February 6 2020

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VOLUME 138, ISSUE 15 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

AFSCME, UC REACH TENTATIVE CONTRACTS FOR SERVICE, PATIENT CARE WORKERS

Tentative agreements signify end of three years of over 25,000 union-represented employees working without a contract K IYO M I WATS O N / AGGI E

KA IT LY N PA N G / AG GIE

GANG TASK FORCE ORGANIZED

BY WOODLAND POLICE DEPARTMENT IN RESPONSE TO RECENT SURGE IN VIOLENCE Reward fund, gang task force, increased patrols implemented after three unsolved deadly homicides in recent months

BY MADELEI NE PAY NE city@theaggie.org

BY JA N EL L E M A R I E SAL ANGA campus@theaggie.org The UC’s largest employee union reached a tentative four-year agreement on Jan. 22 that will serve approximately 10,000 UC service workers.

Almost a week later, on Jan. 28, about 16,000 patient care workers represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3299 learned that the union made a separate, but also tentative, fouryear agreement with UC. Service workers were expected to vote to ratify their contract by Jan. 30. Patient care workers will vote to ratify their contract on Feb. 4 and Feb. 6.

In both cases, AFSCME Local 3299’s bargaining team recommends a “yes” vote, according to statements published by the union after the service and patient care workers reached their respective tentative contract agreements.

“We are pleased that after working with AFSCME leadership to address joint concerns and resolve our outstanding differences, we are able to meet the needs of our valued patient care and service workers as well as those of the University,” said Peter Chester, the UC’s director of labor relations, in a statement released Jan. 28.

Since 2017, AFSCME Local 3299 patient care and service workers have been working without contracts. In their negotiations to update the contracts, AFSCME Local 3299, like other labor unions, tried to advocate for better working conditions, higher pay, health insurance and job security on behalf of over 25,000 workers.

Under the new contracts, AFSCME Local 3299-represented patient care and service workers within the UC will have salary-based health insurance, annual 3% across-the-board wage increases and annual 2% experience-based wage increases, among other benefits.

er said. “We are opposed to the way it has been approved and, now, how it’s been done with the plan made by UCD and the city.”

At the time, Rainer cited concerns about potentially dangerous particulates from nearby transportation, as the planned site is located near both I-80 and the Davis Amtrak line.

A Yolo County Court judge, however, ruled in the city’s favor in October 2019, according to the City of Davis’ website. Judge Peter M. Williams ruled that the Nishi project was in compliance with both CEQA and the city’s affordable housing ordinances, and the plaintiffs failed to provide new evidence that the project would cause “an exacerbation of existing environmental hazards or concerns,” according to the city.

In a different post, the city announced that the plaintiffs had filed an appeal in December 2019. After a closed-door session on Jan. 14, 2020, the council announced that it voted to continue fighting the Nishi lawsuit in court.

Mayor Pro Tempore Gloria Partida argued that Nishi would provide “badly needed” student housing in Davis’ tight housing market and said that further delays in the project development went against the will of Davis voters. Once completed, development plans say that Nishi 2.0 will provide 700 units of student-oriented housing, adding 2,200 beds in total.

“We as a city make providing fair and affordable housing that meets CEQA requirements a top priority,” Partida said. “In addition, Measure R gives a voice to our voters in this process.

The Woodland Police Department announced the formation of the Gang Task Force to combat a spike in gang-related violence in recent months. The announcement came after three unsolved homicides occurred in Woodland, including the death of 16-year-old Alvaro Gamera in October.

In a video posted to the Woodland Police Department’s Facebook page, Sergeant Francisco DeLeon outlines the formation of the Gang Task Force and how it will be supported through other agencies.

“This is a newly formed task force created to investigate and combat gang crime in the City of Woodland,” DeLeon said. “The Woodland Police Department has invited state and local agencies to partner with us, and more information will be shared as it is finalized.”

Anthony Cucchi, the Deputy Chief of the Woodland Police Department, explained how the task force will grow in the coming weeks.

“Right now we just have two detectives and a sergeant from the Woodland Police Department assigned to the team,” Cucchi said.

“We’re expecting that the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office is going to send a detective and Information is going to send a probation officer to be part of it.”

Up until two years ago, the Woodland Police Department had a gang task force similar to the one they are creating now. This task force changed its title to “Special Response Team” and has a more localized approach, according to Cucchi. Now, the Woodland Police Department is reaching back out to Yolo County for more resources in light of recent crimes.

The three fatal shootings remain unsolved, but police suspect that the motives are connected to gang violence. Besides the arrest of one man who was later released, no other suspects have been detained from the shootings, which occurred on Oct. 16, Nov. 17 and Jan. 9. Yet the impact on the community has been lasting. Three people — Alvaro Gamera, age 16, Raymond Ortiz, age 44 and Isaaco Carlos Morales, age 20 — were killed and several others were injured.

Cucchi said utilizing countywide resources will improve the likelihood that these crimes are solved in a timely manner.

“These crimes don’t just happen in one jurisdiction,” Cucchi said. “They’re here, in West Sacramento and in Davis. We find that we can’t solve these crimes alone — we need to work together.”

Though gang-related shootings happen throughout Yolo County, they are not often isolated incidences, Cucchi said.

“When we get to the bottom of it, it will be one incident that will fracture into four or five other incidents with retaliation,” Cucchi said.

“Usually, you can narrow it back to a source over time when the investigation is all set and done.”

In an effort to get more information about the homicides, the Woodland Police Department has offered a reward of up to $100,000 for anyone who can provide details that lead to the arrest of suspects involved in the shootings. Cucchi explained that the incentive can encourage those who are scared of giving information to come forward.

“In these gang-type crimes, we know that a lot of people don’t talk,” Cucci said. “They’re afraid of what might happen, so this is how we try to let people know that they can tell us something if they have a tip, and it can be anonymous.”

The Woodland Police Department is also working on improving communication between the community and its officers.

NISHIAPPEAL on 8

GANGTASKFORCE on 8

“This has been a long and hard process that required both sides to seek common ground and work in good faith,” said AFSCME Local 3299 President Kathryn Lynbarger.

Additionally, on Jan. 21, K7 Skilled Craftworkers at UC Santa Cruz, who are also represented by the union, also received a contract after two years of negotiating.

A statement from the union cites the new K7 contract as not including mandatory on-call shifts, offering the right to refuse unsafe work assignments, the same protections on healthcare and pension as service workers and job security.

“These agreements provide hardworking UC employees with the benefits and protections they deserve, and it moves [the] UC closer to being the kind of employer we need to be,” said UC Board of Regents Chair John A. Pérez.

AFSCMECONTACT on 8

NISHI LAWSUIT APPEAL MET WITH FIERCE BACKLASH FROM CITY COUNCIL, ASUCD OFFICIAL City Council will again defend embattled Nishi Student Housing project in court after plaintiff’s appeal

MA RI O R O D R I G U E Z / AGGI E

BY TI M L A LON D E city@theaggie.org The Davis City Council announced its intention to defend against a plaintiff’s appeal targeting Nishi Gateway — a long-contested student housing development project slated for South Davis — after a closed-door meeting on Jan. 14.

News of the appeal drew condemnation from both council members and student representatives who support the project.

The original lawsuit, first filed by the Davis Coalition for Sensible Planning in early 2018, alleged that the proposed project violated California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the city’s own affordable housing ordinances. In 2019, Susan Rainer, one of the plaintiffs, told The California Aggie that she felt that “Davis leadership is incompetent.”

“Those of us who oppose the Lincoln40 and Nishi projects are not opposed to more housing being built, especially student housing,” Raini-

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2 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

ASUCD WINTER ELECTIONS WILL SEE NEW POSITION: STUDENT ADVOCATE

Students to define what it means to act as students’ voice sustainability

Students will vote to elect a student advocae in the upcoming ASUCD Winter Elections. (Photo by Quinn Spooner / Aggie File)

BY AL LY RUSSEL L campus@theaggie.org In the upcoming ASUCD Winter Elections, students have the chance to vote for a student advocate — a new position on campus. The student advocate has the potential to serve as an unprecedented guide for the student body, serving as a liaison between students and campus leadership, focusing on student rights, campus rules and other areas impacting students.

The position was officially introduced as an

ASUCD Bylaw during the 2018 Winter Quarter. Novejot Bal was appointed last quarter and currently serves as the student advocate. This upcoming election will be the first opportunity for students to vote to officially elect a student to the position.

As this new position is still being developed, students also have the unique opportunity to define the roles of the student advocate and decide how this role could best serve the campus.

Modeled after the position at both UC Berke-

ley and San Diego, the student advocate will assist students “charged with University or campus violations, experiencing financial aid difficulties, disputing grades, and/or filing grievances against members of the campus community,” according to the ASUCD Bylaws.

Beyond that, the current position description does not specify how the student advocate will function in regards to the number of students on the advocate’s staff or the organization of the Student Advocacy Office.

Jacob Ganz, a UC Davis alumni and former chair of the Internal Affairs Commission (IAC), authored the bill that introduced the position last winter.

“When writing this bill, we kept it very vague,” Ganz said. “I really wanted to give the first person free reign to create this position for themself. I know that’s a little risky and it could backfire, but if they are good, they’ll get to create this position without restraints.”

The student advocate is also designed to be a nonpartisan point of contact within the association.

Ashley Lo, a second-year economics and political science double major, is running unopposed for the position in the Winter Elections.

Lo, a former member of the IAC, helped Ganz create the student advocate position last year. Lo is the current chair of the IAC. “I would like to follow UC Berkeley’s model of assembling a team of caseworkers who are knowledgeable in each division’s specialty,” Lo

said. “My intention is to collaborate with resources on campus, such as the Office of Student Services and Judicial Affairs, UC Davis Financial Aid Office, Academic Senate, Aggie Compass Basic Needs Center, ASUCD Pantry and more to fill the roles and responsibilities not already offered to students on campus.”

Lo is also interested in improving and expanding existing services for students’ access to basic needs.

“I would like to offer programs such as Emergency Rental Assistance — a resource available at UC Berkeley — that aims to stabilize housing for students in emergency housing situations by providing them with a month’s rent,” Lo said.

Ganz encouraged all students to vote in the upcoming elections, taking place from Feb. 18– 21.

“Go vote, your vote is helping elect the position that’s going to make your voices heard,” Ganz said.

SHEREEN LEE / AGGIE

UCPATH RESOLUTION PASSES AT JAN. 23 ASUCD SENATE MEETING Senators debate “joke” candidates running in Winter Elections at meeting

BY R E BE CC A BI H N-WAL L AC E campus@theaggie.org The Jan. 23 ASUCD Senate meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. by Vice President Shreya Deshpande. Senators Lyla Schmedel and Sahiba Kaur were absent, as was Business and Finance Commission Chair Filip Stamenkovic.

Senators Juan Velasco and Samantha Boudaie were late.

Gender and Sexuality Commission (GASC) Chair Francesca de Nacochea said resolutions regarding gender-inclusive bathrooms on campus were being finalized and would likely come to a vote soon. Each individual then gave an update about their week, with topics including raising awareness about the Basic Needs Referendum and addressing the proposed tuition hike.

Deshpande then introduced SB #24, a piece of legislation clarifying the role of unit directors within the ASUCD Bylaws, which subsequently passed.

Senators then spent a sizable portion of the meeting debating the merits of Senate Bill #26, designed to regulate the ASUCD slate system and to prevent “joke” candidates from being featured on the ASUCD website.

As concerns have been expressed about ASUCD’s poor reputation — and particularly with the Basic Needs Referendum approaching during a time of extreme voter apathy — there is a concerted effort to clean up the website and present a more professional image of the student government. Thus, SB #26 stipulates that candidates running under a fake name will not be featured on the website. As Deshpande noted, SB #26 would also prevent these candidates from attaching themselves to slates before being vetted by slate leaders.

The majority of senators agreed that joke candidates need to be removed from the website. For example, there was recently a candidate who ran as “baby Yoda,” and another who ran under the name “F. U. C. K.” Others, however, expressed

concern that the bill created too much red tape and overstepped the Bylaws, especially given the current lack of an election commission chair.

Some felt that the problem was already solved by the fact that unserious candidates likely won’t be able to gather enough signatures to officially run anyways.

During the public discussion period, former ASUCD President Michael Gofman referred to the bill as both “redundant and counter-productive” and said that no one from the slates had been contacted about it before the meeting took place. Senator J.B. Martinez expressed his wish that the bill be enforced by an elections committee, and Senator Edgar Ramirez said the bill looked like corruption, “optics-wise,” since none of the slate members were contacted about it before the meeting that evening.

While Senator Mahan Carduny agreed on the suggested removal of fake candidates from the website, he also said proposing more regulations for slates wouldn’t address the “core issue of professionalism” within the organization. Senator Andre Spignolio expressed similar doubts.

Deshpande, as well as Senators Camille Randolph and Shondreya Landrum, expressed their support for the bill. Landrum said minority voters and voters of color are less likely to vote if the website continues to display “joke” candidates.

“Why would I vote for someone who doesn’t represent me and doesn’t take this seriously?”

Landrum asked.

Carduny echoed this sentiment.

Ultimately, due to a lack of consensus about its stipulations, Deshpande tabled the bill. The conversation then moved on to Senate Resolution #8, which addresses the ongoing problems created by UCPath, the new UC-wide payroll system that was implemented at UC Davis during Fall Quarter 2019.

RE AD FU LL ART ICLE ONLI NE

Calm down, you collegeaged kids!

January 25 “Female was dropped off last evening in the lobby, female advised she resides in the LA area and has no means to get back home.”

“Vehicle hit with eggs, continuous problem and appears several vehicles were hit in neighborhood.”

“Buttons being pressed then disconnect.”

“Black mini cooper speeding and cutting vehicles off.”

January 26 “College-aged kids drinking/swearing/ screaming/playing on zip track.”

“Lost a pair of blue skull candy wireless headphones while riding bike near this area.”

January 27 “Female whispering advised she didn’t want to wake her roommate up — accidentally called.”

January 28 “Reporting party was doing landscaping at this address and witnessed a male trying to steal leaf blower from yard.”

“Complaint of playing keyboard/drums.”

January 29 “Upstairs neighbors walking loudly.”

January 30 “Two males in hockey mask and beanies on bikes.”

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020 | 3

AGGIE PROFILE: DR. ROBERT FLANNERY, UC DAVIS ALUMNUS AND PH.D. OF POT™ CEO of Dr. Robb Farms discusses cutting-edge cannabis research, starting his own farm, destigmatization KA ITLY N PA N G / AG GI E

BY ANJINI VENUGOPAL features@theaggie.org Dr. Robert Flannery, The First Ph.D. Of Pot™ — a title he has personally trademarked — is both the CEO of Dr. Robb Farms and a UC Davis alumni. He’s always had somewhat of a connection to plant sciences, however, this didn’t truly manifest until college. Flannery recalled growing up in Southern California where his maternal grandfather grew a large amount of fruits and vegetables on an “itty bitty piece of property.” Flannery’s grandfather was born and raised in Malta, a small cluster of islands in the Mediterranean, where there was not much arable land so families grew their own food.

It was after taking BIS 1C with the late professor of plant biology, Robert Thornton, that Flannery decided to major in plant biology.

“I was growing out a beard, I was wearing my Birkenstocks and socks and things like that — your typical Davis things — and lo and behold, Dr. Thornton and his TA at the time, we [all] looked like we could have been family members,” Flannery said. “We all just had the same look going on.”

As a student athlete, having to submit to

urine tests every other week to ensure his eligibility for football meant that he never consumed cannabis in any form — however, this isn’t an accurate indication of how his career would later develop. Flannery is now spearheading cannabis cultivation research and finds his passion in educating the public about the different benefits of the plant and drug.

Recruited to Dr. Heiner Lieth’s lab after finishing his undergraduate degree, Flannery continued his education at UC Davis as a Ph.D. student. He had been a strong student in his math classes and worked on mathematical modeling related to hydroponics and greenhouse production.

Flannery still talks to Lieth often and jokes that the real reason he was accepted to the lab was to carry all the heavy equipment.

Later in his career, as production director at SPARC, “a long-trusted source for the highest quality cannabis,” according to its website, Flannery oversaw all aspects of cultivation and production for the company. As he got more involved in the industry, he talked to many growers in California and other states.

“I really quickly realized that cannabis cultivation at that time was pretty much a Wild West since it’d been illegal [recreationally],” Flannery

UC DAVIS MENTAL HEALTH CONFERENCE FOCUSES ON AWARENESS, REDUCING STIGMA

Fourth annual conference hosted presentations by experts and students in a broad spectrum of fields

LEI OTSU KA / AGGIE

BY LEI OTSUKA features@theaggie.org Students and Davis community members alike gathered to the UC Davis Conference Center on Jan. 25 to start the fourth annual Mental Health Conference. Inspired by the Reclaim Mental Health Conference hosted by UC Irvine, the UC Davis Mental Health Conference first began in 2016 as an entirely student-run ASUCD project and is the largest mental health conference in northern California. This year, the conference garnered international attention and had over 300 attendees.

The two-day conference is run by the mental health initiative with support from ASUCD — though getting funding has not been easy, ac-

cording to Deborah Widjaja, the co-director of the Mental Health Initiative. Widjaja, who is also a fifth-year neurology, physiology and behavior major, attested to the efforts of the mental health initiative team members and board for organizing the event.

“I personally have worked with many other organizations both in high school and my earlier years in college, and I’ve never worked with a team as compassionate and loving and dedicated as these folks who are fighting for a cause that is so highly stigmatized,” Widjaja said.

The conference sought to raise awareness for various topics surrounding mental health as it becomes an ever prevalent issue among college students. According to a report by the American College Health Association, 41.9% of college

said. “These growers didn’t have access to quality research or coming to UC Davis or Cal Poly and saying, ‘Hey, I need help with this.’ A lot of them had to figure it out themselves, which is rather impressive.”

A notable problem, though, was that pesticides and compounds that growers were using for plant growth regulation should not have been used. Myclobutanil, which is used as a fungicide, released hydrogen cyanide when heated — the compound that was used in Nazi concentration camps for mass killings, Flannery explained.

When he told growers that myclobutanil should not be used on cannabis, many of them would respond with some version of “I don’t care,” which blew his mind. Since the legalization of recreational marijuana, however, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation has myclobutanil listed as a pesticide that cannot be used in cannabis cultivation. Flannery said consumers should feel safe purchasing from a licensed dispensary given the fact that cannabis cultivation is regulated.

One day when he was at work at SPARC, Flannery received a call from his mother informing him that she had been diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. Surrounded by cannabis at work, he told her that he could get her access to cannabis if she wanted.

“My mom went to college in the ‘60s and she was invited to a pot party — she literally thought she was going to a Tupperware showing party,” Flannery said. “She is really naive when it comes to cannabis.”

She said yes, but said she would only take edibles and wouldn’t smoke. Everything that Flannery had grown and knew was clean was to be smoked, and he had the highest of standards when it came to his mom. Eventually he found Kiva, and his mom says that the edibles “really saved her life” when it came to chemotherapy.

Flannery realized that there was a demand for clean cannabis, but a majority of patients didn’t realize what they were getting and didn’t know if it was clean or not. With his Ph.D. from UC Davis and experience in the cannabis industry, Flannery had the idea for Dr. Robb Farms.

“Ultimately, [recreational legalization] opened up the marketplace,” Flannery said. “California is the largest market for cannabis.”

He recalled a discussion with a colleague about one of the larger Canadian cannabis companies, mentioning that there were 30,000 registered cannabis patients in Canada. In California at that time, there were 1.6 million.

When recreational use was legalized, not only

did the size of the marketplace increase as people moved away from the illicit market, but it also broadened the field in research.

“Legalization spurred many cannabis producers to seek scientific guidance from UC Davis, particularly in agriculture and medicine,” Dan Flynn, the Dean’s representative on Strategic Initiatives for the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, said via email.

Flannery agreed with this and mentioned notable findings that contradict common misperceptions about cannabis. “‘There’s also a lot of science and [increased] knowledge around cannabis,” Flannery said.

“We’ve been fed a lot of propaganda the past 80 years and beyond that cannabis is this terrible, terrible crop. We don’t see an increased incidence of COPD, we don’t see a decrease in lung capacity for people who smoke cannabis every day. This is a fairly benign plant.”

The LD50, or median lethal dose, is the amount of a substance that is lethal for half a population, is unknown for cannabis, but it is estimated to be well over 300 pounds, according to Flannery.

“Ultimately, when it comes down to it, cannabis is less acutely toxic than many other substances,” he said.

Flannery is on the board of advisors for the Cannabis and Hemp Research Institute, which was established to provide leadership in different types of cannabis research.

“Legalization also prompted the great need for research on the economic, legal, health and environmental impacts of legalization,” said Cindy Kiel, the executive associate vice chancellor from the office of research, via email.

“Unfortunately, legalization in California has not affected federal requirements related to cannabis remaining listed as a Schedule 1 drug. We must conduct research with cannabis the same way we historically have always had to — with a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) license and using only with the single DEA-approved source at the University of Mississippi.”

Products offered by Dr. Robb Farms include Mom’s Formula, a daily tablet with CBD and THC, and Eagle, which is Flannery’s ode to his grandfather. Flannery’s grandfather was a paratrooper who landed 20 miles away from the front lines during D-day. In fighting his way up, a grenade exploded by him and his arm was severed below his elbow.

R EAD FULL ARTI CLE ONLI NE

students have “felt so depressed that it was difficult to function” and 63.4% have felt “overwhelming anxiety” in the past 12 months.

Opening keynote speaker Dailyn Santana, a Cuban-American actress and mental health advocate, started off the conference with a spoken word poem. Her presentation focused on combating stigma as she spoke of her own experiences with bipolar disorder.

“I remember my parents feeling personally responsible for my manic episode. They felt like they failed me as a parent, that it was all their fault,” Santana said. “But, the reality is, my illness had to finally make itself present in a way that I could finally get the diagnosis and help that I need.”

The conference also featured 12 different speakers in four different 50-minute workshop sets with the option to choose between three speakers during each workshop.

Each workshop set featured a range of topics that touched upon different aspects of mental health, including police use of force and individuals with mental illness, harm reduction and music therapy. Second-year neurology, physiology, and behavior major Macy Mehdioun, who is also a team member of the UC Davis mental health initiative, said this broad approach is crucial in gaining perspective on mental health issues.

“We address mental health with people on the autism spectrum* or with immigration, so it’s trying to address different topics and the way mental health connects with everything,” Mehdioun said. “Just to learning something new and [to be] able to use what you learn from this conference in everyday life.”

While a wide range of topics were covered, each speaker delved deep into their subject area.

For instance, Dr. Laramie Taylor, who is also a UC Davis professor in the department of communication, began his presentation about the power of the media in influencing how individuals think about their bodies by introducing research data, building upon this to draw conclusions about how to improve mental wellness.

Student and professional panels were also run during the first day of the conference, providing attendees a chance to learn from industry special-

ists in counseling and emergency medicine. The day closed out with a one-and-a-half hour Question Persuade Refer (QPR) session, which helps individuals identify the signs of suicide and how to respond in such a situation.

The city of Davis itself offers many different resources to support mental health wellness and awareness, and those were highlighted during the resource fair at the conference. Groups such as the Yolo County chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), an organization that educates and advocates for mental illness recovery, and the Postpartum Anxiety N’ Depression Advocates (PAN’DA), a student organized club at UC Davis that raises awareness about perinatal mood disorders, were tabling at the event.

Several attendees said the conference shed light on some of the more important issues in mental health. First-year biochemistry and molecular biology major Jagnoor Randhawa found the event to be greatly beneficial in expanding in her awareness of mental health and ways of approaching the relating issues.

“I feel like having a mental health conference is a great way to show awareness and also reduce stigma regarding mental health issues,” Randhawa said. “Due to mental health awareness, the chances for early intervention can increase, which can result in a fast recovery.”

Co-director of the Mental Health Initiative Cindy Chen, a fourth-year animal science major, said her hope is that the mental health conference leaves a lasting impact year after year on the people who attend.

“The workshops and panels are equally important and it’s a place for people to share their stories, and it gives people the chance to see how each individual handles their situation differently,” Chen said. “I hope people keep [the stories] in mind and that gives them more ideas for how to spread mental health awareness in the future [...] and that it kind of helps alleviate the stigma a little bit better, and that it can help keep the conversation going.” *The Alternative Treatments for Autism workshop was canceled and a Supporting People with Hoarding Challenges workshop was held instead.

4 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

SAMIN NOSRAT SPEAKS AT MONDAVI CENTER A true maverik in the food industry: “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat” chef, author is sophisticated yet humble AG G I E F I L E S

BY A L LY RUSSE L L , L IZ JACO BSON & C A R O L I NE RUTT EN arts@theaggie.org Samin Nosrat, author of the celebrated cookbook “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking” and star of the Netflix series of the same title and based on her book, shined at the Mondavi Center on Jan. 29. In a moderated discussion with Charlotte Biltekoff, associate professor of American studies and food science and technology, Nosrat covered everything from her rise to fame, to the challenges she has faced navigating life as an Iranian-American and how food has served as a vehicle to join to-

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gether the different versions of herself.

In an easy back-and-forth, Nosrat immediately made audience members feel at home. Pulling the couch’s staged pillow onto her lap, she explained this is how she gets herself comfortable when she goes to therapy. Nosrat embodied the same grounded, down-to-earth style she’s been celebrated for in her Netflix documentary and no-fuss cookbook. She has honed the skill of making herself feel comfortable around her, and people left the Mondavi feeling like they knew more than just her resume, with a true sense of who she is.

In the same way she has successfully fused her love of writing and cooking, Nosrat had ample experience working to navigate different identi-

ties and a sense of belonging while growing up.

She said a questioning of where she belongs is what drives her.

“I am that person that can come over to anyone’s house and, by the end of the night, I feel like I’m part of your family,” Nosrat said. “I can go anywhere and be a version of me to fit in with you. I have really honed the skill of making people feel comfortable around me and not threatened. That is, on one hand, an amazing super power [and] on the other hand, I wonder if I’m always contorting myself to be another version for you then who [...] the real me [is].”

As a San Diegan from an Iranian family, Nosrat is a self-identified Mexican food addict.

While studying English at UC Berkeley, it was

the French-Italian restaurant Chez Panisse — the original farm-to-table restaurant run by Alice Waters and Paul Aratow — that fueled her desire to enter the world of cooking. She fell in love with the atmosphere of Chez Panisse: The sophistication, gourmet and the feeling of being taken care of created “a magical place.”

“The kitchen was like a ballet,” she said.

Nosrat inspired many of the college students in attendance — most of whom are about to embark on new journeys or have changed their major at least once. Her commitment to sharing her failures made her appear grounded. The courage and grit and gusto it takes to switch career paths, all while staying true to her roots, again shows her sincerity and willingness to do the hard work.

And it’s her passion for her work that makes her stand out.

“I know what it feels like to be afraid to try,” Nosrat said.

Belonging to a world of pretentious and intimidating professional chefs, most of whom are white men, Nosrat’s relaxed and welcoming nature is a refreshing change for book readers and Netflix bingers alike. In her work and in her words, her love for food is clear.

Nosrat is one of the few women of color who have broken into the mainstream and successful group of authors writing general cooking — not just Iranian cuisine, a corner people have often attempted to limit her to.

Throughout her career as a food writer and columnist for The New York Times, Nosrat said she’s worked to push the envelope of diversity in the industry. Nosrat recognizes that her success does not exist in a vacuum. She spoke thoughtfully and honestly about race in the U.S. and was humble about her work, acknowledging that it is only real and uncomfortable sacrifices that will make change, not a television show. Food can’t make a difference by itself, but it does act as a bridge.

While many chefs of color are encouraged and celebrated for cooking food that relates to their heritage, Nosrat spends a lot of time focusing on the culinary influences in her life that stretch beyond her Iranian heritage.

Nosrat and Biltekoff ended the night with a question-and-answer segment. She encouraged the young people present to ask their questions first, and chose to wait to hear the more lofty and sophisticated questions from the adults.But the children quickly proved that they are capable of asking thought-provoking questions, which Nosrat answered with care and her signature infectious smile.

BY MAT H ILDA S ILVER STEI N arts@theaggie.org

TV Show: “Daria” (1997-2001) Winter Quarter is widely acknowledged as the darkest, coldest and heaviest quarter to bare. Just as one eats comfort foods to get through the season, I watch “Daria” to brighten up the long nights. With its vibrant colors, dark feminist humor and quirky characters, this throwback cartoon soon became my go-to show for zoning out after a tiring day. The title character is a grungy highschooler who makes snarky, monotone commentary on the mundane nature of growing up in suburbia, often interacting with jocks, cheerleaders, overbearing teachers and her preppy sister. Her best friend, Jane, is similarly cynical and checks Daria on her existential monologues. Its five seasons are available to watch on Hulu.

Movie: “Boy” dir. by Taika Waititi (2010) With recent box office successes such as “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Jojo Rabbit,” Taika Waititi has become a household name. However, the Kiwi writer and director is not new to the scene. “Boy,” Waititi’s sophomore film, is a poignant coming-of-age dramedy about a young Maori boy (James Rolleston) who goes by the nickname “Boy.” Boy idolizes Michael Jackson and his absent father (Taika Waititi). He has a hard time making friends at school and struggles to navigate his complicated family life, so he uses his vivid imagination to create a more bearable reality for himself and his younger brother, Rocky. The film conjured tears of sorrow and laughter. The North Island coastal scenery is beautiful, the acting is imaginative and the story is both sweet and melancholic.

Book: “Americanah” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2013) I read this book a few summers ago, but revisited it because of the announcement for the exciting upcoming film adaptation, produced by Lupita Nyong’o, who will also star in the film. “Americanah” tells the story of Ifemelu, a young Nigerian woman who moves to the U.S., gets an Ivy-League education, blogs and falls in and out of love over the course of the story. Adichie’s writing brings the reader in with a stream-of-consciousness style. The emotional imagery is so vivid and moving that in reading the novel, I became nostalgic for Lagos, a place I’ve never visited. It is an excellent story about immigration that shows hardships and romance in a personal and human way.

Album: “Pang” by Caroline Polachek (2019) Caroline Polachek’s breakout album “Pang” has a song for every mood. With its Celtic sound and low horn accompaniment, “Insomnia” can be played whether looking wistfully out a window at pastoral landscapes or at your spooky low-fi Halloween party. “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings” makes you want to text your ex in the best way possible.

“Door” is on my most-listened-to playlist and drives my friends nuts with its melismatic repetition. It is excellent for jamming in the car or studying for midterms.

Honorable mention: And the Anonymous Nobody… by De La Soul (2016) “And the anonymous nobody...” is De La Soul’s comeback album from 2016 that I recently rediscovered. With skits that deconstruct popular music and iconic features such as David Byrne, 2Chainz and Little Dragon, it is well worth a conscious, sit-down listen.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020 | 5

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Opinion THE

C ALIFORNIA A GGIE

E DI TO R I AL B OAR D KAELYN TUERMER-LEE Editor-in-Chief HANNAH HOLZER Managing Editor KENTON GOLDSBY Campus News Editor STELLA TRAN City News Editor HANADI JORDAN Opinion Editor CLAIRE DODD Features Editor LIZ JACOBSON Arts & Culture Editor DOMINIC FARIA Sports Editor CECILIA MORALES Science & Tech Editor

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

Goodbye, Lower Freeborn

Aggie editors share what the basement means to them Kaelyn Tuermer Lee, Editor-in-Chief Dear Lower Freeborn, Although you’re seismically unsound, have a bagel sitting up by the ceiling that’s been there for who knows how long and have a 99% chance of containing asbestos, I’m thankful to have been a part of The California Aggie’s 105year history (and counting). After working down in 25 Lower Freeborn for all four years of my college career, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Thank you for all the memories I’ve made behind your brick walls, and for the friendships that will leave with me. I’m grateful for the late nights in the office putting together layout, the hours of endorsement interviews and the proud feeling of distributing our latest issue (at 6 a.m., I might add). Most of all, thank you for being my second home — your walls might be torn down, but your impact is everlasting.

With much love, Kaelyn Hannah Holzer, Managing Editor I was a very indecisive senior in high school and I couldn’t choose a college, so a friend of mine, a first-year at UC Davis, agreed to show me around campus. She knew I was interested in journalism, so the two of us timidly ventured into the depths of Freeborn Hall. What greeted us in The California Aggie’s office was a gaggle of friends who looked like they were having the best time ever. We hesitantly asked for a tour of the office, and the ever-charming Bryan Sykes — who would, two years later, become one of my dearest friends and most relied upon mentors — volunteered. That first impression has always stuck with me, because that’s our office: the best people, trying their absolute best to put out good, quality journalism and having the best time doing it. 25 Lower Freeborn, I’ll miss you dearly.

Kenton Goldsby, Campus News Editor I knew we’d have to move out of our beloved Lower Freeborn Hall eventually — the university said we must. But now that the day has come and the boxes must be packed, dread has finally set in. It’s the same feeling I felt as a child every time my parents told me that we had to move. The feeling of saying “Goodbye,” with no “I’ll see you later;” especially now, since my home is going to be unceremoniously torn down. Gone forever. On some far-flung, future Picnic Day, I’ll show my kids where you once stood and tell them how you, that windowless room in the basement of a seismically-unfit building, were where I met my best friends, learned more than I ever could have learned in a class and made more memories than I could ever write down. I’ll miss you, 25 Lower Freeborn Hall.

Stella Tran, City News Editor A Parody of William Shakepeare’s Sonnet 130 Our Lower Freeborn Hall is nothing like the tall skyscraper of The New York Times.

The Memorial Union has far better Wi-Fi, than Lower Freeborn has Wi-Fi. If Davis is safe, why then is Lower Freeborn susceptible to 5 a.m. alarm crimes.

If rooms need windows, not a single window is found in Lower Freeborn’s supply.

And yet, I think I’ll miss this place more than ever.

Nostalgic, Lower Freeborn will have a place in our hearts as we head on our next endeavor.

Hanadi Jordan, Opinion Editor When I first joined The California Aggie my second year at UC Davis, I didn’t expect to fall in love with Lower Freeborn as much as I would the work I did as a columnist. But almost two years later, and now the place where I find myself almost every day of the week, it’s difficult to say goodbye to this building. It’s not just the memories I’ve made, but the memories and spirit of the work of past editors, writers, copy chiefs, photographers and so many others that fill this room that makes this goodbye so hard. I’ll forever be grateful to my fellow editors for the support and friendship formed in this room the past few quarters, my former editors — Taryn and Nick — who helped me grow within these walls as a writer and to Freeborn itself for providing me all these wonderful opportunities, the memories of which will outlast the place in which they were made.

Claire Dodd, Features Editor Although the Wi-Fi can never be relied on when you need it most, and the alarm system has attempted to sabotage the staff time and time again and “lower” is really just a nice way to say basement, Lower Freeborn is a comforting place and there is a particular sadness in the air as its tenants begin to vacate.

25 Lower Freeborn is the heart and soul of The Aggie, a place that intrigued and intimidated me when I first interviewed. Since that fateful day in October of 2018, I have grown so much as a writer, student and person, and will always be grateful for my experiences in these seismically unsafe halls.

Liz Jacobson, Arts & Culture Editor I remember the first time I walked into 25 Lower Freeborn. I spent over an hour picking out the perfect interview outfit — not too dressed up, but not too casual. I’m happy to say that that interview went well, and 25 Lower Freeborn has become my second home over the past four years. It’s where I have taken many naps on couches that have never been cleaned, squeezed in 10-piece bands, made life-long friends and watched writers and editors grow as both journalists and people. But most importantly, it is where I’ve gotten to be truly the best version of myself, no matter what I was wearing. Thank you and I miss you already, 25 Lower Freeborn.

Dominic Faria, Sports Editor It’s not a hall, it’s a home. It’s where history literally lives out loud and in full color upon its cluttered walls; Where I could escape the bustle of UC Davis’ crowded campus without actually leaving campus; Where I ignited my passion for UC Davis sports and deepened by Aggie pride; Where I spent hours describing and reveling some of the most exciting athletic events in this school’s history; Where I learned to love not seeing the sun for hours on end; And where I discovered that CoHo bagels don’t really decompose. Cheers to you, Freeborn, thanks for being weird.

Cecilia Morales, Science Editor 25 Lower Freeborn will always hold a special place in my heart. This office has seen various iterations of me as I grew with The Aggie for four years and throughout my college life in general, always serving as a home on campus for me to stop by. Looking around at all the various jokes, memorabilia, photos, etcetera makes you feel comforted by students that have been here before and excited about how you might leave a mark on our beloved college newspaper.

Despite us needing outside validation, the reactions visitors have to our office say it all: This office is worth remembering.

Social media: the game SOCIAL MEDIA IS A GAME WE PLAY AGAINST OTHERS AND OURSELVES

BY C A LV I N CO F F E E cscoffee@ucdavis.edu The video game industry is expected to generate more than $160 billion in revenue this year.

It is estimated that 65% of American adults play video games, but we all play digital games of our own each time we scroll through social media.

Gamification is known as the use of game design elements outside of traditional games, where socialization meets technology. This brand of entertainment is not only indicative of the relationship between social media and gaming, but of our society as a whole — everything from our fridges to our cars are gamified.

Social media feeds and video games are constructed similarly. Codes, algorithms and assets build the digital worlds with which we interface on a daily basis. Designers make conscious decisions about which features support social play and continued engagement, creating structures for us to interactively communicate.

Both social media and video games are traditionally believed to be anti-social spaces, but with the rise of connectivity capabilities, they are becoming entirely different ways to be social –– or so we think.

Social media even has arcade-like highscores that we give ourselves in the form of likes, retweets and follower counts. If we write a good comment, we expect to be rewarded with a plethora of likes.

Risk and reward are at the core of every interaction we have online. Whether that means deciding to post a certain picture or responding to a text or game invite right away, our time depends entirely on how and when we choose to interact. “Black Mirror” depicts this relationship in the episode “Nosedive,” in which characters rate other humans based on their interactions — a world not far off from the one we are creating today. Rating each and every interaction is what we already do in nearly every gig economy. Uber, Lyft and Airbnb all are built on this form of surveillance to hold users accountable.

In this massively multiplayer online game — this social media world in which we live — we construct characters for ourselves and interact with the other characters in our lives. No one really believes that we realistically represent ourselves online, and why should they? It’s all part of the game. We evolve and update our profiles in the same way that we gain experience points and level up our characters.

Just like all games, there are varying levels of engagement and difficulty which we can all take

RA B IDA / AGG IE

part. We can be passive and just watch the posts we follow, or we can be active and try to create media of ourselves.

Media incentivizes users by rewarding them for the hours spent on their platform. Snapchat gives you badges for certain achievements that you can collect like trophies. Instagram lets users upload highlights from their life just like you would a highlight, or replay, from a video game. It lets users livestream and share experiences the same way Twitch users can livestream games online.

Twitch is the ultimate combination of both social media and video games. With more than 15 million unique daily viewers, it is becoming a staple in most households. It uses every social aspect of games and puts it all in one spot.

Social media is a skill we have to maintain, like a muscle or body that we have to keep in shape.

Influencers and content producers, like professional gamers, constantly hone their skills.

Social media has already infiltrated games. The most profitable entertainment product of all time, Grand Theft Auto V, made social media a part of gameplay through an in-game phone that lets you access apps like “Life Invader.” This Facebook-like app allows users to “stalk” their friends and satirically publicizes data mining.

Video games and social media are built on social and technical systems. Together they create a network that is highly valued in our increasingly technological society, forcing people to be social in new ways. This demand for social interaction in conjunction with our mounting isolation characterizes much of our generation’s internal conflict. Existing in front of the comfort of our screens while still wanting to be connected to the world is an inherent struggle. We’ve become hooked on the game of social interaction while remaining isolated ourselves.

6 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

GOING TO THE MOVIES ALONE ISN’T WEIRD No one cares that you’re by yourself

T ESSA KOGA / AG GIE

BY JU L I ET TA BI S H A RYA N jsbisharyan@ucdavis.edu I remember being in the eighth grade, reading S.E. Hinton’s “The Outsiders” (as eighth graders do) and coming across the line: “When I see a movie with someone it’s kind of uncomfortable, like having someone read your book over your shoulder.” It always struck me as strange that the main character, Ponyboy, engaged with movies the same way he did with books and that he found it to be a more solitary activity than a social one.

Now, whenever I go see a movie with friends, I always have that quote in the back of my mind, and I’m more aware of my friends experiencing the exact same thing at the exact same time. It’s not like finishing a book by yourself and finding someone to talk about it with. You and your friend have started and finished this moving storybook together.

Although it’s fun to have someone to talk to during the previews or when the credits start to

roll, I often don’t have time to formulate my own opinion before my friends tell me theirs.

What Ponyboy and many others prefer is to go to the movies alone. For many, it may seem odd to pay $10 to sit by yourself in a large theater, surrounded by couples or loud groups of friends.

We are so used to regarding cinema as a hotspot for dates or hangouts. Movie-going has become its own social culture. The idea of walking up to the ticket booth and saying “one ticket, please” seems far more daunting than it actually is.

Often, when we see people seated alone at the theater, we assume that they’re either lonely or weird. It’s like when someone is eating by themselves at a restaurant — you can’t help but feel bad and assume that they’d rather be seated with someone.

But in the past couple of months, there have been many times when I’ve walked past Regal Cinemas on my way home, looked at the movie posters and felt tempted to walk in alone.

We shop, go to the gym and get coffee by ourselves — why should going to the movies

alone be any different?

There could be a specific movie that you’ve been wanting to see, but none of your friends want to see it. Not everyone wants to spend their Friday night watching “Little Women” or “Frozen 2.” With busy weeks filled with class and work, sometimes your schedules never match up.

But if you keep postponing your movie dates, you might never get the chance to see it before it leaves the theater.

You often don’t get the chance to fully digest a film before your friends tell you what they think.

On numerous occasions, I have left the theater feeling satisfied and excited to talk about how great it was, only for my friend to tell me how much they hated it. Then, I either have to pretend to agree or try to convince them otherwise.

Also, if you go alone, you don’t have to feel responsible if the movie you picked was bad.

Whenever I convince someone to see a movie with me, I’m hoping that they aren’t bored the whole time.

If the film ends up being a flop, I always feel

a little guilty that I wasted my friend’s time and money.

Most of all, some of us harbor an underlying fear of being seen alone. We watch Netflix or Youtube by ourselves all the time and have no problem with it. It’s the part where we stand out as a loner among groups of people that give us the most anxiety.

Reading books or playing video games is designed to be a solo activity. Physically driving to the theater, buying a ticket and watching a movie is marketed to be social. The last thing we want is for people to make inferences about our social lives.

Watching movies at the theater is a more intimate and solitary experience than you’d think. It might not be your friend’s reactions that you hear, but you’re still surrounded by a crowd of people experiencing the same film as you.

You’re able to spend quality time with yourself and watch a film that you’ve been wanting to see.

And most of the time, no one is even looking at you — even if you think they are.

HUMOR

CONFIRMED: DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE X AGREED WITH YOU ON [SALIENT ISSUE] WAY BACK IN 1996 This is FIRE

BY B E NJAMIN PO RT ER bbporter@ucdavis.edu

MA R I O R O D R I G U E Z / AGGI E

You know that thing you care a lot about?

That thing you’re willing to start arguments and cancel people over? That thing you write social media posts about everyday? No, no, no — not that thing, the other one. Yes, that one.

Well, the verdict is in. It can now be said with absolute certainty that your opinion on that thing — that issue you care so much about — is the correct one. Yes, the correct opinion. You have it.

It must be a relief to finally know that. I’m sure you’ve been pulling your hair out and wasting away for years, waiting to figure out whether your opinion on this issue was the right one. I’m just kidding, I’m sure you’ve never stopped to consider it. If I told you right now that many of your many opinions are the incorrect ones, I’d bet it wouldn’t even faze you.

Anyway, I’m bringing up this issue because we here at “The News” have just uncovered some old archival footage of Demoratic Candidate X. Believe it or not, it reveals that they agreed with YOU about that issue way back in 1996.

I know you liked Democratic Candidate Y, but unfortunately, they didn’t agree with you until 2005. This means it is now confirmed that Democratic Candidate X is objectively better than Candidate Y. I’m sorry if you liked Candidate Y, but by now you really should

understand that these primaries are about being right first. It’s a race to be right. Whoa, wait a sec, I meant a race to be left. To be left. Left is right and right is wrong. All they can do is make a left turn from the left lane and a wrong turn from the right lane. Yeah, that’s right. I mean left.

Ah yes, Candidate Y. Yes, they were on a good run for several important issues, but in 1996, Candidate X beat them to the left right at the moment they said, “This salient issue is really a major issue, and the American people aren’t going to take it anymore, which is why I support Candidate Z’s solution.” Oh s**t, where the hell did Candidate Z come from? We didn’t know that they believed that. Well this ruins everything now. We’re going to have to totally recalculate who is objectively the best and who you need to cancel. Let me just — wait — ah hell — we’re just getting word from a campaign event in Iowa that Candidate Q now agrees with you too.

Normally this wouldn’t matter since Candidates X, Y and Z said it first. But Candidate Q just said it way more authentically than any of them did, so we’re having difficulty computing who’s more authentic as a function of who said it first and who said it in a more charismatic way. We’ll have some nice little think pieces and listicles out very shortly that will let you know who to support and who to cancel. In the meantime, perhaps we’ll just let you decide for yourself. But don’t get used to that.

“GREAT WORKS OF ART ARE ALWAYS CONTROVERSIAL,” SAYS CREATIVE GENIUS JARED KUSHNER ABOUT HIS DIVISIVE MIDDLE EAST PEACE PLAN A political failure or an artistic triumph?

G AG E S K I D M O R E / FLI C K R

BY B EN JA M I N P O RT E R bbporter@ucdavis.edu If you’re a sane human being, an increasingly rare combination of traits, you likely remain hopeful that we can still achieve a peaceful twostate solution to the Israel-Palestine Conflict — a solution that shows great respect to Palestinians and Israelis alike, while also forcing both sides to

make concessions. Arriving at this ideal outcome requires an elegant and artful approach to diplomacy.

This is why art patrons worldwide were positively thrilled when President Donald Trump delegated the Melania-old — excuse me — millenia-old challenge of bringing peace to the Middle East once and for all to his baby-faced son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Kushner is an up-and-

coming real estate artist known for his avantgarde work in the slumlord sub-genre. Despite being new to the art of diplomacy, Kushner has demonstrated great humility. “‘Every artist was once an amateur,’ said Ralph Waldo Emerson,” said Kushner. “I learned that quote after my dad bought me that ticket to Harvard.”

To prepare for this diplomacy-real estate fusion project, Kushner quickly read 25 books on the Israel-Palestine conflict to bring himself up to speed with the professionals. Yet he remains confident that his youth has given him a leg-up on the career diplomats whose tastes tend to be more traditional and perhaps less tolerant of the fresh creative spirit of younger people, especially those in real estate. “‘Every child is an artist — the problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up,’ said Picasso,” said Kushner.

It took three years, but the Kushner peace deal has finally been released, and the silky soft contours of Kushner’s cushy face prove that he has not grown up. What does that mean for the quality of the piece itself?

Well, it’s clear that Kushner went about drawing his new map of the Middle East with great skill, technical mastery and command of his craft, painting a clear picture of how he envisions the future borders of the Israeli and Palestinian states. “‘A picture is a poem without words,’ said Horace,” said Kushner. “Alternatively, ‘You don’t take a photograph, you make it,’ said Ansel Adams.”

Kushner’s magnum opus, however, has fiercely divided the critics, with many suggesting that he lacked inspiration and purity of artistic intent. The deal was labeled provocative and unfair, with The New York Times writing that the plan “strongly favors Israeli priorities rather than having both sides make significant concessions.” “‘Painting is easy when you don’t know how

but very difficult when you do,’ said Degas,” said Kushner. Kushner later noted that it would be unwise to make concessions, given that snackfood wrappers are noisy and would clutter the table, distracting from the peace-making process.

The plan has sparked protests in Gaza and the West Bank, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has already rejected it. This has not dispirited Kushner. “‘Creativity takes courage,’ said Henri Matisse,” said Kushner.

The widespread anger over the plan is likely related to Kushner’s bold creative decision to entirely exclude Palestinian input. Nevertheless, President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are pleased that the uproar over this daring aesthetic choice has distracted their fans from their respective impeachment and corruption trials. Netanyahu referred to the plan as the “deal of the century,” despite the international community’s strong criticism of its flaws.

“We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents,’ said Bob Ross,” said Kushner.

“We didn’t actually want to make a deal that pleases everyone — we wanted to challenge people intellectually and expand their ideas of what’s possible with the “peace deal” medium.

Plus, what great works of art haven’t been controversial? Think of Igor Stravinsky’s ballet, ‘The Rite of Spring.’ It’s a mark of success that our work has infuriated people in the same way as one of the greatest works of modern art of the 20th century.”

At the 1913 Paris premiere of ‘The Rite,’ the audience rioted in response to the violent, subversive, modernist music and choreography. “‘Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal,’ said Stravinsky,” said Kushner.

Given the significant portions of land in the West Bank that Israel would be allowed to “annex” under the plan, it’s obvious that Kushner truly aspires to be considered a great artist.

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020 | 7

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.

Answer to previous puzzle

8 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

ASUCD HOUSING DAY 2020 TODAY! 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the UC Davis Arc Pavilion Over 50 apartment complexes will be in attendance.

Come for prizes, giveaways and free food!

AFSCMECONTACT

NISHIAPPEAL

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AFSCME Local 3299 intern Isabelle Chavez, a third-year sociology major at UC Davis, has been part of the union’s campaign to renegotiate the contracts since she was a first-year.

According to Chavez, the union had a lot of provisions they wanted, and every time the UC and AFSCME Local 3299 leaders met, the UC would only accept one thing on the union’s list.

“AFSCME had a strict vision of never settling for anything, which was good because they got everything they wanted,” Chavez said.

To advocate for their aims, AFSCME Local 3299 allies and workers focused on more than just strikes. Chavez said student interns for AFSCME Local 3299 have shown up at UC Regents’ houses and that she, along with other folks, often marched to Chancellor Gary May’s house to speak with him.

“We feel sometimes like no one’s listening, but you just have to step up [the pressure],” she said.

Despite the excitement of the past week, the AFSCME Local 3299 campaign was also emotionally trying. Chavez first got into labor organizing after hearing on-campus workers share their stories.

“I’ve heard many counts of harassment in the workplace — I couldn’t just stand around and watch these workers be mistreated,” she said. “Some folks I knew employed by the UC really hated whoever their boss was and how the system operated for them, so this has been a really painful fight.”

AFSCME Local 3299 employees and the union have both faced problems throughout the three-year negotiation period.

A 2018 Supreme Court decision in Janus

vs. AFSCME took millions of dollars away from public employee unions, including AFSCME Local 3299, by declaring fair share fees, or dues paid by non-member workers, unconstitutional. The case, sponsored by anti-union organizations, aimed to prevent unions from obscuring details about when members could opt out of union membership.

Another trying incident occurred on Oct. 25, 2018 when an alleged UC Davis managerial worker “aggressively attempted to drive his truck through the [AFSCME] picket line as he repeatedly honked to scare the picketers,” according to a letter that demanded action from UC Davis. The incident resulted in AFSCME Local 3299 employees filing an unfair labor practice charge with the Public Employment Relations Board in March 2019.

With the tentative contracts close to ratification, Lybarger said she believed AFSCME Local 3299’s work brought income inequality, the shrinking middle class and the power of large public institutions to light.

“It is our hope that the history we’ve made today can begin a new era of constructive dialogue between the university and its dedicated career workforce,” Lybarger said.

Chavez said AFSCME Local 3299 is still negotiating a contract for workers at UC Hastings.

“Though they’re still waiting, three out of four UC groups represented by ASFCME 3299 got their contracts and made history in the process,” she said. “These workers have some of the best contracts in California and they did that through three years of strikes and direct action. It’s a big deal.”

We are defending this appeal because housing is badly needed and our citizens’ votes should be upheld.”

Council Member Dan Carson echoed this claim, citing 2018’s Measure J vote, when 60% of Davis voters approved the second iteration of Nishi plans — informally called Nishi 2.0.

“The voters of Davis spoke clearly that they approved of this version of the Nishi project that will bring more quality housing to town,” Carson said. “I am concerned about the continued effort to overturn the will of more than 11,000 voters who approved of this greatly needed housing.”

News of the appeal drew condemnation from Adam Hatefi, the ASUCD External Affairs vice president. In a public statement posted on Facebook and dated Jan. 14, Hatefi referred to plaintiffs Rainer and Colin Walsh as “feckless, student-hating, well-fed miscreants” and expressed dismay that the appeal would further delay the project completion.

Hatefi said that the Nishi project, once completed,

would provide Davis students relief from rising food insecurity, homelessness, debt and tuitions.

“It is our hope that the battle will end soon, before the cost of these delays kills the project entirely,” Hatefi said. “Housing is needed now more than ever, and this brazen attempt to subvert the democratic will of Davis voters is repugnant and distasteful.”

Some disagreed with Hatefi’s characterization of the lawsuit. Rik Keller, a city planning consultant and blogger at The Davisite called the letter “ridiculous slander” in the comments of Hatefi’s post, also claiming that the “Yes on J” campaign in support of the Nishi project “spent a lot of money buying support from students.” A search for developers ‘Davis Gateway Student Housing LLC’ on the Davis Campaign Disclosure Portal shows that the company spent nearly $300,000 in campaign expenditures in 2018. It is unclear how much of that money was spent specifically targeting student voters.

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The department has been using its Facebook page as a platform to get crucial information out to the community, and it asks that community members report suspicious activity in their area.

Cucchi said this collaboration, along with increased police patrols paid through extra overtime funds, has led to a recent arrest. Officers found a sto-

len firearm and cocaine in a vehicle after a neighbor called in to report the car, according to a Woodland Police Facebook post on Jan. 20, 2020.

“This is a perfect example of how together, as a team, we can make this community safer,” the post stated. “Thanks to an alert neighbor, this call led to getting another gun off the street.”

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020 | 9

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

New Year, New Home!

Wake Forest Apartments 1313 Wake Forest Drive, Davis, CA, 95616 www.wakeforestapts.com Phone (530) 756-2555

Spacious 2 Bedroom Apartments Laundry Center Cable TV Access

Wireless Hotspot Access Sparkling Pool & Spa Poolside BBQ Area Bus Routes (B & C Lines)

J Street Apartments 1111 J Street, Davis, CA, 95616 www.jstapts.com Phone (530) 756-2100 | Fax (530) 756-2159

Spacious 1 & 2 Bedroom Apartments Laundry Air Conditioning

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10 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

11 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

GOV. NEWSOM PROPOSES $50 MILLION TO MAKE CALIFORNIA ‘NO-KILL’ STATE FOR SHELTER ANIMALS

PUBLIC HEALTHCARE AT RISK DUE TO MISINFORMATION ON TWITTER

Researchers work to understand connection between UC Davis Koret Medicine Program will help shelters de- low flu vaccine uptake, spread of misinformation online crease euthanasia rates with funds from state budget F RON T ST R E E T A N I MAL S H ELTE R / CO URTESY

PEX EL S / PIXA B AY

BY ALMA ME CK LE R-PACHECO science@theaggie.org

BY MA RG O ROSE NB AU M science@theaggie.org Whether it’s a cat at the shelter or a childhood dog, nobody likes to see an animal put to sleep.

Since 1998, California policy has stated that no healthy or treatable animal should be euthanized, yet many shelters lack the resources or training to follow this policy. Gov. Gavin Newsom, however, wants to make this goal a reality with his newly proposed budget plan to make California a “nokill” state for shelter animals.

As part of the state budget, Newsom is proposing a one-time $50 million general fund allocation with the goal to minimize unnecessary euthanizations for shelter animals. If the budget is approved by June 15, UC Davis’ Koret Shelter Medicine Program (KSMP) will form a grant program for state-funded public municipal shelters across California.

Newsom originally released this idea while campaigning, said Kate Hurley, the director of KSMP. In Newsom’s campaign and policy, the phrase “no-kill,” means that healthy or treatable animals will no longer be euthanized as a method of population control.

Cindy Delany, a shelter veterinarian in KSMP, said that, if the proposal is approved, KSMP will work with shelters across California to spread the best practices for veterinary care and management to decrease the number of animals euthanized that could otherwise be adopted.

They will focus on shelters that currently lack sufficient funds, staffing or programs to meet the demand of incoming animals.

“A lot of shelters are doing great and have a decent amount of resources, but there are a lot that don’t have enough money [and] staff and those guys are facing particular challenges,” Delany said.

Even after this policy is implemented, some euthanasia will still occur, since all shelters must put down animals with severe behavioral or medical problems. Delany explained that these animals are unable to live comfortably and are unadoptable.

“Euthanasia is used when we don’t want animals to die in pain, so we give them an injection and they go right to sleep,” Delany said.

“It’s a privilege that we can stop their suffering.”

Delany said that the proposal focuses on ending the euthanasia of healthy, adoptable animals that are only put to sleep due to lack of resources and space in certain shelters. “[Shelters] love animals and want to save their lives, but they do not always have the knowledge or tools they need to do what they want,” Delany said. “We can help them do their best work and save more lives.”

Phillip Zimmerman, the manager of the Front Street Animal Shelter in Sacramento, defines “no-kill” shelters as being able to save more than 90% of animals. This is harder for open emission shelters like Front Street since they are required to take all animals, however, the shelter was able to maintain a “no-kill” rate of a little over 86% last year.

“Texas and California have the highest numbers of euthanasia in shelter animals, so it is a good thing to offer some resources to communities and it’s even a bigger blessing that it is going through the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program,” Zimmerman said. “They know the best programs in sheltering. They provide everything — good protocol and policy and proper housing of animals.”

Since 1979, KSMP has worked with shelters to combat the issue of unnecessary

euthanasia. KSMP veterinarians assess shelter needs and help them implement the best veterinary and management practices specific to their facility. Each shelter and community has different needs, so programs need to be tailored to each place. However, certain practices have proven to work better than others, Delany said.

The primary issue Delany sees in shelters involves providing efficient care to healthy animals so they can be adopted or returned to their previous homes as quickly as possible. Another common issue seen at shelters is the lack of proper tools for spaying and neutering animals to decrease population sizes.

“Shelters aren’t homes,” Delany said. “We try to make them as nice as we can, but the goal is to get animals in and then back out again in the best condition as possible so they can get on with their lives.”

Prior to Newsom’s proposal, KSMP and similar programs have made many improvements for shelter animals in California. In 2008, 3.7 million animals were euthanized, but now euthanasia rates have dropped to under 200,000 animals a year, Hurley said.

At a local level, after working with the Yolo County Animal Services Shelter in Woodland for about eight years, Delany has seen great improvement in the services offered at the shelter.

Before KSMP helped the shelter, the euthanasia rate was at 50% but now the rate has dropped to 10%, meaning only animals with severe medical or behavioral cases are put to sleep.

“It is really exciting to work with shelters all the time and see how they are doing and show them things that might work better for them,” Delany said. “We hear back in weeks to months and hear about how they are doing so much better.”

If the proposal is passed, KSMP will be able to continue their important work and reach more shelters across the state. Another benefit Zimmerman expects to see from the proposal is an increase of community involvement in shelters. When resources are given to shelters and positive change is seen, community members feel encouraged to volunteer and raise money.

“It catapults shelters into the limelight of communities, which increases life-saving [of the animals],” Zimmerman said. “[Shelters] can’t do all [the] work themselves, and communities need to step in.”

If passed, the grant will be a one-time payment, so Hurley wants to ensure the programs KSMP implements will have lasting benefits, especially for communities currently lacking sufficient resources to be “no-kill” shelters. Through these kinds of proposals and programs, Hurley hopes to see more equality of resources between communities for both animals and people in California.

“Fifty million dollars is a lot of money, but it is a fraction of what shelters spend each year,” Hurley said. “We want to make sure the investments are strategic and that there are ongoing benefits.”

In order for this policy to come into effect, the California state budget has to be voted on

by June 15 and finalized by the state legislature elected by California citizens. As the first state to propose an idea like this, Hurley is excited to see California leading the way for shelter advancements and hopes other states will follow.

“From our perspective, to be able to really work with all shelters in California and to be able to help shelters as a system and reach regions in the whole state as a system is very exciting,” Hurley said.

Social media is a persistent and crucial part of society. With many people relying on social media as their source of news, entertainment and means of communication, the influence of these apps on our minds has never been more prevalent. UC Davis researchers are studying these interactions to better understand the many ways social media is influencing our decisions and desires.

The CHATR Lab, led by Jingwen Zhang, assistant professor in the department of communication, studies the role of technology and social media in health care communication.

“Health communication is how to communicate health care effectively to the public,” Zhang said. “We look at how social media is used and how it can be improved to promote public health information.”

A recent study conducted in the CHATR Lab sought to understand the ways misinformation about the flu vaccine is spread on social media and the communities spreading the misinformation.

The 2017–18 flu season saw the greatest number of flu cases since 2009 and an extremely low flu vaccination rate. When Jieyu Ding Featherstone and Qiusi Sun — both graduate students in the CHATR Lab — noticed this, they wanted to better understand the factors that led to low vaccine uptake by the public and, ultimately, to the flu outbreak.

Concerned about the rising spread of flu vaccine misinformation on social media, Featherstone and Sun created an algorithm to classify relevant tweets they gathered from Twitter. Classification of these tweets as misinformation or “non-misinformation” was based on established scientific consensus.

“In vaccines specifically, we define [misinformation] as information that is already falsified by either the scientific community or the general consensus and we would treat that as the baseline,” Featherstone said.

Using this algorithm to distinguish between true and false information, the study analyzed a sample of 120,379 original tweets, classifying 7,814 (8.6%) as misinformation and 82,576 (91.4%) as “non-misinformation.” The central words in the misinformation tweets were “flu,” “vaccine,” “not,” “get” and “death.” Key words in the “non-misinformation” tweets were “flu,” “vaccine,” “not,” “get” and “health.”

Despite a relatively low percentage of the overall tweets being classified as misinformation, these tweets can still have a high level of influence.

Since the study only analyzed original tweets, it did not take into account that those tweets could have been retweeted and shared which would result in them reaching a much broader group of people.

“Even if it is a low number, once the tweet gets spread around it can get a bigger spread and influence,” Sun said.

Beyond classifying the tweets, they hope to analyze the data further to find the sources of the misinformation. By understanding the source, the research team hopes that the process of correcting it will become easier.

“My main goal is to see who are the people sending information, that is the first step to get deeper into the issue,” Featherstone said. “To better understand the community will help us be able to correct them.”

By conducting these deeper studies, Featherstone and Sun hope to be able to combat the misinformation that is ultimately a public health risk.

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THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

12 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020

DEAR KOBE,

A final farewell to my idol

A shot from Kobe Bryant’s Oscar-winning short, “Dear Basketball,” directed and animated by Glen Keane. (Granity Studios / Courtesy)

BY OMAR NAVARRO sports@theaggie.org “Have a good time. Life is too short to get bogged down and be discouraged. You have to keep moving. You have to keep going. Put one foot in front of the other, smile and just keep on rolling.” — Kobe Bryant It’s hard to put into words the thoughts that are going through my head, as I don’t know what to say. I still can’t comprehend it. When you grow up idolizing athletes, they become larger than life — almost immortal.

It’s times like these when you sit back and realize that the cruel reality of life carries no exceptions.

I grew up in the greater Los Angeles area, and I discovered the game of basketball when I was eight years old. My earliest memory was watching the 2008 National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals in which the Lakers competed against the Boston Celtics, but I was too new to the sport and too young to fully comprehend what was going on. After that series, my dad began to teach me how to play, and we would watch the Lakers together as I learned the beautiful game. Every other night, I would watch the likes of Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher take the court

in that pristine purple and gold. But there was always one player who stood out the most- a player who seemed like nothing could discourage him, a player who played every game like it was his last and, most importantly, a player who wanted nothing more than to win. He wore the number 24, and his name was Kobe Bryant.

Residents of the City of Los Angeles watched this 17-year old from Lower Merion High School in a suburb of Philadelphia grow right before their very eyes. From the four crucial airballs he put up in an elimination playoff game his rookie year to the three-peat dynasty of the early 2000s and the back-to-back championships of 2009-2010, he was there. Since he was drafted then subsequently traded to the Lakers in 1996, Bryant became Los Angeles’ own and eventually, he became Los Angeles.

From the biggest basketball fans to those who didn’t even know where the Lakers played, everyone knew Kobe Bryant's name.

In his 20-year NBA career, he was an 18time All-Star, a five-time champion, a twotime Finals MVP and a one-time league MVP. He was named to the NBA All-Defensive team 12 times, the all-NBA team 15 times and was a regular-season scoring champion. Bryant sits fourth on the NBA all-time leading scorers list.

UC DAVIS SOFTBALL READY TO BEGIN MARATHON SEASON

Aggies will rely on upperclassmen to launch another successful run

The UC Davis Softball team plays its home games at La Rue Field on the UC Davis Campus. (Photo by Diana Li / Aggie File)

BY BRENDAN OGBURN sports@theaggie.org In the blink of an eye, a long, quiet offseason has vanished and the 2020 season is officially underway for UC Davis softball. The Aggies will embark on a 55-game schedule starting with a doubleheader on Feb. 6 versus Saint Mary’s and California Baptist at La Rue Field.

The Aggies are fresh off a 39-14 season in 2019, the best mark in the program’s Division I history, that earned them a third-place finish in the Big West Conference. The team was in the thick of the title race until late in the season, vying for a spot in the NCAA tournament regionals.

UC Davis only lost two starters from last year’s team and has an excellent core of upperclassmen to make another run this spring. The juniors and seniors will be relied upon heavily to lead the way for a promising five-player freshman class.

“Just two years ago, we were talking about how young some of our team was, and now they’re juniors and seniors,” said sixth-year head coach Erin Thorpe. “Now, we’re talking about having that leadership there. We’re looking to them and now’s their time to step up and lead.”

The team received a significant blow when junior pitcher Brooke Yanez, the ace of the staff, announced her transfer to Oregon in June.

“I think that’s something where everyone’s going to feel it a little bit differently,” Thorpe said. “It always hurts when you have a loss like that. It’s one of those things in our sport right now that’s happening a lot and this is the first time it impacted us.”

Yanez is one of the top arms in the entire country, putting up mind-boggling numbers in her two years on campus. She departed Davis with a career record of 40-18 and a 1.38 ERA. She was recognized as the league’s Pitcher of the Year last spring after she threw a perfect game and no-hitter.

Needless to say, there are some big shoes left to be filled in the circle, but Thorpe is confident she has more than enough impactful talent on the roster to fill that void.

“From a coaching staff perspective, it’s something that you just roll with the punches,” Thor-

pe said. “Now, we have our team out here and we figure out how to battle and win the ballgames with what we have. I feel very strong in the core that we have. We have two very strong freshman pitchers and hopefully they’re going to have the opportunity to shine in a way that maybe they wouldn’t have had Brooke still been here.”

Thorpe and her staff are excited about the abilities of freshmen hurlers Taylor Fitzgerald and Kenedi Brown, a duo of local right-handers from Rocklin and Elk Grove, respectively.

“We’re looking for both of them to get a lot of pitching time this year and maybe step up and play a role that freshman don’t always get the opportunity to play,” Thorpe said.

In addition, the team still gets one more year from senior pitcher Katie Kibby, a fourth-year starter who’s thrown over 400 innings and made 69 starts as an Aggie. Kibby threw four shutouts last season and ranked fifth in the conference for fewest hits allowed (97). She was the leader of the staff before Yanez arrived and now reenters the spotlight for one final ride.

“Katie has been in a starting role since the time she was a freshman and now has an opportunity to leave as the winningest pitcher in Division I history here at Davis,” Thorpe explained.

“We’re excited to see how she’s going to grab the bull by the horns. We are looking for her to lead and show our young pitchers the way of the land.”

No matter who’s pitching, the Aggies have the utmost confidence they can back them up and make all the plays in the field. UC Davis was the second best team in the Big West last season, in both fielding percentage and fewest errors, and its defense will continue to benefit from the group of players that have been together for so long.

“In these leagues now, you’re not seeing too many overly-dominant pitchers across the board so we’re going to have to play defense,” Thorpe said. “We’re poised to get even better from last year defensively and it’s another year out there together.”

Thorpe admitted that the girls will have to rely a little more on their offense this season after the departure of Yanez, but that shouldn’t be a problem for the league’s third-highest scoring team last season.

R E AD FU LL ART ICLE O NLINE

His accomplishments off the court post-career were just as impressive, as he expressed his creative side with his short film Dear Basketball, which won an Oscar in 2017.

Everything he did in the uniform and for the sport of basketball will never be forgotten by those who saw him, loved him and hated him because he stayed through everything.

Whether it was the championship seasons or the 17-win seasons, he was there and he was Kobe Bryant. In a franchise filled with all-time greats, he was the greatest. And in a city filled with stars, he was the brightest.

After the Lakers’ 2009 NBA Finals win over the Orlando Magic, I received my first ever Kobe Bryant jersey. It was a gold Adidas jersey with the number 24 on the back. I don’t remember ever being that excited for anything.

I would put on the jersey and act like I was Kobe himself, acting out late-game scenarios where he hit a game-winning shot on a small hoop I had behind my front door.

The iconic fadeaway, the runner in the lane and his smooth jump shot were what I strived to imitate because I wanted to be like him. I remember the euphoria outside my apartment building when the Lakers beat their rival, the Celtics, in the 2010 NBA Finals. Fireworks, cheering and honking filled the night air. It was a celebration and a feeling I’ll never forget.

His final game — and final season — was something basketball fans may never see again.

The Lakers won a franchise-low 17 games in the 2015-16 season, but you would have never known by how many people showed up to Staples Center on April 13.

In the final game of his career, Bryant scored 60 points en route to a comeback win over the Utah Jazz. It was something so magical that it would be nearly impossible to recreate. The atmosphere inside Staples Center had you believing it was Game 7 of the NBA Finals. In reality, it was a matchup between one of the worst teams in the league and a team that just missed out on the playoffs. But for the City of Los Angeles and Laker fans everywhere, this meant everything. Their icon would step on the hardwood one last time before calling it a career. That magical night will live forever in the history of the NBA. On the morning of Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020, Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others were tragically killed in a helicopter accident in Calabasas, California. Bryant was 41 years old.

How could someone so iconic be gone just like that? It’s a question that will never make sense. But it happened. For people like myself, other fans of the NBA and the people of Los Angeles, it felt like a piece of us was gone as well.

On the outside looking in, it may be hard to comprehend how one athlete can affect so many people. There were tears shed, tributes posted and memorials built outside of the Lakers’ home arena. As crazy as it sounds, Kobe shaped my life in a way I can never fully explain. Watching him is the reason I fell in love with the sport of basketball, the reason I love the Lakers and the reason why I’m so passionate about the things I am today. For someone who grew up a fan in Los Angeles, Kobe was, and still is, the Lakers.

Sports is something that brings people of all different backgrounds together and no matter what hardships are going on in your life, you can always count on sports to be there to get your mind off things — at least for a couple of hours. Kobe transcended the game of basketball and it is understandable why this tragedy is causing those affected by it to reflect on life and how fragile it really is for everyone.

In life, there’s one appointment you can’t cancel. For Kobe, his came less than four years after he played in his final NBA game. As tragic as it was, his legacy will be passed on for generations and he will never be forgotten. His drive for being the greatest ever outweighed whatever hardships he encountered and, for fans like myself, it is one of the biggest parts of his legacy that we will remember for the rest of our lives.

His tragic passing shook the whole world and should serve as a reminder to live now and not wait until tomorrow, because you never know when it’s your time. There are no guarantees in life, so we have to make sure to keep moving forward, work hard and, maybe one day, we can be idolized as well.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Kobe Bryant. His impact on me was indirect, but I will never forget the memories he created for me. If I ever had the opportunity to tell him anything, I would simply say thank you.

I could never fully explain why I feel the way that I do or why it means so much to everyone, but that’s the beautiful thing about it.

So thank you, Kobe. Until next time.

Rest in Paradise, Kobe Bean Bryant.