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volume 132, number 25
thursday, february 21, 2013
UC Davis requests permission Senate bill to fly aerial drones would establish University using drones for agricultural purposes polling places at California public universities Senator Leland Yee looks to increase student voter turnout rate By KELLEY DRECHSLER Aggie News Writer
Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) introduced Senate Bill 240 on Feb. 12, which would establish polling places at California State University and University of California campuses. According to Yee’s website, the intention of the bill is to encourage college students to vote in the elections. Yee initiated the bill to increase the pool of California voters by focusing on the large number of students who attend public universities in the state. As mentioned on Senator Yee’s website, 230,000 students are enrolled in the University of California and 420,000 students are enrolled in the California State University system. Section 1 of the bill requires election officials to establish polling places at the University of California and California State University campuses and to consider establishing polling places at the California Community College campuses if convenient for students. Any county or city and county that has a population of fewer than 150,000 would be waived according to Section 1 of the bill. “By requiring county and city and county elections officials to perform new duties, and the California Community Colleges to provide access as polling places, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program,” Section 1 of the bill states. Section 2 of the bill states that if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill includes costs mandated by the state, repayments would be made to local agencies and schools.
The bill has attracted commentary from students across the public universities in California. “As students at the UC, we have a huge vested interest in these elections. The propositions and representatives we elect determine our student fees and quality of education we receive through their funding of higher education,” said Bradley Bottoms, ASUCD senator. According to Bottoms, on Election Day during Fall Quarter, the polling station at the Memorial Union had a long line throughout the day. UC Davis is not the only public university in California to have already instituted a polling place on campus. Students, faculty and administrators of San Francisco State University established a polling place on their campus through the SFSU-Vote voter registration campaign, said Raymond ParentiKurttila, vice president of external affairs of the Associated Students of San Francisco State University. “We felt that it was necessary to have a polling place on campus so that students living within our precinct would not have to travel over a mile off campus to cast their votes,” Parenti-Kurttila said. With their busy class schedules, students found a polling place on campus convenient for them. “By bringing the polling place to campus, students are reminded of their civic duty, and I feel it that they promote a culture of civic engagement,” Parenti-Kurttila said. The bill is scheduled to go through the Senate on or after March 15. KELLEY DRECHSLER can be reached at campus@ theaggie.org.
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According to Professor Ken Giles, UC Davis operates drones for agricultural spraying and fertilizing in difficult terrain.
By NATASHA QABAZARD Aggie News Writer
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a list of of agencies that requested permission to fly drones in early February. The list includes state departments, local law enforcement, as well as colleges and universities, and comes as a response to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which mandates the FAA to make the list of applicants known to the public. A drone is an unmanned aircraft that can fly autonomously, without the control of a human. The mostly commonly used type of drones includes those that are used for reconnaissance and surveillance purposes, and those that have missiles and bombs attached to them. UC Davis uses drones for agricultural spraying and fertilizing, according to Ken Giles, a professor in the Biological and Agricultural Engineering department. “The advantages of the vehicle are that spraying and fertilizing can be done much more safely than using a conventional tractor in places like hillside vineyards in Napa and Sonoma counties. The remotely controlled aircraft can be flown by a pilot standing on the edge of
the field instead of driving a tractor on steep land and making turns at the ends of rows,” Giles said. “It can also go into those areas when the soil is too wet or muddy to allow tractors to enter. It can also be safer than using an aircraft with a pilot aboard.” According to Giles, the project has no affiliations with military or police use. The drones are flown at low altitudes over remote agricultural land in order to spray or fertilize the crops. They do not operate over buildings, roads or people. All flights are approved by the FAA days in advance and are not operated on the UC Davis campus or any nearby land. The list comes amid controversy over a newly-released memo documenting the CIA's strategy on the targeted killing of American citizens. Additionally, Charlottesville, Va. has recently become a “drone-free zone,” becoming the first city to pass anti-drone legislation. Drone use in the U.S. implicates serious privacy and civil liberties concerns. According to Gizmodo.com, although drones can be used for positive purposes, they are also capable of highly advanced, constant surveillance, which can amass large amounts of data. “Drones, like any technolo-
Marriage equality protest takes place in Sacramento
Education Code factors into decision By MELISSA GAHERTY Aggie News Writer
Courtesy of Kati Garner
Shelly Bailes and Ellen Pontac participate in the demonstration at the Sacramento County Clerk Recorder’s Office on Valentine’s Day. Aggie News Writer
On Valentine’s Day, a group of same-sex couples and polit-
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ical activists advocating marriage equality gathered at the Sacramento County clerk’s office in a sign of solidarity as Poshi Mikalson and her partner, Reed
Walker, symbolically applied for a marriage license. The action, organized by
See MARRIAGE, page 9
Forecast That bit of rain earlier in the week was refreshing! Wasn’t it? Too bad it won’t come again for a while ... At least the wind is here to stay. Raymond Chan, atmospheric science major Aggie Forecasting Team
NATASHA QABAZARD can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.
Reconfiguration considered for Davis schools
Prop. 8 heading to U.S. Supreme Court in March
By JOE STEPTOE
gy, can be used for good, but if not regulated, can be used for nefarious purposes. There are many positive uses of drones: for agricultural purposes, to track wildlife, fight forest fires, search and rescue. What is necessary is for their use to be carefully regulated, with transparency that allows the public to know how and by whom they are being used,” said Daniel Brunstetter, UC Irvine professor of political science, who conducts research on drone warfare. The new list also adds to the debate over whether using domestic drones for surveillance is appropriate for American values. “At first I was slightly shocked to find out that there were drones located in Davis, not to mention on our university campus,” said Chris Nino, a third-year international relations major. “However, it is logical that they would be located in Northern California since Travis Air Force Base is located in the near vicinity. Since they are currently being used for agricultural purposes, it doesn't really worry me, but I could see how many people would see the presence of drones as a threat to their privacy.”
Over the several upcoming months, the Davis District Board of Education will look over reconfiguration options for the Davis Joint Unified School District’s (DJUSD) elementary schools, junior high schools and senior high schools. This may be up for discussion as early as March. The current system in the Davis District consists of kindergarten to sixth grade in elementary schools, seventh to ninth grade in junior high schools and 10th to 12th grade at senior high schools. This was a common configuration in the ’70s and ’80s, and the Davis School District is one of the few remaining in the state with this setup. The Board will review and consider several configurations. One option would be having kindergarten to eighth grade in elementary school and placing ninth to 12th graders in high school. Other options would be moving the ninth graders to high school, or not changing the current system at all. Since ninth graders are placed at Davis junior high schools — which are considerably smaller than the high schools — they
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are protected from common high school social and academic pressures. This subject has been brought up four times over the last 20 years. The reconfiguration is being discussed in order to use facilities more efficiently as well as meet long-term education and financial goals. “The Education Code assumes that all schools are K [kindergarten] to five, six to eight and nine to 12 configurations. The rules, funding and timing are broken down by this configuration. We are considering aligning our configuration to fit these requirements,” said Pamela Mari, executive director of Student Services at DJUSD. Mari made it clear that there is a great deal of study to be done before even considering changing the system. “This subject requires analysis of facility use, program enrollment, educational benefit, challenges we might meet and mitigat[ion of ] negative effects,” Mari said. Former Holmes Junior High and Davis High School students expressed their opinion on the possibility of an entirely new school structure. “I think the schools should
See EDUCATION, page 9
Fun fact of the day: A pregnant goldfish is called a twit. I hope you feel smarter! Amanda Nguyen