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volume 131, number 83
monday, august 27, 2012
UC Davis law student to participate in Climate Ride California In the process of raising $2,400 in donations
By CLAIRE TAN Aggie City Editor
Beginning from the Redwood Empire near Eureka, UC Davis third-year law student Michael Murza will endure a five-day, 320-mile bike tour from Sept. 9 to 13 before crossing the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge in the final leg of Climate Ride California. “I have chosen to participate in Climate Ride California because it is one of the best opportunities to raise money and awareness for the important issues of sustainability and renewable energy,” Murza said in an e-mail. “Furthermore, I have joined the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) team, to whom 60 percent of my donations will go, because I truly believe in their mission.” EDF’s mission, according to Murza, is to focus on market-based solutions to societal and environmental issues. EDF’s site mentions the organization is guided by science and economics when it comes to discovering long-term solutions to protecting the environment. “By using market forces to drive responsible environmental policy and behavior, EDF is dedicated to growing our economy while concurrently protecting our Earth,” Murza said. As a law student geared toward environmental law, pro bono work and public interest, Murza said he heard about Climate Ride while interning at EDF this summer. “I was a legal intern with the Climate and Air program, focusing mainly on the smooth implementation of California’s Cap & Trade program and other aspects of Brian Nguyen / Aggie
Michael Murza will begin his 320-mile Climate Ride California journey starting Sept. 9 in Eureka.
See MURZA, page 2
Talking with the stars
News iN Brief
UC Davis Police Association censures police chief’s decision to fire Pike An Aug. 21 letter from the Executive Board of the UC Davis Police Officer Association to the UC Board of Regents asserted that former campus police officer Lt. John Pike should not have been fired. Pike, who was involved in the Nov. 18 pepper spraying of UC Davis protesters, was dismissed July 31 by newly appointed police chief, Matthew Carmichael, according to documents obtained by The Sacramento Bee. The documents show that Carmichael disregarded an internal affairs investigation, which found that Pike acted within reason during the protest. The open letter explains that
while the the regents support Carmichael, they believe he should have complied with the investigation findings, which recommended no more than a demotion or suspension for Pike. It also states that the Board is in agreement with the Reynoso, KROLL and Robinson-Edley reports, which alleged mistakes were made “at the administrative level.” “To this day, not one University Administrator has been demoted or terminated due to their decisions, which placed our police officers and the students of this university into an unnecessary and foreseeable confrontation,” it stated.
The Board explained in the letter that it was “ironic” that Pike tried “harder than anyone” to prevent the confrontation between police and student protesters and that the pepper spraying incident proves itself to be a learning experience for campus police. “This Board looks forward to intelligent, productive change as we all learn from what occurred on [Nov. 18] and the events in its wake. Addressing the injustices associated with the events that day would be an excellent start towards not letting this portion of history repeat itself,” the letter stated.
Former Davis resident e-mails Jay-Z
— Muna Sadek
Local winery raises money for ag community families Hopes for foundation’s expansion David Johnson
By CLAIRE TAN Aggie City Editor
Founded by Chip and Lynne Sundstrom in 2007, the Esperanza Rising Foundation has given hope to families of farmworkers living in subpar conditions by donating all of its profits to the agriculture community in the Delano School District outside Bakersfield. “My dad has always loved agriculture,” said Marketing Director Molly Sundstrom. “He got his bachelors degree [in plant science] from UC Davis back in the ‘70s, and went on to get a Ph.D. and was a professor.” After teaching at Louisiana State University for a period of time, Chip relocated to Davis in the ‘90s, working at the state seed certification center at UC Davis. “He ended up leaving Davis and started his own consulting firm, doing a lot of work in the Central Valley,” Molly said. “That’s when he basically began to realize a lot of the agriculture workers weren’t receiving any benefits.” Molly said it bothered Chip to see the living conditions that some of the
Today’s weather Sunny High 89 Low 56
courtesy
By DOMINICK COSTABILE
Aggie Features Writer
courtesy
Sundstrom Hill Winery hosts events every other Thursday and on the first Saturday of every month, with 10 percent of its profits going to its Esperanza Rising Foundation. migrant agriculture workers were in. “So we thought it’d be really nice to give back to the ag community because he felt that’s why our family is secure,” she said. “He felt like if it
weren’t for the agriculture community, he wouldn’t have a job or be financially stable.”
Forecast It’s almost September! Fall days are slowly approaching and hopefully, the weather will start becoming more bearable here in Davis. Written by Amanda Nguyen Weather report courtesy of www.weather.com
See WINERY, page 3 Tuesday
Wednesday
Sunny
Sunny
High 89 Low 54
High 91 Low 56
If you go to former Davis resident David Johnson’s Twitter page, everything looks normal, apart from one thing. His occupation is listed as “Jay-Z’s Penpal,” in reference to the superstar rapper. “People just want to be heard and understood,” Johnson said. “I just wanted validation that what I was doing was on the right track.” After networking with various people, including his wife and celebrity photographer Jessica Johnson, Johnson found Jay’s e-mail address. Using a legal email tracker, Johnson can see if and when his e-mails have been opened. Johnson has been emailing the celebrity since 2010 and the tracker con-
firms that Jay has opened Johnson’s messages. He has not only opened the e-mails, but re-opened them, quite possibly due to the material he has sent. Johnson does not forward chain letters, send cute cat videos, or even try to ask the celebrity questions. Rather, he sends poems, song lyrics and essays on race. “I think it’s pretty inspirational that this guy can be persistent and influence Jay-Z,” said Chris Lagrossa, a first-year law student. “[It’s] extremely impressive.” During one of Jay’s recent tours, Johnson found poems being opened from places all over the world. “What’s also kind of weird is that my wife and Beyoncé were pregnant at the same time,” Johnson said. “I wrote to Jay, telling
See PUBLISH, page 2
A special tribute to Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon. We’ll never forget the man who made “one giant leap for mankind.” Amanda Nguyen