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volume 131, number 91
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012
Bill Clinton visits UC Davis Rally organized to endorse congressional candidates, garner student votes By MUNA SADEK Campus News Editor
Bijan Agahi / Aggie
Former president Bill Clinton came to UC Davis Tuesday to endorse four congressional candidates.
Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, spoke at UC Davis yesterday to endorse four Democratic congressional candidates. The rally, organized by Davis College Democrats (DCD), took place on the East Quad at 11:15 a.m. and featured words from ASUCD president Rebecca Sterling, DCD president Aref Aziz, Reps. John Garamendi and Jerry McNerney and candidates Ami Bera and Jose Hernandez. Most speakers had ties with the university: Garamendi served as a former UC Regent, Bera served as Associate Dean for Admissions at the UC Davis School of Medicine — his wife is also attending the UC Davis medical school — and McNerney has children who attended UC Davis. Clinton previously visited UC Davis in January 2008 while campaigning for his wife, current U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, during her bid for the Democratic nomination for president. "It's great to be back. I love this campus every time I come," he said. Students and members of the public began assembling as early as 7 a.m., while the rally was scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. An estimated 5,000 to 8,000 people were in attendance. Charmaine Seguro, a junior exercise biology major, arrived early to get a closer view of the podium. Being a middle-class student, she said she was glad Clinton was arriving to speak about why students should support President Barack Obama and the middle class. “For me, I can’t imagine [Mitt] Romney being president for the upcoming year ... I’m just hoping for the best,” she said. Clinton stressed the importance of preserving Obama’s education reforms by voting for Proposition 30 and against Proposition 32 and electing Democratic candidates to Congress. "We don't need any lectures on self-reliance. We need a road map to another future … Making it possible to pay your loans means more of you will do it," Clinton said. Prop. 30 aims to increase the sales and use tax by a quarter cent over four years and would prevent a possible 20 percent increase in public university tuition. Prop. 32 would place a ban on union and corporate contributions to local and state candidates.
International relations major could merge with political science department Academic Senate reviews proposal to combine majors By ADAM KHAN Aggie News Writer
The international relations (IR) program will be transferred into the department of political science later in the upcoming year if a bill passes in the Academic Senate in November. The bill, co-drafted by political science department Director John T. Scott and international relations depart-
ment Director Daniel Kono, has been sent to the UC Davis Academic Senate for ratification, although no date has been determined yet. Both directors affirm the merge is purely on an administrative level, and that no changes will be made to the curriculum, requirements or status of the major under the political science department. “The proposal is not to disestablish IR
or to change it at all, in terms of the requirements and curriculum,” Scott said. “Students will still graduate with a degree in IR, but it will be formally administered within political science. Actually, ever since its inception, [IR] has been administered by political science in one way or another, so this is formally recognizing what
See MAJORS, page 2
John Garamendi speaks with students at ASUCD forum Congressional forum with Kim Vann up next
By MEE YANG
On Monday evening, John Garamendi (D-Solano), the candidate for California’s 3rd Congressional District and former lieutenant governor of California, made an appearance at the UC Davis Student Community Center to answer questions that were posed by students. The congressional candidate forum was part one of a two-part series in which Garamendi and opponent Kim Vann have the opportunity to speak with students on two separate occasions. Eddie Yoo, ASUCD executive office director of legislation and policy, said this week he is meeting with someone from Vann’s campaign to discuss the scheduling for the second part of the forum. “ASUCD’s goal is to provide an exclusive event with the candidates to further educate our students on the issues that matter to us and to encourage more students to take part in voting for the future of our campus, community and nation,” according to the ASUCD Facebook event page.
Rachel Du / Aggie
Rep. John Garamendi came to the Student Community Center Monday to answer See FORUM, page 4 student questions. ASUCD president Rebecca Sterling moderated the forum.
Sunny High 74 Low 49
See CLINTON, page 3
News iN Brief
Davis in a Day premieres tonight What does life in Davis look like? AggieTV is unveiling its user-generated, student-produced project from last spring, “Davis in a Day,” at 7:30 p.m. in Kleiber 3 tonight. Inspired by Life in a Day, the film by Ridley Scott and Kevin Macdonald, AggieTV set out to film Davis in one 24-hour period from as many angles as possible. Attendees will get to see Davis as it was on May 10, filmed on gear ranging from professional cameras to cell phones. Anna Oh, executive producer of AggieTV, said students and community members submitted around 50 hours of footage, which has since been edited down to 30 minutes. “We’re really excited to show the audience what we put together to represent their stories,” she said. And what can we expect to see? “Dogs. Dancing. Skydiving,” Oh said. The event is free, and in addition to the screening, there will be a raffle and a performance by the UC Davis Popping Club. — Janelle Bitker
Ten-day drop deadline is today
Aggie News Writer
Today’s weather
“We need to make sure students don't graduate with so much debt that they're already behind the eight-ball,” Hernandez said. Hernandez, who as a child worked with his family on farms, said that he understands university students today because he struggled to pay tuition and needed Pell and Cal Grants to complete college. Aziz said that if students vote, education will become a national priority. Following Obama's election, Democrats in Congress expanded the Pell Grant program and made education more affordable for students, he said. Aziz was excited about Clinton’s visit and what it entailed for UC Davis as a university. “President Clinton's visit means the world to the UC Davis community. It is a recognition of the quality of our university, just how important it is for us to vote and the need for us to get everyone we know to vote because people always vote more when their friends do too.” Bradley Bottoms, ASUCD senator and a junior political science and sociology double major, helped organize the recent voter registration drive on campus and coordinated with volunteers to register students to vote at the rally. Less than half of citizens ages 18 to 24 are registered to vote, Bottoms said. California now offers online voting in an attempt to increase the number of registered voters. Garamendi stressed the ease in registering and its importance. “If you leave this plaza and you’re not registered to vote, I’ll talk to you on your way to class,” he said in jest. Garamendi, as a UC Regent, voted down every proposed tuition increase and is a strong supporter of students and research, according to the Garamendi for Congress campaign manager, Maureen Erwin. “There’s so much at stake now for young people with regard to higher education funding, Pell Grants [and] the economy,” she said. Bottoms believes that Clinton’s visit is a testament to the caliber of learning offered at UC Davis. “The California Democratic Party could have easily hosted this rally at many other California universities, but they chose UC Davis. I assume they respect our multi-disciplined institution that has top programs in diverse fields,” he said.
Forecast And Bill Clinton’s presence has brought us yet another sunny day. Richard Truong
Wednesday
Thursday
Partly Cloudy
Mostly Sunny
High 75 Low 49
High 74 Low 51
Today is the 10-day drop deadline. Students must drop unwanted classes by the end of the day. According to the Office of the University Registrar, there is a 72-hour grace period for students to adjust their schedules if they are added to a class via waitlist or accidentally add a class. To drop a class during these 72 hours, students must go to the Office of the University Registrar at 12 Mrak Hall. — Hannah Strumwasser
You heard John Garamendi at the rally yesterday: UC Davis is the best UC. I don’t think many other schools can say they’ve hosted Bill Clinton. Twice. Janelle Bitker