February 22, 2018

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VOLUME 136, ISSUE 17 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018

Mental Health Town Hall erupts in protest

CALIFORNIA DEPARMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE / COURTESY

Students demand promised counselors, question allocation of mental health fee STUDENT QUESTIONS ADMINISTRATORS AT MENTAL HEALTH TOWN HALL.

On Feb. 12, at the Mental Health Town Hall organized by Student Health and Counseling Services, three UC Davis administrators faced student questions regarding SHCS’ funding allocation and potentially deliberate setbacks to staff growth.

The three administrators — Executive Director of Health and Wellness Margaret Walter, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Divisional Resources of Student Affairs Cory Vu and Director of Multicultural Services for SHCS Paul Kim — delivered opening statements to a room full of about 200 students, faculty and community members.

The administrators discussed the findings of the recent internal CS audit from December of 2017, which was published in its entirety several hours before the town hall took place after portions were made public by The California Aggie. Walter, Vu and Kim answered both in-person and online questions — often met by intense audience frustration.

The event was live-streamed and uploaded in its entirety.

In 2016, the UC Office of the President announced an $18 million UC-wide initiative for the hiring of 85 mental health clinicians including an additional 12 counseling psychologists at UC Davis. The audit found the usage of $250,000 of mental health funds at UC Davis to have been spent in a manner which “may not be consistent with the

rationale for the fee increase.”

In her opening statement, Walter praised a “vibrant” conversation revolving around UC Davis mental health. She joked that “she was a little disappointed” because she thought that she would see signs from student activists at the event, saying “maybe you’ll pull [the signs] out later […] that would be fun.” Later in the evening, students pulled out pre-made signs and began protesting inadequate responses from the administrative panel, demanding the hiring of the 12 counselors. The panelists and moderator asked students to speak one at a time and submit their feedback through set-up posters and online messaging.

Walter called students the administration’s “bosses” because the SHCS operates primarily from Student Services and Mental Health fees.

Walter said that when the $18 million UCOP initiative was first announced in 2016, “it was very exciting to hear that we were getting these new people.”

According to Walter, the plan did not pan out as expected and SHCS had to use Student Services and Mental Health fees funds to “stabilize” and “shore up” current positions rather than bring in the promised new positions. Walter said five more positions have been stabilized.

Panel members and students unpacked the audit findings and confronted administrators about a lack of transparency after original plans

to increase clinicians had changed. Students echoed the audit’s questioning of the $250,000, spent on two positions in Student Services and Judicial Affairs and the UC Davis Student Disability Center, and demanded the promised 12 additional counselors.

Walter came to a different conclusion, admitting that SHCS at one time had a “commitment to the 11 positions” based on “assumptions that did not come true.” Walter, Vu and Kim sought to justify the spending of that money on the Student Services and Judicial Affairs and Student Disability Center positions. The audit stated that “guidance published by UCOP in 2015 indicates that the funds should be used in support of the CS department” and concluded that the allocation to external departments resulted “fewer funds [...] available for recruitment of CS counselor [full time equivalents].”

The students demanded answers for budget management. The UCOP recommended the mental health funds go to the counseling services, but these were non-binding guidelines.

Other findings of the audit included inadequate numbers of staff, low productivity of counselors, problems with student appointment scheduling policies and access and staff salary and retention.

Donald Dudley, the director of the Office of Student Support and Judicial Affairs, was TOWN HALL on 12

MEENA RUGH / AGGIE FILE

Sexual Violence Preveantion and Response Board created Systemwide student advisory board formed to increase education, outreach against sexual violence on campus

BY G EO RG E L I AO campus@theaggie.org

On Feb. 5, a newly-formed 19-member Student Advisory Board under the direction of the UC Title IX office met in Oakland to discuss ways to generate advice to combat sexual harassment and sexual violence on UC campuses. The advisory board, chosen by officials from the UC Office of the President, is made up of undergraduate and graduate students from all campuses.

Jessa Rae Growing Thunder, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in Native American studies at UC Davis, offered her reason for joining the advisory board.

“I have been doing advocacy work with sexual assault for many years, and I thought this was a great opportunity to bring my work here and expand on it as a community member at the university,” Rae Growing Thunder said. “I think this is a great opportunity to create more awareness for outreach to our graduate student population.”

Claire Chevallier, a third-year psychology major at UC Davis and another member of the advisory board, supported Rae Growing Thunder’s sentiment and compared the education of graduate and undergraduates students on sexual violence.

“Traditionally undergraduates have had more outreach than the graduate students have had,” Chevallier said. “I think that will be a challenge for Jessa to getting that outreach established for us.”

Danielle Fasani, a third-year Ph.D. candidate in pharmacy at UC San Francisco and a mem-

ber of the advisory board, talked about problems faced by people who experience sexual violence.

“Another thing is changing the perception that people who are accused in this process are somehow at an unfair advantage,” Fasani said.

“I think there is this sort of myth going around that anybody can be accused and found guilty for no reason. I think something we can do is bring awareness that — no, it is actually the victims who are the most disadvantaged at every step of the process. It is the victims who need the most protection.”

Fasani said current training is not adequate and it needs to be updated to suit the current conditions.

Gianna Pauline Passalacqua, a second-year political science and English literature double major at UC Santa Cruz and also a member of the advisory board, spoke about the prevention of sexual violence and sexual harassment.

“There has been an increase [of ] incidences of sexual violence or sexual harassment — commonly called SVSH — that are being reported to Title IX,” Passalacqua said. “That is not because the number of incidences are going up but, it is actually people are feeling more comfortable reporting.”

Passalacqua spoke about the dilemma faced by those when deciding whether or not to report their assaults.

“My hope is that more people will feel comfortable coming forward and telling their stories, because they believe that the system will actually work for them,” Passalacqua said. “But even if people do come forward, I really want to acCHECK OUT OUR

knowledge that not everyone has to report an instance of sexual harassment or sexual violence in order to be considered valid. And I really want to acknowledge the stories of survivors who choose not to tell anyone — whether they choose not to tell people in their lives or they choose not to go through a formal Title IX investigation process.

Because their stories are incredibly valid.”

Sunney Poyner, a second-year law student at UCLA School of Law and a member of the advisory board, highlighted the importance of outreach.

“I think this board will be able to give student input in ways they have not been necessarily been able to garner [...] before,” Poyner said. “The vision is for these representatives to engage in outreach to our communities and be able to convey what we are learning directly to the UC Title IX coordinator and the UC Office of the President in a way that is just not happening right now.”

Leann Pham, a third-year Asian American studies major at UCLA and a member of the advisory board, offered insight about how the advice given by the board might be implemented differently among campuses based on the variety of issues they face.

“It is not necessarily a problem, because we are all on the same Title IX policy,” Pham said. “We all talk about prevention, and we all have the conversation about sexual assault in a different way. I personally do not think [the procedures] should be fixed, because we have different issues, we are able to find solutions that are different. And so

Paws up for fish skins Innovative use of tilapia skin helps heal wildlife with burned paws

BY R ACHEL PAUL science@theaggie.org

Two female bears and a mountain lion cub were treated for severe burns on their paws after the Sonoma wildfire late last year with a new type of bandage — fish skins. The collaboration between a senior wildlife veterinarian at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and a companion veterinarian at UC Davis to heal these large carnivores started with a housecat.

Dr. Deana Clifford, the senior veterinarian at CDFW, had a cat named Craftsy, whose fractured leg did not heal properly. After looking at different options, Clifford went to Dr. Jamie Peyton, who practices integrative medicine. Clifford combines current medical practices with traditional ones, such as acupuncture.

“I’d been taking care of [Clifford’s] cat for the last year, and she was the one that talked to me and asked me if I would be interested in helping them with any pain or burn issues because I have an interest in wounds and wound healing — and I said of course,” Peyton said. “It just so happened that after we talked about that, a few weeks later they had a bear sent up for burns.”

Kirsten Macintyre, a communications manager with the CDFW, said the department mostly deals with orphaned animals or injured wildlife that does not have to be taken to a rehabilitation center.

“There are cases, like when a deer was tangled in a soccer net,” Macintryre said. “Burns are unusual.

The last case was nine years ago.”

Injured wildlife is assessed by the department, and if the animals are in too much pain, they are euthanized. The three big carnivores were not the only victims of the fire, but the small animals that could be saved were sent to rehabilitation centers.

However, most places for wildlife are not equipped to handle such large animals. Only a week after a bear was brought in, another bear and the mountain lion cub came in with similar injuries.

“Wildlife is a little different than treating a dog or a cat because you can’t hold them like a dog or a cat, actually to do anything with you them you have to anesthetized them,” Peyton said. “The other thing is that you can’t bandage their feet like you would [with a dog or a cat], because if they eat it, it’s a problem and if they tear it off, you can’t go into their pen and easily get it out. We had to figure it out, using traditional methods of burn care. So the creams that we use for pain control, cleaning the wounds, and then add other things.”

Peyton uses cold laser therapy, pulsed electromagnetic field therapy, acupuncture and chiropractic techniques in her work. Cold laser therapy and PEMF use infrared light or a magnetic current to help increase blood flow to injured areas to promote healing. Acupuncture and chiropractic therapy is used to help with pain management and boost the immune system. This still was not enough.

“After we started those things, we’d be watching her [the bear] and she still didn’t want to walk, because we can’t get her to take pain medication when we wanted to, and I thought we need to do something else,” Peyton said. “And that’s where the fish skin idea came in. I remembered seeing something about using fish skins to help people with burns down in Brazil. So we actually called down to Brazil [...] and they said they’ve seen some really good results, but they couldn’t ship us any of the skins.

So I thought to myself, well, I’m just going to make

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HEAL on 12

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BY AA RO N L I SS campus@theaggie.org

THE TILAPIA SKIN BANDAGES ARE TRIMMED TO SIZE.

2 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

DAVIS SENIOR HIGH AIDS POLICE DEPARTMENT IN FINDING HOMELESS SHELTERS

High school seniors Kyle Stachowicz, Sam Chung fill need for communicative technology

JEREMY DANG / AGGIE

BY G E N EV I EV E M U R P H Y- S K I L L ING city@theaggie.org

A new app has recently been beta-tested in Davis to help police officers better serve the homeless. Davis Senior High School 12th-graders Kyle Stachowicz and Sam Chung were contacted by the Interfaith Rotating Winter Shelter to build what has become a three- to four-year project.

“We reached out to them because one of the things that’s lacking is that, when the police pick up someone on the street they don’t know which shelter

BY ELI Z A BET H M E R C ADO campus@theaggie.org

The weekly ASUCD Senate meeting was held in the Mee Room of the MU on Feb. 8 and was called to order by Vice President Adilla Jamaludin at 6:12 p.m.

The table was in full attendance. Academic Affairs Commission Chair Abigail Edwards and Internal Affairs Commission Chair Jacob Ganz arrived late.

Samantha Chiang, a fourth-year English major and the director of the Mental Health Initiative, presented on the initiative’s prospects and the outcomes of the group’s Mental Health Conference with fourth-year English major Katrina Manrique and fourth-year global disease biology major Jacqueline Grady, both program coordinators.

has space or who would accept them,” said IRWS board chair Eric Elton.

Stachowicz explained that the app itself has two interfaces — one for the shelters to log incoming guests for the night and another for the Davis Police Department to effectively search for a shelter with open beds.

“The app allows the police department and the winter shelters to effectively communicate about the state of the shelter,” Stachowicz said.

According to Elton, the app may have further uses in larger cities.

“I can see it filling a need in Sacramento, where there’s more homeless shelters, or partnered with neighboring cities such as Woodland,” Elton said.

Stephen Harvey founded Team 1687 Citrus Circuits in 2004 and has fostered a student-led classroom for the last 12 years. During the day, he works as a mathematics and robotics teacher at Davis High. His team incorporates students from different schools around Yolo County, including Davis High,

The conference was reported as a success. Sold-out tickets have encouraged the coordinators to remove a cap on attendants for next year’s conference.

The initiative hopes to continue its work with high schools to build mental health awareness. The coordinators also intend to coordinate projects for Mental Health Awareness month in May. Senators Danny Halawi and Gaven Kaur were nominated and appointed as the adopted senators of the Mental Health Initiative.

Former Business and Finance Commission Chair David Heifitz, a fourthyear managerial economics and psychology double major, was considered by the table to, once again, fill the empty BNF chair position. In the position, Heifitz plans to recruit new members to the

Police Logs:

Da Vinci Charter Academy, Holmes Junior High, Emerson Junior High and Harper Junior High.

“The hardest part was actually implementing it with the police department — that involved actually going out and interviewing with the police,” Harvey said. “That’s not easy for high school students to do.

They set up all the meetings with the police department and trained the police on how to work it.”

Stachowicz said that his role in Team 1678 usually involves programming robots, while Chung heads the app programming subteam. Chung’s focus group has written a number of data collection apps.

“This was my first time writing something from beginning to end in terms of an app that’s actually used in a production environment,” Stachowicz said. “I ended up doing most of the technical implementation while Sam [Chung] did a lot of the PR outreach side of it — talking directly to the police department and the winter shelter. It’s basically just been us.”

Stachowicz has been a part of Citrus Circuits for

commission, as most of the members presently in place are seniors who will graduate in the coming months. Heifitz was appointed as BNF chair.

New legislation was introduced regarding the “expansion and improvement” of the ASUCD Judicial Council, which was created only last year. The bill would grant the Judicial Council the power to subpoena. Deliberation over the powers of Judicial Council was held between the Senate table and representatives from Judicial Council present. Ultimately, the bill passed as amended.

Six bills were introduced as new legislation. Among the six were a bill to allocate $550 for maintenance and repair for Campus Center for the Environment and another to rent out classrooms for ASUCD training.

all four years of his high school career. During that time, he’s seen the programming department grow from four members his freshman year to 25 his senior year. The team is currently in its off season, gearing up for competitions in March.

“It’s been really exciting seeing how the team has grown, particularly from a code standpoint,” Stachowicz said. “It’s really exciting to see students getting excited about programming.”

The team holds a booth at the farmers market weekly and focuses its attention on outreach promoting local STEM programs. It competes against other teams in the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology robotics competition.

Since 2004, they have taken home several regional awards and went on to win the World Competition in 2015. Harvey credits his students’ successes to their own willingness to learn.

“Our students take the lead on almost everything we do on this team,” Harvey said.

“Our app programmers are phenomenal.”

ASUCD President Josh Dalavai and Controller Jin Zhang reported that they chose Scott Stevenson from Student Affairs Divisional Resources as a full-time staff member involved in marketing.

Stevenson was set to begin his work the week of Feb. 13 and will serve to drive ASUCD marketing.

The Senate reported on the status of ending ties with the food-ordering app Tapingo after controversial affiliations with private prison company Aramark was brought to light. The fee to cancel ASUCD’s contract with Tapingo was projected to cost between $100,000 and $500,000. Originally, the Senate believed that giving a two-month advance notice of cancellation to Tapingo would mean no cancellation fee.

There is currently no decision on how

UC Davis freshman remembered for empathy, kindness, leadership

Why did the dog cross the road?

Feb. 3 “Elderly male disoriented — thinks another subject at the facility is having an emergency.”

“Male just smashed out reporting party’s neighbor’s apartment window.”

Feb. 8 “Vehicle circling the straight with subject standing up out of the sunroof — vehicle is a silver four-door sedan, unknown license plate.”

Feb. 9 “Secondhand information from Yolo — dog with collar crossed roadway.”

Feb. 12 “White panel van — lock and door handles missing — reporting party believes vehicle may be stolen.”

SENATE on 11

IN MEMORIAM: MARKOS HUERTA RAFAEL HUERTA / COURTESY

Feb. 7 “Newer model Volkswagen beetle driving in the wrong direction.

Vehicle was driving eastbound in westbound traffic on Covell.”

“Male transient on the ground floor near the elevator with three bicycles — reporting party advised subject appeared to be smoking something.”

“Skunk stuck between reporting party’s decorative fence and city/ county fence in his backyard and appears to be in distress — has been there possibly overnight.”

“Reporting party received a package addressed to her but does not know the sender. The package contained a pillow wrapped in plastic and was sent from China. Reporting party concerned as she does not know the sender and wants advise on how to proceed.”

to move forward — paying the severance fee would be a blow to ASUCD funds which would come from the CoHo’s profit. The Senate reported that its bestcase scenario would be to keep the contract with Tapingo but not use its service or promote it. ASUCD cannot condemn the use of Tapingo and, in theory, nonASUCD affiliated groups on campus are not obligated to use Tapingo services.

Halawi proposed the idea of giving the profits made from Tapingo to charity.

Gender and Sexuality Commission Chair Becca Nelson responded to the idea.

“I think that’s an excellent point that it’s benefiting a prison industry and is particularly aimed at black/brown communities it should be going back to those

BY JACQ U ELI N E M O O R E campus@theaggie.org

UC Davis first-year student Markos Huerta passed away in November of 2017.

The teenager was a victim of a car accident on Highway 160 in Rio Vista, California.

Before coming to Davis, Huerta lived in Oakdale, Calif. Huerta’s fraternity, Nu Alpha Kappa, noted in his obituary that he was very close with his parents and his two younger siblings.

“He loved his amazing family very much,” the obituary reads. “Everything he did was to always make them proud.”

Huerta’s father, Rafael Huerta, recalled that his son always made time for his brother and sister and loved to spend time with his

family.

“He always liked to do family things,” Rafael said. “We always did things together.”

In addition to his family, Huerta cared greatly for each and every one of his friends. Rafael describes him as incredibly empathetic and very aware of his friends’ moods and feelings.

“He cared a lot about his friends, and that was one of the things we started to realize after the accident,” Rafael said. “All his friends started coming to us [...] and telling us how he would make them feel really, really special.”

At UC Davis, Huerta was a neurology, physiology and behavior major. According to his obituary, he wanted to become a plastic surgeon with the intention of helping others be comfortable with their appearances.

“He said he knew what it was like to have

insecurities, and he wanted to help others fix their insecurities and make them happy,” the obituary reads.

Huerta was a member of the Kappa Chapter of Nu Alpha Kappa, a “Latino-based fraternity.” The fraternity’s core values are education, culture and brotherhood. His brothers remember him as dedicated to academics, his fraternity brothers and, especially, his family.

Huerta’s obituary notes that he was an exceptional leader who demonstrated initiative and drive in all that he did.

“He showed tremendous work ethic, discipline and outstanding leadership,” said Nikko Mendoza, the president of Nu Alpha Kappa, in an email. “His initiative and proactive thought at his age was and is remarkable.”

As a brother of Nu Alpha Kappa, Huerta was the president of the fraternity’s Tau Pledge Class. Rafael noted that Huerta was a great leader who would push his friends and peers to strive for success.

“He would push them to be better than themselves,” Rafael said. “He was an influence to tell them, ‘You could do better,’ and ‘Don’t settle for less.’”

After his passing, Huerta became a member of Nu Alpha Kappa’s Omega Class, which honors the deceased members of the fraternity. This designation honors Huerta’s contributions to the UC Davis chapter of Nu Alpha Kappa and cements his place in the fraternity’s history.

In honor of Huerta, his family created the Markos Huerta Scholarship Fund. According to its GoFundMe page, the scholarship will support students in need of financial assistance. The scholarship has already raised over $4,500 in honor of Huerta.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018 | 3

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

N ATAL I E S K LOVS KYA / AGGI E FI LE

MIR EYA PEREZ- LOPEZ / AG GIE

Senator Term Review: Yajaira Ramirez Sigala Ramirez Sigala’s performance as ASUCD senator

CALPIRG’s Winter Quarter pledge drives History behind CALPIRG

BY CLARA ZHAO campus@theaggie.org

BY SABRI N A HA BC H I campus@theaggie.org

ASUCD Senator Yajaira Ramirez Sigala, a thirdyear sustainable agriculture and food systems and Chicana/o studies double major, will be finishing her term in the Senate at the end of this quarter.

During her campaign, Ramirez Sigala ran on the platform of raising campus awareness of underrepresented groups — particularly the undocumented community — by creating mandatory sensibility trainings and safe-zone commissions.

Ramirez Sigala discussed her progress on her platform and said she believes she successfully completed her goals.

“I myself am undocumented and I saw that a lot of the need and concerns of the community weren’t being addressed by the association or any other place besides the AB540 center,” Ramirez Sigala said. “At the end of the day, it wasn’t realistic to create a whole new program [of sensibility training].

The AB540 has training for peers and for educators, so I’m more focused on improving that with the coordinator that was in charge of it and incorporating that into other trainings. What I focused more on was addressing the needs of undocumented students. I was able to address [all platforms]. I don’t think they were executed the way I originally thought.”

According to Ramirez Sigala, having an undocumented individual preside as an ASUCD senator represented significant change to the undocumented community at UC Davis.

“As for addressing the awareness and diversity of the undocumented community, I saw it in the space: more folks were being more present and knowing that there was a representative — the very first undocumented senator that UC Davis has ever had,” Ramirez Sigala said.

Also addressing her platforms, Ramirez Sigala mentioned a few of the ways she is currently trying to incorporate immigration issues into different trainings.

“I’m currently trying to finalize some efforts with PEACE training,” Ramirez Sigala said.

“PEACE training addresses the different parts of students’ identity; it deals with sex, gender, income and they touch a little bit on immigration. If it were to happen that at any presentation there was somebody who was undocumented or somebody who wanted to be a better ally, [an undocumented student would] be able to address those concerns.

Having an undocumented person part of the board or whoever is facilitating the trainings is more appropriate and can better address issues.”

Also a member of the DREAM committee, Ramirez Sigala said her involvement as a senator strengthened the committee.

“The table before me had totally disregarded DREAM committee, and it was in the process of

being removed as one of the committees, and I was able to help revive it,” Ramirez Sigala said. “This year, I helped them get organized, be in the bylaws, and we were actually able to establish a budget.

They got $5,000 this year. Half of it went to our lending library, which provides educational materials on the loan system for students every quarter.

[Part of it also went to] the cap and gown project, which I wrote a bill on, [which] was to provide rentals for caps and gowns for undocumented individuals.”

Another member of the DREAM committee, Alexandra Camille Munoz San Pablo, a fifth-year civil engineering major, provided explanation on the lending library project. The DREAM committee advocates “for initiatives on campus that will improve the education, awareness, and advocacy of issues relating to undocumented students at UC Davis,” according to the ASUCD website.

“The lending library started in the fall of 2016,” Munoz San Pablo said. “Now, our library has grown to about 300 books. Students can ask for the books that they need for the quarter, and we try to either get books donated, or we purchase books with the money that we do get from different sources. They can keep the books for the whole quarter instead of having to fight with the library for a book.”

Munoz San Pablo also discussed how Ramirez Sigala has helped the DREAM committee.

“She is very engaged and she works well with the current chair,” Munoz San Pablo said. “They work well together in the sense that Yajaira, in my opinion, is the person who handles most of it. We have meetings, the chair says stuff, but the person who puts it into action is Yajaira. The person we can rely on is basically Yajaira, because she has the most power in the sense that her ties with ASUCD is what brings the money into committee.”

Also passionate about environmental issues, Ramirez Sigala explained how she has tried to expand her influence on such issues.

“Undocumented issues and environmental justice intersect a lot,” Ramirez Sigala said. “We’ve been able to expand the conversation not just on environmentalism but more on environmental justice. We’re being more critical about the conversations that are happening like how accessible it is for a community to plant a tree when they’re working from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m. Now that it is in our scope and we’re acknowledging and having these conversations, hopefully folks can participate and create more physical projects. The [Campus Center for the Environment] has been super supportive of other environmental pieces, like a resolution [Environmental Justice for Underrepresented Communities] wrote asking ASUCD to support efforts of implementing environmental justice in the curriculum of the College of Agriculture.”

YAJAIRA EVALUATION on 11

Who are the people with clipboards that stop people in the Silo?

Some of them are student members of CALPIRG, a statewide student-directed and funded nonprofit organization that works to promote civic engagement, protect the environment and make college more affordable.

CALPIRG has been on campus for 40 years. According to its website, CALPIRG helped pass the statewide ban on plastic bags and helped increase federal financial aid for college students by $36 billion. The organization has also been lobbying for various other changes, including helping California convert to 100 percent clean electricity by 2045.

So why have they been out talking to students in the Silo during the past week?

The answer lies in the history of CALPIRG. According to Jillian Patrick, a fourth-year environmental science and management major and the CALPIRG chapter chair at UC Davis, in 1999 CALPIRG almost got the government to pass the Big Green legislation, which targeted five major pesticide companies as well as big oil, agriculture and energy companies.

“The opposition went to the UC Regents and told them ‘you have to get these students, [CALPIRG], off campus: they’re misusing money and shouldn’t be allowed to have that kind of voice on campus,’” Patrick said.

As a result of this pressure, CALPIRG was expelled from campus. Over the next two years, however, various students, members of student government and faculty came out to support CALPIRG’s return.

In 2002, CALPIRG returned to campus on a compromise. CALPIRG activities fees used to be automatically applied to every students’ term bill, but with the compromise CALPIRG has to convince individual students to opt-in to the fee through its pledge drives, which is why students may have found themselves stopped in the Silo.

According to Patrick, pledge drives are conducted every Fall and Winter Quarter and last about two weeks. During the drives, CALPIRG members come out to talk to students about their organization and ask for pledges, which is a $10 fee applied to the pledging students’ term bill.

“The compromise is a setback for us,” said Carrina Lacobacci, a third-year biomedical engineering major and a student-volunteer at CALPIRG. “It’s kind of hard for college students to donate $10.”

Despite the difficulty, CALPIRG had been consistently meeting its goal of having 10 percent of the student population pledge.

“Everytime we put gas in our car, we’re supporting big oil,” Patrick said. “Everytime we go to the grocery store we’re supporting big agriculture.

This is the chance for student to put their money into something that’s really valuable. It’s like sacrificing one burrito to have student activism on campus.”

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4 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018

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AL LYS O N KO / AG G I E

Traditional Chinese music classes to be offered through UC Davis Confucius Institute Confucius Institute seeks to help students, community members develop foundation in two traditional Chinese instruments

BY TAY LOR L A P O INT campus@theaggie.org

Beginning this spring, the Confucius Institute will offer UC Davis students and members of the community an opportunity to learn traditional Chinese music, taught by a former UC Davis student.

Alan Yip, a UC Davis class of 2015 alumnus with a master’s degree in horticulture and agronomy, will

share his knowledge of two traditional Chinese instruments with the community in a small-class format. One of the instruments, the guquin, is a seven-stringed Chinese zither with a long history and deep connections to Chinese philosophy. The other instrument, the erhu, is similar to a violin.

Yip has been working alongside the director of the Confucius Institute, Michelle Yeh, to promote understanding of Chinese culture. In collaboration

A LEXA FON TA N ILLA / AGGIE

TH E HISTO R I C G I B SO N H O US E I N WO O D LAND, CURREN TLY MA N AGED BY THE YOLO COU N TY HISTOR I C A L M U SE U M G RO UP

Controversy over historic Gibson House YoloArts slated to take over management at Gibson House

BY STE L L A T RA N city@theaggie.org

YoloArts is in the process of taking over the historic Gibson House museum, which the Yolo County Historical Museum group in Woodland is currently running. Some community members are not content with this change and are now petitioning against the new authorization, claiming that the museum will lose its historic roots.

Alison Flory, the YoloArts executive director, explained YoloArts’ intentions once they gain ownership of the house.

“We want to honor and preserve the Gibson House for future generations,” Flory said via email.

“The mansion will continue to host exhibitions that

are reminiscent of a historic home and facilitate key programming like the 3rd grade school tours. The Gibson Gardner’s program will remain and expand.

YoloArts will also be working closely with the new County Curator to find a balance between the display and preservation of historic objects in the collection.”

Even though the Gibson House will have a change in management, YoloArts still wants to extend the house rather than hinder its historical attributes.

It plans to bring together the arts, history and culture of Yolo County through exhibitions and programming, which will extend into the mansion and the rest of the property in order to integrate different disciplines.

with the Music Department, the Confucius Institute seeks to help potential students develop a foundation for the techniques of the guquin and the erhu in an eight-week program.

Yip, who learned from guquin masters in China, noted that many students who study the instruments in China do not learn the proper techniques, thanks to what he calls a “lucrative business” where “underqualified” guquin players market themselves as masters to those looking to try to learn traditional Chinese arts.

“More and more people want to have this idea of going back to the ancient ways of a slower paced life and culture and so on,” Yip said. “So lots of people are actually going back to try to learn the ancient arts like painting, calligraphy, older styles of traditional music.”

Yip began studying Chinese music in middle school and eventually took a quarter off during his time as an undergraduate at UC Davis to study in Shanghai and Beijing from guquin masters. Yip’s grandmasters included a handful of people who essentially saved the guquin from the cultural purge during China’s Communist Revolution, where the communist government attempted to outlaw many parts of classical Chinese culture.

“They worked very hard to save the instrument,” Yip said. “One of my teachers said the red guards were outside while [my] teachers were learning the guquin, which was illegal in the eyes of the government. [The guquin] was an elitist instrument, and that was heavily frowned upon.”

While the class will primarily be focused on learning how to play the guquin and the erhu, Yip intends on organizing the class to allow students to embark on “a musical journey.”

“Some of [the class] is going to be music appreciation as well as in Chinese music,” Yip said. “What I really want to do is emphasize the artistic value.

Learning by doing is how I would emphasize the

course.”

Yeh is excited to introduce a music class to not only students at UC Davis, but to anyone in the surrounding communities who may be interested in learning about Chinese tradition and culture.

“It’s not easy to find a good teacher for traditional Chinese music,” Yeh said. “And Alan is great. We were just so impressed by his music, and he’s a very serious musician.”

In 2015, the Confucius Institute organized a solo concert for Yip, who showcased his talents for the guquin and erhu to a full crowd in a UC Davis lecture hall. People from Davis and the greater Sacramento area came to listen to Yip’s program, where he played five pieces on the guquin and two pieces on the erhu.

Mengyuan Xiao, a Ph.D. candidate in plant sciences, met Yip at this concert, where Yip told her about his journey learning the guquin and the erhu.

Xiao, an international student studying horticulture, learned how to play the erhu at a young age and continued to play during her time as an undergraduate student in China as part of her college’s Chinese traditional orchestra.

“I didn’t expect to see young people in the U.S. playing Chinese traditional music so well,” Xiao said in reference to Yip’s 2015 concert. “I’m glad Alan can start this class and get more people to learn it and learn about Chinese traditional culture and traditional music.”

Xiao hopes that in addition to serving the community, the Chinese traditional music program will allow international and American students to gather together and hopes for the possibility of an orchestral performance. “[The guquin] is a living tradition,” Yip said.

“And, without it being a living tradition, I don’t see the guquin being able to survive in its entirety.”

Students who are interested in Yip and the course can contact him at apyip@ucdavis.edu.

“YoloArts’ plan is to expand the vision of the Gibson House and property to be a cultural center,” Flory said. “For example, public and educational programming will include classes, lectures, and the showcasing of performing arts. We want to welcome in a diverse audience, giving them the opportunity to engage in new interests and ideas that nurture understanding and appreciation for different creative expressions.”

Flory recognizes the petition’s important contribution to the ongoing discourse about arts and history surrounding the house.

“We understand the passion,” Flory said via email. “We recognizing the time, energy, and care that has been contributed to the Gibson House over the years. It is great to have so much community discussion around arts and history.”

Matt Rexroad, the Yolo County supervisor, is also in support of YoloArts managing the house.

“I support the idea of YoloArts taking over the Gibson House because I think that they will do a better job managing and taking care of it and preserving that piece of Yolo County history for years to come,” Rexroad said.

Rexroad believes that changes will be made to improve the house, rather than keep it in a stagnant state.

“There will be changes for the better,” Rexroad said. “We will be able to have a lot more people come through the facility and be able to look at the architecture of the house and pieces of the collection. I’m hoping that there will be change.”

Rexroad emphasized that YoloArts must acknowledge the petition; however, he still stands by the organization as he looks at the bigger picture.

“Petitions are fine — the reality is that we have a responsibility to lead and take care of that,” Rexroad said. “Having grown up in Woodland, I toured [the house] in the 3rd grade, and I haven’t been back since. I’d like to see YoloArts take over so that people would have a reason to come back and that their kids can come back continually throughout their prima-

ry education.”

Jenny Lillge, a board member of the Yolo County Historical Museum, is against YoloArts taking ownership of the house.

“In terms of this board and organization as a whole, there has been ups and downs like all nonprofits,” Lillge said. “The museum faced challenges — we had an executive director who tried to resign.

Around that same time, we received information that some of the items in the collection were not doing very well, and the conditions for which they were being stored weren’t up to archival standards.

At that point, we didn’t take action on this because it seemed like the county wanted to look at everything before we let any drastic changes [occur], and we let the county fall to that.”

Lillge defended the house and the board members, as they were criticized because of county mandates.

“Prior to that, we had a collections committee among our board members and they have been going through our items to figure out what did not belong,” Lillge said. “The county had shut that down because of concerns over the excession policy. That’s just one of the many frustrating elements of this situation in that we’re being criticized for our care of the collection when part of the criticism is the result of county mandates.”

Lillge started the petition, which is based on a platform in order to get the word out and elicit support from the community.

“To us it’s not good enough — we’ve already seen their proposal,” Lillge said. “We know that history is not their focus. We would like them to focus on art elsewhere and let us continue to have our history museum. There is a reason why 4,369 people have signed the petition — because they also think that the Gibson House should be a history museum.”

It is not known yet when YoloArts will be managing the museum; however, there will be supervisor meetings with representatives to determine this transition and draft a contract.

Nishi 2.0 approved by City Council Davis residents to decide on fate of project in June

JA MIE CHEN / AGGIE

BY AHASH F RA N CIS city@theaggie.org

On Feb. 6, Davis City Council discussed the Nishi Student Housing project, a proposed housing plan for 700 apartment units on the field between the I-80 highway and Old Davis Road.

A smaller, broader Nishi project was proposed two years ago but was shot down by voters, losing by a margin of 600 votes. This new Nishi proposal, nicknamed

“Nishi 2.0” by the council and news outlets, focuses on providing housing for Davis students in particular, rather than providing for residents and families.

At the meeting, the council came to a unanimous 5-0 decision to place the new proposal onto the June ballot, marking a small victory for Nishi 2.0.

“They listened,” said Don Gibson, the chair of the Graduate Student Association-ASUCD Joint Housing Task Force, at the Feb. 6 meeting. “They listened to

what the biggest needs are: housing. Fundamentally, this project is far better for the student community than what was proposed two years ago [...] This is exactly what our students need: close to campus, close to downtown, affordable and inclusive units.

Hopefully this and Lincoln 40 will set a new standard for housing in Davis.”

Dozens of Davis students and residents attended the meeting, declaring support for the new project and urging the coun-

cil to place it on the ballot. The student housing crisis Davis has been facing for the last few years has affected students and residents alike, as apartment vacancy levels have dipped alongside an increase in prices.

Developers seem confident that pushing Nishi 2.0 through will not only help combat the housing crisis by offering students affordable, convenient housing, but also offer the city some much-needed economic development and growth.

“With the first project, we lost everything,” said John Whitcombe, the founder of Tandem Properties, the development firm proposing and helming the Nishi Project. “And so now we’ve come back with a new project that is focused — at this point — on student housing. And that’s where we’re at because that’s what we

know best, and that includes 700 apartment units — or 2,200 beds — and we have an inclusionary affordable housing program that starts at $400 a month, and other units go to $673 a month for a substantial 15 percent of the project.”

Because the Nishi project lies outside city limits, the council cannot directly approve the project for construction. Davis residents will vote on the proposal in June after City Council’s approval.

The project needs a majority vote of 51 percent in order for developers to move forward and begin construction.

Developers and council members are optimistic about the vote and the future of the project. Previous contention against the project involved potential traffic and environmental impacts. Mayor Pro Tempore Brett Lee is confi-

dent that these effects will be mitigated by a proposed underpass that would directly connect Nishi 2.0 to campus and that the benefits of the project far outweigh the possible downsides.

“There’s a lot of positives and very few negatives,” Lee said. “I think Nishi 2.0 is just more focused on helping us address the student housing shortage. We don’t have to worry about impact on the Richard-Olive intersection with this project, and it’s all student-oriented in terms of placement, so I’m happy to support 2.0. [...] I’m optimistic.”

The final day to register to vote in the June election will be May 21, which is 15 days before the general municipal election on June 5.

California residents can register to vote on the California Secretary of State’s website.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018 | 5

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

CAITLYN SAMPLEY / AGGIE

Celebrating Black History Month Students from the African American community reflect on Black History Month and what it symbolizes

BY EM I LY N G UYE N features@theaggie.org

Since the 1970s, February has been nationally recognized as Black History Month, a month dedicated to celebrating the sacrifices and contributions that African Americans have made to society. UC Davis students from the African American community see the month as an opportunity to bring collective awareness to the profound impacts that African Americans have made throughout history.

Sabrina Williams, a second-year communication major and the communications director of the Black Student Union at UC Davis, appreciates the notion of setting aside an entire month to allow individuals to familiarize themselves with

African American history.

“I’m glad we have a month where it’s just about us,” Williams said. “It’s very important to learn about African American history, of what [has] happened in the past and what can transpire in the future. It’s good to know what people have gone through because that lets us know what we can do for the next generation.”

Williams, like many other individuals, looks at Black History Month as a time to evaluate the past and use it as a guide to working toward an improved future.

“I think black history is American history, and it’s a shame that we have to [limit] it to just one month,” said Brandon Thomas, a fourth-year theater and dance major and student administrative assistant at the Center for African Di-

aspora Student Success. “But the thing that is special about it being dedicated to one month, even though it’s the shortest month of the year, is that there is just something magical about it. It’s a specific time to think about the past and its implications on the present and the future and about what we can do to get better as a people.”

Black History Month is also considered by many a sacred time to reflect on the struggles that African Americans have undergone and how their strenuous efforts have yielded progress.

Thomas believes that, though African Americans have made monumental strides toward progress, they continue to fight an ongoing battle against oppressive societal forces.

“We live in an environment filled with covert racism, where people act underhandedly or they don’t even realize they’re doing it at all because they’ve been conditioned to respond and react to our people in certain ways,” Thomas said. “It feels like no matter what approach we’ve taken, we haven’t really gotten that far.”

The 2000s have given rise to various social movements, namely the Black Lives Matter movement, that aim to fight against the systemic injustices that have been inflicted onto African Americans. Aaliayah McKnight Corcran, a second-year community and regional development major and the membership development coordinator for the Black Student Union, supports the movement in its goal of uniting society to work towards a critical cause.

“I feel like often times people sweep us under the rug,” Corcran said. “When we become invisible, we are made to feel like our presence and our issues are not important. In terms of the black diaspora community, I think it was really a time where we said ‘enough is enough.’ These

things have always been happening, but it became a time where we couldn’t ignore it anymore. I know for me personally, it was really hard to grapple with these people being my cousins, my uncle, my brother and potentially me.”

Corcran feels that the Black Lives Matter movement, though successful to a certain extent, was misunderstood by many groups, thereby reversing the original intent of the movement.

“I think [the movement] showed other people’s colors,” Corcran said. “When it became a thing, there were so many other people saying ‘well what about us?’ And I think the whole point of the movement was missed. It just shows that sometimes other people see what we’re doing and think ‘we go through that too, why isn’t this also about us?’ I think it kind of goes back to certain groups, especially dominant groups, feeling like they have ownership over all areas of life. It’s an entitlement that they feel.”

As mentioned by Corcran, several countermovements, including the All Lives Matter and the Blue Lives Matter movements, have risen in response to the BLM movement. Auriona Adefris, a fourth-year political science major and the vice-president of the Black Pre-Law Association, stresses the importance of acknowledging the blatant oppression of African Americans instead of merely invalidating the issue.

“Black Lives Matter is trying to focus on issues that are actually happening, issues of people of color being killed by police at a higher rate than other people,” Adefris said. “Every life does matter, and no one is trying to say ‘you’re not important,’ but this [movement] is highlighting an issue that we need to be advocating for right now because it is an actual problem.”

In light of all the negative events that have transpired, UC Davis has been try-

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ing to cultivate inclusivity and create a welcoming environment for all individuals on its campus. Gwladys Keubon, a fourth-year chemical engineering major and the president of the Black Engineers Association, sees the school’s attempts as effective for the most part.

“I’m a senior, and I can tell you that yes, Davis is doing a way better job than it was when I came here as a freshman.”

Keubon said. “There is a center here called CADSS [Center for African Diaspora Student Success]. Everyone from all different races are welcome there, and you’ll see this right when you walk in. It’s in perfect location, right in the middle of campus. It’s such a great feeling for me when I know that we’re not just a small group [that’s] put in the corner of the school somewhere. I would definitely say that the campus is doing better now and I hope that it keeps going.”

Other students from the African American community, however, feel that the school is doing the bare minimum in terms of promoting inclusivity and overall diversity, which in turn makes its students, especially ones that come from minority backgrounds, feel underrepresented. According to Thomas, the school could do more to invest in different multi-ethnic, multi-cultural programs on campus to provide a wider array of support and services for students of different backgrounds.

“I think UC Davis should invest more in diversity and not just put it on paper,” Thomas said. “They don’t necessarily give the proper funds and budgeting that they need to for some retention centers and different things like that to operate optimally for their targeted group of students. They need to invest in those centers and invest in their students in order to make [those] students feel more comfortable on campus.”

6 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Opinion the California Aggie

editorial board

EDITORIAL BOARD

America needs gun reform — ­ now

BRYAN SYKES Editor-in-Chief

Addressing the bigger issue of gun accessibility

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

CHIARA ALVES New Media Manager BRIAN LANDRY Photo Director CHRISTIE NEO Design Director AMY YE Layout Director MAXINE MULVEY Copy Chief OLIVIA ROCKEMAN Copy Chief JAYASHRI PADMANABHAN Website Manager ALEX GUZMÁN Social Media Mangager MADELINE ONG Newsletter Manager LAURIE PEDERSON Business Development Manager

A 19-year-old former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., opened fire there on Feb. 14 with an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle, killing 17 students and faculty. Just six months prior to the horrific incident, the gunman commented on YouTube, “I’m going to be a professional school shooter.”

On the afternoon of the shooting, the gunman took an Uber to school and began the massacre of his classmates an hour before being taken into custody. Aaron Feis, an assistant coach and security guard, sacrificed his own life to save those of students, dying a hero. Another student, Anthony Borges, is currently in the hospital after being shot five times through a door as he closed it to block the shooter from harming the rest of his peers.

A concerned parent of one of the student survivors explained that her daughter’s biggest fear was a school shooting and had therefore wanted to be home-schooled.

Students shouldn’t feel afraid to attend school and receive an education. It’s appalling that school shootings — and shootings in general — have become so frequent that they’re viewed as “normal.”

The attack was said to be premeditated, with the gunman’s former classmates describing him as reckless and stating that his actions were unsurprising. He was abusive to his now ex-girlfriend, threatening to kill her, and had been expelled from Douglas High for fighting with his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend. There were several clear warning signs that should have been more attentively addressed. In many cases, these warning signs of potential violence aren’t taken seriously until it’s too late.

Often, shootings result from multiple oversights and failures in communication. This shooter was volatile and unstable. But mental instability is not the primary driver of shootings — guns are.

The U.S. has 224 million more guns and had 72 more mass shooters than any other country from 1966 to 2012.

This shocking number is undoubtedly linked to the immense number of guns that the U.S. makes readily available to its citizens. According to the same study, 31 percent of gunmen involved in shootings worldwide have been American. Guns and access to them are the cause of these shootings, which cannot be attributed to racial conflict or mental health.

The AR-15 is a military assault rifle and has been used in several other mass shootings. It has no business being in civilian hands. In order to purchase the gun, the gunman had to complete a background check and fill out paperwork that indicated he did not suffer from a mental illness. However, he had a history of disciplinary action, which was obviously not indicated in his paperwork. As a result of the recent shooting, the gun shop that sold this particular gun has been closed indefinitely.

Australia, a country with a similar culture surrounding guns, shows that nationwide gun reform works. Australia hasn’t seen a fatal mass shooting since 1996.

The Editorial Board demands that these issues not be taken lightly and that legislators start making real change by reforming laws surrounding gun control. Too many innocent lives have been taken. This could have been prevented if people had decided to take action — before it was once again too late.

You don’t need to be a “humanities person” to study the humanities THE LIBERAL ARTS TEACH LIFE SKILLS THAT SCIENCE JUST CAN’T

BY SAMVARDHINI SRIDHARAN smsridharan@ucdavis.edu Since the advent of modern science, students who have an inclination toward the discipline have questioned the “point” of studying the arts. The argument is an old one, and for unknown reasons there will always be a back and forth on why a liberal arts education is an asset. The opinions are banal and resolve into platitudes. Some students will continue to believe the sciences are more important — there’s no point trying to convince them. But there are students who are unsure whether it’s necessary to study outside their discipline.

And to them, there’s one, hard answer: Yes. From personal experience as a science major, humanities classes exude a different vibe — a lot more conversation, exchange of ideas and teamwork. And while a STEM student can argue that those same skills are developed in their labs or on the field, it’s not the same. What is taught in the humanities is risk-taking. Today’s world is all about taking chances and putting yourself out there. These skills are not only assets in these subjects, but requirements. Humanities students are more prepared to stick their hands up in class and be wrong. That’s a rarity in a world that always wants to be right.

Students in the arts must take science and engineering classes to graduate. I can’t imagine that they enjoy them all the time — but there’s an expectation that those subjects must be understood. So why doesn’t it go the other way? When my peers in STEM say they don’t like reading or writing, it makes me wonder if it’s “cool” to not like what is the foundation of education. If someone said they didn’t like science, it’d be an outrage. It’s not about falling in love with subjects, it’s about understanding what makes them relevant.

Contrary to popular belief, there are wrong answers in the humanities. A stream of consciousness scribbled on paper will never be rewarded — professors are trained to spot it. For most science students, there comes a point when this realization is made. Resentment follows. Evidently, communicating and organizing ideas is not an easy feat, and humanities students do it commendably. The idea that these classes are “easy” is a put-down. Students in the arts are not doing less — they’re using their brains in a way that is hard for the average science student to do.

If being challenged in a way that is atypical can elicit such strong opinions about entire fields and about the passions of thousands of fellow students, it doesn’t seem very well-adjusted. One of the major problems with science is that scientists are not able to communicate their

discoveries and progress to the layman. That information is limited to just those part of the immediate scientific community because only they have the lexicon to understand it. It’s imperative to stop that — to spurn the arts is to leave untapped potential avenues for recognition.

More than loss of opportunity, what’s worrying is that my peers in STEM want to specialize so early. Finding passion in a subject is quite different from shunning the others. And this is where risk comes in again. Students want to be comfortable all the time — take classes that they enjoy, learn about things that interest them, be around students who share the same passions. Putting oneself in a class or environment that’s different is an asset. Maybe that sociology class isn’t interesting, but there’s still a takeaway and still an opportunity to work and learn from peers who are diverse.

The humanities are not hobbies. Without these subjects, science could not have advanced to its current place in society. We will always need them, and to convince ourselves that they don’t matter does a disservice to the investments we’ve made in our education.

STEM students must understand this. As irrelevant as those GEs may seem, they stress the importance of the world that exists outside the realm of science. There’s not always a right answer, but to think the humanities don’t matter anymore is certainly a wrong one.

Spirituality and environmentalism in America ENVIRONMENTALIST AND BELIEVER DON’T HAVE TO BE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE — AND THEY SHOULDN’T BE

BY JESS DRIVER jmdriver@ucdavis.edu Nature has a profound spiritual significance to me. I’m overwhelmed with admiration and respect, whether I’m watching a squirrel on campus or looking up at El Capitan — more so with the latter. No offense, squirrels.

Often, though, environmental concerns and the accompanying science tend to be thought of as lacking — even in opposition to — spirituality.

Spirituality and nature didn’t used to be so divorced. Romantic poets like William Wordsworth and scientists like Galileo Galilei recognized a connection between the divine and the natural world. But today, environmentalism is viewed by some groups as an occult.

Some Christians view environmental movements — especially those concerning climate change — as sketchy. White House Environmental Quality nominee Kathleen Hartnett White referred to global warming as “paganism.”

In the 1980s, environmental movements started focusing more on global warming and less on litter and pollution. Some American Christians became skeptical of climate change. What mostly began as a fear that the Antichrist would use global warming as a ploy to unite the world and assume power has now developed into a general distrust in climate science.

David Konisky, an associate professor at Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs, found that Christians are less concerned about the environment than they were in the 1990s.

"Not only has there not been an amplification of concern among Christians about the environment, there's seemingly been a decline, at least over the time period I've been studying," Konisky said.

The Pew Research Center on Religion & Public Life found that only 28 percent of Christians believe that humans are causing climate change. And still other Christians tend to think that, no matter who’s causing environmental problems, God will fix them.

“As a Christian, I believe that there is a creator in God who is much bigger than us,” said Tim Walberg, a Michigan Representative. “And I’m confident that, if there’s a real problem, he can take care of it.”

I respect what Walberg has to say. But I understand the difference between having faith and being careless. I wear a seatbelt when I drive. I brush my teeth twice a day. I do what I can for the environment because I know that all actions have consequences.

We need to cooperate on a global scale about issues — like climate change — that affect us all, but environmentalism is not all about global agendas. It has a lot to do with personal decisions. Do I recycle or litter, how am I contributing to pollution and what does my carbon footprint look like? Questions like these should be at the core of environmental movements.

Most climate change skepticism today comes from divisiveness between spirituality and environmentalism. We pit them against each other, which makes people feel like they must choose: “believe in God and denounce science” or “believe in science and denounce God.” But the closer we get to understanding one, the better we appreciate the other.

“Walberg brought up the concept of stewardship, or the idea

that Christians have a duty to take care of the Earth,” said Lisa Vox, a historian and author. “Those of us concerned about climate change must appeal to religious conservatives on that basis. We must accept that a number of conservative evangelicals, especially from older generations, will never support significant action on climate change, especially if it means signing a global treaty.”

I understand Vox’s reasoning. But I think she’s wrong. Today’s generation has the potential to find a solution. Some people, including myself, already realize that spirituality and environmentalism can coexist. But I do like the idea of environmental stewardship.

It applies to all of humanity. Regardless of our backgrounds and beliefs, we all have a responsibility to care for our planet.

KYLA ROUNDS / AGGIE

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018 | 7

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

HUMOR

How the Davis housing bubble crashed the Dow Jones THIS ONE’S GOING TO LEAVE A DENT

BY ROSIE SCHWARZ rschwarz@ucdavis.edu Oops, we did it again. And by “oops” I mean that somehow Davis is involved in a money-making scandal that went awry. Except this time, it’s the town of Davis and not the college — but really the two are so intertwined that it probably did have something to do with someone serving on some board that they probably shouldn’t have been on.

Anyway, the details are hazy, and it’s been a while since I took a high school economics class or watched “The Big Short.” What I do know is that the Dow Jones has seemed to go down. It might have gone up

since I decided to write this article, but regardless, if it has changed, it will probably change again, and then this article will be applicable and I will have predicted something before it happened. I guess maybe this is “The Big Short” sequel. Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself.

Anyway, Davis is a town with some houses and apartment complexes, and people seem to pay rent and live in them. People also sometimes own them, but I’m not really sure what that’s like. There’s also student housing. You catch my drift. Lots of housing. But like my good friend “anonymous” (not the online activist group but someone whose name I don’t know) said, “With a lot of housing come a lot of loans from the bank.” I’m not sure who is taking out these loans or

how they are being disguised or packaged in this day and age (I think that’s the correct terminology, but it definitely isn’t). All I know is that there is some sneakiness going on, and that sneakiness has lead to some investing and maybe some price manipulation. And, mazel tov, it turns out that cute little Davis has the capacity of crashing the stock market once and for all.

This might have seemed a little too vague or too complicated to understand the true implications of the Davis housing bubble, but I don’t make the rules. If you want to learn more about this, I suggest you ask your landlord. I’m sure they will have something factual and honest to say about it.

Student disappointed to learn that “Funk Night” is not an orgy WOULD HAVE BEEN PRETTY SICK, THOUGH

BY AARON LEVINS adlevins@ucdavis.edu This post was found on Aaron Levins’ Facebook page: I guess it’s just that I had watched “Eyes Wide Shut” last night and was doing some searching around on Facebook for any local orgies.

Not my fault “Funk Night” sounds like a thinly veiled excuse for a sick, sex-crazed, masked night of devious debauchery. Maybe the

owners should have thought of THAT. And before you go posting on my page “How EMBARRASSING, you showed up to a normal crowded bar wearing nothing but a bathrobe and G-string,” I’ll have you know that I was also on shrooms and that it is very unlikely I could have ever known about the fact that this night was simply a funk-music-themed bar anyways, because for all intents and purposes I was on Mars and the big burly bouncers who were kicking my ass were extremely

angry aliens that were very mad I had decided to “probe” their planet (would have been a killer trip if it had actually been an orgy).

I’ll have you know that if anyone decides to post on my wall about how I’m so weird and stuff, I will immediately DELETE you and then call the appropriate authorities with which to kick your punk ass.

Anyway, I pull off a G-string quite well.

Frat kicked off of campus after turning off “Africa” by Toto at a party ACTION WAS TAKEN AFTER ATTENDEES COULDN’T HEAR THE DRUMS ECHO IN THE NIGHT

BY OLIVIA LUCHINI ocluchini@ucdavis.edu One of the deadliest crimes was committed at a local frat party this past weekend. The night started like any other night. “Red Nose” was playing on loop and the whole crowd was getting progressively sweatier but powering through with the magic of friendship and the cheapest vodka Costco could offer. In a glorious change of the tides, the classic beats of “Africa” by Toto began humming through the speakers as a boy who could be anywhere between 12 and 30 years old manned the aux, not realizing what he had just done.

“I felt like… like maybe culture was being revived for the first time since Silly Bandz left us,” said third-year Allyson Yniguez. “Suddenly, I believed in my dreams again.”

The dance floor began to assemble into what can only be described as a battleground of joy and uncultured swine. Alas! Some people did not know the magic of “Africa” and would not stand for this out-of-the-ordinary selection.

“You put on ‘Come Get Her’ by Rae Sremmurd or you set this house on fire!” said fourth-year Freddy Fiddlesticks. “There’s no place for yacht rock in this town!”

The crowd polarized and suddenly it was a scene from an old Western: the non-believers versus the Africans. Wait… no… not accurate… oh god….

Lil’ boy-man at the aux freaked out. The song barely got through its first verse before he pulled the plug and played, “Rake It Up,” their emergency bop.

That was when the Greek god of Chaos peeked through the window.

“Oh, damn…” he whispered.

Suddenly, it was war.

“You didn’t even let it get to the chorus!” said first-year Jack Pollock. “That’s like baking a cake and then choosing to flush it down the toilet instead of frosting it! You monsters!”

One party member shrieked so loud that a police officer heard it from across campus. He had been giving a child a ticket for biking with unregistered training wheels, but this seemed like it might be a little crazier.

“I must go, Timothy,” the police officer said as he stapled the ticket to the bike.

“Is it about ‘Africa’ by Toto?” Lil’ Tim-Tim said.

“With a shriek of that magnitude, that’s damn near the only thing it can be, my boy,” the officer responded. With that, he pedaled into

the night all the way to the frat house. He had never used such vigorous hand signals in his life.

When he got there, it was a brawl. Brothers were fighting brothers, that one dog that lives at the house that you always worry about was tearing apart the couch (or repairing it — it was kind of hard to tell, honestly) and the aux was on fire.

“What in Gary May’s name is going on in here?” the officer said.

One brave woman with two stripes of blood under her eyes emerged from the mass with a baseball bat in hand.

“They turned off ‘Africa’ by Toto!” she hollered.

“Oh?” the officer responded.

“Before it got to the chorus!” she screamed.

“Oh!!!” the officer screamed back.

He shut the whole house down for their sin. As he directed the men out of the house, one boy turned back to look at what used to be his home and whispered, “It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you….”

Finally, he understood. However, for a crime this severe, there’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do to regain their fraternity.

Bless the rains.

reduce. reuse. recycle.

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

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

8 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

SCIENCE+TECH ALLYSON KO / AGGIE FILE

CALIFORNIA DEPARMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE / COURTESY

A Taste of History in a Glass Earliest evidence of wine production found in Armenian cave gives scientists insight on ancient, modern methods

BY DAV I D M A D E Y science@theaggie.org

Wine is one of the most popular alcoholic beverages in the world. The history of this fine delicacy dates back many millennia. In September of 2010, the earliest evidence of wine production was found in a cave in Armenia, proving that humans systematically produced wine 1,000 years earlier than previously thought.

According to the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament, the first vineyard was planted in present-day Armenian territory after Noah’s Ark landed in the Mountains of Ararat. The discoveries made in the Armenian cave gave archeologists a complete picture of 6,100-year-old wine production for the first time,

JESSICA CONTRERAS / ENERGY CONSERVATION OFFICE

How does TherMOOstat work?

UC Davis web application works to increase comfort, reduce energy waste

BY G EO RG E UG A RT E ME N DI A science@theaggie.org

Since the fall of 2014, the Energy Conservation Office at UC Davis has had a tile on the myUCDavis site for its web application TherMOOstat.

Students, faculty, staff and guests are able to submit comments through TherMOOstat about how rooms on campus feel — hot, warm, perfect, chilly, or cold — in order to help the ECO crowdsource comfort on campus while keeping energy costs down.

When submitting a comment through TherMOOstat, the ECO asks about the building, room number, current comfort, level of clothing and amount of physical activity performed in the last 10 minutes.

The team’s mascot, Joules the Cow, is eager to assist.

“We’re excited to be able to use all of this great crowdsourced data that everyone is submitting and put it to good use,” said Kiernan Salmon, a data analyst and product developer at the ECO. “We’re able to tailor the project that we’re doing in this office to what people need.”

Managing the temperatures of a large campus is like managing a city, said John Coon, the energy project manager at the ECO. Some of the challenges are due to the diverse accomodations found in a university. Undergraduate students might be most familiar with lecture halls and classrooms, but fulltime staff members may work all day in an office, while graduate students could be spending long days in a specialized laboratory. Each room has unique ventilation requirements “We’ve got over 1,000 buildings on campus,” Coon said. “Some of the buildings have temperature control systems, so that we can see what the major equipment and what the major conditions are inside the buildings.”

Some buildings, due to age or design, are not completely visible with the remote tools used by the staff at the ECO or Facilities Management, the

showing that making wine during that period was on a large scale.

Dr. Nelli Hovhannisyan, a professor at Yerevan State University in Armenia, came to UC Davis in late January to share more about the world’s firstknown winery at the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science. She is responsible for the excavation of the cave.

“The cellars had different layers,” Hovhannisyan said. “The upper layers were bearing wide pots where the wine remains were very concentrated. There were also old manuscripts describing in detail how people were making raisins.”

The oldest known leather shoe was also discovered in the same cave — dating back 5,500 years.

Aside from this artifact, archaeologists excavated

group which responds to submitted work orders.

Haring Hall and the Memorial Union are two such structures, receiving the most comments so far this quarter, at 74 and 67, respectively. Most comments claim the buildings are too hot, but in previous quarters, most felt the buildings were too cold.

“We receive, on average, about 300 [comments] a month,” Salmon said. “One of the trends that we see is, when the seasons are changing, the number of votes we get goes way up. For us, March and April, our big months, could have 500 to 600 [comments]. October and November, when it starts to get colder outside, those are big months for us, 500 to 600 again. It fluctuates a lot in the summer, when students aren’t here.”

Every comment submitted through the TherMOOstat system is manually reviewed and investigated.

“When we get a comment, or feedback, in from TherMOOstat, I’ll take a look at it,” Coon said. “I’ll take a look at the timestamp and the building and which room they’re in, and first determine whether or not I can see anything because there are buildings on campus I can’t see at all.”

Coon is able to see what most buildings and rooms are being used for on campus at a given time. A single complaint of chilly temperature in a lecture hall of 300 students may not set off alarm bells or send a team in to rush a work order, but will be considered for historical trends.

“We take the feedback and we use it to inform future decisions,” Coon said. “There’s not much relief we can offer immediately.”

Properly controlling temperatures in campus buildings can help reduce the energy usage and expenditures on campus, as detailed in a short educational program created by the ECO. “We have a Trim the Waste program, a fourpart series where people learn a bit about how the campus uses energy,” Salmon said. “Then we show them the factors that influence how much energy each building uses.”

Energy usage, as well as the type of energy used, can have important economic impacts at UC Davis. Carrie Chung is a fourth-year communication major serving as a communications intern at the ECO. One of her roles involves crafting blog posts to share new insights to the public — including how much energy and money UC Davis saved by changing heating and cooling tendencies over breaks.

“Over the holidays, when there’s nobody here in certain buildings, we just shut those buildings off completely and turn off all heating, cooling, and lighting,” Chung said. “This saves us thousands of dollars.”

The TherMOOstat system may not be an automatic temperature control system for the thousands of students, faculty, staff and guests who work together as campus “roommates,” but by collecting THERMOOSTAT on 11

drinking cups, a wine press for grape stomping, storage and fermentation vessels, withered grape vines, skins and seeds.

The Areni cave in Armenia contained a large number of seed specimens.

“The grape remains found in the cave were practically perfect,” Hovhannisyan said.

In archeological excavations, near-perfect relics are rare. The main limitation is the number of available samples from each site. Merely five or 10 seeds would limit the statistical confidence in the scientific claims.

“You have to have enough number of seeds with the right level of preservation,” Hovhannisyan said.

Having a large sample size gave scientists greater confidence in their analysis by comparing the ancient grape seeds with modern grapes. Weathering makes it difficult to find perfectly-preserved seeds, but the cave’s natural features gave them a perfect shelter.

“Armenia is very interesting because of the old remnants of the vineyards are found in monasteries,” Hovhannisyan said.

The grape stems discovered in the 6,100-yearold cave show very close genetic relationships to those that are still growing in monastery vineyards today. In fact, the same grapes that were used in red wine production today were found in the Armenian cave, collating ancient and modern times.

Back then, the wine was pressed by the stomping of human feet, giving the term “made the old-fashioned way” more specific context. The juices from the crushed grapes were then drained into a tub and were left for fermentation. The wine was kept in clay jars and stored in the cool, dry Areni cave that made the perfect wine cellar.

Shards of pottery were chemically analyzed for signs of wine storage. The clay pots themselves were radiocarbon-dated between 4,100 B.C. and 4,000 B.C. The results showed traces of malvidin, a plant pigment that gives red wine most of its color, is also found in pomegranates — Armenia’s

SHEREEN LEE / AGGIE

The Evolutionary Reason Behind Dogs Eating Their Own Poop Veterinary Researchers at UC Davis look into why dogs eat their own poop

BY KR I TI VAR GHESE science@theaggie.org

16 percent of dogs engage in frequent conspecific coprophagy, which means that they have been seen eating their own stools at least six times, according to the results of a web-based survey from veterinary researchers from UC Davis.

“Veterinarians frequently get asked why their dogs eat feces,” said Melissa Bain, a professor of Clinical Medicine and Epidemiology at UC Davis and co-author of the recent paper. “Obviously, it is a very disgusting behavior to owners, and difficult for owners to get a handle on. No one wants a kiss from their dog after their foraging expedition.”

The researchers set out out find out not only why dogs eat their own faeces but also the efficacy of 11 commercial products that are supposed to help mostly through tablets that make the feces taste bad. To do so, they needed a large sample of dogs, which is where the web surveys came in.

“We have conducted a variety of web surveys to get information pertaining to pets, how people feel about them, and challenges they experience,” said Lynette Hart, a professor of population health and reproduction at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. “Usually in these surveys people have POOP on 12

WINE on 11

ALEXA FONTANILLA / AGGIE

Trusting the Land: Environmental Policy and Native Activism How Native Americans can reverse injustices of past

BY JAS O N KELLY science@theaggie.org

Beth Rose Middleton, a professor in the Native American Studies Department at UC Davis, recently gave a talk about the history of the sale of Native American land in California and how modern tribes can use environmental policy to help take back what is rightfully theirs. The talk was put on by the Feminist Research Institute in association with the Women’s Resource Center. The groups are working together to bring awareness to the research being done by women, especially to inform undergraduates about their work.

“Professor Middleton's research addresses the historical origins and ongoing environmental impacts of the dispossession of California's Indigenous peoples,” said Justin Spence, an assistant professor in the UC Davis Native American Studies Department. “Her research program engages contemporary Native American people in the process of finding creative policy solutions to a legacy of environmental injustice that has eroded their land base (both literally and figuratively). Her work provides a model of community-engaged scholarship that researchers in many fields can aspire to emulate — one where theory and praxis inform each other in support of historically underserved communities' efforts to maintain their political and cultural autonomy.”

Middleton’s research is at the intersection of her identity as a black-Native American woman. Her research highlights discontinuities in the treatment of Native Americans in an effort to affect policy change. For example, in 1850 and 1851, the California state government and the Native American

tribes of California mutually recognized each other’s nationhood and signed treaties to establish their sovereignty. However, those treaties were never ratified by the state and were left unenforced, which allowed the state to continue selling Native American lands to companies who harm the California state ecology by flooding valleys, destroying the homes of wildlife and wasting natural resources.

The original land grants that were given to Native Americans were withheld from non-white and female citizens. Middleton’s research has uncovered documentation that showed how difficult the state government made it for women to pursue and protect rights to their lands. The government forced Native American women to be living on the land that was granted to them, which would have required them to evacuate their homes and families.

Once enough time had passed without anyone living on the property, the government seized the land and sold it to power companies who created dams that flooded valleys and destroyed ecosystems. One dire effect on the ecosystem has been the systematic annihilation of salmon populations which cannot travel up the dams and are instead directed into fish hatcheries.

Tribal people of California were first displaced by the seizure of their lands and were later displaced again by the urbanization that occurred thanks to the seizure of their lands, said Middleton. She also mentioned the ‘stairway of power,’ which is a series of mountain valleys which were Native American lands that were seized by the government and sold to power companies in order to create California’s modern infrastructure of hydroelectric power. Not ACTIVISM on 11

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018 | 9

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LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

CHESS ANSWERS There are several ways to the answers but if there is any variation, it is in the middle of the moves. Start with taking the opponent’s Queen, either with our Queen or Bishop...

And if the King moves h3 checkmate on g5, instead if h5 when the pawn checks then checkmate with the Queen on f1#.

1. Bxf6 2. Kxg4 h5+ 3. Kxh5 Qh3# 1. Qxf6 2. Kxg4 h5+ 3. Kxh5 Qg5# 3. Qf1#

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.

Chess Black to move checkmate in two moves.

Hint: check the king

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

10 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018

ARTS & Culture

ZOË R EIN HA R DT / AGGIE

Manetti Shrem exhibit: “Welcome?”

UC Davis art exhibition explores gritty topics like refugee crisis

BY R OWA N O’CO N N E L L- GAT E S arts@theaggie.org

The Manetti Shrem Museum of Art opened its third exhibition of the year on Thursday Feb 1. Running until June 24, “Welcome?” tackles pertinent issues like immigration and homelessness through the lens of hospitality. In light of the new curation, The California Aggie explored

what “Welcome?” has to offer.

When I initially entered the Manetti Shrem, an employee at the door approached and asked if I was here for the Wayne Thiebaud exhibit. The famed artist and former UC Davis professor has a concurrently running exhibition of his own work over a 10-year period, titled “Wayne Thiebaud | 1958–1968.” As innocent as the passing remark may have been, it made me wonder if the “Wel-

come?” exhibit, a mere two weeks into its allotted time, had been overshadowed and forgotten — much like the topics included in the exhibition.

After navigating my way through the vast quantity of beautiful Thiebaud paintings, I found myself in the back of the museum. The beginning of the exhibition is marked by two gleaming golden mylar emergency blankets, mounted on walls opposite one another.

Beneath each lies an overflowing mound of the same mounted blankets, encased in a plastic bag. Each blanket contains a small sheet of paper adorned with the following quote: “With silent lips. Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.”

Taken from the base of the Statue of Liberty, the words cut straight to the core of the global refugee issue.

The whole piece is titled “(America) Adopt a Refugee.”

The artist, Daniel Joseph Martinez, appears to not only challenge the United States’ immigration approach, but also to address the fact that our country’s own history stems from immigration.

Further into the exhibit, I found Simon Leung’s “War After War.” The 90-minute film comments on homelessness through the nomadic lifestyle of Leung’s friend, Warren Niesluchowski. The film follows Niesluchowski, who plays the role of a refugee, as he struggles to find a reliable place to stay. The predicament leads Niesluchowski to crash the lives of several individuals who put him up for the night. It demonstrates all of the positives and negatives behind taking a refugee in. While one’s life may gain a newfound individual of interesting background and substance, the fear of allowing a foreigner into our lives remains quite real. This narrative allows Leung to anylyze what hospitality entails and how it makes us feel. Andrea Bowers dominates the last wave of the exhibit.

Her massive maize-colored quilts each inscribed with

interesting GE class to take, a chance to get those arts and humanities requirements out of the way or perhaps just looking for an intriguing learning experience, here are some classes to look out for once Pass 2 comes around.

NIC HO L AS C H A N / AGGI E

Arts and Humanities GE’s for Spring Quarter Options for those still struggling with Pass Two

BY SY D N EY OD M A N arts@theaggie.org

When pass times hit and every class seems to be full, Schedule Builder can seem like an abyss of defeat. With Spring Quarter right around the corner, many students attempt to opt for a lighter class load in the hopes of spending more time lounging in the sun and less time cooped up in the library. Whether you’re simply searching for an

S I N G A P O R E N I G H T LI VE / CO URTESY

East Coast cello rock band meets Davis Yale’s Low Strung stops in Davis for West Coast tour

BY NICO L AS RAG O arts@theaggie.org

Yale is often recognized for its high academic rigor and quality. One facet of such a demanding community that may find itself unsung could prove to be one of Yale’s most unique. A 12-person cello band hailing from New Haven, Conn. plays music ranging from the rock of the ‘60s to present-day pop in its own energy-filled rhythm. Low Strung makes its way out to Davis on March 15 to present the Aggies with the jam power of 12 cellists. Such a distinctive combination of genre and instrument found its start from Yale’s own music-loving students.

“Low Strung was founded in 2006,” said Chloe Zhou, the tour manager of Low Strung.

“It was started by a group of cellists in Yale’s orchestra. They decided they didn’t want to play just orchestra music, so they got together and started Low Strung.”

All the while, the organization has been completely student-run.

“We have four positions: we have tour manager, business manager, president and music director,” Zhou said. “Everyone in [that] group is a cellist and a good one at that.”

AMS/FST 55: Food in American Culture GE Credit: AH, DD, SS, ACGH, WE Units: 4 With food being such a pivotal aspect in the development of culture, it’s strange to wonder how those elements, so effortlessly weaved into the fabric of human society, came about in the first place. In this class, students have the opportunity to discover the relationship between food and American culture itself. From identity to cultural responsibility, this class deeply explores food’s influence and role in American culture as we know it today. Additionally, this class satisfies several GE and Core Literacy requirements. Students are sure to leave feeling hungry, but perhaps with a different perspective on their next meal.

ART 009: Beginning Photography GE Credit: AH, VL Units: 4 Materials and Services Fee: $55 Before there was Instagram, the art of photography was a technical process. Gain hands-on experience in ART 009, a course in which students have the opportunity to learn the formal and behind-the-scenes aspects of photography. Additionally, students will have the chance to utilize the black-and-white darkroom for film development and printing. What better way to kickstart a career in photography or simply learn the mechanics behind snapping a photo than to utilize the re-

Zhou plays a large part in greasing the touring engine, making certain all parts fall into place where they should.

“When we have local gigs, such as the New York area or anywhere within driving distance, we just rent two cars and one U-Haul,” Zhou said. “[We] put all the cellos in the U-Haul, get in the cars and drive there. It’s a bit of a project.”

U-Hauls from New Haven to New York City may work, but given the greater distance between New Haven and the West Coast, these cellists fully feel the weight and size of their instruments. “[When we] travel within the U.S. with expensive airline fares, we don’t bring our own cellos,” Zhou said. “You can’t put your cellos in the cargo, usually.

You have to buy a seat for the cello! Which would double prices and would not be feasible, really.”

A solution is typically found in the neighboring areas.

“We usually, at the location where we’re touring, we rent cellos,” Zhou said. “We are going to be renting from a store from El Cerrito [for our Davis concert].”

New Haven and Davis are quite a far distance apart, so what brings Low Strung out to the West Coast?

“We really just care about our audiences, so we’re looking for people that are going to enjoy it and who will really give us back the energy, that’s why we do everything from nightclubs to schools,” said Sofia Checa, the PR and business manager of Low Strung. “They have kind of the same reaction. In terms of why Davis, we traditionally travel to the home of one of our members, once a year. One of our members is from Davis, Calif.”

Han-ah Sumner, the Davis native, could not be reached for a comment, but the expanse of Low Strung’s touring was touched upon, hav-

a quote from the Bible are attention-grabbing, to say the least.

“I was a stranger and you welcome me,” reads one of the quilts. The other holds the same message, but in Spanish. The piece, titled “Quilt of Radical Hospitality/Edredon de Hospitalidad Radical,” touches on the fact that, while quilts are European in origin, these quilts are weaved with traditional Mexican patterns. The use of the quilts and European and Mexican interaction recall both the idea of the United States’ “blanket” stance on immigration and the intermingling of American and Mexican cultures.

Bowers follows this up with two pieces: “An Act of Radical Hospitality” and “Mother and Child in Political Sanctuary, Adalberto United Methodist Church, Chicago, IL, July 2007.” The pieces depict the very real immigration story of Elvira Arellano in film and photographs, respectively. The pieces tell the story of a single illegal Mexican mother and her young child. Facing deportation, Arellano is granted federal sanctuary by the Adalberto United Methodist Church and its Reverend Walter Coleman. The story is both sobering and uplifting, stripping away any ambiguity in the art; we are left with nothing but truth and simple questions like, how do we treat people? And how do we welcome them in the modern world?

“Welcome?” is a brash exhibit with big ideas. Aspects of the art seem distant from the core principles of hospitality and welcomeness. However, many of the pieces strike a real chord of emotion, which is a true accomplishment for any art form. Even more so, the art approaches the exhibition’s ideas in both avante garde and simple ways. In this sense, it caters to both sides of the artistic audiences. Much like the issues it’s after, it’s not perfect, and it doesn’t promise to be. And yet, despite the presence of an artistic legend in the same building, “Welcome?” stands tall.

sources available to students here at UC Davis?

RST 1B: Death and Afterlife GE Credit: AH, OL, VL, WC, WE Units: 4 Not only does RST 1B satisfy several GE and Core Literacy requirements, but it also offers students the learning opportunity to expand their philosophical horizons. What happens after we die? Although this class may not answer all such questions, it dives into the various beliefs in regard to the afterlife in comparative religious traditions and practices.

AAS 182: Hip Hop Globalization GE Credit: AH, WC Units: 4 AAS 182 encompasses the history and culture of hip-hop outside of the United States in places such as Africa, Asia, Europe, South America and the Middle East. Although at times it seems as if American culture invented the world of hip-hop, that is not necessarily the case. How has this genre of dance and music evolved outside of the United States, and how it will it continue to grow in these places?

UWP 104 A though F, I, J, T: Various GE Credit: AH, WE Units: 4 From Journalism to Business Writing to Writing in Science, UWP 104 offers a variety of different courses tailored specifically to each profession, from science journalism to legal writing. Get that upper division writing requirement out of the way, while simultaneously gaining insight and hands-on experience in your desired field of study.

ing sold out notable venues in both Los Angeles and Washington D.C. “The largest place I’ve been in was for the grand opening of the MGM National Harbor Casino in Maryland,” Zhou said. “We had all the people coming who had come for the grand opening, so that was thousands of people [...] It was a great experience.”

Low Strung has also rung out on foreign soil.

“Just last spring we toured in Singapore, which is the home city of one of our members,” Zhou said.

“Prior to that [...] [Low Strung] toured in Costa Rica and played in schools there. The group has also been to Switzerland, not as a tour, but to play in a music festival there, which is also really exciting.”

Checa found interest in the trip to Singapore.

“Singapore was at spring break for us,” Checa said.

“We got off the plane in this paradise location [...]

We played at Universal Studios there. [We played] theme parks there, and we did a few country clubs, a few schools [...] We had a concert outside, in a kind of outdoor market kind of area.”

Like their touring, their setlist parallels in variety.

“We got a ton of new arrangements of songs,” Zhou said. “We got ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ and we have older songs, like ‘Tragedy’ by The Bee Gees [...] We do play a lot of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, that kind of stuff [...] [People] should come in with an open mind, to all sorts of of different pop and rock songs. I don’t think we are really the type of band that plays just one thing.”

Checa perceives such diversity as an advantage.

“I think the main draw is in the variety,” Checa said. “The fact that we can go from, in one concert, playing ‘Daddy Lessons’ by Beyonce to ‘Living on a Prayer’ by Bon Jovi [...] It’s fun to be all over the map like that.”

Low Strung doesn’t shy away from more contemporary music; they even play music with substantial electronic production.

“We have ‘Bad Romance,’ Lady Gaga, and a lot of the synthesizer effects happen on the offbeat,” Zhou said. “I thought that was really hard to kind of play, as

a person, what a machine would usually do.”

Their unique style of music brings in a wide audience.

“Our audience tends to be very diverse,” Zhou said.

“We get everybody from younger students who want to play cello to college-aged students when we do performances at Yale and then people who are a bit older who like hearing these throwback songs because we are a cello rock group.”

So what should a Davis audience expect from Low Strung?

“I really like playing ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine,’” Zhou said. “What’s really fun about it is that we really get to rock out. There are parts we stand up and flip our hair crazy and have a good time.”

Low Strung also seeks an exhibition of a healthy band environment.

[The band] is extremely collaborative,” said Emily Cornett, the former president of Low Strung. “As much as we’re a group of cellists, we’re a group a friends [...] Its very much like a big family because we do travel together so much.”

Checa had similar sentiments about the band.

“For me, [the band] is just the most fun thing ever,” Checa said. “It’s my favorite part of Yale, and my favorite part of being a college student is that I’m this lucky, that Low Strung is part of my life, and I can’t imagine what my life would be without it.”

This organization has left lasting impressions on its members.

“It’s pretty amazing to see how talented each person in the band is, but not only playing cello, also what they can bring to the group,” Cornett said. “Even people who aren’t in leadership positions are just always helping out and have ideas and opinions. It’s just a super immersive and active group.”

From the sound of Low Strung, the only thing their cellos won’t be offering Davis is classical music. If your ears are tuned to the energy of ‘60s rock or the jump in today’s pop, Low Strung may be able to kick a little rhythm into your step. Tickets are on sale for $15 on their website.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018 | 11

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

TITLE IX CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

when we come together and meet and we share what we found [works] for our campus, it helps other people in other campuses have more creative solutions for how they are going to combat [these] issues.”

Pham spoke specifically about the disparity in the number of counselors in the Center for Advocacy and Resources and Education program relative to the student demand.

“UCLA has a CARE program just [like] every other school, but ours only have a few counselors and we are the biggest campus in regards to population,” Pham said. “Imagine being one of the two counselors who deal with the 24-hour hotline and all the students and their dependents coming to you [for help]. That is a lot of overworking. And if

you compare that to Berkeley, they have 10 CARE counselors and advocates which is so much more than just two — especially considering that their student body is smaller than UCLA’s. So each specific need is very much different.”

Poyner was optimistic about the prospects of the student advisory board.

“I really, so far, am very impressed with the other people who had been chosen to serve on this board,” Poyner said. “I am really looking forward to working with them. And I am hoping that we can bring things to the administration that will hopefully influence their policies for the better. I am very hopeful about the administration’s willingness to engage with us.”

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communities,” Nelson said.

Zhang then brought up an idea about implementing fees for transactions at the CoHo using credit cards in place of a student-wide fee hike.

“I really like the idea but I think this is a way to go behind students’ backs and have hidden costs,” said Senator Andreas Godderis. “Students won’t be expecting it and I’d rather be transparent about it like the hike. [By] raising the costs by 10 cents, faculty also pay the increase.”

Dalavai said there would “be an awareness campaign to let people know” of the credit card fee. There was a call for senators to speak with their constituencies and communities about the proposed credit card fee.

Julienne Correa, the Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission Chair, then reported on the status of KDVS’ handling of the public’s negative response to an interview with white supremacist Richard

Spencer. Giving Spencer a platform to share his views was considered to be a recruiting opportunity. KDVS will be delivering a statement of apology and furthermore requiring the approval of the entire staff for an invitation to any guest.

Correa also reported that the #BeyondtheBudget Mrak protest would be put on hold until organizers speak with administration.

Senator Rahi Suryawanshi then delivered a fake presentation about the intent and impact of words and actions that was actually a collectively-coordinated surprise celebration for Jamaludin’s birthday.

For a few minutes, the table shared birthday messages to Jamaludin using a PowerPoint presentation, gave her cake and celebrated.

Ex-officio reports were then given, followed by elected official reports.

The meeting adjourned at 8:46 p.m.

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YAJIRA EVALUATION CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

When asked about her weaknesses, Ramirez Sigala mentioned a few different ways she could have performed better as a senator.

“I kind of get caught up with wanting to get certain projects done,” Ramirez Sigala said. “It’s kind of hard to admit at times, but if I would’ve taken care of myself a little more, I would have been able to do way more than I had. I wish I would have been more on top of the elections thing and really pushing folks to step up and run for Senate.

I could’ve built even better relationships with the Senate table earlier on.”

In an email, ASUCD President Josh Dalavai talked about Ramirez Sigala’s performance as a senator.

“Senator Yajaira has been very vocal in support of her communities on the table along with being an active participant in matters regarding organizing and social justice movements on campus,” Dalavai said. “She works very well with her peers and is well respected on the table. I believe that she has followed through exceptionally on her platforms and has included many voices on the table which are not typically represented. Yajaira was overall an amazing Senator.”

THERMOOSTAT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

information about how people feel in their rooms and buildings, the ECO is able to help increase personal comfort, reduce energy costs and educate the public about energy usage.

“We try and let people know how their building works, so they get a better idea of what they can do on their end and what we can do on our end,” Salmon said. “It’s more of a discussion that way.”

ACTIVISM CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

only did Native American land allow for the growth of cities in which they could not afford to live, they continue to pay these companies for power generated on the land that they bought from the government’s unlawful seizure.

Middleton’s soon-to-be-published book, “Upstream: Trust Lands and Power on the Feather River,” includes a ‘how to’ chapter for modern California tribes on what it will take to use the laws that are in effect to take back their land in a way that grants them the capacity to be the land’s caretakers. This would give them the power to stop and reverse the creation of dams, intentional

flooding of valleys, and more.

“Professor Middleton’s collaboration with Native California tribes and the relevant research that she conducts are prime examples of engaged and responsible academic work,” said Zoila Mendoza, the department chair and a professor of Native American Studies at UC Davis. “She brings this commitment to her undergraduate and graduate teaching and mentoring developing an exemplary method of active learning. We are very fortunate to have Profesor Middleton as a faculty member and proud that she is the holder of the Yocha Dehe Endowed Chair for California Indian Studies.”

Compañía Nacional de Danza U.S. PREMIERE! Carmen

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WINE

SAT–SUN, MAR 3–4

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

national fruit.

Aside from its historical significance, there are also some modern benefits from this finding, such as disease resistance.

Dr. Summaira Riaz, a researcher in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis, worked with grapevine samples from Armenia in Dr. Andy Walker’s lab. Viticulture is the science of growing farm grapes and enology is the science of making wine. The two branches make the industry that is wine-making.

“We look for natural sources of resistance to different pests and disease to carry out conventional breeding by making crosses of resistance and susceptible varieties,” Riaz said. “This allow us to understand the genetics of resistance and develop molecular tools to speed up breeding process.”

The common grapevine, Vitis vinifera, has over 5,000 different varieties around the world. The UC Davis study used 45 samples of Vitis vinifera from Armenia to analyze the grapevines’ resilient properties. Walker’s lab focuses on breeding disease-resistant grapes to reduce the use of insecticides and fungicides in vineyards.

“We worked with plant tissue and extracted DNA to carry out DNA fingerprinting, and testing of plants in the field and lab for powdery mildew resistance,” Riaz said.

The research showed that the cultivated grapevines are resistant to mildew.

Riaz attended Hovhannisyan’s talk on the cave’s excavation. “[The findings] will give us better understanding of natural diversity of plant germplasm [a living

tissue that preserves biological diversity] and would allow us to maintain germplasm collections in more efficient way to preserve it for future generations,” Riaz said.

UC Davis is ranked in the top two viticulture and enology programs in the United States. Nicholas Shurden is a UC Davis transfer student from the Lodi area majoring in agricultural business. Last summer, Shurden worked in Napa Valley farming wine grapes, where he was exposed to the various diseases affecting the vineyards. He attended Hovhannisyan’s talk to get a better understanding of the various cultivars.

“This research will play a pivotal role in identifying ancient strains of grapes along with genetic restoration will result in the rebirth of ancient wines being produced again in the 21st century,” Shurden said.

Today, Armenia’s Ararat Valley is like that of California’s Napa Valley — and the wine industry is booming just as well. Wineries are opening all around the country and wine bars are flourishing in Yerevan, the nation’s capital. Over the past few decades, Armenian wines were off the radar, and now they are gaining global recognition.

In 2012, the Zorah Karasi Areni Noir Armenian wine (2010) was ranked among Bloomberg’s top 10 wines for the year. It was the first vintage wine to be made based on the findings from the Areni cave.

Made from Areni noir grapes and aged clay amphora, tasting this red wine is like drinking a part of history.

“One thing I respect about our particular industry — the wine industry — is the willingness to help and share information without prejudice from country to country,” Shurden said.

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Leyla McCalla Quartet

Former Carolina Chocolate Drop Leyla McCalla creates music that is steeped in French, Haitian and Creole traditions, and explores issues of social justice and pan-African consciousness.

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12 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

TOWN HALL

POOP

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

present to justify the allocation of the $250,000 to departments outside the SHCS stating that the funds were used for a non-clinical case manager position who works with students and academic advisors, the student retention center and housing providers. Jennifer Belleci, the director of the Student Disability Center, spoke about the number of students who need disability treatment, explaining why one of their staff members is a psychologist who determines student eligibility for services and is paid with the funds.

The audit also found that administration had been unclear in that SHCS “leadership has not articulated a strategic plan for Counseling Services.”

A pie chart was provided via projector showing the different allocations of SHCS funds, from crisis support and case management to consultation and clinical counseling.

Walter talked about a growing student need for crisis treatment stating that each time student needs evolve and each time “something is added, other parts of the pie have to shrink a little bit.”

Aj Ballesteros, a first-year sociology major and a member of Students for a Democratic Society, responded to Walter’s statement of shrinking parts of the pie chart. Ballesteros told the panel that they should increase funds for SHCS and “increase the size of the pie.” Ballesteros rejected Walter’s statement that students were the bosses of administration.

“Firstly, it shouldn’t be students’ job to advocate for our own mental health — y’all should be advocating for us in the highest level, all the way up to the chancellors and even UC Regents,” Ballesteros said. “Y’all said that students are the boss of y’all, but I completely disagree. I don’t think we have any meaningful democratic engagement in allocating where our tuition fees go. We certainly are not the boss of administration.”

Shradha Shah, a second-year psychology major and the policy advocacy officer for the Student Mental Health Coalition, said “this health care is ours” and that students “have already paid for it.”

“A survey in 2015 revealed that 40 percent of undergraduates at UC Davis felt so depressed that they could not function on a daily basis,” Shah said.

“12 percent said they seriously contemplated suicide.”

Shah then read the Coalition’s petition that 1,100 students and faculty had signed. She asked students who signed the petition to stand, and at that time around 30 students stood up.

“In 2015, UC Davis student affairs committed to a net increase of 12 counselors by the end of the fiscal year 2017,” Shah said. “Today, we are in 2018 and a recent audit has shown that this recent commitment has yet to be fulfilled.

And despite rising tuition cost, we have yet to see additional mental health support. This is about us students, and not only what is rightfully ours, but what is needed for our wellbeing — and at this point — our survival.”

The petition demanded the SHCS add 10 more counselors to complete the 12 counselors they had previously committed to, as well as increase the salary of counselors and increase the prioritization of hiring queer and trans counselors. The coalition asked for heightened transparency of budget allocations and project updates, increased student participation in decision-making and mandated mental health training for professors and TA’s.

The petition’s co-author Samantha Chiang, a fourth-year English major and the director of the Mental Health Initiative, advocated for students she said have been failed by SHCS. Chiang said “increased services” are “integral to our survival.”

“It’s for the students who can’t get appointments,” Chiang said. “The students who muster up the courage to walk into North Hall, only to be told the next appointment is three weeks out. So they call in for day-of appointment at 8:05 a.m., but they are told the appointments were all booked a minute ago. So they give up. It’s for the students who have to schedule their panic attacks, because they can only get seen five times a quarter, if they’re lucky. So they try to assess which mental health breakdowns merit an appointment. It’s

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

for the students of color, who say they can only work with CAN counselors, because the rest invalidate our issues.”

Chiang said her SHCS counselor left because “UC Davis couldn’t pay him a competitive salary.” Chiang asked the panel what they plan to do to help the community and if they are “going to give us the 12 counselors” that they “promised” or if they will “sit in silence as we struggle to survive.”

Walter replied to this comment by saying that administration and students “want the same thing” and “of course we agree with you.” She also said the university plans to hire one counselor every year for the next three years.

“I’m so sorry if promises made haven’t come through,” Walter said. ”I can only speak for myself and the staff, and we do have a commitment to those positions. I don’t believe the commitment to the 11 positions at the time was made on assumptions that did come true — that was banking on having enrollment increase, and that did not happen. We do have that commitment from UCOP to have those three increases that we’ve earmarked for positions. When we fill these positions, we can show you. I’m sorry if we’ve let you down. I can assure you I’m working on not doing that now, and we will keep the transparency going so you can see that that’s true.”

Students in the audience rejected this apology, saying they found it to be empty and not satisfying their concerns. Administrative panelists said it is important not to get fixated on the number of counselors. Students audibly disagreed.

One student in the audience spoke about how anxiety and mental illness compromise the ability to get help when it is needed most, stating it can become a negative feedback loop of needing help but facing personal obstacles in getting that help. The student said they were told by UC Davis counselors that their post traumatic stress disorder was invalid.

Students were also concerned with the recent intended firing of the director of Counseling and Psychological Services, Sarah Hahn, one day after she filed a Whistleblower Retaliation Report. Students at the town hall said Hahn’s requests for financial allocation information put a target on her back.

Katrina Manrique, a fourth-year English major, told the panel and audience that on Feb. 8, Hahn filed a Whistleblower Retaliation Report and “on Feb. 9, she was escorted out of counselor services, by you, Margaret Walter.”

Hahn said she was threatened and intimidated after raising concerns about the allocation of the mental health fund.

Manrique said Hahn was a consistent advocate for the 12 missing counselors, and since the release of the audit and since filing for whistleblower protection, she has been fired. Students and a recent article published in the Davis Vanguard claim foul play in her termination.

“We can’t comment on any confidential personnel issues, but we all want to be contacts for you and advocates for you,” Walter said. “I’m sorry that you felt you only had one person.”

Chiang fired back at Walter, saying that Hahn was the “only one who didn’t lie to our faces about the counselors being fired.” Walter did not reply.

Aaron Latta, a third-year political science — public service major, read an official statement from the Davis College Democrats Mental Health Caucus, stating that budget misallocation “can’t be swept under the rug.”

“The administration has to understand there are many different groups on campus working with this issue, and when the university lies to us and ends up doing the exact opposite of what they told us they were going to do, it makes us all look bad,” Latta said.

“Even if you can’t comment on specific personnel issues, at least assure us that those who step out and prove wrongdoing are protected by the institution that is a public utility of education, not a private corporation.”

To this point, the administration replied that they will better the department based on the audit’s suggestions as well as the future findings from the Mental Health Taskforce led by Dr. Cam Carter.

First-year gender, sexuality and

women’s studies major Francesca Iacono spoke about how SHCS at UC Davis failed her. She had her psychiatry appointments canceled on her during finals week, and with her family out of state, UC Davis was her sole support system within proximity. Iacono said that when students call Mental Health Services, staff often don’t pick up.

Kim replied to this, saying that administration “certainly prioritize access to service.” He talked about how the same-day access model in counseling has been done away with at UC Davis, and that appointments have to be scheduled in advance now.

According to Kim, the SHCS sometimes refers students to community partners. Yet to this point, an online question rebuked that off-campus professionals are rarely available, rarely accept insurance and charge enormous fees. Chiang previously mentioned a barrier due to types of insurance.

To this, Vu admitted that there was “an issue of access to community providers” with not accepting new patients and insurance. Walter said that SHCS wants to hear feedback regarding appointments accessibility, and claimed that it is developing a “button to click” online to make mental health appointments.

In terms of specific actions, Walter said she’s starting a “student advisory group” for keeping the conversation going between service providers and students. Applications for these positions will be released soon. Vu talked about creating tangible change through investment in student success grant, utilizing a crisis text line being developed and teaching bystander advocacy and peer-on-peer help.

When the moderator announced the town hall was concluded, students were unsatisfied with the answers SHCS administration provided. Fourth-year psychology major Dylan Newman held a sign reading “Yet another UC Davis corruption story” and rejected what he saw that night.

“It was a crock,” Newman said. “A thinly-veiled attempt by administration to manipulate the perceptions of a student body that they do not take seriously or respect.”

Newman said administration skirted from responsibility by focusing on claimed benefits to students.

“They accepted no negative feedback from students, despite the fact that there was plenty of it,” Newman said. “[They talked] about various programs that they run, which is laughable, because the entire reason that so many people are upset is that all of these million little cheap bureaucratic initiatives they run do not meet the basic need of having a good core of psychological and psychiatric healthcare for their student population. Students wept while they told us about waiting weeks for help — they struggled to survive mental health nightmares without any local support.

Kim and Vu and Walter replied that their hearts hurt, but accepted no responsibility and promised no action on their part.”

Chiang stood up and approached the panel at the front of the room, pleading for them to deliver on past promises.

Chiang told the panel that she “wanted to work with” them and “wanted to believe” in them, but that students “need our 12 counselors that were promised to us.” Chiang said SHCS did not confirm a follow-up meeting time.

“I’ll be here all night,” Chiang said.

“You all are paid to be here and we are not. Clearly, so many more students have things to say. As for our follow-up, we were operating under the assumption that you all were ok with those twelve counselors. We paid for those 12. We ask you to care about student health, not admin wealth.”

At this point, students applauded Chiang and chanted “Student health, not admin wealth.”

The moderator and panelists tried to quiet students, telling attendees the town hall was over and that questions could be continued via online submissions. The moderator told students that they “will get a response” and that “the meetings will be set and a followup will be made.”

“How about right now with all of us?” a student responded.

“What’s the purpose of a town hall if we don’t get a response?” another student yelled.

an opportunity to describe some positive aspects of their relationship with their pet, but this survey was focused on a behavior that people find very disturbing. We had a good response to these two surveys, and then of course it was exciting to see what showed up in the data — that about onesixth of dogs frequently engaged in this behavior and that none of the treatments were working.”

While the results showed no correlation between the habit and diet or age, researchers found that this habit could be a remnant of evolution. Eating feces could be an instinct left over from dogs’ ancestors — the wolves. It turns out that eating feces is an evolved parasite defence strategy.

“We related the behavior to den sanita-

tion instinct [where] a fecal dropping left in the den area by an injured wolf would be a source of intestinal parasite re-infestation if just left there,” said Benjamin Hart, a distinguished professor emeritus in the Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Cell Biology at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. “In nature, removing the fresh stool, before infective larvae hatch from ova, by eating it, removes the danger to the pack.”

The current solutions for preventing coprophagy haven’t had much success, with the most successful having a reported 2 percent success. However, hope is not lost yet, as the researchers are currently planning to conduct an open-label pilot trial to test their own product for this issue.

BASEBALL CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14

freshman in 2016. His veteran presence will be a welcome sight for the young hurlers on the mound.

In the batter’s box, UC Davis is poised for another solid season offensively, led by the outfield trio of redshirt seniors Alex Aguiar and Ryan Hooper and junior Ryan Anderson.

“Their progression has been great,” Vaughn said. “Those guys are our leaders and they have a lot of experience at this level. We expect them to be consistent and guys that are helping drive us forward.”

The Aggies averaged nearly five runs per game last year and proved to be quite disruptive on the base paths as well, finishing second in the conference with 25 stolen bases.

Anderson, a left fielder, started every single game of the season, leading the Aggies with a .313 batting average, 63 hits, and 39 RBI’s. He caught fire during a torrid midseason stretch that saw him record hits in 19 straight games and reach base in 21 consecutive contests.

In right field, Hooper also started every game that he appeared in, batting .310 and finishing with a .392 on-base percentage, which was first among the team’s starters.

Aguiar made opposing pitchers work extra hard on the mound, drawing 17 walks, and put the pressure on opposing defenses by swiping 11 bases on 14 attempts — both were team highs.

This season, UC Davis had the unique opportunity of signing 13-year-old Jetty “J.J.” Huish to the team’s roster. Huish is a huge baseball fan, and suffers from a condition known as X-linked Severe Combined Immunodeficiency which requires him to make frequent visits to the hospital for treatment.

“He’s facing an incredibly tough situation and you would never know it,” Vaughn said. “A lot of our guys have spent time with him. We feel like it’s an incredible addition to our program.”

Huish has already spent a lot of time

around the team and will be alongside throughout the season at practices, games and other events.

“He had no problem gelling with the team,” Blais said. “He brings a lot of energy and he fits in well with the older guys.”

Vaughn spoke very highly of Huish and reiterated how great of an impact his arrival has had for both parties involved.

“I think it’s going to be a great thing for him, but it can be an even greater thing for us as a program,” Vaughn said.

Vaughn acknowledged that it’s time to start seeing some consistently productive results on the diamond.

“As you look at our time here, we graduate our guys and we give them a good experience,” Vaughn said. “Our guys get good grades and do well in the classroom.

We raise money and we’re making our program better. We’ve done everything really well here, except win games, and so we’ve got to take the next step with that.”

Earlier in the offseason, Vaughn received a four-year contract extension to remain the head coach for the Aggies. He has been with the program since he graduated from UC Davis in 1992, serving as an assistant coach before taking full control in 2012.

“I’m very excited about it,” Vaughn said. “I’m very humbled and honored that Dr. Blue and the administration here has seen fit to let me continue working.

We’re building toward something and it’s a momentum thing, but we’re going to get there. It’s just a matter of time.”

The Aggies opened up the season on the road over the weekend, winning two out of three games against CSU Bakersfield. Senior shortstop Brad Pluschkell went 10-12 at the plate with four runs scored during the series, earning him the honor of Big West Conference Player of the Week.

UC Davis fell to visiting Stanford 3-2 in the team’s home opener on Monday afternoon. The team will remain home for a three-game series versus Creighton starting on Friday afternoon.

HEAL CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

them myself, because this bear needed something. Life puts you in situations where you have to make a decision, you have to do something, because that animal needs more help than you are currently giving them.”

After getting tilapia from the local fish market, the team sterilized the skin and sutured it on the healthy skin still left on the paws. The process to make the fish skin bandage took several days, and by the time it was ready to use, it did not smell, and the animals were not able recognize the bandages were made of potential food. On both of the bears, the skins were further wrapped in rice paper and corn husks so the fish skin could not be easily taken off.

Clifford had predicted that the three animals would take three to four months to heal, but they were doing well only about a month and half later.

“Often we have to innovate, try new things with wildlife,” Clifford said. “Anything to improve their chances of getting back into the wild.”

The fish skins protected the damaged tissue, offered pain relief and helped the burned paws heal. Many scientists are excited about the possibility of expanding the use of fish skins, and Peyton wants to start clinical trials after the paper on their recent use is

published. Peyton believes fish skin could help with chronic non-healing wounds and pressure sores in addition to burns.

“This holds a lot of promise,” Clifford said. “We’ve had a lot of inquiries from other rehabilitation centers.”

On Jan. 8, both bears were released after the researchers made them dens to keep the bears safe. Since they were tagged with GPS collars, the CDFW has been able to confirm that both bears are doing fine, although they have moved away from the human-made dens. One of the bears was pregnant when she was brought in, and those monitoring her are unable to tell if she has given birth.

The mountain lion cub, named Charlie, was moved to the Sonoma Wildlife Rescue Center, where he will be joining a female mountain lion who just lost her companion. Charlie is too young to be released; mountain lion cubs typically stay with their mothers for 18 months and Charlie was only 5 months old when he was brought in during December.

“I’ve been asked, why spend the money and time on this?” Macintyre said.

“Peyton volunteered her time, as did two other doctors. They collected a body of knowledge and it has a wide range of applications. It had never been done before, and I’m really excited about this.”

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018 | 13

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

INKED

Students explain designs of their tattoos

BY CAROLINE RUTTEN arts@theaggie.org Tattoos, as art that permanently marks people’s bodies, most often come with a story. Often ambiguous designs hold meanings one could not understand at first glance. Here are a few examples from the UC Davis student body.

TCA: Why is the design so important in the tattoo?

SD: “The design is super important to me since it was my mom’s logo; it makes it that much more special and more tied to my mom.

It doesn’t say the word pony or is just a random design. The design is what made me what to get the tattoo.”

am as a person.”

Jake Stebbins, third-year computer science and engineering major J ESSIE ST ESHEN KO / AGG IE

Maya Barak, second-year international relations major JESSIE STESHEN KO / AG GIE

Sofia Donovan, third-year biological sciences major JESS I E STE S H E NKO / AGGIE

TCA: When did you get the tattoo?

JS: “It’s on my right forearm. I got the tattoo in Pittsburgh where I’m from, and my dad bought it for my 20th birthday present and [I] had wanted it since I was about 15.”

TCA: What’s the story behind your tattoo?

MB: “My tattoo is of a hamsa, which is common in Middle Eastern cultures for the watchful eye. In the middle of it is an elephant whose eyes have a lot of little details. I got it because growing up this is what I always doodled. The tattoo artist and I started doodling together, and the immediate thing I doodled was a hamsa with an elephant on it. I did the basic idea, and he showed me a new one he edited himself. He’s an amazing artist. I think my spirit animal is an elephant because I feel like I’m an old lady, but I have some wisdom to share and I have this spirit animal watching my back.”

TCA: Why is the design so important in the tattoo?

MB: “Tattoos are such a form of expression for so many different ways and showing who you are through this stamp on your skin. For me, the design specifically, the design is a doodle I’ve always done as well as the intricate doodles. This speaks a lot about myself and who I

From the Aggie Archives

TOM MCN EILL / AGG IE F IL E

TO M M C NE I LL / AGGI E FI LE U C D B AS E B A L L V E RS US SAN JOS E STATE: C ATCH E R #11 J O E P I CCI NI (2/7/ 1 989)

AGGIE B ASEB A LL VER SU S U SM: KEN TA PPIN (2 / 11/ 1986)

TCA: Why is the design so important in the tattoo?

JS: “It happens a lot in math. As humans we are able to see and observe things and understand how to use them and how they arise.

But there is often a disconnect as to why they happen; there are still things we cannot really comprehend. We can find it and calculate it, but why do these things happen in nature? It’s a double-edged sword for me. It’s always wanting to keep up the pursuit of understanding the world around us physically and then also a humbling idea. We are always going to learn new ideas, but there are some things out of our reach. It’s easy to be learning so much and to then think you know everything.”

The aggie

TCA: What’s the story behind your tattoo?

SD: “This tattoo runs in my family. The reason I wanted to get it was that my mom passed away from cancer four years ago in November of 2013. Some of her best friends all have it, too. The physical design itself is the logo of a company that my mom created while she was undergoing treatment. The company is called Pony Expressions, and she sold little gemstone ponies. Cancer has run in my family for a while.

Since one of my mom’s parents got cancer, they started this tradition of passing down this little pony, and it comes with a story: There are two twin boys, one’s a pessimist and one is an optimist. And their parents are wondering why they are so different, so they take them to a psychologist. They put the pessimist in a room full of toys, expecting him to play with them, but he starts crying right away worried that he’ll break them. And they put the optimist in a room with horse manure, and he’s flinging it around having so much fun. They ask him why he’s so happy, and he says ‘there has to be a pony in here somewhere.’ So the pony represents in what seems like the worst circumstances you can still find something positive.”

TCA: What’s the story behind your tattoo?

JS: “It’s the fibonacci spiral inscribed on the golden ratio rectangle.

The fibonacci sequence is from a famous infinite sequence, and basically the way you build it is to add the previous two numbers to get the next one and it goes on infinitely. So it comes up a lot in nature and in computing, actually, too. [...] the ratio between the fibonacci numbers approaches this number called phi, and that is the golden ratio. This ratio is that, if you make a rectangle with this ratio, you can make an infinite number of rectangles. But this is very pleasing to the eye; it is one of the sacred geometry axioms. When you combine the two, you can create a spiral, like the one on my arm, conch shells or ram horns.”

reduce. reuse. recycle.

The California Aggie: When did you get the tattoo?

SD: “I got the tattoo November of 2015 right after I turned 18, and I had wanted to get the tattoo for a while.”

TCA: When did you get your tattoo?

MB: “I was in Thailand traveling on my gap year. I was in my favorite place in Thailand, Kanchanaburi, and I was close with the local businesses and the people who owned them. There was this one bar next door the hostel I was staying, and there was a tattoo parlor attached to it and I knew the owner of it. One day we got to talking and he asked if he could do a tattoo on me, make his mark on me.”

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14 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

SPORTS TOP SKIING, SNOWBOARDING DESTINATIONS NEAR DAVIS

LAU R EL HI N SHELWOOD / AGG IE

UC Davis Alpine Ski and Snowboard team comments on favorite resorts

BY KENNEDY WALKER sports@theaggie.org

After a record year of snowfall in 2017, this year’s skiing and snowboarding season has some big shoes to fill. Luckily for UC Davis students and the surrounding community members, Davis is situated right at the heart of some of the top rated ski and snowboard resorts in California. UC Davis’ Alpine Ski and Snowboard team rated its top ski resorts in the area.

Coming out on top is California’s iconic Mammoth Mountain, one of the most popular skiing destinations in the country. The mountain resort is located on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Range at about 11,053 feet above sea level — the highest summit elevation in the state. Mammoth Mountain combines a wide variety of tracks and slopes with famous Southern California sunshine for a postcard-worthy skiing trip. With about 400 annual inches of snow, it holds one of the longest ski season throughout California. It also offers more than 3,500 acres for skiing and snowboarding, as well as a 3,100-foot vertical drop for riders of all levels.

Next in the group is the Kirkwood Ski Resort, located about two and a half hours east of the UC Davis campus. The resort prides itself in uniquely featuring both smooth, lived-in trails and wild, untouched territory. With 15 total lifts and 86 different runs, the mountain destination offers a range of terrain catering to beginners and experts alike.

The resort is also home to many other classic winter

activities, such as dog sled tours of the mountain, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing events.

UC Davis’s own Alpine Ski & Snowboard Team (DASS) know a thing or two about the next contender on the list, Alpine Meadows in Squaw Valley, as the group trains there weekly with its coach.

Voted the best ski resort in North America by USA Today, the North Lake Tahoe ski resort occupies more than 6,000 acres for winter sports. On top of averaging 450 inches of snow every year, it features over 250 individual trails for visitors to enjoy as well as 42 lifts of all different sizes.

Second-year food science and technology major Peter McDowell, the UC Davis team’s ski captain, revealed how he got involved with DASS and his warm regards toward the training area.

“I am from Nevada City […] near Tahoe, so I have been skiing my whole life,” McDowell said. “I joined DASS my freshman year […] My sisters both went to UC Davis and were a part of DASS. I got involved through them. My favorite place to ski in the Northern Tahoe region is Alpine Meadows.”

Second-year international relations major Elise Bankosh, the team’s alumni coordinator, also shared her experience with DASS and Squaw Valley.

“I got involved [in DASS] as a freshman because I knew I wanted to snowboard at UC Davis [and] it is so close to Tahoe,” Bankosh said.“My favorite place to snowboard […] is probably Squaw Valley.

[It] has a wide variety [… of ] parks [and] good all mountain runs.”

The team’s fundraiser Laurel Hinshelwood, an international relations and Spanish double major, an-

FORMER AGGIE TAKES BRONZE IN PYEONGCHANG Freeskier Brita Sigourney talks career, future

BY BOBBY JOHN sports@theaggie.org

UC Davis alumna Brita Sigourney landed her first Olympic podium with a bronze medal in the women’s freestyle skiing halfpipe competition in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang on Feb 20. behind Canada’s Cassie Sharp, who took gold, and France’s Marie Martinoid who took silver.

The Aggie alumna is excited to have a second shot at an Olympic podium. Sigourney fell shy of the podium at the 2014 Sochi Games, finishing second in the qualifying round and ultimately placing sixth in the final round. The 28-year-old Carmel, Calif. native was the first female to land a 1080-degree spin — three full revolutions — in a competition halfpipe run in 2012.

Sigourney was confident going into PyeongChang as the leader in the halfpipe 2018 World Cup standings.

“As soon as I had that first podium in Snowmass, it was just kind of an upward momentum that I just kept rolling with and it definitely paid off,” Sigourney said.

She rolled with that momentum into the United States National Olympic freestyle halfpipe qualifier at Mammoth Mountain in which she landed first place and secured her spot on the U.S. Olympic team on Jan. 19. with clean tricks and massive air, and her first World Cup victory since 2013 scoring 91.20 points.

“I just started having fun again,” Sigourney said. “It was pretty stressful because I was trying to get good results to make the Olympic team.”

Sigourney plans to maintain her energy from this season’s victories for PyeongChang.

“I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing, and keep build-

N I CH O LAS C H AN / AGGI E

UC DAVIS BASEBALL READY TO TAKE NEXT STEP FORWARD IN 2018 Aggies look to rebuild pitching staff, improve on promising 2017 season

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

As the UC Davis baseball team opens up another season this month, there is a certain optimism surrounding the program that this could be the year the Aggies take another big step forward and start challenging their Big West foes for a NCAA Regional berth.

Head Coach Matt Vaughn, in his seventh year at the helm, stressed the importance of sticking to the

other one of DASS’ second-years, could not decide between two popular ski resorts.

“I really love skiing Alpine or Kirkwood; Alpine because it’s where I grew up skiing, and the vibe there is very laid back,” Hinshelwood said. “Kirkwood is pretty much the same just a little off the beaten path so it’s never crowded.”

Next in line is Heavenly Mountain Resort, complete with over 90 different runs, two terrain parks and a scenic view of the Sierra Nevadas to match its divine name. With over 4,800 acres and one of the longest vertical drops in the state, Heavenly is the largest ski area in the South Lake Tahoe area, and it houses 28 individual lifts for riders of all skill levels — nine of which are high-speed for advanced skiers.

The Heavenly Mountain Resort also straddles the border between California and Nevada, and it includes the lively nightlife that California’s next-door neighbor is famous for.

Finishing up the list is Northstar California, found on the north shore of Lake Tahoe. The resort is well known for its 3,000 skiable acres and a 22foot superpipe designed specially for Northstar by the United States’ famous Olympian snowboarder

ing and do as well as I can,” Sigourney said. “I’ve been doing what I’ve always done, I was just feeling more like myself.”

The three halfpipe medalists from the 2014 Sochi Games, USA’s Maddie Bowman, Japan’s Ayana Onozuka and France’s Marie Martinod are all viable medalists in the women’s halfpipe competition.

Sports Illustrated predicts Sigourney will snag a silver medal behind Team Canada’s first time Olympian Cassie Sharpe who will take gold.

The competition, according to Sigourney, isn’t nearly as tough as the qualification process because making the Olympic team is the hardest part.

“It’s pretty much the same people I’ve been competing with all winter,” Sigourney said. “It’s not as hard as the normal competition, because not everyone made their respective Olympic teams.”

Her recent success stands in contrast with her results in the past few years.

“I’ve been struggling with confidence the past few years, battling some bad results,” Sigourney said of the change.

Sigourney sustained season ending injuries earlier in her skiing career including a torn ACL in 2012 and a broken collarbone in 2013.

She was operated on three times in 2013, and seven times total during her career. But injuries did not stop her from securing a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team for the 2014 Sochi Games.

Sigourney offered a deeper look into her mindset change following the setbacks.

“I worked on the mental part a lot,” Sigourney said. “We got a sports [psychologist] who I’ve been using the last few years.”

She has been fine-tuning her techniques to train muscle memory and instinct to kick in during runs, rather than letting her brain interrupt her flow.

Although the number of injuries Sigourney has sustained have been great, she made a point for mental toughness in her sport.

“It became part of my life,” Sigourney said of her recovery. “I definitely had to work to not let that affect my skiing, but I also never really struggled with a comeback as much as I know a lot of other people do when they get hurt. If anything, I was more excited to be skiing again.”

While studying at UC Davis, Sigourney also balanced playing on the women’s water polo club team, and competing in skiing events.

process and continuing to get better each and every day after coming off a 2017 campaign that saw the team finish fifth in the conference.

“We try to play the game one pitch at a time and we try to focus on process-type stuff and getting better at the details and the little things that help you win baseball games, knowing that the results aren’t always in your control,” Vaughn said.

Vaughn believes that this program is on the cusp of breaking out as long as everyone stays the course and puts in the necessary amount of work everyday.

“If you take a look at our program, we’re always really close and we play in a lot of close games but we haven’t quite gotten over the hump in terms of winning those games,” Vaughn said. “It’s a constant process and a daily grind. We expect our guys to stay on that grind, regardless of the results.”

Undoubtedly, the biggest challenge the Aggies will face this year is rebuilding a pitching staff that lost its top three pitchers and entire weekend rotation from last season. Justin Mullins, Orlando Razo and Robert Garcia accounted for almost 60 percent of the team’s innings pitched in 2017. Razo and Garcia, both left-handers, were selected in last summer’s Major League Baseball draft, while Mullins was lost to graduation.

This year’s squad will have to get more contributions from up and down the staff to stay competitive in a very talented Big West conference.

“We’ve got to throw strikes and compete in the

Shaun White. With a base elevation of about 6,330 feet, 20 operating lifts and about 100 different runs, the resort comes complete with for an atmosphere that is ideal for a wide range of guests — from families with beginning skiers to Olympians training for the gold.

An honorable mention goes to Boreal Mountain, a resort only 90 minutes from UC Davis’ campus.

With over 50 years of business under its belt, the resort features a large spread of different trails, including seven just for those beginning to learn how to ski or snowboard. Boreal’s uniqueness is found in its skatepark-like qualities; it is home to multiple parks and pipes — perfect for veteran skiers and snowboarders wanting to practice adding tricks and flare to their trips.

The snowboard captain of DASS, second-year aerospace engineering major Jeff Preston, shared why Boreal Mountain is his favorite resort to snowboard at.

“I’m really into rails and ‘street’ type snowboarding,” Preston said. “Boreal has the best park geared toward that I think and they have $15 Fridays for college students. It’s always a good time.”

T HEDCMS / F L ICKR

The Aggie reported on her X Games halfpipe debut where she took silver in 2011, while she was still a UC Davis student. When the opportunity to become a professional athlete was right in front of her, she thought it was a no-brainer and decided to start skiing full-time leaving UC Davis without completing her degree in graphic design. Sigourney credited this decision to the sport being physically demanding and that “there is an age limit to it.”

Third-year managerial economics major and president of the UC Davis Alpine Ski and Snowboard (DASS) team, Logan DeAngelis, is excited to watch a former UC Davis student compete in the Olympics.

“It’s kind of given our team a new fire to be able to go out and compete and be the best that we can knowing that someone else from our university is representing us in the Olympics,” DeAngelis said.

Last year, DASS’ men’s ski and snowboard team competed in the 2017 United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association National Championships for the first time ever in school history. The club team has 60 members and DeAngelis is exploring ways to increase membership.

UC Davis Ski or Snowboard Club President Abbo Nathan has also noticed a change in the club stemming from Sigourney’s success.

“It’s really cool that a UC Davis student has reached that level,” Nathan said. “I also think it’s really cool that she’s a girl, it kind of gets all the ladies of SOS and DASS pretty amped.”

Sigourney wants to finish her degree when she is done skiing.

“I just wanted to give my full attention to school,” Sigourney said.

“Getting my degree from a UC would be awesome.”

Sigourney plans to finish her bachelors degree in graphic design.

strike zone,” Vaughn said. “I think we have a couple guys that can eat up innings, but I think it’s going to have to be more of a full staff. We normally carry somewhere between 14 and 16 pitchers and I see us this year maybe using all of those guys.”

Senior right-handed pitcher Matt Blais is the only returner on the staff with considerable experience, as he appeared in 17 games last year and made nine starts as the primary midweek starter for UC Davis.

“In order for us to get to the Regionals, we’ve got to have good pitching,” Blais said. “We have a lot of young pitching this year and we’ve just got to help the younger guys build on their momentum.”

For the second year in a row, the Aggies are projected to finish in last place according to the Big West baseball preseason poll, which is voted on by all the coaches in the conference. When asked about it, Vaughn revealed that he hadn’t even seen the results of this year’s poll and clearly did not put much stock into it.

“That’s where we were picked last year and we finished in the middle of the conference, above four teams,” Vaughn said. “We can’t worry about all of those things, we’ve just got to play the game the right way and hopefully the results take care of themselves.”

The Aggies will have their work cut out for them, playing in the highly-competitive Big West conference that sent three teams to the NCAA Tournament a year ago. UC Davis compiled a 10-14 record

against these opponents last season, but finished strong by winning two of its final three series in conference play.

Nevertheless, Blais believes that the Aggies always have the ability to go toe-to-toe with every one of its Big West counterparts on any given day.

“The good thing about the Big West is that it’s all pretty much the same talent level and whoever executes that day is going to be a winner,” Blais said.

“Every single game is usually a one- or two-run game and it’s just all about who’s on the upper hand and makes the least mistakes.”

As far as position players are concerned, UC Davis will have returning players starting at every position in the field this year with the exception of first base. This substantial amount of experience will be monumental in allowing some of the young arms to simply focus on going after hitters and attacking the zone while having full confidence in the defense behind them.

“I’m a lot more comfortable this year,” Vaughn said. “This is one of the best communicating teams I’ve had defensively. They’re always talking to each other.”

The Aggies are looking forward to welcoming back junior catcher Logan Denholm to the roster after he missed all of last season due to an injury.

Denholm started 46 games behind the plate as a true BASEBALL on 12

15 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018

CHEERING ON HOME SPORTS COMES WITH A PRIZE Students get opportunity to win thanks to Athletics Marketing

BY LIZ JACO BSON sports@theaggie.org

UC Davis students have been given an increased incentive to support the 11-1 women’s and 8-4 men’s basketball teams — UC Davis Athletics Marketing has been been sponsoring Amazon giveaways, free sushi for a year competitions and theme nights. These promotions are intended to encourage attendance and participation at athletic events.

“We’re trying really hard to get our student population more engaged with both men and women’s basketball,” said Taylor Soares, a third-year communication major and an Athletics Marketing intern.

“We’ve had a lot of double headers lately and the women obviously play first and we want [students] to come to both games and also we want to support other sports teams, like lacrosse and baseball, which is coming up soon.”

In order to be in the running for an Amazon Echo and two Amazon gift cards, students had to attend two athletic events of their choice from Feb. 7 through Feb. 10. Out of the six athletic events that week, students could choose to attend a gymnastics meet, lacrosse match or

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

basketball game. Every time a student checked in at a game, the Athletics Marketing interns tabled and added them to a list. At the men’s basketball game versus Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 10, when students checked in, they received a raffle ticket. The winners of the raffle were announced during the second half of the game.

“The promotions seem to be working really well,” Soares said. “I feel like we’ve had some record attendance at games.”

Although student promotions — like the Amazon Echo raffle, game giveaways, the Woodstock’s Pizza Obstacle Course and the West Village Shoot-Out — are handled through Athletics Marketing and its partnerships with Learfield Communications and local businesses, the free Mikuni Sushi for a year was coordinated by UC Davis men’s basketball head coach Jim Les. Les starred in a promotional video with Mikuni Sushi owner Taro Arai to promote the competition.

Students had the opportunity to win a year of free sushi from Davis staple Mikuni Sushi by making a half court shot during Feb. 8 game against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. UC Davis Athletics Marketing cheered on the students competing with a Fathead of Arai. Unfortunately, there were no winners in the “Mikuni Half Court Shot Challenge.”

Both UC Davis men and women’s basketball teams are members of the Big West conference. During the Big West Tour, which runs from Jan. 10 through March 3, conference representatives worked with Athletics Marketing to give fans the chance to win prizes from the Big West spin wheel and tickets to the Conference Championship game.

UC Davis Athletics Marketing has also hosted themed nights to make the games more engaging for students. The Thursday, Feb. 15 women’s basketball home game was “PinkOut the Pav” in support of the fight against breast cancer. Attendees were given pink shirts where they could

DIA N A L I / AGG IE A U C DAV IS CHEERL EA DER G ETS FA N S ON T HEIR F EET WIT H A T- SHIRT G IV EAWAY.

write who they were supporting on the front. This giveaway was sponsored

by UC Davis West Village. The upcoming double header on Feb. 24 will be both a Greek night, where students involved in UC Davis Greek organizations compete for highest attendance, and Senior Night. The night’s theme is “Bright Out,” so all students are encouraged to wear neon colors.

For more information on what Athletics Marketing will be offering at an event, students can follow @ucdavisaggies on both Instagram and Twitter and like UC Davis Athletics on Facebook.

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