serving the uc davis campus and community since 1915
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volume 130, number 120
wednesday, november 23, 2011
Katehi holds open forum to answer students’ questions Emotions high as students express anger over police action By HANNAH STRUMWASSER Aggie Campus Editor
As Tuesday came to a close, protesters continued to occupy the UC Davis Quad. Student EMTs worked to organize a schedule for the medical tent. Others tried to decide what to do with their tents over Thanksgiving break. Students not involved in the protest took time out of their day to ask protesters about the movement. Some protesters said Tuesday that despite the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, many students are planning on continuing to occupy over the break. It is not very clear what will happen between Wednesday and Sunday, but one thing is for sure — there will be a holiday dinner. Tuesday morning began with a General Assembly (GA) at the Occupy encampment. Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi, who visited the Quad earlier in the morning to talk to student protesters, returned for the GA but left after students told her she could not speak at that time, as it would be a breach of GA rules. The chancellor got her chance to speak,
however, last night in Freeborn Hall. Katehi held an open forum for student dialogue, where students were encouraged to ask questions and express their feelings about the recent pepper spraying incident. An estimated 1,134 people attended the meeting. Katehi was joined on stage by Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Fred Wood, UC Davis Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph Hexter and the interim UC Davis Police Chief Matt Carmichael. Annette Spicuzza, the police chief involved in Friday’s events, is on administrative leave and was not a part of the panel. After an opening speech, in which Katehi apologized for the pepper spray incident, students from the audience asked the panel questions. Many members of the audience shouted in anger throughout the evening. “One thing that I have learned is that I need to spend more time with the students,” Katehi said. Katehi spoke with passion about the 1973 protests in Greece, which took place while she
See PROTEST, page 6
Madison Dunitz / Aggie
Jasna Hodzic / Aggie
Tuesday morning, students gathered around the Quad for a general assembly meeting. Student protesters constructed a geodesic dome next to the Occupy encampment.
City-UC Davis student liaison commission proposes changes to noise ordinances
CSU approves 9 percent tuition hike Board of Trustees requests more funding
Proposal makes acquiring a party permit easier
By CLAIRE TAN Aggie Staff Writer
On Nov. 16, the California State University (CSU) board of trustees agreed to increase tuition for Fall 2012 by 9 percent. “The 9 percent fee increase for most full-time undergraduates will be about $498 for the year,” said CSU spokesperson Erik courtesy Fallis. “The number one reaStudents, like those at CSU Long son for this increase is from
Beach last week, also protested tuition hikes at Fresno State.
See CSU, page 2
By EINAT GILBOA Aggie News Writer
At the last City of Davis-UC Davis student liaison commission meeting on Nov. 9, the commission submitted a proposal to change the current noise ordinance policy. The commission will reconvene again on Dec. 14 to discuss the matter further. Irisa Tam / Aggie Currently, the
permit process requires people to apply for a party permit 16 days in advance, which the commission would like to change to seven days. The commission would also like to change the radius of neighbors that party-throwers have to notify from 200 to 150 yards, and would like to reduce the time ahead neighbors would have to be notified from 12 to five days.
“This allows people to get a permit in a shorter time while still notifying neighbors,” said Stacy Winton, a staff liaison from the City Manager’s office. They would also like to change the decibels of sound that parties can produce from 80 to 85. Adam Thongsavat, ASUCD president and chairperson of the commission, said that the noise ordinances have been one of his platforms as president.
See NOISE, page 2
Davis business picks up and delivers laundry Laundry Lounge offers new services to locals By CHLOE BREZSNY Aggie News Writer
For students who find themselves too busy to do their laundry, Davis’ own The Laundry Lounge can take care of that for them. After scheduling of an appointment, a Laundry Lounge van will pick up dirty laundry from a given location, take it to be washed and then return it for free. Owners, siblings Max and Dina Connor, said what sets The Laundry Lounge apart
Today’s weather P.M. showers High 57 Low 40
from its competitors is the number of extra services that it provides for no additional charge. There is also a free transfer service from washer to dryer so that customers can leave and then come back when their clothes are clean and dry. The newest option available at the Lounge is the drop-aload. For a flat rate of $20, customers can fill up a 45 pound laundromat bag with items to be cleaned, even heavier or bulkier items like comforters or household rugs
that cannot go into a regular wash. The bag itself is a onetime purchase of $8, and can be used in all future drop-aload washings. The owners said this service is great for students because the Laundry Lounge bag can accommodate a ton of laundry without having the price skyrocket. This is because the drop-a-load option does not include the folding of the items, which would account for most of the total cost. Wrinkles are minimized, however, because of the innovative way in which
Forecast Good luck to those of you who are traveling today, I hope your trip is safe. Looks like the weather will cooperate until late afternoon. Those of you who are camping make sure to have a tarp or be ready to get wet. Tyson Tilmont, atmospheric science major Aggie Forecasting Team
the items are placed back in the bag, the Connors said. The Connors first got the idea to open the Laundry Lounge, formally called Suds, when the dryer in their apartment broke and they had to go to a laundromat to finish their loads. Dina, who studied managerial economics at UC Davis, said that she was repulsed by how dirty and unappealing the laundromat was. It made her want to start her own laundromat where “If
Shazib Haq / Aggie
The Laundry Lounge, in North Davis, offers a See LAUNDRY, page 2 pick-up and delivery service for laundry.
Thursday
Friday
Morning rain
Partly cloudy
High 55 Low 39
High 54 Low 39
Food, family, and football — the three essential parts to a great holiday. Happy Thanksgiving! Aggie Night Crew
page two
2 wednesday, november 23, 2011
daily calendar dailycal@theaggie.org
TODAY
collection box is at the Delta Chi house at 320 Parkway Circle.
Delta Chi Toys for Tots Through Dec. 1 320 Parkway Circle; Various locations Delta Chi partners with the city of Davis for the Fifth annual Toys for Tots Drive. Donate toys to families throughout Yolo Country at drop boxes, located at the West Village Apartments, Alphabet Moon Toy Store and ASUCD Coffee House. The main
To receive placement in the AGGIE DAILY CALENDAR, e-mail dailycal@theaggie. org or stop by 25 Lower Freeborn by noon the day prior to your event. Due to space constraints, all event descriptions are subject to editing, and priority will be given to events that are free of charge and geared toward the campus community.
noise
Greenwald said. “Whichever side of the fence you sit on, people have very strong opinions about this issue,” said Deputy City Manager Kelly Stachowitz. “The proposed changes make it easier for people to throw parties on paper, but it doesn’t deal with the problem of holding students accountable,” said Steven Lee, former chair of the ASUCD External Affairs Commission and ASUCD’s former representative to the student liaison commission. “My problem is that students don’t usually give any notification at all. If they want to have lower restrictions, then students have to comply.” “During my time as a student, it was important to me to improve relations between students and neighbors. This effort seems to undermine that,” Lee said. Broader community discussion will be required for the proposal to move forward. “Public changes to our city code done through an ordinance require a public hearing and at least two readings for administration,” Stachowitz said.
Cont. from front page The proposal has since undergone several drafts. “The first draft included a grace period,” Thongsavat said. “If police come to your door, you’d be given a 10-minute grace period to break up the party and avoid a ticket. This turned out to not be feasible because of the number of calls police receive.” Thongsavat said he is still happy with the drafted proposal. “What we have come up with is very moderate,” Thongsavat said. “Students are more than willing to be flexible. It’s not a fight, it’s really tame.” Thongsavat encourages students to come forward and engage in the discussion. “This is a controversial topic in the community because it’s a very polarizing issue,” said Davis City Councilmember Sue Greenwald. “Essentially, if we go through the process, we’ll have to have community input. It’s a fairly substantial process.” “This will open up other enforcement issues. You don’t know what’s going to come out. If ASUCD can come in with suggestions, than anyone EINAT GILBOA can be reached city@ can, including neighbors,” theaggie.org.
joaquin
to communicate their problems. “People might not have the resources to seal their homes, or lack the language proficiency to advocate for their communities,” Zagofsky said. “We’re hoping that this report will lead to coordinated action.” Sarah Sharpe, of the Fresno Ministry and coordinator of the San Joaquin Valley Cumulative Health Impacts Project, said that the results are alarming in terms of how many people are at elevated risk. Sharpe said that the San Joaquin Valley Cumulative Health Impacts Project plans to create an online, more accessible monitoring and reporting system of environmental hazards. She said that she is pleased that UC Davis and Jonathan London figured out a way to do the research. “There aren’t many researchers who want to focus on this region. We were lacking the research and exploration to make a change,” Sharpe said. “This gives us academic, rigorously-tested tools that prove that there are pockets that are more vulnerable.”
Cont. from page 5 report, said that the study can help prioritize the communities that need the most help and find ways for better collaboration. “This is the land of opportunity; it has some of the most productive agricultural lands on the planet, but many of the people in this region have to confront environmental contamination,” Zagofsky said. “This report is about moving forward and doing things about it.” She said that there is a common understanding that everyone is affected equally, which is not the case. According to Zagofsky, the report is important because it allows for distinction and understanding for who is most affected. “People of color, people in poverty and people who have low formal education, low English fluency or low medical support are the most vulnerable,” Zagofsky said. Zagofsky said that the study revealed that 82 percent of people in areas of high vulnerability are non-whites. People who are socially vulnerable ERIC C. LIPSKY can be reached science@ have the least resources theaggie.org.
clarification In the Nov. 22 article titled “Occupy Davis has moved, but still standing in Central Park,” it was unclear which tents were being referred to. The old tarp “did not have an official stamp of approval from the fire marshal, but is made of fire retardant vinyl”, whereas the $587 tarp was the new one. The Aggie regrets this error.
Jason Alpert Editor in Chief
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like a pesky fly would’ve helped your cause anyway. I don’t have the psychic powers to detect whether someone is being friendly to persuade me to do them Zenita a favor, or if they are trying Singh to slowly incorporate themselves into my friend circle so they may learn intricate details about our lives which they shall make the material of future blackmails. know it’s “like freezing Either way, I’m too lazy cold” outside, that to listen and too busy to autumn leaves are make sense of what’s going cute, that there are just a down, yet too analytical to few days ‘til Thanksgiving. resist curiosity. I know homework and So while my mind testing is the hellish bane of wrangles with the your existence … but small omnipotent trio of talk is the bane of mine. irritation, interest and Why won’t anyone tell impatience that tugs my me something new? Most thoughts awry, I’ll be importantly, why must temporarily entertained … everyone interminably but mostly annoyed. circle around the subject If all you want to do is they’d really like to broach prattle on about your latest like crafty, obsession, conniving discuss So why not do each other your birds of prey? I’d much favorite a favor and be more rather they 30-syllable, straightforward? swoop to sentencethe point, long shade no matter how sharp the of nail polish or delve into transition or painful the narcissism and list your subject may be. numerous honors and The busier I am, the awards — you better speak less I appreciate people quickly. traipsing along on tangents People should learn not that ricochet from one only to monitor the content extreme of the universe to of their conversations another. (See Exponential (fabulous foot fungi do not Decay). If I truly must waste make for delicious dinner a third of my day listening discussions), but also the to things I’ve already heard, length. When someone else is I’d much rather hide in my the only one talking for three room with my iPod than tedious hours of hang-out exchange awkward quips time, I tend to get frustrated. about the weather. So make sure you’re While I do prefer the other talking about things that end of the continuum, where everyone can relate to. people I’ve known for three For example, I’m about as extensive nanoseconds sports literate as I am fluent promptly begin telling me in Sanskrit, so if you’re their most intimate secrets, going to discuss football or scrabbling around (like with me, you might as well blindfolded klutzes thrown be speaking gibberish. into an ice-skating rink To avoid leaving people sans skates) for answers out, speak to them in to existential questions a language they will as profound as they are understand and actually annoying — even this gets give them the opportunity old. to speak. Also, try to I’m done hearing people’s communicate clearly by assigned life meanings for following standard word now, but I wouldn’t mind if definitions and syntactical people could just be more norms. Google your grammar open and actually tell me and look up words you don’t something illuminating know before you throw them about themselves (that around, willy-nilly. doesn’t require them to sob People are all interesting oceans of tears over their in their own ways, so don’t seventh-grade breakups or always resort to small talk to angrily stomp faults into deflect the attention from the ground because their your lovely self, but exercise mommies are too pushy). caution and avoid focusing Nowadays we really on solely yourself as well. need to be productive College is the time when and efficient with our most people perfect their time. So why not do each social skills. It may take a bit other a favor and be more longer than you expected, straightforward? but be careful, be polite and If you want something: everything should (mostly) ask for it. Sure, you might work out. Good luck! get a ruthless “NO”, but I doubt trashing time Tell ZENITA SINGH your favorite thirtyby hovering around the syllable, sentence-long shade of nail polish subject, buzzing nonsense at zensingh@ucdavis.edu.
Small talk
I
csu Cont. from front page a steady disinvestment of state support.” Fallis said in the past year, the state reduced their budget by $650 million and there’s a potential $100 million cut. He said some of their buildings are beginning to need immediate maintenance or may not even be usable. “We have equipment for research that is a decade or more old which does not provide for quality educational experience,” Fallis said. CSU Spokesperson Liz Chapin said the CSU Board of Trustees voted on the budget and included in it that the CSU ask the state of California for $333 million. She said because of continued state cuts and a funding support that has reduced by 27 percent, there were some protests at the board meeting at the Chancellor Charles B. Reed’s office at CSU Long Beach. “Most of the protesting, including the violence that occurred, was associated with a group [ReFund California Coalition] who basically came here just to protest,” Chapin said. “Their goals and affiliations are not in line with the CSU.” Chapin said many of the protesters were not CSU students. “There were four students from the group who were arrested,” Chapin
laundry Cont. from front page
my underwear fell on the floor, I wouldn’t feel like burning them afterward.” The owners said they pride themselves on being a clean establishment where customers don’t mind spending time while their clothes are in the wash. The Lounge offers their customers free Wi-Fi, comfy couches, and good music to listen to. They are also an environmentally conscious business using eco-friendly laundry products
Friday. Greed, gluttony, envy and all the deadliest of sins emerge from the depths of our being when a “Sale” sign goes up on the store Michelle window. It’s a bit ironic Nguyen that such characteristics come to mind during the holidays, when we should be spreading love, care and good cheer. But, unfortunately, news always pops up every year about a poor consumer being trampled beneath the masses of frantic shoppers, uess what time of or about moms engaging year it is again? in UFC-like sparring on Yes, that’s right. It’s the floor of Toys “R” Us just shopping season. So dust so they can get a Cabbage off your credit cards, put on Patch doll for their child. a pair of comfortable shoes As much as the child and get ready for some would appreciate such a capitalist binging. gift, I’d like to believe that In recent years, it seems she would appreciate it to me like Black Friday has much more if her mom was jostled Thanksgiving and alive for Christmas dinner. Christmas out of the way So have we forgotten what to take first the holidays place in are all It is a bit ridiculous to witness about? popularity. What was Shouldn’t such uncivil and barbaric once the we be giving behavior displayed at these sales thanks and warm and leisurely sharing spirit of the holidays has our generosity? Why then become a sort of chaotic, are we wrestling people material-hoarding affair. at the store and shoving I don’t mean to paint our way through the the holidays in pessimistic crowds with irritation and colors, but if it were not anger? I suspect all this true, then we wouldn’t find pathetic behavior could be long lines of people waiting attributed to our need to at 11 a.m. in the freezing buy the perfect gift. cold of November just so We risk life and limb they can max out their to purchase an expensive credit cards on HDTVs and present thinking that fancy game systems. it’ll show how much we Admittedly, I too fall care, but in reality, it only prey to the consumerism shows our superficiality. culture around this time No matter how expensive every year. The sales at or extravagant the item, the mall lure me in and at remember that a gift is midnight on Thanksgiving, nothing more than an I will find myself trapped object to the receiver in the center of a mosh pit unless the giver wraps it in pushing, shoving and riding sentimental love and care. the crowd to reach the sale After all, gift-giving item of choice. should be enjoyable for I wander the mall with both the giver and the gleaming eyes, swearing receiver. It shouldn’t be a beneath my breath, with a duty like we have made it suspicion of all consumers out to be. I find that what boiling within my breast. makes a gift truly wonderful The unlikeliest of peoples requires no thought, plan could be the very person or painstaking effort. It just coming after the very flows from the heart. treasure I am after. In this After all, nothing way, I have every incentive sentimental could ever be to fight anyone who gets in found in a price tag or in my way. the gaudiness of a present. And this is what What makes a present humanity has come to. It is special is the person who a bit ridiculous to witness has bestowed it upon us, such uncivil and barbaric not the item itself. And, behavior displayed at while it is arguable that these sales. If any one of material things are indeed the consumers would step enjoyable, we should keep outside the box and look in mind that they don’t last at their manners, I have forever. reason to believe that much So, this holiday season, embarrassment will be felt. instead of holding onto the The man rummaging discounted set of speakers, through the bin of 75 hold onto your dignity and percent-off sweaters looks your family. These things, much like a dog digging a although not on sale, last a hole for his bone –– which lifetime. sometimes makes me wonder how I appear to MICHELLE NGUYEN can be reached at michellen1990@yahoo.com. the outsider during Black
‘Tis the season
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said. “Three of them were CSU students and one was a University of California (UC) student.” According to Fallis, the ringleader who shattered the glass door to the board meeting room and caused injury to four police officers was the UC student. One officer suffered severe injuries and was taken to the hospital. “They had the intention of actively disrupting legitimate business,” Fallis said. “Frankly, it is deeply disappointing the outside group chose to hijack the meeting in which we were covering essential topics.” The California Faculty Association (CFA), a union of CSU faculty members, said it disapproved of fee increases. “We are angry about curriculum and policy changes that dumb down education,” said President of the CFA Lillian Taiz in a statement. “We are angry about students paying more and getting less — bigger class sizes, fewer class offerings.” Fallis said if the CSU system doesn’t receive additional state revenue, they have to begin addressing critical needs in the system as well as possibly considering bringing in more students than they normally accept. “The problem is the hole has been dug so deep for us,” Fallis said. “We’re in this hole because of budget cuts by California and we’re $1 billion less in state support than we had in 2007.
Unfortunately, even with the [tuition] increase, we are nowhere near the resources we had before.” According to Fallis, there are a couple of reasons as to why it appears the CSU system is more negatively affected by budget cuts than the UC system. “With the exception of a couple of universities, most do not have significant research or outside operations,” Fallis said. “For the UCs, their core academic functions are highly subsidized by the state and their research function and hospitals are supported be federal or private grants or by charges of that operation.” Fallis said the CSUs also don’t deliberately adopt a policy of offsetting state enrollment with higher international or non-resident enrollment. “Our international and non-resident enrollment has stayed roughly the same percentage as our student population,” he said. “Essentially, our student population has shrunk a little since 2007.” In general, the CSU system will not pursue this policy because it doesn’t want to offset California resident students for international and out of state students. “Our hope is there are no more fee hikes,” Fallis said. “Our hope is the state decides to prioritize higher education.”
to wash the majority of their loads. These products are available for purchase at the Laundry Lounge. The Laundry Lounge offers a variety of ways for customers to do their laundry. The full service option runs from $1.55 per pound of laundry, with a minimum $10 charge, and includes washing, drying, and folding assistance. For those who prefer to do their own laundry, there are various sizes of self serve coinoperated machines available for use. The Laundry Lounge is located at 1081 Hanover Drive, Suite E, next to
the Save Mart Shopping Center in North Davis. Hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily with the last wash of the day starting at 8:30 p.m. A complete guide to pricing and to the services that are provided can be found at The Laundry Lounge’s website. Dina also added that the delivery service is just within Davis for now, but they hope to expand soon. She said in the next year or two, they want to add an additional Laundry Lounge location in midtown Sacramento.
CLAIRE TAN can be reached at city@theaggie.org.
ANGELA SWARTZ contributed to this article. CHLOE BREZSNY can be reached at city@theaggie.org.
OPINION
The california aggie
wednesday, november 23, 2011 3
Letters to the editor
Give Katehi a chance
editorials
Quad rally
This is UC Davis On Monday, an estimated 5,000 students, faculty and community members gathered on the UC Davis Quad for a rally in response to Friday’s protests. The gathering was a powerful representation of the thousands of people who stand in solidarity with the protesters, and we are proud of the UC Davis community for making their voices heard. Those who attended the assembly exemplified the peaceful intentions of last week’s Mrak Hall and Quad occupations. Onlookers stood respectfully on the grass, cheered for every speaker and sat down while Chancellor Katehi spoke. By participating in a large-scale rally in such a courteous manner, the protesters demonstrated that they have used, and will continue to use, non-violent tactics, making the police officers’ brutal pepper-spraying on Friday seem even more unnecessary. The decision-making processes used at the assembly, which allowed participants to split into committees and vote democratically, are similarly
commendable. While the UC Board of Regents and UC Davis administration may not seek student opinions on issues, students themselves have shown that they are able to consider and incorporate a wide range of thoughts into their decisions. This is UC Davis. We are not police brutality. We are not hate crimes. We are a campus of passionate individuals who stand up for justice. We also thank the many rally attendees who visited from other universities, such as UC Berkeley and UCLA. The outpouring of support from people who are not part of the Davis community serves as a reminder to the university that outrage over Friday’s events extends beyond Davis and therefore cannot be ignored. In order for UC Davis to improve as a university, students must continue to participate in events that allow them not only to be heard, but to be seen around the country and around the world. As demonstrations continue, we encourage everyone to remain informed and active in protecting their rights on campus.
Athletics town halls
Attendance is mandatory Over the past five weeks, UC Davis has held four athletics town hall meetings to discuss the hiring of a new athletic director (AD). These gatherings were organized with the goal of allowing concerned parties to voice their opinions over the Dempsey Report, which proposed, among other things, cutting as many as five sports. The idea was for the Athletics Advisory Committee –– the group charged with advising Chancellor Katehi in her search for a new AD –– to gain a better understanding of what the university wanted out of its athletic department. Over the course of the town hall meetings, however, many of the committee members failed to attend. At the final gathering on Nov. 16, only seven of the 16 committee members were present, with several of them leaving before the meeting finished. It is understandable that gathering a group of 16, made up of faculty, students and alumni, at the same place at the same time is a difficult task.
However, such a low turnout sends the wrong message to those concerned with the future of UC Davis athletics. Not having a majority of the committee present perpetuates the already prevalent mindset that the university predetermined which direction it wanted to go before it even scheduled the town hall meetings. Furthermore it lends support to the notion that the town hall meetings are being held simply to allow frustrated parties to blow off steam, with the hope of lightening the backlash against the university if it ultimately chooses to cut sports. If UC Davis is truly interested in having input from outside sources, it should have ensured that at least a majority of the committee members attended every meeting. With this in mind, we call on the university to hold another town hall meeting, with the full committee present so that the opinions of those concerned can be heard by the all of the group’s members — not just a small portion.
Editorial Board Jason Alpert Editor in Chief Becky Peterson Managing Editor Melissa Freeman Opinion Editor
Hannah Strumwasser Campus Editor Angela Swartz City Editor Erin Migdol Features Editor
Uyen Cao Arts Editor Trevor Cramer Sports Editor
Amy Stewart Science Editor Jasna Hodzic Photography Editor
Editorials represent the collective opinions of The California Aggie editorial board. The Opinion page appears Tuesdays and Thursdays.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
GUEST OPINIONS
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The California Aggie welcomes guest opinions from its readers. Guest opinions must be typed with an approximate word count of 600 to 800, or character count around 3,000 to 4,000. The same standards of letters to the editor apply to guest opinions. Guest opinions may reflect a variety of viewpoints. Any member of the campus community is eligible and encouraged to highlight issues regarding UC Davis, regional or national issues. Address letters or guest opinions to the Opinion Editor, The California Aggie, 25 Lower Freeborn, UC Davis, CA 95616. Letters may also be faxed to (530) 752-0355 or sent via e-mail to opinion@theaggie.org.
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Does anyone else get the feeling over the past couple days that we as a community are making a huge mistake by bombarding Chancellor Katehi with demands for her resignation? I will honestly say I have been. When I look back at what happened on Friday, I can’t help but think that we are going after the wrong person here. True, it is a fact that Katehi ordered UCDPD to remove the tents, but it is also a fact that she ended the order there. Katehi never asked to have the protesters removed, nor did she ask the officers to go in riot gear — those were all decisions made by the police chief. Katehi was not the one who pulled out the can of pepper spray and dowsed students in it, and yet we are going after her like a pack of savage animals. Katehi was not the one responsible for making sure trash like Lt. John Pike didn’t make it into UCDPD — that was all on the Police Chief. We all want a safer campus where an incident like what happened on Friday will never happen again, and Katehi has clearly voiced that she wants the same thing. Katehi has also publicly denounced the actions that were taken by officers on Friday. Even though she was not directly responsible for the pepper spraying, even though every one of those officers — and in fact, the Chief of Police — disobeyed her
Demands for Chancellor Katehi
Dear Chancellor, Your actions on Friday placed many students in danger. You casually sent in police in riot gear despite the horrendous example of Berkeley one week ago, while doing nothing to ensure that students would not be harmed. Sadly and predictably, several non-violent student protesters were hurt as a result of your actions. The care and growth of our students is our most sacred trust, and you have violated that trust. Worse still, your actions afterword suggest no real remorse or efforts to fix the problem, but rather flailing around, trying to find a P.R. spin that will not make you out to be a monster for hurting your students. Your first communique after the incident mentioned that pepper spray was used in the passive voice, as if it just went off by itself and no one was to blame.
Aggie pride
I cannot begin to express my overwhelming pride in our community that I felt at Monday’s rally. At the same time, I am deeply, deeply humbled by the solidarity and commitment displayed and felt at the event. I am writing today as a person who never really participated in any protest, and even less so a movement. I’m a bit embarrassed to say that it took such a horrific event as pepper spraying my peers to galvanize and rile me into action. However, I can confidently say that my views have changed on the matter completely: I now know that speaking up and peacefully assembling in an act of civil disobedience is an essential part of any democracy and that remaining silent is tantamount to complacency
orders by attempting to remove the protesters, Katehi is taking the heat for all of them regardless. Monday she clearly announced that if we as a community do not want to be part of the university we saw on Friday, then neither does she. She apologized publicly for actions that were not even directly her fault in front of THOUSANDS, even after having stood and listened to a crowd get primed against her over and over again by community members who chose to not speak civilly about their opinions, but yell and excite. Going up on that stage takes an incredible amount of courage and an incredible emotional toll which could be heard in Katehi’s voice, and seen in videos across the web in her tired face. On top of all this, Katehi was virtually chased back to her office by protesters demanding her resignation. How is that the civility she was promised? She clearly cares about us, about our university, and above all she has faith in us. The bottom line is that, whether we want to accept it or not, Katehi cares about us as students. Unlike most faculty in charge of the UCs, Katehi has demonstrated immense courage by not only admitting that change has to be made, but also by making strides to accommodate such change which otherwise would have taken years. She is actively working to rebuild trust with our student body and faculty, and has demonstrated good
judgement by placing both Lt. Pike and the Police Chief on leave. I’m not saying that Katehi hasn’t made some critical errors in the past few days and weeks — she has, and she has admitted to them. What I am saying is that if our community really wants a shot at a better future for our university, we need to look at what the smart things to do are. Do we continue on our manhunt for Katehi’s resignation and possibly end up with someone far worse taking over her position? Or do we stop blaming the wrong people and give the one truly powerful faculty member on this campus who actually cares about the students a chance to prove her worth to us? Think about it. Who would you rather have at the helm? A new bythe-books chancellor placed by the regents, who likely would have no past history with Davis, let alone a clue of our movement’s agenda? The changes we are looking for don’t happen overnight, we all know that. So let’s give Katehi a timeline and a chance to really live up to making this our university. Part of me says that she is the only real hope we’ve got. We need to give her the chance to be OUR chancellor, not Yudof’s or the regents’. Our university, Our Chancellor!
Now you are trying to blame campus non-affiliates, saying that the interaction between students and non-affiliates is dangerous. I wonder if, by your logic, the city of Davis itself should descend into dangerous chaos, what with the members of the city of Davis and students interacting constantly. I am sick of your spin and words. I demand to see decisive, positive leadership. Failing that, I demand your immediate resignation. I demand to see the following immediately: 1) Police on this campus do not need weapons. Many fine institutions including Princeton, Cornell, Columbia, etc. have amazing police forces that do not carry weapons. They have not descended into anarchy. On the contrary, police and students have better relations on these campuses as students are less afraid of their police. I demand the removal of weapons from UC Davis police.
2) Protesters need to be supported and listened to by the administration, not met with police in riot gear. Sustained occupation of university property does happen on many campuses and the university does not collapse. On the contrary, the university is made stronger. 3) The use of pain compliance techniques, like pepper spray on peaceful protesters, should be explicitly forbidden and a statement released condemning it. It absolutely should not be made possible by official UC Davis Police policy, like it is now. 4) An independent, external investigation separate from the University of California into the incident needs to occur. Failing immediate action on these matters, please add my voice to those calling for your resignation.
and approval of injustices. I urge you, reader, to keep up the momentum, keep up the interest and keep acting on what you know to be right. Don’t be made to be complacent by endless letters from the administration, or let complacency grow in you as time goes by. Instead, capitalize on your will to act now and make a difference that will not only affect your younger siblings, cousins, friends, nephews and nieces, but also the children you might one day have. Protect higher public education so that it may remain a public good, rather than a private investment. Never more than now, have our voices, individually and as a community been more powerful. The door for dialogue has been swung wide open and the eyes of
the nation and world trained on us, so let us be an inspiration and lead our peers across the nation and the world in speaking up against rising tuition fees, larger class sizes, reduction in faculty size, loss of research/internship opportunities, the continuing denial of admission of qualified students on the basis of finances and, of course, campus police brutality. Make our leaders accountable for their actions and statements! I will be out there lending my support and voice, and I hope to see you taking peaceful and respectful action as well. I am damn proud to be an Aggie. Whose university? OUR UNIVERSITY!
Austin Greene Sophomore, aerospace science and engineering
Shaun Geer Graduate student, sociology
Alexander Nguyen Junior computer science engineering major
They have three weeks left, and best friends, kneeling before the systhey can’t stop talking about their tem and paying for it. families, holiday plans and what The video is brutal. Period. their first meal back in the States will Knowing the faces being attacked be. makes it much more painful. The Janelle I saw my roommate go through all pain is heightened by the fact that of these distinct phases. She was utI’m across the globe, unable to do Bitker terly enchanted the first two weeks. anything except send out e-mails. Then she was disappointed — the If I were in Davis, I know I’d be a magic was already slipping. Then she stressed, emotional wreck. I would was angry — no one understands be caught up in the tidal wave on her, she can’t figure out something the Quad, with my friends and colas simple as mailleagues here at ing a package, and The Aggie, obsessaybe it’s Thanksgiving. A lot can happen in a year. A lot ing over quotes, Maybe it’s the fact that most it rains so damn Americans in Europe are se- much. Then she has already happened in my few phone interviews and objective admester kids, getting ready to go home settled in. Brussels short months away thus far became home, jectives. Thinking in a few weeks. Maybe it’s the soonabout this, about to-be legendary pepper spray traves- but only for a few weeks. Now she longs for New Jersey. how my normal life would be right ty, videos of which literally brought She’s ready to return to her boynow, makes me feel bizarrely guilty. me to tears. friend’s arms, to her sorority sisters That’s how my life should be. But for the first time since I’ve and to her mom’s cooking. While I was parading through been in Belgium, I kind of sort of For the most part, I haven’t felt Amsterdam’s Red Light district, my wish I was back in the States. Advisors have warned me and the any of this. I’ve been happy. My hon- friends at home were suffering and I eymoon period moved into one of should have been suffering as well. other Americans about the emoease and comfort. I’ve missed people There’s a lot of opportunity cost tional stages we will inevitably go at home, sure, but I haven’t missed with studying abroad. My sister dethrough as study abroad students. It liberately chose not to go abroad bestarts with pure excitement — every- home. But I’ve been missing things. cause she felt she couldn’t handle thing is new and beautiful and wonSignificant things. Significant things missing things. It’s understandable. derful. The honeymoon phase conthat I regret missing, that I feel guilty A lot can happen in a year. A lot has tinues for a while, but then we go for missing. already happened in my few short through a period of frustration. We Two months ago, I missed a months away thus far. It’s part of the realize our new country isn’t perdeath, which shook my best friends inevitable sadness that comes with fect and that these language barrilife as an expatriate, but it’s also part ers are, indeed, challenging. We miss from my high school for days and of the necessary growing process. our friends. We miss our families. We has changed a loved one forever. I couldn’t be there for her. I couldn’t You aren’t always going to be miss the ease and comfort of knowbe at the funeral. I couldn’t, and I still around for the things you want. You ing ourselves. can’t always be around for the people Then we move on. We begin to feel can’t, be there for her while she atyou want. Your relationships, your more local, settled down. Life is pret- tempts to manage. E-mails do so little in such important situations. current life and your mental health ty good. We can handle this. That was the first time I felt the will have to continue on anyway. Then we realize we are almost at the end. We get nostalgic for both our guilt and homesickness. Last week’s pepper spraying was the second. old homes and our new one, but ulJANELLE BITKER has seen UC Davis headlines plastered Like most, I was utterly shocked timately, knowing we have to leave across laptop screens of her classmates — American, and appalled. I re-watched the vidmakes us ready to leave. Belgian and German alike. The world is really watching, and eo several times, completely affixed My American friends are ready to firsthand accounts would be enjoyed at jlbitker@ucdavis. to the fuzzy purple hat of one of my leave. edu.
Homesickness
M
4 wednesday, november 23, 2011
The california Aggie
Aggie runner represents Peterson completes UC Davis career at national meet Cross country By KAITLYN ZUFALL Aggie Sports Writer
Senior Jonathan Peterson finished his collegiate career in the top third of runners in the NCAA Division I championship race on Monday afternoon. His time of 30:34.5 was good for 71st place out of a competitive pool of 252 runners.
Peterson received an at-large bid to the meet after his 29:30 time and 10th place finish at the NCAA West Regional on Nov. 12th. The meet was hosted by Indiana State at LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind. The first place finisher was freshman Lawi Lalang from the University of Arizona who completed the 10K course with a time of 28:44.1. Peterson’s time was 25 seconds shy of his visit to the champion-
ship race last season. His previous 30:09.1 time and consequent 14th place finish earned All-American recognition for the Clovis, Calif. native in 2010. It was the first time that a runner in the UC Davis men’s cross country program had received the honor. Despite a successful season in which he led the Aggies in nearly every meet, he was unable to surpass the success that he achieved in 2010 at the final meet of the year. “There’s no room for error at
the top and battling some health issues this weekend made it hard to put all the necessary pieces together for a repeat of 2010,” said Head Coach Drew Wartenburg. “Nonetheless, it’s always better to end a season and cross country career at nationals instead of watching from home.” With the graduation of Peterson, UC Davis will enter the off-season with the challenge of finding new runners to lead the team in 2012. The Aggies hope that the success
that the senior has brought to the program will provide a foundation to build upon in future years. “[Peterson] has ended his season at the national meet two years in a row, an achievement that means a lot in terms of getting the UC Davis name out there,” Wartenburg said. “The challenge now is to move the next individuals, and a team, to that level.” KAITLYN ZUFALL can be reached at sports@ theaggie.org.
So close
UC Davis advances to title game; comeback falls just short Men’s waterpolo By RUSSELL EISENMAN Aggie Sports Writer
For the third time in five years and second straight season, the UC Davis men’s water polo team advanced to the Western Water Polo Association championship game. Unfortunately, the Aggies lost to UC San Diego by one goal, with an inspiring comeback falling just short. UC Davis ended its season with a record of 22-12, the third 20-win season in program history. Friday — No. 12 UC Davis 6, No. 20 Air Force 3 The action began Friday, the Aggies defeating Air Force 6-3 in a defensive oriented game. Despite playing well in the first three quarters, the Aggies went into the fourth period down 3-2. “I just told them to keep doing what they’re doing, the defense is working,” said Head Coach Steve Doten. “Keep shooting and the result will come.” The team responded and scored four unanswered goals to pull away. The Aggies were balanced on offense getting a goal from six different players. Senior Luke Collins tallied a goal, an assist, a steal, and three blocks to help guide UC Davis to a victory. Saturday — No. 12 UC Davis 7, No. 10 Loyola Marymount 6 (4OT) Saturday UC Davis had its hands full, going up against No. 10 seeded and four-time
defending conference champion Loyola Marymount. Talk about thrillers, the Aggies pulled off the upset in quadruple overtime. The contest was tight throughout, and an Aaron Salit goal with 11 seconds remaining in the fourth OT gave UC Davis the victory. “We were on a counter attack, and Aaron was left open on the outside, so he fired it home,” Doten said. “After four overtimes, he had enough leg and strength to get off that shot, which is another example of the depth on this team, his teammates being able to contribute a lot of minutes to allow Aaron [Salit] to rest.” Sunday — No. 11 UC San Diego 8, No. 12 UC Davis 7 The Aggies got off to a slow start on championship Sunday, spotting UC San Diego a 3-0 lead in the first period. A Tritons goal midway through the third period built a 7-3 lead, but UC Davis would not go down quietly. Salit led the way again with a hat trick, and redshirt freshman Chris Richardson added two goals in the fourth period to bring the Aggies and Tritons to a deadlock at 7-7. On the next time down the pool, UC Davis was charged with two exclusions, and UC San Diego converted the rare 6-on-4 advantage, scoring what proved to be the game-winner on an accidental knock-in by Aggie players. UC Davis also hurt themselves by missing three 5-meter penalty shots. “That plagued us all season, and it came back to bite us. When you have those easy shots, you have to finish,” Doten said. “It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but honestly, our guys outplayed the other teams this weekend. To
Kristina Geddert / Aggie
Senior Kevin Peat set the UC Davis record for the number of saves in a season this year. see the players peak and play so well after a whole season of working so hard is very gratifying for me as a coach because you can tell they learned and came together as a group. They are a band of brothers that fought to the end and played with everything they had. I’m so proud of all of them.” Seniors Kevin Peat and Collins each earned first-team All-WWPA Tournament honors, while Ryan Hagens was named to
the second-team. Additionally, Peat broke the UC Davis season saves record with a total of 335. He also became only the third Aggie goalie to surpass the 1,000-save milestone for his career (1,011). Salit’s 83 goals on the season ranks third in UC Davis history, while his lifetime total of 161 leaves him sixth alltime. RUSSELL EISENMAN can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
classifieds The Greener Side
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by Kyle Green
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Tuesday’s puzzle solved
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House For Rent 3bd, Southeast Woodland, 10 minutes from UCD. 1312 Tyler Ct, 1/2 mile off Gibson cent h/a, gas fireplace insert. $1,350/mo. Apps taken, phone 916-687-7094
Sudoku
House For Rent Customer Service representative needed. Ability to perform multi-task and work extra hours. Must be a computer literate. Valid identification identity needed. Earn $450 weekly. Resumes to amo_techinc@live.com Youth Basketball coaches (4-8 hrs/ wk, $8.82-10.31/hr) and officials (5-10 hrs/wk, $8.40-9.82/hr). Applications and job description available at City of Davis Community Services Dept., 23 Russell Blvd., 757-5626, or online at www.cityofdavis.org. Deadline 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, November 23, 2011. EOE.
You’re probably ten feet from a bin right now.
Recycle the aggie.
Hard
Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit. So must every column, as must every 3x3 square. Each Sudoku has a unique solution that can be reached logically without guessing.
The california aggie
Science &Technology
wednesDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2011 5
Scientists search for answers to the universe’s questions Dark matter behind accelerated expansion of universe
Most of the universe is invisible to astronomical sensors.
By HUDSON LOFCHIE Aggie Science Writer
Every night our sky is lit up with pinpricks of light constituting the billions of stars and galaxies that fill our universe. And every night, although imperceptible to the human eye, those pinpricks of light are farther and farther away. Our universe is expanding, but contrary to logic, gravity is not slowing down the expansion. In fact, the rate of expansion is accelerating, and physicists, specifically researchers in the UC Davis Cosmology Group, are just beginning to figure out why. The culprit is dark matter — a form of matter permeating the entire universe and believed to be the
courtesy NASA
underlying cause of the universe’s accelerating expansion. “There is more dark matter than there is anything else in the universe,” said Andreas Albrecht, chair of the UC Davis physics department. “About three-quarters of the stuff in the universe is dark matter.” Dark matter, as its name implies, is dark. It is invisible to the eye, and invisible to every astronomical sensor we have. We are only aware of its existence through indirect observation and the effect it has on surrounding celestial bodies such as galaxies and galactic clusters. Dark energy is related to dark matter in the same way energy is related to mass in that famous equation, E = mc². Imagine throwing a ball into the
air. After the ball reaches a certain height, gravity pulls it back down. Now imagine that instead of the ball slowing down as it moves away from you, it accelerates, moving faster and faster until it is gone. That is essentially how dark energy functions in our universe. It is a force that is pushing the universe apart. “The only force that matters over a long distance is gravity,” said Robert Becker, a professor in the UC Davis physics department and a member of the Cosmology group. “It is the reason that matter clumps. It is why we have galaxies and planets.” The gravity that should be pulling the ball back down is only important on the relatively small scale of solar systems and galaxies. On a universal scale, gravity is ineffectual. John Conway is physics professor at UC Davis and an off-site researcher working with data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the largest particle accelerator ever built, at CERN in Geneva. Part of his research focuses on searching for quantifiable signs of dark matter. “We know there is something there,” Conway said. “If we can produce collisions at the LHC where we produce dark matter particles, we will be able to see signs of its existence.” One of the ways we have observed dark matter is through a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. Gravity
See MATTER, page 6
True or False Turkey makes me sleepy
By CHELSEA MEHRA Aggie Science Writer
I get sleepy just thinking about my family’s Thanksgiving feast, and I know I’m not alone. There seems to be a general consensus that turkey especially causes drowsiness. To think, after all these years, my sleepiness was a direct result of the toothy, almost excruciatingly smiley conversations with great Auntie Martha is now but a debunked theory. According to the TLC Cooking website,turkeycontainstheaminoacid tryptophan, an essential component that helps the body produce both the B-vitamin niacin and serotonin — the key chemical activated during sleep. Given tryptophan is so important to our bodies, we cannot manufacture it ourselves. Therefore, the body has to garner tryptophan and other amino acids from food nutrients, kind of like how Uncle Pete grabs all the biscuits before everyone else. This chemical process led many scientists to conclude that eating more turkey causes the body to produce more serotonin, and in turn, feel more inclined to take a nap. However, the amount of tryptophan in turkey is similar to that found in other meats, making it just as likely to put you to sleep as chicken or beef, for example. It isn’t a surprise that the 1980s saw an increase in the purchasing
Does turkey tryptophan make you nap?
of tryptophan dietary supplements. Consumers incorrectly believed it would treat insomnia — and for the most part, it was a reasonably effective sleeping aid. However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the use of tryptophan supplements in the early 1990s due to an outbreak of eosinophilia-myalgia, a muscle pain and death-inducing syndrome, found in contaminated supplement bottles. Even when used on healthy people, though, tryptophan has shown
courtesy
mixed results with respect to sleep enabling characteristics. Perhaps this is because nutritionists argue that the amino acid works best on an empty stomach. In a Thanksgiving dinner situation, turkey must co-mingle with other foods and amino acids the body is trying to uptake. And just like trying to get to the biscuits before Uncle Pete, tryptophan loses the battle to its other counterparts. CHELSEA MEHRA can be reached at science@theaggie. org.
200,000 to 350,000 Scoville Heat units. This means pepper spray is about 10 times hotter than a Habanero pepper, and it is being aimed directly into Amy the eyes and nose. Stewart Pepper spray is made by finely grounding up peppers containing naturally high levels of capsaicin. What makes it different from a “food product,” such as ground cayenne pepper, is that the pure capsaicin is then chemically extracted from the plant to make a waxy he pepper spraying resin, called oleoresin of student protestors in UC Davis is a story capsaicin. This resin is then mixed with a substance like that has gone from local propylene glycol to keep it outrage to international suspended in liquid, then condemnation. Since the pressurized into an aerosol story broke, news outlets can. Since all that is being from The Guardian to extracted from the pepper the BBC have offered is the single chemical, their commentaries and calling it a food product is opinions. misleading. Two of these opinions Since the level of have been from Fox News capsaicin is so high co-host Megyn Kelly and compared to something conservative pundit Bill like a Jalapeño pepper, the O’Reilly. When describing the effects of pepper spray, familiar cures don’t really work. Cooling the burn of a Kelly made the comment, “It’s derived from the actual pepper in a meal is easy, as pepper. It’s a food product, long as you have milk (food tip: water essentially.” doesn’t While This means pepper spray is work; ask Kelly is correct that about 10 times hotter than a the waiter for a glass pepper Habanero pepper of milk if spray is you think a indeed meal is too spicy). derived from peppers, to However, a study from call it a “food product” is grossly misleading. Pepper 2008 had police officers spray is actually considered exposed to pepper spray (a routine part of officer a chemical agent — training, so that they specifically a riot control agent. Pepper spray causes know how it feels) and split into randomized pain, loss of visual acuity groups to try different (things get blurry) and remedies. The remedies sensitivity. were Maalox, lidocaine gel, The reason for this baby shampoo, milk and distinction is dosage. When you eat a pepper, for water. The officers rated example a Jalapeño pepper, each remedy with respect to difference in pain over the heat that you feel is time. from a chemical called The only cure? Time. capsaicin. When you eat None of the remedies were that Jalapeño pepper, the capsaicin binds to a protein significantly helpful, so bringing along gallons of called TRPV1 that sits on milk to the next protest isn’t top of pain- and heatgoing to do anything to sensing membranes. The help. binding opens the heat The encouraging thing sensitive channel, creating is that, though it hurts like a sensation of heat. hell, pepper spray does In relatively low doses, not cause permanent such as those found in spicy foods, people actually damage. The full effect (pain, sensitivity and loss enjoy this sensation; of visual acuity) lasts about chili peppers can add a pleasurable flavor to a dish. 45 minutes, with a smaller In order to contrast chili effect for a few hours (or peppers with pepper spray, reportedly, days) after that. The only permanent effect we first need to know the that I could see reported is Scoville Scale of Heat. The that if someone is sprayed scale measures how “hot” many times over a period of chili peppers and other capsaicin-containing items several days, their eyes will become more sensitive. feel. On the low end of Breathing in the pepper the scale is the Red Chili pepper, containing 500-750 spray doesn’t cause any respiratory damage, though Scoville heat units; pure capsaicin contains about 15 the panic associated with being pepper sprayed can million Scoville heat units. United States grade pepper certainly make it feel that way. spray, such as that used by I’d like to make a note the UC Davis police last here that this column is weekend, contains about not meant to give specific two million to five million medical advice; if you were Scoville heat units. Compare this level to the pepper sprayed and are concerned about the health Jalapeño pepper, which effects, please see your contains 3,500 to 8,000 doctor. Scoville heat units; or, if you’re more adventurous with your food, the AMY STEWART can be reached at science@ Habanero pepper contains theaggie.org.
Pepper spray
T
Environmental hazards threaten San Joaquin Valley residents One-third of residents may be highly vulnerable By ERIC C. LIPSKY Aggie Science Writer
Breathing is something people should be able to do without having to think about what they are inhaling. Unfortunately, this is not the case for some San Joaquin Valley residents. The San Joaquin Valley is an integral part of the nation’s agricultural output, but according to a recent study by UC Davis titled “Land of Risk/Land of Opportunity,” it is also an area of great risk when it comes to environmental hazards like air pollution and water quality. “The San Joaquin Valley has many sources of air pollution in it. It has freeways and industrial agriculture that, combined with the topography of the valley being a big bowl and the hot weather, causes problems,” said Jonathan London, director for the Center for Regional Change at UC Davis. According to London, the air in the region does not have the chance to circulate. He said the smog becomes trapped as a result of the heat and the topography of the region, which means the pollution gets progressively worse. “It creates an intense oven of pollution,” London said. With all of this pollution, London and his colleagues mapped and identified areas in the valley that are more prone to feeling the effects of
the pollution. “We did community mapping, where we identified areas in neighborhoods that needed help, sites which the government was not working on,” London said. According to the report, nearly one-third of residents are in highly vulnerable areas. He said that public agencies need to work together across various kinds of issues and need to be able to focus their efforts to solve these problems. “They need to be much more collaborative not just amongst themselves, but they need to be much more collaborative with communities,” London said. According to London, the primary implication of the study is that communities that are affected by environmental hazards tend to be affected by multiple sources. “We need to pay more attention to these places and more attention to monitoring the situations,” London said. “There needs to be investment in clean technologies, as well as in human and social infrastructure, so that the communities have more of a voice and aren’t just passive.” Tara Zagofsky, a doctoral student in human geography at UC Davis and collaborator in the
courtesy
Josefina Miranda of Earlimart shows her daughter how she protects herself See JOAQUIN, page 2 from air pollution when working in the fields in the San Joaquin Valley.
6 wednesday, november 23, 2011
The california Aggie
Davis Collegiate Panhellenic Association goes green New initiative pledges for zero waste By GHEED SAEED Aggie News Writer
The Davis Collegiate Panhellenic Association (DCPA), currently comprising of 10 social sororities, has pledged to maintain a “zero waste” initiative at all philanthropic events — a bold step forward toward the creation of an even greener and environmentally friendly UC Davis campus community. “The program is about increasing environmental awareness. Making events zero waste is an excellent choice in diverting waste from landfills and educating people on sustainable actions,” said Campus Center for the Environment (CCE) Sustainability Coordinator Samantha Rubanowitz. Initially introduced by former ASUCD Senator Andre Lee, the project was directed mainly toward sororities due to the fact that they hold large-scale philanthropic events involving food and drinks, whereby
plates, cups, utensils, napkins and other easily recyclable and compostable items can be made of use. In Fall 2010, Lee ran on a platform that included the initiative, meant to increase sustainability in the greek community, encourage all campus organizations to adopt policies warranting zero waste and promote composting. “The initiative makes it feasible for student organizations to become environmentally conscious, and it’s a winwin situation: it’s good for the community and the environment,” Lee said. Ordering compostable items either for events or everyday use is a relatively easy and simple process, involving the help of the CCE. Individuals or organizations simply order materials through CCE, and organize pick-up from Project Compost, a student-run organization encouraging greater involvement in composting. Project Compost’s Alisa Kim has contributed greatly to the progression of the program, working alongside the
ASUCD Senate and CCE to gain ground in providing DCPA with compostable materials. CCE also provides students with the opportunity to learn more about composting and encourages an environmentally-friendly campus community educated on the importance of sustainability. “UC Davis strives to stand as a progressive institution — which today goes hand in hand with being environmentally sustainable. This is a huge step toward achieving sustainability. Furthermore, the model DCPA has taken on may serve as a model to other campus groups of how they can make their events sustainable, as well,” said ASUCD Senator Rebecca Sterling. In addition to on-campus convenience, compostable items are price competitive and considering no tax is implemented on the purchased compostable materials, which are acquired directly through the ASUCD Coffee House, the plan is costeffective as well.
campus CHIC.
By STEPHANIE B. NGUYEN
I guess.”
Michael Hoye, sophomore political science public service major, human rights minor
How did you decide what to wear today? “I wore these jeans yesterday, so they were just on top of my stack of clothes.”
The Aggie:What are you wearing? Hoye: “Skinny jeans and a pleather jacket I got from Urban Outfitters. These shoes are from Urban Outfitters, too.”
protest Cont. from front page was a student. “I truly understand the frustration and the anger students are feeling right now,” Katehi said. She announced that the university would be covering the medical bills of those who were pepper sprayed and she would be asking that the charges against the students who were arrested be dropped. Wood, who attended UC Davis as an undergraduate, also made an opening speech. “I’ve been proud of our students throughout all of this. I hope together we collectively work with integrity and understanding,” Wood said. The first half of the meeting was live streamed on the internet and many news stations filmed segments of the event. However, for the second hour of the meeting, filming and photography was prohibited in order to provide privacy to students. During the forum, Katehi said that UC Davis Police do not directly report to her,
courtesy
GHEED SAEED can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.
matter
Aggie News Writer
Michael Hoye
“It’s important that we start re-evaluating our actions to be more sustainable and environmentally conscious. Every action counts and reducing waste, especially diverting landfill waste, is a huge step in the right direction,” Rubanowitz said. The DCPA’s zero waste plan is compatible with the UC-wide goal for zero waste by the year 2020. The DCPA’s participation in composting will not only aid the community in becoming increasingly environmentally conscious, but it will also help UC Davis in general to gain ground in achieving the 2020 goal, according to Rubanowitz. “As a community that represents approximately 10 to 15 percent of the undergraduate student body, greeks could set a great example for other student organizations by establishing this zero waste trend,” said DCPA President Leticia Cheng.
Where do you find inspiration? “I’m in a band, Finish Ticket, so I’m inspired by other musicians,
they report back to Vice Chancellor of Administrative and Resource Management, John Meyer. Meyer explained the thinking behind calling in riot police, and stated that concerns about what happened at UC Berkeley earlier this month played into the decisions that were made. He said he regretted what happened on Friday. “Do I feel terrible about it? Absolutely,” Meyer said. Meyer joined the panel at 6:15 p.m., after students said they would like to see him on stage. Carmichael said that he is interested in working with the students to better the relationship between the campus police and the students. Audience members also brought up the relationship between racial issues and campus police, specifically citing a recent hate crime that took place on campus. In response to many questions asked of the panel, the term “moving forward” was repeated multiple times. Talk of reassessing and changing current university and UC policies was prevalent. The panel spoke of the five committees that have been assigned to look into the
What are you looking forward to wearing this season? “I guess jackets. I don’t think about it a lot, I just buy whatever I think is cool.” STEPHANIE B. NGUYEN can be reached at campus@ theaggie.org.
questions in science, and the 2011 Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded to Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt and Adam Riess for dark matter’s discovery. “We are far from a deep understanding. We know that it works, but not why or how,” Albrecht said. “The puzzle is figuring out where that force originates from.” Topics such as dark energy comprise the grand questions of our universe. Every researcher in the field started out searching for the answers to these grand questions. “The exciting thing about physics is how solid it is,” Albrecht said. “Newton’s laws, Maxwell’s equations... they are tested to death. Revolutions in physics only happen under careful scrutiny, and nothing short of a revolution in physics is needed to explain the acceleration of the universe.”
Cont. from page 5 has the ability to bend light, so when light from a bright object such as a supernova or a quasar passes through an area dense with dark matter, the light bends and we observe it as multiple points or as a crescent. Based on how sheared the images are, we can deduce how much dark matter is present. The universe is about 14 billion years old, and as it continues to expand and the acceleration increases, dark energy will become a more dominant force. “Eventually, galaxies, solar systems and even individual atoms will be blown apart by dark matter expansion,” Becker said. The elusive nature of dark matter is what makes it such an active area of interest. The American Association for the Advancement of Science recently named dark matter HUDSON LOFCHIE can be reached at one of the top science@theaggie.org.
pepper spray incident. UC President Mark Yudof announced Tuesday that former LAPD Chief William Bratton will be leading the UC investigation. “The truth is going to come out in the end, and all of this will come out publicly,” Katehi said. In reaction to the events on Friday and the chancellor’s response, many groups on campus have called for Katehi’s resignation. The UC Davis English department, specifically assistant English professor Nathan Brown, has asked Katehi to resign. The call for resignation has been placed on the English department’s official website. The UC Davis physics department has also called for Katehi’s resignation, and has issued a press release which includes an open letter to UC Davis students, commending their actions on Friday. By Tuesday evening, more than 85,000 people had signed a petition calling for Katehi’s resignation. UC Davis alumni have also requested documents pertaining to the pepper spray incident. Along with many other groups on campus, they are calling for an investigation of the incident. The ASUCD Senate passed a resolution
in an emergency meeting on Monday night, condemning the use of pepper spray on students. In an ASUCD press conference held Tuesday, ASUCD President Adam Thongsavat spoke about the pepper spray incident, and announced a new student campaign regarding campus police. “I would like to announce a new student campaign, called Students Together, that will ask that every private and public university in the United States review their campus police policies for non-violent protests, so that what occurred on Friday will never happen again,” Thongsavat said. Members of various Occupy Movements, including Occupy Sacramento, have also expressed their support for the students who were pepper sprayed on Friday. Throughout the forum, Katehi was questioned about the widespread public outcry that has led to calls for her resignation. When asked about the petition for her resignation, Katehi responded, “I acknowledge the petition.” Katehi confirmed she will not be resigning. STEPHANIE B. NGUYEN contributed to this article. HANNAH STRUMWASSER can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.
Brian Nguyen / Aggie
On Tuesday, UC Davis Occupy protesters created a paper mâché studentosaur on the Quad.
Happy Thanksgiving!
