serving the uc davis campus and community since 1915
www.theaggie.org
volume 131, number 81
monday, august 13, 2012
UC graduate programs may see a 35 percent tuition hike Fees would be in effect early this year By ANDREW POH Aggie News Writer
On July 18, the UC Board of Regents voted to raise the supplemental tuition for most of its graduate school programs by as much as 35 percent. Taking the brunt of the measure will be the UC system’s four nursing school programs, which will all see tuition increases of 35 percent. Most of the other programs should face a roughly 10 percent increase, which could amount to $1,500 for some of the more costly programs that the system has to offer. Some are already re-evaluating future plans in the wake of the news. “I was strongly considering getting my MBA from a UC,” said Sunny Wong, a recent UC Santa Barbara graduate. “Now I’m leaning toward working a few years to pay back my undergraduate loans first.” The decisions were granted as requests by the professional programs to either raise their current fee or implement a fee when no fee had previously been required. The fees will be implemented as early as this year, but some programs may see gradual increases annually until 2015. Student Regent Jonathan Stein and Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom voted in opposition of the hike with the remainder of the board voting in favor. At the same meeting, the UC Board of Regents decided to freeze the cost of tuition for undergraduates for the time being, as long as Proposition 30 passes. Though Stein has expressed enthusiasm for the undergraduate tuition freeze, his feelings aren’t the same for the graduate school situation. "How can we expect people to be a public defender or work for the government with a debt load of $150,000?" he said in a July 19 article in the San Francisco Chronicle. "I just don't understand that." Nevertheless, the initiatives have passed and the effects will soon be felt. Undergraduates will be getting a little room to breathe for the time being; however, the respite may be short-lived. "This is a matter of all hands on deck. Let's pull together for the university and for our country," Gov. Jerry Brown said at a surprise appearance at a meeting following the Board of Regents meeting.
Irisa Tam / Aggie
Vice Provost Patricia Turner to leave UC Davis for UCLA Turner named Dean and Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education at UCLA
Patricia Turner
courtesy
By GHEED SAEED Aggie News Writer
Patricia Turner, UC Davis’ Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, will be joining the Bruin team as Dean and Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education at UCLA. Turner will be succeeding Judith L. Smith, UCLA’s current Dean and Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education, who will be retiring after 16 years of service to the University. Turner has been active within the University of California system, beginning her career as a Ph.D. graduate student from UC Berkeley in 1985. "We all recognize that undergraduate education is of paramount importance to UCLA, and I am confident that Pat will provide outstanding leadership as vice provost and dean," said UCLA Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Scott Waugh in announcing the appointment on July 11 in the UCLA Newsroom. Turner joined the UC Davis faculty in 1990 as a faculty member in African American and African studies. She has held her current position as Vice Provost for Undergraduate
See TURNER, page 2
ANDREW POH can be reached at city@theaggie.org.
News iN Brief
UC Davis fraternity closed for alcohol violations Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE), UC Davis’ oldest fraternity, has been given a five-year ban by its national headquarters for serving alcohol to minors. Minors were served alcohol at two different events in January and February. This is the second major violation for the organization in three years, as it was still on probation in 2009 when it received a two-year penalty for similar violations. The decision to strip the organization of its presence on campus was made April 2, but only recently was it made public. The fraternity, which was removed from the Interfraternity Council at UC Davis, cannot use campus resources or raise funds for activities during its ban. Due to the ban, SAE’s national organization and headquarters, which are based in Illinois, will not recognize the campus chapter and the 50 residents of SAE are suspended until graduation. According to SAE spokesperson Brandon Weghorst, they can become SAE alumni after that time. — Muna Sadek
Today’s weather Sunny High 104 Low 64
City of Davis encourages neighborhoods to use Nextdoor Nextdoor aims to enhance neighbor-to-neighbor communication By CLAIRE TAN Aggie City Editor
On July 18, the City of Davis launched its Nextdoor site — a free, private social network that allows for neighborhood and citywide communication. Together with Nextdoor, the city established 33 neighborhoods. “It gives neighborhoods the ability to create their own private website, to talk to their neighbors about what’s important to them, whether it’s crime and safety, civic issues, reporting lost pets or exchanging advice and recommendations,” said Nextdoor’s senior communications manager Kelsey Grady. “We’re really just giving neighborhoods ways to meet each other and communicate with each other.” According to Grady, when a city gets on board with Nextdoor, they get a Nextdoor city page that lets the city target messages to certain neighborhoods, if, for example, there’s a water main break that affects particular neighborhoods in Davis. “It allows us another communication mechanism to talk to the residents,” said Stacey Winton, community partnership coordinator for the City of Davis. To date, about 21 neighborhoods in Davis use Nextdoor. Although 33 were initially set up, a couple have broken out into smaller areas. “At least two-thirds of the city has been claimed by a leader and have people signing up,” Winton said. “It really started with Davis Neighbors Night Out, to get people out into the street and have a block party to meet people.” Winton said sometimes block parties don’t help with curbing the anxiety people may have when going out and meeting new people.
“Nextdoor is kind of like a step back from that,” Winton said. “You get to know people, who they are, where they live and what kind of things are being talked about.”
Irisa Tam / Aggie
Additionally, the City of Davis’ funding has been cut back dramatically, so the city has been looking for no-cost or very low-cost means to get the word out to people about different city issues, Winton said. “It doesn’t cost us anything; it doesn’t cost the city anything,” said President of the Old North Davis Neighborhood Association Steve Tracy. “The city just wanted us to try it out. We’re probably the first organization to take it on.” Founded in October 2011, Nextdoor is cur-
Forecast In an unexpected twist ... It’s still hot in Davis. Expect triple digits for the next couple days and remember to stay hydrated! Written by Amanda Nguyen Forcast courtesy of www.weather.com
Tuesday
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High 102 Low 64
High 97 Low 61
rently active in over 4,000 neighborhoods across 48 states. “We see that Nextdoor is working in urban areas and suburban areas on the West Coast and East Coast,” Grady said. “There’s a lot of data online that shows a lot of people don’t know their neighbors and we’re trying to change that.” Each neighborhood’s site operates similarly to Facebook, with its interface taking cues from the widely used social network. Every site has a wall, as well as the option to form groups and events and upload pictures, with each household also having their own profiles. In addition, Grady said each neighborhood site can post updates on crime and safety and has functions similar to Yelp and Craigslist. “The neighborhood map is a big thing that attracts people into using Nextdoor,” Grady said. “We’ve seen a lot of people give up Yahoo! groups or a LISTSERV and get on Nextdoor because it’s kind of the new, more updated way to connect to their neighbors.” Grady said Nextdoor is more of a utility network instead of a social network. “It’s more about solving problems,” she said. “We use ‘social network’ a lot because more people understand what it means now.” Tracy said one of the values of using Nextdoor is not having to find a webmaster to maintain or structure the neighborhood website. “The value is higher for the other neighborhoods where they only meet when there’s a crisis,” Tracy said. “I think it’s a good thing for the city if more neighborhoods use it.” CLAIRE TAN can be reached at city@theaggie.org.
Something to keep you going while you’re pulling your next all-nighter: If you stay up all night, your body burns an additional 161 calories. Amanda Nguyen