May 3, 2018

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VOLUME 136, ISSUE 25 | THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018

Students need mental health care, struggle to find it

UC Davis students share common concerns about difficulty accessing care; administrators respond DIANA LI / AGGIE

FIRST-YEAR FRANCESCA LACONO’S PSYCHIATRY APPOINTMENT CANCELLED ON HER TWICE

BY H A N N A H HOL Z E R campus@theaggie.org

This article is the fourth in a four-part series examining issues in the UC system related to the availability and accessibility of mental health care.

At the recent Town Hall on mental health held at UC Davis, first-year student Francesca Iacono held back tears as she shared her experience of attempting to access the university’s mental health care services during her first quarter on campus. “I needed to see someone, Iacono said, “but there was no one to see.”

Iacono is an out-of-state student from New Jersey. She noted that her nonresident tuition could pay for her to attend a private university — which would offer her the mental health care she needs — and wonders where her money is actually being spent.

Since the eighth grade, Iacono has struggled with depression and anxiety. In high school, she was put on medication for depression and saw a counselor her senior year who she stopped seeing when she began school at UC Davis last fall. A few weeks into fall quarter, “things started to act up again.”

“It was overwhelming — I would just have all of these racing thoughts and all of these depressing thoughts,” Iacono said. “I was so far from home, and I had no one here to go to.”

Iacono saw a counselor through UC Davis Counseling and Psychological Services three times before she was referred to a UC Davis primary care doctor

at Student Health and Counseling Services. When she described her symptoms, she said her doctor would not prescribe her antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication because she was also experiencing aspects of bipolar disorder, which could be worsened with those medications. She would need to see a psychiatrist.

But psychiatry was booked at the time — the next available appointment was over a month away, during finals week. There was nothing she could do but wait, which she did, only to have her appointment cancelled two days beforehand.

After the cancellation, she was referred back to her primary care doctor who, yet again, told her he could not treat her. So Iacono went back to on campus psychiatry.

“I couldn’t make an appointment then for psychiatry because they said they weren’t taking any new patients until mid-January,” Iacono said. “I said, ‘I was supposed to be a new patient two months ago.’

Then, come January after break, I called, made an appointment and then maybe two or three weeks after again, two days before, they cancelled.”

Eventually, Iacono was able to find a psychiatrist in the Davis community whom she sees consistently.

But the struggle to receive care and the last-minute phone call cancellations have largely defined her initial introduction to UC Davis.

“The last people who should be treated like that are the ones struggling with their mental illness, especially people who have been pre-diagnosed —

they know they’re not doing well, they’re trying to get help” Iacono said.

Like Iacono, other students have voiced concerns about wait times and the availability and accessibility of counseling and psychiatric services.

According to Nan Senzaki, a senior staff psychologist at UC Davis, during this past Fall Quarter the university was hoping to stay within two weeks for wait times, but “quickly, by about mid-quarter” the wait time “was three weeks or more.” Joe Spector, a counseling psychologist in the Student Disability Center, said he is concerned about wait times.

When asked about her response to students who have voiced frustration with wait times for appointments on campus, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Adela de la Torre said that “part of it is who you asked in that context,” but that she could “see if it’s a week and you feel it’s an [emergency].”

“We could have counselors seeing students every day, but the root cause is not the access to the mental health counselor,” de la Torre said. “Public health is about transportation, food security, being able to pay your rent. It’s so many different dimensions. If we’re really talking about caring about mental health, it is a holistic environmental approach. It is the investment that we put into the Cross Cultural Center or the retention centers or into the Student Academic Success Centers. The investment now — food security and housing issues — those are huge. Those are the stressors that create the need and create anxiety and depression.”

Ironically, the Cross Cultural Center’s budget was cut for the 2017-18 school year by $77,000 by the Division of Student Affairs, which de la Torre oversees. De la Torre later clarified her original statement, saying via email that the Division of Student Affairs was “faced with a budget reduction” and, after allowing “for maximum input of staff and students,” she is confident the reduction in the CCC’s “operational budget and select programming” and decision to make a contract position permanent “represents the best use of those funds.”

Meeting diverse student needs There are multiple entry points into counseling services and mental health services across campus.

The Community Advisor Network counselors focus on outreach efforts to different student populations.

Senzaki said she believes “this model of community mental health is admirable yet also problematic.” It becomes problematic, she said, if there is no “strategic plan on how to sustain services” and “attention to limited resources and sustainable staffing.” Currently, SHCS is operating without a strategic plan.

According to Margaret Walter, the director of student health and wellness, last year Counseling Services served 13 percent of all UC Davis students with around 23,000 client appointments. Students seek out mental health services for a variety of reasons, but Walter said, “depression used to be the top reason students came,” but nationally, “over the past few years, anxiety has really overtaken depression.”

“We certainly don’t want students to think they have to have a diagnosis to come to counseling,” Walter said. “We want all students to know they can come for issues such as stress.”

CAN counselors provide services to students within “specific identity groups,” de la Torre said.

Groups include the LGBTQIA community, the Chicanx/Latinx community and the Asian community. Sam Chiang, the UC Davis Mental Health Initiative director and a fourth-year English major, said accessibility of care depends on the “subcategory of student you fall into.”

“There are increased risk factors for students of color,” Chiang said. “I feel like the students who need it most may be the ones who have the least access and awareness of it. At the end of the day, students who are involved have a huge support system and a huge risk factor is not having a support system.”

Taking the initiative Before she knew she had ADHD, Hao Hao Pontius was struggling to pay attention in her first upper-division course her sophomore year at UC Davis — “I could not focus for more than 20 minutes at a time,” she said. Pontius, now a fourth-year animal biology major, talked to a housemate whose sister has ADHD about what was happening.

COUNSELING on 11

JESSE STESHENKO / AGGIE FILE

53,000 UC employees to strike May 7-9

Accusations of voter fraud filed with Judicial Council

AFSCME 3299 authorizes strike; nurses, healthcare workers to strike in solidarity

Cases dismissed, citing bylaw requiring complaints be filed before results revealed

BY AL LY RUSSEL L campus@theaggie.org

The American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees 3299, the UC’s largest employee union, voted to enact a system-wide strike after workers rejected UC’s failure to meet demands and acceptable patient care for employees. After a year of negotiations, AFSCME members voted to authorize a strike with 97 percent support.

AFSCME represents over 25,000 employees working at all UC campuses, medical centers, clinics, research laboratories and the UC Hastings Colleges of Law. A three-day strike is planned to start on May 7.

“The May 7th-9th strike involves over 9,000 AFSCME Local 3299 represented UC Service workers, with over 15,000 AFSCME Local 3299 represented Patient Care Technical workers authorizing a sympathy strike in solidarity,” a press release from AFSCME sent to The California Aggie stated.

Recently, UC registered nurses approved a sympathy strike with a 98 percent majority. In addition

to the AFSCME employees and the 14,000 nurses in the California Nurses Association, 15,000 employees from the University Professional and Technical Employees-CWA union.

“For the UC RNs this will be a sympathy strike, called in solidarity with members of AFSCME Local 3299 who are striking over their collective bargaining contract dispute with the UC administration,” a press release from the California Nurses Association sent to The Aggie stated. “A third union, University Professional & Technical Employees/CWA members at UC facilities also plan to sympathy strike.”

The Sacramento Bee estimates that over 10,000 of the 53,000 estimated employees planning to strike are employed at UC Davis.

AFSCME members were discouraged by UC’s contract offer, which would raise healthcare premiums, increase the age of retirement and flatten wages.

AFSCME Local 3299 President Kathryn Lybarger released a response to the UC’s contract offer.

AFSCME on 12

CHECK OUT OUR

BY AARON LI SS AND H ANNAH HOLZER campus@theaggie.org

On March 2, recently-resigned Senator Andreas Godderis filed five separate Judicial Council complaints with the following five recently-elected ASUCD officials: President Michael Gofman, Vice President Shaniah Branson, Senator Atanas Spasov, Senator Alisha Hacker and Senator Brandon Clemons. All five ran on the Unite slate.

Allegations outlined in the complaints included an unbylawful solicitation of votes in freshman dormitories and in the CoHo as well as 20 votes tied to one IP address — implying shared technology to vote.

Recently-resigned Gender and Sexuality Commission Chair Becca Nelson claimed that Unite’s “staff were soliciting votes in CoHo & Dorms, [which is] not allowed, and were having people vote on their phones in front of them.”

All five reports to the Judicial Council alleged that “a Unite campaign staff member” had been “re-

ported by residents in Redwood Hall, Tercero, [for] intimidating and soliciting them to vote for Unite in the residence hall.”

A residence advisor had “been contacted by several residents reporting this,” according to the report. “[Another student] also witnessed Unite staffers walking through [the] CoHo asking people if they had voted and having them vote on their phones in front of them.”

Judicial Council Chair Ryan Gardiner responded to these claims in an email obtained by The California Aggie, stating that the five reports had been consolidated into one and were subsequently dismissed on the grounds that “complaints must be filed before the announcement of election results.”

In the email, Gardiner explained the Judicial Council’s reasoning for case dismissal. The email stated: “After reviewing the case, Judicial Council unanimously voted to dismiss Godderis v. Gofman et al. due to any potential adjudication being in conflict with ASUCD Bylaw Section 406(B)(a)(ii),

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THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

ADMINISTRATORS OVERRULE STUDENT ADVISORY COUNCIL’S 2017 VOTE TO REJECT INCREASE IN STUDENT FEES

MACLEAN HARTFORD / AGGIE

Questions raised over council’s purpose, administration’s commitment to students

BY TAY LO R L A P O I N T campus@theaggie.org

The Council on Student Affairs and Fees’ May 19, 2017 vote on an increase in student fees to support Intercollegiate Athletics ended in a tie, which, for the council, is an effective no. Then-Interim Chancellor and current Provost Ralph

Hexter decided a month after the decision to provide the increase in student fees for athletics despite the council’s advice not to, raising questions on the purpose of the council and the administration’s obligation to students.

COSAF is one of 11 administrative advisory committees. Its purpose, according to its website, is to “provide a

more comprehensive oversight of student fees” and “assure the highest degree of transparency and accountability regarding the use of student fees.” The council, which comprises 10 undergraduates, four graduate students, one faculty member and two staff members, passes nearly every proposal put in front of it.

Daniel Nagey, a third-year economics and psychology double major who at the time was acting as ASUCD’s appointee to COSAF and voted against the athletics measure, believes that students usually pass every proposal because the issues are complex and the students involved do not typically understand the dynamics of university politics. It is difficult, he said, for students to fully understand university budget politics in single-year terms, so many students seem to simply go along with what is said in an effort to pad their resumes and “play nice” with the administration.

Despite this, “it’s not in the chancellor’s best interest to not take [COSAF’s] recommendation,” Nagey said.

COSAF provides a student voice in the fee process, and Nagey believes that ignoring the advice of the council continuously could lead to a decrease in morale

and questions of the council’s legitimacy.

Nevertheless, Hexter dismissed COSAF’s advice, announcing over a month later in an email to COSAF cochairs Madelina Garcia and Brionda Tanner that he would be approving the fee increase for athletics, which amounts to about an $8 increase per student, or approximately $200,000 total, because of his concern “about a continued degradation of spending power” for student-athlete scholarships. These scholarships “allow teams to recruit the best student-athletes” and pay for their tuition, fees, housing and books, Hexter clarified in an email to The California Aggie. The fee increase was deemed necessary because of increases in tuition and fees.

The decision to dismiss COSAF’s advice came at a time when the council was in transition; the 2016-2017 school year was coming to a close, council members were terming out, and the university was transitioning to Gary May’s chancellorship, relieving Hexter of his powers as acting chancellor. Hexter said he made the decision based on a recommendation from the UC Office of the President and that “there was no intent to rush to make this decision before my term as interim

chancellor conclude and I returned to my position as provost and executive vice chancellor.”

“I would say it was a snaky move to try to pull something like that when it’s the end of the year and you know that COSAF is transitioning,” Nagey said.

“It’s a time where, if people were to find out, not a lot could happen.”

“As a student who spends hours going to these meetings, I felt unnecessary, powerless,” Nagey said. “What does this say about admin listening to students and not believing the students who pay the tuition? [The administration] is clearly not listening to the demands of students.”

Hexter, however, maintained that student input is taken seriously.

“I want to assure students that the administration does listen to the voices of students,” Hexter said in an email to The California Aggie. “Students are, however, bound to be frustrated if they expect recommendations to be taken as directives. I receive recommendations from many bodies across the university; I often agree, since those who offer advice think carefully about the matters before them, COSAF on 12

CAITLYN SAMPLEY / COURTESY

No new legislation introduced at April 19 Senate meeting SHEREEN LEE / AGGIE

Quit “egging it on” April 19 “Solo vehicle into building, cosmetic damage.”

April 20 “Subjects by the pool playing music loudly.”

“Subjects being loud in the hot tub.”

“Reporting party was also hit by truck twice. Then witness truck hit a parked vehicle, causing extensive damage. Driver stopped and started talking to vehicle owners but left abruptly. No victim at this time [...]”

“Spray paint over ‘No’ on the ‘No Parking’ signs in the area.”

April 21 “Four vehicles parked facing the wrong way in a no-parking zone — reporting party no longer in the area, unable to give vehicle information.”

“Several female subjects running around naked near Girl Scout cabin, urinating in the park — reporting party states there is a large party at the park. Concerned for children in the area.”

“Two subjects currently in physical fight and other subjects egging it on.”

April 22 “31-year-old got angry over video game console and started yelling at reporting party, she was concerned for her’s and her younger kids’ safety and left, requesting he be removed from apartment.”

UC DAVIS HEALTH CAMPUS ANNOUNCED AS SITE FOR AGGIE SQUARE CHRISTIE NEO / AGGIE FILE

Released assessment of other sites in consideration discuss demographic disparities project aims to address

BY SABRINA H ABCH I campus@theaggie.org

Senator Gaven Kaur called the ASUCD Senate meeting to order on Thursday, April 19 at 6:10 p.m. in absence of Vice President Shaniah Branson. Senator Danny Halawi and Senator Brandon Clemens were also absent.

The meeting began with by ASCUD President Michael Gofman nominating Meital Machulsky, a second-year international relations major, for the position of controller. The controller’s main function is to create a budget.

Machulsky said that she has a history of internships which have allowed her to gain financial experience, and that she currently oversees a group of interns.

“I interned last summer and I did a lot of financial assets,” Machulsky said. “I did a lot of data work and analysis. As part of my position right now, I started as an intern and am now managing a small group of interns. I focus on analysis of revenues and establishing the budget market space.”

Machulsky was confirmed as controller without objections.

The unit director for Entertainment Council, Liz O’Neill, was also confirmed shortly after. O’Neill, a third-year managerial economics and psychology double major, said she has been working with Entertainment Council since she was a freshman. When asked about her ideas, O’Neill said that she is looking to increase the significance of Lawntopia and bring new entertainment to UC Davis, like video games and dancing events.

“Next year we’re definitely looking to get

BY E LIZ AB E T H ME RCADO campus@theaggie.org

Chancellor Gary May and Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg held a news conference in Sacramento on April 12 to announce the UC Davis Health Center as the site for the project Aggie Square.

Aggie Square is a prospective extension of UC Davis as a campus for graduate, undergraduate students and faculty to live in, pursue research or secure internships. Partnerships with private or public companies are meant to introduce restaurants or retail into the square to create a learning-centered community.

The UC Davis Health Center, located in Sacramento, was one of four sites considered by a working group of representatives from UC Davis and the city.

Representing UC Davis were Vice Chancellor of Finance, Operations and Administration Kelly Ratliff; Associate Vice Chancellor of Campus Planning and Environmental Stewardship Robert Segar; Interim Vice Chancellor of the Office of Research Cameron Carter; Academic Senate Chair Rachael Goodhue; Academic Senate Vice Chair Kristin Lagattuta and Associative Chancellor and Chief of Staff to the Chancellor Karl Engelbach.

Lawntopia way bigger than we have before,” O’Neill said. “We’re looking to do more types of events and local events. We want more types of entertainment like video games and dancing events. We want to foster a stronger local scene in the community.”

O’Neill was confirmed as unit director for Entertainment Council without any objections.

The last confirmation that took place was the Elections Committee chair. Mahssa Rezuei, a second-year biological science major, was asked about promoting voter turnout and said that she thinks her committee should advertise to students from the very beginning once they arrive at orientation.

“One main thing is to promote elections from freshman orientation and getting them involved the very first day,” Rezuei said. “People who were in high school government would be interested.”

Rezuei was then confirmed without any objections.

According to Entertainment Council’s quarterly report, the rental revenue from equipment it owns is expected to add up to between $1,700 and $1,800, which is significantly above the original goal set for the council.

Other quarterly reports were then presented, including that of Student Transporvtation Services. The report stated that the unit’s fiscal goal was reached by the fourth week of Spring Quarter. The STS reported that a current project is hiring new drivers and promoting a few drivers to supervisors.

The Unitrans quarterly report announced new challenges, including a growing deficit.

Additionally, its reserves are predicted to be de-

pleted in two years. In order to combat these issues, Unitrans is looking into new revenue sources, like reduced fuel cost, fare increase and fleet advertising, as well as discontinuing some free services it previously offered, such as the V line.

The Senate also discussed ASUCD Senate Bill #57, which intends to create a restricted Picnic Day reserve for revenue that Picnic Day produces. The bill passed, although it was amended to allow only 50 percent of revenue to go into reserves, while the other 50 percent will go back into the association.

ASUCD Senate Bill #56, to allocate money to send a delegation to the UC Irvine Mental Health Conference, was passed without any objections after some amendments.

Senate Bill #55, which authorizes the vice president to administer the oath of office to ASUCD Senators, and Senate Bill #60, which allocates $2,556 from Senate reserves to cover lighting and sound expenses for Lawntopia, were also both passed.

There was also the introduction of emergency legislation, ASUCD Resolution #12, that was intended to show ASUCD’s recognition and condemnation of the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century. This resolution passed without objections.

No new legislation was introduced.

Public discussions occurred, during which Senator Ko Ser Htoo mentioned that UC Davis’ annual Whole Earth Festival is coming up in May and its theme this year is Bloom. Public announcements were also made, including a reminder about the ASUCD attendance policy, as three senators were absent from the meeting.

Other potential sites were the Railyards, recycled land projects in Sacramento, the Sacramento Center for Innovation and North Natomas.

The finalization of the site falls under the first phase of the planning of Aggie Square.

The first phase also involves looking for relationships between UC Davis and entities in Sacramento that can provide future funding.

“There is much planning to be done,” said UC Davis spokesperson Kimberly Hale. “The university and city will be looking at public-private partnerships, consultations with community, business and other leaders on the composition of Aggie Square.”

The next phase in planning is deciding what kind of academic programs will be available for students at the Square. These programs, according to Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Dana Topousis, will be decided based on recommendations by Davis faculty.

“Some students might choose to live there, as well, if they’re interested in having a more urban experience,” Topousis said. “Some people come to UC Davis and are glad that Sacramento is where it is. You can have that urban experience and so if they want to live in Sacramento, this is an option.”

Louis Stewart, chief innovation officer

within the mayor of Sacramento’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, explained the next steps for the planning of Aggie Square, which involves the acquisition of funds to develop academic programs and construction.

The two teams from Sacramento and UC Davis “will get back together” and “bring in a few other stakeholders to really start sussing out next steps,” Steward said.

“But the first step, really, is working with Assemblymember McCarty to support his efforts to get two million dollars to research what’s next,” Stewart said.

Also announced at the Sacramento news conference was the report from the working group researching potential sites. The report discussed positive characteristics for each site as well as points of interest within Sacramento demographics that a relationship with UC Davis would address.

The report referenced an assessment of Sacramento’s economy conducted in February by the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program that revealed “alarming trends.”

Sacramento ranks “84th of the 100 largest metros for inclusion, factoring in employment rate, median wage, and relative poverty rate,” AGGIE SQUARE on 12

THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018 | 3

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE KY LA RO UNDS / AGGI E

JA MIE CHEN / AG GIE

$100,000 of taxpayer money down the drain

Abandoned dogs found in Clarksburg Yolo County Sheriff’s Office looking to public for help in animal cruelty case

Yolo District Attorney’s Office accused of wasting paper, taxpayer money

BY AHASH F RA N CIS city@theaggie.org

On April 12, Dean Johansson, an attorney at the Yolo County Public Defender’s Office and a district attorney candidate for this election cycle, released a press statement regarding paper waste in the current district attorney’s office.

In the release, Johansson accused the current district attorney, Jeff Reisig, and his office of hypocrisy. Johansson asserted that, though the current district attorney’s office has claimed to have gone “paperless” as part of a commitment to ecological responsibility, Reisig’s office still profits off of printing, shipping and shredding reams of paper. Johansson went on to describe that, while millions of pages of data are transferred from law enforcement, government and medical agencies to the district attorney’s office online, the DA still prints these out in full and ships boxes of these documents to the public defender’s office, where they are scanned, shredded and disposed of, rather than sent digitally.

“I’m sick and tired of a system that is broken and doesn’t make sense and wastes so much unnecessarily,” Johansson said. “When you think about the cost, the hours taken by accounting, the labor, that is all unnecessary. They print out all this paper, put it in a box in front of their office. One of our secretaries goes over daily to pick up the discovery from that box, carries it over here, they scan it back into binary form and put it in our computer system and then take that paper. We’re talking reams. They shred those papers, and they’re picked up weekly by a shredding company.”

The district attorney’s office charges the public defender’s office 25 cents per sheet of paper, which Johansson claims has added up to over $97,000 in the last year alone. And this cost does not include all of the labor that is paid out to the shipping services and secretaries who scan

the boxes of paper.

According to the district attorney office’s website, “In 2010, Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig announced an ambitious plan to transform the District Attorney’s Office to a paperless environment within a year’s time [...] the District Attorney’s office successfully launched paperless prosecution of all new misdemeanor criminal cases in April of 2011 and completed the conversion of adult criminal cases to paperless by including all new felony criminal case filings in August of 2011.”

The Aggie reached out to the Yolo District Attorney’s office for comment regarding the paper shredding but received no response. The Aggie did get in touch with Californians Against Waste, an environmental advocacy organization based in Sacramento.

“It is wasteful for the environment and for taxpayers when any agency fails to provide the public and others with paperless pathways to public information,” said Mark Murray, the executive director of Californians Against Waste.

“In this instance, it would appear that the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office is violating their own policy and purposefully jerking around the public defender’s office.”

Johansson claimed that this paper waste issue is symptomatic of a larger problem regarding overcharging and waste in the Yolo County law enforcement and judicial system. Nearly three quarters of detainees and inmates in Yolo jails are awaiting trial because of bail amounts that are set too high, costing taxpayers $150 per day. And 41 percent of the current DA’s felony charges are acquitted or dismissed by a judge — more than twice the state average.

“Nearly $100,000 is wasted on paper between these two offices alone,” Johansson said.

“With our high incarceration rates and acquittal rates, you can imagine how much more we are losing.”

BY ST E LLA T RA N city@theaggie.org

The Yolo County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating an animal cruelty case concerning abandoned dogs in Clarksburg, Calif. The office is seeking public assistance, as it does not have any leads on who abandoned the dogs, one of which was an injured whiteand-tan pitbull who suffered from an unprofessional spaying.

Vicky Fletcher, the manager of Animal Services under the sheriff’s department, elaborated on how the situation panned out.

“Our officer that was on call or on duty that day received a call from a citizen that there was a dog laying by the side of the road,” Fletcher said. “There was another call that came in later after he got down there to discover that the dog has a huge incision on its midline. He determined that there was also a second dog that had been there since someone saw the two dogs together earlier before he got there. It turned out to be two dogs.”

Both abandoned dogs were pitbulls. Fortunately, the other dog did not have the same spaying injuries.

“One dog was fine — no injuries, normal weight, looked good,” Fletcher said. “The other dog had a what looked like a stitched-up incision on the center of her stomach, and she was pretty underweight. He took that dog immediately to UC Davis. We brought that dog back here the next day and it was UC Davis’s opinion, as well as our veterinary, that someone without much experience spayed the dog.”

Rob Warren, the communications and marketing officer for the UC Davis Veterinary Hospital, denied further comment about the case due to lack of permission from the clients.

While the perpetrator has not been identified yet, the sheriff department is working hard to elicit information from the public.

“We’ve asked the media and talked to neighbors around the area, but we really don’t have a lot of leads at this point,” Fletcher said. “The only thing we can

do is hope that the public sees these media posts and somebody will hopefully come forward.”

Even so, there are few traces to follow on the case so far.

“We have asked for the public help in this, but we have not had anybody come forward saying that they were aware of the dog had been in someone’s house or someone’s care,” Fletcher said. “We haven’t had any tips at all.”

Situations such as this have been a recurring problem. Authorities have picked up 16 abandoned dogs in this area within the past six months. Ten were pitbulls who had suffered injuries. Fletcher emphasized that the office is willing to help those who need help with the spaying to prevent such cases from happening again.

“The public can help by talking to friends if they have any knowledge about it,” Fletcher said. “If somebody needs to get a dog spayed — and they choose to do that and they need help — we’re more than happy to try to help people in that situation instead of having somebody try to do it that is not experienced.”

Even though the white-and-tan pitbull was rescued, she did not survive the surgery.

“Obviously, the animal suffered a great deal. She was severely infected, the sutures were not appropriate, the incision line was not appropriate,” Fletcher said. “Our vet was unable to clean up the suture line and actually repair her, so she had to be euthanized. We would much rather help somebody if they don’t know how or what to do, and if they have a dog that needs a spay, we would rather help than have them in that kind of situation.”

According to The Sacramento Bee, the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office mentioned how terrible the circumstances were in a news release.

“The condition of this dog was horrifying, and whoever performed the spay surgery did so in an unprofessional manner prior to this dog being dumped in Clarksburg,” the news release said.

For further information on affordable spaying ANIMAL CRUELTY on 12

Students involved in Multiculturalism in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences share experiences Individuals of different backgrounds find aid in organization dedicated to minorities’ professional growth

KATE LE E / CO URTESY

BY ALYSSA HA DA features@theaggie.org

Multiculturalism in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences, also known as MANRRS at UC Davis, is a nonprofit organization that promotes diversity in all majors, with a focus on agriculture. Weekly meetings double as a one-unit class that students can register for after attending a meeting.

The organization was initially created with the goal of offering a network to minority students of professionals

in the agricultural field. Its mission continues to be to promote the academic and professional advancement of its members and to empower minorities in various fields.

MANRRS provides opportunities for many students to prepare themselves for the post-college workplace.

Shannon Chee, a fourth-year computer science major, has been involved with MANRRS for the last four years and has found her experience with the organization to be extremely beneficial and fruitful.

“At MANRRS, we hear the success stories of others who started out just like us, we learn about and practice professionalism and we gain hands-on experience in leadership,” Chee said. “It’s an opportunity to learn, further our career dreams and gain exposure to the real world of business. We have weekly meetings where we have successful guest speakers from both industry and academia come in and tell us about the work they do, how it impacts the world, how they got started and give us advice as well as workshops that teach students how to write a resume and cover letter or negotiate salaries or the basics of Excel or other skills that you need to learn as a working professional. There’s an amazing network of mentors and recruiters, so it definitely helps with landing jobs and internships.”

Chee also noted that, while MANRRS is an oppor-

tunity for students to learn and develop, it also provides these professionals from a minority background with an opportunity to get involved with a community of similar roots.

“For working professionals, it’s a chance to give back and to shape the hearts and minds of the next generation of agricultural leaders,” Chee said. “It’s an opportunity to change the world one student at a time.”

Nationally, the goals of the organization are tailored toward individuals hoping to enter an agricultural field.

As such, the organization holds events and conferences to bring together students and professionals in those industries. Kate Lee, a fourth-year animal biology major, recalled her experience in the organization and how it has helped her break into her intended career path.

“Through MANRRS, I was able to meet so many professionals that are in animal-related fields, and they’re doing things that I didn’t even know existed as a career,” Lee said. “It’s really amazing because, when we do go to these networking events, [these professionals] genuinely want to help you. They will go out of their way to do whatever it takes to help you, and that’s so encouraging.”

The organization offers many platforms for students MANRRS on 12

Clinical Psychology

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4 | THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

TAYLOR LAPOINT / AGGIE

Picnic Day 2018 Event featured parades, science shows, animals

BY CLA RA Z HAO campus@theaggie.org

Picnic Day 2018 once again drew large crowds and great excitement with a wide range of activities from cow milking to parades and science shows.

The Band-uh! kicked off the parade with its lively music and marching. Floats and processions from more than 80 different organizations in the school and the community followed.

Among the notable processions were the Animal Horse Barn, which featured individuals riding hors-

es, while the Entomology Club showed off a giant replica of a black spider. The International House sent flags from dozens of countries, and KDVS featured a live band performing on its float. And, of course, one float featured a giant cow head.

There were also plenty of events hosted all over the campus.

The Department of Entomology and Nematology offered a variety of insect-related activities in Briggs Hall. Visitors had the opportunity to taste an assortment of honey and create “maggot art” by having maggots dipped in paint crawl around their

paper.

“I really like when the Entomology Department puts on events like this, because normally I don’t like insects, but this gives me a different insight into the insects without being afraid,” said third-year biochemistry and molecular biology major Jordan Keys.

Meanwhile, Hutchinson Field hosted booths from various animal rescue and adoption centers where visitors could view and interact with all sorts of animals, including kittens, doves and parrots.

At the center of the field was a frisbee dog competition hosted by the Canine Medicine Club at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Some of the competing canines were elderly or had disabilities, but this didn’t stop them from leaping into the air and catching their frisbees.

“We weren’t expecting it, but the dog show was awesome,” said fourth-year mechanical engineering major Michael Lyons.

Among the many highlights of Picnic Day, the science shows are always popular with students, and this year was no exception.

The Material Advantage Student Chapter hosted a Harry Potter-themed magic show centered on a

muggle who used his knowledge of science to perform feats that resembled magic, such as standing on a wine glass, moving books with magnets and popping balloons with lasers. The Chemistry Show also drew large audiences, with a series of exciting experiments involving fireballs, explosions and liquid nitrogen.

“I thought it [the Chemistry Show] was really cool and interesting to watch, and it also shows how chemistry does not always go as planned,” said second-year aerospace and mechanical engineering major Christine Anderson.

As the day stretched into late afternoon and most of the events came to a close, the Battle of the Bands was still going strong.

Bands from all across California competed against the Band-uh! to be the last school standing without repeating any songs.

“I love seeing the bands from different campuses,” said third-year biomedical engineering major and Band-uh! Member Jotera Conway. “Even though it’s a competition, I still get the feeling that they like music and I like music too, and it’s all really friendly competition.”

JULI PEREZ / AGGIE

Expanding worldviews, one summer at a time A look at new study abroad programs, process of starting them UC DAVIS STUDY ABRAOD / COURTESY

BY MA RLYS JE A N E features@theaggie.org

Bhutan is said to be the happiest country in the world.

Beginning this summer, students at UC Davis will have the opportunity to experience this place for themselves through a four-week study abroad program entitled Bhutan: Introduction to Geographic Information Systems.

“There’s a concept called Gross National Happiness [...which] instead of measuring success on gross national product by how much economically you’re producing, Gross National Happiness is looking at a whole series of pillars on happiness including environmental well-being, psychological well-being, all those kinds of things including economic, education, all these different things,” said Karen Beardsley, the instructor of the Bhutan program and director of professional programs for Global Affairs. “It’s called GNH and you hear it everywhere and it’s taken very seriously. The Bhutanese are very proud of GNH.” The program, Bhutan: Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, is an abroad substitute for Landscape Architecture 150: Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, a four-unit course coupled with a 198 special study course for four units of pass/no pass credit. “[Bhutan] is a very special place,” Beardsley said.

“There’s so much to see and do there and experience, so we’re going to break it down into a couple of long days in the computer lab, including lectures and labs, and then we’ll take a few days of field trips, visiting cultural sites and environmentally significant sites, even using geospatial technology to collect data in the field.”

In addition to the class and field trip components, Beardsley will ask her students to keep track of their time in Bhutan through individual and group journaling and story-mapping.

“Because it’s a mapping class, I’m hoping to also have the students do some keeping track of their time in Bhutan through journaling but also story-mapping, which is a way of using maps to follow along,” Beardsley said. “You can have information about where you went, collect data about different places, and have some text and photos and such associated with that. Then some of that we hope to bring back and share here in the International Center.”

The college that UC Davis students will be located abroad at, Royal Thimphu College, is located about seven miles from the center of Bhutan’s capital city of Thimphu.

Beardsley noted that the country is not very populated; Thimphu itself only has a population of about 150,000, which is roughly twice the size of Davis.

“There are no stop lights in the entire country,” Beardsley said. “There is one intersection where they have what’s called ‘the dancing policeman’ at a little roundabout who directs traffic. At one point in time they put in a traffic light and everyone complained and didn’t want it so they took it back out again. [Also] the people are about almost 100% Buddhist, so there’s Buddhist temples. Basically everyone during the day wears traditional Bhutanese dress.”

Tourism is very highly regulated in the country and can be expensive, so being a study abroad student there is a unique opportunity. Students even have the chance to be part of a mentor program.

“For every three or four UC Davis students, there will be a Bhutanese student who will be there to really be their liaison, to show them around, to take them to town, to be their person who can help, and also teach them a little bit of [the native language] Dzongkha,” Beardsley said.

The idea for this program came about after Beardsley experienced Bhutan as a Fulbright professor. Between the summers of 2015 and 2016, Beardsley lived and taught in Bhutan on this teaching fellowship and helped set up the GIS lab at the Royal Thimphu College.

“While I was there and I noticed all these other exchange programs that they had,” Beardsley said. “I thought, ‘what a wonderful experience for a student to come to Bhutan and have this international experience.’ It’s just such an interesting culture, a safe place, there’s just so much about it that made me think ‘oh if I were a student I would really want to come here.’”

However, it wasn’t a quick process for Beardsley to get this program up and running. Although she originally wanted to run it in the summer of 2017, all the loose ends

were not tied up until this year because UC Davis Study Abroad requires a specific application process of faculty and program-leaders.

“The concept is that a faculty member takes a program that they teach on campus, or a class that they teach on campus and just teach it abroad with amazing field trips,” said Jennifer Moylan, a program coordinator and advisor for UC Davis Study Abroad. “All summer abroad programs are built around eight units of one core course like the LDA 150 and then a 198, which is four units of pass/ no pass. So because we’re drawing from our faculty, different people come with all kinds of different knowledge.”

Study Abroad offers the opportunity to create new programs when they release a call for proposals each winter.

Sometimes the solicitation may be looking for a few specific traits in a program, but it is always open to fun and unique ideas. This year, UC Davis Study Abroad held two information sessions for faculty to come and ask questions that would help them create a stronger and more thorough proposal.

In the early stages of this process, when the initial proposals are submitted, the program committee looks them over and provides feedback. When this is done, Aliki Dragona, who is the faculty director of faculty-led programs, writes up an executive summary and gives it to Joanna Regulska, the vice provost and associate chancellor of Global Affairs, to get her feedback as well.

“We say on the proposal call that we will respond to our faculty proposals by a certain date (in 2018, it is May first) and then if a proposal is accepted for development, we work with that faculty to build their program,” Dragona said in an email. ”Sometimes faculty have figured out everything in their proposal: their partner, the dorms, whatnot. But sometimes faculty might need a little help, in which case we say ‘if you need a little bit of help with France, let us connect you with Jennie, who is our France specialist’ and that’s how we help our faculty move forward from the proposal phase to actual program development.”

“Each faculty member [whose proposal is greenlighted] gets paired with a program coordinator,” Moylan said. “I coordinate right now about ten programs, so I’m working with a faculty member to deeply understand how their course is going to work abroad, what they need for success, what the place they’re going to has for resources and how we need to shore it up.”

For Melissa Bender, a continuing lecturer in the University Writing Program and the assistant director for writing across the curriculum, the process from beginning to end for her new study abroad program took nearly three years.

Beyond getting everything figured out for the program, there’s the added work of having to advertise for the new program so students know about it and will enroll. Bender’s program, Iconic American Landmarks in NYC and Washington, D.C., has about 10 people currently signed up for this summer’s first trip.

“After it gets approved you start promoting the class the fall before it’s going to run,” Bender said. “Especially for a new course, you have to do a lot of going around and talking to students about what the course is. I did a lot of class visits.”

The program will take its students to Washington, D.C. where the group will tour famous landmarks and monuments like those at the Washington Mall, as well as New York City, where students will visit places like the Statue of Liberty and the 9/11 Memorial.

“This class will be studying the buildings, structures, public spaces that we associate with those two cities, through a rhetorical framework,” Bender said. “The question that will be driving the class is ‘how do these landmarks of these two cities have an impact in how we understand what the United States is as a nation?’”

Although she couldn’t foresee what would take place at the initial conception of this program a couple years ago, Bender believes that now is a great time to run a program like this due to the events in Charlottesville last summer around the removal of Confederate monuments.

“I’m really excited about the class and think that the timing turned out to be really good in terms of that,” Bender said. “I think it’s a really important time in our nation to be ABROAD on 12

Experiencing spring allergies? Regional agriculture may be to blame Davis is a particularly problematic region for those with seasonal allergies, hay fever

BY ALLY R USSELL campus@theaggie.org

Gesundheit! Spring Quarter is in full swing and the orchestra of sneezes and sniffles resonates with UC Davis students and faculty alike. With campus centrally located in a dense agricultural area, the climate can prove problematic for those with seasonal allergies and can have a significant impact on their daily lives.

“I have allergies year-round, but they definitely get worse when spring rolls around,” said Teagan Ferdinandsen, a thirdyear civil and environmental engineering major. “I sneeze all day long. I wake up in the mornings with a really sore throat from post-nasal drip, so I Neti Pot twice a day and I take Zyrtec every day and Flonase because it’s the only thing that really helps.”

Seasonal allergies, otherwise known as hay fever, are primarily caused by the release of pollens into the atmosphere by certain trees, grasses and various plants.

“Normally, people breathe in these substances, such as pollen, without a problem,” said Dr. Cindy Schorzman, the medical director of the UC Davis Student Health and Counseling Services. “When a person has seasonal allergies, his or her immune system acts as if the substance is harmful to the body, and that causes symptoms. When someone who is allergic breathes in pollen, for example, the immune system mistakenly sees this pollen as dangerous and releases antibodies that attack the allergens. Part of this antibody response causes the release of histamines into the bloodstream. It is these histamines that trigger the runny nose and other symptoms associated with allergies.”

The severity of one’s allergy symptoms depend on the amount of exposure to particular triggers, such as pollen count, amount of time spent outdoors, wind speed and wind direction. Plants pollinate yearround, though spring allergies are particularly nasty for those sensitive to tree pollens.

“Davis tends to be a problematic area to live in for a lot of people with allergies and a big contributor to that is the agriculture and the prevalence of the plants that produce allergens such as pollen,” Schorzman said.

“Tree pollen in particular tends to be high in the spring, it’s not just pollen that people are reacting to, but certainly that is a big contributor.”

According to pollen.com, a trusted allergy tracking and information website recommended by Schorzman, trees such as elm, pine, birch, ash, hickory, poplar and cypress pollinate between January and April.

“Pollen can travel quite far by wind, so it doesn’t tend to be incredibly localized,” Schorzman said. “Wind plays a big factor.

It’s a combination of wind, temperature, how recently it has rained and a big part of it is what is blooming.”

According to a study done by the Environ Health Perspect, across the country there has been an increase in the number of people experiencing allergies and in the breadth of allergy triggers. This study outlines that climate change and the increased amount of CO2 in the air is to blame, causing plants to grow at increased rates, thus producing more pollen.

“I’m from Fresno, which has horrible air quality. Davis is actually an improvement,” Ferdinandsen said. “Fresno has some of the worst air quality in the United States. Living there is like being a smoker.”

Ferdinandsen is not alone. Soha Said, a third year human development major, also experiences severe seasonal allergies.

“I found out I was extremely allergic to every type of grass, two types of trees, two types of weeds,” Said said. “So I’m really allergic to a lot of things, especially here in Davis because of the pollen. I lived in the Bay Area growing up, and it was never this bad.”

Coastal areas generally tend to have lower pollen counts as a result of ocean breezes.

“There was a long period of time during my freshman year where I would get a sinus infection every month,” Said said. “I would be put on a Z-Pak, or Zithromax, every month. And it got to the point where I had to start getting allergy shots.”

Allergy shots, or immunotherapy, can serve as long-term solutions for severe cases of seasonal allergies. This process of injecting allergens under the skin is called desensitization.

“What they do with allergy shots is you go through allergy testing, often a skin test but sometimes they will do a blood test, and they will test common allergens and see what exactly an individual is reacting to,” Schorzman said. “Once they know what that individual person’s main allergens are, then they will make a shot containing very small doses of what they are allergic to.”

Desensitization is an individualized process specific to one’s triggers. Allergy shots relieve symptoms by stimulating the immune system and building a tolerance to particular allergens.

“Then those doses will gradually increase over time and the idea behind that is to alter that person’s antibody response so that they aren’t reacting so strongly to those allergens,” Schorzman said.

There are several recommended home remedies and proactive measures that can be taken to alleviate symptoms.

“The main things we recommend in terms of home remedies are allergy reduction and avoidance,” Schorzman said. “Closing the windows on high pollen days and running the AC, when you come in from working or being outside removing clothes that have been exposed, showering and washing your hair, all of those can aid in allergy exposure reduction.”

Symptoms range from sneezing and itchy eyes to the more severe swelling and restricted airways experienced by Said and Ferdinandsen. All allergy-afflicted students can find relief at the Student Health and Wellness Center.

“All of our primary care providers see seasonal allergies often, especially in the spring, so [they] are comfortable with helping students with the initial prescription of medications,” Schorzman said.

Even if someone hasn’t experienced seasonal allergies prior to attending UC Davis, due to the high pollen count in this rich agricultural area, one might find themselves at the door of the Student Health and Wellness Center, begging for relief.

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Behind lifetime fitness is a doctor who keeps you moving.

Daniel Parker, MD knows sports medicine. He’s worked with teams from UC Davis athletics to the Sacramento Republic. He believes “exercise is medicine” and works to keep his patients in motion no matter what stage of life they are in.

In addition to treating everyday injuries and musculoskeletal conditions, he performs advanced procedures such as ultrasound guided therapy and platelet rich plasma treatment to help speed the healing process. If you’re looking for a new partner in lifetime fitness, trust Dr. Parker to keep you at the top of your game.

To learn more visit dhmf.org/woodland/sportsmedicine, or to schedule an appointment, call 530-668-2600.

Dignity Health Medical Foundation—Woodland 632 W. Gibson Rd., Woodland Dignity Health Medical Foundation—Davis 2330 W. Covell Blvd., Davis

THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018 | 5

6 | THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Opinion editorial board

the California Aggie EDITORIAL BOARD

Fight to increase wages, end discrimination

BRYAN SYKES Editor-in-Chief EMILY STACK Managing Editor HANNAH HOLZER Campus News Editor

53,000 UC workers to participate in three-day strike

KAELYN TUERMER-LEE City News Editor TARYN DEOILERS Opinion Editor GILLIAN ALLEN Features Editor ALLY OVERBAY Arts & Culture Editor VERONICA VARGO Sports Editor HARNOOR GILL Science & Tech Editor

CHIARA ALVES New Media Manager BRIAN LANDRY Photo Director CHRISTIE NEO Design Director AMY YE Layout Director MAXINE MULVEY Copy Chief OLIVIA ROCKEMAN Copy Chief JAYASHRI PADMANABHAN Website Manager ALEX GUZMÁN Social Media Manager CARAJOY KLEINROCK Newsletter Manager

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees has announced its plans to go on strike from 4 a.m. on May 7 to 4 a.m. on May 10 at all University of California campuses and some hospitals.

A combined 53,000 employees are estimated to participate in the strike. Two additional unions, University Professional & Technical Employees and the California Nurses Association, plan to support the objectives of AFSCME through a sympathy strike during a portion of the three days.

After years of negotiations between the unions and the university, AFSCME-represented employees voted with 97 percent approval to carry out a systemwide strike. The plans to strike come after recent research commissioned by AFSCME exposed that women and people of color working at the UC have been receiving unequal pay compared to their male and white counterparts, respectively.

The research also revealed increasing racial and gender disparities in the UC workforce.

By going on strike, AFSCME aims to increase its employees’ wages and raise awareness surrounding the concerns addressed in the report. A noteworthy concern includes the widening income gap between the UC’s highest-paid workers, which

include a higher proportion of white people and men, and the lowest-paid workers, consisting largely of people of color and women.

Strikes of this scale rarely occur on our campus, and it’s important not to underestimate the impact that this event will have on university operations.

AFSCME represents the grievances of over 25,000 low-wage UC employees whose jobs are essential to the daily operations of the UC system. More than 4,000 of these employees work at UC Davis.

From assisting nurses at the Student Health and Wellness Center to simply unlocking the classroom doors each morning, these patient-care and service workers are integral to the everyday function of and experience at UC Davis.

The Editorial Board supports the security guards, groundskeepers, custodians, counselors, nursing aids and all other service and health care employees the strike represents. These individuals set the groundwork, provide imperative mental health services and help keep our campus beautiful every day.

As a leader in higher education and proponent of diversity in the student body, the UC has a responsibility to be a leader in equal treatment — and payment — of its employees.

LAURIE PEDERSON Business Development Manager

U.S. assistance may not always be perceived as assistance THE IRAQ WAR CASTS A SHADOW OVER FUTURE U.S. INTERVENTION IN THE MIDDLE EAST

BY H A N A D I JO R DA N hajordan@ucdavis.edu

After 9/11, the U.S. was more unpopular in the Middle East than in any other part of the world. While this is largely no longer true today, it doesn’t necessarily imply that U.S.-Middle Eastern relations have developed smoothly, as with Iran and the U.S. Tensions, however, are not entirely without justification, as the U.S. has a decades-long history of involvement in the Middle East. From Lebanon to Baghdad, the U.S. hasn’t entirely learned its lesson when it comes to the consequences of intervention — which are devastating and long-term.

The U.S. invaded Iraq as an immediate response to the attacks on September 11th, with the intent of deposing a violent dictator, Saddam Hussein. The goal was to seize his alleged stocks of weapons of mass destruction while simultaneously affording the nation a democratic government. Rather than a successful democracy, the result of the Iraq War was an outrageous death toll of Iraqi citizens, a prevalence of militias and an unsettled population numbering in the thousands. Devastation, as is the usual outcome of war, did not exclude Iraq. Iraq had no role in 9/11 yet was forced to pay a heavy price for an attack in which its people had no involvement.

Addressing accusations of hypocrisy only furthers the controversy over U.S. intervention.

The U.S. assisted Hussein in seizing power in 1963. In the ‘80s, the U.S. backed Hussein in the Iran-Iraq war, supplying arms, money, satellite intelligence and chemical and bio-weaponry.

He is not the first dictator whom the U.S. has propped up. What, then, affords the U.S. government the right to delegate who leads and who falls? Many wonder whether these interests were backed by the patriotic love of democracy or an economic dependence on oil. Much of the War on Terror is perceived by Middle Easterners as the latter. But regardless of intent, the result of U.S. intervention was catastrophic.

What, then, are Iraqis to think about a nation that punished them for an act of terror that they didn’t commit, whose cache of weapons and spent, depleted uranium bullets ended up in the hands of ISIS, a terrorist group that would later be known as the world’s most dangerous? It’s not unreasonable then that U.S.-Middle East relations would be riddled with tension. After all, Iraq is not the only country that has suffered the consequence of U.S. assistance. But what has the U.S. learned from years of unsuccessful intervention? Apparently, very little.

More recently, chemical attacks conducted under Bashar al-Assad’s regime against Syr-

ian civilians warranted international outcry. As such, the U.S., UK and France responded with airstrikes intended to take out a sizable figure of Assad’s weapons supply while also deterring further use of inhumane military practices. Reports following the attacks labeled the mission a “success,” while other officials stated that the strike would delay Syria’s development of chemical weapons by years. These measures in no way successfully destroyed the entirety of the government’s chemical weapons supply, nor will it deter further use of military violence — this incident was played out similarly about a year ago. U.S. reports also failed to note the number of civilian casualties, while some Syrians claim four people died. Damascus, a city of 1.7 million, was attacked at night, without warning.

Now imagine if this occurred on U.S. soil.

Would that not instigate another version of the Iraq War? The answer to this may be that the U.S. air strikes were committed in response to the atrocities of this Middle Eastern government. But was that not also their justification for the Iraq War — which, as we now know, was an utter failure?

Air strikes are a signature battle strategy in overseas war, and they usually guarantee casualties. Part of the post-airstrike reports reveal that the result is the death of civilians ranging from

lesser numbers to the near-hundreds, amounting to a total that’s still growing. While a civilian life in exchange for that of a terrorist might be an easy trade-off for U.S. officials, it isn’t for those who must mourn a daughter, mother, wife or other loved ones.

The U.S. hasn’t fought a war on American soil since the Civil War, so when we engage in war today, it isn’t necessarily of much conseN SAMP LEY abroad / AGpay quence forCAI thoseTLY at home.

But those GI E a heavy price for U.S military presence. When we intervene, it may give some a sense of satisfaction — that we’re doing enough to help others — but we fail to recognize that much of our assistance is unwanted. Intervention can and has rendered whole cities devastated. But this is not a reality that Americans have had to live with; it’s one that Iraqi citizens had to address and solve.

After decades of interference in the Middle East, it’s abundantly clear that U.S. foothold in the region fails to assist anyone but rather brews Middle Eastern hatred for the U.S., perpetuating the cycle of violence, terror and death. If history has taught us anything, it’s that colonialism, imperialism and unjustified intervention, such as the Lebanese Civil War and the propping up of dictators, serve only those intervening. If the U.S. objective is peace in the Middle East, then we must find a different strategy.

Exploiting private users’ information for opposition research

Private data harvesting unlikely to stop after Cambridge Analytica PRIVATE DATA HARVESTING UNLIKELY TO STOP AFTERscandal CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA SCANDAL

BY REBECCA BIHN-WALLACE rlbihnwallace@ucdavis.edu

In the wake of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s congressional testimony, many people have come to the conclusion that political campaigns will never be quite the same. The scandal of Cambridge Analytica and the ensuing revelations about privacy breaches among unsuspecting social media users has raised questions about how far campaigns should be permitted to go when conducting opposition research. In a time of deepening polarization, it’s unsurprising that political movements should pursue increasingly aggressive tactics in order to win the approval of the electorate.

The efficacy of this belligerent approach came to light during President Donald Trump’s campaign.

The campaign’s choice to contract a third-party firm like the conservative-leaning Cambridge Ana-

lytica is a testament to the fact that the rules of political competition are being reassessed through the broadening lens of the internet. Neither the Trump or Clinton campaigns were particularly concerned with the ethics of such fierce opposition research, perhaps because the egotism of both parties often overcame any sense of moral duty that either of them had.

Cambridge Analytica arose at a time when the Western world was at its most ethically vulnerable, when collective anxiety about income inequality, unemployment and political correctness was at its zenith. Perhaps due to a growing feeling of alienation among primarily older and lower-income voters, populist movements began to flourish in both the U.K and the U.S. while former President Barack Obama was in his second term. Firms like Cambridge Analytica recognized that this changing zeitgeist would be beneficial to them. The firm

was more than happy to exploit this unease since it meant furthering the often discriminatory polemic outlined in the Brexit and Trump campaigns. Social media simply turned out to be the easiest way to do this.

While it’s unlikely that either of the controversial campaigns anticipated the extent to which the company would be invading people’s privacy, it’s telling that Cambridge Analytica understood that social media was the most effective means of profiling potential voters. Given how public personal data actually is, it’s unlikely that the tactic of online voter profiling via Facebook will actually stop. Cambridge Analytica is being held up as an example of opposition research gone wrong, but we should also be concerned about the potential for other third-party actors exploiting social media users’ political vulnerability. We must not only consider questions about personal privacy but also

about whether we want our online data to be fodder for some of the most incendiary populist movements in recent history.

If any means of opposition research is deemed acceptable, ordinary people will become especially vulnerable to the political polarization present in the American electorate today. It’s all too easy to become an unwilling victim of the new amorality pervading campaign tactics, to accept unquestioningly the idea that our privacy is being invaded for possibly ulterior purposes. The Cambridge Analytica scandal has brought to light not only the vulnerability of voter constituencies — some of whom, evidently, have been the innocent victims of data harvesting — but also a fundamental shift in the way people view campaigning. It has become acceptable now to obtain private information on the grounds of political necessity. Perhaps most disturbing, any means of doing so is up for grabs.

THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018 | 7

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

HUMOR

Cool story, Dutch Bros. Can I have my coffee now?

I CAME FOR A LATTE BUT LEFT WITH THREE NEW BFFS

BY J ESS D RI V ER jmdriver@ucdavis.edu

How did I go for a cup of coffee and end up with three new BFFs? After a long day of Week 4 lectures, I decided to stop by Dutch Bros for a little pick-me-up. But what began as a 10-minute errand quickly turned into a many-more-minutes nightmare.

While I waited in the drive-thru line at Dutch Bros, an employee suddenly materialized outside of my car window, scaring the bejesus out of me.

I could only guess that she crawled out from un-

derneath my idling car.

“Suh, girl! Welcome to Dutch Bros! What can I get you? How about a Big Gulp-sized javarooni?

What kinda brewski you like? Into a little black juice? Okie dokie, one 32-ounce Unicorn Blood Frost with extra whip cream and confetti sprinkles for you, sis,” she said, staring into my soul.

After “taking my order,” she handed me a pad, which asked me if I wanted to leave a tip. The answer selections were “Yes” and “I hate puppies.” I told her that I couldn’t possibly make that choice.

“Let me help you with that, sis” she said. “Alright, you just paid $24.50. Do you want to hear

the joke of the day?” After I told her no, she proceeded: “How am I like a cup of coffee?” Silence. “I’m hot and cool. Wanna hear yesterday’s joke of the day?” But I didn’t hear her, because I proceeded to drive to the drive-thru window, where baristas gyrated to ‘90s country music and made faces as they prepared coffee.

“Is that a Hanson shirt?” asked the drive-thru barista, pointing to my Houston T-shirt. “I love Hanson. What’s your favorite Hanson song? My favorite Hanson song is ‘Mmmbop.’ ‘Mmmbop, ba duba dop.’ What’s your blood type? Do you

Cat Nap

Treat Yo'self

BY DI A N A OL I VAR E S deolivaresvalencia@ucdavis.edu

BY ARIEL HI LOMEN abhilomen@ucdavis.edu

want to share my sucker?” she said, inserting her lollipop-clutching hand into my car.

I managed to pry my coffee from her other hand and leave before she could touch her sucker to my face.

“Wanna see my new dermal piercing?” she shouted as I drove away. “Where do you live?”

“I had 17 shots of espresso. I’M WOKE!” said one barista, standing uncomfortably close to the drive-thru exit. “I have hiccups in my heart.” In my rearview mirror I could see the baristas walking after my car with their arms extended. They clawed at my back window, growling.

DISC L A I M ER: Th e vi ews a n d op in i o ns ex p re ss e d by i nd i vidu al colu mn ists be lon g to th e colu mn ists alon e and do no t necessari l y i ndi cate the vi ews and o pi ni o ns hel d by The Cal i for n ia Ag g ie. Le t te rs to t he e d i to r can be addre ss e d to opin ion @ th e aggie.org.

ISSUE DESIGNED BY AMY YE | CHRISTIE NEO | CINDY CHEUNG |JONATHAN CHEN | PATTIE CHEN | SHEREEN NIKZAD | LILY LEAVESSEUR | GENESIA TING

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SCIENCE+TECH ADELINE VAN WANING / COURTESY

Paying attention to long-term meditation UC Davis study shows the long-term benefits of meditation training on sustained attention, age-related cognitive decline

BY KIR A BURN ET T science@theaggie.org

No matter how hard one concentrates, staring at one point for a long period of time is difficult. Your eyes will flicker to the side or shift perspective ever so slightly. You might not even notice. Eventually, you lose focus. Humans in general have trouble with sustained attention. While some people are better at it than others, their attentiveness will begin to falter after about five to seven minutes. It’s a difficult task and may be more so in people affected by age-related cognitive decline.

“Cognitive decline is a pretty expected pattern that occurs in healthy older adults as they age,” said Anthony Zanesco, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Psychology at the University of Miami, in an email interview. “Deficits across a number of different cognitive domains have been seen in healthy adults as they get older. Some of the research on meditation practice suggests that certain practices can be used as a form of mental training that might be able to improve aspects of attention and cognition.”

Meditation has long been known to help improve attention and emotional health through practice. The Shamatha Project, led by Clifford Saron, a professor and neuroscientist at UC Davis’ Center for Mind and Brain, studies the mental and physical effects of meditation. Saron, Zanesco and their colleagues recently published the results of a follow-up study done after an experimental meditation retreat through the Shamatha Project. Two groups of about 30 people, all with previous meditation experience, practiced mindfulness and contemplative meditation under the guidance of a teacher for three months each. The study focused on how well the retreat participants retained the attentional benefits they gained over the months and

years following the event. It appears that any sustained benefit depended on how much participants continued to meditate afterward.

“Our findings seem to suggest that the attentional benefits of a meditation practice depend on continued practice, but such benefits likely will plateau without more and more intense and rigorous training,” Zanesco said. ”Like strength training or physical exercise, you might have to put in more and more hours in the gym to see gains from where you were previously — especially if you are experienced already.”

The participants overall had better perceptual discrimination, accuracy and reaction time variability during and at the end of the retreat than at the beginning. Accuracy was also maintained for at least four years afterwards, while improvements in reaction time variability were lost over the follow-ups, which were done periodically at six months, one and a half years and seven years after the initial study.

However, those who continued meditating maintained more of their improvement. These gains also appeared to moderate age-related declines in reaction time variability, altering the expected trajectory.

The project not only focuses on attention but also on emotional and physical differences resulting from intensive meditation practice.

The scientists collected different kinds of data, from emotional response to bloodwork. The wide variety in age of the participants was useful for a longitudinal age-related survey, so they focused on that information for the purposes of this study. However, the original experiment had a wide focus, partly due to the inherent difficulty of analyzing a spiritual, deeply formative experience like intense meditation.

“There are many different limitations,” said Quinn Conklin, a doctoral student in psychology working with Saron at UC Davis.

“Some of those are methodological, in terms of the tools we have to measure certain phenomena or processes. Others are conceptual, others are ethical, some are just practical or logistical — you can’t randomize people to be in a meditation condition or not or blind them to the condition that they’re in because it’s generally a practice that they have to engage in and know that they’re engaging in. One of the scientific gold standards that you usually aim for is having a randomized blinded study, which just isn’t very realistic for this type of work.”

It may be difficult, perhaps impossible, to scientifically define what happens during a meditative state, but observing how experiences at the retreat continue to affect participants after they leave helps determine how deeply they were influenced and how they continue to be in the context of daily life. Meditation has been found to be helpful for dealing with various conditions in a medical context, powerful in a spiritual context and unique in allowing people to experience themselves in a different way. The retreat in the study, though intended to be scientifically informative, was the same.

“In the Shamatha project, ever, ever more fine, focused attention was an explicit goal of the three-month retreat that our participants did, but it was embedded in a larger context,” Saron said. “One that included training in loving kindness: wishing for yourself and others to be happy and achieve the conditions of happiness; compassion: wishing for yourself and others to be free from suffering; sympathetic joy: feeling the reality of goodness in other people’s lives and equanimity: understanding that everyone, no matter how close or far from you, is deserving of these first two, loving kindness and compassion.”

PLASMA at UC Davis celebrates its first year with Demo Day Entrepreneurship program culminated its 12-week program with event for companies, investors

BY R AC HE L PAUL science@theaggie.org

Curing breast cancer, keeping Unitrans buses clean and coaching athletes online — all of these services have a few things in common.

Namely, they are startups created by UC Davis alumni and are supported by PLASMA. PLASMA at UC Davis is a new accelerated program for entrepreneurs. Accelerator programs are used by startups to get ahead in the world of business and receive advice from mentors.

As an undergraduate at UC Davis, Mathew Magno and a team of students created a business called Japa in order to manage parking lots better. For certain parking lots, such as some here at UC Davis, the accompanying Japa app shows drivers where open spots are.

“There was an old accelerator program here called the ASUCD Entrepreneurship,” said Magno, a PLASMA founder. “Right after Japa got started, we were like ok, let’s join this accelerator program because it’s supposed to accelerate you and, you know, [be] business ready. And we tried it and it was horrible.”

Since Magno didn’t like the accelerator program at UC Davis, his company applied and went through an online one called Y Combinator. Magno said that the program was an amazing experience and he was inspired to start one at UC Davis that would be better.

“PLASMA stands for prototyping labs and startup mentorship accelerator,” Magno said. “So what we do is we take people with companies or ideas or startups and we mentor them for 12 weeks. Every week we bring in a mentor from the industry, whether it’s a CEO that’s launched a couple companies, or a venture capitalist or you know, we have lawyers and patent attorneys come in. And we guide them every week to keep them progressing with their company.”

To apply to PLASMA, companies have to go through a rigorous process. Judges review all applications and send a selected 15 applications to board members. These are limited down to only 10 companies. Any idea in any stage of development is welcome to apply. The accepted companies are given seed money in addition to access to mentors from the field.

“It’s a balance,” said Angelika Joseph, a PLASMA board member.

“It’s a big problem for venture portfolios because there’s a lot where you understand that most of the startups you invest in probably won’t make it to the Facebook level where they’re more than a billion dollars, very few do.”

Magno, Ravi Chopra and Liz Tang are the founders of PLASMA. Chopra credited the success of the program to Tang, a faculty member of UC Davis. Tang teaches classes on the topic of entrepreneurship and Chopra believes she is the reason the PLASMA will continue to be successful in the future.

UC PLASMA TEAM / COURTESY

“I see big things for PLASMA,” Magno said. “I see it becoming so big that it’s going to bring a community of entrepreneurs to Davis and build and grow that community...I feel like PLASMA is going to help that and motivate people to actually start their ideas and build a company and build great products that, you know, will help innovate and change the world.”

PLASMA accepts applications from any company, no matter what their focus may be. The mentoring lasts for 12 weeks and at the end of that, there is an event called Demo Day. This year, Demo Day was on April 28 and the companies that went through the PLASMA program gave three-minute pitches to investors and judges. Judges awarded the startups a number of monetary prizes.

This year, Demo Day saw more than $10,000 awarded to companies started by UC Davis alumni. $5,000 was given to JB Solutions for ideas on collecting data on groundwater systems. An app for Chinese international students, called Xiaocun, received $3,000. The innovation that helps keep Unitrans clean was created by Whitecell Technologies. It won $2,000 for an antimicrobial handle, which prevents germs from spreading on public transportation.

The other companies that were a part of PLASMA can keep their seed money and still gained the experience of talking to professionals in business. Others who did not get into PLASMA or other accelerated programs should not view their rejection as a total failure, according to Joseph.

“Ask why [you did not get in],” Joseph said. “And then listen to the answer...And it’s because they’re [the company] not quite there for whatever reason but that doesn’t mean they aren’t getting it there […] No shouldn’t be no. It should be an encouraging thing.”

Magno suggested that students interested in creating their own startups visit the Student Startup Center in Bainer Hall. Other events, such as Create-a-Thon, Shopbot classes and 3D printing classes can help support alumni looking for ways to create their own business.

“We are the future,” Magno said. “Why not start now and guide people to do the right thing?”

The waters beneath our feet

MICHELLE GORE / AGGIE

Studying groundwater to protect health, water needs of the future

BY GEOR GE UGARTEMENDI A science@theaggie.org

Water has been a precious resource in California’s modern history.

Many conflicts have been waged over surface water usage from lakes and dam construction on rivers, but the future of California’s water availability may be in the vast groundwater reserves found in the rocks below us.

At a recent installment of Sacramento Science Distilled, Sacramento State scientists Amelia Vankeuren and Justin Miller-Schulze spoke about their work investigating groundwater systems. Using key tracers in water, both researchers are able to understand characteristics of where the water originated from and what type of sources it has touched on its journeys.

Water from rainfall, running rivers, crop irrigation and human waste seeps through the topsoil into pores in the rocks below, where millions of gallons of water collect in aquifers.

“Our aquifers are made up of what look like essentially sand grains, all stacked on top of each other,” said Vankeuren, an assistant professor in the Department of Geology at Sacramento State. “In the Central Valley, the water is all stuck in little pores between sediments.”

Miller-Schulze tends to focus more on the human contributions to water sources, like caffeine, sucralose and antibiotics, which informs researchers that the water has been in contact with human wastewater.

In 2017, Miller-Schulze and other researchers discovered elevated levels of lead in water fountains and sinks at Sac State.

“We found fairly high concentrations of lead in a lot of the drinking water on campus,” said Miller-Schulze, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry. “That, obviously, made people uncomfortable.

The treatment, or what to do there — that’s hard to answer.”

Lead is usually not found naturally in groundwater systems. The heavy metal is introduced to water supplies by human construction projects, chiefly lead pipes and soldering. Lead causes developmental problems and neurological damage when it builds up in human bodies.

Replacing lead pipes is one option to prevent exposure to leaded water at Sac State’s campus, but Miller-Schulze thinks filtering at the point of contact might be more practical.

“What we found — and I think what other people found — is that you’re not going to replace all the piping in somebody’s house and that’s where a lot of this [lead] comes from,” Miller-Schulze said. “I think filtering at the point of use is the only option that guarantees that you’re going to clean the water as best you can.”

Vankeuren uses environmental tracers like heavy water and tritium radiation to determine the origins of water flowing to groundwater sources. The 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act requires vulnerable basins to be brought into balance by 2040, but Californians don’t know what serves as a “normal” level of groundwater.

“We’re using environmental tracers to track the flow path and the water velocity, so we can figure out how much water is getting put into the system from the [American River],” Vankeuren said. “That may help with Sacramento County’s Groundwater Sustainability Plan, because one question is: how much recharge do we have?”

UC Davis graduate students Amy Yoder and Stephen Maples work on measuring and modeling groundwater systems in Sacramento County. By measuring how much groundwater is beneath our feet, sustainability agencies can begin to better manage the vast water reserves.

“Due to the 2014 act, Groundwater Sustainability Agencies were formed in California,” said Yoder, a masters student in the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources. “They have to design Groundwater Sustainability Plans by 2020, but in many cases, they don’t have enough groundwater data. We’re trying to increase data availability so that the public and these agencies can see what’s happening in the subsurface.”

Yoder’s work involves dropping measuring equipment into wells to measure the water levels in real time, sending measuring data out every 15 minutes. During rainfall, levels can fluctuate dramatically, and the changes help scientists better understand the geology and hydrology of the area. Such quality data can help inform both sustainable groundwater agencies as well as researchers like Maples who create models to understand groundwater levels.

One ongoing project between Vankeuren and UC Davis professor Laura Foglia includes flooding a vineyard during the off-season, when the grapevines are dormant. The water slowly flows down into the groundwater, helping to recharge the strained system. Vankeuren is sampling the water after it has reached the aquifer to determine if these recharge efforts are contaminating the groundwater with farm runoff.

“A lot of these farmers have been farming this land for many decades,” said Maples, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Land, Air Water Resources. “They’re applying fertilizers and pesticides, which can accumulate in the soil zone. A big question is: are you flushing these nutrients and pesticides down into the aquifer system when we do onfarm recharge?”

Groundwater research will become more important in the coming decades as scientists better understand how to measure and manage the precious Californian reserves. The goal will be to keep the water balance equal between the water flowing underground and the vast amounts being pumped to the surface for human usage.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS Poetry Reading on May 3rd

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Poets Jeff Knorr and Stanley Zumbiel will read in Davis on May 3rd!

The Poetry Night Reading Series is proud to feature two notable Sacramento poets: Jeff Knorr and Stanley Zumbiel. They will perform on Thursday, May 3rd at 8 P.M. at the John Natsoulas Gallery at 521 1st Street in Davis.

Guests are invited to arrive to Poetry Night early (by 7:45) to sign up for a spot on the open mic that will follow the readings by our featured poets. Please bring your poems, short stories, monologues, and songs. Performers with instruments are especially welcomed.

Participants will be asked to limit their performances to five minutes or two items, whichever is shorter. The Poetry Night Reading Series is hosted by Davis poet laureate Dr. Andy Jones, and is supported by Musical Director Timothy Nutter, and Dr. Andy's hard-working interns.

Future featured performers include renegade mother Janelle Hanchett, Margaret Ronda, Nick LeForce, William Daly, Valerie Wallace, and many others.

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ARTS & Culture Profile: Rogue Wav Colectiv

A different type of music group

JOS E C A R M O N A / CO URTE SY

BY CA RO L I N E RUT T E N arts@theaggie.org

The concept of Rogue Wav Colectiv is much more abstract than it seems at first glance. The group makes music together, but they are not a band. Their sound most resembles hip-hop, but members hesitate to define it as such.

The best analogy to describe the group of 15 male musicians in the collective is Young Money Entertainment — yes, the record label created

by Lil Wayne that frequently featured

Nicki Minaj and Drake among others on tracks like “Bedrock.” They are similar not in terms of sound but rather in its member collection.

The original conception of the group started with UC Davis alumni Courtney Williams, Alex Cannon and Tavior Mowry, who wanted to create a “blog about music and to share music.”

“They were interested in different music, different from people’s commercial taste and type of music,” said group member Sean Johnson, a fourth-year cinema and digital media

major. “From there it turned into those homies expanding and asking more people to work together. Next thing you know, it turned into something more than the three people at the start.”

Social capital seems to be the recipe for member growth. Johnson, for example, was introduced to the group during his official visit for the UC Davis football team, where other members also heard of the group.

There are no formal roles in Rogue Wav, making room for members to experiment with new instruments, engineering or producing. Members are even located across California, from the Bay to Los Angeles to Davis. Moreover, each member offers a different perspective and musical background — one can imagine the creative capacity with 15 members to bounce ideas off of.

“Everyone has a lot of different tastes and foundations,” said group member Rudy Lopez, a 2016 UC Davis alumnus. “That can be pretty inspiring. Someone might know a jazz drummer I never heard of and bring inspiration from them. You can run through so many different ideas.”

“The foundation of our sound is hip-hop and rap, but when you delve into your art you want to cross borders,” Lopez said. “That’s what innovation is. Everyone has their own sound that they are expanding, and even hip-hop has its own sub genres.

When we think of the group in general, it is hard to define.”

For Xavier Griggs, a 2017 UC Davis alumnus, Rogue Wav Colectiv gives him a forum for expanding his musical experience.

“When I joined, I had the idea of us all out there making music and people can get together to make music,” Griggs said. “We’re all doing different types of things, but it is pretty easy to communicate and bounce ideas off each other. It’s really comfortable even though we all have different vibes.”

Picnic Day Culture

D IA N A L I / AG G I E

BY NICO L AS RAG O arts@theaggie.org

Picnic Day, Picnic Day, Picnic Day. Such a celebrated event is almost all that’s heard about for the first few weeks of Spring Quarter. Why the buzz? Is it the parades, battle of the bands, the food, the streets of rowdy college students? Something about Picnic Day brings Davis, both the college and the city, alive. In a pursuit to find this day’s magic, The Aggie consulted students about their Picnic-y

activities, possibly determined by their social homes.

Kendall Owens, a third-year English major, mentioned that he found friends in his department.

“Home would be the English Department for me,” Owens said. “Right now the English Department is a good resource for me, where all my friends are.”

Maura Willow, a second-year English and psychology double major, found home elsewhere.

“I’m part of the band, alto section,”

Before Seeing “Avengers: Infinity War”: Everything You Need to Know A Brief Recap of the MCU

C AITLY N SA M P L E Y / AGGI E

Foundational fluidity — musical anarchy, for a lack of a better term — creates the unsolidified structure of the group, and this is where the Young Money analogy comes into play. Rogue Wav Colectiv is simply a community: close friends with similar styles of music, creative gears and a willingness to contribute their talents to one another. But Lopez clarified it is not “artists and suits, but artists and artists.”

“Sometimes someone will send me a three-piece beat pack and I’ll write to it,” Lopez said. “There are other people down in L.A., and we made a visit and went to a kickback and made a track then. As a group, we have our goals and a standard we want to meet, but not everyone always performs together. We recently did the Santa Cruz Music Festival, and we had people from L.A. and San Diego come up. It’s a matter of who is pursuing what at that time and who is down and ready to perform. We play with each other when the vibes and the gigs stick right.”

The group is like a music social network, with members willing to provide opportunities and advocate for each other. Not anyone can join the group, but not out of exclusivity: An emotional pact needs to be in place for the dynamic to function.

“We are brothers,” Johnson said.

“This is going to be multi-generational; it will run through our kids.

I may have a service for him, and he may have a service for me. Someone may need something mixed, now I can plug him with the opportunity because I know he will do well with it. Rogue Wav has been my rock; these have been my brothers. If we can’t rock with you, we can’t rock. We discuss ideas with each other, and if you can’t listen it’s not a smooth operating working environment.”

This think tank has added a new element to the Davis music scene — one of genuine connection, brotherhood and talent.

Warm-weather poetry Collected poems to welcome spring

SHEREEN L EE / AG GIE

BY I SAAC FLOR ES arts@theaggie.org

Last month was National Poetry Month, but there is no reason not to read poetry throughout the year. Poetry is a wonderful way to condense the human experience into an accessible medium that transcends time and space. Here are a few spring-themed collections of poetry that might speak to you: “Poems of The Laughing Buddha” by Jane Marla Robbins Robbins truly is a poet of laughter. This intimate collection of poems reminds us all to take a brief moment to treasure the small pleasures in life, almost like gazing at a flower for a brief moment. Humorous, insightful and eccentrically wise, these small poems are perfect for daily reading. Two particularly thought-provoking and recommended readings from this collection are “Welcome” and “Painful Indecision.”

“This Connection of Everyone with Lungs” by Juliana Spahr Juliana Spahr’s collected poems contain an examination of the interconnectedness of life. In a season of abundant growth, Spahr’s elegant words reveal just how dependent living systems are upon one another.

Examining the connections between ostensibly disparate events, such as 9/11 and environmental pollution, these works remind us that life is a cycle of which we are all a part.

“The Collected Poems of Sara Teasdale” After laughter and life, inevitably, comes stillness.

The poet that comes to mind is Sara Teasdale, a classic lyrical poet. Her words are measured, her gaze reflective as she moves through the inner world with a grace not unlike wind blowing on the surface of a placid lake.

The imagery in her works is so delicate and fleeting; it leaves you haunted for days to come.

Students share how they spent Picnic Day 104 Willow said.

Jackie Geyfen, a second-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major, enjoyed spending time with her Greek organization.

“I’m in a sorority,” Geyfen said. “I guess that would be my group.”

Owens is a third-year transfer and so had not experienced Picnic Day until this year. He mentioned that the day’s reputation preceded itself.

“My expectations were definitely met,” Owens said. “It was accurate to what people had to described it to me: perfect weather, lot of different activities to go to, lot of people.”

Willow said this year, for her, was much more restful.

“I marched [in] the parade last year,” Willow said. “Something that not a lot of people know about band is we start at 4 a.m. on Picnic Day. We have a freshman rally at 4 a.m. and we keep going until 10 p.m., when we have battle of the bands…

This year I did six hours of battle; that was the only thing I did.”

Geyfen enjoyed this year more than the first due to good friends.

“It was a lot better,” Geyfen said. “Last year I was super confused on where to go

BY SYDNE Y O DMAN arts@theaggie.org

Ever since the inception of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2008, with the launch of the its cornerstone film, “Iron Man,” every film in the MCU — 18 of them to be exact — has been leading up to this moment. In what’s said to be the largest and most epic franchise collaboration in the history of film itself, “Avengers: Infinity War” is expected to feature up to 76 main characters, uniting Earth’s mightiest heroes in a way audiences have never seen before.

“Avengers: Infinity War” will bring together years and years of story preparation by Marvel execs, all in anticipation of a culminating final act to come in the fourth installment of the “Avengers” series in 2019.

But before venturing to the theater to embark upon the 160-minute whirlwind that is “Avengers: Infinity War,” preparation

and how everything was going to work…

This year I met so many more people, so I felt a lot more comfortable this Picnic Day, like I knew what to expect.”

While the whole town shows up, not everyone rises in sync.

“I woke up at 5:30 a.m. and started at 6 a.m.,” Owens said. “Close friends, definitely. At my friend’s house, we gathered around and had motivational speeches.”

Geyfen said her day started similarly.

“Our morning started to waking up with [a good friend] in my bed at 6:30 a.m.,” Geyfen said. “We got ready, and around 7:15 a.m. we headed to our first pre-game and the day started there.”

Willow, on the other hand, enjoyed sleeping in.

“My parents came this year, so I woke up at like 9 a.m.,” Willow said. “We saw the campus for the first time during Picnic Day.” Throughout the day, Davis is pumped with energy, leaving both campus and the city stuffed with fun. Owens spoke about his trip to campus. “[I was on campus] only for a little bit,” Owens said. “I saw a little bit of the band play, and I saw some type of race.”

Willow showed her parents around.

is the key to experiencing the massive scope of this film in the way it was intended. So, whether you’ve never seen a comic book movie in your life or you’re a complete Marvel junkie looking to binge a movie marathon before “Infinity War,” here’s everything you need to know prior to the film.

Who is Thanos?

Ah, yes, Thanos. A warlord from the planet Titan, the strongest and most fearsome villain the Avengers have faced to date, and possibly the most powerful being in the universe. Quite literally, Thanos wishes to destroy the world, or at the very least, reshape it to meet the standards of his own vision. He’s ruthless, relentless and takes pleasure in the destruction of the galaxy around him while on his quest for power.

But in order to achieve his goal, he first must acquire all of the Infinity Stones, and then exterminate the very thing standing in his way — the Avengers.

“My parents are really into [agriculture] stuff,” Willow said. “We milked the cows and looked at the horses or whatever, so that was definitely most of our day.”

But every early start has to slow down eventually.

“Definitely power napped,” Owens said. “I got a two-hour power nap in, from about 3 to 5, so that one definitely came in handy.”

For some, once the engines slow, it’s hard to get the wheels turning again.

“So around 1 or 1:30 we took a nap,” Geyfen said. “I think the goal was to power nap and go back out, but then we couldn’t do it. We power napped, woke up, then went back to bed.”

While more of Davis is awake during the day, its doesn’t stop people from enjoying the night.

“I made it till 2 a.m.,” Owens said.

Willow raised the bar.

“I think I got home at 4 a.m.,” she said.

Whether students slept in until noon or pulled all-nighters, most of Davis enjoys Picnic Day — that’s the real charm of it. Geyfen put it best.

“I kinda like that every person on PICNIC DAY CULTURE on 12

Audiences first meet Thanos (played by Josh Brolin) in “The Avengers” (2012), as a mysteriously powerful being with an alien army at his beck and call. Later on, in a post-credits scene, we meet Thanos again as a large, looming purple figure with a sinister smile. That can’t be good, right? Fast forward to “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014), in which we get to know Thanos on a more personal level, and “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” where Thanos states he’ll “do it [him] self,” vowing to collect the Infinity Stones and destroy Earth of his own accord.

But wait, what are the Infinity Stones?

“Before creation itself, there were six singularities. Then the universe exploded into existence, and the remnants of these systems were forged into concentrated ingots… Infinity Stones,” says The Collector in “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014).

MARVEL TIMELINE on 12

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COUNSELING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

“I went and researched it and [I thought], ‘Maybe I should see someone about this?” Pontius said. “I went to go see someone in North Hall — someone in CAPS; I made a couple of appointments. We were talking about it and she [said], ‘You have a couple of options: if you think you could manage it by yourself, here are a couple of strategies.’

I was like, ‘That’s what I’ve been doing my whole life, that’s not really helping me anymore.’ And she said, ‘Okay we can move on, we can get you officially diagnosed.’”

Pontius was then referred to a provider in the city of Davis. But upon making an appointment with the provider she was referred to, he wasn’t working in Davis anymore. She returned to CAPS and was told she could get her diagnosis through the SHCS. “And then they never referred me for two quarters,” she said. “In the meanwhile, I’m like suffering.”

Pontius eventually went through a testing process to get diagnosed after she called. Afterwards, however, she was not contacted by SHCS with the results. After again taking the initiative, she was told she could see a psychiatrist through UC Davis to figure out medication.

Struggling to find access in Davis Kate Bartschat, a third-year psychology major, had a similar experience when she received a referral for a provider in Davis. Bartschat said the she had ongoing problems with anxiety and depression since freshman year and was not satisfied with the counseling she was receiving at UC Davis.

“I would go in in crisis, feeling really bad, and they would make an appointment and see me right away — because if you go in and you’re having a breakdown, they’ll see you,” Bartschat said. “The appointments always seemed a little bit rushed and they would just tell me to exercise more, eat healthier, etc. I eventually realized I needed to find a therapist on my own. I sought someone out in the community, and I actually started improving once I saw someone. Unfortunately, she moved away. That’s when things got worse again, and I was still trying to find a therapist.”

Bartschat said she received long lists from UC Davis of community referrals, but after calling every name listed, everyone was “completely booked up.” Iacono also received an outside referral from the university for a community psychiatrist and scheduled an appointment, but that appointment was cancelled before it took place.

After a year looking for a provider, Bartschat found the closest place she could go for care was the Kaiser in Vacaville. Because she had access to a car, Bartschat was able to drive to Vacaville, but she recognized that many students do not have the means to transport themselves outside of Davis. Senzaki recognized this as an issue.

“Most of our students need providers in proximity of walking distance or a bus ride,” Senzaki said via email. “There are enough obstacles to try and seek treatment much less having to drive to Sac or elsewhere. As many students have limited mobility or transportation, we are fortunate to have a sizable community of off campus providers but not enough. In the last few weeks of this fall quarter, many of the off campus providers were no longer able to take new students.”

Accepting UC SHIP UC Davis, like most UC schools, operates on a brief counseling model, meaning there is a session limit for students. According to Senzaki, “many students would benefit from far more services” than the university is equipped to provide.

“We have increasingly become dependent on off campus therapists (private practice, counseling centers, SHIP/insurance referrals) to support our students who need longer term or specific kinds of counseling,” Senzaki said via email. “WE have increasingly become more dependent on off campus resources as we often reach capacity and rely on off campus resources as we become overwhelmed.”

The UC Student Health Insurance Plan is provided by Anthem Blue Cross this year. Judy Moore, a licensed marriage and family therapist in the Davis community, accepts UC SHIP. The majority of Moore’s clients are UC Davis-associated — she sees a large number of faculty and staff members and about 10 students a week.

Moore explained that in order for therapists to accept students with the UC SHIP insurance, therapists must be on the Anthem Blue Cross insurance panel.

“You have to apply just like you would for a job,” Moore said. “You apply to the insurance company, you fill out an application, you have your resume, you show proof of your credentials and then they decide whether to take you on their panel or not. That can take anywhere from a month to six months.”

Moore also explained why some providers do not accept UC SHIP. “[Reimbursement] is through the contract that is struck through the university and whatever insurance they’re going to call out for that year,” Moore said. “For the students this year, it’s California Anthem Blue Cross. But for the university staff it’s Optum, and Optum pays us a total of $60 a month, the client pays $20 of it. Blue Cross pays $74 a month and the student pays $15 of it. For private pay, people can charge anything they want, up to $125 dollars an hour. If you see 20 clients a week that are insurance clients [vs.] 20 clients a week that are private pay, it makes a huge difference in your income.”

Socioeconomic factors may limit a student’s access to community providers. While there are many local therapists, according to UC Davis Counseling Psychologist Aron Katz, the number of those providers accepting UC SHIP “is shrinking.”

“The other option would be to pay out of pocket for a provider and submit for reimbursement,” Katz said. “It would be an additional out of pocket bill. If they’re willing to front the money and then apply for reimbursement, they would have greater options. That does favor our students who are better resourced.”

Since the 1980s, Moore has worked as an LMFT. She spent the past five years in Davis with her own private practice, and many of her clients are students who have either sought her out on their own or who were directly referred to her by the university. Moore said she sees room for improvement in how the university operates in terms of providing mental health care.

“I think that referring clients out to licensed therapists in the community is a good solution, provided that there’s enough people on the insurance panels to meet the need,” Moore said. “In order for more therapists to go on the insurance panels when the university bargains with the insurance companies, it would be in their interest to bargain for a higher pay rate for the outside providers — that’s what at the root of this.”

said it’s important to have a good relationship with your mental health care provider. In the past, she has called to schedule an appointment with a provider and found they had left the university — which is not uncommon, given UC-wide recruitment and retention issues.

Other students have also had beneficial experiences with their on-campus providers. Third-year cell biology major Daisy Carrillo started seeing a counselor after she began feeling stressed for no reason. Carrillo said she used the services at least once a month in Fall Quarter of 2016 and twice during the following Winter Quarter. During that time, she was able to see the same person — a psychology graduate student — and said she thought “it was a really good experience.”

Plans for the future Since the Town Hall of Mental Health last quarter, changes have been made and there are plans in the works to address student concerns.

Vu said work is being done to increase transparency with regard to the allocation of funds and Chancellor May recently announced the creation of a task force on mental health care. A case manager was also just hired with the hopes of reducing the time counselors spend on non-clinical work to free up more time to focus on clinical care. Since the publication of an audit on Counseling Services by the university in February, Walter said “counselors are seeing more students each day than they were” when the audit was released.

Diana Davis, the clinical director of SHCS counseling services, said meeting student needs is a game of catch-up.

“The growth of the university is always going to be greater than we can meet,” Davis said. “I think there’s this kind of sense about never catching up. For example, there are a lot of international students on this campus — more and more all of the time — [...] and they have unique needs. Unless you specifically target bringing resources to campus to meet these needs, you’re kind of always behind in trying to figure out how to meet that need. But there are so many different needs, you’re kind of like, ‘Which need do you aim for?’”

Consistency of care Currently, there are 28.5 counselors and 3.5 psychiatrists at UC Davis. According to Assistant Vice Chancellor for Divisional Resources of Student Affairs Cory Vu, having three and a half psychiatrists is “really a luxury” due to the cost of psychiatry, although Walter said they “would love to have more availability.”

Bartschat and Pontius both said they had formed relationships with their psychiatrists on campus. Bartschat, however, did have one negative experience.

“In order to first see [a psychiatrist], I made an appointment two weeks in advance and I was 15 minutes late because I got confused,” Bartschat said. “And I had to wait another two weeks to see someone.

With medication, it takes a really long time to kick in, like with antidepressants, so it’s really important to be able to go in and see someone right away and start working with them consistently on that.”

Pontius described her psychiatrist as “great” and “very helpful” and

http

12 | THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

ANIMAL CRUELTY

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resources, the Yolo County Animal Services Shelter is available to help. Koreena Walsh, the assistant at the Yolo County Animal Services Shelter, noted that the organization helps with such services.

“Our organization helps foster and adopt out abandoned animals, provides resources for low-

cost spay/neuter and veterinary care for owners, and maintains an office at the Yolo County Animal Services Shelter so that we can work closely with the shelter to offer more life-saving programs for animals and the community in general,” Walsh said via email.

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which states “All complaints must be filed before the announcement of the election results.””

Nelson said that making it so election complaints must be filed before results are out throws “accountability out the window.” According to Nelson, before, “there was a structure to file complaints post-election and then have an immediate recall.”

“I realized that this bylaw is seriously flawed given that it prevents any actions of accountability,” Nelson wrote in an email sent to Godderis and former Senator Rahi Suryawanshi obtained by The Aggie. “How are we supposed to file for fraud in time when the election period is 3 days, and the results are revealed the morning after polls close?

How does that allow time for a well written complaint with a proper amount of investigation?”

In November of 2017, Senate Bill #18 passed with a 12-0-0 vote which aims “to amend and improve Chapter Four (4) of the ASUCD Bylaws.”

SB #18 was authored by then-interim Senator Michael Swalberg and co-authored by three students, including former Elections Committee Chair Naeema Kaleem.

Kaleem said “the exact same language from Section 413A (the preexisting bylaw stipulation regarding the complaints deadline) is used in what is now Section 406(B)(a)(ii).”

Additionally, Swalberg said SB #18 “was a non-partisan bill that anyone sitting on the Senate table at the time (or really in ASUCD) was more than welcome to assist with.”

“I’ll just [emphasize] Naeema’s response that the contents of the bylaw in question weren’t changed at all,” Swalberg said via email. “Yes, they were renumbered when we streamlined Chapter 4 but the contents weren’t changed.”

Gofman responded to the initial claims of voter fraud, saying “all allegations made were completely false [and] unsubstantiated.”

COSAF

3 percent raise, the limit on health insurance premiums or the lump-sum payment from its final offer,” Beecham said via email. “Those aspects of the UC’s final settlement offer were in exchange for a multiyear contract, and we are disappointed AFSCME leaders chose to reject our settlement proposal. We strongly disagree with AFSCME’s decision to strike, which will negatively impact patients, students and the UC community.”

Oscar Rubio, the vice president of AFSCME Local 3299’s service unit, commented on UC’s response to AFSCME striking in an online statement.

“Instead of working with us to address issues of widening inequality and outsourcing, UC’s administrators are pushing proposals that will only make things worse,” Rubio said.

A recent release from UC Davis Vice Chancellor of Finance, Operations and Administration Kelly Ratliff was sent to The California Aggie.

“I want to assure you that we have contingency plans in place and campus operations will continue during this time,” Ratliff ’s statement said. “On the Davis campus, you may experience some alterations to traditional schedules, however Student Health Services will remain open as will the Veterinary Hospital, dining halls will continue operating, and custodial and maintenance services will be available. UC Davis Health will remain open, though it is possible that some scheduled appointments may be delayed if your medical team determines it is safe to do so.”

MANRS

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but sometimes I don’t agree and in those cases don’t follow the recommendation in every detail. In other words, one can listen and nonetheless respectfully disagree. It does not mean one has not listened, and listened carefully.”

In part, the decision to not approve the fee for athletics was due to Athletic Director Kevin Blue’s presentation, sources say. In the transcript, two voting students said the presentation was “poor,” with another expressing concern for the lack of transparency on what the money would be spent on. During the presentation, Blue also made a comment about the athletic department having to get over a financial wall akin to President Trump’s border wall, which some council members thought was made in bad taste.

“The brief comment was misunderstood by some,” Blue said in an email to The California Aggie.

“It was not a joke […] nor was there any intent to be insensitive. I apologized for any misunderstanding and we moved forward fifteen months ago.”

Voting members also mentioned a “separation and a disconnect between Student Athletics and the student body.” A suggestion was made to “make athletics more palatable to the general student body.” Some of the affirmative votes on the proposal seemed reluctant but still voted yes because of the obligation that the students have to pay for intercollegiate athletics that originally stems from UC Davis’s transition from Division II to Division I. When the university transitioned to Division I, it was agreed that the athletics department would not give preferential treatment to the more visible

“This is a full-frontal assault — not just on the collective bargaining process and the frontline workers that make the UC system run every day, but on the values that this institution is supposed to represent,” Lybarger’s statement read.

According to AFSCME, at the same time that UC fails to meet union workers’ contract needs, the UC has awarded raises to high-earning executives and increased student tuition and fees.

Recently, AFSCME commissioned a study that showed growing wage discrepancies between female and minority union workers and white men. According to the study, Black women are being paid a starting wage that is 23 percent lower than white, male coworkers. This can result in an annual income difference of up to $16,000. The article inspired AFSCME members to protest and block traffic in Westwood.

The union is calling on speakers such as Senator Kamala Harris and Congressman John Lewis — scheduled to speak at UC Berkeley and UC San Diego, respectively — to “boycott university functions.”

UC spokesperson Stephanie Beechem outlined the UC’s offer rejected by AFSCME. Along with a wage increase of 3 percent, Beechem said employees were also offered a one-time payment of $750. The statement revealed a potential increase in health care premiums, justified by UC’s proposed limit on any potential increases that may occur. In response to the strike, UC has altered their offer.

“The university is not implementing the annual

sports like men’s basketball and football. It also promised to not cut sports, and students at the time made an agreement with the UC Regents that the core funding for athletics would come from student fees rather than outside sources. This led to UC Davis becoming one of the largest spenders of student fees for athletics in the UC system.

Students paid $562.11 in fees for the 2017-2018 school year to support scholarships for student-athletes that include out-of-state tuition and housing costs.

With nearly 28,000 undergraduates this year, the athletics department received around $15.5 million just from student fees. The athletics department’s request for more money last May raised questions of bloat in the department that follows a nationwide trend of athletics departments overspending.

Chancellor May addressed accusations of financial bloat in an email to The California Aggie.

He said the athletics department pays “below the campus average” for staff positions and coaching salaries are “very modest.” The department also provides recent graduates with positions “to reduce costs and provide entry-level employment.” Daily spending and lodging are “significantly less than the allowable amounts” for the university, and the operating budget for administrative support for the department was reduced by five percent in 2018 and will further be reduced in 2019.

“I do not believe ICA [intercollegiate athletics] should be considered bloated in anyway,” May said. “I believe that ICA is stewarding its funding very conscientiously.”

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to network with professionals both in the form of regional events and at the Annual National Training Conference and Career Fair. Lee reflected on her experience attending the national conference and how conducive it was to her professional advancement.

“Especially when going to the national conference, it was so amazing to see all these intelligent, kind, passionate people of color and that was just so awesome to see,” Lee said. “I would talk to people for like 10 minutes and they would find out my major and be like ‘I know someone in [this] company, I’ll contact them and ask if there are any openings.’”

Lee noted that while these conferences are a place to network with professionals that may help students find opportunity in their intended job sector, many of these individuals are also inspirational figures to students who experience similar hardships as minorities.

“We have so many professionals come in and conduct seminars and workshops and a lot of them are minorities,” Lee said. “Seeing them make it in the world is so inspiring and impactful. These professionals are role models for all of us and a lot of the times, they’re leaders their fields. They allow us to gain access in their world.”

While MANRRS’ initial goal nationally was to promote diversity in fields focusing on agriculture, the Davis chapter aims to be as inclusive as possible with individuals striving to enter any professional sector.

“As a national, nonprofit organization, the vision for MANRRS was to change the face of agriculture,”

Chee said. “Here at Davis, we wanted to expand on that idea and make sure we are as inclusive as we can be to all groups of people. The agricultural industry needs engineers, designers, business majors as well as food scientists and veterinarians to run a successful company. There’s also a misconception about what ‘agriculture’ is and a lot of people in agriculture majors feel like they don’t belong when in actuality they do. We’ve gotten questions from food scientists, geneticists, geologists, and hydrology majors asking if MANRRS is right for them and the answer is always yes.”

Zaid Al Rakabi, a second-year computer science major, noted how he found personal growth after joining MANRRS, though he doesn’t intend to pursue either a career in agriculture or in a related field.

“MANRRS is an organization that incorporates many fields and disciplines and offers anything for anyone who is willing to learn more and put themselves out there,” Al Rakabi said. “I would anyone to definitely come out if they are interested in professional development, networking and gaining more professional experience; MANRRS isn’t limited to just your field of study. Personally, it’s made me better at networking, better at connecting with others, and a better leader.”

For more information about Multiculturalism in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences, and to get in contact with the organization, students can connect with MANRRS on its Facebook page, or attend a meeting at Meyer Hall on Wednesdays at 5:10 p.m..

ABROAD MARVEL TIMELINE

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thinking about what these monuments mean to us and why perhaps some people have such strong reactions, as we’ve seen in places like Charlottesville and New Orleans.”

Bender’s program is a study abroad opportunity that is actually not abroad. Having done some programs in Europe, Bender knew that she enjoyed this kind of work. So when Study Abroad was thinking about running some domestic programs, she thought it would be a great opportunity for international students at UC Davis.

“While [international students are] here they may want to see other parts of the United States, and New York and Washington DC are pretty high on foreigners’ lists when they come to the U.S. for travel,” Bender said. “It seemed like a really good opportunity, and I knew it’s pretty easy to get between the two cities, so I got into conversation with a few of the folks over at study abroad and ran the idea past them

In a nutshell, the Infinity Stones lie at the heart of all that is corruption, evil and power in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Countless times in the past, villainous figures have managed to get their hands on one of these Stones, launching them into a power-hungry rage to take over the planet and destroy the Avengers. As stated by The Collector (played by Benicio del Toro) in the quote above, there were six singularities, and thus there are six Infinity Stones. There’s the blue Space Stone, the red Reality Stone, the purple Power Stone, the yellow Mind Stone, the green Time Stone and the orange Soul Stone. The blue Space Stone, more commonly known as the Tesseract, currently resides with Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston), who presumably took the stone from Asgard at the end of “Thor: Ragnarok.” The yellow Mind Stone exists as part of Vision (played by Paul Bettany), embedded into his forehead and supplying him with his supernatural abilities. Additionally, Doctor Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) manipulates the Time Stone, The Collector holds the Reality Stone and the Nova Corps protect the Power Stone — that is, after Star Lord (played by Chris Pratt) recovered it in “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

So, where did the Avengers last leave off?

To say the least, prior to the start of “Infinity War,” the Avengers could be better. We last saw the

beloved First Avenger, Captain America (played by Chris Evans), in “Captain America: Civil War,” in which the Avengers battled it out, not only leaving the team itself divided and on the run but also leaving the relationship between Tony Stark (Iron Man) and Steve Rogers (Captain America) rocky.

Additionally, audiences last saw Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr.) in “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” in which he offered the teenage webslinger (played by Tom Holland) a spot in the Avengers squad. Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth) and Bruce Banner (played by Mark Ruffalo), also known as The Hulk, have just recently escaped a demolished Asgard, aboard a ship with none other than the Guardians of the Galaxy. Lastly, Marvel’s most recent release, “Black Panther,” leaves the country of Wakanda ready to open its doors up to the rest of the world.

If you’re looking to get a firmer grasp on the history of the MCU before “Infinity War,” rather than slugging through all 18 films, here are six essential movie recommendations to watch in preparation: “The Avengers,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Captain America: Civil War,” “Thor Ragnarok” and “Black Panther.”

Honorable mentions go out to “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Thor: The Dark World” and “Doctor Strange” as films that introduce different Infinity Stones into the universe.

and they gave me the thumbs up, so then I wrote the proposal.”

Study Abroad offers many opportunities for its students to have life-changing experiences and is always open to introducing new and exciting programs and concepts. Whether it’s visiting the mountains and forests of Bhutan or experiencing the cosmopolitan east coast of the United States, there are plenty of ways students can get out and see the world while studying at UC Davis.

“There was recently some research out that talked about that people who have gone abroad have a really strong sense of self,” Moylan said. “I think that’s because when we’re in our own society, part of what we do is because of our own selves, and part of it is because of everyone’s expectations on us, and then when you go abroad there are new expectations on you which you can feel, but you can also feel the expectations of your home place fall away.”

PICNIC DAY CULTURE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

campus is doing their own thing,” Geyfen said. “I know there’s a lot going on [on campus], families go there, academic professors and teachers, and all that show off their work, which is cool. And then [students], kind of do our own thing. We go party to party, which is fun for us… I kind of like how everyone comes together in their own way.”

In a cheesy way, the reason Picnic Day might be

so popping with smiles is simply because the city and campus get together for no other reason than to have a good time. All day can be spent eating on campus, watching the dog races, jumping parties or in bed — regardless, laughs will sound. In the spring sun with hints of summer, it’s hard not to get together with close friends or family for a good time.

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and “47% of Black residents and 42% of the Hispanic residents are described as struggling.”

“UC Davis provides a solution to these economic trends,” the assessment stated.

“Aggie Square provides the opportunity to align university strengths and ambitions with the needs of the market, allowing Sacramento leaders to better support the university, sector growth and job creation,” the working group report said. “These jobs, which generate more economic impacts and

create additional downstream jobs, will provide economic opportunity for struggling residents across demographics.”

There is no expected date of completion for Aggie Square. Topousis referenced a similar extension campus project headed by Chancellor May in his previous position at Georgia Tech that took approximately 10 years to construct and finalize. A similar period is expected for Aggie Square as well.

reduce. reuse. recycle.

The aggie

13 | THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

SPORTS CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY AT SCHAAL AQUATIC CENTER UC Davis to enhance Aquatic Center to include new team center, coaches offices, conference room, renovated swimming lanes

BY RYAN BUGSCH sports@theaggie.org

On what is arguably UC Davis’ biggest day of the year, Picnic Day, a ceremony was held at the Schaal Aquatics Center to celebrate construction taking place to enhance the facilities. Along with renovations to lap lanes are the addition of a new conference room, coaching offices and a team center for all UC Davis aquatic teams.

Currently, the coaching offices for men’s and women’s water polo teams as well as the swim and dive teams are located in the Cowell Building on campus, which is on the other side of the UC Davis campus in relation to Schaal. Coaches are excited for the renovations and the impact they will have in improved coaching methods.

“I think it’s great that we are going to be able to have our offices on the pool,” said Child and Meisel Families Director of men’s water polo and Head Coach Daniel Leyson. “I think it is going to help our student-athletes so much in that they have to

move around so much from place to place [on campus], so if I want to meet with my players, we are at the pool already, so we are saving time in that way.

I think it will be great in terms of making life easier for the players, and I am all for that.”

The funding for the new multimillion-dollar facility has been stimulated by the contributions of alumni and friends of UC Davis aquatic sports.

Cathy and Jack Raycraft and David Hodgens and Linda Olson are responsible for the two biggest donations for the new construction project. Christi Raycraft, a former women’s water polo star at UC Davis and daughter of Cathy and Jack Raycraft, is currently ranked fourth in the Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame for school career goals. Tiffany Hodgens, another former Aggie women’s water polo player and daughter of David and Linda Haddens, ranks first in the same Hall of Fame for school career goals scored.

All coaches are excited for the new building and are very thankful to the donors who gave money to help make construction possible.

“In terms of the new construction, I think it is really exciting for the aquatic center to have a new building,” Leyson said. “We were one of the few departments in athletics that is having new construction, and that shows a tremendous commitment of generosity from the people who donated money to

make this project happen.”

As a thank you and a recognition for all of the various donors contributing to the $1,000 raised for the team center, a Donor Wall of Honor will be located at the entry of the team room.

“It’s going to change the dynamics of everything in a really positive way,” said women’s water polo head coach Jamey Wright. “The coaches and the players will be able to interact so much more often because the offices are right here [at the pool]. The athletes

within teams can hang out and talk and interact with each other rather than just going their separate ways, as well as interactions within different teams, as well as the opportunity to set things up like tutors, etc.”

The project is expected to be completed in the winter of 2019, and full details of the project, as well as funding can be found on the Team Aggie website.

“I just think it is gonna be fabulous and change the positive dynamics of how players and coaches and players and players interact,” Wright said.

but lost when they traveled to their opponent’s island courts.

“It was a tough loss for our team, but it definitely goes to show you how home court advantage can play a big part in college tennis,” Swanson said. “They probably struggled with the lack of humidity here in Davis, the time change, and low temperatures, but felt more at home when they played us in warm, 80 degrees, and humid conditions the next week.”

Sophomore community and regional development major Mitchell Iwahiro added to his teammate’s thoughts and shared how the different climate causes him to change how he prepares for matches.

“In some cases when it gets windy, I definitely take that into account and try to aim more through the middle of the court and adjust using different spins when necessary,” Iwahiro said. “Also, during the colder months, I string my racquets looser, and vice versa during the summer. Something about the hot air just seems to make the ball fly, so the tighter tension gives me more control.”

With both the debate of climate change on the rise and the record-setting temperatures that the sports world has experienced in the past decade

or so, weather has found itself on the forefront of some of athletics’ biggest concerns. In the 2015 U.S. Open for tennis, played in New York City, the temperatures exceeded 90 degrees with 40 percent humidity just during the first round, and 10 players retired after the event was over — an all-time high for the sport. The speculated reason for the high retirement number was the heat stress these athletes experienced. The Australian Open for tennis even changed its heat policy for the 2015 season, due to multiple players experiencing hallucinations, vomiting, fainting, burns and damaged equipment due to temperatures passing triple digits in 2014. Heavily-padded sports, such as football or the catcher’s position in baseball, are forced to be cautious of players overheating during the warmer seasons.

Colder weather sports also come with their fair share of difficulties due to the climate. A study from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada found that nearly half of the past host cities of the Winter Olympics would most likely be too warm for Alpine sports competitions. The 2014 Sochi Olympics experienced temperatures in the 50 and 60 degree range, making the conditions both unpleasant and unsafe for the athletes competing. Sports that are typically played in outdoor rinks, such as outdoor hockey, have seen significant decreases in the length of their seasons as well due to the gradually rising temperatures the globe has faced in the last few decades. Even American football teams have seen negative dips in their players’ statistics during exceptionally cold games in the early winter.

However, multiple studies have also been conducted to find a relationship between the weather and how different sports teams play. A search study conducted by a reporter for the Star Tribune in 2016 focused on the 10 coldest football games ever re-

ported in the National Football League’s history.

The study found that the majority of the wins were earned by the teams whose home cities’ average temperatures were colder than their opponents,’ suggesting that the teams’ familiarity with the freezing numbers was on their side. On the other hand, a study played out by Bet Labs looked at the weather data available for the seasons between 1990 and 2013, and a direct correlation was found between higher temperatures and more runs scored. Batting averages, slugging percentages and isolated power percentages all rose as the weather warmed up, hinting at an advantage to the warm weathered seasons that the baseball season is found in.

Women’s tennis’ first-year Sara Tsukamoto has experienced this advantage firsthand, but she also recalled an instance during her rookie year in which Davis’ weather was on her team’s side against the University of Hawai’i.

“During the springtime, we play schools that still have snow at their schools, and coming here to play us [...] is very different, and it is very hard to go from freezing cold to 80 degrees,” Tsukamoto said.

“During the winter, it got very windy during our match against [Hawai’i]. No one on the [Hawai’i] team was playing very well [... so] we had the advantage because we always train in the Davis wind.”

Swanson mentioned why he prefers playing his sport in the climate California is famous for.

“My favorite climate to compete in is the spring time because the weather warms up and favors my aggressive style,” said Swanson. “The summer favors me as well, but, as most of my fellow Sacramento area kids would tell you, nobody ever gets used to playing tennis in 100 degree heat. Tennis is an interesting sport in a sense that weather plays a major factor in gameplay.”

Honestly, helping someone plan the perfect date makes you want to have one of your own. No one describes the taste of cake and then puts the uneaten cake wedge back in the fridge; you have to take a bite and experience it for yourself.

This problem was presented to me very quickly: there was no cake available to begin with, at least not for me. Not even the deep, dark crevices of Grindr could reach a cowtown. There was one person that I knew of.

I knew he was gay because his Grindr notification went off when he was lying on his bed during our summer orientation (we were roommates for the night). I decided to reach out to him because, you know, new school, new town and newfound confidence. Well, newfound might be an overstatement.

I tried to be more civil and instead sent him a message on Instagram. It read, “Hey, wanna get coffee sometime?” Yet again, the movies lied. College

was starting to just look like a slightly less awkward high school experience. Coffee is always a good choice for a first date because it’s the middle ground.

It says, “I want to get to know you, but this will be over soon so it’s okay if this goes south.” He responded to my message and I slid the notification open to read what it said.

J E RE M Y DA N G / AG GI E FI LE

WEATHER AND WINNING: HOW CLIMATES CAN AFFECT SPORTS GAMES UC Davis athletes comment on how they see weather playing into their sport, performances

BY KEN N E DY WA L K E R sports@theaggie.org

For the sports required to play outside the protection of covered arenas, teams can sometimes find themselves battling the elements just as much as they battle their opponents. With temperatures beginning to rise in Davis and spring sports entering into their second month of play, the weather has proved to be both an advantage and disadvantage for the Aggie teams.

Freshman Chethan Swanson reflected back on his first year with the men’s tennis team and shared an instance in which his team beat the University of Hawai’i when the Aggies had the home advantage,

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