January 25, 2012

serving the uc davis campus and community since 1915

www.theaggie.org

volume 131 number 10

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

News iN Brief

Aggies at The Pub event tonight Tonight is the Aggies at The Pub: Beat the Clock event at Gunrock Pub on campus. The event, hosted by Gunrock Pub and ASUCD, begins at 5 p.m. The price of beer increases as the night goes on and there will be a special food and drink menu. Aggies at the Pub events take place on select Wednesdays this quarter.

Aggie ReStore grand opening today The grand opening of the ASUCD Aggie ReStore is today at 11 a.m. Located in the M.U., the Aggie ReStore aims to reuse things that would normally go to the landfill. The Aggie ReStore is selling items such as accessories, CDs and different studentmade items.

— Hannah Strumwasser

Student protesters occupy old Cross Cultural Center building A group of protesters held a rally on the Quad yesterday, and then marched around campus, ending at the building that used to house the Cross Cultural Center.

The students said that they plan to sleep in the building and continue occupying it.

While many protesters did not want to speak for the group as a whole, the Occupy

UC Davis movement released a communique Wednesday, which gave some explanation for the occupation.

“High tuition increases have been made necessary not by shrinking savings, but by a perpetually expanding bond market, organized by the UC Regents, enforced through increasing tuition and growing student loan

debt. Growth has become a caricature of itself, as the future is sold on baseless expanding credit from capitalist to capitalist,” stated the release. “Our future is broken. We are the crisis. Our occupations are the expressions of that crisis.”

— Text by Hannah Strumwasser — Photo by Brian Nguyen

2020 Initiative begins work in committees UC Davis community members help shape proposal

By MAX GARRITY RUSSER Aggie News Writer

The 2020 Initiative, a proposal to increase overall student enrollment within the coming years, began work this month in the form of task forces to out-

line an implementation process. The proposal was introduced by Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi in Fall quarter.

If the proposal is enacted, an additional 5,000 students will be enrolled and 300 faculty hired by the target date.

California, out-of-state and international students would together make up the increased student body.

“The main goal of 2020 is to sustain and enhance excellence at UC Davis by building on existing strengths and

resources to become a more active partner with the state in supporting higher education,” said Yena Bae, ASUCD senator and member of the enrollment management

See INITIATIVE, page 2

Alumnus Snapshot I took this photo on Tuesday morning. The quote translates as “alienation begins here.” It was painted at the entrance of the Sarbonne during the ‘68 student insurrection in France. The students fought against neo-fascist austerity measures on higher education imposed by President Charles de Gaulle. History repeats itself to say the least.

City environmental nominations due in February Nominations for the Davis Environmental Recognition Award are due Feb. 10.

Recipients will be chosen at the February Davis Natural Resources Commission meeting and Davis City Council will distribute the awards in April.

Individuals, groups, businesses and nonprofit organizations are all eligible for the award. The city encourages those nominated to have gone above and beyond to improve the environmental quality of life in and around Davis.

White car suspected in fatal hit-and-run According to the California Highway Patrol (CHP), a white vehicle – possibly a sports car – struck and killed a UC Berkeley student on Highway 113 on Jan. 21.

A car with a front end a little bit low to the ground hit 21-year-old Vladimir Debabov before fleeing the scene, Woodland CHP Officer Bryan Konvalin told the Sacramento Bee. Konvalin said the car will have moderate to major damage to the front with possible roof damage. The suspect’s vehicle description is based on the injuries to the victim’s body.

Debabov was reportedly walking in the traffic lanes of Highway 113 north of County Road 29 when he was hit by the vehicle around 3:50 a.m.

Those with information on the incident can call the Woodland CHP office at (530) 662-4685 or the CHP’s Sacramento Communication Center at (916) 861-1300.

––Enosh Baker, UC Davis alumnus

Courtesy of Enosh Baker

–– Angela Swartz

Sacramento City College Center opens on campus Center to change the transition from community college to UC Davis

By RICHARD CHANG Aggie News Writer

The transition for community college students to UC Davis may soon become a lot smoother.

“It’s a shock when students transfer from community college to the university,” said Don Palm, dean of the Sacramento City College Davis Center.

That is precisely what educators from both the UC and community college systems hoped to mitigate when they gathered in 2006 to sign a landmark agreement to place the first ever community college center on a University of California campus.

The Sacramento City College Davis Center, located on the western part of campus in West Village, opened

Today’s weather Fog High 63 Low 42

its doors last week to over 2,000 students in what supporters hailed as a unique collaboration between two of California’s higher education systems.

“It will make the journey between community college and UC Davis more seamless, and represents real progress in expanding educational opportunities for California students,” said UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi at the opening ceremony for the center.

Supporters of the project believe the location of the center on campus will provide community college students with a new opportunity to become a part of the wider UC Davis community.

“Our students will have much easier access to things part of UC Davis, whether it’s

eating at the Silo or checking out a book from Shields Library,” Palm said.

Funded entirely by the Los Rios Community College District through Sacramento voter-approved Measure A bonds, the new 20,000 square foot, $7.5 million dollar stateof-the-art Davis Center is silver LEED certified, which means it is more environmentally sustainable than, say, traditional buildings.

According to Palm, the center is planning two more phases, with the final phase of construction contingent on state government funding.

The construction was made possible by a land-lease agreement between UC Davis and Los Rios. Under the terms of the 65 year ground-lease, Los Jasna Hodzic / Aggie

See COLLEGE, page 2 Sacramento City College students can now take classes on the UC Davis campus.

Forecast January Gloom will stick around for the next week or so as fog and cool weather settles down in the Sacramento Delta. Most Tahoearea resorts received about 2-5 feet of new snow last weekend. Get excited!

Kenneth Doss, atmospheric science major Aggie Forecasting Team

Thursday

Friday

Partly cloudy

Partly cloudy

High 62 Low 41

High 64 Low 38

Last night, I felt the full effect of Megaupload’s downfall. Even now, I still haven’t watched the latest episode of Gossip Girl.

Mimi Vo

page two

2 wednesday, january 25, 2012

daily calendar dailycal@theaggie.org

TODAY

The Spokes. Another meeting will be held Thursday.

The House Peer Counseling Info Session

THURSDAY

10 to 11 a.m. and 2 to 3 p.m.

Moss Room, MU Third Floor Get information about becoming a peer counselor at The House and pick up an application.

Orientation Leader Info Session Noon to 12:45 p.m.

1150 Hart Interested in being an Orientation Leader for Summer 2012? Applications are due Monday. Attend the info session to learn more about hiring opportunities in Student Housing.

Summer Abroad Info Session, “Italian Culture and Institutions” Noon Education Abroad Center, Third and A Streets Learn how you can study Italian in Rome.

Meet the instructor and ask questions.

Summer Abroad Info Session, “Latino Youth Gangs in a Global Perspective” 1 p.m.

Education Abroad Center, Third and A Streets Learn how you can study Chicano studies in Barcelona. Meet the instructor and ask questions.

Summer Abroad Info Session, “A Taste of China” 4 p.m.

Education Abroad Center, Third and A Streets Learn how you can study food science in Wuxi. Meet the instructor and ask questions.

Circle K International Meeting 6 p.m.

6 Olson Check out Circle K to help make a difference and meet new friends at the same time.

Relay For Life Team Meetings featuring The Spokes 7 to 8 p.m.

202 Wellman Learn how to get involved with UC Davis Relay For Life and enjoy a special guest performance from the lovely ladies of

college

Yoga/Meditation Class 2 to 3 p.m.

TB-16, across from Regan Hall The House Peer Counseling Center offers a free class on yoga and meditation.

BME Distinguished Seminar Series: Dr. Cato Laurencin 4:10 p.m.

Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility Auditorium Cato Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D., University of Connecticut. Dr. Laurencin will discuss regenerative engineering of hard and soft musculoskeletal tissues.

Green Team Meeting 6 p.m.

Memorial Union 43 (Campus Center for the Environment office) Green Team Volunteer Group, part of the Campus Center for the Environment, is active in Davis with events surrounding environmental awareness and protection.

At the meeting, discuss the upcoming opportunities to help the environment and meet other students who are passionate about the environment.

Botany and Environmental Horticulture Club 6:15 to 7 p.m.

3090 Science Laboratory Building Enjoy free pizza and hear Botanical Conservatory director Ernesto Sandoval speak about garden projects.

UC Haiti Initiative: Rebuilding Haiti 7 to 9 p.m.

Memorial Union, Griffin Lounge Dr. Holly Cooper from UC Davis School of Law, Dr. Gross from UC Davis School of Medicine, and UC Davis Haiti Humphrey’s Fellow will be speaking about Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake. Learn how you can get involved to rebuild higher education in Haiti.

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.

Village welcomed their new neighbor, but with a few reservations.

“It’s great to have more people to interact with, but traffic congestion has gotten worse and bus seats are now sparse,” said Sharon Zhu, a first-year managerial economics major who lives opposite the Davis Center.

Nevertheless, educators like Palm remain upbeat about what the center will hold for its students.

“They will be able to plan better and make their university experience more successful,” he said.

Cont. from front page Rios pays UC Davis a nominal $1 annually for rights to the land. Though the $7.5 million building project was funded by Los Rios, the university allocated $17 million to bring infrastructure and utilities to the West Village site, which was previously undeveloped land.

Gary Sandy, director of local government relations at UC Davis, said the university will recoup the costs from the project by placing a surcharge on West Village residents’ utility bills.

RICHARD CHANG can be reached at Some residents of West campus@theaggie.org.

The california Aggie

I’m afraid there’s a cult of exclusivity growing among those who hold the blueprints.

Take Google. While they’ve done their part to Rajiv index and open the internet Narayan as a searchable reference, the company is famous for a strong insider-outsider culture. Ex-Google engineer Douwe Osinga wrote last year that internally, most information is open-access.

When you leave, though, it’s a bit like leaving a “walled garden.” have a hard time Another undercovered trusting technology story in the tech world companies. That doesn’t this week peered into the mean, mind you, that I trust elusive world of Apple Congress. It’s just that we’re through the eyes of Fortune conditioned to distrust the Magazine editor Adam people we inevitably elect.

Lashinsky. He compares the Tech firms, by contrast, company to a terrorist cell are more often the objects for the way it operates on a of our praise and wonder. need-to-know basis. Among They’re supposed to be on other leaks, he writes our side. But the difference that Apple holds secret between the meetings, rhetoric of locks are This makes you wonder who frequently tech giants and its Google’s “don’t be evil” motto is changed, supporters windows directed toward as both are painted protest over in SOPA, the Stop Online black and undercover Piracy Act, has introduced company spies stake out a nuance that calls that in nearby bars to sniff out praise into question. loose lips.

Big internet is concerned I’m as opposed to SOPA that the bill’s creators and PIPA as the next don’t understand the Facebook worm or Twitter “architecture of the twit, but I think there’s internet” enough to reason to pause when any anticipate the implications powerful group begins to of the legislation. People cloister itself. Tech giants like you and me, who are on our side today use Google, Wikipedia, because we’re a mobile Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, base of political support.

YouTube, and so on, have The trouble here is that begun to paint SOPA in the I don’t know what to do image of young versus old. to push back when their Between us of the Internet interests and our interests Generation, and them, the are no longer the same. other who cannot, for the For example, Google’s life of them figure out how secrecy takes a turn for to “get on the Facebook.” the awkward when you It’s our generation that relearn that Google and the framed SOPA as the Stupid CIA jointly funded a firm Old People Act. that believes it can predict That discursive split the future, or that Google between tech giants and has built and sold to the the Internet Generation national intelligence is not so much about agencies the infrastructure corporate politeness as it they use for indexing is indicative of an ominous information. This makes dichotomy between the you wonder who Google’s two. Tech giants aren’t really “don’t be evil” motto is against the aged — they’re directed toward. opposed to those who Since the beginning of don’t understand their craft the new year, Facebook getting in the way of it. has been demoing a new It is we (who put the development that brings “us” in “users”) who are advertising into the main including ourselves among newsfeed section as those in league with tech “Sponsored Stories” — as giants. Some of us are if the advertisements were accomplishing this by way coming from our friends. of explicit technopeagentry, As with all previous whereupon we brand changes, Zuckerberg and ourselves with gadgets.

Co. got a lot of heat for Some of us are trying to the implement. But just learn the levers of the like all other the other platforms we adore. In changes Facebook makes, this latter group, over it’s probably here to stay.

300,000 people in the first What do you do when seven days of the New Year the user becomes the signed up for the start-up used?

CodeAcademy’s computer programming lessons. If You can electronically mail your these companies are the correspondence to RAJIV NARAYAN at rrnarayan@ucdavis.edu. architects of the internet,

On my SOPA box

I

INITIATIVE

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.

Jason Alpert Editor in Chief

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

One Shields Ave. 25 Lower Freeborn, UCD Davis, CA 95616 Editorial (530) 752-0208 Advertising (530) 752-0365 Fax (530) 752-0355

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Printed Monday through Thursday during the academic year and once a week during Summer Session II at The Davis Enterprise, Davis, Calif., 95616.

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Views or opinions expressed in The Aggie by editors or columnists regarding legislation or candidates for political office or other matters are those of the editors or columnist alone. They are not those of the University of California or any department of UC. Advertisements appearing in The Aggie reflect the views of advertisers only; they are not an expression of editorial opinion by The Aggie.

The Aggie shall not be liable for any error in published advertising unless an advertising proof is clearly marked for corrections by the advertiser. If the error is not corrected by The Aggie, its liability, if any, shall not exceed the value of the space occupied by the error. Further, The Aggie shall not be liable for any omission of an advertisement ordered published. All claims for adjustment must be made within 30 days of the date of publication. In no case shall The Aggie be liable for any general, special or consequential damages. © 2009 by The California Aggie. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in any form whatsoever is forbidden without the expressed written permission of the copyright owner.

The California Aggie is printed on recycled paper

Cont. from front page committee. “The initiative also aims to improve diversity of the student body by bringing in more international and out of state students, financial stability and creating new revenues for the university and higher education.”

Three separate committees – the Academic Resources Committee, the Enrollment Management Committee and the Facilities Planning Committee – have been designated to help in the planning process of the initiative.

Committees will meet twice monthly from January through June.

“The task forces are one set of groups that will be providing input and advice regarding the many issues raised in the 2020 proposal,” said Ken Burtis, professor of genetics, faculty advisor to the chancellor and provost and chair of the enrollment management com-

your way of avoiding even more expensive takeout, remember that premade and over-packaged anything will up your bill.

Speaking of which, your Theresa next solution is to go as raw Richardson and simple as possible. Do this, and the better off you and your wallet will be. You can pay for the wrapping and time spent putting ingredients together, or you can do it yourself. You can also buy food that is no longer recognizable, or you can buy un-tampered f your student wallet is foods that are cheaper and like mine, it is probably healthier. Vitamins are full of wishful thinking often added to processed instead of money. And if foods, but no matter how you love to eat, an obvious fortified they are, the shortcoming is not being starting ingredients are able to afford pricey foods. likely way more nutritious Yet in an effort to stay than the end products. healthy, many students Even the process of continue to overspend on canning, for example, zaps nutrition. In an effort to out up to 90 percent of save money, many others vitamin C in canned fruit. turn to fast If you food for a want First off, simply cutting your natural solution.

In truth, meat consumption in half will do foods that both are higher wonders to your bill and self are expensive. in vitamins While and one makes you overpay minerals, an easy solution immediately, the other is is to first look down at your filled with external costs. grocery cart to see what Weight gain aside, a fast you have. Examples of food diet low in nutrients over-processed and overwill likely result in poor packaged foods include health, costing you more energy bars, canned soups, through supplements, pre-made and frozen doctor visits, fitness entrees, shakes and snacks trainers and over the in to-go cups. Hopefully, counter drugs. Even to you will instead see most of save money, we obviously your foods as close to their need good nutrition. The natural element as possible. problem is that many I say, 15 ingredients or less students don’t know how to is a good goal to shoot for. buy cheap and healthy at Foods in their natural the same time. element, of course, will Luckily, a nutritious diet easily spoil and be thrown does not have to poke your out when bought in bulk, paycheck with a fork. Or which many of us do. Not stab it with a knife. A few only do Americans love simple grocery rules will buying in large amounts, do. Not only will these tips but the average household lower your expenses, they also wastes 14 percent of its will also save you hidden groceries –– money simply costs by leaving you with lost in the trash. While I still an optimal brain, body and encourage buying in bulk, immune system. your budget is solved with First off, simply cutting this: only buy dry foods in your meat consumption bulk, not fresh. in half will do wonders to Purchasing fresh foods your bill and self. For one, in reasonable amounts this is typically the most will make them eaten, not expensive food group in thrown away. Super-sizing your shopping cart. Second, on dry foods, though, will leaning toward plant give you better deals. Even proteins like mushrooms, organic foods, such as peas, soybeans, tempeh, cereal, in bulk, will likely fit beans, nuts and oats can your budget. But is organic lower your risk for heart worth it? disease because their When it comes to organic, healthy oils and fibers lower higher price tags often cholesterol. Wheat gluten, convince us that organic low fat dairy and eggs can products are superior. It also be cheaper and great turns out that some organic sources of protein. foods can boost your What’s more? Doing this longevity, but there are probably won’t deprive many times when buying your body of protein, as it won’t make sense. Next the average adult already Wednesday, find out why eats about 55 percent and when to go organic. more protein than he or she needs. So consider THERESA RICHARDSON is bringing you adding the above foods the latest research to keep your college to your diet. It may be waistline and health in check. For questions tempting to instead buy a or comments contact her at terichardson@ ucdavis.edu. protein bar but, unless it is

Nutrition on a budget

I

mittee. “They are comprised of members from a diverse group of campus constituencies, including undergraduate and graduate students, staff, faculty and administration. Input will also be sought from other groups, for example the standing committees of the Academic Senate, ASUCD, community members, etc. , through events such as town hall meetings and other venues.”

The initiative comes in response to campus budgetary problems from a lack of sufficient funding.

“The chancellor, as well as other members of the faculty and administration of UC Davis, have all been challenged recently to envision ways in which the campus can maintain its traditions of access and excellence in the face of rapidly declining state support,” said Burtis. “The growth proposal envisioned in the 2020 Initiative was one of the several ideas that arose out of the challenges that we face, and was recognized by the chancellor as a possible way in which we could begin

to reverse some of the deleterious impacts of the decline in state funding.”

Although only in the planning stages, challenges in the application of the 2020 Initiative can be seen by some committee members.

“Again, I want to emphasize the fact that this is a proposal, not a set plan,” Bae said . “But if this initiative was to be enacted, then the biggest issue it might bring to the campus is the lack of resources that the university will be capable of providing to enhance not just academic life but the overall student life.”

In Chancellor Katehi’s Fall Convocation Address she outlined the objective of the proposal as creating “a university that can sustain its rising trajectory through its own best efforts, leveraging support from the state but rising above the fiscal limitations we now face.”

MAX GARRITY RUSSER can be reached at theaggie.org.

campus@

RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE

SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES DO NOT WORK

wednesday, january 25, 2012 3

The california aggie

Yolo Military Families group meets at Black Bear Diner Group meant to serve as comfort for military families

By ZANDER WOLD Aggie News Writer

For many Davis residents, the wars of recent years are a foreign issue not affecting their daily lives. For those with close relatives serving in the military, there is a support group helping to comfort them.

The Yolo Military Families group met Monday night at Black Bear Diner. The group was founded almost 10 years ago

by Cindy Schulze, whose son was in the Marines at the time.

Bob Glynn, a former Marine, and whose son Matt flew a fighter pilot in the war in Iraq, was one of the first participants of the group.

“The group started to form as a casual meeting of people,” Glynn said. “There were a couple of support the troop rallies, which helped meet other military families.”

The group meets about six times a year, and have a yearly fundraiser in the fall to raise money to send troops packages.

Linda Smith, who joined the group in 2006, now acts as the coordinator. Her son was deployed to Iraq twice, and she feels the war is completely different from the perspective of a family member.

“There is emotional sacrifice you have to deal with day to day when they are gone,” Smith said. “You carry a stress daily about

Galaxies Cont. from page 5 they do not actually interact as the clusters pass through each other. However, the hot gas is the one component that does collide, remaining in the center of the collision as momentum carries the clusters away from each other.

“The main purpose of studying merging clusters is to understand about dark matter,” said Perry Gee, a research specialist at UC Davis, who discovered the system.

Researchers are particularly interested in how the dark matter interacts in the system — or more to the point, how it does not. The dark matter of both galaxy clusters has not interacted with each other and remains surrounding their respective galaxies post-collision. By study-

if they will come home.”

The intention of the group is not just to provide comfort though. “[It is] a place to come and brag about our kids,” Smith said.

Joni Klein is in a similar situation. Her son Matthew works in intelligence and helps train Iraqis, which made him realize Americans and Iraqis are similar. She feels the group helps support her a great deal too.

“It’s been wonderful to have people in the same situation you are in,” Klein said.

“They are almost like family.”

While members of the group have close connections to troops serving in the military, for many Americans it is a foreign issue. Members of the group believe there are a few things many people do not realize about members of the military.

“They teach them a lot of respect for each other,” Klein said. “[Also], they come back as a hero.”

For Glynn, there is a different issue he feels is important that is going unnoticed. “[People] realize they are in harms way, but they don’t realize these kids are coming back and can’t find jobs,” he said. “Some have medical problems and have families; they need jobs.”

Glynn believes that as more troops are withdrawing from Iraq and Afghanistan, the unemployment rate is going to keep increasing because of the veterans looking

ing the Musket Ball Cluster system, William Dawson, a fifth-year Ph.D. student and head of the project, hopes to contribute to the developing understanding of dark matter.

Studying dark matter may seem abstract to some, but as one studies science, the future applications are not always clear.

“The hope is that it will be like Einstein’s [theory of] General Relativity, which one hundred years ago, when he came up with it, there was no application for,” theorizes Dawson, “But now, we’re completely dependent upon his theoretical work — our GPS systems would not work without these corrections.”

Scientists don’t yet know how knowing about dark matter could affect the future, but as Dawson said, “Maybe our grandchildren’s grandchildren will figure out some use for this dark matter, which

By Mary Posani

Apple, Inc. announced Thursday that it is tapping into the textbook industry with the new iBooks 2 application, with which users can download interactive textbooks to their iPad. The iBooks 2 app, the second generation app to Apple’s iBook, which allows users to download electronic books to their iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, educates students through interactive textbooks on the iPad. Students will be able to read textbooks, make notes and turn them into flashcards, zoom in on detailed pictures or define unknown words immediately.

Apple also announced iBooks Author, which allows users to create their own iBook and iTunes U, an app that allows those with iOS-capable devices to take high school and college-level courses for free.

“Without question, this is the direction (textbooks are) moving.” said Ken Petri, Ohio State U.’s director of web access.

Onlineeducation.net, a database for students to explore educational opportunities, reported in its latest blog post that on average, electronic textbooks are 53 percent cheaper than the hard copy.

As of Thursday, students can download the app and buy textbooks through iTunes at $14.99 or lower.

“Digital textbooks will dominate following a lifelong-learning subscription model; in essence an updatable ‘editionless’ text-

book,” Steve Acker, OSU research director on Ohio Digital Bookshelf, said in a press release. “The ‘net cost of use’ of digital should be 15 to 20 percent below costs available to students who purchase books.”

Some OSU students said they would use the new app if it becomes accessible to college students.

Edin Hadzic, a fifth-year in political science, said he would use the new app.

“I think going toward more computer-based stuff, ebooks, stuff like (that) will be beneficial because more and more students are using it, especially if it is cheaper and more accessible,” Hadzic said.

“Hopefully (textbook companies) will consider dropping their prices a little bit because textbooks are expensive, as everybody knows.”

Yet it might be a while before OSU will be able to adapt to this form of ebook.

Apple is targeting high school students and has partnered with high school textbook publishers McGraw-Hill, Pearson and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Some Ohio high schools have been using tablets for education. Columbus School for Girls, a K-12 private school, have used tablet PCs in the classroom for high school students since 2006, said Ben Liu, the IT Director at CSG. Liu said students use a stylus, which is an electronic pen, on the tablet’s screen for PC involvement during class. “(About) 70 to 80 percent

for jobs.

He is grateful however, that no one within the group has lost a family member while serving in the recent wars.

The group is appreciative of the community’s support, including Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) who lends them a classroom to help pack boxes and The Grad where the group’s annual fundraiser is usually held.

Even though it started as a Davis

makes up roughly 25 percent of the entire universe.”

Besides constraining the ideas of dark matter, there are several other important applications of studying the Musket Ball Cluster. Observing this system could help us to understand the evolution of galaxies based on changes to their environment, cluster systems as accelerators of high energy cosmic rays and whether the universe is composed of only matter (or perhaps matter and antimatter).

“If one [cluster] was composed of matter and the other antimatter, we would see lots of gamma rays as the matter and antimatter particles annihilate,” David Wittman, the project supervisor said. “The fact that we do not ... lends support to the idea that the entire universe is made of matter.”

Actual discovery of this system

Apple takes bigger bite out of textbook industry with iBooks 2 The Lantern (Ohio State University)

Evan Davis / Aggie

The Yolo Military Families group meets about six times a year at Black Bear Diner and acts as a support group to locals with family members in the military.

of students utilize the stylus for notes and projects,” Liu said.

However, Liu had no statistics stating the success rate of students using the tablet PC versus students who do not use tablets.

Petri said the new app can be adapted to collegelevel education.

“McGraw-Hill and Pearson have tons of books in college editions,” Petri said. “If you look on the store now, there is an algebra book, there is a biology textbook, there’s a chemistry book, and there is no reason at all that these can’t be more advanced textbooks available at a college level.”

Larry Rogers, a fifth-year in computer science and engineering, said this is another step toward the end of traditional publications.

“Everything is so digitized now-a-days anyway,” Rogers said. “I feel like there isn’t going to be any more type of publishing in the next five to 10 years. No newspapers, no textbooks, nothing. I feel like everything is going to be digital.”

Maggie Otto, a third-year psychology and international studies, said she would not use a digital textbook.

“Personally, I like books so I don’t want to get a Kindle because I like holding books in my hand. I think I focus better,” Otto said. “I just like having the textbooks and it makes me feel better to carry around and have to do this.”

The iBook 2 app can be downloaded from iBookstore, which can be found in the iTunes store.

exclusive group, it is now open to anyone within Yolo County.

Smith highly recommends anyone who has a sibling, child or other close relative serving in the military to join the group.

The meetings usually take place at Black Bear Diner.

“Support the troops,” Smith said. “To show [them] the people at home care.”

ZANDER WOLD can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

began in 1999 when Wittman used the Deep Lens Survey to scan the sky along with Tony Tyson of UC Davis and Ian Dell’Antonio of Brown University. It was not until 2006 that UC Davis researcher Gee discovered the system, which was first unrecognized by the less advanced cluster finding equipment.

In 2007, Gee passed the project on to Dawson who had more time to devote to the research.

A total of six telescopes were used to discover and map the system: the Hubble Space Telescope, the Subaru 8m Telescope, the KPNO 4m Mayall Telescope, the Keck 10m Telescope, the Chandra Space Telescope and the SunyaevZel’Dolvich Array.

algae

ALEX STANTON can be reached at science@theaggie. org.

BRIAN RILEY can be reached at science@ theaggie.org.

Cont. from page 5 contexts.

“It’s like a big street map,” Fiehn said. “If I want more traffic to go to San Francisco and less to Sacramento, then close Interstate 5, what happens?”

Fiehn explained that the Japanese funders are more focused on the possible technological fruits of the project, while the National Science Foundation, which is providing funding for the US side, is focused at this point more on the basic research angle.

e-mail interview.

Bill Daniels, chair of the Board of Directors for Vitalwear, Inc, met Chi six months ago when Chi became the CEO and board member. The company has faced many challenges over the last year and Daniels said that without Chi’s insight and engineering acumen the company would not have any hope of emerging from its economic setbacks.

“He has shown poise and leadership in the face of adversity. As an investor one of the nicest things I can say about someone is that I hope to work with them again, and I can say enthusiastically that I hope to work with Charlie on many projects in the future,” said Daniels in an e-mail interview.

In the future, Chi plans to continue to seek opportunities to address challenges and unmet needs in orthopedics and to do more traveling to countries like China, Vietnam and Japan.

“In today’s challenging environment, we have to be more creative to come up with new ways to address a particular problem. The education I received from UC Davis helped me think outside the box. My advice is: don’t be afraid to try something new or different just because it’s not the norm,” Chi said.

chi

Cont. from page 6 During that time he became interested in research and decided to return to UC Davis to obtain his Ph.D. “Besides the great professors and friends that I had the pleasure to meet and stay in touch with after graduating from UC Davis, I have to say the best memory I have at UC Davis was participating in the body building show during Picnic Day in 1998,” Chi said. “It took a lot of discipline and hard work to compare myself to get on stage for a three-minute posing routine.”

Evan Ng, a Partner at Dorsey and Whitney LLP, met Chi five years ago through OtisMed Corporation. He said that Chi’s attitude, confidence, integrity and strong moral character will position him for further success.

“I head our emerging companies practice and I see entrepreneurs coming through our offices every day. I haven’t seen an individual who is as well-rounded as [Chi]. He combines his talents as an innovator, a leader, and a motivator and applies them brilliantly in business. He grew a company from a concept on a napkin, got it financed with a top tier VC firm, and led the business to a successful sale to an industry giant,” said Ng in an PRISCILLA WONG can be reached at features@aggie.org.

Sleep texting a growing problem

By Jasmine Cannon

The Crimson White (University of Alabama)

Some students may find that their social life doesn’t end when they turn out the lights and their head hits the pillow each night.

There has been growing conversation about sleep-texting, which includes responding or sending a text message from a cellular device in the middle of one’s sleep. “[Sleep texting] would be some variation of sleep walking, where people engage in behaviors while asleep,” U. Alabama psychology professor Kenneth Lichstein said.

While texting in the middle of your sleep may not be an ideal situation, Lichstein said there is probably no harm psychologically to the individual. While the theory may not be known in every household, it is clear it does occur – especially among teenagers and college students.

“Sleep texting definitely can occur especially during the first two stages of sleep because you’re actually very alert, and you don’t actually fall into a deep sleep until right before you’re about to wake,” said FabryeAnne Robinson, a UA senior majoring in psychology.

Some students who are aware of the sleep texting phenomenon agree on its harmful side effects, such as disturbing both a good night’s sleep and social relationships.

“Even though you’re sleep texting and don’t know you’re doing it, your body is

still moving and still doing something, so you’re not completely at rest,” said D’Amber Chambers, a UA senior majoring in general health studies. “It might feel like a wear on your body. You might wake up tired and try to figure out why you’re still so tired, and it’s because while you’re asleep you’re still texting and moving around.”

“It does have some type of effect on who you’re actually texting,” Robinson said. “Sometimes you could be dreaming, and it could actually be happening, so it can have an effect on your relationships.”

Many believe we are in an age where everyone, especially young adults, is too attached to their cell phones. So, why can’t students let go of their cell phones for the sake of getting a good night’s sleep?

“It goes to show how much we rely on technology and texting now,” Chambers said. “It shows that we [text] too much to the point where we do it in our sleep.”

A study completed in November found a connection between stress and sleep texting. Dr. David Cunnington of Melbourne Sleep Disorder Centre in Australia concluded sleep texting is a result of people having too many responsibilities in their everyday lives, according to the British newspaper The Daily Mail.

Cunnington advised those struggling with the task to remove their cell phones from their bedrooms when hitting the hay. Texting less during the day can also help to prevent unwanted messaging.

4 wednesday, january 25, 2012

The california Aggie

men’s basketball PREVIEW Teams: UC Davis vs. UC Santa Barbara; vs. Cal Poly Records: Aggies, 1-17 (0-6); Gauchos, 9-7 (4-2); Mustangs, 12-8 (3-4) Where: The Pavilion When: Thursday at 7 p.m.; Saturday at 7 p.m.

Who to watch: This isn’t the senior season Eddie Miller would have hoped for.

One of only two seniors on the Aggie roster, Miller finished the 2010-11 season averaging 12.5 points per game — third most on a team that included Joe Harden and Mark Payne, who both rank in the top-10 of UC Davis career scoring records.

Unfortunately for Miller, a leg injury hampered much of his preseason work this fall and allowed him to play just 14 minutes through the first seven games of the season.

In his first game back from injury on Dec. 3 Miller played 19 minutes against

Idaho and scored 22 points, a season high. He followed it up with a team-high 16 points at Hawaii the next week.

Miller has struggled to get back to his best during Big West Conference play this year and had not scored in double digits since the game against Hawaii until this past weekend when he scored a team-high 12 points at Pacific.

“He was active defensively [against Pacific],” head coach Jim Les said.

“We talk about not focusing on offense but on the little things. Make a hustle play, rebound, that always seems to gets the offense going.

“We want Eddie to be aggressive offensively, do it within the framework of the offense and if he does he’s going to get good opportunities to make plays.”

Did you know? UC Santa Barbara head coach Bob

Williams was in charge of the UC Davis Aggies from 1990-98. Williams and the Aggies won the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship in 1998, and within days Williams left UC Davis to coach at UC Santa Barbara. It is the only national championship in UC Davis men’s basketball history.

Preview: Thursday’s Big West match-up against UCSB is only the third men’s game in the Pavilion since Dec. 3, as the Aggies return from their third three-game road trip of the season.

With another conference game on Saturday against Cal Poly as well, it won’t be an easy weekend at home for UC Davis, which is still winless against Division I opponents this year.

Both games of this weekend’s home stand will provide a stiff test for the struggling Aggies.

Against USSB, the young

UC Davis team must deal with Orlando Johnson, a 6’5” guard who last week was named to the Midseason Top 25 list of the John R. Wooden Award, given to the best player in the nation at the end of the season.

Still, the Aggies insist one player won’t change the way they game plan.

“We’ve faced great players all season long,” junior Paolo Mancasola said. Eddie Miller “It’s not going to senior be one guy that stops him, it’s going to be all five of us working together.”

The Aggies also must deal with the Gauchos’ stiff defense, which has held Big West opponents to just 38 percent shooting on the year — the lowest percentage allowed in

the conference.

UCSB also leads the Big West with an average of six blocked shots per-game, two thirds or them coming from Alan Williams and Greg Somogyi, centers who stand 6’7” and 7’3”, respectively.

S a t u r d a y against Cal Poly, the Aggies will face an opponent that is first in the Big West in defensive rebounding and second in offensive rebounding, behind UCSB. For UC Davis it will be important that big men Alex Tiffin, Josh Ritchart and J.T. Adenrele stay out of foul trouble.

In particular, Tiffin was called for three moving screens in the last contest; a similar performance this weekend would be detri-

mental to the Aggies rebounding strength and offensive production.

Les doesn’t consider rebounding solely the post players’ job though, insisting it is a team responsibility.

“We have to be a gang rebounding team,” he said.

“The onus is on everybody to be physical and chase down the ball.”

With the team struggling this year, Les is anxious to see his players consistently outworking his opponents on the court.

“We’ve got to start establishing the fact that were going to be a tough out here at home,” Les said. “Guys have to bring an energy and enthusiasm to the Pavilion on game night and make sure we’re the team that works the hardest and hustles the most.

“Then good things will happen.”

— Caelum Shove

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Room in 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 Michelle Lam: A Boat

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Science&Technology

wednesDAY, january 25, 2012 5

Marine life impacted by 2007 oil spill

Fitness scams

Severe abnormalities point to phototoxicity from San Francisco Bay

By ERIC C. LIPSKY Aggie Science Writer

In 2007, the San Francisco Bay area fell victim to an event called the Cosco Busan oil spill.

While the amount of oil spilled was relatively small, the effects on the marine life were anything but minor. Researchers from UC Davis and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) conducted experiments to see the effects that the oil spill had on the marine life in the area, and found that herring embryos showed severe abnormalities.

“We did careful assessments to see whether abnormalities were present,” said Gary Cherr, professor of environmental toxicology at UC Davis. “We found swollen hearts and irregular heart rhythms in the areas affected by the oil.”

Cherr said that the oil spill of about 54,000 gallons was about the size of a backyard swimming pool.

“We had a range of very different locations for sampling; some were urban and some were not,” Cherr said. “Surprisingly, the embryos naturally spawned in intertidal zones were dead; they were dissolving, almost unrecognizable as embryos.”

Cherr said that the embryos in the unaffected water were fine; meanwhile, the embryos that spawned in the oiled waters were victim to the worst effects. He said

they placed embryos near more urban areas, such as the I-580 Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, as a reference point to see if pollution was a factor in the abnormalities. The embryos by the bridge did not show the severe abnormalities, suggesting that the oil was the culprit.

He said that the cause of the severe abnormalities found in the herring can be attributed to phototoxicity, which is when a chemical leaves an organism much more sensitive to light.

“Oil compounds can be much more toxic in the presence of sunlight,” Cherr said. “This was a situation where you had the embryos in very shallow water and sunlight, so it was a classic example of phototoxicity.”

Cherr said that the herring still showed some very significant developmental abnormalities in 2009 and 2010.

“Concentrations of oil that weren’t lethal became lethal as a result of sunlight,” Cherr said.

John Incardona, supervisory research toxicologist at NOAA, said he was dumbfounded several weeks later, when seeing the results of the natural spawning in oiled sites.

“We were trying to understand what was happening, we were expecting to see subtle differences in their hearts,” Incardona said. “It took a lot of thinking to figure out what could be causing the abnormali-

that phrase the tagline of this column).

The fact is, it’s uncommon to lose very much weight when a person first Amy starts a fitness regimen unStewart less they have a great deal of weight to lose. Exercise alone doesn’t do much for weight loss; you may improve how capable you are of losing weight, but if you’re eating too many calories, the weight will stay on.

That’s not to say you won’t receive any benefit t was three in the morn- from exercise alone. Even if you never lose a pound, the ing, and once again I benefit to your heart health couldn’t sleep. As I usuis well worth the effort. The ally do when I can’t sleep, problem is that improved I turned on the TV and heart health doesn’t exactly flipped to the most boring have the same boost to the program I could find. ego as weight loss and isn’t Since it was three in as easily visibly apparent. the morning, I ended up There’s another probwatching infomercials. lem that advocates of long, “Are you ready for the intensive exercise have to INSANITY challenge?!?”

“I took the challenge and deal with, especially in people who weren’t particularlost 40 pounds!” ly fit at the start — injury.

“You’ll be in the best On a bioshape of mechaniyour life!” ... avoid late-night fitness DVD cal level, an Ah, the fitness inscams and the pounds will start injury happens when fomercial. coming off, right? the load apI wouldn’t plied to a normally tissue, such want to covas a muscle, exceeds its failer a product like this in a science column, but some- ure tolerance. If the failtimes a useful way of figur- ure tolerance of a muscle is low (especially if you ing out the good science is haven’t tried a regular exercomparing it to the bad. cise regimen before), then This one is particularit’s far easier to surpass that ly bad. Essentially, the breaking point.

“Insanity” work out consists of two months of high- Even interval training can cause injury if you aren’t intensity exercise six days careful. It’s even easier to per week, with short pereach the point of injuring riods of moderate exeryourself if you purposely try cise between work outs as a rest. This sort of plan may to get close to your breaking work if you’re already fairly point, as the Insanity work out advocates. in shape, but the infomercial and the before-and-af- A mistake in a work out is more likely than peoter pictures on their webple think. Yes, perseversite show that they’re taring through mild discomgeting people who don’t fort is important to fitnormally exercise (the beness. When the body is fore-and-after pics also showed that they apparent- doing something completely new that requires ly offered free tanning sereffort, it takes practice vices to one of the clients, but that’s beside the point). to make exercise normal.

Muscle soreness is a com Obviously, they didn’t mon side effect. However, talk much to fitness sci“just push through the entists before developing their plan; when there’s pain” is how you go from mild discomfort to an inmoney to be made from jury that delays your work people’s insecurities, who would? According to a 2007 out goals more than pacing yourself could have study from the University delayed you. of Guelph, the most effec It’s easy to see where the tive way to become more logic is coming from in fit and lose fat is interval training, a method in which this fitness plan. It makes sense on the surface to say, short bursts of intense ac“Well, a moderate work out tivity is interspersed with is good, but I’m not losing longer stretches of modermuch weight. If I work out ate exercise. In the study, both inexperienced people even harder, I should lose more weight!” and athletes were able to benefit from interval train- Unfortunately, becoming ing over intensive training, fit is a slow, frustrating proespecially in cardiovascular cess that probably won’t be health. They also increased solved by $145 in DVDs of a ripped guy yelling at you the amount of fat burned to “push it.” It will take the during the work out comdiscipline to change your pared to constant intense diet, the patience to realexercise. ize you’ll probably only lose So, add interval trainabout two pounds per week ing to that New Year’s resolution you made a month and the realization that ago, avoid late-night fitness the benefit to your health DVD scams and the pounds extends beyond simple weight loss. will start coming off, right?

Well, as usual, it’s a little more complicated than AMY STEWART can be reached at science@ theaggie.org. that (I should just make

I

courtesy

Fish embryos are harmed by light reacting with bunker oil. ties we were seeing.”

Bunker oil is thought to be the contributor to the effects observed in the herring.

“Bunker oil is more chemically complicated than crude oil. Crude oil goes to the refinery, where the lighter products are taken off; the concentrated part goes into bunker oil,” Incardona said.

Incardona said that they weren’t really thinking of phototoxicity as a factor because they had never seen effects like these.

He said that phototoxicity had mainly been talked about in lab settings, but that this was the first time where they had seen it demonstrated.

“It’s similar to how somebody takes a drug and becomes sensitive to sunlight. There is something in bunker oil that causes more damage to the tissues,” Incardona said. “All we know is that bunker oil has more of it.”

Carol Vines, assistant project scientist at the

UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory, also said the results were surprising.

“There were huge mortality rates in the embryos in the oil-affected area.

The mortality rate was almost 100 percent; it was shocking,” Vines said.

Vines said that in addition to swollen hearts and irregular heartbeats, they also found that the herring had bent spines, abnormal jaws and some opacity in the embryos — caused by restricted blood flow.

She said that this oil spill was similar to the 1989 Exxon-Valdez oil spill in Alaska, in terms of how the herring population was severely impacted.

“There needs to better categorization of crude oil,” Vines said. “However, we have to keep in mind that this is an isolated incident, and that it is not just oil spills that affect these populations.”

ERIC C. LIPSKY can be reached at science@theaggie.org.

Galaxy cluster collisions could help us understand dark matter Ph.D. student William Dawson leads research on post-collision system

By ALEX STANTON Aggie Science Writer

The UC Davis cosmological physics department discovered post-collision galaxy clusters 5 million light years away which may hold the potential to illuminate many mysteries of the universe.

The Musket Ball Cluster, so named because it is older and slower moving than the Bullet Cluster, represents the aftermath of two galaxy clusters which moved through each other, pulled by gravity. This particular system is important largely because it is one of few known collisions and, of those known, it is the farthest along its collision path.

Galaxy clusters are made up of three components: hundreds of galaxies, gas a thousand times hotter than the surface of the sun and dark matter. Due to the large distance between galaxies,

Evan Davis / Aggie

See GALAXIES, page 3

UC Davis graduate student William Dawson recently led research into how and why galaxy clusters like the Musket Ball and Bullet collide.

Energy through algae New joint project explores ways to use algae as source for biofuels

By BRIAN RILEY Aggie Science Writer

UC Davis colleagues are involved in a new joint project with an agency in Japan to explore new ways of creating biofuels for regular use, especially for use by automobiles, trucks and jets.

“Oil reserves won’t last forever,” said Oliver Fiehn, the director of the Metabolomics Research and Core Laboratories in the UC Davis Genome Center and research leader of the new project.

The goal of the joint project is to combine “perfect science and perfect application,” Fiehn said.

Biofuel technology involves the science of growing organisms and then extracting molecules that can be changed into a combustible form for fuel use, according to John Labavitch, a professor in the UC Davis Plant Sciences Department.

Using algae as biofuel in an industrial setting is a relatively new area of study. The problem of developing an industrial process of growing algae as a biofuel source is a long-term goal that cannot be

accomplished by any one specific research project at the present time.

“There are some obvious difficult points that must be addressed,” in order to create a workable process, Labavitch said.

One of the biggest engineering obstacles to be overcome is finding an appropriate place to grow algae that does not compete with regular food production. Jean VanderGheynst, a professor in the UC Davis Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department, who is also working on the project, says that the ocean would be an ideal place to grow algae to be used for biofuels, since the ocean would provide for a steady temperature.

“Think of enormous bags filled with algae where you have the algae being pumped through chambers in the surface,” VanderGheynst said.

VanderGheynst and Labavitch have also been working together for the past three years, using funding from Chevron, to study the most effective ways to grow

algae and use their component molecules as biofuel sources.

Another option would be growing algae in special pools in the desert, explains Labavitch.

“Algae grow very fast — in a week or two. You can harvest them and start again,” Labavitch said, thus creating a quick and efficient turnaround time.

Ethanol made from corn was the first biofuel developed for use on an industrial scale. Many scientists, though, are dissatisfied with ethanol due to its many drawbacks.

“Ethanol corrodes motors, pipelines and it’s not a highdensity fuel,” Fiehn said. “We need to get better and bolder than that.”

The low energy density of ethanol makes it unsuitable for use as a jet fuel, Fiehn emphasized.

Also, corn grown for ethanol production is grown on land, competing with food production.

“Algae don’t compete with agricultural land use,” Fiehn said.

VanderGheynst is hopeful about finding a way to more easily extract molecules from algae

courtesy

Algae growing in the ocean could be the new future of biofuels. that can be converted to combustible form.

“Certain algae will secrete lipid, so that you don’t need to break the cell wall open, and that would be a tremendous savings to the process,” she said.

The new joint project involves a strong orientation toward research in basic science, as ev-

idenced by the large chemical pathway chart on the wall of the conference room in Fiehn’s lab — a chart that is packed with intricately connected lines and symbols denoting various types of molecules and the chemical reactions that they undergo in various

See ALGAE, page 3

6 wednesday, january 25, 2012

The california Aggie

Concerts scheduled to date (in order of appearance):

Putting Davis on the map

Wilco Feb. 1, 8 p.m.

Jackson Hall (Mondavi Center) Sold Out Mondavi Aggie Arts is giving away two tickets to the sold out show. Visit their Aggie Arts Facebook page for details on how to enter the competition and win tickets.

Drake, Steve Aoki, The Shins, Florence and the Machine and many more scheduled to perform in Davis

By UYEN CAO Aggie Arts Editor

On Monday night, just six hours after posting a flyer announcing prominent hip hop, rap and R&B artists Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s arrival to Davis, ASUCD Entertainment Council’s link buzzed with 556 likes and 238 shares on Facebook — a record for the site.

Along with Drake and Kendrick Lamar, Entertainment Council has Steve Aoki, Datsik and The Shins (in association with the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center of the Performing Arts) lined up for, arguably, the most anticipated winter and spring season line-up for quite some time. Conceivably, this might just be the time for Davis to officially shake off its once-seemingly permanent reputation of being an exclusively small town with few outlets for entertainment.

“The university boasts of its diverse community and we want to do our best to provide something that everyone will like,” said Timothy Chin, assistant director at Entertainment Council and senior technocultural studies major. “We know we have a long

way to go in that regard and we are always looking for feedback, artist suggestions and student involvement.”

From The Shins’ American indie rock sound, to Steve Aoki and Datsik electro-house Deadmeat tour, to Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s hip hop style, Chin hopes that Entertainment council will begin attracting students with varying taste in music genres with an eclectic programming selection.

Drake and Kendrick Lamar are scheduled to perform at the UC Davis Pavilion, which has a capacity of nearly 8,000. Tickets go on sale Thursday and are sure to attract a large-encompassing demographic all over the region of Sacramento and Davis.

“I’m definitely going to the concert, as long as the tickets don’t sell out before I can get my hands on them,” said Elizabeth Vieyra, a first-year international relations major.

Additionally, tickets for indie pop band Florence and the Machine will go on sale Friday.

The concert is presented by the Mondavi Center.

As concerts in the past, like Tiësto or 30 Seconds to Mars,

Drake March 7 UC Davis Pavilion $49.75 upper level student pre-sale discount (limited) | $79.75 Lower level general admission | $59.75 upper level general admission Tickets are available for purchase starting Thursday from Freeborn Box office (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.). One ticket per student ID (maximum of 2 tickets with proof of second ID). Cash only.

Steve Aoki/Datsik Drake

Drake’s appearance is presented through collaborations between Entertainment Council and liveevent promoters like Live Nation or JMax Productions.

According to Henry Chatfield, Entertainment Council’s director, these collaborations have made it easier to access and attract large names in the industry to come perform in Davis.

“This year we took that one step further and I think our winter and spring programming really reflects that,” Chatfield said.

“We want to be an efficient and reliable connection between the students and promoters, which

courtesy

really benefits everyone.”

In the case of The Shins, Wilco and Florence and the Machine, Another Planet Entertainment teamed up with the Mondavi’s Aggie Arts (and Entertainment Council for The Shins) to present the scheduled live performances.

Entertainment Council and the Mondavi Center will continue expanding their events and bookings. Visit ec.ucdavis.edu (Entertainment Council) and mondaviarts.org (Mondavi Center) for updates and details on potential and scheduled performers.

UYEN CAO can be reached at arts@theaggie.org

March 14, 6:30 p.m.

Freeborn Hall $20 limited student presale tickets | $25 general admission Tickets are available at Freeborn Box office and deadmeattour.com/tour-dates.

Florence and the Machine April 18, 7:30 p.m.

Jackson Hall (Mondavi Center) $42.50 Tickets go on sale Thursday

Tickets are available at the Mondavi Ticket booth or ticketmaster.com.

The Shins April 23, 8 p.m.

Jackson Hall (Mondavi Center) $35 general admission Tickets are available at the Mondavi Ticket booth or ticketmaster.com.

campus CHIC.

By STEPHANIE B. NGUYEN Aggie News Writer

Finlay Pilcher, senior civil engineering major The Aggie: What are you wearing?

Pilcher: “A Forever 21 sweater, Zara skirt, Topshop over-theknee socks and Frye shoes. My necklace is J. Crew.”

How did you decide what to wear today?

“I’m pretty inspired by how people dress in the UK since I studied abroad there for a year last year. I really like pleated skirts. I try to wear high heels as much as possible even though no one does in Davis.”

Where do you find inspiration?

“I look at a few blogs. The Sartorialist is really good.”

What’s your advice for staying chic during the winter?

“I guess patterned tights and colorblocking, especially with scarves. That’s the easiest way, I think.”

STEPHANIE B. NGUYEN can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Stephanie Nguyen / Aggie

Alumnus innovates breakthroughs in orthopedics Charlie Chi founds medical device companies

courtesy

Dr. Charlie Chi founded OtisMed Corporation and RDI Medical Inc after graduating from UC Davis.

By PRISCILLA WONG Aggie Features Writer

A brand-new resident of the United States and unable to attend school without a green card, UC Davis alumnus and Taiwan native Charlie Chi, Ph.D., learned English by watching cartoons.

Yet, in 2005, Chi became the co-founder and CEO of OtisMed Corporation, a company dedicated to creating and distributing orthopedic technology and hardware.

Chi, who double majored in electrical engineering and computer science

engineering at UC Davis, served as the company’s president and CEO from 2005 to 2009. OtisMed Corporation seeks to address unmet clinical problems in orthopedics, and Chi’s goal in developing new technology is to assist surgeons in achieving more accurate alignment and positioning and increasing patient outcome.

Every year, thousands of people have orthopedic surgeries, such as knee and hip replacements. OtisMed’s technology combines imaging, such as MRI or CT scans, software algorithms and rapid manufacturing to provide surgeons with a very precise patientspecific instrument that is made using the patient’s own anatomy.

Recently he started and founded another medical device company called RDI Medical Inc, which focuses on the same goals as OtisMed. His vision for RDI Medical is to be the leader in providing products and services that enhance or support already existing software medical devices.

“Our mission is to be the leading value provider in the orthopedic industry by reducing costs for

patients, hospitals and health care providers, and increasing convenience and confidence for patients and physicians with better accuracy, outcomes and longevity of existing medical devices,” said Chi in an e-mail interview. “And, increasing compensation for hospitals and physicians with the highest quality products at the lowest costs.”

Born and raised for the first five years of his life in Taipei, Taiwan, Chi and his family immigrated to Bolivia in the mid 1970s, where they lived for two years.

He moved to Washington D.C. with his family for six months before moving to Virginia.

Once his parents learned that California offered free education to immigrants, he and his family once again moved to San Jose, California.

Chi graduated from Independence High School in San Jose, and after attending UC Davis for his undergraduate years, pursued a master’s degree at Santa Clara University again majoring in electrical engineering.

See CHI, page 3