THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE
VOLUME 133, ISSUE 19 | THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2014
SERVING THE UC DAVIS CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY SINCE 1915
UC Davis to compete in
2015 Solar Decathlon
inside
2~5 JAMES KIM | AGGIE
news
ROHIT TIGGA city@theaggie.org
In February 2014, UC Davis was chosen by the Department of Energy to build a solar-powered home to compete in a Solar Decathlon in UC Irvine during October 2015. UC Davis was chosen as one of the 20 universities to compete in the competition.
The competition is also featuring other top research universities such as Stanford,Yale and nearby rival school, Sacramento State. “We don’t know exactly how the Department of Energy made its final selections. They have a very rigorous proposal process,” said Frank Loge, principal investigator for the team and a
professor in the Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering. “We … pulled in a remarkable team of interested students and faculty from across many disciplines at UC Davis to prepare a proposal … and we told an interesting story while we did it.” Although the team was confident, they were as surprised as anyone when they heard the news. Loge even admitted that the team got started late in the proposal process. The team was able to successfully convey its research decathlon on 9
6&7 muse
8 science
10 & 11 opinion
17 & 18 backstop ES P N P H OTO S P READ
VANCEY LE | AGGIE
Union cancels strike on one front, calls for strike vote on other AFSCME 3229 calls off service worker strike, announces strike vote for patient care workers LAUREN MASCARENHAS campus@theaggie.org
On March 4, AFSCME 3229, the union that represents University of California (UC) service workers and also other service and patient care workers at the different UC medical centers, announced that the 12,000 AFSCME 3229 patient care workers plan to hold an unfair labor practice strike vote on March 12 to 13. UC service workers provide groundskeeping, facilities maintenance, custodial and food services at UC campuses, medical centers and research labs. According to AFSCME’s website, 99 percent of AFSCME workers are currently income eligible for some form of public assistance. After almost two years of intense negotiations between AFSCME 3229 service workers and the UC, a tentative agreement was announced on Feb. 27, prompting AFSCME to call off the fiveday strike scheduled for the week of March 3. The tentative contract for UC service workers includes a 13.5 percent across-the-board wage increase over the next four years, healthcare benefits for employees and retirees and safe staffing protections, including limits on the UC’s ability to hire outside contractors. According to AFSCME spokesman Todd Stenhouse, the proposed strike forced the UC’s hand. “The cost of a strike was far greater than the cost of a settlement for UC,” Stenhouse said. “The ball was always in their court and it was a question of whether they were going to honor their responsibility as a world-class institution. On [Feb. 26], they finally chose to come to the table in a spirit of compromise.” Eight thousand three hundred service workers were set to strike from March 3 to 7, along with 13,000 patient care technical workers also represented by AFSCME 3229 who voted in favor of a sympathy strike. UC anticipated the cost of the strike at approximately $10 million. “It is good to have this bargaining wrapped up with a deal on its way to our valued service employees,” said Dwaine B. Duckett, UC vice president of human resources. “Ultimately both sides chose compromise over conflict.” UNION on 9
O I L TRAI N S PUT CI TY OF DAV IS AT RIS K OF
explosions Local activists voice opposition to “crude by rail” transport LUJAIN AL-SALEH features@theaggie.org
Davis resident Lynne Nittler, founder of theYolano (Yolo/ Solano) Climate Action Central, was shocked to discover an imminent threat running through the heart of town. Currently, hundreds of barrels of unrefined oil from North Dakota cross through Davis to reach their final destination at an oil refinery in Richmond. Due to the several safety and environmental hazards associated with this trek, local citizens like Lynne Nittler have voiced their opposition to this type of oil transport, which is also known as “crude by rail.” “This is not my favorite kind of topic I tell you. I would much rather be doing carbon footprint stuff, and I would much rather be gardening than to be consumed with oil trains … Yuck! Yuck! Yuck!” Nittler said. “But we found this issue and we couldn’t turn our backs on it.” Aftering following and researching the issue, Nittler discovered that the issue of oil trains is also affecting nearby cities like Benicia. After moving through Davis, the unrefined oil continues to Benicia, and currently, the Valero Oil Company has proposed to build oil stations, meaning that even more oil trains will be arriving there. As Benicia residents became more concerned with the proposal, nearby cities, like Davis, and others organizations have joined in on the controversial topic. The National Resource Defense Council (NRDC),
an environmental advocacy organization, crafted a 30page research-intensive document outlining safety issues and specific impacts on 12 different groups across the nation, including Benicia. “There were another 11 or so groups scattered across the country, meaning the exact issue they [Benicia] are facing, 11 other communities in the United States are facing too,” Nittler said. Although concern has grown in the city of Benicia, the Benicia City Council will have the ultimate vote on whether to construct a new rail station in the city. According to Nittler, the NRDC showed up at the Benicia Planning Commission meeting this summer prepared with a 100-page document stating all the reasons why an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was in fact required. “Valero was shocked. They said there is not an issue here, there is no danger, it’s just a larger rail terminal, we’ll just be bringing in some new oil to refine and it will all be fine,” Nittler said. “Some residents then asked, ‘Are we sure we want more rails and more trains coming in? Are we sure we want a train sitting there blocking our traffic through our downtown?’” After several meetings, the City of Benicia decided that an EIR must be required and will be releasing a draft EIR in March 2014, and it will be open for public comment for 45 days. Nittler believes that this will allow up-rail communities like Davis to not only voice their concerns, but extend their support. trains on 14