April 25, 2013

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

SERVING THE UC DAVIS CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY SINCE 1915

VOLUME 132, ISSUE 43 | THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2013

University officials address 2020 Initiative’s capacity concerns Renovations, construction made to accommodate 5,000 more students

By LAUREN MASCARENHAS Aggie News Writer

Plans for enrollment management and physical expansion of UC Davis are in the making to achieve the goals of the 2020 Initiative.

The 2020 Initiative, introduced by Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi in November 2011, provides a set of goals for the university, which includes adding 5,000 undergraduate students and at least 300 new faculty members by the year 2020.

With these changes come big plans for achieving and accommodating the goals laid out in the initiative.

UC Davis will attempt to admit 5,000 new undergraduate students without sacrificing the standards of quality it expects from its applicants.

“The undergraduate admissions goals and enrollment targets for each year are based upon a number of campus considerations, such as college capacity, facilities, academic and student support services/resources, and current enrollment,” said Lora Jo Bossio, associate vice chancellor of Student Affairs, in an email interview. “As we move forward with the 2020 Initiative, these same factors will be examined closely each year as we strategically increase our undergraduate admissions goals and enrollment targets.”

The majority of these new students will be out-of-state and international students. According to Ken Burtis, the campus lead on the 2020 Initiative and enrollment management chair, the recruitment of these students is part of an effort to create a more diverse experience on campus. Supplemental tuition

— Californians currently pay $13,877 in tuition while non-residents pay $36,755 — will be used to support the goals of expansion set forth in the initiative.

“For decades UC has not been very open to out-of-state and international students; it’s had a major California focus. People would have liked to come to UC but it hasn’t really been an option in the past,” Burtis said.

Burtis said that though the majority of growth will be from national and international students, the university still wants to maintain its accessibility to California students.

“We will not go backwards in the number of California students from the base in 2011-12,” he said.

A Holistic Review Methodology was implemented last year as part of the admissions process, and will continue to be used as more undergraduates are admitted in years to come.

“We seek to recruit, admit and enroll students who demonstrate academic excellence, who show strong social involvement, who have taken full advantage of the opportunities made available to them, and who are skilled in problemsolving, as well as talented, qualified and motivated students who have overcome the obstacles of limited educational and family resources,” Bossio said.

A large part of achieving the admissions goals of the initiative will be recruiting students.

“We are competing with universities around the world for the very best students. They’re out there so you have to hustle to get them,” Burtis said.

Along with these changes, the university is making plans to expand in terms of phys-

ical capacity to accommodate new Aggies who will be heading to UC Davis.

New housing and teaching facilities will be added to the campus.

“We have already started planning new classrooms and the first phase of an international center. Student housing is completing a residence hall expansion at Tercero and planning additional capacity at Orchard Park and a future project at Tercero to add even more,” said Bob Segar, the assistant vice chancellor of Campus Planning and Community Resources, in an email interview.

At this point, there has been one new lecture hall confirmed to be built on campus.

“We’re starting to begin preliminary planning for a 600-seat lecture hall on California Avenue, east of Hutchison Hall,” said Gary Dahl, director of project management in Design and Construction Management.

Location and use of the buildings is a big part of planning the construction of new facilities.

“The classrooms will go in the center of the campus. We always try to create good outdoor gathering spaces and a lot of bike parking with our classrooms,” Segar said.

These plans for building and renovation are unlike those that have taken place on campus in the past because the funding is not coming from the state.

“Supplemental tuition from the additional students will pay for the cost of growth and then some,” Burtis said.

At the time of publication, the exact number of new facilities that will be added to campus had not been decided.

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LAUREN MASCARENHAS can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

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Irisa

Compassion Corner Earthbench construction underway

TAm/ Aggie

Project to be gift to city’s public arts collection

By JOE STEPTOE

Critical Mass returns to Davis

Aggie News Writer

David Breaux cuts a familiar figure at the corner of Third and C streets, a location he has frequented for almost four years compiling Davis residents’ conceptions of the word “compassion.”

On April 28, a collaboration of environmental activists, artists and musicians will join Breaux at “Compassion Corner” to celebrate the construction of an Earthbench commemorating his dedication to raising awareness for compassion.

The project — spearheaded by Breaux — will incorporate input from UC Davis alumnus Brennan Blazer Bird and locally renowned ceramic artist Mark Rivera. Together with Breaux under the banner of compassion, they will work to produce a functional public artwork that will serve as a lasting reminder of Breaux’s work in the Davis community.

“The bench will provide a permanent monument to David’s work, which is to raise awareness about compassion. It’s going to invite people in to share and reflect on their notion of compassion, even when David’s not there,” Bird said. “It’s that sort of deeper meaning and purpose that makes the project so special.”

Breaux — commonly referred to as the “Compassion Guy” by the public — felt that the reception to the concept of both those involved and the general public has been overwhelming.

“I am so grateful for the response I’ve received so far and the willingness of people to support this project,” Breaux said. “I’m amazed that so many others are interested in supporting and bringing awareness to compassion.”

‘Compassion to the earth’ The Compassion Corner Earthbench follows on from the work of the Peace on Earthbench Movement (POEM), a nonprofit organization founded by Bird in the spring of 2011. POEM’s mission is to build 1,000 Earthbenches — which are constructed entirely from bottle bricks and cob — in a myriad of locations across the globe.

Bird became close friends with Breaux during his time as a UC Davis undergraduate and was particularly enthusiastic about the synthe-

Citywide bike ride to begin after year of inactivity

By TAYLOR CUNNINGHAM Aggie News Writer

CRITICAL MASS Central Park | 5:30 p.m.

ABIGAIL ALCALA / AGGIE

Davis resident David Breaux spent the last four years compiling Davis residents’ ideas of compassion at the corner of Third and C streets.

sis of his organization’s work with Breaux’s ongoing campaign for compassion.

“Compassion comes in so many different forms, and the direction we’re taking with this particular fusion of the projects is that you can show compassion to the earth by transforming your waste into something for the community,” Bird said.

Bird also felt that the collaborative element of the project was one of the driving forces.

“The collaboration involved is a big part of the project. So many different elements are being tied together under the theme of compassion,” he said.

This was a sentiment shared by Rivera, who will embellish the bench with compassionthemed ceramic tiles designed by Davis locals after construction has taken place on April 28.

“This project is so layered. It’s a great way to strengthen the community as everyone has a way of being involved. The ownership is not just with one person, and it’ll be energized by everyone that has put their concentration of compassion into this community build,” he said.

See COMPASSION on 2

On April 26 at 5:30 p.m., you may see more bikes than usual riding down your street. Don’t be surprised — Critical Mass is back in the city of Davis.

Critical Mass is a worldwide bicycling event that takes place on the last Friday of every month and has been dormant in Davis for the past year due to a lack of participation.

The event is a way for cycling enthusiasts to advocate for bicycle transportation in major cities around the world. Often, Critical Mass is used to protest for better rights for bicyclists.

Lucas Hill, a second-year sustainable agriculture major, is hoping to bring it back. Hill said he thinks that the event should be popular in an area with so many bikes.

“People in Davis don’t think that Critical Mass is necessary, but because Davis is so bikefriendly, we should be out celebrating it,” Hill said.

Hill said he heard about Critical Mass events in other areas and thought that it was something that should have a following in Davis.

“We just need to get enough bodies there,” he said. “A good reason to be here is to hang out together and have fun.”

Boogabaah Weesnaah, the last advocate of Critical Mass in Davis, isn’t so sure that Hill will be able to revive it.

Every last Friday of the month

“Critical Mass is dead in Davis. I’m assuming it’s because there is no need to advocate for bicycle transportation in this town,” Weesnaah said. “Everyone already rides their bikes everywhere.”

Weesnaah said she joined Critical Mass just as it was dying out in Davis, and despite her best efforts, she couldn’t bring it back.

“For a year I’d go sit at the meeting place and wait for a good hour. Usually no one showed up, or if anyone did, there were so few of us it was pointless,” she said.

In other cities where it has more of a presence, Critical Mass has proven unpopular among pedestrians, drivers and law enforcement. In San Diego, the event attracts between 200 and 500 riders monthly, enough to cause a traffic jam on major streets.

“The riders also don’t always respect the rules of the road,” said Chris Zaleski, a secondyear hydrology major, of Critical Mass events he has attended in San Diego. “They often run red lights and ignore traffic signals.

Hopefully riders in Davis will be more aware.”

Hill however, thinks that the event will “do more good than it can ever do harm.”

See BIKE on 2

2 | Thursday, APRIL 25, 2013

The california aggie

Opinion THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE Janelle Bitker Editor in Chief Hannah StrumwasseR Managing Editor Jonathan Wester Business Manager BEAUGART GERBER Advertising Manager Muna Sadek Campus Editor Claire Tan City Editor BECKY PETERSON Opinion Editor Elizabeth OrpinA Arts Editor ADAM KHAN Features Editor Matthew Yuen Sports Editor Hudson Lofchie Science Editor JOEY CHEN Copy Chief RICHARD TRUONG Asst. Copy Chief Brian Nguyen Photography Editor Janice Pang Design Director James Kim Asst. Design Director Joyce BerthelsEn Night Editor

E D ITOR IA LS FRO M T HE BOARD

Boston Marathon Bomber

(Social) media blunder Two bombs brought the Boston Marathon to a tragic conclusion on April 15. One day later a user on Reddit created the subreddit, or forum, called “r/findbostonbombers” in an effort to crowdsource the investigation and identify those responsible for the attack.

The subreddit was created to sort through the images from the attack and pass relevant information to the FBI. This did not happen. What happened was a witch hunt.

Reddit, Twitter and other social media platforms incorrectly identified suspects, singled them out and released their personal information in the course of their amateur investigation. The media, new and old, posted this speculation, hoaxes, rumors and misinformation as fact.

As both news writers and consumers we are appalled.

The Boston Bombing unleashed a raging scene of chaos that was only stoked by unceasing speculation by social media platforms and the traditional media. We saw the

abandonment of journalistic ideals as new outlets fought to be the first to break the news.

According to the Washington Post, the FBI released photographs of the suspects in part as a response to Reddit and the media’s unprofessional investigation.

Reddit identified a man in a “blue robe,” a man in a white hat, a man in a blue jacket, a man with a large backpack, two men who looked a bit too military and many more.

Some of these people had their personal information posted online.

None of them were the bombers.

The New York Post incorrectly identified the bombers twice and declared the death toll as 12, not three. CBS, AP, CNN, Fox News and many others incorrectly tweeted news of identifications, arrests, additional bombs and bombings.

Buzzfeed, among others, identified missing Brown student Sunil Tripathi as a suspect based on allegations put forward on social media.

There is a time for breaking

news, scoops and exclusives.There are ways to cover tragedies and emergencies while maintaining integrity. It should never come at the expense of the truth.

The Boston Bombing is unique not because it was an attack on American soil but because it happened in a time when social media has taken a step into the domain of traditional media. Platforms like Reddit are just as capable as the traditional media at disseminating information when things go viral.

This new model of information distribution places sites like Reddit and Twitter in the realm once reserved for journalism. These sites are unbound by the old media’s commitment to verification and reporting, and it seems as though the old media is becoming unbound as well.

We do not need a social media witch hunt every time a national tragedy occurs nor do we need media outlets that cannot tell the difference between fiction and fact.

Irisa Tam Art Director David Ou New Media Director

One Shields Ave. 25 Lower Freeborn, UCD Davis, CA 95616 Editorial (530) 752-0208 Advertising (530) 752-0365 Fax (530) 752-0355

The California Aggie is printed on recycled paper

Boy Scouts of America

Outcasting tomorrow’s leaders On Friday, April 19, the Boy Scouts of America proposed to lift the organization-wide ban on children who identify as gay while keeping the ban on gay adults as scoutmasters and other leaders.

With growing pressure from outraged activist groups and increasingly negative attention from the

media, some would consider the century-old organization’s proposal to be a compromise between traditional values and progressive inclusivity. Gay children are taught the importance of proper knot-tying without the Boy Scout’s conservative blessing when the time comes for them to actually tie the knot later in

life. Everybody wins, right?

The editorial board thinks otherwise. If passed, this decision would be one small step for LGBT equality and one giant leap backward for the mental well-being of queer children within the organization.

See BOY SCOUTS on 12

Naughty networking CULTURE FIEND with KATELYN RINGROSE • knringrose@ucdavis.edu

If you have internet, a photo of your genitals and a little bravery, you can be like some of the other UC Davis students who have found connections online.

The Davis “Down To Fuck” Facebook page (Davis DTF) receives approximately one risque post a day, including details about the student poster, a description of their perfect potential mate and their contact information.

For example, anonymous Italian DTF poster No. 1 loves to eat both pasta and pussy and is looking for a “little slap and tickle between classes,” while anonymous Latina DTF poster No. 2 is fun loving, but can kick ass when necessary.

She wants a lover who can “take all [her] crazy” and still appreciate her.

If students aren’t DTF, but rather DTR [her] friends to do that,” and Romeo loves (down to relationship), they might find it getting a “new mischievous unhindered helpful to scan recent self to explore with.”

Davis Craigslist postRecent Davis Craigings. slist posters include The Davis “Down To UC Davis students a “generous muscle Fuck” Facebook page man” who’s seeking Juliet, a 21-year(Davis DTF) receives old communication “dudes with smelly, major, and Romeo, a sweaty feet & socks” approximately one 23-year-old comand a “smooth marisque post a day ... puter science major, hogany woman seekare a couple who ing [a] bold man.” regularly uses Craigslist’s online clasBut if these Davis desperados aren’t sifieds to search for partners who enjoy your type, Craigslist bachelor No. 3 threesomes. might be more your style. He’s a selfDespite their occasional bad dates, Judescribed nice guy whose “mother taught liet believes that “threesomes are funsies! good manners” and can tell “by your face And [she doesn’t] feel like hitting on all if you are a chronic abuser.”

It’s sometimes hard to find a date who appreciates your sexuality. This was certainly the case for Lonely Hearts, a 20-year-old psychology student who moved to Davis from Sunol, Calif. last year.

Lonely Hearts downloaded the Grindr iPhone app, which many of his gay, bisexual and questioning friends recommended, because he wanted the security of being able to flirt with other men without the “potential of getting punched by some homophobe.”

Lonely Hearts didn’t find love online, but he did learn a useful lesson. The night before LH’s final paper on frog See RINGROSE on 3

Immigration TREE OF LIBERTY with TRISTAN DE LIEGE • tflenaerts@ucdavis.edu

Recently several senators, including prominent Republican Senator Marco Rubio, have been working to devise legislation concerning immigration.

Included in their most recent plan is a $2,000 fine illegal immigrants must pay before they can even begin the arduous process of applying for citizenship, as well as greater “security” along the borders to restrict human movement.

I’m not really interested in the various reasons that these senators are giving for punishing innocent and often hard-working members of our society — although I think part of it is a vague concern that “people are paying illegal aliens less than American workers” (which, if true, is an expression of the

freedom of employers). and cannot move? Does the United States Instead I want to raise questions about government own all the land in this what the recent country? debates about imI don’t think so. migration legislation But such restrictions Does anyone in imply. This shouldn’t imply affirmative this country have a answers to these be about whether we are granting “amquestions. And these right to tell people nesty” to those who exactly the sorts where they can and are have broken the law; of arbitrary policies cannot move? it should be about that one would exwhether those laws pect from a governare justified in the first place. ment that doesn’t consistently protect or Immigration really just means the recognize rights to property, which only movement of people to a country for the belong to individuals, not nations or govpurpose of residence (no, really, that’s all ernments. Nor does the United States beit means). Does anyone in this country long to some collective of “native-born” have a right to tell people where they can citizens that have the right to enslave or

subdue the rest.

Restrictions on immigration through fines and long waits for entry also unjustly punish those who might provide great value to those already living here through trade (and those who, despite coming here illegally, might have become productive members of society). Historically, many immigrants have done amazing things in this country, contributing to fields ranging from physics (e.g.

Albert Einstein) to philosophy (e.g. Ayn Rand). Of course, not all immigrants are going to be productive and law-abiding, but this is precisely the point. One is not a criminal just by being an immigrant, See DE LIEGE on 12

Thursday, APRIL 25, 2013 | 3

The california aggie

Power positions SEXPLANATIONS with MARISSA HERRERA • mdherrera@ucdavis.edu

Haven’t we all pined over a sexy TA? The way they push their glasses up the bridge of their nose and come in front of the class, all charismatic and just irresistibly adorable? If your heart is totally fluttering now, then you’re probably envisioning your respective TA hottie.

But is that allowed? Can our somewhat X-rated fantasies become reality? And what’s the deal with the forbidden fruit complex regarding student/teacher relations? What are the rules and limitations in these sexualized “power positions”?

Dating an authority figure — someone who has the ability to hire you, fire you, flunk you or pass you — we find this attractive. How can we not? As human beings we are inherently attracted to power.

But under UC Davis rule, more specifically the Graduate Student Employment Handbook for Teaching Assistants and Associates, you can’t bite into that forbidden fruit and they can’t bite into yours.

This power that gets us all hot and bothered is described as heightening

the “vulnerability of the student and the This is the major question you want to potential of coercion” in said handbook. ask yourself before you pick that fruit or COERCION! As in forcing you into the you let yourself be picked. Am I attracted relationship! As in forcing sexual acts! As to this person because of their power and in abusing power! the prohibited nature of it all? Or am I But honestly, the threat of that and really attracted to them — do I seriously the possibility of want to have sex with consensually playing them because they subordinate to a suare in fact sexy?

TAs can legally make perior seems to only The latter hapadvances toward you pens more so than enhance the appeal.

It tickles a whole lot you think, and once they know that of fancies. This is extracurthey are not responsi- these why we play teacher/ ricular activities are ble for any grading ... quite rampant. TAs student games behind closed doors — make advances, and it’s hot. The fact that whether it’s right or you can’t have it makes you want it. wrong is really your choice. Proceed with Take a TA or even, if you are quite caution — coercion can actually happen, adventurous, a professor, and put them and not in the fun BDSM way, but in the in a different context, and it loses appeal. they-can-fail-you way.

Admit it — you take your object of deTAs can legally make advances toward sire and all-encompassing lust, put that you once they know that they are not reperson at a party or a bar and more than sponsible for any grading responsibilities likely you wouldn’t approach them. for the present or the future — so make

sure you are both in the clear before you respond to their flirty email or send yours.

That is, if you want to follow the rules.

And if you want to unabashedly break the handbook guidelines, well you can.

When proceeding with caution, all should be well. What is tantamount to treading lightly when executing these fantasies is making it consensual. You want it bad, but that doesn’t mean the cute small talk means your TA wants it at all.

Seduction can be and should be used in these instances. From experience and from stories, I know that a few flirty glances and suggestive banter is pretty standard. And better yet, effective. This is probably the best option and route to use if hottie TA has winked and pouted in your direction.

But don’t initiate. I don’t want you to venture into sexual harassment.

If you do initiate, the guidebook actually states that you can be reported, so you probably don’t want to go there —See HERRERA on 12

Weed cards SOME SHAKE with LEO OCAMPO • gocampo@ucdavis.edu

It might surprise you to know that marijuana is somewhat legal here in California.

With a doctor’s recommendation, you can legally buy weed at shops known as collectives or dispensaries, and you can even grow a good number of plants in your home.

Controversially enough, it is not at all difficult to get your weed card, so long as you’re willing to be open and honest.

Physicians can recommend marijuana for any serious condition which they believe might be alleviated by getting high. This initially meant that patients of cancer, AIDS and other chronic illnesses could use marijuana medicinally. However, more and more doctors now agree that there are a number of patients with other conditions who might also benefit from smoking weed.

Patients who suffer from arthritis, migraines, insomnia, glaucoma, nausea and mood disorders also have the option of treating themselves, not with pills or pharmaceuticals, but with all natural,

delicious marijuana. into an underground, illegal business, The “ease” of getting a recommendagoing in for a medical marijuana contion has understandably caused some sultation is not much different from a concern among people who believe it regular doctor’s appointment. might encourage others to take advanYou’ll need proper identification, and tage of a law that was designed to help you’ll need about $60. chronically ill patients. But it would be After checking in, you are taken into a unfair and illogiprivate exam room. A cal to only recomnurse usually attends mend marijuana to you first, and does ... it is not at all to a small group of of the usual nurse difficult to get your all people when many stuff, like taking your weed card, so long agree that it has the blood pressure and potential to help out medical history. The as you’re willing to so many more. nurses also usually be open and honest give you smoking You most likely won’t be able to get a advice, and can tell medical marijuana recommendation from you about the differences between vaporyour everyday physician at your regular izers, edibles and concentrates to help clinic. Instead, you’ll have to stop by a you figure out which method is right for specific medical marijuana consultation you, given your condition. clinic.

Then the doctor comes in and disThese clinics look and run like regular cusses your condition to see if you might clinics, and they are overseen by libenefit from weed. Again, they’ll be censed, legitimate physicians and nurses. asking some pretty typical things: How While it might feel as if you’re walking long have you been feeling this way? Are

Cont. from page 2

Response to: ‘Islamists Rising’ coverage scholarship and polite tone. If the panel had been hateful, that certainly would have made news.

But it was a well-received presentation, so The Aggie ignored it.

Third, the printed Aggie article a week later completely ignored the real public debate about the threat of radical Islamism, and the bullying tactics of the "protest" letter. The newspaper coverage missed every opportunity to defend the right of speakers to appear, to weigh their views, to encourage public discussion and to comment favorably on the integrity of the panel.

The panelists outlined how moderate, secular, pro-Western and human rights respecting Muslims should be befriended and celebrated and highlighted, and how all human rights sensitive students should learn more about the hijacking of Islam by jihadist theory and practice.

Nothing quoted about the speakers in the original letter of protest, nor in the statements of the speakers at the panel, has been challenged or disproved.

The actual evidence of historical and current radical Islamism has not received any mention.

See OCAMPO on 12

RINGROSE

LETTERS TO THE E D ITOR

The Aggie coverage of the panel presentation on campus regarding Islamists Rising: Where Next For America, has been pathetic.

First, The Aggie printed an absurd letter denouncing the panel before the speakers even offered public thoughts and dialogue with the audience. The student letter was an attempt at anti-free speech censorship at a public university, which a First Amendment newspaper should have editorialized against.

The Aggie did not attempt to interview the speakers, and let the biased and uninformed public letter stand alone, without public discussion or rebuttal in the printed issue. The Aggie might have contacted the speakers, alerted the community to the opportunity to learn and participate and generally endorsed diverse views on campus.

Second, the panel was remarkably thoughtful, informative and calm, yet no mention of the content and erudition of the panelists was reported after the event. The audience applauded multiple times, and many comments were offered of praise for the speakers’ balance, informed

there any specific triggers? What other treatments have you tried?

Do not be surprised if the doctor does not consult with you in person. Because of the federal ban on marijuana, there are only a few doctors who are willing to give evaluations and recommendations. Thus, in order to extend their service, some doctors offer consultations over Skype.

After your consultation, you are usually then given a temporary (though fully functionable) recommendation. This short-term license is only good for about two months. During this time, the clinic verifies your medical history with your original health care provider. If your information checks out, you are then given a yearlong recommendation.

Renewing your recommendation after your year expires is just as easy, if not quicker and cheaper.

The key thing to remember if you want to get a recommendation is that your medical history will be

Human rights abuse, slavery, destruction of Christian communities, mistreatment of women, violent revolution, undemocratic regimes, suicide bombings, intimidation, fatwas, beheadings, destruction of religious minority cultures and rife evidence of radical Islamism globally receives no mention in The Aggie.

The journalism here failed to build on the opportunity to learn from the speakers, to ask the audience why they attended and why they felt rewarded by a scholarly, patient and respectful panel presentation, and how the very bullying by the protesters, to label speakers and preemptively smear them as promoting "hate speech" is itself an example of radical Islamism.

Shame on The Aggie. Bravo to the audience who listened and learned in respectful, civil dialogue. The ignorance and lack of discernment or intellectual honesty displayed by the letter writers exemplifies the crises of campus leftism and emotional irrationality in facing truths.

hearts was due, he met a person who claimed to be a herpetologist on Grindr. Lonely Hearts didn’t hook up with the frog expert, but did say, “the resources [the herpetologist] suggested ended up being incredibly useful … this random guy on a hook-up site essentially helped me to get an A.” OKCupid should have been named Mediocre Cupid for 25-year-old physics student Lolita, who had the “weirdest coffee of [her] life” with a man whom she met on the free site last summer. She said that he was “good looking, but as [she] got to know him, he made it pretty clear that he endorsed plastic surgery, if not encouraged it.” He told Loltia that he “only dates at a certain level of physical attractiveness.”

Lolita doesn’t believe that OKCupid is best known for “their hoards of hot supermodel women” but endorses meeting online dates in coffee shops, preferably ones with familiar escape routes.

Cyber love isn’t for the faint of heart. Strangelove, a graduate student and self-described masochist, public sex enthusiast and voyeur, dumped his OKCupid account after realizing that it is “a lot harder to find people associated with kink” on typical dating sites.

Last year, Strangelove joined Fetlife.com, a BDSM (bondage, dominance, sadism and masochism) community similar to Facebook.com, through which he has made approximately 30 friends, many of whom he has met in real life.

Because Strangelove works for the University, his greatest fear is students getting hold of his nude images, to “manipulate, hurt or blackmail” him. But Strangelove leaves his profile up because he believes that his online life isn’t just about meeting people, but also about expressing “kink and polyamory as not part of a deviant subculture, but a legitimate part of [his] identity.”

May luck and love be with you. The internet is a vast place, full of lonely lovers. Your Queen of Hearts, Sadistic Hades or Lonely Hearts could be waiting.

Larry Greenfield Panelist

KATELYN RINGROSE is 5’2”, with brown hair and green eyes. She would love to hear the story of your cyberspace romance; email her at knringrose@ucdavis.edu.

4 | Thursday, APRIL 25, 2013

DAILY CALENDAR dailycal@theaggie.org

April 25, Thursday Poetry in the Arboretum Noon to 1 p.m | Wyatt Deck, UC Davis Arboretum Please join us for free lunchtime readings with poet Mariam Ahmed.

Sierra Institute Information Session 12:10 to 12:30 p.m. | 142 Hunt The Sierra Institute, a unique experiential learning program that lets nature be the classroom, has found a new home at UC Davis Extension. Come down for a free information session on their two Summer 2013 courses taking place in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Courses are focused on the landscapes being explored.

OMG, I Need a Job: Uncovering the Hidden Job Market Through Networking 12:10 to 1:30 p.m. | 107 Art Annex No matter what the economy may indicate, becoming employed is within your reach if you are equipped with an effective strategy.

This seminar will help prepare you with a roadmap for navigating the job-hunting and hiring process.

Firebird Ensemble: Survival Tips for Successfully Negotiating the Year After Graduation 2 to 4 p.m. | 115 Music This lecture by Kate Vincent (artistic director of the Firebird Ensemble) will provide a range of strategies and ideas that may helpful in the challenging transition from student life into the professional world. Also discussed in this lecture will be a “how-to guide” for composers interested in developing significant relationships with performers and ensembles.

April 26, Friday Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference 3 to 6 p.m. | Freeborn Hall Come down for the Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference, which showcases undergraduate research. Open to the public. For more information, visit urc.ucdavis. edu.

Discussion with Joe Dumit 3 to 5 p.m. | 1236 Social Sciences and Humanities Don’t miss this opportunity to engage in a lively discussion of the groundbreaking book Drugs for Life: How Pharmaceutical Companies Define Our Health that is creating a stir in scholarly, clinical and industry contexts.

The california aggie

Four assembly bills drafted to modify Cal Grant Program Bills to be seen by Committee for Appropriations, Senate

By LILIANA NAVA OCHOA Aggie News Writer

On April 9, the Committee on Higher Education passed four Assembly Bills (AB) that aim to expand and improve the Cal Grants program — AB 1285, 1287, 1364 and 1241.

After a conference with The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS), University of California Student Association (UCSA) president Raquel Morales collaborated with others in order to cosponsor the bills.

“I think that all four bills aim to address current issues with the program. In doing so, we hope to expand the program both through the amount of the awards and the number of qualified recipients,” Morales said.

Assemblymember Paul Fong authored AB 1285, which would modify the Cal Grant B award. Cal Grant B funds are awarded to lowincome students as a tuition, fee and living aid. First-year students are limited to using Cal Grant B awards for living expenses and school supplies. When students are granted the Cal Grant B award beyond their first year, the restriction is lifted and they are able to use the money to pay for tuition and fees. AB 1285 would modify Cal Grants by allowing all students to utilize Cal Grant B awards to pay for tuition and fees.

Morales said that she would be disappointed to see AB 1285 fail.

“When the program was first created, low-income students were expected to attend a community college and then transfer to a fouryear institution,” she said. “As a low-income student, it is disappointing to see that the state has failed to recognize an increase of low-income students going straight to a four-year university. I hope our legislators recognize this fault within the program by supporting AB 1285.”

AB 1287 aims to remove requirements currently in place to renew Cal Grants and was authored by Assemblymember Sharon QuirkSilva. Currently, students must provide evidence annually that they meet the financial requirements for Cal Grant eligibility. However, this requirement was nonexistent before 2011, when students were obligated to provide financial eligibility only when they initially applied for Cal Grants.

This renewal requirement has resulted in the loss of 20,000 previously-eligible Cal Grants recipients, according to a press release

by James May regarding AB 1287.

Of these affected 20,000 students, 1,200 students have had an increase in their income of less than $1,000. AB 1287 would ensure that eligible students continue receiving Cal Grants.

“Students can now conceivably lose as much as $13,000 in the middle of their college attendance if the student or their parents receive just a small bump in their income,” Quirk-Silva said in a news release. “This is having a devastating effect on students and potentially forcing many of them who still have a financial need to leave school for lack of funds or placing middle and low income families in dire financial straits.”

AB 1364, which focuses on increasing the minimum amount of the Cal Grant B award. Existing law establishes the maximum annual Cal Grant B award for access costs to $1,551; AB 1364 — authored Assemblymember Philip Y. Ting — would increase it to a minimum of $5,900. Access costs refer to living expenses, books and supplies.

The $5,900 figure is derived from the amount that Cal Grant B students would have received if it was adjusted to match the effects of inflation. AB 1364 would ensure that the Cal Grant award is annually adjusted to keep up with the current state of the economy, beginning in the 2014-15 academic year.

Assemblymember Shirley N. Weber authored AB 1241, which seeks to extend the Cal Grant period of eligibility by three years.

Existing law only qualifies high See GRANT on 14

Taste the World — South Africa 5:30 to 7 p.m. | Silverado Vineyards Sensory Theater Join us for the first of three educational wine tasting discoveries, led by world-renowned faculty in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis. Proceeds will benefit Broadening Horizons, an initiative to increase the enrollment of underrepresented students in the Department of Viticulture and Enology and Food Science and Technology via outreach and targeted educational programs.

Mystical Journeys 7 to 8 p.m. | Vanderhoef Studio Theatre, Mondavi Center Come down for free performances by Firebird Ensemble and other UC Davis musicians.

American Red Cross Club General Meeting 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. | 146 Olson The ARCC is an on-campus organization dedicated to emergency preparedness and community service. Join them for their second general meeting of the quarter.

April 27, Saturday Free Shredding for Davis Residents 9 to 11 a.m. | Davis Waste Removal, 2727 Second Street, Davis Davis residents can clean out their home offices on April 27 at a free shredding event, courtesy of Davis Waste Removal, which contracts with the city for all of Davis’ garbage, recycling and green waste removal.

‘The Foreigner’ 8 to 10 p.m. | The Wyatt Deck, UC Davis Arboretum Common House Productions Presents: The Foreigner by Larry Shue, a riotously funny two-act comedy. A quiet retreat to rural Georgia for a “foreigner” who is not what he seems turns into a crazy plot rife with deception and revelations that shines a light on what people are willing to divulge when they think no one is listening.

April 28, Sunday Music on the Green 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Central Park Come and enjoy an afternoon of free live music featuring Whiskey Business, Jordan’s Beard and The She’s.

KDVS Fundraiser Noon to midnight | John Natsoulas Gallery Come down for the final full day of the KDVS fundraiser and support your local radio station!

April 30, Tuesday The Family of Man and the Politics of Attention in Cold War America 12:10 to 1 p.m. | 1246 Social Sciences and Humanities The American Culture and Politics research cluster and the Science and Technology Studies program are proud to welcome Fred Turner, associate professor of communication and director of the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at Stanford University.

Refreshments will be served.

May 1, Wednesday Work It Week Kick-Off 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. | West Quad Kick off Work It Week with 10 minutes of fun activities. Earn a water bottle, pick up a free flying disc and get a workout band too! For more information visit shcs.ucdavis.edu/workit.

Science Cafe Series 5:30 to 7 p.m. | Crepeville Come down for free admission to Science Cafe Series presents: “Can oil from algae power your car?” Professor Annaliese Franz will speak and the event will be hosted by Professor Jared Shaw.

To receive placement in the AGGIE DAILY CALENDAR, email dailycal@ theaggie.org. Due to space constraints, all event descriptions are subject to editing and priority will be given to events that are free of charge and geared toward the campus community.

UC Davis, city officials advocate economic growth at Capitol-to-Capitol Sacramento region, Washington, D.C. officials discuss initiatives

By SYDNEY COHEN Aggie News Writer

April 10 marked the start of the weeklong 43rd Capitol-to-Capitol trip, a lobbying effort in which participants discuss initiatives that affect the Sacramento region with representatives in Washington, D.C. This year’s trip included representatives from the City of Davis, Yolo County, UC Davis, local businesses, Davis Chamber of Commerce and recent UC Davis graduates.

“The legislative folks and the agencies — when they see elected officials take time to come and talk with them directly, it really sends a strong message,” said Rob White, chief innovation officer for the City of Davis.

White said that the Capitol-to-Capitol trip gives elected officials the opportunity to interact with other regional representatives to see what they are doing in their areas as well as see how representatives in Washington, D.C. are acting on issues that affect Davis.

“There really is no other environment [in which] we are able to interact with elected officials in a systematic and organized way,” White said. “You get to meet with all those folks that are going to have influence on things that are important to you.”

Some of the topics of interest were immigration, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and Startup Act 3.0.

According to the Startup Act 3.0’s text, the bill aims “to jump-start economic recovery through the formation and growth of new businesses, and for other purposes.”

“Just our team hit somewhere around 12 agencies and close to 20 elected officials. It’s a very different environment when you see these things working their way through the system, and being able to have that direct influence and interaction on the policy that’s happening; that’s pretty invaluable,” White said.

According to White, the most effective day of the

week spent in Washington, D.C. was a meeting at the White House with the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

They discussed projects that are currently happening in Davis and Davis officials were reaffirmed that what is happening in the City of Davis is in line with federal policy and where officials see federal policy going.

“We are sitting at a precipice and we have the opportunity as a country and maybe more importantly, we, Davis, have an opportunity to lead in moving this system forward again,” White said.

Rochelle Swanson, honorary co-chair and councilmember of the City of Davis, said that much of the trip was geared at discussing initiatives that could leverage Davis in the global economy.

“What can we do with our assets that we have here: a world-class university, some of the top soils in the world [and] a highly educated populace?” Swanson said.

Davis-Yolo teams were encouraging elected officials in Washington, D.C. to make applied and basic research a top priority and to highly consider the amount of money they give to UC Davis, especially when it comes to sequestration, according to Swanson.

Swanson said one of the most valuable things about Capitol-to-Capitol was interacting with other representatives from the Sacramento area.

“It was valuable for other parts of our region to see that we do have venture capital interest here in Davis and understanding that we do have a very powerful public-private relationship between our city and our business community, and that we have a great relationship with the university,” Swanson said.

Swanson was the only representative from the City of Davis at last year’s Capitol-to-Capitol trip. She said that she found it to be meaningful to connect with See DC on 15

Thursday, APRIL 25, 2013 | 5

The california aggie

Picnic Day revenue pays police service, student employees

CAMPUS JUDICIAL REPORT The smell of defeat A student was referred to Student Judicial Affairs (SJA) by a Resident Advisor (RA) for possession of an illegal substance in the dorms. The RA was doing a routine check of his floor when he smelled marijuana at the end of the hallway. The RA conferred with another RA in the building and they decided to call a police officer.

The officer arrived in the building and the RA directed the officer to the room. The officer knocked on the door but the resident would not open the door. After a few minutes, the resident decided to open her door and two students were identified. One student took full responsibility for possession and use of the substance and was referred to SJA. When the student met with the SJA officer, she accepted a formal warning and Disciplinary Probation until Winter Quarter 2014. If the student is referred to SJA again, she will most likely be suspended.

On-campus businesses see little rise in profit

Double trouble Two professors referred the same student to SJA for suspected plagiarism in separate anthropology courses. The student submitted three papers containing plagiarism between the two courses.

When the student met with an SJA officer, the officer compared the student’s work with online sources that were very similar. The student admitted that she had copied most of the material from online sources, and stated that she was careless in tracking the sources she used for the papers. The student took responsibility for her actions and accepted Deferred Separation status and 20 hours of community service. Deferred Separation means that the student has waived her right to a formal hearing if she is referred in the future for any kind of academic misconduct. The student was also directed to resources that will help her avoid plagiarism in the future.

Trust no one Brian Nguyen / Aggie

Students board the W line on Picnic Day.

By MUNA SADEK Aggie Campus Editor

Picnic Day is one of the busiest days of the year for campus dining and Unitrans transportation services.

According to Darin Schluep, foodservice director for Associated Students Dining Services, the ASUCD Coffee House (CoHo) garnered about $28,000 in revenue on Picnic Day — an increase in overall sales of about three percent.

During the day, on April 20, the CoHo was open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Swirlz Bakery opened at 7 a.m.) and employees were paid time-and-a-half.

“The thing that makes Picnic Day so crazy for us … is our services are focused in a four- or five-hour timespan,” he said.

The Coffee House earns an average of about $27,000 in sales Mondays through Thursdays.

According to Schluep, though about 5,400 transactions were made on Picnic Day — as opposed to the daily average of 7,500 to 8,000 transactions — close to the same amount of revenue was made on Picnic Day because the average price paid per transaction was higher; indicating that most customers purchased meals with multiple items, not a single.

The average amount paid per transaction on a regular business day is $3.38, whereas during Picnic Day, the average amount paid per transaction was $5.19.

Schluep added that there are many costs associated with the event, including materials and heightened labor costs, so like usual school days, not all revenue is returned to the business.

On-campus retail dining also garnered near the same amount of revenue that they would on a usual day, according to Gina Rios, general manager of Retail Operations at University Dining Services by Sodexo.

Rios said that staff at retail dining locations, like the Silo, were busy the whole time they were in open — as opposed to receiving groups of customers hourly or between class times.

“Picnic Day income is part of the annual income budgeted for these units to provide services and cover all of their expenses throughout the year, including funding for almost 500 student jobs,” said ASUCD interim business manager Anne Myler in an email interview.

Myler said because AS Dining Services and Unitrans are breakeven operations, they do not have surplus funds at the end of the year.

Unitrans, which charges $1 to all passengers (excluding senior and disabled passengers) on Picnic Day, made $10,241 during Picnic Day in 2012, with 12,415 passengers — 1,433 passengers fewer than the previous year, according to Teri Sheets, assistant general manager at Unitrans.

Unitrans ran special Picnic Day lines from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Drivers earned an extra $1 per hour during shifts.

“This is work over and above their normal work schedules, and they provide a higher level of service than Unitrans normally provides on a standard Saturday,” Sheets said.

A significant amount of the revenue made goes toward driver, supervisors and cleanup crew pay, according to Sheets.

The amount made for this year’s Picnic Day is still being calculated. However, Sheets said Unitrans is estimating that approximately $9,400 was made.

A large amount of the profit is also directed toward UC Davis and City of Davis Police service.

“The remainder of the fare revenue that we make on Picnic Day is allocated to pay for the additional security presence on the buses and at the MU and Silo terminals. Our customers and drivers have expressed appreciation for this security presence to discourage unruly behavior and to respond quickly to medical emergencies that may come up,” Sheets said in an email interview. “In the end, Unitrans does not make a profit from the fare revenues collected on Picnic Day.” MUNA SADEK can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Two students were referred to SJA for taking an exam in the wrong sections for their Biology 2B class. The students were referred to SJA by a Teacher’s Assistant (TA), who confronted the students at the end of the exam. The TA told the students that they are only allowed to take the exam in their appropriate sections. In his meeting with a Judicial Officer, one of the students stated that he did not realize that this was a rule because he had not attended the first day of class when this announcement was made, so he just went along with his friend’s suggestion that they both take the exam in a particular section. Both students accepted Disciplinary Probation until graduation and 10 hours of community service. The students also received zeroes for the exam.

WEEKLY WEATHER Short Term Forecast Thursday, we will see a dip in temperatures back to normal levels with highs in the upper 70s and lows in the upper 40s.

The temperatures will swing back into the low 80s on Friday with low temperatures the same as before.

Temperatures will continue to increase so that by Saturday, we should be in the mid to upper 80s with lows in the 50s.

Justin Tang, Atmospheric Science Major

Long Term Forecast Conditions will be clear and sunny throughout next week. We can expect increasingly hot temperatures from Monday through Friday.

Expected highs: mid 80s to low 90s Expected lows: upper 50s in the night Megan Simone, Atmospheric Science Major

Climate Average temperatures for this time of year typically range in the mid 70’s, so this coming week will be several degrees above normal.

Established records for this time of year are in the low to mid 90’s.

We’re not expecting that kind of heat in the next few days, but we may hit the 90 degree about a week from now.

Almanac Last week’s observed temperatures (April 18-24)(H/L): Thurs: 77/45 Fri: 82/63 Sat: 82/54 Sun: 86/63 Mon: 86/63 Tues: 82/48 Wed: 83/48 Brian Rico, Atmospheric Science major

Weather News

COMPASSION Cont. from front page

Funded by compassion Construction is set to take place between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., during which time parts of Third and C Streets will be closed off to facilitate the process.

Anyone is invited to participate in the project in a multitude of different ways.

“We’re accepting donations through funds, through bottle bricks and trash, and through people’s donation of their time and energy,” Breaux said.

“We’re so grateful for any contribution people feel they can make.”

The event will feature live music provided by local Davis band Tha Dirt Feelin. Guitarist Colin Borges, who has also been involved in the organization of the construction day, was particularly optimistic about the event’s turnout.

“It’s going to be such a fantastic event, there’s real viral video potential for compassion. Everyone’s supporting each other, which is what the world really needs right now,” he said.

The project, which was unanimously approved by both the Civic Arts Commission and Davis City Council on March 9 and March 26, respectively, will be funded entirely through donations. The bench will therefore be considered as a gift to the city’s public arts collection.

“The city is so incredibly appreciative and thankful to be receiving this gift,” said Carrie Dyer, community services supervisor of the Civic Arts Commission. “The bench will provide Davis and its residents with a special place to be able to reflect on compassion.”

Dyer added that while the city has no immediate financial obligation to the project, part of the agreement was that it would take responsibility for the upkeep.

“We agreed that once we take it into our budget, we will cover any maintenance costs that are incurred,” she said.

As the site of construction is legally the property of AT&T, the project had to be approved by the company.

“As one of the largest telecommunication companies in the world, connecting people with compassion is something that AT&T is fully behind,” said Tim Ray, regional vice president of external affairs at AT&T. “As soon as we heard about the project, we were happy to do whatever we could to put the wheels in motion.”

The process The project has experienced little to no resistance from a logistical perspective throughout the entire process. The consensus among everyone involved is that the relative ease of the project can be attributed to Breaux’s standing in the Davis community.

“He’s such a calming, amazing person. He draws people in and helps them to reflect on what compassion means to them. People want to give back and be a part of something that’s so special to our community,” Dyer said.

This was a sentiment that was echoed by Bird.

“There’s so much support for what David does here as he’s such a recognizable presence in Davis.

People really believe in his mission and want to help see this project realized as a result,” he said.

JOE STEPTOE can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

A low pressure system over the Red Sea prompted us weather officials to put a report of rain in a recent weather forecast.

Saudi government officials said that while there was a weather system that would produce heavy rain and rough seas, there is no need to worry because it would not result in catastrophe.

The General Presidency of Meteorology said that they will be experiencing a “transitional climate period” and that no matter how credible the source is, don’t listen to it’s meteorological data.

Tyson Tilmont, Atmospheric Science Major

POLICE BRIEFS city@theaggie.org

20/SUNDAY Handle your $#1*!

A guy urinated on himself and passed out inside Chipotle on E Street.

Doesn’t add up Someone reported a person was harassing them by whispering while they were trying to study math at the library on East 14th Street.

Brewski bomb People were on the roof, throwing cans of beer from a slingshot on Oeste Drive.

Out of their hands A female was reported for having her hands down a guy’s pants on F Street.

Bucking naked A naked guy was running down the street, picking fights on Russell Boulevard.

Three’s a crowd Someone reported that her roommates were having a party with over 300 attendees and wanted help breaking it up on Russell Boulevard.

Body conscious

BIKE Cont. from front page

Rheanna Chen, a third-year international agricultural development major, plans to ride in the event on Friday. She said she’s excited to be a part of a global movement that advocates for bicycling as part of sus-

tainable development — something the city of Davis is known for.

“I look forward to a time when the car usage in large cities decreases and there’s a conscientious investment in better public transport,” Chen said.

She also thinks that possible traffic complaints could result in positive effects.

“Complaints put pressure on political leaders to do something, to change the current way we do things and do it better,” Chen said.

Critical Mass will meet in Central Park every last Friday of the month at 5:30 p.m.

TAYLOR CUNNINGHAM can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

A person reported that a garment bag, which appeared to have something in it, was hanging from the fence of their home and they were afraid to approach it on Lehigh Drive.

Waterfoul Several subjects were on top of the parking structure on F Street dumping liquid over the wall; the reporter hoped the substance was water.

Police briefs are compiled from the City of Davis daily crime bulletins. Contact EINAT GILBOA at city@theaggie.org.

6 | Thursday, APRIL 25, 2013

The california aggie

MUSE Instrumentalist Equality Now! ADAM KHAN • Aggie Features Editor • features@theaggie.org

A

s I sift through the myriad of magazines lining the back wall of CVS, my hand catches the

nonchalantly and catch a glimpse of the contents within. To my genuine astonishment, the $6.99 collective of

... the $6.99 collective of glossy pages is completely filled with One Direction glamour shots ... corner of an askew publication and knocks it to the ground. I pick it up

glossy pages is completely filled with One Direction glamour shots, com-

plete with perforated edges for quick access to the numerous headshots of Harry Styles. I turn to my friend from down the aisle and reveal my finding.

The unexpected response: “I love that band! They’re so hot!”

Two weeks later, I’m wandering through the many drunken masses of the West Quad on Picnic Day, enjoying a young rock band flood the landscape with pleasurable tunes. As

I muse on the expensive sonic equipment the up-and-coming act is packing, I overhear a sentence that catches my attention.

“I like this band, that guy is cute!”

A hypothesis forms in my mind. Casually, I turn to the girl and ask one final question — “Do you like Maroon 5?”

“Oh my God yes, Adam Levine is so See KHAN on 12

Department of Theatre and Dance hosts...

Edge Festival

Tickets are $10 per event, in advance or at the door. Tickets for The Rocky Horror Picture Show Sing-Along are available on a cash-only basis at the theater door.

Students to showcase theater, dance, cabaret acts

By CRISTINA FRIES Aggie Arts Writer

Consisting of various 5-minute acts, Undergraduate OneAct plays, Main Stage Dance performances and midnight sing-along showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the Edge Performance Festival showcases the performative talents of undergraduate and graduate students alike.

The festival runs from April 25 to 28 and May 2 to 5 at Wright Hall and Wyatt Deck.

David Grenke, artistic director of the Edge Festival, described the types of events

to be featured during the festival.

“Hour of 5s is an hour of five-minute cabaret pieces that showcase students’ talents, which can be singing, acting, dance, monologues or however they develop and express their creative process,” Grenke said. “The One-Acts are written and directed by undergraduates. They are each under 10 minutes in length, and the idea for that is to really focus on the craft of writing and directing plays.”

The Main Stage Dance

courtesy of Abigail Alcala

Stephanie Rivas, Kevin Chung and Cecelia Kim (from left to right) perform in the one-act play “Chair Games” in the Edge Festival.

See EDGE on 12

A Day in the Life of an Immigration Inspector

By ANTHONY LABELLA Aggie Arts Writer

The term immersion, as it applies to video games, often brings with it connotations of expansive landscapes, beautiful environmental vistas and compelling narrative developments. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim acts as a key example, in which the game's greatest strength is the world itself and how players feel a strong connection to it.

Over the weekend, I was reminded that the successful execution of a unique idea can establish the same level of immersion, in spite of a limited scope and modest production values. This cognitive shift came as a result of my time with a recent indie game titled Papers, Please.

Described by creator Lucas Pope as a “dystopian document thriller,” Papers, Please transports players into the role of immigration inspector

for the fictional country Arstotzka. I've played hundreds of video games in my lifetime, and never before have I had to admit or deny people entry into a country.

Oddly enough, I had a lot of fun completing the menial tasks that came with my new occupation. I verified documents, highlighted discrepancies, interrogated individuals and ultimately marked their passports with the appropriate stamps. I admit it sounds boring on paper, but

there's just something about noticing false names or missing worker permits that gives me great satisfaction. I did my new job well and deserved a pat on the back.

By the time the third or fourth day in the game came around, I really got into that immigration inspector mindset. This was important, since individuals started pleading for entry into the country despite invalid papers. One woman claimed to be visiting her sick son, but she had an expired entry permit and I had to turn her away.

Do I really have no sympathy for this poor woman?

What's the big deal if I let one person through? These thoughts briefly ran through my head, and I wondered if I felt some kind of repressed, Freudian pleasure from ruining people's lives. But then I remembered my own responsibilities — doing my job correctly meant more money at

the end of each day, which went toward heating, food and rent for my family. It's an ingenious way of creating player incentive in the face of such tough moral dilemmas.

These simple mechanics help reinforce the immersion in Papers, Please and speak to the game's ability to take a seemingly off-putting role (immigration inspector), and make it compelling, interesting and fun. I didn't need fancy visuals or a huge open world in order to feel truly connected to the experience.

Papers, Please is currently available as a free beta on Pope's website, but the designer hopes to finish the game in the next month or two with much more content. I can't wait to get back in there and continue my job as immigration inspector for the glorious nation of Arstotzka.

ANTHONY LABELLA can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.

Thursday, APRIL 25, 2013 | 7

The california aggie

Music on the Green performs at Flea Market ASUCD units collaborate on concert

By JOHN KESLER Aggie Arts Writer

The upcoming installment of the Davis Flea Market will feature Music on the Green, an annual concert for the community organized by ASUCD. There are four bands playing, including The Blackbird, Jordan’s Beard, Whiskey Business and The She’s. “[Music on the Green] has been going on for a few years in order to bridge the gap between the community of Davis, the students of ASUCD and the university as a whole,” said Jenna Wooster, chair of the External Affairs Committee and a first-year biomedical engineering major.

Wooster was involved in the planning process for this event along with the former External Affairs Committee chair, Emily Alice Gerhart.

“I was involved in a lot of

the logistical decisions, such as where to hold the concert, who to hire and the environmental impact,” Wooster said.

The event had input from several units of ASUCD, including the Campus Center for the Environment and EPPC, who are helping to make this a zero-waste event. In addition, the Entertainment Council and KDVS helped select the performers.

Sami Perez, bassist for The She’s, is excited to play in the show as the band members are about to graduate high school.

“It's exciting to play for students who are so passionate and involved in the youth culture,” Perez said in an email. “Quite recently we all visited the Davis campus and were definitely impressed with the welcoming vibes and overall open-mindedness.We are excited to be a part of this creative flow that we really only find in college communities.”

NEWS IN BRIEF

Stefan Turkowski, a third-year electrical engineering major who plays in Whiskey Business, will experience his fourth gig in a single week at Music on the Green.

“We just played a house party on Picnic Day, we played on the green on Wednesday and on Friday we’re playing at Little Prague,” Turkowski said. “We love Jordan's Beard, and we’re happy to be playing with them.

We have played at the Flea before, and we had a really good time because everyone is so happy to be outside in the sunshine.”

Wooster shares the excitement of the bands.

“I have not been to the event since I lived in SoCal previously,” she said. “I'm just excited to get out into the sunshine, enjoy the community of Davis and hear some great music. We hope that the community comes out, as they’re all welcome.”

JOHN KESLER can be reached at arts@ theaggie.org.

“ASUCD’s Music on the Green will be held alongside the Davis Flea Market on Sunday, April 28 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Central Park.”

‘Sexy Feminism’ dubbed as ‘gateway drug to feminism’ Authors host event at Avid Reader

courtesy

Aggie Arts Writer

I must admit, in the beginning, I thought I would hate Sexy Feminism. With the subhead “A Girl’s Guide to Love, Success, and Style,” the cover words are superimposed over a close-up photo of glossy, sultry, slightly-parted lips.

It became very clear in the introduction that the book was for a very specific demographic when the authors self-identified as “shockingly mainstream” young women growing up.

So in other words, I was ready to get outraged.

I had primed paragraphs in my feminist bandolier about the exclusion of the lower-class, mixedrace, disabled, genderqueer, androgynous lesbian: You can’t just ignore them! They’re here, they’re queer, write books about them!

But Heather Wood Rudúlph and Jennifer Keishin Armstrong hooked me with the second page of the first chapter, where they declared the first two steps of feminism: “Step 1: Call yourself a proud feminist. Step 2: Live up to the word.”

They put the beat-down on the “I’m not a feminist, but …” stance: “To distance yourself from the word is to imply there’s something wrong with feminism and/or feminists, an implication that leads to the continued denigration of the cause itself,” wrote Rudúlph and Armstrong.

On April 26, the pulsating beats of progressive house DJ, Panic City, will fill the courtyard of the Alpha Epsilon Pi house. The event, titled Panic Room after its featured artist, is a free event for students, put on jointly by the ASUCD Entertainment Council and AEPi and sponsored by Monster Energy Drinks.

In terms of high-profile events at the AEPi house, “there has been nothing like this so far,” said thirdyear managerial economics major Brent Ghan.

Panic City is the moniker for 26-year-old San Francisco producer Nic Magbanua, who began recording hip-hop instrumentals in high school before DJing at clubs in the Bay Area and elsewhere.

Recently, his slick house remixes of highly popular artists (Daft Punk, The xx and official Chris Brown and Far East Movement remixes) have gained him increasing attention on sites like Hypetrak and Soundcloud.

“Panic City is a solid EDM artist, and all involved with organizing the event, myself included, have put a lot of hard work into it,” said Kyle Simon, a fourth-year biochemistry and molecular biology major. "I am personally excited to have the opportunity to facilitate the cooperation of Monster Energy with such a fantastic event.”

The event begins at 9 p.m. on April 26 at the AEPi house on Russell Boulevard. Valid UC Davis ID will be required for free student entry.

— Andrew Russell

Cross Cultural Center seeks art submissions for display The Cross Cultural Center is searching for artwork to display in its front Art Lounge and hallway.

Any current undergraduate, graduate, staff, faculty or community member can apply to submit art to be displayed in the center.

Submitted artwork should reflect the Center’s mission: “... to foster a multi-cultural community through education and advocacy regarding systematic group oppressions, ethnic and cultural diversity, and establishing an environment of cross-cultural learning and exchange for the entire campus.”

For expectations, responsibilities and specifics of submission, visit ccc.ucdavis.edu/about/artlounge.

The authors of Sexy Feminism (pictured) hosted an event at The Avid Reader.

By TANYA AZARI

Entertainment Council and AEPi present: Panic Room

— Elizabeth Orpina

Dance team to hold 10th annual showcase

Bless their hearts.

They sucked me in, with strong language, firstperson plural and historical excerpts defining the waves of feminism or touting strong women in See FEMINISM on 15

Annual KDVS Fundraiser runs through April 28 Station sets goal to $60,000 to sustain operations KDVS held a fundraiser concert at their Studio A venue on April 23.

Lucas Bolster | Aggie

Pledge at fundraiser.kdvs.org or call (530) 754-5387, or toll free at (877) 399-5387.

The UC Davis dance team puts on its annual showcase, which is also the team’s largest yearly fundraiser, for the 10th year in a row next week.

Although the group works with the cheer team and Aggie Pack to entertain crowds at various sporting events, this showcase allows for the dancers to display various styles of dance and student choreography.

For more information about the show and how to purchase tickets, go to the UC Davis Dance Team Facebook page. Tickets are $10 pre-sale online and in-person and $15 at the door.

— Elizabeth Orpina

By ELIZABETH ORPINA Aggie Arts Editor

KDVS needs your help and support more than ever before.

The student-run, free-form campus radio station depends on community donations to account for about $60,000, or two-thirds, of its operating budget. The remaining money, which is about $30,000 needed to run the station, comes from the student government. However, ASUCD reduced its support last year, and it’s uncertain whether there will be future decreases for this ASUCD unit.

Although this annual fundraiser has the same goal every year, additional money is required with this year’s additional expenses due to the addition of a radio tower, which increases the station’s broadcasting range to Sacramento, Woodland, Dixon, Winters and other nearby areas.

Core staff members and volunteers work 24/7 this week to promote the station, ask for help and do anything they can to raise money.

“My freshman year, I did not sleep for an entire week. I was really gung-ho about the station, so I would work on papers, be sick and actually lose my voice halfway through my second show of the week, because I was talking so much,” said Maxwell Sowell, a third-year linguistics and philosophy double major and director of productions at KDVS. Walk into the station located in Lower Freeborn at any time besides 3 to 6 a.m. and you’ll find any number of students making buttons, answering phone calls, tending to emails or See KDVS on 15

8 | Thursday, APRIL 25, 2013

The california aggie

Science +Tech THIS WEEK IN SCIENCE Medical Technology A 16-year-old in London has recently been “fitted” with a bionic arm to replace the arm he lost to meningitis as a child. What’s more impressive, however, is that he can control his arm from a smartphone. It runs off a rechargeable battery, and can articulate over 25 common gestures such as shaking hands, pinching and even a trigger motion. The arm is controlled directly via an iPhone or iPad, and after getting over the initial learning curve, has proved to be a life-changing technology.

Astronomy There is a lot of water in Jupiter’s atmosphere, but there wasn’t always. Researchers looking at data from the Herschel Space Observatory have concluded that all the water in Jupiter’s atmosphere was brought there by an asteroid impact that occurred in 1994. While 19 years may seem like a long time to us, in astronomical terms, it is a mere instant. This discovery was only possible due to Herschel’s astounding sensitivity to infrared light, and the ability to distinguish the emission lines consistent with gaseous water. Now that the origin of water on Jupiter has been established, the researchers are beginning to understand the origin of water in our entire solar system.

Cinnamon Unsurprising to many, it turns out that the infamous Cinnamon Challenge is actually quite damaging to your lungs. A recent study in the journal Pediatrics has shown that the cinnamon challenge, where one must attempt to swallow a spoonful of cinnamon in under 60 seconds, can cause extreme burning and inflammation of tissue in the mouth, nose, throat and esophagus by coating the mouth and drying out all of the saliva glands. Since the challenge went viral on YouTube last year, there have been 222 calls to Poison Control Centers, 122 of which required immediate medical attention. Some of the more extreme cases resulted in participants being on artificial respiration for an extended period of time.

Alternative Energy A group of researchers from the University of Exeter along with support from Shell Oil has come up with a way to make bacteria produce diesel fuel on demand. The diesel produced by the E. coli bacteria is nearly identical to the diesel fuel commonly used today, so it does not need to be blended with other petroleum products for it to function properly. It also means that these bacteria can produce nearly unlimited fuel, without the need for consumers to modify their vehicles.

Cancer Usually, bacteria and radiation have lots of negative juju associated with them, but recently, a study published in PNAS has shown that injecting tumors with irradiated bacteria can effectively deliver lethal radiation to the tumor, killing the tumor. The method exploits the way that tumors suppress our natural immune response. The irradiated bacteria enter our system and the tumor, and our immune system clears out the bacteria from our entire body, except for where the immune system is suppressed, such as the tumor. That way, the radiation stays in the tumor, effectively killing it. In a rat model, rats with pancreatic cancer that were injected with the irradiated bacteria had 90 percent fewer metastases after several doses.

Solar Power Even our most efficient solar panels available today are only about 45 percent efficient. A new collaboration is aiming to make a solar cell that is 80% efficient, and can concentrate the power of about 2,000 suns. What’s more, the new system will cost about one-third of existing solar systems. The solar system uses a set of parabolic mirrors to focus sunlight from multiple areas onto a single spot. Each 1-by-1 centimeter mirror generated about 250 watts of electricity, and since there are thousands of these tiny mirrors, the entire system can generate over 25 kilowatts during a typical sunny, 8-hour day. There is even a brand new cooling system that can maintain safe temperatures even when concentrating 5,000 solar equivalents.

Robotics Humans often find themselves empathizing with robots. This may sound far-fetched until we think about the T-101 from Terminator or Marvin from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Many of you are already familiar with how attached you became to your Furbies, and how much you love your Roombas. A recent study from the University of Duisburg in Germany has found that humans have very similar brain functions when shown videos of violence/affection for robots and other humans. This means that when people were shown videos of cruelty towards robots, they experienced the same mental reaction when they were shown videos of cruelty towards humans. As robots become more and more prevalent in our lives, the ethics of robot treatment will become a bigger issue.

HUDSON LOFCHIE can be reached at science@theaggie.org.

One idiot’s guide to how a guitar works ALAN LIN • science@THeaggie.org

F

irst I want to talk about the air — and not in some mystical and ancient way like finding your qi. I literally want to talk about

sure zones, or where the wave has peaked, are crests, and low pressure zones, where the wave is at its lowest, are troughs.

On the note of making springs vibrate, a guitar string is essentially like a slinky the gaseous fluid medium that we, human beings (about 7 billion), like to live in and breathe.

It’s nothing unusual or special, but it’s an important thing to consider that the air consists of a bunch of different molecules bouncing around.

Like any other collection of matter, these individual particles interact with one another.

One very important interaction related to what we’re talking about is the propagation of waves. In the air, waves are simple enough. Something disturbs some air, knocking some particles around. Those particles then crash into the neighboring ones. In this brief moment, there’s a pocket of heavily packed air particles directly adjacent to a spot where there’s not so many. One could call this a high pressure zone next to a low pressure zone.

Since nobody is hanging on to all of these air molecules and keeping them this way, the pressure diffuses, and the high pressure zone becomes lower while the surrounding low pressure zones get a little more crowded until the two zones even out. This pattern repeats outward from the source of the disturbance, and the whole phenomenon is called a wave. As such, it can be described with wave-related jargon; high pres-

I just threw a lot of words at you that might have gotten pretty boring pretty quickly, so we’ll talk about something fun: slinkies. The simplest way to visualize waves away from the beach is through a technique used by introductory physics instructors everywhere. Grab a friend, hand them one end of a slinky, hold on to the other end and move your end side to side. Ta-dah, you’ve just made a wave. Granted, it’s a longitudinal wave and mildly different from the transverse pressure waves I just described, but if you take a finger and flick a coil of the spring you’re holding, the little disturbance that you see bounce back and forth is a transverse wave.

On the note of making springs vibrate, a guitar string is essentially like a slinky! They’re all held under very high tension. Plucking one of these strings disturbs the air and sends a pressure wave through the surrounding air.

Now, the reason guitars have six strings and all those frets is that the different strings have different tensions. Plucking them disturbs the air a different amount and changes the resulting wave that travels through the air. The reason all of the frets are there is that holding down the string to a different length also alters the

tension and enables many different wave frequencies to be produced.

The resulting wave either gets bounced around the body of an acoustic guitar or gets picked up by the appropriately named “pickup” on an electric guitar. With an electric guitar, the pickups translate the waves into electrical signals that cause the speaker to make bigger, stronger waves of the same frequency. In an acoustic guitar, waves rattle around the body of the guitar, and positive superposition (fancy word for waves of the same sorts hitting one another just right and becoming bigger) sends waves through the air, which rattles our eardrums.

Once the eardrum starts moving, it causes a set of very small bones to shake and translate the outside sound into pressure changes on the the cochlea, a fluid-filled organ that’s lined with sensory cells. When the stapes (U-shaped bone included in that set mentioned earlier) vibrates, those vibrations are transferred to the cochlea and disturb the sensory cells, which send impulses to the brain and let it know to express the particular sensations of warm fuzzies associated with hearing a guitar.

It’s worth mentioning that these same principles apply to all musical instruments: vocal cords vibrate when air passes over them and make waves, wind and brass instruments taper in current airflow to pass vibrations along a bell and disturb the surrounding air, pianos use percussed strings and drums use percussed membranes.

ALAN LIN can be reached at science@ theaggie.org.

Too little and too much Study shows healthy results from the brain eating itself

By KELLY MITCHELL Aggie Science Writer

It is unlikely that you hear the word “microglia” very often during your classes, and it’s even less likely that you know what it is. The UC Davis Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, or MIND Institute, studies microglia and has recently discovered a new role they play in our brains’ development.

Microglia are a part of the immune system for the body’s central nervous system. They are similar to macrophages (white blood cells) and are the nervous system’s primary defense against infection. Microglia also clear away dead cells and repair damage.

“Typically, microglia were thought to be stationary sentinels in the brain and were a part of the immune system,” said Stephen Noctor, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UC Davis and the study’s lead author.

They were thought to remain inactive until a problem occurred when

they would be activated, but nobody discovered their role in our brains’ development until now.

At the UC Davis MIND Institute, Noctor and his team found that microglia remove healthy neural progenitor cells (NPCs) by phagocytosis (eating).

While this sounds counterintuitive, it means that the microglia will control the number of neurons in the brain to prevent brain overgrowth.

“We used antibody stains to label microglial cells in the brain and saw that the majority of [them] were in the germinal zones,” Noctor said.

This means that the microglial cells were found primarily in areas of the brain active in developing new brain tissue.

“We looked for evidence of interactions between the cells and found many instances in the developing monkey brain in which microglia appeared to be engulfing NPCs,” said Christopher Cunningham, a neuroscience Ph.D. candidate at UC Davis. “We also found instances where there were small bits of NPCs inside

of microglial cells, suggesting that the microglia had engulfed the NPCs and then degraded them as they would degrade a pathogen.”

In the brain’s productive zone, NPCs produce neurons during development, but too many or too few neurons can lead to serious consequences.

Too many and your neurons start to compete with each other for resources in your brain, creating connectional problems. Too few neurons and your brain will not function normally.

“Since many neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism and schizophrenia, involve alterations in microglial function and the number of neurons, we were intrigued by the possible link between this developmental phenomenon and the etiologies of these disorders,” Cunningham said.

After establishing that the microglia will eat healthy NPCs, the researchers’ next goal was to determine if changing the activity level of microglial cells could lead to a different amount of See MICROGLIA on 14

Relax, bro!

Study shows daily stress impacts mental health

By NICOLE NOGA Aggie Science Writer

If it ever seems like all the stress in your life may be driving you to the edge, it just might be.

Susan Charles, UC Irvine professor of psychology and social behavior, along with her colleagues, conducted a study investigating the long-term effects of minor stress events in people’s lives.

“If you were to ask the average educated person today about their physical and mental health ... they’ll often mention such behaviors as not smoking, maintaining a balanced diet and exercising regularly, but it is unclear how many people would mention … the need to make sure they are experiencing low levels of stress,” Charles said.

Using data from two national surveys, the researchers found that participants’ negative emotional responses to

courtesy

Stress in everyday life impacts hormone balance and physiology. daily stressors predicted psychological distress and self-reported mood disorders 10 years later. Minor stress events or daily stressors studied included getting stuck in traffic, fighting with a friend or significant other, and waiting in long lines.

“Stress on a daily basis is detrimental,” said Wesley Moons, an assistant professor in the UC Davis psychology department. “If you’re constantly stressed, you are See STRESS on 14

Thursday, APRIL 25, 2013 | 9

The california aggie

Dying to be skinny Inside the mind of anorexia and bulimia nervosa

By EMILY SEFEROVICH Aggie Science Writer

A disturbingly large fraction of Americans are just dying to be skinny, and dying is no mere understatement. The psychological health disorders anorexia and bulimia nervosa are exceedingly prevalent among the U.S. population. Roughly 20 million Americans (about 1 in 15 people) suffer from these diseases, and many more likely go undiagnosed. Combine that with the fact that Davis is a college town, and it’s likely someone has a friend or has personally been affected by such life-changing ailments.

Anorexia nervosa is a disorder commonly delineated by an anxious reaction to the presence of food. Oftentimes anorexic individuals, who obsess over maintaining a dangerously low body weight for their height and age, starve themselves and/or participate in excessive exercise routines. Bulimia nervosa is a binge/purge disorder. Someone with bulimia may overeat and force themselves to vomit or compensate for the calories with obsessive exercise. Both of these diseases can detrimentally impact a person’s social, emotional and reproductive well-being; additionally, these disorders are potentially life-threatening.

Anorexia and bulimia, which continue to present innumerable medical, emotional and social complications, are undergoing extensive analysis by medical institutions worldwide, led in part by researchers at the University of California, San Diego.

Individuals suffering from eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are oftentimes appealing to a socially constructed image of beauty that is nearly impossible to replicate. That is, unless you are endowed with the exact permutation of genes that code for an unreasonably small waistline, athletic butt, Scarlett Johansson/Ryan Goslingesque facial features, long, toned, lipid-less limbs (free of all cellulite, of course) and sufficient breast size. Oh, and these stringent expectations apply to both genders.

Researchers at UCSD are taking paradigm-shifting measures in order to better understand and treat patients suffering from anorexia and bulimia nervosa, and anorexia nervosa is the disorder currently under study. With the assistance of brain imaging devices, researchers under the direction of Walter H. Kaye, professor of psychiatry and director of the Eating Disorder Treatment and Research Program at the UCSD School of Medicine, are able to better understand the biological manifestation of psychological reactions that eating-disordered patients have to food.

Innovative neurological tests such as these may very well be the extensively sought-after solution to various preventable health maladies.

“Dr. Kaye’s research shows us that eating disorder patients grapple with a high level of anticipatory anxiety.

This is similar to the type of anxiety most people feel when approaching something like a test or a presentation.

But their anxiety is much higher than what most people would feel, and it does not seem to go down over time as they face the same situation over and over,” said Leslie Karwoski Anderson, UCSD’s clinical assistant professor of psychiatry. “One treatment strategy we have developed and are implementing with our patients involves helping them reduce pre-meal anxiety, which is one type of anticipatory anxiety that makes resuming normal eating especially difficult.”

What many fail to realize is that individuals afflicted

with neurologically-based conditions such as anorexia and bulimia nervosa are very deeply integrated into psychology, hence the more-common-than-not fact that anorexics and bulimics cannot be reasoned with.

These disorders effectively overshadow human logic.

Oftentimes, those who have the honorable intentions of curing an anorexic or bulimic patient become overly frustrated as their arguments fall on seemingly deaf ears.

Members of the medical community have found themselves desperate to find a solution to the common behavioral obstacles and relapses often experienced by anorexic and bulimic patients.

“A major reason contributing to the difficulty in developing new treatments for these disorders is our limited understanding of how brain function may contribute to eating disorder symptoms,” Kaye said.

Kaye also mentioned that in response to brain imaging examinations, many patients feel relieved in knowing that their symptoms are not their fault and actually a physiological reaction to the presence of food.

“We are working with patients and families on learning about neurobiology and how different neurotransmitters and areas of the brain associated with reward, harm avoidance, error detection [and] interoceptive awareness of physical sensations all interact with each other in the brain … We walk them through what physical and emotional experience of what it might feel like for someone with anorexia [and bulimia],” said UC Davis alumni and GFED scholar June Liang. “This has been very helpful for family members of patients to understand what their loved

ones are going through, which then helps to guide them in how to help them cope. For the person with anorexia [and bulimia], their struggles feel validated and they feel less alone.”

The UCSD medical community is undisputedly taking trailblazing steps toward solving the psychological mysteries of anorexia and bulimia nervosa. These conditions that silently plague millions, many of which compose the collegiate age group, are just two of many preventable health disorders that Americans are made aware of. Diabetes mellitus type 2, obesity-derived hypertension/chronic heart disease, addictive smoking and even alcoholism, are all avoidable chronic health ailments that neurological testing and psychologically based treatment may help to discontinue and prevent.

The implication that studies, such as those conducted

by UCSD, can help to curb the effects and pervasiveness of various health-maladies, is both an alluring and motivational proposition. Perhaps from the psychological and emotional darkness that anorexia and bulimia nervosa pose to their victims, the light of future medical ingenuity and methodology will arise to combat some of the most pressing health trends burdening the American populace.

If you or anyone you know is suffering from anorexia or bulimia nervosa, please call CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services at North Hall) at (530) 752-0871.

EMILY SEFEROVICH can be reached at science@theaggie.org.

Never fear, NOD1 is here Protein thought thoroughly studied could hold the secret to combating inflammatory diseases

By KELLY MITCHELL Aggie Science Writer

Our cells have to distinguish between foreign cells and the cells from our own body, but they also have to distinguish between friendly microbes and pathogens that will harm us. A recent study from UC Davis has found that a protein previously studied has much more to offer than we thought.

“We have to ignore those beneficial microbes yet be ready for an actual infection at the same time,” said professor Andreas Bäumler, vice chair of research at the UC Davis Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility and lead author of the study.

Our body contains more bacterial cells than human cells. These microbes, mostly found in the digestive tract, are beneficial and very important to our bodies’ routine functions. However, these helpful bacteria have relatives that can seriously damage us.

These pathogens (harmful bacteria) are detected when they infect our cells. Like an alarm, this intrusion causes the body to send off proteins that mobilize our immune response. Better understanding of our immune response can lead to better ways of combating pathogens and treating inflammatory disorders.

Digestive bacteria in our body are satisfied with just colonizing the intestines. They help to break down our food and benefit by having a good source of nutrients available to them. But their more aggressive relatives will break into our cells to survive.

“The microbes are supposed to stay in the lumen (inside intestines), but salmonella is a pathogen and will force its way into the tissue,” Bäumler said.

Salmonella, the pathogen of this study, infects our cells by activating enzymes on the cell membrane that rearrange the actin in the cell’s cytoskeleton. It does this by using a secretion system to inject pathogenic proteins into

the cell, like a syringe. The process that allows salmonella to infect our cells also alerts our body to the intrusion.

Salmonella was used to see how the immune system differentiates between the infecting salmonella and other harmless bacteria. Salmonella uses a protein called SopE, salmonella outer protein E, to rearrange our cell membranes and gain access.

When Salmonella injects SopE into our cells, SopE activates human GTPase enzymes RAC1 and CDC42, which are signalling proteins involved in cell division, which then break down the surrounding actin, allowing the bacterium inside. However, by activating the GTPase enzymes, salmonella also activates a protein called NOD1 that sounds the alarm once it has detected the pathogenic nature of the attack. This then signals other proteins, such as RIP2, signifying that the cell is in danger. In the end, NF-kB is signaled, attaches to our DNA and initiates the immune response by attracting white blood cells to the area.

What is surprising about NOD1 is that, before this study, it had been so thoroughly studied that no one had expected it to be significant in alerting the hibernating immune system that our cells were under attack.

These proteins were identified with help from the UC Davis Genome Center.

“Samples were brought to me in the UC Davis Genome Center for sequence analysis. I made a slight assist in the sample preparation methodology, in order to get better results for the interacting proteins,” said Richard Eigenheer, from the Proteomics Core Facility and the UC Davis Genome Center.

The genes activated by these proteins are an integral part of the human immune response and are related to inflammation and other immune functions like neutrophils, a type of white blood cell.

“Some of the genes that are transcribed are cytokines or chemokines that attract macrophages or neutrophils to

courtesy

Salmonella cells escape from white blood cells.

White blood cells are signaled to salmonella by the activation of the NOD1 protein. the site of infection. This helps the host to clear the infection,” said Marijke Keestra, the assistant project scientist for the study.

Besides allowing us to further understand how our immune system is activated, NOD1 allows us to find new targets to combat inflammatory diseases including arthritis, sepsis and inflammatory bowel disease.

For these medical conditions, the NOD1 signal cascade is known to be a major part of the immune response, but by better understanding the pathways required to activate it, we can learn how to control these responses and make them more effective at keeping our system healthy.

KELLY MITCHELL can be reached at science@theaggie.org.

10 | Thursday, APRIL 25, 2013

The california aggie

2020 INITIATIVE

Irisa Tam / Aggie

Student Housing ready for flood of future residents 2020 Initiative means new dorms, added beds

By ALYSSA KUHLMAN Aggie Features Writer

Jake Swift, a first-year genetics major, heads to meet his friends at the Segundo Dining Commons. Although the Dining Commons are typically one of the biggest perks of being a first-year, this is an unusual occasion for Swift. Instead of enjoying prepared meals with the simple swipe of his ID card, he usually consumes homemade packed lunches and self-cooked dinners.

Swift is one of many first-year students who do not live in the dormitories. Some students choose not to live on campus, such as Swift, due to the steep price and cramped spaces. However, with Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi’s 2020 Initiative — the expansion goals for UC Davis to be met by the year 2020 — Student Housing plans to increase the number of dorms to accommodate more students and prevent crowding first-years into triples.

Ramona Hernandez, the Director of Business and Financial Services at UC Davis Student Housing, said that the university is busy in pursuing plans for the 2020 Initiative.

“We have some construction projects that are happening right now,” Hernandez said.

Currently in Tercero Area Phase 3 there are 1,200 new beds that will be available in fall of 2014. These are considered replacement beds for other beds in demolished dormitory buildings, such as the Tercero letter buildings.

Student Housing is making up for some of those beds by renting out apartments at Primero Grove, which houses primarily first-years but also includes about 40 transfer students.

“The rest of [the transfer students] are actually living in apartments through our student housing apartment program, which is at seven different apartment complexes within the city of Davis,” Hernandez said.

Those seven apartment complexes

are The Lexington, The Arbors, Arlington Farms, Adobe, The Willows, Drake and The Colleges.

While The Ramble apartments are technically on the UC Davis campus, the complex is not owned by UC Davis. It is owned and operated by a third party, Carmel Partners. UC Davis Student Housing has an agreement through real estate services that they will not be overseeing any of those apartments at this time.

With over 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students attending UC Davis, finding housing can be tough.

In addition to housing for first-year and incoming transfer students, the university is also working on housing for graduate students too. Construction will start shortly for single graduate student apartments where the Castilian dorms were demolished, according to Hernandez.

This year there are 5,200 first-years, including many who have to live in triples due to an over-accommodation of incoming first-years. Right now there are about 4,800 students in the residence halls, along with 107 Resident Advisors.

Admitting more first-years than planned was not a miscalculation, according to Hernandez.

“It’s not that they over-admit, it’s really a guessing game,” Hernandez said.

“They statistically determine what our enrollment target is and they work backwards. If we want so many students enrolled as freshmen by October, we need to admit a certain number of students by March.”

Hernandez adds that last year UC Davis simply had a higher take rate.

This coming year, the expected number of first-years is 5,100, which Student Housing will be able to accommodate while requiring less tripling.

In order to make tripling less n ecessary, multiple new dorm areas will be built in the future to accommodate more students.

ENROLL MORE STUDENTS

NEW HIRES 300 new full-time equivalent faculty --> 220 research faculty + 400-600 non-faculty

5,000 more undergraduates --> 2,000 Californians and 3,000 non-residents

2020

INITIATIVE

MONEY Academic cost per student: $10,329 More students will raise $35-50 million per year --> in addition to current $700 million per year in tuition and unrestricted state support

James Kim / Aggie

*According to the November 2012 Joint Report of the 2020 Task Forces

By Fall 2016, Tercero Area Phase 4 will open with an additional 400 beds.

This set will replace the 175 beds that can currently be found in the aged Leach Hall location, with additional beds scheduled to be added there as well.

When it comes to students living in the dorms despite entering UC Davis post-Fall Quarter, Hernandez says it is definitely possible — spaces tend to open up.

“We often have students who may delay their start of their academic career, to the Winter or maybe the Spring Quarter, and we always have a handful of students who are asked to leave [so therefore students who don’t begin the academic year in the fall may still live in the dorms],” Hernandez said.

Forty-seven students have left so far this academic year because they were disqualified or they decided they didn’t want to attend UC Davis anymore, thereby opening up space for students who wished to live in the dorms.

Meanwhile, for students who look for housing after their first year at UC Davis in the dorms, becoming an RA is a smart and affordable option.

Cody Thao, a second-year political science major and a resident advisor (RA) in Regan Hall in the Segundo dormitories, agrees that becoming an RA is hard but worth it. “[Becoming an RA] has always been

competitive, because of the benefits attached,” Thao said.

For students who choose to become an RA, their housing fee is covered, and they are provided with a meal plan for the Dining Commons along with the advantageous perk of priority registration for academic classes.

Like Thao, money is a key issue for Swift, who is supporting himself through school.

“My financial situation is pretty tight … [and] it’s very expensive to afford luxuries like the dorms or meal plans,” Swift said.

This is why he only goes to the Dining Commons when his fellow firstyears swipe him in. However, despite missing out on normal dorm living experiences such as shared bathrooms and multiple roommates, he considers himself happy living off campus on Russell Boulevard with only a 45-second walk to campus.

“It’s work [to support myself and live off campus] but it’s work in a good way; it’s keeps my head in the right way,” Swift said.

ALYSSA KUHLMAN can be reached at features@ theaggie.org.

Thursday, APRIL 25, 2013 | 11

The california aggie

BRIAN NGUYEN / AGGIE

Above: Buses are jam-packed during peak hours.

RIGHT: Students sit in the back of Everson Hall due to a lack of seating.

BOTTOM RIGHT: The bike circle by Rock Hall is often congested between classes.

Class expansion possible effect of 2020 Initiative Students, faculty hope for increased resources

By RITIKA IYER Aggie Features Writer

When chemistry professor Dr. Carlito Lebrilla took a survey of where his 425 Chemistry students went to high school, he was shocked that 93 percent of the people in his lecture hall answered ‘in California.’

“That is not very international,” Lebrilla said. “If we want our students to know the world better, I think we need to be a lot more international than we are now, and I think this will really open up that opportunity for us.”

Lebrilla is referring to Chancellor Linda Katehi’s proposed 2020 Initiative, which has been widely discussed by the UC Davis community for the past year.

Major points of the initiative include an increase in the current undergraduate population by 5,000 domestic and international students, along with an increase in faculty by 300 and corresponding adjustments in facility sizes on campus by the year 2020. Specific allocations of said resources are to be determined in May. “I see this as a real opportunity, getting more resources, setting up new programs, strengthening existing programs,” Lebrilla said. “It can make a big change in the university.

I think to us, being international has always been there, but this is actually a little bit more than that.”

There are many questions about the current plan, including how an increase in students will affect fouryear academic plans, specifically regarding the ability to graduate on time and register for classes. The 2020 Initiative has increased concern that the corresponding increase in faculty may not be able to offset the current difficulties with class sizes.

“We’re doing our best, but we’re going to need more help. I don’t know how far we can push this,” said computer science professor Dr. Premkumar Devanbu, who has recently seen a 40 to 50 percent increase in his class enrollment. “There are com-

promises that are being made already.

We need more staff and resources if we are going to reach these goals.”

Students in impacted majors claim that they are frequently unable to get into required classes, and therefore end up needing to stay enrolled in classes for more than the expected four years. Other majors, mostly housed in the College of Engineering, often take longer to complete because of high unit requirements.

Third-year biomedical engineering major Murtiza Taymuree recently found out that he would have to stay at UC Davis for an extra quarter to finish his major.

“I think it’s just the coursework for engineers; you have to take a lot of classes and if you miss a class, you would be pretty far behind because they don’t always offer them every quarter,” Taymuree said. “For me to stay longer, it was always kind of expected.”

Although Taymuree considers himself “pretty lucky,” having gotten into most of his classes off of the waitlists, he does think that an increase in students by the year 2020 may raise pressure on the student body.

“If you were to add all those students, you would have to have bigger lecture halls and more [teaching assistants] to help out the professors,” he said. “That way, you’re still keeping that aspect of socialization, but you’re growing.”

Leaving UC Davis later than initially planned can affect graduate school plans, too.

“If you have to stay in college for an extra quarter, that kind of puts you back a whole year for applying to graduate schools or any other specialization,” Taymuree said.

For many first-years, the main concern with the proposal is its effects on class registration.

Pass 1 for first-year computer science and engineering major Shivani Singh has been scheduled for the last hour of each registration period all year — a time at which most classes are filled and have long waiting lists.

“It’s just the basic classes that are difficult because there are so many people that need to take them,” Singh said. “I have to talk to my advisor all the time; it’s a hassle for me.”

After being unable to register for several required classes during Fall and Winter Quarters, Singh went off the normal engineering track and took classes that weren’t required for her major, including a workload math class to compensate for not getting into Math 21A. “I can take GE classes, but I need to get started [on my series] so that I can start taking my upper division classes by the time junior year comes around,” Singh said.

As a solution, many students would prefer to have an increased number of small class sections over fewer larger classes, and hope that the 2020 Initiative will be an opportunity for class size reduction.

“I do think that class size affects how well someone does in a class.

Especially for something like engineering — you need to be able to ask questions and make sure you can understand concepts,” said third-year aerospace engineering major Otelo Contreras. “When it’s 300 people, a lot of people are too shy to ask questions. It’s definitely like a confidence issue, and I assume the class size has a lot to do with it.”

From the staff perspective, some faculty members want to be sure that UC Davis’ high standard of teaching is not lowered with

the changes.

“This campus has always emphasized teaching,” Devanbu said. “Hopefully [the initiative] will be done in a way that doesn’t impact teaching quality. You have to balance the current demands for teaching with where the university is going to be in the future.”

Devanbu said personal contact is the most important part of teaching in large classes, and has recruited undergraduate volunteer tutors to hold office hours every week in addition to his own.

“I think the challenge of these big classrooms is basically to improve contact hours and provide opportunities for personal interaction,” Devanbu said. “I think we will have to work at it and make sure it happens. We don’t want to take [personal contact] away, because then what’s the difference between us and massive online courses?”

Lebrilla doesn’t think his teaching style will change even if the lecture halls were to get bigger.

“Davis has been much more undergraduate-focused and I think that culture is still here, and I don’t think that is going to change with the size of the student body,” Lebrilla said. “The contact will definitely be decreased when there’s a lot of students, but once you reach the threshold of 100 or 200 [students], then the feeling is the same. If they’re afraid to ask [a question] in a class of 400, they’re going to be afraid to ask in a class of 700.”

Lebrilla said the current problem with UC Davis is the lack of resources, not size, as demonstrated by successful universities across the country with over 40,000 undergraduate students.

“This can be an opportunity both for the domestic and international students,” he said. “We don’t have enough money to deal with the students we have now, but if that cost is helped by having these new students pay full fare, then that helps everyone.”

In the event that the 2020 Initiative has negative effects on class sizes, the faculty is already finding ways to avoid them. Professors across many disciplines are adapting to interactions with many students at once through new teaching methods.

This quarter, 350 students in Devanbu’s ECS 30 class will transition to the flipped model of learning, which incorporates online resources and in-class group activities to foster discussion and participation.

Lebrilla has tried to become more connected to his students through Twitter accounts and frequent clicker questions in lecture.

“There are things that you can do and that we try to do to still have that contact. Here in Davis, we really do try to have a certain faculty-student ratio,” Lebrilla said. “Certainly I wouldn’t be in favor of having a class size of 700 students.”

RITIKA IYER can be reached at features@ theaggie.org.

12 | Thursday, APRIL 25, 2013

BOY SCOUTS Cont. from page 2

In addition to making children who identify as gay feel inadequate, scouts will now have the luxury of being indoctrinated into the belief that homosexuality is merely a childish phase one must inevitably grow out of. The organization is

DE LIEGE Cont. from page 2

and therefore the government is not justified in imposing any restrictions on the activities of immigrants as such.

In a way, our immigration policies amount to an attempt to create arbitrary distinctions between certain groups: granting a different legal status to people merely on the basis of their place of birth is in this respect as bad as judging people

HERRERA Cont. from page 3

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suggesting that like magic crystals and fairy princess castles, gayness is the stuff of youthful fantasy that must be rejected upon adulthood in order to live a serious and functional existence.

Even more unfortunate is the fact that the news was dropped amidst the national crisis of the Boston bombing, ultimately limiting the potential reaction from the public.

We hope that the Boy Scouts of America take a moment to seriously reconsider the impact their proposal could have if passed. The fact that the organization believes this proposal is an adequate step forward demonstrates just how intolerant it really is. If they are serious in their commitment to inclusivity, age should be the first and most obvious extension of its reach.

differently on the basis of their place of birth. No one decided to be born in Mexico, or China or the United States. Then by what right can any person or group impose legal disadvantages to certain others on that basis?

Laws ought to be both objective and universal; we have our rights to life, liberty and property because we are humans (i.e. because of our nature), and because pursuing our various endeavors, including improving our lives by moving to a different country, requires acting on

our independent judgement. Our rights are not mere privileges that our government can give to some groups and deny to others by decree.

A free society is one that protects the individual rights of all its members in an equal and objective way, including the right to move freely.

This is what must be stressed in the debates on immigration reform.

TRISTAN DE LIEGE has been stealing jobs from hard-working Americans since he arrived in 1996. He can be reached at tflenaerts@ucdavis.edu.

the knees? If you want it, don’t be bold with your seduction — subtlety is key. Throw some feelers out there, and above all, keep it low-key and free of favors of the academic nature.

that might be the biggest cock block ever.

So let’s review: Do you really want to have sex with power player?

Is it attraction or is it the forbidden Sexual inquiries for MARISSA HERRERA can be fruit-complex that has you weak in sent to mdherrera@ucdavis.edu.

KHAN

with perfectly mediocre “amazing” male singers playing in perfectly mediocre bands. Why? Cont. from page 6 damn sexy.”

Because they’re hunky. Thus, they’re It goes without saying our system of accepted. Young female audiences don’t popular music production is inherently know how else to judge pop artists flawed. Instead of supporting artists because society hasn’t taught them to. I of genuine talent, we promote easily don’t blame teen girls for turning to Biedigestible and gratuitously lame content ber. How could they appreciate Arcade that young adults can throw their money Fire or Janelle Monáe if the education at. The music is bad, yes, but extremely isn’t there in schools, on the radio or in marketable. What isn’t so apparent, the home? however, is a hidden technique used Of the top 10 highest-paid female to keep young customers salivating for artists in 2012, only Lady Gaga made boy bands and Biebers well into young the list for singers who are also virtuoso adulthood: disenfranchising women as instrumentalists. This naturally does not listeners and instrumentalists from an negate the artistic genius of powerhouses early age. like Beyoncé and Adele, but merely supWhen magazines such as the one I ports the trend that females are expected found at CVS and beyond prime young to follow specific, approved paths if they women into idolizing the aesthetic want to pursue contemporary music as appeal of a contemporary artist instead a career. of their musical talent, the effect ripples Conversely, nine of the top 10 grossout and hurts the popularity of creding artists (in general) from 2013 are ible bands struggling to find the same male or comprised of multiple males, mainstream success. If Morrissey was with six known for displaying virtuosity just starting off today, it’s more than with an instrument (U2, Bon Jovi, Elton likely the Smiths would have the door John, Paul McCartney, the Eagles and slammed in their faces for not being Dave Matthews). Lady Gaga was both sexy enough. the only female artist to break this list The attack on female listenership and show she can play the living shit out comes from two fronts. Not only are of a piano. I never thought I’d say this in they spoon-fed male heartthrobs as idols, my lifetime, but go Lady Gaga. women artists are given few options Of course, there are notable excepwhen it comes to pop-world success. tions to the trend. Norah Jones, Alicia For the mind of a young girl, she is now Keys and Diana Krall have found fame made to believe what is good music, with the piano as well as their vocals. and that this good music is the province Unbeknownst to most, Aretha Franklin of men. They are encouraged to follow was a wonderful pianist. Bonnie Raitt another route. still holds the title of queen of the slide When females show interest in music guitar. at an early age, they are overwhelmingly But when it comes to chart-topping, expected to pursue “softer” instruments pop performers of the age, the selecsuch as the piano, violin or cello. tion is sadly sparse. When Janis Joplin, Unfortunately, these instruments aren’t Joan Jett and Meg White (who is not featured as heavily as their “unladylike” the greatest drummer but notable for counterparts in contemporary Amerisuccessfully breaking into the punk/ can music. As a result, you rarely see a indie rock scene) are some of the only guitar-wielding female superstar selling role models young female pop instruout the ARCO Arena. mentalists can turn to, the future looks Women have come to dominate in grim. Instead, they are pushed to sing, to less lucrative genres such as jazz and focus on the right “look” and are forceclassical, with Yuja Wang outplaying any fed images of beautiful men posing with respectable male pianist by a mile and polished guitars.

Esperanza Spalding making Flea look This trend is toxic, effectively spraylike a beginner on the bass. ing newer and younger generations of However, these genres are overlisteners with poison and slowly cutting whelmingly underappreciated and their off interest in genuine talent at the roots. musicians are hardly ever lauded as role As time passes, a good majority of female models for young, impressionable girls. listenership will be completely controlled Females are, however, encouraged to by greedy music producers. Plastic boy sing. Unfairly, female singers are judged bands will become the standard, and disproportionately to men, with listeners newer artists will struggle to find a footlooking hyper-critically at their ability hold in annals of contemporary music to belt and croon like superstars such as history.

Whitney Houston. An “amazing” male singer would be considered mediocre ADAM KHAN is an advocate of instrumentalist by female standards, yet the iTunes equality. Let him know if he’s actually just a sexist at marketplace is currently being flooded features@theaggie.org.

edge

OCAMPO Cont. from page 2

checked. So before you go into a marijuana consultation clinic, make sure you’ve visited your usual doctor about your condition at least once. If they have prescribed you any sort of medication, it will show up during your verification and will make it more likely that you will be approved for the full year.

You can skip the verification process if you bring in legitimate paperwork and medical records detailing your condition. Otherwise, be prepared to give your doctor’s name and the clinic’s address.

An important thing to remember is that everything is kept confidential. If you’re over 18, you don’t need to worry about your parents or anyone else finding out.

As I mentioned, your doctor’s recommendation will allow you to buy and carry a certain amount of weed.

This means you can legally smoke anywhere smoking is allowed. Conversely, you must always obey any “No Smoking” signs.

You should also keep in mind that certain places, like schools, businesses and federal parks specifically prohibit marijuana, and you can be fined or punished for possession, even with a doctor’s recommendation.

LEO OCAMPO can be reached at gocampo@ucdavis.edu.

major and director of one of the One-Act plays, discussed how she became involved in the festival.

Cont. from page 6 performances, occurring in Wright Hall’s “I am in Dead Arts Society because I Main Stage, feature four undergraduate love theater, and we were doing auditions and two graduate choreographies. for our winter showcase when I was asked “The dance performance is a capstone to direct one of the One-Acts for the for Dance majors in the choreography Edge Festival,” Hart said. “I think Edge track. The three undergraduates each Festival is an important event to have on produce their own piece and then colcampus since it provides the opportunity laborate on one piece, with a total of four for students to submit their work and for pieces. Stylistically, most of the pieces will non-theater majors to get involved with be modern dance or contemporary dance the arts.” influenced by contact improv,” Grenke The three Undergraduate One-Acts said. feature original staged works written by Maribel Lopez, a fourth-year draundergraduates: “The Turquoise Room,” matic arts and psychology double major, “Chair Games” and “Lutefisk.” Hart dechoreographed a piece for a Main Stage scribes “Lutefisk,” the original 10-minute Dance performance after planning its staged work she directs. themes since last year.

“It’s a performance art piece that really This year, the dance pieces showcase embraces the ridiculous. There’s no real individual and group performative vinarrative or character development, but sions, each with vastly differing thematic a theme I’ve been working with is power concepts, styles and themes. reversals. There’s a lot of interesting inter“My piece is a trio of two females and action between audience members and acone male. I explore the idea that we are tors, prisoners and officers, narrator and chained to the discourse in which we are people in the play,” Hart said. “It makes raised due to the societies and institutions you question what’s funny and what’s that surround us, which makes it difficult not, and it challenges the idea of underto break away from that and become toler- standing when it’s appropriate to laugh at ant to new things,” Lopez said. “For me, certain things during the performance.” this piece is a translation of my thoughts To end each Saturday evening perinto movement. However, when you see formances is the sing-along midnight the piece, you might not necessarily see showing of the cult classic film, The Rocky the exact theme I had in mind, which is Horror Picture Show, on Wyatt Deck. Audigood because the audience should be able ence members are encouraged to rent costo come in and create their own story and tumes in advance in the Enchanted Cellar, interpretation.” located in Wright Hall.

The collaborative dance piece, choGrenke discusses why Rocky Horror is reographed by three undergraduates, is a relevant to the Edge Festival’s artistic misduet of two males. sion in the field of performance studies.

“We’re trying to explore the different “The history of Rocky Horror as a cult aspects of relationships, more specifically film really brought out the idea of the abusive relationships. It’s not necessarily performativity of identity. At a Rocky Horabout romantic relationships, but friendror screening, you get the opportunity ships in general, and the abusive elements for role play, and that is something that that occur that might not be obvious,” has given it its strength as a cult film and Lopez said. why it has lasted so long,” Grenke said.

The festival allows for students to show“It includes some level of considering percase their work with resources provided formance and makes us think about how by the Department of Theater and Dance, that exists in our everyday lives.” including access to costume designers, stage The Main Stage Dance, Hour of 5’s and lighting and sound technology.

Undergraduate One-Acts will be perAlthough the Edge Festival involves formed in different locations in Wright several performance pieces that are a part Hall. For more information about the of the theater and dance curriculum for Edge Performance Festival, visit theits majors, it is also an opportunity for atredance.ucdavis.edu. non-majors to participate and showcase their talents.

CRISTINA FRIES can be reached at arts@theaggie. org.

Kazia Hart, a second-year psychology

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Thursday, APRIL 25, 2013 | 13

14 | Thursday, APRIL 25, 2013

STRESS Cont. from page 8

essentially [deregulating] your physiology so your stress hormones become elevated.

Hormones like cortisol will stay elevated for long periods of time which is bad for your system.”

Moons described how stress hormones impact biological function and affect cognition. In instances when the fight or flight response is necessary for survival, stress hormones and neurochemicals help prepare the body. Heart rate increases, breathing quickens, muscles contract and immunity is increased for a short term period of time.

However, with chronic stress these chemicals can suppress functions not necessary for immediate survival. Eventually your immunity is lowered and your digestive, excretory and reproductive systems stop working normally.

The effects of stress do not just manifest as imbalanced hormones; there are actual physical changes that occur inside the body as well.

“Laboratory studies [show] that increased levels of cortisol for a long period of time [are] bad for the neural cells in the hippocampus, and the size of the hippocampus will actually get smaller,” said Brian Trainor, an associate professor of psychology at UC Davis. “We know from [neuroimaging] that some mental disor-

DISORDERS Cont. from page 8

collegiate age group, are just two of many preventable health disorders that Americans are made aware of. Diabetes mellitus type 2, obesity-derived hypertension/chronic heart disease, addictive smoking and even alcoholism, are all avoidable chronic health ailments that neurological testing and psychologically based treatment may help to discontinue and prevent.

The implication that studies, such as those conducted by UCSD, can help to curb the effects and pervasiveness of vari-

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ders are linked with the [shrinkage] of the hippocampus.”

Trainor emphasizes that most stressors in our daily lives are within our ability to manage ourselves. Things like changing the route you take to work, not cramming for exams and staying organized are all ways to reduce our stress levels.

“When you are faced with stressors you can’t plan for, you have to develop a regulation strategy and regulate your stress.… little things like that will help people reduce their stress levels and avoid these negative outcomes,” Moons said.

There is no single regulation strategy that will work for everyone. People all deal with stress differently, and it is important for individuals to find what works best for them.

“People view stress in more extreme ways, but the truth is people experience stress for [many] reasons ... and even these moderate levels of stress can accumulate and have negative consequences,” Moons said.

According to Trainor, there exists a wide range of mental disorders in which stress plays a key role.

“You don’t need a life full of trauma or a stressful job,” said Moons. “If you experience even mild levels of stress, it may be worthwhile to find a way to regulate [it] so you can avoid any potential complications down the road.”

NICOLE NOGA can be reached at science@theaggie.org.

ous health-maladies, is both an alluring and motivational proposition. Perhaps from the psychological and emotional darkness that anorexia and bulimia nervosa pose to their victims, the light of future medical ingenuity and methodology will arise to combat some of the most pressing health trends burdening the American populace.

If you or anyone you know is suffering from anorexia or bulimia nervosa, please call CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services at North Hall) at (530) 752-0871.

EMILY SEFEROVICH can be reached at science@ theaggie.org

MICROGLIA Cont. from page 8

neurons in the brain.

Autistic children have been found to have larger brains on average, and schizophrenia patients have less-thanaverage grey matter. This is a significant investigative path to take, since manipulating microglial activity could, with extensive study, be a useful treatment or cure for these conditions.

The researchers also studied how microglial cells functioned in pregnant mothers and their unborn offspring by exposing the mother to different bacterial diseases, since these can affect microglial activity in the developing offspring.

“Schizophrenia has been linked to mothers having the flu during their pregnancy,” said Verónica Martínez-Cerdeño of UC Davis and Shriner’s Hospitals for Children-Northern California.

Using a rat model, the researchers exposed one group of rat mothers to bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and exposed another mother group to the antibiotic, doxycycline (Dox).

Researchers found that the infants exposed to LPS had heightened microglial activity, and therefore 20 to 40 percent fewer NPCs. The group exposed to Dox had reduced microglial

grant Cont. from page 4

activity and about 20 percent more NPCs. The different numbers of NPCs continued well after birth for the offspring. The prevailing theory is that the mother’s living conditions affect the offspring’s microglial activity.

“We also made slice cultures in which we labeled the NPCs with one fluorescent label and microglial cells with another fluorescent label and then watched their interaction in real time on a microscope. Watching the cells provided many instances in which microglial cells would contact an NPC, and then would quickly engulf and degrade the NPC,” Cunningham said. “In most instances, contact between a microglial cell and an NPC would represent a ‘kiss of death’ for the NPC.” Yet there is still more to study about these microglia and the reasons behind their behavior.

“We still want to find the signal that the NPCs give off to the microglia, the ‘eat me’ signal,” Martínez-Cerdeño said.

This can lead to a better understanding of why the microglia actually consume and destroy healthy NPCs, which can eventually lead to understanding neurodevelopmental disorders and how to prevent, and treat them, in the future.

KELLY MITCHELL can be reached at science@ theaggie.org.

appropriations and then the California State Senate, according to Morales.

The California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) is a commission that aims to make education beyond high school financially accessible to all Californians.

“While our Commission has not taken an official position on any of these bills, we are certainly in support of any legislation that helps low and middleincome students gain access to quality higher education,” said Patti Colston, communications manager of the Office of the Executive Director for CSAC. According to Colston, there will be a commission meeting on April 25 and 26 during which a position on the bills will be adopted. “[Cal Grants need] more than just the 5 percent cut that Governor [Jerry] Brown did last year. We need to make sure that this program takes into consideration inflation and that it serves all of the students that are qualified,” Morales said.

school graduates for Cal Grants the year they graduate or the year after they graduate.AB 1241 would extend this period of eligibility so that students may apply for the Cal Grant Entitlement Program for four years after their high school graduation.

Moreover, the bill would permit students to re-apply for the Entitlement Program if they missed the March 2 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) deadline.

“I think that all four bills aim to address current issues with the program.

In doing so, we hope to expand the program both through the amount of the awards and the number of qualified recipients,” Morales said.

UCSA has sponsored AB 1285, 1287, 1364 and 1241 which are currently all in the Committee on Appropriations.

The Committee on Appropriations serves to determine and allocate funds for bills. In order for the bills to be LILIANA NAVA OCHOA can be reached at camenacted into law they must first pass pus@theaggie.org.

Thursday, APRIL 25, 2013 | 15

The california aggie

entire week and the current show.

“Each show has its own goal, and although you can donate at any time during this week, you can wait and donate during your friend’s show,” Lesnett said.

Each donation is tax-deductible, and depending on the amount of each contribution, the station gives thanks with a variety of premiums. Button/sticker packs, shirts, DJ compilation CDs, vinyls, gift certificates, the opportunity to host your own show and mobile DJ units for event entertainment are among many other items displayed on the fundraiser website.

“Volunteers at the station need to complete 50 hours in order to host their own show, so this week is the perfect week to get a lot of those hours done,” Lesnett said. “It’s the most fun and exciting right now, button-making is great and there’s a ton of free food.”

In addition to the on-air fundraising drive, a series of events that began on Picnic Day continue throughout the week. These include house shows, Quad performances and giveaways, with more events to be added throughout the week. The live week-long event page can be found on KDVS’ Facebook page.

The majority of the KDVS operating budget goes toward maintenance of equipment. The station broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and regular maintenance is required to keep it on the air.

To keep this radio station, which has been serving the community since 1967, alive and serving as a working laboratory for anyone interested, listen in at 90.3 FM, call the station at (530) 754-5387 or go online at fundraiser.kdvs.org. Cash, card and check donations are welcome.

feminism

KDVS

Cont. from page 7

Cont. from page 7

history. Sexy Feminism hits on the concepts of slut shaming, wearing makeup as a feminist act, supporting female coworkers in the workplace and more.

The two collaborated via Google Docs to write this 200-page book, and are now touring the country on a publicity tour for its release. They came to the Avid Reader in Davis Friday, April 19 to talk about and read excerpts from the book.

Sexy Feminism isn’t Rudúlph and Armstrong’s first creation. A lot of the information came from their blog, sexyfeminist.com, which was formally a web-based magazine, Sirens Mag. “The site evolved as we evolved and grew into our writing voices and discovered ourselves as feminists,” Rudúlph said.

“Our initial version of the website needed this book, and the 20-something versions of ourselves really needed this book.”

It’s true, this book is not for queers. It is not for trans* people, it is not for Women’s Studies majors writing their theses on Simone de Beauvoir and it is not for Pussy Riot, Femen, Amina Tyler or Malala Yousafzai.

“It’s for all the women who are like, ‘Am I allowed to call myself a feminist if I get a bikini wax?’ or ‘Am I a feminist if I go to Sephora all the time?’” Armstrong said. “So there is a very specific audience for this. One of the things we’ve continued to say throughout this book is just because we write about these topics doesn’t mean they are the most important topics facing feminism. Lip gloss and bikini waxes are absolutely not the most important issues facing women throughout the world, and we know that.”

A combination of “lifestyle guides and topics covered by women’s magazines” (Rudúlph and Armstrong both have journalistic backgrounds in pop-culture writing), Sexy Feminism is meant more as an introductory feminist manifesto. As Rudúlph put it, “Sexy Feminism is a gateway drug to feminism.”

“We had this guilty pleasure with lifestyle guides; we just really take great pleasure in them,” Armstrong said. “We love the idea of combining the idea of lifestyle guides topics normally covered by women’s magazines, but instead of making women feel bad about their lives, instead saying, ‘Here’s ways that you can make your life better through you, through feminism,’ and making it a positive force instead of a negative one.”

The hope is that young women will pick up or be given the book and, slowly but surely, things will start to fall into place.

They will reach that “a-ha” moment, and the “I’m not a feminist, but …” phrase will become but a phase from their past.

“I see a lot more potential and hope in young women today,” Rudúlph said, “and whatever this next movement is, call it fourth-wave, call it whatever — women who are being feminist activists but are not identifying with the label because they’re still not sure what it means, but they’re still doing the real work. There’s a huge movement out there that is so encouraging, and we want to help encourage that.”

So give this book to your younger sister, your “feminist curious” friend or your mother-daughter book club. Sexy Feminism: It’s what’s for fat-free (and guilt-free) dinner.

broadcasting live on air this week. The shift leader refreshes the donation page online to check donations and pass along messages to the DJs for shout-outs to donors and friends.

With more than a dozen random instruments, an expired box of Milk-Bones and the creative minds of students around the station, each DJ or talk-show host has the ability to utilize any and all things to get listeners to donate.

“On my show, I ate habaneros. I wanted to eat one for every dollar donated so that I would end up crying from them,” said Edward Chu, a third-year geology major. “But since my show is at 2 a.m., no one was listening. I still ended up eating the peppers and cried on-air anyway.”

At the time of the interview, Nicole Lesnett, a fourth-year international relations major and office coordinator at the radio station, was found prancing around the station in a bumblebee costume, the KDVS shift-leader uniform. In between answering questions, she would squeal with delight as the online donations page would update with new logs of donors.

“We’ll do anything for anyone who tunes in. On my show ‘Right Meow’ we’re writing raps and songs for anyone who donates during [our time on air],” Lesnett said.

After jotting down the donor’s name and contribution, she ran into the studio to pass the note to the DJ just in case he or she happened to know the patron.

The last step was to update the whiteboard visible to ELIZABETH ORPINA can be reached at arts@theaggie.org. the show’s host with the growing totals for both the

TANYA AZARI can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.

dc Cont. from page 4

“We [want to attract] the best and brightest talents, and that the best and brightest talents can stay in the United States because the worst thing we can do is to educate someone and then kick them out.

We’re working on making sure that the really important people we have on campus are able to stay in the country,” Banks said.

Two recent UC Davis graduates also joined the Davis-Yolo team. Catherine Hawe and Laura McCollough, research fellows who paid their own way to get to Washington, D.C. Their purpose was to advocate for policy that will help promote initiatives in Davis.

“The entire week was a very intense learning experience,” Hawe said.

McCollough said she was struck by how informed the representatives they met with were about a budget proposal that had been publicized hours before their meeting, and more specifically, how those changes pertained to Davis.

“Everyone was incredibly well-informed and knowledgeable about all the issues we were talking about, which really impressed me,” McCollough said.

other groups from the Sacramento area to learn about local initiatives and to also show the surrounding community what Davis has to offer.

Gina Banks, director of federal government relations at UC Davis, said that her main drive for going on the Capitol-to-Capitol trip was to advocate for higher education and more specifically, for student aid programs. “[These] are a high priority because we are training the next generation of workers for the region,” Banks said.

While she was in Washington, D.C., Banks also emphasized the importance of federal funding in basic research and how innovation drives the economy.

“We are looking at policy to get research off of the campus and into the marketplace,” Banks said.

One of the more important issues discussed, according to Banks, was immigration reform. She said this issue is particularly of interest to UC Davis because it could ease the lives of foreign-born SYDNEY COHEN can be reached at city@theaggie.org. researchers.

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16 | Thursday, APRIL 25, 2013

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4bd/2bath W/D 1315 sq. ft.

Available 9/1/13. Close to bus route. Call 530-297-0103 for more information or email sah1656@sbcglobal.net

BY THE ADVERTISER following the first insertion. Errors in advertisements must be reported before 1 p.m. for correction in next issue. Credit for Publisher error(s) will only be given for the incorrect portion of the advertisement for the first publication date.

All phone numbers appearing in classifieds will be in the 530 area code. Only area codes outside the 530 area will be printed.

For placement or questions e-mail classifieds@theaggie.org.

There are no refunds/credits for cancellations.

The california aggie

FOR RELEASE JANUARY 3, 2013

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle CROSSWORD Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

ACROSS 1 Old Italian capital 5 “See ya!”

9 Head lights 14 Land with a red, white and green flag 15 Monroe of the NBA 16 One whose land has a red, white and green flag 17 King whose true height is the subject of much discussion 18 Urban hazard 19 Watch from hiding 20 Critic’s complaint about the new restaurant “Godot”?

23 Clooney/Damon film about the oil industry 24 Like some German nouns 28 Critic’s complaint about the new restaurant “Charley Horse”?

31 Druid or Wiccan 34 Baseball stats 35 Ad trailer?

36 Like two, say 37 Biblical queendom 39 Cuba libre ingredient 40 Tiny gripe 41 Seaman’s saint 42 Censor 43 Critic’s complaint about the new restaurant “Moon”?

47 Snare 48 The Beatles’ Rigby 52 Critic’s complaint about the new restaurant “Double Fault”?

55 Buccaneers’ home 58 Univ. drilling gp.

59 Pre-deal request 60 Glorify 61 “__ Plenty o’ Nuttin’”: Gershwin song 62 Nerd 63 Conical abode 64 Ages 65 They aren’t exact: Abbr.

By Donna S. Levin

DOWN 1 Approves, on Facebook 2 Swift strength 3 Time off, briefly 4 The Archbishop of Canterbury, e.g.

5 Big name in small planes 6 First line of a Seuss classic 7 “ ... maids all in __” 8 Contemporary of Nadia 9 Bankrupt baker 10 Increases a few notches 11 Nonexpert 12 2011 Hiroshima Art Prize winner 13 Go astray 21 Work for 22 Taj Mahal locale 25 Chevy SUV 26 Place to learn in Lyons 27 Postgame staple 29 Prepping place 30 Wane 31 Pasta often served alla vodka 32 Air France fleet member

1/3/13 Puzzle SolvedPuzzle - 4/18/2013 Wednesday’s Solved

(c)2013 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

33 Imply 37 Incline 38 Pinafore opening 39 Décolletage revelation 41 Spring (from) 42 Uncle Remus title 44 Rare hit for most catchers 45 “Ben-Hur” Oscar winner

1/3/13

46 Votes in 49 Dressing extreme?

50 Two trios and a duo 51 Stinks 53 __-dieu 54 Ghana’s neighbor to the east 55 Vietnamese celebration 56 Tool that’s swung 57 Navigator’s guide

SUDOKU

1222 Pole Line Road, 95616 Rent $2300/mon.

4bd/2.5bath W/D 2200 sq. ft.

Available 9/1/13. Close to bus route. Call 530-297-0103 for more information or email sah1656@sbcglobal.net East Davis, on Clemson near Baywood. Four bedroom. 1,400 sqft. Two baths, family room, living room, kitchen w/ dining area. New stove, microwave, dishwasher, hardwood floors. Two car garage. Near Nugget, bus lines, easy bike to campus.

No pets. Rent $2,190/mo incl. lawn service. Email sjoseph@ucdavis.edu.

SERVICES Upper-division Composition examination. Sign-up at writing.ucdavis.edu/compexam/

Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit.

So must every column, as must every 3x3 square. Each Sudoku has a unique solution that can be reached logically without guessing.

Thursday, APRIL 25, 2013 | 17

The california aggie

backstop UC Davis tennis begins play at Conference Tournament Big West Championships held at Indian Wells Tennis Garden

By MATTHEW YUEN Aggie Sports Editor

The underdog card is always a good one to play late in the season when the pressure is high. The UC Davis tennis teams will need to play smart, and take advantage of their lower seeds in order to go deep in the Big West Championship tournament.

That isn’t to say they aren’t capable of it. The Aggies will just have to put things together at the right time.

The UC Davis men’s tennis team just recently spent Picnic Day weekend down in Southern California, finishing up its Big West regular season competition.

The Aggies grabbed their first and only win in the conference with a 7-0 sweep over UC Riverside. UC Davis took the doubles point, then swept the singles to take down the Highlanders.

The day before their victory over UC Riverside, the Aggies took one of their most impressive wins this season, with a 4-3 victory over Loyola Marymount.

UC Davis took the crucial doubles point then jumped ahead with two quick singles wins at the five and six slots from seniors Hugo Verdi-Fortin and George Horowitz, respectively.

The Lions came storming back with three straight singles wins of their own at the one, three and four

singles spots. The match came down to junior Kyle Miller, playing two singles. Miller won the first set 6-1 before dropping the second 6-3.

The battle for the deciding match raged on to a 6-6 score, where Miller took an 8-6 victory in the thirdset tiebreaker to seal the victory by the slimmest of margins.

The Aggies fell in a close match to UC Irvine, the top-seeded team in the conference entering the Big West Championship Tournament. The 4-3 loss was a heartbreaker, but shows glimmers of hope for UC Davis as it enters the playoffs.

UC Davis cycled through the bottom of its singles lineup throughout the year, but seems to have figured out an order that works for the team. The Aggies won two matches in a row and played strong against the Anteaters and should enter the conference tournament with confidence.

The Aggies open up play at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on April 25 at 8 a.m. against Pacific, the third seed in the conference. If they win, they will play the next day against the winner of Cal Poly and UC Riverside.

UC Davis fell to Pacific by a 5-2 score early in the season, grabbing the doubles point as well as a singles win from Miller.

The UC Davis women’s tennis team also plays

on April 25 in an 11 a.m. matchup with 10thseeded UC Riverside. In their April 6 regular season matchup with the Highlanders, the Aggies emerged 6-1 winners.

The Aggies should proceed on to the second round if all goes well, in which case they would face Long Beach State in the quarterfinals the next day at 8 a.m.

LBSU took down the Aggies 6-1 earlier in the season and currently stands as the 45th-ranked team in the nation and the second-seed in the conference tournament.

Last year, the Aggies took down Pacific in the first round by a 4-0 score then fell to UC Irvine by the same mark. UC Davis will hope to improve on this performance, as it could be some of the last matches for seniors Ellie Edles, Lauren Curry and Zoe Davidson.

UC Davis stands as the seventh-seeded team in the Big West entering the tournament, but have beaten two ranked opponents this year and shouldn’t be counted out of any match.

The Aggies haven’t had impressive results in the past at Indian Wells, but if all the pieces fall in place, they could make a splash in the desert.

MATTHEW YUEN can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

WOMEN’S WATER POLO PREVIEW Event: Big West Conference Tournament Teams: UC Davis vs. UC Irvine Records: Aggies, 14-15 (1-6); Anteaters, 19-8 (6-1) Where: Anteater Aquatics Center — Irvine, Calif.

When: Friday at 3:30 p.m.

Who to Watch: Senior Carmen Eggert has been one of the main goal scorers for the Aggies this season. Eggert is having a fantastic senior year as she has scored 71 goals this season in only 29 games played. To put this in perspective, her 2.45 goals per game average is the third-highest average in Big West Conference history. Also, her total of 71 goals this season is the sixth-highest single-season scoring output ever in the conference.

Such scoring production has certainly made the Aggies a dangerous team to play against. With an average of 9.3 goals per game, UC Davis is capable of scoring goals in a hurry. Eggert is certainly a major component in the offense.

However, Eggert’s offense is not solely dependent on her ability to score. She also has the ability to distribute the ball and create scoring opportunities for her teammates. Eggert has 23 assists this year, which is fourth highest on the team. She has been able to do it all this season.

As the Aggies face a tough UC Irvine team in the first round of the Big West Conference tournament, they will need to rely on consistent scoring and experience to beat the second-seeded Anteaters in Irvine. Eggert provides both of these things, as she is a senior with experience in tournament play and has a knack for scoring goals. She will be a big key to UC Davis” hope of success in the tournament.

Did you know? UC Irvine has owned the Big West Conference tournament for water polo since the tournament’s inception in 2009. The Anteaters have won all four Big West Conference championships to date, racking up a perfect 10-0 record in tournament play.

UC Irvine also happens to have had

all four of the tournament MVPs playing on its team. Thus, the Anteaters have a serious history of success in the tournament and are looking to add to their enormous trophy collection.

Last year's final was a showdown between No. 1 seed UC Irvine and No. 2 seed UC Davis. Unfortunately, the Aggies were unable to come up with the win as they suffered a 10-5 defeat to the Anteaters. Maybe this year UC Davis can be the one who breaks UC Irvine’s impressive streak of success in the tournament.

Preview: As the Aggies enter postseason play this season, they face one of the toughest teams in the conference.

The Anteaters have had a great season, going 6-1 in conference play. This was good enough to get them the second seed in the tournament.

“It should be a challenge; UC Irvine has won the past four Big West tournaments and they have the advantage of playing at home,” said head coach Jamey Wright.

“We have played them close before and a

late goal cost us the game.”

On the bright side, the Aggies have been playing well as of late. With two wins in a row heading into the conference tournament, UC Davis definitely has some confidence heading to Irvine.

“We've played well in a lot of our conference games. We've played well enough to win in all of the games,” Wright said. “So the combination of the two wins heading into the tournament and our conference games gives us confidence that we will do well.”

Seniors Jessica Dunn and Eggert are two of the key offensive players as they have combined to score 127 goals this season. That is roughly 47 percent of the Aggies’ total goals. The duo has also contributed 64 assists. UC Davis will need these seniors to provide leadership and results in order for them to take on the talented Anteaters.

KENNETH LING can be reached at sports@ theaggie.org.

UC Davis women’s golf four-peats as Big West Champions Men’s golf seeks third consecutive conference title

By MATTHEW YUEN Aggie Sports Editor

The UC Davis women’s golf team went to the Big West Conference Championships and placed as expected. First. Still, the degree of their dominance was what was truly impressive.

The Aggies went down to Cal Poly and played lights-out at the San Luis Obispo Country Club.

Senior Demi Runas, who is ranked 13th nationally, shot a one-under 218 for first place in the Big West tournament. She was two strokes ahead of the second-place finisher, who happened to be her freshman teammate Andrea Wong. Sophomore Beverly Vatananugulkit, who won the tournament last year, shot a 223 for a third-place finish and senior Amy Simanton placed fourth, one stroke behind Vatananugulkit.

Freshman Betty Chen rounded out the Aggies’ top four finishers with a solid 230 score that placed her in a tie for 12th place.

A more extensive recap can be found online at theaggie.org.

The UC Davis men’s golf team will now enter its respective conference tournament at The Country Club at Soboba Springs in San Jacinto, Calif.

The Aggies are coming off a second-place finish at the Winchester Classic in Meadow Vista,

Calif. They shot an overall 873, five strokes behind first-place Cal State Fullerton.

UC Davis took a large lead with impressive 289 postings on the first two days into the last day, at which point they shot a 295 to drop them down into second.

Senior Tyler Raber led the Aggies with a 216 sixth-place finish, followed up by eighth-place finishes from junior Jonny Baxter and freshman Ben Corfee with equal 218 scores.

The Aggies will have quite a task ahead of them if they are to snag their third-straight conference title. Last year, the Aggies stunned the golfing world in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, and took the Big West Championships.

UC Davis was led by junior Matt Seramin and sophomore Mike Brockington, who placed fourth and sixth, respectively, at the La Quinta Mountain Resort in La Quinta, Calif.

The Aggies stormed ahead and took a onestroke victory to shock the Big West. Now that these players have more experience, the addition of Raber will do nothing but good for them.

UC Davis will not necessarily enter the tournament as favorites, but they do have a good chance of piecing together a first-place performance.

MATTHEW YUEN can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

18 | Thursday, APRIL 25, 2013

The california aggie

backstop SOFTBALL PREVIEW Teams: UC Davis vs. Cal State Fullerton Records: Aggies, 19-23 (6-9) ; Titans, 21-25 (6-8) Where: La Rue Field — Davis, Calif.

When: Saturday at noon and 2 p.m.; Sunday at noon Who to Watch: The Aggies recently won the weekend series against UC Riverside, with a recent 1-0 shutout victory in the weekend finale that showcased some fantastic pitching. The shutout was pitched by sophomore standout Justine Vela, who held the Highlanders to only two hits in seven innings. She got the win, improving her record to an outstanding 12-7.

Her stellar pitching has resulted in a 2.18 ERA. Vela has not only allowed very few runs this season, she has also completely dominated the batters. Vela has struck out 155 batters this season and only allowed 52 walks. This is gives her a respectable 2.98 strikeouts per walk.

UC Davis relies on solid pitching to win games, and Vela is definitely the ace of the pitching staff. Her ERA is currently fifth lowest in the Big West and she is third in the conference in strikeouts. With such noteworthy stats, the Aggies ar e always in a position to win the game with her on the mound.

Cal State Fullerton has a solid batting order. However, with Vela pitching in one of the three games, the Aggies feel confident that they can come out with a win in the series.

Did you know?

UC Davis has three pitchers who have some of the lowest ERAs in conference.

Sophomore Justine Vela, and freshmen Marissa Chapa and Leah Munden hold the fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-lowest ERAs respectively.

With such young but solid pitchers, the Aggies should have a great pitching staff headed into the future. The Aggies should try to capitalize on such stellar pitching, especially with the levels that these three are performing at now.

The Aggies' lack of run support has prevented victories this season. However, if they can manage to turn their hitting slump around and get a few runs, the pitching staff seems more than capable of shutting down opponents’ offenses.

Sophomore Justine Vela pitched a shutout victory against UC Riverside over the weekend.

Preview: The Aggies have struggled a bit as of late, losing four in a row before winning the last two games of their weekend series in Riverside against the Highlanders. UC Davis seems to have fixed its problems though, and the last two wins against UC Riverside have shown that the Aggies have the ability to beat almost anyone.

Pitching has been key, with UC Davis pitchers allowing only one run in the final two games against the Highlanders. A one-run, complete game by senior Jessica Thweatt and a shutout complete game by Vela has shown the dominance of the UC Davis pitching staff.

With a stunning team ERA of 2.39, the record of 19-23 simply does not match.

The reason lies with the struggling offense, which has only hit .233 as a team this season. They also have nine total home runs and 123 total runs scored. The Aggies only average about three runs a game. That gives the pitching staff very little room for error.

The offense is led by freshman Christa Castello and redshirt sophomore Amy Nunez. Castello is currently hitting .296, which is the highest on the team, along with 13 RBI. Nunez is tied for the team high in home runs, with three, and is hitting .279 with eight RBI. The Aggies must get some consistent offense from the

Brian Nguyen / Aggie

rest of the players, including senior Kelly Schulze, who has three home runs and 13 RBI. However, she is only hitting .191.

The Aggie pitchers will definitely need to watch out for the two run-producing Titan batters, sophomore Eliza Crawford and freshman Melissa Sechrest. Crawford is batting an outstanding .318 with seven homers and 24 RBI. Sechrest is hitting .162, but has six home runs and 20 RBI. These are the two key batters in the Titans’ batting order. If the Aggies get these batters out, they should be in good position for getting a few wins.

— Kenneth Ling

BASEBALL PREVIEW

Mark Allinder / Aggie

Steven Patterson (No. 28) has been on a hitting streak.

Teams: UC Davis at UC Irvine Records: Aggies, 15-22 (3-9) ; Anteaters, 25-11 (7-5) Where: Cicerone Field — Irvine, Calif.

When: Friday at 6:30 p.m.; Saturday at 1 p.m.; Sunday at 1 p.m.

Who to Watch: Junior second baseman Steven Patterson has been killing the baseball as of late. In fact, in the game against UC Riverside on Picnic Day, Patterson drilled a three-run homer to seal the game for the Aggies. He is hitting .338 with two home runs and 26 RBI, after the series against the Highlanders. Patterson's solid hitting is something which the UC Davis batting order has needed.

Patterson has a seven-game hitting streak that has boosted his average from .286 to a blistering .338. He has also shown some patience at the plate, drawing nine walks this season. The result of his hot hitting and ability to draw walks is a .396 on-base percentage. His ability to get on base and drive in runs has been a huge catalyst for the recent resurgence in the Aggies’ offense.

Patterson’s hot bat is not the only thing which he provides to the team, as he also turned a nice double play in the top of the ninth of the Picnic Day game against the Highlanders. However, Patterson has been prone to making the occasional error. After the series against UC Riverside, he has 10 errors on the season, which is second highest on the team. Despite the occasional lapse in judgment, Patterson’s bat and ability to make game-changing plays have been key to the Aggies’ winning baseball performances.

Did you know?

Senior Paul Politi’s solid season has etched his name into the UC Davis record books. He now is ranked in the top-10 all-time in hits and doubles. Politi is seventh in hits with 209 hits over his career and he is ninth all-time with 40 doubles as an Aggie, only 13 doubles away from breaking the record. Furthermore, he is also fourth all-time in total at-bats over

his baseball career at UC Davis.

Records aside, Politi is once again one of the most potent bats in the Aggies’ batting order. After leading last year’s team in hits, batting average, RBI and total bases, Politi is once again putting up solid numbers.

He is batting .276 with five home runs and 27 RBI. Politi is first on the team with home runs and RBI. He has been the constant-power threat for the lineup and as such continues to be one of the main batters who drive in runs.

Preview: What a difference a week can make.

The Aggies were struggling mightily heading into the weekday game against Nevada. Having lost seven in a row and eight out of the last ten games, UC Davis was struggling.

However, with a 9-2 win against the Wolfpack and a series sweep against the Highlanders, the Aggies seem to be rejuvenated and ready to play good baseball.

The Aggies capped off a fantastic week with a 19-8 annihilation of UC Riverside.

As UC Davis travels to Irvine to face the Anteaters, the Aggies hope to continue the hot hitting. This could be tough, as UC Irvine has a solid pitching staff with a team ERA of 2.74 and a team record of 25-11. The Anteaters are led by junior Andrew Morales, who is 9-0 with a 1.34 ERA. UC Davis will hope that Patterson and Politi, both critical in the recent Aggie resurgence, will continue to hit. In the weekend sweep against Riverside, Patterson hit 6-14 with seven runs scored, two homers and nine RBI. Politi hit 4-5 with four RBI, four runs scored and two home runs in the last game against the Highlanders. With this dynamic duo swinging their bats well, the Aggies seem to have regained some confidence in their ability to win games.

The one weakness the Aggies have shown during this win streak has been their pitching. They have been unable to

pitch well consistently. This might be a huge problem against Irvine, as the Anteaters have a tough batting order.

The Anteaters are led by two of the best hitters in the conference, sophomores Connor Spencer and Taylor Sparks. Spencer, the on-base extraordinaire, is hitting .385 and has an onbase percentage of .469. Sparks is the power-hitting slugger of their lineup with a .342 average, six home runs and 31 RBI. Hopefully, with their newfound sense of confidence, the Aggies can pitch well enough to allow their potent offense to shine.

— Kenneth Ling

RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE THE AGGIE RECYCLE

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