May 16, 2012

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volume 131, number 66

wednesday, may 16, 2012

Student fees pay for different aspects of campus Select student fees face minor increases By MUNA SADEK Aggie Associate Editor

Irisa Tam / Aggie

The total amount due of UC Davis undergraduates for student fees during the 2011-2012 school year was $15,123.36 ($5,041.12 per quarter), $11,220 ($3,740 per quarter) of which is for tuition. Fees increased by 15.6 percent since last fall. With the exception of the tuition (educational fee), $3,903.36 annually ($1,301.12 per quarter) is used for services such as Unitrans ($6/quarter), student health ($44/quarter), facilities safety ($22/ quarter) and ASUCD ($35/quarter). In 1940, though student fees were significantly lower, it was difficult to find exactly what the fees were paying for when the first study on incidental fees occurred. During that year, fees also increased

ASUCD senator aims to introduce A+s A+ could improve GPA or counteract a lower grade

By MAX GARRITY RUSSER Aggie News Writer

Senator Patrick Sheehan recently proposed to the UC Davis Academic Senate the idea of quantifying A+s so that students who receive the above average grade are rewarded for their efforts through an increase in their GPA. In his two proposals for a GPAcalculable A+, an A+ could either be weighted as 4.3 on the grading scale or it could be used to counteract a lower grade of a class in the same department. Academic Senate’s Committee on Elections, Rules and Regulations (CERJ) also assisted in organizing the proposal. As a major theme of his argument, Senator Sheehan cited that the reward in achieving an A+ grade would serve as an incentive for students. These proposals have yet to be approved

by the UC Davis Academic Senate. “Anything going through the Academic Senate is going to take a lot of time, especially if it’s a contentious issue,” said Sheehan, a sophomore political science major. “What did end up happening was that my intern and I drafted two separate proposals.” Sheehan cited that the two Academic Senate committees that were in charge of reviewing his suggestions for an A+ system gave criticism on the complexity of the plans. “They said the proposals we came up with were too complicated,” Sheehan said. “We were trying to combat discrepancies between majors and departments.” Another qualm that the Academic Senate committees had with the plan was the possible negative effects on how graduate programs looked at the UC

Davis grading system. “They said we don’t want to break the 4.0 grading scale,” Sheehan said, referring to the resistance he encountered from the Academic Senate’s Undergraduate Council. One of the alternative solutions offered by the Academic Senate committees was to place the number of A+s a student receives at the very top of their transcript so they are more visible. The Academic Senate’s role is unknown to most undergraduate students as most of their proceedings and rulings take place behind the scenes of everyday student life and the senate is primarily comprised of tenured professors. “The Board of Regents has delegated to the Academic Senate control over academic matters

UC Davis Triathlon Team pushes to improve their national rankings

courtesy

By KIM CARR

Aggie Sports Writer

Completing a triathalon will leave you with a burning in your lungs, searing pain in your legs and that delightful crunch in your hair from too much chlo-

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rine exposure. In some ways, triathlons require the perfect athlete, someone who is talented in three areas of exercise and has the willpower to push themselves through such an arduous race. Since its inception in 2002,

See FEES, page 2

Five-million-dollar project lends Jewish students a new home Davis Hillel House open to Jewish and non-Jewish students alike

See ASUCD, page X

Triathalon team takes full squad to Nationals for the first time ever

The UC Davis Triathlon Team sent their first full squad to Nationals this year.

from $13.50 to $20. It was suspected that the money went to library enhancement, sports facilities and health services. The UC Davis Council on Student Fees (CSF) is organized to address systemwide matters about student registration and service fees and is an advocate for UC students and the services provided to them through student fees. CSF represents the Student Services and Fees Administrative Advisory Committee (SSFAAC). SSFAAC is responsible for creating and directing sums of money that comprise the Student Service Fee (Registration Fee) which every student must pay each quarter, so that it is of the greatest benefit to students.

the UC Davis Triathlon Team has been full of Aggies who devote most of their year to training for these races. The club is led by fourth-year coach John Hansen who has been a prominent figure in the sport for over 35 years. He is a former triathlete and a respected coach who has helped students complete triathlons of all levels, including the coveted IronMan World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. He started the UC Davis Tri Team about a decade ago, and UC Davis considers this team to be part of the program’s “first generation of triathletes” to compete in a collegiate triathlon division. “My goal for every team, every year is for athletes to have the experience of being on the team, getting involved in a great sport and participate in at least one race per season,” Hansen said. The Davis squad com-

See AGGIES, page X

Forecast Take a break from enjoying the warm weather and watch the solar eclipse this Sunday at 6:30 PM. My instincts tell me that you probably shouldn’t look directly at the sun if you want to see the next solar eclipse on the west coast which won’t happen until 2017. Kenneth Doss, atmospheric science major Aggie Forecasting Team

Shazib Haq / Aggie

Construction on the newest $5,000,000 Davis Hillel House, located in Downtown Davis, was finished in 2012. It has a basement activity center, offices, meeting rooms, a kosher kitchen and a chapel.

By ANI UCAR

Aggie News Writer

Fifteen years of designing and 14 months of construction later, the sprawling 9,700-square-foot Davis Hillel House recently opened its doors to the community. Located at 328 A St. in Downtown Davis, the Hillel House has been dedicated to leading donor Sam Len, who passed away in January. The house offers students a convenient stop of comfort close to campus. “It is exactly as I envisioned it to be,” said Capital Campaign Manager Raphael Moore. “It’s a home for students who need a warm place, a listening ear and a warm meal.” Three levels are fully equipped with the only kosher kitchen in Yolo County, a café with wireless internet, a solar electric system, 14 toilets, an underground ballroom, religious spaces, meeting areas, elevators (making it wheelchair accessible), a den and a dumbwaiter. “It really is a home away from home for students,” Moore said. The café provides whiteboards, tables, chairs and a developing student-run bakery. “The café is definitely my favorite room,” Moore said. “Café Hillel is a wonderful place for students; it’s a combination of everything: a place to eat, meet, chat and relax.” As a UC Davis student 25 years ago, Moore was an involved mem-

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ber of Hillel when it used to be a 1,100-square-foot bungalow with a single bathroom. “I didn’t feel like it was a very good Jewish home; it didn’t meet the students’ needs that it had promised,” Moore said. In an effort to revamp the house into a place where both Jewish students and non-Jewish students could interact, study and relax, Moore joined the board of directors 10 years later. “After 15 years of designing what I dreamed to be the perfect house, I know where every outlet, every light switch and door should be,” Moore said. The house was designed to be eco-friendly and is one of the first “green” Hillel buildings in the country. “It is up to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards in terms of green technology and green building,” said Hillel’s Programming Director, Maiya Chard-Yaron. The facility provides spaces that can be rented out to the community for a myriad of events. “The 625-square-foot commercial kosher kitchen allows us to host Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, weddings, graduation parties, anything you want,” said Hunter Launer, one of four student members on the board of directors and a senior neurology, physiology

See HILLEL, page X

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May 16, 2012 by The California Aggie - Issuu