The California Agge

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serving the uc davis campus and community since 1915

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volume 132, number 12

News iN Brief

Candidates begin campaigning for ASUCD Winter Election Prospective student candidates for ASUCD positions, including that of the president and vice president, have begun campaigning as the general election approaches. ASUCD holds two general elections each acInfographic preventitiveFall measures: ademic year, oneonduring Quarter, when six -residents to lock their doors and windows senators are another during Winter -trimelected, back trees andand shrubbery that may obstruct windows Quarter. Six more senators and a president and -place locks on exterior gates vice president are elected during Winter Quarter. -activate home security Candidates can either or can -acknowledge those at therun door ifwith you feel slates it’s safe -form Neighborhood Watch groups run independently. “The elections are students’ most direct and easiest way to have their voices be heard,” said Aaron Hsu, chairman of the ASUCD Elections Committee, in an email interview. “Students should participate in ASUCD simply because they're affected by it. Not only do we pay over $100 per year to ASUCD, but whether we're buying something at the CoHo, filling our bike tires at the Bike Barn, or getting to class on a Unitrans bus (or, of course, reading The Aggie), we’ve had an interaction with the way ASUCD is run.” Leading up to the election, students have a chance to learn more about each candidate’s platform at a debate that takes place in the ASUCD Coffee House. The Coffee House Debate is tentatively set for Feb. 13. ASUCD Senator Alyson Sagala, a fourth-year political science and communication double major, was elected to the Senate last quarter on the SMART slate. “As much as the increased number of Senate and Executive candidates convolutes the electoral process a bit, it’s really great when students from different parts of campus decide to join ASUCD, because it increases our visibility and level of participation from the greater student body,” Sagala said. Voting begins Feb. 19 at elections.ucdavis.edu and ends on Feb. 22. Voting is open to all undergraduate students. Election results will be announced Feb. 27.

MONDAY, February 4, 2013

Month of January sees rise in burglaries in Davis Many cases occur when residents are home

POLICE RECOMMEND

residents to lock their doors and windows trim back trees and shrubbery that may obstruct windows place locks on exterior gates activate home security acknowledge those at the door if you feel it’s safe form Neighborhood Watch groups James Kim / Aggie

By KAMILA KUDELSKA Aggie News Writer

The Davis Police Department (DPD) has reported an influx of burglaries in

the past month. From Jan. 1 to 9, DPD reported eight residential burglaries. The increase in burglaries continued throughout January. On Jan. 24, the Davis Police re-

The Pantry receives donations from on-campus food drive

Yolo Superior Court looking for jurors

— Claire Tan

See BURGLARY, page 2

Staff, administrators participate in Mrak Gives Back

— Stephanie B. Nguyen

Applications for the 2013-14 Yolo County Grand Jury are now being accepted. Juror qualifications can be found at yolocounty.org. Each year, the Yolo Superior Court impanels 19 jurors. The grand jury reviews the operations of the city and county government, other tax-supported agencies and special districts. The jury publishes its reviews and recommends ways to improve quality and effectiveness of the local government. The term of service is from July 1 to June 30. The average time commitment is 25 to 40 hours a month. The grand jury meets twice per month in the evening. The jurors are reimbursed $15 per day of attendance and 55 cents per mile round trip from their home to the meeting location. Two training sessions will occur before the new term begins. All applications must be submitted before Feb. 14 to the Yolo Superior Court.

ported a total of 21 burglaries had taken place in the past two weeks. The suspects have been stealing laptops, computers, jewelry, purses, electronics and gaming systems. “These numbers aren’t something that we would expect [to be] out of [the] ordinary. Some people are away for the holidays,” said Lt. Glenn Glasgow of the DPD. “So people are gone for one or two days when they report, but anytime we have these numbers it raises a red flag, especially with the pattern of unlocked residences and windows. We always try to get the word out.” Glasgow said that burglaries usually increase in line with UC Davis’ finals week as well as the holidays. Students tend to be more forgetful about safety precautions during finals week and burglars take advantage of this. They

Kelly Drechsler / Aggie

A reception was held in Mrak Hall to celebrate Mrak Gives Back, a food drive at Mrak Hall in which staff and administrators donated food to The Pantry. The Pantry is an on-campus food bank that helps students in need.

By KELLEY DRECHSLER Aggie News Writer

The Pantry celebrated a recent food drive that started this quarter in Mrak Hall on Tuesday. The Mrak Gives Back food drive attracted donations from the staff and administrators in Mrak Hall to help students on campus who struggle to afford basic necessities, including food and toiletries.

The donations went to The Pantry, an on-campus food bank organized by students to help other students. The mission of The Pantry is to aid financially disadvantaged students in accessing food and basic necessities, as stated on the organization’s website. “We hope that this goes to the broader campus community and challenges the rest of the community to support us too,” said Artem

Trotsyuk, student assistant to the chancellor, who initiated the recent food drive. Trotsyuk worked in collaboration with Rich Shintaku, assistant to the vice chancellor of Student Affairs, in organizing Mrak Gives Back. Trotsyuk said the goal was to engage students, staff and administrators in community service on campus. Most of the donations from Mrak Gives Back were from staff and administrators who work at Mrak Hall. “This past year we’ve definitely seen an increase in drives that departments are hosting,” said Quincy Kayton, director of The Pantry. According to Kayton, the Financial Aid Office at Dutton Hall and the Asian American Studies Department have organized food drives for The Pantry as well. Kayton added that Mrak Gives Back was the biggest campus food drive The Pantry has hosted and the first one at Mrak Hall. Ralph J. Hexter, provost and executive vice chancellor, also helped to establish the food drive and attract support for the program. “The need is every week … We were talking about how important it is to let people

know that this organization exists,” Hexter said. Currently, there are approximately 200 users per week at The Pantry, Kayton said. During high peak, the organization has received up to 500 students in one week. The food drive collected popular items, including tuna, chicken, peanut butter, soups with meat, pasta, cereal and toilet paper. Hexter said he is inspired by the student initiative. “The ingenuity, creativity and generosity of our students in knowing how to help students in need really move me. And it really inspires everyone — faculty, staff and administrators — to help students help other students,” he said. The Pantry is located in the basement of Freeborn Hall, Room 21, and is open Monday through Friday from 9 to 11 a.m. and Monday through Thursday from 5 to 6 p.m. Students may take up to three items per day from The Pantry by presenting their student ID. More information about The Pantry can be found at thepantry.ucdavis.edu. KELLEY DRECHSLER can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

ASUCD senate bill introduced to create international student committee Committee would promote representation, integration of international students By JESSICA GRILLI Aggie News Writer

An ASUCD senate bill has been authored that would create a special committee with the purpose of promoting culture, education, hospitality and leadership of international undergraduate students. The bill was authored by secondyear computer science major and UC Davis international student Shehzad Lokhandwalla, who is also a member of the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Advisory Board; Edward Yoo, student activities official and ASUCD President Rebecca Sterling. The goal of the bill is to represent the opinions and concerns of international undergraduate students in order to accommodate their needs. If the bill passes, this special committee will be known as the International Undergraduate Student Committee. “The chancellor plans on getting more international students by 2020, but we

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must ask ourselves whether the campus is prepared. Often international students are lost when they first move to the United States … This newly formed committee basically tells the campus that ASUCD cares for international students,” Lokhandwalla said. While Davis’ International House and the Campus Services for International Students and Scholars (SISS) currently exist as resources to international students, Lokhandwalla said that international students still struggle to find the materials and resources that they need in order to be successful, both academically and socially. Moira Delgado, International Students Club advisor and SISS outreach coordinator, said that students, staff, faculty and administrators need to do more to make the campus more accommodating to international students. “Sometimes both staff and faculty need to understand a little bit better about language and cultural differences when students come here. [But] I think there’s a Forecast Good weather to start your recovery from your Super Bowl party. Dial Hoang, atmospheric science major Aggie Forecasting Team

really good climate for the most part,” Delgado said. According to the bill, UC Davis had a student population of 25,096 undergraduates in the 2011-12 academic year, and of those students, approximately 1,800 students were international students from over 100 different countries. Ken Burtis, genetics professor and faculty advisor to the chancellor and provost, has authored a 2020 initiative report which, among many functions, aims to increase the influx of international students on campus. Burtis pointed out that increasing the number of international students on campus could contribute to financial and campus growth, as international students pay higher tuition than students from California. In addition, Burtis said that integrating international students into the campus community will have a positive impact on both national and international students. “We want to create a welcoming enTuesday

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vironment for [international] students and we’re going to need the help of California students to do that. And that is sort of a benefit in both directions … Having some close friends from Sri Lanka and Korea would benefit your development as a student,” Burtis said. “If we don’t have interactions between students, then that internationalization potential benefit is not realized. [In] the other way, there’s a huge benefit for [international] students. The fastest way to develop your English language skills and cultural education is to have those interactions. It’s really important.” According to Lokhandwalla, it is his hope that this bill will enable international students to be more involved in ASUCD, allow the voices of international students to be heard and contribute to awareness of international students on campus. The bill is currently being seen by ASUCD commissions before it reaches the senate table. JESSICA GRILLI can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Today is the last day to drop 20-day-drop classes. I’m looking at you Chem2B. Allison Ferrini


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