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THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE
VOLUME 133, ISSUE 20 | THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2014
SERVING THE UC DAVIS CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY SINCE 1915
UC Davis Grounds Division removes student debt art exhibit, mistakes it for vandalism
TechHub relocation first of extensive UC Davis Bookstore renovations
Store to undergo further overhaul as Memorial Union renewal project approaches
AMELIA EVARD / AGGIE
The new TechHub is now located in the previous MU Station Computer Lab.
JASON PHAM campus@theaggie.org
COURTESY
A “One Debt” banner hangs below the OneUCDavis banner on the Quad.
Exhibit plays off One World, One UC Davis campaign PIO VALENZUELA campus@theaggie.org
As part of the new Memorial Union (MU) renewal project to begin in January 2015, the UC Davis Bookstore recently relocated its TechHub from behind the MU ATMs to the space previously used for the MU Station Computer Lab. According to Jason Lorgan, director of UC Davis Stores, the new TechHub has been open for several weeks in order to gauge public opinion and prepare for its grand opening on March 31. According to Lorgan, the relocation of the TechHub was made in order to provide more space for the UC Davis Bookstore renovation and increase visibility for the facility. “In order to expand the footprint of the store so that we can better accommodate the start of the quarter and the number of students we’ll have in general, we needed to try to reclaim some of the space that’s in the store now,” Lorgan said. “One of our solutions was to move the TechHub out.” Lorgan hopes that relocating the TechHub from the back corner of the bookstore will allow more students to become aware of the facility and its resources.
“We’ll often hear from students in their third or fourth year here that they’ve discovered the TechHub for the first time because it’s kind of in the back corner and they’ve never actually seen it there,” Lorgan said. “We recognize it’s kind of hidden.” While Lorgan said he still believes the new TechHub location is slightly hidden as well, he hopes to combat this by posting signage to inform people of the facility. “Where it’s at right now is kind of hidden as well, but we’re going to put a whole bunch of signage there as this project moves forward so that we hope it’s much more prominent and easy to find,” Lorgan said. Due to the increase in space, one of the primary changes to the TechHub includes expanding the product selection, specifically an increase in tablets. According to Lorgan, the Student Advisory Council advised him to do this because of the increase of tablet usage by students. “A few years ago there was a big shift from desktop to laptop, and now it’s moving to tablet. So we’re greatly expanding our tablet selection and bringing in additional accessories,” Lorgan said. Techhub on 15
AMELIA EVARD / AGGIE
Participants shave their heads outside De Vere’s Irish Pub.
Five art history students’ public exhibit consisting of posters emphasizing the issue of student debt were removed hours after they were put up the morning of March 11. The banners were put up at 5 a.m. and taken down before 10 a.m. the same day. The students involved initially thought it was due to the disapproval of the administration, especially since the exhibit contrasts the administration’s One World, UC Davis banners with One University, One Debt posters. However, the banners’ removal was an accident, caused by lack of communication between the students and the administration. One University, One Debt is an art exhibit created by a group of five art history students — Evelyn Frederick, Stacey Kotcher, Heather Wallace, Valerie Brown and Deborah Pavlovich — in Art History 401, Museum Training: Curatorial Principles. The exhibit serves to highlight the problem of student debt both on campus and across the country and hopes to create a forum for public discussion on the matter. The group hopes it will be a “catalyst for discussion for the solution,” said Brown, a fourthyear art history and design double major. There are two components to the exhibit: a website — which includes a forum — and a physical exhibit, which was placed underneath One UC Davis banners on the Quad and along Hutchison Drive. “We want to raise awareness and reach as many people as possible,” said Kotcher, a fourthyear art history major. The website is similar to the One World, One UC Davis page, showcasing pictures and posts from popular media websites such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook with the hashtag “#onedebt.” One Debt and One UC Davis have the same aim: to tell the stories of UC Davis students. One Debt highlights what the students believe to be an understated issue. “We want more students to look into the problem of student debt,” said Frederick, a fourth-year art history major. Because the posters highlight a negative issue onedebt on 13
De Vere’s drums up community support for childhood cancer research Keaten Raphael Memorial partners with St. Baldrick’s in Davis pub SEAN GUERRA features@theaggie.org
On March 8, the patio of de Vere’s Irish Pub (de Vere’s) was full of applause, raised glasses and hair as participants young and old shaved their heads to raise awareness and funds for childhood cancer research through the St. Baldrick’s Foundation and Keaton Raphael Memorial (KRM). This is the third year the head shaving fundraiser has been held at de Vere’s in Davis, and is the 12th year since the Northern California non-profit KRM has partnered with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation in the Sacramento region to raise funds for local and national research. With 899 shavees, the organization has raised $354,179 so far this year. With barber services provided by SuperCuts, children and businesses raised over $1,000 each with the help of
sponsors who supported community members as they stood in solidarity with cancer youth, making a “bald statement.” “It’s a very powerful day,” said Henry de Vere White, who co-owns de Vere’s. “It’s a public, physical demonstration that this battle can be won, that if you are doing it you’re not alone. People come together and they rally around [childhood cancer] but I think that when people get here and they see people [shaving their heads] it all of a sudden clicks and they see what we need to do. It’s very emotional for some people too because maybe it’s in honor of a child they’ve lost or a brother, sister, aunt; everyone’s been touched in one point in their life by cancer.” Mother and son Lesah and Josh Ross were two such participants. Josh, after having worked at de Vere’s and participating a year previous, held his mother’s hand throughout her first head shaving experience. “I was introduced to [the event] by Josh and inspired by him, but also I worked with babies for several devere's on 15