November 7, 2013

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THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE VOLUME 133, ISSUE 7 | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2013

SERVING THE UC DAVIS CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY SINCE 1915

AS UC D F a ll 20 1 3 s e nat e E l e ct i o ns : V ot in g b e gin s N ov . 1 2 at 8 a. m. an d e n ds N ov. 1 5 at 8 a.m. elec t io ns.uc davis.edu

BIJAN AGAHI / AGGIE

COURTESY

Unitrans employees train inside a Tipsy Taxi vehicle. Cameras will be installed inside the vehicles by winter 2014.

Robb Davis

Robb Davis announces city council bid City council members hope to maintain positive relationship with students

UCDPD donates cameras to Tipsy Taxi Cameras set to be installed by winter 2014

ATRIN TOUSSI campus@theaggie.org

Tipsy Taxi, a subsidized unit of ASUCD, plans to install cameras into its vehicles by Winter Quarter 2014. According to Jay Chou, director of Tipsy Taxi, the primary motive for pursuing camera installation is to ensure student safety and to reduce Tipsy Taxi liability. “When our drivers are out there driving Tipsy Taxi vehicles,

there’s nothing recording them if they get into an accident or if there’s an incident inside our vehicles,” Chou said. But with the addition of two cameras — one facing inside the vehicle and another facing outside — Chou believes Tipy Taxi’s responsibility for third-party damages will be reduced. Tapes from the recordings will allow for analysis of accidents or dangerous situations in order to determine what went wrong, or who was at fault.

Davis cold weather shelters reopen for winter months

In the past, Tipsy Taxi vehicles have experienced hit-and-runs. It is in these cases specifically that cameras are particularly advantageous; they can potentially capture vehicle license plates. That way, Tipsy Taxi will not be held accountable for any vehicle damage that was caused by an outside party. Another advantage to the cameras is that they can resolve lostand-found issues. “Sometimes, our drivers will find lost items in our vehicles and the cameras will essentially be what we refer to if someone says they’ve lost something,” Chou said. Because Tipsy Taxi is subsidized by ASUCD and operates on a break-even basis, they are not a profit-making business. This has made it difficult for them to

TAYLOR CUNNINGHAM

city@theaggie.org

In June 2014, the City of Davis will vote to elect new city council members. Some current members plan to run for reelection, others hope to be elected to district assembly seats and new candidates will run for the first time. Davis City Council is made up of five seats, two of which will become available in 2014. Elections for the city council occur every two years, and the mayor is chosen out of the group of elected council members. The mayor pro-tempore is intended to take the mayor’s place when his or her term ends. One of the available seats is currently held by City of Davis mayor Joe Krovoza, who will run for a California State Assembly seat. Current mayor pro-tempore, Dan Wolk, will also be running for a seat in the California State Assembly. The other is held by city council member Rochelle Swanson, who said that she plans to run for reelection. A couple of weeks ago, Robb Davis announced officially that he will be running for a city council seat.

TIPSY on 3

council on 3

N E WS I N B RI E F

Non-profits offer housing options for the homeless

BIJAN AGAHI / AGGIE

SHANNON SMITH | city@theaggie.org

Cold weather shelters for the homeless are opening in Davis for the upcoming winter months. Among these are the Cold Weather Shelter, a program within Davis Community Meals, and the Interfaith Rotating Winter Shelter (IRWS). These shelters are open on a nightly basis and provide food and housing for those in need in the Davis community. All programs are mostly run by volunteer community members and students. “Each volunteer has a good heart, giving their food and time to stay and monitor the guests,” said Mary Anne Kirsch, co-chair for the IRWS. “These are volunteers from all walks of life and have a variety of different responsibilities.” According to Bill Pride, the executive director for Davis Community Meals, volunteers make up 95 percent of the shelter workforce, and students make up 85 to 90 percent of those volunteers. “It just helps me to know that I’m doing something worthwhile,” said Roshy Agahi, Los Angeles Food Bank volunteer and a fourth-year food science major. “I’ve worked with the homeless on many occasions, and I hope that every little bit counts.” The IRWS is open every night for 15 weeks of the year, between Dec. 1 and March 15. The shelter’s location will change weekly according to a set schedule, and so will the capacity of patrons it can accommodate, which is usually between 25 and 40. “Our mission is to give emergency shelter to people in the cold months who don’t have a roof over their heads,” Kirsch said. “There is no criteria for our guests, except that they can conduct themselves respectfully so that they can make it a nice, quiet place for everyone.” According to Kirsch, the term “interfaith” represents the idea of the shelter that they will accept anybody of any or no religious beliefs, and that the shelter rotates between congregations of varied Christian denominations, synagogues and Quaker establishments, among others. The Davis Cold Weather Shelter collaborates with the IRWS in their goals to keep the homeless off of the streets. Both programs are nonprofit and food is donated by the community or religious organizations on different nights of every week. The IRWS and the Cold Weather Shelter are nearly entirely volunteer-run and have volunteers who either prepare meals in the morning and evening, or stay overnight with the guests to make sure that everything is in order and operates smoothly. The IRWS has had approximately 1,100 volunteers throughout the last year, and the Cold Weather Shelter, whose volunteers are trained more thoroughly and repeat assistance consistently, SHELTER on 5

Frat house arson attempt investigation continues The Davis Police are still investigating an arson attempt at a West Davis fraternity house, Kappa Sigma, on Nov. 3. The arson fire was set around 1 a.m. on Sunday according to Lt. Glen Glasgow of the Davis Police Department (DPD). An unknown suspect or suspects started a natural gas leak and set fire to the house, located at 642 Adams St. According to Glasgow, the incident looks like a deliberate attempt to harm. No one was injured in the incident. An online police log states that someone had turned on all the stove burners in the kitchen and then lit a fire in the bathroom. Residents at the house found the remnants of the fire and detected the smell of gas around 1 a.m. but police were called to the scene around 1 p.m. Glasgow said the DPD doesn’t suspect any malicious intent behind the delay.

The DPD has called in the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to aid with the investigation and is working with the UC Davis police and fire departments. Suspects and motives are still unknown. “We are continuing to investigate by interviewing people to try and identify a person of interest or suspect,” Glasgow said. Around 15 people live at the fraternity house, but about 45 were there Saturday night and Sunday morning due to a party hosted by the fraternity. The fraternity released a statement on Nov. 4 on their Facebook page about the incident. “We are very fortunate and grateful that there were no serious injuries or fatalities, and that the house itself is fine,” the statement said. “The arson on 2

ASUCD Elections Debate On Oct. 25, nine of the 10 candidates running for ASUCD Senate gathered in the Coffee House for a debate hosted by the ASUCD Elections Committee and The Aggie. Independent candidate Shehzad Lokhandwalla was absent from the debate, while NOW candidate Seanne Louvet left 20 minutes in. After The Aggie asked questions, the candi-

dates answered in front of a live student audience. Members of the public were also allowed to ask questions. Candidates debated on issues ranging from prioritization of ASUCD grant money to the necessity of previous Senate experience. Elections will begin on Nov. 12 at 8 a.m. online at elections.ucdavis.edu.


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