January 18, 2018

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VOLUME 136, ISSUE 12 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2018

Reality of counseling services in UC system

NADIA DORIS / AGGIE FILE

Staff from five different UCs discuss retention, recruitment issues, understaffing, wait times

This article is the second in a three-part series examining issues that counseling psychologists in the UC system are currently facing, including under-market wages, understaffing and high demand leading to systemwide recruitment and retention issues. The final installation will examine how these issues affect UC Davis.

When Rodolfo Victoria, a senior staff psychologist at UC Irvine, first began working for the university as an intern in 2011 and then as a postdoc from 2012–15, every senior staff psychologist was doing about two intakes — initial appointments with students — every week. Now, every senior staff psychologist does an average of four to five intakes a week in order to “get folks in [...] within 10 business days.”

But seeing a student within 10 business days is just the goal for an initial appointment and assessment. According to Victoria, the follow-up appointment, to actually give therapy to students, can take up to two to four weeks to schedule. At particularly hectic points in the quarter, a follow-up appointment can take up to six weeks.

In conjunction with what Victoria says is an increase in “the severity or acuity” of student mental health needs on campus, UC Irvine also struggles with recruiting qualified mental health professionals and retaining staff.

“In the last three years, we have been trying desperately to fill vacated spots, and because of the turnover that we’ve been experiencing, essentially over the last three or four years, we’ve only increased our full-time senior staff by one,” Victoria said. “We

constantly have searches for a senior staff psychologist — we’ll interview three or four people [and] we offer offers. In the last two or three years, I can list off probably six names of people that didn’t last more than two years. Retention has been a huge issue.”

When asked whether or not UC Irvine was meeting the overall mental health needs of students in a timely and efficient manner, Victoria first said “Yes and no.” Later, Victoria qualified his answer. After the initial appointment, he said, “No, we’re not meeting the mental health needs of students. I think we could do more.”

A very similar sentiment was expressed by Diana Davis, the clinical director of Student Health and Counseling Services at UC Davis.

“Sometimes people have to wait for an appointment because we only have so many of those,” Davis said. “We’re very accessible. I think where it gets slowed down is if students want ongoing counseling. We may not be able to see them every week for like four or five weeks and usually [...] five sessions is an average amount we can offer students. The appointment, getting it for ongoing counseling, may require a wait.”

Issues relating to wait times, recruitment and retention, turnover and burnout are apparent at several, if not all, UC campuses. These issues are ongoing, even two years after the UC Office of the President announced serious steps toward COUNSELOR on 12 JAMIE CHEN / AGGIE

KATHY PHAM / COURTESY

Creating a SAFE space Community program inspires healing, acceptance among Southeast Asians

BY EM I LY N G UYEN features@theaggie.org

For another consecutive year, the Southeast Asians Furthering Education community program at UC Davis will be hosting its annual Southeast Asian Youth Conference for the 2017–2018 school year. This year, the conference will take place from Jan. 26 to 28 and will follow the theme “Transformative Healing: Our Continuous Narratives.”

SAFE, a community program under UC Davis’s Student Recruitment and Retention Center, aims to provide support and resources to individuals who identify as Southeast Asian while also trying to create an environment of acceptance and inclusion.

“Our mission is to help the Southeast Asian community, specifically those narratives that are tied to the Southeast Asian wars,” said Marady Chhim, a third-year organizational sociology major and SAFE’s community development and advocacy coordinator. “This includes the Khmer Rouge, the Vietnam War, the Pathet Lao, the Secret War and so on.”

SAFE follows two core pillars: retention and recruitment. The retention aspect of the program works on a campuswide level, mainly focusing on assisting Southeast Asian students at UC Davis on

their pursuit and continuation of higher education.

“When SAFE was first established, the retention rate was very low here,” Chhim said. “There were many Southeast Asians attending the school, but there weren’t enough of them graduating. [...] We try to find holistic ways to support our students, whether it be through encouraging academic excellence, talking about mental health or addressing issues that directly impact the Southeast Asian community.”

SAFE also focuses many of its efforts on the recruitment aspect of the program, holding an annual Southeast Asian Youth Conference for middle and high schoolers. The three-day, two-night conference, held at UC Davis, provides a safe space for Southeast Asian youth to explore and discuss the Southeast Asian experience.

Judy Chang, a third-year human development major and middle school outreach coordinator for SAFE, and Shayla Phothisene, a third-year human development major and high school outreach coordinator for the program, work meticulously yearround to plan and organize the conference.

“We host workshops throughout the three days, facilitated by members of our [SAFE] community, that revolve around cultural identity and [which] focus on the narratives that different ethnicity groups experience,” Chang said. “This year, Shayla CHECK OUT OUR

and I are incorporating contemporary issues that Southeast Asians might have. That way, students are aware of [how] their history could affect them today.”

SAFE’s ultimate goal is to encourage Southeast Asian youth to embrace their heritage because, according to the program, those narratives are instrumental in their journeys toward higher education and beyond.

“Our main objective for the Southeast Asian Youth Conference is to advocate for middle school and high school students by empowering them and giving them the resources to pursue higher education and other pathways they desire,” Phothisene said. “This year’s theme, ‘Transformative Healing: Our Continuous Narratives,’ is [intended] to create a space [...] for students to share their narratives, to find a way to heal from their traumas and to empower them to pursue higher education.”

SAFE hopes that the theme for this year’s youth conference will empower members of Southeast Asian youth to seek healing through both self-reflection and community.

“Our theme has to do with healing from trauma, whether it be historical trauma or personal trauma,” Chang said. “We want students to realize

700 students to attend 24-hour HackDavis hackathon on Jan. 20 UC Davis’ third annual student-run hackathon strives for social progress

BY AAR ON LI SS campus@theaggie.org

On Jan. 20 and 21, HackDavis will host 700 college students, alumni and high schoolers in the Activities and Recreation Center to code for social progress in three given tracks: health and wellness, education and the environment. Participants of all levels of expertise will create code for 24 hours, starting at 12 p.m. on Jan. 20. Judging and demonstrations will begin at 1 p.m. the following day.

Applications closed Jan. 5, and this year the event accepted 700 applications from college students, high school students over 18 and alumni who graduated in the last year.

The goal of a hackathon is to provide a space for usable, problem-driven software development in a timed competition. HackDavis harnesses this development to tackle social problems, teaming up with Habitat for Humanity this year. According to marketing team member Annie Lin, a third-year computer science major, this is what makes HackDavis unique from other hackathons.

Its slogan is “code for social good.”

“HackDavis is one of the few hackathons in the country known for providing students with a platform and encouraging them to solve pressing social issues,” Lin said. “This is important because we feel that young individuals are incredibly bright, and they can achieve and learn all while helping society through health and wellness, education, or environment. HackDavis also attracts many talented students to UC Davis which helps out university recruitment.”

Sriya Maram, the director of HackDavis’ external affairs and a third-year cognitive science major, participated in the 2017 event and later went on to join the team. Maram explained how the event utilizes outside nonprofit organizations involved in health, environment and education to effect true impact in the world.

“Last year, we partnered with Teach For America, and they helped make a randomized feeding chart for students,” Maram said. “We also partnered with the California Water Project. Something else that I thought was really cool was a mental health application.”

Maram talked about the impact for social good that partnering with nonprofit organizations can bring. She said she was excited for this year’s involved nonprofit organizations.

“This year we already have two confirmed nonprofit partners,” Maram said. “Habitat for Humanity — the Sacramento chapter — and Beyond Twelve, an education nonprofit.”

The event is partnered with multiple UC Davis STEM departments as well as the nonprofits and is sponsored by technology companies such as Intel, AT&T and Google Cloud Platform.

Participants in the race to code are also bolstered by hardware and technology provided by HackDavis. Lin explained how helpful it is to provide equipment for students to incorporate into their creations.

“Usually we provide gadgets like virtual reality headsets and Amazon Alexas, so teams can HACKDAVIS on 12

SAFE SPACES on 12 GOOGLE REVIEWS!

“Great ready to eat foods, wholesome ingredients for cooking. Lots of organic options, freshly made sushi, yummy baked goods...” Yvonne W.

DAVIS FOOD CO-OP • 620 G ST OPEN DAILY 7AM—10PM

BY H A N N A H HOL Z E R campus@theaggie.org

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TAPINGO’S TIES TO PRIVATE PRISON COMPANY ARAMARK New dining service app’s partnership with corporate giant sparks discussion

BY PR I YA N KA SHR E E DAR campus@theaggie.org

In the past two years, UC Davis and the UC system have been actively divesting from organizations directly linked to private prisons. These private prisons, or for-profit prisons, are facilities in which individuals are confined by a third party company that is contracted by a government agency.

In October 2017, Student Dining Services introduced Tapingo, a mobile ordering app, to various locations on campus including the CoHo, the CoHo South Cafe and Biobrew. The goal of Tapingo was to reduce wait times and

lines at these popular campus eateries, in order to lessen crowding and increase business.

However, concerns have been raised regarding Tapingo’s partnership with Aramark, a corporate food service giant that has clients in education and healthcare as well as contracts with privatized correctional institutions.

ASUCD Senator Marcos Rodriguez initially raised concerns about Tapingo after reading an article online published

by American Friends Service Committee.

“The article stated that companies profiting from the prison-industrial complex have found a way into almost every corner of college campuses,” Rodriguez

said. “For example, Sodexo, the company UC Davis partnered with for a while for food services, also profits off of contracts with private prisons. I actually read an article on Medium that argued Sodexo is [...] worse than Aramark.”

The Medium article states: “Sodexo actually operates private prisons and immigrant detention centers around the world.” Rodriguez said a company with ties to private prisons on college campuses doesn’t seem, to him, “to be a unique situation.”

According to the article, Aramark “works in over 600 correctional institutions across the United States and Canada [...and] serves more than 1,000,000 meals to prisoners each day.”

Aramark has been subject to various protests, strikes and lawsuits by employees, community members and inmates in the past including an inmate suing the prison for “price-gouging gourmet food”.

Director of Dining Services at UC Davis Darin Schluep stated that Tapingo’s ties to Aramark did not play a role in his decision to establish and promote the app on campus.

“I’m not necessarily working with Aramark, which is of course in the prison industry, so to me there was no correlation between providing a service to our customers through Tapingo, who doesn’t

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work directly with the prison industry,” Schluep said. “I don’t see the link there.

I don’t see the connection by which me working with Tapingo directly supports the prison industry or Aramark.”

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Tapingo “has also partnered with food-service operators like Aramark and Sodexo.” In response to the development of a partnership between Aramark and Tapingo, Schluep said, “that wasn’t really part of my decision-making process.”

Andreas Godderis, a second-year economics major and ASUCD senator, works regularly with Tapingo as an employee at the South CoHo. “My knowledge of the app comes from the experience I have with it from working at the South CoHo,” Godderis said. “We installed Tapingo earlier Fall Quarter and it was kind of going through a test run and it should be going through the mainstream in the winter.”

Godderis responded to the news of the existing partnership between the two companies and expressed his views on the privatized prison industry.

“I was not at all aware of that [partnership], and that’s deeply disturbing,” Godderis said. “I am going to be looking into that, because private prisons are not at all democratic and horrible to society.

JEREMY DANG / AGGIE

This is the first time I’m hearing of this.

I use Tapingo on a daily basis as an employee, and that’s not very fun to hear.”

Godderis said he plans to reach out to other ASUCD officials and, eventually, Tapingo’s developers.

“Given this information, I’m going to talk to some of the other senators and hopefully email or get in contact with Tapingo and the developers and see why they use that service,” Godderis said. “If it is indeed tied to the private prisons, I believe that the majority of the student body is vehemently opposed to that and they will take a stand on that issue and make a public [statement] that if Tapingo doesn’t change that, there will be some sort of student backlash. Hopefully students are willing to protest the use of that, but first I will start by contacting and reaching out to Tapingo and seeing what their side is.”

Godderis responded to the claim that there is no link between supporting the private prison industry and doing business with Tapingo.

“For my personal opinion, if they are at all part of a network that supports private prisons then I am absolutely opposed to it regardless of how small those ties are,” Godderis said.

Tapingo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

IMPROVING WASTE DISPOSAL New trash, recycling bins installed in downtown Davis

What are the odds?

Jan. 3 “Davis Food Co-op card lost at Safeway.”

“On the far north side in alley behind businesses, male inside enclosed fence area dancing on possible electrical box.”

Jan. 4 “Reporting party had someone coming to her residence yesterday selling magazines.”

“Gas-operated vehicle parked in electric charging spot.”

“Reporting party lost wallet somewhere in Davis.”

Jan. 5 “Reporting party was turning into the alley and hit the fire hydrant after being cut off by another vehicle. No injuries and no damage to the fire hydrant.”

Jan. 6 “Female talking loudly. Reporting party thought the subject may be having mental health issues.”

“Unknown subject deliberately dumped raw food all over the reporting party’s childrens’ bicycles.”

Jan. 7 “Subjects threw a pumpkin in the pool.”

BY RABIYA OBEROI city@theaggie.org

As a part of the grant received by the State Department of Resources, the old concrete trash and recycling bins downtown have been replaced with new ones, which are made of recycled plastic from post-consumer products.

“In some of the areas of the downtown, bins regularly overflowed with excess waste,” said Jennifer Gilbert, the parks coordinator, in an email interview. “The new bins feature large color pictures of what can be placed in each bin, and each bin has a side for recycling and a side for trash.”

The new trash and recycling bins have also cut down on time needed to empty them. “[The crew used to spend] 5 hours a day, seven days a week, emptying the sidewalk trash and recycling bins from Davis,” Gilbert said. “Within hours of being emptied, they would be overflowing again.”

Mayor Pro Tempore Brett Lee predicts that clearer labels on these new bins will allow for responsible waste disposal behavior from Davis residents.

“I think the level of education will go up,” Lee said. “And again, the good thing is that when they [the people] are in front of the container, it will have two compartments — the recyclables and the non-recyclables.”

Lee also added that the City of Davis is planning to expand the project if successful.

“One of the important ideas is that if this is successful in downtown, the idea is to place these receptacles in [the] city’s parks uptown and in other areas,” Lee said.

Tammy Rominger, the parks supervisor, had similar ideas regarding the new trash and recycling bins.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a longterm solution because educating the people is a big part of it,” Rominger said. “Education’s going to help with long-term. Everybody works together

to ensure that we are doing the best we can for the environment.”

Gilbert also referred to the potentially detrimental effects that throwing things away can have on the planet.

“People often think that when they are done with something, they throw it ‘away,’” Gilbert said. “There is no ‘away.’ All waste goes somewhere, and where it goes is important. Your disposable coffee cup could be composted, the lid recycled — or it could all get buried in a landfill for hundreds of years. Each action you take has long-term impacts.”

Lee predicts that the disposal of trash and recycling can still be improved in the city of Davis.

“It’s not so much that it [trash and recycling disposal] is a problem, it’s just that we can do better and we can make it easy to do better,” Lee said. “Are we going to stop global warming by this?

Probably not. But this is definitely a step in the right direction. Once these are in place, people will wonder ‘Why would we have done it any other way?’”

UC REGENT NORMAN PATTIZ RESIGNS AMID SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATION

MICHAEL DRUMMOND / THE DAILY CALIFORNIAN

Pattiz steps down after year of pressure from student organization

BY AL LY R U SS E L L campus@theaggie.org

Radio mogul and UC Regent Norman Pattiz submitted a letter of resignation effective Feb. 16 one year after sexual assault allegations against him initially surfaced.

Last October, podcast host Heather McDonald accused Pattiz of sexual misconduct on a podcast segment and released an audio recording of Pattiz asking to hold her breasts. Pattiz confirmed that it is his voice on the recording according to an article from HuffPost. McDonald

also said that Pattiz joked about following her into the restroom, among other incidents of sexual harassment and misconduct.

The second allegation against Pattiz came from Ji Min Park later in 2016.

Among other comments, Park mentioned that Pattiz referred to her as the “hottest Asian” in a Huffington Post article.

Although the UC Board of Regents was pressured to act in response to the allegations, the Board does not have the capacity to remove a Regent, only to accept their resignation.

“He wasn’t conducting UC business at the time,” the UC Regents stated in an official statement.

Despite not officially representing the UC at the time of the allegations, Pattiz has faced pressure to step down from the UC Student Association Office of the External Affairs Vice President at UC Berkeley, California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom and others. The ASUC Office of the External Affairs Vice President released a copy of its call for Pattiz’s resignation on its Facebook page.

“This has been a matter of deep concern at many levels of the University of California especially in light of systemwide work we have done to address sexual harassment and assault,” Newsom said in an official statement. “These students — some of whom are survivors of sexual assault and harassment themselves — de-

serve to be heard, not silenced or told to be ‘ashamed.’”

Pattiz’s letter of resignation did not mention any of the sexual assault allegations.

“One of the main reasons I accepted an additional term on the Board was to provide enough time to find a successor at the laboratories and allow for a reasonable transition,” Pattiz said. “The period of transition at the laboratories will end in February.”

In response, George Kieffer, the current chair of the UC Board of Regents, also did not specifically mention the allegations.

“After so many years, you deserve a break,” Kieffer said in response to Pattiz’s letter.

Pattiz formerly served on the Academic and Student Affairs, Governance and

Compensation and Public Engagement and Development committees on the Board of Regents.

Following his letter of resignation, the University of California Student Association released an official statement. Although the eventual resignation is noted as a “victory” in the press release, UCSA brought attention to what it refers to as a systemic failure to address the issue of sexual assault cases by the UC. “The Board of Regents have continually failed to act for the full year between when the allegations first broke and when Regent Pattiz announced his resignation,” the release said. “The Board of Regents as a collective body ignored the comprehensive list of demands from the UC Student Association that would have showed an active commitment to UC’s expressed will to end sexual violence.”

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REVIVING CAPAY OPEN SPACE PARK ONE PLANT AT A TIME Community planting days established for regional park restoration

BY STE L L A T RA N city@theaggie.org

A LLYSON KO / AGGIE

Capay Open Space Park, a regional park northwest of Davis, is no longer merely an open space, as volunteers have come together to beautify the area. In an effort to restore regional parks, the Yolo County Resource Conservation District (YCRCD) partnered with the Cache Creek Conservancy (CCC).

Tanya Meyer, a project manager of YCRCD, explained how the organizations came together to give life back to Capay Open Space Park.

“About two years ago, the Resource Conservation District wrote a grant to the Natural Resource Agency, and we worked with the Cache Creek Conservancy,” Meyer said. “The grant was to improve the Capay Open Space Park.”

Meyer noted that the soil of the park was in need of improvement.

“It’s been around for about 10 years,” Meyer said. “It’s a pretty rough site because it wasn’t actively a gravel mine but it was used for staging.

The soil is very tough and doesn’t take plants very well and it’s barren, so we’re trying to improve it.”

Meyer then worked with the conservancy to coordinate planting days for volunteers to help out from Jan. 6 to 7.

“It’s a small community,” Meyer said. “We had eight adults and two children on Saturday and five adults and three children on Sunday.”

While the group was small, Meyer noted how much the volunteers cared by coming out to help.

“It’s always great to see people volunteer, especially since everyone is busy these days and people come out because they want to improve the park and be outside and plant native plants,” Meyer said.

Nancy Ullrey, the executive director of the CCC, praised the volunteers.

“People who are interested in helping with restoring native grasses are marvelous,” Ullrey said.

Ullrey also compared the restoration procedures to historical influence.

“It combines the whole historical stream in my mind — it’s the past, present and the future,” Ullrey said. “We are honoring what used to be and what thrives in a particular ecosystem region, and we are making a difference in the present, and it is for the future to benefit from. To me, it’s just part of that great march of history.”

Ullrey explained that the goal of the CCC is to assist in restoration of these regional parks.

“We get restoration funding from various sources, and we help restore those parks,” Ullrey said. “The aggregate companies do the initial restoration. We come in and we enhance and we make sure that their initial restoration work continues to thrive, and that’s what we’re doing

with Capay Open Space right now.”

James Mizoguchi, a habitat restoration program manager for the CCC, described how the dates were set for planting.

“The dates were set to capitalize on seasonality,” Mizoguchi said.

“We have plants that have been in the ground for a certain time. We had community volunteers come out to help us plant native wildflowers and create a pollinator habitat.”

The community’s involvement along with the restoration plans are a start to restoring Capay Open Space Park.

“The project itself is most inspiring to me because Capay Open Space Park is perhaps an overlooked parcel of land,” Mizoguchi said.

“It has had significant soil compaction and other challenges to habitat restoration, yet the community is interested and engaged. Restoration staff at the Yolo County Resource Conservation District have done a great job of preparing planting areas and sites with novel approaches to

IA N J O N E S / AG G I E

WRRC LAUNCHES MENTORSHIP PROGRAM FOR WOMEN IN STEM WiSE kick-off event included speech from LeShelle May

BY CLA RA Z HAO campus@theaggie.org

On Jan. 11, the kick-off event for the UC Davis Women in Science and Engineering program took place at the Student Community Center.

According to Sara Blair-Medeiros, the assistant director of outreach at the WRRC, “The WiSE Program at the WRRC was established in an effort to promote a mentorship opportunity centered on those with marginalized gender identities in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math-

ON THE ROAD WITH UC DAVIS POLICE

restoration.”

Mizoguchi recounted the mood surrounding the planting days.

“On an emotional level, the activity itself is so tranquil and gratifying at the same time,” Mizoguchi said.

Mizoguchi also emphasized that there will be more projects to come as the movement shifts forward to bring the community together and make a difference with wildlife habitats.

“We’re all dedicated toward enhancing and restoring high-quality wildlife habitats and outdoor space within Yolo County and the Cache Creek Watershed,” Mizoguchi said. “This is one of many projects that the Yolo Resource Conservation District, Cache Creek Conservancy and Yolo County have embarked upon. There will be more in the future, and we invite everybody to join in on it.”

The next planting date is set on Jan. 27, and others are welcomed to join and volunteer to help revive Capay Open Space Park.

ematics.”

“WiSE aims to provide a supportive, gender positive environment in which mentees work together with their mentors to achieve their academic and professional goals,” Blair-Medeiros said. “In doing so, the program aspires to help improve gender equity in these fields. We believe that the recruitment and retention of students of underrepresented gender identities is essential to promoting gender equity in STEM and is a pillar of the gender equity work we engage in at the WRRC.” Through the program, female students in STEM are paired with experienced mentors whom they can meet up with periodically for advice on such topics as job-finding and resume preparation.

The event started off with a speech by LeShelle May, a highly-accomplished computer engineer recognized for her leadership and innovation in the development of software and web applications.

According to May’s biography on the UC Davis website, her “projects include the 2014 launch of the CNNgo app that offers live news coverage to online viewers and enables them to scroll back to see what they missed” as well as “the development of a video content management system that instantaneously delivers stories to hundreds of newsrooms worldwide.”

May started off by talking about her beginnings in science, where she was the only female student in many of her AP classes. She then presented several

slides on how social media is changing the landscape and how biotech and engineering are coming together — showing the abundance of opportunities in STEM fields.

“Remain steadfast. You can do it,” May said to attendees of the kick-off event.

In the next part of the conference, the attendees were asked to break into small groups to discuss what gender equity means to them and how their social identities affect their careers in STEM. May summarized the points brought up in her group, including lack of equal pay for women, lack of encouragement that women have in STEM, stricter assessment for women and the fact that women are often not trusted on high-profile projects.

Other points brought up were bias and the patronization of female graduate students as well as women not receiving credit for their work.

In the next segment of the event, WRRC staff presented the definitions of common social justice terms such as genderism, privilege, intersectionality and mansplaining. They also introduced a number of other programs and events offered by the WRRC, including the Davis Feminist Film Festival, Black Futures Month and the Janet Mock Book Club.

Marisol Wolf-Ochoa, a second-year neuroscience graduate student in attendance at the WiSE event, found it to be worthwhile.

“There are a lot of lessons to be learned from other people’s journeys,” Wolf-Ochoa said. “It makes you feel you’re not alone.”

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Police ride-along aims to brings together officers, students

BY G E ORG E L I AO campus@theaggie.org

The Ride-Along program offered by the UC Davis Police Department provides a chance for students to ride with police officers on patrol and learn about what officers do on a daily basis. On Jan. 8, The California Aggie participated in a ride-along with Officer Walter “Walt” Broussard of the UC Davis Police Department.

The goal of the Ride-Along program is to bring together students and officers. It allows students to learn about police work by talking with officers and observing police calls. A side benefit of the ride is visiting less-populated parts of the campus that a student might not usually see.

Captain Jennifer Garcia of the UC Davis Police Department expanded on the work done by the Ride-Along Program.

“We have always allowed ride-alongs,” Garcia said. “We promoted them more — probably about five or six years ago — [...and] made it easier for people to schedule, because they can just go online and schedule ride-alongs. People from all over want to understand what police do, and it gives opportunity for people to come and talk to a police officer in a no-stress situation and get to know us a little bit

personally.”

Broussard, a 20-year veteran of the UC Davis Police Department, shared stories of his time in the department and also took pride in showing the sprawling properties within the campus.

During the ride, Broussard received a 911 call at the parking structure off of Howard Way that turned out to be a false alarm. This turned out to be the only call during the ride, which provided an opportunity to talk about the vast pastoral properties owned by UC Davis.

Broussard drove to the outer corners of UC Davis and stopped at the Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility. He spoke enthusiastically about the property.

“They actually [conduct] research out here with the crops and on the other side where the tree line is [there] is a raptor protection area,” Broussard said.

“There used to be a lot of farming out there. They used to have kiwis, pistachios, pomegranates; there was every known fruit out here known to mankind.

And they tore it all out. There were 25-year-old kiwi plants out here. You can come out here and pick a kiwi and have a fresh kiwi for lunch. It is pretty neat.”

Kelsey McDonald, the student assistant to the Office of the Chief and a recent graduate of UC Da-

vis, helps organize the ride-alongs.

“I do all of the scheduling for the ride-alongs,” McDonald said. “We have an online survey that people take [...] and that is how you request a ridealong. I pick a date and time that I think will work best for our department and the person based on what they indicated on the survey, and I email them

with the information.”

McDonald spoke about the uniqueness of the program.

“More than anything, I would say our officers are a super, super friendly police force,” McDonald said.

RIDE ALONG on 11

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MICHELLE HU EY / COU RTESY

My Sister’s House Reaches out to Yolo County Culturally-sensitive support and resources for Asian Pacific Islanders, other sexual violence survivors

BY STE L L A SA P P I N GTO N features@theaggie.org

Executive Director Nilda Valmores of My Sister’s House recounted meeting with a client who had been denied sexual assault services at another location. However, Valmores, being Filipina like the client herself and understanding Tagalog, noticed the woman’s shifty gaze and hesitance to describe her situation. Valmores invited her to share her story in Tagalog and the woman’s pauses and erratic behavior became clear. To a culturally insensitive organization that helps victims of sexual abuse, this woman could easily be misunderstood as untruthful.

“If I wasn’t culturally sensitive, I would have thought that she was lying too,” Valmores said.

“It’s hard enough if you’re born and raised in English [...] to get the help you need to tell the story that you need to tell. And to have to tell it with different words and in a different language

to someone who may not understand, that’s even harder.”

The core of the mission of My Sister’s House, which provides resources and services to residents of Sacramento and Yolo Counties to counter domestic violence, sex trafficking and sexual assault, is to maintain a culturally sensitive approach. People like Valmores and Sexual Assault Prevention Specialist Michelle Huey understand how cultural positionality affects the way people process and cope with trauma.

“Dealing the the trauma [of sexual abuse] effectively means dealing with the cultural piece,” Valmores said. “And when you don’t [...] you’re going to neglect serving a significant group of women.”

This preliminary understanding of culture as part and parcel of processing trauma is critical to the services that My Sister’s House provides and to the organization’s ability to provide those services to those who need them.

“She’s not supposed to be talking about sex in

the first place,” Valmores said. “She’s not supposed to be talking definitely badly about her husband. She’s not supposed to be talking about what’s happening in the relationship especially in regards to the sex piece.

She’s not going to have great eye contact because she’s not supposed to.”

Valmores spoke about other cultural differences that can pose barriers to accessing care.

“It’s also about delivering services differently,” Valmores said. “For example many times mainstream organizations say a training starts at two o’clock. If you’re not there at two o’clock, then the door is closed on you. But for people who have a different sense of time […] two o’clock is when they get there.”

Asian Pacific Islander women make up one eighth of the population. It is precisely this huge, albeit minority status that allowed My Sister’s House to receive a federal grant to fund Project REACH (Reaching Each Asian-Pacific Islander Community with Hope).

These funds have enabled the organization to expand to Yolo County in the hopes of reaching Asian Pacific Islander women who may also be survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. Numbering among their programs for these women are a Sexual Assault Survivor Support Group and a Friends and Family of Sexual Assault Survivors support group, both staffed by professional therapists.

The utilities of My Sister’s House are coming directly to the UC Davis campus on Wednesday, Jan. 17, in cooperation with SAFE and CARE. Meeting in Room B of the Student Community Center from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., My Sister’s House will be leading a discussion about sexual violence and harassment, specifically in the Southeast Asian community.

Representatives of My Sister’s House were also present at Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. march in Sacramento. For Valmores, their presence there was essential.

“Sex trafficking is modern day slavery,” Valmores said. “And sex trafficking begins with sexual abuse.”

On Tuesday, My Sister’s House held its yearly conference on sex trafficking, one of the key issues that the organization aims to address. However, there are upcoming ways to learn more about My Sister’s House. It leads monthly volunteer trainings. It also offers bi-yearly training sessions on identifying the signs of sexual abuse and working with domestic violence

BY SAB RINA H AB CH I campus@theaggie.org

CA ITLYN SA MPLEY / AGGIE

Contracted workers in the gig economy to benefit from Trump administration tax cuts Passage of Senate tax bill has potential to increase profits of sharing economy workers

The lures of the gig economy, from flexible scheduling to easily attainable jobs, may become more attractive with tax cuts from the Senate bill that passed on Dec. 19. Already, a quarter of Americans report earning some form of income from digital platforms. According to data from Earnest, about 80 percent of Uber and Lyft drivers make under $500 a month, but new tax provisions could make earning extra money in the gig economy more profitable than ever.

For the most part, gig workers are classified as independent contractors rather than formal employees. This means that, under the new tax law, contracted workers such as Uber and Lyft drivers will be able to deduct 20 percent of their yearly earnings from their taxable income — another incentive for Americans to move away from formal employment.

Companies often favor contractors over employees because they can save up to 30 percent in costs — from payroll taxes to health care provision. The classification of gig workers as independent contractors, however, has been up for debate since the digital job market started exploding in 2009. In 2015, a California court ruled that an Uber driver who had filed a claim against the company was an employee, not an independent contractor. There have also been a number of class action lawsuits against Uber and Lyft in which drivers have tried to argue that they should be classified as employees rather than contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Courts

survivors, and will give free presentations on the issues that face the Asian Pacific Islander community regarding sexual violence.

All of these outreach programs are in addition to sheltering women and children who have faced domestic and sexual violence. These shelters operate in coordination with their program Women to Work, which empowers and enables women to become self-sufficient after leaving violent relationships.

Michelle Huey, who is an alumna of UC Davis in addition to her position with My Sister’s House, remembers a time on campus where sexual assault wasn’t part of the public discourse.

“Back then [...] it was only a few years ago, nobody was really talking about sexual assault,” Huey said.

“Even now we don’t talk about how it happens in the Asian Pacific Islander community.”

This may be in many ways because of some cultural norms that Huey identifies in the Asian Pacific Islander community like “saving face.”

“The topic of sex isn’t really talked about in the Asian Pacific Islander community,” Huey said. “That makes it even harder when sexual violence is involved.”

Huey recounted a story not so different from Valmores’ in which a Mandarin-speaking women visited My Sister’s House flanked by law enforcement, completely shell-shocked. When a staff member addressed her in Mandarin, Huey says that her relief was palpable.

“I almost cried because of seeing her reaction,” Huey said. “That moment absolutely stands out in my mind.”

Third-year Asian American studies and psychology double major Pryanka Narayan, who works with My Sister’s House, also had a story to share reflecting on the time she has spent with the organization since high school. She spoke over the phone with a client who was new to the country and didn’t know where to go with her story of domestic violence.

“I did the best that I could, I kind of gave her hope that there is a new beginning and there is a way to get out of the situation that she was in,” Narayan said.

Narayan also reminded readers that while My Sister’s House is culturally sensitive to Asian Pacific Islanders, it is in no way exclusive.

“We are culturally sensitive,” Narayan said. “But we are open to any genders and anyone at all.”

in Florida sided with Uber in 2017 by characterizing employees as independent contractors, while courts in California and Massachusetts have rejected cash settlements that attempted to compensate upset drivers for misclassification.

The issue comes down to whether an employer controls the work of the employee, but defining “control” is subjective.

Is Uber “controlling” its employees by setting a pay structure and issuing a code of performance, or is it simply acting as a platform for riders and drivers to connect at their own convenience? Future court rulings will have to set this definition in an ever-growing sharing economy where employment status is hazy.

Debates between companies and workers over employment status may settle down now that gig workers have the ability to save more of their earnings as contractors. Formal employment, though, still offers protections to employees such as healthcare, workers compensation and anti-discrimination protections that contracted working lacks. As mentioned in a previous article, economists such as Janine Wilson of the UC Davis Department of Economics believe that the growth of the sharing economy will bring private insurers to the market, offsetting the absence of a safety net for contractors.

Observations over time will show if new tax provisions will be another incentive to boost the size of the already growing gig economy, but adding increased profitability to a market that already offers schedule flexibility and easy-to-obtain jobs could outweigh the cost of having limited workplace protections as an independent contractor.

MIC HE L L E G O R E / AG GI E

Despite housing shortage, Nishi remains controversial Nishi development project faces continuing environmental scrutiny

BY B EN JA M I N P O RT E R features@theaggie.org

It’s no secret that Davis faces an extreme shortage of affordable housing. In November of 2017, The California Aggie reported that Davis has a rental vacancy rate of just 0.2 percent.

In June 2016, Davis voters narrowly rejected Measure A, which would have turned the Nishi Gateway property into a mixed-use development with residential apartments and an “innovation center” for research.

However, a new proposal that only includes student rental apartments will likely be on the ballot this June.

“We have listened to the voters, reduced traffic and other impacts and are focused on meeting a dire housing need in this community,” said Tim

Ruff, the prospective developer of the site. “Regarding traffic as the biggest issue, the new plan eliminated the car connection to Olive Drive and Richards Boulevard and removed the largest traffic generators from the plan: for sale housing and research space. The new project is focused on [students] who don’t drive as frequent (and don’t have to at this location) with vehicular access to UC Davis only.”

An Environmental Impact Report was completed in 2015 and indicated “significant and unavoidable” air quality problems at Nishi due to its location between the train tracks and Interstate 80, which may have been on the minds of some voters in addition to traffic. While Nishi was monitored over a short period of time for the EIR, there have not been peer-reviewed studies to show the

degree to which exhaust, diesel and ultra-fine metals from brake pads impact Nishi over longer periods of time, all of which have been associated with a range of health complications.

Tom Cahill, a UC Davis professor emeritus of physics, helped prepare the EIR and recommended mitigation measures. In an op-ed for The Davis Enterprise, he said that these peer-reviewed studies need to occur before a vote on the new proposal is held, and suggested delaying the vote to accommodate the time frame that would be needed for adequate measurements to be taken throughout the year.

“The draft EIR [included] measurements [...] of ultra-fine diesel exhaust, a known cancer-causing agent, but did not include new data showing that diesel from trains is six times more toxic than diesel from trucks, or data on ultra-fine metals from brake debris connected to a 35 percent increase in fatal heart attacks in Bakersfield,” Cahill said.

UC Davis philosophy professor Roberta Millstein, who specializes in environmental ethics and philosophy of biology, said that Cahill’s calls for additional and more thorough studies have her full support.

“The preliminary studies were very striking, but they were not performed at Nishi itself, they were done at a site on Olive Drive and they were only done

for 10 days,” Millstein said. “Delaying the vote until we have more data is only prudent. Voters should be making an informed decision when they vote. The City Council should also be more informed before deciding to put this proposed project on the ballot.”

To make a point about how polluted Nishi may be, Cahill compared Nishi to a site near Highway 60 in Ontario, Calif. that is considered to be the most polluted near-roadway site in the nation. While I-80 near Nishi doesn’t experience as much traffic as Highway 60, Cahill identifies three different negative factors that set Nishi apart.

“The neck down of I-80 west of Nishi from six lanes to three forces heavy braking and stop-and-go traffic,” Cahill said. “No such lane reductions occur for Highway 60. An [LA Times] article states, ‘Ultrafine particles are suspected of causing some of the illnesses among people living near traffic.’ These include ‘dust from brake pads and tires that contain toxic metals, rubber and other compounds that are kicked up into the air.’”

Thus, Cahill believes that the lane reduction near Nishi could create adverse health consequences worse than what is seen near Highway 60. There certainly is NISHI on 11

THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2018 | 5

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

CAT TAYLOR / AGGIE FILE

Seven awards to be presented at Aggie Alumni Awards Ceremony Recipients will receive awards on Feb. 2

BY JACQUEL I N E MO O R E campus@theaggie.org

Each year, UC Davis honors alumni and friends of the university at the Aggie Alumni Awards ceremony. The event recognizes those who are exceptional in their fields of work and who have meaningfully impacted their communities. Recipients of these awards are selected by the Cal Aggie Alumni Association. “[Award candidates] are nominated each year by both alumni, friends of the university, as well as many staff,” said Jennifer Thayer, the assistant director of programs for the alumni association. “All of the nominees have made significant contributions or progress to the UC Davis campus, to the university, or in their profession. A committee of Alumni Association leaders and

board members, university faculty and past award winners then selects a recipient of the award from the pool of nominees.”

Thayer also discussed how the awards recognize the individuals’ connection to the university.

“Not only are we honoring the contributions that they’ve made to society, to their community [and] to their profession,” Thayer said. “We’re also showing that [...]

Davis was a key factor in making all of these individuals really great in what they’re doing.”

On Feb. 2, the university will commend the following seven alumni and one friend of the university: Patrick Sherwood (‘86), Cynthia Murphy-Ortega (‘91), Liliana Ferrer (‘87), Margaret Lapiz (‘89), John Madigan (‘70, MS ‘72, DVM ‘75), Jesse Rodriguez (‘13) and Ernest Tschannen, a friend

Nursing: A world of opportunities Pre-nursing students shed light on different nursing pathways, give advice for others TAKOMABIBELOT [CC BY 2.0] / FLICKR

BY MA RLYS JE A N E features@theaggie.org

When pre-nursing student Haley Eichhorn was a freshman and sophomore, the prospect of getting an internship seemed impossible. After visiting the Internship and Career Center, though, volunteer opportunities were suddenly closer than ever.

“I started with [the ICC] and got an internship [in the Emergency Room] at the Medical Center (UCDMC) and I loved it,” Eichhorn, now a third-year human development major, said. “It was a perfect way

for me to learn. They have so many options — you can do oncology, the cardiac unit, the ER, the pediatrics unit, like you can literally do the internship anywhere. It’s not super hands-on, and it’s good to see these environments because you think you want to work there and then you find out very fast if you like it or not.”

As a pre-nursing student, not only is it important to take the appropriate nursing school prerequisites, but experience is also important because it demonstrates competencies and passion in a nursing school applicant. Eichhorn, for example, has in-

SONIA KRISHNA / COURTESY

Engineering: An endeavor beyond hard skills Engineers Without Borders, global impact of engineers, senior design project

BY SAHI T I V EM UL A features@theaggie.org

On the UC Davis campus, engineers are employing communications and various interdisciplinary skills to be successful.

Engineers Without Borders is a student organization similar to the concept of Doctors Without Borders. The main idea is that the tools of science can transcend manmade borders, as people work to help other members in global communities who are in need.

The UC Davis chapter of EWB currently has parallel projects running in three countries: Peru, Bolivia and Indonesia.

Most of the projects pertain to issues of water and water systems, such as building

eco-latrines and implementing a completely new water system.

“Our goal at the end of the day is to help these communities get more clean water, more plentiful amounts of water and [to] really just appease the needs of their community,” said Sonia Krishna, a fourth-year electrical engineering major and the president of EWB. “We are more of a technical needs club; we don’t really tend to mix with the social but we do have to be prepared for that too. When I went to Peru for example, there were some clashes with different communities and we had to be prepared.”

EWB strives to allow undergraduates to delve into real-world projects abroad, network with different companies and develop some soft skills. It gives them the chance to

of the university.

Patrick Sherwood is the recipient of the Jerry W. Fiedler award, which is presented to an alumnus who has made exceptional contributions to the CAAA, the UC Davis foundation and the university itself. Sherwood was previously an officer and a committee chair of the CAAA. He has supported recipients of various scholarships for alumni and has created multiple scholarships to support undergraduate students.

Currently, Sherwood is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council as well as a trustee for the UC Davis Foundation.

Sherwood graduated from the university with a B.A. in economics.

Cynthia Murphy-Ortega, who earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the university, will receive the Aggie Service Award, which commends an alumnus who offered significant support to the CAAA and the university in the previous year.

Murphy-Ortega has dedicated time and effort to support her fellow alumni in their post-college endeavours.

According to a UC Davis article, Murphy-Ortega is a manager of Chevron’s University Partnerships and Association Relations, where she works to connect students from many different universities with opportunities for employment and career exploration.

Murphy-Ortega spearheaded Chevron’s scholarship program to financially support engineering students. Additionally, she is involved with the university’s Leadership in Engineering Advancement Diversity and Retention program, which supports minority students in engineering.

This year’s recipient of the CAAA

Distinguished Achievement Award is John Madigan, who will be commended for his contributions to the field of animal welfare and health. This award primarily honors an alumnus who is exceptional in their career and recognizes their service to the university.

Madigan founded the International Animal Welfare Training Institute, which provides animal welfare training to university students and members of the Davis community. He also created the Veterinary Emergency Response Team, which is a volunteer subgroup of IAWTI that offers faculty, students and members of the community the opportunity to earn hands-on experience about animal emergency response.

“We’re kind of like a volunteer fire department,” Madigan said. “Right now, we have 146 students that are enrolled in our program that [are] all learning how to get involved with community response.”

IAWTI partners with researchers in countries as far away as New Zealand to share research with first responders in Davis and beyond.

“You see the need, and then you know you can do it,” Madigan said, referring to his motivation to continue promoting animal welfare and emergency safety. “That’s the combination.”

This year, the Emil M. Mrak award will be presented to UC Davis alumna Liliana Ferrer. The award, created and named in honor of Emil M. Mrak, who was a chancellor of the university from 1959 to 1969, recognizes an alumnus for their exceptional work outside of the country.

Ferrer is currently the head of the Mexican Consulate in Sacramento. Her

efforts in that position involve supporting Hispanic students in college. Ferrer has held several significant positions in Mexican politics and government — she was the head of Political and Border Affairs of the Mexican embassy in Washington D.C., and she held the title of deputy chief of mission at the Mexican embassy in Paris. Ferrer is currently making efforts to connect the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico with UC Davis for the benefit of both institutions.

Margaret Lapiz is the recipient of the Outstanding Alumnus/a Award, which is given to an alumnus contributing significantly to their communities and most specifically to the university.

Lapiz will be recognized by the Cal Aggie Alumni Association for her contributions in medicine to the Hispanic community. She founded Prep Medico, which focuses on supporting medical professionals who specialize in assisting Hispanic patients. Additionally, she created the Lapiz Family Scholarship Fund to support children of agricultural workers who are attending or will attend college.

Lapiz was recognized by the Global Filipina Women’s Network as one of the 100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the World, and she was named one of the Top 100 Under 50 Diverse Executive and Emerging Leaders by Diversity MBA Magazine.

The Young Alumnus Award honors a recent graduate who has made a significant impression in their field of work, their community or the university following their graduation.

terned in the ER in the past. Now she works with a clinic in Davis as a sexual and reproductive health educator and also takes classes to become a doula at the Woodland Hospital.

“As far as getting experience, everyone does the same [kinds of things],” Eichhorn said. “They do research and do ‘this’ and do ‘that’ for anything prehealth, but I have done very off-the-wall kind of outside experience, which has been super cool and I want everyone to know that there’s so many options.”

UC Davis students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree in any major can choose a number of pathways, the first being to move on to obtain a bachelor’s in nursing (BSN) and registered nursing license (RN) at another institution. Some choose to stop there, but others will gather a few years of nursing experience after this and then return to school to pursue a master’s in nursing (MSN) or a doctorate program. After undergraduate, though, some students choose to immediately move on to a longer program to obtain their MSN and RN before gaining nursing experience or entering a doctorate program.

“Right now nursing is one of the biggest growing fields out there and there are couple different routes to become a

registered nurse,” said Tiffany Lung, a fourth-year human development major and president of the UC Davis Nursing Club, via email. “Since UC Davis does not offer a nursing undergraduate degree, most students will apply for a two year program to get their second bachelors in nursing. However, most are now moving to masters program.”

The third pathway is similar to the second one; the difference is that after receiving an MSN and RN, students can choose a specialization as well, go off to gain experience, and have the option to return to a Doctorate Program. There are many MSN degree specialties, one of the most common ones being the Nurse Practitioner (NP). Other options include becoming a critical care nurse, a nurse anesthetist, and more.

“I think a lot of people probably have an idea of what they want to do, but become surprised by what they end up actually doing,” said Brooke Talkington, a second-year international relations major. “I think a lot of people go into [nursing] thinking they’ll do one thing and then finding out they actually really want to do something else. It’s just like going into college with a major you like and then realizing it’s not for you, you just kind of have to experience

it and figure out if it’s suitable for who you are.”

This is precisely the dilemma Talkington experienced herself, as she’s in the process of switching her major from international relations to human development so she can pursue her interests in pre-nursing.

“You can pretty much do any major really as long as you fulfill the requirements but it is smarter to choose a major that has more science-based classes,” Talkington said. “If you choose something like international relations, you’re not going to be taking [the required] classes and might exceed your unit limit. I’m interested in being a pediatrician just because I really love kids and working with kids. I think they’re so much fun.”

Lung has similar interests to Talkington, as she’s interested in working with children too. This is something she learned about herself through her volunteer experience, another reinforcement of why pre-nursing students recommend having experience in order to find what kind of job works for each individual.

“I want to become a neonatal nurse

go beyond the classroom academics and be able to perceive the breadth of the application of their technical knowledge.

“When I came in, I was a little bit overwhelmed like any freshman would be,” Krishna said. “I didn’t know anything about application of skills. [But] my personal experience is that this club isn’t just about introduction to these skills, it’s about empowering you to use these skills.”

These projects don’t have immediate gratification, Krishna said. Unlike the satisfaction of conducting a successful surgery, these sorts of projects span about five years and are very large scale.

“We spend so much time [on these projects], and it seems like a quick fix, but being able to work through these problems […] it’s a phenomenal experience,” Krishna said.

Tanisha Potnis, a third-year mechanical engineering major, is the project lead for EWB’s Indonesia project.

Potnis provided more insight into the genesis and implementation of the project, and the nuances it encompasses.

These projects require multiple trips to the country they are based in and the collection of very comprehensive data.

“The project has three trips: assessment, implementation [and] monitoring/evaluation,” Potnis said. “We just completed our assessment trip this past summer. It’s usually about two weeks long, and we collected everything from soil data, water data, elevation data and data on the community — their

opinions, satisfaction with the current system and what they’d like to see improved.”

In addition to providing a platform for developing technical and soft skills, the travelling involved in the projects, according to Krishna, is a learning experience in and of itself.

“It was a really good experience for me, because it was not only humbling to live in a place where people were so generous with so little, but I [also] never realized how much we can do as students, and how much power we have,” Krishna said. “Every engineer in my trip was a different major. We had biomedical, electrical, civil, mechanical — so working with all these different majors was phenomenal because we all had something to offer. We all kind of learned to communicate not only with each other but also with the community.”

But all engineering students, regardless of whether they are in EWB, are required to apply their skills before graduation through the senior design project.

“Senior design — it’s basically an organized internship,” said Krishna Basude, a fourth-year mechanical and biomedical engineering double major.

“Companies apply to be part of the program, they put forward a project and we decide what we want to do.

[But] my team decided that we wanted to do something a little bit different.

We wanted to do something that could possibly continue [and] get patented.”

Basude and his team are working on a project related to musculoskeletal mechanisms involved with overuse injuries in athletes and others who undergo physical exertion. The team is trying to help customers predict when they’re

ALUMNI on 12

NURSING on 12

ENGINEERING on 11

6 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2018

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Opinion the California Aggie EDITORIAL BOARD BRYAN SYKES Editor-in-Chief EMILY STACK Managing Editor HANNAH HOLZER Campus News Editor KAELYN TUERMER-LEE City News Editor TARYN DEOILERS Opinion Editor GILLIAN ALLEN Features Editor ALLY OVERBAY Arts & Culture Editor VERONICA VARGO Sports Editor HARNOOR GILL Science & Tech Editor

CHIARA ALVES New Media Manager BRIAN LANDRY Photo Director CHRISTIE NEO Design Director AMY YE Layout Director MAXINE MULVEY Copy Chief OLIVIA ROCKEMAN Copy Chief JAYASHRI PADMANABHAN Website Manager ALEX GUZMÁN Social Media Mangager MADELINE ONG Newsletter Manager LAURIE PEDERSON Business Development Manager

editorial board

The Celebrity President Reality check: Oprah Winfrey is not a qualified 2020 candidate At this year’s Golden Globe awards, Oprah Winfrey received the Cecil B. DeMille Award, an honorary Golden Globe bestowed annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for “outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment.” She is the first African American woman — and only the fourth African American in the award’s 66-year history — to receive this award.

Winfrey gave an acceptance speech that quickly went viral; in it, she recounted watching Sidney Poitier become the first African American to win the Best Actor Academy Award in 1964 and touched briefly on her mother’s struggles as a domestic worker. But the crux of her speech — the part that brought the audience to its feet and many to tears — was her rousing oratory against sexual harassment and abuse and her call to arms for “leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say ‘Me too’ again.” She told the shamefully little-known story of Recy Taylor and reminded watchers that Rosa Parks was an NAACP investigator and an activist who led a nationwide crusade against the sexual assault of black women before she was the lady on the bus.

In Winfrey’s words: “We all have lived too many years in a culture broken by brutally powerful men. For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dare speak the truth to the power of those men. But their time is up. [...] I want all the girls watching here, now, to know that a new day is on the horizon!”

Her speech was bold and stirring, suited to the social and political moment, a manifesto for the era of #MeToo and #TimesUp. More than a few Americans thought it sounded presidential.

More than a few Americans need to think again.

One of the more persistent myths of American politics is that

there’s really not that much to elected office — a lot of shaking hands and giving speeches. This is the side of politics that voters see, and we’ve come to believe that the part we can see is the only part that exists. Most if not all of us have forgotten that politics is — or should be — primarily about policy. This means that politicians need to understand law, policy, political theory and governance first and charm the vox populi second. If you cannot explain, in detail, the limitations of counterinsurgency doctrine in Afghanistan, or the ramifications of expanding drone programs to the CIA or make a coherent fiscal argument about health care policy, you have no business being commander-inchief.

Responding to the presidency of a crass, racist reality-television star with the candidacy of a big-hearted, loveable daytimetelevision star is a half-hearted response to the problem of woefully unqualified celebrity candidates. It’s perfectly possible to like someone — to find them thoughtful, kind, well-intentioned — while recognizing that they would not make a good president.

All lack of political experience aside, there are other reasons to be concerned about the possibility of President Winfrey. She has a long history of enabling and promoting all manner of cranks, hucksters and quacks. Her promotion of anti-vax proponents and The Secret are troublesome for an electorate that already struggles with even the most rudimentary fact-checking and is easily taken in by even the most improbable of fish stories. (See, for example, the fact that 40 percent of Americans believe “somewhat” or “completely” in conspiracy theories about chemtrails, or the 2013 Public Policy Polling survey that found 15 percent of respondents believe that secret mind-control signals are added to broadcast television.)

The Editorial Board begs the electorate to get its head on straight and find a real candidate for 2020.

The Execution of Foreign Language Study: Its benefits are striking, but only if we stay enrolled PERSONAL EXPERIENCE REVEALS PASSIONS, EXASPERATION IN RUSSIAN COURSES

BY NICK IRVIN ntirvin@ucdavis.edu There aren’t a lot of folks who can say their educational lives changed after they visited a Wikipedia page. I can say without a doubt that mine has. The story goes like this: I was 17 years old, and one day I was bored. I hopped on the computer, one thing led to another and a blue hyperlink bearing the words “Trans-Siberian Railway” pulsed before my eyes. I opened the link. The next thing I knew, Russian nesting dolls and statues of Lenin’s head ballooned on the screen. It was my first real exposure to Russia and its wonderful language.

I enrolled in a Russian class at the local community college. The professor was originally from Russia but had immigrated to the United States to escape persecution for being Jewish. This fact alone was intriguing. Russia seemed to mirror my own country with its mixed record on human rights and a history of discrimination. Yet at the same time, its authoritarian streak and blend of Eurasian culture appeared so different from the U.S. I couldn’t quite grasp whether Russia and the United States were

lukewarm siblings or strangers on the street. I needed to understand more, so learning Russian made perfect sense. I finished the community college class and decided I liked it — white tank tops and tracksuits were in my future after all. After enrolling at UC Davis, I scrolled through the course listings for a Russian class. Check.

Many readers know just how mind-numbing learning another language is — especially as a monolingual adult. Statistically, committing to learn another language is difficult. In a study of 150 language-learners using software as a self-studying method, only one person actually completed the 200-hour program. Most dropped out after 10 hours of study.

The data from actual college classrooms — as opposed to selfstudy groups — reveals a similar, if less potent, dropout rate in foreign language courses. A study using enrollment figures from 2006 shows how only 20 percent of foreign language students take upper-division courses in their chosen language. Most students fail to advance more than one or two years.

This isn’t hard to imagine. Data from 2015 published by the Modern Language Association, for example, revealed an 18 percent enrollment decrease in Russian courses since 2009, the third-largest drop

seen in language courses besides Ancient Greek and Modern Hebrew.

Year after year, I witness similar attrition rates in my own college Russian courses. What began as a waitlist-only introductory class my first year quickly became a smattering of Russophiles and begrudged upperclassmen that could be counted on two hands. Our numbers only dwindled, so my second year courses consisted of a handful of “originals” and a few heritage speakers looking for an easy A. People like the idea of learning another language. It’s a subject of fascination for those who aren’t multilingual and a mixture of pride and nonchalance for those who are. The benefits are plenty, and they include anything from conversational flexibility with people around the world, a heightened understanding of our own native tongue and better memory and multitasking skills.

There’s just one problem — language learning is tough to do and easy to quit, as shown by the epidemic of dropouts. Many tenable solutions are out there, like improving our teaching methods. We could bypass the hurdles of adult language acquisition and start the process in elementary school, like much of Europe does. But for now, the pitfalls and rewards of studying a foreign language are here to stay — one click at a time.

Making a quantitative educational system a qualitative one THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW OURSELVES AS HUMAN IS A PRIVILEGE NOT ALL STUDENTS SHARE

BY SAMVARDHINI SRIDHARAN smsridharan@ucdavis.edu Unlike the educational systems in many countries, the United States strongly believes in second chances. There’s not one defining exam a teenager must take. Students need not choose their career goals in high school. And in the instance that a student takes a wrong turn, makes a bad choice or has a hard year, the consequences are not lifechanging. There’s freedom to change and evolve as human beings, a chance for redemption and rewards for getting back on one’s feet. That is something uniquely American.

The system that we partake in is mostly qualitative. To get into degree programs (surprisingly at both the undergraduate and graduate levels), most students must submit multiple pieces of information, including GPA, standardized test scores and essays. They also look at recommendation letters from professors and supervisors. No student is a number — they’re fleshed out humans on paper. This is an incredibly qualitative system, which ideally should reduce pressure on students.

But it doesn’t.

Sadly, when it comes down to it, people like numbers — even in the activities they enjoy. They want to know how many experiences

they should write about, how long they should stay with an opportunity, the number of awards they should receive to be considered accomplished. Suddenly this qualitative system has become quantitative again. There’s the desperation to do more, more, more — and what was made to make students look three-dimensional on paper pathetically backfires.

Whether we like it or not, fellow students who have been successful in their future pursuits set the bar for “magic numbers.” While many students realize early on that there isn’t one fixed way to achieve a similar goal, others quickly try to make a checklist of experiences and start ticking them off the list item by item. Two years in a lab, three papers, four years in a club — the numbers quickly seep back into the lexicons of the ambitious, whether they have perspective or not.

There’s no clear solution. In an ideal world, students would pursue only the things they are passionate about, giving their time only to activities that provide them with purpose and enjoyment. But the world is not ideal, and we all know at least one person who doesn’t want to be where they are or doing what they’re doing — such is life. At the same time, it’s not fair to claim numbers are the cause for the increasing competition to perform outside the classroom. As American as our educational system is, it’s also intrinsically capitalistic. The best and

most talented rise to the top, and the rest follow suit.

But competition need not be sour.

“Knowing I have competition strongly motivates me to do my best work,” said Sara Vacanti, a third-year chemical engineering major. “I enjoy working with my peers, and UC Davis is a great environment for teamwork — everyone is rising to meet the challenge.”

This mindset is why our education system chose to be qualitative in the first place. “Rising to the challenge” is not for everyone, but “rising” is. The goal is to have resilient people in the workforce and in the community. Competition is but a springboard. And that’s why a qualitative language matters. It’s not who has risen to the challenge in the past, but who is most likely to rise to the challenge in the future.

Very rarely can one claim that the system is trying to give us the best shot — but the qualitative nature of the American education system is trying to do just that. Allowing us the opportunity to show ourselves as humans is a privilege, and the frantic need to put numbers into the equation shows how dire competition in our society has become. As students, we must step back and realize that this is our chance to be passionate and involve ourselves in what makes us happy. Because if one dares to claim they are more than their GPA, they must also have strong conviction about what they would like to define them.

D ISC L A I M ER: Th e vi ews a n d o p ini 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 alon e and do no t necessari l y i ndi cate the vi ews and o pi ni o ns hel d by The C al i for n ia Ag g ie. Le t te rs to t he e d i to r can be addre sse d to opin ion @ th e aggie.org.

ISSUE DESIGNED BY AMY YE | CHRISTIE NEO | CINDY CHEUNG |JONATHAN CHEN | PATTIE CHEN | SHEREEN NIKZAD | LILY LEAVESSEUR | GENESIA TING | NICKI PADAR

THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2018 | 7

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HUMOR How to become a CoHo Gold Member WITH THESE TIPS, YOU’LL BE HACKING THE COHO IN NO TIME!

BY L ARA LOPTMAN lrloptman@ucdavis.edu With Winter Quarter off to a quick start, many students are heading back to their same on-campus routines of frequenting the most illustrious eating establishment in all of Davis: the CoHo. While the CoHo may already seem appealing to many students because of its affordable prices, convenience and guacamole that is definitely not made from powder, it’s a little-known fact that the CoHo actually has much more to offer to its loyal customers — a Gold Membership.

Though you may have thought there was no possible way that the CoHo could get any better than it already is, prepare to stand corrected. The CoHo is officially rolling out its Gold Membership program this Winter Quarter in an effort to show appreciation for students who voluntarily continue to eat there. The only catch is that the program is based on customer loyalty, so the CoHo is trying to keep the program pretty secretive in order to attract only the most deserving customers.

In an effort to provide an inclusive experience for all those who “like” the CoHo, The California Aggie would like to provide some helpful tips on how to achieve CoHo Gold status.

Take as many refills on coffee as you want While this might seem like an edgy move at first, it’s one of the most important steps to becoming a Gold Member. Even though the CoHo acts like it doesn’t want you to get free and consistent refills at your leisure, this is all just a ploy to distract from the benefits of its elite membership program. Don’t be fooled, and remember, confidence is key in this step.

Cause a scene This one is sort of up for interpretation. You can do something as small as repeatedly cutting the bagel line at noon or as big as physically stealing multiple vats of coffee from Swirlz. The choice is yours, but whatever decision you make is sure to cement you as a CoHo Gold legend.

Refuse to pay for anything This is our last and most successful tip. It’s kind of similar to our previous one but has more of an anti-capitalist twist to it. It’s pretty

JAMIE CHEN / AGGIE

simple. If you’re at the CoHo and an employee ever tells you to “pay” for something, just don’t. What are they going to do? Fire you? You don’t even work there. You have the ultimate power, and showing CoHo employees how powerful you are will make them respect you and therefore grant you Gold status. You’re welcome.

With these tips, you’ll be hacking the CoHo in no time. So come on down to the Coffee House today and get your Gold! :)

Research finds that impending nuclear war could actually be good for average already-dead American PRAISE BE TO THE GREAT BUTTON

BY AARON LEVINS adlevins@ucdavis.edu The button sits on the desk of Our Leader, its extremely cliche red glow throbbing in the darkness of the Oval Office. How big is this button? Very, very big. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that the big boy button sitting on the desk of a very good boy was in fact the size of the Oval Office. That's right, our Great Leader expanded his desk to the size of the entire Oval Office, and the button eclipses even this desk. No

one can actually go into the Oval Office because of this big-ass button.

Now you may say that this is impractical, excessive, even insane.

But is anything too big for America? No, I don’t think so.

Everyone, especially our Wise Leader, understands that the size of one's button reflects one’s power. A small button? Perhaps you are puny Iceland, or weak Canada. A medium button? Now we are approaching Britain, a nice country whose ass needs to be whooped by America every so often. A big button? Only a very Big Boy could have a Big Button. And you know who’s a Big Boy? Kim Jong Un. But you

know who's even Bigger Boy? DONALD TRUMP (PRAISE BE TO HIS NAME).

So have no fear when the nuclear war evaporates absolutely everything you love. If you’re already dead, this shouldn’t be a problem.

There are so many pros to this if you’re already dead. Trust me, the administration’s very own Donald Trump Research Department has found that, in fact, if you’re already dead, this nuclear war could be a very nice thing indeed. And if you’re conservative, you're going to heaven anyways, so what do you have to worry about?

Tide Pods voted best snack of Winter Quarter FORBIDDEN FRUIT PREVAILS AS THE STUDENTS’ FAVORITE FOOD

BY OLIVIA LUCHINI ocluchini@ucdavis.edu Tide Pods are the great mystery of America, with their deliciouslooking colors and forbiddenness. Logically, we all know that we aren’t supposed to eat a sack of bleach and detergent, but spiritually, we are connected to these jewels of mystery. With Winter Quarter strutting through the door like a cowboy no one invited to the saloon, students have grown even more infatuated with these little wonders.

“Oh, I eat damn near 10 pods a day!” third-year Noah Chipper said. “The first one is always out of curiosity, but the last nine are always with the attempt to make Winter Quarter fade away... like a stain on a fresh pair of pants... or on your favorite shirt after your ex throws her drink on you. I’m looking at you, Marianne!”

The CoHo has taken advantage of this new snack craze that has jazzed up the campus. It will be offering Tide Pods as an optional

topping for both acai bowls and taco salads, so you can get your pods any time of day.

“I’ll get pods on my salad every Friday to treat myself,” said second-year Susan Bowl. “My New Year's resolution was to watch what I eat, but no one knows the caloric value of Tide Pods, so they’re basically like eating air. I can eat as many as I want! I’m invincible! I can fly!”

Students believing that they can fly is just one of many side effects that come with Tide Pod addictions. Many people have been found standing in the Quad with one fist above their head, like Superman, just hoping that their bodies will naturally lift themselves. However, some of these fists in the air have been mistaken for protests, causing other students to flock to them to get in on the nonexistent action.

“I’m a simple man: I see a fist in the air, I go,” first-year Diego Pear said. “So, there I was, charging toward this kid in the Quad, thinking we’d be chanting about something, but it was just a group of seniors who had eaten like 40 Tide Pods. I felt awkward, so I put

my fist up too and waited five hours until they gave up. It was treacherous.”

Professional fake scientists agree that Winter Quarter is totally why people are chugging these bleach berries.

“These kids are cray!” said fake scientist Dr. RuPaul Dragrace.

“Winter Quarter gets all sad and then they immediately go to the laundry room? No! Get yourself a dog and let’s keep going.”

Tide’s executives created a child lock for the bags that they are stored in, but alas, UC students are just wise enough to crack the “push down and slide” mechanism. It took them two weeks to figure it out, though.

“This new design almost ruined my life!” third-year Harriet Brushers said. “I missed 14 days of sweet fruits.”

God is confused as to why Tide Pods are such a big deal for college students.

“You pepper in a lil’ seasonal depression, and they resort to eating forbidden fruits? Again? Really? Ugh!” he said.

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

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SCIENCE+TECH DR. RANDY HAAS / COURTESY

Space Archeology: Mapping the Past from Above Satellite technology allows anyone with a computer to aid archeologists in unearthing new discoveries about ancient civilizations

BY DAV I D M A D E Y science@theaggie.org

Satellite technology has given rise to what is known as space archeology — using high-resolution imagery to detect unknown objects hidden beneath the Earth’s surface. Sarah Parcak is a pioneer of this field, and she wants us all to become space archeologists.

“I have a passion for finding things,” Parcak said in her 2016 TED Talk. “Seeing with the naked eye alone wasn’t enough.”

Starting with a search for sand dollars on the beaches of Maine as a child, now Parcak unearths ancient cities beneath the sands of Egypt.

Parcak began using this digital map in 2011 and

now shares it with the public. Using high-resolution satellite imagery, Parcak’s online platform GlobalXplorer uses infrared and image processing to detect chemical changes in the landscape caused by hidden objects beneath the surface. It’s like Google Earth for archaeologists.

Randy Haas is an archaeologist at UC Davis utilizing this satellite technology.

“I am indeed an advocate of the method,” Haas said. “Sarah Parcak’s excellent work has certainly inspired me to explore crowd-based satellite image surveying for archaeological discovery.”

Probing the Andes Mountains from 400 miles above the Earth, Haas noticed V-shaped structural patterns in the high-resolution satellite imagery.

Further examination led to the inference that the ancient indigenous people may have used this geometry as a barrier to herd vicuña, a wild ancestor of the alpaca, for wool. Haas now turns to his students to help him further his research.

Teaching for his first quarter at UC Davis, Haas is allowing students in his ANT 3: Introduction to Archaeology class to become space archeologists themselves.

“Students will be surfing satellite imagery in the Andes Mountains of Peru to help me find archaeological sites that I suspect are related to ancient wild animal roundups,” Haas said.

On the first day the assignment was released, 34 new sites were found, and five have been confirmed thus

far. Now, Haas can return to Peru using a newfound map with the potential to unearth untold history, giving new insight into human behavior.

This summer, UC Davis’ Institute for Social Sciences will fund an archeological field effort using this satellite technology for ground-based operations.

The use of satellite technology is revolutionizing the world of archeology. In the Egyptian delta alone, archaeologists have excavated less than 1/100th of 1 percent of the total volume of sites in Egypt. Using NASA’s topography data and an army of newly-trained space archeologists, countless numbers of archaeological sites will be discovered. This will lead to clues that have been hidden for thousands of years.

“Satellite imagery will play an increasingly important role in archaeological discovery and preservation, especially as new detection algorithms and satellite systems are developed,” Haas said.

Parcak’s goal is to launch space archeology worldwide, giving anyone with a smartphone or computer the ability to unravel the mysteries of the past.

Naturally, sharing this technology with the world has some consequences. Thieves loot archeological sites and sell parts of history for personal profit.

From miles above, looting sites look like small craters from Mars. In the wrong hands, the GPS data could increase looting universally.

“Every archaeologists has had to cope with looting,” Haas said, who has witnessed looting firsthand at one of his own digs in Peru. “It is a harsh reality.”

Bryna Hull, a second-year Ph.D. student specializing in California prehistory, is a TA for Haas’ anthropology class and explains why looting is so harmful.

“Many people don't realize that it destroys the scientific value of the items they take when they remove them from their context and fail to document anything,” Hull said.

Contrary to popular belief, looting has been increasing worldwide. And at its current rate, according to Parcak, all of the archeological sites in Egypt will have been looted by 2040.

That is why Parcak masks the information, and keeps the GPS coordinates secret — just like a doctor protecting a patient’s medical records.

Today, NASA has a specific program to train future space archeologists. The next major discovery in archeology could be mapped from anyone with access to the internet.

MORGAN TIEU / AGGIE FILE

No more dark energy?

Did you read the user agreement?

UC Davis mathematicians find different explanation for cosmic acceleration

BY KR I T I VA RG HE S E science@theaggie.org

The universe is quickly expanding through a phenomenon called cosmic acceleration. The theory of general relativity, written by Albert Einstein, contains a cosmological constant. This constant balances gravitational force, the force of attraction between all masses in the universe, which produced a static universe.

“Einstein's theory of general relativity and his work on the photoelectric effect, as well as the work of others, showed that the assumption that there is an 'aether' that can't be detected, is unnecessary, and today no one believes that this aether exists,” said UC Davis math professor Elbridge Puckett.

Now that we know the universe expands and therefore isn’t static, scientists have used the cosmological constant as interchangeable with dark energy. Joel Smoller, a late professor of mathematics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and two mathematics professors from UC Davis, Blake Temple and Zeke Vogler, didn’t think that was the right way to go.

“Our starting conviction that there was no dark energy was based on the insight that the fingerprint of mistakenly adding a fudge factor to a set of equations because you think you have the wrong equations, when in fact you have the wrong solution to the correct equations, is that the theory with the fudge factor must be fine-tuned so that the fudge factor is on the order of the errors you need to cor-

JEREMY DANG / AGGIE

rect,” Temple said. “In dark energy theory, this requires that the cosmological constant be roughly the same size as the energy density of the universe at present time.”

The mathematicians didn’t set out to prove Einstein wrong. Rather, they started by proving that Einstein’s equations were right and, if they were right, the critical Friedmann space time, the standard model of cosmology after the pressure drops to zero, is unstable.

“But the fact that we have characterized an instability in the Friedmann spacetime, a spacetime which has been the centerpiece of cosmology since the 1920s, is a remarkable thing to discover 100 years later,” Temple said. “This, together with the fact that the phase portrait of the instability describes exact perturbations created by the the instability that mimic the effects of dark energy so closely, is the reason that the Proceedings of the Royal Society supported the paper and published it, even though it is quite controversial because it challenges a long-accepted model in physics.”

When asked about the conclusion of the paper, distinguished professor of mathematics David Levermore at the University of Maryland said the paper makes a strong case that dark energy is unnecessary.

“Their paper makes a strong mathematical case that there is no need to postulate the existence of dark energy in order to explain the observed ‘acceleration’ of the expansion of the universe,” Levermore said.

The deals we make with software

BY JAS ON KELLY science@theaggie.org

Recently, Apple came under fire for information that leaked about its handling of older phones. Apple blamed battery deterioration for its intentional slowing down of older models of hardware, citing old phones’ inability to keep up with increasingly demanding software updates. This modification of phones came about secretly and was only revealed to consumers after they began discussing the issue in online forums.

The ethics of software patenting and its relation to consumers is contingent upon intellectual property, economic prosperity and marketability. Consumers often face the risk of being culturally disconnected if they choose to opt out of using popular programs, said Martin Kenney, a professor of community and regional development at UC Davis.

Gerardo Con Diaz, an assistant professor in the UC Davis Department of Science and Technology Studies, is currently writing a book about the history of software patenting in America for Yale University Press, which is projected to be published in 2019. He is teaching an STS course titled “Computing Data and Law”. Proprietary software is software that a firm develops for its own use and over which it claims ownership, Con Diaz explained.

“Patents are one of the means of protection, and the Apple case is not about patents but about proprietary software and about what a firm can and can’t — should and shouldn’t — do with its own

proprietary software,” Con Diaz said.

Patents are available to the public, but not all proprietary software needs to be shared with consumers.

“Software patenting started getting pitched as an ethical debate not among end users but among companies in the ‘60s,” Con Diaz said. “And that was primarily because of the explosion of popularity around an IBM system called the IBM S/360.

As smaller firms started to become interested in creating a market for their products in big mainframe computers, one of the things they did was pitch the patent protection of computer programs as a business ethics problem, not just a legal problem.”

This would allow small businesses to succeed in the cutthroat marketplace of computer engineering. These small companies were not fighting against intellectual property, but against the strongly connected nature of hardware and software. By posing the problem as an ethical debate, these small software companies aimed to carve out a place in the market for their software without having to develop computers at the same time.

Software was included with computers when it first became available to consumers in the 1970s.

Apple and IBM, which were creating hardware at the time, developed software along with new computer models. This trend allowed for an eventual separation between computers and their programs, which no longer had to be marketed TECHCULTURE on 11

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THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

Chess BY ARI FREEDMAN White to move checkmate in three moves.

Hint: look for the forced check.

Sudoku 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.

CHESS ANSWER After we take the opponent’s bishop they will either not take and lose the bishop or the opponent takes. If the opponent takes the bait the reveal threat on both rooks from pushing our pawn will force an exchange bishop for rook.

1. Bxc4 2. dxc4 d3

reduce. reuse. recycle.

The aggie

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

10 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2018

ARTS & Culture

black culture here in the United States.

ASW: When did you first get into fashion?

Brady: Probably in 5th grade when I changed schools and wanted to be different and stand out. That was when I first started to care about my style. I got more into fashion in middle school. My fashion sense has evolved and since coming to college; it’s always changing.

ASW: What is your biggest fashion regret?

Brady: I would wear leggings under my dresses.

Looking back on it, it was not cute. A big mistake.

ASW: Where do you like to shop?

Brady: I love Urban Outfitters and Topshop, as well as thrift shopping. My favorite places to thrift are Wasteland and Goodwill.

BY CARAJOY K LEI NR OCK arts@theaggie.org

Winter is a hard time to be stylish, but Kelly Brady, a fourth-year communication and psychology double major, makes it look easy. She effortlessly looks like a ‘90s cool kid with her bright, mixed colors against the backdrop of a gloomy day. Her love for thrifting can be seen through almost her entire outfit, making shopping on a budget seem totally doable.

R AU L M O R A L E S / AGGI E

ASW: Where do you get your style inspiration from?

Brady: I get my inspiration largely from music artists. More specifically, I love Sza, Rihanna, Aaliyah. I try to emulate their looks. Besides looking at artists, I find it through Instagram and fashion magazines. I love flipping through Vogue and Instyle. I also get inspiration from my Mom: I love her ‘80s East Coast style, and she lets me wear her vintage Coach purses.

ASW: Where did you get your outfit from?

Brady: I got my Jacket from Goodwill — actually, my brother got it for me. My shirt is American Apparel, my belt is from a thrift store and my jeans were passed down to me by a friend who cut them after getting them from a thrift store. My socks are Fila and my shoes are Vans.

ASW: What is the significance of your bracelet?

Brady: My family is from the U.S. Virgin Islands, and this is a Sonya bracelet — it’s a hook bracelet made from silver and gold. Basically the fable is that a mermaid met a sailor on an island. You wear it open or out when you are single and you wear the hook facing you when you are married, showing you are hooked. I never take mine off.

ASW: What is your go-to outfit at the moment?

Brady: I’m really into baggy jeans and crop tops. I have these Fila sneakers that are really chunky and ‘90s that I would wear with that. I really enjoy dressing in ‘90s-style clothing.

Style watch: how to funk up winter quarter The 90s are back

C ARO L I N E R UT T E N / CO URTESY

A DAY AT THE SHUK

After spending some time in Israel, Aggie writer recounts her favorite food and cultural moments

BY CARO L I N E RUT T E N arts@theaggie.org

Over winter break, I had the privilege of representing UC Davis in an educational program

called The David Project, which brings student leaders from different college campuses to Israel

ASW: Can you describe your style?

Brady: I love color-coordinating my outfits. For example, if my jeans have a specific color stitching on the side, I try to match the rest of my outfit to it. I’ve been trying to play with patterns recently. I layer a lot because it’s cold up here. I do a lot of trial and error, and I get inspiration from all the diverse people in Davis.

I really like Korean fashion, which was influenced by

in order to learn about the conflict and culture there.

During my 10 days spent there, I was introduced to a variety of cultural practices and settings that took me out of my comfort zone to witness a spectrum of new tastes, sights and experiences. One of my most memorable moments was the day I spent at Mahane Yehuda Market, a popular Jerusalem market also known as the Shuk. Crowded grids of vendors with various items and food for sale filled the concrete grounds. Large bowls of tea, produce and grains enticed patrons. Some of the best food and greatest insight into it and the everyday art of Israel was seen in this Jerusalem market; if one ever has the chance to visit Israel, here are some of my favorite food, drink and sights from the Shuk.

Best Meal: Malawah Not only was this my favorite meal from the day at the market, but probably from the trip as a whole. What looks like a thin pancake has layers of fried pastry cooked with oil in a frying pan and stuffed with a variety of toppings. My personal favorite toppings included tahini, hummus, pickles, Israeli salad (diced tomatoes and cucumbers), parsley, hard-boiled egg, onion, green onions and caramelized onions. The flakey wrap was what made

the meal, the lightness to balance out the various flavors that were filled inside. This meal is a must-try, and I’ll be on the search for the nearest one in the Davis area.

Best Beer: Gold Star This top-selling (and kosher) beer in Israel is a great staple beer. While darker, it is not the heaviest of beer, which makes it a great universal choice, no matter your beer preference. While I’m not the biggest light beer fan, there was no watered-down taste, as commonly be expected with popular light beers. Israelis know how to do beer right.

Best Dessert: Halvah (and Ice Cream) This soft, sweet, fudgelike cake is a common item in Israeli and Middle Eastern markets. The base is surprisingly made with sesame paste (forewarning: the sesame taste is very prominent) and is topped with a variety of flavors, including nutella, coffee, various fruits and more. While the intensity of flavor does not call for this to be eaten on a daily basis, the distinct flavor and variety of customizations make it a must-try.

JERUSALEM on 12

The Shape of Water

An award-winning allegory about unexpected love

BY JOSH M A D RI D arts@theaggie.org

Director Guillermo del Toro shows us that love isn’t always pretty — literally. His poetic, Golden Globe-winning sensation, “The Shape of Water,” tells the story of a timid, mute cleaning woman named Elisa who falls in love with a mysterious water creature, who is captured for experimentation in hopes of gaining a strategic advantage over the Soviets amid the Cold War and the ongoing Space Race.

“The Shape of Water” reinvents the classic tale of a beauty finding her beast. It is a fantasy that shares wonderful truths about love — it’s often unexpected, and it’s not always conventional. Elisa is mute and the nameless fish creature is, well, a fish creature. Regardless, the two create a strong connection that stems from their unspoken and mutual understanding that they are deviants of the society in which they live.

Del Toro maintained his stylistic integrity by including horror aspects in a whimsically crafted visual production. The Cold War backdrop of the ‘60s is well thought out, and it makes the audi-

ence feel as if they are being submerged in the era. “The Shape of Water” strays from the usual direction that del Toro’s films take, though, because it centers around a love story. Well-known titles like “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Crimson Peak” are darker and less heartfelt.

The narrative of “Shape of Water” is simple, but the emotions of the main character are expressed by Sally Hawkins quite well. It is quite common to find hidden symbolism in films by del Toro, which makes rewatching “The Shape of Water” a new experience every time. Del Toro also leaves the interpretation up to the audience so they may discover the themes relevant and significant to themselves.

Elisa is an isolated individual, trapped in an everyday routine of masturbating in the tub every morning and boiling eggs before she leaves for work. However, she has a pair of wonderful friends named Giles and Zelda Fuller — played

by Richard Jenkins and Octavia Spencer. Giles and Zelda portray the hardships of minority

CA ITLYN SA MPLE Y / AG GIE

groups during the time. Giles represents those forced to repress their sexuality, and Zelda addresses the unequal treatment of African Americans during that time.

Despite their struggles, they remain loving friends to Elisa. Together, the three of them invent a plan to help the creature escape before he is killed and dissected by researchers.

Michael Shannon plays the villain of the film, Richard Stickland, an agent working for United States intelligence who unfortunately has no redeeming qualities, which made seeing his demise rather easy in the end.

In fact, it spoiled it. Also, his rotting fingers that get progressively viler as the movie goes on don’t make him likeable.

I feel many UC Davis students can relate to some piece of this film. Whether they enjoy dark fantasies, romance or action, there is something for everyone to appreciate.

My favorite quote from the movie is this: “Unable to perceive the shape of you, I find you all around me.

Your presence fills my eyes with your love, it humbles my heart, for you are everywhere.” A perfect ending that makes the audience (or just me) realize the irony that water has no shape, but takes the form of its unique environment.

“The Shape of Water” is showing at The Varsity theatre in downtown Davis. Showtimes are listed on their website.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2018 | 11

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

NISHI

ENGINEERING

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

some risk, but the degree of risk is not known because extensive studies have not been carried out.

“All that grinding to a stop upwind of Nishi is a recipe for several types of lung, heart and reproductive distress,” Cahill said. “And traffic accelerates south of Nishi as the clog breaks up, greatly enhancing truck diesel emission rates.”

Cahill also explained that Davis and other Central Valley cities experience winter stagnation events with shallow pollution inversions more frequently than Ontario, meaning that pollutants like car exhaust, diesel soot and ultra-fine metals are trapped closer to the ground for longer periods. Nishi also differs from the Ontario site in that train tracks run along the border of the property.

“Nishi has heavy train traffic on its north edge, with both idling and accelerating Amtrak trains, and heavy freight trains accelerating out of the Davis curve,” Cahill said. “Nishi is sandwiched between I-80 and the tracks, guaranteeing that on either north or south winds [...] will impact the students.”

Because of these air quality concerns, Professor Millstein wrote an op-ed in The Davis Enterprise in November declaring that student housing at Nishi would be an environmental injustice, and elaborated on this in an interview.

“To offer students the ‘solution’ of housing at Nishi, given all of the environmental risks, is an environmental injustice,” Millstein said. “It’s taking advantage of a vulnerable population, making them choose between proper housing and their health. Or, even worse: future Nishi residents may not know about the health risks of living at that site, and so they would be exposed without even knowing it. UC Davis and the City of Davis can do better for students and other potential Nishi residents.”

On the topic of whether the potential negative health impacts at the site represent an environmental injustice, Ruff cast doubt on the number of people who share these concerns and described what he thinks is a worse injustice.

“Social injustice [is] living currently without the mitigation in substandard conditions because of the housing crisis,” Ruff said. “We are offering a state of the art healthy alternative and will have affordable rental housing. Why not similar concerns for all the other similar projects?”

Critics of Cahill’s argument, like toxicologist Charles Salocks, point to the fact that Cahill supported New Harmony, a smaller apartment development that on the south side of I-80 a few miles east of Nishi.

David Greenwald of The Davis Vanguard criticized Cahill for instead supporting using Nishi as research and commercial space for UC Davis, possibly a World Food Center.

“The reality is that he believes ‘the land is far too valuable for just student housing,’” Greenwald said.

“That suggests that no answer he finds [by doing more research] will resolve the environmental disagreement because there are non-air quality reasons for his opposition [...] At no time does [Cahill] attempt to reconcile his opposition even to shortterm student housing, when he appears to support

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

longer uses that might require employees to undergo greater levels of exposure.”

But Millstein believes that the people of Davis are thinking about the additional the air quality research that could be done and that not everybody’s vote would change to a yes simply because additional traffic sources were eliminated.

“I have gotten very positive responses to my opeds and I think many people share my concerns,” Millstein said. “I think it’s important to know that future residents, who won’t be part of the discussion we’re having right now, will likely not know about those risks. We would in effect be making the decision to risk their health for them — including increased cancer, heart attack, and asthma risks — and that’s simply not ethical. I don’t think that anyone should have their health put at risk in order to satisfy a basic human need like housing.”

Millstein and Cahill both think that there are better sites in Davis for additional housing.

“Allowing students to live in what is certainly one of the most polluted near-roadway sites in the nation is not a viable answer to UC Davis housing needs, even assuming the students are forced to live in hermetically sealed boxes with no patios, balconies or windows that open,” Cahill said. “And there are better options. Open unpolluted campus space for student housing is in abundance west of Highway 113.”

While Professor Millstein and Cahill think that other sites are preferable, Ruff argues that there is no reason to think that other near-freeway sites across town, both developed and undeveloped, would have better conditions than Nishi, or rather that Nishi could be any worse. “[Pollutants at Nishi] do not cause conditions different than all nearby properties in Davis [...] where housing has none of the mitigation measures we have adopted and located just as close to the roadway,” Ruff said. “The elevated freeway is actually a benefit, dispersing any issues. At some point you have to wonder if it’s just political pollution.”

However, it is not possible to say with certainty that Nishi has better or worse air quality than other near-freeway apartment locations in Davis; the studies have not been done on every location, especially relating to the ultra-fine metals from brakes that may be a larger problem at Nishi. Despite the concerns from the data available, and uncertainty over what could be learned in additional studies, Ruff remains confident that the environmental mitigation measures in the proposal will suffice. “[We will] fully mitigate as directed in the certified EIR — location away from the road, urban forest barrier/buffer, state of the art filtration systems, run on solar power, tree canopies,” Ruff said. “These are proven technologies to improve air quality (studies Cahill performed and mitigations he recommended) for residents and nearby properties. With these mitigations there is no risk. People want to live here, without a car [and] expenses, and commute and walk to campus and downtown. It’s urban and sustainable.”

The new housing-only Nishi proposal will likely be on the ballot in June.

TECHCULTURE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

concurrently. For example, Facebook does not have to license itself, but built a place in the market for its service and has the choice to exist outside of having a piece of hardware.

When it comes to buying software from a company, the lack of attention paid to user agreements when buying a product — the desire to own a product outweighing the concern of what kind of information they are handing over — is not a new feature, Con Diaz explained. Con Diaz said that the scope of the user agreement has expanded and plays a much more significant role than it did at the genesis of software development. The freedoms given to software companies also changed in a way that has allowed them to keep their software hidden from other companies and consumers alike.

“Most of the software that we use today is ‘blackboxed.’ We have absolutely no way of getting access to intellectual property,” said Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal, a Ph.D. student of English whose research includes internet culture in association with the STS department at UC Davis.

A company’s ability to “blackbox” is like writing an essay in a language class or doing a science project and recording data. Writing demands sources along with the unspoken rules that make the paper well written, such as grammar and com-

position; doing a scientific study requires an idea and a result, along with the numbers and proof.

So the unspoken rules when it comes to software are the secrets hidden from anyone outside of the company, the ones in the “blackbox” as Dhaliwal called it, and the sources are the user agreements.

“The idea of blackboxing software has the intention of protecting companies and their share of the market,” Dhaliwal said.

Both Dhaliwal and Con Diaz mentioned that France has rules making planned obsolescence — a marketing technique that forces consumers to buy newer products from the same company after a certain amount of time has passed or by drawing attention to newer products before older ones are broken or too old — illegal. The United States does not have such a law.

“Apple didn’t mention [their slowing down of phones] because they didn’t have to,” Con Diaz said.

It is becoming more difficult to live without services such as Google, Facebook, or Snapchat, Kenney explained.

User agreements explain the terms of using software clearly, but it may behoove users to be more familiar with what software companies are capable of outside of what they have to reveal to their users.

RIDE ALONG CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

“I love our ride-along program because our officers want to show [the] campus and not just answer questions. I know [when] I did my ride-along, we went out [to] the pastures, and baby sheep [had] just been born. I would have never known that — I did not know that we had sheep.”

During the ride-along, Officer Broussard later drove to the sheep facility on campus.

“Over here, they have the [...] baby sheep,” Broussard said. “And these are the mommies with babies that can be out.”

Garcia spoke about the effectiveness of ridealongs in building community and fostering active police participation.

“It is good, because sometimes you make friends and you will maintain those friendships throughout the years,” Garcia said with regard to the RideAlong program. “We tend to be more proactive instead of just reactive, so instead of just waiting for something to happen, we want to get out there in the community and know our community. We want to talk to the students.”

going to face an injury. Using the example of running, Basude explained how overuse injury occurs when muscles grow increasingly tired, and may eventually “snap” like a rubber band stretched beyond its limits.

“If you’ve been lazy up to this point, [this is] forcing you to do an internship,” Basude said. “And if you do it well, typically it can have an impact on your future job prospects. It’s a real life thing. There have been students that have come out with patents and written some provisional patents.”

Part of Basude’s project is finding ways to quantify muscle fatigue, and in an effort to develop a user-friendly device, Basude and his team are sending out surveys to patients and clinicians to learn more about how to cater their device to people’s needs. In the survey, they are presenting different facets of the device, such as accuracy, price, set-up time, portability and asking for patient and clinician opinions on the matter in order to cater to their needs.

“Oftentimes we try to make a product before

identifying and catering to a specific need,” Basude said. “The problem is, you can’t have form before function. You can’t design something and try to make it work. You have to find a need, and design something very much based on that need.”

Basude’s team is taking on business and engineering roles by conducting their own market research, effectively demonstrating the interdisciplinary nature of an engineer’s career.

“Being an engineer, especially if you want to design a product, you have to be a businessman in some sense — at least in those initial stages,” Basude said.

“There’s a lot of market research that goes into this.

The current state of the art is really important, [which is] what people are doing right now. What you really want to make sure is that you’re better than them.”

Engineers are tasked with more than just solving physics problems. They are tasked with taking those skills and applying them to real-life situations, while keeping in mind the sociocultural framework within which they are trying to work.

12 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2018

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

SAFE SPACES

HACKDAVIS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

that ‘healing starts with you.’ Once they understand this, then they can start to heal with others [in their] community.”

Chang and Phothisene both started their journeys in SAFE early on in their college careers, maintaining their positions as active members before eventually adopting leadership positions in the program. They both agree that being involved in SAFE has completely transcended their

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

experiences here at UC Davis.

“I’ve been involved with SAFE all three years I’ve been here at Davis,” Phothisene said. “It was difficult for me to transition to Davis my first year, but once I found SAFE, I was able to feel more comfortable here and grow. Being a part of this community has given me so many opportunities to [...] thrive beyond what I could ever imagine when I was a first year.”

Chang also attributes much of her personal growth to SAFE and the nurturing environment that it has created.

“Being in SAFE helped me navigate through college,” Chang said. “Most of the friends I’ve made were through SAFE, and being [in the program] helps me feel like I am not far away from home. SAFE has been a family for me, and it continues to help me grow.”

“That became rapidly and readily apparent when I began working here. We have a large staff, but we have an enormous student body too, and we also have one of the highest utilization rates of any campus in the country, [...] in terms of the percentage of students that seek counseling.”

Due to retention issues at UCLA, the counselor said that when they were first hired, they were “struck” by the number of staff members who would jokingly ask how long they planned to say.

“Like, ‘Are you going to stick around?,’” the counseling psychologist said. “It was very apparent that there was a fear, basically, and sort of a trauma of the number of people that had left. I kept hearing […], ‘We keep losing really good people.’ It’s often like you don’t have any idea why people are leaving either because it’s sort of shrouded in secrecy often due to HR reasons.”

Victoria spoke about a systemwide issue regarding the recruitment and retention of qualified mental health professionals. Just last quarter, Victoria said UC Irvine lost one staff psychologist and one social worker — “we just don’t have enough staff to provide the services that we want.”

“All of this kind of preventative work that we could be doing to prevent the next kind of crisis from occurring, that gets put off and completely put on the side because we can’t give our attention to that,” Victoria said. “We are a place that really values doing preventative outreach work, and that I can tell you has gone down over the years because we just can’t dedicate time and attention to that. I worry that eventually we will simply become just a crisis center — [...] that’s an important element of what we do, but it can’t be the only thing that we do. Not only is that not really addressing the mental health needs of students, but it’s not fulfilling. That’s what leads to these burnout and turnover numbers that we’re seeing, because it takes a toll.”

According to the IACS website, after the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, which left 32 people dead, counseling centers nationwide were “asked to provide training to faculty and staff to help them detect warning signs of students who might be a risk to themselves or others.”

“It would be very difficult to find the time to do this when the counselors are hardly able to keep up with the growing clinical demand,” the IACS website states.

With regard to to the additional $18 million of student fees allocated across the UC system by UCOP specifically meant to bring staff in line with recommended staff-to-student ratios and “increase access to mental health services,” neither the source from UC Riverside, Victoria or a counseling psychologist from UC San Diego who wished to remain anonymous could say definitively how much of the money has come to their respective universities or where it has been allocated.

Another issue prevalent at several UC campuses is the lack of space allocated for mental health resources and pro-

fessionals. The anonymous counseling psychologist from UCLA discussed their frustration with seeing a multimillion dollar football facility built “less than a hundred yards” from their offices, while the campus says “they, ‘can’t find any more space.’”

“If student mental health is a priority of this campus, as they seem to indicate, it would be important to demonstrate that with actions,” the UCLA counseling psychologist said.

Victoria also said he sees the lack of space allocated to counseling services at UC Irvine as a reflection of how the university chooses to prioritize mental health needs on campus.

“Even if, by some miracle next month we got 10 new staff, where would we put them?” Victoria said. “You can say all the right things about how mental health is a priority to the campus, but unless you show me, it’s just talk.”

The anonymous counseling psychologist from UCSD expressed, almost word-for-word, the same problem.

“Even if we have the money right now and had a great candidate, we wouldn’t have any place to put them,” the UCSD counseling psychologist said.

The IACS website discusses a nationwide trend regarding the increase in the severity of mental health issues in recent years.

“Of the 367 universities and colleges that filled out the National Survey of Counseling Center Directors (2013), 95% reported that the number of students with severe psychological problems has increased in recent years,” the website states. “As the severity increases, so does the time that’s required by the mental health professional to adequately manage the case. Thus, the ratio of counselors to students should actually decrease as severity of issues increase.”

The UCSD counseling psychologist, alongside the aforementioned sentiments from Victoria and the counseling psychologist from UCLA, discussed an overall increase of the acuity in the problems seen on campus.

“My biggest concern is wanting to not just have the quantity of staff but the quality of staff,” the UCSD counseling psychologist said. “Our staff is really hard-working. The stuff that we’re dealing with is not what some of the administrators would make it sound like, like we’re just dealing with people with relationship problems or someone’s having trouble in their classes. We’re dealing with really intense, acute issues — people who are seriously contemplating suicide, people who are going through their first mental or psychotic break. It’s just a ton of stress that we have in our job, and there’s this pressure that we need to be the ones preventing anything from happening, like preventing someone from acting out in a suicidal manner or a homicidal manner. I know that’s something that weighs heavily on our staff. With limited resources, that just adds to [...] the pressure and stress and frustration, [... and] it’s a reality of our experience as a psychologist on campus.”

Ernest E. Tschannen with the Distinguished Friend Award. The award is presented to a member of the community who is not a UC Davis graduate, but who has meaningfully and extraordinarily impacted the university and its community.

“A friend of the university is someone who has given back to campus, whether it be philanthropically or with their time,” Thayer said. “They’re someone who is not an alumnus who has really participated in making UC Davis great.”

Tschannen has made numerous philanthropic donations to the university, specifically focusing on optical health

and research. In 2016, he made a record-breaking $38.5 million donation to the UC Davis Eye Center and the Center for Vision Science. His donation supports the centers’ vision research initiatives and treatment programs for patients in the community.

He is honored by the university’s Leadership Giving Society, which recognizes significant philanthropists of UC Davis and the UC Davis Shields Society, which commends all donors to the university.

“He has philanthropically given one of our largest gifts to campus as well as been a great promoter of all things UC Davis,” Thayer said.

COUNSELOR CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

promoting and expanding mental health resources at all UC campuses.

In 2016, UCOP announced that an additional $18 million, composed of annual student service fees, would be added to the mental health budget to hire 85 new clinicians UC-wide. According to UC Spokesperson Stephanie Beechem, “as of October 2017, 98 mental health providers have been hired across the UC system.”

“I would expect there’s also a significant number of staff who have left,” said Aron Katz, a psychologist at UC Davis’ SHCS. The additional hires “will bring UC staffing in line with recommended ratios” of one psychologist per 1,000 to 1,200 students and one psychiatrist per 6,500 students. The staff-to-student ratio UCOP recognizes is a number established by the International Association of Counseling Services, Inc. The IACS states on its website that when a university is not meeting the recommended staff-to-student ratio, there will likely be longer wait times, decreased availability, increased risks for liability and an overall decrease in support for students.

“Imagine the liability that the counseling center and university would have if it was discovered that a student who went on a shooting spree had gone to the counseling center for help only to be put on a wait list,” the IACS website states.

Jamie McDole, the vice president of the University Professional and Technical Employees, which represents counseling psychologists, said she doesn’t know of any UC campus that is currently meeting or close to meeting the IACS ratio.

“There are some campuses that are certainly better staffed than others,” McDole said. “Throughout the campus, the one that is absolutely the worst staffed that I’m aware of is UC Riverside who’s currently at, I believe, six therapists for 22,000 students.”

A source from UC Riverside who wished to remain anonymous stated that the current number of counseling psychologists is five full-time staff members.

With a total student body of 23,278, the ratio of psychologists per students is roughly 1:4,655. In the past, UCR has had as few as three full-time psychologists.

“Prior to me working there, UCR lost their entire staff and had to rehire,” the anonymous source said. “I know that [...] probably at least over the last three years [they’ve] lost their staff three times.

We should be hiring about three times the amount of people we have now.”

According to the source, retention issues are not unique to UC Riverside, but are “especially worse at UCLA and UCR.” An anonymous counseling psychologist at UCLA spoke about the reality of counseling services at the university.

“I would say UCLA has a reputation in the mental health community in the wider Los Angeles area of being a very challenging place to work at due to the acuity and the large caseloads and the pace of work here,” the source said.

ALUMNI CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

Jesse Rodriguez, the recipient of this award, graduated from UC Davis in 2013. Since then, he has worked to support the Latino community through various humanitarian and professional endeavours. Rodriguez is the director of Latino Affairs in the California State Senate and also acts as a communications consultant.

Rodriguez is a mentor for the Puente Project, an organization that helps underrepresented California students earn educations, as well as Improve Your Tomorrow, a nonprofit that offers educational support to young men of color.

Finally, the university will recognize

incorporate some hardware into their projects,” Lin said. ”My prediction is that students will be using a lot of the hardware [this year].”

Lin said workshops are provided throughout the year and at the hackathon event, so beginner and expert students alike can tackle computer coding and programming. Throughout the year, the Facebook group posts event pages for student tutorials and workshops, offering website development series, game development series and professor talks. According to Lin, the events they hold are “beneficial to the students” as they “teach students important programming skills.”

On its website, HackDavis states that it hopes to “inspire change and cultivate a growing hacker opportunity” by intersecting coding with social change. The 1,600 people who like the HackDavis Facebook page seem to agree.

“We find that hackathons often don’t result with projects as practical solutions to specific societal problems and we’re looking to change that,” the website states. “Our goal is to foster a community that uses technology to pave the way for social change. For the 3rd year in a row, we’re bringing together the most talented students in California to address the world’s most pressing issues.”

NURSING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

practitioner,” Lung said. “Neonatal nurse practitioners work in neonatal intensive care and care for sick infants or premature babies! Like many others, I knew that I wanted to work in the medical field but didn’t know what I wanted to do. As I was volunteering in UCDMC and Willow Clinic, I realized I preferred working with children and infants more and found that being a neonatal nurse practitioner would be perfect for me.”

As the president of the UC Davis Nursing Club, Lung is full of advice for students interested in nursing or any health field in general. The club meets Wednesdays in Olson 106 from 6:10 to 7 p.m.

“You don’t need to be pre-nursing to be involved in our club,” Lung said.

“There are many students who come are curious about nursing and will just

check us out for one or two meetings.

There are also people in our club who are deciding between being a PA, nurse or doctor!”

Although nursing schools are competitive, Lung, Talkington and Eichhorn all recommend three basic ingredients to be successful: it’s important to do well in school and get involved, experience is the best way to learn what works and what doesn’t work for each individual and that meeting people and seeking opportunities will always be of benefit.

“Try to get in touch with people that are on the same path as you,” Eichhorn said. “I’m sure if you got into a room of 20 pre-nursing students, we’d all have some great internship or some great advice to give. [Get] in contact with people who are doing the same thing and network.”

JERUSALEM CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

Best Graffiti: Solomon Swaza Solomon Swaza’s graffiti cannot be missed when at the Shuk. It’s not hard to do so either — most empty doors and walls are adorned with his colorful, eclectic portraits. Added to the Shuk four to five years ago, Swaza spray paints images of people, often rabbis and religious figures. He’s not nec-

essarily making a religious statement through his work, but highlighting the religious prominence of the city of Jerusalem, combining traditionally held ideals with the colorful modern culture. Such display of the juxtaposition that describes Israeli culture makes him the perfect artist to decorate this cultural hub.

FOOTBALL CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

who hauled the pass in and somehow avoided an errant tackle by Saints rookie safety Marcus Williams, allowing Diggs to sprint the rest of the 61 yards to the end zone with virtually no time remaining.

With its back against the wall, the team from Minnesota responded in stunning fashion. Keenum, a quarterback who has had a significant share of growing pains over the course of his career, made perhaps the biggest throw of his life when it mattered most. After throwing just his eighth interception this season earlier in the second half, Keenum battled back just enough to stave off a comeback from Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who faced a 17-point deficit at the half.

The miracle win by the Vikings punched them a ticket to Philadelphia where they will battle the Eagles, a team that has faced (and so far triumphed over) plenty of adversity as well. Three weeks before the end of the regular season, Eagles starting QB Carson Wentz was sidelined for the remainder of Philadelphia’s season with an ACL tear. This forced backup QB Nick Foles –– who was once a starter for the Eagles –– to take hold the starting role. Wentz was having a career year and was in the conversation for league MVP before he went down, so the switch to Foles appeared to have thrown a wrench into Philadelphia’s incredibly successful season.

Nevertheless, the Eagles still entered the postseason as the NFC’s top-seeded team. Foles and the Eagle offense did just enough at home to beat the defending NFC champion Atlanta Falcons this past Saturday. The 15-10 ballgame highlighted the problems that the Eagles have with scoring touchdowns in the red zone. Foles is a capable pocket passer, but is a much less mobile quarterback who cannot as easily stretch plays out, or escape from a pass rush, as well as Wentz.

Foles was still able to move the ball on a tough Falcons defense, completing 23 of his 30 pass attempts for 246

yards. The key performer on the evening, however, was Philadelphia’s secondary, which had been rather pedestrian throughout the regular season. In several games, the Eagles were torched by deep passes and skilled QB’s, but against Atlanta they were able to contain reigning NFL MVP Matt Ryan to 210 yards and one touchdown. In fact, the entire Philadelphia defense rose to the occasion when it stuffed the Falcons on fourth and goal on the team’s final drive of the game.

Clutch defense is something the Vikings and head coach Mike Zimmer also know very well. Minnesota’s unit ranks first in the league, and to no surprise the Eagles are close behind at number four. Each team will feature multiple pro-bowl defenders on Sunday, including high-motor pass rushers like Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen and Eagles defensive lineman Fletcher Cox. When teams with such talented defenses go head-to-head, the difference in the contest will be made by the team that has the most disciplined offense.

Minnesota’s offense seems to built for games like this. Keenum has fit perfectly into Zimmer’s defensive-minded gameplan, limiting his turnovers and maximizing his efficiency. If Keenum can continue his magical year and if the Vikings could find some more success running the ball, they should have the upper hand over the Eagles’ less explosive offense.

This game is sure to be more of a defensive battle than the Jacksonville-New England contest. Both the Vikings and the Eagles are better equipped to run the ball, but Keenum appears to be a more viable option through the air than does Foles –– especially considering Keenum’s chemistry with receivers Diggs and Adam Thielen. Expect Minnesota to feed off the emotional momentum of last Sunday’s victory and become the first team to play a Super Bowl in its home building. The Vikings should be victorious by no more than four points.

13 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2018

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

SPORTS UC DAVIS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL KEEPS CONFERENCE STREAK ALIVE Aggies now 3-0 in conference, 7-1 at home

BY LIZ JACO BSON sports@theaggie.org

On Thursday, Jan. 11., the UC Davis Aggies beat the UC Riverside Highlanders 74-63. The Aggies entered the Pavilion coming off a 76-52 win against Hawaii. This triumph over the Highlanders gave the Aggies their 13th consecutive Big West Conference win.

After a rough first quarter and a notable absence from junior point guard Kourtney Eaton, who was caring for a pulled hamstring, the Aggies were down 13-8, only having shot three for 18, but a comeback in the second and third quarters secured the win.

The third quarter saw five straight three throws from four different players.

“The good news is, we can’t play much worse,” said head coach Jennifer Gross. “That’s the thing about a veteran team […] you’re going to have some days where things aren’t going to go your way […]

I was really proud of our composure and how we just kind of stuck with it. We relaxed a little bit and knocked down a couple of shots.”

At half-time, senior guard Dani Nafekh lead the team with 10 points and finished with a season-high 18 points. Breakout freshman forward Cierra Hall had already earned herself a career-high rebounds, totaling 12 by the final buzzer. Hall now has the most number of rebounds by a player this season.

“I think it’s incredible,” Hall said of her current record. “I feel like when I came here I needed to find my place on the team and if rebounding is it, then that’s it and I’m just happy to be able to do whatever I can to help the team.”

Gross also made sure to comment on the freshman’s performance.

“I thought Cierra was remarkable [...] really playing the point-forward for us,” Gross said. “In a game like this, she’s able to bring the ball up under pressure and the composure she has as a freshman is pretty unbelievable.”

Leading by just three points, the Aggies hit their stride in the second half and shots really started falling. Senior guard Rachel Nagel scored the first trey, quickly followed by senior forward Pele Gianotti with an assist by junior guard Karley Eaton. Redshirt junior forward Morgan Bertsch scored a field goal assisted by Nafekh, and a three-pointer by Eaton forced a timeout by the Highlanders. The clock started again and Nagel secured a 14-point lead with back-to-back threes.

“That was the first time, that I can remember, that we’ve been doubled really hard, almost every possession,” Nafekh said of the game. “It was awesome seeing our post be so calm and collected […] passing out and getting us open shots. And it was exciting to see us hit all those threes again. It’s been a while since

MACLEA N HART FORD / AG GIE

we’ve hit a bunch.”

The Highlanders didn’t let the Aggies keep that lead so easily. Twice the Highlanders managed to get their score within five points of the Aggies’, but another lengthy run of consecutive points by the Aggies in the final quarter secured their victory. In the final seconds of the fourth quarter, the fans began chanting for one more basket at the hopes of winning free pizza, but the bench who had just come in

couldn’t quite get a handle on the ball.

“We talked about how this was the ultimate team win,” Gross said. “I thought every single person contributed.”

The Aggies will hit the road this week in hopes to keep their winning streak alive with games against UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly. Gianotti, in particular, will be looking to score just four points in order to reach a career 1,000 points.

NFL CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW Insights, predictions you need to know before championship Sunday N

L II A

AFC Championship

Jacksonville Jaguars @ New England Patriots 1:05 p.m. PT, Jan. 21

Super Bowl LII

Sunday, Feb. 4 AFC Champion vs NFC Champion

NFC Championship

Minnesota Vikings @ Philadelphia Eagles 3:40 p.m. PT, Jan. 21

AM Y YE / AGGI E

BY D O M I N I C FA RI A sports@theaggie.org

Before booking a trip to Minneapolis for Super Bowl LII, the four teams remaining will have to survive one last postseason obstacle: the conference championship round. The games this Sunday will feature two of the most intriguing playoff clashes in recent history, as veteran stars will go head-to-head with some of the league’s newly-minted phenoms.

On the AFC side, the powerhouse New England Patriots will play in their seventh straight conference championship game, this time against a much more inexperienced (yet talented) Jacksonville Jaguars squad. In the NFC, the Philadelphia Eagles, led by backup quarterback Nick Foles, will make their first conference championship appearance in nine years when they host the resilient Minnesota Vikings.

After a regular season full of surprising successes,

disappointing finishes and unbelievable ballgames, this postseason has been no different. Here is a look inside the matchups heading into this Sunday, as well as which teams you should expect to see playing on Feb. 4.

AFC Championship Game: Jacksonville Jaguars vs. New England Patriots The seemingly-unstoppable duo of quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick will appear in their 12th AFC championship game together. A shaky beginning to this season led many to believe that the Patriots and Brady had finally lost a step and would stumble in a Super Bowl hangover. Since starting 2-2, however, the defending champions have won 12 of their last 13 games, including a 3514 rout of the Tennessee Titans in this past Saturday’s divisional playoff round.

At age 40, Brady’s performance against the Titans –– in which he threw the ball 53 times for 337 yards and three touchdowns –– erased any doubt that he is growing complacent in his 18th NFL season after winning his fifth ring. Even the Patriots’ defense, which had struggled mightily in several parts of the season, played inspired football. New England sacked Tennessee QB Marcus Mariota eight times and held the Titans to just 65 yards rushing in an effort that helped the Patriots rattle off 35 straight points after trailing 7-0. This is a promising sign for Belichick’s outfit; combining New England’s already impressive scoring ability with a confident defensive pass rush that can disrupt opposing quarterbacks creates a nightmare matchup for opponents.

Set to take on that skilled defensive front this Sun-

day is fourth-year quarterback Blake Bortles and his Jacksonville Jaguars. After scraping together an ugly 10-3 victory over the Buffalo Bills in the wildcard round, Jacksonville exploded for 45 points in an upset win in Pittsburgh. Bortles, often criticised for his hit-or-miss performances, stepped up to the challenge in the Steel City, throwing for 214 yards and a key touchdown pass to his fullback, Tommy Bohanon, late in the fourth quarter. Most importantly, Bortles did not suffer a single turnover, and instead benefitted from a defensive touchdown by his own teammate, Telvin Smith, who returned a fumble by Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger for six.

Bortles success in big moments this postseason has helped the Jaguars advance this far, but the real focal point of this team is its running game and its defense. Jacksonville was the NFL’s best rushing team during the regular season, thanks to a sturdy offensive line and tailbacks like rookie Leonard Fournette, who pounded the Steelers for 109 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries. Jacksonville’s defense ranked second in the league in sacks and in yards allowed per game.

While it forced two turnovers and scored a touchdown Sunday, the Jaguars defense struggled to stop the high-powered Steelers from scoring. The 42 points and three fourth down TDs that the Jaguars allowed in Pittsburgh is concerning, especially given the fact that they will have to face another proficient offense this weekend. If the Jaguars aren’t able to slow down the New England offense, it will put that much more pressure on Bortles and the offense to make magic happen while playing from behind –– something that will be difficult to do considering

Jacksonville’s mediocre passing game and New England’s amped-up pass rush.

Still, when you consider the teams that have previously knocked off the Patriots in recent postseasons, the Jaguars seem to be built from a similar blueprint –– one that focuses on controlling the time of possession and playing terrific defense. Like the 2015 Denver Broncos and 2012 Baltimore Ravens, this year’s Jaguars team is built to do just that. If Jacksonville can stick to that game plan, it has a chance to top Brady’s team on the road –– a feat that very few teams have been able to accomplish.

In the meantime, all signs point to Brady reaching his eighth Super Bowl. Belichick never fails to prepare his team perfectly in playoff games, down to the last miniscule detail. Expect an up-tempo offensive game plan that will prioritize Brady getting the ball out quick on short routes to tire out the Jacksonville secondary and render the Jaguar pass rush useless.

New England will look get ahead early and ride that point cushion to victory by clamping down on Fournette and Bortles with that menacing defensive front. The Patriots should win by at least 10 points.

NFC Championship Game: Minnesota Vikings @ Philadelphia Eagles In one of the greatest finishes to any sporting event in history, the Minnesota Vikings narrowly defeated the New Orleans Saints in last Sunday’s divisional round. Down one point with just 10 ticks remaining, Vikings quarterback Case Keenum heaved a ball deep down the sideline to receiver Stefon Diggs, FOOTBALL on 12

FORUM HELD, SELECTION FOR NEW UC DAVIS WOMEN’S ATHLETIC TEAM DRAWS CLOSER UC Davis athletics representatives held forum to discuss public’s questions, accept suggestions for new women’s athletic team

A N H-T R A M B UI / AG G I E

BY RYA N BUG SC H sports@theaggie.org

A forum was held in the Mee Room in the UC Davis Memorial Union by Director of Athletics Kevin Blue and Faculty Athletics Representative Scott Carrell on Jan. 9. The forum included a brief overview on why a women’s athletic team is being added at UC Davis, specifically with the adherence

to Title IX, and to enhance the athletic participation opportunities for women undergraduates. Over the last few years, the percentages of women undergraduates have become significantly greater (55.1 percent women to 59.4 percent) in about a six year span compared to the percentage of male undergraduates at the university.

The forum opened with an initial statement by both Carrell and Blue on both the update of the

nominations for the new team and the process of creating this team moving forward. Mentioned was the around 622 responses that have been received by the public online for nominations for new various women’s sports teams. In total, 14 new teams have been nominated: beach volleyball, curling, cycling, dance, e-sports, equestrian, skiing, stunt (also known as cheer), fencing, ice hockey, rugby, triathlon, rowing and wrestling. The deadline for all new team nominations is Jan. 19. Blue assured the attendees that any nomination made for a new team will be taken into consideration with analysis, regardless of how many of the same nominations are submitted.

After the nomination deadline, the selection committee will do a complete analysis of each team nominated to see which new team will be added.

The four main criteria that the committee will be analyzing is the number of participation opportunities that the new team would add for women, the amount of philanthropic support for start-up and ongoing costs, the competitive opportunity at UC Davis for the new women’s team, and how the new team would fit within or complement the current existing conference affiliations. Blue mentioned that many different facets will be taken into account when choosing this new team, and it is not solely

dependant on factors such as making sure the new sport is an official NCAA sport.

At the forum were current UC Davis students and faculty, as well as alumni, such as Sarah Puddicombe, formerly Sarah Whipple. Puddicombe attended UC Davis from 1999 to 2002, and was a coxswain with the UC Davis women’s rowing team. Overall, she was glad that the forum was held.

“It is exciting. The process is exciting. I loved the forum in terms of transparency and keeping it specific while keeping everyone informed,” Puddicombe said. “I like that they [athletics] took the step to include the community and to open it up to the public.”

The decision for the new team will be made by the end of Winter Quarter 2018, and the selection for the new team will be submitted to UC Davis Chancellor Gary May for approval. After questions about when the team would officially be formed, Blue discussed that the goal for the new chosen women’s team is to make the transition to start the new team as smooth and as quick as possible.

“We are still in the data gathering stage,” Blue said. “We are looking forward to moving forward and our intent is to continue to describe the decision making process to the public.”

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