November 29. 2018

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VOLUME 137, ISSUE 9 | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2018

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Z AC H A RY L AC S O N / AGGI E

ARSONIST SETS FIRES IN WOODLAND Firefighters responded to multiple fires in Woodland area

UC DAVIS’ RELIEF EFFORT FOR CAMP FIRE VICTIMS UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Police Department, Fire Department respond to wildfire

BY P RI YA N KA SH R E E DA R campus@theaggie.org

The Davis community has organized various relief efforts in response to the recent Camp Fire burning in Butte County.

The fire, which began on Nov. 8, has been reported as the state’s worst wildfire on record. It burned approximately 152,250 acres as of Nov. 21.

UC Davis Chancellor Gary May issued a message to the UC Davis Community on Nov. 9, stating that the UC Davis administration followed “the Camp Fire in Butte County with concern for all who have been impacted or whose loved ones, including animals, have been injured, displaced or lost.”

According to UC Davis Police Department Chief Joseph Farrow, the UC Davis Police and Fire Departments have been actively responding to the Camp Fire.

“The police department was part of the massive evacuation effort and are now providing police patrol protecting the unoccupied residences from looters and burglars,” Farrow said. “They are also involved in the rescue of domestic animals. The fire department was initially involved in fire suppression. They sent a team up there and were in the front lines battling the fires.”

Farrow added that these combined efforts are part of the state’s mutual aid pro-

gram.

“When the governor declares a state of emergency, local departments like ours are asked to send available resources to assist,” he said.

UC Davis Fire Chief Nathan Trauernich added that the UC Davis Fire Department was called to the Camp Fire in Paradise “in the first few hours of the incident.”

“We sent a fire engine with a crew of four as part of a type I engine strike-team from Yolo County,” Trauernich said via email. “They were deployed for over a week and a half working alongside thousands of firefighters from across the state to battle the blaze. We also sent a single resource, taskforce leader, out to the fire as well.”

In terms of local relief efforts, the UC Davis Fire Department organized a donation drive for the victims of the Camp Fire.

“Here on the homefront UC Davis Fire Engineer Paul Rush, Fire Engineer Kyle Dubs, and Firefighter Corrie Beall put together a donation drive at the campus fire station asking the community to donate new and unused items,” Trauernich said.

“In a five day span, they collected over 140,000 lbs of donations and we made trips to Oroville five times with 16’ box trucks, twice with 10’ trailers, three times with SUVs, and once with a pickup.”

Students and community members can support Camp Fire victims through vol-

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FEWER THAN 7 PERCENT OF STUDENTS ELECT SIX NEW SENATORS Students vote to create new “Student Advocate” position

BY SA BRI N A HA B C H I campus@theaggie.org

The results of the 2018 ASUCD Fall Election were released Friday, Nov. 16, and a total of 1,914 students voted, according to the ASUCD elections website.

In Fall 2017, UC Davis enrolled approx-

imately 29,200 undergraduate students.

Using this figure, fewer than 7 percent of students voted in the election.

Rodney Tompkins, a third-year psychology major and the chair of the Elections Committee, said via email that the low voter turnout followed trends of past elections.

“This reflects the necessity of the Associ-

unteer efforts. Trauernich stated the Hope Center in Oroville “still needs volunteers to help sort and distribute donated items and the American Red Cross is running shelters they may need volunteer support. Those interested in making a financial contribution should consider the California Fire Foundation at: cafirefoundation.org.”

“Words can’t begin to describe how proud I am of our campus firefighters, student firefighters, student EMTs, and the UC Davis community for supporting this impressive undertaking and for the generosity of those who gave,” Trauernich said.

The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine also responded through aid efforts aimed at helping livestock, pets and other animals impacted by the wildfires.

A University News article summarizing the efforts stated “various members of the Veterinary Emergency Response Team, or VERT, have been at the Butte County Fairgrounds each day since Nov. 9, treating a variety of animals.”

The article went on to describe the expanse of animals being treated on campus.

“The most serious cases continue to be brought to campus, and the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital now holds eight goats, two pigs, a miniature horse, three full-size horses, a llama, five chickens, a duck, a goose and 27 cats,” the article reported.

ation and its elected officials to find relevant ways to effect change on campus,” Tompkins said. “While the voter turnout was low, we may also attribute some lack of participation to [the] Camp Fire and its effects on our campus.”

Eight candidates ran for six open senatorial positions. The six newest ASUCD senators are third-year undeclared major Peiyuan (Tony) Chen, fourth-year political science — public service major Richardo (Ricky) Zapardiel, third-year statistics and political science double major Noah Pearl, fourthyear political science major Alexis Ramirez, second-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major Sean Kumar and third-year international relations major Maya Barak.

Barak, Pearl, Zapardiel and Kumar ran on the Unite! slate and Ramirez and Chen represented BASED. Ramirez will graduate before completing the entirety of his term, which will require the need for an interim senator. Zapardiel also stated he might graduate before completing his entire term.

The breakdown on the ASUCD elections website shows that the primary choice for 66.09 percent of voters was a member of the Unite! slate. Additionally, 25.6 percent of voters voted for a candidate who ran as a BASED candidate, and 8.31 percent voted

Tree Trimming

Thursday, December 13, 4 PM • On the Co-op Patio

BY J OHN R EGI DOR city@theaggie.org

On Nov. 12, firefighters responded to six fires set around the Woodland area in the span of two hours. All fires were within a two-block radius of Main and West streets.

It is believed that the fires were intentionally started by an arsonist. By 8:30 a.m., police took in a person of interest matching the description witnesses gave: an “individual seen wearing a black hoodie and possibly a black face mask.” Sergeant David Krause, a member of the Community Relations Bureau, commented on the arrest.

“No one has been charged with these crimes at this time,” Krause said. “It’s been assigned to our investigative bureau — they’ve been following up on cameras in the area of fires and help to be able to identify someone who matters.”

Marilyn Kung, a second-year computer engineering major at UC Davis, was surprised by the incident.

“I do think it is out of the ordinary,” Kung said. “It’s especially worrying that this is happening during the tragic Butte County fires that are deeply affecting Northern California.”

Vicky Ma, a first-year engineering major at UC Davis, expressed worry for the community.

“With [an] arsonist just going around lighting fires on purpose, it’s concerning,” Ma said. “You don’t know where and when one would appear.”

The first incident was reported at 7:23 ARSON on 11 for an independent candidate.

According to Tompkins, several proposed measures that were on the Fall Election ballot passed, including the ASUCD Constitutional Cleanup Amendment and the Elections Committee Amendment.

“The ASUCD Constitutional Cleanup Amendment had intuitive effects, streamlining outdated language of the Constitution,” Tompkins said. “The passing of the Elections Committee Amendment results in the Committee being an independent body with specific hiring processes and guidelines.”

One amendment that passed, the Student Advocate Amendment, will create an “elected position of the ‘Student Advocate,’” which Tompkins said “has been considered effective on other UC campuses.”

“The position can be seen as one that, ideally, lacks room for a personal agenda, since one who assumes the position should be focused solely on the desires of the student body,” Tompkins said. “The role of a ‘Student Advocate’ is to base oneself in the general voice of the student body, working to provide incremental advice to the Table that directs the Association to changes that TABULATIONS on 11

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2 | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2018

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PERIOD group aims for campus-wide distribution of free menstrual products Club has voluntarily stocked select bathrooms on campus, is in process of approaching administration with proposal

BY E L I Z A BE T H M E R C ADO campus@theaggie.org

The UC Davis chapter of PERIOD, a national nonprofit dedicated to the destigmatization of menstrual cycles, is in the midst of a project to stock all campus bathrooms with free menstrual products.

PERIOD’s UC Davis members’ goal, titled #FreethePeriod, is to have pads and tampons available on a regular basis at no cost to students — ideally in all women’s, men’s and gender-neutral bathrooms.

“You would never go into a bathroom and be like, ‘Oh, will there be toilet paper in here?’ or be really excited to see toilet paper was provided,” said Annie Wang, the UC Davis PERIOD chapter club president and a third-year materials science and engineering major. “That’s just the expectation that a public university would provide basic hygiene necessities.”

Hung Doan, a PERIOD club member and a fifth-year graduate student studying

plant pathology, approached the chancellor’s office with the club’s initiative and was met with interest about the logistics of the monetary necessities needed for campus-wide free menstrual products.

“Chancellor May and the office of the chancellor and office of the vice chancellor [...] were really receptive of the idea, but they said they need some type of data and cost analysis,” Doan said.

In response, a pilot project has been in effect in which PERIOD volunteers stock campus bathrooms that have high foot traffic with free menstrual products. The goal of the pilot project is to gauge students’ response to having menstrual products made available to them and track their use.

As of Fall Quarter 2018, women’s bathrooms in Roessler Hall, the Science Lecture Hall, Shields Library, Wellman Hall and the Student Community Center (SCC) have been stocked. The gender-neutral bathrooms on the first and second floor of the SCC have been provided with products SHEREEN LEE / AGGIE

as well. Each bathroom has been stocked weekly with 40 pads and 30 tampons.

“Community volunteers sign up for week-long shifts in which they are responsible for the bathrooms in a single building,” Wang said. “They check the usage of products [and] enter the usage into a Google form, which helps us generate a spreadsheet and restock. We’ve had 24 volunteers help re-stock.”

A petition is currently in circulation to track campus support for campus-wide menstrual products.

According to Wang via email, a survey distributed by PERIOD with 151 respondents resulted in the finding that “34.03% of respondents missed some or all of class or work during the 2017-2018 school year due to lack of access to menstrual products at least once. 47% [of ] respondents stated that menstrual products are a financial burden. 90.7% definitely supported providing period products on campus for free.”

The project’s initiation began in Jan. 2018, and the pilot project began in May. Within that time, PERIOD has collaborated with Student Health and Counseling Services (SHCS) for funding and help with research to draft an estimated budget for campus-wide implementation.

“Student Health and Counseling Services ran a similar project last year, and now stocks all restrooms in the Student Health and Wellness Center with menstrual products,” Margaret Walter, the executive director of health and wellness for the SHCS said via email. “SHCS is excited to assist the UCD PERIOD chapter in campus wide research, utilizing the Dr. Michelle Famula Fund for Student Success.”

The Dr. Michelle Famula Fund for Student Success is a fund within Student Affairs which, according to UC Davis Giving, is meant to “provide funding support for student engagement, learning and outreach programs offered through the Student Health and Counseling Services.”

THINX, a New York-based feminine hygiene company, has collaborated nationally with PERIOD and has helped the UC Davis chapter boost their signal on social media

and in funding.

The club received the funding necessary to begin stocking nine bathrooms in five buildings in May, took a break from its pilot project during the first Summer Session of 2018 and then resumed the project during Fall Quarter. Due to two weeks of campus closure, the project has been on pause.

UC Davis PERIOD has just purchased 10,000 pads and 7,500 tampons to continue restocking for Fall Quarter. In Winter Quarter, the group plans to approach administration with a proposed budget to initiate a permanent presence across campus.

“There’s been a few times when someone has left a Post-It note or something [...] like, ‘Oh my gosh, thank you so much, this saved my life because I was running between classes and work,’” Wang said. “I think it’s those little notes that reaffirm that this is something a lot of students need.”

Club members made a point of stating that their goal is to provide free menstrual products in all campus bathrooms, including both men’s and gender inclusive bathrooms.

“I think it was important for us to recognize that not all people who menstruate necessarily identify as women,” Wang said.

“So we wanted to make sure those products were available to everyone who needs them” Phase One of #FreethePeriod involved the volunteer pilot program and the collection of data. PERIOD plans to move onto Phase two which involves getting support from colleges on campus.

According to Doan, PERIOD plans to reach out to deans, stock bathrooms in colleges throughout campus and collect college-specific data on students’ use of free products. Once complete, the information can be presented to deans and the chancellor’s office to determine the project’s permanent implementation.

“Our team is really convicted by the idea that your body shouldn’t be an inconvenience to your educational opportunities especially at a university campus,” Wang said. “So putting menstrual products in bathrooms is a matter of equal access to education.”

ALLYSON KO / AGGIE

Odd behaviors and strange texts November 15 “Stated texted wrong person.”

November 17 “Male 35 to 40 years of age thin dark clothing. On bike with shopping cart that also had shopping car, rode into neighbor’s C/Port, then approached other neighbor’s front door. When reporting party went outside to check the subject, he began mumbling about going through trash. Reporting party did not see subject looking in any trash bins. Thought subject was acting odd.”

“Group selling labradors in the park, approximately six dogs.

Reporting party concerned for puppy mill.”

“Reporting party received email extortion letter requesting money via Bitcoin. Requested advice.”

“Vehicle parked in a disabled space without displaying disabled placard.”

November 18 “Loud party/gathering, subjects leaving area have been urinating in the plot.”

November 19 “A chair was thrown through a football field snackbar window.”

“Secondhand information required squirrel with shredded leg.”

“Non-electric vehicle parked in an electric parking stall.”

November 20 “Verbal dispute with roommate over cleanliness of apartment, roommate threatened to beat reporting party, reporting party left apartment standing by near the pool for contact.”

Net Impact team at UC Davis holds forum on national debt Organization aims to teach students about impact of rising debt

BY CLARA Z H AO campus@theaggie.org

Net Impact, an organization on campus, aims to educate students about the country’s national debt.

“Net Impact Davis is an organization dedicated to sustainability,” said Viktoria Haghani, a third-year genetics and genomics major and the Net Impact president, in an email interview. “We’re currently focusing on economic sustainability by participating in the national competition: Up to Us.” Up to Us is a nonpartisan organization that “inspires action among millennials, the generation most impacted by the nation’s long-term fiscal and economic health,” according to the group’s website.

On Nov. 8, Net Impact held a forum called “My Two Cents Day: Up-to-Us National Campaign” in Bainer Hall. The event discussed the U.S. debt, which is at $21.6 trillion. It also discussed how rising debt will affect the current generation and others to come.

“It’s important that students are aware of the national debt because it’s something that is continuously growing in the background and is easily an afterthought for everyday people,” said Kelsey Kim, a second-year environmental policy and economics double major and director of design for Net Impact.

“However, all Americans will bear the burden of it, especially our generation.”

The event also featured UC Davis Economics Professor Gregory Clark.

“If we build awareness of it now, we have a better shot at managing it and not being blindsided by it,” Kim said. “As a club, our passion is tackling issues like this in order to create a more sustainable future.”

In addition to this event, Net Impact has also worked on a variety of other events and projects that promote sustainability.

According to the Net Impact Davis website, in the 2017-18 year, the organization created teams focused on one of three themes: poverty, food waste and waste management.

The Poverty team “is in the process of developing and implementing a mentorship program that helps students of Grant Union High School in Sacramento explore occupational and educational opportunities after high school.”

The Food Waste team is developing a “centralized online resource that provides transparent, accurate, and useful information on food help resources.”

Finally, the Waste team is creating a “smart trash can that can capture images of waste, process them and then automatically separate the waste into compost, recyclable, or landfill waste bins.”

“We focus on sustainability, but in all aspects not just environmental, like people may expect,” said Carolyn Chandler, a third-year biochemistry and molecular biology major and Net Impact director of Marketing. “By having such a broad outlook on sustainability, I believe that anyone can find a place in the club and a passion for sustainability in any form.”

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2018 | 3

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Cities mobilize to provide accurate information regarding unhealthy smoke Butte County fire has significant impact on air quality in Yolo County JEREMY DANG / AGGIE

BY ST EL L A T RA N city@theaggie.org

The Butte County fire made a heavy impact on Northern California as the smoke resulted in numerous hazardous environments. Cities that became suffocated with smoke had to mobilize and inform residents to stay indoors for safety.

Jenny Tan, the public information officer for the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District, elaborated on how the fire affected surrounding cities.

“Air quality has been impacted in the entire Sacramento region, including Yolo and Solano counties,” Tan said via email. “The air quality in Yolo-Solano AQMD has been in the ‘Unhealthy’ category from Saturday (Nov 10) to today (Nov 14). Our District comprises of all of Yolo County and the northeastern portion of Solano County that includes Rio Vista, Dixon and Vacaville. I do know that UC Davis cancelled classes on Tuesday and Wednesday and that the Davis Joint Unified School District had students stay indoors for recess and PE on 11/13.”

Mary Ann Limbos, the deputy health officer for Yolo County, indicated that the public had to adapt to the conditions in order to stay safe.

“What we are really stressing to the public is to limit outside activity as much as pos-

sible and stay indoors,” Limbos said. “We feel that limiting the exposure to the best of your ability is the best way for the public to protect themselves right now.”

Tan also advised residents to stay indoors, as the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District strived to update everyone about the air quality.

“I don’t have the complete view of how the County has reacted but we here at the District are consistently sharing messages and alerts and updating the community on air quality on our social media accounts and website,” Tan said via email. “If you smell smoke, you’re breathing it.”

Limbos emphasized that the best way for cities to react is to keep people informed.

“I think it’s really important for people to be informed,” Limbos said. “What the cities and counties are trying to do is to provide accurate and up-to-date information so that residents can make good decisions about keeping themselves and their families safe.

This includes putting out websites for reliable guidance about air quality.”

While the Air District cannot strictly prohibit activities, it can advise residents and keep them up to date with the information.

“The Air District does not have jurisdiction over what individual agencies or facilities do in terms of cancellations or postponements of activities, games, class, etc,” Tan said via email. “However, at the District we are continually posting on our social media accounts and website information about air quality, especially during wildfires. We recently created a ‘Wildfire Smoke Information’ page that has some helpful information about what is in wildfire smoke, its health impacts, helpful maps on air quality and smoke plumes, as well as other information.”

While the fires have affected countless

cities, there are a number of factors that determine the severity in each location.

“A lot of it depends on the proximity to the fire,” Limbos said. “Different areas in Yolo County and surrounding counties have had different levels of air quality index measures depending on the temperature, wind currents — it’s really a changing number depending on the day and when you’re measuring it. It’s a widespread effect, depending on proximity and what is happening with the weather at the time. The counties in the surrounding areas are really trying to get the info out to their residents about the current conditions and how to check or monitor the ongoing conditions so that they can modify their activities accordingly and how to protect themselves.”

Limbos emphasized that it is crucial residents stay informed and that the information remains accurate.

“There’s hopefully been a very good response to stay safe and have people limit their activities as much as possible,” Limbos said. “That’s really important to know what the conditions are, and know how to find out the future conditions to keep yourself safe.”

Beth Gabor, the public information officer for the Yolo County’s Office of Emergency Services, directed inquires and information to Regional Public Health Officers press releases so that residents could stay involved and aware.

“Air quality issues really fall under the jurisdiction of the Air District and Public Health,” Gabor said via email. “The Office of Emergency Services is more involved right now in assisting Butte County in response to the fire and those impacted. Regional Public Health Officers are working on a press release right now continuing to advise residents to stay indoors; it really is the best response to bad air quality.”

After DACA repeal fails, UC leaders express gratitude Injunction against DACA repeal efforts upheld JESSIE STESHENKO / AGGIE

BY R EBECCA BI HN-WALLACE campus@theaggie.org

On Nov. 8, 2018, the UC issued a message of support for the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to uphold its injunction against the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to repeal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

“The court decision ensures that the 800,000 beneficiaries of DACA will be able to retain or renew their grants and continue to legally work, study, serve in the military, and live in the United States,” stated a press release from the UC Office of the President (UCOP).

The UC has encouraged students who are DACA recipients to renew their grants as soon as possible and has called upon the Trump Administration to halt its “efforts to rescind the program,” according to the UCOP email.

Furthermore, the UC system is the first institute of higher education to file a lawsuit against the Administration for its long-term efforts to rescind DACA. The statement from UCOP also noted that, while the ninth Circuit Court’s ruling is positive news, DACA recipients do not deserve to have their futures jeopardized by the “rise and fall…[of ] events in litigation.”

The UC therefore continues to urge Congress to “enact permanent protection for Dreamers, including a path to citizenship.”

Yolo County increases services for homeless City-county approved partnership expands winter services at local shelters OLIVIA KOTLAREK / AGGIE

BY B RO O K E H ILL city@theaggie.org

On Nov. 6, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors approved a city-county partnership with West Sacramento, Davis and Woodland to expand services to the homeless through interfaith shelters. According to the 2018 Yolo County Homeless Count, there were a total of 179 individuals located in an emergency shelter and 414 individuals utilizing a housing program on Jan. 30.

The county will provide $14,000 to the Davis Interfaith Rotating Winter Shelter.

This funding will supply the shelter with medical staff for two nights a week through CommuniCare Health Services. The Davis shelter provides 40 beds to the local homeless and will be open seven nights a week in the winter.

The city of Woodland is partnering up with Yolo County to increase programs centered on serving the homeless communities.

“Homelessness is reaching epidemic levels throughout California,” said Tom Stallard, a member of Woodland City Council, via email.

In September, the Woodland City Council granted $40,000 to Yolo County to fund the Homeless Coordination Project for 2018. This project provides funding to increase services through shelters and social programs, especially during the winter.

“In Woodland, we adopted a housing first policy and are working on a housing development,” Stallard said. “Meanwhile, we have assigned two [police] officers to work full time with the homeless and our first-

time social worker, through shelters.”

In addition to these actions, the funding will allow The Fourth and Hope interfaith shelter in Woodland to remain open seven nights a week during the winter.

“With new state funding sources, we are able to work on providing more permanent housing and shelters,” said Bill Pride, the executive director for Davis Community Meals and Housing, via email.

The county will provide an additional $14,000 to cover overnight staff for The Fourth and Hope interfaith shelter. It is also funding a new pilot program in West Sacramento to operate a rotating shelter at local church facilities five nights per week, which will serve 20 individuals.

In the past four years, annual funding for the homeless through the Yolo County Health and Human Services Agency has grown from $2 million to $6 million.

This funding allows interfaith shelters to remain open to serve as accessible housing for homeless individuals.

“Our local faith-based communities have come forward to provide Winter shelters so that those living outside can have a warm place to sleep, access to food, services and human connection,” said Karen Larsen, the director of the Yolo County Health & Human Services Agency, via email.

Despite local faith communities providing a location for shelters, funding is needed to hire regular and medical staff, provide food and source electricity.

“We have successfully housed hundreds of Yolo County residents, many of whom have been living outside for years,” Larsen said via email.

In a collaborative effort, local agencies will continue to work with interfaith shelters to provide more shelter during the coming winter. The city-county partnership with West Sacramento, Davis and Woodland will use the funding to increase shelter services for the homeless community. The county plans to use fundings to find permanent housing solutions and increase social programs.

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

4 | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2018

Davis fire relief benefit to aid California fire victims Tens of thousands of dollars raised by donations alone

OLIVIA KOTLAREK / AGGIE

BY R EN EE HO H city@theaggie.org

Following devastating fires in nearby Butte County, the city of Davis hosted a benefit event to raise money on Nov. 17. Located at the Davis Senior Center, the event featured live music, food trucks and Sudwerk beer.

Local band Mumbo Gumbo as well as Mike Blanchard and the Californios performed on stage. The bands played the sets free of charge according to Lucas Frerichs, a Davis city council member and organizer of the event.

“All we are asking for in terms of an ‘admissions ticket’ is to bring in a gift card, or cash or check and just make a

donation,” Frerichs said. “What we’re hearing is that people don’t need stuff donated, they really need access to gift cards so they can actually go and get the things they need.”

While this particular event didn’t accept non-monetary donations, the Davis Police Officers Association is accepting items such as clothing, toiletries and towels at Davis Police Station on Fifth Street. Online donations can also be made through the North Valley Community Foundation on its website.

“We’re working very closely with the police department, but also the fire fighters,” Frerichs said. “We are also working with some of our counterparts in Butte County and the city of Paradise as well.”

A portion of all the profits of food and drink businesses at the event also went toward the effort. Melanie Dubberley and Farrell Scott, owners of the Farmland Street food truck, chose to donate 20 percent of their profits from the event to the cause.

Scott, who has family members in the affected areas, expressed her initial en-

Co-ops: The communities within our community Students find a sense of community in cooperative living

BY MI KI WAYN E features@theaggie.org

Campus culture often encourages students to focus on themselves — to better improve their personal situations and therefore, be more successful coming out of college. There’s a small group of students on campus, however, who have dedicated themselves to the betterment of their small communities: Co-ops. A co-op is defined as an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise. More simply put, cooperative housing is a group of people who choose to live together and create a community which thrives on mutual cooperation.

Davis has many co-ops located on campus and downtown that serve as living options for students interested in this way of life. Many of these on-campus co-ops are a part of the Solar Community Housing Association (SCHA), a university nonprofit run by residents of co-ops on campus. It’s mission statement is “SCHA is committed to providing low-income cooperative housing that works to confront and critique systems of oppression through ecological awareness, inclusive self-governance and alternative economic models.” One co-op that falls under SCHA is the Tri-Cooperatives located

behind Segundo. Davis alumna Francesca Tettamanzi was a resident of the Tri-Cooperatives and feels this mission statement was central to her college experience.

“Living in the Tri-Cooperative impacted me because it allowed me to walk into leadership roles,” Tettamanzi said. “This was really important to me because as a student, I feel we are constantly fighting to get to a certain place in life, and the Tri-Cooperative allowed me to gain experience that I can apply to my adult life.”

Social justice is also a central idea emphasized in the SCHA mission statement. Tettamanzi believes this expectation enhanced her college experience and her ability to view the world with a wider scope of understanding.

“Living cooperatively made me work with people who did not necessarily come from the same places or have the same perspectives as me, and I think that taught me the valuable skill of cooperating with people different than myself,” Tettamanzi said.

Not all Davis co-ops are affiliated with SCHA, however, and as a result, these coops must find the best way to function independently. One of these co-ops is located in Downtown Davis and is known as Turtle House. Turtle House functions based on the people living in it, making mutual respect and cooperation from its residents vital to its survival. Fourth-year psychology major John Lynch has found both a home and a

After the midterms: What’s ahead for the city of Davis?

Davis voters give the go-ahead on Measures L and M, funding schools and housing developments CAITLYN SAMPLEY / AGGIE

BY T I M L A LON D E city@theaggie.org

Lawn signs supporting Measures L and M were a common sight around Davis leading up to the midterm elections, and this widespread support was reflected at the polls on Nov 6. Both measures passed, pushing forward two plans to improve housing and schools in Davis.

Voter turnout in Yolo County saw a slight boost in 2018, with roughly 50 percent of registered voters casting ballots, according

to data from the Secretary of State’s office.

This is an increase from the 46 percent of Yolo County residents who voted in the last midterm election in 2014.

Measure L was the closer of the two races, with 56 percent voting yes on the measure and 43 percent voting no, according to Yolo Elections Office reports. Passage of the measure gave the green light to the West Davis Active Adult Community, one of the largest land development proposals in the city’s recent history. The WDAAC is a housing project that will build a new community of roughly 500 homes for seniors on farmland near Covell boulevard.

Developers can begin planning the project in earnest, now that the WDAAC has been given voter approval. Dave Taormino, the developer behind the WDAAC, said this process will take about eight months to complete before construction can begin.

“We’re in the process of preparing maps and completing the studies that follow from the the election, in terms of drainage, flood-

thusiasm to contribute by donating some of their profit.

“When we found what this [event] was going to be all about, we definitely wanted to participate as well in that respect, let alone just to be here and help everybody,” Scott said.

As the food truck is local to Woodland, Dubberly appreciates the opportunity to aid the local community.

“Community is really important to us, and giving back to the community,” Dubberly said. “So, each individually, we wanted to do what we could for people who are suffering. It was a no-brainer, of course Farmland Street wants to participate too.”

Tracy Walton, a member of the band Mumbo Gumbo, shared her excitement to support her fellow band member.

“Our drummer, Rick Lotter, is the brother of Scott Lotter, who is on the city council in Paradise, so it made a lot of sense for Mumbo Gumbo to play since we have been dying to something for them,” Walton said. “Everybody on the band signed on right away.”

Davis’ local radio station KDRT broadcasted the entire event on air and advertised ways of donating online using Twitter.

“If you tune into KDRT right now you’re hearing that music,” said Shawn Witte, a sixth-year graduate student in computational topology and a KDRT racommunity living at Turtle House. Lynch believes the culture at Turtle House is very much dependent on the residents living there on a year-to-year basis and their specific demands.

“When you are dealing with cooperative living you are dealing with 20 different identities, 20 different incomes, 20 different schedules and 20 different people with different needs,” Lynch said.

Lynch also believes the culture of Davis has a significant impact on its co-ops. Turtle House in particular has events in which residents show art, or perform music — events that lend themselves to the culture and vibe of the space.

“Davis fosters an environment that is often progressive, artistic and environmentally friendly,” Lynch said. “Turtle house is a space that facilitates events related to this for us, like being able to have shows in the basement.”

Lynch argues that the sense of agency given to residents is empowering in itself.

Because each resident is at the core of its function, Turtle House is a space which reflects the needs of the people in it.

Assistant professor of communication Seth Fry is an expert on cooperative living and has dedicated much of his undergraduate and postgraduate life to understanding the in’s and out’s of cooperative living.

Having attended the University of California, Berkeley for undergraduate studies, Fry lived in various co-ops and went on to be a founding member of a graduate co-op at the University of Indiana, Bloomington. He has since gone on to study co-ops all over the United States and around the world. Fry shares Lynch’s belief that cooperative living plain work and also the tentative maps that define each lot’s dimensions and where utilities go,” Taormino said. “It’s our goal to be under construction of the sitework and infrastructure by early summer of 2019.”

Supporters of Measure L hoped that new housing for seniors will free up more homes in Central Davis, allowing a new generation of families and student renters to move in. It will be a few years, however, before prospective homebuyers and renters see any relief.

“I would expect in 2020 [...] that you’ll see resale homes also on the market from the buyers of our homes,” Taormino said. “Over a two to three year period, I expect about 260 resale homes will come on the Davis housing market.”

In the meantime, construction on the WDAAC could be a new source of traffic on Covell near Highway 113 for Davis commuters. Taormino believes, however, that any congestion will be minor.

“There will be obviously some additional traffic during the construction timeframe from trucks and what have you,” Taormino said. “But they typically won’t be there at the busy times, when typical commuter are going to be active.”

The other major city decision made by Davis voters was Measure M, a bond measure proposed by the Davis Joint Unified

dio DJ. “In between, we’re broadcasting everything they’re saying from the stage, and we’re also talking about the fire benefit.”

Witte touched upon his personal contributions to the relief effort.

“I am one of the few people here who has no personal connection to the fire,” Witte said. “I had some Target gift cards that I’ve had for a while and that I’ve been meaning to use, but they could use them better than I can.”

Davis hosted a similar event last year to support those affected by the fires in Sonoma and Napa counties, raising about $30,000. Frerichs emphasized the importance of reaching out to neighboring areas.

“We really feel like in Davis, if our community ever faced a situation like this, we would just hope that other people would come to our aid,” Frerichs said.

“So that’s how we approached this situation. You see this devastation in another community, and we can only help them.

We have to do something.”

Frerichs announced at the end of the event that around $54,000 had been raised, excluding proceeds from food and drink.

“We knew that Davis would be generous, we didn’t know they’d be $60,000 generous,” Walton said. “Davis is wonderful, and they love their citizens and their former citizens.”

CIERA PASTUREL / AGGIE

can be incredibly empowering and can introduce students to an alternative way of living.

“My journey with co-ops started with going to parties, but it ended up leading me down a path of political and economic empowerment, both because of its affordability and because of the experience it gives you being an effective participant in democracy,” Fry said.

This is especially relevant for young people living in the current political climate.

Fry believes that those who participate in democracy in everyday life are better able to make informed decisions when it comes to voting.

“To prevent democracy being taken over by demagogues, we need citizens who are savvy and know how to vote against corruption,” Fry said. “In my mind, people who live in co-ops have the day-to-day experience that make them informed of both the upsides and the downsides of democracy.”

Cooperative living is not only an effective way to find a community within UC Davis but has many real-world implications that students often overlook. By fostering a way of living based in growth and responsibility, students receive much more out of co-ops than simply a place to live.

School District. The measure passed easily, with about a 73 percent yes vote citywide.

Measure M approved roughly $150 million in funds to improve elementary, middle and high schools in the Davis area.

The DJUSD administration thanked voters for the approval with a statement released on their website, promising to use the new funds to improve facilities and security in local schools. Some of the proposed improvements include updating science and tech labs, athletic facilities, classrooms and school access for students and staff with disabilities.

Local Davis schools are in need of modernization to meet 21st century standards, according to the statement. Some of the facilities that will be replaced or renovated date back to the 1950s and ’60s.

“Many of the classrooms and buildings in Davis schools are over 50 years old and require updates,” the statement read.

“Old plumbing and electrical systems need re-placement and academic facilities need earthquake safety upgrades to provide a safe, healthful learning environment for students.”

Measure M will fund several projects, although funds can’t be used toward administrator and teacher pay.

BALLOTS on 11

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2018 | 5

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

JE RE M Y DA N G / AG G IE

ANXIETY AND STUDENTS: HOW IT MANIFESTS IN DIFFERENT FORMS Students reflect on difference between anxiety and anxiousness, how to care for themselves

BY SI E RRA BURGU E N O features@theaggie.org

Anxiety is real. It comes in many different forms. It’s there, hidden beneath. But, for some, that anxious feeling is something that can eventually consume one’s life. Anxiety has the ability to influence people on many different scales. This can range from anxiety disorders to the feeling of being anxious. It can occur in early life, but for some it is especially apparent during college years.

Minerva Olaya, a fourth-year biomedical engineering student, didn’t realize she had anxiety until her first year of college.

“My dad was in the ICU for about a month during Fall Quarter, and when I came back to school Winter Quarter, I was constantly worried about him and thinking

that something bad would happen to him or my family in general,” Olaya said. “It then got to the point where I felt like I was going to fail every class even though I was doing well in them.”

Once she started going to therapy due to continuous breakdowns, she began to understand her anxiety and how it made her feel. To Olaya, her anxiety is feeling uncomfortable in social situations and feeling like she is going to fail no matter what measures she takes.

“It’s a constant worry that something is going to go wrong and everything is out of my control,” Olaya said.

For second-year international relations major Angelica Nemani, junior year of high school was the time she realized she had anxiety.

“I had already gone through a period of depression, and one way I coped with it was by reading a lot about mental health and how to overcome the challenges that come with having a mental disorder,” Nemani said. “I came to realize that what I was feeling correlated to the feelings associated with anxiety.”

She described anxiety as a complicated condition where people feel an overwhelming feeling of panic that can happen at any moment.

“For me personally, anxiety is like another person in my head controlling my thoughts and telling me I should be more worried about everything that is going on in my life,” Nemani said. “[It’s] telling me that what I am doing is not good enough or even that I, as a person, am not good enough.”

For Nemani, facing her anxiety is almost a daily routine. However, she has a lot of different emotions that depend on the situation and how severe it feels.

“When I feel an intense wave of anxiety during an event or moment, the physical symptoms I often feel are an increased heart rate, heavy breathing, lightheadedness or a headache, nausea and dizziness,” Nemani said.

While most people feel anxious at some point in their lives, it may not be equivalent to having an anxiety disorder. Julissa Oropeza a third-year Spanish major, has not been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder but still experiences anxious feelings that occur

IS IT LOVE AT FIRST SWIPE?

normally during the end of the quarter. She described it as a tight feeling in her chest, and she feels like she needs to pace herself or get some breathing room.

“Balancing life at that point becomes extremely difficult, and it’s the time where I can’t go home or be with friends due to the busy schedule,” Oropeza said.

However, the thing that helps her cope is being around other people and having the emotional support that reminds her she is not alone.

“It reminds me of the bigger picture and to not be caught up in the little things,” Oropeza said.

Oropeza explained that seeking help is the best way to go to when dealing with these kinds of feelings. As a friend to someone with an anxiety disorder, Oropeza says that getting better is an exercise. “[Getting better] won’t happen overnight or go away, and that’s ok,” Oropeza said. “Sometimes things need to be practiced and exercised.”

A common misconception about anxiety is that someone is over-exaggerating about their feelings.

“They don’t believe that your mind is as powerful as it is because, ultimately, it’s your mind that is playing games with you,” Olaya said.

Nemani, in addition, pointed out that the term “panic attack” is used nonchalantly within society.

ANXI ETY o n 1 1 CA IT LY N SA MPL EY / AGG IE

Davis students and faculty comment on the use of Tinder in college

BY SNEHA RAMACHANDRAN features@theaggie.org

Back in August, the popular dating application, Tinder, created a new feature that made it easier for college students to connect with each other. When Tinder was first introduced back in 2014, the app was used primarily on college campuses to encourage students to engage with one another in various ways. Since then, Tinder has gained more predominance in popular culture and a reputation of being an app used for hookups and a place to look for potential partners.

Associate professor Paul Eastwick teaches PSC 51: Love, Lust, and Human Evolution, an undergraduate class focused on human relationships.

Some view Tinder as a platform to find partners for potential hookups, but Eastwick details why he believes that Tinder is a viable way to start a relationship whether it’s serious or casual.

“I think Tinder is absolutely a good way to meet a potential partner,” Eastwick said.

“The best thing that Tinder, and really all online dating platforms can offer, is the ability to introduce you to people that you might not have otherwise met and that’s something they do really well, they expand the pool of possibilities for you.”

Eastwick explained how the idea that Tinder is not a strong foundation for a relationship is not necessarily true.

“Those early intentions, before you meet a person face to face are overrated,” Eastwick said. “That’s the sort of typical course that relationships take, is that they meet somebody and they sort of figure it out from there, and sometimes ‘figuring it out’ means that you hook up and it doesn’t really go anywhere

and sometimes ‘figuring it out’ means its takes a while and you realize you really like the person, so in that sense anything that expands peoples pool is a perfectly great way to meet a partner.”

Although there are a multitude of dating apps available, Tinder seems to be one of the most widely used dating applications in college. Eastwick explains why he believes this might be.

“I think most users of Tinder are using it because it’s fun to use in the moment,” Eastwick said. “From my understanding, it’s sort of rewarding to swipe through and get matches [...] and because of that, I think Tinder feels more like a game which makes it more enjoyable in and of itself. The eHarmony that I remember from a few year ago was kind of like ‘a thing you had to do’.

You would get a few profiles a day, and you would have to look through them and see what you thought, which is not meant to be as much goofy and fun as Tinder is.”

Since Tinder was released in late 2012 to a few college campuses, there has been a significant increase in the amount of users.

Eastwick offered a potential change to the app that might make it more successful in helping users find partners.

“I think the most successful dating apps are like to be the ones that leverage people’s existing social networks,” Eastwick said.

“Essentially, what it’s doing is not only introducing you to people that you wouldn’t have met otherwise, but also pointing you to the ways that your social networks may overlap and having friends in common and having the support of those friends for your relationship is generally a good thing [...] hopping to a brand new social network is a harder thing to do.”

Up until the start of Fall Quarter, third-

JUST IN H A N / AG G IE

SPOTS FOR YOUR NEXT STUDY SESSION Check out different spots in and around Davis to get your study grind on

BY ALYSSA HADA features@theaggie.org

During finals season, it can be hard to focus and study for upcoming tests. The library may be overcrowded, the CoHo may be too loud and it may be impossible to find a table at the Silo. Luckily, there are many spots in the Davis area to set up and get that study grind on. Read on to find some prime study spots in Davis!

North Davis Peet’s Coffee/Noah’s Bagels This spot is perfect if you’re planning on studying for a long time. It has the added bonus of selling food on the Noah’s Bagels side and coffee on the Peet’s side of this joint spot. It’s also located in a plaza with ample food and drink options, meaning you can set up shop to study all weekend long.

Downtown Panera

year managerial economics major Stephen Fallon was an avid user of Tinder.

“I think Tinder’s intended purpose is for people to meet new people and where you go from there is up to your discretion,” Fallon said. “From my personal experience, I always like to just go with the flow and that’s just kind of like my trademark, just because you can meet some really cool people off of Tinder from just talking to them, but then there are also some people that you just do not vibe with.”

Fallon described his experience as a ex-Tinder user.

“I was so against Tinder before I got it, and once I finally downloaded it, it was like the dam broke down,” Fallon said. “On the first week, I was averaging 6 hours a day, that’s how bad it was [...] so when I say I had Tinder, I had Tinder. It was an awesome way to kill time, and I felt like God when I was swiping through like ‘no, yes, yes, no.’

Then when I got back to school I had more responsibilities and I was like ‘what the hell am I doing with my life’ so I deleted the app.”

After matching with a person on Tinder, both individuals have the opportunity to message each other, start a conversation

and possibly meet in person. Fallon explains when he felt he was willing to meet up with someone in person and how long they stayed in touch for.

“It depends on the eagerness of the person,” Fallon said. “I’ve had like one girl that I exchanged maybe three messages with and we met up, but it was really weird. And then I was talking to this other girl for over a month and a half and then we finally met up, but it was way better to meet up with someone that I waited longer for because it felt like I had already known her so we didn’t have to do all the, ‘Where’s your family from?’ shit [...] On average I would say that I keep in touch with my matches for three weeks, but then there are some that I have been friends with for over six months.”

Personally, Fallon could never see himself starting a serious relationship with someone he met on Tinder.

“I don’t think that Tinder is a good way to start a relationship,” Fallon said. “But I know someone who literally got married to someone he met on Tinder, so I guess it can happen [...] I think in general [Tinder] should be used for people you want to meet

This is such an underrated spot to study.

The tables are big, the booths are comfy and the outlets are plentiful. It’s a great spot to go with a study group and has coffee, food and even soups for the cold winter days coming ahead.

Kobe Mart While this spot is a convenience store upstairs, downstairs is a large area dedicated to customers. The downstairs area is furnished with long tables, outlets, TVs and microwaves. It’s a great spot to study and grab food from the upstairs section of the store. Unlike most spots in downtown like Peet’s or Philz, this spot tends to not get too crowded, and you can generally find a table here.

South Davis Starbucks If you didn’t already know, a new Starbucks just popped up in South Davis. It’s still relatively unknown, meaning it’s an empty and spacious spot to study before it’s on the radar of everyone living in the area.

It even offers a drive through if you simply need a pick me up on your way to a study

session elsewhere.

Common Grounds This is a great spot to grab a small table and study on your own. There are bar options as well as small table and sofa options, and there are outlets all around the store.

The coffee is great and it’s located near other food options, meaning you could camp out here all day. However, it does get packed on the weekends, so if you’re planning on coming here, head out earlier in the day to grab a table.

Sacramento There are countless coffee shops available in Sacramento. Temple Coffee, Insight Coffee Roasters and Old Soul Co. all have a comfortable and spacious vibe that makes studying here easy, and they are centrally located with nearby food options as well.

While it is a further drive, these spots are generally much emptier than the ones in Davis, as less students tend to visit these spots.

All of the above are great options to check out before your next big study session. Good luck on finals!

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6 | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2018

Opinion THE

C ALIFORNIA A GGIE

E DI TO R I AL B OAR D EMILY STACK Editor-in-Chief

California fire relief doesn’t end with containment Students, faculty, staff should unite to support relief effort

OLIVIA ROCKEMAN Managing Editor HANNAH HOLZER Campus News Editor KAELYN TUERMER-LEE City News Editor TARYN DEOILERS Opinion Editor OLIVIA LUCHINI Features Editor LIZ JACOBSON Arts & Culture Editor DOMINIC FARIA Sports Editor HARNOOR GILL Science & Tech Editor

SYDNEY ODMAN New Media Manager BRIAN LANDRY Photo Director TREVOR GOODMAN Video Production Manager OLIVIA KOTLAREK Design Director JONATHAN CHEN Layout Director HANNA BAUBLITZ Copy Chief CECILIA MORALES Copy Chief ZOË REINHARDT Website Manager HALI ZWEIGORDON Social Media Manager GRACE SIMMONS Newsletter Manager LAURIE PEDERSON Business Development Manager

When officials announced on Nov. 25 that the Camp Fire in Butte County was 100 percent contained, California seemed to exhale a sigh of relief as smokey skies began to clear and air conditions returned to normal. Though the parts of our state that surround the affected area have been able to mostly able to return to their previous routines through resumed work and academic schedules, the residents of Butte County remain in a state of uncertainty with 88 confirmed deaths and 203 people still unaccounted for due to the fires.

Though we see it flashing on a banner on the bottom of the daily news broadcast or in every headline since Nov. 13, it is important to unpack the weight of what just ravaged Northern California — the deadliest wildfire in the state’s history. The fire consumed 153,336 acres of land, taking nearly 14,000 homes in its path.

Though we as students have returned to our lectures and set our eyes on finals, there is nothing to return to for many Butte County residents. This being said, it is essential for those who are fortunate and secure to donate in whatever way they can to the relief of this natural disaster.

Donating to the American Red Cross is one of the easiest and most helpful ways to offer relief to those affected by the California wildfires. Donors can give any amount and can ensure that their money is going specifically to California wildfire relief by selecting it as their desired support area during the online donation process.

Thanks to the efforts of a family in Rocklin, a Facebook page allows those interested to adopt a family from Paradise and directly donate money, clothing and/ or food to that family. This facilitates direct communication between the families and the donors about

what they actually need, which is less often a teddy bear donated through the mail and more often money or a warm meal.

Students can help in small and feasible ways. Lyft partnered with United Way to offer a “round up” option to users of the ride-share service. By selecting the “donate” option on the app’s menu, riders can round their trip up to the nearest dollar to donate to wildfire relief.

On our own campus, there are actions being taken to assist those affected. The School of Veterinary Medicine has been rescuing and healing animals that were lost in the fires. In particular, a multitude of family pets have been healed, leading to an outcry on Facebook for their owners to claim them. Though many pets have been returned to their families and touching videos of reunions have been posted, there are still many who remain unclaimed.

Through jumbled emotions of relief due to the containment of the fire and devastation left behind, California now has deep scar that will take time to heal.

It’s clear through the outpouring of donations and help that Californians step up when natural disasters strike.

Though presidential posts claim that fires could have been prevented with a rake, fellow Californians understand the unpredictable chaos that these disasters start and end with.

The Editorial Board encourages students, faculty and staff to donate to the relief effort in whatever way they can, be that through money, resources or time.

Though we were briefly affected by two weeks of campus closure, those of Butte County will continue to live with the effects of these fires for years to come. It is our duty to ease these new and heavy burdens that they did not choose to carry.

Gerrymandering undermines American voters and threatens the future of the country REPUBLICANS HAVE USED GERRYMANDERING TO SWAY ELECTIONS FOR THE PAST DECADE

BY HA N A D I J O R DA N hajordan@ucdavis.edu

While the most recent midterm elections yielded results that some would ecstatically call a “blue wave,” the lack of House seats picked up by Democrats in states like North Carolina and Wisconsin underscores the use of gerrymandering to sway elections — a benefit primarily felt

by Republicans.

In Wisconsin, Democrats won all the statewide offices but failed to win seats in the assembly or the state Senate, both of which have maintained a staggering Republican majority. In North Carolina, Democrats won the popular vote by 79,000 votes — a majority — but only won 54 out of 120 seats (45 percent).

The 2016 election played out similarly in North Carolina, with Democrats winning 47 percent of the statewide popular House vote, yet only garnering 23 percent of the seats. Obviously this isn’t North Carolina’s first incident with illegal congressional redistricting.

In 2011, North Carolina was forced by a Supreme Court decision to redraw its congressional districts because they were found to be illegally gerrymandered along racial lines, which by definition is unconstitutional. Since the court’s decision, however, North Carolina’s election results prove that the state has yet to create more equal districts.

Wisconsin and North Carolina aren’t the only ones guilty of unequal, possibly illegal redistricting; in fact, the Associat-

ed Press conducted a study in which they determined that partisan gerrymandering has benefited Republicans far more than Democrats — best exemplified by the 2016 presidential election.

The Associated Press analyzed 435 U.S. House races and around 4,700 state House and Assembly seats up for grabs in 2016 and found four times as many states with Republican-skewed state House and Assembly districts than Democratic ones.

Traditional battleground states, such as Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida and Virginia, were among those with significant Republican advantages in their U.S. or state House races.

So how is it that Republicans continue to lose a majority of votes for the

House and yet typically hold a majority of House seats?

Republican dominance in myriad states began in the 2010 elections, which gave the party full control of 25 state legislatures and 29 governorships. The timing couldn’t have been more fruitful; Republicans gained majorities just in time to biasedly redistrict the map based JORDAN on 11

OLIVIA KOTLAREK / AGGIE

How social media is eclipsing books TEENAGERS, ADULTS SPEND MORE TIME ON SOCIAL MEDIA THAN READING BOOKS, MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS

BY KA N WA L J IT S I NGH kjssingh@ucdavis.edu

The year is 2018, and no matter where we are, it’s quite a common sight to see people immersed in their virtual universes on their cellphones. Whether it’s at a café or even a family gathering, social interactions have been somewhat replaced by social media or digital media. This is more evident in teenagers, who are Snapchatting more than reading novels or following hashtags rather than going through the morning newspaper. According to a study published in 2016, nearly 82 percent of 12th graders visited sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram every day, while only 16 percent reported reading a book, magazine or newspaper every single day — compared to around 60 percent in the 70s. And although 33 percent of 10th graders said they read a newspaper almost every day in the 1990s,

by 2016, this number had dropped to just 2 percent. Encountering people who leisurely read on a daily basis is rapidly becoming a rarity.

We may conclude that in these past ten or so years, with the arrival of this new virtual age, our lives have transformed drastically. To a teenager born in the 21st century who has been exposed to social media from a young age, reading books for pleasure doesn’t seem like a top priority when most teenagers of the same age are so immersed in their virtual lives. Television was the undisputed king of digital media in the pre-internet era, and youngsters had little to no options for watching something that aligned with their interests. Thus, spending time reading books on topics of their interest was often a go-to.

Circumstances changed massively after the unprecedented introduction of the internet, and with time, people start-

ed using Google as their main source of information and knowledge. No doubt, the internet is perhaps one of the greatest inventions of modern era and it has made our lives much easier. But the internet nowadays is mostly dominated by social media sites, which in some ways have diverted from the main purpose of the internet. Teenagers prefer social media over books or magazines, as they may feel a sense of connection to a community from which they are accessing their knowledge. But the information on social media is often times unreliable — which usually isn’t the case for books.

With the world at our fingertips, we are multitasking all the time and receiving information from social media faster — often times at the expense of receiving the complete information. Thus, multitasking has made us more impatient when gathering knowledge. Rather than gaining quality information on a sin-

gle topic, we go through multiple tasks and end up with incomplete knowledge on multiple topics. In order to read one book, one has to invest their time and completely focus on it. But a lack of attention span plus impatience may be the reason that teenagers today prefer quantity over quality. According to the National Centre for Biotechnology Information, “the average human attention span has dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2013 (just one second below that of a goldfish).” We can’t completely SINGH on 12

TESSA KOGA / AGGIE

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2018 | 7

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

HUMOR

Unitrans B Line miraculously arrives on time during peak hours PROBABLY THE MOST SHOCKING THING TO HAPPEN THIS YEAR SO FAR

BY CON N ER SH AW cjshaw@ucdavis.edu

In a freak accident of inexplicable proportions, the Unitrans B Line arrived at the Memorial Union perfectly on time during the 1:00 p.m. bus rush today.

“I don’t know how to describe what it’s like to get here on time for once,” described Deanya Later, the bus driver at the time of the incident. “But I’ll just say now that this wasn’t supposed to happen.

I think an accident on this scale could affect the cosmos itself.”

Bus driver Later was a last-minute cover for the B line after the original driver, who just goes by “The Licktitious,” called in sick.

“Usually, the B line is supposed to be late,” Later continued. “Too many people take the B every day, so when a driver starts on that route, they’re told explicitly to make students as late as possible in order to discourage them from getting on in the future. I thought I was following that directive as well as I could, but apparently not.”

Later later told The California Aggie about a few methods they used to force a late arrival, which makes this story even more remarkable. They stopped at every stop, waited for potential stragglers, even picked up three people in wheelchairs.

Perhaps the most blinding, shocking insanity to come out of this testimony? It was also raining.

According to witnesses, the B line was so packed that some people were forced to not only remove their backpacks, but also their coats to make more room. Students on the bus at the time reported that, at one point, the B remained stationary for 20 minutes while the driver yelled, “If I could have everyone please move back behind the yellow line” over the lull of passengers, who apparently had no idea that they needed to move for more people to get on the bus and therefore continued to not move behind the line “or at all.” This lead to a slew of uncomfortable shuffling and looking around in dumbfounded confusion.

But even with all of this — in addition to the B hitting every light, stop sign and yield possible and Later filing accident reports for every scraped tree and near-

Desperate Measures

BY ROS E Y MO RE ARTY rosey@morearty.org

SHAW on 11

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D ISC L A I M ER: Th e v iews a n d o p i ni 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 alone and do no t necessari l y i ndi cate the vi ews an d o p in ion s h eld by The C al i fo rni a Ag g i e. Le tte r s to th e e ditor can be addre sse d to opini o n@theaggi e.o rg.

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8 | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2018

SCIENCE+TECH PE TE R S M I T H / CO U RTE SY

CANCER TREATMENT WORKS BETTER IN OBESE PATIENTS UC Davis Researchers find that a novel cancer treatment is more effective in obese patients

BY P E T E R SM I T H science@theaggie.org

Researchers at UC Davis found that a promising new cancer treatment called checkpoint immunotherapy works better in obese patients than it does in lean patients.

The scientists, who published their research in Nature Medicine on November 12, originally hypothesized that checkpoint immunotherapy would be less effective in obese cancer patients because obese people generally have weaker immune systems. Their research showed exactly the opposite.

“What we found to our surprise, we didn’t see more toxicities using this approach [Checkpoint Immunotherapy], if anything we saw just the opposite.” said

William Murphy, the lead professor of the team that conducted the research. “We found that, clinically, the obese patients responded better and survived longer than the lean patients.”

Checkpoint immunotherapy relies on the immune system to fight cancer, as opposed to other treatments like chemotherapy or radiation. The immune system is the body’s natural mechanism for fighting pathogens, but it often struggles against cancer because cancer is the uncontrolled growth of cells.

The immune system has white blood cells called T-cells which are used to kill pathogens. T-cells have “switches” on them called checkpoints which allow other human cells to control the immune system.

Often cancer cells take advantage of these

MIC H A E L L E A H Y / AGGI E

Where someone lives and who they live around complete the puzzle of their social and economic mobility

UC Davis’ Center for Poverty Research recently hosted the Geographies of Poverty Conference. Its attendees were eager to join the day-long event filled with conversation and multi-disciplinary efforts to confront poverty from economic and sociological perspectives. Attendees came from across the country, comprising of research faculty, graduate students, undergraduates and community members.

“The conference allowed them to look at their research in a new setting, and it gave the community the opportunity to be part of the conversation on the subjects,” said Jessica Harold, a conference organizer and the manager of the UC Davis Center for Poverty Research.

The conference was divided into four sessions of speakers with topics ranging from early education and consequences of historically segregated water provisions to immigrant assimilation and housing. Research faculty affiliates from the Center for Poverty Research moderated each session and the discussion that followed.

Maria Rendon, an assistant professor at UC Irvine, offered a snapshot of her qualitative research on neighborhood mechanisms that drive generational poverty. She focused on the children of Latino immigrants living in high-poverty neighborhoods in Los Angeles, California.

“Urban neighborhoods mattered for these youth,” Rendon said. “Race, class segregation and urban violence organized their daily lives.”

and grow unencumbered.

The researchers found that in obese people, the human body had already activated the PD-1 checkpoint in many T-cells to prevent the immune system from going out of control. The obese body slows down the immune system because an obese person has more fat, carbohydrates and hormones that could potentially allow the system to become too aggressive. This becomes dangerous when cancer develops because the immune system is not able to effectively respond. In addition, the obese environment allows the tumor to grow much faster than it would in a lean person.

“Not only does the tumor have an environment where it can grow faster, but the immune system that’s supposed to fight it is starting to shut down.” Murphy said.

In lean patients, when doctors used checkpoint immunotherapy, the therapy prevents cancer cells from activating the PD-1 pathway and slowing immune response. In obese patients, the therapy does the same but it also removes the restrictions that the body placed on the immune system.

“If you compare a non-obese and an obese person, there’s actually more exhausted T-cells,” said Cordelia Dunai, an immunology Ph.D. student working in Murphy’s lab at UC Davis. “So when you give the checkpoint blockade, which is blocking PD-1 signaling, then you have all those T-cells unleashed.”

This allows the immune system of obese patients to fully respond to the cancer. In addition, the T-cells in the obese patients benefit from the obese environment allowing for a more ferocious immune response.

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MAPPING POVERTY

BY FOXY ROBI N S O N science@theaggie.org

switches and use them to turn off the T-cells so they will not eliminate the cancer. With checkpoint immunotherapy, doctors administer special drugs that attach to checkpoints on T-cells and physically prevent the cancer from turning off the T-cells. Checkpoint immunotherapy is often referred to as “releasing the breaks on the immune system” and allowing it to attack and kill cancer. Doctors are excited about the treatment because it is effective and often has less side effects than other approaches.

“The immunotherapy approach has been called the magic bullet because what it does is it seeks out the cancer and you don’t get the collateral damage or the toxicities normally associated with chemo or radiation,” Murphy said.

Murphy and his team were concerned that because prior research demonstrated obese people have weaker immune systems, the new revolutionary treatment would be less effective in a growing part of the population. They hypothesised that lean people who have stronger baseline immune systems would benefit more from the treatment.

However, as they did clinical trials comparing lean and obese animals as well as lean and obese humans, the data pointed to another conclusion.

“What we saw was quite the opposite,” said Arta Monjazeb, the head clinician on the project. “The therapies seemed to work better in obese patients.”

The immunotherapy treatment researchers used targets as checkpoint on T-cells called PD-1 that, when activated, can slow down the immune system. The immunotherapy drugs block cancer cells from activating the PD-1 pathway. That way the cancer cannot slow down the immune response

Rendon found that second-generation Latino/as heavily relied on kin and neighborhood ties to navigate the job market.

“Social support, day-to-day support from kin and community ties lifted prospects for young men and inhibited second-generation decline,” Rendon said. “For the first generation, some are here because of a brother or parent connection, so they are driven to migrate because of kin ties. It is the same idea for the second generation when finding labor or accessing the job market.”

Rendon noted that this was true even for life after college.

“Many men with college degrees go home and end up in the same situation,” Rendon said.

Ending her presentation, Rendon emphasized a sense of optimism felt by the second-generation despite their hurdles to social mobility. Resolute optimists held the belief that there was nothing holding them back, emboldened by immigrant narratives and meritocracy reinforcement, hypersegregation, kin-based social support and encouragement.

Paul Jargowsky, director of the Center for Urban Research and Urban Education at Rutgers University, concluded the conference with an assessment of fair housing progress across the United States.

“Housing affordability is not equally distributed,” Jargowsky said. “People with low-income need more affordable housing.

There’s not enough affordable housing, creating stress as they may be competing with moderate-income people.”

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THE INNER WORKINGS OF SEADOC SOCIETY Delving into how the SeaDoc Society strives to help marine mammals

BY MICH E LLE WO NG science@theaggie.org

As the homes of various animals are being disturbed due to the overwhelming influence of human activity, increasing conservation efforts have been taking place to help these individuals survive within their changing environment. One of the organizations dedicated to this conversation is the SeaDoc Society, a program of the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, dedicated to helping marine wildlife along with their surrounding ecosystem.

Alexa Dickson, an intern for SeaDoc society during summer 2018, was able to experience the inner workings of this program through helping run the marine mammal stranding network in the San Juan Islands.

Alongside her co-intern, Dickson managed the hotline on Orcas Island connected to calls reporting sightings of strandings.

Once receiving a call, the interns, with the help of volunteers, conducted physical exams on the animals and determined whether the animals required medical attention or if they should be left to let nature take its course. Dickson explained that a large part of her position entailed her communicating with the public and educating them on the proper rules of conduct pertaining to animals. She explained that she faced some difficulties through these communications, as the public was not always understanding of the program’s decisions to leave stranded animals.

“Dealing with those mix of emotions was very difficult,” Dickson said. “As well as having those conversations over and over

again can be really hard for us because we just feel like we can’t get through to them and we can’t help them to understand why we’re doing what we’re doing.”

Dickson hopes that the public can understand that these decisions are not easy to make nor are taken lightly by the program staff. If the veterinarians and scientists determined the stranding was caused by human activity, intervening actions usually took place. However, if there were no signs of human causation, decisions were made to let nature take its course. These determinations were made through careful consideration of the current state of the ecosystem along with profiles on each animal. Dickson stated that conservation medicine cannot be based on hard and fast decisions but rather requires deliberation of many different factors.

“I think my main takeaway is that conservation medicine is not just medicine,” Dickson said. “It involves a lot of other things that you have to be involved with. You have to be involved with politics. You have to be involved with how you’re perceived by the public. You have to be involved in education.”

During her time with SeaDoc Society, Dickson also worked with killer whales, specifically J35, a case where a mother orca carried her dead calf over a long distance.

Through taking data on J35 and observing her over a period of seven hours, Dickson explained that the experience was interesting from a scientific perspective along with being emotionally concerning.

SeaDoc Society was also involved in SEADOC on 12

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THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

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

FAQ #5 Q: How do I get my 50% student discount?

A: Call or visit the Ticket Office, or purchase online once you have created a Mondavi Center account.

Go to: mondaviarts.org/students for details.

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

Paula Poundstone FRI, NOV 30 | 8PM

Stand-up comic and quickwitted NPR panelist on Wait, Wait … Don’t Tell Me makes her Mondavi Center debut.

UC Davis student tickets start at $17.50.

Camille A. Brown & Dancers SAT, DEC 1 | 8PM

Brown leads her troupe through dazzling excavations of ancestral stories—with a keen sense of theatricality, gutsy moves and deep musicality.

UC Davis student tickets start at $12.50.

#mondavicenter

mondaviarts.org mondaviarts.org/students

10 | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2018

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

JA MI E CHEN / AGGI E

Netflix delivers strong conclusion to original series

BY JOSH MADRID arts@theaggie.org

On Nov. 2, Netflix released the long-awaited finale to its original series, “House of Cards.” The release of the final season was delayed in the wake of sexual-assault allegations surrounding Kevin Spacey.

Netflix concluded it would write out Frank Underwood, Kevin Spacey’s character, from the series — opening up many plot avenues.

GOING ZERO WASTE AS A COLLEGE STUDENT Easy, cheap ways to go zero waste

BY JARRETT ROGERS arts@theaggie.org

It’s no secret that the planet and its inhabitants suffer from the decisions we make as consumers. Earlier this month on the shores of Indonesia, a dead whale was found with over 6 kilograms of plastic (roughly 1000 plastic bags, plates and cups) in its stomach, which is thought to be the cause of its death. This is but one instance in an infinite number of situations where consumerism has contributed to global death and decay. So, how does one combat these horrors? They reduce their carbon footprint.

What is the easiest (and cheapest) way to do that? Going zero waste.

This may seem tough, especially for a low-budget college student who barely scrapes by on ramen noodles and $3 merlot from Trader Joe’s. But, despite the rumors, going zero waste is easier than ever, especial-

Given the unprecedented events that occurred outside of the studio, the series had a strong finish.

Season five left the audience with a powerful cliffhanger where Claire Underwood, played by Robin Wright, uttered the words, “It’s my turn.” This was just after she declined a call from her husband, who was at the mercy of Claire as he awaited a pardon from her. The plot left the audience speculating how she would behave as the presidential incumbent.

ly for a student at UC Davis. From opting out of using Keurig K-Cup Pods to bringing reusable bags to the grocery store, the possibilities are endless.

First on the list of easy ways to go zero waste: coffee. Let’s get this straight, coffee is a lifeblood. If you go to college and you don’t drink coffee, you’re probably much healthier than the rest of us. But for those avid coffee drinkers, a key zero waste asset is the French press.

For the time crunched college student, the conveniency of a Keurig may seem ideal.

But put into perspective, single serve coffee makers produce a ridiculous amount of waste. French presses are magic makers that work without the need for a paper filter or plastic pod, just a plunger and a pot makes a batch of coffee without the possibility of preparatory waste ending up in an animal’s stomach. Plus, French presses are incredibly affordable and can be purchased on Amazon for around $20.

When thinking about zero waste opportunities in the kitchen, disposables may be easily thrown away but not so easily broken down. That is, paper plates, towels and anything plastic, while convenient, are not cheaper than the alternative and are bad for the environment. The money spent on disposable amenities can be money spent on dish soap.

Needless to say, the disposable route and the idea of not having to clean up after eating may seem appealing, but in the

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HOLIDAY SEASON RECIPIES Follow these steps to make the perfect holiday treats

BY ILZETH GAMBOA arts@theaggie.org

The holiday season is a time for old traditions to combine with new ones. This holiday season, take the opportunity to create new traditions with these tried and true classics.

You can never go wrong with a cheesecake. This recipe is easy to follow and the cheesecake will be ready to please.

The ingredients are: one can of condensed milk, three eggs, one and a half sticks of cream cheese, 1/6 of a queso fresco cheese and a premade pie crust.

Preheat the oven to 345 degrees fahrenheit. Beat the eggs one by one in a bowl, and then add the cream cheese. Next combine this mixture with all of the remaining ingre-

dients until smooth. Then, pour the resulting liquid into the premade pie crust and place into the oven for 10 minutes. Wait a couple hours for the cheesecake to cool in the fridge or freezer, and it will be ready to eat.

Sugar cookies may be a year-round favorite, but when the holiday season comes, the best thing to do with these chewy cookies is cut them into Christmas-themed shapes. To make festive sugar cookies, holiday cookie cutters are a must. The ingredients for sugar cookies are: 16 tablespoons of unsalted sugar, ¾ cup of sugar, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract, 2 ½ cups of flour, ¼ teaspoon of baking soda and ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Mix the butter and sugar in a bowl

The fight for power and influence between the private sector and the federal government was introduced in season five when Frank Underwood visited the secret society that allegedly covertly runs the country.

However, the fight for power became the overarching theme that presided over the new season.

A wave of new cast members were introduced this season. Power-siblings Bill and Annette Shepard, played by Greg Kinnear and Diane Lane, run The Shepard Freedom Foundation, which is rumored to be based on the Koch brothers — business partners that hold a strong influence over politics.

Melody Cruz, played by Athena Karkanis, is a White House reporter that was rejected by Claire Underwood early in the season after she proposed an interview with the President. Scorned, she left reporting and landed a job as a political commentator. It was clear throughout the season that her over-exaggeration of the White House’s actions that caused public outcry and polarization aren’t far from the realities of the current administration and their hostile relationship with the press.

Duncan Shepard, played by Cody Fern, is the son of Annette Shepard, who acts as a consultant of some sort. His back-door

entry into the media allows him to actively play gatekeeper of the news. At one point in the season, he mentions simply acquiring a newspaper publication to filter what people can read and have access to. He was also involved in the creation of a phone application that secretly gave The Shepard Freedom Foundation access to personal information to influence voter preferences — sound familiar?

Claire Underwood certainly made strides for women in politics this season. Not only did she become the first female president, but she assembled the first all-female cabinet. Also, she is pregnant with Frank Underwood’s child, which she decides to keep.

This plotline represents the idea that women don’t need to choose between career and family because they are more than capable of successfully handling both.

The series finale of House of Cards delivered several great performances and seamlessly incorporated the reality of the changing political world. The show tastefully touched on social issues that concern women in the present-day. All without Frank Underwood.

All eight episodes of season six of House of Cards are available for streaming on Netflix.

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end, someone or something has to face the repercussions. Whether it eventually lands in a landfill or the tides of the ocean, the life of the plastic fork doesn’t end in the garbage can.

One can dive into the endless abyss of the internet and reference a number of studies on the environmental impacts of paper and plastic, but our imaginations are probably more realistic than not. All else equal, reusable kitchen amenities are cheaper, longer lasting and better for the environment than their alternates. If you’re serious about going zero waste, this a no-brainer. On that note, let’s not forget about the wastefulness of plastic zip-lock baggies; their alternative would be an eco-friendly bee’s wax paper that is flexible and reusable. Wrap your food in these bad boys and your kitchen will be free from the wrath of the zip-lock, or if you

decide against buying the “bee’s wrap,” you can always become a Tupperware hoarder. It happens to the best of us.

In the bathroom, consider either a shorter shower or a longer bath, and for the porcelain throne, there is the time-old saying: “If it’s yellow, let it mellow; if it’s brown, flush it down.” Less water use, the better.

Although not nearly as much as other recyclables, shampoo and body wash bottles stack up over time. Consider opting for soap bars. Lush cosmetics sells a wide range of shampoo, face and body wash bars that are all plant-based and vegan and have nothing to do with animal testing. A quick Google search will find a large selection of zero waste, fair trade deodorants, dental floss and more. Discovering new products can

with an electric mixer until the two ingredients look smooth. Once mixed, add the egg and mix again. Then add the vanilla extract. Once all of the ingredients have been properly incorporated, grab a bowl and pour in the flour, baking soda and salt. Proceed to mix all of the ingredients together. The dough will be stiff after mixing, so roll it out until it’s roughly one inch flat. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Once the 30 minutes are up, roll the dough again — this time so the dough is ¼ of an inch thick.

After the dough has been rolled, break out those festive cookie cutters. After the cookies are shaped, place the cookies onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the edges of the cookies are a light golden brown color. After the cookies are baked and have cooled down, here comes the fun part. Grab any color frosting and sprinkles to decorate.

For those in the family that don’t have the biggest sweet tooth, a coconut ball cookie is sure to impress come dessert time. The cookies are perfect for a snack on the dessert table that everyone will love. The ingredients are: two sticks of unsalted, softened butter, two cups of an all-purpose flour, two cups of sweetened flaked coconut, ¼ teaspoon of salt and ¼ cup of confectioner’s sugar.

To start, grab the electric mixer, and mix the butter with the confectioner’s sugar. Mix until combined and has a fluffy texture. Mix in the flour and salt after until well-combined. Once all of that is done, add in the coconut.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. While the oven is heating up, grab the dough, form one-inch balls and place

them on a baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the coconut balls have a nice brown color. Rub the coconut balls into the confectioner’s sugar. Do not wait until the coconut balls are cooled to complete this step. The confectioner’s sugar will not stick to the cookies unless warm.

Holiday desserts can be fun to make and eat, but there are some that are so cute they’re hard to eat. Polar bear cupcakes are one example.

To make them, the ingredients are: one chocolate box cake mix, one can of vanilla frosting, three cups of sweetened shredded coconut, 72 brown m&m’s and one package of oreos.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Prepare the cake mix according to its instructions, and pour the cake mix into the cupcake liners. Place the cupcakes into the oven for the amount of time indicated on the box recipe. In the meantime, place the coconut shreddings into a bowl. Once the cupcakes are baked and cooled, frost them and dip the cupcakes into the coconut shreds. Place an oreo at the edge of the cupcake, on top of the frosting. If the cupcake looks too bulky or there are not enough oreos, split the oreo in half and only place one half at the bottom. Stick four m&m’s on top of the oreo so that it resembles a paw.

These cupcakes will have everyone wanting to grab one to take home — if not to eat then to simply admire it. They will be sure to leave everyone in awe and wanting to take pictures for their Instagrams.

With these recipes the holiday season will be livelier and everyone will love the baked goods that go along with the festivities. Happy holidays, Aggies!

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affect more than those within earshot.”

Constitutional Amendment #56 was also passed, which, according to Tompkins, “created the elected position of the ASUCD External Vice President.”

“The ASUCD Vice President has now assumed the title of ‘ASUCD Internal Vice

President,’ while the Office of Advocacy and Student Representation Director position now has the title of ‘ASUCD External Vice President,’” Tompkins said. “This is a way for the university to elect the official that will represent the voice of the UC Davis student body outside of the association.”

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a.m. at California and Cross streets. The next was at 7:37 a.m. at 404 W. Cross St. and a third at 8:03 a.m. at 120 W. Main St..

The most serious of the fires occurred at 8:03 a.m. near California Check Cashing on 115 Main St. The building’s front, which faces Main St., was badly scorched, and a sign was also burned down.

Another fire was reported at 8:18 a.m. at the Les Schwab Tire Center on 65 W. Main St.; the fire was found south of the business that faced Court St. near a dental office.

This set of fires occurred almost in conjunction with incidents reported on Sunday, Nov. 11 regarding fires set in dumpsters.

There is no evidence, however, of the two cases being linked.

These fires concerned many who believe

that incidents such as arson are diverting resources away from combating larger fires in Northern California.

“With the horrific fires going on right now, I hope that [the] arsonist wasn’t doing it to take away time and resources from the firefighters,” Kung said.

The Woodland Police Department has responded to the situation and was still looking for any information on the suspected arsonist at the time of publication.

“We respond to them as we would any other call that we were dispatched to,” Krause said. “[We] actively look for anybody in the area as it was occurring, following up on any lead by the community that was coming in at the time. [We] just try to figure out what’s going on and get it stopped.”

“I don’t think people really understand what it means,” Nemani said. “It’s not just the feeling of your heart rate increasing rapidly or breathing heavier than usual when you’re nervous. For most people with anxiety, a panic attack can feel like a heart attack, and it is a very serious event that can happen fairly frequently for some.”

To help people become more aware, Oropeza believes that awareness should be presented earlier on.

“There isn’t enough awareness and understanding until college (at least for me), and I think that it should go beyond that,” Oropeza said. “It should be taught at school in health classes because mental health awareness is still health.”

For students seeking help, all three students believe that going to the Student Health and Counseling Services Center is a big help.

“I personally believe that every student should go to CAPS at least once, considering we pay for it with our tuition and fees,” Olaya said.

She also believes that when students are coping with anxiety, they should reach out

to their professors.

She also stated that most professors are understanding and will help you.

Regarding the Student Health and Counseling Services Center, Oropeza said it provides unique resources to students. “[The Student Health and Counseling Services Center] really helps you navigate your emotions and reasons for them,” she said. “They give you help and more resources beyond that session.”

Counseling appointments can be made through the SHCS website, which offers information about their counseling services and other resources regarding health topics.

To students and anyone who has anxiety, Nemani speaks from her own personal experience.

“If you have never experienced the feelings associated with this illness before, I think it’s really beneficial to talk to someone that you’re comfortable with about what you’re facing and what you need help with,” Nemani said. “Keep the people that are important to you aware of what you’re going through.”

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“The Board of Education has evaluated the facilities needs of the District, and has identified projects to finance from a local bond measure at this time,” according to the text of the measure.

Increasing employee pay remains a priority for the school district going forward.

Davis teacher salaries still lag behind nearby schools, according to administrator reports.

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casually and talk to, but I guess the best way to be in a relationship is to fall ass-backwards so I guess I will play the devil’s advocate for that.”

Fallon detailed how he used Tinder more at home than while he was at college.

“I think I use Tinder a lot more at home because I am constantly new meeting people through clubs and organizations [on campus],” Fallon said. “Whereas at home, i’m not trying to see the same people from high school, that just sucks, so instead it’s like ‘oh this person is five miles away, do you want to grab coffee?’”

Lillian Cheung, a second-year undeclared major, explained why she uses Tinder and what type of people she hopes to engage with on the app.

“I personally use Tinder to meet new people and potentially meet someone I can consider having a casual or serious relationship with,” Cheung said. “As a bisexual female, I’ve been exploring my interest in girls more lately, but I still don’t know how to approach girls so Tinder is a way to meet them. As I’m becoming more comfortable with myself and my sexuality, Tinder is a way to meet people and explore what I like and don’t like.”

Cheung explained how she uses Tinder more than other dating applications because of its widespread advertisement on a college campus.

“It’s more popular because we hear about Tinder more than any of the other dating

apps and it’s been normalized in society,” Cheung said. “I heard about Tinder first because of the phrase ‘swipe right’ and it became an ongoing joke in society to say you would swipe right on someone if you thought they were cute.”

Third-year mechanical engineering major Reese Short explained why he is an advocate for Tinder although he has never been a user.

“I’m an advocate for the hookup generation,” Short said. “People don’t like to talk about it, but everyone has needs and Tinder establishes a pretty easy way to come to an ideal that you are both going to consent to something. So you both essentially go and read the situation with the person and you mutually match and then you can talk on Tinder first and say ‘this is what I want’ and you can basically set those boundaries before you even meet up with a person.’

Being on a college campus with over 35,000 students it can be hard to form close relationships, Short explained. Tinder gives people the chance to have that one-on-one interaction without feeling intimidated to talk to someone in person.

“It’s easier than going up to people and talking to them in person,” Short said. “In high school, you were in such a small area and you knew everybody and everyone knew each other. But here, I haven’t had a class under 150 people yet, and I can see how someone could be intimidated by that.

[Tinder] just gives people the confidence to go talk to someone and meet someone new.”

off the 2010 Census. Presently, Republicans control 33 state legislatures and 33 governorships — not to mention the presidency, the judiciary and the Senate. Traditional battlegrounds states in the 2016 election all had districts drawn by Republicans after the last census in 2012.

While Republicans are the primary perpetrators of redistricting in their party’s favor, a lawsuit has also been filed against Maryland, where Democrats hold control.

This simply goes to show that either party is willing to exploit the system to their benefit when the ability to do so is within their means. This is not a partisan issue — this is a Constitutional issue that concerns the rights of all Americans.

Fortunately, not all states are waiting for the Supreme Court to mandate equal districting. States like California, Arizona, Ohio and, most recently, Michigan have successfully implemented or passed anti-gerrymandering initiatives. The only reason why all states haven’t done this is because they are not legally obligated to do so. The Constitution allocates the power to set “the times, places, and manner” of federal elections to state legislatures, a power that affords members of the majority party considerable advantage and, therefore, one that is not easily forfeited. The states that have intently acted to curb partisan gerrymandering have done so as a result of the efforts of voters, who were able to obtain control of political boundaries from legisla-

tors — legislators that prefer choosing their voters rather than having to rely on their voters choosing them.

In California, for example, after four years of incumbent Democrats sweeping state legislative and Congressional elections, voters passed Proposition 11 in 2008, creating an independent commission responsible for drawing districts. This did not pass without a fight: the bill was contested amongst key democratic leaders like Nancy Pelosi and, in total, Democratic political leaders spent $7 million in an effort to defeat the measure.

Both Democratic and Republican legislatures across the nation have stifled measures to minimize political manipulation when it comes to redistricting. It is significant, however, that Republicans are the disproportionate beneficiaries of gerrymandering.

If the GOP continues to dominate absent of a majority of support from their constituents, it’s likely that we are waiting to see one of two things play out: either people will realize what’s happening, reject it and therefore trigger the fall of the Republican party, or people will ignore this and the GOP will continually become a party that no longer requires votes to win elections.

No matter what, consistently governing against the will of a majority of Americans has torn and will only continue to tear our country apart.

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missed curb — the bus still managed to arrive at its stop on time.

Unitrans issued a statement regarding the incident just a few hours afterward.

“We are aware that the B line, our usually latest bus line, somehow managed to get students to class on time during the afternoon rush. Rest assured, we will do

everything in our power to make sure this will not establish a new paradigm for the B line, and an incident such as this will never happen again.”

Unitrans wants to ensure that the B line remains firmly in its space-time orientation, which means being late when students need it most.

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This explains why the research group found that immunotherapy is more effective in obese people.

Now the research team is interested in understanding if the conditions which make immunotherapy effective in obese people can be replicated in lean patients.

One suggestion is that doctors might be able to replicate the success by prescribing high-fat diets to lean patients undergoing the treatment.

In the meantime, the study will help doctors make better decisions about which

blame social media for this decrease, but at the same time, giving excessive time to interacting in the virtual universe versus spending quality time in the real world undoubtedly has its repercussions.

With different types of information on social media, youngsters today may look at a certain topic through a biased perspective.

And why read a book on a given topic when there are several, shorter online sources to read instead?

One writer on Quartz estimated that individuals could read 200 books a year if they used their time on social media to read instead. These figures are really disturbing, and every parent should make sure that their children spend some quality time reading books rather than being on social media for hours.

And this isn’t just the case for teenagers.

Adults also spend more time online than being engrossed in leisure reading — university assigned readings or books on syllabi

don’t count. There’s a need for fostering a reading culture in our homes and schools as social media, despite being more accessible, doesn’t enable us to think outside the box.

The virtual experience isn’t as rewarding due to the lack of effort. Meanwhile, when reading a book we transcend to a whole new dimension; for example, book lovers often associate the smell of books to a certain experience and feeling in the past. Even the smell of a certain book can be reminiscent of fond memories (this is not possible with Kindles, let alone with social media).

It’s no wonder that Plato once said, “Books give a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” Books and reliable sources on the internet, not social media, should be our sources of knowledge because right now it’s more likely that a person will be influenced by the opinion of a horde of people on social media rather than take the opportunity to develop their own viewpoint.

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People with low-income backgrounds spend between 50 percent to 100 percent of their income just to afford housing.

“Although the Fair Housing Act of 1968 eliminated explicit discrimination at the point of sale of housing, we don’t have ‘truly integrated’ living patterns,” Jargowsky said.

“A lot of the suburbs built became completely white. Segregation is calculated on census tracts, not city jurisdiction. Nationally, segregation levels are mostly maintained at the city jurisdiction.”

Thus, the exclusion of disadvantaged groups from certain communities is a conversation that demands more attention. The hope is that research efforts can eventually propel and guide policymakers.

“We hope to put research and policy into a more digestible format,” Harold said.

“The main benefit of this research is to enact change. If this information can be used to change a law, policy, or access to resources, it can take away the burden on disadvantaged groups. That is the ultimate goal.”

SEADOC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

another killer whale tragedy — the case of J50. In this situation, a baby killer whale’s health began to deteriorate until she ultimately disappeared. Despite SeaDoc Society’s effort to offer medical attention, the first clinical intervention attempted by the program on a sick orca, J50 was pronounced dead.

According to Joe Gaydos, senior wildlife veterinarian with the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center and chief scientist for SeaDoc Society, this initial attempt brought the program’s attention to the fact that it needs better tools to examine and diagnose the health of these killer whales in order to treat them. He hopes to eventually offer annual examinations for each killer whale in the southern resident killer whale population once the proper tools are developed.

In parallel with this case of clinical intervention, Gaydos has visited Gorilla Doctors, another program of the Wildlife Health Center located in Rwanda, to study the work and role of Gorilla Doctors in treating the mountain gorillas.

Kirsten Gilardi, co-director of the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center at the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis and U.S. Director for Gorilla Doctors, explained that the Gorilla Doctor program was initially established in the mid-1980’s by primatologist Dian Fossey when she put in a global alert for veterinarians to help mountain gorillas being injured by illegal snares.

Since then, the program has grown to treat

mountain gorilla injuries and human-induced illnesses such as respiratory diseases, leading to an increase in the mountain gorilla population whereas all other great ape populations are decreasing.

“We don’t capture gorillas, take gorillas and bring them out of the park to a gorilla hospital. All the work happens in the forest,” Gilardi said. “We can do our work because most of the mountain gorillas are habituated to the presence of people to facilitate the gorilla tourism which occurs in [Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Uganda,] and that’s how we get close enough to see that they’re injured or ill.”

Gaydos explained that Gorilla Doctors’ ability to treat the animals without taking them into captivity facilitates the improvement of not only the health of the individual, but also the whole population. He hopes to adapt these skills to efforts of clinical intervention with SeaDoc Society and other future conservation efforts.

“I think the interesting thing here is that when you are able to take care of large, charismatic animals that are in the ecosystem, you also take care of the ecosystem,” Gaydos said. “That’s a big thing that we want to realize, is that even, whether it’s with Gorilla Doctors or with SeaDoc, working on gorillas or killer whales, we’re interested in helping individual animals to benefit the individual as well as the population, but we’re also working to make changes at the ecosystem level that benefits those animals.”

SHUMAKER Q&A CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

strong enough to do it, but women have come a long way and now I would say it’s becoming much more equal. And that’s what makes it so fun, gymnastics is a female sport, there are male gymnasts, but we don’t compete against them.

There is no other sport where males and females compete against each other on an equal playing field, and “American Ninja Warrior” is the only one where there is no adjusting, they don’t do anything different for the females. Males and females have the exact same course, you have to hit the same buzzer as everyone else.

So it’s really cool to compete with full equality. There are so many strong female Ninjas out there right now. It’s insane how many there are. I started because of Kacy Katanzaro, who competed in 2014. She’s the reason I and a lot of other woman started. She’s five-feet tall and she does amazing things. Now the female scene has exploded,

we’re all so close and we’re all friends.

It’s cool to see strength in something that young girls aspire to, it wasn’t a thing before.

Girls weren’t supposed to be strong or supposed to have muscles. It wasn’t seen as feminine. Well now it is, now it is feminine for a girl to be strong and it’s not manly. There’s nothing wrong with that.

It shows girls, especially young girls –– which is what I love about the show –– that if they want to be strong and if they want to do what the guys do, they absolutely can.

There’s no reason they can’t, and if someone tells you that you’re not supposed to, they can go fly a kite.

But I think it’s so amazing that the show is really helping inspire young girls to be strong and to do so much more with their bodies then what was previously thought to be socially appropriate and socially accepted.

The females are really making a mark on the show.

cancer treatments to prescribe. The data from the study will allow doctors to better tailor cancer treatments to individual patients. According to the research group, one of the most important takeaways from the study is that more knowledge is needed about physiology and the immune system.

“Most people thought uniformly obesity was bad; this is telling us that it can be good if you use the right type of therapy,” Murphy said. “As we understand the patient or the individual more, we are going to better tailor how we attack cancer.”

ZERO WASTE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

become one of the most fun parts of transitioning to zero waste — change up that bathroom game.

Outside of the house exists a wasteful wonderland. While keeping reusable bags handy is a well-known rule of thumb, remember to abstain from using the plastic produce bags within the grocery store.

Their zero waste solution is reusable mesh produce bags. Keep them in your grocery bags at all times and you’ll be thankful every time you reach for them.

When you go to flex these reusable bags, consider visiting stores that sell in bulk because they allow you to bring your own containers to fill with items such as rice, almonds or coffee. Just write down the weight of the empty container, give it to the clerk and they’ll do the math and cut the price. Also, bulk sale is always substantially cheaper than buying pre-packaged goods.

For daily adventures, there are a few accessories that deserve a spot in the everyday backpack. Starbucks, along with most coffee shops, will fill any cup-like container you hand them when ordering a drink. Seriously, your local baristas will fill a Mason jar to the brim with your favorite drink if you just supply the container.

That being said, step one: put a Mason jar in your backpack. It will come in handy.

Step two: never touch a one-time use plastic straw for the rest of your life if you can.

There are reusable straw keychains for sale

that you can add to your bag that will immediately curb your plastic straw usage, thus keeping you away from waste and keeping waste away from the nostrils of sea turtles. Step three: to-go wooden cutlery is a total lifesaver. Packable knife, fork, spoon (and chopstick) combos are easy to wash and easy to pack. They come in handy on a regular basis, whether you’re at a park bench or even your favorite restaurant. Final step: pack a rag. The days of disposable napkins are at an end and the handkerchief is now in.

Take all that has been listed (reusable cutlery, straw and cup), wrap them in a rag, put it in your bag and you’ve got yourself a zero waste toolkit to take with you everywhere. With this, you may actually go through the entire day without contributing any waste while eating.

Paying a visit to the bookstore is also worth mentioning, as you can marvel at the many options they provide for the environmentally concerned student: reusable water bottles, refillable soy-ink pens, post-consumer-waste composition journals. You name it.

These are the most basic essentials when it comes to going zero waste on the fly. Of course, there is a larger and better list out there somewhere that will direct you towards a long life of being zero waste. But, for the college student lifestyle, these are some of the first steps you can take towards reducing your carbon footprint today.

AGGIE CLASSIFIEDS JOBS

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Davis Anxiety Counseling

Now Hiring!

Kevin Ott, LCSW, is a Licensed Therapist with over 10 years of experience in college counseling and private practice. I offer confidential treatment in downtown Davis and Video Counseling throughout California. My approach is warm, supportive and non-judgmental. I utilize and have taught college courses in Mindfulness and Communication Skills. I specialize in addressing Anxiety, Stress, Worry, Panic Attacks & Social Anxiety to become Relaxed, Connected and Productive.

Enthusiastic & High Energy individuals for FOH/BOH @ Zen Toro!

To fill out an application, please fill out an application @ zentorosushi.com & email/drop off during business hours.

On-Site Assistant Mgr. For self-storage facility in Woodland.

Hours 8:00 PM to 9:30 PM nightly and on call after hours. Duties include nightly walkthroughs for security. $13.00 per hour.

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Apartment only available to rent with the job. No pets. Must be responsible, reliable, clean, pass drug testing, have a CDL and vehicle insurance. Available December 7th.

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Resume to: pioneer_1@sbcglobal.net.

Sales Associate

Love Laundry

Seeking a smart, friendly, flexible individual for a part time sales clerk position. Candidates should be comfortable with computers and have an interest in general retail sales and an understanding of our mission to support Mental Health Agencies in Yolo County.

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Join our creative sales team at All Things Right & Relevant, a non-profit consignment shop in Davis, CA. The position is part time 12 to 15 hours per week with availability 3 to 7 pm Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and occasional Saturdays.

Please reply with your resume to: All Things Right & Relevant, 2801 Spafford Street, Davis, CA 95618, (530) 759-9648 or areurelevant@gmail.com Applications available upon request.

ASUCD Hiring Now • • • • •

Whole Earth Festival Picnic day Campus Center for the Environment Student Government & More!

See all current jobs at https://vacancy.ucdavis.edu/

EVENTS Tree Trimming Workshop at the Davis Food Coop FREE CO-OP WORKSHOP! Thursday, December 13, 4 PM • On the Co-op Patio Join Melanie to learn to trim your tree with common household ingredients like popcorn and cranberries, citrus peels and cinnamon sticks. Holiday fun for all! More Workshops at davisfood.coop/eventscalendar DAVIS FOOD CO-OP OPEN DAILY 7AM—10PM 620 G ST, DAVIS (530) 758-2667 DAVISFOOD.COOP @DAVISFOODCOOP

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THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

handful of NBA stars competed on just 24 hours before, both teams came out wanting to win.

It was a slow start for both teams, with each struggling to find momentum. Each team scored just four points in the first five minutes of the game. An early drive by junior guard TJ Shorts II looked to swing things the Aggies’ way but was waved off by the referees who called an offensive foul.

The teams continued to exchange baskets, with Sacramento State amassing a series of miniature leads which peaked at 28-20 following a three-point basket from sophomore guard Ethan Esposito.

The Aggies would respond, however, with a 7-2 run, cutting the lead to three at

half time.

Despite the early struggles, the Aggies were eventually able to take a 36-35 lead thanks to a three-pointer from junior guard Stefan Gonzalez. The two teams continued exchanging baskets for several minutes thereafter until senior guard Siler Schneider managed to extend the Aggie lead to four.

Schneider would come up big again after Sac State tied it up, hitting a pair of threes to open up a six-point lead. UC Davis Head Coach Jim Les praised Schneider’s fearlessness during those big moments.

“He’s a kid that likes the moment,” Les said. “He’s willing to take and make big shots for us.”

Sac State responded once more, scoring five straight points before botching a fast break opportunity and turning the ball over on the ensuing possession. With just 10 seconds left, senior guard Marcus Graves would give Sac State the lead for good on a fast break layup. Schneider was unable to tie the game, missing a floater on the following possession. UC Davis ultimately lost 58-55.

Les credited the Hornets’ late-game surge to their ability to do what needed to be done and not back down.

“Give Sac State credit,” Les said. “They made the big plays down the stretch when they needed to. We struggled a little bit on both ends of the floor […] We needed one more defensive stop and couldn’t come up with it.”

Both teams struggled with sloppy offense throughout the game. Sac State amassed 21 turnovers while UC Davis committed 19 of

its own. According to Sac State Head Coach Brian Katz, being able to win despite these negatives is what allows a team to succeed.

“You’ve got to be able to win ugly,” Katz said. “Because you’re not going to be able to win great offensively every night, but if you defend and rebound you can win ugly, and we won ugly today.”

Schneider led the Aggies with 15 points on 6-14 shooting to go along with two rebounds and two assists. Shorts was next with 11 points on 5-14 shooting to go along with six rebounds, three assists and five turnovers.

The Hornets saw a balanced effort, with Graves, Esposito and junior guard Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’afa pitching in 11 points of their own.

Having entered the season with five losses in their first six games, Les believes the team must improve as a unit and not point fingers.

“I think, when all is said and done, that it’s going to be a good team,” Les said. “We all need to be better. Me as the coach — as the head coach needs to be better, and we also have to play better. It falls on all of our shoulders, but I like the character in that locker room.”

The Aggies didn’t have long to dwell on the heartbreaking loss, with Indiana University waiting in the shadows three days later.

The Aggies lost 76-62 to the Hoosiers, putting their record at 1-6 overall.

The Aggies will have a chance to come back on Nov. 29, at 7 p.m. when they take on Northern Arizona. The game will also be televised on Big West TV.

getting to the fifth obstacle and qualifier. I wanted to hit a buzzer but just getting to the fifth obstacle was pretty surreal.

Competing in city finals, I had a blast.

If you watch it on the show, I didn’t realize I was smiling the whole time until I went back and watched it on TV, I was having so much fun. My goal was to do better than I did in qualifiers and get past the fifth obstacle. I ended up getting past that obstacle and getting up the wall and the salmon ladder, which was one of my other goals. You want to get up the wall and salmon ladder, they are iconic obstacles, so getting past those to the point where I got to the cubes was so exciting.

I still can’t quite believe that happened, but I was really happy with that, and then doing well enough to get second place and qualify for Vegas was icing on the cake. I wanted to go to Vegas and I knew I could, but actually qualifying in my second year was pretty crazy.

The Aggie: On the cube obstacle where you fell, what was going through your mind leading up to it and as you were advancing through the cubes?

Shumaker: After I passed the salmon ladder, I got to the cubes. My first thought was: I can’t believe I’m here, I’m on the eighth obstacle, so I definitely lost focus for a second because I was so excited to be at that obstacle. Then I dialed it back in, and when I got to the point where I fell, I was pretty exhausted. My grip was really tired at that point and my forearms were burning, so I remember being really tired and really shaky and then [the cubes] were pretty far apart. You’re supposed to jump and turn and grab the other one, but I knew my grip wasn’t going to be able to do that so I just reached out for a split type move, but because of my size, my foot placement needed to be perfect to successfully do it and it just wasn’t. My foot was too low, I didn’t have the right foot placement and my legs were too tired to be able to correct it.

That’s why I fell. I was just really tired, and my technique was off, but you know, I was still so happy with getting to that point.

Now I really wish I would have got through it, but I’m happy with it.

The Aggie: Can you talk about some of the parallels between gymnastics and the obstacles on “American Ninja Warrior”?

Shumaker: Gymnastics is probably a huge reason why I was able to do so well, the sport is all about body awareness and knowing where your body is in space — if you can’t do that you’re not going to be a gymnast, you’re flipping in the air and you have to find the ground. Gymnastics taught me body awareness and to know exactly where my body is in space and Ninja Warrior is all about that.

One of the obstacles was very gymnastics-like, it was the swinging from the shelf grab, if you learn the technique of a swing in gymnastics, that’s something that directly correlates.

The Aggie: And how about some of the pressures between the two?

Shumaker: The pressures are a lot of the same pressures, but also a bit different. In gymnastics, your goal is perfection. So there’s a lot of pressure to go up and compete, especially in college gymnastics, to step up and do your routine perfect and give your team the score they need to compete. So there’s a lot of nerves for yourself, for your team and to do what you’ve been doing in practice. So it’s something you know you can do.

Now for “American Ninja Warrior” there is competitive pressure because you want to do well, you also know you’re capable. However, you’ve never done that obstacle before.

So perfection is is not the goal, the goal is just completion. It’s a very different mindset.

The Aggie: Going back to your time at UC Davis as a gymnast, what are some high points for you?

Shumaker: I had a blast being an athlete at UC Davis. I qualified for regionals for three years: my freshman, junior and senior years.

But the highlight is my senior year, my team qualified to the 2014 NCAA regional championships for the first time in school history [...] that was the best moment of my college career, nothing else tops that. My individual success means nothing compared to getting there as a team. There’s just something about doing it as a team that makes it that much better and that much more special.

The Aggie: How about some of the low points?

Shumaker: There’s always low points as an athlete, especially being a gymnast.

There’s injuries, there’s stresses of academics in school –– you have to get the grades and do well on your tests and still get your 20 hours a week of practice in. So there’s a lot of school stress just from overload and trying to balance life.

The lowest point would probably be when I had surgery in college. After my freshman year, I had shoulder surgery, and so I had to have eight months of very strenuous rehab. And there’s a lot of highs and lows with that.

My lowest point was around that time, I was just really frustrated that I couldn’t do gymnastics at the moment, my shoulder was not healing at the speed I wanted it to, and my academics were struggling a little because it was my right hand so I couldn’t take notes.

I would say my junior year is my come back year, l had surgery after freshman year, I competed in my sophomore year and I held my own but it wasn’t the best. My junior year was my first year competing in all-around, I qualified to NCAA regionals as an all-arounder and I was competing on bars again. And it completely relight my fire for gymnastics and my desire to want to do better and challenge myself to be a better

athlete for myself, and also for my team.

But for the most part I couldn’t have asked for a better college career, my teammates were incredible. I was fortunate enough to have a really great team to work with every year.

The Aggie: How has your career as an athlete influenced your choice to start a personal training business?

Shumaker: One of the things that I think keeps gymnasts going is when you accomplish something. When you get a new skill it’s so exciting that it takes away from the frustrating times. It makes you want to keep learning new things like doing a routine and competition, you get the sense of accomplishment that’s just unmatched, there are very few things that give you that.

With my business, I wanted to help other people experience that, not necessarily through gymnastics, but through fitness and through goal setting. I wanted to help a lot of people who don’t understand how to be healthy. They don’t understand how their lives can be better if they did certain things.

Like they don’t have to have knee pain going up the stairs, they don’t have to be out of breath doing certain things. There are ways to fix that, and I wanted to help people with that.

I like teaching advanced clients and training them for events, but I also really like working with beginners. I really enjoy training beginning clients and teaching them the basics of fitness and how to do things properly because I found that they are so grateful when they learn the form and they learn things are not as painful as they thought they were. And when someone does five push-ups for their first time, they get that accomplishment that I felt as an athlete.

The Aggie: Having done gymnastics practically all your life, do you want to coach the sport in the future?

Shumaker: Probably not, and the only reason I say that, at least right now, is that I spent 18 years of my life in the gym, and I just like being out of it. I love coming back and being here for the gymnastics camp. I love helping the kids, I love going in and giving them tips, but I also like working with the general population because I just don’t think there’s enough people helping them.

I think that my background in gymnastics actually helps them a lot more, because I know a little bit more about body awareness and movement from being an athlete and a gymnast, so I want to help other people experience that.

I love coaching, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not sure it’s what I’m supposed to do long-term. But that could change, we’ll see.

I love the sport and that’s why I keep coming back for camps. I do enjoy it.

The Aggie: How about being a woman in a traditionally dominated male sport like “American Ninja Warrior”?

Shumaker: A lot of women didn’t seem

WAYNE TILCOCK / AGGIEPHOTO.COM

Men’s basketball stumbles late, falls in Causeway Classic Despite late lead, Aggies unable to put Sac State away

BY B RA D L EY G EIS E R sports@statehornet.com

Since opening in 2015, the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento has been home to men’s basketball’s version of the Causeway Classic. It’s a rivalry which, on paper, offers little more than regional bragging rights. As UC Davis entered with a 1-4 record, the Aggies hoped to use the game to get back on the winning side and build momentum before conference play commences.

Sacramento State, on the other hand, came into the game having played (and won) just one game outside of a friendly exhibition versus Bethesda. In front of a local crowd and playing on the same floor that a

AGGIE ATHLETICS / COURTESY

Former Aggie gymnast featured on NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior” Anna Shumaker reflects on her experience, athletics and career

BY B OBBY JO HN sports@theaggie.org

Former UC Davis gymnast and alumna Anna Shumaker has been a competitor on “American Ninja Warrior” for the show’s past two seasons and this past summer she qualified with her most successful run yet.

Competitors on “American Ninja Warrior” attempt runs to determine who will advance to the next round. There is a city qualifier to determine the city finals. The top competitors advance to the national finals.

Shumaker got past eight obstacles in the LA city finals and placed second among women, which aired on July 16. This earned her a shot at the national finals in Las Vegas, which aired on NBC at the end of August.

Not long after graduating from UC Davis in 2014, Shumaker started her own personal training business, ShuFit, in West Sacramento.

Having competed in gymnastics for 18 years, Shumaker says training for “American Ninja Warrior” is a way for her to fulfill the competitive desire that gymnastics has ingrained in her.

The Aggie sat down with Shumaker to discuss her recent experience on season 10 of “American Ninja Warrior” and her time at UC Davis as a student-athlete. She had just finished teaching at a gymnastics camp on campus for aspiring college gymnasts.

The Aggie: What has your experience with “American Ninja Warrior” been like so far?

Shumaker: This was my first time competing [in City Finals], and I qualified competing in the LA City Qualifier on June 6.

And I competed in that and placed fourth.

Last year I fell on the third obstacle, and that sucked, and that was it for me last year.

This year I made it to the fifth obstacle, I was able to get fourth for women which advanced me to the city finals. I was really happy with that, just being able to compete at city finals was pretty exciting and just

SHUMAKER Q&A on 12

14 | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2018

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE