SERVING THE UC DAVIS CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY SINCE 1915
NICKI PADAR / AGGIE
VOLUME 135, ISSUE 11 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2017
OFFICIAL LEWEB PHOTOS [CC BY 2.0] / FLICKR
UCs receive record-breaking number of applicants INCREASE IN APPLICATIONS BRINGS MORE DIVERSE POOL OF STUDENTS BY JEANNA TOTAH campus@theaggie.org Of the 171,449 potential freshmen who applied to at least one of the University of California (UC) campuses this past November, UC Davis received 70,904 freshmen applicants, according to a press release. This is a 3.5 percent increase in the number of applicants from last year. There was also significant progress in diversity of the applicant pool, which included students from historically underserved groups and low-income families. “This year’s applications affirm, once again, that Californians’ demand for a UC education keeps getting stronger,” UC President Janet Napolitano said in a press release. “This is a testament to the excellence of California’s public research university and reinforces the imperative to continue working with our state government to preserve UC’s quality and affordability, and to ensure there is a place at the university for every deserving California student.” Walter Robinson, the UC Davis associate vice chancellor for enrollment management, said the UC seeks to create accessible education for California students by admitting 2,500 residents in 2017. UC Davis is on track to uphold the UC goal, as 72.4 percent of this year’s applicants are California residents — an increase of 4.2 percent since last year. Robinson said that there has also been an increase in applications due to outreach and recruitment efforts in California and other areas. “Everyone seems to understand the value proposition of a University of California [education],” RobinAPPS on 10
FAR-RIGHT CONSERVATIVE BREITBART EDITOR TO SPEAK AT UC DAVIS DAVIS COLLEGE REPUBLICANS CLUB TO HOST MILO YIANNOPOULOS BY ALYSSA VANDENBERG campus@theaggie.org Milo Yiannopoulos, the controversial ultra-conservative Breitbart News editor, will bring “The Dangerous Faggot Tour” to UC Davis on Jan. 13 at the SciLec 123 from 6:30-9:00 p.m. The event, hosted by the Davis College Republicans (DCR) club, is free to the public. Yiannopoulos, whose other upcoming tour stops include UC Santa Barbara and UC Berkeley, was the speaker most likely to be disinvited to colleges in 2016, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. In December, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Yiannopoulos had signed a book deal for $250,000 with Threshold Editions, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. In the past, Yiannopoulos has railed against political correctness, feminism and Islam. He was famously banned from Twitter in July 2016 after a series of racist and sexist tweets aimed at African American comedian Leslie Jones.
“[Yiannopoulos] is known for discussing topics, both political or not, that may offend some people but not others,” DCR wrote on the event page. “Please be aware of this when attending. Some topics may not be suitable for youth.” In a letter created by UC Davis graduate students, over 900 students, faculty, staff and alumni called for campus administrators and DCR to cancel the event, arguing that the hosting the event would go against UC Davis’ Principles of Community. “Milo Yiannopoulos is well known for his espousal of racist, sexist and Islamophobic hate speech targeted towards numerous members of our campus community,” the letter read. “The use of campus facilities and resources to host and therefore legitimize a white nationalist runs completely counter to the stated goals of the University of California and serves as a direct threat toward traditionally marginalized groups on campus. If the University of California, Davis is indeed committed to ‘maintaining a climate of MILO on 10
Russell Boulevard intramural fields withdrawn from 2017-2027 Long Range Development Plan
JAY GELVEZON / AGGIE
LRDP UPDATE PRESERVES RUSSELL BOULEVARD FIELDS FOR ATHLETICS BY AARON LISS campus@theaggie.org UC Davis has confirmed that it no longer plans to construct student housing on the Russell Boulevard intramural (IM) fields. At a public city council meeting held on Dec. 6 to focus on the Long Range Development Plan (LRDP), Bob Seger, the assistant vice chancellor and head of Campus Planning and Environmental Stewardship, said that Toomey, Howard and Russell Fields will all be maintained as athletic fields. After Seger announced the Russell Boulevard withdrawal at the town hall meeting, he explained the alternative plan: demolishing existing inefficient, low-density housing and building tall high-density housing to utilize acreage and ease Davis’ low vacancy rate. Construction will occur at empty West Village fields and on campus at Tercero, Orchard Park, Segundo, Solano Field and Cuarto. The map can be seen on the Campus Neighborhoods section of the LRDP draft, in which Russell Field is no longer designated for housing. The Notice of Preparation Environmental Impact (NOP) report issued on Jan. 4 also confirmed the preservation of Russell Fields. Davis mayor Robb Davis and the City Council of Davis signed a resolution on Dec. 20 agreed upon by Davis community members to adjust the 2017-2027 LRDP. The resolution commits Ralph Hexter, UC Davis interim chancellor, to “remov[ing] all construction from Russell, Howard and Toomey Fields and retain[ing] those fields for community and athletic use.” This 2017-2027 LRDP seeks to “accommodate 90 percent of enrollment growth in campus housing and 40 percent of the Davisbased students in campus housing by 2027-28.” The LRDP predicts 39,000 students will be enrolled by 2027, compared to the 32,663 students from 2015-2016.
The decision to cease housing construction on these fields comes after public backlash from students, athletes and members of the Facebook group Friends of Russell Blvd. Fields, all of whom resisted the development plan to take away the fields. They protested and advocated for athletic and community use of the fields through a petition, sending comments via e-mail to the LRDP planners and calling for town hall meetings. Advocates for both saving Russell Fields and increasing student housing encouraged the LRDP planners to consider the the Nishi Gateway as an alternate housing proposal. This proposed 45-acre mixed-use Davis district could increase student housing and provide commercial connectivity and walkability near the university, similar to the housing at West Village. The prospective development is nestled in the open space between Old Davis Road and Highway 80. After UC Davis withdrew its plan to build on Toomey, Howard and Russell Fields, the Friends of Russell Blvd. Fields Facebook page posted a message of appreciation. “UC Davis has come to understand that the IM fields on Russell Blvd. are greatly valued by the broad community,” the post read. Student-athletes who play on Russell Boulevard Fields are proud that they were able to help preserve the fields. “We are very excited that the University is preserving Russell Field,” said Harrison Morrow, a third-year wildlife, fish and conservation biology major and UC Davis’ men’s club rugby team captain. “Not only is it important to various sport clubs at UC Davis, [but] Russell Field [also] serves as a recreation area for the entire student body.” However, a large concern for students, the community and the university remains — a growing, low-vacancy Davis still needs more student housing. Friends of Russell Blvd. Fields have proposed a 100 percent student enrollment growth and a 50 percent in on campus
housing, higher than UC Davis’ 90/40 plan 2017-2027 plan. “We are, however, disappointed to learn [that] UC Davis continues to resist building student housing on par with most other UC campuses,” a Friends of Russell Blvd. Fields Facebook post reads. “The proposed ‘40 percent of the Davis-based students’ to be housed on campus pales in comparison to the 50 percent most other UCs are striving for. There is a backlog of on campus housing need that has not been provided yet by UCD, significantly impacting the Davis community. Even Interim Chancellor Hexter recently admitted to the UC Regents that UC Davis has ‘completely saturated’ the Davis housing market, leading to extremely low vacancy rates. Davis is the largest UC at 5,300 acres and unquestionably has room for both the Russell Blvd. Fields and more student housing.” Colin Walsh, a former UC Davis athlete who graduated in 1996, is an advocate for preserving the fields. He described how the Davis community collaborated with the city council and mayor to save the fields. “The city council last month passed a resolution and sent a letter to the university calling for the university to build more student housing,” Walsh said. “As the campus is getting so much larger, students are still living so far away. Compared to when I was a student, there are so many students coming from far parts of Davis or Woodland.” Despite the need for increased student housing, Walsh hopes that the fields can continue to be preserved. “[I have] lived in Davis off and on my whole life,” Walsh said. ‘My father was a rugby coach in Davis in the late ‘60s, and I was a student playing on the field too. At every step of the way we simultaneously advocated for saving the fields, and building more student housing. UC Davis is the largest university, but provides less student housing than almost any other UC.”