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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
Wednesday
Sunny
Partly cloudy
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
Page TWO
2 monday, august 13, 2012
daily calendar dailycal@theaggie.org
Campfire
TUESDAY
7:30to 8:30 p.m. Maidu Museum Enjoy an evening in the museum amphitheater with family and friends around a campfire. Listen to native stories and songs under the stars and roast marshmallows for a sweet ending to the perfect family gathering. No reservations required. The event costs $5 per person or $16 for family of four with $5 for each additional person. Children under 2 are free.
UC Davis Extension Professional Education Showcase 5 to 7 p.m. Sutter Square Galleria, 2901 K St., Sacramento Learn how continuing and professional education opportunities in 16 growing industries – including Project Management, Green Building and Health Informatics – can advance your career. Free parking will be provided. Visit www.extension.ucdavis. edu/showcase for more information.
9 to 10:30 a.m. Wyatt Deck Enjoy the cathedral-like cool and quiet of the redwood grove and learn about the plants of the redwood forest understory.
5:30 to 8 p.m. The lawn behind Shriners Hospital for Children, 45th and X Street, Sacramento This is a free community event featuring R&B, funk and contemporary jazz music by Sacramento’s Mercy Me! The familyfriendly, alcohol-free and smoke-free event includes a fun kid’s zone, which will open at 5:30 p.m. Concert to begin at 6 p.m. Food and drinks will be available for purchase. Bring your chairs or blankets and dance the evening away! Free parking available in Lots 14 and 16 on Second Avenue east of Stockton Blvd.
Men’s Soccer 5 to 6 p.m. Aggie Soccer Field Watch the UC Davis men’s soccer team play against Chico State.
Art Walk: A Night Out at the Museum 6:30to 8:30 p.m. Maidu Museum Filmmaker, graphic designer and Tribal Advocate Joseph Arthur will be showing several short films shot with the RED camera by his Native American film team over the last couple of years and music videos featuring such notables as Taylor Swift. This is a free event with light refreshments.
FRIDAY Folk Music Jam Session Noon to 1 p.m. Wyatt Deck Folk musicians bring their acoustic instruments – fiddles, guitars, banjos, mandolins, squeeze boxes, you name it – and play together informally over the lunch hour. All skill levels are welcome and listeners are invited.
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.
Women’s Soccer 5 to 6 p.m. Aggie Soccer Field Watch the UC Davis women’s soccer team play against Fresno State.
police briefs THURSDAY
A group of intoxicated people hopped the fence to an apartment pool on J Street, and one of the males was running around naked.
Planking is SO over A man was reported lying facedown on J Street.
SATURDAY
It’s in the cards
Domestic foul
A person a girl believes to be her stalker left her a note saying they only have a little time left on Olive Drive.
A group of roosters was believed to be wandering around and making noise in the cemetery on Regis Drive.
School of Rock
Stealing the spotlight
Though no cars were present and all lights were off, the office doors were wide open and music was playing in the office of a school on E. Eighth Street.
Somebody tried to steal a light pole out of a resident’s front yard for the third time, leaving a muddy handprint behind on Oak Drive.
FRIDAY
Police briefs are compiled from the City of Davis daily crime bulletins. Contact EINAT GILBOA at city@theaggie.org.
Wet reckless
fairly busy, but whenever he goes home, his mother makes him lunch, with food that she has prepared and packed in containers for him. “It’s great that I get food from home because it’s healthy — usually, I have rice, some sort of meat and vegetables,” Lam said. “[Also,] bringing your own lunch to school saves a lot of money because you can pack according to how much you eat; sometimes when you purchase food, you get too much or too little.”
LUNCH
Cont. from page 4 and a part-time job at the library, which doesn’t leave her with a lot of time to pack her lunch, even though she’d like to. “I don’t bring lunch, but if I had time, I would definitely do it. It’ll probably save me money in the long run. But now, I either buy lunch or if I have a break in between classes, I go home and eat something real quick,” Huerta said. Charles Lam, a thirdyear human development MICHELLE RUAN can be reached at major, also said that he is features@theaggie.org.
You’re probably ten feet from a bin right now.
Recycle the aggie.
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.
Janelle Bitker Editor in Chief
Matthew Yuen Sports Editor
Hannah Strumwasser Managing Editor
Hudson Lofchie Science Editor
Jonathan Wester Business Manager
Dylan Gallagher Opinion Editor
Claire Tan City Editor Elizabeth Orpina Arts Editor Devon Bohart Features Editor
UC Davis professor, students involved with research
Guided Tour: The Redwood Grove — So Cool!
UC Davis Health System Summer Concert
Muna Sadek Campus Editor
‘Curiosity’ rover makes spectacular landing on Mars
SATURDAY
THURSDAY
Caelum Shove Advertising Manager
The california Aggie
Joey Chen Copy Chief Brian Nguyen Photography Editor Janice Pang Design Director Amanda Nguyen Night Editor Irisa Tam Art Director
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Mars Curiosity
courtesy
By BRIAN RILEY Aggie Science Writer
After “Mars Curiosity,” a space probe sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), successfully landed on Mars Aug. 5, UC Davis researchers continued to work. The 567-million-kilometer journey marked the 12th successful NASA Mars mission out of 16 attempted since 1964. Dawn Sumner, UC Davis associate professor in geology, is a member of the Mars Exploration Program Advisory Group, a group of NASA scientists who help determine
the goals of NASA’s Mars projects. “We have to make decisions every day as to what the rover is going to do,” Sumner said. For more than eight years, the US has had a continual robotic presence on the Martian surface. Another Mars rover, named “Sojourner,” landed on Mars in 1997 and was the first probe to use the technique of landing a rover by allowing it to bounce on the surface using an air bag. “The [Curiosity] rover is so big that they couldn’t use the same air bag landing system,” Sumner said. One of Sumner’s stu-
dents, Amy Williams, a fourth-year Ph.D. student in geology, is also involved with the Mars Curiosity mission. She’s a member of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) science team and will help choose science targets on the ground to answer questions. Williams has had an interest in space exploration for many years. “I’ve always been kind of a sci-fi nerd, and enjoyed the thought of searching for life in the universe,” Williams said. “When the chance to work with Dawn and MSL came around, it seemed like the perfect fit — an opportunity to be-
come an astrobiologist.” Williams is currently working with Athena Phan, a UC Davis undergraduate and member of Sumner’s team. “I’m doing an analogous research project [on Earth] because the exploration for evidence of life on Mars begins with comprehending how life is imprinted on Earth,” Phan said. The Mars Curiosity rover could be functional for several years and NASA scientists will be working to obtain funding to continue the project into the future as long as is desired. BRIAN RILEY can be reached at science@ theaggie.org.
Aggies finish first week of preseason practice Coach Biggs’ final season has optimistic outlook By MATTHEW YUEN Aggie Sports Editor
Summer is a time for fun, which for many college students involves sleeping in and relaxing. However, there are some who define fun as waking up at six in the morning and working tirelessly in the hot August sun. The UC Davis football program recently completed its first week of practice, in a season that is already under unprecedented circumstances. The 2012 season marks the twentieth and final year with Bob Biggs at the helm of the program. Almost as if they are just passing each other by, Terrance Tumey will assume his role as the UC Davis Athletic Director in 2013. The Aggies sported a 4-7 record last season, with notable victories over rival Cal Poly in the Battle of the Golden Horseshoe and over Sacramento State in the Causeway Classic. Looking forward, UC Davis has shown hints of a promising season in its first season in the Big Sky Conference in its first week of practice. “We take care of what we can control and that’s how we come out and work each day, it’s how you practice, how you prepare, how you push each
TURNER Cont. from front page Education for 10 years, serving as interim dean of Humanities, Arts and Cultural studies (HArCS) for a short time during from 2004 to 2006, before returning to the position of Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education in the spring of 2007, her biography on the UC Davis Undergraduate Education website states. In addition, Turner served as director of the American studies program from 1997 to 1998 and director of African American and African studies from
other, how you support each other,” Biggs said. “Our mantra is ‘win the day,’” he said. “If we do, the rest has a tendency to take care of itself and so far, the leadership and attitude has been terrific.” The Aggies have plenty of leadership to go around, since 22 seniors and nine All-Conference players from 2012 will return to Jim Sochor field. “I feel this team came in with some goals about how they want to practice and improve,” Biggs said. “We’ve improved within the first 11 days and made progress and that’s what you want to see.” According to the schedule, each Big Sky team will play eight of the other conference teams. The Aggies were predicted by the Media Poll to finish 11 out of the 13 teams in their new conference. UC Davis and Cal Poly will join familiar foe Sac State in the Big Sky, where they will face off with teams such as two-time defending conference champion Montana State and the powerhouse Eastern Washington. The Aggies have had quite a situation at the quarterback position, one that can only have positive payoffs. Red-shirt third-year Randy Wright and red-shirt second-year London Lacy have been taking a majority of
the snaps this pre-season, as was the case last season. Wright has been impressive in practice and has gained a lot of experience over the years, experience that may give him the nod as the regular starting quarterback. “Randy is in a terrific rhythm the way he’s throwing the ball right now,” Biggs said. “There’s a confidence about the way he’s playing and he’s a much different player even from the one he was last year.” Though this is a year of many firsts, it will be the end of Biggs’ colorful career as head coach of UC Davis football. Yet, Biggs is approaching this season the same way he has so many times in the past: with goals and determination to achieve them. “I’m not approaching it any different but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’m savoring every moment,” Biggs said. “Every moment I’m on the field or in meetings or interacting with players and coaches is a joy and as you wind down a career, you get much better perspective about how lucky you are to do something you enjoy.” The Aggies will continue to practice until they kick off the season against Azusa Pacific on Aug. 30 in Davis.
1998 to 2000. Turner’s research is focused on racial dynamics as reflected in folklore and popular culture, states Cynthia Lee of the UCLA Newsroom. Turner’s fourth book, Crafted Lives: Stories and Studies of African-American Quilters, was published in 2009. Turner maintains two additional positions in the UC system as chair of the UC Education Abroad Program and as a member of the UCDC Academic Advisory Council. “Pat has been a tireless advocate for our students, and one of the most effective. It is hard to see her go, but there is some consolation in know-
ing that her talents will remain in the University of California,” said UCD Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter. Though her move to UCLA will likely face new, difficult challenges under the limited UC budget, Turner is pleased to continue her work within the UC system. “I’m delighted that the next chapter of my career will be at a UC campus. I’ll be keeping all my Aggie T-shirts, just adding some Bruin shirts to the mix,” said Turner in UC Davis’ Dateline News for Faculty and Staff.
MATTHEW YUEN can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
GHEED SAEED can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.
monday, august 13, 2012 3
The california aggie
Hudson Lofchie
The plant lords
I
n a world of flesh and cellulose, who holds the power? Do we, the flesh, hold the power to cut down the trees, or do the trees hold to power to relieve us of our air once they are gone? This attitude of mutually assured destruction is the wrong way to go about creating balance. Like it or not, we are stuck with each other. But plants do not have to be a constant hindrance to human expansion, and humans do not have to be a grim reaper for the woods and forests. This summer when I visited Floriade, the once-per-decade World Horticultural Expo in the Netherlands, I had the privilege to see the power and beauty of what can be done when man doesn’t just accommodate nature, but embraces it and folds nature and technology together. A house that grows its own food on the walls, buildings made from living trees that heal themselves when damaged and homesized algae reactors that can clean the air and provide valuable biomass were only a few of the innovations present at Floriade. There were houses that processed their waste to charge electric cars,
classifieds
and lighting systems that captured we can live in, and industry that is natural sunlight and released it at beautiful to look at. We can create night without any need for electrical self-sustaining environments that power. But even more impressive contain more biodiversity than any than the technology present at the other place on earth. expo was the cooperative presence This international and interof over 20 countries. Each contribspecies cooperation represents a uting country constructed a pavilnew paradigm of where our sociion incorporating the national arety should be heading. One country chitectural aesthetic as well as a bochanging its environmental policy tanical technology innovation. If will have little effect if other nations we were lucky, the national pavildo not follow suit. What Floriade ions were also serving their national demonstrated was that even the dishes. most industrial nations, even the countries with their minds set on Chicken curry odors wafted and expansion, can do gemstones sparkled so with absolutely from the Nepal pavilion. Sambouseks from Visiting each pavilion was like no harm to the enTurkey made mouths taking an international flight to vironment. water from hundreds The technologies the country itself of feet away. Wood that come out of carvings and jewelry such an endeavor from Sudan showed the artistic side can often bud off technologies that, of a country torn apart by strife. even with no practical value, can provide an aesthetic alternative to Countries from every continent existing technologies. Hanging garwere represented, from Yemen and dens in your kitchen, kitchen tables Turkey, China and South Korea, made of grass and flowers that will Spain and Italy, Indonesia, Nepal, use the crumbs you spill as comEcuador, Kenya and even Pakistan post, the list goes on. and Sudan. Visiting each pavilion was like taking an internation And just when you think that the al flight to the country itself. The walk-around naturalism is becomsmells, the plants, the architecture ing too much to handle, you can and the garden styles were all emtake a ride on a cable car gondola blematic of the host country, and 300 feet above the park powered by all were as different as the countries 100 percent solar energy. themselves. Technology is not anti-nature, In a time when the world is beand nature is not anti-technolocoming more and more concerned gy. The two can coincide beautifulabout our ecological future, Floriade ly, and with better results than if eiwas a literal and metaphorical ther were working independentbreath of fresh air, reminding visily. You do not have to visit Floriade tors that human ingenuity reaches to understand how beneficial such a beyond finding better ways to mine, mindset can be. cut and burn. When our minds are set to the task, we can create art that HUDSON LOFCHIE can be reached at science@theaggie.org.
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Better-tasting tomatoes on the horizon, thanks to UC Davis and Cornell researchers
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8/6/12 puzzle solved
Researchers identify genetics behind flavorful produce By ALAN LIN
Aggie Science Writer
Usually when one thinks of tomatoes, images of nice round fruits with a bright red color spring to mind. Heirloom tomatoes, on the other hand, typically don’t enjoy the same patterns of uniform redness. However, despite their lackluster color, a distinction in their genetics allows them to exhibit a higher level of sweetness than their traditional red counterparts. In a June study conducted by UC Davis and Cornell plant biologists, researchers gained new insight into these differences. The amount of selective breeding devoted to creating a perfect color has lead to the unintentional reduction in tomato flavor. Farmers have traditionally selected varieties of tomatoes that are lighter green before ripening. This allowed for easier identification of ripe tomatoes for harvest but also gradually lowered the overall sweetness of the fruits harvested. The lighter green color is due to a reduced amount of chloroplasts, the sugar-producing part of the plant. Ann Powell, a UC Davis biochemist, and her team sought to better understand how this information specifically pertains to fruit growth and development. In their efforts, they identified a series of transcription factors that could lead to higher sugar levels in tomatoes. “Sugar is a flavor enhancer; as we increase sugar levels, we increase the flavor of raw tomatoes,” Powell said. The research effort focused on finding sequences in the tomato genome responsible for how the fruits ripened. Specifically, researchers isolated segments of DNA where expression would result in differences in color or fruit quality. Researchers identified two important transcription factors, genetic material responsible for
Sudoku Courtesy
regulating the expression of other genes. According to the study, expression of the transcription factors GLK1 and GLK2 resulted in tomatoes exhibiting a darker shade of green prior to ripening. This color was the end product of the transcription factors increasing production of chloroplasts in the fruits compared to their traditional processed counterparts. Powell, the coauthor of the study, said that tomato breeders had unintentionally selected strains of tomatoes exhibiting a missense mutation of the GLK2 gene by breeding for tomatoes with their appealing uniform color. A missense mutation is a change in the DNA sequence that prevents a gene from being properly translated into a protein. This premature stop sequence cleaves the resulting protein early and renders it ineffective. In the case of GLK2, it no longer functioned to increase sugar levels. However, the higher chloroplast concentrations in the darker green tomatoes that don’t exhibit the mutation result in higher sugar concentrations in the fruit.
Traditionally, tomatoes are harvested at a specified percentage brix, a by-weight concentration measurement for dissolved sugars, and then cooked to artificially increase these concentrations. By utilizing the increased chloroplasts found in the darker strains of tomatoes, tomato farmers have the potential to harvest higher quality tomatoes per unit time. “Nature presents numerous important genes and their variants, like uniform ripening, that breeders employ to facilitate the needs of growers, processors and consumers,” said Jim Giovannoni, a USDA plant molecular biologist with the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University. “Understanding the genes responsible for these characteristics facilitates the challenging process of breeding crops that meet the needs of all components of the food-supply chain.” The increased efficiency or quality of the tomatoes harvested could potentially translate into cheaper, higher-quality tomatoes for everyone.
Easy Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit. So must every column, as must every 3x3 square. Each Sudoku has a unique solution that can be reached logically without guessing.
ALAN LIN can be reached at science@theaggie.org.
Sack lunches make comeback More students bringing their own lunches to school By MICHELLE RUAN Aggie Features Writer
As climbing tuition costs continue to dominate headlines, some students are trying out new ways to save money. But rather than sacrificing your more luxurious and perhaps expensive tastes, just brown-bag it. Bringing your own lunch isn’t a new idea, but it is new to many students, many of whom have usually eaten lunches provided by their school cafeteria or have had the luxury of parent-packed lunches. However, the college lifestyle can be considered the first step toward being a certifiable “grown-up.” There is little to no parental supervision and students who never had to cook, do laundry or clean the house before suddenly find themselves thrust into these responsibilities. Add in a basic course load, extracurricular activities and maybe even a part-time job and the hours seem to be going by a lot faster.
Thus, many students would rather buy their lunch or dinner than actually cook something, as it involves an additional routine of a trip to the local supermarket for groceries, cooking the meal and then finally washing the dishes. You may think that $1.75 for a large slice of cheese pizza from Ciao at the CoHo sounds like a great deal compared to all the work that goes into cooking. It’s a favorite meal choice of many students. A week’s lunch of cheese pizza slices then comes out to about $9. However, the food pyramid advises that a week’s worth of cheese pizza slices is in no way a balanced meal, so occasionally, there might be rotation in food choices such as a CoHo salad or a $6.75 hamburger from Burgers and Brew for another day. Eventually, these prices do add up and one can spend around $30 for an entire week’s worth of lunches. That is a figure that many students would rather spend on something else, or save for a rainy day.
Vinson Banh, a fifth-year human development major, brings sandwiches to school instead of purchasing them. Banh believes it to be a much healthier option to bring one’s own lunches. “Instead of going to the CoHo where the grease on the pizza is enough to soak up two napkins, a nice sandwich would be a lot better. In addition, I would be saving a lot of money instead of shelling out five to seven dollars on lunch,” Banh said. So, in an effort to curb extraneous spending, more and more students like Banh are discovering the financial benefits of packing their own lunches. These homemade lunches are not anything grand, as they usually consist of several sandwiches hastily prepared the night before or plastic containers of dinner leftovers. But dinner leftovers are a great way of stretching groceries for more than one meal a day, thus contributing to the financial benefits of brown-bagging. But sometimes it’s hard to find even a
few minutes to make a sandwich in the mornings or at night after a long day. Victoria Chen, a third-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major, admits she brings lunches to school sporadically as it depends on how much homework, studying and club activities she has, which is often a lot. “I wouldn’t mind bringing my own lunch more often but it’s really hard to do when you don’t have a lot of time,” Chen said. However, she did say that eating homemade food does have its benefits, such as serving as a comfort food. “Bringing my own lunch makes me less homesick because ethnic foods make me feel a lot more comfortable and happy,” Chen said. Gloria Huerta, a third-year biochemistry major with an emphasis in molecular biology, echoes Chen’s thoughts about bringing lunch. Huerta also has hard courses
See LUNCH, page 2
4 monday, august 13, 2012
The california Aggie
News iN Brief
UC payroll increases by 6 percent The University of California (UC) payroll grew from about $10 billion in 2010 to $10.6 billion in 2011, according to the UC Report on Employee Pay, released August 9. The report is produced annually to honor UC’s commitment to transparency and accountability to the public and is arranged by employees’ pay, personnel category and fundsources. The six percent increase can be seen in the rise in student enrollment by almost one percent in 2010 to 2011 and research expenditures that increased by over five percent. The UC workforce also increased
by less than one percent in 2010. UC was also able to pay for a number of 2011 merit increases as well. “This increase is likely attributable to a combination of factors, including restoration of furlough reductions, increased research activity and market pressures for more competitive compensation, particularly in the areas of health care, instruction and research,” the report stated. An estimated 36 percent of systemwide compensation funding stemmed from “clinical revenue” and sources affiliated with UC medical and teaching hospi-
tals. Less than 26 percent stemmed from tuition and general funds, and four percent came from Summer Session and University Extension student fees. The final amount came from private contracts and gifts as well as sources from the federal government and state and local government appropriations. Top-earners on the UC payroll, who earn over $1 million, are mainly athletic coaches and health science specialists. Due to continuous declining state support, many employee salaries are lagging behind market, according to the report.
“With the exception of contractual obligations to union-represented employees, salary increases were either eliminated or sharply curtailed … In addition, furloughs for UC faculty and staff in 2009-10 translated to salary cuts that ranged from 4 percent to 10 percent,” the report stated. A larger plan to achieve higher employee pay has been delayed by the Board of Regents due to the state’s financial crisis. This brings about the risk of not being able to retain or attract talented faculty and staff. — Muna Sadek