher education state appropriations “dollar for dollar” to double overall funding. The idea is a creative one, but passing a bill that asks for millions of dollars from the federal government is unlikely at best.

Income sharing agreements have also become a popular concept to mitigate the effects of student loan debt.

Under an income sharing agreement, college students attend school for free, and instead agree to pay back a percentage of their income after they graduate, depending on their salary. Both Purdue University and Lambda School, an online education startup, have begun to experiment with income sharing agreements. In January, Lambda School received $30 million in venture capital funding.

While all of these ideas were created with the intention of alleviating student loan debt, each of them is flawed. The PSLF favors students who pursue public service careers and passage of the Debt-Free College Act is unrealistic. Income sharing agreements are especially troubling because universities will likely favor students seeking high-paying STEM careers over those who pursue equally respectable but lower-paying professions. It’s time for universities, loan servicers, states and the federal government to work together to create realistic solutions for the financial burden of higher education — student debt is $1 trillion too high.

The millennial left’s dangerous disinterest in the Trump-Russia scandal WHY PURSUING TRUMP’S RUSSIA CONNECTION IS A CRUCIAL AND PRAGMATIC STEP IN PURSUING A PROGRESSIVE AMERICA

BY BEN JA M I N P O RT E R bbporter@ucdavis.edu Anyone who can’t stand the fact that Donald Trump is president probably agrees that his greatest accomplishment has been catalyzing a powerful new counterwave of civic engagement among younger people.

This younger generation of progressive millennials is strongly motivated by views and values that sharply contrast with Trump’s, especially on topics like healthcare, the environment and social justice. It’s wonderful to see so many young people passionately engaging with these important problems. I’ve grown increasingly concerned, however, with the lack of interest and knowledge from people of my generation in the expansive investigation into Trump’s ties to the Russian Government.

Or, as Trump referred to it in an interview in which he admitted to obstruction of justice (a crime) on live TV, “this Russia thing, with Trump and Russia.”

Over the last two years, I’ve observed equally-concerned commentators allude to this disinterest. Even more powerfully, I’ve had numerous encounters with friends who don’t even know basic information about the scandal, like who Robert Mueller is, the fact

that actual crimes have been uncovered and the fact that the Russia story is NOT “that thing where Trump asked Stormy Daniels to pee on him,” as my friend once thought.

Thus, I realized it would be a tall order to hope that they would understand the gravity of the House Intelligence Committee issuing subpoenas for over 80 individuals and organizations associated with Trump on March 4.

This disinterest in the Russia scandal is appalling because of what’s at stake. Determining whether Trump, his businesses and his campaign were or still are in a corrupt relationship with the Russian government, and whether one or all of those parties are in an ongoing effort to cover up that relationship, should take priority over any other subject like healthcare, climate change or social justice.

The Russia scandal gets to the very heart of the values, principles and robust institutions that have sustained our democracy for over two centuries, regardless of whether conservatives or liberals were in power. Failure to realize this significance is a symptom of our worsening understanding of civics and lack of appreciation for the strengths and weaknesses of the American democratic system. This ironic combination of increased civic engagement and decreased civic knowledge perhaps goes hand-in-hand with the younger generation’s

ALLYSON KO / AGGIE heightened idealism and progressivism.

Many millennials who have only known a post-Soviet Russia hold the view that fearing Russia is antiquated — that it’s stupid and impractical to keep demonizing the Russians when we won the Cold War almost three decades ago. It’s absolutely true that we

should neither demonize the Russian people nor conflate them with the Russian government in any circumstances, but we must also remember that the people running the Russian government never stopped fighting the

PORTER on 12

Is it time to finally restructure our state legislature?

CALIFORNIA’S RURAL VOTERS ARE FEELING INCREASINGLY LEFT OUT OF THE STATE’S POLITICAL PROCESSES

BY BRA N D O N J E T T E R brjetter@ucdavis.edu Take a drive from California’s north to its south, and you’ll realize just how diverse the state really is — geographically, culturally and, yes, even politically.

While extensive population growth and wide scale demographic change have solidified California’s political homogeneity, the state’s far north has remained largely immune to this transformation. The vast, sprawling forestlands of Northern California have persisted as outposts of hardline conservatism amidst a sea of blue. An area of 13 of the state’s northernmost counties was recently dubbed by The New York Times as “California’s Great Red North,” featuring just three percent of the state’s population but over one-fifth of its landmass.

California’s other dwindling Republican strongholds, such as the High Desert and the Central Valley, also feature rural communities

strung across vast swaths of land.

In a state whose 53-strong congressional delegation features 46 Democrats, nowhere does California feel less like the liberal enclaves of San Francisco or Los Angeles than in the rustic cattle ranches of the Central Valley or in the rural logging communities around Mount Shasta. Given the vastly different cultural identities and economic concerns of these diverse regions, it follows that they would frequently butt heads politically. The problem is that now California’s rural voters feel increasingly left out of the state’s political processes.

Much of this is due to the problematic nature of California’s state legislature. Currently, the state features a bicameral legislature consisting of the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the California State Senate, with 40 members. Representatives in both bodies are equally spread among the state’s nearly 40 million residents. This means more people are represented by State Senators (931,349) than by California’s 53 members of the United States House of Representatives

(704,566 people). California’s lower house, the State Assembly, features just over 465,000 residents per assemblymember. By contrast, the New Hampshire House of Representatives features 400 seats — each member representing just over 3,320 constituents.

Since 1862, California’s bicameral legislature has limited the number of statewide representatives to just 120 people, spread across the state’s two houses. The refusal of state lawmakers to expand limitations on representation has led to the accumulation of political power by heavily populated urban enclaves.

Not only has this left rural Californians feeling robbed of a voice, it has also worked to diminish the influence individual voters have upon their representatives.

This has led to a state that, despite Democratic supermajorities in both chambers, continues to suffer from mass middle class outmigration, skyrocketing rent and a Gini coefficient on par with many Latin American countries.

Expanding the lower house to reduce the

number of constituents represented by each member would give communities greater say in political decision-making, irrespective of geography or ideology. As such, it is a proposal that would likely enjoy a great degree of bipartisan support.

Most controversially, California should also consider restructuring its state Senate system to tie legislators to jurisdictions based upon regions, as opposed to equal populations. A power divide between the two houses would increase ideological diversity in one of the most politically homogeneous states in the country. Additionally, it could help ensure that voices in California’s valuable agricultural and logging industries do not go ignored. It would also give Native American communities, specifically those in the state’s northwest, a bigger say.

California has long been heralded as an image of the country’s future; a diverse, trendsetting culture that spread amongst an assortment of different people. Now it’s time to make sure they all have a seat at the table.

THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019 | 7

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

HUMOR

Davis student uses Hydro Flask to fight off angry turkeys TURKEYS GONE WILD

BY HI L A RY OJINNAKA hiojinnaka@ucdavis.edu Now I know you read the headline thinking this is some desperate attempt to promote the wildlife here at Davis or a smear campaign against the over-hyped and depressingly expensive Hydro Flask, but that’s an article for another week.

I’m here to tell you about the modern-day David versus Goliath battle. Yes, the angry Davis turkeys against a stressed-out Davis student who just so happened to have a Hydro Flask in hand. The Hydro Flask was custom-made and bedazzled, rumored to hold 80 ounces of pure Acqua di Cristallo Tributo a Modigliani water.

But as the student came out of a meeting they had with a Gary May cardboard cutout, he noticed several turkeys slowly waddling toward him, as if they were sizing him up for their own personal pleasures. Thankfully, the student remembered a few signs from the Bike Barn that offered tips on how to handle such a fowl situation: Tip #1: Mind your own business. Turkeys can sense when you’re thinking about how

Aggie Cash

BY ROSE Y M O R E ART Y rosey@morearty.org

nice they would look on your Thanksgiving plate.

Tip #2: Perform the “Macarena.” The bird-like movements paired with horrible coordination should scare off the turkeys.

Tip #3: If the turkeys fly toward your face, grab both of their wings and catapult them into the sunset.

Unfortunately for this particular Davis student, these helpful tips only piqued the wild gang of turkeys. The student only had two choices at this point: run and get stomped out by a bunch of wild turkeys or stay and show those turkeys who’s the bravest hen in the barn.

With a Hydro Flask in one hand and a bike ticket in the other, the student did what most people who own a Hydro Flask do at least ten times a day — he dropped his Hydro Flask on that cold blacktop concrete with the confidence of a student who successfully cheated on a midterm.

Once they heard that deafening sound of the Hydro Flask, the gang of turkeys flew away in a hurry.

As legend has it, the student originally planned to throw a bike ticket at the gang of turkeys and run.

Marvel creates new UCD-themed comic book, “The Agents of Shields Library” AG-VENGERS, ASSEMBLE!

BY MADE LINE KU M AGAI mskumagai@ucdavis.edu Superheros are all the rage these days.

It’s understandable why they’re so popular.

Companies like DC and Marvel make great stories and awesome superpowers for their heroes in tights and capes. I mean, what kid DOESN’T want to be Batman? He has the coolest superpower: being rich and owning thangs!

To hop on the hero hype train, UC Davis partnered with Marvel to create a new UCD-themed comic book. Why not DC, you ask? DC has superior storytelling in its comics, you say? Too bad! Having ‘Marvel’ in the headline is probably gonna get this article more #views.

If you’ve had enough of my wall-breaking, then get ready to meet the characters of the new comic book series “Agents of Shields Library.”

Meet the brains of the group: Dr. Peter Aitchdee, Ph.D. Aitchdee got his doctorate through the UCD mechanical and aerospace engineering graduate program. He’s as smart as Iron Man but definitely not as rich (Ph.D salaries, amirite?). Aitchdee uses his knowledge to build his fellow agents cool gadgets.

Fun fact: He was originally a design major.

Up next in our lineup is the brawn. Na na na na na na, it’s FRATMAN! Meet Fratman, current UCD third-year and president of Delta Iota Kappa Fraternity. His Christian name is Chad Bradley Fratterson III, but most people refer to him as “the guy who hogs the weights at the ARC.” Fratman has always been jacked, but he became super jacked after falling into a toxic vat of jungle juice at a party. He can crush boulders with

his bare hands and lift cars using the strength of a hundred pledges. Fratman can also spit poisonous loogies to stun his enemies. Talk about toxic masculinity!

This group of agents sounds like a real sausage fest so far. But fear not! Just like the Avengers and the Justice League, we also have a token female member. This character was one of the hardest of the bunch to design.

Squirrel Girl is already a Marvel superhero, and a female cow-themed hero sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen. Instead, meet Miss Guider. She’s a tour guide who can move as fast as the Flash, but backwards.

She’s ambitious, light on her feet and here to give Wonder Woman a run for her money as a feminist icon.

Every group needs a chaotic good, moral compass. Preacherman fills that role and is honestly the most powerful of the group.

This dude’s got the power of God and anime on his side. And he even has a cute dog.

No super squad is complete without a great leader. (It’s Gary May. Duh.) Watch this team battle the Sac State Hornets and bad PR in the latest issue — out on stands now!

TESSA KOGA / AGGIE

D ISC L A I M ER: Th e v iews a n d opi ni o ns ex p re ss e d by i nd i vidu al colu mn ists be lon g to th e colu mn ists alone and do no t necessari l y i ndi cate the vi ews an d o p in ion s h eld by The C al i fo rni a Ag g i e. Ple ase addre ss le tte r s to th e e ditor to opin ion@theaggi e.o rg.

ISSUE DESIGNED BY JONATHAN CHEN | PATTIE CHEN | ADAN JUNAID | OLIVIA KOTLAREK | SHEREEN NIKZAD | YOON RHA | TAMARA SHOUBBER | CINDY CHEUNG | AMY YE | SYDNEE RODRIGUEZ

Second Spring Take a GE class online with Foothill College. High quality. Quick. Convenient.

ONLINE

6-Week Session | May 20-June 29

foothill.edu/secondspring

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

8 | THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019

SCIENCE+TECH JAMI E B E V E R L E Y / CO URTESY

OPTIMIZING INFANT PROTOCOL UC Davis researchers use data and computer statistics to create more individualized bacterial infection screening protocol

BY P E T E R SM I T H science@theaggie.org Doctors must often subject infant children to invasive medical tests when they are brought into the emergency room with a fever.

One such test is called a lumbar puncture or a spinal tap. It involves sticking a needle in a baby’s spine and collecting bone marrow to test for dangerous bacteria. A new study, that combines advanced medical tests and computer statistics, might drastically decrease the number of babies who have to undergo the procedure. Researchers from UC Davis and doctors from across the United States used an algorithm to establish a better non-invasive screening protocol for babies with fevers.

Febrile babies are taken seriously because around ten percent of all infants younger than 60 days who arrive at the emergency room with a fever have a bacterial infection which could cause meningitis, a deadly condition that causes the brain to swell. A spinal tap allows doctors to try to grow bacterial cultures from a baby’s bone marrow and definitively diagnosis a baby with a bacterial infection. However, there are other non-invasive blood and urine tests that allow doctors to get some idea about whether a baby has a bacterial infection or

not. These tests are used to identify infants that are at risk and need a spinal tap, and send home babies who clearly have less dangerous viral infections. The new protocol, published in JAMA Pediatrics, suggests which screening tests doctors should use, and the cutoff numbers for each test to maximize the number of babies who can safely be sent home without a spinal tap.

The new protocol is not the first clinical suggestion for how doctors should treat babies with fever. Prior research has suggested bacterial infection screening measures. However, according to Nathan Kuppermann the principal investigator on the study and a professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at UC Davis, those models were based on older and less precise medical tests like general white blood cell counts. As a result, many babies that did not need spinal taps or antibiotics were given them as a precautionary measure.

“Traditional blood counts are pretty sensitive at picking up kids with infections, but they are not specific, which means that babies who don’t have bacterial infections could still have positive screening tests,” Kuppermann said. “In the new era not only [are the tests] very sensitive, but [they are] also specific which means that kids who don’t have bacterial infections typically have normal screening tests.”

To create the protocol, the researchers who call themselves the

PU BL I C D O M A I N

PICKING STRAWBERRIES Sequenced strawberry genome may pave way for the breeding of higher quality strawberries

BY M I C HEL L E WO N G science@theaggie.org As a result of the collaboration between scientists at UC Davis and Michigan State University, strawberry cultivators may be able to use its DNA as a guide to breed strawberries with certain qualities pertaining to color, taste, shape and aroma.

In a recent article titled “Origin and evolu-

tion of the octoploid strawberry genome,” a team of researchers including Steve Knapp, a professor in the Department of Plant Sciences and director of the Strawberry Breeding Program, and Patrick Edger, an assistant professor in the Department of Horticulture at Michigan State University, revealed their sequencing of the genome for the cultivated strawberry, after having analyzed its origins and evolutionary process.

Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network, used an algorithm to determine which of these new screening tests were most effective and the cutoff numbers that could safely maximize the number of babies sent home without a spinal tap.

The group enrolled febrile infants at 26 distinct emergency rooms across the United States. The babies were treated normally, but doctors sent in the data from the tests they conducted to diagnose the babies. Then the researchers determined whether each baby was screened correctly. They recorded the results of spinal taps for babies that underwent the procedure, and followed up with parents of infants who were sent home. After the data collection, the team had a full set of numbers for many different potential screening tests, and a result; whether the baby had a bacterial infection or not.

Half of the data was computer analyzed using a statistical method called recursive partitioning. The computer determined which non-invasive tests could best predict whether a baby had a bacterial infection or not, and generated numerical thresholds for each test. In the end, the algorithm determined that only three tests were needed; a urine analysis, a neutrophil white blood cell count, and a procalcitonin test. Both the neutrophil white blood cell count and the procalcitonin test are newer screening tests that identify the prevalence of specific biomarkers commonly found in the body when fighting a bacterial infection. The researchers then tested the model against the other half of the data. They found their model would have been able to properly screen all but one of the 1266 babies in the data pool, and prevent 523 spinal taps.

Today, the way emergency rooms treat febrile infants is disparate.

According to Deborah Levine a professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at Bellevue Hospital in New York, each emergency room and doctor develops its own way of practicing based on medical judgement and literature. This new study might impact how emergency rooms do things.

“The standard of care evolves with studies like this,” Levine said.

“This may change the standard of care for many people.”

The new protocol was a byproduct of a much larger study that the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network is conducting on RNA biosignatures. It turns out that a viral or bacterial infection uniquely affects RNA gene expression. According to Nathan Kuppermann, RNA biosignatures might be more accurate at definitively diagnosing a baby than a spinal tap. If the researchers can speed up the test, the RNA biosignature test could act as screening test and the definitive test, essentially making the newly developed protocol obsolete.

“RNA biosignatures, that is really the holy grail,” Kuppermann said.

However, reliable quick RNA biosignature tests are years away.

The new screening protocol is here today, and has the potential to spare infants from unnecessary invasive tests and improve medical care. It has already been implemented at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.

“I think one of the primary drivers [for our research] is that [the] strawberry is an octoploid, which means that it has eight sets of chromosomes which makes it really unique compared to humans because humans, we have one set of chromosomes from each one of our parents,” Edger said.

The researchers looked into how the strawberry attained eight sets of chromosomes and if there were any genetic variations resulting from this difference compared to diploids. Edger explained that once they had sequenced the genome, the scientists identified where each gene was and sequenced the RNA from the genes for every species of strawberry from their global species collection.

From there, they conducted a phylogenetic analysis to discover the evolutionary origins of each gene.

“What was very interesting is that as the genome was sequenced, a clear picture emerged of how the ancestral species have gone around the world from East Asia over to Land Bridge to North America, and just how the species formed and how everything evolved was really fascinating,” Knapp said.

The researchers found that the progenitor species were native to Japan, Asia and Eastern Europe and North America. Edger explained that they had predicted potential conflicts in the development of the octoploid due to the progenitor species evolving in different environments, which would likely result in conflicts in the timing of genes being expressed. However, they found that

a subgenome, called the woodland strawberry, controls a majority of the traits being expressed by the octoploid.

With this sequenced genome, Edger stated that they can now begin implementing molecular breeding to select for “good genes,” such as those that indicate good fruit quality, which promotes faster breeding.

He described this process as a “23andMe for strawberries” where the genetics of each strawberry in a breeding program can be identified.

Knapp explained that the use of this information for the agricultural industry was a large reason in conducting this research.

“You’ve got a long string of DNA code and they’re all addresses and without the address I don’t know where to go to find a gene that I need for resistance to a disease or for a fruit quality attribute,” Knapp said. “So the genome is a foundation, it’s a roadmap type foundation to track genes and understand how they make a strawberry a strawberry and how a plant is fighting off pathogens or pests. So the practical implications of it are that we have a tool now to do this kind of genetics research so that we can build better varieties or cultivars.”

Knapp stated that a large driving force for their research was the work of young scientists from UC Davis and MSU who were involved in the study.

“There are a lot of authors, but a lot of really talented young people, early career people, who drove the innovation and the science here to make this happen,” Knapp said.

PU B LIC DOMA IN

GENE MUTATION LINKED TO LIGHTER SKIN PIGMENTATION SHOWS RECENT HUMAN EVOLUTION Researchers find an example of ongoing adaptation in modern humans

BY K RIT I VARG H E S E science@theaggie.org A gene (SLC24A5) causing lighter skin in certain indigenous peoples in South Africa has rapidly evolved within the past 2,000 years. Researchers, including Professor Brenna Henn in the Department of Anthropology at UC Davis, found that strong positive selection caused the gene to increase among certain KhoeSan populations.

“This gene is known for its role in pigmentation pathway,” said Meng Lin, a post-doctoral researcher in genetics at the University of Southern California. “One of its non-synonymous mutations has a skin lightening effect and is prevalent in Europeans. Almost every European individual car-

ries two copies of the mutation. In fact, it’s considered to originate from Middle Eastern / European populations. It’s interesting that this mutation also has the strongest signals associated with skin color in KhoeSan from far southern Africa, as shown from our previous study, by Martin et. al.. It is present so commonly in KhoeSan that even recent European migrations cannot explain it. We decided to investigate how the allele’s frequency got driven up in history.”

The study involved sequencing the whole gene of more than 400 KhoeSan individuals.

They found that the SLC24A5 was virtually identical in Europeans and the KhoeSan across the entire gene, including the derived mutation which affects the protein.

“Variation in human skin pigmentation

is thought to be a tradeoff between having darkly pigmented skin which protects you from the sun and lightly pigmented skin which can absorb enough sunlight to make vitamin D,” said Rebecca Siford, a Ph.D. student at Arizona State University.

There are multiple potential scenarios that could explain the prevalence of the skin lightening allele in SLC24A5. According to the paper, the researchers theorize that transitioning from consuming marine animals to pasture animals may have led to a vitamin D deficiency, since marine animals are rich in vitamin D. Reduced exposure to ultraviolet rays may have also changed skin pigmentation over time.

“Darkly pigmented skin is beneficial in equatorial regions due to the skin’s ability to protect from UV rays while in northern and southern latitudes, like in Europe and South Africa, where UV strength is weaker, having lightly pigmented skin may allow for the production of vitamin D,” Siford said.

This research shows that populations that look completely different can share the same gene because of human migration, like in the case of the KhoeSan populations and Europeans where they share the same gene that causes lighter skin pigmentation.

“I think there’s often, in the public, this idea that humans have stopped evolving,” Henn said. “And we think about evolution as something that occurred millions of years ago, or hundreds of thousands of years ago.

One of the really striking things about this example is that the evolution was occurring in a population only in the last 2000 years.

People often look at hunter-gatherers like they’re archaic people. They’ve been doing this for hundred thousand years. And yet, here’s an example of a phenotype that’s biologically changed in the hunter-gatherer population in less than 2000 years. So, they’re evolving just the same way everyone else is evolving.”

THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019 | 9

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

AGGIE CLASSIFIEDS JOBS

SERVICES

ASUCD Hiring Now

Love Laundry

See all current jobs at https://vacancy.ucdavis.edu/

Lowest prices in town!

Best music!

Free DRY with Wash 1776 E. 8th Street, Davis 5am-12am www.lovelaundry.com

Driver Busy airport shuttle company looking for drivers with excellent customer service skills. Must be 23 or older.

We pick people up at their homes/hotels and take them to the Sacramento Airport and the San Francisco Airport.

And from the airports to their homes/hotels. Tips average $40/day.

Hellacappella

Clean DMV required. Get your free DMV printout from their website and email it and your resume to carlorossi33@yahoo.com

HellaCappella is the largest a cappella showcase in Northern California hosted

by The Spokes, the all-female a cappella group here at UC Davis!

Website davisairporter.com Phone 530-756-6715

April 5th @ 7:30pm The Mondavi Center

Email carlorossi33@yahoo.com

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Students $14 (presale) $21 (door) General: $30 (presale) $35 (door) Groups are coming from all over the West Coast to perform; hope to see you there! www.mondaviarts.org

Davis Food Co-op is hiring!

WANT TO BE PART OF OUR TEAM? The Co-op is one of the friendliest places to work in Davis!

Join our team! Applications available here:

Sudoku

https://davisfood.coop/sustainability/employment

FREE CLASSIFIED ADS FOR STUDENTS!

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

theaggie.org/classifieds

Place YOUR Aggie classified ad (print or online) at: theaggie.org/classifieds

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS Sundays Feb. 3 – Mar. 17 11a – 1pm 500 1st Street Davis Commons S IDE A 3 3 ⅓ RPM

HIGH FIDELITY STEREO

nobagelsnolife.com

BAGELS, BUBBLES, & BEATS LIVE VINYL • BOTTOMLESS MIMOSAS • BAGEL SANDWICHES

10 | THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

In Celebration of Women’s History Month A list of women and movies to follow that embody feminism

CULTURE CORNER The Arts Desk’s weekly picks for televisions, movies, novels, music

BY CLAY ALLEN R OGER S arts@theaggie.org

Television: “Lovecraft Country” In an upcoming HBO series, executive producers Jordan Peele and J.J. Abrams will try to take back the Lovecraftian trope by turning it on its head.

The series will follow Atticus Black, his friend Letitia and his Uncle George on a road trip across 1950s Jim Crow America in search for Atticus’s missing father, resulting in a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and the horrific monsters from H.P. Lovecraft’s most notable works. Based on the dark horror fantasy novel by Matt Ruff, the series is set to release late 2019.

Movie:“MidSommar” A N DR EA GON ZA LEZ / AG GIE

BY ITZ E LT H G A M B OA AND CH EY E N N E W I SE MA N arts@theaggie.org “A Wrinkle in Time” “A Wrinkle in Time” follows Meg Murry, played by Storm Reid, whose father, played by Chris Pine, disappears in the midst of discovering a new planet. When Meg gets news that her father is alive and trapped in this planet, she goes on a journey with her little brother and a classmate to bring him back home.

Directed by Ava Duvernay and featuring Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling, this 2018 adaptation is a must-see for young girls as Meg realizes she can do amazing things and overcomes her self-doubt.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Nigerian-born writer Adichie has written several novels, short stories and nonfiction pieces, including “We Should All Be Feminists.” The book-length essay seeks to define feminism for the 21st century. Her works of fiction emphasize complex women of color and are well-written examples of intersectional feminism from a multinational perspective.

“Spanglish” “Spanglish” follows a hard-working immigrant mother Flor Moreno, played by Paz Vega.

Flor works for an upper-class family as their live-in maid, and her and her daughter must navigate living in an English-speaking, upper class household.

This 2004 James L. Brooks-directed movie takes a comedic route to show the struggles of a Mexican maid as a single mother.

Laverne Cox As a transgender woman, Cox is an advocate for LGBTQ rights. She rose to fame for her role in “Orange is the New Black” as Sophia Burset and critics praised her for her multifaceted, sympathetic portrayal of a trans woman of color. Cox is outspoken about redefining gender equality to include trans and non-binary individuals.

“Hidden Figures” “Hidden Figures” tells the real-life story Katherine Johnson, played by Taraji P. Henson, Dorothy Vaughan, played by Octavia Spencer and Mary Jackson, played by Janelle Monáe, who were the real brains behind the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. Their struggles of being black women in a white and male-dominated field play out on screen. These women are an inspiration, supporting each oth-

er and accomplishing the impossible.

Chrystos Chrystos is a Menominee poet and activist whose work focuses on themes of Native rights, feminism and social justice. Chrystos is two-spirit, a third-gender role unique to indigenous culture, as well as lesbian, both of which are central to their identity and influence their writing. Chrystos is known for their uncensored and often biting social and political commentary.

“Crazy Rich Asians” Rachel Chu, played by Constance Wu, goes on a trip with her unbelievably wealthy boyfriend Nick, played by Henry Golding, to his home in Singapore. With the classic mean girls at every corner and the disapproval of Nick’s mother, her trip turned from a vacation to a never-ending, unpleasant surprise.

This 2018 film based on the novel of the same name is a rom-com for the books. With characters like Rachel, Astrid, played by Gemma Chan, and Penik, played by Awkwafina, the movie focuses on multiple female characters with contrasting personalities and is the first major motion film to feature an Asian-majority cast since 1993’s “The Joy Luck Club.” The movie isn’t just about one woman pursuing a man, but rather it introduces different women from a variety of locations, generations and values.

Lizzo Lizzo is an American hip-hop and rap artist known for her commitment to feel-good music.

Her work, both catchy and fun-loving, advocates body-positivity, self-love and acceptance.

Lizzo is open about being sex-positive and confident in her own body, and she is just as addicting to watch as her music is to listen to.

“Real Women Have Curves” The movie is the story of Ana Garcia, played

by America Ferrera, a first-generation Mexican-American navigating her way through womanhood. She lives in a Latino community in East L.A. and fights her traditional family’s prejudices about higher education.

This 2002 movie gives insight on the struggles that Mexican-American students face when they are stuck between two worlds. “Real Women Have Curves” is the Mexican version of the film “Ladybird,” with a similar plot of a teenager wanting to grow up and be something bigger than what their parents have in mind for them.

Say Goodbye to Winter Quarter and Hello to Winters, Calif.

It’s closer than you think FA R A H FA RJ O O D / AGGI E

Cherríe Moraga Moraga is a renowned poet, playwright, essayist and activist and is famous for her work as a co-editor of the feminist anthology, “This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color.” Moraga’s writing and work centers arounds intersections of race, gender and sexuality. Moraga has also helped found La Red Xicana Indigena, an organization that connects and provides a voice for Xicanas across different fields as well as promotes indigenous women’s rights.

“The Hunting Ground” This documentary focuses on exposing the rape statistics on college campuses across the country. It features survivors telling their stories as well as the various extents that U.S. college campuses go through in order to cover up sexual assault. The film follows women pursuing their education as they call for an end to harassment and sexual abuse on every level.

“The Hunting Ground” was directed by Kirby Dick and brings to light the unfortunate reality that many women face as they try to gain a higher education. The women in the movie don’t just share their story. They call for action, and that is what’s most impactful about this documentary.

Jacqueline Woodson Writer Jacqueline Woodson has produced over two dozen books for children and adolescents. Her bestselling memoir, “Brown Girl Dreaming,” recounts her experiences growing up in the 1960s and 1970s amid the growing Civil Rights Movement, presenting issues of race and gender to younger readers.

Amandla Stenberg 20-year-old actress and activist Amandla Stenberg is very outspoken on issues of race, gender and sexuality. Stenberg uses her fame as a platform to empower queer women of color as well as to address problematic racial ideologies.

Stenberg stresses the importance of representation of minority groups and strives to serve as a role model for young people of color.

Brie Larson Actress and filmmaker Brie Larson stars in “Captain Marvel” and has said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that a central theme in the movie is the power of female strength.

Released on Mar. 8, the movie boasts a diverse cast and defies misogynist tendencies common in superhero franchises. Larson is an advocate of intersectional feminism and for survivors of sexual assault.

BY ROS IE S CH WARZ arts@theaggie.org When students consider taking a day trip away from Davis, they often head to Sacramento or San Francisco.

While these destinations are perfect for a day trip with minimal time-constraints, for students who are itching to leave Davis for just a few hours, Winters is a great option.

Located 13 miles away and home to 10,000 people, Winters offers an even stronger small-town feel than Davis.

This quaint size feels almost surreal, as if the town is stuck in the ’40s with its large water tower marking the entrance to the town, reminiscent of the one in “Dazed and Confused” or “Riverdale.”

The small size of downtown Winters makes it convenient for parking anywhere and walking around. For those looking for a good meal, Putah Creek Cafe is a large diner with classic booths and diner tables, indoor seating and a large outdoor patio. The cafe is ranked as the top restaurant in Winters on Tripadvisor. The menu is expansive and offers a variety of options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In addition, the cafe is known for its bakery that features homemade pie. The cafe

Remember the movie “Hereditary” *tongue cluck* written and directed by the brilliant Ari Aster? On Aug. 9, he is set to release his follow-up horror film that is said to be more brutal than his first. As it goes, the film follows a wife and husband on vacation in a Swedish village hosting a festival that only takes place once every 90 years — filled with flowery Pagan crucifixes and a little too much bleached blonde hair for comfort, Aster is surely setting us up for another ritual that will inevitably result in the summoning of some hellish deity.

Coming from A24 studios, my hopes remain high for this summer release.

Book: “Riot. Strike. Riot.”

Award-winning poet and UC Davis’s own Joshua Clover offers a new understanding of the riot as a form of insurrection. Clover highlights the history of the riot as the central form of protest in the 17th and 18th centuries, then speaks to its supplanting in the 19th century with the strike, only to return in full effect in the 1970s, forever changed in coordination with race and class. This book creates new ways for its readers to acknowledge the embarrassments of present history, thus providing petrol for all antagonists in their struggle toward a revolutionary horizon and a means to break through the oppressive simulation of utilitarianism.

Album: “The Sky’s Gone Out” Bauhaus, considered to be pioneers of goth music, released this album back in 1982, and it was an absolute hit — it still is. The dark and ominous tones of the ensemble hold a melody with the Bowie-esque vocals of Peter Murphy, the lead singer, resulting in my undying love for this collection of works.

In 2005, Bauhaus took the stage at the Coachella Music Festival and performed a number of these hits while Murphy conducted the whole of his performance suspended upside-down from a crane, as an homage to Carl Laemmle’s “Dracula,” who inspired their hit song “Bela Legosi’s Dead.” And though they have been broken up since, their music is still worth a listen today.

sources their ingredients from their own garden, which is located across the street from the Putah Creek Cafe.

According to the restaurant’s website, it includes 20 raised beds of herbs, vegetables, fruit and flowers, young fruit trees and ornamental and insectary plants.

For those looking for a night out or a big-city dining experience, Preserve is described as a “hip restaurant and bar offering local, seasonal, farmer to fork cuisine including brunch, craft beer, and cocktails.” People are reminded to not leave town without a jar of “locally famous jalapeno jelly.”

Preserve includes an all-day menu featuring items such as the “Preserve Charcuterie Platter,” a gourmet mac ‘n cheese and a butternut squash pizza. All of their foods are thoughtfully presented, culminating into an experience that focuses on taste and ambiance. In addition, Preserve offers a special Sunday brunch, serving distinctive dishes and cocktails such as “pulled pork waffles,” “Beer-Mosas” and “Italian Speedball,” which is made with cold brew coffee, Amaro Averna, orange bitters and cream.

Recently, Winters welcomed Hooby’s Brewing to town. This family-run brewery offers a great variety of beer

and wine as well as a menu with options such as gluten-free nachos and a pesto grilled cheese waffle. The brewery is located in the heart of downtown, with a decal on the wall that reads “Beer is Good. But Beers are Better.” The brewery’s large tables make it an ideal location to study, relax or bring a group of people to explore. In addition, the brewery sells merchandise with slogans like “Wish You Were Beer.” This new brewery is cute, friendly and a great neighbor to Berryessa Brewing Company, located just outside of downtown Winters.

In addition, Winters is home to The Scoop, a quaint self-serve frozen yogurt store which changes flavors frequently, Ficelle, a tapas restaurant with stellar reviews, Lester Farms Bakery with award-winning, freshly made baked goods and Tomats, a restaurant categorized as classic California cuisine.

Beyond food and drinks, Winters is worth a visit as a historical agricultural town that has preserved its original buildings and atmosphere since its rebuilding in 1898. Of course, many things have been redone, and businesses have come and gone, but the family-friendly and welcoming environment remains a staple of Winters.

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019 | 11

HOUSING

PORTER

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

lot of landlords are really racist. The goal of the committee is to address those landlords who would say yes to a white person staying in their house but no to a black person, or to a queer person or to a gay person.”

Though Yolo County used to have a Tenant’s Right Conference, the last one was in 2016, Wali-Ali said.

“So we’re hoping to bring that here to Davis and revamp that,” Wali-Ali said. “It’s really about creating awareness for the issue, being a space for students to come to if they have issues and making sure the students don’t have to do it alone.”

The committee will work through levels of escalation with a specific focus on mediation. At the mediation stage, lawyers will intervene and have a conversation with the landlord about the seriousness of the crime of housing discrimination.

Masias-Malagon said the committee will serve as a “liaison” between landlords and renters as well as between landlords and the authorities, as students, especially certain marginalized groups, might not “feel comfortable dealing with that.”

“We kind of want to serve as that bridge between city officials and administration, and

we also want to provide that anonymity where people can come in and request that we listen to their case anonymously, and we can pursue action for them if they don’t feel comfortable,” Masias-Malagon said.

In addition to the chair of the committee and the eight individuals currently in the process of being hired, the committee will also include ex-officio members — other individuals within ASUCD who do not have voting power but who will sit in on meetings and advise the Housing Discrimination Committee. Wali-Ali said these ex-officio members will be representatives from several different ASUCD commissions, committees and units since the issue of housing discrimination is highly intersectional.

Individuals on the committee will include students who have basic knowledge about the housing complaint process, have an understanding of the resources in the area and have experience working with marginalized communities — the communities the committee will be primarily serving.

“We want to make sure we’re getting people who are sensitive and compassionate,” Wali-Ali said.

ADMISSIONS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

or are put on the waitlist.”

Boensch recalled how stressful admissions season was for her in high school, so she finds herself resonating with worried students on the phone.

“Hearing someone say they had their heart set on UC Davis and didn’t get in is always hard,” Boensch said.

There are reasons for joy for public advisors as well. Admitted students who are excited to come to campus give Boensch reasons to love her job.

“Students have questions about the campus culture and classes which I have fun answering because I love UC Davis so much,” Boensch said.

“Their excitement is contagious.”

Boensch, like many public advisors, is in her last year at Davis. For these students, a lot of nostalgia is born out of answering questions for

people who are just now beginning their collegiate journey. Kia Aliakbar is another public advisor nearing the end of his own career at UC Davis. He, similarly to Boensch, finds joy in his job during this time of year.

“Our bosses are so friendly and caring for us, they make it feel like a family,” Aliakbar said,” And speaking with incoming students gives you an opportunity to feed their excitement and curiosity. It’s really very energizing.”

A lot of the department finds this happiness in the people, Fudge Jensen being no exception.

“Joys come from working with the people,” Fudge Jensen said. “Especially the one that says ‘Davis is my dream school’ and they got in.

When a parent calls you on the phone and they’re crying tears of joy, that’s really exciting.”

reduce. reuse. recycle.

The aggie

Cold War. We did. When the Soviet Union collapsed, we assumed that defeating communism equated to eliminating the source of the conflict. That being said, the conflict between the countries was — and continues to be — rooted in geopolitics and deeper philosophical differences that transcend the capitalist-communist dichotomy.

After the Soviet collapse, disdain for our system and vengeful desire from ex-KGB thugs like Vladimir Putin and oligarchs is what motivated them to help Trump in an effort to compromise and show the weaknesses of American democracy. They were successful, and the idealistic millenials need to understand that addressing this crisis in our democracy has to come before any other issue they want to champion. Failing to do so would negate any progress made on social or environmental justice issues because it would show that we don’t even have faith or pride in our institutions in the first place.

Before the 2018 midterms and going into 2020, Democrats have shown a desire to run in “affirmative ways” by advocating healthcare and social and environmental justice issues.

Implicit here is the assumption that prioritizing the Russia scandal is too negative and “in-the-weeds” to be a successful strategy. In a piece for New York Magazine, Jonathan Chait wrote that leftists feel the Russia story is somehow “preventing the left from prosecuting a populist case against Trump.” This attitude is wrong. Russia needs to be the central issue of the 2020 campaign cycle because challenging Trump’s suspicious Russian political and business connections and his attacks on the Justice Department is in fact “affirmative.”

It is a positive message to fight for American values and rule of law, especially when the president is hostile toward our own legal institutions, ethical norms and intelligence services and refuses to do anything about the continued cyber threats from Russia. The left must prosecute this as a populist case against Trump in the court of public opinion to ensure our country can support our progressive agenda in the future. Nothing could be more affirmative and pragmatic. Yet, the Democrats’ pathetic messaging strategies (one area where they could take a cue from the GOP) have prevented them from successfully making this case to the public, especially to millennials.

Polls carried out and published by Vanity Fair Magazine before the 2018 midterms showed this failure, with millennial women especially likely to be completely disengaged from the Russia investigation.

Since many moderates and old-school Republicans are also quite alarmed by the Russia scandals, Chait added that some leftists may view promoting the Russia revelations as a frustrating appeal to the center. He said that, “By expanding the Democratic coalition into the center, at least temporarily, the Russia issue runs counter to their goal of repositioning the party to the left.” Again, this reasoning is horribly wrong and misguided because Russia needs to be the basis of the populist, grassroots case against Trump.

The article goes on to say that the millennial, social justice, anti-imperialism left may think it is hypocritical to worry about the Russian threat to American democracy when the U.S. has been guilty of the same, meddling in the elections and domestic politics of countries worldwide. Chait writes, “[Trump’s] realpolitik alliance with Russia, and his premise that America has no right to hold its political system above Russia’s, strikes a chord in some precincts of the left.” Justifying an indifference to Mueller’s investigation with this anti-hypocrisy, anti-imperialist argument is also horribly misguided because it represents resignation to the pessimistic and unpatriotic notion that we as Americans shouldn’t aspire to continuously improve and perfect our democracy.

Meanwhile, Glenn Greenwald has surprisingly become a darling on Fox News for saying that the Russia story is just a convenient scapegoat for Democrats who would rather look outward than inward after the humiliating 2016 defeat. While this may also be an appealing argument for the millenial left who want to promote reflection, it’s important to realize that “reflection” and getting to the bottom of the Russia story are not mutually exclusive.

Determining how Russia has been so successful in manipulating our social media platforms and our discourse will require a great deal of inward reflection; Russia is not a scapegoat for our loss because Americans and the American system had to be gullible and flawed, respectively, for Russia to have been this successful.

I’ve previously written on why it is essential to stay informed and not tune out. Seeing the high levels of interest from young people in some of America’s most pressing problems is beyond encouraging, but at no point did I say that intense interest in some issues exempts one from caring about others that are just as, if not more, important. You don’t get to chose the news — it happens, and if you want to consider yourself an engaged citizen, it’s your responsibility to know as much about everything as possible.

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

the professor will think is your best piece of work,” Peterson said. “The minute you start doing that is when you start becoming truly ambitious as a writer because you’re thinking about your own judgement. That is your best resource when revising a piece of work, as opposed to thinking ‘what does this person want from me.’”

Moreover, this nonlinear academic path is part of true instruction in the arts.

“It is much easier to know what instruction in the sciences looks like,” Peterson said.

“The tradition of the instruction of arts in this country is a rich tradition, but it’s much less deeply respected and much less understood.

And being an artist of any kind, you have to be the best judge of your own work. It is a really self-governing thing to do to want to be an artist. There is no rubric or set of criteria that is going to tell you what good writing is […] I think we’re less used to being comfortable saying one piece of writing is better than another than we are saying one set of coordinates in a problem set is more accurate in one problem set than another.”

Nonetheless, students can feel stress in the simplicity and inherent ambiguity of what is expected from them in the application as well as the number of students who apply. Moreover, these factors add stress to academic planning.

“I’m supposed to graduate, but if I don’t get into fiction I might have to take it in the fall,” Menjivar said. “But I don’t want to wait and see what the professor is going to say, so I might just play it safe and apply to nonfiction or poetry. But you do also get priority for a class as a senior so maybe I will get in with priority. But a lot of people are applying to fiction and there are only 15 people in the class, so I might take the easy way out. I think it’s random, it all depends on what the professor wants” Moreover, according to Menjivar, students

are notified a “week or two before the quarter starts” whether they are accepted or denied from the class which can complicate a schedule.

“I probably won’t find out until spring break if I get into my class for Spring Quarter,” Menjivar said.

According to Liao, the underlying issue that causes complications in student planning is the unequal ratio of student demand for creative writing classes and the supply of classes offered.

“I think perhaps if they opened up more 100 [series] classes that would be good,” Liao said. “Hopefully they will look into that to allow more capacity to bring students into these classes. Other majors are also impacted, and other students on campus also have to find other ways around it.”

The English department has taken steps to address student concerns about the creative writing emphasis.

“I had a meeting last quarter, and I’m going to have one next fall, with students before the application process to talk about the application,” Peterson said. “One of the things I did during the meeting was talk to them about how to select their best pieces of work and how to revise them.”

Peterson suggested seeking one-on-one attention with a professor or taking other creative writing classes can help improve a student’s work in order to better re-apply for an emphasis course.

“I think you can seek out that thing with the professor or take English 5 again,” Peterson said. “Fiction is the genre of our day, it is what everyone wants to write. But as long as you’re writing you’re probably improving.

English 5 is there every quarter. Poetry classes often have less students who want to get into them, and you can learn a lot about writing a story through a poetry class. Non-fiction, too.”

SPRING BREAK CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

Qursha specifically finds value in spending time outdoors and in nature. An article in Harvard Health Publishing states that “calming nature sounds and even outdoor silence can lower blood pressure and levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which calms the body’s fight-or-flight response.”

While the gloomy weather of Winter Quarter may have kept students cooped up in dorms or apartments, spring break is a great opportunity to be re-exposed to nature (weather permitting). Even for those staying on campus, taking a stroll through the Arboretum or hiking around nearby Sacramento can lead to overall success and improvement in one’s mental health. All for free.

Maya Jones, a first-year undeclared fine

arts major, deals with the stress of school by taking quiet moments to be with her thoughts.

“In general I go to the gym, take a shower or go outside and just breathe,” Jones said.

Forbes Magazine cited a study that shows the relationship between controlled breathing and the brain regions related to emotion.

Breathing techniques are commonly used among mental health and medical professionals, and there are serious merits behind such a seemingly simple activity.

As far as utilizing breaks for improving one’s mental state, Jones suggests finding enjoyment in little things.

“People can hike, go to museums or beaches, have a picnic, go on a run, or walk around a mall or plaza,” Jones said.

reduce. reuse. recycle.

The aggie

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

12 | THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019

Stephon Clark Week of Action

RAU L MORA L ES / AG GIE

RAU L MORA L ES / AGG IE

B R IA N LA N DRY / AGGIE

B RIA N L A N DRY / AG GIE

B R IA N LA N DRY / AGGIE

R AU L MOR A LES / AGGIE

RAU L MORA L ES / AGG IE

RAU L MORA L ES / AGG IE

THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019 | 13

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Students express concerns over English department’s creative writing emphasis Application process has potential for unclear expectations

BY CA RO L I N E RU T T E N arts@theaggie.org The UC Davis English department offers undergraduates in the major a creative writing emphasis by way of acceptance to and completion of three upper division creative writing classes.

Some students, however, have expressed concern regarding the perceived ambiguity in the application process to these upper division classes.

The creative writing emphasis allows students to produce material in three writing genres: poetry, fiction and nonfiction, denoted as P, F and NF respectively.

“English 5F, 5P and 5NF are the gateway classes in creative writing; these are the first classes you take,” said Associate Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing Katie Peterson.

“If you want to take more classes, you apply to get into 100F, 100P, and 100NF. They are all workshop classes. The way they are taught is you go and you write things and then you bring them back to the classroom community. You get feedback and you learn to be a better writer through seminar based discussion. You learn what good writing is and what your writing is.”

Each class has space for roughly 17 students, and there is on average one section of 100F, 100P and 100NF offered every quarter. There will be two 100F sections this upcoming quarter, however. Students apply for a place in the class through an application that requires writing samples. The professor teaching that quarter’s class decides which students from the application pool will be accepted into their class. Students who are

denied are not offered direct feedback or justification as to why they were not accepted.

“I’m interested in screenwriting and media writing, and I think creative writing could cover these areas more than being just a communications or journalism major,” said fourth-year English major Kenny Menjivar. “The application process itself isn’t that difficult, but I haven’t gotten into fiction all year, and I’m still trying to get the emphasis with that. My [English 5F TA] was telling me different professors have their own tastes … I went to one of the major advisors last quarter and they told me it’s all up to the professor. I was a little mad at first, but I figure at one point I’ll get in.”

According to Peterson, the quality of the student’s work is the underlying factor to determining a student’s acceptance to the course.

“Every professor reads the applications and makes the decision on their own,” Peterson said.

“The professor chooses the best writers, so the criteria [for acceptance] is the best writing. They chose the writing that is the most alive and dynamic. I can’t speak for everybody, but I know when I am faced with the applications for 100P, I choose the best poems. I know there is a popular view that nobody agrees what the best is, but I think if you chose a life in the arts you don’t think that’s true. There can be agreement what the best is. I choose students who are interested in poetic form in some capacity, whether it is the form of slam poetry or the sonnet. I choose students who think poetry is more than putting feelings down on a piece of paper. I choose students who are memorable. I often find myself choosing KATHER IN E FR A N KS/ AGGIE

JA MIE CHEN / AG GIE

students who are interested in things other than themselves.”

A quote by poet Elizabeth Bishop summarizes good writing in multiple forms to Peterson.

“There are three things she looks for in good writing: accuracy, spontaneity, mystery,” Peterson said. “For me that covers it. I’m looking for things that show the writer knows what they are doing, I’m looking for things that surprise me and I’m looking for things where I walk away and there is quality of continual thinking.”

While fourth-year English major George Liao was initially denied to the emphasis, he was accepted upon reapplying. To him, focusing on growing as a writer was the cause of his eventual acceptance into the emphasis courses, rather than attempting to write in accordance to a style the professor of the class might want.

“[The emphasis] is really excellent, I’ve grown a lot since I’ve been here,” Liao said. “The classes are small and it’s concentrated. You get to work with other writers and see yourself grow and them grow as well. Writing is an expression of self. The more you adhere to yourself, find truth and instill it in your writing, it shows and the better writer you become.”

Writing for the purpose of adhering to a specific professor’s style goes against the writing itself, according to Peterson. A trust in oneself as a writer is fundamental to the creative writing program and is supported by the variation within the application process.

“What [you should think] is what is my best piece of work, rather than trying to guess what

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT on 11

A good spring break doesn’t have to be expensive

During the stressful finals week, students look forward to taking wellearned time off

BY ALYSSA ILS LE Y arts@theaggie.org As finals approach, quarter-system students everywhere may be feeling an enormous amount of stress and pressure. With spring break on the horizon, however, students can also look forward to a period of relaxation and time off to recollect themselves. Even if students can’t afford a lavish trip to Cabo or Las Vegas with friends, there are other cheap and healthy activities to reboot their systems after a quarter of tireless work.

Finding a balance between school and relaxation is key to the success of students. According to the ACHA Spring 2018 National College Health assessment, 64.3 percent of college students in 2018 reported feeling “overwhelmingly anxious,” while 42.9 percent said they felt “so

depressed it was difficult to function.” Balance is vital to the mental and physical health of students.

Periods of relaxation and stress-free environments can help counter these negative feelings.

Balance looks different to every student. Some people like to catch up on all the latest shows or movies on Netflix, while others may find solace in baking or crafting.

Yasmeen Qursha, a second-year environmental policy analysis and planning major, believes in taking time for herself among her rigorous schedule, especially when on breaks.

“For me personally, going out into nature and hiking, running or going to the beach when I’m home in Orange County is really effective for me, a college student on a tight budget,” Qursha said.

SPRING BREAK on 11

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

14 | THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019

BACKSTOP

QU IN N SPOON ER / AG GIE

LACROSSE REACHES HALFWAY POINT OF SEASON Aggies sit at 5-4 after wild victory over Central Michigan, win over Bucknell

BY BREN DA N O GB U R N sports@theaggie.org The UC Davis lacrosse team evened its record at 4-4 with a 12-8 win over visiting Central Michigan on Friday evening. The Aggies weathered the storm in a crazy second half at Aggie Stadium, filled with ups and downs and 14 combined goals, that ended in a victory.

“Sometimes the games aren’t going to be pretty and you just have to gut them out, and I think that’s what we did today,” said UC Davis Head Coach Suzanne Isidor.

The first 10 minutes of Friday’s action looked vastly different from the rest of the game, as the visiting team applied consistent pressure on the attacking end and jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Central Michigan peppered the UC Davis net with an onslaught of shots, forcing senior goalkeeper Grace Richards to make several saves.

Coming off a memorable win against Pac-12 opponent Oregon last Saturday, Isidor knew that it would be a challenge for the team to start fast.

“Sometimes, playing after a big win is as hard as playing after a big loss,” Isidor said. “We really focused on our mentality today. Central Michigan played us really tough and made our lives a little difficult, but we were able to pull through.”

Once the Aggies found their groove and started creating quality scoring chances on offense, it didn’t take long for the team to gain control of the game.

“In the first half, we knew we could pull it together and it was just a matter of time,” Isidor said. “We got into a little bit of a hole but we were able to get out of it.”

Senior midfielder Taylor Cuenin, last season’s MPSF Player of the Year, scored UC Davis’ first three goals in under seven minutes, giving the team a 3-2 lead. The Aggies showed off a disciplined attack, patiently passing the ball around the perimeter and waiting for the right moment to strike. Cuenin’s first goal came off a give-andgo with junior attacker Amanda Outcalt, and her next two were assisted by passes from behind the

net.

Junior midfielder Kate Graham finished the scoring in the first half with a rocket of a shot into the top-left corner of the net, pushing the Aggie lead to 4-2.

Graham got the second half started with a bang after just 51 seconds of play, finding the back of the net to make the score 5-2.

The next moments were a frenzy, as the teams combined to score five goals in just over three minutes, resulting in a 8-4 lead for Davis.

Shortly after, another stretch of five goals in five minutes pushed the score to 11-7 in favor of the home team.

“I felt like we had a little more control in the second half, even though we had some turnovers and let in some goals,” Isidor said. “We were at least in command of things and our defense was able to make stops and we scored goals.”

When it was all said and done, the Aggies fired 32 total shots with a season-high 75 percent of those directed on goal. In addition, the team’s

J E RE M Y DA N G / AG GI E

CRAFTING THE PERFECT MARCH MADNESS BRACKET The Aggie explores multiple ways to put together a March Madness bracket

BY A J SE YM O UR sports@theaggie.org The end of Winter Quarter is now upon UC Davis, forcing students to bear down for the darkness that is finals week. Luckily, once finals are over, there are plenty of things that students can look forward to, like spring break. Taking a much-needed hiatus from their classes, students will have plenty of free time to watch one of the most thrilling sporting events of the year: the NCAA tournament. Since the spectacle began in 1939, underdog teams

have been capturing the hearts of millions of fans while breaking the hearts of others.

Even if spectators aren’t lifelong fans of a certain team, the tournament is often still compelling, thanks to the popularity of the March Madness bracket. The majority of fans watching the games are increasingly more invested in the tournament because of the popular competition that is filling out a perfect bracket. Although the chances of predicting a flawless bracket are astronomically low, that doesn’t stop the well over 50 million Americans who partake in this activity each year.

eight goals allowed were the fewest of any game at that point in the season.

At the end of the day, walking out of the stadium with a win is the top priority, but the Aggies know they must clean things up if they want to reach their goals this season.

“We didn’t play a clean game today and were a little sloppy, so I think we hold ourselves to a higher standard,” Isidor said. “I’m pretty confident that [the team] understand[s] that and this isn’t going to be our norm.”

UC Davis kicked off the second half of its season on Sunday afternoon with a 13-7 triumph over Bucknell. Junior attacker Sorana Larson helped catapult a big second half surge with two late goals. The Aggies played Lehigh on Tuesday afternoon, but results were not available before The Aggie went to press.

UC Davis still has two more home games remaining versus Radford and San Diego State, with the former commencing at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Much of the appeal of this friendly competition is that, because the outcomes of games are so unpredictable, anyone can fill out a bracket and have a decent chance of putting up a great score.

Whether you’re competing in a big group, playing against your family and friends or simply just filling out your own bracket online, there’s always plenty of fun and excitement to be had.

There are many ways to choose teams for a bracket, ranging from the simplest methods to the most complicated equations, to get the best score possible. For those that do not really follow basketball but still want to partake in March Madness, one of the simplest ways to choose can be anything from which team’s mascot is personally the most appealing, to staying loyal to the local teams in one’s area.

Apparently, there is a bit of predictability behind picking teams based off of their school colors or the color of their jerseys. It has been mathematically shown that teams with blue as their dominant color have historically won more March Madness championship than have schools with any other color. In fact, since 1939, 55 percent of the teams that have won the tournament have been a blue team. For those who are more into visuals and not so in touch with basketball, betting on blue is a safer bet.

In the same neighborhood as picking purely based on color is choosing victors based purely on the team’s mascot. Of course, you could go with the standard: which mascot do you like more? But if you’re trying to mix it up, you could select a favored mascot by who you think would win in a boxing match, who would be the better painter or something even more creative. No matter how random the prediction, there’s still not a proven method. So what’s there to lose?

Another interesting method is utilizing a website or an app to help determine which teams should be chosen. A math professor at Davidson College, Dr. Tim Chartier, used his years of experience crunching numbers to turn to basketball and use his skills to help create the perfect bracket. Dr. Chartier looks at everything from win streaks to recent performances in order to predict how successful a team will be in the tournament. But Dr. Chartier is not the one who does all of the work. His website allows specific users to be in charge of choosing their own rating method. The best part about the website? It’s completely free and perfect for college students who don’t have much time to watch college basketball during the school year to try out.

Finally, one of the simplest methods — which has somehow proven to be effective in choosing the winners of other sporting events — is to let an animal decide. If you’re one of the lucky students in Davis who gets to live with a pet, have them choose the winner! The ways to do this depend on the owner. Some have found success with narrowing down the animal’s options, printing out the logos of the teams and having their pets decide by seeing which logos they go up to, sniff or linger around. Others have tried to have their pets watch certain teams to see which team gets their little friend the most engaged. It is said that animals are the best judges of character, so put your pet to the test and see if they are the best judge of basketball talent as well.

Whatever your preferred method, March Madness is an easy, fun event to partake in with a hundred different options to pick the bracket that is best for you.