serving the uc davis campus and community since 1915
www.theaggie.org
volume 131, number 57
TUESDAY, MAY 1, 2012
Fundraiser keeps KDVS afloat in the sea of sound
May marks Bike Month in Davis City and region will take part in a Million Mile Challenge
Campus radio station earns $44,559 in community support
By ANDREW POH Aggie News Writer
Bikan Agahi / Aggie
KDVS, formerly known as KCD, has been operating on the UC Davis campus since February 1, 1964.
By JUSTIN ABRAHAM Aggie News Writer
KDVS 90.3 FM completed its annual fundraising event on Sunday, raising $44,669 to sustain a tradition of alternative broadcasting for radio and online listeners. The station held its annual fundraiser from April 23 to 29, hoping to meet an ambitious $64,000 goal. KDVS increased this targeted amount from $60,000 last year to $64,000 in preparation for its 50th anniversary in 2014, according to Neil Ruud, KDVS general manager and senior political science major. “KDVS was formed by stu-
dents in 1964, so that’s where the ‘64,000’ comes from,” he said. “In two years we’re celebrating the 50th anniversary and we’re trying to ramp up the programming.” Donations received during the fundraiser week have exceeded $60,000 before, but pledges collected this year fell short of the targeted amount, reflecting similar shortcomings in recent years. Though the official fundraiser ended last Sunday, KDVS urges listeners and supporters to contribute much-needed donations throughout the entire year. At $140,000, the operating budget for KDVS is the lowest among UC-sponsored college stations.
ASUCD contributes approximately $40,000, a steadily decreasing number as a result of university budget cuts. Proceeds from the fundraiser comprise a significant portion of the budget and remain a critical financial resource, since KDVS cannot receive advertising revenue like commercial stations. “The fundraiser enables us to exist as an independent, noncommercial operation,” Ruud said. The pledge money goes towards supporting 24/7 broadcasting, maintaining a broadcast range
See KDVS, page 2
ICC’s Countdown to Summer Welcome to week five of the ICC’s Countdown to Summer! Each week the Internship and Career Center (ICC) will highlight a task that will help you be prepared to land a job or internship by summer. Breaking the process down to weekly tasks will make it less daunting and will yield success. This week we answer the questions: “How do I write a cover letter? How do I communicate with potential employers?”
Writing a cover letter
Your cover letter helps bridge the gap between the employer and your resume and gives them a better idea of who you are. A cover letter explains what you can bring to the position and why you’re a good candidate for the job. Format: Use a standard business format for your letter. Visit the ICC Career Resource Manual online for samples. Opening: Open a cover letter with “Dear Ms./Mr. (employer’s last name):” Research the organization’s website to find the contact information of the person you need to reach. If you’re still not sure, you can open with “Dear Internship Coordinator” or “Dear Members of the Search Committee.” Introduction: The first paragraph is used to introduce yourself and explain how you found out about the job. Be sure to mention the title of the position, name of anyone who referred you to the opening and an overview of your interests and qualifications. Body: You can use the body paragraph(s) to analyze your background and skills in relation-
ship to the job description. Your goal is to give examples that demonstrate your qualifications so that you can land an interview. In this section you want to focus on what you can bring to the company instead of what the company can give you. Closing: Start the concluding paragraph with a one-sentence summary of your qualifications. Tell the employer how you plan to follow up and thank them for reviewing your materials. Signature: A standard signature for a cover letter is “Sincerely,” If you are going to send your cover letter electronically, it’s fine to type your name with a script font as a signature. Otherwise, it’s best to print and sign your cover letter. Tips: Show your passion and enthusiasm for the position you’re applying for throughout your cover letter! Check the spelling and grammar of your letter repeatedly. If an employer sees misspellings or improper grammar, they may discard your application.
Professional e-mail correspondence Communicating
with
poten-
tial employers is all about professionalism. If you went to the career fair recently, following up on opportunities will help you stand out from the pack.
If you’ve ever set foot outside of your dorm, apartment or lecture hall, it should be painfully obvious that bikes make up an integral part of the Davis community. You’d be hard-pressed to find any spot in the city without a skirmish line of bikes perched outside. What sets this month apart is that there will be an ongoing series of events in which several groups throughout Davis will be holding various activities and events supporting and encouraging biking around the city. According to the League of American Bicyclists, Bike Month has been a national event that has been going on for the past 55 years. The League touted the month as “the perfect time for new or returning riders to get back on the saddle and ride their bike to work.” According to the League’s website, Bike Month was originally intended to promote the sale of bicycles, but in the years since has been more focused on safe cycling and promoting the act of bicycling itself. A press release from the City of Davis states that the events scheduled for Bike Month will promote the “positive health, social and environmental impacts of bicycling.” In tandem with the festivities, Davis will also be taking part in a Million Mile May challenge in which the community will be encouraged to use bicycles to run errands and commute. On the website mayisbikemonth.com, participants can sign up to log their bike miles, win prizes and track the number of pounds of CO2 and other pollutants that are prevented from being released into the atmosphere by biking rather than using other forms of transportation. Davis will be joined by the rest of the Sacramento region in the colossal effort to log a million bike Irisa Tam / Aggie miles. A kickoff event will be held
ANDREW POH can be reached at city@theaggie.org.
Aggies Abroad Spotlight
Here are some tips and tricks! • Make sure your e-mail has a professional subject (e.g.: Internship Opportunity from UC Davis Career Fair) • When following up from a fair or other initial meeting, be sure to restate where you met as well as your interests and qualifications and send a resume specifically tailored to that position. • Make sure your tone is professional. Resist using exclamation marks, smiley faces and caps lock. • If you are attaching a resume and cover letter, keep the body of your e-mail short and use a single document for the cover letter and resume. • For ease of opening, submit documents in .pdf and .doc formats. Katie Stewart is an Agricultural and Environmental Sciences peer advisor with the ICC. As an Animal Science major she looks forward to spending her last quarter at UC Davis milking cows and is applying to veterinary school in the fall. The UC Davis Internship and Career Center (ICC), located on the second and third floors of South Hall and online at iccweb.ucdavis. edu, has decades of success helping to launch Aggies on their professional paths, and its services are FREE to currently enrolled UC Davis students.
in Sacramento today starting at 11 a.m. at Fremont Park between Q and 16th Street. Davis will have its own events peppered throughout the month. If you don’t have a bike but are eager to participate in the month’s events, consider attending the bike auction on May 5 hosted by TAPS. The auction will take place on campus at the West Entry Parking Structure from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. On May 16, there will be a Bike Picnic at Central Park, located on Third and C Street, and on the next day, the Chamber of Commerce will hold a Celebrate Davis event at the community park on F and Covell. Davis Loopalooza will be a family-oriented event in which families can ride a 12-mile circuit, visiting various booths and collecting stamps in passports given out at the start of the bike loop. The event will take place on May 6 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The month’s festivities will be rounded out by the Tour de Cluck on May 26. The event is funded by the Davis Farm to School Connection and will feature a Tour de Cluck Fowl Food Fair at the Davis Farmers Market. Later in the day, a chicken coop crawl will be held throughout various Davis neighborhoods. Further information and tickets will be available on tourdecluck.org. If you’re interested in the information above or would like to look into more events, visit cityofdavis.org. Events involving the entire Sacramento region can be located in the events section of mayisbikemonth.com.
(From left) Kelsey Easterly, Jonji Barber and Jessica Martin trekked across the Andes Mountains during UC Quarter Abroad, Argentina in 2010. — Written by Erin Migdol — Photo by Jonji Barber
Recruiters aim to shift paradigm Athletes expected to be students too By CHELSEA MEHRA Aggie Features Writer
Special treatment toward NCAA athletes
Today’s weather Mostly clear High 79 Low 53
— academic leniency, expensive equipment, heavy recruitment, etc. — is often cited as a major concern by the general public. But while there is the widespread conception that “professional” athletes receive greater benefits than “recreational” ones, members of the UC Davis athletic department consider their recruitment
Forecast “It’s a beautiful day” as Bono sings it. Even the slight chance of rain on Thursday will not drastically bring the temps down, nor will it put much of a damper in your day. Pun intended. Tyson Tilmont, atmospheric science major Aggie Forecasting Team
program to be fairer than their collegiate counterparts. Football head coach Bob Biggs and his 15 assistant coaches work out of offices on the second floor of Hickey Gym. Most sit at their desks watching video, crunching performance statistics, and, in the case of assistant coach Matt Wade, recruiting young stars for the future of the team.
Wednesday
Thursday
Partly cloudy
Chance of showers
High 73 Low 50
High 69 Low 49
“A part of my job is dividing the state of California into sections. Every coach has a number of schools that we call their ‘area.’ We will travel around, get to know specific coaches and recruits in that area the best we can,” Wade said. Members of the athletic department are
See ATHLETES, page 4
TEXTING WHILE DRIVING KILLS. So, please, the next time you decide to cut me off, put your phone down and pay attention to the damn road. Mimi Vo