December 6, 2018

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VOLUME 137, ISSUE 10 | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2018

SCREEN SHOT F ROM REGEN TS MEET IN G L IV E ST REA M

LU I S LO P E Z / AG G I E

2,500 MORE STUDENTS WILL ENROLL IN UC SYSTEM NEXT YEAR, WITH NO TUITION HIKE UC Regents approve $9.3 billion budget

BY SABR I NA HABCHI campus@theaggie.org

that’s what it’s going to take to win these playoff games, especially if you want to win a national championship.”

With UC Davis clinging to a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter, offensive coordinator Tim Plough called nine consecutive running plays to consume over four minutes of precious game time and gain 63 yards.

“It was a little atypical for us to get our horns out and run the football,” Hawkins said. “The diversity and the way that guys adapted and rolled to, that shows a lot about them and who they are.”

All in all, sophomore running back Tehran Thomas and redshirt freshman running back Ulonzo Gilliam combined for 135 yards on the ground on 24 carries.

“They trust us to put the game on our backs at the end of the game, be able to move the ball, pick up first downs,” Thomas said. “It means a lot. We like to rotate and keep fresh legs out there. I try my best to give the team everything I got, get first downs and make plays.”

Much like Northern Iowa, the UC Da-

The UC Board of Regents recently approved a budget of $9.3 billion for the 2019-20 school year. The budget will account for an additional 2,500 more California undergraduates to UC enrollment systemwide, according to an email by Julia Ann Easley, a news and media relations specialist for UC Davis.

It’s unclear how this increase in budget allocated for more students will affect UC Davis.

“It’s too early to know how that will affect enrollment at individual campuses, including UC Davis,” said Steven Weisler, the interim associate vice chancellor of enrollment management in a statement sent to The California Aggie via Easley.

The budget approved by the Regents will “increase support for struggling students without raising tuition,” according to an article from the LA Times. Easley said enrolled students also help fund financial aid through part of their tuition.

“A portion of the revenue from the tuition students pay is set aside for financial aid,” Easley said. “So, since financial aid is determined and funded depending on the size of the class, more money would become available if more students enroll.”

A briefing from the University Office of the President said that UC’s goals include producing “over 200,000 more UC degrees by 2030,” eliminating graduation gaps and “investing in the next generation of faculty and research.”

Projections from the Public Police In-

FB VS NORTHERN IOWA on 13

REGENTS BUDGET on 11

AGGIES BEAT NORTHERN IOWA, HEAD TO QUARTERFINALS UC Davis football earns a rematch with Eastern Washington after 23-16 home win

BY B REN DA N O GB U R N sports@theaggie.org

The UC Davis football team was victorious in its first-ever playoff game at the Division I level, slipping past the visiting Northern Iowa Panthers, 23-16, on Saturday evening at Aggie Stadium.

There was a time last season when the Aggies had to score at least 30 points in a game if they wanted a chance to come out on top. Saturday’s slugfest showed just how far the Aggie defense has truly come in the span of a calendar year. On a night when the UC Davis offense wasn’t racing up and down the field like it typically does, it was the team’s defense that came through with key stops time and time again.

“When the offense needs to rely on us, we try to make plays to get the ball back to them,” said senior linebacker Mason Moe. “We just feed off each other. We had to bite down because it was crunch time.”

Northern Iowa had its chances on offense, often driving down the field with relative ease, but were unable to finish off these possessions the way it wanted. The bend-but-don’t-break UC Davis defense

buckled down deep in its own territory, as the Panthers scored just one touchdown on four trips to the red zone. In addition, the Aggies recorded two interceptions inside their own 25-yard line to keep the Panthers off the scoreboard.

Saturday’s ground-and-pound style of play was quite unfamiliar for this UC Davis team.

“It wasn’t in the typical fashion that we have [won] in the past,” said the UC Davis Head Coach Dan Hawkins. “I thought our defense played exceptional football with a lot of turnovers and a lot of stops in the red zone. Holding them to field goals was critical.”

Normally, the Aggies rely heavily on their vaunted passing game, led by junior quarterback Jake Maier and a slew of talented wide receivers. While Maier still threw for over 300 yards, completing throws to eight different players, it was the Aggie rushing attack and offensive line that showed tremendous toughness and grit late in the game.

“We were able to compete and contribute at all positions,” said senior wide receiver Keelan Doss. “At the end of the day,

A LLYSON KO / AGGIE

UNPRECEDENTED CAMPUS CLOSURE: HOW ADMINISTRATIVE, HEALTH, FINANCIAL AID DECISIONS WERE MADE UC Davis loses seven days of instruction due to poor air quality

BY GE ORG E L I AO campus@theaggie.org

UC Davis’ decision to cancel classes during seven days of previously scheduled instruction, from Nov. 13 to 26, was an unprecedented event resulting from unhealthy

air quality from the now fully contained Camp Fire. School officials were marshalled into emergency responses that required close collaboration between campus administration, faculty and students as they came together and created a campus closure plan that was based on day-to-day information.

Emily Galindo, the interim vice chancellor of student affairs, spoke about the extreme difficulty of closing down the largest campus in the UC system.

“We’re dealing with a campus population [including students and staff] of over 60,000 people in a region that was impacted by a major event,” Galindo said. “Within that context, no decisions are made in isolation.

The chancellor is great about consulting, and from the very beginning, there was consultation ongoing throughout.”

Chancellor Gary May had determined that if the air quality index was under 150, the campus would be opened, but if the AQI was at 200 or above, the campus needed to be closed.

“Most folks were in agreement: if above 200, then that was a definite close,” Galindo said. “But if the area was under 150, it was fine. If it got between 151 and 200, [it] was really a judgment call. As we looked from one day to the next, the reading showed that it was going to remain in that area when in fact it didn’t [...] In many instances, we were just doing our best [and] listening to the feedback.”

Galindo discussed the tenuous nature of the crisis that required a hands-on strategy

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to manage the problem.

“We were taking a day-by-day approach,” Galindo said, referring to a number of people, including the chairperson of the Academic Senate, the student assistants to the chancellor, ASUCD leadership, the Graduate Student Association (GSA), college deans and staff who were present at the “many, many” meetings that were held.

Carolyn Thomas, the vice provost and dean of undergraduate education and a professor of American Studies, became involved on the third day of the closure. Thomas discussed her role in the decision-making process.

“My sense was the chancellor’s team was waiting to look at all of the information everyday,” Thomas said. “But [...] by the third day, the leadership reached out to me and asked my opinion about what should happen and how we might make decisions for the [upcoming] days.”

Thomas went to work on setting up guidance and FAQs for the faculty.

“What we were trying to do was to help faculty be focused on making sure that the learning objectives for the course were what CAMPUS CLOSURE on 11

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2 | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2018 JEREMY DANG / AGGIE

After critiques of free tax filing services, law professor subject to hefty public records request CPRA request yielded 1,100 pages of documents

BY E L I Z A BET H M E R C A DO campus@theaggie.org

Dennis Ventry Jr., a UC Davis law professor, faced a hefty public records request from a law firm days after his criticisms of free tax filing services.

Free tax filing services, like H&R Block, Intuit and TurboTax, provide free online filing services to their customers.

Ventry serves as chairman of the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) Advisory Council, a public forum of voluntary members who, according to the IRS website, “conveys the public’s perception of IRS’ activities and, plays a significant role as external evaluator regarding the reorganization and its imple-

mentation.” In January, the IRS tasked the council with investigating the IRS’ Free File Program (FFP), a partnership launched in 2002 between the IRS and private tax filing companies.

“They asked us to specifically investigate or see whether or not the IRS Free File Program has been fulfilling its mission to provide free e-filing services for federal returns to low and middle income taxpayers,” Ventry said.

In April 2018, the House of Representatives passed the Taxpayer First Act, which included a provision to make the FFP a permanent facet of the IRS. In a 20 page memo, Ventry relayed criticisms to the IRS on the private companies

Feds’ proposed Title IX changes would strengthen rights of accused, critics say, now public has 60 days to respond

under the FFP — collectively called the Free File Alliance.

In an op-ed article published to The Hill and in a co-written article published in Politico, Ventry discouraged the provision in The Taxpayer First Act and articulated faults he found within free filing services.

Ventry said companies under the program engaged in upselling their customers — the act of sellers convincing their buyers to buy greater priced services or products.

According to Ventry, upselling in this case would include charging tax filers if their federal return didn’t meet the companies’ standards or offering them “value added products that the taxpayer just didn’t need.”

On July 20, law firm Conkle, Kremer & Engel emailed a California Public Records Act (CPRA) request to UC Davis Campus Counsel directed to Ventry. The office subsequently made Ventry aware he was under request.

The law firm’s request, made available to The California Aggie, asked for copies in possession by UC Davis and professor Ventry, “concerning the subject matter of his July 6, 2018, opinion article published in The Hill [...] and his July 17, 2018, opinion article published in Politico.”

“Subject matter” was specified to mean any email correspondence the professor had over his university assigned phone or computer in reference to The Taxpayer First Act, the Free File Program or any member of the Free File Alliance which would include individual free filing companies.

Campus Counsel provided the requester with roughly 1,100 pages of documents considered “responsive” to the demands articulated. It took nine weeks to comply with the request.

“Once we determined what the subject matter is, I reached out to professor Ventry and asked him [...] to do a search of his email and his paper files and give us everything that is responsive,” said Astrid Davis, the campus counsel legal analyst assigned to the request.

No reasoning was given for the request, as under the CPRA none is required.

“They don’t even have to identify themselves,” Davis said. “We can take a request from any member of the public.”

Ventry articulated the consequences the request has had on his communication with colleagues regarding his work on tax policy.

He has limited email communication for work purposes, instead opting for phone calls.

“The first thing I did was reach out to folks who might be implicated,” Ventry said.

“And it’s not because we think we’re doing anything wrong — I could take your emails that are perfectly benign and pull out a whole bunch of stuff and weave a narrative.”

As a public institution, UC Davis falls under the provision of the CPRA. The act allows any individual to request documents from any department or faculty member.

In 2017, UC Davis received 1,673 requests that fell under the CPRA, a 281 percent increase compared to 2009, when UC Davis received 439 requests.

“I think that there’s a bit of a misconception about the university and that we can have IT [Information Technology] go and pull any record immediately for us or that we can open the file cabinet and there’s the record that someone is looking for,” said Jana Gabby, campus counsel legal analyst.

Since Campus Counsel’s submission of documents, there has been no response or follow up from the requester.

GAGE SKIDMORE [CC BY-SA 2.0] / FLICKR

UC, student leaders comment on Department of Education’s proposed Title IX policy changes

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

The Trump Administration plans to implement changes to Title IX policies that would effectively roll back Obama-era guidelines — which, critics say, would increase the amount of proof required in order to punish offenders, among other policy changes. A 60-day period for the public to voice their opinions on these proposals opened on Nov. 29 and will close in late January.

The UC’s interim systemwide Title IX coordinator Suzanne Taylor took a firm stance against the Department of Education’s proposed changes in a press release sent on Nov. 16.

“The […] proposed changes will reverse decades of well-established, hard-won progress toward equity in our nation’s schools, unravel critical protections for individuals who experience sexual harassment, and undermine the very procedures designed to ensure fairness and justice,” Taylor said in the release. “This is yet another attack on students’ right to an educational environment free of sexual harassment.”

The federal government, by way of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ proposed changes to Title IX policy, would codify the steps federally-funded educational institutions are required to take regarding to sexual harassment.

As stated by The Chronicle of Higher Education, “College officials have been in limbo for the past year, since the secretary of education, Betsy DeVos, rescinded the Obama administration’s Title IX guidance, which for six years had framed colleges’ approach to handling sexual assault and ha-

rassment.”

On Aug. 29, The New York Times obtained a drafted version of the new proposed Title IX rules. These rules were reported to have been written in such a way that they strengthened the rights of accusers and reduced the liability and financial costs for colleges.

The Times reported that these proposed rules “narrow the definition of sexual harassment, holding schools accountable only for formal complaints filed through proper authorities and for conduct said to have occurred on their campuses.” The rules would also require schools to approach all cases “under the presumption that the accused is innocent until proven guilty” and hold institutions to a higher legal standard.

A comment period for the public to voice their opinions regarding the proposed changes was opened Nov. 29 and will allow for the submission of feedback to the Department of Education for just 60 days.

The period, which coincides with holiday breaks, will close around the end of January.

Title IX pertains to students as it bans sex discrimination in any federally-funded education program — if a student experiences a form of sex discrimination, they are protected and entitled to specific rights and may seek legal remedies if they choose to do so.

“Discrimination on the basis of sex can include sexual harassment or sexual violence, such as rape, sexual assault, sexual battery, and sexual coercion,” according to the US Department of Education.

Taylor, the UC’s interim systemwide Title IX coordinator, said the proposed changes would “require universities to hold live hearings rather than implementing an investigative model,” allowing for the accused to

cross-examine complainants who have come forward, according to her press release. “[The Department of Education] proposes these rules under the guise of protecting respondents, yet UC’s procedures (and those of many other universities) already ensure due process, including the respondent’s right to question complainants and witnesses in a manner that does not cause further trauma,” Taylor stated.

UC Davis’ Chief Compliance Officer and Title IX Officer Wendi Delmendo said it is not necessary to have hearings with live cross-examinations.

“Given the thorough investigation process used by the university, these hearings will not result in more robust fact-finding or credibility determinations,” Delmendo said.

“Instead, hearings will make the process take longer and expose all who participate in the process to further distress.”

Delmendo is responsible for overseeing efforts to ensure the university responds efficiently and effectively to reports of sexual harassment and sexual violence, in addition to educating folks in the UC Davis community about these topics.

“In my view, the proposed regulations are a big step backward,” Delmendo said.

“While it is important to ensure our procedures are fair to both those who report sexual misconduct and those who are accused, the UC system has incorporated significant due process protections into our current procedures.”

Claire Chevallier, a fourth-year psychology major, vocalized her concerns through her platform as a member of the Sexual Assault Awareness Advocacy Committee, which aims to raise awareness about sexual violence and advocate for survivor rights.

She is also one of two undergraduate representatives from UC Davis for the UC’s Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Board, which engages with students and provides feedback to the UC administration.

Chevallier was part of a group of students who traveled to Washington D.C. in early October to lobby at Capitol Hill.

The group, mainly comprised of Associated Students of the University of California officials, visited congressional offices to voice student concerns.

“We expressed concern about […] minimizing the amount of reports that would go through, how they are not survivor-centric UCOP TITLE IX on 12

SHEREEN LEE / AGGIE

November 21 “A driver of a gold Ford sedan threw a rock at reporting party’s vehicle. No damage to reporting party’s vehicle and reporting party would like it to be logged.”

“Male subject threatening to hit people with a large flashlight.”

November 22 “Injured hawk, unable to fly.”

“Reporting party’s roommate became upset after a disagreement and threw a beverage can at the reporting party.”

Sticks and stones

November 23 “5-6 dogs running loose in neighborhood for last 20 minutes.”

November 24 “Heavy walking coming from unit above responding party.”

November 25 “Transient yelling at customers and hit store window with a stick 3 times.”

November 26 “High school aged juveniles smoking marijuana at the playground.”

November 27 “Neighbors door knob on the floor in front of door, unknown if break in or resident aware.”

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2018 | 3

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Ally Property Management: Ally or enemy?

Farewell Fuji

Controversy over well-known property management results in mixed reviews

Local sushi restaurant announces closing on Facebook

VENOOS_MOSHAYEDI / AGGIE

BY CL A I RE D O D D city@theaggie.org

As the season for finding housing and renewing leases approaches, many students will begin researching the different property management companies that serve the Davis area.

Ally Property Management is one group in particular that has come into recent controversy. A look at its Yelp page shows an average rating of one and a half stars out of five from a total of 50 different reviews. Several of the reviews are harshly worded, and only seven of the 50 reviews have three or more stars.

Similarly, the Davis Wiki page refers to Ally as “notoriously the worst property management company in Davis.” It also notes Ally’s name change from Acadian Properties to Ally Properties in 2010, which individuals in Yelp reviews have speculated was due

to poor reviews — nonetheless, it appears that criticism has followed the group.

A common thread in the complaints left by reviewers regard allegations of poor customer service from management, who is described on the page as “rude,” “unprofessional” and “inconsiderate.”

A Yelp review left in December of 2017 from someone who identified themself as a renter of an Ally Properties property stated the condition of the house upon moving in was “disgusting,” with “trash everywhere, dirt all over the floor, moths in every cabinet.”

“We called them and demanded they send a cleaning service, and they said they would but never did,” the review states.

“Our whole plumbing system went out, dryer broke, circuits always broken, the list is endless. Whenever we called and asked for help or for them to even just do their jobs all their employees were so inconsiderate and not helpful. This company takes advantage

of UC Davis students.”

But what do the experiences of Davis students renting from Ally Property Management look like in reality?

Bennett Pollack, a UC Davis alumnus and a former Ally tenant of two years, voiced frustration about his experiences with the company.

“Quite frankly, Ally knows they have all the power,” Pollack said. “They know our vacancy rates and take advantage of students by not providing basic repairs in a timely manner, as well as simply not caring about the well-being of their tenants. This type of greed is what leads students to be displaced and homeless.”

A current Ally tenant, who contacted The California Aggie via email and wished to remain anonymous, voiced their concern over the property management group, saying that after their “horrible experience” with Ally, they researched the group and found they weren’t alone from the looks of the Yelp page.

“As a current resident in one of their properties, I don’t believe it is in my best interest to be named,” they said. “It appears that this company is hurting UC Davis students. There should be media coverage on this to warn students (and their parents) to not sign leases with them.”

The California Aggie reached out to Ally Property Management, but the group declined to comment on this issue.

Not everyone, however, has had poor en-

TIMOTHY LI / AGGIE

BY LAUR EN TR OP I O city@theaggie.org

After many years in Davis, Fuji Sushi Boat & Buffet officially announced on Nov. 1 via Facebook that it will be closing. Established in 1997, the restaurant aimed to become the go-to place for sushi at prices college students could afford.

At a $17.99 lunch fee ($20.99 on weekends) and a $21.99-$24.99 set price for dinner, the buffet allowed customers to consume as much as they wanted at varying costs. Fuji was also notorious for staying open and being available on most holidays, except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and the Fourth of July. The sushi restaurant closed in the owner’s best interest, rather than for any financial reasoning.

“The owner is retired and the lease has ended,” said Chaio Lai, the chef at Fuji. “We live in Brentwood that we used to drive 2.5 hours everyday. We just think it’s time to

ALLY PROPERTY on 11

FUJI on 11

Davis educational supply store loses school district to online vendors Teach Your Children, Inc. closes amid turbulent relationship with Woodland Joint Unified School District VENOOS MOSHAYEDI / AGGIE

BY A N N A F EY city@theaggie.org

In February of 2017, Amazon brokered a deal with the public-sector buying cooperative U.S. Communities, which purchases supplies for schools. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance warned at the time that Amazon’s expansion into the public sector would

harm cities, counties and school districts.

During the 2017-18 school year, the Woodland Joint Unified School District made an allocative commitment to certain online vendors, including Amazon, which resulted in a sales hit to Davis educational supply store Teach Your Children, Inc. Before it closed in November 2018, Teach Your Children, Inc. sold educational

games and toys, as well as teaching supplies.

Teach Your Children, Inc. owner Loren Skinner claimed that during the store’s 17 years of operation, parents and teachers supported Teach Your Children, while schools did not.

This was especially apparent to Skinner in 2017, when two Woodland teachers who had been patrons of the store informed Skinner that the district had given every Woodland teacher $1,000 to spend in their classroom exclusively through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Ikea or Lakeshore Learning. The teachers explained that because of this, they were choosing not to shop at Teach Your Children, Inc. According to Skinner, Teach Your Children, Inc. would have been dramatically affected if the district had included his store as a vendor in the deal.

“That would have made my whole life,” Skinner said. “But instead, a 100 dollars or so [that] the teachers were spending every year, they didn’t have to.”

Lori Williams, the educational services

administrative assistant, confirmed that this allocative decision of which the teachers spoke did in fact happen; however, she stressed the fact that it was a one-time allocation during the 2017-18 school year.

“That was something that was offered to teachers to help them with classrooms, and that was just for that school year,” Williams said.

Elodia Ortega-Lampkin, the associative superintendent of educational services, provided a written statement regarding the situation.

“The funds were to be used for additional supplemental materials to support instruction in Math, English Language Arts, Science, Visual and Performing Arts, Interventions, and/or enrichment of classroom environment,” Ortega-Lampkin said via email.

These materials are the same type offered

by Teach Your Children, Inc.. Though the decision was only a one-time deal, Skinner saw the district’s action as an aid to Amazon TYCon 11

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

4 | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2018

Yolo County firefighters return from battling Camp Fire Strike team of local, campus, city fire personnel came home to Davis after fighting deadliest blaze in history CAITLYN SAMPLEY / AGGIE

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

A team of firefighters from Woodland, West Sacramento, the City of Davis and the UC Davis Fire Department joined other fire departments from across the state on Nov. 8 in an effort to contain the deadliest wildfire in state history. After over a week of battling the Camp Fire in Butte County, local firefighters were released from deployment and returned home safe in time for Thanksgiving.

On Nov. 17, the City of Davis Fire Department announced on Twitter that deployed personnel were returning to Davis.

“Our crew is on their way home after a

9 day deployment on the #CampFire,” the tweet read. “The crew is honored to have served our neighboring Butte County Community during this terrible tragedy. Welcome home!”

Campus firefighters returned on the same day, according to the Dateline UC Davis Twitter, though task force leader Captain Steven Dunn remained for two additional days.

“The four-person @UCDavisFire crew is back home and safe, after being released from the #CampFire Saturday,” Dateline tweeted. “Still helping there: UC Davis Capt. Steve Dunn was sent Friday as a task force leader.”

A regional strike team composed of

Alumna said university forcibly removed her from event for talking about her sexual assault Yee Xiong speaks out against UC Davis after experience at Southeast Asian Youth Conference DIANA LI / AGGIE

BY R E BE CC A BI H N-WAL L AC E campus@theaggie.org

Yee Xiong, a UC Davis alumna from the class of 2015, recently made headlines in Oct. 2018 for winning a prolonged legal battle against the man she accused of sexual assault.

While Xiong has maintained that UC Davis handled her sexual assault case appropriately, when she returned to campus last year to perform a spoken-word piece about her assault at the Southeast Asian Youth Conference, she said a university official forced her to leave the event due to the subject matter of her poem.

Xiong alleged that she was subject to both verbal and physical harassment and her freedoms of speech and expression were violated. Xiong has demanded a formal apology from the university for the way that her performance was handled and has said that she has not yet received one.

Responding to the allegations in a Nov. 7, 2018 email sent to The California Aggie, Mayra Llamas, the executive director of the Community Recruitment and Retention Center, confirmed Xiong was asked by a coordinator of the conference to leave the event “to avoid further triggers and distressing the youth whose emotional safety was our main priority.”

“The University respects Yee’s bravery in coming forward and regrets that its request caused offense to Yee,” Llamas’ email stated.

Xiong’s Story Xiong is currently employed as a volunteer coordinator at Empower Yolo, an organization devoted to helping victims of sexual violence. A former Asian American studies and design double major, she was active in campus life as a UC Davis student and worked for Southeast Asians Furthering Education.

Southeast Asians Furthering Education, or SAFE, is a community program at the Student Resource and Retention Center that “centers hxstories* and experiences tied to the Vietnam War, Khmer Rouge, the Secret War and Pathet Lao,” according to the SAFE website.

But Xiong’s involvement in sexual assault awareness advocacy didn’t begin until later on in her college career. Xiong was sexually assaulted by Lang Her, a friend and fellow student, on July 9, 2012 at a house party after a night of heavy drinking. She was incapacitated during the incident but soon reported it to the police and the Title IX commission on campus.

The following account of the legal battle that ensued when Xiong brought charges against Her was corroborated by Yolo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Raven.

The first trial related to the incident occurred in 2015, three years following the alleged assault itself. During this process, Her’s defense attorney accused Xiong of dramatizing her experience in a ploy for attention, and the attorney also insinuated that she had borderline personality syndrome.

The trial ended in a hung jury, with the verdict 4-8 in Her’s favor. The re-trial in 2016, resulted in a second hung jury, 10-2, this time in Xiong’s favor.

Her pleaded guilty to harm or intent to create bodily injury and was sentenced to one year in jail. Due to the protracted nature of the case, Xiong felt compelled to accept Her’s lighter sentencing.

Minutes after she left the courthouse with her family, Her’s legal team served Xiong with a defamation suit from Her’s legal defense team, threatening to sue Xiong because one of her siblings had referred to him as a rapist on Facebook. Xiong returned to court in 2017 to fight the defamation suit, which the judge tossed out in a matter of minutes.

Xiong has now successfully sued Her for sexual battery.

Returning to UC Davis The grueling legal battle Xiong endured heightened her commitment to raising awareness about consent culture within the Southeast Asian community.

Xiong comes from the Hmong commu-

Davis, Woodland, West Sacramento and UC Davis firefighters were among the first to reach the fire the day it broke out. The Camp Fire started at 6:33 a.m. on Nov. 8, according to CAL FIRE reports. Regional officials requested additional personnel from the area around 9 a.m., and City of Davis Fire Assistant Chief Dennis Reilly reported.

A little before noon that day, the regional strike team met at a rally point in Sacramento and was engaged in containment efforts in Butte County by that afternoon.

“Our regional coordinator started making phone calls 9 o’clock that morning,” Reilly said. “We identified four people — they had met at the rally point, which was a West Sacramento firehouse at 11:30 that morning. Then they left and went straight up to Paradise.”

The close proximity of Yolo County to the Camp Fire meant that local and campus firefighters played a significant role in early efforts battling the blaze. Once firefighting efforts were underway, the strike team worked long shifts on the front lines of the Camp Fire for about nine days.

“They were heavily engaged,” Reilly said. “We’re only about an hour and change away from Paradise, and we were notified so quickly — they got there that afternoon in the height of events. They went to work as soon as they got there. I believe they worked 36 hours, then got a break. Then they were 24 hours on, 24 hours off for the rest of the time they were there.”

The deployment of firefighters is on an as-needs basis, so fire personnel don’t know when they will return after they are sent out.

If there are other wildfires nearby, deployed firefighters may also be diverted to other parts of the state.

“There’s no guarantee how long firefighters will be away when it comes to battling

wildfires,” Reilly said. “They can leave out of here and be gone quite some time, based on the activity, the scope and the magnitude of the incident. When they go out the door, there’s no guarantee that they’ll be back in a set amount of time.”

The Yolo County strike team gave the go-ahead to return home on Nov. 17, when the CAL FIRE Twitter reported the fire was about 55 percent contained. The Camp Fire was declared fully contained about a week later on Nov. 25.

It’s not uncommon for city and campus firefighters to be summoned to fight wildfires in other parts of California, according to Reilly. During the wildfire season, the statewide network of fire departments will send personnel and trucks to other parts of the state to assist in containment and rescue operations.

“It’s quite common for this agency during the fire season to send people out on these strike team assignments,” Reilly said.

“California’s got some big fires, it takes a lot of people to mitigate a big fire.”

According to CAL FIRE, nine of the state’s most destructive wildfires occurred in the past five years. Reilly couldn’t say for certain whether strike team assignments in other parts of the state were more common in recent years for the Davis Fire Department, but he said that seems to be the case.

“It just seems like it’s a more frequent occurrence,” Reilly said. “It seems like these strike team assignments are coming up more frequently. I think it would be fair to say it would not be surprising to us to have several of these events over the course of a 12-month period. It’s to the point now where I think all fire departments in California say, ‘Okay, fires are gonna come and we’re gonna do what we have do to mitigate the situation.’”

nity in Yolo County; according to a 2010 census report, California has the largest Hmong population in the United States.

Xiong’s former colleague at SAFE, Lyia Jalao, who was also present at the conference when Xiong was asked to leave, said that, in some Southeast Asian communities, there is a culture of shaming and silencing those who have been victims of sexual assault and other forms of physical and psychological violence.

In the six years since her assault, Xiong has become an activist and advocate for sexual assault awareness and has remained involved with SAFE. Although Xiong is satisfied with the way that the university handled her rape case, she remains deeply affected by the incident that occurred when she was invited to speak at the Southeast Asian Youth Conference on Feb. 11, 2017.

Jalao, who was present at the conference, described the event, organized by SAFE, as “empowerment and leadership-based” and a venue for “showcasing academic and artistic expression” for high school students in the Southeast Asian community.

SAFE invited Xiong to perform a spoken-word piece highlighting her experiences as a sexual assault survivor. Xiong said that, before the performance, she issued a disclaimer as well as a trigger warning, given that verbal accounts of such behavior can re-activate traumatic memories for those who have had similar experiences.

During her performance, she witnessed a high-school aged student leave, upset by the content of her poem, and then return around five minutes later. But immediately following her performance, Xiong was asked by an employee of SAFE, who asked The California Aggie that her name be withheld from this piece, to not participate in the Q&A session as was originally planned.

When Xiong conveyed that she felt that this would be a disservice to the other students in the audience who may have wanted to ask her about her experience, she was told that the students were “unable to digest” the topic and that she had “triggered [all] of the students in the audience.” Xiong alleged that the staff member “refused to leave [her] side” until she left the building.

When contacted about the incident in an email, the unnamed staff member stated that she did not escort Xiong out of the event but that Xiong left “after the recommendation was shared with her.”

Xiong said the experience left her feeling “dirty, disgusted, violated and humiliated,” especially since she had been invited to the conference to perform a piece centered around the issue of sexual assault.

Jalao was present at the conference and has confirmed Xiong’s account of the events.

“There’s a long history of shunning from the [Southeast Asian] community and a complete dismissal of victims and survivors and their stories,” Jalao said. “We wanted to show [...] that there’s this beautiful resiliency that we all have, and no matter how hard it may be, we need to provide a platform for survivors to showcase their strengths.”

But Jalao’s hopes for the event were not brought into fruition.

“This was a great opportunity for UC Davis students and high school students to see that the institution supports survivors, but that never happened,” she said. “It was two steps backward and not forward. All of the cultural shame and dismissal was repeating [...] in an institution that touts moving forward and advancement and all of these positive traits, it’s not what happened at all.”

Jalao said that usually when Xiong has performed her pieces, it has been for adult audiences. From what she gauged, the coordinators of the event were “very enthusiastic.” “[But the staff member] said that Yee’s performance had not been okayed or approved and that had they known what the content was they would have said no,” Jalao said. “Yee explained […] that she’d been welcomed by the student coordinating the event and that there hadn’t been an issue with the content [...] [and] explained that she wouldn’t leave.”

With respect to the content of the poem, Jalao noted that the piece was not “lewd” and described the sequence of events as “embarrassing.”

“She’d performed it many times, and she didn’t go into graphic detail,” Jalao said.

“Her piece highlights consent […] [Xiong] was unceremoniously kicked out and everyone was really confused. We felt that the college students who’d coordinated this wanted to talk about consent.”

Seeking An Apology Expressing similar dismay to Jalao, Xiong said she did not receive a formal apology from the university despite having filed a hate and bias report that included a statement from her on-campus victim advocate.

Xiong related her concerns to the thenVice Chancellor of Student Affairs Adela de la Torre, and a follow-up meeting was scheduled to address her grievances. Present at the meeting were the unnamed staff member, Llamas and Sheri Atkinson, the current vice chancellor of student affairs.

Xiong said she was later informed by a board member at the SRRC, whose name YEEXIONG on 11

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2018 | 5

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE A LLYSON KO / AGGI E

ADMINISTRATIVE ADVISORS REPRESENT STUDENTS

Student advisors to the chancellor highlight the importance of voicing concerns in shaping the UC Davis campus and community B Y A L YSSA HA D A features@theaggie.org

Administrative decisions made on campus for students traditionally aren’t made by students on campus. Unfortunately, the individuals making these decisions generally consist of the upper administration that is unable to empathize with students in the way like-minded peers would when making decisions that affect the student body. Fortunately, student advisors to the chancellor exist to provide input from an undergraduate position and mindset.

William Sampson, a fifth-year history and Native American studies major, is one of two student advisors to the chancellor.

He noted the importance of the position

and the recent changes being spearheaded in order to better represent students and their concerns in various meetings and decisions.

“The primary goal of this position is to advocate for student concerns, not just on the behalf of students but with students as well,” Sampson said. “One of the things that we did this year was that we pushed to change the name of the position. The name used to be ‘student assistants to the chancellor’, but for some folks, the connotation of that made it seem that we were in the chancellor’s office doing purely clerical work.

What we really wanted to focus on was that this position is about advocating students’ needs and concerns and conveying that to the chancellor. Our primary goal and our

RE B E CC A C A M P B ELL / AGGIE

RIBBONS ON TREES TIE IN ISSUES AROUND CAMPUS

Organizations around campus hang colorful ribbons on trees around the Quad to raise awareness about issues and causes facing the community.

BY ALYSSA HADA features@theaggie.org

A big, perfect bow tied on a tree in the Quad flutters softly in the wind. It’s a vibrant purple and a small white card sits next to it, informing passersby about Domestic Violence Awareness month and the resources available to students at the The Women’s Resources and Research Center.

Different organizations around campus can contact Grounds and Landscape Services to reserve a time to hang ribbons on the trees around the Quad to raise awareness about different issues and causes, explained the associate director of Grounds and Landscape Services Cary Avery.

“The ribbons on the trees around the quad are organized by different campus departments/units depending on what the ribbon signifies,” said Memorial Union Director Janna Tolla.

If the trees are available, Grounds and Landscape Services will let any organization that is legitimate and affiliated with the campus hang ribbons, Avery said.

“We really only let them [hang ribbons] for major types of causes,” Avery said. “It would get too crazy to let anyone put them up all the time. It must be an established organization.”

The Women’s Resource and Research Center hung purple ribbons for the entire month of October to build awareness about Domestic Violence Awareness Month, said assistant director for outreach for the Women’s Resource and Research Center Sara Blair-Medeiros.

“The whole idea is to build education and awareness about the resources that are on campus to help them navigate some of the situations that people find themselves in, in regards to domestic violence,” Blair-Medeiros said.

To make sure the community knows what the purpose of these ribbons are, most organizations put up information cards ex-

plaining their cause. The Women’s Resource and Research Center put up cards with as much information as possible about Domestic Violence Awareness Month and the resources available to students regarding domestic violence, Blair-Medeiros said.

“Last year when we had the ribbons in the quad, we had a number of drop-ins because of the ribbons,” Blair-Medeiros said.

The specific organizations are in charge of putting up the ribbons, Avery explained.

Grounds and Landscape Services makes sure they do it in a neat and orderly way, and if not, they are taken down.

“There’s a policy on campus about no posting on trees,” Avery said. “We allow the ribbons in the quad because they are not posting or nailing anything.

We monitor them so nobody takes them down, and we make sure that only one organization has them up at a time.”

Blair-Medeiros said the Women’s Resource and Research Center wanted the community to be involved with hanging the ribbons, so they put the event up on their student affairs calendar and their personal calendar and invited people to wrap the trees with them. Because of this, Good Day Sacramento heard of the event and interviewed them.

“We had a number of people reach out because of that,” Blair-Medeiros said. “We were able to build awareness in other ways this year too, and we wouldn’t had been able to do that if we had not put up the ribbons and stuff and showcased it as an event.”

Domestic Violence Awareness Month is the issue that the Women’s Resource and Research Center focuses on, but other organizations additionally put up ribbons for other causes. The Veterans Success Center hung yellow ribbons around the Quad outside the Memorial Union, Vanderhoff Quad, the ARC area, and the Equestrian Center for ‘Veterans Week’ in November, said coordinator for the Veterans Success Center Earl Raehsler.

primary focus is always student affairs.”

Sampson reflected on the personal importance he has found in the role since taking on the position. He acknowledged that students may not have historically received much representation on campus and hopes to make long-lasting changes that impacts students for years to come.

“It’s really rewarding to be one of the only students in a room where, generally speaking, undergraduates aren’t traditionally represented,” Sampson said. “I’m here to advocate for change, to try and make changes that impact both present and future students. If I can leave the campus in a better shape than how I inherited it about five years ago, I want to do that, to make it easier for the students that are going to come after me. I think that’s inherently part of the position as well, is being able to advocate not just on the behalf of students, but with students and provide that perspective of an undergraduate. Everyone we talk to has their own opinions, just as we do, but our job is to really field those concerns and make sure those concerns are being addressed at the appropriate level that they should be getting addressed at.”

Abigail Edwards, a fourth-year sustainable agriculture and food systems major, is another student advisor to the chancellor.

Passionate about the position, she highlighted how the role defines the future of UC Davis, and how decisions made under the position may better the campus for students in the future.

“For me, the position isn’t about power, it’s about representation,” Edwards said.

“Often times, we’re the only students in a room where decisions are being made, and I think about what would happen if we

didn’t have this position. What would happen when they have these meetings, deciding very important things, if there was no student representation? Day to day we’re in meetings, and none of them are inconsequential.”

Edwards noted that decisions both big and small have large impact on students, making their voices meaningful on any topic.

“They may be about little things but even the smallest things impact students,” Edwards said. “I think just being there and being able to always redirect the conversation to what students think is rewarding, because we’re always present in meetings in asking how would a specific topic would affect students. I’ve personally been very humbled in being able to be in this role and to advocate for students in these spaces where students traditionally haven’t been or would not be without this position.”

The student advisors to the chancellor each offer 12 hours of office hours per week in order to make themselves available to other students and their concerns. They are also available at sac@ucdavis.edu and are generally extremely responsive when concerned with students reaching out.

“We try to be as active, present and accessible as possible, and if that means scheduling additional meetings with students who have concerns we’re absolutely willing to do so,” Edwards said. “We recognize that we can’t be present in all of these different spaces that need representation, and it’s just not feasible since we’re also students with extracurriculars applying to grad schools and doing all of these things.

“Doing things like this helps [the veterans] feel like this campus is theirs just as much as any other students,“ Raehsler said.

“And it brings awareness to the sacrifices and other stuff that they have done.”

The Veterans Success Center also posts cards next to the ribbons explaining the cause, Raehsler said. But since they hang them right around Veterans Day, he thinks a lot of people understand what they are for.

Raehsler said that he likes how these ribbons help spark conversations and help raise awareness about veterans in the community and other causes around campus.

“Different groups have used [the ribbons] as a symbol to bring awareness to their programs,” Raehsler said. “It brings awareness to the campus and shows the unity of the campus against or for a particular cause, which is great. ”

ADMI NI STR ATI ON o n 1 2

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

6 | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2018

Opinion THE

C ALIFORNIA A GGIE

E DI TO R I AL B OAR D

You’re more important than your grades Take care of your physical, mental health during finals

EMILY STACK Editor-in-Chief 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

The realization that finals week is approaching is typically followed by unanimous groans in the classroom, a spike in one’s blood pressure and a sudden and blatant disregard for one’s sleep schedule. In the student community, taking care of one’s mental and physical health, which should always be a priority, often falls secondary to ensuring success on finals.

It’s not breaking news that students sacrifice a good night’s rest in order to have a few extra hours to cram copious amounts of material, carefully calculating the trade-off of suffering decreased cognitive functioning due to the lack of sleep. Instead of ditching the prospect of sleep altogether, which usually does more harm than good, try taking small naps whenever possible to boost energy levels as well as productivity.

Consecutive all-nighters, as unhealthy as they are, don’t exist in isolation. A reduction in sleep is usually accompanied by a binge diet of energy drinks and fatty foods. While this may sound seductive to a student laboring through finals, limiting these drinks and foods and consuming a “brain-healthy diet” of unsaturated fats (fish, olive oil), vitamin E and antioxidants (citrus, dark-skinned fruits and vegetables) has shown to increase the ability to focus as well as have memory benefits.

Another notorious player in a highly-competitive academic environment is a prescription stimulant called Adderall, also referred to as “addy.” Though it is prescribed to help individuals manage their ADHD and ADD, Adderall is also commonly found circulating illegally on college campuses, exploited by students for its performance-enhancing properties, such as improved concentration and alertness. While using Adderall may seem like a good idea during the days before a brutal final, it is important to note that, as an amphetamine, Adderall often causes symptoms such as loss of appetite, increased paranoia and increased risk

for seizures and stroke at high doses, and can also have immense addictive potential with repeated administration. Instead of turning to study drugs, going for a quick run can produce a natural high and elevate one’s mood, as well as alleviate stress and improve focus.

Elevated levels of stress during finals week also exacerbate the symptoms of imposter syndrome, a serious condition that plagues many members of the student community. Pressure to achieve drives afflicted students to relate their worth with their competency and they tend to attribute their successes to luck, fearing that they will soon be revealed as a “fraud” at any given moment. Every student has a vision of optimal performance and failure—or the mere thought of failure—to meet the demands of that vision can induce feelings of inadequacy, anxiety and depression. While students suffering from the syndrome often credit these negative feelings as a mental and emotional tax that they must pay to be on the agonizing path to success, it is important to be cognizant of these thoughts and actively reject them. Instead, practicing healthy behaviors, such as being gentle with oneself, realizing that no one can attain perfection and learning to celebrate small moments of triumph can go a long way in staving off negative thoughts. Talking to someone can also help, so turn to a trusted friend or family member or consider stopping by Student Health and Counseling Services for a session.

Though students may loathe the menacing approach of finals week, a torrent of exams will inevitably arrive every quarter with an annoying punctuality. The Editorial Board feels that it is therefore crucial to remind students that they are human firsts and students second. You owe it your body to eat and sleep as regularly as possible, abstain from “study drugs” and take care of your mental health. Let’s say “hello” to finals without saying “goodbye” to our health.

Land of the free and incarcerated AMERICA MUST DECIDE IF IT WANTS TO REHABILITATE PRISONERS OR CONTINUE PUNISHING THEM

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

America prides itself on being number one in many categories, but there’s one “first place” title we hold that shouldn’t be a point of pride — leading the world in most incarcerated citizens. The United States makes up only five percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of the world’s prison population. For a nation that gratifies itself on being a free society, this should be an issue of great shame for the U.S. Our prison population has reached historically unprecedented levels, with 2.3 million Americans incarcerated today and some 5 million on parole or probation — meaning that for every 31 adults, one will end up in jail.

One of the issues is that American prisons were not intended to hold the

number of prisoners that they currently do. America doesn’t possess the proper funds to keep those facilities adequately or effectively running either. Prisons are vastly overcrowded and underfunded, creating limits on rehabilitative and educational programs. They also do not have the resources to properly train staff. Ultimately, these inhibit prisons from satisfying even basic human needs: maggots in food and inadequate servings are just a start as far as food problems.

The world is becoming a safer place, and overall, crime in the U.S. is dropping, which begs the question, “Why are our prisons still growing?”

Overcrowding is a consequence of a change in U.S. crime policies as opposed to an actual increase in crime. Voters in the ’80s and ’90s, regardless of political affiliation, supported tough-on-crime

policies, which is why this period saw a rise in incarceration rates. The war on drugs caused the number of incarcerated drug offenders to soar 1,200 percent between 1980 and 2018 — a result of both Democrat and Republican policies. But now, voters have softened their position.

Three-quarters of American voters currently think the criminal justice system is in need of improvement. Voters now advocate for policies that afford judges more discretion to tailor punishments specifically to individual cases — in essence, a holistic overview of the offender should be taken into account. 85 percent of voters believe the primary goal of our justice system should be rehabilitation in order for individuals to eventually rejoin society and become productive and law-abiding members. Currently, the prison system is more detrimental to society than it is

beneficial, as exemplified by the revolving door of prisoners. The fact that those released from prison are more likely to end up back inside rather than successfully reintegrating into society underscores the ineffectiveness of our current justice system.

Studies show that children with an incarcerated parent are more likely to end up in prison themselves. Additionally, around 70 million Americans have criminal records, which could serve as a barrier to employment following release. Investing in rehabilitation rather than more punitive measures will ultimately make communities safer when former prisoners rejoin society and reduce crime for future generations.

There also emerges a racial component JORDAN on 12

Killer “Blue Whale”: The glorification of dangerous stunts and challenges on social media TEENAGERS FALL PREY TO RISKY, SOMETIMES FATAL GAMES ON THE INTERNET

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

I remember playing dare games during my childhood that were for pure joy, and the outcome of us winning or losing never mattered as nobody really played to win. This isn’t typically the case today, as the pervasive apprehension of missing out, better known as “FOMO,” has not only glued us to our cell phones but has also created a culture of youth indulging in dare games or challenges and stunts.

These may be just for fun (similar to pre-social media dare games), such as the mannequin challenge and bottle flipping challenge. However, really dangerous challenges have also arisen, sadly resulting in young adults dying too soon while performing risky stunts without any proper safety measures. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Search and Rescue team have seen a 38 percent increase in

their missions over the past five years due to individuals sharing photos and videos of dangerous stunts, which in turn encourages others to try those stunts as well.

It was only last year when a video of a famous Chinese “roof topping” photographer falling from the top of a 62-story skyscraper went viral. In the video he is seen trying to get to the top of the building to capture a rooftop selfie. This accident alone should make us get serious about the trend of achieving popularity on social media by filming life-threatening stunts. Whether it’s for popularity or an adrenaline rush, these videos impact a world audience, and if this audience doesn’t follow safety rules like the people they are watching, then the same dangerous acts unfortunately threaten their lives too.

With such a high percentage of teenagers on social media today, we observe them trying these challenges to get pop-

ular among their peers and, in many cases, they benefit from more dangerous stunts. This is because the rational part of a person’s brain doesn’t fully develop until they reach the age of approximately 25. Recent research has found that adult and teen brains don’t work in a similar manner. Adults think with the prefrontal cortex, which is the brain’s rational part, where it responds with good judgement and provides a clearer picture or awareness of the consequences generating from one’s actions.

Teens, however, process information with the amygdala, which is the emotional part of the brain — and that’s why teens experience overwhelming emotional input. They can’t differentiate between something logical or illogical as they are driven by their emotions, doing what they feel to be the right thing rather than doing something after thinking clearly about it. Thus, teenagers and college stu-

dents are vulnerable to this trend of dangerous challenges and stunts, especially since they’re still at a phase where they are exploring the world around them out of curiosity of the unknown.

And this curiosity of theirs sometimes makes them take a wrong turn and fall victim to fatal challenges, like the salt and ice challenge. This is where one puts salt and ice on his or her skin, which causes burns, and then determines how long he or she can endure this burning sensation.

The choking challenge is another popular dare challenge among teenagers in which a person chokes another person or himself or herself in order to get high. This is obviously dangerous and sadly has resulted in the deaths of some teenagers.

But there’s another deadly challenge called the “Blue Whale Challenge,” which has resulted in more than 150 deaths (by SINGH on 12

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2018 | 7

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

HUMOR

Crafty ideas that’ll trick your loved ones into thinking you are indeed broke ‘TIS THE SEASON TO BE STINGY

BY HI L A RY OJ INNAKA hiojinnaka@ucdavis.edu

So, you’ve got people thinking you’re a walking, talking, credit-free, interest-free, ATM machine? Well, if that’s you crying in the corner, allow me to give you some tips on how to solve this problem.

Rule #1: Speak it into existence, beloved. One of the main reasons you give and spend all your hard-earned money is because you truly believe that you have money to waste. If you were physically broke, you’d think twice about wasting a penny. Waking up every morning and saying “I am broke today” will help you save the coin you actually “don’t” have.

Rule #2: As depressing as this is, socializing is expen-

sive. Learn how to adjust to being that “poor” friend.

When you’re around your besties make sure you stress to them that being broke is no picnic. You have to establish a frugal relationship with them so they know not to invite you out to anything that would end up costing over five dollars.

Rule #3: Please, for the love of saving, dress down for all occasions! How can people believe that you are broke if you are walking around with name brands that you have no business wearing? Switch those Jordans for some DC sneakers. Throw out that Gucci belt for some cheap shoe lace. They both get the job done anyways.

Now, you might be thinking these tips are pretty extreme, and I’m here to tell you that they are. A wise woman once said that extreme savings shall soon turn

into extreme blessings. So, save up my friends. Christmas is only a couple weeks away, and I know you need a great excuse to disappoint your loved ones.

ANDREA GONZALEZ / AGGIE

Cowspiration

BY D I A N A O L IVAR E S deolivaresvalencia@ucdavis.edu

D ISC L A I M ER: Th e v iews a n d opi 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.

ISSUE DESIGNED BY JONATHAN CHEN | PATTIE CHEN | ADAN JUNAID | OLIVIA KOTLAREK | SHEREEN NIKZAD | YOON RHA | TAMARA SHOUBBER

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

8 | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2018

SCIENCE+TECH

U C DAV I S H E A LT H P U BLI C AFFAI RS / CO URTESY

THE MEDICINE OF THE MIND Music therapy shown to have benefits for medical patients

BY M I C HEL L E WO N G science@theaggie.org

With the developing progression of music therapy, hospitals and other facilities have begun to adopt various methods of incorporating the therapy into their services.

The personalized elements of music therapy allow it to be used as a treatment for a wide variety of patients.

Tori Steeley, a music therapist at UC Davis’ Children’s Hospital, was initially on track to obtain a doctorate and teach at a university or even play in an orchestra after studying music performance as a student.

However, she felt a desire to help people and use the skills she learned in music performance to enhance those abilities.

“I wanted to find a job that used my music performance skills but also my skills of empathy and wanting to help people and do something better for my community,” Steeley said.

While the former music therapist at UC Davis’ Children’s Hospital was only parttime, Steeley now works at the hospital fulltime. Her patients can range from premature infants to 18-year-old teenagers with each receiving individualized treatment.

According to Steeley, music therapy is centered around creating specific goals for each patient and having the session personalized to meet those goals. Thus, the benefits vary depending on the purpose of the session.

For babies, singing lullabies not only helps their sleep, but also helps develop their

language skills and gives them positive stimulation that they may not usually receive at a hospital. Patients with autism or communication impairments may be able to strengthen their communication skills. Children undergoing chemotherapy who are constantly at the hospital can play instruments as a form of distraction or a healthy, productive way to release their emotions. Steeley also helps children write songs to express their feelings.

“Often times children don’t have the words to express how they’re feeling because they just haven’t developed that vocabulary yet,” Steeley said. “But through music, they can express themselves without words.”

Henry Spiller, a professor of music at UC Davis, also believes that music has the ability to help people understand their emotions better. Through his studies in ethnomusicology, Spiller has seen instances where rhythmic activities can help people transcend into a sacred mental space or different psychological states that can heighten their awareness and have healing benefits. He stated that people can utilize musical activities to access parts of themselves that are usually inaccessible.

“The reason [music] works is because it’s not describable in words,” Spiller said. “Music communicates at a very different level than words do, and that can be very valuable. It can say two things at the same time that are contradictory, which is difficult to do with language.”

Spiller stated that the research he has done in music therapy suggests that music therapy depends a lot on the acculturation of the individual patient, such as what music they have been exposed to in the past or what behaviors they associate with music.

However, he also stated that other research suggests that music has the ability to access parts of patients unrelated to culture.

“Based on my own personal experience, of course, I think music can be transformative. It can provide the kind of social lubrication required to get people who are making music together or who are sharing music as performers and listeners, provide a context, in which they can open up to each other,” Spiller said. “They can lay bare elements of their personalities that otherwise need be kept at bay.”

Over the years, more and more studies on music therapy have been conducted.

Debra Bakerjian, a clinical professor at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis, worked together with Elena Siegal, an associate professor at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing, to design the study implementing the Music and Memory program. The program was a collaborative effort between UC Davis and the California Association of Healthcare Facilities to use personalized music as a way to help patients with dementia.

“Our study found very positive results in improving the behaviors of persons with dementia, reducing the use of several psychoactive medications and improving the quality of life for residents in nursing homes,” Bakerjian said. “We also saw reductions in resident falls and complaints of pain. So, the music was very effective for many residents with different types of problems and conditions.”

Steeley also stated that music therapy can help in cases of memory care and those with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease in order to MUSIC THERAPY on 12

TESSA KOGA / AGGIE

SA MA N THA TU CCI / COU RTESY

THE BACTERIA THAT COULD CURB THE RISE OF ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE IN INFANTS UC Davis researchers find a link between Bifidobacterium and lower levels of antimicrobial resistant genes

BY KRI T I VA RG HE S E science@theaggie.org

The bacteria Bifidobacterium infantis started disappearing in Western countries in the 1950s. UC Davis researchers have found that the lack of B. infantis in the infant gut microbiome could negatively impact the health of these infants.

Human milk contains oligosaccharides, which are short chains of sugar molecules that babies can’t digest. Bruce German, a professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology and director of the Foods for Health Institute, worked with a team of scientists, including graduate students Bob Ward and Danielle Lemay and faculty members David Mills and Carlito Lebrilla, to isolate the indigestible oligosaccharides and test bacteria to see if they could grow with these oligosaccharides as their only carbon source for growth. Most bacteria didn’t grow at all, but B. infantis did.

On further analysis of the bacterium, they realized how important it could be.

“In essence, this bacterium had a genome that had all the characteristics of a benevolent bacterium dedicated to thrive in the intestine of a breastfed baby,” German said.

Professor David Mills and post-doctoral fellow in Mills’ lab Diana Taft, started studying the effects of B. infantis in infants.

They started by examining the data gathered from infants in Bangladesh and Sweden, where infants had B. infantis in their gut.

“I found a correlation between high levels of Bifidobacterium species [not necessarily just B. infantis] and lower levels of antimicrobial resistance within the infant gut metagenome,” Taft said. “This means that an infant where most of the bacteria in their gut was Bifidobacterium also had lower levels of antimicrobial resistance genes. However, correlation is not causation so I cannot definitively say that having higher levels of Bifidobacterium causes lower levels of antimicrobial resistance.”

So the increase of B. infantis in the infant gut microbiome could be the key to better health for infants. The disappearance of B. infantis in Western countries is an issue, but not one without a solution.

“One of the obvious approaches is to simply give B. infantis as a probiotic to breastfed babies,” Mills said. “It has been shown to work well in restoring the breastfed infant gut microbiome to what it used to be [over 50 years] ago in the USA.”

reduce. reuse. recycle.

The aggie

TESTING THE BRAIN TO MAKE THE GRADE Instead of cramming for exams, taking advantage of the brain’s own memory and attention networks could be the grade changer

BY FOXY RO B INS O N science@theaggie.org

Exams challenge students to find creative ways to remember every detail from the first day of classes to the last.

Each strategy impacts the brain’s memory and attention networks. Memory is a collection of abilities, such as remembering events, learning skills and building factbased knowledge and interactions. Attention involves the brain implementing relevant goals such as being able to focus on material that relates to exams.

“Passive listening and passive reading are time-consuming and less likely to improve attention,” said Joy Geng, associate professor in the Department of Psychology. “You can improve your attention by linking new information to another existing body of knowledge that you have.”

The brain is always taking in information and environments shape the way that people process it.

“One of the myths out there is that people can turn memory encoding on or off,” said Charan Ranganath, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Psychology. “It’s always on, but we can focus our attention on different things.”

For students who get easily distracted, crowded and noisy environments may receive more of their attention than their studies. They may leave these environments remembering conversations happening around them or the atmosphere more than their study materials. Distractible students should seek quieter studying environments

to help improve focus.

“Attention boosts signals and makes others less noticeable,” said Ron Mangun, distinguished professor of psychology and neurology. “You become more aware of the things you attend to, and when you ignore something, you become less aware of it.”

It is possible to become aware of too many things. Rapidly switching one’s attention from subject to subject, which occurs in multi-tasking, can result in lapses in retaining information.

“Multi-tasking reduces your performance because there’s a switching cost,” Mangun said. “We have a limited capacity of cognitive resources to allocate to tasks. There are only so many things you can hold in your head, if there’s a distraction, you might miss something.”

While trying to focus on everything at the same time, important details and concepts may get left out.

“Our lab, and many other labs, has shown that the best way to retain information over time is to test yourself,” Ranganath said. “Go over what you are trying to learn and test yourself on them. For equations, foreign languages or vocabulary words, use flashcards or an online testing site. For more complex readings, like history, read and then write summaries of what you read. Explain what you are studying to a classmate. Test yourself, go back to your study materials and fill in the right answer. Rinse and repeat for successful retention. Studies show you can get a 50 percent increase in retention if you test yourself than if you repeatedly study the same materials.”

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2018 | 9

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.

AGGIE CLASSIFIEDS JOBS

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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.

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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

FREE CLASSIFIED ADS FOR STUDENTS! Buy-Sell-Announce-Promote-Celebrate Place your ad online today! theaggie.org/classifieds

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10 | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2018

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

GIFT IDEAS FOR PARENTS Exploring the options for holiday gift giving MELI N DA CHEN / AGGI E

BY CHEYENNE WISEMAN arts@theaggie.org

It’s the time of the year when stores advertise endlessly for the upcoming holidays.

Students who choose to participate in gift exchanging culture may find themselves at a loss of ideas when it comes to gifts for their parents. After all, they’ve given their children life itself along with undying love and support (usually), so finding a decent gift can be challenging.

Second-year undeclared life sciences major Kaylena Principe has had success in pre-

FALL QUARTER’S MUSIC: WEEK BY WEEK New releases create soundtrack for students

BY ROSIE SCHWARZ arts@theaggie.org

As students returned to Davis for Fall Quarter, the fourth quarter of the music industry began. This quarter saw albums from many highly-anticipated artists, giving students a background playlist for their quarter.

While this quarter didn’t seem to have many popular new anthems (other than “thank u, next” by Ariana Grande and “Mo Bamba”

by Shek Wes), the amount of musical content released was enough to give everyone something new to listen to every day.

September 14: Following her release of “Telefone” in July 2016, Noname grew popular for her smooth jazzy rap that often times follows a spoken word style. As a long time friend and collaborator of Chance the Rapper and the rest of the Chicago rap scene, Noname’s first album “Room 25” was

D OW N TOW N

vious years with gifts that her parents can wear, such as jewelry for her mom and shoes for her dad.

“I haven’t really thought about [this year] but probably [I will be] gifting them the same sort of gifts,” Principe said. “My parents are very trendy, so [their gifts will come from] all of the same stores I shop at: Urban Outfitters, Forever 21, Anthropologie, etc.”

First-year biological sciences major Cherrica Igot has given her parents slippers, gift cards, homemade coupons and baked goods in past years.

“When I was younger I used to make

met by fans who knew her from her previous mixtapes and features. It was incredibly well-received for its cohesive depth and beautiful sound. As many students began to return to Davis, Noname introduced important new lyrics and themes in the usual understated, yet profound style (and experience) that is her music.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Noname expressed the difference between her two albums as reflective of a more personal transition in her life.

“When I put out ‘Telefone,’” I was in a very different place in my life, Noname said. “My responsibilities were drastically less than the things I’m responsible for now.

‘Telefone’ feels very youthful and bubbly to me. This is a lot more serious than the last one.”

This album was both a personal and political expression of Noname’s emotional state when writing it, while still following the same lyrical depth and flow that Noname has always put into her music, and was thought provoking in its honesty and vulnerability.

September 21: Having released various hit singles throughout the summer, BROCKHAMPTON released the album “Iridescence,” in late September. The project featured a less cohesive and organized sound than their “Saturation” trilogy which dominated 2017. However, this album was

SAC R AM E NTO

I C E R IN K / CO U RT ESY

DOWNTOWN SACRAMENTO TO HOST DRAG QUEENS ON ICE Event marks eighth annual event to raise funds for local beneficiaries

BY JOSH MADRID arts@theaggie.org

The Downtown Sacramento Ice Rink will host Drag Queens on Ice on Dec. 11 from 6 to 9 p.m. The event is an opportunity to ice skate with several local drag queens including one of the hosts, Taryn-Thru-U, and Felicity Diamond. A setlist of live DJ’s featuring Creamy’s by Cayla Jordan and more will provide live entertainment.

The event was postponed from the original date due to unhealthy air quality.

There is a suggested donation of $15, and participants can decide which of the three

charities — NorCal AIDS Cycle, Front Street Animal Clinic or Court of the Great Northwest Imperial Empire — will receive their full donation. Tickets will be available for purchase at the venue. People of all ages and identities are encouraged to attend.

Fred Palmer, the CEO of Outword Media Marketing and Events, created the event in 2010 and it has grown in popularity every year since.

“Downtown [Sacramento] Partnership and Outword try to make it fun each year,” Palmer said. “We will have a red carpet for guests to walk with or without skates on and a big bin of drag items for guests to try on

them little ornaments or decorations, and now that I’m older I make them baked goods, or as I said, the homemade coupons,” Igot said. “Like for cleaning the car, or taking out the trash, or giving them 30 minute massages or something like that.”

Homemade gifts can be a less costly option. Even for the less artistically inclined, any parent would be overjoyed at the care and effort that goes into making a gift. Some simple DIY ideas include painting a picture frame for a family photo, mixing a sugar lip scrub, putting baked goods into decorated jars and personalizing mugs with Sharpies.

“When I was younger I made scrapbooks, cards and paintings, little things for around the house,” Principe said.

Websites such as Pinterest, Etsy and Good Housekeeping are full of DIY inspiration.

Some students prefer shopping for gifts.

Angelina Hernandez, a second-year communication major, typically shops at Nordstrom for her mom and Bass Pro Shop for her dad.

“I’ve given my parents gifts for the holidays and they always say they like them,” Hernandez said. “I’m also just a good gift giver.”

Hernandez expects her gifts to be well-received this year as well.

“I will probably get my mom something trendy that she wouldn’t get herself,” Hernandez said. “I could potentially get her a new makeup palette, something practical for her.”

Bigger stores offer reliable quality and a wide selection of gifts.

“I like Bath and Body Works or Best Buy, or Home Depot for my dad,” Principe said “Or like clothing stores like Marshalls.”

Malls and department stores can be hectic during the holiday season, so some opt to shop locally for unique gifts. Parent-friendly shops in Davis include Creme De La Creme, The Avid Reader and Cookery & Company.

University gear is another viable option. Parents will proudly wear a UC Davis T-shirt or drink from an Aggie themed mug. Check out the Campus Store for gifts on Dec. 7, the last Aggie Pride Friday of the year. UC Davis branded clothing and gifts will be 25 percent off.

Some students find gift ideas for their parents online.

“I definitely just surf the web for inspiration, like Pinterest or Instagram,” Principe said. “Usually it’s easy to find things from there.”

Hernandez has a similar approach.

“I watch YouTube videos and I go on Pinterest, Instagram, ‘Best of ’ lists,” Hernandez said.

The New York Times recently published its 2018 Holiday Gift Guide, an extensive list of gifts sure to satisfy anyone. The list is divided into different interests, such as food, home, books, self-care, technology and even a category for the hard-to-please. The list can be filtered by price ranges so there are options for any budget. The gifts are artsy and on-trend, ranging from luxury kitchen tools and cozy loungewear to stocking stuffers such as silent squeak toys for dogs, P R ESENTS o n 1 2

MI CHA EL LEA HY / AGGI E

exciting for its aggression and loudness that allows for listeners to turn it all the way up and drown out everything else. BROCKHAMPTON, a musical collective that prefers and pushes people to call them a boy band, has an extremely loyal fan base that respects and understands the importance of the rap group’s constant experimentation and pushing of boundaries. While there are mixed sentiments about this album compared to the “Saturation” trilogy, the energy and attention that it received testified to the relevance of the unique sound and style that is BROCKHAMPTON. October 12: Ella Mai debuted her self-titled first album “Ella Mai,” after her catchy and relatable singles like “Boo’d Up” and

“Trip” brought her to the attention of many listeners. As a new artist, Mai provided listeners with a similar sound that her singles had but expanded and deepened her lyrics, introducing her style in a manner that had not been displayed on her singles. Produced

by DJ Mustard, “Ella Mai” provided a synthesis of ’90s R&B and pop-like lyrics that introduced herself as an artist that would have risen to fame with the likes of Rihanna and Jordan Sparks in the early 2000’s. This album was both nostalgic and present, and was an exciting debut that could appeal to many different tastes.

November 2: When Long Beach rapper

[to] walk the catwalk [with].”

Palmer reminisced about past years’ events.

“Sorry that it’s rude, but it’s funny,” Palmer said. “One year we had four queens pile on the ice and a photographer for Sacramento Magazine made the photo a twopage spread.”

Johnathan Cameron, president of the board for Court of the Great Northwest Imperial Empire, has a fabulous drag persona and her name is Taryn-Thru-U. “My drag persona is bitchy,” Taryn said.

“I like to be sarcastic and funny. But bottom line is, I am always caring and willing to help someone. I tell my staff, ‘I’m like your Mother. I will support you, care for you and encourage you until you mess up. Then I will remind you of your mistake over and over again with the guilt that only a mother can give.’”

Cameron is heavily involved with the CGNIE and explained how attendees can contribute to the charities. “[…] The Imperial Court of Sacramento, is one of the three charities,” Jonathan Cameron said. “When people arrive, they buy their wristbands from the charity they want to support. The charity keeps that money for themselves. We also can do raffles and sell items as well. So, someone could buy a wristband from one group, then support the others by purchasing raffle tickets.”

Apart from helping a good cause, participants get to interact with drag queens in an unusual way, which makes the experience memorable, especially in the holiday season. Director of public affairs and communications for the Downtown Sacramento Partnership Emilie Cameron shared why she thinks it’s a great event for everyone.

“This is definitely an event that’s popular,” Cameron said. “Not only being fabulous, but it raises money for good community causes. Outword has always done a good job finding causes. Celebrities from the drag community will be there and it’s a fun event where people can let their inner drag queen out. People get to skate with the queens and [the event is] a lot of fun where people from all walks of life come out.”

All information regarding the event can be found on the Facebook event page and the Downtown Sacramento Partnership website.

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THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2018 | 11

CAMPUS CLOSURE

REGENTS BUDGET

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they were focused on,” Thomas said. “We had to lose class days, but we wanted faculty to know that they didn’t need to think about [...making] up all of that material, but instead what they need to do was to try to stay focused on being empathetic to the students and really focusing on the bigger picture in the remaining days.”

On the student side of things, Galindo said she was concerned about the 6,000 students living in on-campus housing because they needed special care.

“We had to ensure that meals were prepared and can happen,” she said. “They are also living in facilities where we had to be sure that trash was removed on a regular basis. We needed custodians to come in and make sure that happened, because you could end up with a serious health issue.”

Galindo explained that the Unitrans bus drivers were outfitted with N95 masks early on, but bus service had to be halted if the AQI reached 200 or more. She also mentioned that Aggie Compass, which is located in the Memorial Union and provides food and housing information, stayed open throughout the campus closure.

The CoHo was closed on the second day of campus closure, Galindo said, and some 300 ASUCD student workers who receive paper paychecks were not able to pick them up at the ASUCD office.

“The decisions cannot be made lightly, and we need to be thoughtful,” Galindo said. “If you make an announcement that we’re closed and those students need those funds, that creates a hardship — that is an example of why everything needed to be thought through.”

ASUCD President Michael Gofman worked alongside the GSA president and other association leaders as well as the Academic Senate to develop FAQs and guidance as to the university’s response if such an event were to occur again.

“In hindsight, [...] it would have been obvious that we would have never have had school over that two week stretch, but as things were happening, we were unsure as to what was going to happen with the fire, we were unsure as to what was going to happen with the smoke and the air quality, and we were unsure if we were going to be put on probation with our accrediting agency because of the amount of days that we have missed,” Gofman said.

UC Davis needs approval from the UC Office of President if the number of instructional days in Fall Quarter falls below 48 days.

“We just got that approval,” Galindo said. “By policy, you have to have 48 of the 50 instructional days each quarter in order to get credit. That is required. If you drop below that 48 days, then you have to request an exception.”

On the health side of operations, Charles Casey, the senior public information officer at UC Davis Health, spoke via email about the work the hospital did during the crisis.

“Despite the extraordinary air quality issues in our region, there was never any question about remaining open for patient care,” Casey said. “We are a 24/7/365 hospital, with all the related clinical care activities that we must be able to provide at all times, regardless of conditions.”

And, Casey added, UC Davis Health’s regional burn unit was caring for victims of the fire. Casey also said that throughout the crisis, the emergency department did not report any cases of people affected by the smoke.

“We presume people made common sense decisions to avoid outdoor exercise and avoided spending extended time outside while the air quality was hazardous,” Casey said.

Casey spoke about UC Davis Health’s

preparedness for providing medical services in the event of emergencies such as the Camp Fire.

“UC Davis Medical Center has an Emergency Preparedness Program that is designed for all types of emergencies and disasters (natural and man-made),” he said.

“We have full-time staff members who oversee and coordinate the health system’s disaster preparedness, which includes regular trainings for staff and an entire manual devoted to the roles, responsibilities and logistics for keeping health services available during a crisis.”

Deborah Agee, the director of financial aid and scholarships, discussed how her office managed the closure and worked to continue service for students.

“We learned [about the closure] at about 7:20 a.m. on Tuesday, the 13th,” Agee said. “My senior staff and I quickly conferred via phone and email, and we determined […] that we should move forward with the implementation of our business continuity protocol.”

She said the protocol involved supervisors notifying all staff by text message of the closure, and that because the closure notice came out at 7:20 a.m., some workers were already in the office but later had to be sent home. Agee also said workers who could work from home on their laptops were encouraged to do so.

On the pending financial aid applications and cases, Agee worked with her staff to come up with a plan. She also stated that there were hard deadlines that the financial aid office had to meet.

“In financial aid, we have a number of deadlines that we have to meet with the United States Department of Education — you have x amount of days to return for Title IV aid, and you have x amount of days to complete certain activities,” she said. “And we realized that we were going to be in danger of missing some of those deadlines. Those compliance requirements were prioritized and we brought in a team of 10 processing folks.”

For all financial aid concerns that have resulted from the campus closure, Agee suggested sending an email to her office or using the Contact an Expert portal on my.ucdavis.edu. Students also have the option to call the financial aid office at (530) 752-1011.

Mccall Fellows, a third-year economics major, was asked about her thoughts on the campus closure.

“I think that really the school was doing what they had to do,” Fellows said. “There was no other options. Once they cancelled the first day and all the other days after that were worse — they had no options but to cancel class.”

Fellows expressed concern for the people of Paradise at the center of the wildfire.

“My aunt and uncle live in Paradise — they are all safe, but their house has burned down,” she said “I know there is lots of students who have family up there.

The university also had to be mindful of those families.”

Galindo offered her thoughts on the lessons that were learned from the crisis.

“We do plan to debrief as a leadership team to talk about lessons learned, talk about if these circumstances presented again what kind of processes would we put in place,” Galindo said. “We will work on ensuring that we do that.”

In looking at the bigger picture, Galindo said, “This was a tragedy. A whole community gone. Lives have been lost, and within that context, it is pretty sobering, and we need to think about that as well.”

Galindo asked the UC Davis community to refer to her open letter to the campus on the closure for any additional information.

ALLY PROPERTY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

counters with Ally. Justin Moreno, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student at UC Davis, hadn’t heard of any negative reviews against the property management company nor had any issues to report.

“The staff has been well prepared and very friendly every step of the way,” Moreno said. “You can tell they’ve been doing this for a long time [...] I felt it [the house] was in great condition and all fees were

duly warned and reasonable.”

Another student who had a fairly neutral experience with Ally was Orlando Razo, a former communication major at UC Davis, who recounted his experience renting from the property management group.

“I’d say they were professional but inefficient,” Razo said. “We would just have to call them a couple times in order to get them to fix something.”

stitute of California show that there will be an increasing demand for workers who have bachelorette degrees, according to the brief from the UCOP. While UC Berkeley and UCLA are

“nearing their on-campus capacity,” UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside and UC Merced have about half or less of the enrollments of these campuses, with room for population growth.

FUJI CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

end [it]. It’s a good location and I think someone will take over soon.”

Several customers of the buffet were saddened by the news.

“I don’t live in Davis, but do stop by Fuji’s from time to time as I pass through,” said Elle Emi Ryu Rose, a former customer of Fuji. “My wife and I love sushi, so we love stopping by whenever we get a chance. As far as knowing why it’s closing, I have no idea. Their food was very good, but they did lack customer service.”

Their menu consisted of weekly popular rolls, new creations made specifically by the restaurant and classics that established loyal customers for Fuji over other sushi restaurants. There were certain aspects to the dining spot that customers considered could be reasons for Fuji closing, but none seemed to do with their food.

“I always get the feeling that the employees don’t enjoy what they’re doing,” Rose said. “[I] wished they hired more friendly-oriented employees to [make] you feel welcome.”

In 2014, the owners decided to open up another Fuji Sushi & Buffet in Vacaville to provide more of its all-you-can eat options to residents in the area. Now, the Vacaville location will be the only restaurant, as the new owners do not plan on expanding again any time soon.

“Being a chef and a mother that has a daughter who attends UC Davis, I was surprised that she was going to this restaurant, but I think when you’re a student, you will eat wherever the price is right,” said Diana Roque, another former customer of Fuji.

“The service was horrible, the food was really bad, they trick you with the buffet prices.”

TYC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

in stamping out competitors.

“In one fell swoop, the Woodland District took all of my customers away and handed them on a silver platter to Amazon,” Skinner said. “They left me out in the cold, and that was the final blow.”

Skinner is still realistic about the challenges small independent businesses face.

“Would Amazon have gotten me anyway?” Skinner said. “Probably. But [the district] helped.”

Neither district official addressed why the district chose the particular vendors they did; however, Teach Your Children, Inc.’s exclusion may have gone back to previous negative experiences between the district and store, including one conflict over Skinner attempting to sell summer workbooks through the schools.

As for the 2017-18 decision, some schools did not experience a dramatic change in purchasing practices. Scott Clary,

the principal of Woodland Prairie Elementary, said he did not receive a directive from the district regarding where to purchase supplies. Woodland Prairie Elementary frequently buys from Amazon through an online purchase order with the district, but Clary spoke of flexibility based on cost and convenience.

“We have public money, so we have a responsibility to get the best price,” Clary said.

“Sometimes that’s Amazon, and sometimes that’s someplace local.”

According to one firm’s findings and due to dynamic pricing used in contracts, Amazon business in general can cost about 10 to 12 percent more than local retailers.

Currently, there is now no other local educational supply store — Teach Your Children, Inc. had been the only one in Yolo County.

“It’s tough,” Skinner said. “Everything’s kind of against you with a small business.”

YEEXIONG CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

she was unable to disclose, that the minutes from the meeting had been destroyed.

In a follow-up letter to Xiong and provided to The California Aggie dated May 30, 2017, the SRRC responded on behalf of the university.

“This is not something we take lightly, and we will continue to have ongoing conversations with student staff and career staff to prevent experiences like yours, and your colleagues, in the future,” the letter stated, adding that a sub-committee was in the process of being formed to create “best practices” for youth conferences, like the one Xiong participated in.

The letter acknowledged that these conferences are “high risk events” but also said they are “often very rewarding” for participants.

“Our aim for this sub-committee is to continue to work on reducing the risk of these events and ensure that all participants, invited community members, and student staff have a meaningful and safe experience,” the letter stated. “With regards to career staff accountability, Sheri Atkinson has reviewed all materials and will follow up with any necessary appropriate action.”

In an email sent to The California Aggie on Nov. 7, 2018, Llamas acknowledged that Xiong delivered a spoken word performance at the 2017 Southeast Asian Youth Conference. Llamas said the “nature of her presentation about her sexual assault and the presentation upset some of those attending, and most of those in attendance were minors.”

“The safety and well-being of all our students and guests on our campus is im-

portant, and it remains a high priority for the University,” she wrote. “For additional resources, please visit our Sexual Violence Prevention and Response site.”

A “Disappointing” Response With no formal apology from the university, Xiong has described UC Davis’ response as “disappointing.”

“It breaks [my] heart to have a space that I worked in be so progressive and then change completely,” Xiong said.

Xiong said that she wants upstander culture to be upheld, and that UC Davis students need to feel comfortable seeking help in any space without fear of judgement or retaliation. She also feels it’s important that people become aware of the realities and obstacles survivors face and hopes her experience empowers people to stand up for what’s right.

For both Xiong and Jalao, the incident is another example of the ongoing issue of victim-blaming and silencing that Empower Yolo addresses.

Jalao acknowledged that Xiong has “the strength” to deal with shaming, but there are others who do not have strength or support to rely on — “this is why victims don’t come forward,” she said. “This is why potential survivors become victims.”

“There have been so many attempts to silence [Xiong], including people from our own community,” Jalao said. “I’m so exhausted by that. I’ve worked with so many Southeast Asian women survivors who have escaped abuse only to find that it’s happening within their community. Seeing this happen again from someone my age was extremely heartbreaking and disappointing.”

reduce. reuse. recycle.

The aggie

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

12 | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2018

UCOP TITLE IX

ADMINISTRATION

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and how they would dissuade reporting and ultimately leave many people feel like their situations were not valid,” Chevallier said. “We also met with the Office of Civil Rights within the Department of Education — the folks who wrote this policy — and we got to present to them directly. I believe some change came from that, because their initial alleged policy change that only events that occurred on campus would be investigated was not included in the most recent press release.”

Chevallier believes the proposed policy changes are solely based on the department’s fear of reprimanding someone who has been falsely accused.

“While these do occur, the rate is only two to seven percent, which is not any different from other crimes,” Chevallier said. “While I understand the importance of due process and the right to a fair trial, [...] I think these policy changes do more harm than good.”

The most upsetting aspect of the new Title IX guidelines, Chevallier said, is the new definition of sexual harassment.

According to The Times, the new proposal narrows the definition, defining it as “unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex that is so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it denies a person access to the school’s education program or activity.”

Chevallier said this new definition effectively de-legitimizes forms of sexual misconduct which are not deemed “severe,” such as “creepy sexual comments” — ultimately, leaving these forms of misconduct unaddressed and leaving “people feeling invalidated.”

“I have no doubt that these policy changes, if they [are] implemented, would severely minimize the already low number of reports made to Title IX, thus letting more perpetrators of sexual violence and sexual harassment

off the hook,” Chevallier said.

Delmendo echoed this statement, adding that the proposed regulations would limit the university’s ability to respond to acts of sexual violence.

“This will seriously constrain the university’s ability to address sexual harassment that falls short of violating federal law,” she said. “While the proposed regulations do not have as significant an impact on the definition of sexual violence — sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence and stalking — they would limit the university’s ability to respond to such conduct that occurs outside university property or programs. Most sexual violence occurs in other contexts, but has a continuing impact on university property or in university programs.”

The Department of Education released a press release on Nov. 16 which states: “every survivor of sexual violence must be taken seriously, and every student accused of sexual misconduct must know that guilt is not predetermined.”

“It’s like they placed these provisions at the beginning of their list in an attempt to create an illusive frame that their policies are survivor-centered, [...] when in fact they are just strengthening the rights of the accused, and we shouldn’t be fooled by that,” Chevallier said.

Members of the ASUCD Senate did not immediately respond to an email from The California Aggie seeking comment.

If students have feedback about the way UC Davis handles and prevents sexual violence and sexual harassment, the UC Title IX Student Advisory Board is accepting responses via the following link: goo.gl/ueD6de Resources on campus pertaining to sexual violence and sexual harassment can be accessed through sexualviolence. ucdavis.edu and hdapp.ucdavis.edu.

JORDAN

Holding office hours and being present is the best way for us to be accessible to students. We’re definitely not going to pretend that we know everything that’s going on on campus, because we don’t. Which is why it’s so important for students to really utilize us as a resource.”

Above all, the student advisors stressed the importance of students reaching out to them and voicing any concerns they may have. The role hasn’t typically been promoted well to students in the past, and the current advisors are

attempting to highlight their presence in the campus community as important resources for students.

“Please utilize us,” Sampson said. “This position is really meant to be for students. It’s not just about us taking the concerns of students or us being the only ones to address those concerns or bring those concerns up. We’re definitely about trying to foster ways that we can bring folks in to be able to discuss issues that they know about a lot better than we do and actually get the ball rolling on change.”

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suicide) around the world in countries like Russia, India and even the United States. This is a social media platform that encourages users to complete 50 tasks, whose difficulty levels get increasingly harder. This game is even promoted across secret groups on social media. In order to prove whether these tasks are completed or not, participants are expected to upload photos and videos of their completed tasks. If they refuse to do them, they are blackmailed and cyberbullied, making it really hard to quit.

Some of the tasks include self-mutilation, running away from home and, and in order to complete the game, ending one’s life. Scientists believe that this challenge manipulates the psyche of the player and capitalizes on their emotional vulnerability.

According to Samir Parikh, the director of the department of mental health and behavioral sciences at Fortis Hospital, “Teenagers are anyway [sic] undergoing internal struggle, facing questions like ‘Who am I? Do people like me? Do my friends find me good enough?

Am I lonely?’ They are the best targets for such games that look out for vulnerable teens who seek acceptance, acknowledgement and attention from peers.”

Even though this game is banned in the United States, there are still many pseudo versions of this game popping up, with the Momo challenge being the deadliest. Played on platforms like YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp, this challenge involves an anonymous individual telling social media users to harm and kill themselves.

We are witnessing the darkest version of social media, in which many young lives have been lost, and it’s time that we understand the gravity of the situation. With most teenagers having personal cell phones and being active on various social media platforms, parents need to keep a constant eye on what they are doing online. They must encourage them to spend time outdoors, like teenagers used to before social media or internet. I’m neither a parent nor an expert in human psychiatry or psychology, but if we observe even the slightest hint of mental health problems in our children or children around us, then professionals needed to be notified immediately.

All these recent dare games, challenges and life threatening stunts on social media, which is highly accessible, has normalized dangerous acts and influenced some youngsters to follow their role models. Unfortunately, those who feel detached from the world around them, in order to feel accepted, start indulging in social media challenges like the Blue Whale. This can lead to immersing themselves so much that they get lost and, in some cases, never find their way back home where they belong.

Even visualizing this reality is depressing — one can only imagine what these kids are really going through in their minds (there are an infinite number of possibilities). Parents, elders, teachers and positive role models can protect their young minds from the dangers of social media and instead guide them towards endless possibilities and journeys that will always lead back home.

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to the criminal justice issue — specifically, the racial disparity between the rates of incarcerated white people versus people of color. African Americans are incarcerated at five times the rate of white people, despite composing a significantly smaller portion of the total U.S. population. In five states with predominantly white communities — Iowa, Minnesota, New Jersey, Vermont and Wisconsin — the ratio jumped to a rate of 10 to 1. According to the ACLU, a black person is 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession in comparison to a white person, despite approximately equal rates of use. Clearly, racism has lingered in the criminal justice system.

Now that Americans have realized the grim reality of our justice system’s ineffectiveness, it’s time that Republicans and Democrats catch up as well.

A new criminal justice reform bill currently being introduced will give both parties that opportunity. The bill, which has already amassed bipartisan support, would implement progressive provisions that have already proven to be effective in cities like Philadelphia.

These provisions include lowering minimum sentences for some drug-related felonies, expanding programs for early release, promoting vocational training programs and requiring inmates to be placed in prisons closer to their homes.

Although it doesn’t encompass all the measures that Democrats have been advocating for, it is a first step in the right direction — a step that would be felt by millions of Americans.

But even a bill that has garnered support from President Donald Trump stands to fail through the power of one man: Mitch McConnell, who is reluctant to bring the bill to the floor. The argument from McConnell’s orbit is that time is short, and there’s always next year. However, an issue that has been allowed to fester for decades and has detrimentally impacted the lives of millions can no longer wait until representatives feel more comfortable voting on it. If we do not evaluate and adjust our justice system accordingly, then Americans will have to reconcile between being a nation of freedom and one that outranks all other countries in stripping freedom from its citizens.

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fancy pens and eco-friendly straws.

Instead of buying mom another candle she’ll never use or dad another jacket he’ll return, consider browsing the holiday gift guides online. If your parents are picky or otherwise hard to shop for, one solution is to encourage

them to create an Amazon Wishlist, then all you have to do is buy from that list and watch the mail. Bottom line is, parents will probably appreciate any thoughtful gift if it comes from their child, whether store bought or homemade.

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orient them to their reality. Bakerjian stated that research shows that music therapy is being increasingly recognized as a non-drug intervention for varying patients and conditions. Like Steeley, she hopes that music therapy can be further implemented to various adult settings.

“I would like to see the Music and Memory program that we studied expanded into other settings to include the acute care hospital, assisted living settings as well as in people’s homes where there is a significant amount of caregiving happening,” Bakerjian said.

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Vince Staples dropped “FM!” in November, which features songs like “Feels like Summer” and “Outside,” there was an intentional element of retrospect to the album. Staples’ choice to drop what came across like a summer album at the beginning of fall is an example of his uniqueness. The album totals at 11 songs and 22 minutes, but each song, lyric and creative choice serves to highlight Staples’ rap voice. In an article by NPR, titled “Vince Staples’ ‘FM!’ Is A Potent Critique Of How We Consume Black Art (And It Slaps!),” Staples is appreciated and praised for his album as another great example of his genius in his ability to present the truth and rawness of his own experience.

While Staples has mentioned many times his disregard for how his music is perceived, it’s in this honesty and individuality that ironically continues to amass a cult following for Staples.

November 16: Released in the heart of UC Davis’ two-week closure, “Oxnard” by Anderson .Paak follows his extremely popular and beloved album “Malibu” and did not disappoint fans. Anderson .Paak’s tribute to California and Oxnard is echoed and amplified with features from other Los Angeles-based artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, Snoop

Dogg and Sonyae Elise. Anderson .Paak’s distinct voice and funky sound, like most of the albums mentioned, confronted the current political climate with his lyrics and stylistic choices.

November 26: Signed to J. Cole’s Dreamville Records and a member of Earthgang’s musical collective Spillage Village, J.I.D released his debut album “The Never Story,” which grew popular for its raw talent and lyrical flow, back in March of 2017. “DiCaprio 2” continued the catchiness and craftiness that J.I.D is known for, further cementing him as a rapper whose career is only just beginning.

J.I.D’s flow on “DiCaprio 2” is an excellent follow-up to the excitement and talent of “The Never Story” that both expands and further solidifies J.I.D’s masterful sound. This album was a great release for the end of the quarter, exciting and reminding listeners of all the new talent and music yet to come in 2018.

In December, both hip-hop and alternative music fans alike can look forward to the releases of Earl Sweatshirt’s “Some Rap Songs,” Meek Mill’s “Championships,” The 1975’s “A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships,” and Gucci Mane’s “Evil Genius.”

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THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

UC DAVIS ATHLETICS / COURTESY

UC Davis announces plans to build new student-athlete performance center New facilities include areas for training, sports medicine, Aggie EVO and more

BY A J SE YM O UR & KENNEDY WA L KE R sports@theaggie.org

On Nov. 15, UC Davis announced its plans to continue campus and student resource expansion by teaming up with UC Davis Health to begin construction on a new student-athlete performance center.

The new center will provide more spaces and

services for the university’s intercollegiate athletics teams as well as other sports-related programs on campus.

On the day of the announcement, UC Davis Director of Athletics Kevin Blue discussed the program’s feelings toward UC Davis Health and the new project in a press conference.

“UC Davis Health is the top ranked health system in our region and is an extraor-

dinary partner for our athletic programs in many ways. The health care provided to our student-athletes is world class,” Blue said.

“We’re excited at UC Davis Athletics about this advanced partnership and thankful for the support of UC Davis Health.”

Estimated to be about 38,000 square feet, the new building will make its home right next to Aggie Stadium, on the corner of Hutchinson Drive and La Rue Road. An additional 16,000 square feet will go toward a renovation of the Bob Foster Team Center to the north of the stadium and a new practice field situated close by.

The new building and practice facility will be built upon what is now used as the designated tailgate area before UC Davis football games. For the time being, “several new options” for future tailgating are currently “being evaluated,” according to the university.

It was also announced that, going along with the athletics programs’ partnership with UC Davis Health, Aggie Stadium will be renamed “UC Davis Health Stadium” on Aug. 1. The name will stick for a set period of 20 years. Within the new performance center, UC Davis Health will also become the student athletes’ “exclusive provider of healthcare services.”

Around 90 percent of the funds for the $40 million project came from several sizeable donations from members of the UC

Davis community and its alumni network, with the largest coming from Bruce and Diane Edwards.

Kevin Blue gave shoutouts to several specific donors, including the Edwards, and mentioned the gratitude the two programs felt toward the generous gifts.

“We’re deeply grateful for the contribution to this project by UC Davis Health and very importantly from our generous donors [... for] making this project a reality,” Blue said.

Dr. David Lubarsky, who was appointed vice chancellor of human health sciences and chief executive officer at UC Davis Health in May 2018 by Chancellor Gary May, commented on his excitement for the project and what it means to UC Davis Health.

“It is a great thing to be apart of something this exciting so early in my tenure. I’ve only been here a few months, [but] naming the stadium is just a small example […] of UC Davis Health’s commitment to serve this community,” Dr. Lubarsky said. “Every single person on this campus, and, really, every single person in Davis is a part of our family […] I think it’s really critically important that the health system do its best to serve all the people who want to access the best physicians around.”

The project is set to break ground in the early months of 2019.

FB VS NORTHERN IOWA

MARK HONBO / UC DAVIS ATHLETICS

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Aggies lose close game in WWPA championship UC San Diego beats UC Davis men’s water polo, 11-10

BY RYA N BUG SC H sports@theaggie.org

With a 16-7 overall record and a 6-1 conference record this season, the UC Davis men’s water polo team sought to earn its third straight Western Water Polo Association Championship on Nov. 18. Having gone undefeated in its previous two conference seasons, a loss to UC San Diego earlier this season set the stage for the championship duel.

The Aggies entered the weekend after dominating Concordia University, winning 19-6. Junior center Eric Martel led the scoring for UC Davis, earning a season high of four goals while freshman center Nir Gross scored three goals of his own. For the 16th consecutive year, UC Davis advanced to the semi-finals of the tournament.

In the semi-finals against Loyola Marymount University, the Aggies achieved similar results, with a 17-8 win. The game seemed to be over before the first period buzzer went off, as UC Davis ended the first frame with a 6-1 lead. Senior utility Ido Goldschmidt secured a hat trick in the match, while four other Aggies racked up two goals apiece.

With a 16-5 overall record and a 6-1 conference record in the regular season, the UC San Diego Tritons were able to secure the close 11-10 win over the Aggies in the ensuing championship game. Goldschmidt led the scoring for UC Davis with his second consecutive hat trick, but a five goal deficit in the fourth period was too much for UC Davis to overcome. This game proved the final competition for the six graduating Aggie seniors.

Sporting an impressive performance throughout the WWPA tour-

nament and the regular season, Goldschmidt was named WWPA Player of the Year for the second time in his collegiate career.

“It’s always fun and a good feeling to get something like that, but it would have been way better it we had won the championship and qualified for NCAA,” Goldschmidt said.

He is the fourth consecutive and sixth overall Aggie to capture this award, and is now the first player in UC Davis history to capture the honor twice. In the 2018-19 season, Goldschmidt earned 10 hat tricks and finished his collegiate career with 212 goals, making him second in scoring in the program’s history since 1993.

“First of all, I think that the main contributor to the success of the team is to the Head Coach Dan Leyson,” Goldschmidt said. “I had a really good connection with him and we didn’t always agree with each other sometimes, but it was always because we had a mutual respect for each other, and I will always respect him as a person and a coach.”

Along with Goldschmidt came other honors for Aggie players. Gross earned WWPA All-Freshman Team, senior attacker Marcus Anderson earned All-WWPA Second Team and senior utility Riley Venne earned All-WWPA Honorable Mention.

“In my opinion, we have one of the top coaching staffs and facilities in the nation,” a graduating Goldschmidt said on the future of the organization.

“We have everything we need to be a top team, and I won’t be there next year but we have a lot of really talented young guys that will grow for sure. I see UC Davis water polo being high in the national ranking in the next few years.”

vis offense had its own troubles in finishing drives with seven points, instead of three. On two separate occasions, the Aggies had a firstand-goal situation from inside the 10-yard line, but settled for field goals both times.

With every landmark victory and memorable performance on the field, this year’s UC Davis team continues to cross new barriers for the program. In his postgame press conference, Hawkins referred to the team as the “gold standard” of UC Davis football for their accomplishments and groundbreaking achievements at the FCS level.

“Back in the old days, we didn’t play these kind of teams or play at this level,” Hawkins explained. “Every Aggie that’s ever played here will look at this team as the new gold standard.”

UC Davis now advances to the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs where it will meet Big Sky counterpart Eastern Washington, the team that handed the Aggies their worst loss of the season — a 39-point drubbing in week 11. The Eagles overcame a slow start in their matchup against Nicholls State on Saturday but rebounded and scored 39 straight points to win by a final of 42-21. “[Eastern Washington is] a great team and they got after us last time we were up there,” Hawkins said. “I’m sure our guys and coaches are looking forward to going back there and playing better.”

Northern Iowa received the opening kickoff of the game and trudged down the field into Aggie territory with a pair of long pass completions. It took several plays, but the UC Davis defense finally found its footing and bunkered down to force a 43-yard field goal by the visitors.

The Aggie offense put together a 14-play scoring drive and Maier was able to connect with four different wide receivers for first down completions. UC Davis was unable to punch it in on three straight plays from the seven-yard line and subsequently settled for a 24-yard field goal to tie the score at 3-3.

Junior kicker Max O’Rourke had his busiest game of the season, converting three of his four field goal attempts.

After the Panthers jumped back in front with a 36-yard field goal, senior wide receiver Keelan Doss got the following drive started with catches of 22 and 31 yards. Later, sophomore running back Tehran Thomas scurried for an 11-yard gain on a long third down play, putting the Aggies in striking distance. On the four-yard line, Maier faked a handoff and flipped the ball to a wide open junior tight end Wesley Preece in the endzone for the touchdown, giving the Aggies a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Early in the second quarter, Northern Iowa threatened to regain the lead, steadily moving the ball at will. On a third down play from the 26-yard line, sophomore safety Erron Duncan deflected a short pass over the middle and snatched the ball out of the air for the interception.

Later in the quarter, UC Davis took advantage of four key penalties by the Panther defense that put them in field goal range. O’Rourke banged through his longest field goal of the night from 35 yards away to stretch the lead to

13-6.

Northern Iowa quickly punted the ball back to the Aggies after three plays, thanks in part to a sack from senior linebacker Anthony Baumgart on the third down. This set up yet another historic, record-breaking play by Doss.

On a fourth down snap with 16 seconds remaining in the half, Doss made a leaping catch down the sideline, surrounded by two defenders, for a gain of 31 yards. This acrobatic reception put Doss over 100 receiving yards on the evening, which marks his 18th career 100-yard game — a new program record.

“He’s so smart about in-game stuff and he knows what’s going on,” Hawkins said. “He’ll recommend things because of what they’re doing to him. He’s a big, physical, strong, fast guy.”

UC Davis took a 10-point lead into the locker room, following a 19-yard field goal by O’Rourke as time expired in the second quarter. It was a tightly contested first half, with just a few critical plays separating the sides. The opportunities were there for UC Davis to take a larger, commanding lead but the offense was stood up on two separate trips inside the Panther 10-yard line. Overall, the Aggies only got one touchdown in four total trips to the red zone.

On the opening possession of the third quarter, UC Davis turned the ball over for the first time when Northern Iowa grabbed an interception off the hands of Preece at the two-yard line, before returning the ball 63 yards the other way.

In the moment, this was a pivotal turn of events that kept the Panthers firmly in contention and denied the Aggies a chance to make it a threescore game.

Nevertheless, the Aggies didn’t back down on defense, forcing a 51-yard field goal try that fell about 10 yards shy of the crossbar.

The UC Davis offense took advantage of the good field position by putting together its second touchdown drive of the game. Sophomore wide receiver Jared Harrell made a sensational 45-yard catch, diving headlong to haul in the football despite being blanketed by two defensive backs. Two plays later, Gilliam coasted across the goal line from two yards out, pushing the home team’s advantage to 23-6 midway through the third quarter.

Northern Iowa quickly responded with a sixplay scoring drive, aided by a 43-yard pass completion, to cut their deficit to ten points.

After an uncharacteristically-bad interception by Maier, who threw the football into double coverage, senior defensive back Vincent White undercut a route for an interception of his own on the very next play.

Northern Iowa converted a 45-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get the game-tying touchdown they needed on their last two drives. On their final possession, the Panthers keep their hopes alive with a fourth down run of 17 yards. On UNI’s final snap from the UC Davis 36-yard line, Moe leaped in front of the receiver to break up a pass near the first down marker to seal the victory for the Aggies.

Next weekend’s quarterfinal against Eastern Washington will kickoff at 1 p.m. in Cheney, Washington. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN3.

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THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE