February 29, 2024

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VOLUME 147, ISSUE 18 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2024

Loved ones celebrate 51st birthday of David Henry Breaux, ‘The Compassion Guy’ Breaux’s friends and family celebrated his life and legacy

BY CHRIS PONCE city@theaggie.org On Monday, Feb. 26, nearly 20 people shared Boston cream pie as they celebrated the 51st birthday of David Henry Breaux, also known as “The Compassion Guy.” The event, which was hosted by Maria Breaux, David’s older sister, was meant to celebrate his life and his vision of compassion for Davis.

“Today’s event, to me, just means honoring, not only David’s birthday — he would have been 51 today — but also his message of compassion,” Maria said. “Knowing that he would have wanted us to be joyful today and not despair because of everything going on. He actually, after a while, wasn’t big on celebrating his birthday, but he was big on anything that reminded people of compassion, so that’s what this event is about.”

David was one of three victims of last year’s serial stabbings. He dedicated his life to finding an answer to one question: What is compassion?

At the event, birthday balloons were placed behind the “Compassion Bench” where David would sit every day as he asked people for their definition of compassion.

Maria shared that Boston

Davis Phoenix Coalition fills the air with love in sweet birthday remembrance for David Henry Breaux, shared with his sister and those touched by his memory. (Jersain Medina/Aggie) cream pie was her brother’s favorite dessert and that whenever she has it, she is reminded of him “instantly.”

Growing up, the two of them didn’t eat healthy food often due to their environment. They discovered their love for the pie once they both were students at Stanford University.

“We both went to Stanford University and for us dorm food was actually a step up, like a huge step up

NAS115 class holds flash mob as part of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women project The event saw several stories about missing and murdered Indigenous women, as well as performances by Indigenous drummers

Native Americans in Contemporary Society class holds flash mob demonstration to raise awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous women.

(Ragavi Goyal / Aggie)

BY RAGAVI GOYAL campus@theaggie.org Students of the class Native Americans in Contemporary World (NAS 115) held a flash mob in the Memorial Union quad at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 21 as a part of their Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) project.

The event started with the quad surrounded by red dresses as a symbol of each Indigenous woman who was murdered. The brief introduction of the project was followed with a song performed by Indigenous drummers who were invited to the event.

This event was led by a student in the class, who asked to remain anonymous, sharing stories of Indigenous women who were abducted, went missing or were murdered.

“I’m going to take a minute to talk about a story that is about a postBringham Mine’s sister,” the student read to the crowd. “Her name is Jessica

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Alba. Jessica Alba was murdered on April 20. Jessica Alba was murdered by her boyfriend — the father of her children.”

The quad echoed Jessica Alba’s name as everyone commemorated her. The stories about these women were similar in that they weren’t usually followed up by proper investigation.

“Far too often, murderers and missing person[s] cases in Indian counties go unsolved and unaddressed, leaving families and communities devastated, seeking answers [and] looking for justice for their families,” the speaker said.

There were also dresses of children hung up, symbolizing the Indigenous children that were harmed or went missing.

“We want no more stolen sisters,” the speaker said. “We want no more stolen family members. We need justice for our people. We need justice for our family members.”

There was a red tapestry wrapped around a tree — on it, the names of victims. Everyone chanted these names in due respect, from names of little girls who are still missing to names of older women who were murdered.

“We know that this is an issue that’s in Indian country here and in North America, but this is also an issue for women all over the world,” the speaker said.

Another speaker from the class began to talk about femicide and its prevalence affecting women, girls and two-spirit people. Femicide is a term that refers to the murder of a woman, perpetuated by a man due to her identity as a woman or for presenting as a woman. This definition includes other forms of violence against women, such as kidnapping and domestic, sexual and psychological violence.

NASCLASS on 8

from what we were having growing up,” Maria said. “When he was at Stanford, I visited him and his dorm, and we shared that love of [the] pie. When I think of it, I think of him. I think of coming together and doing something joyful together. I think of expressing love through giving away things to each other or sharing things with each other.”

Aly Tikka, a friend of David, woke up at 3:30 a.m. on Monday to drive

four hours from Los Angeles to attend the birthday celebration. She’s currently staying with people she’s never met before who are other friends of David.

These friends also hosted David in the past, as he was unhoused in Davis.

“All of these people that knew David but didn’t know each other had now come together and now we all know and love each other,” Tikka said.

“We support each other like a family.”

As an example, Tikka noted that someone she hadn’t known before offered to host her for an entire week “just because” she knew David.

Tikka described David as her “teacher.” She was a philosophy student in college and said that most of what she’s learned outside of the classroom was from him.

Tikka’s best friend who went to UC Davis worked for a homeless shelter and was then introduced to David. According to Tikka, David was voluntarily unhoused and he had been offered housing many times before. “[David’s friends] did offer him their spare room in Sacramento and David said ‘no,’ Tikka said. “David had many opportunities for free housing and he said no.”

Tikka said that this was because it brought him more peace to be outdoors in nature than indoors. She said that she didn’t understand this until recently when she lived in a Zen monastery for three months.

Tikka has a background in Tibetan Buddhism. She said that compassion is the most important thing in this branch of Buddhism and is what caught her attention about David.

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Senate passes bill to establish equitable ASUCD elections at Feb. 22 meeting

The table also heard several quarterly reports from various committees

BY RIVERS STOUT campus@theaggie.org Vice President Aarushi Raghunathan called the Feb. 22 meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. After roll call, she read the UC Davis Land Acknowledgement.

Following Senator Chasa Monica’s resignation from the position of Senate President Pro Tempore, the meeting then voted for a different senator to fill the role. Senator Chen nominated Senator Chow. As the only nominee, she was voted into the position unanimously.

Next on the agenda was the quarterly meeting with Unitrans.

Jeffery Flynn, general manager of Unitrans, said that ridership had increased 20% this quarter. However, they are currently experiencing a driver shortage, as there is an excess of applicants but a lack of trainers.

Unitrans asked for a training budget increase to account for this problem.

As far as what the community can look forward to in the future, a deal has been made to supply Unitrans with more electric buses. However, the buses will not be delivered to campus for a couple of years as they take a long time to manufacture.

Two students were next nominated

to serve on the Undocuscholars Advocacy and Aid (UAA) Committee, an organization dedicated to serving undocumented students on campus.

Both were unanimously approved.

The Sexual Assault Awareness Advocacy Committee (SAAAC) was next, also nominating two students to serve on the committee. Both were also unanimously approved.

SAAAC’s quarterly report followed, where they discussed the success of their monthly decompression workshops. New Narcan lockers, operated by the UC Davis Fire Department in collaboration with multiple student organizations, were also announced.

The Student Health and Wellness Committee (SHAWC) followed with their quarterly report. They announced a new Airtag awareness training course being brought to the UC Davis Police Department.

The course is being introduced after multiple students filed complaints of having Airtags put on them or in their belongings by unknown individuals across multiple incidents. The course seeks to inform the police of what they can do in response to the complaints.

The possibility of selling emergency contraceptives at the Memorial Union (MU) through a vending machine

was announced as a future plan. Julia Miller, SHAWC chairperson, said that this project is in the works due to the large gap between contraceptives sold at the MU Student Store versus the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC)’s vending machine. Miller noted that students may be too nervous to buy contraceptives from others due to perceived social stigma, making a vending machine in the MU a solution to this problem.

SHAWC requested a larger budget, as the majority of items they use or donate are donated by others, and SHAWC’s services cannot be maintained with the current budget.

Senator Chen briefly raised the question of promoting SHAWC to a unit in order to sustain their current work and even expand it.

After a brief break, the Internal Affairs Commission (IAC) had its report. Plans to allow professors to incorporate syllabi into Schedule Builder have been delayed, but will likely proceed next year.

Constitutional Amendment #89 was brought to the table. The amendment seeks to enforce the Code of Ethics onto elected officials. It received a majority vote.

SENATE16 on 8

Yolo County district attorney decides not to seek death penalty against Carlos Dominguez On Feb. 26, the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office provided notice they would not seek the death penalty against suspected serial stabber Carlos Dominguez According to three mental health professionals, Dominguez was diagnosed as schizophrenic and deemed unfit to stand trial shortly after being arrested. But as of January, based on an evaluation, he was deemed fit to stand trial.

On Feb. 26, at 1:30 p.m., a preliminary hearing was held at the Woodland Superior Court where Dominguez is the suspect of murder and attempted murder. The hearing should last approximately four days, according to the district attorney’s announcement.

The hearing was held on the same day as a birthday celebration for David Henry Breaux, also known as “The Compassion Guy.” David Breaux was the first victim killed during the serial stabbings. David Breaux’s sister, Maria

BY HANNAH SCHRADER AND CHRIS PONCE city@theaggie.org Prosecutors at the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office announced on Monday morning that they would not pursue the death penalty charge against Carlos Dominguez. The update was announced shortly before a preliminary hearing for Dominguez was held later that day.

“The Yolo County District Attorney’s Office has provided notice of its intention to NOT seek the death penalty in the Carlos Dominguez case,” the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release email.

Dominguez is a 21-year-old former UC Davis student who is the suspect in a series of stabbings last spring that left two dead and one severely injured.

Breaux, said she considers it a good decision to not seek the death penalty.

“I think that’s good news,” Maria Breaux said. “I’m in line with what David said [to me], ‘If I’m ever harmed and unable to speak for myself, forgive the perpetrator, and help others forgive that person.’ He didn’t say, ‘force people to forgive,’ he didn’t say, ‘manipulate people into forgiveness.’ He said, ‘help people,’ and so everyone’s gonna have their own reactions to it, and all of them are valid. And for me, compassion is at the root of everything, and so I consider that move [to be] good news that another life has not been taken.

There’s been too many lives taken.”

This story is developing, check back for updates. Last updated: Feb. 27, (12:39 a.m.)

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

2 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2024

Davis Parks and Community Services department hosts Children’s Summer Activity Fair The fair hopes to educate Davis youth about local programs being offered this summer

BY ALMA CULVERWELL city@theaggie.org

The City of Davis Parks and Community Services, Yolo Crisis Nursery, and other local organizations table at the Children’s Summer Activity Fair. The fair showcases opportunities for youth to participate in this summer.

(Jenna Lee / Aggie)

The city of Davis’ Parks and Community Services department hosted their annual Children’s Summer Activities Fair on Thursday, Feb. 22, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Center. The event was free for Davis community members and did not require an RVSP. The goal of the event was to educate community members on local summer programs being offered and promote outreach, according to a press release by the Park and Community Services department on Feb. 8.

“This annual event showcases youth programs being offered this summer to the Davis community by a variety of local organizations,” the press release reads. “Families and community members are invited to learn about the different summer programs, discover local organizations, ask questions, find out how to register and engage with City staff. Organizations will offer programming that ranges in ages, from preschoolers to teenagers.”

The department then described its purpose and how it ties into the event.

“The Parks and Community Services Department mission is to create and enhance the quality of life for Davis residents and its visitors by providing a diverse array of programs, services and

recreational facilities,” the press release continues. “A variety of recreational opportunities are provided for residents of all ages, including aquatics, adaptive recreation for persons with disabilities, outdoor education, specialty camps, teen services, youth and adult sports, paratransit, community rental facilities and much more.”

The Children’s Summer Activity Fair attracted a variety of organizations and vendors hoping to increase their outreach to the community, including the Davis Parks and Community Services department, UC Davis Youth Programs, Catalyst Kids, Stambusky Dance Studios, Davis Scouts and Bubblegum Arts Studio.

First-time fair participant and owner of the recently opened Bubblegum Arts Studio Wendy Bayram described her excitement for the summer programs the studio advertised at the event.

“We have purchased fabulous process art summer camp curriculum from the Meri Cherry studio in LA, who has world-renowned summer camps,” Bayram said via email. “Expect to see camps like Dollhouse Camp, where we design and decorate a multi-story dollhouse, Space Camp, with projects such as a 3-D Planet collage and space dioramas, and Mermaid Camp, where we’ll make treasure maps and chests, mermaid worlds and slimes and potions.”

Bayram also commented on the

studio’s desire to get more involved in similar future events as a newly opened business and its plans for future programs.

“We will be offering birthday parties, weekend open studio hours, parent’s night out and even adult art nights in the upcoming months,” Bayram said.

“We need all the marketing we can get.”

Other organizations have been participating in the Children’s Activities Fair for several years. Breanne Stambusky, owner of Stambusky Dance Studio, described her experience attending community outreach fairs in the past.

“The studio did participate in the city’s activity fair last year, and it was very nice to connect with local families who were looking for new and exciting activities for their children.” Stambusky said. “We have also participated in the Picnic Day children’s fair as well, where we put on short performances for the families attending. All of these opportunities are an amazing way for local businesses, like myself, to reach out and spread word about their offerings.”

Stambusky added that she would love to participate in additional events similar to the Children’s Activity Fair and appreciated the opportunity to get to know new families and expand the studio’s outreach.

Yolo County to host Women’s History Month celebration on March 2 This year’s theme will be “Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion”

BY KATELIN PANG city@theaggie.org In a Yolo County press release on Feb. 14, it was announced that the annual Yolo County Women’s History Month celebration will take place on Saturday, March 2. The celebration will be hosted in Woodland at the Gibson House property at 512 Gibson Rd. and will be from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The 34th Yolo County Women’s History Month celebration is open to the public and free of charge offering a variety of different speeches and speakers from all over the county, giving women an opportunity to connect with those who are honored in the community.

According to the announcement, the Yolo County Women’s History Month Committee (YCWHM) also introduced this year’s theme, “Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.”

Speakers include Tessa Smith and

Dr. Dawnte Early. Both women are strong leaders in their communities for influential progress toward issues of race, inclusion and equal opportunity within businesses and legislative bodies.

Smith, the Yolo County Health and Human Services Agency’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Coordinator, has advocated to raise awareness of racial disparity within criminal justice, government assistance and health. “[Smith] has worked as Chair of the Yolo County Multi-Cultural Community Council (MCCC), a group that advises the District Attorney’s office on community and race issues,” the press release reads.

Early is a West Sacramento City Councilmember and CEO of United Way California Capital Region. She helps lead engagement within her community to create a strong need for gender equality. She is also an active leader in the Department of Health in Yolo County.

“Before United Way, she was a leader at the Department of Public Health and the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission,” the Yolo County Women’s History Month Committee website reads.

As for the Davis community, Jenny Tan, the director for community Engagement in Davis, said the city of Davis does not currently have anything planned for Women’s History Month.

“We do not have anything planned for Women’s Day on March 8,” Tan said. “We may do a social media post.”

Tan also said that she plans to take celebratory photos of the staff and that more than half of city leadership in Davis are women.

“The post will go up on March 8.

I’m hoping to have two photos, one of women staff at the city and another of the women department heads. More than half of the leadership at the city of Davis are women.”

The Yolo County Women’s History

Yolo Land Trust, partners promote carbon farm planning in Yolo County

County organizations hold free trainings to promote sustainable farming practices

BY EMMA CONDIT city@theaggie.org The Yolo Carbon Farm Partnership is a collaborative effort between multiple organizations to support and promote sustainable farming practices. The groups involved include the Yolo Land Trust, the Yolo County Resource Conservation District (RCD), The Center for Land-Based Learning and The Carbon Cycle Institute.

Conor Higgins, a project manager at Yolo County RCD, discusses the goal of this plan.

“Carbon farm planning centers around trying to sequester carbon into your soil and decrease greenhouse gas emissions,” Higgins said. “Growers that have interest in that are the ones that we’ll often work with. Many growers already do [some carbon farming]: planting cover crops, applying compost

[and] trying to till less or not at all.”

The organizations hosted an introductory workshop on Feb. 22 to overview carbon farming and allow farmers to share their experiences.

During the workshop, speakers shared information about carbon farming and highlighted the long-term benefits of carbon sequestration.

Since the rise of large-scale and industrial agriculture, carbon output has increased exponentially, as shown in the workshop. Agriculture is not the reason for high greenhouse gas emissions but can help to mitigate the overall climate impact.

Jeff Creque, the director of Rangeland and Agrosystem management at The Carbon Cycle Institute, noted that carbon is harmful in the atmosphere, but can benefit crops.

“Carbon increases an ecosystem’s ability to hold water,” Creque said.

“The loss of soil carbon has doubled the effects of drought in California and the southern United States. We can’t decarbonize agriculture because agriculture is extremely dependent on the carbon in the biosphere.”

Carbon farming practices include planting cover crops, reducing tillage, planting windbreaks and hedgerows and conducting wild grazing. This collection of practices can reduce greenhouse gases, improve water quality, increase agricultural production and longevity and create wildfire resilience.

Higgins discussed the barriers that farmers face when implementing carbon-farming practices.

“It can be a cost thing,” Higgins said. “If people want to reduce tillage [the preparation of soil to be farmed], no-till equipment can be just an initial cost. If they’re buying seed for cover crop, [a crop planted to protect and cover the soil, not to be harvested], it’s finding labor then to do it. I know some folks have concerns like ‘is my cover crop going to be impacting my actual crop? Am I gonna waste water on that?’

If you’re not going to make money from carbon sequestering, there’s even less incentive.”

He commented on the role this project plays in spreading the word about carbon farming.

“This series is an early action plan,” Higgins said. “This is to increase the scale and pace of [carbon farming] and provide a resource and model to farmers to say ‘this is how it can look.’ We want to demystify it. We’re here to help.”

Participation in these workshops is voluntary for farmers who want to partake in carbon farming. There will be an in-person field day on March 7 at the Center for Land-Based Learning’s Maples Farm in Woodland for anyone, farmer or not, who is interested in learning more.

Heather Nichols, a director at Yolo County RCD, explained that farmers play a large role in this change.

“You may be one small farm doing this yourself,” Nichols said. “But each small farm making changes has a larger impact than you would think.”

NATALIE CHENG / AGGIE

Month Committee is a non-profit organization that annually plans this event to showcase women’s successes and to applaud those serving their community. Many community members appreciate bringing friends, family and women of importance to this event every year.

“I have attended the luncheons for several years,” Jim Brewer, a past event

attendee, said. “My mother, though she did not have the opportunity to attend college, was an independent woman who was very interested in the history and culture of her family and her community. It is encouraging to see that spirit continue, not only in the women of my family but also in our Yolo County community.”

First Japanese hot pot restaurant in Davis set to open in March Shabu Shack, an Elk Grove-based hot pot franchise, is set to open in the Davis Commons

The Davis Commons has since expanded to include new restraunts like Bober Tea, Bruxie, and Shabu Shack. (Cruz Martinez / Aggie)

BY HANNAH SCHRADER city@theaggie.org Shabu Shack is a family-owned business that originally started in San Jose when the Quang family purchased the first hot pot location — where Richard Quang’s wife worked. The business is now set to join the Davis Commons by March 10.

Quang, the co-owner of Shabu Shack, spoke about how the restaurant came to be.

“My [now] wife was working at a Japanese hot pot restaurant,” Quang said. “And the opportunity came about where she was able to purchase the location that she was working at from the previous owners. So [...] we rebranded it to what is now called Shabu Shack today.”

The business has grown to include locations in Elk Grove, San Francisco, Sacramento and now Davis. Quang then spoke about their decision to bring a Shabu Shack location to Davis. “[The Davis location is] owned and operated by two gentlemen that are native to Sacramento,” Quang said.

“When they were looking at the market, trying to see where they could expand and bring Japanese hot pot to, they realized that Davis didn’t actually have a Japanese hot pot [...] It just happened to be that the Davis Commons had a spot open for them.”

The owners of the Davis Shabu Shack location commented on their favorite menu items.

“Our favorite items on the menu have to be the beef belly toro or American wagyu dishes, because they are sourced fresh and cut to order,” the owners said. “[Shabu Shack is] also the only hot pot with a spicy Sichuan soup base, which makes it super unique for [spice] lovers.”

Nickolar Saldivar, Shabu Shack’s real estate broker, talked about the process of establishing the Davis location.

“This was a full build-out, so we’re not talking a second-generation restaurant,” Saldivar said. “So it took a little time because [the owners]they had to go through planning and submit their permits.”

Saldivar spoke about his excitement for Shabu Shack coming to Davis.

“From portion to cost and everything else, you know, I’m just really happy for Davis to be able to have that [hot pot] experience,” Saldivar said.

“And Shabu Shack does a really great job at it.”

When asked about Quang’s longterm goals for Shabu Shack, he discussed possibly expanding further. “[For] the company-wide [goals] for Shabu Shack as a whole, we’d love to continue to expand and bring the concept into new communities,” Quang said. “Assuming, you know, we continue to be successful.”

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY, 29, 2024 | 3

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Tom Smith to ASUCD participates in become new dean of UC-wide Transfer Mental UC Davis School of Health Week The purpose of the week was to create spaces to discuss the Education personal struggles that transfer students may face Smith hopes to recruit and educate a diverse set of future K-12 educators

BY VINCE BASADA campus@theaggie.org

Tom Smith is the new Dean of the UC Davis School of Education.

UC Davis announced on Feb. 2 that Tom Smith, professor of public policy and education in the Department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College, will become the new dean of the School of Education starting June 1, 2024.

Smith has a B.A. in economics from UCLA and a M.A. in the same field from Columbia.

He then pursued an M.A. in sociology of education from the Catholic University of America, and later obtained a Ph.D. in educational theory and policy from Pennsylvania State University.

After completing his M.A. in economics, he worked for the federal government within the National Center for Education Statistics, and later the National Science Foundation. He also worked in Paris at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Through his time with the federal government, he garnered an interest in education and later pursued a doctorate in the field.

Smith taught at Vanderbilt for 13 years before moving to UC Riverside in 2014 to become Dean of their School of Education. He left that post in 2019, and later returned to Vanderbilt in 2022 to continue his research.

Smith’s work in education has focused on improving mathematics curriculum, as well as improving diversity within the teaching force, partnering with local school districts and teachers.

Still, the job at UC Davis was something Smith said he wasn’t going to pass on. As dean, he will lead the School of Educations’ faculty who will help train future K-12 educators.

The UC Davis School of Education offers masters and doctorates in the field, and also currently has a minor in education for undergraduate students.

“This opportunity at Davis came along, and if it had come along earlier, I would have jumped at it,” Smith said. “I grew up in Dixon just down the road, so this is a return to the neighborhood and a real opportunity to have an impact on the broader community that I come from.”

Smith has also expressed interest in working with local community leaders and policymakers, noting Davis’ close location to the state capitol in Sacramento.

In the initial announcement of Smith’s hiring, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Mary Croughan said that Smith offers a lot of experience as

a leader in higher education.

“Throughout his career, he has focused on data-driven research that leads to better education policies, an incredible asset given our proximity to the state’s capitol,” the announcement read. “He is deeply committed to furthering our values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice, and brings proven practices that have supported the success of diverse faculty and students.”

Smith will be taking over from current Interim Dean and Professor of Education Cynthia Carter Ching who has served in the role since July 2023.

While optimistic for the future of education, Smith acknowledges that there are significant issues facing the profession and the field at large. His concerns include, “the continuing teacher shortage, and coming out of COVID, concerns about whether or not more and more teachers are also leaving teaching as a profession.”

He also acknowledged the growing role and developments of new technologies, specifically artificial intelligence, and stated his belief that, if used responsibly, it can help educators rather than hurt them.

“I think all of those technologies really need to be invested in; not to replace teachers, but to kind of augment and allow them to do what they have more expertise in,” Smith said. “Whether or not that’s helping individuals, struggling learners, teaching big concepts or having more time to deal with the associated emotional needs of students.”

He hopes to recruit more teachers from diverse backgrounds, noting that most teachers in the state of California are white.

“Growing the size of teacher education is a clear priority that I want to support,” Smith said. “I think the School of Education has an excellent faculty and staff and probably doesn’t have as much statewide or national recognition as it should for how good a set of scholars and teachers [it has].”

While Smith hopes to find spare time to further his own educational research, he is clear that his main commitment is aiding and recruiting the K-12 educators of tomorrow.

“There needs to be quite a bit of an effort to try to find people who might be interested [in], [and] might be committed to student learning,” Smith said. “[They need to] embody some of the goals that the School of Education has around social justice and equity, and be interested in helping the next generation learn.”

BY BENJAMIN CARRILLO campus@theaggie.org During the week of Feb. 12, 2024, fourth-year political science major and ASUCD Transfer Student Representative Kaito Clarke hosted Transfer Mental Health Week on the UC Davis campus. This event took place on every UC campus to raise awareness for mental health struggles in transfer students.

“As transfers, we have issues that are very specific to us,” Clarke said.

“Each [UC] school was in charge of running their own events.”

The UC Davis week entailed three different events that sought to recognize and highlight the personal issues that transfer students struggle with.

On Feb. 12, Clarke hosted a Community Advising Network (CAN) counselor to speak to transfer students on issues they may face, acting as a support group for students.

Next, on Feb. 14, a Valentine’s Day craft event was held to create a space for students to socialize. Finally, on Feb. 16, Clarke facilitated a walk in the arboretum for transfer students to immerse themselves in the campus environment.

While these events are not the only ones that were held, as Clarke holds activities weekly, the Transfer Mental Health Week brought together the transfer community and showed students the areas of the campus they might not usually get to see.

“I really like the aspect of this event being so UC-wide, and not just us,” Clarke said. “Getting to focus on individual aspects [and] talking to the other UCs about this event was so important. Davis has a very transferfriendly population, and 20% of our student population is transfers, but I hope that this becomes a traditional thing overall, and that my predecessor continues this after I am gone next year.”

Julia Miller, a third-year human development major and chair of the ASUCD Student Health and Wellness Committee (SHAWC), also helped prepare the events from a mental health perspective. “[Clarke] reached out to me because he knows I’m on the health

For Transfer Mental Health Week, a space was created in the CoHo to write words of affirmation for transfer students. (Courtesy / Kaito Clarke) side of ASUCD,” Miller said. “The Valentine’s craft day specifically was the one I sent supplies for and helped with, and many students showed up — we had to bring in extra chairs.

Transfers introduced themselves and made friends, it felt more like a social event with ASUCD as a liaison. It was a great, low-key atmosphere with an environment I [hadn’t] seen before.”

Miller then discussed why it was important to acknowledge and prioritize the mental health of transfers, underlining how they’re often an underrepresented group.

“I’m not a transfer student, and

none of my committee members are transfer students, so I was really happy when [Clarke] reached out to me,” Miller said. “It really brings in a new perspective, and I think it’s so important to look at, because I feel like transfers are often overlooked.

From what I understand, coming in two years later and making connections is very difficult, and I think that having events like this at Davis is very inspiring, creating a sense of community for students.”

Different types of schedules

BY LANHUI ZHEN lazhen@ucdavis.edu

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

UC Davis Health celebrates second annual Principles of Community Week

A range of events were held to honor the spirit of diversity and inclusivity that the UC Davis Principles of Community promotes

BY MADISON PETERS campus@theaggie.org From Feb. 12 through Feb. 16, UC Davis Health celebrated the second annual Principles of Community Week by hosting a multitude of online and in-person events at the Davis and Sacramento campuses.

The theme was “Connecting as a Community” and all events were aimed at promoting the message of inclusivity and strengthening the values of diversity that the UC Davis Principles of Community embody.

The week started with a virtual kickoff on Monday, Feb. 12 in which opening remarks were made by multiple members of the UC Davis administration.

Michael Villalobos, associate vice chancellor for the Office of Campus and Community Relations

in the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, welcomed everyone to the event and defined what Principles of Community Week means to UC Davis. “[Principles of Community Week is] an annual commemoration of reaffirming who we continue to aspire to be: an institution that embraces our diversity and our ongoing commitment to equity and inclusion,” Villalobos said.

The events were hosted by a variety of UC Davis departments and included activities such as a community quiltmaking workshop, informational sessions about classroom strategies for transfer students and LGBTQIA+ empowerment seminars.

Human Resources WorkLife Manager Sandy Batchelor hosted an event on Thursday, Feb. 15 called “A Woman’s Job,” in which she

highlighted prominent gender issues.

Batchelor spoke on the connection of this event to the UC Davis Principles of Community and plans she has for next year’s celebration. “[Gender] is in the same bucket of the different identities that people bring to work and the different struggles and challenges [that we need to] honor as an institution,” Batchelor said. “We will continue doing this [event], because I feel we do represent people that have more work-life challenges, specifically women.”

Another event, that will continue through April 22, is the showcasing of a new archive at the Shields Library: “By Any Means Necessary: Marginalized Students Give Voice in the ‘Third World Forum.’”

This archive highlights a student newspaper, the Third World Forum, that was printed from the 1970s to the

early 2000s, according to Christine Cheng, instruction and outreach librarian for Archives and Special Collections. The newspaper gave a voice to marginalized students of color and was aimed at shedding light on social justice issues on campus.

Cheng said that the archive perfectly represents the theme of this year’s Principles of Community Week. “​​For historically marginalized student communities, [connecting as a community] is what the “Third World Forum” represented,” Cheng said. “[It] was created by students of color as a platform to connect with one another, the issues they were passionate about and world news of significance in their — or their parents’ — home countries. Student writers for the “Third World Forum” also called for freedom of expression and social justice and challenged discrimination,

racism and sexism on campus.”

The Principles of Community were created 32 years ago by a wide range of UC Davis faculty and staff and will continue to be upheld by the UC Davis community, according to Villalobos.

Chancellor Gary May spoke on the main points of the Principles of Community and the significance that it holds on the UC Davis campus in a statement posted on the UC Davis Principles of Community website.

“You are here because you belong here,” May said. “We belong here with our similarities and differences, with our agreements and dissent.

We must remember that connection, compassion and kindness are what makes this our own special community.”

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

4 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2024

‘Saltburn’ is… not great

TikTok says I have ADHD The implications of self-diagnostic social media content

A fascinating film that lacks the punch it so desperately wants

BY JOAQUIN WATERS jwat@ucdavis.edu I watched “Saltburn” last weekend.

As a movie buff, it was only natural, and, well, this thing is getting so popular that I felt out of the conversation for not having seen it. “Saltburn” has become a phenomenon — in fact, it’s becoming something of a modern classic. But why? What is it about “Saltburn” that has so captured the attention of my generation? I have a few thoughts, and I’m sorry to say that they are not all nice.

“Saltburn” follows a lower-class young man named Oliver (played by Barry Keoghan, Hollywood’s current favorite weird, little creep) who is invited by his wealthy friend Felix (played by Jacob Elordi, Hollywood’s current favorite hunky Australian) to stay the summer at Saltburn, his

family’s extravagant estate. Over the course of the summer, Oliver has increasingly strange interactions with the estate’s other residents (among them Rosamund Pike as Felix’s mother and Archie Madekwe as their downtrodden ward Farleigh).

Then, the big reveal – last chance not to be spoiled – Oliver is not the lower-class man he has been portraying himself to be to the family and audience.

He is, in fact, a middle-class sociopath who has been manipulating the residents of Saltburn into leaving him the estate’s ownership, aiming to kill them and steal their wealth. If you’re paying attention, the reveal is sort of obvious — the friend I watched the movie with had Oliver pegged the entire time.

SALTBURN on 8

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Staring Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi as Oliver Quick and Felix Catton respectively, “Saltburn” cinematically depicts a series of horrifying events between the Catton family. (Courtesy of MGM and Amazon Studios / fair use)

What’s in your water?

Where Davis water comes from, and how to ensure it is safe to drink

NATALIE CHENG / AGGIE

BY MOLLY THOMPSON mmtthompson@ucdavis.edu “Put a finger down if it’s hard for you to stay organized,” an “expert” said in a TikTok video who went on to diagnose me with ADHD — attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder.

It has become increasingly common in recent years for internet creators to post videos listing symptoms and characteristics of varying mental health conditions with the intention of helping viewers potentially discover underlying ailments that they can treat. Some producers are genuinely qualified doctors trying to spread educational information, but the vast majority who contribute to the heavy saturation of this type of content are people who have experienced some sort of neurodivergence or mental illness and are sharing their own anecdotal accounts.

There are a few reasons it has become so popular; there are certainly success stories of people realizing that they were living with a disorder that they could take actions to treat, for one. But more fervently, there is a complex ecosystem on social media of glamorization of mental illness that makes it seem, in a twisted sort of way, desirable.

Even though no one explicitly voices the sentiment of wanting to be mentally ill, our generation has made it seem cool (which is a whole other article on its own). So naturally, when we see a video that tells us we have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), we want to align with it because it makes us feel special. To complicate it further, oftentimes we will genuinely be struggling and seeing these videos validates that. Even if it is not necessarily, in this example, OCD that we are struggling with, thinking that it might be makes us feel justified and affirmed in the sense that we are not just exaggerating or making it all up.

Issues present themselves when we as a society start to take it too far.

When it comes down to it, nobody

can get a diagnosis from a video. An actual diagnosis takes more than a list of symptoms — no mental condition presents the same way in everyone, and they are so complex that professionals need to take into account your history, personality, lifestyle and more in order to come to a conclusion.

There are certainly commonalities across people with the same disorders, but there is too much variation to encapsulate in a thirty-second video.

Simultaneously, internet depictions of these disorders tend to be very visual and single-narrative, which perpetuates the surrounding stereotypes. It is common for people who suffer from conditions that do not manifest in the classically presented ways to dismiss their symptoms since they do not align with what is typically shown in the media.

When it is so easy to draw misdiagnoses, the weight of a real diagnosis becomes diluted. It’s analogous to the phenomenon that occurs with food allergies: when people claim that their sensitivities or preferences are allergies, allergies start to be treated as sensitivities or preferences, which is dangerous for people with actual allergies. When everyone is claiming that they are “so OCD,” suddenly real cases of OCD are not taken seriously and can easily be dismissed as nonissues.

A lot of the claims made by these videos are also incredibly easy for a very broad audience to relate to. Something like “You might have ADHD if… you’ve kind of struggled with anxiety and depression throughout your life” (this is a direct quote) is applicable to an immense range of people, especially in an age where there is more awareness and transparency around mental health issues than ever before.

It is almost comparable to astrology — horoscopes and astrologically based guides are notorious for being extremely ambiguous and general (today, CoStar told me not to overreact). In both cases, they give you very vague information that you are likely to relate to, even on a small scale. As an example, there

is a significant difference between misophonia and a tendency to get annoyed by certain sounds. They get conflated as a result of the way the symptoms are described, which leads viewers to jump to conclusions. You’ll relate to it, you’ll see yourself in it and you’ll start to wonder if you have ADHD, OCD or autism (or maybe if Mercury is just in retrograde again).

I have a very dear friend who has OCD. It took her a long time to figure it out, partially because she did not relate to the narrative that’s commonly pushed — her life did not look like the lives of online creators sharing their experiences with the disorder. Now that she has a professional diagnosis, she frequently encounters people who have diagnosed themselves and think that she is “doing so much better” than they are because she has been formally diagnosed, and they have not.

We do not get to diminish the struggles of others to validate ourselves and our own burdens. Again, that is a whole article on its own, but it is a cycle that is perpetuated by normalization of self-diagnostics and misrepresentation of mental conditions. The message that is sent (regardless of how it’s actually phrased) is often “Oh, I have OCD too, but I never got a professional diagnosis, so I’ve never gotten any care, unlike you.”

While a self-assessment could very well be legitimate, it is not okay to pit our issues against others’ in a way that implies that they take pity on us — we can’t even begin to assume what they are dealing with, professional assistance isn’t necessarily conducive to health.

All that being said, there are still some positive aspects of this phenomenon. For one, it can encourage people to get screened by professionals for potential mental conditions. It is always a good thing to decrease the taboo-ness around mental illnesses, which is something that this trend is helping with — it is prompting people to talk more openly about their mental health.

A self-diagnosis, in and of itself, is not inherently invalid; it can be a great tool for people who do not have access to formal diagnostics. The fact that I might relate to a diagnostic TikTok video is an independently genuine fact that should be acknowledged and attended to. It is objectively a privilege to have access to professional input, and if social media content can help people better understand themselves and their brains, then by all means we should continue those conversations.

Self-diagnoses can very well be correct, but the trend as a whole has gone too far and is creating more harm than benefit in our society.

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

Collect more things

How preserving mementos can help us hold on to memories

BY CLAIRE SCHAD cfschad@ucdavis.edu

BY MAYA KORNYEYEVA mkornyeyeva@ucdavis.edu Do you know where your water comes from?

I asked around with this question, curious to see the breadth of knowledge that my peers, friends and UC Davis students in general have about our drinking water. In response, I received a lot of shrugs and some contemplationfilled pauses. A few responded with guesses: the Sacramento River, rain water, Putah Creek, to name a few.

While these guesses are not far off from the truth, it was surprising to see that so little was known about our drinking water. Seeing as water — which covers 71% of the planet and is one of the most abundant molecules on the Earth’s surface and within our cells — is crucial to our survival, not knowing what we are drinking and where it is coming from is quite concerning.

To dive deep (pun intended) into the Yolo County and Central Valley water systems, our first stop along the way is, as many guessed, the Sacramento River.

The Sacramento River runs approximately 384 miles, through the city of Sacramento and beyond. Daily, 10.2 million gallons of water are taken and processed by the Regional Water Treatment facility in Woodland to make up a significant portion (87%) of Davis city water. As the Sacramento River is categorized as “surface water” — water that is collected and trapped at the surface of the Earth — it can contain run-off sources of contamination like livestock and agricultural drainage, waste-water facilities, stormwater and urban runoff and watershed spills.

The second source that makes up the remaining 13% of the drinking water in the city of Davis is groundwater.

“Groundwater” is a term used to

describe water stored naturally beneath layers of soil and rock, which usually accumulates as a result of snowmelt or rain. Due to its underground location, groundwater is perceptible to naturally occurring contaminants like selenium and chromium, which are by-products of land use activities like agriculture.

According to the Annual Davis Water Quality Report (2022), our water contains a number of things besides just clean, crisp H2O. While many of the harmful substances are removed during processing, they are only removed up to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) chemical limits. Some trace amounts still remain in the water even post-processing. The Water Quality Report lists five categories of potential contaminants to be aware of, including microbial, inorganic, pesticides and herbicides, organic chemicals and radioactive contaminants.

After and during water processing, disinfectants are often used to remove these potential contaminants. A small amount of the disinfectant can get through to your drinking water. There’s no need for alarm, as the amount is substantially small; however, it is important to know what you may be drinking, besides just what we think of as “water.”

While the Davis water quality is up to standards, it is crucial to employ some at-home precautions. For instance, using a portable water filter such as a Brita is a key step to water safety. Filters often contain absorbents to remove lead and activated carbon to remove chlorine taste and odor, along with a fibrous matrix to remove small particles from your water. Moreover, they are reusable and filters can be replaced every few months to ensure your water is clean.

WATERQUALITY on 8

As a lifelong California resident, each summer I am met with a question: “If there was a fire, and you had to evacuate your home, what would you take?” If you look online or talk to a community leader, they will most likely recommend having some sort of “gobag” packed and ready if you live in a fire-prone area. As I am faced with this task, I often grab essentials such as clothes and toiletries, but I’m also left thinking about what sentimental items I should gather.

For me, this exercise of priorities is difficult due to the sheer abundance of my sentimental items — my parents jokingly call me a hoarder. However, it’s not what you think; all my items are ones that I have gathered to help me remember past moments in my life.

It’s the boarding pass from a trip I took to Seattle five years ago to see my cousin’s college graduation. To some, it’s just a small, flimsy, rectangular piece of paper, but it reminds me of the quality time I spent with my family on what would be my grandmother’s last vacation. It brings me back to the hours I spent walking the streets of Seattle neighborhoods with my mom as we pointed out our favorite homes while intensely searching for Meredith’s house from “Grey’s Anatomy.”

It’s the business card from a small French restaurant in Burlington, Vermont, where I met up with my dad after I had just driven across the country for the first time with my childhood best friend. And it’s the free roadmaps that I gathered from rest stops in each state we crossed along the way. As I collected each map, I thought I’d maybe make a collage with photos and souvenirs from our trip, but two years later the maps are still living in a box under my bed.

It’s the card that my grandparents sent me when I graduated from high school four years ago. My grandfather loves sending cards, and I can always tell that he spent time searching for the one that was just right. This specific card is purple and has a long, inspiring message inside about all of the great things that come after graduation. But my favorite part is that inside, in my grandfather’s shaky handwriting, “Go get them girl!”

is written.

It’s the postcard my dad sent me in 2013 with a picture of a big, gangly tree with shoes wrapped around each of its branches. He had been working in Montana for a couple of weeks and had told me on the phone about the “shoe tree” he passed while driving through Nevada. “This is that tree!” he wrote on the back of the postcard. Each time I pick up this abnormally large postcard from middle-of-nowhere Nevada, I’m brought back to that time in my life and the conversation I had with my dad over the phone. I can hear his voice, and I feel the anxiety from 11 years ago, because it was the longest he had ever been away from home. I even think that this single postcard I received is largely responsible for my ever-growing postcard collection.

To some, it might look like I’m collecting junk, but all of these mementos from periods of my life contain valuable memories that I hope to never forget. Each time I pick up these seemingly mundane things, I’m transported back to the experience that brought me to these items. As I’ve grown up, my love for these little moments has grown with me. Ticket stubs and postcards cover my walls and more reside in a designated box beneath my bed, which migrates to my “go-bag” each summer.

However, with the increasing digitalization of our world, I’ve noticed that these special items can be a bit harder to find. Boarding passes now live on our phones and business cards

have been replaced with QR codes for us to scan. Even postcards, which used to be front and center in almost every gift shop, have been reduced to one or maybe two racks tucked in the back corner.

Although it’s a bit more difficult to find some of these physical souvenirs and mementos now, I think they are still as meaningful as ever. A few years ago, when we were all stuck in our homes during the thick of COVID-19, I found myself frequenting the box of memories beneath my bed. Even though I couldn’t physically go anywhere, I could take myself on a journey through my past experiences.

So next time you find yourself in a moment you don’t want to forget, I encourage you to find something to take with you from that experience.

It doesn’t matter if it’s as simple as a cocktail napkin with the name of a fun restaurant or bar you’re at, a business card from an interesting art gallery or even a simple card from a loved one.

By collecting these physical items, you are giving yourself things to turn to when you want to reflect on your favorite moments. After all, we can always use a bit more joy and reflection in our lives, so let’s make it easier to remember our favorite moments.

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 CALIFORNIA AGGIE

5 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2024

OPINION EDITORIAL

Tell your ASUCD representatives how to best represent you

From Lawntopia to divestment bills, the student body can directly impact where their student fees go

WRITTEN BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD Every Thursday night at 6:10 p.m., the ASUCD Senate and other elected officials gather on the third floor of Memorial Union to make decisions representative of the wants and needs of the student body. Despite this, these meetings are typically a ghost town.

Aside from the required attendance of ASUCD officials and the obligatory presence of a reporter from The Aggie, it’s not often that students show up to a Senate meeting, and it’s even more unlikely that they stay the whole time.

We don’t entirely blame you — with an agenda that severely underestimates the amount of time that it takes to discuss a single topic, these meetings can sometimes last as long as seven hours.

Even further, there is no accessible place to find these agendas which outline the topics that the Senate will be deliberating at each meeting ahead of time.

However, these last few weeks have shown us why wider student engagement at the Senate meeting actually works, and we need to keep this momentum going.

For example, SB #41, which allocates $469,075.63 from the ASUCD General Reserves to the Entertainment Council (EC) to go toward the 2024 Lawntopia concert, passed 9-4-1

SEE ONLINE Scan to read our editorial about tips for dealing with seasonal depression

(Yes-Abstain-No) at the Feb. 8 Senate meeting. This bill was controversial: Many senators originally felt that nearly half a million dollars from the reserves was too much to put toward a concert that can only host 15% of the student population. Other senators argued that this amount was needed to make a successful Lawntopia happen amidst the EC budget being reduced by over $150,000 for this academic year.

Regardless of the Editorial Board’s opinions on this piece of legislation, the bill’s widespread and productive dialogue serves as an excellent example of the power that the student voice holds. Once Senators Binh Do and Jonathan Kang made an Instagram post — which received over 900 likes — encouraging students to attend the Senate meeting in support of the bill, a large sea of students showed up and shared their various opinions on the topic during the public comment period. While the Senate held split opinions on the bill, it was the strong attendance of individuals in support that pushed them to vote in favor of what the students wanted.

Another recent bill, SB #52, implements an ASUCD-wide boycott and divestment from Israel and corporations “complicit in human rights violations against Palestinians in Gaza.” This bill passed 12-1-1 (YesAbstain-No) at the Feb. 15 Senate meeting. Prior to the meeting, UC Davis Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) made an Instagram post that also encouraged students to attend and speak in support of the bill. When the meeting started, hundreds of students came and voiced their opinions, leading to nearly six hours of debate before the piece of legislation was passed. Once again, the Senate table’s votes toward the bill reflected the majority opinion of students who voiced their support at the meeting, determined to get it passed.

Showing your face and presenting your opinion on something that you care about forces the Senate to listen.

We recognize that these meetings are long and tedious, but being present during the deliberation of a bill or topic important to you both better informs the Senate and holds them accountable

for the campaign promises they made to get elected. Every Senate meeting has a public comment section during which students and community members are allowed to raise objections or express support for agenda items.

It’s also a two-way street: The Senate needs to be better at publicizing when they will be making certain decisions and how students can let their perspectives be known. When student organizations publicize relevant Senate legislation prior to meetings, it often increases turnout significantly — but they shouldn’t be the only ones putting work into making Senate agenda items known.

SB #41 and #52 both involve a lot of money and impact a ton of students, but where is the publicity for other pieces of legislation? Every bill, big or small, affects a number of students, whether or not they know it exists.

Why are the Senate agendas impossible to find? The ASUCD Government website has been down for months, and aside from the bill regarding Lawntopia, senators rarely ever post about legislation prior to it being deliberated on during a meeting.

Students can’t show up if they don’t know where to look for this important information.

Why is the ASUCD roster not available online? And why is the ASUCD roster that is currently linked to the ASUCD Senate Instagram from the 2021-2022 academic year? (It’s 2024.) Students can’t reach out to their senators if there’s no accessible way to find out who they are in the first place.

With the goal of making this information easier to navigate, the Editorial Board has decided to start posting the Senate’s weekly agendas prior to each meeting on The Aggie’s Instagram page (Although we can’t control how far ahead of time the agenda is shared with us).

If you can’t make the Senate meetings, here are some other ways that you can make your voice heard within ASUCD: Because it’s so hard to find, let us remind you who the current senators are: Chasa Monica, Gabriel Gaysinsky, Jacob Klein, Dani Antonio, Curtis

Chen, Trinity Chow, Jonathan Ng, Binh Do, Katia Bouali, Yara Kaadan, Nur Ambaw, Leah Jung. Each has an Instagram account dedicated to promoting what they do as senators.

Talk to a senator during their office hours. Most senators publicize the times and places that they hold their office hours on their Instagram page.

Fill out the ASUCD Senate Public Comment Form if you cannot attend the meetings but still have opinions

that you would like to see voiced there. Submit your comment before each Senate meeting and it will be read out loud during the public comment portion. The link to this form can be found on each Senate agenda.

Join the Senate meeting via Zoom if you can’t join in person. You can still participate in public comment this way. The Zoom link is always the same and can also be found on each Senate agenda.

Do not play the game of dehumanization A letter to our Davis community

BY NOUR TAHA nmtaha@ucdavis.edu Nour is a UC Davis senior and the Senior International Editor and Writer for the Davis Political Review.

For those of us with a conscience, the horrifying images and reality of the situation in Gaza which has led to the brutal killing of 28,000 Palestinians, of which 12,000 were children, by Israel’s military offensive is vicious beyond our emotional comprehension.

There is no question the political world and international community at large have failed the Palestinian people.

Many across our Davis community and the world at large often feel severe helplessness and an inability to change the political realities that led to the displacement and unspeakable torture of over two million innocent civilians.

At the end of the day, we are merely civilians. We do not make political choices, we cannot singlehandedly end wars or start them. As painful as it may be to hear, we are not the decision makers.

However, we still have a responsibility to our fellow humans who are targeted simply for who they are, especially when they are part of our community. One of the most troubling developments we have seen in the past few months in our country — which has begun to dangerously bleed into our beloved Davis community — is the start of a disgusting and dangerous game: a systemic and strategic multi-step plan of dehumanization of Palestinians at large, from Gaza to Davis. There is a clear

BREAUXBIRTHDAY FROM FRONT COVER “When I walked by, I saw a Stanford grad who gave up all of his possessions to be homeless and to ask about compassion all day, every day.

It really reminded me of the holiest Tibetan monks I’ve ever met,” Tikka said. “That made me stop and start to ask him questions and then I realized that he was his own deal, but he was as profound as the wisest people I’ve ever met.”

Once Tikka moved to Los Angeles, she and David would call on Facebook

attempt to strategically dehumanize Palestinians and subconsciously change the outlooks of communities just like ours and make them complicit in their ideological and fanatical political goals.

This is the duty that we have not only to the two million innocent Palestinians being killed with our tax dollars, but also to the Palestinians and activists in our Davis community. If we truly want to be looked upon kindly by the history books and sleep with a clear conscience, we must know the game of dehumanization being played around us and unilaterally reject it in all of its forms.

The game of dehumanization being played in front of our eyes is a multi-step process that began with the hyperfixation and misrepresentation of Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks and a conflation of Hamas with all Palestinians in Gaza. Immediately after the attacks, the Israeli narrative developed with Benjamin Netanyahu’s first speech, where he declared that “Hamas is ISIS. And just as the forces of civilization united to defeat ISIS, the forces of civilization must support Israel in defeating Hamas.”

In the beginning of Israel’s onslaught on Gaza, this narrative became the predominant Israeli mantra in order to justify their actions to citizens across the world, and especially American communities whose taxpayer money provides Israel the weapons and bombs necessary to obliterate Palestinian land and peoples in Gaza.

Hamas is an armed political resistance movement, just like countless others in the world, which can be validly criticized and attacked for any actions it has taken before, during or

after the Oct. 7 attacks. However, if we wish to criticize Hamas, we must first know what Hamas is not, what its role is in Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation — which predates Hamas by over 50 years — and why people want to convince our community and nation at large that they are ISIS. Scholars from Tareq Baconi, expert on Hamas and author of the book “Hamas Contained: A Rise and Pacification of Palestinian resistance,” to diplomats such as Hanan Ashrawi and Mustafa AlBarghouthi, who have dealt with Hamas extensively throughout the decades, have made two points painstakingly clear.

First, Hamas is not ISIS or other extremist Islamist factions demanding a global Islamic caliphate and a destruction of the west, and such arguments are misleading and facetious.

The attempts to conflate the two is one to convince western and American audiences that a complete destruction of Gaza is justified no matter the civilian cost, as it is harboring an ISIS-like group who wants to kill all of us.

Second, Hamas is an institutionalized grassroots resistance movement that demands the liberation of Historic Palestine and is part of the political, social and ideological fabric of Palestinian society — which merely represents a new face in the fight for Palestinian liberation that has gone on for more than 75 years. A hyperfixation on Hamas for being “radical Islamic terrorists” completely disregards the fact that every accusation being thrown at Hamas for being a radical terrorist organization has been thrown at every single historical face of Palestinian resistance, whether socialist, Islamist,

liberal or communist. Thus, the core of the issue has never been about Hamas, but rather about Palestinian liberation and freedom.

The following steps of dehumanization after conflating Hamas with ISIS are a dehumanization of Palestinians at large, both within Palestine and in the diaspora. This began with over 500 incitements of genocide from Israeli decision makers and elected officials claiming “We are fighting human animals,” “There are no innocent civilians in Gaza,” “Bomb without distinction!! Flatten Gaza,” “Those are animals (in Gaza). They have no right to exist,” “The children of Gaza have brought it upon themselves” and many more genocidal claims all by elected Israeli officials in government from Ministers to the Israeli President and Prime Minister.

This is followed by a downplaying of the brutality of the Israeli military in Gaza and a lack of agency over who is responsible for Palestinian casualties.

The vast majority of American news outlets that have covered the conflict consistently refer to Oct. 7 as a massacre

by Hamas on Jews where Israelis were killed, while Palestinians passively ‘die’, without referring to their cause of death or killer.

The final step in the game of dehumanization is an organized and widespread effort to dehumanize Palestinians and pro-Palestine activists in the United States and falsely accuse them of supporting terrorism and antisemitism, along with constant attempts to censor these voices.

This has dangerously spread into our own Davis community. Certain members of the Davis community,

Messenger every Thursday. She said David was a man of his word and that he was “on time with everything.”

“One day he just didn’t show up and obviously I knew that he was unhoused and it’s really rough being on the streets,” Tikka said. “So my mind jumped to his phone dying [...] it was just highly unusual for David to not show up. Then the next day, I was scrolling through Facebook, and then I saw the news that he was slain in Central Park.”

Vice Mayor Bapu Vaitla attended the event and discussed the responsibility he felt for what happened last spring.

“In David’s case, perhaps if we’d been able to provide the kind of housing

that he wanted, [it] wouldn’t have happened,” Vaitla said. “Perhaps if we [hadn’t] failed [in] mental health gaps, this wouldn’t have happened” When asked, Maria said that it wasn’t until her brother passed that she fully understood the extent of the people he impacted.

“He never indicated,” she said. ” He didn’t keep it a secret, but he did not brag. He was not self-serving. [...] So, since his passing, I’ve again been blown away by the impact that he had on tens of thousands of people.”

Maria continued about the grieving process she’s been through over the last year.

“Now I understand the words ‘I

never thought this would happen to me,’” she said. “Just kind of sitting with that, and letting whatever motions happen, happen and not feeling ashamed of them and knowing that it’s going to be a process and it’s going to take some time.”

Tikka does not remember what she told David when he asked her “What is compassion?” However, she said that his definition of compassion changed her life. David’s definition of compassion was, “recognizing unconditional love,” according to Tikka. Maria also shared her definition of compassion.

“Compassion, to me, means putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and understanding their story, and not

and even in some incidents ASUCD Senators, who have a duty to serve and protect all of the Davis student community, have made public statements and articles villainizing Palestinian student groups on campus and falsely accusing them of being terrorist sympathizers. Some of these community members have even made up fake scenarios, such as falsely claiming that the UC Davis chapter of Students For Justice in Palestine (SJP) mocked Israeli students and threw objects at Jewish students during an ASUCD meeting, a claim that has been disproven by both witnesses at the meeting and other Senators.

These efforts, along with the constant surveillance and censorship efforts of Palestinian students at rallies, protests and events, are done both to intimidate Palestinians and proPalestine supporters in our community and to make the Davis community fearful and spiteful of its Palestinian members.

All of these steps are connected and lead to one common goal of successfully dehumanizing and villainizing Palestinians, in our community and beyond. My message to the Davis community is simple: we are better than that. Do not allow our diverse and respectful community be dragged into a disgusting game of complicity and genocidal intent. Do not accept false pretenses and narratives. Do not fall for the dehumanization of Palestinians, and do not allow yourselves to be blinded by fear mongers. Do not fall for the game.

having snap judgments that don’t do justice to who they are at their core,” Maria said.

She shared how people can honor her brother’s legacy of compassion.

“We can honor David’s legacy by trying to live as compassionately as possible,” Maria said. “You know, we have days [where] that’s harder to do and we have our blinders on. We have our own pain [and] our own experiences that we’re contending with, but that would be my message. Try to live as compassionately as you can.”

6 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2024

ARTS & CULTURE

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Review: ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ remains phenomenal 19 years later

Here’s how one of Nickelodeon’s most successful shows has stayed beloved and critically acclaimed in the public eye

BY CHRIS PONCE arts@theaggie.org

Book: “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous”

by Ocean Vuong (2019) Okay, I’m sure I’m not the first person to Okay, I’m sure I’m not the first person to recommend this book to you, but I’m doing it anyway. “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” was the last memoir I read and it’s stuck with me ever since. Vuong is a poet, and his mastery of syntax and art is apparent on every page of the book. This memoir, unlike most traditional nonfiction works, is all one letter to Vuong’s mother who was illiterate. This heartbreaking story deals with several topics Vuong experienced throughout his life: his complicated relationship with his mother, his sexuality, his racial identity and trauma his family has experienced. Vuong does a beautiful job of explaining that he and his family shouldn’t be defined by the trauma they’ve lived through while still explaining the role it’s had in his life. This read is deeply personal and it’s worth all of its praise. You won’t regret picking this up on your next visit to the Avid Reader.

TV Show: My Adventures with Superman (2023) Sometimes, the media we consume doesn’t have to make us ponder the deepest questions of the universe. Sometimes, media can exist just to make us smile and that’s what “My Adventures with Superman” has done for me. Please don’t stop reading if you’re not a Superman or comic fan. This animated series is by far the most accurate portrayal of Superman that’s been made in years, and the show does this by staying simple. The show follows an early reporter, Clark Kent, as he begins working for the Daily Planet (we’re a newspaper, of course we love Superman). It’s a wholesome watch and great to throw on if you need a background show.

Movie: “Palm Springs” dir. Max Barbakow (2020) “Palm Springs” is one of my favorite romantic comedies and I’m surprised I haven’t written about it yet. In a genre that’s often bashed for its cheesiness and repetition, “Palm Springs” offers an original story with a unique setting for its love story.

The film follows two characters, Nyles and Sarah, as they find themselves trapped in a time loop (yes, like “Groundhog Day”).

As they live the same day over and over, rather than being terrified, the two begin to appreciate their new lives with each other.

“Palm Springs” deals with questions such as our place in the universe, why our actions matter regardless of consequences and of course, love. On top of this, the movie is hilarious — what more is there to ask for?

This is truly one of my comfort movies and I hope you have a similar experience as I did with it. While it’s no longer Valentine’s Day, it’s never the wrong time for a romcom.

Album: “This Old Dog” by Mac DeMarco (2017) This album is deeply personal to me, the way it portrays feelings of grief and letting go of someone couldn’t feel more accurate.

“This Old Dog” is about DeMarco’s messy relationship with his absent father. Many of the songs also deal with his father’s death and the confusing situation that left him in. In the track “Watching Him Fade Away,” DeMarco dives into the struggle of watching someone you barely know pass away — in this case his father. This album, like most albums, is worth listening to in order to feel the journey of loss that is being told. Of all of DeMarco’s releases, “This Old Dog” has the most purpose and intention.

For these reasons, and many personal ones, this is something worth listening to.

“Avatar: The Last Airbender” was first created in 2005, set in a world divided into four nations to bring peace to the war-ridden world, as a result of the havoic from the Fire nation. (Courtesy of Nickelodean Animation Studios / fair use)

BY NATALIE SALTER arts@theaggie.org On Feb. 21, 2005, children’s television channel Nickelodeon aired the pilot episode of what would become one of their most critically acclaimed shows and prompt multiple live-action adaptations, a string of comic books and an entire animated sequel to continue the universe.

“Avatar: The Last Airbender” captivated audiences upon its initial release and still receives immense praise and recognition nearly 20 years later.

It became apparent that “Avatar” was something more than children’s entertainment: it had a universe rich in fascinating characters and moving story arcs that continue to hold up in the eye of critical analysis decades later.

The series is set in a universe where certain individuals are born with the ability to manipulate and wield an element: fire, water, earth and air.

The show’s titular character is Aang, an airbender who is also the newest reincarnation of the Avatar, a powerful entity capable of wielding all four elements who is reborn into a new body after the previous incarnation dies.

After being frozen in ice for a century, Aang discovers that he is the last surviving airbender, with his people being wiped out in a devastating genocide carried out by the war-mongering Fire Nation in their campaign to imperialize the other kingdoms. The Avatar’s responsibility is to promote and maintain peace between the nations, and thus Aang is left to shoulder the responsibility of stopping the Fire Nation’s 100-year conquest and unite the four elements once more.

This barely touches the surface of the show’s complex and fascinating worldbuilding and storytelling, which deftly deals with themes of imperialism, genocide, environmentalism, parental abuse and the costs of war in ways that are understandable to both young and experienced audiences. Despite the terrible conflicts that Aang and his friends witness and become caught in, the story repeatedly shows audiences that there is love and hope to be found in even the darkest of times. The love each character wields throughout the series reveals that their love is a stronger power against the hatred of war than any weapon or bending power.

Furthermore, the story is applicable to one’s real-life experiences. Part of the show’s rewatchability lies in the fact that when you feel lost or scared of what the world is becoming, “Avatar” can remind you that you always have the ability to change your life by choosing to do good despite the odds stacked against you.

The characters of “Avatar” are equally complex, crafted with strong personalities, nuanced motivations and emotions that resonate with viewers no matter how many times they have seen the show. For example, the dynamic between Sokka and Katara, siblings from the Southern Water Tribe, extends beyond brother-sister banter. Sokka’s stubborn desire to lead and toxic ideals of masculinity combined with Katara’s overly motherly tendencies and high maturity for a girl in her early teens are not just traits placed onto the characters to elicit comedic arguments: they are indicators of the deeper natures of each character.

The loss of their mother and separation from their father are explored

thoughtfully as nuanced experiences that affect their personalities and decisions. Furthermore, the siblings’ arcs give them realistic places to grow and mature. This extends out to the other members of the cast of characters too.

For example, the exiled prince of the Fire Nation, Zuko, has received massive critical acclaim for his arc of self-discovery, progressing from villain to hero whilst liberating himself from the pain and abuse of his past. “Avatar” devotes itself to not only having wellwritten characters, but developing them in emotionally moving ways that encourage the audience to look inward and find ways to heal and grow in order to make the world a better place.

Of course, as a show geared toward younger audiences, “Avatar” has plenty of lighthearted material to enjoy. The show’s playful sense of humor, endearing character dynamics, themes of found family and adorable animal sidekicks make it as much a comfort show as an excellent piece of storytelling. It’s easy to fall in love with the show’s beautiful scenery and relaxing music, and it often feels like a warm hug to curl up and watch the heroes joke around and explore the world together.

“Avatar” brilliantly balances phenomenal writing and character development with the warmth and peacefulness of any true comfort series. If you want to feel at ease, study fascinating characters or see stunning worldbuilding matched with engaging storytelling, “Avatar” is there for you — and 19 years later, it delivers in every category just as perfectly as ever.

Bits of Davis: Rock avalanche

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.)

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY, 29, 2024 | 7

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

YG Marley and the trailblazing Black artists that came before him

The son of singer Lauryn Hill and Rohan Marley recently put out his first single, containing themes of activism from the artists that brought him to where he is today

BY HANNAH SCHRADER arts@theaggie.org Joshua Omaru Marley, known professionally as YG Marley, is the son of singer Lauryn Hill and Rohan Marley. The singer and songwriter released his first single, “Praise Jah in The Moonlight,” in Dec. 2023 — a reggae song exploring themes of gratitude and spiritual growth that he co-wrote with his mother, Lauryn Hill.

Hill is a profoundly influential rapper, songwriter and singer; she was the first woman to win the Grammy for Best Rap Album and is the most Grammy-awarded female rapper.

Marley is the grandson of the late world-renowned reggae singer Bob Marley. Bob Marley was known for his social activism and fervent dedication

to cultural unity. Bob Marley was also a believer in Rastafarianism, a monotheistic religion developed in Jamaica in which god is referred to as “Jah.” February is nationally recognized as Black History Month. In light of the recent release of “Praise Jah in The Moonlight,” the month brings a perfect opportunity to discuss the cultural impact of the trailblazing Black artists that are shaping the career of YG Marley.

“They say the sun ana shine for all, but in some people world it never shines at all,” Bob Marley sang as the song began.

Bob Marley frequently used his music as an avenue to bring attention to the importance of opposing systems of oppression. YG Marley’s use of this clip of his late grandfather at the

start of his first song is a testament to his commitment to upholding and spreading the ideals that his grandfather once did.

The rest of the song echoes a similar theme, often urging others to choose the path of freedom.

“Tell them not to sell it; it’s worth more than gold, and guiltiness will catch up to them in the end,” YG Marley sang, referencing freedom, in the song.

Later in the song, YG Marley alluded to the financial component of oppression and how harmful it can be, referencing the vision — meaning money has the power to skew morality.

“They’ll try to manipulate you through your pockets,” YG Marley sang. “Now you’re caught up in a funk with the optic, with the vision.”

Lauryn Hill is dedicated to helping

underprivileged kids in urban areas and started the “Refugee Project” in 1996 as a non-profit to help uplift atrisk urban youth. The term “Refugee” was used as a derogatory term for Haitian Americans. Hill held a lot of people close to her who experienced discrimination based on their race and ethnicity, which undoubtedly had an impact on her founding of the “Refugee Project.”

While “Praise Jah in The Moonlight” was only the first song YG Marley produced, the singer has evidently taken inspiration from his family members based on the clear undertones of social activism. The future of YG Marley’s career has the potential to be very successful if he continues to spread messages of love and understanding — just like others before him.

YG Marley, or Joshua Marley, is a musical artist related to Bob Marley.

Most recently he released a new song called “Praise Jah in the Moonlight.”

(Courtesy of YG Marley Music / fair use)

Review: UC Davis’ production of ‘The Laramie Project’ uses the past to comment on the present state of LGBTQIA+ rights Cast and crew members discuss the creative process and why they feel the 1998 story is still important today

The Laramie Project shines spotlight on absence of nationwide hate crime laws following a shocking incident. (Jersain Medina / Aggie)

BY SAVANNAH ANNO arts@theaggie.org Content warning: This article contains discussions of homophobia and violence.

On Feb. 22, the UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance debuted their production of “The Laramie Project,” written by Moisés Kaufman and various members of the Tectonic Theater Project.

The play centers around the murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay, 21-year-old political science student at the University of Wyoming. At the hands of two men, Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney, Shepard was abducted, beaten and left tied to a fence on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyoming on Oct. 7, 1998. On Oct. 12, 1998, Shephard succumbed to his injuries at a Colorado hospital and

died.

Reaching national news, Shepard’s murder became “one of the most notorious anti-gay hate crimes in American history,” according to the Matthew Shepard Foundation. With vigils and protests held all over the country in honor of Shepard, his story is now used to challenge individuals and communities everywhere to stand up against homophobia and bigotry.

“The Laramie Project’’ follows the New York-based Tectonic Theater Project as they conduct hundreds of interviews with Laramie locals, university students and those involved in the murder investigation. Gathering testimonials, news statements and their own journal entries, the group created a script focusing on the local and national aftermath of Shephard’s murder.

Directed by Granada Artist-inresidence Scott Ebersold, the UC Davis production is dependent on the

performance of its eight-member, allstudent cast. Combined, they work to portray over 60 different characters that recount Shepard’s murder, the media’s response and the trial of Henderson and McKinney.

Madeline Weissenberg, a fourthyear theatre and dance major, played seven different characters over the course of three acts. In a particularly poignant scene between Amanda Gronich, a member of the Tectonic Theater Project, and the Laramie Baptist Minister, Weissenberg acted as both characters at once, moving back and forth.

Taking on multiple roles, Weissenberg explained how the actors are able to distinguish one character from another.

“A lot of it is figuring out how the character would stand, how they would walk through the space,” Weissenberg said. “Things like that really helped to ground me into all these different characters. Asking questions to myself about what the characters’ thought processes are is also huge. If I can figure out what they’re thinking at any given moment, I can figure out why they’re doing what they’re doing.”

By changing their voices, postures, hand movements and small accessories like jackets or glasses, each actor was able to smoothly transition from one perspective to another. Each played a wide variety of real people, some of whom were supporters of Shepard, and some of whom were very clearly not.

Ryley Sakai, a fourth-year economics and design double major, moved from the charming and comedic roles of Doc O’Connor and Matt Galloway to blatantly homophobic

Impressionism: the painting movement that shocked Paris An introduction to the artistic style and five of the most iconic impressionists

BY SAVANNAH BURGER arts@theaggie.org Originating in France, the Impressionism movement earned its name from its first group exhibition in 1874. Claude Monet, arguably the most iconic impressionist, exhibited a painting called “Impression, Sunrise,” and it became the center of ridicule by conservative Salon critics from the elite French painting school, Académie des Beaux-Arts. They saw the painting as just a sketch, and therefore unfinished. Because critics started to frequently use part of his painting’s title, “impression,” as an insult, it eventually morphed into the name of the painting movement. The impressionists continued, however, and held seven more exhibitions up to the year 1886.

Impressionistic paintings were often worked on swiftly and completed in a short frame of time. Unlike many other painting approaches, they were almost always started outdoors, or “en plein air,” with many being started and finished outside without taking them back to be completed in the studio.

Another distinctive feature of impressionism is the subject of many paintings: the middle class. While there are countless impressionistic paintings of landscapes and scenes of the sort, many depict and capture the essence of middle-class life. This was another reason that art juries were disgusted by impressionists, as in France at the time, the middle class was not considered a “serious” subject to paint.

Artists paying special attention to light is a trait that is found in all impressionist paintings. As they worked outdoors, impressionists

Fred Phelps, for example. First-year managerial economics major Arman Abbassi portrayed Dr. Cantway, who treated Shepard when he first arrived at the hospital, as well as Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, the two men that murdered him.

Third-year cognitive science major Ananya Yogi said it was difficult but rewarding to play characters they would personally never want to interact with in real life. “[This play is] able to show the black, the white, the gray,” Yogi said.“In order to see the light in this play, you need some of that darkness.

We as actors are here to tell everyone’s stories. There are moments when you go ‘I don’t feel good doing this,’ but you don’t have to feel good.”

Debuted in February of 2000, “The Laramie Project” is 24 years old, and has been seen by an estimated 10 million people in 13 different languages, according to Playbill.

There’s a reason the production is still performed today.

“It’s something that isn’t talked about as often as it should until something like it happens again,” EJ Agata, a third-year English and theatre and dance double major, said.

On Feb. 7, 2024 at Owasso High School, non-binary student Nex Benedict was victim to “what the police said was a ‘physical altercation’ in a high school bathroom,” according to The New York Times.

The following day, after being suspended from school, Benedict was rushed to the hospital and later passed away. Benedict’s death has sparked national outrage from the LGBTQIA+ community and its allies, many of whom believe the attack was a result

of Oklahoma’s anti-transgender laws.

“It is a similar, horrible situation that happened to Matthew Shepard,” Agata said. “I think it’s really important for the student body to understand that this isn’t fiction. It’s something that happens all the time.

It’s something that happened in the past and something that continues to happen.”

After the opening night show on Feb. 22, the cast and crew along with Gloria Partida, Davis City Council member and founder of the Davis Phoenix Coalition, and Blake Flaughner, director of the LGBTQIA+ Resource Center, also hosted a Q&A for audience members.

The group answered questions about preparing for roles, why they think the play is important and how it connects to their own experiences today.

“As someone who works to support students, and having been in this role for the last four months, I have really experienced a new side of my own queer life,” Flaughner said. “A lot of things have come up that I haven’t experienced since I was a teenager. There’s still a lot of shame and I hate that we’re still people dealing with this, this kind of hate and bias.”

On March 10, 2013, Partida’s son, Lawrence Partida, was the victim of a hate crime in Davis. Assaulted as a result of his sexual orientation by a 19-year-old Davis resident, Lawrence Partida was left with a fractured skull.

Following the attack, Gloria Partida formed the Davis Phoenix Coalition, an off-campus LGBTQIA+ resource center.

LARAMIE on 8

Review: ‘The Artful Dodger’ depicts a modernized take of ‘Oliver Twist’

Despite their difference in character portrayal, both stories leave you contemplating social issues like abuse and gender inequalities

BY LORENA ALVAREZ arts@theaggie.org

French Impressionist Claude Monet created a series of approximately 250 oil paintings to depict his flower garden at his home in Giverny. It is reported he spent the last 30 years of his life working on this art series. witnessed an organic relationship with candid subjects and the light of the sun that could not be reproduced in a studio. To create the impression of a scene swiftly — but also with successful readability — impressionists would dedicate most of the detail of their paintings to capturing how light hit subjects in specific ways, the colors of different lights and how light and shadow worked together to suggest form. They were concerned with depicting familiar landscapes, people, and objects with the least amount of rendering and clarity possible.

There were a number of astounding impressionists during the movement in the late 1800s.

Monet, as aforementioned, is regarded as one of, if not, the most prominent impressionist of them all. Born on Nov. 14, 1840, in Paris, France, Monet grew up receiving an informal artistic education by learning from other painters.

IMPRESSIONISM on 8

“The Artful Dodger” premiered in 2023, carrying on the storylilne of Oliver Twist 15 years later. Both stories follow Jack Dawkins’ character development and his journey. (Courtesy of Disney+ and Walt Disney Television / fair use) There is a lot of debate about what is better: novels or their adaptations.

Many strongly stress that adaptations fall short of their counterparts. While it may seem absurd that cinematic adaptations can do novels justice, it is possible. Hulu’s “The Artful Dodger” is an example, showing what it means to take a classic novel and adapt it to

modern demands, making it new.

For those who have not seen it, the show is a sequel to Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist.” Dickens’ novel follows Oliver Twist, an orphan, who is abused and taken advantage of by his elders.

OLIVERTWIST on 8

8 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2024

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

SCIENCE AND TECH New epilepsy unit offers advanced diagnostic, treatment methods Cutting-edge technology allows patients’ seizure activity to be carefully analyzed, leading to more effective interventions

BY KATIE HELLMAN science@theaggie.org Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases, affecting around one out of every 100 people globally.

A diagnosis of epilepsy can be made if someone has two or more seizures.

Typically, an electroencephalogram (EEG) is used to check for abnormal electrical activity in the brain and confirm a diagnosis.

A study discussing various epilepsy treatments, published in PubMed, explains the underlying brain mechanisms that cause ictal activity.

“Different neurotransmitters play intricate functions to maintain the normal physiology of various neurons,” the study reads. “If there is any dysregulation of neurotransmission due to aberrant transmitter levels or their receptor biology, it can result in seizures.”

The majority of people with this condition can manage it with medication, but one-third of patients

NASCLASS FROM FRONT COVER Despite femicide being a crime, according to the speaker, a majority of cases are charged as assault and battery which leads to shorter sentences. Some have even resulted in acquittals being weaponized and used to justify and normalize violence against Indigenous women.

“Within my community, machismo is very prevalent,” the speaker said.

“It’s very sad to say, but there are many reasons for it — due to capitalism, due to colonialism [and] due to the patriarchy. What ends up happening is that women are disrespected, they are beaten, they are murdered and nobody cares. Nobody is forced to care.”

MMIW is a hemispheric issue that has seen too many lives lost and is a protest against the violence for colonization, capitalism and war.

“They were mothers, sisters, daughters and we cannot forget them,” the speaker said. “As Indigenous women, we feel that it is important to acknowledge and speak out against the genocide being committed against Palestinian women and children.”

This flash mob continued with a song from the drummers, followed by another disheartening story.

“Nicole Smith was a member of the Mendocino Coast Manchester Band of the Pummo People,” the first speaker read. “On the evening of Nov. 18, 2017, 33-year-old Nicole Smith spent the evening with family. Early the following morning, around 5:33 a.m., shots rang out from outside, piercing the walls of the home. A bullet struck Smith, and she would succumb to the gunshot wound at the scene. A person of interest was identified in her death, Raymond Soto, but he would later be released from the Mendocino County Jail due to lack of evidence. This is just one of the many, many stories that have been unsolved.”

The event ended with another demonstration by the Indigenous drummers and a march to the Cross Cultural Center where the display would be placed.

This project was undertaken by the entire class under the guidance of their professor, Juan Avila Fernandez, who graduated from the UC Davis graduate school in 2017 with his Ph.D in history with a Native American studies emphasis.

“I am a Yoeme Native American,” Fernandez said. “This is one of the most contemporary issues that’s important to the Native American community.”

Fernandez says that the Native American studies department was founded 53 years ago, and one of the founders was David Risling Jr., a Native American and activist professor.

“Unfortunately, his granny [is missing],” Fernandez said. “His granny is Emily Riesling from the Hoopa Reservation, and she’s been one of the victims of this epidemic.”

Part of the reason Fernandez thinks that it is important to hold demonstrations like these is because of cases like Emily Risling.

“They designated it a cold case, even though it’s only [been] about three years that she’s been missing,” Fernandez said.

“She still hasn’t been found, and the investigation doesn’t seem to be going very far. That’s the other reason that I’m doing it — to try to get some justice for her.”

SENATE16 FROM FRONT COVER Senate Bill (SB) #51, which will transfer funds to the Bike Barn in order to buy more lights for the Lit Not Hit program as they’d run out after providing over 3,000 free lights to students, was passed through a majority vote.

SB #54, which will create a translation committee in order

may need to have surgery or undergo other treatments.

UC Davis Health is considered to be a level 4 comprehensive epilepsy program, meeting the requirements for having intensive diagnostic and treatment technologies like laser ablation, robot-assisted surgery and neuromodulation.

“The program is recognized as providing more complex forms of intensive neurodiagnostic monitoring, as well as more extensive medical neuropsychological and psychosocial treatment,” UC Davis Health’s website reads. “Level 4 centers also offer a complete evaluation for epilepsy surgery and a broad range of surgical procedures for epilepsy. Those include minimally invasive laser surgery and neurostimulation devices such as responsive neurostimulation, deep brain stimulation and vagal nerve stimulation.”

Jack Lin, a professor of neurology and director of the UC Davis Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, explained the first phase of the

evaluation process at the unit.

“In order to figure out what the next step is that is appropriate for these patients, we need to figure out where the seizures are coming from,” Lin said.

“That’s where the epilepsy monitoring unit comes in — we bring [the patients] in and then slowly take them off of their seizure medications. We let them have their usual seizures while we are recording the EEG as well as a video [...] It’s sort of a GPS system.”

If a patient qualifies for surgical intervention, dozens of small electrodes are then implanted into their brain and electrical impulses are measured over time. When seizures occur, they are carefully mapped so surgeons can determine their type and origin and devise an operation plan. “[We use] the latest technology and 24/7 monitoring,” Lin said. “There’s a huge unmet need in Northern California right now, especially in the Sacramento area. Improving healthcare access and disparity is huge.”

to translate important ASUCD announcements and surveys and increase community engagement with students whose primary language is not English, was passed through a majority vote.

SB #55, which will reform campaign finance regulations to ensure more equitable, transparent and efficient elections, was then discussed.

Initially, it would have banned all material donations and posed further restrictions on monetary donations.

After a long debate, primarily between several senators, amendments were made to allow material donations under $10 with substantial receipts, and other restrictions were loosened.

The bill was then passed through a majority vote.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:50 p.m.

for pulling their attention from him?

What does any of this mean? At best the film is contradictory, at worst it’s actually fairly classist.

This all clicks into place when one learns that writer/director Emerald Fennell herself comes from generational wealth. This is certainly not to say that Fennell is incapable of telling a story of this nature — she has proven herself as a talented and accomplished filmmaker — but tackling class relations should require some level of self-reflection on the part of the artist. It seems to me that Fennell wanted to cater to Gen Z’s “eat the rich” mindset without leaning too hard into a condemnation of the lifestyle she herself comes from. The end result is that the commentary “Saltburn” is attempting gets so jumbled and twisted that it doesn’t really mean anything. The film is beautifully constructed, but like the Saltburn estate itself at the end of the movie, it’s empty.

SALTBURN FROM PAGE 4 “Saltburn” ends with its most instantly iconic moment, replicated in countless TikToks and YouTube videos: after killing everyone, Oliver dances around the house completely naked to “Murder on the Dance Floor,” reveling in his scheme’s success.

Let me be clear about something first: “Saltburn” is a very entertaining movie. The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, the performances are unforgettable in some cases and the plot is so bonkers that it is impossible to be bored watching it. There are moments in this movie that have been tailor-made to exert an “OMG WTF” reaction from the audience (one scene involving a bathtub is probably the most well-known of these), and they are successful in this regard.

Immediately after watching it, my thoughts about the film were mostly positive. But the more I have let it sit with me, the more it rubs me the wrong way. Beneath its glamorous and labyrinthine exterior lies a sort of hollow core. A lack of depth is not inherently a bad thing — I’m all for a “good vibes” movie. However, I got the sense that the film was trying to say something meaningful and profound, a message that it was completely unsuited to and, if anything, actively harmed by.

“Eat the rich” satires of wealth and opulence have become very popular in recent years, and it’s not hard to see why.

Gen Z is coming of age in a world of immense class inequality, and our desire to see the ultra-rich suffer is reflected in films like “Glass Onion” and “Parasite,” not to mention shows like “Succession” and “The White Lotus.” “Saltburn” is clearly attempting to join this pantheon, but if this is the case, the implications it raises are disturbing, cynical and not particularly meaningful. The rich family who live at the Saltburn estate are not good people — they are selfabsorbed, performative altruists — but they aren’t utterly monstrous either. As they descend into madness and death as a result of Oliver’s schemes, it’s hard not to pity them.

If a wealthy person watches the film, I doubt it would lead to any sort of guilt or self-reflection. To such people, the Oliver character is an envious boogeyman who is coming to take their money and their mansions, and the film does nothing to refute this. Oliver is deranged and far worse a person than his victims, not to mention just as selfabsorbed. So what exactly is the message and purpose of the film?

Is it that poor people are untrustworthy vampires who should never be allowed into our homes? Or is Oliver’s ascent meant to be a sort of parody of the capitalist idea of climbing the corporate ladder? But if this is the case, why make Oliver secretly well-off? Perhaps the presence of the Farleigh character was intended to counter criticisms that the non-wealthy character at the film’s center is a villain, but if so, why is Farleigh also portrayed as something of a duplicitous leech who steals from the family and resents Oliver

HEIDI TEJEDA/ AGGIE

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.

WATERQUALITY FROM PAGE 4 Another step you can take is boiling your drinking water, which is especially effective after filtering. Boiling water kills bacteria, viruses, pathogens and other protozoa that may be present in the water. In short, boiling sterilizes the water by removing any microorganisms that could prove potentially harmful to humans.

If anything, just make sure you are careful about where you are sourcing water from. Too many times I have watched students walk up to one of the water dispensers on campus, the filter status shining bright red, and refill their water bottles. A red filter status is most definitely not a good sign — this means that the water is “tap” quality, and isn’t going through any safety filters or through old, no longer functioning ones.

Water is central to our health and well-being. Therefore, taking the extra effort to filter or boil your water, avoid drinking straight from the tap or from unfiltered stations and increase your knowledge about how water is processed in Davis can help protect you from ingesting potential contaminants.

Who knows, maybe next time you see someone dangerously close to drinking from a red filter station, you can be a hero.

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.

IMPRESSIONISM FROM PAGE 7 He most notably befriended Eugéne Boudin, a famous French landscape painter who introduced him to painting in the open air.

Monet held an interest in capturing nature and organic light, which he eventually developed in his painting to be the basis of the impressionistic style. He, alongside painters such as Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, founded the Impressionist movement. Some of his most famous paintings are “Impression, Sunrise,” “Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son” and his “Water Lilies” series.

Degas, one of the other founding members of the movement, born on July 19, 1834, in Paris, was another impressionist painter who was also a sculptor and printmaker. Degas’s primary subject, aside from general Parisian life, was the female figure.

He would paint many women going

about their days and was particularly preoccupied with women getting themselves ready for outings and ballet dancers. Degas was a radical-thinking painter and argued that paintings should focus on immortalizing modern life rather than aristocratic families. Although he was one of the few impressionists to detest working outside in nature and would mostly paint indoors, Degas still created renowned impressionist paintings such as “L’absinthe,” “The Dancing Class” and “The Star”.

Born in Allegheny City (now part of Pittsburgh), U.S., in 1844, Mary Cassatt was the only American painter and printmaker officially associated with the Impressionist movement. An ex-patriot, she moved to France after studying under painter Jean-Léon Gérôme for several years. Like Degas, with whom she was friends, Cassatt is known for her painting of women. She showed particular interest in young women and girls, later specializing in mother-and-child paintings. Because she sent many of her works back to the U.S., Cassatt was the source of some of the first impressionist art to be seen in America. A few of her most notable pieces are “Portrait of a Little Girl,” “The Boating Party” and “Summertime”.

Renoir, born on Feb. 24, 1842 in Limoges, France, is another one of the founding members of the movement.

At a young age, Renoir took classes at the École des Beaux-Arts and learned discipline in painting. It was only after meeting other artists like Monet, did Renoir break his academic, traditional painting approach. Renoir was a master of capturing the liveliness of scenes containing many bustling groups of people and was able to express how light bounced off skin through trees with remarkable success.

He would do so by painting on-scene where the urban culture of Paris would be most concentrated. “Le Moulin de la Galette,” “On the Terrace” and The Luncheon of the Boating Party are all superb examples of his best work.

Lastly, another prominent figure in Impressionism, Pissarro is the only artist to have his work displayed in all eight Impressionist exhibitions between 1874 and 1886. He was a part of the original founding group alongside Monet, Degas, Renoir and others. Pissarro was born on July 10, 1830 in St. Thomas, Danish West Indies. Like many other impressionists, when Pissarro first moved to Paris, he attended the École des Beaux-Arts in addition to becoming a copyist at the Louvre. Pissarro would paint multiple views of the same area in different lights and would use a technique called pointillism, in which he would create images through a multitude of small dots of color. Some of his most recognizable works include “Boulevard Montmartre at Night,” “L’Hermitage” and “Peasant Girl with a Straw Hat”.

These are only five of the many other incredible impressionists who have their artwork displayed all over the world. The Impressionist movement changed the game in traditional Paris Salons forever, opening up critics to appreciating and acknowledging more experimental work that differed from the status quo of painting. Make sure to look out for impressionistic paintings the next time you visit an art museum.

OLIVERTWIST FROM PAGE 7 As the child is forced to be an accomplice to thievery, Twist experiences immense fear and pain as he worries about disappointing those who care for him. In the end, it is revealed that Twist is an heir to a great fortune and will assumedly no longer live such a difficult and dangerous life.

Hulu’s sequel follows Dodger’s attempts to stray away from thievery and deceit all while entertaining modern viewers with the chemistry

between Dodger and Lady Belle Fox. Despite the humor and romance, the first season does not do Dickens’ characters justice.

The novel illustrates the physical pain Twist endures at the hand of adults like Fagin, a thief who misguides children into crime. In doing this, Dickens’ emphasizes Twist’s innocence.

Fagin plays a big role in the text as he taunts Twist and his beloved book collection. Twist’s goodness is emphasized as he implores Fagin to return the books Oliver had borrowed from Mr. Brownlow, the kind man who saved him from an abusive apprenticeship.

His willingness to give up his freedom and be one of Fagin’s pawns characterizes Twist as a boy who wants nothing more than to remain good in the eyes of the people who treat him with kindness.

Rather than depicting Twist as one of Fagin’s victims like the sequel illustrates Dodger, the show conveys Twist as a snobby man who has succumbed to a life of thievery. The plot twist that Twist, a man who passes as a gentleman, has stolen the gold before Dodger has had the chance completely changes Twist’s characterization as an innocent child who is taken advantage of.

In depicting Twist as someone who is more than willing to expose Dodger and illustrating him as a deceitful man, the series abandons the novel’s value of innocence.

Twist is characterized as a cruel and daunting man as he taunts Dodger, reminding him that he can end his career as a surgeon in any moment by simply revealing Dodger’s past as a thief.

“I have to speak a truth I can no longer hold inside,” Twist said in episode 7 of the show. “it has only been a day or so, but I must speak the truth.”

In drawing out the truth he “needs” to speak, the performance conveys Twist as someone who gets pleasure out of making others uneasy, a villain.

Despite their characterization differences, both the book and the series critique social inequities. While the novel follows a young orphan’s hardships and attempts to remain moral, the show illustrates two surgeons’ journeys through unique obstacles. Through Dodger’s attempts to be moral, the show explores how easy it is to be influenced into wrongdoing and the difficulty in breaking gender boundaries.

This difference in social commentary allocates “The Artful Dodger” its success despite its villainization of Twist. In centering the plot around Dodger and Lady Belle Fox’s chemistry and breaking gender norms through Lady Belle Fox, the series has catered the adaptation to today’s viewers.

LARAMIE FROM PAGE 7 “Ten years ago when this happened for my son, it was a time where we really felt like we were turning a corner; he really felt like he was safe,” Partida said. “So it just shook the entire community. As I was listening to the actors talking about how the town [after Shepard’s murder] kept saying ‘this is not who we are,’ I kept thinking: but it is who we are. It is who we are no matter what town that we’re in unless people stand up.

Unless people fight back and continue the work.”

A heart-wrenching story, “The Laramie Project” offers insight into how a community grapples with homophobia and the aftermath of hate crime. Each actor brought unmatched energy and emotion into each person they portrayed, creating a production that not only highlights the impact of hatred but also the hope and acceptance that is necessary to resist it.

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

9 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2024

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 2/22/2024

Crossword

Fact Check!

BY EMMA LAPIDUS eblapidus@ucdavis.edu

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

HUMOR

My Safe Ride flipped the iPad around on me This tipping thing is getting out of hand

BY ALLISON KELEHER adkeleher@ucdavis.edu The other night, I decided to study late at the Teaching and Learning Complex (TLC) for my upcoming midterms. As I was studying, the material became so unbelievably boring that I nodded off and later woke up in a pile of drool on top of my computer. I wiped up the drool from my chin and my keyboard with my sleeve. I slept so well so I didn’t really mind the cleanup, but then I checked the time. It was 11:38 p.m. and I missed my bus home.

I began debating where I should sleep for the night. Camping out in the TLC didn’t seem like a great idea. I thought about crashing with my friend who’s a CA in the dorms, but the last time I went to her room I accidentally walked in on her disciplining a freshman. I felt super bad about that.

But they had it coming because they stole her umbrella.

I thought about taking an Uber home but that seemed like a waste of my hard-earned money. I prefer to spend my money on important things like Bitcoin and G Fuel. Then I remembered that UC Davis has a free Uber service — Safe Ride. What an amazing service that my tuition pays for. UC Davis is very serious about making sure that Aggies are snug as a bug in their beds at night. So I called one up.

I watched as the van pulled up next to the TLC and I approached carefully — you cannot be too safe when it comes to white vans. I was greeted by the driver with a wide smile and a greeting.

“Hello! How are you doing tonight?” he said happily.

“Good.” I was slightly confused

NOVA MAI / AGGIE because my driver was acting very hyper. What was even more weird is he handed me the aux cord and told me to play whatever I wanted. I chose to play some classical music to set the mood on my way home. I also wanted to calm down my driver because he was too happy for me at that moment.

Sadly, that didn’t work because he talked to me about classical music the whole way home.

My driver then pulled out a giant basket with a bunch of snacks and

drinks to choose from — he said they were complimentary for the ride. I felt very spoiled by the time we arrived at my apartment and as I was about to exit the van he turned his iPad around and said, “So this is just going to ask you a couple of questions.”

I couldn’t believe it. He was asking for a tip for a free service. The only options were $2, $5 and $8. As I was about to pick $2, I noticed a very small button at the bottom that said “Custom.” I clicked on that and then

chose $0. Afterwards, I collected my backpack quickly to get out as fast as possible before he could find out I picked no tip.

“Really! You chose custom?” he exclaimed angrily at me as I was fleeing the van. “You’re weird, and you have terrible music taste!”

That comment stung a little bit.

In retaliation, I slammed the van door shut and stormed away from the Safe Ride. The driver screeched away from my apartment, and I swear he left skid

marks.

Overall though, I would give the Safe Ride service four stars because I got home safe, and I had a bag of Nerd Gummy Clusters from my driver.

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

10 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY, 29, 2024

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Binge

Watch Try Prime Student for 6 months at $0 New members only. Terms apply. Grubhub+ and Saltburn included with Prime.

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2024 |11

Side C Album Club fosters community for students to discuss music The “book club but for albums” allows students to deepen their understanding of music through discussion and shared appreciation

BY LAILA AZHAR features@theaggie.org While listening to music is often a solitary activity, discussing it with others can make listeners feel more connected to their favorite songs, albums and artists.

“Whenever I talk about music with my friends, I feel like I come away from it thinking about songs in a deeper way,” first-year neurobiology, physiology and behavioral sciences major Rania Asad said.

Side C Album Club provides a space on campus for students to engage in these conversations.

“The main descriptor we use is: ‘It’s like a book club but for albums,’” said Side C Club’s President and second-year biological sciences major Zoe Dueltgen.

“During tabling for the involvement fair, we said that like 400 times.”

The catchy phrase is used frequently for a reason — it’s an accurate comparison. During their biweekly meetings, the club discusses two albums, delving into the music’s history and members’ personal opinions.

Before each meeting, club members submit album suggestions through a Google Form. The officers narrow down options to about six albums. From there, members vote on which two to discuss at their next meeting.

Side C meetings begin with a presentation by the officers.

“I like making the slides and coming up with whatever interesting parts I’m going to talk about,” Dueltgen said.

“When I was attending meetings as a normal member, I always thought that seemed cool.”

The officers start off by discussing the artist’s background. Mihir Singh, the club’s media director and third-year statistics major, explained why this is important to their discussion.

“In a lot of cases [the artists’] origins or how they grew up affect how the music comes out,” Singh said.

They then move on to general information about the album, such as its musical styles, themes and accolades.

After the officers are done presenting, they pose discussion questions, opening up the floor for everyone to express their views. To close

out the meetings, they introduce albums that members will vote on, two of which will be discussed at their next meeting.

Dueltgen and Singh joined Side C as members during the 2022-23 school year, and became officers in the fall of 2023.

“The entire board before us graduated or left,” Dueltgen said. “We inherited the club with no overlap.”

While this did initially pose a challenge, it’s also given the officers the opportunity to shape the club into what works best for them and their new members.

This year, they’ve covered a diverse range of albums, including Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black,” Vampire Weekend’s “Modern Vampires of the City” and Tyler the Creator’s “IGOR.” “Sometimes it’s stuff we’re really familiar with, and sometimes it’s some random thing I’ve never heard before,” Dueltgen said. “That’s what I love about it.”

Dueltgen cited “Sometimes I Might Be Introvert” by Little Simz as an example of an album she discovered through the club.

“I don’t listen to rap a lot on my own,” Dueltgen said. “But it was just so interesting and cinematic.”

Through coming together as a community to explore various musicians

and styles, Side C Album Club exposes students to new music and deepens their understanding of the albums they know and love.

Do UC Davis students like the quarter system?

Exploring the differences between semesters and quarters for college students

BY ZOEY MORTAZAVI features@theaggie.org Across the United States, very few universities operate using the quarter system. Around 95% of the country’s colleges and universities implement the semester system instead, where students enroll in two 15-week sets of courses for the year. Under the quarter system, which we have here at UC Davis, students take courses across three 10-week quarters, with two optional summer sessions.

Many students appreciate the quarter system because of its shorter course lengths, allowance for more exploration of classes and frequent school breaks. Because nearby universities are choosing to make the switch to the semester system, students at Davis are beginning to weigh the pros and cons of the quarter system.

“The quarter system allows for a really deep dive into multiple subjects, which can be very beneficial for students looking to expand their academic horizons,” Alexander Liesegang, a first-year environmental policy analysis and planning major, said. “At the same time, if you struggle to grasp material for certain courses, it

can make for a very stressful experience with no opportunity for a redemption arc. At the end of the day, I think the quarter system can be what you make it; sometimes I love it, other times I hate it.”

Most of the University of California (UC) schools utilize the quarter system — aside from UC Berkeley and UC Merced — and students tend to take the summer quarter off. At other universities, such as Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, students have a “flexivle study plan,” which grants them the freedom to choose which quarter they take off after their first two years as a full-time student.

Other universities, including Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (SLO) as of 2026, are beginning to make the switch from quarters to semesters. Cal Poly SLO, being the last California State University (CSU) on the quarter system, decided to make the switch to strengthen communication between the CSUs, as well as resolve other equity and articulation issues.

Many students seem to have mixed feelings about quarters. A common feeling from students is that they wish the quarter system allowed for further

exploration into certain academic subjects, such as core classes for their majors. Students also report enjoying the ability to take a wider variety of courses.

“Honestly the quarter system is both good and bad, and mostly the latter. On one hand it allows me to cover more material, but at the same time I find myself wishing we had the time to discuss topics more in depth,” Daniel Blecman, a second-year history and German double major, said.

“Oftentimes, many of the history courses I have taken have not gone through the entirety of the content, or barely touch upon concepts that I would love to go more in-depth to.”

Aside from the complaint about class depth, another issue some students at Davis have with the quarter system is its fast pace. With more difficult courses, some have a hard time keeping up with the workload, and the fast pace of 10week quarters can make it difficult for students to catch up on work they may have missed.

“Though I appreciate the ability to take more unique classes in a school year, and thereby explore more subjects, I find it difficult to retain

information at the quarter system’s fast pace,” Anthony Shepherd, a second-year international relations and Japanese double major, said.

Shepherd gave further context into how the quarter system works for his field of study.

“Language learning has been particularly challenging, since I spend the majority of time preparing for the numerous weekly vocabulary and ‘Kanji’ quizzes, that I find it hard to understand [or] recollect the nuances of the language introduced earlier in the course load,” Shepherd said.

“Deeper into the major, it gets much harder to keep up with the dance of finding time to reinforce a hastily-built foundation while still adding more to the same demanding schedule.”

While there are definitely cons that students associate with the quarter system, many students still enjoy it and argue that it works well for them. Overall, it seems to depend on how individual students are wired, and what kind of system is most productive for their habits.

“In my opinion, the quarter system is a system that really works, although it’s a negative that we sometimes have to really rush to get

things done,” Hazel Henninger, firstyear history major, said. “Overall, I feel like it’s a really efficient use of time for students to get credits out of the way more quickly. I also like that the quarter system allows us to explore new opportunities, inside and outside of class.”

There are theories circulating that the UCs will join the CSUs and eventually make the switch to semesters. However, no official statements have been made implying that they are planning to make this change. UC San Diego considered altering the duration of their courses from 10 to 15 weeks, which was reported back in 2020, but no changes have been made since that time.

Until the UC system makes the decision to switch its universities to semesters instead of quarters, it appears that they are here to stay. UC Davis students report mixed feelings regarding the quarter system but say that it can be precisely what you make of it. Whether or not you like the 10week course system, learning to adapt to new circumstances and adjust your study and work strategies can make a world of difference for students.

How keychains and pins can be a representation of who we are and who we wish to be

UC Davis students express their identities through creative personalizations of their belongings

BY LYNN CHEN features@theaggie.org An important aspect of being a young adult is self-expression. As humans, we often observe the world around us and seek to find ways to emphasize our identities to others.

One creative outlet for expressing who we are is through adorning our personal belongings.

This may include pins, badges, keychains and an assortment of other ornaments on our backpacks, which are ever-present accessories at UC Davis.

Michelle Zhu, a second-year computer science major, is an avid decorator of her backpack.

“I really like pins from Disney, because my favorite films come from [the company],” Zhu said.

For instance, Zhu has pins related to movies such as “Zootopia,” “Inside Out,” “Winnie the Pooh” and “Mickey Mouse.” She collected these memorabilia from the various Disney locations she has traveled to, including Shanghai Disneyland Park,

California’s Disneyland Park, Florida’s Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris, according to Zhu. “I also have pins from places [that] I’ve visited, like Maui and Alaska, to remind me of the cool trips I’ve taken [before],” Zhu said. “I really like having pins on my backpack to express myself as a lover of traveling and all the Disney stuff I like.”

She also has keychains from places like Taiwan and Lisbon, further proof of her fondness for traveling.

Additionally, Zhu mentioned the plethora of keychains she attaches to her backpack, many of which also have personal significance to her.

“I have a giant ‘Among Us’ keychain — which is a joke among my sisters — and keychains I’ve made myself [using] friendship bracelet string[s],” Zhu said.

Furthermore, many of the ornaments on Zhu’s bag are gifts from friends and family. “[My close ones] all know how much I like my backpack and decorating it with cute keychains,” Zhu said.

Like Zhu, many others on campus

also choose to add creative flairs to their personal belongings.

Mihini Jayasinghe, a third-year political science major, said that she believed expression of the self to be particularly important during the college years, emphasizing that college is a critical time for self-discovery.

“Creative individual expression allows [undergraduates] to realize who they are and explore parts of themselves that they might not have been able to prior to coming to college,” Jayasinghe said. “Now is definitely the time when everyone’s just trying to figure out who they are [and] what they’re passionate about.”

Phoebe Chu, a third-year sociology major, agreed with Jayasinghe’s sentiment. She noted that accessories can be a fun way for students to explore the person they wish to become.

“In college, we’re all trying to find out what career paths or future goals matter to us,” Chu said. “I see people showing their values and beliefs through keychains, pins on backpacks, as well as through stickers on their computers and water bottles.”

She brought up the larger point

that other than reflecting who you are, personal accessories and decorations on belongings can demonstrate one’s goals and aspirations for the future.

For instance, sustainably-made keychains can highlight a person’s journey to becoming a more environmentally friendly consumer.

Political pins can illustrate a student’s

values that they seek to live by.

Self-expression through accessories is one popular way UC Davis students reflect their beliefs and passions. By conveying their identities through these key chains, badges and pins, students can learn to be comfortable in their own skin.

La Familia offers safe space for Latinx, queer students on campus

The club helps students make friends, network and access the resources available to them

BY ELIZABETH WOODHALL arts@theaggie.org Finding a welcoming space on campus to express your intersectional identities can be incredibly challenging — and often isolating. La Familia is a club that hopes to bring in Latinx, queer UC Davis students into their family. As shared on their website, “La Familia is a community-based peer support and social group dedicated to addressing issues at the intersection of sexuality, gender and ethnicity while creating a safe place for Latinx/e folk to explore and embrace both their queer and cultural identities.”

Bianca Alvarado, a fourth-year English and Chicana/o studies double major, is the co-president of La Familia.

They shared that the club started back in 2011, but its inclusionary mission is still persistent today.

“La Familia is a space that tries to create a community and safe space for people to express their identity and

discuss the intersectional identities that we have,” Alvarado said. “We had the goal of creating an environment for people to just come in, socialize, get to know each other and realize that there is [a] place for belonging on campus where we can feel safe and welcomed.”

Tiffany Herrera, a third-year English and Chicana/o studies double major, is the club’s communication chair in charge of the monthly newsletter.

“We want a safe and comfortable space,” Herrera said. “I found that it’s a space that I didn’t know I needed before I joined, and then coming into there [is like] you can take a deep breath.”

Emerald Ramirez, a fourth-year art studio major, is the secretary of the club. She shared a similar message of inclusivity.

“We’re very welcoming of other people who are interested and just want to hang out,” Ramirez said. “It’s

an inclusive space. Personally, this is where I’ve made most of my friends and felt like I’ve gotten to make more connections with people.”

La Familia also provides students with other resources and opportunities on campus that they may not know about.

“There’s the undocumented center and then ‘Sol y Luna’ in the Student Retention Center,” Herrera said. “Those are two big places that I didn’t know about — like, at all.

So, that kind of just broadened my understanding.”

Emerald shared how the club has increased its visibility on campus.

“We started getting involved with other groups on campus, like El Centro, where we would partner up with them,” Ramirez said. “That also boosted [engagement], inclusivity and people figuring out who we were.

We started collaborating with a lot of other outside groups to not only bring awareness to our club, but to also help

each other out [...] Through these things, people are able to find things and know we are here.”

This club offers students a place to network and build a community with other students who share similar interests and identities. La Familia aims to uplift the current Latinx, queer community but also seeks to honor past generations who have made this space possible, according to Alvarado.

“As someone who grew up in a very traditional Mexican family, being able to express myself in a way where I don’t feel ostracized is [such] a healing experience to who I am as a person and what I want to do for my community,” Alvarado said. “Not only for us, but to honor the past generations that have been here before us and that have created this space [...] I feel like that’s also so comforting to know that people have been here before me and that it’s more of a collective work. ” Alvarado shares what can be expected for new members who wish

to join La Familia. “[Last year] we did events like study jams, Woodstock socials and ‘Cafe con pan,’ and that’s also what we’ve been doing this year to kind of keep a structure,” Alvardo said. “But I also wanted to implement some sort of discussion about different issues that we experience collectively as a community [...]. Queer Quince is happening in May, and that’s something that hasn’t happened since before the pandemic.”

The future events expected include a showing of “Moonlight” at the Student Community Center in collaboration with ColorStack — an initiative that fosters student success for minority groups on campus.

Herrera shared that meetings often happen bi-weekly on Wednesdays, but there are many other social events to be announced. More information can be found on their Instagram page.

12 | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2024

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

SPORTS SOFTBALL

UC Davis softball comes out with a bang and changes their winning luck Aggies take on three teams in the top-30 strongest teams in the United States

BY LUCIENNE BROOKER sports@theaggie.org Despite weather troubles plaguing the first couple weeks of the season, the UC Davis softball team has gotten off to a strong start. Since garnering a substantial amount of opening season wins, the Aggies have established themselves as a formidable opponent.

Opening up the season at home by hosting the Norcal Kickoff in early February, the Aggies faced some challenging teams. First up, they faced off against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders, who won a Conference USA title in 2023 after winning 42 games.

Despite this, the Aggies defeated the Blue Raiders 4-3 in a thrilling match.

Although Middle Tennessee took the lead twice during the match, the Aggies dug deep and made a comeback for the win.

Unfortunately for the Aggies, they weren’t as lucky in their second match against Saint Mary’s. Although Saint Mary’s had lost more games than they won in 2023, this year they were looking for redemption and found it in a 6-0 defeat of the Aggies.

Despite low morale for the Aggies after their loss, they weren’t ready to be counted out. The next day, the Aggies crushed the San Jose State Spartans 7-2. First-year pitcher Ashley Sawai made a strong impression with five strikeouts and only giving up two runs.

To close out the Norcal Kickoff, the

AGGIE FILE Aggies faced off against their long-time rival, the Sacramento State Hornets.

Despite their strong performance earlier in the tournament, the Aggies were not able to clinch another victory from the Hornets with a final score of 4-1.

After the Hornets converted a three-

run home run in the first inning, they were determined to hold on to the lead as Davis struggled on the offense. The Aggies ended the Norcal Kickoff with a record of two wins and two losses.

Next up, the Aggies traveled to Mexico for the Puerto Vallarta College

Challenge where they played 25thranked Auburn. The Aggies had a strong comeback as they held their own against Auburn, but ultimately ended up losing 3-6. After falling behind 4-0 early in the match-up, the Aggie offense staged a mighty comeback, though it wasn’t

enough to take the lead.

While the Aggies were excited to prove themselves in the next game against Wichita State, harsh weather in the area forced officials to cancel the match and postpone UC Davis’ second game of the day.

Finally, the weather cleared up enough for the Aggies to face off against 20th-ranked South Carolina a few hours later. After a huge comeback from UC Davis to tie the game 4-4, the Aggies and the Gamecocks headed to extra innings. Unfortunately for the Aggies, South Carolina claimed the victory in the eighth inning, but Davis had put up a good fight with a final score of 4-6.

Before heading back to California, the Aggies had one more game against Mississippi State on Feb. 18. With fourth-year human development major Kenedi Brown pitching, the Aggies at last had their first win in the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge. The tight 2-1 Aggie victory had fans watching nervously as the two teams were stuck in a tie for the majority of the game. It was not until the bottom of the seventh and final inning that third-year undeclared major Grace Kilday was able to send fourth-year psychology major Sarah Nakahara home to score the winning run and break the tie.

The Aggies will be looking to build on the momentum of this victory as they face California Baptist in a threegame series at home and then travel to take on UC Berkeley on Feb. 28.

WAGs bring new attraction to UC Davis Athletics sports celebrates Black Taylor Swift is not the only well-known girlfriend in sports Futures Month

Transition from Black history to Futures, a nod toward present prosperity

BY MI'ZAUNI REESE sports@theaggie.org

AGGIE FILE

BY CAROLYN (CARI) FENN sports@theaggie.org Taylor Swift and her fandom have recently joined the world of sports thanks to her new relationship with Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce. As Swift's fans are now discovering the world of football, ticket and jersey sales have skyrocketed along with broadcast viewership as fans hope to catch a glimpse of the singer during a game.

With her new sports beau, Swift has now gained the title of WAG within the sports world.

A WAG is a term that refers to the wives and girlfriends of high-profile sportsmen and women. The term was originally coined by British tabloids during the 2006 FIFA World Cup to describe the wives and girlfriends of the English national soccer team, such as Cheryl Tweedy and Coleen McLoughlin, among others.

While the term WAG has been around for nearly two decades, it has seen a revival in recent years thanks to not only celebrities like Swift, but also social media platforms such as TikTok. These platforms allow WAGs to post content to give their followers an insight into the sports world. Women have been transforming the misogynistic title into a career, building followings on social media, creating businesses, gaining impressive partnerships and even increasing their significant others' fan base thanks to their popularity.

While some WAGS had already made a name for themselves in their careers before their relationships, such as Swift, decorated gymnast Simone Biles, former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham and supermodel Gisele Bündchen, many have established fame while in their relationship. It is important to highlight what these WAGS have done by not only establishing and growing their followings, but their businesses as well.

Kristin Juszczyk Kristin Juszcyk is a fashion designer and the wife of San Francisco 49ers

fullback Kyle Juszcyk. Kristin garnered a great deal of attention in 2024 after creating custom Kansas City Chiefsthemed puffer jackets for Taylor Swift and Brittany Mahomes. The puffer jackets went viral after Swift wore hers to a game, increasing Juszcyk’s following by hundreds of thousands in a short period of time. Her incredible work ended up even getting her a signed deal with the NFL, allowing Juszczyk to license team logos on her clothes and sell her designs to the public.

While Juszczyk has only recently garnered a huge following and recognition for her incredible work, she has been making game-day looks for numerous years, not only for herself but for other WAGS and celebrities as well. She has made custom vests for Simone Biles and Olivia Culpo, and even a custom jacket for Taylor Lautner.

While she hasn’t been able to sell her custom clothes until now, she is taking full advantage of her new NFL license by creating an NFL Super Bowl Puffer Vest. The vest ended up selling for $75,000, with all the proceeds going toward breast cancer research. Now that Juszczyk has started making her mark in the NFL, it will be interesting to see what she will do in the future.

Allison Kucharcyk Allison Kucharcyk is one of the more well-known WAG Tiktokers who is married to NFL defensive end Issac Rochell. She has gained her 3.1 million followers through not only creating lifestyle videos, but more importantly through giving a very real and true look into the brutal sports industry, something that isn’t often talked about.

Her videos have shown the ups and downs of her and her husband's life, since his career moves them all around the country as he tries to find a new team to sign with. This lifestyle is common for many NFL players as they bounce around from team to team when cuts get made throughout the year.

What made Kucharcyk gain such a massive following was the honesty and realness that she portrayed on the

internet. Kucharcyk has built a rather successful social media presence that has brought her numerous business ventures by showing the real sides of being a WAG to people curious enough to listen.

Morgan Riddle Fashion influencer Morgan Riddle is the girlfriend of American tennis player Taylor Fritz. Due to her growing fame and popularity, she has been dubbed by the New York Times to be “the most famous woman in men’s tennis.” With her ever-growing popularity from her Tiktok page, she has become somewhat of a niche celebrity at many tennis matches.

While Riddle originally gained followers and popularity from trying on outfits to go to Fritz’s tennis matches, she has transformed this fame into incredible opportunities. She has since been hired by Wimbledon to host a video series on fashion at the tournament called “Wimbledon Threads” and has released two pieces of gold-plated jewelry with a small New York jewelry company called Lottie.

While many people would believe that her tennis boyfriend funds her lifestyle, Riddle has been able to remain financially independent thanks to the income she makes through social media like TikTok. Riddle has been able to make a career out of social media, while still being able to travel around the world and support her tennis beau.

In the U.S., the month of February is not only a time for reflection but also gratification for the Black community.

As we acknowledge the historical contributions made by some of the most resilient people in our society, we also look forward to Black prosperity and advancement.

Terms such as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and Black Excellence have been introduced to curricula of both primary and higher education as our country progresses toward more equitable representation. Additionally, these terms highlight not only the importance of Black people in America but their success as well.

Since Black History Month’s founding in 1976 by Carter G. Woodson, the month has become recognized across the country, including in the sports community. February was chosen to include the birthdays of two very important individuals who had a hand in shaping Black history, specifically President Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglas. President Lincoln, whose birthday is Feb. 12, created the Emancipation Proclamation that emancipated all slaves in 1863, and Feb. 14 marks the birthday of Fredrick Douglas, the leader of the abolitionist movement.

The UC Davis athletics department has decided to input its own efforts of equity and inclusion by honoring Black Futures Month rather than Black History Month. This transition is not to disregard Black history’s impact, existence or significance, but rather to uplift, emphasize and push Black stories of success and longevity in America.

As the initiative is through the athletics department, there have been multiple posts, articles and interviews with Black athletes on campus. One Instagram post highlights women’s basketball star, Bria Shine, a third-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major and member of the revitalist Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) sorority chapter here at UC Davis.

When asked “What does the term ‘Black Excellence Month’ mean to you and your lived experience?” Shine elaborated upon this idea and discussed

the hardships Black people have faced, as well as the degree to which she must work to achieve the same as her nonBlack counterparts.

“I will always be unapologetically Black and celebrate my heritage by carrying my ancestors legacy, remembering the struggle and continuing to remain steadfast for the future,” she said.

As stated on a UC Davis campus flyer promoting the campus-wide change, “February marks Black Futures Month. A collective envisioning of the path for Black life at UC Davis and beyond.”

The statement goes on to remind readers that this is still a time for remembering and celebrating history, but also for looking forward to current recognition as well.

As said on the flyer, “[February is] an opportunity to recognize the global marginalization of blackness and strive internally to elevate marginalized identities within communities for genuine liberation.”

This statement about the existence of Blackness among Americans adds a positive appreciation for the community in America as it stands currently is entirely necessary.

In efforts to feature Black life and community more this month, numerous events have been and will be hosted up until the end of the month.

With 18 events planned in total, there is something for everyone to enjoy.

There are more casual fun events such as R&B Paint Night and BlerdOut: Murder Mystery Night. On the other hand, there are more informative events such as the Black History, Freedom, and Love Master Class.

No effort has been spared to give Black experiences to the UC Davis community as guest speakers, professional musicians and physicians visit the UCD campus to spread awareness, information and overall joy during this month of remembrance. The conversations pushed this month have been progressive and beneficial for all students here at UC Davis, especially incorporating Black athletes.

With the support of UC Davis athletics and other institutions, Black students can continue to celebrate their past, present and future.

Although there are many more WAGs of professional athletes, it is hard to mention them all in one article.

What people often don’t realize, is that there are more WAGs in the sports world more similar to Juszcyck or Kucharcyk than Swift who deserve just as much recognition for the work they have done. Despite not being worldrenowned artists or athletes themselves, they have owned their WAG-ness and have transformed the misogynistic title to be their own.

AGGIE FILE