April 9 2020

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VOLUME 138, ISSUE 22 | THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020

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ONLINE INSTRUCTION PROVES PARAMOUNT FOR SLOWING SPREAD OF COVID-19, SCIENTISTS SAY Scientists call for campus closures due to novel coronavirus

Aggie Compass of the Basic Needs Center at the MU at UC Davis. (Photo by Timothy Li / Aggie)

THE PANTRY AND AGGIE COMPASS PARTNER TO CREATE WEEKLY GROCERY BAG PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC Students in need receive weekly, customizable grocery bags

BY ALLY R USSELL campus@theaggie.org

The UC Davis campus is now empty as people shelter-in-place. (Photo by Justin Han / Aggie)

BY MA RG O ROSE N B AU M science@theaggie.org No longer are bikes dotting the streets of campus. No longer are lecture halls filling up with students diligently taking notes. No longer are dining halls bustling with freshmen. With the recent campus closures due to threats of spreading COVID-19, instruction is held remotely and entirely online this Spring Quarter. Students will be watching lectures, contributing to discussions and taking tests using computers in their homes, at their desks, at their dining room tables or even in their beds.

UC Davis, along with all other UC campuses, made this decision based on guidance from local and state public health authorities, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Further measures, including stricter guidelines regarding avoidance of non-essential gatherings, have been implemented to ensure social distancing to keep the Davis community safe, said Cindy Schorzman, the medical director of Student Health and Counseling Services, via email.

“The health and safety of students, faculty and staff is of paramount importance,” Schorzman said.

Guidelines provided by the CDC as well as

local and state public health authorities informed UC Davis’ decision to transition all finals online at the end of last quarter and implement remote instruction for the entirety of Spring Quarter, Schorzman said. Because much is still unknown about this virus, these guidelines have been put in place, such as the CDC’s recommendation to reduce as much interaction with others as possible.

“Online classes are the only way to properly practice social distancing while continuing school education,” said Angela Haczku, a professor of medicine and the associate dean for research at the UC Davis School of Medicine, via email.

Currently, scientists believe that the virus spreads through respiratory droplets, which are produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, Schorzman said. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of others within six feet, which can then possibly be inhaled into the lungs. Individuals may also become infected by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their faces, especially near the mouth or nose. “[The virus] stays on surfaces for days waiting for people to touch and pick them up,” Haczku said. “The virus first enters the mouth and gets into the gut system (sometimes causes diarrhea) and then makes its way into the airways, where it infects the lung.”

Researchers have found that the symptoms

can vary widely. Some people may develop no symptoms, while others have a mild flu-like illness or even extremely severe pneumonia that can be fatal, Haczku said.

Since the main way COVID-19 spreads is thought to be through inhaling respiratory droplets, the main strategies implemented to prevent its spread involve limiting potential exposure to these droplets, Haczku said.

One strategy is social distancing since respiratory droplets are unlikely to travel more than six feet. Also, washing one’s hands multiple times a day to remove infected particles before they spread to others is very important. Lastly, cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces is effective to reduce the number of infected particles to which individuals are exposed, Haczku said. “[The virus] is spread by droplets and by contact, so if we limit the number of contacts people have, we can limit the spread of this infection,” said Dean Blumberg, the chief of pediatric infectious diseases at UC Davis Children’s Hospital.

“We know it is already in the community, so we are trying to limit the number of contacts to limit the number in the entire community.”

CAMPUSCLOSURE on 10

UC DAVIS RESEARCHERS WORK TOWARD DEVELOPING POTENTIAL VACCINE FOR COVID-19 Broad distribution of viable vaccine could take up to a year TE SSA KO G A / AG G I E

MIC HE L L E WON G science@theaggie.org As the lives of people around the world have drastically changed due to the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic, researchers from UC Davis have been working tirelessly to understand the mechanisms of the severe acute respiratory syndrome, coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus which causes the COVID-19 disease, in order to develop a potential vaccine.

“Vaccines are based upon harnessing the ability of the immune system to recognize pathogens that they have counteracted before,” said Angela Haczku, a professor of medicine and associate dean for research at the UC Davis Medical School. “This feature or characteristic of the immune system is utilized when a small amount of the properties of the pathogen is being injected into the person.”

When an individual is exposed to a virus, a particle from the virus is recognized by a component of the immune system called a T lymphocyte, explained Haczku. Once T lymphocytes come into contact with these particles, they be-

come memory T cells, which allow the immune system to recognize the virus if exposed to it again. Memory T cells allow helper lymphocytes to trigger B lymphocytes to produce the antibodies necessary to eliminate the viral particles.

The amount of time these memory T cells can live on in a person’s body depends on the nature of the antigen, otherwise known as a foreign substance or toxin. When vaccines are administered, with a specific antigen, one no longer has to worry about contracting a certain disease in the future as memory T cells remember how to fight it off. But certain viruses, such as influenza, are able to mutate and become infectious again, so new vaccines must be created in response.

The ability to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 depends on the nature of the virus and whether researchers will be able to find a proper antigen that T lymphocytes will be able to remember as the virus ages.

“We don’t know what’s happening with [COVID-19] because humankind never encountered a coronavirus pandemic before,” Haczku said. “This is the very first time and therefore we never had the need to develop vaccines against coronavirus.”

Although COVID-19 is novel, as the virus

which causes it is not the same as the viruses that cause other coronaviruses, previous research already conducted on other coronaviruses has contributed to some of the early progress for UC Davis researchers, according to Denis Hartigan-O’Connor, an associate professor in the department of medical microbiology and immunology and a core scientist at the California National Primate Research Center (CNPRC).

“We learned from [previous research] about basically how to grow this virus, what things might inhibit it, what are some vaccine strategies that could be tried and then we start to think about the biology of this new agent and whether these strategies are applicable,” Hartigan-O’Connor said.

Hartigan-O’Connor is a part of a group of researchers at the CNPRC working toward developing the first animal model in learning how SARS-CoV-2 affects monkeys. Smita S. Iyer, an assistant professor and core scientist at the infectious disease unit at the CNPRC, explained that once an animal model is developed, researchers will be able to answer fundamental questions that are difficult to answer with a human model. For example, factors like the mode of infection and viral concentration in the body, both of which are difficult to control for in humans, can be accounted for in these essential animal models.

“We are not going to win the race to make a vaccine in academia because of resources,” Iyer said. “We just cannot compete with biotech [companies] and pharmaceutical [companies].

But what we can do and what we do really well is to understand the immune mechanism of protection, and so if we use that kind of approach to design a vaccine, that might inform the field.”

Hartigan-O’Connor explained that his group plans to test a vaccine on monkeys in the next three to four months. Once they establish a candidate in which the vaccine seems to be effective, researchers will be able to quickly move onto human trials, Hartigan-O’Connor predicts. Iyer speculates that it will take another 12 months or, optimistically, closer to the end of the year for a viable COVID-19 vaccine for humans to be widely distributed .

VACCINE on 10

The Aggie Compass Basic Needs Center and The Pantry are teaming up to help provide students with basic needs despite constraints of the county and statewide shelter-in-place order and social distancing. Both spaces are currently closed in accordance with the county’s shelterin-place order, but both teams remain dedicated to providing assistance and resources to students virtually and in new, innovative ways.

The evolving COVID-19 pandemic has simultaneously increased students’ need for basic needs and restricted the abilities of programs like Aggie Compass and The Pantry to meet these needs.

Homelessness and food insecurity are prevalent issues among college students across the country. Around 250,000 students experienced homelessness in California in 2018, according to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. And more than 6.5 million Americans were forced to file for unemployment last week, according to The Guardian.

At UC Davis, with nonessential services shutting down, many students have found themselves with reduced hours or out of work entirely.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, The Pantry provided around 800 UC Davis students with food products every day. To combat food insecurity during the pandemic, The Pantry and the Aggie Compass Basic Needs Center have partnered to create a weekly grocery bag program for students. While both The Pantry and Aggie Compass’ physical locations have closed, many services provided by both centers remain available online.

Every week, 150 students can sign up by Sunday night to receive a pre-filled grocery bag on Thursday between 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. Instead of receiving food products in the MU, students can pick up their groceries on the Quad where pre-filled bags are spaced six feet apart from one another.

On April 2, Aggie Compass and The Pantry provided 240 grocery bags filled with a week’s worth of groceries to students, nearly 100 more than they originally anticipated.

“Students will have the option to choose between a meat bag, a vegetarian bag or both,” said Ryan Choi, the director of The Pantry.

In addition to providing access to food products, Choi spoke at length about The Pantry’s goal of providing for students’ needs that may differ based on cultural or religious belief.

Providing vegetarian options for students is one way Choi hopes to respect the diversity of students’ backgrounds and needs.

After picking up their bag of groceries, students can check out with student volunteers from The Pantry and Aggie Compass, tabling nearby on the South Quad.

In addition to groceries, students have the option to receive menstrual products in weekly grocery bags.

PERIOD, a campus club, usually provides menstrual products in bathrooms across campus. The club is also adapting to the new constraints and demands created by COVID-19.

Sabina Kabra, a fourth-year genetics and genomics major, is the operations and donations director for PERIOD. “During the coronavirus pandemic, more and more people are facing uncertainty surrounding health, shelter, employment, food and other necessities,” Kabra said. “PERIOD is trying to alleviate some of this uncertainty by providing free menstrual products. Menstrual products are a necessity and periods don’t stop during an epidemic.”

PERIOD has donated over 3,000 menstrual products, according to Choi.

Usually, The Pantry relies on both donations and their partnership with the Yolo County Food Bank to provide products for students. Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the Yolo County Food Bank has become inundated with increased community demand for food. As a result, The Pantry is in need of community support and monetary donations now more than ever, according to Choi.

PANTRY on 10

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

2 |THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020

UC DAVIS LIBRETEXTS PROJECT RECEIVES $1M GRANT FROM CALIFORNIA EDUCATION LEARNING LAB

Funds designated for optimization of adaptive learning programs KI YO M I WATSO N / AGGI E

BY DINA GALLACHER & AARYA GUPTA campus@theaggie.org A new $1 million innovation grant from the State of California will help “develop, test and widely distribute a new adaptive learning platform” that accompanies the existing library of LibreTexts, a non-profit organization founded

by UC Davis Chemistry Professor Dr. Delmar Larsen, according to an article on the UC Davis website. The grant will fund collaborative work between faculty from UC Davis, California State University, San Bernardo and Mendocino College.

“The three-year innovation grant, titled, “Rebalancing the Equity Gap in Chemistry Education with Culturally Sensitive Adaptive

Learning,” will use online, personalized learning technologies to decrease the achievement gap in for approximately 8,000 students per year through a coordinated effort which was one of only five grants selected by the State of California,” according to a press release from CSU San Bernardino.

The project aims to “directly improve outcomes for underrepresented student populations pursuing STEM education by using culturally-responsive, technology-enabled learning to address factors known to disproportionately impact historically marginalized groups in STEM,” according to CSUSB’s press release.

The project was one of five to receive an innovation grant, presented by the California Education Learning Lab — established in 2018 by

DRIVE-THROUGH COVID-19 TESTING AVAILABLE IN CALIFORNIA Project Baseline launched in Sacramento

Assembly Bill 1809, the California Education Learning Lab strives to “increase learning outcomes and close equity and achievement gaps across California’s public higher education segments, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines,” according to its website.

“Textbooks have gotten quite expensive, and that is quite detrimental,” Larsen explained.

“The goal of the project is to be able to make an alternative that is fairly available for students to turn to and faculty to turn to, and to address the rising cost of textbooks.”

LibreTexts LibreTexts was born out of a precursor project called ChemWiki, which Larsen launched between 2007 and 2008 after using an “atrocious” book to teach CHE 107B: Physical Chemistry for Life Sciences.

“It was a first edition, full of errors and made my life unbelievably painful, and it was $200,” Larsen said. “I felt that it was a rip-off. [CHE 107B] was a large class of 300 students. We are talking about $60,000 if everyone in that class purchased a book. I felt that there was a way to work around that.”

Following its creation, ChemWiki grew to address academia beyond physical chemistry. “[ChemWiki] started to expand into multiple STEM Wikis [like BioWiki, GeoWiki, StatWiki, MathWiki],” Larsen said. “There were about six of them. About three or four years ago, we threw it all into one moniker called ‘LibreTexts.’ We expanded it to now 14 libraries with the scope of basically all of academia.”

LibreTexts has an extensive array of material available, including 154 courses and a collection of 398 textbooks, textmaps and LibreTexts. Serving 223 million students, LibreTexts has saved students a total of $31 million, according to the LibreTexts website. Additionally, according to a LibreTexts blog post, LibreTexts was the most popular resource for students in California accessing chemistry content, receiving 100 million

page views last calendar year.

The definition and nature of a conventional textbook has radically evolved over the last decade, Larsen said.

In October of 2018, LibreTexts announced that it had received a $5 million Open Textbooks Pilot Program award from the U.S. Department of Education. LibreTexts is currently in pursuit of other funds in order to expand into spaces like K-12 education as well.

“We’ve always had the goal to build an online homework system,” Larsen said. “That is part of this grant from the U.S. Department of Education. We have that going. That system is called Query, and we even have a library of questions already put in place in our Query library.”

Looking to the future, Larsen hopes to utilize existing infrastructure to enhance the type of material available to students. As opposed to having a system that operates by presenting a question and then an answer, Larsen aspires to generate a “virtual tutor” through integrating “decision tree infrastructure” into technology that LibreTexts currently has in place.

“Collectively, it is called adaptive learning, and it is a way to personalize the interactions between the homework system and the student in order to help address the deficiencies in a student’s knowledge,” Larsen said.

Through the most recent grant obtained by LibreTexts, Larsen hopes to “help every student.” More specifically, the California Education Learning Lab is encouraging LibreTexts to use the money to “help handle the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students,” Larsen said.

“The questions, the videos, [...] even coupling down to the textbook, will start to better reflect [a student’s] identity,” Larsen said. “Seeing old white guys in your books is constantly reiterating that it’s not a position for [disadvantaged students]. That needs to be changed.”

EIGHTY-FIVE PERCENT OF RESIDENCE HALL STUDENTS CANCEL SPRING QUARTER CONTRACTS, REMAINING RESIDENTS RELOCATED

Student Housing and Dining Services adjusts operations for Spring Quarter

J OE LL E TA H TA / AGGI E

BY S HRA D D HA J H I NGA N city@theaggie.org Project Baseline, founded by the company Verily and a subsidiary of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, recently launched a coronavirus testing program that has — in two weeks — become available in four testing sites in California.

As of March 28, more than 3,700 people had been tested for coronavirus through the program.

According to The Covid Tracking Project, more than one million tests have been administered in the U.S. and its territories as of April 1.

Testing became available through the Baseline COVID-19 Program on March 24 in Sacramento County. It also became recently available in Lake Elsinore City, after previously commencing operations in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, according to Project Baseline’s blog.

“Verily was asked by government agencies to contribute in any way we could to COVID-19 screening and testing efforts,” said Carolyn Wang, the communications lead at Verily, via email. “Our team has moved with great urgency to support development of the California community-based COVID-10 testing program, which is state-directed with federal input. We did this by creating the Baseline COVID-19 Program, a connected solution to support individuals from screening through testing at community-based testing sites (CBTS) and receipt of their test results.”

Many entities are involved in this project, in order to administer testing and conduct an analysis of the samples.

“Our primary partner in this first pilot is the California Governor’s office and local Bay Area public health authorities,” Wang said via email.

“We’re also partnering with federal authorities and different organizations across healthcare to access testing and lab analysis resources.”

Individuals can check to see if they are eligible to get tested through this program through the company’s website. Additionally, a guide to the

testing process can be found on the company’s blog.

In order to help those who are the most vulnerable, the program will start off by testing those who are at a higher risk, as defined by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).

“Our staff intends to reach back out to eligible individuals as capacity becomes available,” Wang said via email.

The testing process is multi-step. The first step of the testing program involves doing an online screener, according to a blog post by the company. Based on CDPH guidelines, this helps prioritize the need to be tested. After completing this step, people who qualify to get tested for COVID-19 through the program will get an email confirming the details of the appointment, including the time and location of testing.

The drive-through testing site consists of three stations, the first of which is called an appointment check. Individuals will have to show their ID, with the windows of their cars closed for safety. After this step, people will be able to drive up to the second station. At this station, “healthcare staff will match each individual [with] a lab kit and attach a lab requisition to the car’s windshield [and] this document helps ensure tests are processed safely and correctly.”

At Station 3, individuals will have to roll down their car’s windows and tilt their head back so that a nasal swab can be taken. Staff at the site will then ship the samples to a lab for analysis.

Results will be provided to individuals approximately two to five days after they have been tested — but this may be longer, depending on the capacity of the lab. If an individual tests positive, a healthcare professional will contact them.

A video of the program’s testing process can be found online.

The process of fighting against coronavirus is a collective effort, Wang said.

“We’re all together in the fight against COVID-19 — researchers, public health officials, and citizens,” Wang said via email.

Students ride their bikes along the Tercero housing area. (Photo by Justin Han / Aggie)

BY G RAS CH E LLE FARI ÑAS H IPO LITO campus@theaggie.org In an effort to reduce campus density following public health announcements for COVID-19, Student Housing and Dining Services encouraged students living on campus to return to their permanent residence if feasible and offered Spring Quarter housing refunds.

According to Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Housing, Dining, and Divisional Operations Michael Sheehan, 85% of residence hall students chose to cancel their Spring Quarter contracts.

In order to receive the full Spring Quarter refund, students had to terminate their contract online and move out of student housing by March 25. Any student who moved out after that date received a prorated refund based on a daily rate. Financial aid packages were not affected for those who chose to terminate their Spring Quarter contracts to receive housing refunds.

Student Housing residents received the announcement regarding the deadlines and options to move out before finals week.

“I know for some individuals it wasn’t that much time, just because decisions about what would happen next quarter and such were told to us around finals week,” Jonathan Kha, a first-year residence hall student, said. “That gave little time or created a hassle for them if they lived long-distance [...] or had little time to say goodbye to friends and such.”

Kha said he initially planned to stay on-campus for Spring Quarter, given that living at home would be a hassle for his learning environment and his financial aid package covered most of his housing costs anyway.

“However, when they provided information that certain services would be closed and that housing would be fully refunded if moved out by a certain date, I did feel an immense amount of pressure because of the amount of money that was going to be offered to me if I were to live off-campus, benefitting me a lot as a low-income student,” Kha said.

Kha moved out of the residence halls on March 25. For the remaining students, Student Housing and Dining Services had to increase their safety measures to follow public health directives.

After Yolo County issued a Shelter-in-Place Order on March 18, the university announced the move to “Suspended Operations” in which all non-critical functions, activities and facilities may be suspended.

On March 19, the State of California issued

a Stay at Home Order. On March 20, Student Housing and Dining released a message that residents who chose to stay in student housing for Spring Quarter may be required to move to another room “to consolidate students to one area for operational efficiency, to help support Social Distancing Requirements, or to provide a safe, isolated space for students that may fall ill.”

“For the remaining residents, we have been very direct regarding the need to reduce density while also consolidating space,” Sheehan said.

“The process of moving residents is just beginning. During the process, we are working with Student Health and Counseling Services to engage remaining students to assess their current health. If residents are presenting any symptoms, Student Health and Counseling Services will ask that the student be given special accommodation within an isolation space.”

Sheehan explained that dining operations have implemented significant measures directed

by Yolo County Health and the State of California to ensure resident and staff safety.

Programmatic changes include an Elevated Sanitation Protocol using a diluted bleach solution to disinfect all non-food surfaces; disinfecting high traffic areas with the use of bleach on an hourly basis including door knobs, bathroom areas and railings; closing all campus coffee and restaurant services; omitting all seating options; moving to a full service to-go format with modified hours of operation in the Dining Commons and implementing social distancing point-of-sale and queuing lines with 6-foot indicated spacing.

Sick tray service is also offered for students, which allows a fellow resident to visit the Dining Commons and request to pick up a meal for them. Meal plans were also adjusted to a “block plan” with 200 swipes and $200 worth of Aggie Cash for all remaining students.

As for resident advisors, Sheehan said RAs were welcome to return to their position and their rooms or resign if they so chose to.

“For those returning [RAs], we have adjusted their responsibilities to promote social distancing and RAs will not be conducting any rounds or providing any group social programs,” Sheehan said. “RAs will be an online resource to residents as needed and also assisting the department with various small projects as needed.”

All Residential Academic Centers, Residential Academic Center tutoring, RA programs, recreation rooms and residence hall IM sports have been cancelled. Staff on-call services, area service desks with limited check-out equipment and computer centers, however, are still available to students.

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020 | 3

UNITRANS REDUCES ITS SCHEDULE, GOES FARE-FREE WHILE RUNNING DURING SHELTER-IN-PLACE

Extra precautions taken to promote social distancing on Davis transportation

Unitrans operating on weekend service due to COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo by Markus Kaeppeli / Aggie)

BY JANELLE MARIE SALANGA campus@theaggie.org Unitrans will continue operating weekend service only, fare-free, until at least April 12.

The reduced service has been in effect since March 18 and was announced March 9. It was made fare-free, according to Unitrans General Manager, Jeff Flynn, so drivers wouldn’t have to handle cash or tickets and risk potential COVID-19 infection.

Along with changes to service and cost, Unitrans buses, which serve the entirety of the city of Davis, will only accept passengers through the back door.

These measures are the latest in Unitrans’ effort to ensure safety for drivers and passengers while buses, as “essential infrastructure”, con-

tinue to run during the mandatory Yolo County shelter-in-place order that will be in effect until May 1. Under the order, only workers who are employees at essential businesses and those needing to get groceries, go to the doctor or leave for a place of residence outside the county should leave their house.

As of Feb. 27, Unitrans was already sanitizing all bus interiors twice a day and mandating that drivers and conductors wipe down their work space at the start of their day. It was encouraged, but not recommended, that customers “try to maintain” as much distance as possible on the buses and at bus stops and bring personal hygiene products.

Flynn, who worked at Unitrans during his five years at UC Davis, said that Unitrans has about 150 student drivers and 250 total student

staff. He said no student was mandated to work and that there were a number of people who chose not to work in Spring Quarter.

He added that for those who were working, he and the rest of the career staff have been consistently engaging with students to make sure they felt comfortable driving.

“We had one-on-one engagements with students and gathered their opinions through email to understand what would make them feel safe,” Flynn said. “The management team, student and career staff also had conference calls and Zoom meetings.”

Though fourth-year marine biology major Michael Brito, a driver, route trainer and supervisor for Unitrans, said he didn’t recall being part of specific discussions, he said he felt Unitrans career staff established good lines of communication between them and students to make sure everyone felt protected at work.

“We had to change our service and redesign it multiple times, but they made sure we were following guidelines,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s the drivers — not the career staff — who are increasing their chances of interacting with people and they’re not in any way making sure that we have to do that.”

With a reduced schedule, Unitrans student employees, particularly drivers, have less opportunities to work and be paid. Brito said drivers last quarter tended to work 30 hours a week, but that’s been reduced to 10-13 hours a week.

Whether workers take the quarter off or not, however, Flynn said they can use the UC-provided Emergency Administrative Leave, which offers students up to 128 hours of paid leave based on the amount of hours they’ve worked in the past.

“Students who are still working can use that leave to supplement their income,” he said.

Many students at Unitrans can apply for multiple positions, like Brito did. Currently, students with multiple positions can only perform duties for that job, according to Brito.

“I’m supervising and don’t have any driving shifts for the next five weeks,” he said. “Unitrans has been good at distributing hours, since students with more than one position could potentially get more hours than a regular driver.”

He added that he feels protected when he goes to work because the Unitrans office is fairly big, with sanitizing wipes and hand sanitizer stocked everywhere.

Flynn is also showing up to work and said he still rides the G line to and from the office.

“I think it’s important for me to show as general manager of Unitrans that I trust and believe our service is safe to ride for essential trips,” Flynn said.

Unitrans isn’t the only transit service for Davis students that has adjusted to COVID-19 concerns. On March 22, UC Davis Ride Sharing Facebook group administrators closed the group to new posts until April 7, the initial end of the Yolo County shelter-in-place order.

UC Davis alum Justin Chen, who became a group administrator in 2014, said he and other administrators made that decision because they believe social distancing is the most effective way for the country to slow down COVID-19 infection rate.

“It is nearly impossible to practice social distancing — 6 feet apart from people not living under the same roof — in most of the ride shares requested,” Chen said. “[...] As [an] admin, it is important to set the group guidelines to ensure the group can comply with government policy.”

Chen’s post announcing the group shutdown includes a list of alternate methods of transportation, including public transportation and ride hailing allowed by California laws.

Still, Chen said the group does not encourage people to take Uber and that as group admin, it was a gesture meant to remind the group’s members that there are still alternative ways to get to places when necessary.

“The group will not be aiding the chances of transmitting COVID-19 while the government has already given out clear and strict guidelines of what Californians should and shouldn’t do,” he said.

Flynn said he has already seen ridership overall fall anywhere between 90-95% since the shelter-in-place order was implemented.

R EAD FULL ARTI CLE ONLI NE

UC DAVIS RANKED FIRST WORLDWIDE IN VETERINARY SCIENCE, SECOND IN AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY, SIXTEENTH IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

As UC Davis continues to rank as one of the best universities in the world, what qualities make it stand out?

The Veterinary Medicine Sciences Building at UC Davis. (Photo by Quinn Spooner / Aggie)

BY JESSICA BAGGOTT campus@theaggie.org The QS World University Rankings by Subject 2020 were released on March 4, revealing that UC Davis has once again placed among the best universities in the world, at 31st nationally and 104th worldwide.

Though Davis dropped by four places overall since the 2019 rankings were released, some scores of individual programs increased. This

year, Davis reclaimed the #1 spot for veterinary science, jumped from the 101-150 bracket up to the 51-100 bracket for archaeology and reached #45 in life sciences and medicine.

In order to determine where a university or program falls in relation to other institutions, QS uses six metrics: academic reputation, faculty-to-student ratio, citations per faculty, employer reputation, international faculty ratio and international student ratio.

UC Davis scored extremely well in citations

per faculty, academic reputation, international faculty and international students. However, due to the almost 40,000 students enrolled, Davis scored low on faculty-to-student ratio. UC Davis also scored relatively low in reputation among employers.

This may not, however, be the fault of UC Davis. Each of the six QS metrics are weighted differently. Twice as heavily weighted as any other metric, academic reputation has extreme pull in the final rank of any university as it is worth 40% of the final ranking.

Though academic reputation is based in a wide variety of qualities, QS is not alone in clumping academic reputation as a single metric. “[Higher education rankings are an] amalgam of a changing set of metrics [often] combined with a very large portion of reputation,” said Provost Ralph Hexter. “Because of the metrics, the ranking looks like it’s very objective but a large portion of it is just general reputation.”

The reasoning and specific methodology behind this decision leaves much up to the imagination.

“Based on our Academic Survey, it collates the expert opinions of over 94,000 individuals in the higher education space regarding teaching and research quality at the world’s universities,” the QS methodology says. “In doing so, it has grown to become the world’s largest survey of academic opinion, and, in terms of size and scope, is an unparalleled means of measuring sentiment in the academic community.”

Despite the weight placed on academic reputation, the balance between qualitative and quantitative metrics makes QS more equitable.

“When you measure something like the percentage of alumni who donate, or resources per

faculty member, a small and elite private college is always going very much better than a large public institution,” Hexter said.

Though there are faults with all higher education ranking systems, they still have an influence on both the public at large and, in turn, the institutions themselves. Quickly, this becomes a self-perpetuating cycle.

“You have the strength of the intellectual capacity of top-notch students and top-notch faculty,” said Helene Dillard, the dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

“That attracts top-notch graduate students, topnotch postdocs, so it just really feeds on itself.

It’s just a really intellectually stimulating place to be.”

Similarly, since so much of the ranking is built upon reputation, once you are known as the very best in the field, it becomes hard to ruin that.

This allows the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine the luxury of paying little attention to rankings in order to avoid clouding its original goals and priorities.

“There are probably other schools that have to grapple much more with how to handle the rankings than we do,” said Tom Hinds, the director of strategic communications at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. “We’ve been doing the right things, all along, to be able to put us in this position.”

The true value in rankings is how much weight the public puts in them.

“Rankings matter to the extent that the general public pays attention to them,” Hexter said.

“Pay attention to the ranking, but be aware of where the ranking is very closely aligned to your values, and in some cases where a ranking may have looked at one thing is that’s not something you really care about.”

WHY UC DAVIS TUITION IS UNLIKELY TO CHANGE FOR SPRING QUARTER

Spring Quarter tuition likely to remain the same, university offering paid administrative leave

Mrak Hall at UC Davis. (Photo by Quinn Spooner / Aggie File)

BY ALEX WEINSTEIN campus@theaggie.org Spring Quarter tuition will likely remain unchanged amid the COVID-19 crisis, despite demands from students that the university reduce tuition and fees.

Tuition at UC Davis isn’t just to pay the salaries of students and educators. There is a vast host of payments that the university must make, including building maintenance, upkeep, utilities and debt services.

With the suspended operation of the UC Davis campus, many students and parents feel that there should be a tuition reimbursement in exchange for services not being rendered, such as at the ARC. The University of California Office of the President (UCOP) said that tuition, as of now,

will not be reevaluated. Students are still pursuing degrees, and this, UCOP says, is enough justification to maintain tuition.

“Students are generally able to access all required instructional materials, complete their coursework, and make timely progress towards their degree,” said Sarah McBride, a media and communications strategist with the UCOP, via email.

McBride also said that students will continue to earn full credit for their coursework, and mandatory charges such as Tuition and the Student Services Fee will proceed to help cover delivery of instruction, other educational costs and the cost of student services such as registration, financial aid and remote academic advising.

“The University has not changed its policies or practices related to refunds for these charges,” she said.

This, however, does not exclude the possibility of individual schools within the UC evaluating refunds for other costs. Petitions surfaced online demanding that UC Davis reduce spring quarter tuition for all students. Across the UC, similar petitions call for all schools to reduce spring tuition.

Ehab Muhammad, a third-year chemical engineering major at UC Davis, is responsible for the change.org petition to reduce UC Davis spring quarter tuition.

“Why am I being held responsible for fees or services that I will not be using, and that I cannot use because of the shelter in place order?” Muhammad asked.

Muhammad pointed out that, in accordance with Regents policy 3101, many of the fees outlined in the UC Davis financial statement go to social, recreational and cultural activities and programs — programs that the university cannot host this quarter due to the extenuating circumstances. The Regents policy is not a contractual obligation.

UC Davis Vice Chancellor of Finance, Operations and Administration Kelly Ratliff said the campus is in “suspended operation,” not closed.

“For the units I’m responsible for, the vast majority are still open or providing services — some remotely, some on campus,” said Ratliff.

This is another part of the justification for maintaining tuition.

“Many faculty are still coming in and recording their lectures and we’re still opening every day [...] which means we’re still servicing those buildings, providing custodial support, doing tech support, and so that involves not just my organization, but IET and others,” Ratliff said.

Another cost to the university is debt services.

“For most of [the buildings], we still have ongoing costs,” Ratliff said. “We finance those buildings much like a mortgage — even if I’m on vacation or whatnot, I still have to pay the mortgage.”

Although the campus is in suspended operation, all support staff and professors still need to be paid.

“But really, our operating budget is mostly people,” Ratliff said. “The vast majority of our budget is about compensation for the faculty and staff at the university — and all those folks are still here and engaged in both instruction and research.”

Some, like Muhammad, contest the value of remote instruction and say that it isn’t comparable to in-person lectures.

“I’m writing lab reports on data that I never collected, based on equipment that I never used,” Muhammed said. “I will probably never be able to get any experience on that equipment in an academic setting, and that’s very disappointing.”

Muhammad said that online instruction is not as valuable as in-person instruction and that students should be compensated for this.

“At the end of the day, we’re students, and our success is important,” he said.

Paid administrative leave As Ratliff said, most of the operating budget goes directly to faculty and staff. Given campus has suspended operations across the UC, UCOP issued an executive order giving employees, including students, a one-time allotment of 128 hours of paid administrative leave. However, because 128 hours only amounts to 16 work days, the school continues to work on ways to compensate those who cannot work remotely.

“What comes next after paid administrative leave is actually the most urgent thing that’s being worked on, and there’s conversation with the president and the university and the chancellors about what to do next,” Ratliff said. “What we will do as a university for these sorts of issues [...] will be a university-wide response. So, we really are waiting for some guidance from the Office of the President about what comes next.”

All of this comes amid an announcement from UC President Janet Napolitano that “there will be no COVID-19 related layoffs for all career employees through the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2020.” The announcement does not detail how individual campuses will achieve this.

TUI TI ONLOWER I NG on 10

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

4 | THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020

YOLO COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE CRACKS DOWN ON STORES ILLEGALLY INCREASING PRICES DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC Citizens who experience price-gouging are encouraged to report it KA IT LY N PA N G / AGGI E

BY MA D EL E I N E PAY NE city@theaggie.org The Yolo County District Attorney’s Office is increasing its investigation and prosecution of sellers who raise prices more than 10% of a product’s original value in an effort to make necessary supplies affordable during the coronavirus pandemic.

Local attorneys are operating based on laws that only go into effect during a state or local emergency, preventing the dramatic increases in prices of goods and services — an act called price-gouging.

In a statement published on March 20, the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office explained

price-gouging and asked Yolo County citizens to speak up if they notice any dramatic price increases.

“District Attorney Reisig also encouraged Yolo County residents to report any instances of price-gouging when shopping for consumer goods or medical supplies,” the statement read.

District Attorney Reisig added that businesses should not be allowed to profit off local residents who are fearing for their health.

“Local businesses have traditionally been community partners during crises, but anyone that profiteers during a state of emergency will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” Reisig said in the press release. “County residents must have access to necessary supplies, especially when

community health is at stake.”

Anti-price-gouging laws prohibit raising the prices of hotel lodging, food and drink, emergency supplies and medical supplies, according to the California Attorney General’s Office. Other goods can include, “building materials, including lumber, construction tools, and windows; transportation; freight; storage services; gasoline and other motor fuels; and repair and reconstruction services.”

The laws can even protect against an increase in rent prices. Landlords may not raise the price of rent by more than 10% of the original value, or rent a new listing at more than 160% of the fair market value of the rental housing. Some can even be charged with a misdemeanor if they, “evict a tenant and then re-rent the property at a rate that the landlord would have been prohibited from charging the evicted tenant under the price gouging statute,” according to the California Attorney General’s Office.

Deputy District Attorney Rachel Hilzinger explained that not every price increase is illegal under anti-price-gouging laws, though most increases that surpass the 10% threshold are not legal.

“There are some exemptions when a wholesaler or retailer is going to be able to mark up the price of an item,” Hilzinger said. “For instance, if the item was on final sale before the state of emergency was declared and they want to return it to the normal retail price — that doesn’t count.”

Those caught guilty of price-gouging could face hefty punishments, according to the press release.

“Violations of the price-gouging statute are subject to criminal prosecution that can result in one-year imprisonment in county jail and/or a fine of up to $10,000,” the statement read.

The seller could also face civil charges and be forced to pay restitution to the buyers that faced increased prices, according to Hilzinger, though that would not provide restitution for those who were unable to afford the necessary goods during the price-gouging.

“Our office, particularly our consumer division, will take cases civilly as well,” Hilzinger said. “We could go after a retail, a business — someone who’s price-gouging — and we could pursue them civilly, and they could pay a penalty of up to $2,500 per violation per day.”

Price-gouging is not limited to only in-person purchases either. Online sellers can face charges if they sell products to Californians during the State of Emergency, Hilzinger explained.

“The Attorney General’s office has been looking into online retailers,” Hilzinger said. “They’ve already been issuing price-gouging notices to the major online retailers like Amazon, Craigslist, Ebay, even Facebook Marketplace.”

In a series of recent press releases, the California Attorney General’s Office described the increase in price-gouging on online marketplaces and the alarming lack of regulation from the platforms enabling the price-gouging.

“Many platforms are currently, or were until recently, flooded with potentially illegal postings by third-party sellers for products listed at highly inflated prices,” the statement read.

Attorney General Becerra also provided guidance for companies to regulate third-party sellers.

He encouraged platforms to “supplement algorithmic management of postings on their website with meaningful human review” and “ban sales by new third-party sellers of certain items that are particularly ripe for price gouging abuse, such as surgical masks, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, certain household goods, and paper products.”

BLOOD CENTERS URGE DONATIONS, CITING HEIGHTENED NEED DURING PANDEMIC

Although blood supply currently stable, blood centers fear donation shortage

Yolo County currently faces a major blood shortage, as blood drives have been canceled due to the statewide shelter-inplace order. (Photo by Eden Winniford / Aggie)

BY ED EN W I N N I FO R D city@theaggie.org As the COVID-19 crisis continues, many blood drives have been canceled. Due to this, blood centers warn of potential shortage in the coming weeks. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed a decrease in donations due to the pandemic on their website.

“At this time the number of blood donations has been dramatically reduced due to the implementation of social distancing and the cancellation of blood drives,” the website reads.

Despite the decrease in donations, blood supply has remained able to meet patient demands so far. Drew Fowler, the marketing and communications manager for Vitalant, a blood donation company with a center in Davis, explained this phenomenon.

“Because of COVID-19, a lot of people are canceling elective surgeries and traumatic need has dropped, so actually the blood level is fairly stable for right now,” Fowler said. “When all the shelter-in-place orders happened, we started drawing blood at a very high level to meet the need we had prepared for under normal circum-

stances.”

The American Red Cross website echoed that the current supply is able to meet patient demands but reminds people that it is vital to continue donating throughout the pandemic.

“Thanks to the many who gave blood and scheduled upcoming appointments over the past couple of weeks, the American Red Cross has been able to meet immediate patient needs,” the website reads. “During this uncertain time, we encourage individuals to keep scheduled [...] donation appointments and to make new donation appointments for the weeks ahead to ensure a stable supply throughout this pandemic.”

Fowler also mentioned the flood of donors during the early days of the quarantine mandates, whose donations prevented a disastrous shortage.

“There was this phenomenal outpouring of people who came out and donated in the beginning of the shelter-in-place,” Fowler said. “That has helped us level out some of the critical need that existed a couple of weeks ago.”

COVID-19 cannot be spread through blood.

The FDA emphasized that donating blood at centers is safe because they have already had strict health guidelines in place to decrease likelihood of disease spreading.

“Blood donation centers can facilitate the safe donation of blood because they are skilled in infection control practices and already have procedures in place to prevent the spread of infections,” the website reads.

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams also assured the American people that blood donation isn’t a high-risk activity during the pandemic in a video.

“Blood centers are open now and in need of your donation,” Adams said. “I want Americans to know that blood donation is safe and blood centers are taking extra precautions at this time

FIRST VIRTUAL DAVIS CITY COUNCIL MEETING “ZOOMBOMBED”

based on new CDC recommendations.”

Recently, Adams announced that the FDA would be easing restrictions on blood donations from gay men and other groups previously barred from giving blood. Advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have repeatedly criticized these restrictions. Donated blood is screened for HIV, among other infectious diseases.

Fowler listed the precautions Vitalant centers are taking in order to ensure patients are not exposed to COVID-19 while donating.

“We’re practicing good social distancing, we’re obviously wiping down patient areas after everybody comes in,” Fowler said. “We also have somebody at the front desk take temperatures as people come through the door to make sure nobody is running a fever. People are making appointments before they come in to help us manage the flow of donors.”

Shelter-in-place orders don’t prevent people from leaving their houses to donate blood — as the FDA explains blood donation is critical and, therefore, exempt from the mandate.

“We also recognize that maintaining adequate levels of our nation’s blood supply is critical,” the website reads. “People who donate blood are equivalent to those people who are working in a critical infrastructure industry. In volunteering to do so, they are contributing immeasurably to the public health of our nation.”

At the end of his announcement, Adams urged Americans to donate blood for the benefit of their fellow citizens.

“Social distancing does not have to mean social disengagement,” Adams said. “So give blood today. You’ll feel good about it and you’ll be helping your country and your community during this crisis. And you might even save a life.”

SHEREEN LEE / AGGIE

Technical difficulties and trolling prompt changes in procedure for future meetings, highlighting challenges of remote city leadership

Instead of gathering downtown for Davis City Council meetings, officals attempt virtual meetings via Zoom. (Photo by Quinn Spooner / Aggie)

BY T I M L A LON D E city@theaggie.org In compliance with social distancing orders in the wake of COVID-19, the Davis City Council conducted its first virtual meeting over Zoom on March 25. Parts of the meeting were targeted by anonymous trolls who used the video conferencing app to broadcast pornographic images and racial slurs to attendees during public comment sections.

The New York Times recently reported on this growing trend known as “Zoombombing.”

As more and more organizations shift their meetings online, open Zoom meetings are being targeted by online trolls, who use the app’s features to project unwanted images or messages to the meeting’s participants.

The Davis City Council was one among

many organizations to fall victim to “zoombombing” trolls. The first virtual meeting began innocently enough, with some minor technical difficulties familiar to most who have used the app. Councilmember Lucas Frerich, for example, was initially inaudible during roll call, as were many individuals during public comment.

During these public comment sections of the meeting, users present in the Zoom meeting could use the app’s “raise hand” feature to signal a desire to speak, which would add them to a virtual queue of public commenters. Individuals could also call in by phone to make comments.

It was during this time that trolls first appeared, scrawling racial slurs and projecting graphic and explicit images on the shared screen.

Recordings of the meeting were scrubbed of any explicit images or audio before the video was posted to the city website. Many of those pres-

ent at the meeting, however, made note and took screencaps of the images and messages, including Davisite blogger Colin Walsh. In an article on the meeting, Walsh posted blurred versions of these screencaps and described how trolls used Zoom’s screensharing and annotation tools.

“This feature was used to project hard-core pornography on the shared screen in the middle of the council meeting and an annotation feature was used to repeatedly scrawl racist messages, including the n-word, on the shared screen,” Walsh wrote.

In the edited video posted on the city website, councilmembers can still be heard and seen reacting to these images and messages. When the first explicit writing and pictures began to appear, Lee referred to them as “kinks” in the presentation.

“Obviously for those of you watching the Zoom, we’re experiencing a few kinks here in the video presentation, so if you just bear with us,” Lee said.

In an attempt to prevent further disruption, the council removed the slideshow screen from the Zoom window. Trolls began using the call-in and hand-raise features in order to make audio comments, however, making lewd, racist, bizarre, and off-topic remarks,” according to Walsh.

Lee appeared to take most of the zoombombing in a stride, as staff muted trolls each time and moved onto the next commenter.

“I guess that’s what happens when the junior high school kids are out of school for several weeks — it gets a little boring,” Lee said. “I guess this is the next best thing to hanging out on the playground.”

The council took a 10 minute recess in an attempt to regain control of the public comments and filter out the trolls, with mixed success.

During public comments on an emergency ordinance halting evictions in the city, trolls still seemed to outnumber those engaging in goodfaith discussion.

VIRTUALCITYCOUNCIL on 10

No beer pong on the golf course!

March 22 “White sedan occupied by 4 males, shooting Nerf darts at people.”

March 27 “Male seen running out of complex with drill in his hand.”

“Yellow quad and red motorcycle riding on the grass in the park.”

March 28 “11-year-old son got agitated by video game limits and threw items in the residence causing damage.”

March 29 “Large swarm of bees.”

“Males seen playing game of beer pong on golf course.”

March 30 “Receiving ongoing harassment by an area resident about social distancing.”

“Intoxicated subjects throwing fireworks down the stairs.”

April 1 “Property found: wallet. Reporting party did not want to pick up nor look inside of wallet in fear of COVID.” “Selling individual masks for $10 plius, reporting party feels they are price gouging.”

THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020 | 5

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Opinion THE

C ALIFORNIA A GGIE

E DI TO R I AL B OAR D

Here are resources available to students on and off campus during COVID-19 crisis

KAELYN TUERMER-LEE Editor-in-Chief

Food accessibility, tech resources, study resources and grading options,

HANNAH HOLZER Managing Editor

crisis lines and mental health resources, paid administrative leave

KENTON GOLDSBY Campus News Editor STELLA TRAN City News Editor HANADI JORDAN Opinion Editor CLAIRE DODD Features Editor LIZ JACOBSON Arts & Culture Editor DOMINIC FARIA Sports Editor CECILIA MORALES Science & Tech Editor

HANNAN WALIULLAH New Media Manager JUSTIN HAN Photo Director SYDNEE RODRIGUEZ Design Director ARIANA GREEN Layout Director SABRINA HABCHI Copy Chief ISABELLA BLOOM Copy Chief ZOË REINHARDT Website Manager SYDNEY ODMAN Social Media Manager LAURIE PEDERSON Business Development Manager

While much of the campus remains closed as a result of COVID-19, there are still many on-campus and off-campus resources available to students and non-students. When accessing these resources or going about your day, we, the Editorial Board, want to emphasize the importance of social distancing. The virus can spread through the air by an infected person breathing or talking — not just by coughing or sneezing, as was previously believed — making it easily transmissible from person to person. It is pertinent that we all remain at a distance of at least six feet from one another and adhere to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest directives, which now recommend that everyone cover their mouth when going to public spaces.

Food Accessibility Aggie Compass at the Basic Needs Center in the MU, remains open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m, and offers weekly pre-packaged grocery bags on Thursdays, available from noon to 2 p.m. Students who are lacking adequate nutritious food, are experiencing homelessness, are at risk of losing housing or are otherwise food insecure can submit a resource request through the university or call 530-752-9254.

Free to-go meals are also available to the community at various locations in Davis: Davis Community Meals is providing food at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 5:45 to 6:30 p.m.; Grace in Action Lunch and Fellowship is providing food at Davis United Methodist Church on Mondays from noon to 1:30 p.m. and at Pole Line Baptist Church on Fridays from noon to 1:30 p.m.; Faith and Food is providing food at Davis Community Church on Fridays at noon; Yolo Food Bank is providing pantry staple bags at the C Street patio on Saturdays at noon.

Tech Resources Students without laptops or with laptops that lack features to support online learning, such as a microphone and webcam, can rent laptops for free by filling out the student laptop checkout program request form. The Campus Store website remains open to take orders, but all physical locations will be closed. Services will be available from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday through Friday: for TechHub repairs, call 530-7522204 for a reservation; for online order pickups, call 530-752-

7835 to confirm your pickup time. Comcast is also offering two months of free internet for low-income households.

Study Resources and Grading Options The 24-hour study room in Shields Library remains open.

Students off campus can use the library’s VPN to access online materials, and many publishers are temporarily making select content available online for free. Librarians with subject expertise are also available to remotely assist students with library research for class assignments.

The university has implemented more flexible Pass/No Pass grading options available until the last day of instruction.

This might not be the optimal option for everyone, however, so we highly encourage students to speak with their academic advisors beforehand. Academic advising appointments are still available but will be conducted remotely via Zoom or phone.

Crisis Lines and Mental Health Resources Suicide Prevention of Yolo County offers confidential and anonymous telephone counseling 24/7 at 888-233-0228. Empower Yolo offers 24/7 crisis intervention, emotional support and advocacy, as well as emergency shelter for individuals and families affected by domestic violence and sexual assault, at 530-662-1133 or 916-371-1907.

Student Health and Counseling Services is offering online visits to students for counseling, psychiatry and medical services. Campus Recreation has compiled a list of links covering topics like time management and at-home workouts.

Paid Administrative Leave Student employees may request paid administrative leave if they find themselves unable to work as a result of COVID-19.

To do so, employees must complete the Emergency Administrative Leave form and submit it to their immediate supervisor.

We recognize that these resources are not comprehensive enough for the vast and varying needs of the student body, but we hope they are of assistance. Adhering to best practices is both physically and mentally isolating, and we want to emphasize that we are all in this fight together. As fellow peers, professors, administrators and friends, we must have empathy for one another at this time. Compassion is critical in the face of conditions that demand our detachment.

Shopping is a fleeting satisfaction A BREAK FROM CONSUMERISM CAN ALLOW US TO APPRECIATE WHAT WE HAVE

BY SI MR A N KA L KAT skkalkat@ucdavis.edu I have three consistent coping mechanisms for bad days: dark chocolate, Gilmore Girls and buying new earrings. My obsession with earrings could make me the poster child for American consumerism. Most of the earrings I buy are meaningless. I spend two minutes deciding if I want to pick up a new, and often unnecessary, pair that holds my attention for no more than a day.

I’ve thought a lot about my shopping and spending habits since becoming a college student, but when I was younger, shopping was a very ordinary thing for my family. We made a trip to the mall at least once a month and came back home with multiple Forever 21 and H&M plastic bags.

By the time I started college, I found myself with less time to spend for hours at the mall, and strangely enough, I didn’t miss the experience much. I realized just how big of a role consumerism played in my life, and as it turns out, I’m not the only person who feels this way.

In the past few years, avid shoppers have been testing out a “shopping diet,” which requires them to abstain from purchasing new items, usually clothing, for a set amount of time. For some, this was an opportunity to practice Marie Kondo’s principles on tidiness and organization. Like many other dieters, the unintentional diet I underwent as a first-year made me realize my previous relationship with shopping didn’t make me any happier and might have even been unhealthy.

In 2017, Anne Patchett, author of “The Dutch House,” “Commonwealth” and other popular novels, wrote an op-ed about her own year-long shopping diet. She set strict rules about what items she could or could not buy. As an author and a co-owner of a bookstore, Patchett decided that books were okay to purchase. Items like shampoos and batteries were also okay to buy, but only when they ran out. Clothing and other non-essential electronic items, however, were off-limits.

Patchett describes her craving to buy a Fitbit at one point, only to get over that craving within four days. For a year, she avoided the sale section in department stores and threw catalogs into the recycling instead of opening them in order to avoid temptation. The shopping diet left her with a new outlook on her use and value of time and money. She decided to continue her diet after a year.

Patchett is a good example of how shopping diets can be a self-imposed test of self-control in which there might be a meaningful conclusion about consumption habits. But for others, such as actress Jane Fonda, it’s a matter of being a conscious and considerate citizen.

Last year, Fonda announced that she was no longer going to buy any new clothing for the sake of sustainability. Fashion has a hefty impact on the environment and carbon emissions. Fonda has been heavily involved in activism since the 1960s. Now, she is protesting for climate change and bringing attention to the dire state of the planet through civil disobedience and important lifestyle changes.

“When I talk to people about, ‘We don’t really need to keep shopping. We

KA IT LY N PA N G / AGG IE

shouldn’t look to shopping for our identity. We don’t need more stuff,’ then I have to walk the walk too,” Fonda said in an interview with W magazine. “So I’m not buying any more clothes.”

This does not mean the proper shopping response is to purchase solely on the basis of basic needs rather than wants. Far be it for me to make that kind of a judgement about morality and responsibility. Almost everyone, myself included, enjoys consumer culture to some degree, whether that be time spent in malls and department stores or perusing online catalogs at home. As a teen, I took a lot of pride in being a price-conscious consumer, buying clothing based on dollar value before questioning if I even needed the new sweater in the first place.

Incessant shopping was once a comforting and enjoyable exercise, but now I find more satisfaction in letting go of the clutter and noise that I accumulated in my closet. Surrounding myself with activities, clothing and items that actually hold some meaningful value to me allowed me to find a new kind of comfort in which I can appreciate all that I have.

reduce. reuse. recycle.

The aggie

6 | THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THE NEXT GREAT POLITICAL REALIGNMENT Democrats, Republicans and the battle for the soul of America DO N K E Y H OT E Y / C RE ATI VE CO M M O NS

BY B RA N D O N JE T T E R brjetter@ucdavis.edu At the Republican National Convention in 1992, the controversial conservative political commentator Pat Buchanan declared that the country was in a “struggle for the soul of America.”

Just a few months earlier, Buchanan was on the offensive, leading a populist attack against the same reigning president he was now endorsing: George H.W. Bush. The paleoconservative insurgent had hit Bush Sr. from the right, utilizing a platform of fair trade, immigration reductionism and opposition to multiculturalism.

This led to surprise showings in states like New Hampshire and Georgia. Buchanan eventually dropped out and endorsed Bush, but not before first provoking a conversation about the ideological identity of the Republican Party.

Nearly three decades later, the Republican

Party now finds itself once again engaged in a battle for the soul of America, faced with the same debates that shook the party’s core in ‘92.

Starting with the election of President Donald Trump in 2016, the Republican Party’s voter demographics began to transform, bringing a gradual leftward shift in fiscal policy. Trump, who has at times opted toward the Republican tradition of corporate tax cuts, initially ran on a theme of trade protectionism and economic nationalism, vowing to transform the GOP into a “worker’s party.”

Republican support since then has become increasingly centered around the white working class, capturing a segment of the population that was traditionally regarded as part of the swing vote. The Democratic Party, meanwhile, has continued to utilize a broader coalition of different minority groups while also bringing new demographics to its fray. Democrats are now finding support in a considerable number

of older, upper-class whites — a former key constituency of the Republican Party — as well as younger, liberal white voters (a majority of whom actually hold more radical views of race and inequality than their black and Hispanic counterparts).

The ongoing economic crisis provoked by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this new ideological split. Republicans are now increasingly finding themselves to be the non-college-educated white-people party.

Because of this, they have essentially doubled down on social conservatism while maintaining a slow approach to abandoning the free-market fundamentalism, once advocated for by deficit hawks like Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney.

When the prospect of direct cash payments to American citizens initially arose, it was largely Republicans leading the charge. Ironically, the aforementioned Romney was the first Republican at the helm, calling for a $1,000 dollar payment to every American adult.

This action was further contrasted by conservative suggestions coming from Senate Democrats, like Kamala Harris who proposed a mere $500-per-adult payment. And now, once again, President Trump appears to be flirting with the idea of expanding healthcare coverage, flanking a large portion of the Democratic Party from the left.

The divide between fiscal conservatives and renegade populistsw in the Republican Party has also trickled down to the college level. In California, conservative students are dealing with a major fracture in the organization of collegiate groups.

Traditional, establishment-based California College Republicans have seen chapter organizations disband and join the California Federation of College Republicans, a coalition

of nationalist, largely pro-Trump student organizations.

The thought of the campus conservative no longer conjures up the image of the principled Reaganite. Instead, it produces a picture of a much more provocative variety of right-wingers.

Although establishment Republicans and free-market advocates have good reason to fear this ideological transformation, Democrats should as well. Even with the country’s rapidly transforming population demographics working in the latter’s favor, the majority of Americans still oppose perceived political correctness and a huge portion of the national constituency, especially swing voters, continue to identify as economically progressive and socially conservative. This group previously didn’t have any sort of meaningful political representation — now that’s changing.

This could spell doom for the Democrats, many of whom have opted to embrace broad appeals to identity, which remain largely unpopular outside of college campuses and progressive think tanks.

Indeed, it was Joe Biden, the least socially progressive of the Democratic presidential candidates, who was able to capture the key Democratic primary constituencies of older African-American and white, working-class voters. Those two groups remain relatively socially conservative compared to their younger party colleagues.

The future of the American soul thus belongs not to those who double down on their strict adherence to ideology. It instead belongs to whichever party first manages to adopt a pragmatic approach, appealing to the highly popular but lightly represented socially conservative, fiscally progressive voter.

STREAMING IS RESHAPING THE MUSIC INDUSTRY Streaming is the biggest threat to stars like Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber AGGIE FILES

BY ISA BE L L A C H U E COS ifchuecos@ucdavis.edu Before streaming, buying iTunes gift cards occupied the top of my Christmas list. I spent hours deciding which songs I wanted to buy.

Would I spend my last $1.29 on an old favorite or the newest chart-topper?

When I was a freshman in high school, I was introduced to Spotify, a certifiable game changer.

My playlists were embellished with descriptions and covers, often spanning hours. That was in 2015 amid Spotify’s rise into streaming royalty, so I was pretty late to the game.

Buying music is an obsolete practice nowadays. The relatively small fee for Apple Music or Spotify Premium has proven to be

worth the endless collection of music, podcasts and radio options. In lieu of these changing times, music has changed monumentally in recent years. Chart-topping tracks now become viral TikTok hits as opposed to radio frequents.

And so, in the classic fashion of celebrities impounding any sort of cultural phenomenon for their own personal gain, the practice of begging for streams began.

I don’t blame artists, honestly. If most music consumers are listening through streaming platforms, it’s entirely logical for artists to appeal to their audience through this method.

Take BTS, for example. I’d say they’re the most successful boy band in the world at the moment. The group is a lethal combination of excellent choreography and intoxicating vocals

that have earned them high praise across the board.

One of BTS’s most defining aspects, however, is not musical. Their fandom, known as “the Army” (a nod to the band’s Korean name, Bulletproof Boyscouts) is an essential part of the band’s identity. The Army’s upstanding goal?

Support the band by all means necessary. This includes devoted streaming of music videos and new music releases in efforts to increase the band’s numbers.

Reddit threads are dedicated to smart streaming practices, including bypassing YouTube’s view removal algorithms and efforts to maximize your streaming even while you sleep.

From an outsider’s perspective, this can seem like a typical boy band obsession. In reality, streaming culture has skyrocketed BTS’s success. Streaming services account for 80% of music revenue today, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. This is reflective of BTS Army’s practices.

The rise of streaming has not only shaped how we listen to music but also how we discover music.

Roddy Ricch, a more recent viral success, found commercial success with “The Box,” characterized by an infectious creaking sound that spawned thousands of TikTok videos and later topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 15 weeks.

The song’s success has been a win for the entire music community. Ricch has been cited as a “new pop star,” as his rap hit outshined Bieber’s “Yummy” and Selena Gomez’s “Rare.”

Then, things began to get messy. Justin Bieber, noticing his success wasn’t as immediate as it usually was, reached out to his aged fanbase, pleading them to stream his barely mediocre

single. In a now-deleted Instagram post, Bieber encouraged fans to create playlists of “Yummy” and to play it at a low volume while they sleep.

The post also encouraged iTunes users to buy the song multiple times.

Bieber’s post was vile. BTS’s streaming efforts are similarly militant, but they are promoted by the fanbase themselves. Sure, BTS will occasionally call on their fans to stream their music, but no artist actually asks the fans to go to the extreme lengths that they end up doing anyway.

What was even more distressing was that Selena Gomez actually followed suit in begging her fans to stream her new album. Via Instagram story, Gomez asked her fans to stream the album, acknowledging that “Rare” was close behind Ricch’s album “Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial.”

The plaguing of Ricch’s commercial success with these desperate calls by industry giants is a complete disservice to the music community.

Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez grew up in the limelight. Their music had a time and place (namely, mid-2010). Unlike Gomez, Bieber has been producing a steady stream of content for years through albums or features on various projects. These industry giants shouldn’t have to beg us for money and appreciation, especially when they’ve received it their entire lives. As artists, they should primarily be focused on creating music that satisfies them.

If your music doesn’t attain commercial success, whether through streams or charts, then it is out of your hands. It’s over the line when it directly impedes charting newcomers who are changing the course of music history and paving the way for other new artists.

HUMOR

DESPITE PANDEMIC AND BAN ON SPORTING EVENTS, HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY TO CONTINUE SCREWING PEOPLE OVER FOR SPORT Giving sports fans life by denying it to others

(Photo courtesy of City Clock / Creative Commons)

BY B E N JA M I N P O RT E R bbporter@ucdavis.edu In an unprecedented several weeks, the coronavirus pandemic has wiped the sports calendar clean. No MLB, no NBA, no NHL. No Masters, no Boston Marathon, no NASCAR, no Formula 1, no Wimbledon, no cricket and not even the Olympic Games this summer! Most significantly, there is no football (real football).

That means no UEFA Champions League, no Serie A, no La Liga, no Bundesliga, no Ligue 1, no Eredivisie, no Euro 2020, no MLS and no Premier League (for Manchester United and

Everton fans, at least the title might not be going to Scouseward for the first time in 30 years after all!). There’s also no fake football, but those prolate-spheroid-throwing wimps only play for one month of the year anyway.

Nonetheless, Americans looking for solace through the world of sports during these trying times can still turn to one cherished sporting tradition (at least in America) that vows to plow ahead: screwing people over for sport — healthcare edition, with live broadcasts, coverage and analysis on every news channel and playby-play commentary on every news website.

This season, the novel coronavirus and gross

inefficiencies of the U.S. healthcare system have been in breathtaking form. Literally. This has produced a world-class highlight reel of all the best ways in which America has made staying healthy anything but a slam dunk.

“If we simply allowed our healthcare system to save everyone, that would be like giving everyone a winner’s medal,” said sports medicine specialist Dougeet Dogg. “In America, we got winners and losers.”

A new report from the Economic Policy Institute estimates that approximately “3.5 million workers likely lost their employerprovided health insurance in the past two weeks.” To compound this situation, the Trump administration announced that it will not reopen Obamacare markets for purchasing health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act. This really puts the uninsured behind the eight ball.

Recently, an ill California teen was turned away from urgent care for not having health insurance and later died. It is unclear whether the teen had coronavirus, but they did not have health insurance, which — and I might be wrong about this — can help insure health.

Meanwhile, a UC Davis student with a fever, cough and difficulty breathing tested negative for influenza and pneumonia and “tried reaching out to the Student Health and Wellness Center, the UC Davis Medical Center (UCDMC) and a hospital in Roseville, none of which would test for COVID-19,” according to an article previously published in The California Aggie.

The student was then spun in circles between three different hospitals, each denying testing to the student because they did not have a primary care referral and did not live in the correct

county. This reporting is quite suspect, however, given the fact that, according to President Trump, “anybody that needs a test gets a test,” especially considering that the tests are quite “perfect” and “beautiful.”

While this UC Davis student demonstrated great athleticism, agility and sportsmanship by jumping through hoop after hoop only to go home empty-handed, U.S. states have shown unbelievable tenacity and competitiveness as they fight against each other for crucial medical supplies.

“You now literally will have a company call you up and say, ‘Well, California just outbid you,’” said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

“It’s like being on eBay with 50 other states, bidding on a ventilator.”

Despite these concerns about the danger of bidding wars, some people remain confident that this level of cutthroat competition is exactly the type of entertainment that sports fans are looking for right now.

“Most people say poker isn’t a sport, but all they have to do is give it a sporty name like ‘World Series of Poker’ and VOILA — it’s on all the sports channels!” said health insurance and former pharmaceutical executive Shay Mellisprough Phiteer. “It’s the same deal with these bidding wars over life-saving medical equipment, and it’s the same deal with screwing people over. When it comes down to it, screwing people over for sport is our real national pastime. That’s why I think Americans can satisfy their sports fix during this crisis simply by watching ‘the news.’ And that’s why I’m pleased to announce that betting on the ‘World Series of Ventilators’ at St. Caesar’s Memorial Palace Hospital is now OPEN!”

THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020 | 7

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

ANIMAL CROSSING: A TROPICAL ESCAPE IN THE TIME OF COVID-19

CULTURE CORNER

The Arts Desk’s weekly picks for television, movies, novels, music

The simple pleasures of Animal Crossing

BY S IE RRA JIMINEZ arts@theaggie.org

TV Show: “Dark Tourist” My picks carry a common theme: a burning desire to get out of the house. That being said, this quirky documentary series goes around the globe exploring hot spots of dark tourism. Since we can’t get on an airplane, we might as well explore the darkest parts of the world virtually. Even if documentary series aren’t your cup of tea, this Netflix series may change your mind. Not only is it informational, but it’s also witty and sarcastic. l guarantee a good chuckle and a gasp here and there. Ranging from voodoo festivals in Africa to attending a cleansing ceremony of mummified bodies in Southeast Asia, this show is like watching a car crash — you want to look away, but you just can’t.

Movie: “Lords of Dogtown” dir. by Catherine HardAnimal Crossing: New Horizons Edition played on a Nintendo Switch. (Photo by Anna Hjartoy / Aggie)

BY ILYA SHRAYB E R arts@theaggie.org My alarm went off at 7:15 a.m., playing the once-loved but now highly detested “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler. I woke up a bit groggy, rubbing my eyes and lifting myself out of bed. My hair looked bad, my beard was unkempt and the bags under my eyes seemed to have grown since yesterday. It was fine. This was life in quarantine.

I couldn’t really focus on that, however. I had a big day ahead of me. I needed to welcome a new neighbor, plant some orange trees in my front yard and make sure I talked to residential services about the status of my home loan. I walked over to the other side of my room, picked up my Nintendo Switch and plopped back into bed. As I booted up “Animal Crossing: New Horizons,” I smiled, knowing that my little island would, without a doubt, keep me busy.

Many friends, both close and not, have reached out to me, wanting to know more about “Animal Crossing.” For the latter, I give them a sentence or two about how it is a fun slice-of-life simulator, with cute animal villagers set against a lovely tilt-shift aesthetic. For the former, however, things take a turn.

I delve into the cultural history of “Animal Crossing.” I wax poetic about how its creator developed the first game as a way of coping with a deep loneliness after moving to a new city. I ramble on about the parallels it has in real life — with your community only being as good as what you invest in it. I yell from the rooftops about its wholesome nature as a tool for healing, one that is a far cry from other ultra-popular games that involve mass genocide. I swing wildly from the rafters, crying out about the pioneering of having customization as endgame instead of something like a final boss. In short, I am a fan. And millions of others are as well.

In fact, an interesting tidbit about “Animal Crossing” is its audience. They are vehement, passionate and fervent. They are obsessive, just like those who play “Call of Duty” and “Halo.”

The only difference is… well, everything. Instead of million-dollar prize pools for tournaments or performance-boosting controller augments, “Animal Crossing” has spurred something even more valuable: communities that spring up throughout every corner of the internet. Trading outposts to swap furniture, Instagram accounts to archive high-fashion outfits, hyperspecific photography blogs and much more have sprouted up with the latest release of “New Horizons.”

But the question remains: What do you actually do in “Animal Crossing?” Well, if the metaphysical explanation above didn’t satisfy that inquiry, let me expand. “Animal Crossing” is made up of emergent gameplay, as there really is no goal. You can use the tools the developer gives you to focus on fishing, interior design, bug

catching, crafting projects or even your personal fashion sense.

Many call these types of experiences “sandbox games,” where players can pretty much do whatever they want. Think of it in terms of childhood pastimes. Sure, the LEGO set with a “Star Wars” ship or a racecar is fun, but after you’re done building it, that’s pretty much it. Now, where it starts to get really interesting is when you look into the corner of the room and notice “the bin.” You know, the bin that’s just filled to the brim with all your LEGO from past sets. You can make anything you imagine; you can build whatever your heart desires. Even at an adolescent age, your brain processes this creative freedom as a magnet for fun, emergent experiences.

It seems as if it could not come at a better time. In the age of COVID-19, a game like “New Horizons” is perhaps one of the greatest blessings we can ask for in terms of entertainment. I am currently writing this in San Francisco, where the past month has brought rapid change, both culturally and physically. The streets are empty.

There are very few cars on the road. The restaurants are closed, and the hospitals are full. You don’t see many people out, and you definitely don’t interact with them if you do. A report released last week showed that our city’s attitude towards social distancing was working — we were successfully starting to flatten the curve.

San Francisco was starting to make a dent in the pandemic, but were we doing the same thing in regards to our mental health? With our current administration focusing more on the toll this virus will have on the stock market than human lives, it’s an understandably worrisome time.

About two weeks ago, I started “New Horizons” and I was immediately whisked away to a tropical island. I met my fellow islanders. I went fishing. I argued with a Japanese raccoon dog about where, exactly, my tent should go to spend my first night. It was a nice break to know that the most pressing matter of the day was chopping wood for a building or catching a yellow butterfly. There is value in keeping your ear to the ground, listening for updates on our situation as they unfold. But there’s also value in relaxing, taking a breath and knowing this too shall pass. “New Horizons” is this very sentiment in video game form. It was, and still is, an escape.

On my brief, government-sanctioned daily walk, I observe the ocean. It seems calmer. As I stare, I ponder what will become of global capitalism, of good art and, most selfishly, of commencement. I frown just a bit. Then I remember that a friend of mine invited me to his island later in the day. He wanted to trade some oranges for peaches, in addition to checking out my newly renovated house. My frown turns into a grin, and as I walk back home, I begin to wonder if he’d like some of those newly sprouted apples.

If you’re a California kid with a heart stuck in the ‘70s, this one’s for you. Based on a true story, this movie captures the evolution of the “Z-Boys” skate team comprised of a bunch of rebellious teens from Venice Beach (“the ghetto by the sea”). The boys’ lives revolve around skating and surfing, which eventually takes them pro. Vintage-looking cinematography captures gnarly rides on the board while rock classics such as Jimi Hendrix and Rod Stewart play in the background. This film makes you crave living on the edge and doing something spontaneously rebellious like throwing a glass bottle on the street. As a native Northern Californian, my secret desire is to live the carefree life of waves and sunshine. This movie does a brilliant job capturing the spirit of Southern California back in the days of long hair and hippies.

Book: “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed As COVID-19 takes over our lives, all we want is to get the hell out of our houses, but unfortunately that’s not a possibility right now. This book may torture you with its adventure and outdoorsiness, or perhaps it will ignite a spirit for future adventure and exploration when the pandemic is over. Based on a true story, “Wild” follows Cheryl Strayed’s spontaneous (and underprepared) solo journey on the Pacific Crest Trail after multiple traumatic life experiences. The linguistic flow of the author’s story is so captivating that it’s hard to put the book down — and that’s not something I say often. So, if you’re an outdoors enthusiast forced to temporarily live a couch potato’s life during shelter-in-place, or if you’re seeking a rainbow after this rain, pick up this book to vicariously experience a rigorous, yet rewarding, journey of the body and soul.

Album: “The Babe Rainbow (AUS)” by Babe Rainbow Just like there’s no real way to describe the band’s name, there is no real way to describe their sound. It’s almost like the Beatles’s “Yellow Submarine” movie made into music — erratic, unorthodox and definitely influenced by drugs. While listening to it, it’s as though life is a fluffy cumulus cloud hovering over all the chaos — undisturbed and at peace, coexisting with its eccentricity. It’s psychedelic, satisfying and makes you want to roll down all the windows in your car while your hand creates a wave from the passing wind. It’s a feel-good album. “The Babe Rainbow (AUS)” is a perfect accumulation of a carefree outlook on life: simple and one-of-a-kind. As the spring rains turn into summer sunshine, this album embodies the soul of an indie-kid summer.

REVIEW: “TIGER KING” Absurd, addictive documentary about big cat people

N A ME / AGGIE

J OEL L E TA HTA / AGG IE

BY JOS H MADRID arts@theaggie.org Netflix released “Tiger King” on March 20 — a seven-episode, true-crime miniseries about the feud between big cat breeders Joe Exotic and Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, and big cat rescuer Carole Baskin. During the COVID-19 crisis, Americans have asynchronously gathered to fall in love with an animal-abusing but emotionally available criminal.

Joe Exotic has become the unexpected escape we didn’t know we needed from the now three weeks of social distancing. We are faced with a pandemic crippling the economy and jeopardizing our futures, just as many of us approach graduation.

The series is a game of identifying the lesser of three evils coupled with a personality quiz that helps you discover your distinct brand of crazy.

Each of the three main characters has their demons. Exotic is emotionally manipulative and conspires to murder, Antle is running a sex cult and Baskin probably killed her husband (yet somehow believes she’s a saint).

I chose Antle when I found out he provided the tiger for the iconic Britney Spears performance of “I’m a Slave 4 U” during the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards. He appears on stage

with Spears for an extended part of the performance. And yes, we almost lost Britney.

The series touches on the fight, led by Baskin, against the federal government ban on the ownership of exotic animals. I’m assuming that Baskin’s fortune, which she inherited from her deceased husband, will support her if her livelihood becomes illegal. A livelihood that, when put under the spotlight, looks a little too similar to the people she’s trying to put out of business.

Watching “Tiger King” has helped me better understand how Donald Trump got elected. Joe Exotic ran for presidency in 2016 and failed. He then ran for governor as a Libertarian in the state of Oklahoma and received 18% of the vote in the primary race.

“Tiger King” is one big “Florida man” meme, and we’re here for it. The internet has become saturated with “Tiger King” inspired posts. My favorite is the meme of Trump whispering into Jared Kusher’s ear with the caption, “Release the tiger documentary.”

This series shows us that there are crazier things than sitting at home to avoid contracting a novel coronavirus — and that’s big cat people.

There’s so much we could try to unpack from this series, but two things are sure — Carole Baskin killed her husband, and bread and circuses are alive and well.

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

8 | THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020

“From the depths of my heart, thank you” — UC Davis laptop loan program helps students during virtual instruction Laptops are still available for distribution during the first weeks of Spring Quarter

A computer lab at Hunt Hall at UC Davis. (Photo courtesy of UC Davis)

BY H A N N A H BLO ME campus@theaggie.org In response to UC Davis’ transition to online instruction platforms, efforts by the Information and Education Technology (IET) department and the UC Davis Library addressed concerns regarding equal access to technology.

Anita Nichols, the director of client success for UC Davis Information and Educational

Technology, said frequently occupied campus computer labs served as inspiration for a student laptop checkout program prior to the campus’ implementation of suspended operation.

“Understanding that a certain percentage of students at UC Davis do not have laptops, and instead rely on the computer labs, IET and Undergraduate Education have been working closely to establish this program,” Nichols said.

The laptop lending program kick-started on

March 16 and will continue to service students during Spring Quarter. Nichols said that 100 laptops have been distributed, and that the program receives nearly 25 requests per day. The funding for the devices originated from donations.

“Assistance came from numerous other campus departments and units, like Development and Alumni Relations, which heard about the effort and offered to cover the cost of the laptops from the Annual Fund, which is funded by donors,” Nichols said.

Nichols outlined the process for future students who wish to borrow a laptop.

First, Nichols said the student submits a request for a laptop via the Service Hub at servicehub.ucdavis.edu.

“They need to search for ‘Laptop Checkout’ or this link,” Nichols said. “The form includes a link to apply or submit a request online, including the best date and time to pick up, and reason for need. Upon approval, the student receives confirmation and location to pick up the laptop.

After pick up, the student receives instructions on complete setup of the laptop and contact information to call for help, if needed.”

Hawanya Smith, a graduate student in math education, said she reached out to her professor because her laptop failed to relay audio during Zoom meetings. Her professor sent Smith the information about the IET and the library’s laptop loaning program.

Smith described the experience loaning the brand new Dell laptop as “very fluid and easy.”

“When I went to the pick up location, there were instructions on the door,” Smith said.“I showed my ID through the window [and] social distancing protocol [was implemented], such as standing six feet away.”

This laptop checkout program may not continue for future Aggies.

Nichols said the student laptop checkout program was implemented as an emergency resource during an “unprecedented event,” but UC Davis plans to evaluate the program’s success to determine its role in future operations.

MacKenzie Smith, a university librarian and vice provost of digital scholarship, said the library has made significant efforts in recent years to increase online and digital services.

“The library’s vision is to be the academic hub of UC Davis, advancing research, education and innovation in a networked world,” Smith said.

“We are committed to helping everyone at UC Davis get access to the information they need, from anywhere, any time. Laptops and networks are essential to that goal, particularly in a remote learning environment — including to use online library resources and expertise — so of course we want to make sure that no students are left out.”

LOANERLAPTOPS on 10

From the meme page to a UC Davis-themed viral TikTok, how students are using social media during the pandemic Students share their thoughts on memes, mobile apps, websites in light of COVID-19, social distancing KI YOM I WATS O N / AGGI E

BY A N JI N I V EN U GO PAL features@theaggie.org As with any unprecedented event, memes about COVID-19 and online classes are abundant and highly popular. The Facebook group “Zoom Memes for Self Quaranteens,” formatted in the style of other college meme pages and created on March 11, has over 510,000 members at the present moment and is described as a “meme page for college studs stuck doing online courses in closed universities.”

On Instagram, users are participating in a variety of challenges that include drawing carrots on their stories and tagging friends, posting ugly pictures with the caption “until tomorrow” and sharing a list of people who inspire them. According to a Business Insider article, TikTok was approaching 2 billion installs as of March 13 and was the most popular non-gaming app worldwide — something the publication attributed to “bored users impacted by the virus [...] logging daily life under quarantine and social distancing.”

Third-year electrical engineering major

Gauruv Virk uses Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Wildfire and YouTube on a daily basis, and he posts to his YouTube channel once a week. Virk said that in a time of crisis such as this, it’s crucial that social media put out as much accurate and helpful information as possible.

“I think it is important that the public is at a place where they can trust the information they receive in order to make informed decisions for themselves and those around them,” Virk said via email. “I’ve also always valued humor and entertainment, and during times like these I think it’s important for social media to provide as much of it as possible as a way to keep people distracted and at ease.”

Virk said the pandemic is currently being addressed all over social media — pointing to examples of YouTube videos that depict people in group settings appearing alongside disclaimers stating that these videos were filmed before shelter-in-place took effect.

“The influence of meme pages and trends can’t be ignored in times like these,” Virk said via email. “They are the new way of conveying topical information to an incredibly impressionable and media-driven population, and so to dismiss them entirely would be a disservice to anyone that is trying to stay informed in today’s world.”

TikTok Second-year cell biology major Mehrab Hussain downloaded TikTok last summer when he was studying abroad.

“I downloaded TikTok solely to watch one creator,” Hussain said via email. “I had seen some of his videos posted on Instagram and really

loved him, but refused to download TikTok, as I was going through the phase that everyone initially goes through regarding the app: it’s stupid, cringe and a waste of time. I eventually caved and downloaded the app, only following the creator who I wanted to see and limiting myself to that.

That didn’t last long though, as I fell down the rabbithole of downloading TikTok casually or as a ‘joke,’ then becoming addicted and finding myself scrolling mindlessly for hours on end.”

Last month, “around the beginning of when the world started to fall apart,” Hussain made a Davis-related TikTok that went viral. His TikTok, which references the tornado that touched down in Davis in late September, the WarnMe notice alerting students to a man armed with a machete seen on campus in early March and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, was posted on the UC Davis meme page on March 10 and received over 1,000 likes. After that, he saw it go viral on TikTok, receiving more than 270,000 views, 34,000 likes and 200 comments.

“We were coming up on finals, COVID-19 was still serious, but not serious enough to [move Spring Quarter online] yet and it was a time of great uncertainty, fear and confusion,” Hussain said via email. “There were just so many crazy events going on at the time, and during the school year for us Aggies [...] that I figured why not do something that would lighten everyone’s spirits.”

SOCIALMEDIA on 10

Shelter in plays: UC Davis Theatre Department to turn spring play into a film UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance will produce spring play as a film, shot by students on their own devices MA RI O R O D R I G U E Z / AGGI E

BY S OP HI E D EWE E S features@theaggie.org This story is the first installation of The California Aggie’s two-part digital art series.

Artistic endeavors have gone digital with the present need for social distancing. It’s even become common to open Instagram and see a favorite singer putting on a live concert for digital followers. But even with advanced streaming technology and social media, some art forms, such as theater, might still seem impossible to continue while quarantined. Despite restricted communication and prohibited social gathering, the UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance plans to move forward with its spring play — it will just look a little different than usual.

The play, “AntigoneNOW,” a reinterpretation of the 2,000-year-old Greek tragedy “Antigone”

by Sophocles, will be an entirely novel production. The play will be produced by students and staff around the globe, created and performed almost entirely by women and contain multiple languages. It will also be presented in the form of

a film, shot by the students in their own homes.

According to Margaret Kemp, associate professor of theatre and dance and co-director of “Antigone,” students will be participating from around the world, including Tokyo and Shanghai. Co-director Sinéad Rushe will be working remotely from London.

“We’ve got this gigantic cast, some of them have dispersed around the world,” Kemp said.

“Everyone will be working from wherever they are.”

A lot of different art fields have created similar content, such as video dance performances.

In the theater world, however, this production is unique.

“There are some templates out there, but really nothing like what we’re doing with ‘Antigone,’” Kemp said.

From stage to screen Throughout Kemp’s career, she produced three other solo pieces similar to this new project of turning digital work into film.

“The pieces mostly have been shown in gallery settings, [...] and they were really well-received, so I was confident that it could be done

and it could be quite beautiful,” Kemp said.

According to Kemp, the footage shot independently by students should be finished by the end of April. Then she will compile and edit the footage to create the ultimate film.

For cast-member and MFA student Danielle Levin, this reinterpretation of the play seems apt amid a crisis and provides further opportunities for group unity.

“In times like this, arts become something new,” Levin said. “It feels like this project really has the chance for all of us who are in the cast and crew to work as an ensemble to create a piece together,” Levin said. “That is super exciting, and the fact that it’s unknown kind of highlights that.”

Cast-member Zhenglin Zhang, a first-year plant science major, also looks forward to participating in this project.

“Especially because a lot of the people involved in the production are theatre majors, [...] it allows us an alternative way of exploring art in general, not just of theatrical productions,” Zhang said. “For me, especially, this is the first time a director has given me so much freedom.”

A global stage The finished piece will be shown in mid-May around the UC Davis campus and, eventually, the world. Kemp plans to exhibit the film in New Zealand next year, and also hopes that her students can play a part in sharing the piece.

“It will be shown outside, on buildings on campus, during what would have been our week to do the show on stage,” Kemp said. “Maybe students who are outside of the U.S. will help us to get it shown wherever they are, too.”

The film will be global in not only its audience, but also its use of languages.

“Because it is a 2,000-year-old play, one of the first things I did was to start to ask some students who are really interested in it to see if they could translate it into their home languages,” Kemp said. “We have at least five languages in the piece that will be spoken.”

Zhang also plans to bring his own culture to his part in the play. He is the only male voice in the cast, representing through song the spirit of Antigone’s brother. As Zhang will be an off-camera presence and play a role invented for him, Kemp said his character will show the strength of

the brother’s relationship with Antigone, rather than distract from the otherwise all-female production.

Zhang said he got into the show after Kemp asked those auditioning to sing a folk song.

“I’m looking to see what kind of folk music I can bring to the piece,” he said. “I am trying to bring in languages through my own folk music, because I speak both English and Chinese and I can speak a bit of Malay as well. I’m hoping to bring in different cultures, if I can.”

Arts in a time of crisis According to Kemp, the story of “Antigone,” is relevant — now more than ever.

“This is a play about how a community [deals] with grief and strife,” Kemp said. “It seems to be almost like we picked it after this [crisis], but we didn’t, we picked it before. It’s a 2,000-year-old play that’s really dealing with a lot of the same things. It’s so current.”

Kemp said the situation and this endeavor has created a more interconnected theater community.

“Part of it being in the virtual space is there’s a sense of sharing in this time of crisis because a lot of people want to do the same thing with their students,” Kemp said.

For Zhang, the play acts as a way to continue art and adjust to a world in crisis.

“One really important part about this entire situation is that there have been a lot of creative avenues for people,” Zhang said. “For us, as artists, I think we have a play that we wanted to do and tried to adapt it to what’s happening now in the world. I thought that it’s just a really powerful way for us to continue doing the art form that we love but at the same time not deviating from what’s happening in the world.”

According to Levin, theater can have another powerful impact, especially given the current climate.

“I’m a theater artist, so I believe in the medium of theater,” Levin said. “I’m sad not to have the in-person interaction which is what draws me to the art form, but I do think that telling stories and retaining humanity is important always, and for people who are in isolation, I think it’s probably even more important. There’s something about telling stories about the collective nature that, to me, happens exactly in theater.”

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Sudoku

Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces. Every row, column and 3x3 square must contain one of each digit. Each Sudoku has a unique solution that can be reached logically without guessing.

THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020 | 9

Answer to previous puzzle

10 | THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

CAMPUSCLOSURE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

By reducing interactions with others, scientists hope that the spread of the virus can be slowed down, Blumberg said. Since cases of COVID-19 are increasing logarithmically, the number of cases is climbing rapidly. New York City’s doubling time — the time it takes for the number of cases to double — is about a day, which puts immense pressure on the health care system. In California, the doubling time is three days, giving hospitals more time to prepare for more patients.

By following public health guidelines, such as the current shelter-in-place order from Yolo County Public Health, this doubling time will slow and fewer individuals will get infected, Blumberg said. If students returned back to Davis after spring break, it is important that they continue adhering to social distancing guidelines.

“This means that anyone not living together is strongly discouraged from meeting together in person unless essential for health and safety and that individuals should only leave their home for essential travel and activities,” Blumberg said. “When students are away from their home, they should adhere to strict social distancing guidelines.”

For individuals who are not infected but want to protect themselves, in addition to practicing social distancing and keeping good hygiene, they should keep a healthy lifestyle, Haczku said. They should eat and sleep properly and avoid activities that weaken the immune system, like stress, smoking and excessive consumption of alcohol. Exercise is also important, even if people cannot go to the gym.

“This is a time when showing leadership and team

spirit in following the rules for social distancing is necessary in order to save lives and help slow down the disease course for everyone,” Hackzu said. “It is a little bit like a war situation when, in order to stay alive, teamwork and unity is essential.”

It is easy for people to feel lonely and less connected to their community while isolating at home, so maintaining relationships with others is important, Schorzman said.

“Consider regularly reaching out to classmates and friends, including through online chat options,” Schorzman said.

For students who are having difficulties such as anxiety or depression, resources such as counseling services are available 24-hours at 530-752-0871.

“Humans and especially young people are extremely social creatures,” Hackzu said. “Social distancing is resented by everybody. In order to cope, you should stay informed and find ways to keep in touch remotely with your friends, family and community, regularly.”

As the first coronavirus pandemic, it is important for students to stay informed. COVID-19 is a disease that scientists do not know much about, which is scary and fascinating at the same time, Haczku said.

“We should all learn together how to handle a dangerous and unusual disease potentially affecting all human beings,” Haczku said. “This is also an opportunity for all of your bright students out there to shine, be creative and come up with groundbreaking new ideas on how to conquer this devastating pandemic.”

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“That seems like a long time to get to humans, but it’s actually quite a short time scale because it’s so important to make sure we get a vaccine that makes the situation better and not worse,” Hartigan-O’Connor said.

Despite the world’s uncertainty concerning this virus, there have been promising results. A recently published study illustrates how monkeys that have been infected by the COVID-19 virus once are protected from reinfection. Although this is just one study, this information allows researchers to be hopeful that infected and recovered patients are protected from reinfection and that a vaccine will prove to be helpful in this pandemic, according to Iyer. This also raises the possibility of herd immunity, when there are enough individuals who are protected from the virus so that it is unable to find new hosts, slowing transmission.

Although her lab did not initially have any particular expertise in coronaviruses, Iyer explained that

her ability to study SARS-CoV-2 is due to a team effort of her graduate students Sonny Elizaldi and JW. Roh, colleagues Chris Miller and Koen Van Rompay and many other essential faculty members from the Center for Immunology and Infectious Diseases (CIID) and CNPRC. Haczku described the nature of this virus as “sneaky” since it did not cause its original host, most likely a bat, to become sick but was still able to attack the immune systems of different species. This means everyone must practice proper hygiene and social distancing, as asymptomatic people may also be spreading the virus.

“We have to fight against this very ruthless and sneaky virus. It’s kind of a combat situation,” Haczku said. “In order to win this fight, we all have to unite, even people who don’t know anything about vaccination or how the viruses work. It would be nice if we understood the importance of fighting against it together.”

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The Pantry and Aggie Compass have also adopted strict procedures to help promote the health and safety of volunteers, staff and students. Groceries are pre-bagged in reusable bags to minimize the contact and possible contamination.

Because the service relies on the availability of reusable bags, The Pantry and Aggie Compass encourage students to donate reusable bags upon picking up their bag of groceries in order to minimize costs of the service. Bags donated are sanitized and isolated in a room separate from food products where they remain for four days prior to food distribution.

In addition to weekly grocery bag services, Aggie Compass remains dedicated to helping students in crisis throughout the COVID-19 epidemic.

“Our basic needs coordinator [...] is meeting with students via Zoom and providing support in the form of swipes, grocery cards and emergency grants and rental assistance,” said Leslie Kemp, the director of Aggie Compass, via email.

Students in need of housing or emergency food resources have the ability to fill out an online basic needs request form and can get immediate support within two to three days.

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“What comes next after paid administrative leave is actually the most urgent thing that’s being worked on, and there’s conversation with the president and the university and the chancellors about what to do next,” Ratliff said. “What we will do as a university for these sorts of issues [...] will be a university-wide response. We really are waiting for some guidance from the Office of the President about what comes next.”

All of this comes amid an announcement from UC President Janet Napolitano that “there will be no COVID-19 related layoffs for all career employees through the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2020.”

The announcement does not detail how individual campuses will achieve this.

Furthermore, according to the University Council-American Federation of Teachers, the union that represents UC librarians and non-Senate faculty, “the commitment to no layoffs through June 30th does not apply to academic appointees, meaning that contingent teaching faculty and librarians are not protected by the policy.” UC-AFT said via Twitter that it is currently looking to change that: “The contingent faculty who are lifting heaven and earth to keep teaching our students now must be reappointed after the crisis is over.”

Meanwhile, UC Davis is taking steps to avoid a financial crisis.

“We’re going to implement what we’re going to call a ‘vacancy management program,’” Ratliff said.

“Both for student employees and staff employees, we’re looking for opportunities to redeploy people.

But, the other thing is, just because of the financial uncertainty and the extra cost we’re experiencing because of the crisis, we need to slow down hiring.”

The administration is making more stringent guidelines for the hiring process, sending potential positions through several committees before the opening is posted.

“Any position that needs to go forward for recruitment has to be signed off on by the dean, vice chancellor or vice provost,” Ratliff said. “Then we’re going to have a separate central review committee to have one more level of review on those positions before they can be posted.”

Cost Breakdown: Utilities Savings Under suspended operation, Ratliff said via email it is reasonable to assume that the UC Davis campus utility savings will be “about $200,000 per month.”

This is not an exact number, Ratliff said, because the school has never experienced closures for this anticipated length of time in recent history. The esti-

mate is based on savings experienced during the first two weeks of suspended operation. This amounts to a savings of about 10% of the utility budget ($2-2.5M per month).

“Energy savings are not proportional to the decrease in population because our largest energy users on campus are the lab and animal spaces, which have to remain ventilated and conditioned 24/7 for safety purposes regardless of how many people are there,” she explained.

Cost Breakdown: Expenditures of Online Transition The other principal cost of this crisis is the transition to online instruction. According to Ratliff, the Information and Educational Technology department is “reporting almost $800,000 in additional expenses.”

This comes from Zoom licenses, VPNs, laptops for students and faculty and other sources. In the haste of this transition, the university still has not been able to fully assess the cost of transitioning to remote instruction and suspending campus operations.

“We are in the process of collecting additional expenses across the campus, but that data is not ready yet,” Ratliff said.

Therefore, the exact number that students could expect to receive should the university take the unlikely step to provide refunds is unknown. When asked again for a more precise cost via email, Ratliff said it is “too soon” to make any determinations.

Other Expenses With the continuation of administrative leave or a comparable substitute to the end of the fiscal year, the cost of salary is not yet known or calculable. The UC Davis FOA office is currently working with the chancellor and UCOP to resolve this issue.

Ratliff said the administration is “in the process of collecting data about extra costs.”

It is unlikely that the university, in its transition to online instruction and fulfillment of UCOP guidance, will provide tuition refunds to graduate and undergraduate students.

“If there are questions […] those prompts would be appreciated,” Ratliff said. “There are impacts all over the place, and there’s a lot of fear. This is having a big impact. Whatever we can do to communicate in a way that conveys more [information], I would love to get there.”

Following Vice Chancellor Ratliff’s interview with The Aggie, the UC Davis COVID-19 FAQ for Students has been updated to reflect some of the additional information provided here.

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A second recess was taken after discussion of the emergency eviction ordinance. After returning, Lee announced that any further public comments must be emailed to the city council, after which staff members would read these comments aloud into the record.

Some members of the public who later emailed comments into the meeting expressed displeasure with the switch in public comment format, however, with some even questioning the legality of this change to council procedure midway through a meeting. City Attorney Inder Khalsa said that she be-

lieved the changes were legal and sufficient to comply with Governor Gavin Newsom’s emergency order changes to the Brown Act. “One requirement for teleconference meetings is that the public be able to participate in the meeting, and we’ve taken the position that submitting written comments during the meeting satisfies that requirement,” Khalsa said.

Lee closed the meeting by apologizing to attendees for both the changes to procedure and the trolling that occurred during the meeting, asserting that staff would focus on improving the remote public comment process by the next city council meeting on April 14. Councilmember Will Arnold

followed by condemning the trolls, particularly those who engaged in racist speech and messaging.

“Obviously the racist rhetoric that was utilized by some folks — both in writing on our screen and verbally has zero place in our public discourse, and obviously I think all of us condemn that,” Arnolds said. “The rest of it, which sort of falls in the bucket of shenanigans — while it’s sort of low-level, junior-high-esque humor — I think the mayor was correct in saying it still has no place in the public business. It did, today, make it more difficult for members of the public to comment.”

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Hawanya Smith said she hopes to see virtual learning become a future educational option at UC Davis for students with less schedule flexibility.

“It does speak to the fact that UC Davis and other universities should consider distance learning as an option for students with hardships moving forward,” she said.

Hawanya Smith thanked the program

organizers for providing the necessary resources for her continued academic success in the new quarter.

“It allows me to learn,” she said. “I can get on [my new laptop] and feel confident about learning. I want to thank those who were responsible for providing these laptops. I really want to tell them from the depths of my heart, thank you.”

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Even though the TikTok took a while for Hussain to put together and involved many outfit changes, the idea came to him all at once — probably while he was zoning out in one of his classes, he said.

Friends from out-of-state and people he hadn’t talked to since middle school reached out to tell Hussain that he was on their “For You” page — a customized page curating specific content for every TikTok user.

“To me that was the craziest thing, somehow being everywhere and having all my friends, both local and from other states, and thousands of strangers hype me up and support me,” Hussain said via email. “My sister in high school even texted me saying that I had been the first video to show up on her For You Page. It boggles my mind how many people it reached, and how many of my own friends and their friends from all over somehow saw me.”

Hussain said the most shocking incident was when someone walked up to ask if he “was the guy in the TikTok” video that she had loved and reposted.

“I found out that she was actually in my class, but we did not know each other and she somehow recognized me and remembered seeing my face in class,” Hussain said via email. “I was in shock after, just about how someone actually recognized me on campus from a video online. To top it all off, she asked me after class if I could take a picture with her! At that point I was just so at a loss for words and shook, to put it simply.”

Hussain has noticed changes to TikTok since the outbreak of COVID-19, notably through the content on the app. Not only are there more hashtags and memes, but there are also videos with preventative tips and even a “warning” about the virus, which his video received. He also shared his thoughts on how COVID-19 and social distancing are impacting creators.

“We’re confined to our homes and forced to stay inside, obviously for the better, as the only way to slow this virus down is through social distancing,” Hussain said. “I think in order to entertain themselves, more and more people have given up the preconceived negative notion of TIkTok and downloaded it. Ever since the quarantine, I noticed a lot more smaller creators and videos that had not amassed thousands of likes, which I found really cool since this meant more people were creating content and the app was constantly getting saturated with more and new videos.”

Facebook meme pages There has been quite a lot of activity on the UC Davis Memes for Egghead Teens page on Facebook — some, but not all, of

which has to do with COVID-19 and related changes to instruction and administration.

Third-year computer science and economics double major Julie Deng and thirdyear computer science major Jason Lin made the Davis Purity Test “out of quarantine boredom” and posted it to the meme page on March 28. The website describes it as “an unofficial purity test designed to satirize the ‘ideal’ experience of a student at UC Davis, inspired by the Rice Purity Test and the Berkeley Purity Test.”

“Everyone was reposting the UC Davis bingo on their Instagram stories,” Deng said. “So we figured that we wanted to do an extended version of that and just had the Davis Purity Test as the result.”

They noted that the test looks similar to the original, as they used the original template accessible on GitHub, made changes to formatting and background and changed the questions, with the help of some friends, to be UC Davis-specific. Deng said she asked a few of her friends for some of the “21 plus questions” because she is underage and wanted their input about bars.

“It was interesting to see people tag all of their friends, and they thought it was pretty impressive,” Lin said. “We didn’t really put that much time into making it, so it made us feel pretty good.”

Another popular meme in the UC Davis meme page, created by fifth-year design and electrical engineering double major Karli Ching, has the text “when you realize Canvas is the coronavirus in disguise” with a side-by-side comparison emphasizing the similarities between the Canvas logo and the visual representation of the COVID-19 virus. The post received over 1,000 likes.

This was Ching’s first meme — she was reading about COVID-19 and happened to go to Canvas immediately after.

“Many of us, including myself, often joke about how Canvas and school are evil,” Ching said via email. “I saw the Canvas logo and thought it looked like the virus image that I had just seen in the article I read, and decided to make the meme.”

Ching thinks that viral memes can “help clue people in to significant events,” something that Virk and Hussain also mentioned.

Since people have been adhering to social-distancing and shelter-in-place, Ching said meme content relates to these new norms, but the memes themselves don’t really change.

“I think memes are a humorous way for us to face reality, and I think humor is a way for us to also find relief in stressful situations,” Ching said via email.

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“With this academy, I can genuinely say that every single officer I have met has left a positive impression. I do believe that UC Davis as a whole has a clear vision as to how they want to grow, and the UCDPD is doing a great job with that, as well.”

Cadets today have a new and very unique challenge to their weekly routine: COVID-19. With cases of the virus increasing in the US and the introduction of the government mandate to stay inside, the cadets’ time in the academy has been cut short.

“We missed out on several learning opportunities because we were unable to meet [in person],” Jones said. “Luckily, the physical fitness sector of the academy is still attainable with COVID-19.”

Kubo added that the cadets missed out on specific training sessions she had been looking forward to.

“We are missing out on those opportunities, such as learning how to operate emergency vehicles at the California Highway Patrol (CHP) Academy, lectures on hostage situations, interactions with people with mental disabilities/illnesses, and volunteering at the assisted living care home to spend time with the elderly folks,” Kubo said.

Choc said the cadets are working together to make the best of the situation and continue their physical fitness.

“Physical Training is no longer mandato-

ry but the majority of the cadets have decided to continue meeting Tues/Thursday for PT [physical training],” Choc said. “Some of us have decided to create fun HIIT workouts that allow us to work hard but be able to maintain social distancing, too.”

Farrow said, like the rest of the world, the academy has been affected by the virus.

Farrow explained that UCDPD has decided to cancel the graduation ceremony, a celebration which is typically attended by more than 500 people. While the cadets are just about wrapped up for the year, Farrow said he still feels the cadets deserve recognition for their hard work this quarter.

At the end of the month, 26 cadets will graduate from the academy. While the cadets might have faced more challenges than usual, the cadets agree that anyone who might be interested in joining should give it a try.

“There are different layers to the academy that I think students could benefit from,” Choc said. “There are currently cadets that are looking into a career in law enforcement, some that want to work with other populations but want to understand law enforcement more, and some that joined because they simply wanted to get out of their comfort zone. You are able to get multiple perspectives from different students and make new friends and connections.”

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020 | 11

“THIS IS WHY I’M CHOOSING TO BE IN THIS FIELD” — COVID-19 THROUGH THE EYES OF PRE-MED STUDENTS Students express how inspiring watching healthcare professionals on front lines has been MA R O R O D R I G U E Z / AGGI E

BY KAT I E D EBE NE DE T T I features@theaggie.org The coronavirus pandemic has likely taken a toll on most global citizens’ lives — and for some med students, this has meant graduating early to join the fight. For others, like some of UC Davis’ own pre-med students, this crisis has heightened their motivations and reminded them why they wanted to go into medicine in the first place: to help as many people as they can.

Sakira Sethi, a first-year neurology, physiology and behavior major, said this trying time for the healthcare system and its workers has inspired her to stay on the pre-med track so that she, too, can be on the front lines one day.

“If you have the bug for medicine and that’s what your passion is, you’re going to be inclined to help instead of be scared at a time like this,” Sethi said.

She knew she dreamed of being a doctor from

a young age, growing up with multiple family members with health problems. Sethi explained that seeing the amazing support the healthcare system gave her family inspired her.

“I grew up with my family having a lot of health problems, and my brother has a couple mental health issues, so I was just around medicine a lot growing up,” Sethi said. “I knew that was kind of what I wanted to do: to help the people around me and to help myself as well.”

Similarly, Sean Kumar, a third-year biochemistry and molecular biology double major, also drew inspiration from his family when deciding to pursue medicine.

“My main motivation was originally my mom,” Kumar said. “She’s a nurse, and in high school she would always allow me to shadow her and see what the doctors do. I’ve kind of grown up with this group of doctors. They’ve inspired me to also work in the medical field, and having this environment where I can learn from these

INSIDE THE UCDPD CADET ACADEMY

As cadets near graduation, they discuss the program’s rewards and challenges and react to COVID-19

Members of the UCDPD cadets program pose for a photo. (Courtesy Photo)

BY AL A N A W I KK E L I NG features@theaggie.org The individuals in the UC Davis Police Department’s Cadet Academy have almost completed another season of physical training, learning and teambuilding. From January until their graduation in late April, the cadets dedicate themselves to an experience in law enforcement.

Every Winter Quarter, the UC Davis Police Department hosts a team of students and recent UC Davis graduates in its Cadet Academy, a program for individuals interested in law enforcement, forensics or related fields. According to UCPD Chief Joseph Farrow, the program was designed for two purposes: It is “an introduction for students to learn more about the law enforcement profession, and for us to learn more about student needs, feelings and recommendations,” Farrow said.

The program began in 2016, but Farrow said it has “grown and matured since its inception.”

The program has room for about 30 students, and, according to Farrow, the cadets come from a variety of backgrounds, majors and career paths. Farrow said many cadets are low-income, first-generation or altogether non-traditional police applicants. Some are not interested in a career in law enforcement at all, but simply want to learn.

Farrow, who has direction over the academy,

says the cadets’ voices are what keeps the program changing and developing.

“Our students are very open and are asked to be critical so we can learn and adjust,” Farrow said. “Policing remains turbulent in America and we are trying our best to adjust and adopt more contemporary practices that are accepted or appreciated by the people we serve.”

Many cadets are students or recent alumni juggling class, work and the academy. Cadets spend Tuesday and Thursday evenings and all day Saturday in the classroom and then engage in physical training.

Mihoko Kubo, a UC Davis alumni who graduated in Winter Quarter of 2019 with a double major in chemistry and Spanish, describes classroom sessions as more than sitting down for lecture.

“The classroom lectures on Tuesdays and Saturdays have included all kinds of materials, from CSI (crime scene investigation) forensic classes to CPR certifications to scenario-based trainings,” Kubo said. “We even have a training coming up this Saturday where we will be experiencing the taser and getting pepper sprayed, so that one day when we have the opportunity to serve our community as police officers we have the empathy and know what it’s like to be on the other end of the taser or getting pepper sprayed.”

Physical training, Kubo says, involves strengthening exercises, miles of running and

people made me more motivated to go into the med field.”

Seeing what the medical “front lines” look like first-hand inspired Kumar to pursue his current medical scribe position — and medical school in the future.

Kumar has seen the reality of coronavirus in hospitals like his mother’s amid the current pandemic, which he said has made him think about his intended career path. He said, however, that instead of feeling more hesitant to pursue medicine, seeing the response of healthcare workers has further motivated him.

“It motivates me a lot more knowing that there are people willing to risk their lives for a cause like this,” Kumar said. “I wouldn’t be opposed to working the front lines. I see the work that [my mom] does and it inspired me to replicate similar work ethics in the med field so if and when I go into the med field in the future, hopefully I can do the same.”

Kumar isn’t the only one who drew inspiration from family members. Alyssa Ghose, a thirdyear neurology, physiology and biology major, has also gotten to see, first-hand, the work that healthcare professionals are doing at this time, as her dad is a doctor. Through her dad, Ghose said she has seen the toll that this pandemic is taking on healthcare workers.

“I definitely see my dad going to work and being exposed to all of these patients, and he’s nervous to come home because he doesn’t know if he’s going to get it from a patient,” Ghose said.

“I feel like doctors are under a lot of stress right now. I think a situation like this would kind of take a toll on mental health and wellbeing.”

Though she recognizes that this reality is something to consider — or even anticipate — when going into a medical profession, Ghose said emergency situations like this don’t deter her, saying she becomes even more motivated to pursue medicine.

“[It] makes me more excited to be in the field and help other doctors,” she said.

Second-year human development and Spanish double major Katie Thomas agreed that the current situation has been motivational for her.

She said seeing the impact doctors and medical professionals are making right now reaffirms why she decided to pursue nursing in the first place.

She admitted, however, that she has also become increasingly aware of the dangers that accompany the profession.

“Both of my parents are technically high risk, so it’s definitely something I’ve been very conscious about because I want to go out into the community and help my neighbors,” Thomas said.

Thomas shared that having immunocompromised loved ones adds even more pressure to medical professionals, who might have to worry about bringing coronavirus home to their families. She said, however, that despite the risk and the fear that accompanies both her and her loved ones’ safety, this situation has only made her more motivated to pursue nursing.

“I think if you’re going into healthcare, you know to a certain extent that there is always going to be that risk,” Thomas said. “I think you have to be willing to take that and be okay with that. It does make me nervous, but it’s hard because I want to help as many people as I can.”

Overwhelmingly, these students expressed how inspiring watching the healthcare professionals on the front lines of this pandemic has been for them. Despite the fear and stress that health professionals are being placed under amidst coronavirus, Kumar said, and they all seem to agree, that these professionals have acted as reminders of why they are pursuing medicine.

“This is why I’m choosing to be in this field,” Kumar said. “To help people in need and be on the front lines.”

martial arts techniques.

“For strengthening, we’ve done tire flipping, using dumbbells and kettlebells — thank you Fire Department for letting us borrow — carrying fire hoses while running up and down six flights of stairs on the Hutchinson parking structure and pushing cars in neutral,” Kubo said. “This all sounds horrifying at first, but the best part [...] is that we get to do this as a team and push each other to work through it.

It’s the best feeling in the world to know that we made it through after completing these intense and high-impact workouts.”

Kubo says being part of a team makes the rigorous physical exertion and long Saturdays worth it.

“Teamwork is a huge part of law enforcement,” Kubo said. “I don’t think I could have gotten this overwhelming amount of support anywhere else on campus.”

Christian Dolf, another recent alumni with a degree in cellular biology, agreed with Kubo, saying the biggest rewards in the programs were “having the opportunity to meet and get to know all the other cadets in the class, as well as the officers that work for UC Davis.”

Cadets also described other rewards, such as increased physical fitness and new insight into the world of law enforcement.

“I feel like the biggest reward for me while in the program has been learning about all aspects regarding law enforcement,” UC Davis alumnus Jenny Choc said. “I didn’t personally have any prior knowledge or experience working with or being around police officers. Many of the things I have learned in the cadet academy have all been new to me.”

One of the major rewards and opportunities for graduating cadets is that they are offered positions at the police department. According to Chief Farrow, almost 50% of UCDPD officers were academy graduates. Additionally, Farrow said the academy prepares cadets for other opportunities in the real world.

“They get a great introduction to all aspects of the law enforcement profession, learn great skills in teamwork, and are taught insightful skills in job applications and job interviews,” Farrow said.

“We try to impart on them the life skills necessary to be successful after leaving college. We also try hard to help place those interested into full-time positions or paid internships in fields of their interest.”

Farrow said with the success of the program and increased demand, UCDPD is considering offering an additional fall academy.

Of course, for the cadets, where there are re-

wards there are also challenges. “[The biggest challenge was] learning to be comfortable with the uncomfortable,” said Kara Jones, a UC Davis alumni.

Many cadets experienced initial difficulty with the rigorous workout routines. Kubo said when she started the academy, she was not physically prepared.

“But as I kept up with the trainings and became better in shape, I was able to overcome that challenge while also gaining several pounds of muscle mass,” Kubo said. “It’s uncomfortable to do all of those workouts at once, but I was able to break out of my comfort zone and embrace the discomfort.”

Choc noted that, going into the cadets, she expected and even welcomed challenge.

“If someone is trying to be a part of law enforcement, they need to have the mentality to be able to push themselves past what they think is their best,” Choc said. “I came in with the mentality to have an open mind, ask many questions and try new things. Yes, Physical Training may cause me to be tired in the moment or sore the next day, but I welcome that.”

All of the challenges are worth it for the cadets, who gain muscle mass and obtain experience for a potential career in law enforcement.

“I wanted to prepare myself for attending a police academy,” fourth-year psychology major Timothy Brooks said. “[And] gain the opportunity to apply to UC Davis as a police officer while making professional contacts for my own career development.”

Of course, being a part of the academy changed or reinforced some previous sentiments about police officers and law enforcement, which can be a difficult subject for some students on a college campus.

For students like Dolf, being a part of the academy changed his perspective in that he was able to identify more similarities than differences between himself and police officers.

“The program has allowed us to interact and get to know some of the officer’s at UC Davis in a more comfortable setting,” Dolf said. “It has enhanced my opinions, because we were able to get to know them as people and are able to recognize that they’re all still people.”

For Jenny Choc, her time at the academy exposed her to a much more positive side of the UCDPD. “When I was an undergrad at UCD, the only police exposure I had was when they pepper sprayed students in the MU,” she said.

CADETS on 10

STUDENTS, PROFESSOR DISCUSS TIPS FOR ONLINE LEARNING UC Davis students, psychology professor give advice for succeeding in online classes TE SSA KO G A / AG GI E

BY LYRA FA RRE L L features@theaggie.org With the constraints of social distancing, students and staff have to learn to navigate the world of online learning. Psychology professor Steven Luck and two UC Davis students offered their

advice on how to adjust to learning online during Spring Quarter.

Luck said the main source of distraction for students is their phones — he recommended that phones be put out of sight during every lecture.

“There’s actually research showing that if you have somebody doing a laboratory task on a com-

puter and you just have their iPhone sitting next to the computer, it distracts them even if they’re not touching them,” Luck said.

Luck also said hand-writing your notes has a different impression on your brain than typing them does, and utilizing this will be especially useful with online learning.

“When you’re writing by hand, it’s so much more effort, and so much slower, that you have to take what you’ve heard and rephrase it,” Luck said. “That process of putting it into your own smaller number of words helps you to understand it better and remember it better.”

Throughout a school day, students have a normal flow of activities that online learning clearly lacks. This absence of structure can affect student productivity, according to Luck. He recommends that students try to simulate a normal day as much as they can from home with activities as simple as going for a walk.

“Ordinarily, you go to a class, and then you walk from that class to somewhere else,” Luck said. “The act of getting up and moving is beneficial for your brain. If you have back-to-back classes, you might have five minutes after the end of one class before you want to join early to the next one. If you can go outside, walk around the block and come back, it will make your brain work better.”

According to Luck, maintaining human connection is vital for humans’ deeply-coded social needs. As a former student of online classes, firstyear cell biology major Tyanna Hoang has experience practicing methods of connection through social media.

“I’ve definitely joined group chats on Facebook for all my courses, so just in case I’m confused on something, I can text in that group and just ask if anybody has any suggestions or anything,” Hoang said.

In addition to chatting with peers, third-year cinema and digital media major Rafael Carbajal finds positive meaning at home in other ways.

“I would take advantage of this time for sure because we live in a very fast-paced world, so this is rare that there’s breathing room to just be by yourself,” Carbajal said. “I kind of think of ways that I can improve myself, like what can I do to be more productive in my house.”

In her past online classes, Hoang found treating the classes the same as an in-person lecture to be the most useful strategy.

“You’ve just got to not think of it as an online class,” Hoang said. “Just put yourself [into the mindset] that this is still your traditional class where you have deadlines and things you need to be aware of, and you still need to be proactive.”

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

12 | THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2020

UC DAVIS ALPINE SKI AND SNOWBOARD TEAM REFLECTS ON 2020 SEASON Powerhouse club ends season with nationals in New York

A member of the UC Davis Alpine Ski and Snowboard (DASS) Club prepares to hit a gate while slalom skiing. (Photo by Katie Kim / Courtesy)

BY PRIYA REDDY sports@theaggie.org Each year, the UC Davis Alpine Ski and Snowboard team (DASS) rents a cabin in Lake Tahoe, California for five months of the year. The cabin serves as a touch point for team members to come up to, rest at and connect with each other. This year’s season, which ran from Week 1 of Winter Quarter through Week 5, ended at the U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA) National Championships. This year, the team sent its women’s team up to compete at Lake Placid, New York.

The team is composed of about 50 team members who compete in both ski and snowboard events at varying skill levels. Some of the team members are competitive skiers, who started skiing on contract in high school, but others on the team have had little to no experience prior to joining the team. Despite this range in competitive background, members are all able to come together to help each other improve.

For Aidan Callahan, DASS’ club president and a fourth-year electrical engineering major,

having team members who were skiing at very high levels helped him make the transition from snowboarding to skiing much smoother.

Callahan, who grew up in San Francisco, started snowboarding as a child with his parents, avid skiers themselves. Before coming to Davis, he went to Tahoe for one or two weekends a season, but he wasn’t able to come up as often as he would have liked. So, upon entering UC Davis, he decided to join the team as a snowboarder as soon as he arrived on campus. After competing as a snowboarder his freshman and sophomore year, he decided to switch to skiing last year.

“I just was more interested in competing as a skier,” Callahan said. “Our league is a little bit skier-biased in that there's a lot more skiers racing and a lot more snowboarders doing slopestyle stuff. But generally, more skiers are competing as racers than snowboarders competing as freestyle athletes.”

During his transition to skiing, he found that the frequent practices at the club’s cabin, as well as being able to ski with other students who are highly competitive, helped him improve his skiing abilities drastically.

Team members for DASS head up to the cabin almost every weekend of the five-month ski season during which they rent the cabin.

Each weekend, roughly 15-20 people make the drive up to ski at the Boreal Mountain Resort in Tahoe. In previous years, the team skied at the Sugar Bowl resort, but due to an increase in season pass prices, the team made the switch to skiing at Boreal. Season passes for the resort cost around $400, which, in addition to the team dues of $500, almost entirely subsidizes the cost for the cabin rent, race tickets, training and flight tickets for the women’s team to go to nationals.

On the slopes, current team members often run into alumni, who stop to comment on the UC Davis team gear and to share stories about their time on the team. The team as a whole is still very connected to their alumni, often reaching out through email to share milestones, such as the team’s 50th anniversary last year.

As students, members of DASS have to strike a balance between schoolwork and practice. Most team members, like second-year wildlife, fish and conservation biology major Milena Torres Londono, try to finish their work during the week so

that they can devote their weekends to practice.

Like Callahan, Torres Londono also began her ski journey with family. She began skiing with her dad as a four-year-old, and has gone skiing regularly every year since. When she toured UC Davis as a high school senior and saw the club tabling at the MU, she was immediately interested in joining. After speaking with the team members tabling and asking about their experiences, she decided to get involved with the club.

She has so far loved her experience with the team.

“It’s super welcoming, Torres Londono said.

“And I like that there’s no skill level that you have to have to join the team, even if you’re barely starting out your welcome, because all the team is really about is just people who like to bond over the sport. We all just share that passion.”

DASS team members competed on March 10-14 in Lake Placid, New York for the USCSA nationals. The club sent its women’s team to compete at Lake Placid, which placed 16th out of 19 teams in the Alpine Women’s category. Thirdyear managerial economics major Haley Louis placed 15th out of 92 in the combined individual competition and 2nd in Skier Cross event.

CHAMPIONS TO ASTERISKS*

The Astros’ cheating scandal inspires heckling, unites fan bases J OE LL E TA H TA / AG GI E

BY OMAR NAVARRO sports@theaggie.org Before the coronavirus became the daily conversation worldwide and suspended all events, the baseball world was gearing up for an exciting 2020 season. From the big offseason free agent signings of Gerrit Cole, Anthony Rendon and Stephen Strasburg, to the blockbuster trade that saw one of the game’s best players, Mookie Betts, move to the LA spotlight, there was much hype coming in.

As always, the debates among fans picked up as spring training began and the season was still rapidly approaching. Yet, this offseason had one key difference. There was one team that, with a simple mention, filled fans with disgust and anger. A team that had done something never before seen in baseball, and had the rest of the league questioning the legitimacy of its past three seasons. Finally, a team that everyone could agree on was the most hated. Enter: The Houston Astros.

Shortly following the conclusion of the 2019 season that saw Houston lose in the World Series in a close seven games, the Astros — or, as many fans like to refer to them now, the “Asterisks*” — made waves in the media, but not for the right reasons.

Former Astro and current Oakland A’s starting pitcher Mike Fiers told The Athletic on Nov. 12 that Houston used a camera in center-field to steal signs during their 2017 championship season. Fiers was a part of that team that won the World Series in seven games against the Dodgers,

and the news sent shockwaves throughout Major League Baseball.

The league office promptly conducted an investigation and announced the findings in mid-January. It discovered that the Astros had used this scheme from 2017 all the way until the most recent World Series. Instantly, the once well-liked, young Astros team turned into the most hated team in the league.

History, geographic proximity and division affiliation generally determined the great baseball rivalries and which team a certain fan base hated most. The general consensus recently was that the New York Yankees were the game’s top villain.

That changed once the scandal broke. The Astros became the lone villain in a sport that had historically struggled to create one. Even before the scandal, the team rubbed some fans the wrong way because of the arrogance they showed at times during their run of success, so this news just brought everyone together.

A prime example of this is the viral “Astros Shame Tour” Twitter account (@AsteriskTour) that has grown a significant following in such a short period of time. Created in February of this year, the account currently has over 188,000 followers and has become a place where fans can unite around their shared hatred for the Astros.

“One year to shame them all, one year to jeer them, one year to boo them all and from your seat deride them” reads the account’s bio.

And that it does, as the account regularly posts a variety of content from fans booing and jeering the Astros at spring training, comedic signs that spectators took to Astros games, heckling of the

players and even tracking of the number of times the Astros players were hit by pitch during so far this year.

It doesn’t stop there, though, as the account also adds informative content that shows the extent of the Astros’ cheating and “examples” of these practices in action. The account quickly gained traction and continues to grow. When the season eventually resumes, it will be in full force once again.

Another social media account that has flourished amidst the scandal is MLB Trash Talkers (@mlbtrashtalkers) on Instagram. The account made sure to flood its content with Astros criticism. Posting a wide variety of satire, facts and evidence, the already popular account gained even more followers, currently standing at 264,000.

The list of social media accounts is long, but the most impactful voice of censure has come from the Astros’ own MLB counterparts. Other players have come out and said what they really felt about Houston, and that has only further ignited the fire among fanbases. One player in particular is the already outspoken Cincinnati Reds pitcher, Trevor Bauer. Bauer does not mince words, in front of the camera or on social media. During spring training, he called the Astros “cheaters” and “hypocrites,” citing their reluctance to admit what they had done.

“I think it's important to stand up and say something because I'm not afraid of the backlash” he told reporters back in February. “We're all pissed. If no one ever comes out and says anything, then nothing gets done."

Bauer wasn’t alone, as many star players in-

cluding Mike Trout, Cody Bellinger and Aaron Judge — to name a few — have made their frustrations heard. For a sport that has been criticized for having the most quiet stars, baseball’s top players certainly aren’t staying quiet in this situation.

Throughout what was played of spring training, the Astros were mocked relentlessly for their sign stealing scheme. Heckling and boos filled Houston’s spring training games in Florida, and, once the season commences once again, they will have to endure the same treatment on the road, however many games they end up playing.

Possibly the best example of just how far fans are willing to go to express their displeasure is that two historic — but very different — franchises have come together. Before the season was postponed, Houston was scheduled to play a series against the Angels in Anaheim during the second week of the season. Pantone 294, a popular Dodger fan group, bought upwards of 2,000 tickets for that series in order to attend and jeer the Astros. Even Yankee fans were going to join in on the booing, bringing together two of the biggest rival franchises in the league to express their hate for a team they believe cheated them out of glory.

There’s no question that what the Astros did crossed the line of sportsmanship in a major way.

This scandal will stain the franchise for many years to come, and the players that were involved will feel it for the rest of their careers — whether it's in Houston or elsewhere. Sign-stealing is part of the game, yes, but using sophisticated technology to know what pitch is coming next gives a team a significant, unfair advantage.

The effect that Houston’s cheating had on opposing players and the outcomes of certain games is impossible to calculate, but it is clear that no one will be forgetting anytime soon. In addition to all of that, the attitude that most Astros players showed toward this situation was unprofessional and lacked remorse, and only served to further anger fans across the nation. The current pandemic may have taken some heat away from them for the time being, but when the game eventually comes back, that passion won’t disappear.

In a way, this is a perfect example of the old saying, “any press is good press” for the MLB. Every sport needs storylines and a villain, but these are sometimes hard to develop. This scandal has opened many new doors for the MLB, good and bad, and will most certainly carry on for a long time. For a sport that has struggled to create interest outside of the game, baseball now holds one of the biggest storylines in sports history. This has sparked a new interest in the sport and attention that it has not seen in years.

You either are a fan of the Astros, or you hate them. There is no inbetween. They cheated the sport and deserve whatever is meant for them.

Still, the unity that these fan bases are displaying is something strange to see. The bond created from this is something unique and may last a long time.

As Astros Shame Tour put it: “Maybe the real Astros scandal was the friends we made along the way.”