January 7, 2021

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VOLUME 139, ISSUE 10 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021

UC DAVIS CASES PEAK AS UC DAVIS MEDICAL CENTER AND QUARANTINE HOUSING BRACE FOR MORE The university’s health center boasts flexibility in the face of many new cases, Primero Grove facility is currently well under capacity

BY KATHLEEN QUINN campus@theaggie.org UC Davis cases have peaked to the highest they have been since the beginning of the pandemic, but the UC Davis Medical Center remains adaptable and student quarantine housing is managing well thus far, according to experts.

UC Davis Medical Center does not define their intensive care unit (ICU) capacity by a set amount of beds since the center can increase the capacity if need be according to UC Davis Health’s Senior Public Information Officer Charles Casey. This makes it difficult to give an exact number of beds available in the ICU, as the number can be adjusted.

“Our ICU functions like an accordion, and can be expanded, when needed, by converting medical/surgical bed spaces into ICU space,” Casey said via email. “The available capacity for our ICUs is always a small percentage—because if we don’t need the space for ICUs, we convert the bed space for other patient uses.”

There are currently 37 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Yolo County. The City of Davis in particular has had a total of 1,205 cases since the beginning of the pandemic with the vast majority of cases college-aged, according to the Yolo County COVID-19 dashboard.

Lilly Soto, a third-year design major, is staying at the UC Davis quarantine dorms at Primero Grove after returning from a trip back home for the holidays where she was exposed.

“I wasn’t necessarily scared,” Soto said. “It was just frustrating because it’s like ‘Oh, that’s why we weren’t supposed to go home.’”

There are not many other students residing in Primero Grove at the moment. UC Davis is using only 2% of it’s 400 beds designated for quarantine housing, but Soto said she expects that will change.

“I bet it will be full like next week or something, when people come back,” Soto said. “I’ve seen one other person get their food delivered across the courtyard and another person distance talking to someone. I’ve only seen two other people here.”

There has been an uptick in cases as students returned from the winter break. Of the 22 cases reported on Jan. 2, 19 were asymptomatic and three were self-reported.

UC Davis has seen 43 new cases in the last seven days between self-reported, asymptomatic and SHWC testing, which consists of any other COVID testing completed on campus according to the university’s dashboard.

Soto said that each student at Primero Grove has their own kitchen and their own bathroom, with meals delivered three times a day and students are tested twice in a 10 day period.

“My first one came back negative, which is really good and I think helped put my roommates at ease,” Soto said.

Casey said that UC Davis Health expects to be ready when the cases do rise.

“As a Level 1 trauma center and tertiary care hospital, the UC Davis Medical Center ICU is

The Student Health & Wellness Center at UC Davis during Winter Quarter 2021. (Quinn Spooner / Aggie) usually quite busy — even without a pandemic,” Casey said. “Our experience handling incidents with large numbers of patients has prepared us well to respond to COVID-19 surges.”

Over half of the cases at the university have been within the last 30 days and the expectation is that numbers will continue to rise.

STUDENTS CLAIM LECTURER FAILED TO CREATE SAFE ENVIRONMENT IN LETTER TO CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT Requests from students include retroactive grade changes, better communication practices and diversity training

The Chemistry Building at UC Davis during Winter Quarter 2021.

(Quinn Spooner / Aggie)

BY KATHLEEN QUINN campus@theaggie.org Chemistry students submitted a letter of complaints against their lecturer, Dr. Daniel Nurco, to Chemistry Department Chair Jared Shaw and other administrators via email, citing unfair course expectations and discrimination after students said they experienced unprofessional interactions with him.

In the email detailing the complaints, students have requested formal regulation of “reasonable instruction” and communication, as well as “retroactive adjustments to grading policies (notably those for the first midterm exam)” and penalization for Nurco’s unprofessionalism and creation of “an environment in which students feel unsafe.” The letter also requests diversity training and adjustments to either the units or necessary hours to perform well for the course.

Nurco is a lecturer and researcher who taught two courses in organic chemistry during Fall Quarter: CHE 8A and 8B. In email screenshots sent to The California Aggie, Nurco responded to students’ practice midterms with feedback such as “horrifically bad” and “terrible.”

Natalie Merino, a third-year animal science major, was exposed to COVID-19 and is currently in quarantine off-campus. She said she expected a “more human interaction” when she reached out to Nurco explaining the situation and its potential impact on her grade.

“So I wrote this whole big message about everything that’s going on with me—how life has been hard on me, how I’ve been having to care for my roommates and at the same time having to juggle with my schoolwork and finals, my actual work, but then I couldn’t go to work anymore,” Merino said. “He wrote, ‘Oh, what an unpleasant handful, sorry about that.’”

Lucien David, a third-year anthropology and linguistics double major, said he requested assistance through the disability office to increase the time on his midterm.

“I am a disabled student so I get accommodations from the SDC,” David said. “So when he got the documentation from the SDC, it had my legal name on it because my legal name is what the disability was attached to.”

Nurco responded by sending an email addressed to David’s legal name, with his legal name in the subject line and repeating the name four times within the body of the email asking for an explanation as to why there was a difference, according to an email chain forwarded to The California Aggie.

“He sent me an email that was very condescending, intimidating,” David said.

Once David explained that he was transgender and that his legal name is not the name he identifies with, Nurco responded that, “It would be really great if your SDC paperwork would match your

Canvas name,” followed by once again repeating David’s legal name, according to emails provided to The Aggie.

In an email response provided by David, Shaw said that the failure of not including David’s preferred name was a mistake by the SDC and not Nurco.

According to UC Davis’ registrar’s office, preferred names are to be used whenever possible.

Yana Gurevich, a second-year clinical nutrition major, said she contacted Nurco because she was having trouble gaining access to a practice test. Though Nurco answered her question, he separately emailed her, “You are making it out to be too big of a deal,” according to an email provided to The Aggie.

“I was very confused because he answered it once and was like, ‘Yeah you can just do this’ and then sent a whole different email to me [saying] ‘It’s too big of a deal,’” Gurevich said.

Nurco is not just a lecturer, he is a researcher with 67 publications according to Research Gate; Merino said this may be a higher priority than his students’ wellbeing.

“He needs to see it as: ‘he’s not just a researcher, he’s also a professor,’” Merino said. “Even if he doesn’t want to have sympathy for students, he needs to act like he has sympathy for students.”

Nicole Drake, a third-year ecological and environmental biology major is taking Nurco’s four-unit Chemistry 8B course.

“We have a workload equivalent to a nine-unit course,” Drake said. “We sat down and figured it out with how many hours of work we had versus how many hours of work were average for a four-unit course.”

According to the UC Davis registrar’s office, each unit should be the equivalent of three hours of academic work per week.

“The class is so hard,” Merino said. “I’ve had hard classes but this class just hit me different than all my other classes.”

Following feedback from students, Nurco has reduced the coursework for the rest of the quarter for his Chemistry 8A two-unit course, according to the email response from Shaw.

Drake said that Nurco’s policy for grading meant that answering part of a question incorrectly would result in negative points for the exam.

“But if you just put nothing that’s a zero, so it’s better to just not try, which is completely discouraging,” Drake said.

Drake said that her internet went down while taking a midterm and when she tried to submit the midterm once her internet had been restored—three minutes after the deadline—it took Nurco over a month to let her know that he would be able to accept it even after she said she would be willing to provide proof that she submitted it as quickly as possible.

When asked for comment regarding the complaints, Shaw sent an email saying the department does not provide comment on personnel matters.

“I can assure you that when we receive student concerns we take them seriously and work with faculty to ensure the best possible learning experience for our students,” Shaw said via email.

Melissa Lutz Blouin, the director of News and Media Relations for UC Davis, responded on behalf of the College of Letters and Sciences’ Dean, reiterating a lack of comment on “confidential personnel matters.”

“Anyone who wishes to report a potential incident can do so through the Harassment and Discrimination Assistance and Prevention Program, or HDAPP,” Blouin said via email. “Once a report is received, HDAPP assesses the report and resolves the matter either through informal resolution or a formal investigation process.”

The Aggie contacted Nurco via email and received initial responses, but Nurco did not respond to the requests for comment.

“It’s a hostile learning environment that he’s creating because people are scared to reach out to him,” Drake said. “We’re scared to ask for help. We’re scared that we’ll be harassed or ridiculed for asking for help which is something that no student should have to experience.”

“UC Davis Medical Center is very fortunate that Sacramento and Northern California have not been as hard-hit as areas such as L.A. and San Joaquin County,” Casey said. “However, our region is continuing to see high COVID-19 positivity rates and high levels of the virus spread in our community, too.”

LATEST PUBLIC HEALTH ORDER IMPOSES MORE RESTRICTIONS ON BUSINESSES Threat of COVID-19 still looms as retailers are forced to operate at 20% capacity

BY JELENA LAPUZ city@theaggie.org The most recent stay-at-home order in the greater Sacramento region included Yolo County, which limited retail to operation at 20% at grocery stores to 35% capacity.

Yolo County Public Information Officer Jenny Tan explained via email how the regional stay-at-home order impacted businesses.

“The Order has impacted the County in a lot of ways – economically, mentally, and also related to the pandemic,” Tan said via email. “The Order was meant to slow the spread of COVID in areas/locations where it was still possible to interact with people outside the home, however, people seem to still be gathering for get togethers, parties, etc.”

Tan noted that retail and shopping centers can only operate at 20% capacity as opposed to the previous 50% capacity and restaurants can only utilize take-out or delivery services.

Marketing coordinator of Downtown Davis Business Association (DDBA) Aaron Wedra listed the various ways the DDBA has been active during the pandemic.

Wedra stated via email that the Gifting Stimulus program “[…] infused $200,000+ into downtown businesses at the beginning of the pandemic.” Other notable projects included the Communal Art Project, Open Air Davis initiative, Healthy Davis Together, 7 Days of Halloween & Beyond and Shop Small Saturday.

Owner of Raja’s Tandoor Aamit Chowdhury provided insight on how his business has changed since the pandemic began.

Before the pandemic, Chowdhury described how Raja’s Tandoor was set up as an all-you-can-eat buffet. When the pandemic started, the business changed from being a buffet to a-la-carte style in order to adapt to changing safety regulations.

“The most important thing for Team Raja is to make sure our employees and our customers are safe and are healthy,” Chowdhury said. “The health department was a great influence in helping us reorganize the restaurant so we can keep our employees and our customers more safe.”

Wedra encouraged Davis residents to continue supporting small businesses during the pandemic.

RETAILORDER on 11 KATHERINE HUNG / AGGIE

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Long-term care facilities in Yolo County test staff more frequently following implementation of new order Health experts explain it’s still important to follow public health guidelines despite increased testing capabilities

BY SHRADDHA JHINGAN city@theaggie.org Skilled-nursing facilities in Yolo County are now required to test their staff two times a week—which started Dec. 15, 2020—according to an article from the Davis Enterprise. Prior to the updated order requiring more frequent testing, staff were tested once a week, according to the article.

However, on Dec. 2, 2020, Yolo County Public Health Officer Dr. Aimee Sisson issued an updated health order targeting Long-Term Care Facilities (LTCFs). The updated order, Order No. 2020-03, replaces Order No. 2020-02 (issued on May 8, 2020), according to a press release from Yolo County.

“Effective December 15, 2020, each LongTerm Care Facility listed in Section 6 below must implement twice-weekly COVID-19 screening testing of all staff working in the Facility,” the order reads. “Staff previously diagnosed with COVID-19 who remain asymptomatic after recovery are exempt from testing for 90 days after the date of symptom onset for the initial COVID-19 infection or date of positive test for

staff who never developed symptoms.”

Staff who regularly work within the LTCFs but are not employed by them are also required to be tested twice weekly, either by their employer or by the LTCF. Dr. Larissa May, a professor of emergency medicine and former interim health officer of

Yolo County, explained via email the importance of continuing to abide by public health measures.

“Unfortunately our low tech public health measures are still the most effective at mitigating the virus, including physically distancing from others not in your household, avoiding gatherings, wearing face coverings around others not in your

KATHERINE FRANKS / AGGIE

household, and handwashing as well as avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth,” Dr. May said via email.

Additional measures include getting tested when showing symptoms of COVID-19, staying home and isolating for at least ten days until symptoms are improving, quarantining for a minimum of ten days after traveling or receiving visitors. Testing asymptomatic people 5-7 days after they have been exposed or have traveled can also help with identifying asymptomatic cases.

Coupled with following public health measures, this order will help protect vulnerable members of the community, the order explains.

“This Order is issued based on scientific evidence and best practices as currently known and available to prevent the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19 to the residents at the Long-Term Care Facility and to protect those residents from avoidable risk of serious illness or death resulting from COVID-19,” the order reads. “The age and underlying health conditions of a significant majority of Long-Term Care Facility residents place those residents at high risk of experiencing serious health complications from COVID-19, including death.”

NURSETESTING on 11

11 faculty members named AAAS’ 2020 Fellows Two faculty fellows explain what the recognition means to them

BY ANNETTE CAMPOS campus@theaggie.org The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has selected 11 UC Davis faculty members to receive its 2020 Class Fellows award.

The association, which is the world’s largest scientific society, selects fellows by nomination of candidates by their peers and colleagues.

All faculty being recognized include: • Jonathan Eisen, a professor of evolution and ecology • Tessa Hill, a professor of Earth and planetary sciences • Mark Huising, a professor of neurobiology, physiology, and behavior • Daniel Kliebenstein, a professor of plant sciences • Laura Marcu, a professor of biomedical engineering • Lisa Miller, a professor of anatomy, physiology and cell biology • John Owens, a professor of electrical and computer engineering • Pablo Ross, a professor of animal science • Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra, a professor of evolution and ecology • Valerie Avenir, a professor of plant sciences • Stacey Harmer, a professor of plant biology

Andy Fell, a spokesperson for UC Davis, touched on what this means for UC Davis.

“We’re always pleased to see our faculty members honored in this way,” Fell said. “The university [continues] to provide an environment where everyone can strive and emphasizes the diversity and quality of our faculty.”

Valerie Avenir, who has been a plant sciences professor at UC Davis for 12 years, is currently

studying the functions of ecosystems and humans’ dependency on them. She is working with land managers on how these processes can be enhanced to benefit both the ecosystems and humans. “[The award is] an honor that someone would recognize me and my contributions,” Avenir said.

She offered students and researchers who are early in their career advice for entering this field.

Eleven professors from UC Davis were elected as fellows for 2021’s class of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. (UC Davis)

“When you’re doing work in a different way than folks have done in the past, it can feel really discouraging that maybe you’re not getting some grants your first few tries for some of your ideas that are new or pushing the boundaries,” Avenir said. “Early in your career it can feel really discouraging but stick with your vision and confidence about the contributions that you see you can make.”

Stacey Harmer, who has been a plant biology professor at UC Davis for 18 years, shared similar advice.

“You got to be stubborn,” Harmer said.

“I had some low points, especially in graduate school, where things just didn’t work. That’s really hard after you’ve spent six months [on it] but you have to roll with it and say ‘Onto the next thing.’”

Harmer is currently researching circadian rhythms in plants and the impact it has on plant processes. She said she is thankful for the support UC Davis faculty and students have given her.

“Davis is a really friendly campus and so, if I have a question about something, it’s a big university and lots of biologists, there’s probably someone on campus who knows more about it than I do and generally speaking they’re happy to help me,” Harmer said.

She notes that her work is a collaborative effort between herself and the graduate and undergraduate students who help to develop research in her lab.

All 498 fellows will be virtually recognized in an induction ceremony scheduled for Feb. 13.

Aggie House will provide transitional living space for students struggling with homelessness, housing insecurity The student organization is slated to offer housing in the 2021-22 school year

BY REBECCA BIHN-WALLACE campus@theaggie.org UC Davis students Ashley Lo, Allie O’Brien and Katie Shen will be opening Aggie House, a transitional living space for students who are homeless or experiencing housing insecurity, during the 2021-2022 school year. Aggie House will be funded by a Basic Needs Student Innovation Grant which seeks grant proposals for student-run basic needs initiatives.

Lo, a third-year economics and political science double major, said that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated students’ struggles with housing and food insecurity.

“A lot of students have lost their jobs or their hours have been cut back for on-campus jobs,” Lo said. “A lot of landlords and property managers in Davis have not let people back out of their leases. Some people are trying to move back home to take care of family and siblings while their parents go to work. But a lot of them are still paying rent at the same time. That has affected their finances. The thing that makes a big difference is that inability to pay rent and that’s made students afraid of not having somewhere to stay.”

Lo said that the biggest obstacle Aggie House faced initially was skepticism about students’ ability to implement such a large-scale project.

“Small steps lead to bigger steps,” Lo said.

“When we first started, we were emailing nonstop to anyone who would listen to us. To anyone who would give us a chance. A lot of people just shut us down and said, ‘We’re not interested, sorry.’ We gained more wind behind us as people saw that we were thinking through obstacles and had plans to overcome them.”

O’Brien, a political science and sociology double major, said that there is generally a lack of data surrounding housing security and homelessness within the UC. “Anecdotally, we know a lot of these things are affecting students, but it’s likely that this is a lot more of a widespread issue,” O’Brien said.

“This is a hole in the university administration— the UC system and UC Davis don’t have really good data on housing insecurity. We’re trying to put together an annual survey to track the data long-term.”

The most recent basic needs survey was conducted by the Graduate Student Association (GSA) in partnership with ASUCD during the 2017-2018 school year. According to that survey, approximately 18% of UC Davis students had experienced homelessness or housing insecurity during that year and 2% of the students surveyed had lived in their car or another space not intended for housing.

“If this is representative of the UC Davis population at large, this could mean that over

2,000 students are affected by homelessness in any given year,” Lo, O’Brien and Shen wrote in their grant proposal for Aggie House. “Considering the stigma associated with being a student experiencing housing insecurity or homelessness, many students remain fearful of discrimination they may face upon seeking relevant resources.”

Underrepresented minority students on campus are disproportionately affected by such issues, the proposal notes. Moreover,

LGBTQ+ students are reportedly twice as likely to experience homelessness than their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts. Homelessness is particularly prevalent among independent students—meaning emancipated minors, selfsupporting students, students recently homeless and students who were in foster care after the age of 13.

STUDENTHOMELESSNESS on 11

Cal Aggie Christian Association members pose in front of their building.(Katie Shen / Courtesy)

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021 | 3

NEW TRAIL AND DOG PARK OPENED AT GRASSLANDS REGIONAL PARK Yolo County Parks Division encourages outdoor activities for mental and physical well-being during lockdown

BY YAN YAN HUSTIS HAYES city@theaggie.org On Dec. 4 the Yolo County Parks Division opened a new 1.25 mile trail and dog park located at 30475 County Road 104, approximately three miles south of the City of Davis at Grasslands Regional Park.

According to a press release, construction on the new trail and dog park was completed with grant money awarded to the Yolo County Parks Division and local funds.

“In 2017 the Yolo County Parks Division was awarded a $107,000 grant from the California State Parks’ Habitat Conservation Fund for construction of a new trail system, parking lot and associated site amenities,” the press release reads. “The County used other local funds for developing the dog park.”

Unlike other dog parks, the 10 acre off-leash dog park adjacent to the trail is a natural environment without a manicured lawn, so visitors are advised to be aware of uneven ground.

Yolo County General Services Department Senior Parks Planner Jeff Anderson explained that the new trail system is a working landscape maintained by livestock which promotes an ecologically healthy environment.

“The county contracts with a local sheepherder to manage the grasslands within the trail system and most of the open area at the park,” Anderson said via email. “Grazing reduces thatch accumulation which promotes native plant growth, improves habitat for western burrowing owls, helps surface water drain toward low-lying areas and reduces invasive species that compete with native grasses and forbs.”

Anderson explained that in addition to its unique working landscape, Grasslands Regional Park is a destination for birdwatchers.

“Raptors, such as Swainson’s hawks, white-tailed kites, northern harriers, and turkey vultures are not uncommon to see in the open areas, and western burrowing owls have also been spotted along the trail system,” Anderson said. “Visitors should also be able to spot rabbits and turkeys from time to time.”

The need for additional trails and a large off-leash dog area was identified through a collaborative effort between members of the public, volunteer groups, county staff and the Parks, Recreation, and Wildlife Advisory Committee, according to Anderson.

“The framework for the trail and dog park was laid out in the 2005 Grasslands Regional Park Master Plan, though the project that was developed was scaled down to a more manageable footprint,” Anderson said. “Prior to the final design of the project, the county held public meetings to gather input from interested parties and ended up revising the design several times to avoid environmentally sensitive areas.”

Anderson explained that the nearly 15-year process required an environmental review pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act and grant money from the California State Parks Habitat Conservation Funds in addition to its design and construction.

“These types of projects often take a long time to construct, as we complete the various components with limited staffing,”

Grasslands Regional Park recently opened south of Davis on Mace Boulevard/County Road 104 and provides users with trails and a dog park. (Yolo County) Anderson said. “The Parks Division has four full-time maintenance workers that split their time between sixteen park locations across the county. The coronavirus pandemic impacted the construction timeline a bit as we had to figure out how to respond to evolving health guidelines and balance priorities throughout our parks system, but we were able to press forward without too much disruption.”

Anderson urged visitors to follow all health guidelines while at the park, including social distancing and wearing a mask.

“Spending time outdoors is extremely beneficial to our physical and mental health but with the current COVID-19 pandemic, people do need to practice health measures like wearing a mask, physical distancing and others,” Anderson said via email. “In order to keep our parks open to the public during this time, it is imperative that visitors follow the CDC guidelines that we are all familiar with by now, including keeping a social distance of at least six feet from individuals outside of their household and wearing masks when six foot distance cannot be maintained.”

The Parks Division is teaming up with local non-profit, Cache Creek Conservancy and their partners to promote the health benefits of being outdoors, Anderson explained.

“The project aims to work with Yolo County health care providers to prescribe time outdoors as part of a patient’s plan of health care,” Anderson said. “We are in the process of adding Yolo County Parks on the Parks Rx America website as places that can be prescribed for patients to visit.”

Yolo County resident Jesus Rodriguez explained that although he has not heard of the new park opening, he plans to visit it.

“I think that there are a decent amount of places—but more would be great as dog parks can get crowded,” Rodriguez said. “It is especially important to get out during lockdown. It relieves stress on both the dog and the person.”

Anderson encouraged people to visit Grasslands Park throughout the seasons as long as visitors are safe and respectful to both other park-goers and wildlife.

“Wildflowers bloom in the spring and can be found throughout the park, but it is important to the marked trail so as not to disturb grazing sheep, potential burrowing owl habitat, and sensitive plant species,” Anderson said via email. “The Grasslands trail allows visitors to recreate and enjoy nature while keeping a safe distance from one another.”

DAVIS MEASURE B FAILED BY 1269 VOTES LAST NOVEMBER Measure B supporters and opponents examine why the Davis community voted against the Davis Innovation & Sustainability Campus

KATHERINE FRANKS / AGGIE

BY RACHEL SHEY city@theaggie.org Measure B failed in the local election on Nov. 3, 2020 by 1269 votes. If it had passed, the measure would have allowed for the development of the Davis Innovation & Sustainability Campus (DISC) and Mace Triangle.

Campaign Consultant for “Yes on Measure B” Andrew Truman Kim explained that DISC is the last of three potential business park plans that the City of Davis has been studying and attempting to put forth since 2008.

“The Studio 30 Report, which was a product of the Innovation Park Task Force, identified three viable private sector innovation centers that could comprise the dispersed innovation strategy,” Kim said. “One was the Nishi Gateway Innovation Center by the Mondavi Center, second was the Davis Innovation Center by the Sutter Hospital and third was the Mace Ranch Innovation Center, later known as the Davis Innovation & Sustainability Campus today— which was Measure B.” According to Kim, the Nishi Gateway Innovation Center failed in 2016, and the Northwest Davis Innovation Center subsequently moved to Woodland.

Kim explained that Measure B would have provided more research and development space (R&D) for local startups.

“The Davis Innovation & Sustainability Campus would address a critical and unaddressed

need in Davis to support technologies spinning out of UC Davis and local scale-up companies by providing the lab, R&D, advanced manufacturing and office space to help advance their technology globally,” Kim said.

Opponents of the measure were concerned about the possibility of increasing traffic gridlock on Mace Boulevard. Principal Officer and Treasurer of “No on Measure B” Alan Pryor expressed concern about the nature of the project.

“In terms of DISC being a model for the future, I don’t think it could be more wrong,” Pryor said. “This was a very car-centric, autodependent, freeway-dependent project. They projected there were going to be 24,000 auto trips a day resulting from that project.”

Kim said that the number of car trips was taken out of context, describing it as a “worst, worst, worst case scenario.”

“This project wouldn’t have been built out for many years,” Kim said. “This is a multi-phase project. Full build-out, when all of the commercial and housing would be fully constructed and occupied, wouldn’t happen for another 20 to 25 years. So the framing that was placed around the estimated number of daily car trips, which was repeated often by the opponents, was a selective presentation of the facts. The daily trip estimates that the opposition purported widely did not account for the significant mitigation measures, which the project was mandated to have.”

The project would have been constructed in phases; Phase 1 involved roadway improvements and extension of internet infrastructure, Phase 2

included park construction and drainage channel improvements and Phase 3 planned to build an agricultural buffer and peripheral trail.

The possibility of urban blight, which occurs when there are an increased number of empty or abandoned buildings, was another concern that opponents of Measure B raised. According to the rebuttal to the argument in favor of Measure B, DISC competition could harm downtown businesses.

Kim countered that this concern would have been mitigated by city council demands.

“Before any of the ancillary retail could be built on site, the project was obligated to demonstrate to the city’s satisfaction through a market demand study that there is an unmet demand that is not being served by existing Davis businesses,” Kim said. “In other words, ancillary retail cannot be built on-site unless it could be shown that it would have no negative effects on existing Davis businesses.”

Pryor stated that bringing more business to Davis was an “admirable” goal, but there was concern that the primary purpose of DISC was to bring revenue into the city.

“I think the real motivation for the council was that they expected this was going to turn into a little piggy bank for them,” Pryor said. “They were projecting 5.3 million dollars a year in net revenue from this project, and property taxes and other sales taxes from that.”

Pryor went on to point out the dangers of increasing sprawl for revenue.

“Transportation impact fees could be used for repaving roads all over the city,” Pryor said.

“Obviously, the city desperately needs that, but that’s a shell game. That’s what has gotten so many sprawling cities into trouble—they continue to sprawl unchecked to get these short term impact fees. When that money’s gone, all they’re left with is impacts without enough revenue from the projects to pay for the impacts themselves.”

Transportation funding is important to Davis sites, and Kim stated that revenue from DISC would help the city fix roadway issues.

“We’re stuck in this negative feedback cycle.

There’s not enough current funding to improve road conditions, and because of that, we have traffic,” Kim said. “But an important funding mechanism to improve traffic are fees and private contributions from these types of projects.

However, people use traffic as one of the main reasons to oppose them, thus our city is unable to realize the revenue required to move quickly on infrastructure improvements.”

AGGIE FILE

Happy New Years— now stop shooting off fireworks!

December 11 “Street sweeper circling the area for the last hour.”

December 13 “Upset that another Co-op resident has been taking her food.”

December 15 “Friend says he is going to commit a felony tonight but wouldn’t elaborate.”

December 18 “Females lying in the middle of the roadway taking photographs.”

December 24 “Female with reaction to envelope adhesive and feels poisoned, feeling dizzy and increased heart rate.”

December 31 “Male singing in backyard for last 2 hours.”

“Brandishing his finger at passerby.”

“Excessive music and fireworks in the area.”

“Bottle rockets landing in respondent’s front yard.”

4 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

UC Davis School of Medicine professors discuss the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine Microbiology and immunology professors explain the COVID-19 vaccine and what sets it apart from past vaccines

BY LYRA FARRELL features@theaggie.org On Dec. 11, 2020, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after a series of experimental trials since mid-March. The Moderna vaccine also received emergency authorization from the FDA on Dec. 18, 2020.

Barbara Shacklett, a professor at the UC Davis School of Medicine whose research focuses on cell-mediated immune responses to HIV, noted that although the vaccine hasn’t taken long to be approved, the experimental process wasn’t carried out hastily.

“Even though the vaccine has become available in record time, it nevertheless went through extensive testing in clinical trials to determine that it was both safe and effective,” Shacklett said via email.

“The process was accelerated in this case because of the urgency of the situation, but that doesn’t mean important steps were skipped or overlooked.”

Dr. Stefan Rothenburg, an associate professor in the School of Medicine’s department of medical microbiology and immunology, emphasized that no serious symptoms have been linked to the vaccine.

“I think the short term safety profiles are very encouraging,” Rothenburg said. “There have been very few serious side effects— you cannot really call it side effects—but very few instances where some of the participants in the trials had some disease. But it has been concluded by the expert panel that this had nothing to do with the vaccine.”

According to Rothenburg, some of the trial participants who experienced symptoms were part of a placebo group.

“In the placebo groups they had some cases where people developed some health issues,” Rothenburg said. “And this is just kind of normal. If you have a large number of participants, some people, in a random fashion, will always develop some health issues.”

KAITLYN PANG / AGGIE

Vaccines use a form of antigen that the immune system recognizes and responds to. According to Shacklett, vaccines can be made up of weakened strains of a virus, lifeless virus particles or a small piece of the virus particle—usually a protein. The PfizerBioNTech vaccine employs the last method; however, the genetic information called messenger RNA (mRNA) is used instead of a protein. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is the first mRNA vaccine to be approved for general use.

“The vaccine contains a very small piece of the SARS-CoV2 virus’ RNA,” Shacklett said. “Once it’s in a person’s body, this RNA serves as a template so that the person’s cells can produce a single, strongly immunogenic protein from the virus, the ‘spike’ protein.

Importantly, this small piece of RNA doesn’t contain nearly enough information to produce the whole virus.”

Shacklett stated that after the body uses the mRNA, it’s discarded.

“Once the vaccine material is taken up by our body’s cells, it is ‘read’ by the cellular machinery that makes proteins, but afterwards it is completely broken down and lost,” Shacklett said. “The mRNA does not become stably integrated into our cells; instead, after it is used as a template, it’s destroyed by enzymes inside our cells.”

Rothenburg mentioned that the majority of Americans are leaning toward becoming vaccinated.

“Right now it seems that at least 80% of the population in the U.S. have a positive view of the [COVID-19] vaccines,” Rothenburg said. “So I think about 40% would take it right away. Another 40% want to wait a little bit, but it’s generally a positive and this is definitely encouraging.”

According to Rothenburg, the virus won’t be able to be transmitted if a certain threshold is reached in the number of vaccinated individuals.

VACCINE on 11

Panhellenic and Interfraternity Council officially split, created a tiered system With issues of sexual assault and relationships between chapters, Panhellenic has officiated a disassociation with the Interfraternity Council and produced a system for future reintegration NAME?AGGIE

Many fraternity organizations at UC Davis can be found along Russell Boulevard. (Google Streetview)

BY FARRAH BALLOU features@theaggie.org Throughout the past year, organizations within the UC Davis Greek-life community have had numerous allegations of sexual assault and hazing. After years of unsuccessful and individualized disassociation with fraternities, Panhellenic has officially called for total disconnection from all fraternities.

This pivot was made by the Panhellenic executive board and in conjunction with all sorority chapters. Siena King, a third-year human development major and president of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority, discussed these movements. King said that their changes were a response to sexual assault cases as well as the perceptions of,

and assumptions about, Greek life.

“Sexual assault and rape culture is definitely a big driving force behind this,” King said. “[There is an] underlying culture that this is the way things are: it’s white, it’s straight, it’s flat, it doesn’t change. It feels like it’s not progressive.”

By separating from fraternities, King said that the overarching goal is to allow women to thrive and be immersed in women-identifying organizations. Currently, the modeled structure for disassociation follows California’s COVID-19 tiered plan. During this conditional moment with online school, King stated that the first step is complete dissociation where all chapters are disinvited from philanthropies and activities, activities that are currently remote. If growth is shown during this conditional period, then fraternities could potentially be invited to participate in

philanthropies as the first tier in the process.

When classes return to being in person, King said that the next possible tier allows for monitored interaction in a safe space and avoiding high-risk situations where alcohol is involved. Individual fraternities must follow expectations during this conditional quarter, ensure safety during monitored events and must successfully implement action items and processes to regain a relationship with Panhellenic.

Action items have been established as checklists that fraternities must follow and enact successfully in order to regain Panhellenic relationships. According to King, action items include: reporting all steps toward sexual assault training and education to the Interfraternity Council (IFC) and Panhellenic presidents, establishing anonymous surveys on social media for feedback, meeting with Center for Advocacy, Resources and Education (CARE) and ensuring that 90% of chapter members are participating during sexual assault program meetings. Davis chapters are also expected to connect with national chapters, and advisors and board executives should undergo training for the handling of sexual assault cases. There is also the possibility of introducing new programming that offers specialized training for men. Bylaws and policies must also be reviewed to ensure safety for women, and plans are required on how cases would be addressed and filed. Moreover, there is an added emphasis on the standards and training for sexual assault prevention during a pledge or candidate’s recruitment process.

Antonio Caraza, a fourth-year mechanical and aerospace engineering major at UC Davis and president of Pi Kappa Phi, similarly believes that fraternities require a unified approach to overcoming IFC-wide issues regarding sexual assault. He emphasized a basic need for personal responsibility and accountability.

“Not just survivors doing the work but working with them to actively resolve the situation” Caraza said.

Similarly, IFC also requested action items from Panhellenic to solidify a stronger and safer relationship.

FRATS on 11

UC Davis student rises to TikTok fame Justice Dodson’s viral videos educate thousands on COVID-19 and microscopic sciences

BY KATIE DEBENEDETTI features@theaggie.org With the enactment of a stay-at-home order in March 2020, many turned to apps such as TikTok for entertainment. Justice Dodson, a third-year molecular and medical market biology student, was no exception to this. In fact, he began creating content on the app in March and his videos have only grown in popularity during the pandemic.

“I actually posted my first microscope video on March 12,” Dodson said. “At my community college we would have really long labs, so we would finish them early and my professor would let us look at whatever we wanted under the microscope. One of the things that we found was this dead bug and the pressure from the glass on top of the specimen caused it to explode. At that moment I was like ‘Okay this is really cool and I want to share it somewhere,’ so we did it again and I took a video and put it on TikTok.” Dodson began his TikTok account when he was still a student at Yuba College, using extra time in labs to explore additional findings under the microscope. He explained that when he first started posting, he was strictly doing it for fun and did not expect to gain a wide following.

“In that moment, I wasn’t trying to do something crazy or something big, maybe it’s moved into that more now but originally it was just for fun,” Dodson said. “It got way more views than I thought it would so I was like ‘Okay, I’ll buy a microscope,’ and it just kind of took off from there.”

Throughout the year, Dodson has grown his TikTok platform to over 500,000 followers and has made hundreds of videos. One of his personal favorite videos was a TikTok of a dead centipede that he found. When he put it under the microscope, he found that the

UC Davis third-year Justice Dodson (Justice Dodson / Courtesy) camera was actually able to see organisms that the centipede had eaten living inside of it, which he said was unexpected for both him and his followers.

Dodoson said that throughout the pandemic, his content has shifted from just posting microscope videos to trying to dispel rumors and bring awareness to facts about COVID-19. One of his first videos that went viral was a video of the virus on a face mask

under the microscope, which highlighted the importance of wearing a mask.

“The original focus was just to share things that were interesting looking, but being at home and in the middle of the pandemic, I think the type of content that I make has kind of shifted,” Dodson said. “There’s so much conflicting information and taking it and putting it into one video where you break down any misconceptions and establish a scientific community on TikTok [...] and just taking [the information] and putting it into a format that can be easily digested by anyone is what I’m trying to do.”

In the future, Dodson hopes to expand his audience beyond members of Gen. Z. “The main thing I want to do is be able to reach a larger audience, and by that I mean more diverse,” Dodson said. “TikTok is a platform that is dominated by our generation and younger people.”

By discovering TikTok and ultimately making content informing people about the COVID-19 pandemic, Dodson has even started to reconsider his ultimate career plans. Although he began TikTok as a hobby and always planned on becoming a pharmacist, Dodson is glad that he’s been able to teach important scientific information to people who aren’t necessarily interested in the field.

“I feel like it’s taught me how to maybe teach people science in non-traditional ways,” Dodson said. “We’ve all gone through a science class and sat there and watched lectures and stuff but I feel like that only works for some people. I’m a science nerd so it’s fascinating to me but not everyone shares that and I think the amount of creativity TikTok lets you have [...] taught me how to present the same ideas I’m learning in [...] a way that’s outside of the classroom.”

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021 | 5

OPINION HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE EDITORIAL BOARD

THE

C ALIFORNIA A GGIE

EDITO RIA L B OA RD

It’s a goodbye, not a see you later, 2020 The Editorial Board is starting 2021 off thinking about what this year holds. Hundreds of millions of people are set to be vaccinated against COVID-19—nearly 5 million have already been vaccinated in the U.S. to date—and although we are not at the end of the pandemic, at least we can envision it. Kamala Harris will be inaugurated in just a few weeks as the first woman and first woman of color to serve as vice president in American history. In June of this year, the European Union will present legislative proposals to implement its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. After a long and difficult year, we discuss what we are most looking forward to in 2021 below.

Anjini Venugopal, Editor-in-Chief After the rollercoaster of last year, I naively thought that writing about what I was looking forward to in 2021 would be a somewhat easy task—I was mistaken. But while I definitely have concerns about what this year holds, there are many things that I am eagerly anticipating should they be possible. In 2020, I missed my annual tradition of watching the Perseids meteor shower with my best friend. This year should provide great viewing conditions and I can’t wait to stare into space with her. I have many long-planned road trips that have never been taken; perhaps this is the year I can follow through. I am impatiently waiting for the eventual in-person Editorial Board meeting in our new office—it will undoubtedly be chaotic but a grand old time nonetheless. I hope this year is full of picnics in the Arboretum, walks in the rain and hopefully some new hobbies that spark joy. So long as we all remember that the pandemic isn’t over and all that happened in 2020 doesn’t just get wiped out by a new calendar year, 2021 has the potential to be a good year.

Margo Rosenbaum, Managing Editor I have always been an outdoorsy individual; I spent much of my childhood digging up worms, mucking horse stalls and chasing dogs down muddy trails. But being in nature took on a new meaning for me in 2020, as the outdoors was one of the few safe places to be. I spent even more time in nature as a way to escape my Zoom classes and the quiet of my home. While following safety guidelines, I found myself hiking with those in my bubble, camping in Utah, walking my dogs and overall appreciating the opportunity to be outside. No matter what 2021 brings, I plan to continue spending time outside by myself and with those I love. I will continue hiking and riding my horse—activities I have loved since childhood. This year, however, I plan to go on new outdoorsy adventures—like backpacking, birding and rock climbing—or any other socially-distanced nature-related activity that comes my way.

This year, I look forward to trying new things and continuing to find peace in the natural world around me.

Sabrina Habchi, Campus News Editor I think we can all agree that last year was not unlike a dumpster fire. Although the pandemic still exists and “normal” is still not in the near future, I am excited for a year filled with pickleball games, mile-a-day runs (hopefully this ages well) and meaningful time with my loved ones. In six short months, I will be a college graduate and while that is terrifying, I am hopeful for where I will end up when I leave the place I have been lucky to call home for the last four years. Most of all, I am grateful that transitioning to an online format means that I am now technically competent enough to easily create Zoom meetings (recurring ones, of course) in order to keep in touch with all the lovely people I have had the honor to meet at Davis and my best friends from my hometown.

Eden Winniford, City News Editor Even though vaccine rollout hasn’t been perfect, it’s allowed me to feel hopeful about the later months of 2021. I’m looking forward to being able to hug my family and see them without masks on,

and I’m hoping to safely show them around Davis—taking them to my favorite restaurants and to the Arboretum are the first activities on my list. Diving for abalone should also be permitted again in Northern California after years of being closed due to dwindling populations. Growing up, my dad and grandpa would always bring home abalone, and it was a dinner staple when I was younger. My dad and I go scuba diving together, but I’m excited to continue the family tradition and learn about freediving. Abalone play an important role in our ocean’s ecosystem and they bring countless divers to Northern California’s small coastal towns, and I’m incredibly hopeful that their populations will bounce back in the coming year.

Calvin Coffee, Opinion Editor I can’t wait to see how 2021 surprises us. Coming in hot off of the worst year of many of our lives, I see no where to go but up.

More than anything, I look forward to the incremental steps of progress we all take this year. I’m excited to see how President-elect Joe Biden steers the country into a new era of liberal politics. I hope that we can all take steps of progress ourselves to be better, our ability to reflect on our own faults can only help each other.

I also look forward to the new games, stories and foods that I’m going to experience this year and that will challenge my limits and opinions. I can’t wait to find out how we change for the better and all make an effort to try new, impactful things.

Sophie Dewees, Features Editor While it’s been difficult to stay positive these past few months, when I think about little moments in my life such as banter with my roommates, FaceTime calls with friends and family and joking with other members of the Editorial Board I can’t help but feel grateful. And I can honestly say that Ed Board meetings are very often the highlight of my day. After hours of online classes, I’m usually feeling completely exhausted and rundown. But seeing members of Ed Board (even though it’s over Zoom) never fails to make me feel better. While it’s definitely a small thing, I’m greatly looking forward to two more quarters with the other Aggie editors this year. I’m sure they will be filled with many laughs, memes, playlists, wall quotes and more.

Allie Bailey, Arts & Culture Editor Going into a new year, I try not to be too set on changing my life.

After years of failed resolutions, I have come to the conclusion that writing a new number at the end of the date doesn’t mean all that much to me. But this new year is different than previous ones; rather than looking forward to new experiences and opportunities, most of us are hoping to return to the ways of the past, the life we knew at the beginning of 2020. What I am hopeful for in 2021 is to hug everyone I love again, to interact with people on campus that I would never see otherwise and to be squashed between people at a concert, uncomfortable because my hair is being pulled, not out of fear of a virus. Looking forward to things I never considered particularly special is a reminder that just living life is a privilege in and of itself. And so in 2021, I am set on a new year’s resolution after all—appreciating the simplest parts of my day and seeking fulfillment from what I once found mundane, but what I now know invigorates my life.

Omar Navarro, Sports Editor There’s no doubt that last year was one of the hardest years for everyone, in a variety of ways. Remaining positive has been a tough task, as more negativity seemed to come up. While it’s not exactly clear if or when we’ll be able to return to campus, I’m excited about the possibility of returning to Davis this fall. It seems like that’s the plan as it stands, and I really hope it comes to fruition. I realized that I took even the simplest things on campus, like walking around or even going to the gym, for granted. I hope I can make

ANJINI VENUGOPAL Editor-in-Chief MARGO ROSENBAUM Managing Editor SABRINA HABCHI Campus News Editor EDEN WINNIFORD City News Editor CALVIN COFFEE Opinion Editor SOPHIE DEWEES Features Editor ALLIE BAILEY Arts & Culture Editor OMAR NAVARRO Sports Editor MADELEINE PAYNE Science & Tech Editor

JUSTIN HAN Photo Director KATHERINE FRANKS Design Director JOELLE TAHTA Layout Director KAITLIN ARAGHI Copy Chief ALEX WEINSTEIN Copy Chief KESHAV AGRAWAL Website Manager BEN CHENG Social Media Manager JOSHUA GAZZANIGA Distribution Manager LAURIE PEDERSON Business Development Manager

new memories with everyone once again and get back to being on my own as well. Obviously, we’ll have to wait and see how it turns out, but I’m excited that that is a possibility and I am looking forward to it.

Madeleine Payne, Science Editor While celebrating the end of 2020 has been refreshing in so many ways, it has reminded me just how close we are to nearing the anniversary of the California shutdown. Leading up to this week, I was dreading the first day of Winter Quarter, knowing I would spend it watching recorded lectures in my parents house and barely interacting with anyone outside of a screen. I miss meeting professors in person, biking across campus within a 10-minute passing period and scrambling to find the right room before class— aspects of school that were never particularly exciting in past years.

So for 2021, as every day we get closer and closer to the end of this pandemic, I hope to spend at least one of my first days of school surrounded by classmates and strangers on campus, appreciating all the aspects of in-person learning I’ve learned to be so grateful for in the last few months.

POINT REYES SEASHORE IS ONE STEP CLOSER TO NATIONAL DAIRY FARM The Park Service’s proposed management plan of the Point Reyes Seashore prioritizes agriculture over wildlife in a National Park

BY JOE SWEENEY jmsweeney@ucdavis.edu In Marin County, ranching is more than just a nine to five for many residents, but a way of life. Roughly half the land in Marin County is designated for farming or ranchland. Ranching

Tule Elk. (Kline Polvorosa / Courtesy)

has existed in the Marin for years, going back to the first settlers’ arrival in the area. Nestled within this agricultural landscape are a few conservation gems like Mt. Tamalpais, Muir Woods and most of all the iconic Point Reyes National Seashore. Keeping this lengthy history in mind, agriculture has outstayed its welcome in the Seashore. The Point Reyes peninsula was just narrowly saved

from development and remains a slice of wilderness in the rapidly changing landscape of California. There are thousands of acres of farmland across the Golden State, but only one National Seashore on the entire West Coast.

Point Reyes is so unique in fact, it is designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as an international biosphere preserve—home to hundreds of species which are endangered and only found in the peninsula. Despite this status, roughly a third of the park’s land is designated for agricultural use. This prevents visitors from using a large portion of the park and contributes to growing concerns about the environmental impact of ranching on the Seashore’s ecosystems. To truly understand this complex issue, we have to understand its history.

The modern history of Point Reyes has been characterized by compromise. When the park was founded in the ‘60s, it was not without controversy. Initially both sides, parts of the federal government and the ranching community, were vehemently against the Seashore’s establishment, but the Ranchers’ tune quickly changed realizing that federal subsidies would help keep the industry afloat.

Additional concerns were raised by members of Congress about leasing the park land as a national park, which would be a first. When the park was established, there was no mention of permanently establishing ranching in the 1962 legislation.

Although later amendments added the possibility of extending leases, the intention that ranches be phased out is present from the very beginning of the Seashore. The original agreement was that the ranchers were allowed to reserve a right to use the land for 25 years or the life of the original owner. As that period came to an end, ranches were still there and coming up with any reason to stay.

“I know the people who put [The Point Reyes Act] together.

At the 40th anniversary I talked to Stewart Udall, the Secretary of Interior. He remembered the same thing I did, that ranching was never intended to be permanent,” said Ken Brower, an environmental writer and son of David Brower.

MAPPING on 6

6 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2020

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

OPINION

Mapping Continued “The founder’s idea had nothing to do with what you’re hearing now from ranchers, that they’d be here forever.”

You may often hear that the Seashore ranches are “historic” and must be preserved on that basis for future generations. This is blatant propaganda.

If these ranches truly had historic value, this “historic” status would logically also be applied to the oyster farms, which had been in business for nearly a hundred years before being shut down by the park service due to a variety of reasons.

In 2012, the Secretary of Interior at the time Ken Salazar did not renew the Drakes Bay Oyster farm’s lease after extensive review. His foremost argument for closing the ranches was its environmental repercussions to the Seashore’s marine ecosystems. Following this train of thought, it does not make sense that the same agency which helped shut down the Oyster farms is now pushing through a plan to keep these “historic” ranches from being just history.

Furthermore, if it was the intention of the park service to preserve history, Coast Miwok people occupied these lands for thousands of years. Many of the cultural and sacred sites in Point Reyes are difficult to access due to hundreds of acres of ranchland that encompass them. Instead of promoting real restoration and preservation of the sacred and historic sites of the Coast Miwok, the park service has chosen to create a fictionalized village outside of the ranching zone.

History aside, the park service’s foremost duty is to protect biodiversity, especially in the context of a possible anthropogenic mass extinction event. Every decision we make, from what we eat for lunch to how we decide to get to work, has environmental repercussions. Luckily, systems like the national parks exist to protect remarkable environments from human development. These places can’t exist solely as rich isolated islands of life in an anthropogenic world, but they are a great first step. If we can’t even protect our national parks, what can we protect?

“It’s 2021 and yet the park service is proceeding in Point Reyes with a medieval-like mindset, prioritizing a few leaseholders over the well being of the natural heritage of this geographically significant peninsula. The conversation needs shifting, the priority in our parks and wilderness areas must be about promoting biodiversity and environmental health first, not hindering it,” said Matthew Polvorosa Kline, a wildlife photographer and West Marin resident. “There are numerous habitat types like threatened eelgrass meadows and endangered coastal prairie (the most species rich grassland type in North America) that need restoration. Likewise, there are numerous native wildlife like the Snowy Plover, Red-legged Frog, Coho Salmon, Myrtle’s Silverspot Butterfly and rare Tule Elk that need our diligence.”

The Dairy Industry at Point Reyes has often been hailed as the embodiment of sustainable ranching and resource management in California.

Unfortunately, this narrative does not line up with the facts. The agriculture industry is one of the biggest contributors to climate change.

In fact, livestock alone contribute 14.5% of total greenhouse gas emissions. The environmental impact statement addresses the impact of continued ranching in the peninsula, stating that under current conditions, roughly 24,500 metric tons of emissions will be produced annually. This is in sharp contrast to the carbon sink which Point Reyes and other national parks are often advertised as.

According to an independent investigation by The Revelator, Point Reyes National Seashore is ranked in the top 10% most contaminated places in the nation for e. coli and fecal coliform. This is likely due to the practice of spreading liquid manure across the open areas in the park where it trickles down into streams and other water sources.

The most contaminated areas include Drakes Estero and Limantour which are popular tourist destinations. Tomales Bay, a popular swimming and boating spot, has also been contaminated with fecal coliform and e. coli.

“I have to say that these public lands at Point Reyes National Seashore are in some of the worst conditions I’ve ever seen from excessive numbers of cattle,” said Laura Cunningham, the California director for the Western Watersheds Project.

It is against the fundamental premise of the national park to continue ranching within its boundaries. The purpose of the Seashore is to protect the natural resources of the park—the proposed plan is undoubtedly harmful to the environment. Prioritizing private industry over the needs of the general public on public lands is both unethical and unpopular in the county. The decades of compromises between the private dairy industry and public interest have come to a climax.

The park service released a plan which included several alternatives and allowed the public to comment. According to the Resource Renewal Institute, who went through every single comment, 91% of the comments had an unfavorable opinion of the proposed alternative B. Despite this, the park service announced last fall that they would go through with their “preferred alternative” from the beginning, which would expand ranching leases from five to 20 years, allow diversification of operations and allow the culling of a herd of native Tule Elk. “It’s not a vote on the alternatives, for lack of a better way to describe it. We want to hear what people are thinking about them and we want to improve the document,” said Melanie Gunn, the park’s outreach coordinator, at a meeting with the Marin Conservation League. “We look for substantive comments, group them and prepare responses.”

The park service has a history of ignoring public objections. For instance, during a drought between 2012 and 2014, roughly half of the Tule Elk herd on the Elk Reserve died. Because there are no perennial streams in the Reserve, the elk were trapped in an area with inadequate water and forage which caused them to die of thirst. This is the carrying capacity imposed by the park service to make room for private agriculture.

The Park’s response to this die off was that they were “closely monitoring the situation” and would implement a contingency plan if necessary. But this past year, Kline, a local wildlife photographer, documented the remains of at least 18 dead elk in the Tomales Point Reserve from late summer to fall. 2020 was a year of extreme drought and wildfires, and it is common sense that a fenced area with no significant sources of water would at least warrant investigation by the park. Despite this, the park service dodged any culpability giving a map of supposed water sources and claiming to be monitoring the situation.

Another source of great controversy is the culling of the native Tule Elk. These elk were once abundant in California, estimated to have a stable population of nearly half a million spread across the Coastline when the first Westerners arrived.

That quickly changed with American acquisition of California, and by the turn of the century they were believed to be on the edge of extinction.

By the late 19th century, there were less than 20 individuals left in the entire world. Luckily, a conservation-oriented rancher named Henry Miller protected a herd on his property until they could be slowly reintroduced across the state. It was because of the actions of a single rancher that the species was saved and now has a population of nearly 5,000. Ironically, today ranches are the exact reason that the park service wants to kill a species that is just beginning to return to the California wilderness.

For every elk in the park, there are roughly 13 cows. In fact, population estimates put Tule Elk at roughly 1% of their historic population, and the government is already making plans to start killing elk to appease private ranching on public land because they can’t just relocate them elsewhere due to an outbreak of Johne’s disease caused by cows.

“As a Native American that has travelled up and down the state of California, that’s tracked the Elk throughout the state of California from San Diego to Riverside to the Tahoe region to

Northern California where the Roosevelt Elk are here at Pt. Reyes…,” said Terrance Chitcus Brown, a Karuk Medicine Man and traditional dip net fisher in an interview for The Shame of Point Reyes. “[The National Park Service (NPS)] are supposed to take care of the public interests of the land, they’re supposed to uphold the spirit and intent with which the Point Reyes National Seashore was created. They’re supposed to protect the Point Reyes Tule Elk. They did not do that. If the Uniformed people did anything, they let them down.”

The park’s preferred plan also violates several laws. According to Jeff Miller of the Center for Biological Diversity, the “NPS preferred alternative B does not comply with the Organic Act, the Point Reyes Act, or the GGNRA enabling legislation as it authorizes and promotes significant impairment of natural resources and killing of native wildlife.”

The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) undertaken by the park, in accordance with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), concluded that the plan would be detrimental to the area’s natural resources by allowing the continued pollution of air, land and water within the park. The park only complied with drafting this EIS after settling a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity, Western Watersheds Project and the Resource Renewal Institute. This implies that from the onset of this process, the park service’s intent was to expand ranching leases and allow mobile slaughterhouses on public lands at any cost. At every step along the process, the park service has attempted to cut corners and ignore its duty as stewards of Point Reyes.

Despite the overwhelming evidence that this plan is against the best interests of the land and visitors to the park, it has been hailed as a great compromise by local Rep. Jared Huffman and the Marin Conservation League. In particular, Huffman, generally a reputable environmentalist, has been a fervent advocate of the general management plan. In fact, Huffman introduced a bill in 2018 to implement 20 year leases and definitively establish the ranches’ position in the park for generations to come. He argues that this follows the directive of ex-Secretary of Interior Salazar, who directed the park service to pursue the extension of leases. Huffman’s bill passed in the House but died in the Senate and he has not announced any intention to reintroduce this bill.

Huffman’s comment to then-Superintendent Muldoon about the proposed plan makes his position quite clear. He argues that the ranches are an integral part of the park’s history and future, and that the proposed plan is very close to being the perfect compromise. He states that the culling of the herd is necessary and that the park will have to dedicate substantial time and funds to research and resource management to appease both the ranches and public.

Huffman presents himself as an environmentalist but his criticisms often focus on coal and oil companies which are not heavily present in his district. It is a safe political move for him to critique and advocate for harsher restrictions on these industries because they have no monetary hold over him or his voting base.

On the other hand, he is much more moderate with his opinions on agriculture, praising Marin’s agriculture Industry as sustainable and historic while also taking $189,000 from agribusiness in campaign donations. It is no wonder that Huffman is willing to turn a blind eye to a couple of ranches when necessary.

“All the data we have, from the comments submitted to the NPS, and to the California Coastal Commission, to social media, town halls, etc., indicate that the public is heavily in favor of wilderness over cows,” said Ken Bouley, a local resident. “The only people supporting commerce in our national park seem to be the ranchers themselves and certain in-tow politicians. There is precious little wilderness left, and this land belongs to the public. Arguments for continued extractive operations in Point Reyes would be pathetic contortions, if they weren’t on the verge

HUMOR

I found a dead squirrel And much more...

BY EAN KIMURA etkimura@ucavis.edu Weeks ago, I found a dead squirrel. You may be sitting at home reading this thinking, “This isn’t newsworthy,” or maybe even: “I think this guy killed a squirrel.”

This isn’t my first rodeo—and by this I mean that I have come across many dead squirrels in my time on the planet. Due to a past issue with the rodent law, I must reiterate that I had nothing to do with any of the squirrel deaths that I have discovered. The squirrel district attorney has nothing on me, and he never will.

I digress. This wasn’t the usual squirrel pancake slowly becoming one with the asphalt. This squirrel was intact, frail and lifeless, just lying there in the middle of the sidewalk. How did it get here? What was its story?

I attempted to talk to squirrels in the area for hours, but they dodged my requests. They ran into moving traffic and scurried up trees just to get away from me. They scuttled past the lifeless husk of their fellow squirrel like it wasn’t even there.

The obvious answer to all of this was that squirrels die of natural causes sometimes. Case closed. Or was it?

No, far from it. This was evidence of a rot in squirrel society. An indictment of a caste system masquerading as a meritocracy. This squirrel was set on this path from the day it entered this world.

I turned around to look back at the dead remains of the squirrel and it had vanished. Gone. Like it never existed. Like squirrel elites don’t want the general population to be reminded of its society’s failings.

As I was walking away, realizing that I had stumbled upon something bigger than just a dead squirrel, I saw something in the corner of my eye—the squirrel I presumed dead running up a tree.

I guess squirrels sometimes just sleep in the middle of the sidewalk.

Case closed, I am an idiot and not at all credible.

This article is humor and/or satire, and it’s content is purely fictional. The story and or names of “sources” are fictionalized.

A UC Davis squirrel enjoying the shade. (Aggie File)

of winning the day. Hopefully people wake up to what’s happening here, and soon.”

So who can you turn to? Well, Craig Kenkel, the former Superintendent of Cuyahoga National Park, begins management of the park this year.

He comes from a large farm family in Iowa, with decades of experience in the NPS. He has been praised for his work with “cultural” and “historic” resources, and oversaw the culling of white tailed deer in Cuyahoga using trucks and sharpshooters.

Where have we heard the word “historic” before? Unsurprisingly, many environmentalists are skeptical of his appointment due to his background while others believe he might bring a fresh perspective to the issue.

The final issue I wish to address is accessibility.

Point Reyes has intentionally never had an entrance fee, allowing it to be accessible to nearby urban areas and to low income communities that might not necessarily be able to afford a trip to other national parks like Yosemite. This idea has been so important to the core values of the park that it is an official park rule ensuring that the park service would never include a fee. To pollute and sell out the public lands to private industry in a park intended to be for everyone makes this more than just an environmental issue but a social justice issue as well.

Later this month, the California Coastal Commission (CCC) will issue a decision on whether or not to approve the management plan.

Because the CCC is a state agency, ultimately their approval isn’t technically necessary to go forward with the plan because the park is federal land. Despite this, the park service would be in an incredibly awkward position without the approval of the CCC and it would make it abundantly clear that their decision was politically motivated rather than based in facts and science. Tentatively, the CCC staff recommendation has raised concerns about the lack of water quality data and the lack of a comprehensive water quality monitoring program by the park service but still suggested conditional approval of the plan if the park service was to create some form of water monitoring plan.

“It is not reasonable to find the plan consistent with the Coastal Act, based on the NPS producing a water quality assessment plan. The Park has been unable to monitor the ranches consistently for decades. They have not had a range management scientist on staff for almost all of the years since 1980,” said Robert Johnston, a professor emeritus of environmental planning at UC Davis.

Even if the CCC was to object to the general management plan, that would not be enough. It would take a group of engaged citizens to advocate for the park like they have done consistently in the past. There would be no Point Reyes National Seashore today without the hard work of private citizens trying to right a wrong. The only reason Marin County has any places left unpolluted by the agriculture industry is because of the work of forward-thinking individuals like Marty Griffin and Clem Miller. Ultimately, though, what is happening at Point Reyes is not an isolated incident or unique to California.

Over the past four years, the Trump Administration has rolled back hundreds of environmental regulations and pushed an agenda that has expanded private industries like drilling and agriculture into public lands across the country. Even as we watch the transition of power, now is not the time to let up. To simply blame this on the Trump Administration and expect it to be fixed with U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s entrance is not enough. We cannot rely on our elected officials to do the right thing without public pressure. It is time to take action towards a greener future. We need radical substantial change, and that requires action from you and I. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by individual columnists belong to the columnists alone and do not necessarily indicate the views and opinions held by The California Aggie.

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021 | 7

Newly-elected ASUCD senators share their plans for making change ASUCD’s six newly elected senators discuss their goals for the year

BY LIANA MAE ATIZADO features@theaggie.org After all the ballots were cast and the results were announced for ASUCD’s Fall Quarter elections, the six newly elected senators expressed their excitement to represent the student population at UC Davis. As Winter Quarter begins, these senators discuss their first steps towards achieving their long-term goals.

Maahum Shahab is a second-year international relations major.

Shahab’s primary goal is to implement legislation that helps protect student activists. She stated that student activists, especially students of color, on college campuses are often targeted for speaking out in support of the causes in which they believe.

“In a country where we value freedom of speech so much, we need to be placing those protections on not just a select few, but on everyone who uses it,” Shahab said.

Another focus of Shahab’s is housing advocacy, especially improving housing policies that impact students who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to this, Shahab would like to combat sexual assault culture on campus, especially as domestic violence rates increase during the pandemic.

The first steps that Shahab would like to take in achieving her goals involve learning and building relationships with her fellow senators, ASUCD personnel and other students.

“I think the biggest thing we can do is really listen to each other [to] understand where we’re all coming from [and] be friends,” Shahab said. “It’s also important to understand that we’re fellow students who genuinely care about the community. So why don’t we try to understand each other and build those relationships, so that we can work better together?”

Similar to Shahab, Kabir Sahni, a third-year double major in international relations and communication, mentioned his goals of uplifting marginalized communities and bridging the gap between ASUCD and the communities it serves.

Kristin Mifsud is a second-year political science major. One of her main goals is to increase neurodiversity awareness on campus.

To work toward achieving this, Mifsud has met with the Autism and Neurodiversity Community, the vice chancellor of Student Affairs and the head of the Student Disability Center (SDC) about implementing neurodiversity seminars, during which individuals can learn about neurodiversity. Mifsud is also working with fellow newly elected Senator Ryan Manriquez, a third-year political science major, and the External Affairs Commission (EAC) to find a new chair for ASUCD’s Disability Rights and Advocacy Committee (DRAC) as the position is currently vacant and the committee has been decommissioned.

“As an individual with ADHD, I have seen on campus the lack of knowledge about neurodiversity and the understanding about what it is and how it affects individuals,” Mifsud said. “So I want to bring more awareness to that and also help people who are neurodiverse get more resources and know that the resources are there to help them.”

Manriquez hopes to provide equal opportunities and support for students with disabilities through this collaboration with Mifsud to reestablish DRAC. He hopes to find a qualified candidate for the chair who can effectively represent the disability community at Davis. “[DRAC] is a committee that hasn’t been active for a few years, and it’s vital,” Manriquez said. “It’s the bullhorn for the disability community here. So that’s something that needs to be brought back

CATHY TANG / AGGIE

as soon as possible, to make sure that those voices are heard that are marginalized off very often.”

Manriquez also hopes to spend Winter Quarter working with ASUCD’s many units and committees and specifically lend support to the Transfer and Reentry Committee at ASUCD. “As a transfer student, and as the only transfer student on the Senate table, I feel a great responsibility to bring that perspective,” Manriquez said. “That’s something I want to do often because transfer students make up a big population here at UC Davis.”

Michael Navarro, a first-year political science-public service major, aims to increase diversity at the Senate table and throughout all levels of ASUCD for the long term. He especially wants to advocate for the needs of Dreamers, raise awareness for safe same-sex practices within the LGBTQ community and implement more awareness and safety precautions surrounding COVID-19 on campus.

Navarro would like to focus on the disbursement of DACA vouchers, which were supposed to be passed out to Dreamers last quarter in response to COVID-19. These vouchers were intended to financially help students who did not receive stimulus checks from the government.

“One goal I have is to show the Dreamers and other minorities that ASUCD is here for them, and they shouldn’t go back on their word,” Navarro said. “Students on campus do need that financial support because it’s not being given to them through the government. And if they can’t rely on student government either, then there’s a really big mess up there. So I want to just show them that this was promised, this is something that we should be working on and this is something that you do deserve.”

Lauren Smith, a second-year double major in political science and communication, wants to advocate for mental health support

through the pandemic and promote cultural awareness on campus.

She is planning to work with the EAC to provide mental health resources off campus in addition to Student Health and Counseling Services.

“I think that in order for students to have access to proper mental health resources and to get the help they need, it would be beneficial for them to be connected to off-campus counselors, therapists, psychiatrists,” Smith said. “Just working with the students to let them know that there are other options.”

Smith would also like to work with the EAC and the Business and Finance Commission to highlight small businesses in Davis, which have been impacted by the pandemic.

“It’s really hard to be in a college town because the economy is very dependent on the college students,” Smith said. “With the pandemic, a lot of Davis businesses have had to close on and off, and some of them have had to close permanently. So we should make sure that we’re supporting our economy. And then maybe someday, when the businesses are back on their feet, we would be able to partner with them for fundraisers, so that both the business and the students could benefit.”

All six senators expressed the same sentiment that the best way for Davis students and community members to help them make meaningful changes on campus is by openly communicating their questions and concerns. While each senator has their own goals that they would like to achieve, each stated their desire to serve the needs of the entire student body and to tackle issues that are important to them. Students can express opinions and raise issues at ASUCD Senate meetings, reach out to the senators through email, attend office hours, stay connected via ASUCD’s social media and share their concerns in the Anonymous Senate “Comment Box.”

The rise of OnlyFans may come at the expense of core content creators The subscription service that gives sex workers autonomy and safety could be jeopardized by celebrities’ recent presence on app

BY MUHAMMAD TARIQ arts@theaggie.org

In an age of increasing virtualized convenience, it comes as little surprise that even sex work has become a pay-to-watch monthly subscription.

Just as consumers pay Netflix’s $8.99 a month for a basic plan to access a plethora of shows, British tech entrepreneur Tim Stokely developed a mainstream app-based service in 2016 called OnlyFans.

Through this social media site, content creators are able to sell pictures, videos and other content, whether sexual or non-sexual, to users. OnlyFans uses a subscription-based model, with content prices ranging anywhere from free to a maximum fee of $49.99 per month.

Content creators keep 80% of their earnings, with OnlyFans taking a 20% cut.

The content produced by creators is not always sexual. Content creators range from professional sex workers, porn stars, escorts, webcam models and social media stars to people outside of the realm of sex work who are trying to earn more money. There are fitness models and trainers offering workout classes and recipes, as well as individuals doing food mukbangs in which viewers can pay to watch them eat enormous quantities of food. Youtuber and OnlyFans content creator Megan McCullom is known for eating on camera.

While the site is not exclusively used for sex work, it has become associated with such, as it allows for nudity and other forms of sexual content.

OnlyFans currently has over 85 million users and over one million content creators. Since the official start of the COVID-19 pandemic last March, OnlyFans saw 3.5 million more sign-ups, 60,000 of which were content creators. In 2020 alone, OnlyFans garnered $2 billion in sales. In a country where the unemployment rate is 6.7% and 10.74 million people are unemployed, OnlyFans has become a way for people to put food on the table and pay their rent.

Because of the controversy and taboo surrounding sex workers, people tend to confuse sex work and sex trafficking. Even though both may involve some form of sexual act, sex work is a willing engagement in exchanging sexual acts for compensation, whereas sex trafficking is the unwilling, forced and coerced practice of exchanging sex for compensation.

In the U.S., federal and international law defines sex trafficking as the forced and coerced movement of a person into the sex trade,

and prostitution is defined as the act of engaging in some form of sexual act; however, it is a term used in legal jargon by state and local governments to criminalize certain forms of sex work.

U.S. law recognizes that there are willing forms of sex work as there is no federal law banning sex work, but many states have implemented legal stipulations, fines and criminal charges used against those engaging in different forms of sex work. Sex work can be street-based, online-based, escorting-type services or through a camera lense.

The criminalization of prostitution has created an environment where those who willingly engage in sex work as a form of income are often in unsafe working conditions. Given that the nature of exchanging compensation for sex can be easily criminalized in a court of law, many sex workers tend to face abusive and dangerous interactions with clients, abuse and manipulation by law enforcement and financial burdens of engaging in sex work such as repeated fines and legal fees.

A study published in the American Journal of Public Health, “A Systematic Review of the Correlates of Violence Against Sex Workers,” found that 45-75% women have reported a history of some form of violence when engaging in sex work. Other potential dangers of sex work include increased risk of HIV, sexually transmitted infections, violence and rape by clients and sexual and physical abuse by law enforcement.

The arrival of OnlyFans has made sex work potentially safer as sex workers are not physically meeting with clients. In addition, online sex workers are able to conduct their work legally and on their own terms without the threat of violence or police harassment.

OnlyFans has become so mainstream that even Beyoncé namedropped OnlyFans in her feature on Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage”

KAITLYN PANG / AGGIE

remix—“Hips TikTok when I dance/On that Demon Time, she might start an OnlyFans (OnlyFans).”

Extremely successful and popular celebrities such as Cardi B joined OnlyFans back in August to release behind-the-scenes content of music videos, address controversies and offer her fans a more intimate look into her life.

B-list celebrities such as Tyga and social media personality and controversy-causing actress Bella Thorne have also joined the site.

Tyga officially joined in September 2020 through his launch of Too Raww, his OnlyFans management and lifestyle company, and has allegedly made $7.9 million. And Thorne joined OnlyFans in August 2020, earning $2 million in just one week.

Thorne, however, was charging upwards of $200 per picture with allegedly misleading claims of nudity, which angered buyers who did not receive the nude photos they paid for. Her deceptive actions came right before OnlyFans placed a limit on the prices creators could charge for pay-per-view content and reduced the tip amount a user could give from $200 to $100, prompting other OnlyFans creators to blame Thorne’s behavior for the policy changes. These measures further limited the ability creators have to dictate the price of their content.

A potential pitfall of a subscription-based site like OnlyFans is that individuals with a large social media following tend to be more successful on such a site. Instagram personalities and celebrities are able to use their large followings to reel in their supporters, potentially with misleading promises of seeing them in sexuallysuggestive pictures and videos, thus taking business and potential income away from smaller creators.

As wealthy celebrities, social-media stars with six-figure branddeals and other already established personalities join OnlyFans as a cash-grab, it undercuts sex workers and other individuals who rely on OnlyFans as their main source of income.

While OnlyFans provides a safe environment for sex workers to exercise agency in their work, it might be at risk of becoming yet another platform for social media stars to take advantage of their status at the expense of smaller creators.

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“ MAN ON THE MOON III: THE CHOSEN” Kid Cudi’s newest album continues common themes from his prior works in the Man on the Moon trilogy

BY MARIAH VIKTORIA CANDELARIA arts@theaggie.org When I first heard Scott Mescudi’s, more commonly known as Kid Cudi’s, music, I was just a small, sad, yearning middle schooler. His top hit “Day N Nite” introduced many of us to his music, which eventually led into the legacy of his now trilogy of “Man on the Moon.”

In his latest addition, “Man on the Moon III: The Chosen,” many features appear, from Pop Smoke to Skepta to Trippie Redd and others that demonstrate the depth of Cudi’s growth in the music industry. While Kanye West is commonly featured in his albums, after their joint album under “Kids See Ghosts,” Kanye does not make an appearance in “Man on the Moon III.” Their partnership has always been linked by their common struggles with mental health but diverge in the different types of illnesses they face, West mainly with bipolar disorder and Cudi with depression.

As this new album follows many of Cudi’s common motifs, it serves as an extension of his old album but with new and deeper struggles.

Ultimately, it depicts the sad and lonely road Cudi faces as he goes through different stages of his life.

The introduction song “Beautiful Trip” repeats his trophic melody from the first album of the trilogy “In My Dreams (Cudder Anthem).” Like the title of the song suggests, it

remains a persistent staple throughout the album saga. As an introduction, it connects the end of the last album to this one and christens his third installment of the trilogy.

He also uses spoken word in his songs, often ending a song with what seems to be an internal monologue of the inner conflicts he faces. My favorite dialogue is the intro of “She Knows This” which takes lines from “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World,” another work that Cudi constantly references in his work.

Loneliness is a recurring theme in Cudi’s work that appears in his songs “Solo Dolo” and “Mr. Rager,” which personifies his loneliness into a semi-alter ego version of himself. He refers to himself as “Mr. Solo Dolo” or “Mr. Rager” interchangeably, which is when his loneliness is at its peak as reflected in the deep sadness of these songs. The addition of “Solo Dolo III, Part III” illustrates how depression and isolation go hand in hand, hiding its sad message under a bumping bass beat.

In general, the concept of this album is the same: learning, growing and being sad in classic Cudi fashion. But with his father’s passing, “September 16” explores the new layers of Mr. Solo Dolo’s sadness.

“Elsie’s Baby Boy (flashback)” also explores his family life and is one of my personal favorites on the album. It contrasts heavily from the rest of the record and goes into his childhood. It also uses a similar guitar track to “House of the Rising Sun” by the Animals.

Cover art for Man on the Moon III: The Chosen, Kid Cudi’s seventh studio album released on December 11. 2020. (Republic Records) Compared to the second “Last Man on the Moon,” which contained a lot of instrumentals, this third was a good combination of his old styles and new styles.

The album cover is half his face and half a skeleton, which plays into the new theme of

death and mourning during this period in his life. Although it has been a while since I first became a Kid Cudi fan, this album definitely brought me back and has me listening on repeat.

‘CYBERPUNK 2077’ GRAVELY DISAPPOINTS AFTER HIGHLY ANTICIPATED RELEASE

BY ANJINI VENUGOPAL arts@theaggie.org

CD Projekt Red’s latest game is unplayable, and it’s hard to be sure you’d want to play it anyway

TV Show: “Avatar: The Last Airbender” (2005) When “Avatar” was added back to Netflix on May 15, I, and many other people who were kids when the show was running from 2005 to 2008, promptly rewatched the series. The perfectly paced plot, the spectacular concept of “benders” (people who can manipulate one of the four elements) and the dazzling universe brought back a childlike sense of awe. I got a chance to appreciate the complex journey undertaken by Aang, the titular Avatar who has the ability to bend all four elements, as he seeks to restore balance to a war-torn world.

With more serious themes interspersed in the generally lighthearted, humorous storyline, it is the type of show that can be enjoyed by viewers of any age and doesn’t seem overly childish. Unlike other shows of its time, “Avatar” has been lauded for a more respectful approach to worldbuilding. The show draws from specific Asian cultures without relying on Orientalism, and each element bending style is inspired by a different martial arts discipline. Spoiler alert ahead—the show celebrated its 15th anniversary this year though, so if you haven’t watched it yet, that’s rough, buddy. The final episode involves the classic good defeating evil trope, yet rather than the villain being killed, his bending is taken away. The show approaches redemption with nuance and, alongside heartwarming storylines with copious amounts of humor, proves to be a thoroughly delightful, thoughtprovoking watch for children and adults alike.

Movie: “The Parent Trap” dir. by Nancy Meyers (1998) The iconic Lindsay Lohan movie is everything a comfort movie needs to be.

It is full of family favorite songs, endlessly rewatchable and so easily quoted and referenced (though perhaps that is due to how many times I’ve rewatched it).

The ear-piercing scene that Roger Ebert suspected would “lead to an epidemic of do-it-yourself home surgery” in 1998? Terrifying, but in a good way. The pure cinematic experience of Elaine Hendrix’s Meredith Blake and the lizard?

Unmatched, but perhaps the origin of my overwhelming fear of lizards. Annie and Martin’s secret handshake? Inimitable, though we ALL try. I’m lucky enough to have a roommate who is ready to do the handshake at the drop of a hat if I play the Young-Holt Trio’s “Soulful Strut.” I would recommend you start the year off right by watching the movie a few times and practicing each time the handshake happens.

Book: “Dessert Person” by Claire Saffitz (2020) Having witnessed—and participated in—many stress baking adventures over the past four months, one of my roommates gifted me Claire Saffitz’s cookbook for Christmas. Although I had quite an unfruitful attempt at making the cover recipe, an upside-down blood orange olive oil cake, the tomato tart with spices and herby feta was so wonderful that it seems sacrilegious not to recommend this book. I am a huge fan of the recipe matrix that details the amount of time and skill required to make a recipe—perhaps one day I will be brave enough to attempt a kouign-amann. If the aesthetic pictures are not enough to convince you to check this book out, Questlove provides a glowing review on the inside cover that is a must-read.

Album: “Sing To Me Instead” by Ben Platt (2019) If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that it is hard to do things alone. To me, “Grow As We Go” is the poster song of this sentiment. Ben Platt has said that the song is about the desperation of wanting a relationship to work while still needing personal growth, but every time I listen to it I am reminded of the ultimate best friend song “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers. “Bad Habit” is the perfect opening track and “New” showcases his incredible voice and range. The aching ballad “In Case You Don’t Live Forever” combines gentle piano with painfully raw lyrics. Platt’s theater kid roots are on display with his skillfully constructed debut album; it is genuinely vulnerable and wholly deserves devoted attention for all 44 minutes.

Cover art of Cyberpunk 2077. (CD Projekt)

BY JACOB ANDERSON arts@theaggie.org The anticipation for “Cyberpunk 2077” was intense, with 8 million pre-orders out of 13 million copies sold, more than half of those who bought “Cyberpunk 2077” did so before knowing if the game was worth playing. This stark vote of confidence was brought on by the almost universal acclaim of “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt,” CD Projekt Red’s last release, and a nearly mythic promo which touted the game’s knee-buckling eight-year development cycle and the supposed breadth of content and possibility emerging as a product of said development cycle.

But if people know about “Cyberpunk 2077” at this point, they probably already know what a mess it turned out to be.

Immediately after the game’s release, the full picture became clear: it was unplayably buggy and filled to the brim with scrapped features, a totally linear story progression and an almost empty open-world. And that’s if you could get the game to run, which some people, especially on console, couldn’t. Sony was overwhelmed by players attempting to return the game, eventually coalescing in their decision to remove it from the Playstation Store entirely.

People were understandably upset.

The most vocal complaints had to do with the last-gen console versions, which developers had claimed ran “surprisingly well” but in actuality were undercooked enough to only sneak through Sony’s certification process on the tenuous claim they’d “fix things upon release,” according to Michał Nowakowski, a CD Projekt board member.

The kerfuffle that is “Cyberpunk 2077” has erased the reputation CD Projekt had nurtured over the last decade or so as one of the last truly consumer-friendly developers—one that earnestly cared about the player experience and would not lie, cheat or mislead in order

to achieve the requisite sales numbers on a spreadsheet. As the games industry matures into a monolith comparable to Hollywood or the music industry, the onslaught of larger financial interests make it hard to reconcile the practical and the ideal. “Cyberpunk 2077” is just one of many battles in a war against the insipid scummery of corporate-led art.

With the sheer volume of issues plaguing the game, those affecting playability tend to take the helm (and understandably: most people prefer bad to unplayable), and it’s easy to lose track of some of the more depressing design elements present. “Cyberpunk 2077” is a digital graveyard of aborted mechanics and content, all mercilessly cut in the name of a swift release: a railway that spans the game’s world but remains inaccessible, constant dialogue choices that sound like they should have consequence but do nothing, AI that just stands next to imminently detonating cars, a “wanted” system that has cops visibly spawning around corners instantly alerted to your position, a “lifepath” system that seems like it should affect all sorts of things but which does almost nothing, hundreds of locked doors throughout the world leading to nothing, five distinct endings (one of which is a game-over screen) determined by a single piece of dialogue in the final mission, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

While the story is mediocre but indistinguishable from any other role-playing game, pretty much everything else is a depressing reminder of the realities of game development.

“Grand Theft Auto 5,” a seven-year-old game, has a significantly more interesting, natural and polished open world, the games of David Cage (“Heavy Rain,” “Detroit: Become Human”) have more expansive narrative decisions and most action games on the market have better combat.

What’s maybe more depressing than the game’s playability on release is the fact that it’s yet another game that’s essentially just “Skyrim” but slightly different—as have been a sad number of major video game releases over the last decade.

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021 | 9

Sudoku Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces. Every row, column, and 3x3 square must contain each digit. Each Sudoku has a unique solution that can be reached logically without guessing Answer to previous puzzle 12/10/20

crossword Answer to previous puzzle 12/10/20

10 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021

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SCIENCE & TECH Psychedelic drug analog shows potential to treat mental illnesses Researchers synthesize compound from ibogaine without hallucinogenic effects

BY MICHELLE WONG science@theaggie.org Psychedelic drugs often carry the stigma of only being used recreationally to experience extravagant hallucinations and achieve heightened sensory awareness. Yet the Olson Laboratory, led by David Olson, an assistant professor in the department of chemistry at UC Davis, found that one of these compounds could be rewired to create a substance to potentially help mental illnesses.

After experimenting with the psychedelic drug ibogaine, Olson and his research group created a synthetic analog named tabernanthalog (TBG) that may be able to help treat depression and addiction.

“Our group has been very interested in developing neural plasticity-promoting drugs to treat mental illness by rewiring the brain,” Olson said via email. “In 2018, we discovered the psychedelic compounds were particularly good at promoting plasticity in the brain.”

Lindsay Cameron, a neuroscience PhD candidate, explained that ibogaine has been used for centuries in West African rituals. In one anecdotal account from the 1960s, 19-yearold Howard Lotsof claimed to feel cured of his addiction to heroin after taking ibogaine. Cameron elaborated that this report spurred many scientists to study ibogaine. From their studies, many found it held the potential to treat addiction. Olson hypothesized that this may be due to its ability to rewire neural circuitry.

Despite the benefits ibogaine offers, there are still dangers associated with the drug such as hallucinations and heart attacks. According to a press release by UC Davis, ibogaine is a Schedule 1 controlled substance under U.S. law. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration states that a Schedule 1 drug has a high potential for abuse and to create severe psychological or physical dependence. The UC Davis article further elaborated that Olson’s lab is one of the very few in the U.S. licensed to work with such substances.

In order to synthesize a compound without these effects, Cameron explained that the Olson lab essentially broke ibogaine down into various components and identified what each was responsible for. Once they were able to identify the areas that led to cardiotoxicity and hallucinations, they cut these parts off, leaving only the beneficial

KATHERINE FRANKS / AGGIE aspects in the new TBG molecule.

“For decades, many people have assumed that hallucinations are necessary for achieving the therapeutic effects of psychedelics,” Cameron said via email. “This research demonstrates that hallucinations are not necessary to achieve therapeutic effects!”

Though they are still not entirely sure how TBG works, Robert Tomabari, a PhD candidate in the department of chemistry, says the lab hypothesizes the compound is able to promote the growth of cortical neurons, which often atrophy in several psychiatric disorders. Olson added that the next steps in their research will be to understand the compound’s mechanism of action.

Olson elaborated that in addition to the lack of cardiotoxic and hallucinogenic effects of TBG, this compound is significantly easier to synthesize than ibogaine, meaning it can be produced on a large scale to increase its chances of going through human clinical trials. TBG is also water soluble, which allows it to be easily distributed throughout the body through the bloodstream.

“Our work is a significant step toward developing a drug inspired by the structure of a psychedelic compound that is safe enough for you to store it in your medicine cabinet, just like you would aspirin,” Olson said.

Cameron explained that she joined the Olson lab after being fascinated by the fact that

psychedelic drugs are so powerful and yet so little is known about them. Tombari added that when he first came across the Olson lab, he found the research to be at the frontier of combining the fields of chemistry and biology. He was drawn to their work in synthesizing novel compounds and testing them in biological assays to explore questions about neuroscience.

“This study demonstrates the kind of science that a well-rounded team can achieve when working together,” Tombari said via email.

“Hopefully in the future, we can take what we learned from this study and use it to combat a number of neurological disorders.”

Study analyzes a decade of necropsies from stranded killer whales Killer whales face a variety of mortal threats, with many of them caused by humans

BY SIMRAN KALKAT science@theaggie.org A study analyzing pathology reports of 50 killer whales over the past decade has compiled a list of various causes of killer whale deaths, including threats from humans. The effort was led by Dr. Joe Gaydos, a senior wildlife veterinarian for the SeaDoc Society, a program of the UC Davis Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center. Gaydos led the effort alongside Dr. Stephen Raverty, a veterinary pathologist with the Animal Health Centere in Abbotsford, British Columbia.

Before this report, most of the data on killer whale health and diseases largely came from captive animals or individual case reports of stranded whales. A collective look at stranded animals can give a clearer idea of what killer whale health, diet, reproduction, anthropogenic stressors and diseases

KATHERINE FRANKS / AGGIE

look like. Understanding these factors allows for researchers and policy makers to take actions mitigating vessel collisions and other threats to whale mortality stemming from humans.

The study uses pathology reports of 53 whales from 2004 to 2013. A cause of death was found for 42%, or 22, whales. Calf mortalities were due to causes such as infectious diseases and nutritional and congenital malformations. For sub-adults, it was due to issues like trauma, malnutrition and infectious diseases. For adults, it was due to bacterial infections, emaciation and blunt force trauma. However, each age class faced direct human-related causes of death, calling for a more serious look at human interactions with marine mammals.

“This last study is a look back at a decade of people doing necropsies on stranded killer whales,” Gaydos said. “So what we’re interested in is why are they dying and is there something we

can do about it,” By taking a more comprehensive and extensive look at the multiple causes of death for different populations of killer whales, single reports of causes of death for individual whales are now being reexamined in a larger sense.

“There have been case reports published, and even a series of animals are included, but they tend to be relatively small, the [...] sort of things [that] were found with an individual whale that was stranded or, in some circumstances, up to four or five individuals that were stranded,” Raverty said. “The strength of this paper is the geographic breadth of it, from California to Alaska as well as in Hawaii, and then looking at it long term over time and doing things fairly systematically so we literally try to model each specific animal.”

In 2004, Gaydos and Raverty developed a standardized killer whale necropsy protocol which allows for a more systematic collection of data

from stranded killer whales to better understand the animals. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries and Fisheries and Oceans Canada invested money into testing the animals and flying people out to where animals were on remote beaches.

“When we realized how little we know about killer whale diseases and even killer whales’ health for free range animals, we said ‘Hey, we just need to get everybody on board,’ and so by developing a protocol we gave everybody a step-by-step playbook to respond,” Gaydos said. “You have a 20,000 pound animal on the beach and that can be a little bit overwhelming, but this said, ‘Hey, here are some diseases we are concerned about, here are the different samples that you can take, here are the places where you can ship those samples, and also call us because we have some of the grant money to get some of those tests done.’”

Over the course of this analysis and study, the researchers knew that humans have had an impact on killer whale populations by overfishing the salmon that the whales eat, the boats that cause noise disturbance or the high level of contaminants. Although, they were surprised by the amount of whales coming into contact with humans and boats.

“The ship strike was very, very interesting in terms of the implications of what’s been happening along the cost in the past couple of years,” Ravery said. “There have been efforts to try and reduce noise and ship traffic in the vicinity of killer whales. So there is a killer whale tracking network that’s been established and this largely consists of submerged hydrophones and they can track the vocalizations of the whales.”

Washington state and British Columbia have already begun to take steps in addressing collisions by listening out for animals or by moving whale watching tours further away from the animals. Having gathered better data on whale mortalities, policy makers can take appropriate action to minimize deaths. But this is just one of the first steps in addressing killer whale mortality.

“This paper pointed out that there are some human interactions that we need to address and think about and deal with,” Gaydos said. “But that does not take away how important it is for us to recover salmon populations and quiet the oceans so animals can find already-scarce food, or to remove chemicals from the environment that we’ve put in the environment. Those things are still very important and definitely at the top of the list of things we need to do. This just added a couple of new things that we need to start thinking about and working on.”

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“Continue to visit downtown Davis and any of your favorite small businesses,” Wedra said via email. “We all know Amazon will be there at the end of the pandemic. Let’s make sure your favorite small businesses are too.”

Chowdhury noted that sales went down for Raja’s Tandoor by 70% right after the pandemic began.

“A lot of the businesses depend on the students,” Chowdhury said. “A lot of locals don’t know about us. We’re popular among the college students—but most of them aren’t even here.”

Tan noted how difficult the pandemic has been on the economy.

“People are still contracting COVID-19,” Tan said via email. “The pandemic has been a thin line we’ve been straddling, between what’s good for our

public’s health and safety and what’s good for the economy.”

Chowdhury reflected on the positive support from the Davis community.

“We really appreciate the love and support from our community,” Chowdhury said. “We’re just grateful to have our small business in Davis because of the love and support that they’re giving us. Hopefully we’re able to ride this wave and be able to stay in business.”

Tan provided one final note of encouragement regarding the pandemic.

“There is a light at the end of the tunnel but it is still going to take time,” Tan said via email. “In the meanwhile, please continue to wear face coverings and physical distance and when your opportunity comes, consider getting the COVID-19 vaccine.”

“Routine testing of asymptomatic individuals in the community with highly sensitive tests can help mitigate spread as long as individuals follow the public health recommendations,” Dr. May said via email. “Evidence for large scale testing in areas of high prevalence of individuals at higher risk of transmitting infections such as essential workers and university students is still limited.”

While the capacity to test people has increased since the past summer, it is still focused on those who have been exposed to COVID-19 and people who are symptomatic, according to Dr. May. Students can continue supporting the local community while staying safe, Public Information Officer at Yolo County Jenny Tan explained, such as by buying locally and supporting restaurants.

“Students can also donate food items

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First-generation students also face significant obstacles to finding housing due to a “lack of guidance” in managing their financial aid and in navigating the university system at large, according to the grant proposal. Many face financial obligations to their families back home.

International students lacking social security numbers or credit history also struggle to find off-campus housing. Others have found their financial aid packages insufficient and are working several jobs to support themselves, particularly when their aid packages run out at the end of the term, coinciding with final examinations.

The idea for Aggie House stemmed from the information outlined in the GSA survey, and also from Lo’s work on the Internal Affairs Commission within ASUCD. She is now a student advocate there and much of her work focuses on basic needs accessibility. Through her work, Lo learned about other student-run transitional living spaces at UCLA and the University of Southern California. She, O’Brien and Shen decided that such an organization was needed at UC Davis too.

Aggie House will operate under the auspices of Students 4 Students, a non-profit founded at UCLA and formerly known as the Bruin Shelter.

Students 4 Students is the first organization in the nation to exclusively serve college students experiencing homelessness.

According to Shen, a third-year genetics and genomics major, Aggie House will be renting a space from the Cal Aggie Christian Association on Russell Boulevard. The house has six bedrooms, one of which will probably be turned into an office space. The other five will each have two people in them, meaning that the organization will serve 10 students during fall 2021, its inaugural quarter.

Residents will stay for the duration of the academic quarter and will have access to food,

shelter and case management services there. They can also re-apply for housing if they have not found stable housing elsewhere.

Aggie House also intends on fostering community building among its residents, according to O’Brien.

“Part of building community is often [based on] where you live, and people are missing that when they have housing insecurity,” O’Brien said.

“We have a four-pronged basic needs approach: housing, food, social case management and community—four pillars making sure all of your basic needs are there so that you can focus on academics.”

Although members of Aggie Compass, Basic Needs, GSA and students and professors in the UC Davis School of Education and the School of Medicine have expressed interest in Aggie House, the organization is still seeking volunteers familiar with case management services. These services could include helping students access healthcare, insurance and affordable housing during their stay at Aggie House.

“We’re students and we’re not the best people to offer case management services, but we want to be able to provide the space and the framework for that,” said Lo, noting that transitional housing organizations at UCLA and USC have received help from people studying social work and public policy.

Lo said they’re hoping for between 60 and 70 volunteers.

“Our pilot year (2021-2022) will definitely solidify logistics and ease some of the skepticism [about Aggie House],” Shen said. “The hardest part is going to be maintaining funds and applying for enough grants and community fundraising to keep providing this service for students.”

“If we get a vaccination coverage of between 70 and 80%, we are at the stage where the virus would have problems to get transmitted, basically because people are more immune,” Rothenburg said.

Dr. Jose Torres, a professor in the department of medical microbiology and immunology whose research focuses include viral immunology, stated that the vaccine will likely offer immunity for months.

“A few months of protection (three to six) is a reasonable expectation until we gather results from a large number of vaccinees,” Torres stated

or volunteer their time to many nonprofit organizations to give back to the community,” Tan said via email. “We can still support our local businesses and organizations while following the health and safety measures of wearing a face mask and physically distancing.”

Ultimately, while increased testing in LTCFs may help identify cases and protect vulnerable members of the community, it is not a replacement for following health guidelines.

“Bottom line, without following the public health recommendations above, testing alone will not be sufficient to mitigate spread especially if it does not change behavior,” Dr. May said via email.

“A negative test may still provide false reassurance particularly when prevalence is high and test sensitivity is low.”

in an email. “The real long-term efficacy can only be determined a few years after widespread vaccine introduction.”

Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have proven to have a more than 90% success rate.

“Many scientists that are experts in this field are very surprised with the exceptionally high early protection levels reported by the companies that developed the final versions of these new types of vaccines,” Torres said. “Time will tell if this becomes a safe and reliable technology for inducing long-term protection and memory.”

FRATS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 King said that IFC wished for executives to be trained in sexual assault prevention, have a minimum of 90% participation at sexual assault program meetings, promote CARE education and executive position with CARE, support survivors and prioritize safey at all events.

Overall, all outlined expectations and action items are still new and are undergoing adjustments and may shift as needed.

King hopes that fraternities will formulate an environment predicated on respect, education and preventative programs that eliminate harm.

“Less toxic masculinity, more support of survivors, [and eliminate] the bro code of silence when it comes to taboo topics like this,” King said.

In the future, Caraza aims for an overall shift in mindsets and normalized actions.

He outlined Pi Kappa Phi’s continuous goal to educate pledges and bring sexual assault awareness during the initation process. Caraza seeks transparency regarding the severity and the consequences of assault, asserting that it’s never tolerated.

“The blame gets put on other things like alcohol or they might say that the intention of someone else was showing toward them,” Caraza said. “That’s very subjective and at the end of the day does not matter. You should not be taking advantage of others.”

Beyond his own chapter, Caraza believes that

real change can only be possible with individualized change among all chapters. Mindsets, actions and programs need to be pivoted so that members of all chapters stand with survivors and are not perpetrators.

“As obvious as it is, just see the situation and do the right thing,” Caraza said.

For him, the issue returns to instilling clear IFC-wide consequences and uniting as an organization to universally stand against misdemeanors. There needs to be proper education and chapter-wide efforts to foster respect, accountability and awareness, Caraza said.

King also discussed a cultural shift, stating that this program is a step toward accountability and building respect within the Greek community.

“That’s why we’re calling it a culture shift rather than a disaffiliation with action steps,” King said. “Because it truly is going down to the roots of what the culture within fraternities and inter-greek relations look like and trying to change it.”

Beyond Greek organizations, she stated that she hopes the program will benefit Davis students in general.

“This isn’t just for the safety of our own members,” King said. “Everyone deserves to be safe in Davis, everyone deserves to be safe in a Greek life situation. Even if you’re not in Greek life, this affects everyone on campus.”

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SPORTS The NBA has been slow to start this season Shortest offseason in U.S. professional sports history provides lackluster games to start the NBA season

BY OMAR NAVARRO sports@theaggie.org When the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced their Dec. 22, 2020 start date back in early November, fans across the globe celebrated as basketball would be back very soon.

From a fan perspective, it is amazing because as the NFL season winds down, there will be something to keep everyone engaged post-February. But on the other hand, this quick turn around raised many questions on whether the league rushed their return and how certain players would react.

The NBA bubble in Orlando held in July, 2020 featured some of the greatest basketball performances fans had seen in a long time. The fanless basketball played in the bubble was a once in a lifetime experience, and the quality of games only improved as the rounds continued. With so much to play for, teams gave their all every night, leading to the exciting games we saw. As the season began getting closer, the excitement and expectations were that we would see something similar, however, we have gotten quite the opposite.

With only 71 days in this past offseason and the plan only being announced on Nov. 9, NBA teams had to squeeze in everything. That includes the players, who were accustomed to a near four month break between NBA Finals and Opening Night. Now, they had a 12 day training camp and only three weeks total to get to know their team and work together before the games counted. This, coupled with COVID-19-related absences and no fans in attendance has led to lopsided victories throughout the league and games that create no interest for the casual fan.

Over the last decade, around 7% of the NBA minutes have seen a team lead by 20 points or more. In the small sample size to start the season, that number has nearly doubled, and is at 12.1% according to Seth Partnow of The Athletic. This includes a 51-point loss by the Clippers at the hands of the Mavericks and a 47-point loss by

the Miami Heat thanks to the Milwaukee Bucks.

None of the five Christmas Day games had a final margin of under 10 points, three of the margins were 23 points or more.

Teams knew before this unprecedented season began that there would be some struggles, as it is nearly impossible to cram all of the regular offseason duties into a month.

“Obviously, it’s been a super quick turnaround for our team,” said defending champion Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel. “The shortest offseason in the history of the NBA. But this is a team that embraces challenges and this is just the next challenge in line for us.”

Both the Lakers and Miami Heat finished their season in mid-October and as the season begins, they will make sure to monitor their minutes and workload.

“We’ll try to be as smart as possible and mindful as possible to keep—the guys that need to be fresh, we’ll keep them fresh,” the Heat head coach said to the media before the season. “It’s our first time going through this, even though this is a little bit different, obviously.”

Whether teams last played in October or hadn’t played since the March stoppage, getting back into the flow of an NBA season so suddenly has created these lopsided scores. Adjusting to the new reality and rules that come with playing in a pandemic has hit some teams harder than others.

“I don’t think nobody has said it, but it probably has something to do with the environment we’re playing in,” said Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard. “Now we’re in these big arenas with no fans, and there’s a quick turnaround from last season. Some people are still getting their mind into the season. Others are looking around like ‘Man, we need to create our own energy.’ There’s no true energy in the building.”

Although the NBA had no fans during their Orlando bubble, the difference was that the majority of those were playoff games, whereas these are games in the beginning of the season.

Playing in an empty 20,000 seat arena where all

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you see are empty rows of nothing can affect the player psychologically, and not having the time to mentally prepare for a long season can lead to teams having off games.

So far in this very young season, we have seen a slow start from many teams and their stars as well.

For the rookies, we’ve seen some limited minutes and inconsistencies, but this at least was expected.

In a normal NBA offseason, rookies have nearly three months to become familiar with their new teams and get accustomed to NBA life. This year, players had about 13 days until training camp started and a little over a month before their first NBA game. Of course, all players will develop at separate times, but the quick turnaround will take some adjustment.

“Anytime you go from the high school level to the college level, the college level to the pro level, the pace of the game, the speed of the game changes,” said Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Ryan Saunders. “We want to do our job as a staff not to overload these players, especially after a longer hiatus. But also do our jobs to push these

guys.”

It is important to not be too hard, especially on the rookies, so early in the season. Having not played any organized basketball since at least March, getting back into playing shape as well as adjusting to the pace and physicality of NBA basketball, will take some time. For the veterans, especially those on the older side, there is a chance they will cruise through the first half of the regular season just to pace themselves.

“The first half of the season, I’m cherrypicking the whole first half of the season,” said Lakers superstar LeBron James.

The early lopsided affairs are simply a result of the NBA’s decision to return quickly. These scores won’t be the same, come the end of the season, but the league must deal with the fact that the product is not as great as it could be. We can still look forward to seeing all the stars perform at a high level down the road, but for now, fans should come to expect some slow starts for the time being.

A preview to this year’s unprecedented NFL playoffs The newly expanded playoffs set the stage for a road to the Super Bowl unlike any the world has seen before

BY OMAR NAVARRO sports@theaggie.org When the National Football League (NFL) season kicked off last September, nobody knew if it would actually be completed. Following a lengthy negotiation between the players’ association and the league, the plan was finally set. With no preseason games and a shortened training camp, the lead up to the regular season was one players and fans had never seen before.

Playing team sports in a pandemic is a difficult situation to navigate. As the NFL saw with baseball and college football, one positive test could set a team back for weeks. Despite many challenges and positive tests, the league was able to maneuver the schedule and avoid extending the season an extra week. Finally, on Jan. 3, 2021, the NFL exhaled for the time being, as all 256 games were concluded.

After many years of trying to get it done, the NFL owners were finally able to approve the expansion of the playoffs from 12 teams to 14 this year. Rather than have two teams from each conference earn a first-round bye, this expansion meant that only the top seeded teams had an extra week off. In the NFL, having a bye increases a team’s chances of making the Super Bowl by a large margin. In the past seven years, the Super Bowl matchups have been between teams that had that extra week off, and with an expanded playoff, that No.1 seed became even more important.

On the National Football Conference (NFC) side, the Green Bay Packers, led by star quarterback Aaron Rodgers and receiving touchdown leader Davante Adams, were able to lock up the first seed with a record of 13-3. Closing out the season on a KATHERINE FRANKS / AGGIE

six-game win streak, Rodgers finished with 4,299 passing yards and a league-high 48 touchdowns.

Arguably the frontrunner to win MVP, the 37-year-old quarterback had a season for the ages, as he helped the Packers get their extra week of rest and recovery. In the AFC, the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs finished the regular season with a league best 14-2 record, including a 10-game win streak that ended in their final week, a game where they rested their starters.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes had another stellar season, passing for over 4,700 yards and throwing 38 touchdown passes. Sitting closely behind Rodgers for MVP, Mahomes was able to get the Chiefs to that coveted first-round bye as he prepares to lead his team to back-to-back Super Bowl titles, a feat last accomplished in 2003-04.

This year’s Wild Card weekend will be one that many football followers will enjoy. With three games on both Saturday Jan. 9 and Sunday Jan. 10, fans will be in for a slate of playoff football games throughout both days.

The playoffs kick off with the Indianapolis Colts visiting the Buffalo Bills. The Colts are coming off an 11-5 year led by longtime NFL quarterback Phillip Rivers, who is playing his first season with the team after a long stint with the Chargers. Needing a Miami Dolphins loss and a win in the final week to book their ticket, the Colts were fortunate enough to get just that, sneaking in with the seventh and final playoff spot. Their test will not be easy, as the Bills come into the game riding a six-game win streak. Quarterback Josh Allen had an MVP-caliber season with both his arm and legs, as he leads Buffalo through their first home playoff game in 25 years. They will host fans for the first time this season, as their state

guidelines did not allow it throughout the entirety of the regular season. 6,200 fans in addition to 500 family members, sponsors and guests will be in attendance in the frigid Buffalo temperatures, as they hope to see the first Bills playoff win since 1995.

The game that follows will see the Los Angeles Rams visit their division rival Seattle Seahawks. Looking to get back to the Super Bowl once again, the Rams season was a rollercoaster.

Having appeared inconsistent throughout the year, the team enters this matchup without a clear indication of how they will look. It is unknown whether starting quarterback Jared Goff, who had surgery to repair his right thumb, will play. If Goff is unable to go, backup John Wolford will get the nod, playing in just his second NFL game ever.

On the Seattle side, a hot start to the season had many thinking they would get back into the Super Bowl. But, a rough stretch for quarterback Russell Wilson, including bad defense and injuries, was a major setback to a team that began to look like a pretender and not a contender. Still finishing with a 12-4 record and winning the NFC West, Seattle will need all cylinders to be firing if they want to pull out the victory.

The nightcap of the Saturday slate includes two very different teams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Washington Football Team. Future Hall of Famer Tom Brady will begin his Buccaneer playoff career on the road, and after a season that saw him go through growing pains with a new coaching staff, it seems as though everything is hitting at the perfect time. Although they had an 11-5 record, they will travel to Washington to take on the Football Team. In what was a disaster of a division, Washington came out on top with a record of 7-9,

becoming the third team in NFL history to make the playoffs with seven wins. Entering the game, they will be big underdogs in the eyes of many, but if they want any chance to succeed, their exceptional defense will have to lead the way.

The early window on Sunday will include a rematch of last year’s Divisional Round matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans. The Ravens walk into the playoffs scorching hot, winning their last five games. Having lost the division title this year, they ultimately made it into the playoffs after what looked like a lost year midseason. Reigning MVP Lamar Jackson put on a clinic to close the season and will look to exact revenge as the Titans knocked them out of the playoffs last season. Winning the AFC South for the first time since 2008, the Titans look to build off their momentum of last season, where they stood one win away from reaching the Super Bowl.

Behind Derrick Henry, who became the eighth player in NFL history to rush over 2,000 yards, Tennessee is hoping to gash the Baltimore defense and limit the offensive attack. In what is the closest matchup of the Wild Card round according to the odds, the matchup is sure to deliver.

Although they lost their final game of the season, the Chicago Bears will travel to New Orleans to take on the Saints. In a season that has seen the Bears change QBs multiple times and struggle on offense, they hope to pull off a major upset. Having had the first seed for a large portion of the regular season, the Saints suffered a major loss, as longtime quarterback Drew Brees was knocked out of a couple of games, clearing the way for the Packers to take advantage.

Regardless, the Saints hope to not suffer anymore playoff heartbreak like in recent years, and with all indications pointing to Brees retiring after this season, they would like nothing more than to send him off with another Super Bowl title.

The final game of the Wild Card weekend will be another division rivalry, as the Cleveland Browns will visit their longtime foe, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Needing a win in Week 17, the Browns faced off against the Steelers. Even though most of the Pittsburgh starters did not play, the Browns were just able to pull off the win thanks to some defensive stops and are now back in the playoffs, breaking their 17-year drought. After starting the season 11-0, the Steelers suffered some big blows, losing three straight, effectively taking them out of the running of the first seed. Despite their offense not being able to find their groove, they hope to replicate their first matchup against the Browns, where they won 38-7.

This year’s playoffs will surely be unlike any other we’ve seen so far. With some teams playing their games with no fans, it is essentially a neutral field matchup. The only home-field advantage teams have now would be familiarity and the weather, in the case of outdoor teams. Aside from that, we have yet to see how the intensity differs from past playoffs. Not to mention, the threat of COVID-19 is one that still exists, as one positive test can spell the end of a team’s Super Bowl hopes.

Just like Aaron Rodgers said about his Green Bay Packers, the message in every NFL locker room is the same on the road to Tampa Bay: “Don’t get COVID.”