February 15, 2024

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VOLUME 147, ISSUE 16 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2024

Upcoming events, opportunities at Davis’ The Avid Reader bookstore

The Avid Reader in downtown Davis offers a chance for readers to interact with authors and discover new reads

BY NATALIE SALTER arts@theaggie.org If you’re as devoted of a reader as I am, you’ve certainly paid a visit to The Avid Reader, a local bookstore located in downtown Davis. The store offers books in every genre, as well as bookmarks, tote bags, stationery kits and other cute and useful items to express yourself with. If you’re a frequent shopper, you can set up an account and collect credit with every purchase, which you can cash in to get discounts on future purchases.

The Avid Reader has more to offer than just amazing shopping. One great reason to visit their shop downtown is the events they host, where local authors are given an opportunity to showcase their books and interact with curious readers.

If you’re interested in paying a visit to one of these author-centered events, stop by The Avid Reader on Saturday, Feb. 17, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. to find out more about “Why

Avid Reader Book Club meeting at Davis Wine and Bar to discuss the two romance books that they are currently reading.

(Andrew Huang / Aggie) We Remember: Unlocking Memory’s Power To Hold On To What Matters”

by Charan Ranganath, Ph.D. The book uses psychology and neuroscience to reframe our perspective on memory, allowing readers to understand and utilize their own ability to remember in unique and unexpected ways.

On Thursday, Feb. 22, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., The Avid Reader will host Sarah Ruiz-Grossman to promote

her novel “A Fire So Wild,” which encompasses a tale of the inhabitants of Berkeley as they deal with an impending wildfire, as well as their own personal conflicts and growth.

Additionally, if you have a young reader in your life who wants to get involved, take them to a special children-focused event at The Avid Reader, which centers around author Nazzy Pakpour and her new children’s

book “Please Don’t Bite Me.” This event will take place on Saturday, Feb. 24, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Be sure that any buzzing questions your little reader may have about the insects of the world will be answered.

For anyone who’s particularly fond of love stories, Isabella Kamal will showcase her debut historical romance novel, “The Temple of Persephone,” on Saturday, Feb. 24, from 6:30 to 7:30

p.m. The aforementioned novel combines history, intrigue, mystery and romance, perfect for lovers of romantic fiction.

Looking not just to read but to write works of your own? Attend The Avid Reader’s free Writer’s Workshop on Wednesday, Feb. 28, from 6 to 8 p.m. Local novelists Judith Starkson and Tim Schooley will share their techniques in writing contemporary fiction, exploring and explaining complex topics of writing and sharing their advice with event-goers.

Beyond these events, there are even more opportunities offered by The Avid Reader to get involved and discover new books to read. Visit the bookstore’s website to find direct book recommendations from staff working there, or ask for a suggestion from an employee while in the store.

If you want to expand your reading and mind, then The Avid Reader is a great place to start.

The Undergraduate Housing Advising Service holds Housing Week and Housing Day Students Demand Action, the Sexual Assault and Awareness UC Davis student organizations hold supply drive in collaboration with Empower Yolo to provide aid to domestic abuse survivors

Advocacy Committee and the Aggie Reuse store are accepting donations during winter quarter 2024

Community members can donate to the Empower Yolo Supply Drive outside of the Aggie Reuse Store in the Memorial Union. (Courtesy / Madison Peters)

BY MADISON PETERS campus@theaggie.org From Jan. 22 through the end of winter quarter, UC Davis’ Students Demand Action (SDA), the Sexual Assault and Awareness Advocacy Committee (SAAAC) and the Aggie Reuse Store are holding a supply drive in collaboration with Empower Yolo to support victims of domestic abuse.

Empower Yolo is a domestic violence service provider that operates in Davis and Woodland, according to Roan Thibault, a second-year political

science major and SDA co-lead. They provide assistance such as emergency housing, financial aid, case management and legal help.

Donations for the supply drive should include basic necessities such as personal hygiene items, household goods, kitchen supplies and clothing, according to Victoria Mattsson, a third-year environmental science and management major and co-unit director for the Aggie Reuse Store.

Mattsson then detailed what people should look for when considering making a donation.

“[Donate] anything that someone moving into an empty house would need,” Mattsson said. “I encourage people to look through their closets and cabinets and see if they have a giant pack from Costco that they are willing to share.”

Empower Yolo has provided a wishlist of desirable items, which can be found on their website or by visiting SAD’s, SAAAC’s and Aggie Reuse’s respective Instagram pages.

Thibault said that anyone who is willing to donate items just needs to look for the purple bins in front of the Aggie Reuse store located at the Memorial Union (MU).

Elyssa Lieu, a second-year design major and co-unit director of the Aggie Reuse store, elaborated on Aggie Reuse’s involvement with the drive.

“So often, we are the receivers of other members of the community that give what they no longer need,” Lieu said. “It’s great that we can take advantage of having a physical space in the MU, [which is] a more accessible location for students and other members who can’t make it down to Empower Yolo. [It] just adds another option for those who want to engage in the community and give back to the mission.”

The two events helped students find potential roommates and housing and offered tips for students who will be moving away from the dorms

BY SYDNEY AMESTOY campus@theaggie.org The Undergraduate Housing Advising Service (HAUS) held Housing Week from Jan. 29 to 31, as well as Housing Day on Feb. 7, to prepare firstyear and transfer students for moving out of on-campus housing.

The two events of Housing Week — Roommate Day on Jan. 29 and Wellness Day on Jan. 31 — allowed students to hear tips about moving and meet potential future roommates.

Roommate day, held in the Mee room on the third floor of Memorial Union, created a space for students to find new roommates in a speed-dating environment.

Iman Tariq, a second-year political science major and a marketer for HAUS,

said that these events were meant to help any undergraduate make the move into off-campus housing easier. “[For Roommate Day] we made it like speed-dating style.” Tariq said, “You [could] come in, talk to a bunch of people you may or may not have met before, see how compatible you might be, and get each other socials if you think you might be good roommates.”

The event had pizza and attending students also had the chance to enter into a raffle for a Target or Doordash gift card.

Held in the Student Community Center multi-purpose room, Wellness Day served to alleviate concerns and questions students may have about the process of moving and applying for apartments.

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ASUCD Senate allocates $469,000 for Lawntopia as internal, public pressure sparks dialogue on REUSEDRIVE on 11 administrative conduct at Students camp overnight at various Feb. 8 meeting

apartments to secure housing for the next school year

From Jan. 22 to 26, several different apartments gave students leases on a first-come, first-served basis

BY RODRIGO VILLEGAS campus@theaggie.org

READ MORE A love letter to philia

Don’t let your friends fall by the wayside SEE PAGE 5

During the week of Jan. 22 to 26, groups of students spent their nights at several apartment complexes to secure housing for the following school year.

For Fountain Circle Townhomes, it was Jan. 22; for Aggie Square, it was Jan. 23; for Almondwood Apartments, it was Jan. 24 and for Sycamore Lane Apartments, it was Jan. 26.

At Fountain Circle, Aggie Square and Almondwood, students camped outside once each site’s leasing office closed. However, The Davisville Management Company — which owns all three apartment complexes — provided pop-up canopies to take cover from the rain, a porta potty, WiFi, snacks and refreshments at each location.

Students camped indoors at Sycamore Lane Apartments, which provided use of its 24-hour study lounge, along with other amenities like snacks, drinks and Wi-Fi. Janna Buccieri, the chief operating officer at The Davisville Management Company, noted that the company saw

this coming.

“It’s come to be the norm,” Buccieri said. “It certainly isn’t something that we advocate [for] or that we want to do.”

Community Manager of Sycamore Lane Apartments Raymond Ortiz expressed a similar sentiment.

“We knew what was going to come,” Ortiz said. “We knew that those that were going to camp out, [would] camp out.”

At each site, management provided their apartment availability for students to gauge whether or not they had a chance to secure a unit, depending on their spot in line.

“As soon as we got our renewals done, we put up for the public to see exactly what we have available,” Buccieri said. “We found that worked this year because we didn’t have lines of 50 people wanting a three-bedroom [apartment] because they saw, for instance, at Almondwood, that we only had three [available].”

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With strong attendance from students and supporters of the Entertainment Council, the Senate passed the debated SB #41 in order to fund the annual concert

BY VINCE BASADA campus@theaggie.org

The Feb. 8 Senate meeting, the first in-person meeting of the quarter, resulted in the filling of several vacant positions, the passing of SB #39, #41 and #45 and ended with discussions over how senators, members of the public and campus media can better respect each other.

Internal Vice President (IVP) Aarushi Raghunathan called the meeting to order at 6:14 p.m.

Afterwards, she read the UC Davis Land Acknowledgement.

The Senate first confirmed three nominees to the Judicial Council, though an error in the process was realized only after one nominee had left the meeting — meaning only two justices were sworn in.

Positions were then filled on the ASUCD STEM Committee and Internal Affairs Commission.

The Senate opened for public comment before External Affairs Vice President (EAVP) Celene Aridin presented a quarterly report of her

office, emphasizing an upcoming visit by the Student Regents of the University of California on Feb. 16.

Following a break, the Senate began reviewing the status of previous legislation, moved newly introduced new legislation for review and approved the consideration of the consent calendar before moving to the consideration of old legislation.

SB #46, placing The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) Fee Referendum on the Spring 2024 ASUCD Ballot, was passed unanimously.

The Senate then moved into consideration of SB #39, which would allocate $9,626.33 for the purchase of new sound equipment for ASUCD from the technology reserves. Senator and author of the bill Binh Do answered questions from the senators, explaining that the equipment would be accessible for free by ASUCD units.

While discussing the price of SB #39, Do successfully moved to reintroduce SB #41 and SB #40, which also deals with Entertainment Council (EC) funding.

SENATE14 on 12

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Candidates debate at Yolo County Supervisor forum ahead of upcoming March election The forum allowed district four Yolo County Board of Supervisors candidates to answer questions posed by community members

BY ANTHONY W. ZAMMIKIEL city@theaggie.org On Jan. 31, the Davis League of Women Voters hosted a candidate forum for the district four Yolo County Board of Supervisors election.

The forum was open to members of the community to directly ask questions to the three candidates ahead of the upcoming election. The Board of

Supervisors is made up of five separate districts, four of which are holding elections scheduled for March 5.

District four, which includes the city of Davis and the community of El Macero, offers the most competitive election, with the highest number of candidates to be featured on the ballot. The candidates — Sheila Allen, Antonio De Loera-Brust and Nathalie “NJ” Mvondo — were able to interact with their prospective

City council workshop discusses further actions on subcommittee proposal to consolidate multiple city commissions

Further efforts are being made to merge city commissions by Mayor Chapman and Vice Mayor Vaitla

BY MADELEINE YOUNG city@theaggie.org

The entrance to the Community Chambers at City Hall, where the Davis City Council holds meetings. (Jenna Lee / Aggie) On Wednesday, Feb. 7, the city council held a workshop to discuss the council’s expectations related to its advisory commissions. This comes after the Davis City Council’s unanimous approval to develop a draft resolution establishing the consolidation of several of the city’s commissions on Jan. 30.

The council consensus on Jan. 30 was that they would like to look at the scope and structure of advisory commissions, which led to the Feb. 7 meeting where staff summarized the recommendations made by the subcommittee.

During the Jan. 30 council meeting, Assistant City Manager Kelly Stachowitz provided an overview of the recommendations to the councilmembers. Stachowitz stated the subcommittee’s interest in aligning the commissions with the needs of the city council in order to allow the council to have the full depth of information necessary to make decisions on policy issues.

“Just as the city organization evolves to reflect different times and issues, so too can the city’s advisory commissions,” Stachowitz said.

The general plan was then introduced which was said to “represent the committee’s vision for the future,” according to Stachowitz.

The general plan is meant to task certain commissions with community engagement and information gathering to bring back to the council.

Vice Mayor Bapu Vaitla and Mayor Josh Chapman, who are both on the subcommittee, proposed that these recommendations explain the process of the consolidation of the different city commissions “The subcommittee recommended asking certain commissions to spearhead the community outreach component related to specific elements of the General Plan,” Vaitla said.

constituents during the candidate forum, answering questions posed on a wide range of topics important to Yolo County voters.

District four has been represented

by Supervisor Jim Provenza since 2008, with Provenza opting not to participate in the upcoming March election. This comes as Provenza previously served as a member of the Davis Joint Unified Board of Education for three years before being

elected to serve as its president for a one-year term.

The candidate forum opened with Mvondo introducing herself, describing previous advocate experience among the Davis community, her activism in Yolo County and focusing on promoting environmental action throughout the county. Mvondo is a part of the Davis Community Action Network as well as several other activist organizations.

“I am offering to be a bridge between you and the Board of Supervisors,” Mvondo said. “Part of my training as a community organizer is to be a community-driven planner.

Part of my goal is to ensure that the Board of Supervisors is able to put forth these decisions which are as community-driven as possible.”

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Yolo County hosts voter education workshops in preparation for the presidential primary election

The Zoom workshops were an attempt to reach out to voters with disabilities and limited English proficiency

ALLISON VO / AGGIE

BY EMMA CONDIT city@theaggie.org From Feb. 5 to 8, Yolo County hosted voter education and outreach workshops via Zoom to prepare voters for the presidential primary election, which ends on March 5.

These workshops were held in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Punjabi, Russian and American Sign Language (ASL) and aimed to improve voter literacy in populations with accessibility barriers, like people with disabilities and non-English speakers.

Jesse Salinas, the chief elections official for the Yolo County Department of Assessor, ClerkRecorder and Elections (ACE), said that these workshops are required by state law and cater to the specific linguistic needs of Yolo County.

“By state laws, we’re required to do these workshops,” Salinas said. “[But] we try to go above and beyond. We are required to do sessions in Chinese, Korean, Punjabi and Spanish, but we have included the Russian language.

We know in West Sacramento there’s a large Russian population, and we want to make voting accessible.”

Yolo County is a Voter’s Choice Act (VCA) county. This program, established by SB 450 in 2016, allows counties to have more control over their elections and provides greater voting flexibility. For instance, Yolo County, by opting into this plan, has made vote-by-mail more accessible, increased the number of ballot dropoff sites and streamlined voting technology.

As laid out in the most recent VCA Election Administration Plan, Yolo County will continue its education and outreach efforts, key components of which are the online educational

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workshops. The county has held similar workshops twice in the past and hopes to continue holding them in the future.

Armando Salud, Deputy of Elections in Yolo County, oversees all aspects of election management. Salud explained the importance of these workshops.

“Participants stand to gain valuable insights and resources from these meetings,” Salud said via email. “They include information on vote-by-mail, vote centers and ballot drop boxes.

The workshops offer information on translated copies of the official ballot for reference, ensuring accessibility for non-English speakers. [...] Attendees gain awareness of voter rights and resources available to address any issues or concerns they may encounter during the voting process.”

These workshops were targeted towards parts of Yolo County with high rates of limited English proficiency. For instance, limited English proficiency in parts of Woodland ranges from 18 to 26 percent of the population, compared to only four to nine percent in Davis. These workshops, however, have extremely low attendance.

“The amount of people we aim to reach depends on how many people show up,” Salinas said. “We started doing these workshops in 2021, and we only had a handful of people show up. We’re very limited in the number of people we can actually reach.”

Salinas explained that they have tried to promote these workshops to

the best of their ability, but few people usually attend. The Aggie attended this year’s first Spanish-English voter workshop on Monday, Feb. 5; there were no other participants.

Yolo County voter turnout rates have remained fairly stable in the last 10 years. In the general election in Nov. 2022, Yolo’s voter turnout was around 57% of registered voters, which is similar to its previous election turnout. These rates are also on par with the rest of California, whose turnout of registered voters rarely exceeds 67%.

It is unclear whether low attendance in these workshops is due to lack of interest, accessibility, adequate promotion or need. Regardless, Salud explained that Yolo County has made strides in maintaining voting accessibility.

“Yolo County’s voter engagement efforts have demonstrated a commitment to fostering a county wide level of participation,” Salud said. “From working with our voter accessibility advisory committee and language advisory committee to the various community-based organizations such as religious groups, language groups and government organizations — Yolo County is committed to get involved and be involved.”

For more information about upcoming elections and to register to vote, visit https://www.yoloelections.org/.

Davis League of Women Voters makes the case for voting ‘No’ on Proposition 1

The league held a forum encouraging residents to vote against the popular proposition

BY CHRIS PONCE city@theaggie.org The League of Women Voters Davis Area (LWVDA) has been hosting a series of forums to help educate voters on what will be on the ballot in the upcoming March 5 election. On Wednesday, Feb. 7, the LWVDA hosted a forum to educate voters about ballot propositions and encourage them to vote no on Proposition 1.

Proposition 1 hopes to authorize $6.38 billion in bonds to build treatment facilities for those struggling with mental health and/or substance abuse. The proposition restructures the 2004 Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) to give the state more control over how counties spend their MHSA funds. Specifically, Proposition 1 will require counties to spend more of their existing funds on housing and support services; counties are not currently required to spend a specific amount of their MHSA funds on said services.

The LWVDA believes this change would take away counties’ liberty to address local mental health issues directly by allocating funds at their discretion — especially since the proposition will not change the current tax rate that funds the MHSA. Clare Cortright, policy director of Cal Voices, was a guest speaker at the forum invited to explain why Proposition 1 will hurt counties throughout California. Cortright

said the proposition is a “bad piece of policy” and shared how her struggles with mental health have been positively affected by the MHSA. “For me, what saved my life was the MHSA,” Cortright shared. “[The community] passed this as a voter grassroots initiative; this was not passed originally through the legislature. This was the entire community of impacted people coming together.”

Michelle Famula, president and health committee chair with the LWVDA, shared PowerPoint slides given to her by Yolo County Mental Health Director Karleen Jakowski.

The slides explained how Proposition 1 would affect the services currently funded by Yolo County.

“Probably more importantly, [...] [it] has to do with the mandated distribution of those funds and reduction of flexibility [in] how counties can independently make decisions about where to put those funds,” Famula said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, the California Teachers Union and The San Francisco Chronicle’s Editorial Board have all endorsed Proposition 1.

On top of his endorsement, Newsom has helped raise millions of dollars for the Proposition 1 campaign.

Stacie Hiramoto, director of the Racial and Ethnic Mental Health Disparities Coalition (REMHDCO), was the second guest speaker at the forum. Hiramoto believes that the majority of the mental health community doesn’t support the

proposition.

“I feel confident in telling you that the majority of the mental health community opposes this measure,” Hiramoto said. “But for many instances, they are afraid to speak up because there are big guns behind it.”

Hiramoto said that REMHDCO can’t support the proposition because of how the state legislature passed it.

“We are opposed because of the manner in which [Proposition 1] was developed and passed through the legislature,” Hiramoto said. “[...] This bill was jammed through, it did not have adequate public hearings; the administration was not listening to us.”

Hiramoto talked about how the MHSA currently helps serve people of color and the LGBTQIA+ community.

“I feel very confident to tell you that the majority of the LGBTQ community is also opposed to this proposition,” Hiramoto said. “The most promising aspect of the original act was that the original act had a funding category that was ideal for programs that reduced disparities and served underserved communities.”

Judy Higgerson, voter service and voter registration chair for the LWVDA, believes that forums like this help “bring to life” the issues on the ballot. Despite this campaign being a long shot, she hopes that the forum can help educate people about the proposition.

“This is the type of format [that], if we could get to other people, even if

KELLIE LU / AGGIE it’s just to see the website and to view the recording, it will help people think more about what this is,” Higgerson said. “Everybody says, ‘It’s going to pass, it’s going to pass, it’s going to pass’ — well, we kind of knew that from the get-go. But I appreciate the

fact that it’s not over. It’s still got a ways to go, but it’s not over.”

For more information about upcoming elections and to register to vote, visit https://www.yoloelections.org/.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2024 | 3

How do students balance schoolwork with nutrition?

UC Davis undergraduates share how they cook, meal-prep and grocery shop efficiently

BY LYNN CHEN features@theaggie.org An important aspect of college life is being independent and that involves tending to daily tasks like cooking and grocery shopping while trying to keep everything within budget.

However, with papers and exam deadlines looming over one’s shoulder, sometimes it can be difficult to find the time and energy to prepare a proper full meal. How do various students go about this challenge? Is there an effective way to achieve academic success without sacrificing balanced and nourishing meals?

For second-year cognitive science major Chuyuan Wang, cooking has become something easy to master.

“I prioritize finding foods that are easy and quick to cook,” Wang said.

The foods Wang mentioned consist of simple and healthy ingredients that take little time to prepare into dishes.

“Cabbages, lettuce, potatoes, carrots — you can mix and match these easily with other meats and vegetables,” Wang said. “You can also store them for a very long time.”

Despite her statement, Wang admits that she still eats junk food quite frequently on school days.

“Since I don’t have much time to go home, I head to [the] Memorial Union

a lot,” Wang said.

Wang does not live on campus and therefore, transportation is a very timeconsuming matter.

“I’ve been eating a lot of burritos and pizzas lately,” she said. “It’s a pretty easy way for me to get nutrition in between classes.”

Ellie Chareonsuphiphat, a thirdyear economics major, tries to overcome the difficulty of balancing school with making food by meal-prepping everything ahead of time.

“Students should schedule a time during the week to cook a larger batch of food,” Chareonsuphiphat said via iMessage. “[This] can then be eaten throughout the weekdays.”

Chareonsuphiphat said that she usually makes pasta or curry in bulk, but she also purchases mini salads from Trader Joe’s to eat for lunch.

“I also make sure to pre-cut my fruit so that I don’t have to worry about prepping [them] in the morning,” Chareonsuphiphat said.

Truc-Linh Dam, a second-year human development major, has a similar strategy to Chareonsuphiphat regarding how to save time when cooking meals at home.

“I like to prepare each ingredient separately ahead of time and then toss them together when I’m making a meal,” Dam said.

For instance, Dam likes to keep

frozen vegetables as well as marinated tofu and chicken for future use. She also stores minced garlic, onions, shiitake mushrooms and other chopped vegetables in the fridge to save time when cooking throughout the week.

Additionally, Wang said she needs to consider costs while shopping for ingredients for her meals.

“I live by Safeway, so I use their digital coupons and student discount,” Wang said.

Despite the time and effort required to prepare meals, a college student can be resourceful and strategic with the task to ensure they stay nourished and healthy.

HEIDI TEJEDA / AGGIE

What are the best UC Davis alumna and cofounder brings boba business freshman seminars offered at UC Davis? back home

Davis’ latest boba shop, Teaspoon, opens a location on F Street

Whether you’re a senior looking for a fun class, a freshman looking for a low-stress environment or anywhere in between, here are some of the best seminars offered at UC Davis

BY FAITH DEMEULENAERE features@theaggie.org

Teaspoon, the newest of many boba spots in downtown Davis serves a variety of drinks from lemonade and milk teas to fruit teas like the “grasshopper” and the “ladybug.” (Cruz Martinez / Aggie)

BY HANNAH SCHRADER city@theaggie.org On Jan. 27, local Davis boba lovers lined up along F Street in anticipation of the deals Teaspoon was offering to promote the opening of their new location in Davis, including free drinks, a buy-one-get-one offer, raffles and much more.

The Teaspoon franchise was founded

by Amy Lai, a UC Davis alumna, and her business partner David Fan in Los Altos, California.

Ahmed Farag, the co-owner of Teaspoon’s Davis and Folsom locations, spoke on his favorite part of bringing Teaspoon to Davis.

“My favorite part is just basically improving [...] the overall operation of the store by getting the best technology in the market,” Farag said. “[Teaspoon] was born almost five years ago and [has] had tremendous growth. They had only three stores in the beginning and now

MAYA KORNYEYEVA / AGGIE

they’re almost close to 43 stores.”

Farag then discussed how the grand opening exceeded expectations.

“The grand opening in Davis was great. We had [...] around 500 [to] 600 people show up,” Farag said. “We did [around] 150 free drinks and then we did give away big items, which created a lot of buzz around the store.”

Farag continued by saying that through opening new locations, he has experienced the great amount of support the Davis community has for small businesses.

“What we learned is that the Davis community specifically [is] very passionate about local businesses,” Farag said. “There’s a lot of interest to go and try new things. We’ve been able to [obtain] a lot of new customers.”

When asked about whether or not the Davis Teaspoon location is still hiring, Farag responded that they are continuously seeking people to fill roles at the cafe.

“We are continuously hiring,” Farag

said. “95 percent of our employees are from the Davis community, [and] a lot of them are students from UC Davis.”

The Davis location has three main roles at the moment — store manager, store leads and baristas. Farag shared that they are always looking for more barsitas, as student availability is difficult to schedule.

Farag then shared his favorite Teaspoon drink at the moment.

“I have a few favorites,” Farag said.

“But recently I’ve started liking the Taro Lover. It has taro chunks in it [and] it’s really, really light.”

Niko Veylia, a photographer who attended the grand opening, talked about their experience and also shared their favorite drink.

“I did wait in line [for] 45 minutes to an hour or so,” Veylia said via Instagram direct message. “My favorite drink is the Strawberry Colada. I did enjoy the experience, and what stood out was how nice and helpful the staff were with helping me with the drinks and any questions that I had.”

Davis Chamber of Commerce Vice Chair Chad Carlock attended the grand opening and made a statement on behalf of the chamber about the event and Teaspoon’s arrival in Davis.

“The Davis Chamber is thrilled to welcome Teaspoon to Davis,” Carlock wrote via email. “The tremendous turnout and excitement surrounding their grand opening demonstrates that they will be a vibrant and energetic new member of our business community.

The Chamber also thanks all of the other local businesses and residents who participated in the grand opening festivities.”

Embarking on the exhilarating journey of university life, freshmen often find themselves at the crossroads of curiosity and the unexplored. Within the realm of academics, the gateway to this unfamiliar territory is the freshman seminar — a playground of provoking ideas, interactive experiences and the wisdom of seasoned professors.

Freshman seminars are a place of bonding over personal experiences and interests. One example is music. For the seminar hosted by Professor Julian Elias, “Wonderful and Weird Music,” Elias said music has played a great role in his life.

“I’ve been in love with music since I was a kid in New York,” Elias said.

“Music fascinates me, inspires me and helps me relax. I can’t imagine what life would be like without music.”

Elias also said his seminar is a place to bond over music.

“The students and I usually have a great time listening to and discussing the musicians we like, the songs we love, the concerts we’ve gone to, the upcoming concerts we’re excited about and so on,” Elias said. “Undergrad students interested in music are welcome to register for my seminar.”

The freshman seminars include a variety of studies. Some professors cater to those with an interest in more philosophical topics, such as Professor Richard Huskey’s psyche-exploring “Could a Robot Ever Be Conscious?”

“The human brain is an exquisite computer that gives rise to our conscious experience,” Huskey said.

“By comparison, computers lack a human-like brain but they still do computation. Are computers conscious?

Could they be? How would we know?

Can computers tell us something about our own consciousness? These questions

STEPHANIE CHAN / AGGIE

animate research in the cognitive sciences, and have taken on new urgency in the age of artificial intelligence. In this class, we use different theories of consciousness to explore these questions.

It’s a ton of fun, and students regularly change their mind about what it means to have a mind.”

Freshman seminars even adhere to those with more niche interests, such as Professor Karma Waltonen’s, “The Simpsons: Satire and Postmodernism,” a writing-based class all about the television series “The Simpsons.” “[Students] will pay special attention to how the show functions as a satire — how it serves as corrective comedy to issues such as consumerism, inequality and political dysfunction,” Waltonen said. We will also discuss the show as an example of postmodern literature. Students will collaborate to produce a ‘mini script’ of ‘The Simpsons’ to demonstrate a mastery of the subject and to discover the intricacies of humor composition.”

For some, freshman seminars can be essential for learning how to adapt to the pace and environment of college in a mindful way. Professor Sarah Faye’s seminar, “Habits To Improve Our Mental Wellbeing,” provides a safe space for students to develop healthier habits.

“The seminar is structured around weekly habits that we practice together: better sleeping, healthy eating, exercise [and] meditation,” Faye said. “When we get together, we share our successes and struggles with the habits, discuss some strategies for making it easier to insert the habits in our lives and act like a support group for each other.”

Overall, the advantage of freshman seminars is that they are more relaxed academic environments to make new friends with shared interests. While there is a wide variety of them to choose from, perhaps some of the seminars stated above have piqued some interest in you.

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Happy Valentine’s Day, Everyone! Six podcasts to get

you through the winter quarter

BY SANDHYA PFILE sbpfile@ucdavis.edu

Discover the perfect podcast for you

BY MIAH JORDANE mjcampos@ucdavis.edu

Why we love villains

Is it better to reign in hell than serve in heaven?

BY JOAQUIN WATERS jwat@ucdavis.edu

HEIDI TEJEDA / AGGIE When I was a little kid, I went through a phase where I was obsessed with classic Disney movies. I’m sure a solid portion of the people reading this article went through a similar (if not identical) phase. And let’s be honest, folks: the villains are far and away the most memorable part of those films.

Aladdin is fun, but Jafar is fantastic.

We root for Simba, but we count the minutes until Scar is on screen again.

Ariel’s quest to find love by losing her voice is…well, more than a little problematic, but when Ursula sings, cavorting around her skeletal lair, it’s easy to forget that.

Disney villains are cultural icons — perhaps even more so than the princesses for which the Mouse House is famous.

These films are often our first exposure to the fascinating phenomenon of villain worship, or loving the bad guy.

This impulse — to prefer the villain to the hero — is not unique to Disney films. One needs to only look at the enduring popularity of characters such as Darth Vader, Hannibal Lecter and the Joker to see that the desire to root for the monster is woven into popular storytelling. They aren’t just famous because of their fear-inducing intimidation — audiences actively like these characters.

Every time Darth Vader ignites his lightsaber, or Hannibal Lecter eats someone or the Joker spouts some nasty one-liner, we practically cheer.

Sometimes, a villain’s popularity will actually dwindle the less evil they become. Observe the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Loki, a fan-favorite character whose redemption arc culminated in the

Disney+ series in which he becomes a straight-up hero — but he was never more popular than when he was blowing up buildings and cackling in “The Avengers.”

There is something monstrously cathartic in seeing the demons of humankind’s collective imagination given voice and form in fiction. And oftentimes, they’re just plain fun.

Villains of the type I’ve mentioned here are shameless and flamboyant, possessed of an agency and an urgency that is often lacking in protagonists.

Some might argue this is the root of our fascination with the bad guys: nobody likes a passive character, and antagonists, out of necessity, are always active. I think it goes even deeper than that. To look further, we have to go beyond villains to the realm of the anti-hero.

Consider “Paradise Lost.” For centuries, John Milton’s epic retelling of the Book of Genesis has been a subject of controversy concerning its depiction of Satan. Because the poem is told partially from the Devil’s perspective, theologists and literary students alike have debated for generations whether Satan should be considered the “hero” of the poem. If one reads “Paradise Lost” in its entirety, I think it is clear this is not the case. Milton was a devout Christian; the poem is explicitly a cautionary tale that condemns Satan’s rebellion and the ensuing temptation of Eve. Even still, the debate rages because so many scholars have trouble reconciling that condemnation with the character’s actual presence in the text: Milton’s Satan is complex, charming

and even tragic at times — readers like him. Imagine the poem’s most famous line, “Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven,” being spoken by your favorite Disney villain, and the dichotomy between the text’s intention and its effect becomes clear.

If “Paradise Lost” is too archaic an example, then consider instead the popularity of anti-hero characters on television. Tony Soprano of “The Sopranos,” Walter White of “Breaking Bad” and the Roy family of “Succession” are characters who take villain worship to the next level. Though they are deliberately written as villainous, even monstrous, they are the protagonists of their respective series.

The audience is meant, at least for the duration of an episode, to side with them. And their massive popularity proves that they do. Like Milton’s Satan, the great TV anti-heroes stand against the texts of the stories they inhabit and choose to reign in hell. And even when the story and audience condemn them for it, there exists within each of us an admiration for the fallen angel.

It has been remarked by many much smarter than me that we hate the most in others the things we fear the most in ourselves. We all have harmful impulses, and we rightly loathe dictators, terrorists and bigots in part because we are all aware of the possibility we each have to become them. We hate the villains of the real world because they give in to hateful impulses.

But in fiction, we delight in hateful characters. As human beings, we are possessed of contradictory desires when it comes to our own self-interest. We want to be rebels, but we also want to be in charge of something. Villains and anti-heroes appeal to us because they represent the part of ourselves that wishes we could do both: be a rebel and a boss. They give us an outlet to celebrate the parts of human nature that are loathed in reality.

Taylor Swift remarked that “it must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero,” but I think if centuries of villain-worship have proved anything, it’s that the opposite is true. It isn’t exhausting; it’s exhilarating. Sometimes frighteningly so.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by individual columnists belong to the columnists alone and do not necessarily indicate the views and opinions held by The California Aggie.

The days are rainy and full of clouds, making the walks in between classes slightly intolerable.

However, a great way to pass the time i s to pop on a podcast!

If y o u’r e anything like me, you may feel intimidated to jump into a brandnew podcast with a new cast of voices to get to know; it’s almost like meeting a new group of friends –– these ones just happen to live in your phone and earbuds. If you struggle with finding new podcasts or don’t listen to podcasts but would like to, here are some

spectrum, there are less intense and more social podcasts: “Trash Tuesday,” with female comedians and friends Annie Lederman, Esther Povitsky and Khalyla Kuhn; “Ear Biscuits,” with the fathers of YouTube Rhett and Link from “Good Mythical Morning”; and “Canceled,” with the controversial-yet-hilarious best friends Tana Mongeau and Brooke Schofield. These podcasts take a laidback approach — they don’t always have a plan for what they want to discuss, but they still always find a way to lead interesting and amusing conversations. These types of podcasts complement days when you feel stressed or merely want background noise to play while cleaning, cooking or getting ready for the day.

Similarly, the H3 Podcast with Y o u Tu b e r recommendations Ethan and from an avid podcast occasionally listener.

MAYA KONYEYEVA /AGGIE Many people Hila Klein is a great start their podcast obsession by mention and seems to appeal to a diverse branching into the world of true crime group of people. Their podcasts range –– it’s interesting and captivating, yet from having lighthearted chats with creepily realistic, making the listening guests to discussing popular internet experience one that grabs your attention. trends, as well as engaging with the live Stephanie Soo began as a YouTuber in audience, small bits and games, serious early 2017 and didn’t immediately deep dives on controversies and even delve into true crime. However, as her politics. This podcast isn’t for everyone, audience grew, she began to develop an and not everyone necessarily likes Ethan interest in sharing her insight on crime Klein, but it is definitely one worth cases. It wasn’t until 2020 that Soo and checking out, as there is an enormous her husband started a sit-down podcast archive of episodes on different topics titled “Rotten Mango” on more serious for endless hours of enjoyment. and gruesome topics.

The last, but definitely not least She also expanded her team across in terms of importance, stands with the globe by hiring researchers from their own mention for their unique different countries to help her compile podcast setup: “Distractible” with Mark accurate information on sensitive topics, Fischbach (Markiplier on YouTube), taking a professional and compassionate Wade Barnes (LordMinion777) and approach to discussing crime cases. Bob Muyskens (Muyskerm). These three Stephanie Soo’s discussion of true best friends have set up their podcast in crime cases isn’t only knowledgeable and a never-ending competition format: one considerate, but also extremely engaging of them chooses the topic or game for as she has a unique allure that absorbs the podcast, and the winner is allowed her listeners’ attention. If you enjoy true to choose the next episode’s theme. By crime, I definitely recommend checking answering extremely complex questions out “Rotten Mango.” such as “Is it a taco or a cannoli?” and “Rotten Mango” is only one layer in “Is it a hotdog or a sandwich?” as well the multiverse of Stephanie Soo –– she as playing simple games like Would has many different forms of content You Rather, “Distractible” is an easy, on YouTube and Spotify. A notable comedic listen. Not to mention, mention is her secondary podcast Markiplier’s voice is always pleasant to “Baking a Murder,” which may appeal listen to (those who get it get it).

It can be difficult to find a podcast more to listeners who don’t enjoy true crime. “Baking a Murder” occasionally that complements your interests, and has a visual aspect, with Soo following there are so many different podcasts a baking recipe while diving into out there that these are only scratching adaptations of books — such as the the surface. If you’ve yet to dive into series of “A Court of Thorns and Roses” the universe of podcasts, these may be

by Sarah J. Maas — as well as movies, a great start.

TV shows and K dramas. This podcast Disclaimer: The views and opinions contrasts with “Rotten Mango” to appeal to a general audience and take expressed by individual columnists a break from intense topics, creating belong to the columnists alone and do a space for her to discuss fictitious not necessarily indicate the views and interests with her audience. opinions held by The California Aggie.

On the other side of the podcast

End of the lecture

BY LANHUI ZHEN lazhen@ucdavis.edu

Bits of Davis: Armadillo Music

BY NIMRA FARHAN nfarhan@ucdavis.edu

Disclaimer: (This cartoon is humor and/or satire, and its content is purely fictional. The story and names of “sources” are fictionalized.)

Disclaimer: (This cartoon is humor and/or satire, and its content is purely fictional. The story and names of “sources” are fictionalized.)

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2024 | 5

OPINION EDITORIAL

Here’s the love advice you’ve been waiting for XOXO, The Editorial Board We asked the people of UC Davis to share some of their Valentine’s woes.

Now, the Editorial Board is coming to you with our top-rate love advice, from a bunch of 20-somethings with varying romantic success (We are not legally liable for the outcome of your situationship). This issue may have come out the day after Valentine’s Day but love and its complications are eternal.

You’re welcome!

Q: How should I spend Valentine’s Day alone? :’) Dear Lonesome Lover, Spending Valentine’s Day alone could be a blessing in disguise.

Schoolwork and other commitments make it hard to find not just time alone, but time where we can show ourselves gratitude and care. This Valentine’s Day, take the time to participate in activities you enjoy, like a bubble bath or a fun workout, to decompress from the stresses that have been at the forefront of your mind.

Most likely, you aren’t alone on Valentine’s Day, even if you don’t have a romantic partner. Take the time to call your brother, write a letter to a friend, bake cookies for your neighbor or host a Galentine’s (or Palentine’s!). Valentine’s day is about love — all kinds of love.

Use this day as an excuse to tell the people you love that you appreciate their presence in your life.

Yours truly, The Editorial Board Q: HELP. I met this girl at a party recently and since then we’ve been out on two dates. After a night out we were taking a shower and the water was so hot that it made me pass out. I’m lowkey anemic so this is something that’s happened to me before but never with any company.

I was SO embarrassed. She’s so, so pretty and sweet and I feel like I’ve given her the ick. Please, what do I do?

Dear Anxious Anemic, Don’t be embarrassed! Especially about something you can’t change about yourself. Awkward experiences are inherently part of the human experience and especially getting to know someone.

If you ask us, the awkward moments are when you learn the most about a person. They show authenticity! If she’s not willing to get over it then you’re better off with someone who can laugh about it with you (and help you stand back up!).

A good relationship is built on acceptance and trust, so if things end up working out between you two, this experience shows promise of that good foundation! Your humanness makes you more relatable, so there’s a good chance this made her feel closer to you.

There’s also a pretty good chance you’re overthinking it, so we would just talk to her. Own it, laugh about it, share that you’re anemic if you’d like. It can be scary to watch someone faint, so she was probably a little scared and didn’t know how to help. I’m sure she doesn’t want you to feel embarrassed about it and is hoping you’re okay. Don’t give up yet!

Also, please email opinion@ theaggie.org with more information.

We are desperate for details.

Take care, The Editorial Board

Q: How can I let go of a situationship?

Dear Situationship Sycophant, The term “situationship” is relatively new so learning how to navigate it can feel pretty new too. It’s difficult to let go of something that never “actually” happened — like saying goodbye to someone you only just met.

It might feel like there is a missing piece of closure to your situation since it never got to develop into something more serious. However, as disappointing as it may seem, the type of closure you’re looking for doesn’t always exist.

Actually, it rarely does.

And what makes this all the more difficult is the fact that it’s so easy to imagine what could have been. In a relationship that ends you know what you are losing, breaking up with your situationship certainly leaves more to the imagination. This isn’t an easy thing to go through, but it’s becoming all the more common.

It’s important to not be caught up with the “what ifs” or the imaginary version of the person you last saw. It’s easier said than done, but you deserve better than what something “could have been.”

This Valentine’s season, don’t be afraid to meet new people or put yourself out there. Also, don’t be afraid to talk about how you are feeling with friends —- they are the people who will always have your back, even if they rib you about your questionable romantic taste. And reader, most of all, remind yourself that you deserve more commitment than a situationship could ever provide.

(Also, Laufey and Olivia Rodrigo have done wonders for us.)

Wishing you the best, The Editorial Board Q: My friend has this guy she was seeing over the summer (they worked together and then they started hooking up for like 3 weeks), and they were still kinda chatting over Snapchat etc. once they were both at school. Then he started leaving her on delivered for long stretches of time (like a week) and just seeming less interested. So she decided to let it go. But then over Thanksgiving she wanted to see him, so she reached out and he was super responsive and enthusiastic, but wasn’t able to meet up. The same time happened again over winter break. So when she got back after winter break she decided to fully cut it off and unfollow/unadd him on everything. And she did, and she started going on dates with other people and stuff, but then she followed him on Instagram a couple weeks ago. He started watching her stories again on Instagram, but they’re still not talking. She clearly likes him, but like what does one do in that situation?

Dear Summer Fling (and her Protective Pal), Block his ass.

Love, The Editorial Board Q: Overthinking!!!!!

sure many people can relate to — it’s so easy to get caught up in your own negative thoughts. Often, they can be more entertaining company than their much less dramatic siblings, content and happiness.

To some extent, it’s important to acknowledge these feelings that you’re having. However, dwelling on them for too long can sabotage even the most stable of relationships, whether platonic, romantic or otherwise.

The best way to tackle the vicious cycle of overthinking is to reframe your mindset; when an unwelcome anxious thought crosses your mind, acknowledge it, then act against it by thinking of a positive affirmation. Something like, “It’s all going to be OK, even if it doesn’t feel that way right now.” This is a great way to counteract overthinking.

Remember though, reader, that it’s going to take time and patience, both with yourself and from your partner, to combat this negative cycle. In the meantime, spend plenty of time doing the things you love in order to put yourself in a positive mindset (and potentially speed this process up). We believe in you.

Warmly, The Editorial Board Q: My cat won’t drink out of the kitty fountain I got for her and I’m devastated.

Dear Kitty Karetaker, This is, indeed, very devastating. We don’t think your cat is embodying the spirit of Valentine’s Day very well at all.

We have a few considerations that may shed some light upon your situation.

It’s possible that your cat wants to use their new fountain but simply does not know how to drink from it. If this is the case, they would greatly benefit from a demonstration from you, their dear owner. It’s up to you how far you want to take this.

Try avoiding your cat and shower the fountain with attention instead.

Curiosity will get the better of them and they’ll have to come and investigate.

This approach always works with toddlers and siblings, and we can’t see why it wouldn’t apply here as well.

Maybe your cat doesn’t know how good they have it, and it’s your responsibility to show them. Are they an indoor cat? Not anymore! A few days out in the real world should be a suitable wake-up call — they’ll come back to you and their beloved water fountain in no time.

This last one will be hard to hear, but you might want to consider getting a new cat who appreciates you and all that you do. Valentine’s Day is about love, after all, and you don’t need to be surrounded with that kind of negativity in your life.

In all seriousness, give your cat some time to adjust to their new fountain. Change is difficult, but after a while they’ll realize they’ve been missing out or will be too dehydrated to care. Valentine’s Day celebrates all forms of relationships, including the connection between you and your pets, and the kindness you show will surely be reciprocated if you give it enough time.

Dear Spiraling Sweetheart, This dilemma is one that we’re

Meow, The Editorial Board

Q: Do you have any crafty Valentine’s Day gift ideas?

See the article on page 6!

Q: I’ve never had someone ask me to be their Valentine. I’ve been told that I’m intimidating when people first meet me. How do I become more approachable?

Dear RBF, First of all, you shouldn’t change things about yourself just to earn attention or affection from others.

But if you genuinely want to be more approachable, there’s a simple solution: be kind and approach others yourself.

The more people see you reaching out and being friendly, the more likely they will reach out to you!

Cheers, The Editorial Board Q: I’m struggling with feeling behind since I’ve never had a boyfriend or any kind of experience with a boy.

Dear Wistfully Waiting, Have you ever seen those videos on Instagram or TikTok where an interviewer asks someone in their 70s or 80s what they would tell their twentyyear-old self, if they could? Almost always, they say some variation of, “Don’t worry so much. It’ll work itself out.” Easier said than done, of course, but let this reassure you — so many of the people who once felt the same way you do — behind, wanting love but

not having it, desperate to see the path ahead of them — are looking back at that path now and saying, don’t worry so much. It’ll work itself out.

Finding the right person to date is worth waiting for. We also encourage you to enjoy the stage of life you’re at in the meantime — the platonic friendships you have, the amount of time you have to spend investing in yourself and the excitement of knowing that your first time falling in love still lies ahead of you.

And hey, if you’re feeling bold, and there’s a guy you like… maybe put yourself out there this Valentine’s Day! Don’t be afraid to take steps toward making the things you want in your life a reality. But don’t let society give you an arbitrary timeline on your love life, either, or make you compare yourself to other peoples’ (entirely different) lives.

You’re not behind; you’re right where you’re meant to be.

There’s a quote by philosopher Sören Kierkegaard that goes, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” For now, you have to live forwards, and it might be confusing or frustrating. But someday you will look back on your college years and be able to see in hindsight how the timing of everything that happened to you, including your search for love, worked itself out.

Until then,

A love letter to philia

Don’t let your friends fall by the wayside

NATALIE CHENG / AGGIE

BY MOLLY THOMPSON mmtthompson@ucdavis.edu I’ve never been in love: I’ve never had a date on Valentine’s Day, or an “our song” or someone to take me to prom. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have love in my life.

Our society places so much pressure on romantic relationships — from the storybook-perfect Disney love stories that raised our generation to the very concept of “cuffing season,” we’re surrounded by these fantastic images of idyllic romances. I’m a first-year

in college, I basically just got here, and I’ve already witnessed my peers seeking, engaging in and recovering from multiple flings. The message is that if you’re not involved, you’re missing out — that you have a deficit, a space to be filled.

But here’s what I’ve learned: I can live a perfectly full life, complete with elation and heartache and serenity and melancholia, without any sort of romantic presence. Platonic relationships tend to be written off as secondary to their romantic counterparts. We place eros (romantic love) on a pedestal, above philia (platonic love). Not to say

that we don’t value friendship, but I think we sometimes get so hung up on our romantic fantasies that we let our friends fall to the back burner. They don’t deserve that — we don’t deserve that.

I have two friends who walked me home — 30 minutes in the opposite direction of where they live — after I had a panic attack at a frat party once. I have a friend who wrote, illustrated and assembled a homemade pamphlet with diagrams and calming techniques when I had to get my blood drawn in middle school because I was so scared of the needle. I have a friend who lives across the country and sent me a T-shirt she saw at a vintage fair because it reminded her of me; I hadn’t seen her in over a year.

I have a friend who sat across from me in a hot tub listening to me pine over my (extremely mediocre) middle school crush — and who is still there, still listening to me talk about my crushes, more than five years later — who gives me birthday cards that make me cry and who could recognize me by my handwriting or my footsteps or my laugh. I have friends I just met this year, to whom I can voice all my delusions just to find out that they think the same way. I know a girl who would bike through a torrent of cold, unforgiving rain just to sit and watch a movie with me. I know girls with hearts

of gold, purple and blue the exact shade of the night sky.

That kind of love is special. There’s an extraordinary kind of intimacy in true philia — it’s different than the kind of intimacy in eros, but it’s just as strong. The idea of a perfect romantic relationship is to have someone who will support you no matter what. Who will pick you up when you fall, support you when you’re weak and kiss your bruises to make them better. But if you’re lucky, your friends will already be there to help.

Because at the end of the day, it’s who you sit around an apartment living room table with, eating coffee cake from Trader Joe’s and drinking tea (and maybe sangria). It’s who you run around downtown with after dark, slipping into the ice cream shop just minutes before they close. It’s who you scream with over the phone when a boy likes you and who you cry to when he breaks your heart.

Those are the memories that make me, like stars that amalgamate into a galaxy. Each one makes me a little brighter, a little stronger, a little more radiant. I love them all.

This is a love letter to friendship, because romance gets enough attention.

Our platonic relationships are precious, and we should treat them as such. We need to be intentional with our friends the way we would be with our romantic

partners — tell them we love them, tell them we’re grateful for them, reach out to them and make time for them.

They’re just as important to us, so we should put the effort in with them as much as we do with lovers.

Of course I want romantic love.

Of course I do. This is not to say that romance is unnecessary or unimportant.

I’m a hopeless romantic: I’ve daydreamed of having someone who reaches for my hand in line for coffee, who holds the door for me, who will dance with me in the kitchen in the middle of the night.

But I can confidently say that I can be happy in the absence of romance; I cannot say the same about platonic relationships.

I need the support of my friends in order to be happy but also just to be okay. I rely on them, and they rely on me. I want to protect them, I want to hold them gently in my palms like butterflies. I want them to know that — I want them to know how much I care about them.

Friendship is precious and beautiful and sacred, and it should never come second to romance.

6 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2024

ARTS & CULTURE Culture Corner

The Art’s Desk weekly picks for television, movies, novels and music

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Five handmade crafts you can make this Valentine’s Day Spread the love with affordable and easy personalized gifts

BY SAVANNAH ANNO arts@theaggie.org

BY LORENA ALVAREZ arts@theaggie.org

Book: “The Unhoneymooners” by Christina Lauren (2019) “The Unhoneymooners” is the perfect romantic comedy for this season. Though it is filled with romantic cliches, it follows a woman’s character development as she realizes her worth and finds herself falling in love with her “enemy.”

Through the depiction of this protagonist, who is always comparing herself to others (such as her “lucky” twin sister), the story comments on the types of relationships and lifestyles you can have when you are open to new things.

The plot follows a bride’s realization that her long-term partner is not who she thought he was — all while depicting the “unlucky” twin’s trip to Hawaii with her twin’s brother-in-law. Through this turn of events, “Unhoneymooners” explores the development of an unexpected love and life. As someone who does not like cliches, I was weary when reading this novel. However, I ended up finishing it in one sitting, and strongly encourage romance lovers or anyone who enjoys the enemies-to-lovers trope to read this rom-com.

Often thought of as a corporate holiday with no real value, Valentine’s Day has undergone decades of criticism.

Yet still being celebrated because people love to be shown love.

Whether it’s for your significant other, best friend, a family member or the barista who makes your coffee every morning, gifting a handwritten note or small token of appreciation this Valentine’s Day could mean the world to someone.

If you’re turned off by giant chocolate boxes or the drug-store cards decorated with puns you’ve most definitely heard before, try creating homemade gifts for your loved ones instead. Repurpose scraps around the house or finally use up that old tissue paper from the holidays by trying any of these five beginner-level Valentine’s Day crafts.

Vintage valentines: First created during the medieval period, Valentine’s Day cards have gone through hundreds of forms and phases. This year, take inspiration from the maximalist and ornate designs of the 1800s with collage. Use cardboard or a thick piece of paper to cut out a heart shape, then decorate with magazine clippings, buttons, ribbon, fabric scraps or anything else you can find. The more specific to the person you’re giving it to, the better. Incorporate their favorite colors, animals or interests and they’ll cherish it forever.

Altoids tin wallets: Perfect for your friend with too many trinkets, Altoids tins are the perfect size for their lipgloss, rings, spare change, shells and anything else they might be holding on to. Empty out the tin and decorate the inside with patterned paper or fabric scraps. You can add a polaroid picture of the two of you, glue on beads that spell out their name or decorate the outside with stickers.

Fill the inside with a handwritten note,

Movie: “Holidate” dir. Tiffany Paulsen (2020) Starring Emma Roberts (Sloane Benson) and Luke Bracey (Jackson), this film follows two strangers’ year-long experience as each other’s plus one to holiday parties. It opens on Christmas day, with both protagonists feeling uncomfortable towards their new partner and feeling conflicted with their family’s preconceived expectations. They agree to be each other’s dates in hopes of escaping their family pressures and having someone to spend the holidays with. While spending celebrations like Valentine’s Day together, Sloane and Jackson catch feelings for each other, threatening their no-strings-attached deal.

This rom-com is more than just your classic romance movie; it features the platonic fun two adults can have and the unexpected relationships that can form over time.

TV Show: “The Artful Dodger” by James McNamara, David Maher and David Taylor (2023) Transforming classic literature into a TV series may be controversial, but it is not always disappointing. While I cannot speak to how well “The Artful Dodger” portrays Charles Dickens’ characters from “Oliver Twist” (a monthly series published from 1837 to 1839), I can say that the first two episodes are entertaining. Admittingly, the chemistry between Belle and Jack is what caught my attention when I first saw Hulu’s trailer, but the social and economic inequity discussed in the series makes this show more than just a romance drama. In the first episode, we are introduced to Jack, a conflicted man returning to past habits (stealing) to repay his debts and save his future as a surgeon. In a time of crisis, he steals from someone in high society and is given an ultimatum by Lady Belle Fox (the Governor’s daughter). The ultimatum leads to many of the climatic events of the series, depicting a woman’s struggle to enter a male-dominated medical field. The show’s main format follows Belle and Jack’s reunion in adulthood. That said, be aware that this is a storyline with two potential surgeons, so there are a lot of scenes that may make you physically flinch if blood makes you queasy.

Song: “Black and White” by Niall Horan (2020) In his album “Heartbreak Weather,” Niall Horan explores the beautiful side In his album “Heartbreak Weather,” Niall Horan explores the beautiful side of relationships. This romance and fuzzy feeling is best depicted in his single “Black and White.” The pop-rock ballad’s upbeat tone and catchy lyrics depict eternal love and devotion. Horan sings that while he cannot promise a white picket fence, he can promise to always be devoted to his partner. The chorus, “I see you standing in your dress / Swear in front of all our friends / There’ll never be another,” depicts a person envisioning marrying their partner and spending the rest of their lives together. Overall, this is my favorite love song as it depicts love as something that should be obvious to the naked eye.

ALLISON VO / AGGIE

Mini zines: Almost always handwritten and drawn with pen or marker, zines have been used for decades to share ideas, art and small stories. Fold up any old piece of printer or construction paper and start personalizing.

For a sentimental touch, cut out photos of you and the person you’re gifting it to. Add stickers, drawings of your guys’ favorite things, poems, song lyrics or anything else that reminds you of them. If you like the idea of scrapbooking or have a knack for drawing and coloring, taking the time to create a mini zine is the perfect way to show someone you appreciate them.

Candle painting: If you don’t have the time to sit down and decorate a card or hand make a gift, try setting up an activity that you and your loved ones can do together.

Order food or make drinks, put on a movie or some music and try candle painting. Using the melted wax from different colored tea light candles, dab small designs like flowers or hearts onto larger taper candles with a paintbrush.

Once the wax dries, you’ll have unique and colorful candlesticks to burn during the next cozy night-in.

a chapstick or any other gift. Who needs a wallet when you have a tin that fits everything you need?

Tissue paper flowers: Everybody loves flowers, but not so much when they wilt. If you want to gift a bouquet that you know will last forever, try making it out of tissue paper.

Layer different colors of tissue paper and fold the paper back and forth into a small rectangle. Use scissors to round off the edges and then wrap a pipe cleaner around the center of the folded paper to create the stem. Then, unfold the rectangle and begin to separate each layer of the tissue paper, fluffing each piece upwards. Repeat until you have enough flowers, then use a mug, vase or ribbon to arrange the bouquet. If some of these steps seem confusing, YouTube tutorials might be of more assistance.

Maybe you’re an expert craftmaker, or maybe it’s your first time giving handmade gifts a try. Either way, the effort put into a personalized valentine won’t go unnoticed. If you’re worried about it being too messy or feel embarrassed for putting in too much effort, just imagine how happy you would be to receive something your loved one spent so much time on.

The best 2000s rom-coms

2000s romantic comedies attempt to live up to the iconic genre that grew popular in the 1990s — but some remain timeless

BY ELIZABETH WOODHALL arts@theaggie.org My favorite genre of movies is as simple as it gets: rom-com. It’s incredibly easy to fall under the assumption that they are typical girl-meets-boy movies with cheesy one-liners and a happily ever after, but most of the time, that’s not the case. The 1900s shaped this genre into one that empowered women while still valuing the beauty of relationships and falling in love. Women were no longer helplessly waiting for a man to appear and save them. Instead, the genre depicted women who were independent and perfectly contemptuous of being single — but despite their greatest efforts to maintain this reputation, there was always a guy who swoops in and takes their world by storm.

In the 2000s, our screens were plagued with rom-coms that attempted to emulate the iconic movies we’ve grown to love. Most of them fail, placing them on the ever-growing list of movies that Netflix will obtain rights to in a few months. But some of them adapt to the existing genre, taking on the tropes and funny storylines and adapting to the modern audience. This list pays tribute to the iconic films that have taken over our screens in the 2000s.

“How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days” dir. by Donald Petrie (2003) Andie Anderson works for a Cosmopolitan-esque lifestyle magazine,

LUNA SU / AGGIE

Released in 2003, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days stars Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. McConaughey is an advertising executive who is working towards a big marketing campaign, proving his ability to make a women fall in love with him in 10 days. (Courtesy of Paramount Pictures / fair use) even though she wishes to cover more relevant topics surrounding foreign policy and the civil unrest happening in Central Asia. She hears her friend Michelle talk about this guy who suddenly ends things with her, and as she starts listing her obsessive behavior, Andie realizes that unbeknownst to her friend, her clingy behavior was what ultimately drove the guy away. Soon

after, she finds herself in a meeting, pitching the idea to write a story about how to lose a guy in ten days. Then comes Benjamin Barry, an advertising executive who finds himself in a similar work bind, ending with him making a bet with his competitors that if he finds a girl who falls in love with him in 10 days, he gets the work account they have all been vying for. Both find

each other in a bar setting and pursue each other without knowing the other’s motives. Thus, it begins: Andie leads him into thinking she is a beautiful, charming girl, but the day after, she starts following these specific steps that would lead a man away, like constantly calling him and moving in after a few days. Even though Andie does everything in her power to steer him

away, Ben is determined to have her.

Even though they both have something to lose, they start to grow more in love with each other as they find that they have more in common than they think.

“13 Going on 30” dir. by Gary Winick (2004) Starring Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo, this film follows 13-year-old Jenna who wants nothing more than to be part of the popular clique at school.

Her next-door neighbor and best friend, Matty, is her only confidant. After Matty gifts Jenna a dollhouse on her 13th birthday, she wishes to be “thirty, flirty and thriving.” One thing leads to another, and Jenna wakes up and finds herself living a luxurious life in New York. As a now 30-year-old woman, she’s not only an editor for her favorite magazine, but she manages to find Matty, now a struggling photographer, whom she cast aside in high school after becoming the lead of the popular clique.

He’s engaged now, and even though their friendship is rekindled and they become close again, Jenna realizes that she’s always loved him — and she’ll do anything to go back in time and fix the one mistake she made: losing him.

DECADESROMCOMS on 11

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2024 | 7

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

The cultural history of Smokey Bear The U.S.A.’s most recognizable federal icon

BY SAVANNAH BURGER arts@theaggie.org Smokey Bear is one of the most well-known federal mascots in United States history. With the icon turning 80 this year, U.S. citizens have been seeing, listening and reading about Smokey Bear for nearly eight decades. Almost everybody knows his famous line, “Only YOU can prevent wildfires.” But what most people don’t know is that this wasn’t always his slogan. In fact, “wildfires” was only changed from “forest fires” by the Ad Council in 2001. The reason for this amendment has to do with everything Smokey has represented –– all the way back to the 1940s.

Not many are aware that Smokey Bear actually started as a wartime advertisement. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the U.S.’s entrance into World War II, government officials were worried about forest fires distracting American troops from the war effort — they regarded forest fires as a separate, naturalistic home-front war that threatened national security.

In 1942, the U.S. Forest Service and War Advertising Council approved

a campaign to bring nationwide attention to forest fire prevention, distributing posters that had messages such as, “FOREST DEFENSE IS NATIONAL DEFENSE.” In the same year, Disney’s “Bambi” was released, and the corporation temporarily lent the image of Bambi and friends to the U.S. Forest Service to use in their forest fire prevention campaign. The U.S. Forest Service would soon need their own mascot to use for branding.

On Aug. 9, 1944, after an agreement between the U.S. Forest Service and the Ad Council, Smokey Bear was approved as the official symbol for the forest fire suppression campaign and was featured visually for the first time on a poster. The poster depicted Smokey, a brown bear dressed in blue dungarees and a ranger hat, bending over and pouring a bucket of water on a campfire while glaring at the person looking at the illustration. Underneath, a caption reads, “SMOKEY SAYS — Care will prevent 9 out of 10 woods fires!” This was only the beginning of Smokey Bear’s journey in the public eye.

Spreading like wildfire, Smokey Bear quickly made himself known across the country through hundreds of

The Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion feud: what’s this Megan’s Law business?

Unpacking the hottest diss tracks from two of the most famous female names in the rap game

BY ELIZABETH WOODHALL arts@theaggie.org Content warning: This article contains discussions of gun violence, assault and profanity.

Megan Pete, better known as Megan Thee Stallion, is gearing up to drop her third studio album with the release of its second single, titled “HISS.” Her single exudes everything the “hot girl” persona is known for: calling out the haters and showing who the boss of the rap game is. Soon after, Nicki Minaj released a diss track in response. What caused this explosive feud between two of the most influential female rappers of all time?

Let’s dissect Pete’s song, “HISS.” The first two lines make pop culture references to Mariah Carey’s 2009 track, “Obsessed,” and Kris Jenner’s powerful role as manager for the Kardashian dynasty. She talks about people who have claimed to be linked with her, yet they’re just another “body” and irrelevant.

“All this free promo, I’m turnin’ a profit,” she wrote, showing the power she holds in flipping the narrative to gain profit.

She might be calling out anyone in the industry who attempts to defame her character, but she’s also calling out specific figures who have participated in this witch hunt. For example, she allegedly calls out Drake, as rumors spread that he, too, had gotten a Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL): “Hate on BBLs and be walkin’ ‘round with the same scars.”

This comes after Drake released a song with 21 Savage titled “Her Loss” where he commented on the infamous trial of rapper Tory Lanez, who was indicted last year for shooting Pete in the foot: “This bitch lie ’bout getting shots, but she still a stallion.”

Additionally, Pete referenced fans who have defended Lanez. She suggested his fans download JPay, an app that allows people to connect with incarcerated people.

The conflict between Pete and Minaj began with Pete’s line: “These hoes don’t be mad at Megan, these hoes mad at Megan’s Law.” She seemingly references Minaj, who is married to Kenneth Petty, a registered sex offender, according to Rolling Stone.

Megan’s Law is a federal policy originating from the 1994 murder

trial of Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old girl who was raped and murdered by a convicted sexual offender. In 1996, Megan’s Law was passed, which allowed for public access to the records of registered sex offenders in the area.

Kanka’s father expressed his frustration on TMZ with Pete’s reference of his daughter’s name in her recent single.

In retaliation, two days later, Minaj started an Instagram live and sent out several tweets calling Pete out for her “hypocrisy,” claiming that she has “proof ” of her lies. Minaj then released the track “Big Foot” on Jan. 26, in which she makes several comments about how Pete allegedly uses ghostwriters, slept with her best friend’s partner and lied when she went on Gayle King’s show after the Tory Lanez incident.

She goes on to reference Pete’s lyrics: “This lil’ begging whore talkin’ ‘bout Megan’s Law / For a Free Beat, you could hit Megan Raw.” She claims that Pete would have sexual intercourse for a good record.

Despite claiming that Pete was lying about getting shot, she tells her to “‘get up on [her] good foot,” contradicting her previous line claiming that the foot injury was falsified. Minaj proceeds to reference the men Pete has been linked to in the past, such as rappers G-Eazy and DaBaby — the latter of which Pete collaborated with on the 2020 track “CryBaby.”

Minaj attempts to degrade Pete’s character throughout the track by claiming several defamatory statements. When compared to Pete’s line in “HISS,” Minaj seems to be profiting off the controversy and has released multiple versions of the track on Spotify. She threatens to release more tracks that will allegedly ruin Pete’s image.

Although it isn’t clear what provoked Minaj to release an entire track dissing Megan Thee Stallion, it is clear that they are far from their past days of collaborating on hit tracks, such as their song that created the phenomena of “Hot Girl Summer” back in 2019. However, it seems this feud will continue to be a popular topic as Minaj claims that there are more tracks to come. Pete, seemingly unbothered, went on Good Morning America on Jan. 30 to announce her new tour. We’ll see if this feud simmers down, but it’s safe to say that regardless of the outcome, both rappers will continue to stay on the top charts.

The recent Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stalion fued has the internet in a choke hold with a variety of news outlets and gossip channels reporting each new update. (Courtesy of MTV International and Valerie Albert / Creative Commons, CC BY 3.0 and Creative Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

thousands of books, pamphlets, toys, posters, stamps and radio broadcast public service announcements (PSAs) that started in the 1950s. In the radio broadcasts, Smokey would be introduced by the song “Smokey the Bear,” written by the same songwriting duo behind “Frosty the Snowman”: Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins.

Though their piece became Smokey’s official song, it spurred confusion over the character’s name.

In the popularized song, it was sung as “Smokey the Bear” to be consistent with the rhythm. Officially, however, his name is just “Smokey Bear,” without a “the.” The 1950s solidified Smokey’s design — it wasn’t until this decade that Smokey’s hat and belt had his name printed on them; before, they had been blank.

In 1950, a lone black bear cub was recovered from a violent forest fire in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico. Firefighters found him clutching to a tree with severe burns on his body. They named him Smokey Bear after the character, and the cub was later moved to the National Zoo in Washington D.C. There, multiple senators, forest service officials and other dignitaries met Smokey, and he was officially recognized as the living symbol of Smokey Bear and the forest fire prevention campaign.

The live Smokey Bear became wildly beloved and popular across the country, and he received so much fan mail that, in 1964, he was issued his own zip code: 20252. Smokey Bear is the only American to have their own unique zip code other than President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The 34th president between 1953 and 1961 was an outspoken supporter of Smokey and has been photographed holding Smokey Bear merchandise.

The first Smokey Bear commercials aired in the United States in the 1960s, featuring cartoons of the character and popular television hosts verbalizing their support for the campaign. All the while, Smokey Bear’s image and branding were plastered on anything related to the forest service, ranging from training pamphlets to junior forest ranger kits. His campaign continued throughout the decades,

An American advertising icon used in the Wildlfire Prevention Campaign, Smokey the Bear aims to represent a victim of the forest fires. (Courtesy of U.S. Forest Service / Fair Use) with more commercials and new billboards going up starting in the 2010s.

Although the Smokey Bear Wildfire Prevention Campaign is the longest continuing PSA campaign in United States history, there have been modifications to Smokey Bear’s approach. In the last two decades, professionals specializing in fire science have found evidence that 100% fire suppression is much more damaging to the environment than not. If forest fires are not allowed to burn naturally in fire-adapted ecosystems, forests will grow abnormally thick, becoming the perfect conduit for huge, violent and unpredictable fires.

Without human intervention, forest fires are supposed to burn through environments periodically.

If the environment is not overgrown, these forest fires will commonly be lowintensity burners that will clear out the forest floor of dead and decaying materials. This cleanse also supplies specific nutrients to the environment, along with providing certain animals and plants with ecological benefits only available to them after burns. For example, the California state tree, the coastal redwood, is reliant on fires for seedling reproduction.

Because of these scientific findings, Smokey’s call for the suppression of all forest fires turned out to be the

wrong message. This is why we now hear Smokey say, “Only YOU can prevent wildfires,” as by no means should every forest fire be stopped.

Out-of-hand wildfires, however, like the countless that California has weathered in the last decade, should indeed be prevented. They’re still a massive problem — nearly 85% of wildfires today are started due to human negligence, according to the National Parks Service. In addition to this, in 2023, the National Interagency Fire Center recorded 50,697 wildfires initiated by human activity.

Now that his message has been revamped, Smokey has also had to adjust to a world dominated by social media. In recent years, Smokey Bear has focused his campaign on popular platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. While he still retains his original design in many other ads and merchandise, he is now frequently represented on social media with an originally designed Animoji.

His imagery now appeals to both older and younger audiences.

Smokey Bear, the American icon that is shared by multiple generations, is still going strong into the eighth decade of his PSA. Don’t forget to celebrate his 80th birthday on Aug. 4!

How listening to full albums allows for a deeper appreciation of the art

UC Davis students discuss the return of vinyls, CDs and other ways to listen to albums

HEIDI TEJEDA / AGGIE

BY ZOEY MORTAZAVI features@theaggie.org As far back as recorded music goes, artists have created their albums with a great deal of care and intention. A calculated effort goes into the order by which the songs are placed, and many albums tell stories according to their chronological order.

In recent years, physical albums have risen in popularity once again, as listening to vinyl records and CDs has become a resurrected practice. An appreciation for albums seems to reflect an appreciation for the intentions of the artist. This desire to respect the artist’s craft has led many at UC Davis to celebrate this tradition once again.

“I think we should bring back listening to music by the album because it’s a completely different experience listening to a physical piece of media, like a CD, from beginning to end,” Ritika Ghosh, a first-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major, said.

Ghosh is a part of KDVS 90.3FM, the UC Davis student-run radio station. She explained that the group almost always listens to music by full album, as opposed to shuffling songs on playlists.

“Most albums were meant to be listened to as a group, and when you sit down and take the time to appreciate the album as a whole you unlock this whole new way of thinking about music, not just as individual songs but

as groups of songs in an album that all cohesively flow together,” Ghosh said.

“At KDVS, we listen to all, if not 99%, physical media — and it’s made me appreciate music so much more in a different way than Spotify [has].”

Digital music offered through streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music has created a playlistbased music culture. Playlists are curated based on different genres, artists or even moods that are meant to create ambience for the listener. Even when people do choose to listen to albums, the convenience of streaming music has encouraged skipping songs.

“Listening to a full album in the correct order is what the artist intended, and it was done that way for a reason,” Jamie Parmenter wrote in an article for VinylChapters. “The artist may have spent hours figuring out the track order, changing and swapping tracks, stressing over little sections and even removing songs because they just didn’t fit into the overall sound. It’s kind of like baking: put some ingredient into the mix in the wrong order, and it could ruin the whole cake.”

Students at UC Davis report that there is nothing wrong with curating playlists with many different artists and genres, but that listening to full albums has helped them unlock a newfound appreciation for artists they already enjoy.

There are a few albums that are known for being popularly listened to in their entirety: some of these might include Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” David Bowie’s “The Rise and

Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars” or Radiohead’s “OK Computer.”

Aside from these examples, there seems to be intention behind the order and cohesiveness of every album. As many Davis students are reporting, it is definitely worth trying to listen to full albums by your favorite artists. If nothing else, listening to albums as opposed to shuffling playlists or songs can help listeners get to know their favorite artists a little bit better.

“I really enjoy listening to albums because I feel like it lets me connect with an artist on a deeper, more intimate level in a way,” Rowan CaryClark, a second-year psychology major, said. “I also have been listening to more concept albums, like Ethel Cain’s ‘Preacher’s Daughter’ or Hozier’s ‘Unreal Unearth.’ I think concept albums show how creative musicians can be and how they can tell a whole story through music — it’s really beautiful. I’ve started collecting CDs for my car, and I think they are a nice way to really understand the creative vision and story behind the music.”

A concept album is defined as “a collection of songs written by a musician or group that is based around a central theme or concept.”

These albums are often listened to all the way through because they tell stories chronologically or relate to a main idea.

“My preferred method of listening to music is through albums,” Olivia Doyle, a first-year neurology, physiology and behavior major, said.

“I believe that, for the majority of artists, albums are created to tell a story. It takes you through a series of ups and downs in both a lyrical and musical sense. Listening to an album cultivates an experience that’s similar to watching a movie. It gives you a perspective into the artist’s creative thought process as well as an inside look into the artist’s lives.”

Doyle continued by mentioning some of her favorite albums. “‘The Miseducation of Ms. Lauryn Hill,’ by Ms. Lauryn Hill, ‘For Lovers, Dreamers, & Me’ by Alice Smith, ‘Case Study 01’ by Daniel Caesar and ‘Frank’ by Amy Winehouse,” Doyle said. “Each album has a unique and specific feel and story that connects you to the artist, as well as sparks my own creativity.”

These Davis students are finding new appreciation and love for music after listening to albums in full.

Consider doing a deep dive into one or two of your favorite albums — you might see them in a completely new light and find a greater understanding of their art.

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

8 | THURSDAY, FEBUARY 15, 2024

SCIENCE AND TECH Are California’s winters becoming warmer or colder?

Climate scientists and Davis residents discuss climate change and how it’s affecting the season

By SABRINA FIGUEROA features@theaggie.org California — known for its warm climate and sunny skies — was hit by a chilling atmospheric river and bomb cyclone on Feb. 1, flooding parts of Southern California and killing nine people.

Comparing the current winter season to the ones in past decades, winters in California are getting warmer. In the Sacramento Valley, the average winter temperature increased by 2.3 degrees from 1970 to 2022.

However small that number may seem, it will have larger implications in the future.

California is not alone in this. A study done by Climate Central shows that winter was the fastest warming season in 74% of 246 locations observed in the United States.

Even so, some residents suggest that they feel this change is the opposite.

“I’ve lived in California all my life,” Prisilla Diaz, a local Davis resident, said. “I do remember there being some storms, but I never experienced them to the point where heavy branches in my backyard are falling. The capacity of the storm [on Feb 1.] definitely took me by surprise.

For me, the winter seems a lot colder and longer now.”

Cristina Chambers, a fourth-year psychology major at UC Davis, agreed with this sentiment.

“Coming from Mexico, I didn’t expect the severe [winter] weather,” Chambers said. “I always heard that California was so warm, but not that it was so windy and stormy, so it’s surprising.”

Now the question seems to be: if our seasons are getting warmer, why do we feel like it’s colder, and why are storms much more extreme?

Dr. Michael Anderson, the official state climatologist for California at the Department of Water Resources, noted that not noticing the temperature change in California is likely due to the fact that it’s happening slowly.

“You really have to look at how the average [temperature] moves. Is it a little bit each day? If every day is just a little bit warmer, then nobody really notices it’s happening,” Anderson said.

“Or [are we seeing] periods where it’s just like, ‘Wow, it’s really warm today.

It’s 10 to 15 degrees warmer than it should be?’”

Adding onto this, climate change and the El Niño climate pattern are supercharging the intensity of storms, especially atmospheric rivers — which might be more common in California than you think. Atmospheric rivers are narrow bands of concentrated water vapor in the atmosphere extending from the tropics to mid and high latitudes. It is not unusual

for atmospheric rivers to cause floods, landslides and levee breaks, all of which California has experienced this winter.

“It’s a combination of El Niño and global warming as to why the oceans are so warm over such a broad region,” Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UC Los Angeles, said. “It’s not 100% clear exactly the extent to which each is a relevant player, but they’re both significant. The long-term trend, of course, is mainly because of climate change and the warming of the oceans associated with that.”

The warming of the oceans from the past year — one of the planet’s hottest years on record — contributed to increased air moisture, causing severe atmospheric rivers and rainfall this season. Additionally, due to the increased level of greenhouse gasses, climate change caused the air to have a larger moisture-retaining capacity as well, according to the Clausius-Clapeyron relationship in thermodynamics. This means that when the atmosphere grows one degree warmer, its capacity to hold water increases by up to 3.9%.

So, what does this mean for the future?

Climate scientists at UC San Diego found that atmospheric rivers will become more “potent” in the coming winter seasons as the climate continues to grow warmer. On the one hand, it is a contributing factor to California’s water supply. However, this also means that as the climate has warmed and droughts have become more frequent, the land is much drier, making it prone to dangerous floods.

Allison Michaelis, an atmospheric river expert at Northern Illinois University, discussed the changes in storm severity.

“With these atmospheric rivers occurring in succession, it doesn’t leave a lot of recovery time in between these precipitation events,” Michaelis said. “So, it can turn what would have been a beneficial storm into a more hazardous situation.”

Bomb cyclones, although not uncommon, are now passing through California more than ever before. It’s probable that they will cause more frequent and higher-speed winds in future seasons.

There are also engineering costs to be taken into consideration.

Urban planners currently — and will continue to — face new challenges when it comes to making flood-safe or flood-proof infrastructure.

“The mentality of the past was that we could control floods and contain where flooding happened,” Brett F. Sanders, an engineering professor at UC Irvine, said. “And outside of that,

Therapy dogs can be an invaluable resource for improving patients’ well-being

Newly-employed golden retriever Landon has been brightening up hospital rooms at UC Davis Health

By KATIE HELLMAN science@theaggie.org communities and businesses and residents could kind of g o about what they do and not think about floods. But we know now that, around the [United States], we’re seeing that infrastructure is undersized to contain the extreme weather of today.”

However, some things are still left uncertain. Scientists do not yet know if climate change affects how often atmospheric rivers form or where they go. In the meantime, we shouldn’t assume that atmospheric river storms will be bigger than any other storms that occur in the future, according to Samantha Stevenson, an atmospheric and climate scientist at UC Santa Barbara.

Amid all of the uncertainty about the future of climate change, many fear the consequences that come with society not taking action sooner.

A student shared their feelings about the climate’s current state and its impact on humanity’s future.

“I honestly feel worried because the climate has changed so fast to me; it makes me feel like [humans] went wrong at some point in time,” Chambers said. “I think to myself, ‘If the climate is already degrading right now, what will it be like in 5 years?’”

A resident suggested that as weather and climate change become more extreme in the upcoming years, Californians will not be equipped for the damage it will bring. “[Californians] are used to the heat, but extreme winters and the floods that will come with it, are not things we’re used to,” Diaz said. “I feel like California and the entirety of the United States [are] affected by [climate change] in different ways. It would be more sustainable to really think about how to stop it instead of thinking about what we can do as humans to just get through a rainstorm. We need to think long-term.”

Even though it may seem like California’s winter season is becoming colder due to recent extreme weather, the reality is that it’s actually getting dangerously warmer.

Learning about these unusual climate patterns will better equip us to mitigate the consequences of global warming as well as bring awareness to them.

Landon, a therapy dog through the canine CARE program, cheers up a patient (credit to UC Davis Health) Landon, a two-year-old golden retriever, has an important job: to cheer up hospital patients. Equipped with a wagging tail and a joyful spirit, Landon distracts people from a stressful time in their lives with his warm presence.

He is specially trained to provide comfort to adults and loves to work off-the-clock by visiting hospital staff.

Landon is part of UC Davis Health’s Creativity, Amenities, Relaxation, Exploration (CARE) Project, which uses an interdisciplinary approach to holistic healthcare, employing activities like art therapy and reiki, a form of energy healing.

“By supporting the whole person, caregivers, and family members, we hope to empower a patient throughout their hospitalization with empathy, compassion, and understanding,” CARE’s website reads.

Canine CARE, currently consisting of a team of six dogs, specifically aims to help patients cope with an illness through the use of therapy dogs.

To qualify for his important role, Landon had to first pass his Canine Good Citizens test, allowing his handlers to make sure he would be friendly, obedient and gentle while interacting with patients. Landon did exceptionally well on his test; he kept his focus when surrounded by commotion and refused to give in to meticulously placed distractions, such as a stuffed animal dog blocking his path.

Katie Lorain, the Creative Arts and Recreation Therapy department manager at UC Davis Health, commented on the impact that the dogs have on patients’ well-being.

“The main purpose is to normalize the hospital experience,” Lorain said.

“Many of our patients are missing their personal pets when they are admitted for a long time, and even if they don’t have a dog, [the dog] is just something that reminds them of the world outside of the hospital. It can lift their spirits and it can motivate them to engage in treatments, like ambulating or getting up and out of bed so they can walk with the dog down the hallway.”

The impact of therapy dogs doesn’t just stop after their visit — they can actually promote physical healing and have positive long-term effects on human health, according to a study published in PubMed. “When humans are faced with a stressful or unknown situation [...] the steroid structured hormone cortisol is released,” the study reads.

“Studies in humans investigating stress biomarkers found that when people are engaged with interacting or stroking a dog, sensory stimulation in both the human and the dog can activate oxytocin and decrease cortisol levels in humans.”

Anyone interested in learning more about the CARE program can check out their website and support the CARE project fund by visiting their UC Davis Crowdfund.

Major confusion

By EMMA LAPIDUS eblapidus@ucdavis.edu

The clear sky unveils a rainbow after a week of rain in Davis on Friday, Feburary 2nd, with the weather forecast being in the high 50’s and mostly sunny. (Maia Zhu / Aggie)

Disclaimer: (This cartoon is humor and/or satire, and its content is purely fictional. The story and names of “sources” are fictionalized.)

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY, 15, 2024 | 9

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Sudoku

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

Answer to previous puzzle 02/08/24

Crossword

KELLY GUAN / AGGIE

HUMOR

Geology major tries to find love Horoscope reader

100% accurate 50% of the time

This love story rocks

BY ALLISON KELEHER adkeleher@ucdavis.edu

George loves rocks. So much so that he switched to a geology major — only to discover that there’s much more math involved than rocks. While his classes aren’t very interesting, there’s one thing that keeps him interested in his classes: a girl named Annie.

George and Annie have shared multiple labs together over the quarters, and George’s infatuation has only grown deeper. He goes to sleep at night envisioning a picnic date at the UC Davis Rock Garden. Annie’s favorite rock in the Rock Garden is serpentinite, and George’s is gabbro.

Don’t tell anyone, but George lied to Annie and said his favorite is also serpentinite.

The only problem is that George has solidified his place in the friend zone, kinda like how lava solidifies into igneous rock. Annie spends all of their classes together talking about the many student-athletes she’s interested in.

“George, they’re really hot,” she’ll say.

One night, George was pacing the floor of his room because he couldn’t decide what to do about Annie. But then, a TikTok psychic appeared on his For You page and told him that he had love coming his way soon. George liked, commented and shared to claim these good vibes. So, he grabbed his jacket and keys and left his apartment hurriedly. His unfinished homework remained on his desk — true love can’t be stopped!

George arrived outside of Annie’s window. Her apartment was on the second floor, and George could see

that she was inside since the light was on. George reached down and collected a couple of pebbles, kissed them for good luck and then tossed them one by one at Annie’s window.

It took a minute or so for Annie to get alerted by the pebbles. George’s heart lurched when he saw the window open. Annie peeked her head out with a hopeful look on her face. Her face dropped when she saw George.

“George? What are you doing here?! I thought you were that basketball player I told you about,” Annie yelled.

George pushed aside the hurt he felt, and he responded, “Will you go on a date with me to the Rock Garden?!”

Annie was shocked by this request; she had only ever seen him as a friend.

“Sorry, I can’t! I’m not really looking to date right now.”

George felt his villain arc developing. For the next couple of days, he repeated those words in his head over and over again.

“Not looking to date? What about all those athletes with their electric scooters? Maybe she doesn’t like me because I ride a bike,” George thought.

The voices overwhelmed George’s mind until he was driven to delusion.

This time, he paced his room looking for ways to get revenge on Annie. But he couldn’t do that. George loved her.

So, in the dead of night, George drove to the Rock Garden and stole a boulder that he felt Annie would appreciate.

From there, he went to Annie’s apartment and prepared to launch the large boulder at her window with a love letter attached to it.

This boulder was really heavy, so it took some lifting skills, but he

NATALIE CHENG / AGGIE launched it up to the second story and through her window. The glass shattered, and the boulder went straight into her room. George heard Annie’s beautiful scream and couldn’t handle the shame he felt, so he fled the scene.

The next day in class, George felt awful about what he had done.

He would never want to hurt Annie.

Annie is a calming presence to George — she’s like his rock. George’s heart pounded when Annie walked into class, clutching his love letter in her hand. She stormed toward George, and he prepared himself for her rage.

“This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me!” Annie said proudly. “Also, you must be really strong and athletic to throw that large, beautiful rock at my window!”

“Really?” George exclaimed.

And so, they finally had their date at the Rock Garden. George and Annie lived happily ever after. They can be seen walking hand in hand outside the Earth and Physical Sciences building.

When asked how they’ve lasted so long, Annie always says, “He’s strong like an athlete, and he’s emotionally intelligent.”

George just says, “She rocks.”

Disclaimer: (This article is humor and/or satire, and its content is purely fictional. The story and the names of “sources” are fictionalized.)

Are you alive, human and reading this right now? Egads, she’s done it again!

BY AUDREY ZHANG aurzhang@ucdavis.edu Legendary horoscope reader Hocus Bogus has released her monthly predictions to her loyal followers. All she asks is that you only look at your own zodiac sign reading. Do not read anything else.

Cancer: You’re probably human.

As most people are, this is a very safe claim to make.

Taurus: You have likely felt emotions at some point in your life.

Capricorn: If you eat only meat, you will eventually contract a magical condition called scurvy.

Virgo: If you eat only gummy bears, you will eventually contract a magical condition called not being alive.

Gemini: Your lucky numbers are the last three digits of your social security number. Hocus Bogus says that if you mail them to her, she will interpret them free of charge. Don’t waste this chance!

Aquarius: You will go to the parking lot on Ninth Street. You will leave a check of $5,000 made out to one Hocus Bogus. You will hide it underneath the fire hydrant. It will bring you…luck or something. Just do it.

KELLY GUAN / AGGIE Libra: This month, you will be breathing. That’s so Libra of you.

Sagittarius: Are you aware that you subconsciously block out the feeling of your tongue in your mouth?

Now you are.

Leo: This month goes great for Leos. But if you are a Leo named Leo, listen carefully. Wednesday, 2:04 p.m., you will receive a phone call from an unknown number. Do not pick it up.

Go home and leave garlic on your windows. Do not answer your front door. Do not mess this up.

Aries: You will find every Leo you know and call them on Wednesday, 2:04 p.m. Why? It will be really funny.

Pisces: At some point, you will die.

AUDREYSHOROSCOPES on 11

10 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY, 15, 2024

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Select Renovated Units with Updated Kitchen, Bathrooms, & Flooring Available, Walking Distance to Shopping and Dining, Near Unitrans Lines P & Q, Free Coffee & Doughnuts Daily, Washer and Dryer in Unit, Pool & Spa, Clubhouse with Fitness Center, Free Parking

Leasing and Tours Starts February 1st

Graduate Student Community, Lease by the Bedroom, Study Lounge & Private Meeting Rooms, One Block from UCD Campus, One Block from Shopping Center, Washer and Dryer in Unit, Free Parking

Online Leasing Starts in Mid February

Select Renovated Units with Updated Kitchen and Flooring Available, Located near West Davis Pond, Free Coffee and Doughnuts Daily, 1.5 Mile Bike Path to Campus, Near Unitrans Lines D, K, P, & Q, Pool & Spa, Clubhouse with Fitness Center, Free Parking

Leasing and Tours Starts February 1st

Spacious Floor Plans, Free Coffee and Doughnuts Daily, Clubhouse with Fitness Center, Tennis Court, Pool & Spa, Washer & Dryer in Unit, Free Parking

Leasing and Tours Starts February 1st

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

REUSEDRIVE FROM FRONT COVER These donated items will be given directly to the Rooms to Go program that Empower Yolo is working on. This program provides emergency housing and shelter to survivors of domestic abuse, according to Sanjana Gudivada, a third-year psychology major and member of the SAAAC. Thibault spoke on the connection between SAD’s focus on gun violence and domestic abuse.

“Abusers use guns to threaten and control victims,” Thibault said. “These threats often escalate to murder. Every month, an average of 70 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner, and nearly one million women alive today have reported being shot or shot at by an intimate partner. Service providers like Empower Yolo really provide a critical lifeline so that these women can escape these situations and come out on the other side stronger.”

Gudivada and Thibault said that more flyers will soon be posted around campus and that there will be an increase in tabling at the MU to spread the word about the drive.

The goal of these actions is to make the drive an annual event that takes place during Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October, according to Thibault.

Gudivada spoke on the significance of this event.

“I think [the drive] is really good, because most of the time, the shelters that domestic violence survivors go to don’t have a lot of resources for them because [they’re] not really funded and a lot of people don’t really care about [them],” Gudivada said. “[But] they have more resources now and people are more aware of it.”

Thibault then gave his final comments on what he hoped this drive would provide for survivors of domestic abuse. “[The] bottom line is that a donation as small as a can opener can make a huge difference in the lives of survivors as they adjust to new housing and a new life,” Thibault said. “We encourage UC Davis students to come together and uplift survivors.”

HOUSINGCRAZY FROM FRONT COVER For Fountain Circle, Aggie Square and Almondwood, their respective leasing offices opened earlier than their usual opening time so students wouldn’t have to wait all night. Almondwood Apartments, specifically, opened around 3:30 a.m., and Buccieri’s team finished processing all the students before 8:00 a.m.

“Why make them wait too much longer?” Buccieri said. “I called our team in and I said, ‘Let’s go. Let’s start getting these kids in and out, get their

11 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2024

applications processed and get them out of the rain and out of the cold.’”

Sycamore Lane Apartments had their signing scheduled for the early afternoon on Jan. 27, yet their administration witnessed a group of people beginning to line up by 7 a.m. the previous day, according to Ortiz.

Jessica Cheng, a first-year math and statistics double-major, arrived at Sycamore Lane Apartments at 1:00 p.m. on Friday. She and a group of friends took turns camping in the 24-hour study lounge in five to six hour shifts, for a total of 25 hours.

“We started talking about it like a week beforehand,” Cheng said. “We made plans for shifts the previous day.”

She passed the time watching movies and described the experience as a relatively smooth one, with no tension or competition among students.

“It was surprisingly chill,” Cheng said. “There was no competitiveness among anyone because once you got there — they had spots marked on the ground — you would grab a chair and a spot.”

Ortiz shared a similar observation, noting how students came in, took a spot and proceeded with their business.

“They really [did] a good job of being respectful,” Ortiz said. “They put themselves in line and they all respected the line.”

Despite the mutual respect students showed one another, the lack of an acceptable solution to the apartment camping issue leaves Ortiz believing that this trend will persist for the foreseeable future.

“What’s going to make them not sleep out?” Ortiz said. “I don’t think there is an answer yet. I think [the students] resigned themselves to [the fact that] this is how it’s going to be, and I think we have too.”

Sycamore Lane Apartments used to employ a lottery-based system for leasing apartments, but students expressed frustration at the lack of control, so now apartments are available on a firstcome, first-serve basis. Consequently, Ortiz said that the amenities offered during the overnight camping could be improved.

“What I think I have to do is what we’re doing now and just offer them a better option to at least stay safe,” Ortiz said. “I think that is our responsibility.

We’ll just have to keep on improving to make sure they’re warm, have snacks and they can study.”

HAUSEVENTS FROM FRONT COVER “First-years are so used to being at home and being in the dorms, that once they do live on their own, there is a switch,” HAUS Unit Director Annette Gutierrez said. “They don’t know how to deal with roommate conflict. The idea is to give them ways to deal with those things when living in a home or apartment because that is different from living in the dorms. It also shows them that they can take care of themselves.”

HAUS is also in charge of Housing Day, which was held at the University Credit Union Center on Feb. 7.

The event saw numerous off and on-campus housing facility booths to inform prospective students. This included student housing options with the Student Housing and Dining Services, and private off-campus apartment properties across Davis.

“We had over 50 tables, reached hundreds of students and also got HAUS some publicity,” Andie Tarabzooni, the HAUS Vice Unit Director, said. “This is a multifaceted response. Vendors had talked about how they found students were seemingly more interested and more in tune with the conversation prior to ever before.”

According to Tarabzooni, if students missed any of these events and still have questions about housing, they can reach out during HAUS’ peer-advising sessions.

“Our peer advisors can walk you through housing from budget, to location to accessibility,” Tarabzooni said. “We want to cover it all.

Students can sign up for these sessions through a link attached to the HAUS Instagram.

HAUS will next be collaborating with the LGBTQIA+ Resource Center for, “A Guide to Queer Housing,” on Feb. 23.

SUPERVISORDEBATE FROM PAGE 2 Mvondo was followed by De Loera-Brust, who introduced himself as wanting to ensure that Yolo County remains accessible to everyone, especially working-class communities who have experienced hardship due to the ongoing housing crisis throughout California. De LoeraBrust has experience working for the United Farm Workers as well as other advocacy groups throughout Yolo County.

“I am running to build a Yolo County which works for working people,” De Loera-Brust said. “It would be the honor of my life to represent my hometown on the Board of Supervisors. Davis is where my Mexican immigrant family found our American dream, and I have always tried to earn back the opportunity this town has given me through public service.”

Allen spoke after De LoeraBrust, citing her previous experience as an elected representative, first as a Member of the Davis Joint Unified Board of Education, then on the Unitrans Advisory Committee, followed by the city of Davis Human Relations Commission. She is currently the Deputy Supervisor to Provenza, representing district four.

“I come to this as a community servant, I did not suddenly think this to be a good idea because I have been working for thirty years for the people of Yolo County,” Allen said.

“I come from a farming community, from a low-income family and I was a first generation college student. [...]

I was happy to join the community of Davis, and right away jumped into community service.”

For more information about upcoming elections and to register to vote, visit https://www.yoloelections.org/.

COMMISSIONCHANGES FROM PAGE 2 “We also suggest that any commissions not linked to a specific element play supportive roles in the General Plan update process. Overall, we feel that commissions are wellplaced to gather information on our community’s vision for the future.”

In reviewing the structures of commissions, the subcommittee undertook research including: reviewing each commissions’ assigned tasks, meeting with chairs and vicechairs of each commission to gain a better understanding of how to improve commissions and considering council needs related to upcoming policy discussions amongst other research.

“This focus on the General Plan update, as well as the consolidation and streamlining recommendations, responds to concerns the subcommittee heard from chairs and vice-chairs about lack of direction and linkages to council decision-making,” Vaitla said. “After the General Plan update, the commissions would continue to function in their respective roles with revised authorizing resolutions.”

The draft would include recommendations for the merging of similar commissions in order to address the “evolving needs and interests since the last commission update” which was in 2006, according to Vaitla.

“We hope that the restructuring will elevate the ability of commissions to provide high-priority advisory support to city council, as well as ensure that our General Plan process is well-informed by a representative view of community needs and visions for the city’s future,” Vaitla said.

DECADESROMCOMS FROM PAGE 6 “Saving Face” dir. by Alice Wu (2004) Dr. Wilhelmina “Wil” Pang (Michelle Krusiec) is a successful lesbian surgeon in New York City, During a dinner gathering, she accidentally outs herself to her mother, Hwei-Lan, and her friends. She finds herself attracted to Vivian (Lynn Chen), a modern dancer and daughter of Wil’s boss. On top of that, Wil’s mom is forced to move out of her current home with her father when she finds out unexpectedly that she is pregnant. This movie explores

the identity of Wil, a lesbian Chinese American facing the expectations of her community while still staying true to who she loves. As she explores her feelings for Vivian in a space where lesbianism isn’t truly embraced, this movie shows the hardship faced by many LGBTQIA+ people during this time, especially people of color. This film encapsulates what it means to feel accepted by breaking through cultural barriers and finding love in the most unexpected places.

“Easy A” dir. by Will Gluck (2010) Some of my favorite movies are somehow always a loose adaptation of a classical story. Seventeen-year-old Olive Penderghast lies to her best friend about going out (and losing her virginity) with a college student, and the rumor spreads around the high school. Long story short, she is labeled as a “dirty skank,” and soon after reading the 1850s novel “The Scarlet Letter” stitches a letter “A” on her top, embracing the title and taking money from guys in exchange for her saying she has had sex with them. Woodchuck Todd, a fellow classmate of Olive’s, sees right through her. He asks her out without any intentions of having sex with her and genuinely enjoys her company.

Despite her tarnished reputation, he doesn’t let that define her. With her snarky commentary of what it’s like to be labeled as a “prostitute,” Olive embraces this title and doesn’t shy away from getting what she wants.

Imagine this scenario: I’m stuffing my face with popcorn as I scroll through any streaming platform searching for the perfect romance movie, ultimately landing across one I’ve seen about a million times. But on rare occasions, I’ll land on a movie I’ve never seen before.

In an even rarer case, I’ll watch it and actually enjoy it. Enjoy it — that’s code for laughing joyfully, crying, restocking on tissue boxes and doing it all over again in a few weeks.

AUDREYSHOROSCOPES FROM PAGE 9 Scorpio: At some point, you will realize that it’s difficult to come up with unique situations for 12 different things and resort to writing random words. Popsicle.

If you read all of them and realized that they all applied to you, then this means you don’t follow directions very well. That’s such a Cancer-TaurusCapricorn-Virgo-Gemini-AquariusLibra-Sagittarius-Leo-Aries-PiscesScorpio thing to do!

Disclaimer: (This article is humor and/or satire, and its content is purely fictional. The story and the names of “sources” are fictionalized.)

12 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2024

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

SPORTS MEN'S & WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Both men’s and women’s basketball dominate in tough weekend games

The Aggies held their own against UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

BY LUCIENNE BROOKER sports@theaggie.org The beginning of February has been nothing but strong for both the men’s and women’s basketball teams as they faced off against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos and the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Mustangs. The men’s team defeated the Gauchos and the Mustangs over Feb. 1 to 3, maintaining their third place spot in conference standings.

While the women’s team also defeated UCSB, they fell to Cal Poly on Feb. 3, dropping them to fifth place in the conference.

The women’s team played at home for both games after a pair of matches on the road in Southern California.

First up, they defeated UCSB 82-62 on Feb. 1 in the Black Futures Month Celebration game. Although the Aggies held a narrow lead going into the second quarter, their dominant 35-point performance secured their victory as the Gauchos were left playing catch-up for the rest of the match. This performance broke the Aggie record for most points

scored in one quarter.

On the individual level, third-year political science major Megan Norris scored a career-high 22 points as well as 15 rebounds to lead the team. Fifth-year psychology major Evanne Turner was right behind her on the scoring chart, contributing 21 points. Additionally, fourth-year psychology major Tova Sabel rounded out the top three with 11 points. While the Aggie offense was on fire, the Aggie defense also thrived, holding the Gauchos to their worst shooting game of this season.

The victory over the Gauchos pushed the Aggie women’s basketball team to just below the first place spot in the Big West standings. They hoped a victory over the Mustangs would bring them to the top, but their dreams were thwarted during their lowest scoring game of the season. With the 47-57 loss, the UC Davis women’s basketball team fell to the fifth spot in the conference standings. Despite the home court advantage, UC Davis struggled to convert their shots, while Cal Poly had one of their most efficient games of the

season. Norris again led the scoring with 16 points, joined by third-year human development major Sydney Burns and Sabel. Overall, the Aggie offense was unable to capitalize on scoring chances.

Over the same weekend, the men’s basketball team pulled out two tight wins against the Gaucho and Mustang teams, moving them up the Big West standings to the third spot overall. On the road for both games, they defeated UCSB 79-69 on Feb. 1. Fifth-year sociology major Elijah Pepper and third-year communications major TY Johnson each scored 24 points, combining for over half of the Aggies’ total points. Pepper also marked his 200th career steal during a dominant all-around performance.

After their strong start to the away trip, the Aggies faced off against Cal Poly on Feb. 3. Despite a quieter day on the offense, the defense held strong to clinch a 59-52 win in San Luis Obispo. Pepper and Johnson again led the scoring, while first-year undeclared major Connor Sevilla also scored in the double digits.

It was a back-and-forth game, with UC

LUNA SU / AGGIE

UC Davis Women's Basketball embraces the challenge, pouring effort into a riveting matchup against Cal Poly SLO with a score of 47-57.

(Jersain Medina / Aggie) Davis having to intensely defend their lead. Although the Mustangs fought hard, the Aggie’s men’s basketball team came away with the victory, increasing their record to 9-2.

Next up, both the men’s and women’s teams face Cal State Fullerton and the University of Hawaii. Both

opponents ready to take the Aggies down, the UC Davis men’s and women’s basketball teams have been training and are prepared for the rest of the season.

Both teams will be looking to climb up the rankings as the Big West playoffs approach.

HOCKEY

Champions crowned and $2 million won in National Hockey League All-Star Weekend

Auston Matthews leads team to victory

BY CAROLYN (CARI) FENN sports@theaggie.org Over the weekend of Feb. 1 to 3, the best teams in the National Hockey League (NHL) came together for the 2024 All-Star Weekend Game in Toronto, Canada. Starting in 2025, the NHL is implementing the Four Nations Face-Off Tournament in preparation for their return to Olympic hockey participation in 2026.

To start off this year’s All-Star Weekend, the league held the All-Star Player Draft, presented the Alumni Man of the Year award — a celebration for the 1967 Toronto Maple Leafs — and had a three-on-three showcase of the Canadian Tire Professional Women’s Hockey League. While the first day is packed with multiple events, the draft is the biggest of them all with players getting assigned to teams of 11 by star captains and celebrity co-captains.

Once drafted, they have little time to prepare before they must compete in the tournament.

The 2024 All-Star Draft marked the first time since 2015 that captains were able to select the players they wanted, adding incentive for the tournament on Saturday.

This year, the four teams consisted of: Team Matthews with Captains Auston Matthews, Morgan Reilley and Justin Bieber; Team McDavid with Captains Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Will Arnett; Team MacKinnon with Captains Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Tate McRae; and lastly Team Hughes with Captains Quinn Hughes, Jack Hughes and Michael Bublé.

Following the draft and team formation, players and captains move forward to the All-Stars Skills Competition. Unlike in previous

SENATE14 FROM FRONT COVER SB #41 is set to allocate $469,075.63 from General Reserves to EC for the “Lawntopia” music festival.

Several senators and ASUCD officials, there is a minimum of 10 million dollars in general reserves at the time of publication, according to the bill.

Senator Do introduced the bill during the author’s comments portion in which he addressed concerns that the bill would be taking money away from other crucial ASUCD units (notably Unitrans) and set dangerous spending precedents that could risk long-term ASUCD financial stability.

Do said that he met with Unitrans management and confirmed that they would be unaffected by “Lawntopia” spending.

“As a Senate table, how can we be so against setting new precedents when there is a tangible fleshed-out plan to improve the student experience, yet be okay when setting a new precedent that has led to nothing but a bureaucratic nightmare?” Do said, referencing the recent impeachments of President Francisco Ojeda and IVP Raghunathan.

He then said that students give ASUCD their money expecting a full package of services.

“Every other student government at other UCs are able to provide [these services],” Do said. “One of these includes a concert.”

Do, alongside Senator Jonathan Ng and EC, had released an Instagram post with information on both SB #40 and #41 calling for members of the public to show their support for the bills (and with it, Lawntopia) a day before the event. By the start of the meeting, it

years, where every All-Star player competed in the competition, only 12 All-Star players competed in a series of eight events. During these events, participants aim to earn the most points and receive the $1 million prize. The participants this year were Matthews, Draisaitl, MacKinnon, Makar, Hughes, David Pastrnak, McDavid, Mathew Barzal, Nikita Kucherov, William Nylander, J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson.

Additionally, players had the opportunity to choose from four of the first six events to participate in for the competition. The events consisted of fastest skater, hardest shot, stickhandling, one-timers, passing challenge and accuracy shooting. After each player competes in six events, the four players with the lowest points get eliminated. For this year's competition, Draisaitl, Hughes, Kucherov and Pastrnak were the first of the All-Star players to be eliminated.

Following the first elimination, the remaining eight players then moved on to the one-on-one shooting competition against a goalie of their choice.

Unfortunately for MacKinnon and Pettersson, the shooting competition marked the end of their time in AllStar Weekend.

The last and final event of the skills competition was an obstacle course where point totals were doubled.

Narrowly winning the last event and taking first place, McDavid came out on top to win the $1 million prize. Despite the tough competition, McDavid earned 25 points by winning his first three events: fastest skater, stick handling and accuracy shooting, then earning 10 points in the obstacle course. While McDavid

gave an impressive performance, also earned zero points in two events, showing just how tough the competition was.

After the skills competition came t h e

had garnered over 800 likes, and public presence at the meeting fluctuated around 30 people for the time spent deliberating on those bills.

In discussion of SB #41, time was deferred to former ASUCD Senator Gaius Ilupeju, who argued that ASUCD, while staffed and led by well-intentioned people, is not as fully aware of its financial state as it should be — alleging misconduct

by Associated Students Business Management, Administration and Operations Executive Director Greg Ortiz. President Ojeda gave him a verbal warning to be respectful, which Ilupeju acknowledged before moving forward with this statement.

Ilupeju noted early in his comment that he had not been paid fully for his two terms as an ASUCD Senator.

“I don’t think Greg [Ortiz] is a horrible person, but there’s so much bureaucratic and administrative holdup here that it affects students’ lives — like mine,” Ilupeju said.

He alleged that Ortiz failed to delegate responsibilities and ignored ASUCD bylaws by saying one of Ilupeju’s projects from last quarter was “over” because he was no longer a senator, though Ilupeju argued that funding from the initial Senate bill should have applied through the quarter.

“After budget hearings, I realized that EC was going to need something to put on events,” Ilupeju said. “I started meeting with them in the summer. I asked Greg [Ortiz] in the summer, I was like, ‘How much is in reserves?’

No answer. I don’t blame any of this on [Controller Allyson Francisco].”

Ilupeju also questioned the status of the reserves, voicing doubt that the Senate had an exact idea of how much

he

event: the All-Star Game.

The first two matchups were Team MacKinnon versus Team McDavid, and Team Hughes versus Team Matthews. With the event being a three-on-three tournament — a style first introduced in the 2016 All-Star Game — it was shaped to be a scorer’s paradise.

In the first match of the competition, taking place between Team Mackinnon and Team McDavid, the game was close, with both teams putting up a good fight. Ultimately, Team McDavid took the victory with a late comeback and a final score of 4 to 3 over Team MacKinnon. The comeback was achieved through the two last-minute goals scored by Pastrnak and McDavid to send the game to a shootout.

During the match, players Pastrnak and McDavid assisted on one another's goals, with Boone Jenner scoring a goal immediately after. Additionally, looking at both goalies for Team McDavid, Connor Hellebuych made 10 saves on 11 shots on goal in the first period.

In contrast, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped eight of 10 shots in the second period and both shots in the shootout.

On the other side of the rink, Team MacKinnon had a total of two goals scored by one of the captains themselves.

Oliver Bjorkstrand scored one goal,

and Sidney Crosby and Cale Makar each had two assists. Looking at the Team MacKinnon goalies, Alexandar Georgiev made nine saves on 10 shots in the first period, while Jeremy Swayman stopped the first eight shots he faced in the second period before allowing two goals on the last three shots he faced.

The second matchup of the competition between Team Matthews and Team Hughes proved to be just as exhilarating as the last match. With a final score of 6 to 5, Team Matthews became victorious while enduring a shootout against Team Hughes — the winning shot taken

by Alex DeBrincats in the shootout granted them the victory. Aside from DeBrincat's shootout goal, DeBrincat also scored two goals during regular game time.

Additionally, DeBrincat helped Team Matthews with an assist.

Continuing down the line, Flip Forsberg scored two goals along with an assist, Mathew Barzal had three assists and Mitchel Marner scored. Looking at the goalies for Team Mathews, Jake Oettinger stopped eight out of 10 shots in the first period, while Igor Shesterkin stopped seven out of eight in the second period, with no goals allowed in during the shootout.

For Team Hughes, Frank Vatrano scored two goals and an assist, Quinn Hughes had three assists and Nikita Kucherov scored a goal and an assist.

Looking at the goalies, Cam Talbot stopped four out of six shots in the first period, and Thatcher Demko stopped seven out of 10 in the second.

With Team Matthews and Team McDavid winning their semi-final matchups, they were set to battle for

the championship title in the finals.

During the last game of the tournament, Team Matthews was crowned winner over Team McDavid with a final score of 7 to 4. As Matthews used his home-field advantage as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, he and his team secured the win over Team McDavid without having to go into a shootout. Captain Auston Matthews had the most significant impact in the game, scoring two goals and an assist to win him Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

For Team Matthews, fellow Toronto Maple Leafs Mitchell Marner, Morgan Rielly and William Nylander contributed to the team's win. Marner scored a goal, while Rielly and Nylander each had an assist. Other skaters who contributed to the victory were Clayton Keller, Mathew Barzal and Alex DeBrincat, who all scored one goal and two assists in the final. Lastly, looking at the goalies’ performances, Igor Shesterkin saved eight out of 11 shots in the first period, while Jake Oettinger saved eight out of nine in the second.

For Team McDavid, Leon Draisaitl scored one goal and two assists, adding to the goals by Boone Jenner, Tomas Hertl and David Pastrnak. Looking at the goalies for Team McDavid, Sergei Bobrovsky saved 10 out of 13 shots in the first period and Connor Hellebuych saved seven of 10 in the second.

With Team Matthews coming out on top, the team and Celebrity Captain Justin Bieber split the $1 million that went to the winning team.

As the 2024 All-Star weekend came to an end, viewers were ecstatic with Team Matthews’ hometown win and McDavid’s Skills Competition victory.

Unfortunately, fans will now have to wait until 2026 for the next All-Star Game and a new set of All-Stars to compete for the title.

money was in ASUCD reserves. This is something that he said he blames himself in part for. He also criticized the table for the hold in promised funds for student-aid programs.

Gaius’ statements were followed by fourth-year political science and economics double major Oshiogwe Nash-Haruna.

“Entertainment is a basic need that helps people mentally, spiritually and emotionally,” Nash-Haruna said.

“Having an annual event is something a lot of students look forward to on a yearly basis. As senators, your job is to represent your students’ needs and wants — not act like you’re in Washington D.C.” Similar sentiments were expressed by other members of the public, as well as EC representatives.

“I’m here as a direct voice of the student body, and I can tell you right now that if you do not pass this bill and put this as an investment into EC, you will not be seeing positive results in your election turnout,” Volunteer Director for EC Shanthoshi Thamilseran said.

A few students did voice opposition to the bill, notably former Senator Erek Leschyn who criticized Do for reversing his position on the impeachment and argued that his Instagram post, which featured an image of Drake, was misleading. Do disputed these points in a point of clarification.

Another sentiment voiced was that while senators have good intentions, they can be “out of touch” as NashHaruna said, and have not collaborated as much as they could have with Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) and groups outside of ASUCD. However, Senator Dani Antonio’s Planet Her event and Senator Trinity Chow’s

upcoming cross-cultural event were cited as examples of events that crossed over with other groups.

Amidst rising tensions, Senator Leah Jung expressed concern over individual senators’ safety who had been criticized by name by members of the public and requested that the table move to Senate discussion.

After an hour of public comment, consideration of the bill moved to Senate discussion. EAVP Aridin reasserted community guidelines and asked both senators and the public to remain respectful.

Controller Francisco discussed financial issues in regards to SB#41.

“As senators, [they] are going to have to see the budget holistically and decide [the] priority and make cuts,” Fransisco said. “ [...] as the financial person of this association, I do not know how we will sustain this [expense for Lawntopia] if you are not prepared to make serious cuts to our other units.”

The bill went to a vote at approximately 11:30 p.m., ultimately passing 9-4-1 (Yes-Abstain-No). The news was met with applause and cheers from the public, several of whom had been present since the start of the meeting more than five hours earlier.

Senator Antonio, the sole ‘No’ vote, gave an address acknowledging the public’s dedication and perspectives shared throughout the night. She also addressed earlier critiques of her work on Planet Her by saying she had reached out to RSOs and student groups, some of whom tabled at the event.

“I am one person,” Antonio said. “I am trying my best.”

She also clarified that while she respects the views of the public, she voted in the best interest of the causes

she ran on. Ending her statement, she received applause from the room.

Raghunathan also came to their defense.

“Time and time again in ASUCD, the people who are being called out publicly are the women of color,” Raghunathan said. “These are the most hard-working senators [...] We need to stop this pattern of calling out women of color on this table when that is such a rare thing for this table to have.”

Afterwards, SB #40 passed unanimously without objection. The Senate then returned to discussion of SB #39, which also passed unanimously.

Moving to open forum, Senator Jung criticized Senator Nur Ambaw, who had filled in for Pro Tempore Chasa Monica after they left earlier in the night, and both the IVP and EAVP for not better maintaining order, as well as defending targeted senators.

Raghunathan responded by pointing out her recent impeachment and cited increased media scrutiny of her performance. Further discourse on the issue led to a call for decorum, as well as Aridin calling on all of her peers to defend one another and stop “pointing fingers.”

Raghunathan later spoke of events of personal attacks and doxxing against her in previous meetings. Jung apologized for her complaints and thanked her colleagues for their insights and context.

This point branched into a larger conversation amongst the table on safety and well-being, with an emphasis that senators and ASUCD staffers are also students.

The meeting adjourned at 12:12 a.m.

m a i n KELLIE LU / AGGIE