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volume 131, number 5
tuesday, january 17, 2012
Students at UC Riverside plan to fix UC system Proposal to be presented at upcoming Regents meeting
By DANIELLE HUDDLESTUN Aggie News Writer
The Associated Students of UC Riverside (ASUCR) and the UC Riverside Highlander newspaper staff have created Fix UC, a new financial aid model in which students will face no up-front costs to attend a UC. The financial model will be presented to the regents at UC Riverside on Jan. 18 and 19.
According to the model, after graduates have settled into a stable career, they would begin paying tuition back to the University of California at a rate of 5 percent of their income per year, for 20 years. “Our funding proposal has many goals. At the very core, my team and I wanted to lead a statewide effort to rethink how we fund public higher education.” said Chris LoCascio, president of the Fix UC
proposal. “We also hope that it will inspire the regents to pursue permanent solutions for the UC’s budget crisis that address its root problems, like unreliable funding from the state and rising tuition costs. Within the proposal, our goals were to eliminate all education-related financial burdens on students and their families, as well as provide a means of stable, predictable and permanent funding for
State Senate proposes bill to cap CSU president salaries
See UC, page 2
New restaurants abound in downtown Davis
State adds restrictions while cutting university funding
Succeeding in the community means securing a new niche
By KELLEY REES Aggie News Writer
The California State University and University of California systems have both seen contention over coinciding tuition hikes and increases in executive compensation of late. State Senator Ted Lieu (D-Redondo Beach) speaks to the current controversy with his proposed bill focused on capping the salaries of CSU presidents. Under the bill, CSU presidents’ salaries would be limited to 150 percent of the salary of the California Supreme Court’s Chief Justice — restricting pay to $343,269. In addition, CSU Trustees would be barred from approving any pay raise or bonus for presidents if a student tuition increase occurred within the previous three years. Other provisions include preference for presidential positions given to candidates within the CSU system and California, with out-of-state applicants considered last. The Trustees are also mandated to discuss any legislation in altering presidential salary or tuition in meetings open to the public. The latter stipulation is already in existence, said CSU Media Relations Manager Erik Fallis. However, Ray Sotero, Sen. Lieu’s
the UC.” The hope is that because tuition fees are based on salaries, students will not be forced into burdening financial situations. This would also relieve the University of California system from relying so heavily on the state for funding. With multiple tuition hikes over the past
courtesy of Lucio Villa
Students protested budget cuts at a CSU Pomona rally in April 2011. communications director, openly contradicts this assertion. “We have reason to believe that they sometimes make these discussions in closed session,” said Sotero. “Especially as it relays to salary.” CSU currently has nine presidents previously affiliated with the university system before climbing the ranks. Compensation for such presidents is largely based on comparing individual CSU campuses to other universities deemed equivalent through a series of factors, including enrollment, total budget and research
funding. The university system employs private consulting firm Mercer to help compile the data for these comparisons. “Like any consulting group, they work for whoever is paying their bill,” said Judy Heiman, CSU analyst for California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO). In the past the now-defunct California Postsecondary Education Commission and the LAO worked with the CSU system to decide which institutions are compared. This year the CSU sys-
See CSU, page 5
Shazib Haq / Aggie
The new restaurant Fish’s Wild is located in the space that previously housed Mishka’s Cafe and Cartridge World.
By EINAT GILBOA Aggie News Writer
Several new restaurants and bars have opened up for business in Davis in the past couple of months. Among them is Fish’s Wild, a seafood restaurant on Second Street, which opened two months ago. “We cater to the health-conscious, older set,” said Fish’s Wild manager Tommy Huang. “But we see some college kids too.” According to the manager, Fish’s Wild is doing very well for dinner, but not as well for lunch. City Hall Tavern, a new bar at Bistro 33, has been open for a month and a half and has also
received a warm welcome by the Davis community. “We were seeing a nice city crowd before winter break, which slowed down when all the students left for winter break,” said manager Patrick Ramos. The bar has a “big mix” of followers, with its full student menu and crafty bar. “Earlier in the evening we get more families for dinner, and later in the evenings we see mostly students,” Ramos said. DeVere’s Irish Pub, which operates at another location in Sacramento, opened it’s E Street location on Nov. 7. “Davis has embraced us,” co-owner Henry DeVere said. “Dinners and lunches have been
See BUSINESS, page 5
SHAWCing Tip #4: Beating the odds
Students barricade US Bank on campus, hold discussion On Friday, a group of students blocked the door of US Bank, located in the Memorial Union (MU). At approximately 12:30 p.m. the students sat down on the ground in front of the bank and held a discussion about corporate ownership on
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campus. The group of around 20 students originally blocked a student from getting out of the bank. However, after about 5 minutes the students decided to move out of the way so the student could get out to go to class. Inside the bank there was a
security guard and bank employees. After the barricade began, the bank was closed for the rest of the afternoon. — Hannah Strumwasser — Photo by Jasna Hodzic
Forecast Winter has come! The rain will most likely arrive Wednesday night. Ready those umbrellas, galoshes/rain boots, and most importantly fenders for those all weather riders. person’s name, atmospheric science major Aggie Forecasting Team
So your New Year’s resolution is to lose weight, be it a long-term issue or the recent consequence of holiday feasting. According to research, half of you reading this are confident in your eventual success. Unfortunately, research also suggests that nearly nine out of 10 of you reading this will fail. And our own research shows that 10 out of 10 of you will be annoyed with how crowded the ARC will be this month. We’re here to help you beat the odds. But first, why do so many resolutions fail? One psychologist claims resolutions are a kind of “cultural procrastination” we use to reinvent ourselves. Because the New Year’s Resolution is a cultural phenomenon, most aren’t ready to significantly change their behaviors when they’re expected to make a resolution along with everyone else. Some research also indicates that people simply forget their resolu-
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tions after a month. If you want a fighting chance, consider these research-supported tips to make that resolution stick. Spend 15 minutes a day writing down your personal values. Specify your success, divide it into goals, and then plan how you will achieve them. Share your resolutions with friends and ask them to keep you in check. Reward yourself (not with junk food, of course) for intermittent successes along the way. Finally, keep a symbol of your goal (a picture, piece of clothing, etc.) in your living space as a reminder. We can’t help you with the ARC, though. The ASUCD Student Health and Wellness Committee (SHAWC) aims to promote and address important health-related issues on campus. We serve as the liaison between ASUCD and campus health organizations, clubs, and resources. If you have SHAWCing suggestions, questions, or tips, please e-mail us at shawcucd@gmail.com and/or “Like” our Facebook page.
Want to become more intelligent? Start chewing some gum (particularly mint flavored). A recent study has proven that munching on gum boosts memory and mental performance, dramatically reduces sleepiness and improves your mood. Amanda Nguyen
page two
2 tuesday, january 17, 2012
daily calendar dailycal@theaggie.org
TODAY Orientation Leader Info Session 4 to 4:45 p.m. Tercero Main Lounge (under Tercero Dining Commons) If you are interested in being an Orientation Leader for Summer 2012, come to an info session to learn more about hiring opportunities in Student Housing. Applications are due Jan. 30.
The House Internship Info Session 4 to 5 p.m. Moss Room, 3rd Floor of Memorial Union If you’re interested in becoming a peer counselor, apply to intern at The House, a free and confidential peer counseling resource on campus. The House will be holding info sessions for applicants for two weeks from January 17 to 23. You must attend an info session in order to receive an application.
The Peace Corps is looking for qualified applicants in the fields of agriculture, business, youth and community development, health, education and environmental education. The application process takes 9 to 12 months so plan ahead, get information now and continue gaining the skills you need to be an effective volunteer.
Film Screening: Bringing King to China 7 to 9 p.m. 194 Chemistry Bringing King to China is a father’s “love letter” to his adult daughter, a young American woman struggling to bring Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of nonviolence to China, and then back to the United States. Her life is thrown into turmoil when she learns, mistakenly, that her father, a journalist covering the war in Iraq, has been killed by a suicide bomber. The filmmaker is Kevin McKiernan.
WEDNESDAY
Valente Lecture: William Everett, musicologist 4 to 6 p.m. 203 Music Everett’s lecture is titled “Orientalism, Cultural Politics, and Musical Characterizations in 1890s London Musical Theater: Imagining East Asian Identities in The Geisha (1896) and San Toy (1899).”
Student Nutrition Association Meeting 6:10 to 7 p.m. 207 Olson Hall Come to the first meeting of winter quarter. Food will be provided and members will get to know each other.
Peace Corps Info Session 7 to 8 p.m. 1130 Hart Hall
Wellness Carnival 6 to 8 p.m. ARC Lobby The fifth annual Wellness Carnival, sponsored by Health Education and Promotion and Campus Recreation, will showcase various student organizations and departments, plus interactive activities, to help you balance your health and wellness. Bring a reusable mug for some free Starbucks coffee. 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.
police briefs THURSDAY
A man was trying to sell Girl Scout cookies by himself on Marden Street.
Who gives a hoot? Several people were smoking marijuana by the owl habitat on Loyola Drive.
That stinks Someone shoplifted perfume from Target on Second Street.
Those darn owls Someone found balloons allegedly containing drugs in a tree on Loyola Drive.
Almost doesn’t count A cyclist almost hit a car parked in a bike path near Campbell Place.
SATURDAY Change he can believe in A man was screaming about receiving incorrect change at Chipotle on E Street. Police Briefs are compiled by TRACY HARRIS from the City of Davis daily crime bulletins. Contact TRACY HARRIS at city@ theaggie.org.
FRIDAY He’s a Tagalong
span of 20 years, the UC system would potentially be provided with a stable funding system. This could further alleviate its dependence on the state, which reduced $650 million from funding in 2011. “It is very radical. It is something the students created, not something regents will adopt on Thursday. What we expect is that they at least consider it,” said Stephen Lee, ASUCR President and Fix UC Member. The regents will be meeting at UC Riverside on Wednesday and Thursday. “I know that they are troubled by tuition increases, and if we provide them with a model that avoids them while giving the UC the funding it needs, I can’t imagine they would pass up that opportunity,” said LoCascio. “They will have the chance to make an impact not just on the future of the University of California, but on public higher education across the world. The UC is already a pioneer in research and academia — it can also pioneer how higher education can be funded.”
uc
Cont. from front page few years, perhaps most notably 18 percent from the 2010-2011 school year, UC schools are not affordable for many qualified students. “As a student, your income is not substantial enough to pay for the topnotch education that you would get at the University of California. This plan aims to alleviate that burden on students. No longer will students have to pay [an] insurmountable amount of money during their time in school. Rather, they would begin to pay the university for its services after they have graduated and are using the skills and knowledge they gained at the University,” said Alex Abelson, Fix UC Data and Statistical Analyst. According to the Fix UC creators, the plan would decrease the financial pressure of loans, scholarships and financial aid agreements on students and families. Moving the time of payment to later in a student’s life would allow them to pay independently. Because the plan is for DANIELLE HUDDLESTUN can be reached graduates to pay over the at campus@theaggie.org.
accuracy The California Aggie strives to ensure that all of its facts and details are accurate. Please bring any corrections to our attention by calling (530) 752-0208.
which enables them to make money and offer better interest rates. This also means there is more money available for those seeking to get a loan, Danny therefore enabling some Brawer people to get loans when they otherwise would not. On occasion, however, the lack of reserve can lead to problems. One of the leading causes of the Great Depression was something known as a bank run, which led to a banking crisis. When the public believes that banks are in trouble, they “run” to their banks in order to withdraw their money in fear that the ave you ever lent a bank will go bankrupt. This complete stranger produces a snowball effect hundreds or thousands of dollars, trusting –– as more people try to withdraw their money, it them at their word they’re going to pay you back? Before becomes more likely that the bank will actually fail, you answer no, also ask so even more people who yourself if you have a bank previously believed in the account. If the answer to bank that second then go question is The key is striking the balance withdraw yes, then that’s exactly where banks have enough room their money, what you to take chances ... too. When have done. enough We all people do this, the bank know money doesn’t grow runs out of money and on trees, so how then are cannot pay out to all banks able to give you account holders, resulting in interest on the money you the bank going bankrupt. have in an account with In the last hundred years, them? Well, if you open an account tomorrow at Bank of a lot has been learned America (BOA), put in $1,000 about banking and effective monetary policy that has and receive a 1.5 percent resulted in fewer bank interest rate, BOA will then failures. However, excessive turn around and give out risk-taking (by the greedy a loan for one thousand dollars from which the bank one percent) can still result in catastrophe. Recent will earn interest at three examples are, of course, the percent. Badda bing badda infamous collapse of the boom –– profit. banking system in the United Banks are a key States in 2008, and a much component of the modern more recent collapse of the financial system because huge Royal Bank of Scotland they are able to transfer at the end of last year. capital between those who The answer to this have extra and those who problem is tricky. With need a loan. What makes better regulation, most banks viable is that, unlike of these crises could be you and me, they have the avoided. With too much resources to ascertain who regulation, however, banks is a good candidate for a will not be able to earn as loan and who is not. Banks profit by investing, much profit, which in turn means worse interest rates lending and leveraging for you and me. The key is money to all sorts of striking the balance where people. At any time, a banks have enough room bank may have customer to take chances, but not accounts that total to enough freedom to, oh, hundreds of billions or trillions of dollars, but only say, collapse the economy. I think we would all agree a small percentage of that that we would rather receive money is available to pay slightly worse interest rates out when people come to than pay trillions of dollars collect their money. in bailout money. The United States For now, all we can do currently requires that is hope for the best since all major banks hold 10 keeping your money in cents for every dollar in all transaction deposits, such as banks is still a lot better savings or checking accounts than putting your entire life savings of $74.32 in your that can be collected at any wallet (and losing it at the time. On the other hand, movies like my 7-year-old bonds and other long-term self). I’m pretty sure I was the accounts that you can only only one leaving that theatre collect after a set amount of time are not required to have whose tears had nothing to do with Jack and Rose. a cash reserve. Generally, this works out well for society. Banks Let DANNY BRAWER know what you think of are able to lend out a huge the titanic sinking of banks and the financial portion of their capital, system at dabrawer@ucdavis.edu.
The business of banking
H
Amy Stewart Science Editor
Becky Peterson Managing Editor
Melissa Freeman Opinion Editor
Alex Tervo Business Manager
Kamry Zhang Copy Chief
Grace Sprague Advertising Manager
Joey Chen Asst. Copy Chief
Hannah Strumwasser Campus Editor Angela Swartz City Editor Uyen Cao Arts Editor Erin Migdol Features Editor Trevor Cramer Sports Editor
Jasna Hodzic Photography Editor Michelle Huey Design Director Janice Pang Asst. Design Director Mimi Vo Night Editor Amanda Nguyen Asst. Night Editor Irisa Tam Art Director
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sexual encounters. The condition, though, may be partner- and situationspecific –– you might feel no arousal when one partner touches a specific Sam part of you, even though Wall you felt it with a previous partner. Good foreplay will make use of these zones. You and your partner can explore each other with your hands (lips and tongues also work well), and see how many you can find. If you’re in a teasing mood, and you t’s a shame that foreplay know where a particularly sensitive spot is, you can has been relegated apply quick, light touches to the category of to that zone. Romance things guys grudgingly novel-level begging for do to get laid. Foreplay is more may ensue. essentially the stimulation Lubrication, both and accumulation of natural and synthetic, is pleasurable physical and also an important aspect mental sensations, which is something you can enjoy of foreplay. The need for regardless of your gender or lubrication is the most the gender of your partner. likely candidate for why foreplay is Now, considered I don’t ... there is almost nothing better a “chick” mean to suggest that than a partner who can make thing. For of spontanyou laugh before and after sex those you without eous, littlefemale to-no foreanatomy, just imagine a play sex is not fun –– it dry sponge rubbing against definitely can be. But I a dry glass. That’s what want to give foreplay its due, particularly because it sex can feel like without sufficient lube. But even is more difficult to define. with lots of warm-up For some people it means and an attentive partner, anything not involving additional lube may be penetration. For others required. it stops as soon as you When choosing your lube touch the genitals, and type, there are properties so on. How you define you need to consider. For foreplay depends on example, if you’re using the people involved, the various anatomical features any silicone-based sex toys, then a silicone based they have and what your lube may ruin your toys. boundaries are. Water-based lubes may be Foreplay is not stickier than silicone ones necessarily limited to the and also dry out faster, so bedroom. When it comes some research might be to going from neutral to worthwhile to find a type turned-on, some people you and your partner like. find that a clever line One other word of caution during dinner is the –– do not use flavored lube equivalent of a 20-minute for vaginal or anal sex. It back rub. So, when you’re out together and sexy-times contains sugars, which can cause yeast infections, are likely, ramp up your which generally suck. flirty dirty talk. Humor is As I promised, a few your friend here because more words on protection. there is almost nothing When it comes to foreplay, better than a partner many people assume who can make you laugh that applying protection before and after sex (and will bring the action to a also during). Once you’ve halt (male condoms are turned on your partner with your words, it’s time to the common example). This is not the case. use your hands. When you’re applying Hands are, in my protection, keep doing opinion, the most all the activities you’ve underrated component of been doing, like kissing intimate encounters. For and talking dirty. It will starters, they are useful in also help keep the energy locating erogenous zones going if your partner puts on your partner. These are the protection on for you. places on the body that, And do not store condoms when touched or stroked, in wallets or anywhere cause arousal. The main they are exposed to heat. erogenous zones are It can make them brittle, places like the genitals, which damages their lips, nipples and neck. effectiveness. However, most body parts Next week, we talk about can become erogenous via touching yourself and why a conditioning process. porn is not the devil. These secondary zones can begin to cause arousal after the repeated action SAM WALL wants to help you get more out of of touching them during foreplay by contacting sewall@ucdavis.edu.
Foreplay for the win
I
senate briefs ASUCD Senate meetings are scheduled to begin Thursdays at 6:10 p.m. Times listed are according to the clock at the Jan. 12 meeting location, the Memorial Union’s Mee Room. The ASUCD president is not required to attend senate meetings. Meeting called to order at 6:10 p.m. Adam Thongsavat, ASUCD president, present Bree Rombi, ASUCD vice president, present Yena Bae, ASUCD senator, present Jared Crisologo-Smith, ASUCD senator, present Miguel Espinoza, ASUCD senator, absent Justin Goss, ASUCD senator, present Anni Kimball, ASUCD senator, present Amy Martin, ASUCD senator, present Mayra Martín, ASUCD senator, present Erica Padgett, ASUCD senator, present Brendan Repicky, ASUCD senator, present Patrick Sheehan, ASUCD senator, present Ryan Meyerhoff, ASUCD senator, present Yara Zokaie, ASUCD senator, present
Unit Director Reports Jason Alpert Editor in Chief
The california Aggie
Geoff Straw, current unit director of Unitrans, said he will be stepping down from his position on Jan. 24. He also said that Unitrans will be sending a broken-down double-decker bus back to England and there will be a going-away party for both the bus and Straw on Jan. 20, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Unitrans garage. Anne-Marie Litak, co-director of the Whole Earth Festival, said that the unit had their first meeting last week and that they will be updating their website soon. Suzanne from the Experimental College (EC) said they are looking for a design intern and a publicity intern. She said that they are looking to work with the Lesbian Gay
Bisexual Transgender Resource Center on campus and they are currently working on the website. She also said that they need another employee for the EC garden. The Aggie editor-in-chief Jason Alpert said that over 50,000 people viewed the Aggie website in one weekend. Alpert and the table discussed ASUCD and The Aggie relations.
Appointments and Confirmations Levi Menovske and Jessica Jaswal were confirmed to the Academic Affairs Commission. William Rich, Phillip Tran, Serena Claudio, Michelle Yi, Jonathan White and Mai Ton-nu were confirmed to EPPC. Jose Marquez, Josh Paz, Marielle Talton, Emmanuel Diaz-Ordaz and Ivan De La Torme were confirmed to the Gender and Sexualities Commission (GASC). Ryan Schaeffer, Jonathan Yip and Chinsin Sim were confirmed to the Business and Finance Commission. Michael Juarez-Munoz was confirmed to Internal Affairs Commission (IAC). Rebecca Sterling was confirmed as the Student-Police Relations Chair. Martin was appointed to the Internet and Networking Committee. Crisologo-Smith was appointed as representative to the Student Recruitment and Retention Center. Goss was appointed as representative to the Media Board.
Zokaie was appointed as representative to SHAWC.
Consideration of Old Legislation Senate Bill 33, authored by Martin, to clarify the definition of vacancy in the ASUCD bylaws. The bill was referred back to IAC. Senate Bill 36, authored by Lee, co-authored by Maemura, Martin, Sheehan and Sterling, to enhance institutional memory and long-term planning by amending Chapters Twelve and Thirteen of the ASUCD Bylaws. The bill would mean that long-range plans would be updated every year, rather than every 3 years. Repicky expressed concerns about the long-term plans becoming less long-term. The senate table discussed the issue of how much time IAC would have to spend on this. The bill passed unanimously. Senate Bill 39, authored by Lee, co-authored by Martin and Sheehan, to ensure the integrity of the ASUCD Bylaws. The senate discussed the idea that SGAO is in charge of correctly transcribing the language of senate bills correctly. The bill passed unanimously.
Public Discussion There will be a Wellness Carnival in the ARC on Jan. 18 from 6 to 8 p.m.
Public Announcements Wendy Lu announced that The Shins will be playing at the Mondavi Center on April 23. Meeting adjourned at 9:58 p.m. Open positions within ASUCD can be found at vacancy. ucdavis.edu. HANNAH STRUMWASSER compiles the senate briefs. She can be reached at campus@theaggie. org.
OPINION
The california aggie
tuesday, january 17, 2012 3
editorials
Just say no
Alcohol Ordinance The Davis City Council recently proposed the Minor Alcohol Preclusion Ordinance. This measure would make it lawful to fine those under 21 who have a blood alcohol content (BAC) level equal to or greater than .01 percent in a public place, including streets and highways. This would make it illegal to have alcohol in your system in public if you are under 21, while at present it is unlawful to be drunk and disruptive. This proposal sets a ridiculous standard, especially for a college town like Davis where underage drinking is prevalent. Not only that, but from an ethical standpoint, it is not the city’s job to impose unrealistic and Puritan morals on its citizens. Imagine a cop showing up at a party in which students under age 21 have been drinking. It would be an inefficient use of police resources to cite everyone with a BAC at all as the party-goers shuffle out to the street. Perhaps the city should invest in setting up DUI checkpoints. This would productively prevent drunk driving, rather than worrying about
individuals who most likely are only harming themselves. The potential ordinance has the capacity to inhibit students’ rights, as there are no explicit parts of the proposal that state how police would determine probable cause for breathalyzing minors in public places. Would a person have to be stumbling down Frat Row in order to be stopped, or could police simply breathalyze someone strolling quietly downtown? For some it only takes one teaspoon of cough syrup to break this limit of .01. Councilmember Sue Greenwald said it best: “Twenty-one is a pretty high drinking age. I’m not sure I want to be on the forefront of the very aggressive enforcement of behavior that for the most part only hurts the person.” This measure is not going to reduce alcohol consumption; it is only going to make people more fearful of cops, pitting the city against students. Rather than trying to fight underage consumption in a college town, the city should use its time and energy to promote safe alcohol consumption.
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
courtesy newsday.com
Letters to the editor Do not enact new alcohol ordinance
No more cough syrup for you! That will be the law of Davis if the city council enacts its alcohol ordinance, which empowers cops to detain students walking down the street who they suspect are a) under 21, and b) aren’t even drunk, but might have been drinking. The cops can detain those students and ask them to submit to a breathalyzer test meant to determine whether their blood alcohol content exceeds .01 percent. For the tiny Catholics among you, that’s a level obtainable through a hearty swig of the blood of Christ. Other than its obvious sacramental implications, the ordinance has three main problems: 1) It criminalizes college students drinking cough syrup and smoothies made with vanilla extract, both of which contain
GUEST OPINIONS
The California Aggie welcomes letters from its readers. Letters must be typed and no longer than 200 words. As The Aggie attempts to represent a diversity of viewpoints on its letters page, we reserve the right to edit letters for length and clarity. Publication is not guaranteed, and letters become the property of The California Aggie. All correspondence must be signed with the author’s name and telephone number. Unsigned letters will not be considered for publication, although names may be withheld upon request.
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.
feeling strongly about submit a letter to the editor to have your opinion printed in
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Sam Hoel
The new orthodoxy
T
here was a time, long ago, when irreverence was king on campus. God, stodgy professors, WASP heritage and tradition were easy prey for the deliciously subversive revolutionaries of the ’60s and ’70s. The dusty orthodoxies of time and tradition, the doctrinaire insistence on uniformity, the stale consensus of culture –– those were gone forever. Or so it seemed. But then a funny thing happened. The students of yesterday became the professors and administrators of today. And with that change came a new orthodoxy, stripped of God and tradition, of course, but no less dogmatic or stifling for the loss. Ironically, the rebels who lived to question authority have themselves become unquestionable authority. By the time I trundled off to college in
yes? Of course you would. The city should add a restriction that forces the cops to tell you the test is voluntary. Cops already have to give these types of warnings in other circumstances. The California Welfare & Institutions Code, for example, allows the police to ask minors already in custody (for habitual truancy, among other things) to consent to voluntary drug/alcohol testing, but requires them to affirmatively tell the minors that the testing is optional. And we’re all familiar with the Miranda rights, which must be read before any custodial interrogation. I don’t think the ordinance is a wise policy or even a useful one. Cops already badger kids for no reason; they don’t need another arrow in their quiver. DANIEL WATTS, ESQ. UC Davis School of Law alum, class of 2011
guest opinion
Editorials represent the collective opinions of The California Aggie editorial board. The Opinion page appears Tuesdays and Thursdays.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
alcohol. 2) Although the ordinance contains language stating that “the [alcohol] testing shall be incidental to a lawful detention,” it doesn’t clarify whether that initial lawful detention must be based on the the violation of a different law, or if suspicion of violating the alcohol ordinance alone will justify a detention. This ambiguity makes it sound suspiciously like the notorious Arizona immigration law, where a violation of any random city code could prompt the Arizona cops to interrogate a suspect about his immigration status. 3) The ordinance does make the breathalyzer a voluntary test, which is great –– except that there’s no requirement that the cops tell you it’s voluntary. Now be real: If you’d been drinking and you’re stopped downtown by a cop who asks you to submit to a breathalyzer test, would you say
Money wasted on campus construction By Rhonda Brooks
Davis resident and UC Davis alumna
Cuts. Everywhere you look in our University of California system, programs, staff and services are being cut. Our schools are being forced to increase class sizes, reduce student enrollment, raise tuition and eliminate programs and financial aid. The UC system is recognized as providing the highest quality of education to thousands of California students every year, but as these drastic cuts continue, it threatens to harm the integrity of our beloved schools. Our local campus, UC Davis, has been no exception. Programs have been cut, employees have been furloughed and professors have been recruited and lured away, whether by larger salaries or more funding for their research. Last year, the university was forced to cut primary sports programs in order to save about $5 million across five years. Sports teams, and especially winning sports teams, encourage the alumni community to come together and donate back to their university. Small wonder that “sports for the alumni” was listed
by former University President Clark Kerr as one of a university’s three major administrative issues. It is unfortunate, but currently the only two areas that have seen growth at UC Davis are tuition bills and the number of nonCalifornian students that our schools are admitting, because out-of-state students pay higher tuition. UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi has pledged to add approximately 5,000 new students to the Davis campus, most of whom will be students from outside California. The addition of 5,000 undergraduates to Davis’ student body requires the construction of new student housing and other infrastructure projects. These additions are taking place in response to shrinking budgets and should be done as cost-effectively as possible. The students paying higher tuition and California’s tax payers deserve no less. In light of all this, I was surprised to learn that top officials at UC Davis recently made a puzzling decision about the next phase of development for oncampus student housing. UC Davis officials chose a general contractor headquartered in
of American imperialism? There are some the mid-2000s, the trend was pretty much things in college that you just can’t say, or at universal. In place of the old educational least not without being ostracized as a racist, mores, newly-sanctified principles like denier, homophobe or jingoist. As a result, “diversity” (only based on skin color), education is stale, boring and predictable. “sustainability” and “multiculturalism” had Learning becomes regurgitation and risen to the level of unassailable truths. the narrow palate of ideological diversity In today’s university, the student who relegates conservative viewpoints to questions sacred doctrines such as “climate whatever straw-men professors can change” or “social justice” is politely but construct to provide a semblance of balance. firmly relegated to the inferior status of Instead of being an unpredictable but “non-progressive.” Professors who fail to piously mouth liberal slogans are sometimes brilliant marketplace of ideas, the classroom has become a secular Sunday ostracized, denied school where students recite their tenure or even fired. And administrators ... 72 percent of college professors progressive catechisms. Part of the problem is occupy themselves identify as liberal, while only 15 the lack of ideological by creating percent identify as conservative diversity in the faculty and Orwellian speech administration. The average codes that prohibit liberal arts professor comes complete such crimes as “adversely upset[ting] the with a Prius, blazer, upper-middle-class delicate balance of communal living” lifestyle and, most importantly, a preor using “verbally abusive language on packaged set of standard-issue leftist university-owned or controlled property.” doctrines that start with race, class or One wonders what the free-speaking gender, and veer off into that professor’s students of the ’60s would have thought personal brand of politically correct about such draconian restrictions –– but inanity. wait, those same students are the ones The research confirms my writing the speech codes now. The brash unscientific analysis. Studies indicate protesters of the past are the strait-laced dogmatists of the present. In turn, classroom that 72 percent of college professors identify as liberal, while only 15 percent discourse has suffered. When was the last time a fellow classmate identify as conservative. That’s nearly a five-to-one ratio. When you look at raised his hand to vigorously challenge the social sciences and humanities, fields theory of the welfare state, or the dogma of where ideology is relatively more man-caused climate change, or the claims
Arizona for the third phase of the Tercero student housing development, even though the contractor’s price was $5 million dollars higher than a bid made by a Yolo County contractor who successfully built Phase II of this project on time and on budget. Additionally, this same local contractor is already performing the site preparation for Phase III. This company not only bid $5 million less, they proposed to use the same California-based design and management team that won UC Davis and the company a prestigious award for their work on Phase II of the Tercero dorms. The decision to spend $5 million dollars unnecessarily, and to take much of the project work to an Arizona-based contractor, speaks volumes to the community, alumni, faculty and especially to students about why they are paying the price of steep tuition increases. Just think; if UC Davis had accepted the fully-qualified lower bid and saved $5 million dollars, the university could have invested that money back into programs, resources and financial aid that students so desperately need and deserve.
important than in engineering or science, the percentages go up even more. At elite universities, a full 87 percent of professors are liberal. Here in the cornfields of middle-class Davis, one would expect the faculty to be more diverse. But in my years in the history, English and law programs, I haven’t met the mythical 15 percent of conservative professors. I’m beginning to wonder if they even exist. Whatever the reason for the lack of disparity in academics is, because of it, higher education suffers from a lack of intellectual creativity. Within the halls of learning, the strictures of tradition have been replaced by the even more stifling bonds of political correctness. And the worst part is that the new orthodoxy views itself as sacrosanct and beyond criticism. By defining alternative viewpoints as improper or even hateful, the academic establishment has managed to sterilize education and squelch dissent. So we’re back to where we began: God has been replaced by Darwin, WASP culture by multiculturalism, tradition by political correctness and stodgy professors by other stodgy professors. The Who said it best. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. SAM HOEL is a law student at UC Davis School of Law and can be reached at swhoel@ucdavis.edu.
4 tuesday, january 17, 2012
The california Aggie
Experts say doctors overuse diagnostic tests By Jaclyn Lansbery
Indiana Daily Student (Indiana University)
The new federal health care law might not address whether doctors can run diagnostic tests even when it isn’t necessary, but it’s a tendency experts agreed is a problem. The American College of Physicians, a national organization of physicians who specialize in the treatment of adult illnesses, claims that doctors are running too many diagnostic tests on patients who raise health care costs and that the doctors put patients’ health at risk. The overuse of diagnostic testing can cost the U.S. health care system up to $250 billion, which is equivalent to about 10 percent of the amount spent on the nation’s health care, according to an article published in U.S.A. Today. “The way to solve the problem is to change the way we pay doctors and put them on salary rather than fee-for-service, but getting patients more involved in the
decision-making process can help too,” said David Orentlicher, a professor at the Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis. The problem that Orentlicher points out casts an even worse light on doctors’ motivations, a much talked-about issue due to the rising costs of medical care and the passage of the Affordable Care Act. Patient-doctor communication is also defined by doctors’ financial incentives, Orentlicher said. “Doctors are like everybody else,” he said. “If you’re in a fee-for-service system where you’re paid more to do more, you’re going to do more. And I don’t think it’s conscious, but people are very responsive to financial incentives.” To bridge the gap between doctors’ decisions to run expensive tests and patients’ deference to doctors, medical schools have created ethics programs to train students on how to develop strong relationships with patients. When Orentlicher attended medical
school, ethics education was optional. But at the Indiana U. School of Medicine in South Bend, a new program has been designed to help medical students develop effective communication with future patients. “Overuse of diagnostic testing reflects doctors’ fears of being sued due to lack of protection from tort lawyers,” said Forrest Craig, a second-year student at the IU School of Medicine in Bloomington. The threat of litigation also hangs over current practitioners. Eric Knabel, a doctor in family practice at IU Health’s Southern Indiana Physicians in Bloomington, said “defensive medicine,” a concept that motivates doctors to run tests to rule out all conditions, might be one of the reasons doctors run too many diagnostic tests. Knabel also said another factor is that some patients “want to have everything done” because they believe their insurance will pay for it.
“This puts the provider in somewhat of a predicament,” Knabel said. On the other side of the spectrum, a lack of health insurance covering various diagnostic tests leads to a bad health care experience for patients. Bloomington resident Lisa Milanovits, 49, used to be on her former husband’s insurance, the military health plan TRICARE. “If you’re not the active member, you’re cattle,” she said. About 11 years ago, Milanovits started experiencing back pain that stopped her from sitting or standing for longer than 30 minutes without feeling unbearable pain. Her chronic disease, called cervical degenerative disc disease, led her to receive several types of medical care, such as Workman’s Compensation and care from local clinics. “I think that a big factor in that is whether or not you have the insurance,” she said. “If you have money, they will encourage you to get this, that and the other.”
classifieds The greener side
kygreen@ucdavis.edu
by Kyle Green
Thursday’s puzzle solved
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Room for Rent House 4bd/2bath house in Woodland seeking 2 roommates. $550/mo plus utilities. Quiet neighborhood 5-10 minutes from campus. Large landscaped backyard with a covered patio. Contact Patti at (916) 396-1432 or hwwirz@yahoo.com
Sudoku
Employment EXPERIMENTAL SUBJECTS participants needed for easy 60-90 min. experiment. Perform group decisionmaking task. Must be 18 years or older to participate. Register: www.experimetrix2.com/ucdesp. One time participation only. You will be compensated $10-20. Payment determined in part by individual success in task.
Medium 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.
tuesday, january 17, 2012 5
The california aggie
Dining in Davis: Bombay Dreams restaurant New Indian restaurant offers exquisite ambiance, not-so-proportional eats By DEVON BOHART Aggie Features Writer
Bombay Dreams may look like an Indian paradise, but it doesn’t quite live up to the dream. Located on Second Street between F and G Street, Bombay Dreams hosts a mirage of pink and orange walls and a variety of dishes from both India and Nepal. When my two friends and I walked up we nearly passed the entryway, as it is nestled into the wall between two protruding windows. Apart from looking a tad dilapidated on the outside, the inside is obviously taken care of with fresh paint, fine light fixtures and other exotic wall décor. Upon entering, one immediately feels the essence of India, with the bright colors of the walls and the extensive mural along the entire sidewall. The restaurant actually has two large rooms, excluding the kitchen. One is solely for tables and the buffet, which is served from 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., while the other is home to a large bar, with happy hours 3 to 6 p.m. every day. When we entered at 2 p.m. on a Saturday, there was but one person dining in the entire restaurant, instantly making us wonder whether the restaurant was ever a popular feasting spot. Bombay Dreams, however, has only been established for about six months, meaning it hasn’t had extensive time to build up a strong clientele. When we sat down, our table
was without napkins and it took a while for a waitress to bring us drinks. However, our water glasses were never empty. After ordering, it took about 30 minutes before all of our food was placed on our table; though, our waitress guaranteed that each of our plates would be made fresh. This restaurant has a typical Indian cuisine serving style in that many of the plates are “family style,” or are shared with everyone at the table. Lucky for us, we were able to try a few different dishes with this format. Between the hours of 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., the restaurant also offers a lunch buffet, with a number of meal options including chicken, lamb, vegetables and more. Despite this tempting offer, we chose to order separately, starting with Junior Samosas. Samosas are deep-fried pastries, filled with potatoes and other vegetables. At Bombay Dreams, they were served with two types of sauces, one sweet sauce and another spicy green sauce, adding to the flavor of the dish. This plate of six pastries only cost $4.50. For lunch we ordered chicken tikki masala, a personal favorite of mine. This dish contains boneless chicken cooked with herbs in a creamy tomato sauce, served atop basmati rice. The chicken was perfectly tender and had just the right amount of spice to be considered “mild.” While it was the most expensive dish, at
In review: Bombay Dreams Restaurant Hours: Monday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
*****
Food: Ambience: Cost: $$
Key Food and ambience quality
**** *** ** *
I’m dining here every day Almost like eating at home Better than my roommate’s cooking Only if I’m starving
Budget
$$$$ chancellor $20+ $$$ professor $15-20 $$ graduate student/alum $10-15 $ undergraduate $5-10
$11.95, it was definitely worth it, as it was the most enjoyable. On the other hand, the vegetable buryani was a bit of a pitfall, with very little taste apart from the cooked vegetables. The vegetable buryani was a large dish of basmati rice cooked with vegetables, and traditionally nuts and fruit as well, though we ordered it without the latter. Costing $8.95, this dish’s quantity did not match its quality. Next, we ordered the traditional naan bread, only adding another $1.75 to our tab. The naan was another letdown, with a taste not unlike Wonder Bread. We also ordered rab ne bana di poori,
Shazib Haq / Aggie
Bombay Dreams, located at 715 2nd St., is Davis’ newest Indian restaurant. another bread dish described as “deep fried, soft and fluffy bread.” It wasn’t very “fluffy” but it was better than the naan bread, only costing $2.25. For the three of us, we spent $31.71 (with tax, but excluding tip), which can be considered a reasonable amount for a meal. The food overall was very good, but nothing really wowed me. My final critique is that the ambiance is fabulous; they went all-out on décor, but they should have spent more time on perfecting their menu. The menu is very simple, with minimal creativity (for example, the lamb dishes are mostly the
Adderall use common among students By JOSEPHINE WOOLINGTON Oregon Daily Emerald (University of Oregon)
A U. Oregon freshman, who asked to remain anonymous, first heard about Adderall in the dorms two weeks before finals. “People would say, ‘I need to take some Adderall and go to the library,’” she said. “A lot of people are looking for it.” Although usually prescribed to people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, more college students nationwide who don’t have ADHD have been turning to the orange and white pills as a study aid. According to a 2010 National College Health Assessment, 8 percent of surveyed University students said they had used stimulants within the past 12 months that were not prescribed to them. Numbers from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that 6.4 percent of full-time college students abused Adderall in 2007. But some studies have found that as many as 25 percent of students abused prescription stimulants. “My impression is that by the end of people’s time at U. Oregon, a much higher percentage of students use a stimulant,” University psychiatrist Rick Friedrich said. “I would guess that even 25 percent would be on the low end.” Gregg Wendland, pharmacy manager at the University Health Center, also thinks abuse is fairly common. “Students aren’t going to come in
CSU Cont. from front page tem made its decision solely with research provided by Mercer. Despite questioning behind salary determination, Fallis agrees there are intrinsic problems with the CSU budget, but that those focusing solely on executive compensation miss a larger issue. He states the total salaries of the top 29 CSU executives, including the 26 presidents, account for two-tenths of one percent of the entire CSU budget. “[Presidential salaries] increasing are not related to the cost of providing education,” said Fallis. “These are not what are driving fee increases.”
and tell us they’re using Adderall,” he said. “But based on national trends, I think it’s reasonably widespread.” Wendland said the University has “stringent policies” on diagnosing students with ADHD. Students, Friedrich said, must take several tests to make sure it’s not just poor study habits preventing them from concentrating. The University pharmacy also carefully tracks prescriptions for Adderall, which cannot be refilled without a new prescription from a doctor and cannot be refilled early. Prescriptions aren’t cheap either, ranging from $50 to $300 a month. Two years ago, the University started giving students who are prescribed drugs like Adderall a contract that spells out both the health and criminal consequences of abusing the substance. Selling a drug like Adderall is a Class B felony and can result in 24 months of probation and up to 60 days in jail. Possessing the drug without a prescription can result in 18 months probation and up to 30 days in jail. And when taken by people without ADHD, Adderall can cause panic attacks and heart problems after one use. As national trends show, the University is not alone in dealing with stimulant abuse. “Health centers across the country are flooded with requests with people saying they can’t concentrate, thinking they must have ADD,” Friedrich said, adding that universities must treat students who have ADHD, but must
The sentiment of addressing the issue of public funding cuts as cause for tuition hikes, instead of focusing solely on increases in presidential salaries, is shared by University of California faculty as well. “The solution to our budget problems isn’t to pay administrators less, but the effects on morale and the signals to the public about our priorities are very harmful when we appear to have [presidential] salaries as our main indicator of success,” said James Chalfant, UC Davis agriculture and resource economics professor and University of California Committee on Planning and Budget Chair. UC Santa Barbara
also monitor whether students are being responsible with their medications. Jessica Champion, senior substance abuse counselor at the University, said the University needs to do more to prevent Adderall abuse. She said there is an “overwhelming need for intervention” to inform students about stimulant abuse. She and her staff work with about 400 students who have had substance abuse problems in the past. Of those students, she said about 75 percent abused Adderall during finals. “Students are not concerned about (health effects) at all,” she said. One student’s account shows a similar attitude toward the drug. “They don’t think it’s dangerous at all,” said University freshman Angie Hall about students who use Adderall in her dorm. “Sometimes they take a little too much. They’ll say things like, ‘Oh, I’m not focused enough. I need more Adderall.’ And then they take more.” Although the University has tutoring centers, outreach programs and student groups to help students who use substances or have trouble focusing, these programs may not be enough to change students’ attitudes toward Adderall. “It’s quick, easy — it’s a shortcut,” Friedrich said. “There’s always going to be folks who opt for the pop-a-pill attitude to take care of their problems, but some additional services along the lines of helping people with focus and study abilities would help.”
English professor and co-creator of the blog “Remaking the University,” Chris Newfield, quips a favorite California public university notion: “The state used to send us dollars, and now it just sends us rules.” Newfield claims leadership of public universities by someone focused on public service and not salary is crucial to make the case to the state that these institutions need public funding. UC Davis Law Professor and former UC Academic Senate Chair Daniel Simmons expresses the complexity of top administrative salaries and its effect on public assessment. “I believe that executive compensation issues, go-
ing far beyond the chancellors, have greatly harmed UC over the last 15 years and have probably done more budgetary damage in terms of negative perception of the University than all of the good accomplished by those administrators,” said Simmons. “Nonetheless, just like faculty, the administration of UC is under-compensated relative to peers, and that is a difficult situation.” UC chancellors’ salaries were excluded from the bill due to autonomy granted to UC Regents under the state’s constitution that is not bestowed upon the CSU or Community College systems. KELLEY REES can be reached at city@ theaggie.org.
same as the chicken dishes, but the chicken is just substituted for lamb), though the food was edible and somewhat tasty. I did appreciate the freshness, which was noticeable and therefore notable. Overall, I enjoyed my meal at Bombay Dreams, but it wasn’t my favorite Indian cuisine experience ever. Aside from the contemporary and welllooked-after interior, the food was nothing spectacular for my taste buds. Worth the money? Yes. Worth the wait? Probably not. Devon Bohart can be reached at features@ theaggie.org.
business
Winter was also a good time for City Hall Tavern to get ready for busier times ahead, Ramos said. “We wanted to get everything up and started for spring and summer when our busy season hits,” Ramos said. “We were ready to start it, so we got it going.” DeVere’s operates as a family affair, and markets as such. Henry DeVere coowns the restaurants with his brother, and other family members help keep it running. They have 90 percent of their original employees intact. “Opening a business is always risky, and in this economy even more so,” DeVere said. “We felt our niche would be responded to well in Davis. A pub is somewhere nice to eat and socialize; it’s the center of culture in Ireland, from weddings to funerals.” According to The Davis Enterprise’s “Comings and Goings Blog,” Zindagi Indian Bistro on E Street hopes to open its doors on Monday. Luigi’s, a new Italian restaurant next door, will open Tuesday and will be giving out free slices of pizza from 12 to 3 p.m. Baja Fresh recently closed after occupying D Street for only a year.
Cont. from front page going very well.” The owners said DeVere’s caters well to the student set as the restaurant stays open until 2 a.m., seven days a week. They also offer a “study hall” for students from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Monday through Friday, with bottomless coffee, espresso and breakfast sandwiches, as well as free Wi-Fi. According to Huang, finding a different role to play was the key. “Everything is less expensive right now, from the construction to the lease,” Huang said. “Also, people are a lot more health-conscious, and the trend is expected to continue in the next five years, so I see it looking up.” Fish’s Wild makes dishes with “whole brown rice, low-fat and lowcarbohydrate content, and high protein,” Huang said, making it a good choice for those desiring a healthier option. “It was the worst possible time to open a bar, if you look at the history of Davis economically,” Ramos said. “But it’s something Davis has been lacking, a place with a fun while relaxed EINAT GILBOA can be reached city@ atmosphere.” theaggie.org.
tuesday, January 17, 2012 6
The california aggie
Unlucky 13
Trevor Cramer
Historically bad
I’ve tried really hard to be optimistic about this year’s UC Davis men’s basketball team. I’ve made all the excuses: they’re a very young team, they miss Mark Payne and Joe Harden, it’s the first year with a new coach, they’ve been close to winning in a lot of their games. But there’s no excuse for the new low this team has reached over the past few weeks, culminating in the 84-80 come-from-ahead defeat to Cal State Northridge on Saturday — in which the Aggies blew a 11-point lead in the final 6:40. It’s true that we didn’t expect much of this team — and rightfully so — but we certainly expected better than this. The Aggies are currently 1-16 this season, and 0-5 in Big West Conference play. To make matters worse, they’re a miserable 0-16 against NCAA Division I schools, as their lone victory came by a narrow margin against Division III UC Santa Cruz — in a game eerily similar to the Academy of Art debacle last season. And even in the victory over the Banana Slugs, the UCSC coaching staff could be heard during the end of the game shouting that they would be embarrassed to be a part of a Division I team as bad as UC Davis. I think at this point we should all be a little embarrassed. Even the abominable Gary Stewart years look like an NCAA Tournament appearance when compared to this season. After being ranked dead last of the 344 schools in the NCAA Division I RPI rankings last week, UC Davis somehow found a way to move up to 343 despite losing twice this week (take that new No. 344, 0-17 Binghampton!) And UC Davis is going to remain in danger of falling back into that last spot until it beats a Division I opponent. What makes matters even worse is that, as a team that claims to pride itself on its defense, UC Davis doesn’t seem to play a lot of it. The Aggies are currently last in the Big West in scoring defense, allowing 75.7 points per game. That’s good for 319th in the nation. And the other defensive statistics are comparably bad. UC Davis is allowing opponents to shoot 48.2 percent this season (324th in the nation), has a -3.5 turnover margin per game (315th) and commits an average of 20.5 fouls per contest (293rd). There’s no real reason to think any of this will get better anytime soon; after all, UC Davis couldn’t even cover the 25.5-point spread against Long Beach State Thursday, despite being within six points at halftime. This team appears to lack the experience and leadership necessary to carry it through a rough stretch like the one it currently finds itself in, and the core group of freshmen and sophomores need to learn how to win close games before they can expect things to get any better. So I have now come to one conclusion: If we’re going to stink, let’s go all the way with it. Don’t get me wrong, I would love for this team to rise from the ashes to make some noise in the Big West, but that looks like a long shot, so I am wholeheartedly in support of the next best thing: a 1-29 season. After all, thanks to CSU Northridge’s academic violations, UC Davis is guaranteed a spot in the Big West Tournament, so we might as well get there in the most ridiculous way possible. Entering the conference tournament as the last-ranked team in RPI would be a remarkable feat, and the perfect way to top off a historically bad season. And as Gary Stewart would be keen to remind you, once you’re in the tournament anything can happen. Although with this team, “anything” will probably consist of a 30-point loss to Long Beach State and a long bus ride home. TREVOR CRAMER can be reached at sports@ theaggie.org.
Aggies extend losing streak with tough losses men’s basketball By CAELUM SHOVE Aggie Sports Writer
The nightmarish 2011-12 season continued for the Aggies this week, as the team’s struggles continued in Big West Conference play. UC Davis opened the week Thursday at Long Beach State, playing a strong first half before being thoroughly outplayed in the second frame. The Aggies proceeded to let one get away on Saturday, losing to Cal State Northridge after giving away an 11-point second-half lead. The losses drop the Aggies to 0-5 in conference play, 1-16 overall. The current 13-game losing streak is the longest for UC Davis since 1953. Head coach Jim Les was disappointed with the week’s results, but emphasized that his team is continuing to work. “I told the team they battled their ass off,” Les said. “Nobody likes these circumstances, but they battled. “We’ll keep working. Keep battling.”
Sophomore Josh Ritchart led the Aggies with 12 points against Cal State Long Beach.
Thursday — Long Beach State 86, UC Davis 58 UC Davis fought hard in the first half of the contest and went into the break only trailing by six against one of the best teams it had faced all year. The upset was not to be, though. Long Beach State came out firing in the second half, scoring 11 points in the first three minutes to regain a comfortable lead. The Aggies are not a high-scoring team, and a counter-run never came from Jim Les’s squad. The struggling UC Davis team allowed Long Beach State to shoot over 65 percent in the second half, 58.6 percent for the game. The Aggies were outscored 51-29 in the second frame. Sophomore Josh Ritchart led UC Davis with 12 points, followed by junior Harrison DuPont with 11.
Saturday — Cal State Northridge 84, UC Davis 80 Possibly the most heartbreaking loss of the Aggies season thus far came Saturday night at the hands of Cal State Northridge. UC Davis shot a season-high 50 percent from the field and scored 80 points for only the second time this season, but was unable to get defensive stops down the stretch. Five different times in the second half UC Davis held an 11-point lead, including a 71-60 advantage with only 6:40 remaining in the game. From then on, however, the UC Davis defense collapsed, allowing CSU Northridge to go on a 16-0 run and take a five-point lead with 2:36 remaining. The Aggies never recovered from that deficit.
Brian Nguyen / Aggie
“You’ve just got to finish the game and get stops,” Les said. “They made more plays than us coming down the stretch and that’s part of a young team and a team that’s not used to winning and closing out games.” UC Davis was only the second team this season to allow CSU Northridge to score more than 75 points, with the Matadors season average hovering around 65 points per game. “You just see the momentum change,” Les said. “We need some guys to step up and make some plays. “We went down a stretch when we had the lead. We’ve got to be a team that makes teams play defense and work on that end. When we do that 80 points has got to be enough on a given night.” CAELUM SHOVE can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
Aggies hand Matadors first conference loss
Aggies take fourth at Stanford
Riecks joins 1,000 point club
Yamamura’s performance strong after conference honors By KAITLYN ZUFALL Aggie Sports Writer
Junior Blair Shinoda led the Aggies with 10 points. Saturday — UC Davis 78, Long Beach State 62 “It’s all about the win. It’s about the whole team and everyone else that leads to the win.” These are the words senior Kasey Riecks had to say in regards to being only the 15th women’s basketball player in UC Davis history to score over 1,000 career points. “It’s also something that shows the kind of person and player she is,” Gross said. “Scoring 1,000 points is no small feat; it shows her consistency from year to year, and how much time she’s put into her game and into improving.” Riecks needed just nine points this game to reach 1,000, but when she drained a three with 7:49 remaining in the first half, it became a matter of when rather than if. Yet, it wasn’t until one and a half minutes into the second half when Riecks would score again, knocking down another three-pointer to propel her over the 1,000-point mark. At this point, UC Davis stood at 43-35 and Riecks had 10 points on the game. Riecks finished with a team-high 15 points, to bring her career points total to 1,006. The rest of the UC Davis roster also shot better than it has this season, shooting almost 50 percent in the game. Junior Hannah Stephens and senior Samantha Meggison followed Riecks with 10 points apiece. The Aggies held the lead the entire match, but in no way was the game a walkover. The 49ers kept the score to 36-32 in favor of the Aggies at halftime. Yet, UC Davis came back and outscored Long Beach State 42-30 in the second half and pulled away with an encouraging 78-62 victory. “We have a team of great shooters … this is one of the best shooting teams we’ve had at Davis,” Gross said. “They’re putting in tons of extra reps right now and I’m hoping that this will be a jumping-off point for us and we’ll continue to shoot the ball well for the rest of the year.”
The Aggies traveled to Burnham Pavilion on Sunday to compete in the NorCal Quad Meet in Stanford, Calif. Host Stanford finished first with a score of 194.900, followed by San Jose State in second with 194.300 points. Sacramento State’s score of 191.575 was good for third and UC Davis posted 190.775 to finish fourth. Sophomore Madeline Kennedy earned a career-high 9.725 on floor to help UC Davis compile a score of 48.375 in the event, their highest combined event score of the meet. Junior Michelle Ho was the top performer for the Aggies in the event with a score of 9.825, placing fourth overall. Kennedy also turned out a solid performance on vault. Her score of 9.600 led the team in the event, followed by freshman Tiana Montell (9.500) and junior Taryn West (9.525). Junior Katie Yamamura led UC Davis on bars with a score of 9.725. Yamamura was recently named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Week after winning the individual all-around at Arizona State last week. It is the fifth time in her career with UC Davis that she has received the honor and her first since overcoming an injury-plagued sophomore season. “I’m very encouraged about what [Yamamura] is going to do this year,” head coach John Lavallee said. “She’s a hard worker and competitor… she’s going to have a tremendous season.” The Aggies’ overall score on bars was further supported by Montell (9.575) and sophomore Regi Solvjkar (9.550), highlighting the young talent in Lavallee’s roster. On beam, UC Davis was led by a three-way tie between Ho, junior Leah Housman and freshman Kayla DeFrancesco, whose routines all earned scores of 9.650 in the event. “It was a very intense meet,” said Lavallee. “For the freshmen and sophomores who didn’t compete much last season, it’s a real experience being in that tense of an environment.” The team’s combined score was a 0.275 improvement on last week’s duel against Arizona State. UC Davis will return to action in its home opener on Sunday against Air Force. The meet will be the Aggies’ first conference event of the season. “We had a lot of things that were improved overall [this week],” said Lavallee, “[The team] is ready to perform at home and have the opportunity to perform for a home-town crowd.”
MATTHEW YUEN can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
KAITLYN ZUFALL can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
Shazib Haq / Aggie
Junior Hannah Stephens scored 10 points in UC Davis’ win over Cal State Northridge.
women’s basketball By MATTHEW YUEN Aggie Sports Writer
The UC Davis women’s basketball program had a couple of eventful wins this week, improving their overall record to 11-6 and reaching some milestones along the way. After playing six of their last seven games away from the Pavilion, the Aggies returned home and did not disappoint the home fans. UC Davis had started off the conference at 1-2, but the two wins this week brought their league record up to 3-2 –– good for fourth place in the Big West Conference. In Saturday’s game, senior Kasey Riecks broke the 1,000 career points barrier, becoming just the 15th player in UC Davis history to reach this milestone. Thursday –– UC Davis 55, Cal State Northridge 53 The game against Cal State Northridge was not the Aggies’ best performance, but they ended up scraping by with the victory in the end. At halftime, the score was 21-19 in favor of the Aggies, with UC Davis shooting 8-32 and the Matadors with a similar 8-31 mark. The Aggies struggled on offense, but their defense stayed strong to hold the CSU Northridge offense at bay. “Our defense was playing really well in the first half,” said head coach Jennifer Gross. “We focused on the offensive side of the ball [at halftime]. We just talked about a couple different ways to start the attack.” The Aggies came out of the break hot, building up a 16-point lead with only 12 minutes remaining. But CSU Northridge, who came into the game with a 3-0 conference record, came roaring back with a 14-0 run over the next seven minutes. With just a minute and a half remaining, the UC Davis lead had all but vanished, and the Aggies were on top by the slimmest of margins at 54-53. Yet, the UC Davis defense once again returned to form and the Aggies held on for a 55-53 nailbiting victory.
