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volume 132, number 22
thursday, february 14, 2013
Sprout Up brings environmental education to Davis Organization teaches kids importance of environmental conservation By GABRIELLA HAMLETT Aggie News Writer
courtesy
Sprout Up, a state-wide environmental education program, is now active in Davis elementary schools.
Sprout Up, an environmental education program, is now active in Davis elementary schools. The statewide, nonprofit organization is aimed at promoting environmental awareness in first and second graders through hands-on learning. “[The students] don’t get enough exposure to environmental education. Sprout Up’s program is completely applicable to the science curriculum of living things that we’re required to teach,” said Jeff Nelson, first grade teacher at Cesar Chavez Elementary School. It is currently running an eight-week program in first grade classrooms at Cesar Chavez Elementary. Its first program ran at North Davis Elementary last year. There are 11 active instructors in the program, all of whom are UC Davis students, though the organization, which is based in Santa Barbara, is unaffiliated with the school. Megan Ryan, the Davis chapter director and a third-year environmental studies and sociology double major, brought the environmental education program to local elementary schools. “I have huge passion for environmental
Former UC student launches travel business E-Fund gives support to student generating new travel site
By KELLEY DRECHSLER Aggie News Writer
While a full-time undergraduate student at UC Davis, fourth-year economics student Robert De Forest launched his own company in August 2012. De Forest created travel site Bagonize, which features a search engine to plan full vacations. “I’ve always wanted to be in charge of my own company but always thought it was necessary to graduate first. I saw a problem with the online travel industry and decided to dive in and tackle it,” De Forest said in an email interview.
According to De Forest, his goal for his business is to maintain a more “customer-friendly” travel site than the older travel sites on the internet that are usually outdated. He launched a preliminary site for Bagonize in August 2012, which was replaced in October 2012 with the current site that reflects customer feedback. He received monetary and advisory support from the ASUCD Entrepreneurship Fund, also known as E-Fund, which is an organization that encourages students to develop business ideas, not only under the motivation of earning profit but also
for making a positive influence on the surrounding community. “We wanted to reward Ryan for his immense passion and commitment toward Bagonize,” said Kate Lin, a fourth-year environmental policy analysis and planning major and chair of E-Fund, in an email interview. To receive support from E-Fund, De Forest had to complete an online application during one of the funding cycles, Lin said. He was selected as a finalist from the group of applicants and was asked to give a 10-minute pitch presentation in front of the Selection Committee, which determines who
education,” Ryan said. She said that the program gives first graders a new excitement to learn. The organization has seen massive success since its creation in 2009. “Our mission is to provide college-led environmental education to six through eight-year-old kids in public schools. We try to inspire parents to take action from the knowledge and excitement their children gain,” said Ryland King, Sprout Up’s founder and executive director, and a recent UC Santa Barbara graduate. Sprout Up is now at various college towns and has made its way to Davis, where it is beginning to show potential in forging a bond between college students and children. “I think the dynamic of elementary and college students is important and it’s what makes the program successful,” Ryan said. The curriculum for each classroom throughout California is the same across the state. “We want to make sure standards are being taught. Everything we teach is enhancing [the curriculum] from an environmental viewpoint … first grade is all about the natural system where they get a
See SPROUT, page 7
News iN Brief
KDVS seeking questions for Measure I panel Concerned about how the surface water project — Measure I — will affect you? Don’t know what surface water is? Want to know if you can shower in better water? KDVS will be hosting a panel discussion with proponents and opponents of the surface water project on Feb. 22 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Any questions for the panel should be submitted to news@kdvs.org before Feb. 20. — Claire Tan
See TRAVEL, page 7
Davis sees 41 residential Gun violence prevention burglaries since January forum to be held in Davis Local organizations strive to address pressing issue
Burglaries continue, no noticeable pattern
By PAAYAL ZAVERI
By SYDNEY COHEN As of Feb. 11, there have been 41 residential burglaries in Davis since Jan. 1. This is a noticeable increase from 36 in 2012 during the same time of year. According to Lt. Glenn Glasgow of the Davis Police Department, these crimes are a combination of forced entries and thieves seizing the opportunity of open windows, doors and gates. “We’ve gone through all of our residential burglaries with our crime analyst, and as of right now, we have not been able to predict a pattern or use crime predictions to determine where they’re going to hit
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next,” Glasgow said. The crimes have been evenly dispersed throughout Davis and have been completely random, according to Glasgow. Jessie Colonna, a fourth-
year sociology major and resident of North Davis, became a victim of property crime when a birthday gift from her mother was stolen from a UPS de-
See BURGLARY, page 2 Forecast
Happy Valentine’s Day! You can expect a breeze this afternoon but no worries! It won’t be strong enough to blow away that love letter you wrote for that special someone just as you’re giving it to them. Raymond Chan, atmospheric science major Aggie Forecasting Team
The City of Davis is hosting a community forum on breaking the cycle of gun violence. The event will feature renowned gun violence researcher Dr. Garen Wintemute, and Amanda and Nick Wilcox, legislative and policy chairs of the California Chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. The forum will be held on Feb. 19 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Community Chambers in City Hall, at 23 Russell Blvd. It is also hosted by Saving California Communities (SCC), an organization dedicated to making sure California communities have adequate resources. The Yolo Local Mental
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Health Board is co-sponsoring the event. “We felt the community was ready to organize for this issue and want to be informed of efforts currently underway,” said Susan Lovenburg, a member of the Davis School Board and co-founder of SCC. “It is a
topic relevant to everyone. The forum will educate people on research and legislative efforts underway, and how they can connect with the issue.” Wintemute is an emergency room physician at
See GUN, page 2
Happy day of love! Someone once told me that timing is everything ... so remember to take some chances and don’t be ashamed to act especially cheesy today! Amanda Nguyen