May 9, 2013

Page 1

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

serving the uc davis campus and community since 1915

VOLUME 132, ISSUE 45 | THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013

OPINION Pages 2 & 3

NEWS Pages 4 & 5

MUSE Pages 6 & 7

BRIAN NGUYEN / AGGIE

ASUCD Senator Alyson Sagala speaks in support of Senate Resolution 30, which called for the University of California to divest from companies profiting from the Palestinian Occupation.

Divestment resolution fails in ASUCD commissions, will not move forward Resolution urged for divestment from companies profiting from Palestine occupation By LAUREN MASCARENHAS and RITIKA IYER Aggie News and Features Writers

On May 7, the ASUCD Business and Finance Commission voted against passing Senate Resolution 30, which supported the University divesting funds from cor-

porations that profit from the occupation of Palestine. Many people on both sides of the issue have expressed the belief that this will not be the end of the issue on the UC Davis campus. “I don’t see any suspension of dialogue happening. I see this as just a start

DAVIS Sustainability

of things to come,” said Matt Hamou, a Business and Finance commissioner. Members of the Business and Finance Commission rejected the resolution with a vote of two in favor, five against and two abstentions. “Going in, my personal goal was to make sure that both sides left feeling that they had been treated respectfully and equally, independent of the vote count,” said Rylan Schaeffer, Business and Finance Commission chair. “Abstentions are rare. While the reasons two commissioners had See DIVESTMENT on 13

Pages 8 & 9

SCIENCE Page 10

BACKSTOP Pages 16 & 17

theaggie.org

Campus to celebrate Whole Earth

BRIAN NGUYEN / AGGIE Police office Ralph Nuno escorts U.S. Bank employees out of their office. The Davis Dozen were charged with acts related to blockading the branch.

Zero-waste, annual festival features music, food, art, workshops By MELISSA GAHERTY Aggie News Writer

Davis Dozen settlement reaches plea deal before trial Protesters agree to community hours, infraction ticket By MUNA SADEK Campus News Editor

Twelve protesters who were charged last March for obstructing movement in a public place and conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor, following demonstrations outside a UC Davis branch of U.S. Bank, agreed to a plea deal Monday. The deal comes nearly one month before the scheduled June 17 trial date in Yolo Superior Court. The group of one UC Davis English faculty member and 11 students, otherwise known as the Davis Dozen or Bankers Dozen, previously faced up to one year in jail. The group believed U.S. Bank had a hand in increasing student costs and student debt, and the privatization of the university. They agreed to 80 hours of community service and an infraction notice ticket, which the group described in an email interview as similar to “when the neighbors complain about your stereo” and bears virtually no implication on the recipient. According to Alexis Briggs, one of the attorneys for the group, many factors were taken into consideration before a final agreement was reached. This included the District Attorney’s office making an offer for 80 hours of community

service in exchange for misdemeanor pleas for everyone, and the University and U.S. Bank stating that both organizations were not planning to seek restitution. Briggs also said she received a large amount of internal documents from UC Davis and U.S. Bank. “That gave us a much better understanding of how those decisions were made, and throughout that process, we were engaged in discussion with the District Attorney’s office about resolving the matter though an infraction,” Briggs said. “For the last month, the discussion has been revolving almost exclusively around the amount of community service that the district attorney found acceptable to resolve it for an infraction.” Briggs said that the court initially intended to split the case into two separate trials, which were estimated to run a span of six weeks per trial, which would have utilized a substantial number of taxpayer dollars. The case was taken on pro bono, with the exception of public defender representation for one of the defendants, she said. “We were fortunate that a number of highly respected and renowned attorneys volunteered to take our case pro bono; there was also an outpouring of support, communal and financial, from places around the world. It would have been nice if the UC Davis administrators driving this case had had such support rather than spending [students’] funds on a petty and illfated prosecution. For obvious reasons, they did not,” the group stated in an email interview. See DOZEN on 13

Since 1969, UC Davis has celebrated the annual Whole Earth Festival from Friday to Sunday the second week of May, promoting wellness, art and the environment. The UC Davis Quad will be filled with arts and crafts tents, live music, food vendors and educational spaces from May 10 to 12. The free, zero-waste, student-run festival is a selfsustaining ASUCD unit and made possible by a large team of volunteers, who have been working since January. “We have entertainment

from throughout the county, including educational speakers, yoga masters, artists and crafts vendors,” said Chris Hong, a UC Davis alumnus and Whole Earth publicity spokesman. “Our event invites a diversity of visitors from children to the elders, mixed races and ethnicities, and people with various religions and traditions. We love the diversity that the festival brings, and how we all share a common viewpoint or ideology and love for this Festival.” Though the weekend is alcohol-free and advertised as drug-free, some festival goers See WEF on 13

Designing for the future Campus seeks awards better than Platinum By ALAN LIN Aggie Science Writer

UC Davis has been considered environmentally conscious for a long time, a reputation that seems to be deserved. The school and city’s shared enthusiasm for the environment can be seen in many aspects of local life, from the numerous bike paths found throughout the city to the well-cultivated patches of greenery present almost everywhere. The message of sustainability is even seen in the design of many buildings found around campus. UC Davis enjoys ownership in three buildings that are certified as LEED Platinum by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental

Design, and represents a scoring system used by the USGBC to evaluate the environmental impact of a building. Points are awarded for features that promote sustainable energy usage like solar panels and utilization of hydrogen fuel cells as sources of power. Builders are also encouraged to utilize recycled materials such as metals, ceramics and lumber in construction. Furthermore, the program rewards construction projects that promote non-motorized transportation with the inclusion of ample bike parking and pedestrian walkways. The LEED Platinum properties managed by UC Davis include a joint ownership with Sierra Nevada College in the See DESIGNING on 13


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