Chicanx/Latinx Graduation Celebration bridges important cultural and linguistic gaps for graduating students
UC Davis students share what the annual ceremony means to them
BY EVELYN SANCHEZ features@theaggie.org
A highlight of celebrating college graduation is commemorating the diverse facets of student success. From major department awards to internship banquets and clinic recognitions, students at UC Davis have many opportunities to honor their achievements.
One unique way to celebrate students includes cultural graduation ceremonies. Newly eligible to be considered a Hispanic Serving Institution, UC Davis’ Center for Chicanx and Latinx Academic Student Success (CCLASS) is hosting its 38th Chicanx/Latinx (ChiLat) Graduation Celebration at the Credit Union Center on June 13, 2025.
As an annual tradition since 1987, the ChiLat Graduation is dedicated to creating a personalized and meaningful graduation ceremony for students identifying as Latinx or Chicanx. It also recognizes the importance of familial support in higher education. Growing in participation every year, numbers have climbed from 500 to over 750 to a point where the planning committee is considering a second ceremony. Roxanne Flores, the current academic success advisor for CCLASS, started coordinating the ceremony for
class of 2023. Flores had previous experience managing large events, but none like a graduation ceremony.
a fellow alumnus and a previous participant of ChiLat Grad, I had a
Moving out of Davis: the excess furniture problem
Local vendors disclose what happens to items left out on the street during the summer months
BY NOAH HARRIS features@theaggie.org
Every year, thousands of UC Davis students end their leases. Starting weeks before school ends, Davis residents can expect to see furniture and other items strewn about on the sidewalk, waiting to be picked up. Sometimes, those items are picked up by secondhand stores.
Locals involved in secondhand reselling shared insights into their operations, particularly during the summer months.
Stephanie Koop, co-founder and executive director of Community Mercantile, a secondhand store in East Davis, has seen plenty of furniture, appliances and other items left out in her fve years of selling salvaged wares.
Tere are literally tons of items left out by students each year after they graduate and move home or move somewhere else,” Koop said via email.
“Neither the University, the City of Davis, nor the County have accepted the responsibility for managing these reusable items and putting in place adequate infrastructures to capture the items left by the students. Tis isn’t just a student issue, though, many individuals in the community also throw away tons of reusable items each year.”
Darci Soiu, a manager at the Yolo County SPCA near Davis’ downtown, noted the difference in donations between the summer and the rest of
the year.
“It’s a massive amount,” Soiu said.
“Usually, June has been really busy for us because there are leases that end at the end of June, July and in August. So, those are the three busiest months for donations here. Usually in the wintertime, we won’t have to close donations, but during the summer months, sometimes we get so much. We have a really small staf, [so] we cannot process everything, and we do not have the space to [house] everything.”
Soiu described the difference between Davis and other cities as a result of the university being very central to the community.
“I live in the West Sacramento area, and I don’t see as much stuf out,” Soiu said. “Sometimes you see stuf with free signs on it occasionally [in West Sacramento]. But in Davis, you can drive block after block and fnd stuf just left out during the students’ move out.
I think there’s a lot of stuf the students don’t want to deal with, so they just put it on the street and hope [that] people will take it.”
Koop has picked up many of these items, but a few have particularly stood out.
“[I have salvaged] a large box of meal worms I fed to my chickens, a ceramic cowboy hat planter, a working trailer [...] and so much more,” Koop said.
The SPCA also works to help
abandoned and rescued animals. Tis can cause issues with the sorts of donations people try to give.
“I think fur donations are a big thing for us because we are the SPCA,” Soiu said. “We don’t encourage that. I do feel like people try to bring in a lot of fur. [Also], I’ve had people try to donate guns and stuf like that.”
Keith Dixon, owner of L Street Furniture, mentioned that he now waits for people to contact him instead of collecting furniture donations late at night, which he previously did.
“My bigger play now — and it’s a really strange situation — is people will be moving out of town, and they just don’t consider what they’re going to do with their furniture,” Dixon said. Tat’s how lots of things are done. A lot of the time [both students and administrators] bought [furniture] here in the frst place because they knew they were only here for two or three years.”
In this way, Dixon engages in a circular system where he buys furniture back from those only in Davis for a short period of time before reselling it to someone new, without the need to create or buy new furniture.
Soiu described the amount of stuf left outside the SPCA every day.
“We personally clean up items all over the driveway almost every morning,” Soiu said.
idea of how to coordinate this event,” Flores said. “I cannot take all the credit, this would not be possible without the Staf & Faculty Planning Committee, student planning meetings
and the volunteers. It really does take an entire community to support the execution of this large event.”
Te event celebrates and creates a space for Chicanx and Latinx students to express and connect with their identities.
Cruz Martinez, a fourthyear communication major, plans to attend the event as a way of reconnecting with his heritage.
“I grew up not totally unfamiliar with my Latino heritage,” Martinez said. “But it wasn’t as much as some of my friends growing up. My grandparents are all fuent in Spanish, except my parents, who didn’t learn the language, so my brothers and I didn’t learn it either. There was a kind of generational divide, but throughout college, I started to learn more about my heritage. I didn’t really perceive it as part of my identity until I got to college.” Martinez recognized the disparity between Latino and white students when attending California State University, Chico and consequently felt excluded.
Scam emails, phishing attacks on the rise across UC Davis
Campus officials call for caution as scammers target students and staff
BY JESSICA YUNG campus@theaggie.org
Phishing and scam emails have been impacting the UC Davis community in recent months. Valid UC Davis accounts are at risk of being hacked using stolen login credentials, to in turn send phishing emails to other members of the UC Davis community.
A phishing scam is an attempt to steal personal information using email or a website, according to the UC Davis Knowledge Base.
“‘Phishing’ (pronounced ‘fshing’) refers to a form of fraud that attempts to acquire sensitive information,” the website reads.
Phishing attacks can take many forms, including requests for replies to a message or suspicious links. Some hackers impersonate real UC Davis faculty and staf members in an attempt to gather student information, on the premise of a research or job opportunity.
An email to UC Davis students and staf sent by UC Davis Information and Educational Technology (IET) on May 15 detailed the attacks facing the campus community.
“Phishing scams are on the rise at UC Davis and other higher
educational institutions,” the email reads. “Scammers are impersonating legitimate and trusted sources, such as UCPath [(UC’s employee portal)], Canvas, and other [University of California] Systems. Tey are targeting students, faculty, and staf with fake emails, text messages, phone calls, and social media messages to try and obtain passwords, Duo codes, or other sensitive information. Do not respond!”
UC Davis will never ask for passwords or other sensitive information via email or text message, according to IET.
UC Davis Vice Chancellor for Student Afairs Pablo Reguerín, in an email sent to the student body, also warned of these attacks and urged vigilance.
“Dozens of community members across the UC system have already fallen for the scam, including at UC Davis (campus and health),” Reguerín said. “Although no money was diverted in these recent scams, thanks to excellent cyber protection provided by UC Path, we need to stay vigilant and protect ourselves.”
Many students have been impacted by these emails, including Tyson Rendon, a fourth-year economics major.
PHISHING on 15
The annual Chicanx and Latinx Graduation Celebration in 2024. (Fred Greaves / Courtesy)
JASON XIE/ AGGIE
NOVA MAI / AGGIE
Davis Community Church hosts talk on Latino working class
Antonio De Loera-Brust discussed issues faced by Latino workers in Yolo County BY
RORY CONLON city@theaggie.org
On May 25, the Davis Community Church hosted local activist Antonio De Loera-Brust for a discussion on the challenges faced by Latino workers in Yolo County.
Vai Ramanathan, one of the organizers for the event, introduced De Loera-Brust as the communications director for the United Farm Workers (UFW) labor union. Ramanathan said her organization, the Adult Formation Committee, invited Loera-Brust to speak on the range of issues faced by Latino immigrants in Yolo County.
“Immigration right now is a profoundly difcult, complex issue,” Ramanathan said. “Tere are very local concerns and articulations [of this issue] that we need to be paying attention to, and Antonio [De Loera-Brust] is going to be helping us with that.”
De Loera-Brust was born and raised in Davis and said he frst became interested in immigrant and farmworker issues when he started refecting on his family history.
“My grandpa had come to the country as a bracero farm worker in the late ‘40s and ‘50s,” De Loera-Brust said. “He went back when he was done, so my parents both grew up in Mexico City and came to the [United States] on student visas in the ‘90s. I was born here, so I always grew up with a little bit of that bicultural framing.”
During college, De Loera-Brust ran an afterschool program for the Yolo Interfaith Immigration Network, which introduced him to migrant farmworker families in the community. After college, De Loera-Brust served in Washington, D.C. as a stafer under the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris administration.
Tree years ago, he returned to Davis to join the UFW. As part of the organization, De Loera-Brust said he often interacts with “working poor” families in Davis.
“In Davis, we have these pockets
in the apartments along 8th Street and the apartment buildings in South Davis where you have a lot of what I would call ‘working poor’ families,” De LoeraBrust said. “Tese are the folks who do a lot of the housekeeping work, the gardening work and the [work in] all the Davis downtown kitchens.”
De Loera-Brust, who specializes in helping Latino workers navigate labor disputes with their employers, said the main issues faced by these individuals have to do with working conditions rather than outright racial discrimination.
“I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve heard real discrimination issues in the sense of someone being fred for speaking Spanish or being told they won’t be rented to because they’re Hispanic,”
De Loera-Brust said. “What I hear all the time is ‘I can’t pay rent,’ ‘My wages aren’t what they’re supposed to be,’ ‘My scheduling is not fexible [enough] to meet with my family,’ ‘My boss is an asshole.’”
De Loera-Brust said he is working with an undocumented woman who became injured on the job.
“She had a hernia, she went to the doctor, she got a note that she couldn’t lift more than 10 pounds, and she requested accommodation for that,” De Loera-Brust said. “Te manager was unwilling to give the accommodation. Tis led to a series of back-and-forths where they ultimately fred her.”
Since being fred in August 2024, the woman’s case has moved through two state agencies. De Loera-Brust said she could potentially receive a substantial amount of money in withheld pay and back wages from wrongful termination, but the case is still ongoing.
De Loera-Brust said the case is an example of how prolonged labor disputes prevent workers from advocating for their rights.
“The No. 1 thing that keeps immigrant workers silent in the face of labor abuses [and] disempowered politically, socially and culturally is poverty,” De Loera-Brust said. “No.
2: labor relations. It does not make financial sense for most people to advocate for themselves or exercise their rights.”
De Loera-Brust also discussed how labor rights intersect with immigration rights. In 2022, the UFW began organizing workers on a mushroom farm in Yakima, Washington, with the ultimate goal of demanding better working conditions.
After Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained a local individual, an immigration lawyer held a “Know Your Rights” training in the community. De Loera-Brust said that, as a result of this training, the workers in attendance at organizing committee meetings dwindled from 50 people to 20.
“[Te immigration lawyer] gave what, in her view, is the best legal advice, which is: ‘Do not risk it, do not speak out,’” De Loera-Brust said. “But for us as a union, [our] job is to empower workers to fght, organize and
be outspoken. I feel like this just undid years of work.”
Juan Carlos Ruiz, who works in educational and cultural afairs at the Mexican Consulate, also spoke at the meeting about national policies that could afect Latino workers. He said that in addition to the direct threat of deportation, a proposed law could tax the money Latino workers send home to their families.
“This is money earned by hardworking families that already pay taxes,” Ruiz said. “Te frst time [the bill] went through the House [of Representatives], it failed, but now it’s [been] approved for a 3.5% tax. Let’s see what the Senate does.”
The proposed law would put additional pressure on immigrants who work in the U.S. and negatively impact families that rely on that money in other countries. Ruiz said one way to combat the issue is to speak out.
Tere is a campaign that has been launched,” Ruiz said. “It said, ‘Please
write to your local congressman, to your senator, and say that you don’t want this.’ If you’re Mexican and you live in the U.S., you can help with that.”
To conclude the meeting, De LoeraBrust outlined ways that community members could help out locally. He said that there have been three ICE detentions in Yolo County under the Donald Trump administration: two in Davis and one in Woodland.
De Loera-Brust said community members could donate to non-profts like the Immigrant Legal Defense or directly to the families of detained individuals.
“Macro, you can support organizations to expand their capacity to represent folks pro bono,” De Loera-Brust said. “Micro, you can support individual local families who fnd themselves needing to pay for private representation, because the most important thing is to make sure everyone has their rights and their lawyers.”
Carlos Dominguez takes the stand in the fourth week of the trial
This week, the defense examined Dominguez’s six-hour-long interrogation video and called expert psychiatrist witnesses to the stand
BY GIA LOOMIS and HANNAH SCHRADER city@theaggie.com
Te Carlos Dominguez trial enters its fourth week in court as it aims to determine Dominguez’s level of guilt and sanity for the 2023 Davis stabbing spree that left two dead and one injured. Tis week, the court focused on examining Dominguez’s interrogation video and further examining his behavior and schizophrenia in relation to the case.
Dominguez is brought to the stand
Dominguez’s defense attorney, Dan Hutchinson, began by questioning him on his upbringing and childhood in El Salvador. Ten, the attorney proceeded to question him on a maid that used to babysit him as a child.
“At any point when you were with the maid, did she do anything inappropriate to you?” Hutchinson said.
“What did she do?”
Dominguez then replied and recounted the sexual abuse he experienced as a child.
“Yes,” Dominguez said. “I remember [...] she told me she had something she wanted to show me, and she took me into one of the rooms of the house, and she started getting undressed, and she got me undressed, and then I just remember being on top of her.”
The defense later on went to question Dominguez about a poem he wrote, which Dominguez claims was an allegory for sex but outlined a violent
knife murder. The prosecutors pointed out the title of the poem: “Knife in my hand.” Dominguez claims to not recall having written the poem.
Te interrogation video is played Monday and Tuesday focused on the jury watching Dominguez’s six-hour-long interrogation video.
Te video showed Dominguez being questioned by Davis police about his involvement in the 2023 stabbing spree.
Officer Matthew Muscardini, one of two ofcers who interrogated Dominguez, took the witness stand. Muscardini watched the interrogation video alongside the jurors with Hutchinson, who occasionally paused the interrogation to ask Muscardini questions.
Te video begins with a series of lies being told to the ofcers: a fake name, fake birthday and fake address being recited despite being told it’s a crime to do so. Muscardini then interrogates Dominguez directly by asking him about the attacks.
“I’m not talking about school,”
Muscardini said in the interrogation video. “I’m talking about hurting people, that’s why we’re here. We’re not here because of your school.”
Dominguez then responds to Muscardini in the video.
“No, I wouldn’t,” Dominguez said.
“I wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
Muscardini requests more information from Dominguez about the
specifc attacks and his state of mind.
“What happened with the homeless person in Central Park that was sitting
on a park bench?” Muscardini said.
“Can you tell me about that? Were you trying to get out some rage? Did it make you feel better? What happened?”
In response to Muscardini’s questions, Dominguez provides almost no information about the crime or his state of mind.
“No,” Dominguez said. “No, I’m not sure. [...] I’m not sure what happened.”
Throughout the interrogation, Dominguez repeated short, denying statements that eventually led the interrogating ofcers to be more direct.
“We’re not playing these games anymore,” Muscardini said. “I can see blood on you right now.”
Te remainder of the interrogation video continues similarly. Eventually, Dominguez is told that he is under arrest for murder. When asked if he understands what that means, he simply replies, “No.” Additionally, Dominguez is asked whether he feels remorse for the stabbings, to which he also replies, “No.”
Dr. Weiner takes the stand After watching the interrogation video, the court’s focus moved back to determining Dominguez’s state of mind during the attacks. On Wednesday afternoon, Dr. Stephen Weiner, an emergency psychiatrist and forensic psychiatrist fellow at UC Davis, took the stand. He testifed on Dominguez’s several presented symptoms of schizophrenia.
“Numerous witnesses described positive symptoms, such as Mr. Dominguez reporting to them that he was hearing things that potentially weren’t there,” Weiner said. “At certain times, [witnesses] noted that he was talking to himself or responding to internal stimuli, which can be emulant of auditory hallucinations and delusional perceptions.”
Weiner testifed his professional opinion that Dominguez sufers from schizophrenia and was in a state of psychosis during the stabbings and the interrogation that followed.
“In my opinion, it would be more accurate to characterize [Dominguez’s mental issues] as schizophrenia,” Weiner said.
Weiner’s testimony will continue on Tursday as he further explains schizophrenia in relation to Dominguez. For the remainder of the week, the defense plans to call more expert witnesses to the stand to further build their case that Dominguez was overtaken by his schizophrenia at the time of the crime and therefore, committed them with no willful or premeditated intent.
While the prosecution rested at the end of week two, the defense’s testimony is expected to rest by May 30. Tis is a developing case, and coverage will continue in the following weeks.
Yolo County’s Latino working class event was held at Davis Community Church on May 25, 2025.
(Christian Cendejas / Aggie)
Stabbing suspect Carlos Dominguez testifies in court. (Hector Amezcua / The Sacramento Bee Pool)
The court evaluated Carlos Dominguez’s high school grades. (Hector Amezcua / The Sacramento Bee Pool)
Aggie House to operate in new property in collaboration with ASUCD
The partnership between the transitional housing shelter and the student government has led to the creation of a new subunit and highlights new long-term priorities for addressing basic needs
BY SAIRAKSHA THIRUNAVUKKARASU campus@theaggie.org
ASUCD plans to rent a house at the complex in support of Aggie House. (Ojas Mishra / Aggie) harder to try and get housing,” Smith said. “It’s creating this vicious cycle of homeless people never escaping from the correctional system. We have a systemic problem.”
As more college students across the country begin to live out of their cars, it is clear that student housing insecurity is one of the most prevalent challenges in higher education today. At the UC Davis campus, it is the reason why Aggie House exists.
What is Aggie House?
In a 2024 university survey, 19% of UC Davis undergraduates reported that they were sometimes or often unable to pay their housing costs on time; 50% said that they had worried about being able to cover their housing costs.
Motivated by similar statistics in 2019, a group of students who, then part of the ASUCD Housing and Transportation Committee (HTAC), sought to offer further emergency housing options for the undergraduate population.
Tis led to the formation of Aggie House in 2021, a transitional housing shelter run by students. With a staf composed entirely of volunteers, Aggie House currently operates at a townhouse with Te Belfry in Downtown Davis and holds a maximum of nine students.
Aggie House External Co-President Isabella Navarrette, a third-year political science and sociology double major, said that the shelter is committed to getting students back on their feet.
Tis organization is truly built with the mission of helping students,” Navarette said in an interview. “We provide residents up to a year of free housing, free meals and case management services — one of the most benefcial parts of our program — which helps residents fnd more stable housing.”
Since their founding, they have served over 70 residents and served as a model for similar shelters at UC Los Angeles, University of Southern California and several other college campuses. Still, some within the student government want to help Aggie House do more.
ASUCD Collaboration and VESTA
For years, Aggie House and HTAC have been in the talks for a potential collaboration, both sharing the same goal of addressing housing insecurity.
HTAC Chair Christina Smith, a fourth-year political science – public service major, talked about goals with accepting residents.
Tey have had over 240 applicants since their inception but haven’t been able to take on all those applicants,” Smith said. “We want more residents to be able to join.”
In the beginning of this year, Aggie House and ASUCD formed a long-anticipated partnership which demonstrated the student government’s commitment to housing and basic needs for now and the future.
“[Smith helped] Aggie House as a student organization get a foot in the door of ASUCD,” Navarette said. Tey helped craft up the legislation that needed to go to the Senate and get money as well as generally just advocating for us and making our mission known.”
Tese eforts led to the creation of a new ASUCD subunit under the existing Housing Advising for Undergraduate Students (HAUS) — mostly responsible for holding quarterly housing fairs — called the Vital Emergency Shelter and Transitional Assistance (VESTA) in late February.
“Aggie House will still retain our status as a registered student
organization, so we still have our autonomy in that way,” Navarrette said. “Our relationship with VESTA is strictly a financial partnership as they provide us with rent costs for next year.”
Having relied entirely on grant funding in the past, Aggie House hopes their partnership with ASUCD will bring a newfound stability to the organization.
“Institutional support through ASUCD is a really big milestone for us because we’re not as worried about just surviving as a shelter, but now we have a little bit of protection and security that the university provides,” Navarrette said.
Potential Move to Russell Park
Along with the creation of VESTA, ASUCD President Gaius Ilupeju announced that the Senate is allocating $80,000 for Aggie House’s operations to be conducted in a property at Russell Park for the 2025-26 academic year. Te money is under VESTA’s control and thus goes in the larger HAUS budget. HTAC does not handle fnances and instead works with Aggie House on external advocacy.
The new property seeks to combat previous challenges including inconsistent funding, lack of space for more residents and disability access accommodations.
“[Tough] they have a wonderful house currently at Te Belfry, you can’t even get a wheelchair through on the bottom foor,” Smith said.
While ASUCD previously stated that Aggie House will defnitively move to the Russell Park location in February, and the latter confrmed that they have received an ofer from the complex and are leaning toward that location, both groups told Te Aggie in late May that they are still in the process of fnalizing the move.
Aggie House’s main priority is to secure a bigger property that will allow for increased capacity.
With the Russell Park location, however, they will be able to hold a lot more people than their current capacity with Te Belfry. At the moment, Aggie House projects that 10 bedrooms will be available at Russell Park, with some of the rooms likely being double/triple capacity.
As for the allocated money, Navarrette told Te Aggie that the $80,000 is strictly going toward rent for Russell Park while any operational expenses Aggie House has will be covered by grants they’ve already received for the upcoming year.
Tough we’re not entirely sure how much our operational and programming expenses are going to be with this increased resident load, that is not our primary concern for this upcoming year,” Navarette said. “In the years following, we hope to have the same amount of stability.”
Challenges in Housing
HAUS Unit Director Sam Hopwood, a fourth-year political science major, is aware that ASUCD and Aggie House are fghting an uphill battle.
“Te UC, in my opinion, is not doing the job of getting students housed on an administrative level,” Hopwood said, who also pointed to failures at the state and federal level. “I see ASUCD as a student government that is capable and has the responsibility of providing students with their basic needs.”
Recently, Ordinance 2670 in Davis criminalized public camping so those experiencing homelessness could be penalized for acts such as sleeping on park benches.
“If you don’t have housing and have a misdemeanor record, it’s much
Even with the Russel House plan coming to fruition, housing challenges within the project have already arisen.
“It’s going to be a lot more residents
next year and therefore an increased burden on our case management team that works primarily with residents and connects them to additional resources,” Navarrette said. Te long-term vision for ASUCD is that VESTA will not just serve Aggie House but other housing initiatives and programs in the future to further support students.
“In an ideal world, we don’t want Aggie House to exist,” Smith said. “We’re going to get out of the game if there’s no housing insecurity for undergraduates, which is the best possible situation.”
Next Steps in Student Housing
Recently, HTAC — which until recently was part of the ASUCD executive branch — moved back to the legislative branch in order to expedite their hiring timeline so the future committee members can be more prepared with housing projects when starting the next academic year.
Despite the challenges they face, the collaboration between the ASCUD Executive Team, HAUS, HTAC and Aggie House has led to what they hope will be a long-term partnership.
“If we were to think about ASUCD’s next big thing, especially as we go into the 2030s, I think this is it,” Ilupeju said of VESTA at the February meeting where it was created. “Te direction we’ve been heading the last few years is working with campus partners to ofer more robust services for students. Tat’s exactly what this does.”
Other ASUCD ofcials and bodies have collaborated on this project as well, with the ASCUD Pantry, External Affairs Commission and Student Housing and Dining Services have also extended their support.
“This is all a student-driven undergraduate initiative,” Smith said. Tere were people who don’t have a whole lot of work experience but a whole lot of heart.”
Tose interested in learning more about Aggie House or volunteering can contact them via email at aggiehousedavis@gmail.com.
“What we have in ASUCD and Aggie House is really special,” Hopwood said. “This is a bunch of 20- and 21-year-olds who are given money to do something really incredible.”
Units at Russell Park Apartments.
Don’t we need all the help we can get?
Unpacking the complicated relationship with solidarity in online LGBTQIA+ spaces
BY TARA ROMERO tcrome@ucdavis.edu
In February 2025, the National Park Service removed any mention of the transgender community from the monument dedicated to the Stonewall Uprising — a change from “LGBT” to a horrifyingly empty “LGB.”
Our government refuses to acknowledge the existence of transgender and gender nonconforming people on our own monument, intentionally working to separate the “T” from the LGBTQIA+ community. Right now, we need solidarity within our community, and yet, why does it feel like we are more fragmented and exclusionary than ever?
Every week there’s a hot new debate online within the LGTBQIA+ community: “Who is more oppressed: x or y?” “Does x identity even belong in our community?” “Should x group be able to say y’s slur?” Tese debates go on and on, circulating every social media platform until everyone runs out of steam; not once has a general consensus emerged. Like every other online debate, two polarized sides emerge — everyone ends up angrier at the other group than they were before the start of the debate.
Our community was built with the intent of supporting one another. However, these debates have turned our community into a space based on exclusion. People online put up arbitrary boundaries around their identities, refuse to let anyone else in and then go and police another’s identity. By the end of every argument cycle, the “voice of reason” arises. It proclaims that “Tese problems don’t exist in real life. Go outside and talk to a real queer person.” To an extent, this voice is right. We have much bigger issues than arguing identity politics online. If our rights
are getting stripped from us, what’s the point in wasting time in these online arguments? At the same time, this doesn’t mean that we should stop trying to have these conversations. Perhaps there’s a chance for fnding solidarity within these arguments.
“In-fghting” within the LGBTQIA+ community is unfortunately somewhat inevitable. Our community consists of many diferent gender and sexual identities, all existing under the same heteronormative and gender-essentialist social systems. Queer spaces both online and ofine are often white-centered and lack intersectional understandings of identity. We are all unlearning our own internalized homophobia, transphobia, racism, misogyny and ableism that we’ve been socialized to accept as the norm.
When these debates arise, we impose hateful and harmful biases against our own community members’ identities. We exclude and police who can and can’t be within our community. Yet, under the right circumstances, these questions could potentially prompt a moment of learning. Working through these issues gives us a chance to rethink our own implicit biases against one another in order to build stronger solidarity. However, the only chance for this to work is if the “argument” is an actual conversation — with the level of hatred and antagonism present online, I don’t believe social media is the right space for these kinds of conversations.
In an ideal world, social media would be the best place to build a democratic community based around conversation. If many people can use social media to make their voices heard, then the discussion should be full of diferent layers of nuance. Social media itself can be one of the few places where queer people can fnd a sense of community outside of in-person organizations. However, many social media users are limited by word and time restrictions, so they condense their arguments to
the bare necessities. Users often make claims without referencing any evidence to back them up and can mistakenly build arguments on unchecked internal bias and anecdotal fallacy. Social media platforms are shown to foster an “us vs. them” mentality in users, prompting individuals to view the other side of an argument as less trustworthy, and therefore, less likely to listen to their perspective. When a user only listens to the people they agree with and argues with hostility towards the other side, it becomes clear that social media fails to be an efective space for conversation, pushing us away from one another instead of pulling us together.
While I believe that prioritizing inperson communication and grassroots organizations to build solidarity is the best solution to this problem, it doesn’t address the issues we’re creating for ourselves online. Social media isn’t going anywhere; we must fnd ways to transform our fragmented online community spaces into one with more empathy and compassion.
At the end of the day, it’s difcult to build a community when our own community members do not want to stand together with us. If someone in our community is discrediting our identity, should we be responsible for empathizing with their bigotry? I hesitate to say we should, and I hesitate to say we shouldn’t.
True solidarity is a difcult path for us to continue to forge, and yet, we must. Solidarity is the only path forward in the face of federal discrimination against our community, so we must stride ahead, side by side with those who stand with us.
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 Te California Aggie.
I came to Davis for a degree but stayed
for the music
Local Davis talent makes the music scene in this small town unforgettable
BY JHANA RHODES jsrho@ucdavis.edu
Nobody does the music scene in California quite like Los Angeles and San Francisco. Admittedly, as an LA native, I am biased. However, it’s crucial to get one thing clear from the start: Te best “scene” and the best “music” are not the same thing. While the quality of music is always a matter of taste, what is not debatable is the sheer volume of live music, diverse cultures and talent constantly emanating from every corner of LA. Te ease of fnding live music is a constant perk of living in a big city like LA. As a creature of habit, I often had the privilege of spontaneously attending various music shows. Whether it was joining thousands of fellow music lovers at the Hollywood Bowl or enjoying legendary drag queen performances at Hamburger Mary’s, fnding out about these events didn’t require a secret handshake or relying on a friend of a friend — a simple online search did the trick. Moving to Davis changed everything. Gone were the days of spontaneous concert hopping, replaced by the more subdued atmosphere of quaint, farm-town life and a biweekly rotation of the same fve bars, which (while superb) constitute the majority of the nightlife in Downtown Davis. I quickly learned that a more intentional approach was needed in Davis to discover live music. Tis meant hearing about local artists from glimpses of fyers on clustered bulletin boards or catching wind about events from classmates a week after they happened. Ironically, it was through this very understated, almost coincidental way that I frst heard the name Homsy. Homsy, also known as Noah Homsy King, a fourth-year at UC Davis
studying sustainable agriculture and food science, takes a unique approach to DJing. His mixes interweave a range of genres encompassing African, Latin and Brazilian music, seamlessly blending tracks — they are journeys that often begin with melodic, silky and richly textured sounds. Homsy’s music echoes a deep appreciation for the diverse sounds within each genre.
Listening to him describe his production process revealed his thoughtful approach to blending global rhythms. His experimentation with diferent sounds (at least, from my understanding) shows a willingness to bring together diverse and cultured music — a quality that I believe to be essential in a good DJ. His mixes are often played at local events, such as his recurring night at the Sophia’s Tai Kitchen bar, a lively atmosphere where students can experience amazing music. With Homsy’s upbringing and experience attending an international school in Uganda, it is clear that he has fostered a unique and personal connection to his mixes. As Homsy noted himself in an interview with Te California Aggie, he feels “drawn to people from diferent places” and fnds a sense of home in the culturally diverse environments he experienced growing up. He continues to see places like the Tri Co-ops in Davis, where he resides, as providing a similar sense of culture and community. Homsy is an artist who clearly cherishes culture, a quality that shines through both in his demeanor and music. While Homsy has undoubtedly made his mark, he credits the support of the wider Davis music scene for fostering his creativity and growth as a musician. Many of Homsy’s frst DJ sets were with the Davis Rave Co., a student-run organization at UC Davis that focuses on creating and hosting Electronic Dance Music (EDM)
Let go of what you know
Taking a leap of faith outside of your comfort zone can lead you to something beautiful
BY MOLLY THOMPSON mmtthompson@ucdavis.edu
There’s a certain solace in predictability. It’s nice to settle into the familiarity of routine, to bask in the warm continuity of a comfort zone. Newness is the opposite: It’s sharp, dark and cold. Out of self-preservation, of course we desire to avoid it. We’re afraid of the dark simply because we don’t know what could be lurking in the corners, not because the darkness itself is particularly threatening. It’s the unknown aspect of it that scares us — for all we know, our worst nightmares are lying in wait in the shadows. We avoid new things for the same reason; We simply don’t know what threats they could hold. On the other hand, we know what the routines we’ve built for ourselves look like, and we know what to expect — we know that they’re safe.
But the second we stray from that familiar cycle, there enters an element of risk. Suddenly, in the face of the dreaded abyss of the unknown, we can no longer trust the stability that we’ve relied upon for so long.
But, that is an inevitable part of life. College is one of the most prominent examples of this instability; Everything you’ve known your entire life is uprooted all at once as you’re shoved into a completely novel lifestyle. You no longer have the sanctuary of home to retreat to. Your life as you knew it is gone, and you’re left to traverse the dark, scary newness without any idea of what you’ll encounter within it.
But, as much that darkness could house something insidious, you just as soon might fnd something beautiful.
Te thing about the unknown is that it can end up becoming wonderful, just as easily as becoming unpleasant.
Consistency is inherently neutral. While routine can feel safe and comfortable, it has a ceiling for adventure, excitement and joy. When you stay in your comfort zone, you
protect yourself from unknown threats while also closing yourself of from potential opportunities. It’s a tradeof — you sacrifce the possibility of exhilaration and thrill for the guarantee of not encountering something scary.
Tere’s a common saying that life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans. Tis rings true; If you stay in your comfort zone, you’re essentially letting all the potential shooting stars pass you by because you’re afraid of being hit by an asteroid. While this sentiment is valid to a certain extent — there’s a lot out there that is truly scary and worth avoiding — it’s so easy to want to hold onto the predictable normalcy of what we know. But at the same time, life without risk is frankly boring.
Of course, this relationship between safety and risk is not a binary situation — you’re not fipping a coin for “good” or “bad.” Within life, you’re inevitably going to fnd elements of both. When you let go of that familiar routine, there will be setbacks and hardships. However, if you trust the process, letting go of routine can also result in discovery, sunshine and bliss. In other words, if you always stay inside, you’ll never get stung by a bee or sunburned. But you’ll also never see butterfies, city skylines or a blue sky through sun-lit leaves. You can hold onto what you know and stay safe from the unknown, but, in doing so, you’ll miss out on what makes life worth living. Jumping into the deep end is intimidating and hard, but it’s worth it for what you could fnd when you reach the bottom. Yes, there are unavoidable unpleasantries, but there are also so many wonderful things to fnd. While you can’t have true joy without a little discomfort, it’s beyond worth it.
“C’est la vie.”
Disclaimer: Te views and opinions expressed by individual columnists belong to the columnists alone and do not necessarily indicate the views and opinions held by Te California Aggie
events for the local community. He also mentioned playing at a few Five Percent Studios events, an organization that focuses on creating accessible and impactful art experiences by and for the community. And, of course, Homsy made sure to shout-out the Sody Collective, another creative group at Davis who, quite frankly, produces some of the most visually stunning content in the city — I wouldn’t have discovered half the local talent in Davis if it weren’t for their videos and events.
As graduation approaches for Homsy this spring, writing about his artistry feels like a meaningful way to acknowledge one of the many individuals who have added vibrancy to our campus. Now that my time at Davis is also coming to a close, I realize how much artistry, life and culture are a part of Davis. For a long time, I was so focused on fnishing school, graduating and moving back home to LA that I missed out on what Davis has to ofer.
Whether it was the fantastic performances hosted by the Davis Rave Co. or just bar-hopping in Downtown Davis, having the opportunity to interview and get to know organizations and artists like Homsy makes me wish I’d spent just a little more time experiencing the abundant talent here at Davis.
Tat being said, if you’ve got more time before you hit that graduation stage, don’t miss out on some of the best years of your life. Check out the Sophia’s Tai Kitchen bar, see the Rocky Horror Club perform and hike at Putah Creek. Even if it is harder to come by, the search is worth it: Experiencing the music, life and culture at Davis is better than anything a big city can ofer.
If you’re a fellow fourth-year, I hope you’ve taken the time to really immerse yourself in Davis culture — the musicians, the events and the community.
Regenerative agriculture and its environmental impact
How the agriculture industry is turning towards sustainability
BY ELLIE NOH eenoh@ucdavis.edu
In the United States alone, the agriculture industry contributes to approximately 10.6% of greenhouse gas emissions, as of 2021. With this statistic in mind, it is important to consider agriculture’s environmental impacts and how new practices can be implemented to further sustainability. A key step toward more sustainable farming practices is the development of regenerative agriculture. Regenerative agriculture includes conservation methods to protect soil health, which can help decrease agriculture’s contribution to climate change. For example, a sustainable method includes no-till farming, a practice that revitalizes soil by protecting its structure and decreasing disturbance. Tis can help decrease carbon emissions, as more carbon will be stored into the soil rather than being released for the atmosphere to absorb. Because regenerative farming is intended to reproduce the cycling of nutrients as nature does, it can increase the amount of organic matter available and, therefore, decrease the necessity to turn to synthetic fertilizers. Te use of synthetic fertilizers is incredibly harmful to the environment due to the fertilizers’ chemical properties, which can contaminate nearby water sources from drainage and farming water runof Tis can lead to algal blooms, which contribute to less available oxygen — a side efect that is detrimental to aquatic organisms.
NOVA MAI / AGGIE
In order to encourage and preserve a more natural carbon cycle, wasted food and other sources like manure can be helpful natural fertilizers for soil. Tis can also divert the usage of synthetic fertilizers and develop a circular system for waste, transforming it into nutrients benefcial for the soil. Tis rejuvenated soil can then be used once again for agriculture. While there are many benefits to regenerative agriculture, there are also some challenges in adopting this system for wider practice. Many farmers who currently rely on conventional agriculture methods may not be aware of the benefts in converting to regenerative agriculture and are concerned with the transition into a diferent mode of farming. Additionally, since labor practices may shift after the introduction of this new system, there is a signifcant need for more funding in order to spearhead such a transition. To address such issues, there must be improved transparency between farmers who already use regenerative practices and those who are looking to transition to a more sustainable system.
STEPHANIE CHAN / AGGIE
NOVA MAI / AGGIE
EDITORIAL
2024-25 Editorial Board members share end-of-year farewells with one another
Hear from your favorite professional yappers one last time
WRITTEN BY THE
EDITORIAL BOARD
Chris Ponce, Editor-in-Chief
By Katie Hellman
Chris!
I have loved getting to work alongside you at Te Aggie for the past two years. You are an incredible person and such a talented journalist, and you have truly embodied the face of the Aggie as editor-in-chief. Your positivity and kindness are traits that Ed Board has always been able to rely on, and we can count on you for your thoughtful contributions during meetings. You have helped create such a welcoming environment in the ofce, and you are just what we needed to help balance work matters with a little of-topic yapping here and there. I admire how passionate you are about the topics that you care about, and I know that you have such a bright and promising future ahead of you; I hope you come back from time to time to tell us all about it. (Also, side note… love love love your fun earrings when you wear them). All the best and have the happiest graduation :-)
Alyssa Crevoiserat, Managing Editor
By Hannah Schrader
Although Alyssa won the “most diva on managing staf” award at the LAX airport via a majority vote, working together this past year has opened my eyes to her kindheartedness. To know Alyssa is to know her passion for journalism, justice and, of course, Coco Gauf Over the course of the year, Alyssa has developed exceptional leadership skills, and it has been a privilege to see her fourish. It’s not an easy task to transition from copy chief to managing editor, but Alyssa navigated the change skillfully and excelled in the role.
Despite her biting jokes, Alyssa is selfess, empathetic and extremely charismatic. She is the type of person who helps those around her without a second thought, and much like those who know her, I have a deep respect and admiration for her. I feel grateful to have gotten to know Alyssa this year and learned maybe a little too much about her at times (as the quotes on the wall can attest to), but it was all worth it for the laughs we shared and the vibrance she brought to the editorial board. I have no doubt that she will be an amazing editor-in-chief next year, and I look forward to seeing her thrive in this new role.
Vince Basada, Campus News Editor
By Zoey Mortazavi
When I frst met you, I remember being truly surprised that you were in the same year as I am — I just assumed you were at least one year older because you have such a confdent air about you. You are one of the most committed people I’ve met in college, with a truly impressive
knowledge of the inner workings of this campus. Even though you started partially through the year as campus news editor, the desk is lucky to have you. It’s not an easy task to start as an editor in the middle of an already-busy school year, and I sincerely commend how you’ve stayed committed to your work and getting to really know the editorial process.
You’re always willing to work late nights, stay late, show up early and have defnitely proven your dedication to Te Aggie. Your willingness to exert more of your own eforts to get stories out in a timely manner is very admirable. I’m excited to continue working with you over the next couple of years; I know you’ll never stop trying to throw things in the trash can of the Ed Board room (you usually miss…), cracking jokes with everyone on managing staf and making sure to ask everyone how their weekend was. You should be proud of the work you’ve done this year, and I’m looking forward to seeing what else you accomplish at Te Aggie!
Hannah Schrader, City News
Editor By Vince Basada
When I frst met you, I was intimidated because you seemed to have your whole life in order. Early graduate, pre-law, political science and economics double major, a DJLS editor and excellent wearer of sunglasses on your head. Frankly, I was afraid that I wouldn’t live up to the standard you set for managing a news desk and balancing a robust social and academic life. It has been a pleasure to learn that you are as welcoming and easy to approach as you are put together. I love when we get to rif of of each other in meetings and am intensely bittersweet that you won’t be around next year at the paper. But, I’m so happy that you are beginning to reap the benefts of your investment and hard work. I have no doubt that as we keep yapping around the Ed Board table, you’ll be of in Sacramento doing greater things, preparing to take on law school. I’m sorry we didn’t get to know each other better, but so happy that our paths crossed in the frst place. All my best.
— please don’t get another concussion
By Maya Kornyeyeva
Iconic blue mascara. Outfts that never miss. A fearless voice and vision. Tese are traits that belong to none other than Zoey Mortazavi, Te Aggie’s incredible features editor. During my time on the Editorial Board, I have found a love for the uniquely satisfying feeling of a blank being flled, an edit validated, a word perfectly placed into a sentence. I’ve always been awed by your ability to pluck the right synonym out of thin air and marry it to the surrounding phrases; It is such a joy to experience connecting the missing pieces and weaving powerful statements with you. From bonding over KDVS lore to synching our brains during an editing session, there’s no one that I think gets me more on the Editorial Board than you do.
Even though you will be abroad next year, I am 100% certain that your spirit and your strength under pressure will continue to be the glue that holds the Editorial Board together. No matter how stressed you are, you always seem to pull of anything you set your mind to — and with a determined gleam in your eye. I can’t wait to see what amazing things you do next year (and the year after), and to follow your music career far into the future; I can already tell you’ll be famous one day. :)
Ana Bach, Arts and Culture
Editor
By Megan Joseph
What could I not say about Miss Ana Bach? She is an amazing editor with an incredible work ethic. She is a talented writer who could keep anyone entertained for a page and a half. She is a wonderful friend and coworker who you can always count on to lift your spirits and even let you use her pool.
I have had the privilege of working with Ana for a very long time now and it’s safe to say that I am going to miss her so much and not just because we are two of the very few out-of-state kids on the Editorial Board. She is one
Your photographer knows best
BY LAUREN SWING
of the best people I know and I have thoroughly enjoyed working with her and being her friend over the course of our time at Te Aggie. Her calming and almost therapeutic presence (she NEEDS to start a podcast) will be missed, and she is truly one of a kind. I wish her nothing but the absolute best and have no doubt that she is going to kill this next chapter in her life. Don’t forget to come visit us every now and then, Ana — even if it’s a crosscountry fight!
Maya Kornyeyeva, Opinion Editor By Alyssa Crevoiserat
A non-goodbye fsh in a sea of goodbye paragraphs, I’m happy to announce that I won’t be bidding farewell to you just yet. When I frst had the pleasure of meeting you, your creativity, attention to detail and kindness made up my frst impression, and it has been a joy to be on the Editorial Board with you this year. Tis year was a frst for both of us, and I was immediately comforted by the idea that I wasn’t the only person fguring out this untrodden territory for the frst time.
While it’s a funny coincidence that I was also your Secret Santa — pulling your name out of an imaginary hat seems to be a personal skill of mine — I have no issue listing out what I love about working with you. I’d start with how jealous I am of your latte art skills, ability to skateboard and hat collection, but I’d probably end up talking about how talented, sweet and hardworking you are.
I’m sure it has been a great hassle to deal with the eight of us interrupting pitches — and each other — for the better part of a year, but you have handled our loud outbursts and sidebars with patience and grace. Now, it wouldn’t be a compliment from me without mentioning your success as the opinion desk editor. Reading wellwritten and well-edited columns and humor pieces has made it clear to me that your care and work for Te Aggie is anything but surface level. Your love for this paper does not go unnoticed, and I’m excited for another year of seeing you for at least eight hours a week!
Katie Hellman, Science and Technology Editor By Chris Ponce
Troughout my time at Te Aggie, I’ve seen many people come and go. Te difculty of joining the Editorial Board my second year was that I had to see so many friends graduate and move on to their next phase of life.
I’m grateful that I’ve had the pleasure of working with Katie for two years now. It’s been an honor to call
you a co-editor and an even greater one to call you a friend. I got Katie last year for our goodbye editorial as well, but this time it’s actually goodbye as I prepare to graduate.I said this sentiment last year, but I don’t think we have quicker editing sessions than when the editorial is written by you! Katie, you are always an impressive writer and editor; It’s been amazing to watch your work evolve over the last two years as well.
Science journalism is difcult and typically underappreciated; However, it is fundamental to any publication and makes a diference in people’s lives. Tis is something Katie has understood since she’s had the job. Typically, it’s fairly difcult to get STEM majors interested in working for Te Aggie, which usually makes it difcult to hire the science team. Tankfully, we’ve had recent improvements in that regard. I’m so impressed with what the science desk has done this year — from coverage of innovative research projects to the development of Aggie Square — the science desk has been doing excellent work. Tis is due for several factors, including their amazing editor Katie.
It’s been so meaningful to work with you the last two years Katie, I’ll always appreciate our work at Te Aggie together. I wish you nothing but the best in your next year at Davis, keep doing what you’re doing.
Megan Joseph, Sports Editor By Ana Bach
It’s hard to remember when I frst met you. Maybe it was through an Aggie event or some sorority event, but you never failed to put a smile on my face during every meeting after that. To this day, I don’t think I have ever seen you in a bad mood, always bringing new ideas to the table with a positive attitude. You’ve managed to run a successful sports desk not one, but two years in a row. Even when abroad, you attended every Ed Board meeting that the nine hour time diference didn’t inconvenience. Your dedication and love for the paper certainly don’t go unnoticed. It’s been such a joy to have gotten so close to you inside and outside of work, and I’ll miss seeing you around in Davis.
I can’t lie, I’m extremely jealous that you have another year left here, and I would do anything to trade spots with you. Don’t take your time here for granted and try to make the most of it, because before you know it, you’ll be writing this graph with more sappiness than you were expecting. I am extremely confdent that you will continue to do great work on the sports desk and wherever else you fnd yourself next. I grant you full permission to use my pool whenever you want next year, lol.
P.S.
Zoey Mortazavi, Features Editor
Members of the 2024-25 Editorial Board. (Jenna Lee / Aggie)
SENIOR COLUMNS
Find the good in every story, even your own
After four years at The California Aggie, working as city news reporter, editor and Editor-in-Chief, I’m ready for what comes next
BY CHRIS PONCE editor@theaggie.org
When I first came to Davis, I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do with a political science degree. Social justice and local issues have always been important to me, but I knew I didn’t necessarily want to work in politics or government. Journalism felt like an option worth exploring — in this path I have discovered a passion of mine that has become core to who I am.
One of my University Writing Program (UWP) professors often says that writing is a never-ending process, but at some point you have to hit the “send” button. I’m understanding exactly what that means right now. Even now, I am constantly thinking about something I should have included or a paragraph that should be condensed, so please bear with me, there is so much to say about the last four years.
I came to college nervous and unsure. I grew up in a small desert town you probably never heard of, with Joshua trees and tumbleweeds instead of universities and resources. Moving to a college town like Davis was the biggest culture shock of my life; I felt far from my family, my culture and everything else familiar to me.
It wasn’t until working at The California Aggie that Davis felt like home. I applied for two jobs as a frstyear: columnist and city news staf writer. Unfortunately, I was rejected from a paid role (trust me stafers, I’ve been there, too), but I became a proud volunteer city news reporter. One of my frst articles was a breaking news story about a tragedy in Sacramento. I remember sitting in the study lounge in my dorm, typing away to have something for my editor.
One of my friends asked me, “Why are you doing all of this if you aren’t even paid?” and I remember thinking to myself, “Because I wanted to.” My frst quarter as a writer not only infuenced what I wanted to do but helped me fall in love with the Davis community.
Tere is no better way to learn the ins and outs of a city than working as a city reporter. From the street performers you see day to day, to the activists who make Davis feel inclusive, to the farm workers picking your crops — working with the city news desk is how I learned about Davis in an intimate and personal way (the good and the bad).
In news, we understandably have a tendency to remember the bad stories more than the good ones. However, for my sanity, I’ve learned to look for goodness and humanity in every story, even in the worst of them. I know that can sound cheesy, but trust me — when it’s your job to report on deaths, bomb threats, war-torn families and hate groups — you have no other choice.
And believe it or not, it’s easier to fnd humanity in these stories than you might think. One of my last articles for the city news desk was about a vigil for the loss of civilian and children life in Gaza; Reporting on vigils like this should be heavy on any reporter’s heart. When I got there, I introduced myself to the organizers before it started; Tey handed me a lit candle, and I pulled out my notes. Tere, wax dripping down my fnger, I heard from people with families in the region fearing for their safety, speaking with hope yet uncertainty.
In these darkest moments is where you will find humanity standing together the most. Te vigil was hosted in unity by several churches of diferent
You can pluck your roots from the ground and plant them elsewhere
Even though it doesn’t feel like the grass is greener on the other side, it probably will be
BY ANA BACH opinion@theaggie.org
Like many fourth-years making the time to write down their parting words, I too have fallen victim to procrastinating my fnal sentiments at Te Aggie. My time at the paper started very organically when a good friend of mine and then Managing Editor, Katie DeBenedetti, asked me for a recommendation on a good book to read. Much to her liking, I rambled for over 20 minutes on how “Normal People” and “The Virgin Suicides” altered my brain chemistry for the better. After heading my longwinded recommendation, she suggested that I apply to write for the arts and culture desk — so, here we are.
It took me a while to f nd my footing in Davis. I made the leap from the East Coast, confdent in my decision when I graduated high school, only to discover that moving across the country wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be — shocker. Before I had found Te Aggie, I was just another English major who had no idea what I wanted to do with my love for writing. I was so confdent in my foundation, the interests that allowed me to stay grounded in my environment and the fear of not fnding that same security in college terrifed me. Everything that I felt connected to and appreciated was thousands of miles away, and I wasn’t sure that I would fnd that Davis.
religions: Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths stood together for a common cause — humanity. I think this moment speaks for itself.
Tis is just one example, but in almost every story you can fnd the good. Tat’s not to pretend everything is always fne and happy — I don’t pretend to be naive to the ugly truths all around us — only that the best of humanity can be found just about everywhere. Tis is a message, going beyond journalism, that I will carry with me into my life.
Following my time as a city reporter, I worked as the city news editor for two years. Here I learned the importance of leading by example and fostering a supportive environment for reporters.
For my last year at Davis, I became the editor-in-chief to take a new approach in advocating for our newspaper.
As editor-in-chief, I’ve had to actively fght for our right to report freely just about everyday. Tis role showed me the obstacles that all publications face when trying to do quality journalism. Tere will always be people in power challenging these rights, so there must too always be people defending them.
In many ways, news groups are like a fourth branch of government, a necessary component for checks and balances. Newspapers keep those in power accountable; Many times, we are the only true watchdogs they have. Tis responsibility inherently comes with uphill challenges, and I’m sure it will for years to come. But these hurdles will never stand in the way of persistent journalists with a deadline.
So fast forward four years and here I am, days away from graduation and the rest of my life. I will be leaving UC Davis as a double major with my Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in political science, B.A. in philosophy and a minor in professional writing.
My parents never went to college; Tey weren’t given the same privileges and opportunities many of us have been given. As a Chicano I can’t explain the pride I feel approaching graduation day. For years, people in power have actively tried to stop people like me from receiving a higher education. Walking on stage and receiving that diploma is itself an act of resistance and resilience for all of us Chicanos approaching commencement.
To my parents, thank you for all of your hard work and support. And thank you most of all for the example you have laid for me. I wouldn’t be here without the inspiration you both are. Tank you to the rest of my family, too; Without you guys, I wouldn’t be who I am or where I am today.
To my partner, thank you for always supporting me and standing with me every step of the way. No one challenges me to work my hardest while still letting me know when it is okay to take breaks the way you do. Figuring out life and the uncertainty that comes with it has never been easier than with you.
To my friends, thank you for your comfort and consistency. I’m grateful for those who have stayed by my side in life, regardless of the changes it brings.
To my philosophy professors, thank you for helping me challenge myself in academics. I wouldn’t have double majored if it weren’t for Professor Sandoval, Dr. Thor or Professor Basevich. I’m incredibly grateful to have learned under some of the best academics in their feld. You have all taught me the importance of asking “why” for every situation.
Te Aggie was just the catalyst for me fnding something meaningful to put my time into that would beneft my community. Since then, I have joined organizations and made friendships that I would have otherwise never made had I not been afraid to ask questions and get involved. Davis gives you all the resources to navigate the tedious process of fnding out what kind of person you want to be. What they don’t tell you before coming here is that you have to make those decisions for yourself. Tere
isn’t going to be someone holding your hand and guiding you through it, but there will be people extending one if you are willing to take it. I know this column has thrown the most random advice your way, but I guess what I’m trying to say is that if you too have this same fear of not feeling rooted within your surroundings, know that you will be fne. Stay after class to talk to your professor, tell that person that you like their shoes, sign up for local volunteer opportunities, go to that houseshow, try that restaurant that you have had your eye on, get out of Davis fll the time that you have while you
have it. If you have made it to the end of my column, I urge you (in typical Ed Board fashion) to say “yes.” Ground yourself in new outlets, experiment with what you are good at and cherish how easy it is to connect here. Te real world is scary from the vantage point of a small college town, but carry the things that have made you feel grounded in who you are here and plant them where you go next. Carry bits of Davis with you and sprinkle them in new places. You don’t need to start over entirely, but see what new things will bloom from what you grew in Davis (apologies, had to end on a cheesy note).
The powerful truths in small stories
An homage to the town that helped me grow in self understanding through it’s mosaic of lives
BY HANNAH SCHRADER city@theaggie.org
It’s difcult to fnd words that do justice to the profound ways that the Aggie has shaped me throughout my college career. Despite not having an ardent passion for journalism when I started as a staf writer at the city news desk, I loved reading, writing and politics and felt the position suited my interests well enough.
It was shortly into the position when I started facing the challenges of being a journalist. I was worried about making tight deadlines, having to break out of my comfort zone to interview strangers and navigating covering emotionally charged topics. But there were moments in my reporting that made me clear-eyed about why I was working for the Aggie.
One of my most memorable stories was a tree commission meeting I covered. At face-value, these commission meetings can be pretty monotonous and pedantic, but this specifc meeting was diferent. A retired professor spoke during public comment and requested the help of the commission to remove a tree with roots that kept breaking her utility lines, and will continue to do so if not removed.
Te commission ultimately decided not remove the tree as they are not allowed to remove healthy trees, but conceded the problem was the cities making for planting a tree right over her utility box.
Watching this professor advocate for herself was empowering, but it was even more empowering to get to write an article sharing her story. I am a big proponent of transparency and accountability in government and this article helped me to realize the extent to which I was contributing to those goals.
In my mind, I was no longer just reporting on municipal a fairs, but rather, telling the stories of the victories and losses of the people in the Davis community.
It was this passion for reporting that ultimately brought me to apply for assistant editor, then editor of the city news desk. Although my former editor, Chris, was a hard act to follow, being editor this past year has only further ignited my passion for the importance of journalism.
I have gotten to write fascinating editorials on the obstacles we as students are facing, critically evaluate global
issues and learn from the exceedingly talented group of students that make up the editorial board. Becoming more involved in the Aggie has been the best experience of my college career, and I feel eternally grateful for the opportunity to work closely with the hardworking and kindhearted individuals that make this student paper what it is. From spending hours talking of topic during editorial board meetings, answering niche icebreaker questions at storyboard meetings and reading stunningly well written city news articles, it is safe to say this postion has brought me so much enjoyment. Lastly, to my writers, it is your talent, dedication and passion that make this desk what it is. I feel extremely fortunate to have gotten the privilege to support the work of these amazing reporters. Nothing has been more meaningful to me than seeing city staf writers in
shoes I was once in. Navigating heavy topics, learning how to write in AP style and, most importantly, learning about themselves through uplifting voices in Davis. My time at the Aggie has been challenging, eye opening and radically rewarding. I feel lucky to have been a part of something so difcult to say goodbye to.
Chris Ponce is a fourth-year double majoring in political science and philosophy, with a minor in professional writing. After graduation, he will work for KUSI News in San Diego as an assignment editor. (Jenna Lee / Aggie)
Ana Bach is a fourth-year English major, with a minor in Professional Writing. (Jenna Lee / Aggie)
Hannah Schrader is a third-year double majoring in political science and economics. After graduation, she plans to work in public policy for a year in Sacramento before law school. (Jenna Lee / Aggie)
Drawn into the unexpected
From sketching student life to leading a design team, UC Davis gave me the courage to grow into opportunities I never thought I was ready for — and I’m so glad I dared to try
BY LANHUI ZHEN lazhen@ucdavis.edu
My story at Te Aggie began when I f rst saw the vacancy posting for the cartoonist position — thinking, “Finally! A dream on-campus job that lets me express my love for illustration and storytelling.” As a cartoonist, I illustrated many moments of humor, heartwarming stories and social commentary drawn from everyday student life at UC Davis. Seeing my artwork getting printed and distributed all over campus was one of the most rewarding experiences! I later joined the layout team to broaden my skills. To be honest, at that time, I doubted if pasting some text and images onto a page was really going to help me. Fast forward, I am so glad I took on the experience. It gave me a holistic understanding of how each
part of Te Aggie fts together to meet production deadlines and brings the paper to life, which grounded me when interviewing for my current design director position. Before becoming the design director, I actually had never been on the graphic design team, nor did I have any prior experience in design directing elsewhere. Looking at the usual path that many past design directors took — started out as volunteer designer and worked their way up, it still feels crazy how I dared to apply. Although I was starting the team from the ground up again, it pushed me to harvest all the lessons from past experiences in a professional setting, i.e., class group projects, facilitating discussions as an orientation leader, design thinking tools and ways that my professors critiqued design. This role taught me to think holistically, problem-solve creatively and grow in ways I never anticipated. Tank
you Chris and Alyssa for trusting me! Serving this role, I had the opportunity to design a merchandise line for the frst time, design-direct my favorite issue, Best of Davis 2025 (yes, the one I am holding onto!) and lead an incredibly talented team: Savannah, Crystal, Darixa, Kayla, Stephanie, Jason, Nova, Emily and Veronica. Watching each of you grow was such a joy, and I’ll always cherish all the memories from our weekly brainstorming meeting. Tank you to the rest of the managing staf! It’s been so great working with you all, and I never expected to learn so much about journalism just by being around such passionate editors!
If I could leave one piece of advice to my younger self, I would say, “You don’t need to wait until you feel 100% ready to chase an opportunity, because you never will. As long as you meet the majority of the qualifcations, just go for it! You will learn the rest on the job. And remember, every experience counts, even if it’s a small one.”
I would like to give special thanks to Professor Jae Yong Suk, Professor Akshita Sivakumar and Professor Christina Cogdell for their unwavering support and mentorship, reshaping my understanding of what architecture can be and what it can do, and inspiring me to think critically about our sustainable future.
I am also incredibly grateful to the many friends I have met throughout my four years at UC Davis — each of you carry such a unique energy and perspective, and I have learned so much from every one of you.
And of course, to my most beloved parents, thank you for the unconditional love and support, and for always lifting me back up whenever I hit roadblocks.
Tere are still so many memories I wish I could share, so many lessons I’d tell my younger self and so many more people I want to thank. But as I close of this chapter, I’ll say that UC Davis has taught me that there’s so much more than what I could ever have imagined. I’ll miss the feeling of stumbling into new ideas and meeting new people each quarter, when learning felt exponential and discovery never stopped. Being a double major taught me how two disciplines view the same world in entirely diferent ways — and that there’s rarely one “right” answer.
SENIORCOLUMNLANHUI on 15
artist to fourth-year director: my journey with The California Aggie
I’ll miss The Aggie
BY ARIANA NOBLE apnoble@ucdavis.edu
Who would’ve thought I’d end up as the layout director of Te California Aggie? Honestly, me. I’ve known since my second year of high school that I wanted to pursue journalism, even if not as a writer. My love for newspapers only deepened in college, and while I may dread late-night layout Tuesdays, the experiences, relationships and skills I’ve gained have made it worth it. As an incoming frst-year at UC Davis, I remember nervously DMing Te Aggie to ask if there were any layout openings. To my surprise, I received a quick response with a link to apply. In the post-COVID-19 slump, the team was in desperate need of help and, lucky for me, they were hiring just about anyone. I joined as a volunteer alongside two other students, treating the role as a side gig. But by second year, I became a paid layout artist and started to understand the behind-the-scenes systems: who to contact for missing pieces, where to fnd our puzzles and how the paper came together each week. Tat same year, I was asked to step into the role of layout director. My third year was a learning curve. I was still fguring out how to lead efciently while juggling scheduling, oversight and mentorship. Tankfully, Te Aggie was regaining momentum, and with that came a food of layout
applicants. I’d never conducted interviews or reviewed resumes before, but I dove in. I onboarded seven new layout artists and built a team I now proudly call my layout army. Tat year sharpened my organizational skills, leadership and, most of all, my patience. Now, as a fourth-year and layout director, I’m incredibly proud of how far our department has come. I’ve witnessed each team member grow in confdence, time management and design expertise. I’ve also learned how to adapt my communication style to better support others and how clarity and compassion go hand in hand in leadership. Of course, none of our success would have been possible without the support of every department within Te Aggie. Our photo and design teams are endlessly creative, our editorial staf has a sharp eye for storytelling and our editor-in-chief and managing editor work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure every issue is the best it can be. Te Aggie is a true team efort, and I’m grateful to have been a part of it.
As I prepare to move on, I’m flled with gratitude for the opportunities and growth this role has brought
Don’t be alarmed. I’m okay, I swear. However, I can’t say the same about me back in 2021 on a cold December day in my Honda Civic in a community college parking lot. Imagine tears, snot and a messedup frst-year just sobbing in her car with a crying face worse than Kim Kardashian’s. Yeah, scary.
Now, obviously I wasn’t just crying because I randomly felt like it. I had just failed my third midterm in a row for a required calculus class I was taking at my old community college. For some context, before I became a political science major and came to UC Davis, I was a community college astrophysics major. Dreaming to go to UC Berkeley and becoming the next Nobel Prize winner. Te requirements were math heavy, the workload was intense and repetitive. Wake up. Math. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. So, when I knew that I had just bombed my third midterm of the quarter, I thought life was over. How on earth could I be a good astrophysicist without being able to do basic calculus? How would I ever transfer to my dream university without being able to pass every math class with fying colors? Did I just fail my frst class? Oh my gosh, what is Mom going to say?!
My crashout reached its peak when I ran from my classroom where I had just taken the exam to my rusty dusty (but reliable) 2012 Honda Civic. I opened the door, jumped into the backseat, laid down and just cried. But not like one of those cries that you get randomly when you get emotional but a real, can’t-catchmy-breath, sufocating cry.
An exam had just changed my entire future. What the hell was I going to do now? Before I tell you the rest, let me begin with this. For those of you who don’t know, I am from Silicon Valley, home of tech, innovation and, basically, a bunch of STEM kids. Yes, I was one as well.
I had grown up going to science camps at Stanford University and spent time teaching myself how to code during classes in the summer. I was the one and only awkward kid in the corner with a bad haircut and a desire to learn everything and anything about science. I really had a passion for it.
As I grew up and went to high school, I began taking other classes like Advanced Placement Chemistry and Advanced Biology. Both allowed me to want to continue my education in STEM even further. I was academically gifted and had many teachers tell me I was smart and could go far with science. However, little did I know that I had just begun to burn out. When one burns out, academic
pressure feels slightly diferent. It feels like you are constantly making a life or death decision, and if you make the wrong choice, then you would be doomed forever. Hence, my car crashout; where the pressure fnally made me crack.
My face was pufy, and my eyes looked like I had just put a ton of red paint on them. It was bad. I had given close to six years of my life eating, living and breathing science, and fnally, with one exam, I felt it all just go away just like that. My future was undetermined, and I didn’t know what to do.
I continued to sit in my Civic for close to half an hour just contemplating all the wrong ways my life could go; how I had just disappointed myself, my parents and probably ruined my chances at ever transferring. Te more I refect on my crashout, the more I solidify my beliefs that black-
and-white thinking was my downfall in this moment. Never did I ever consider retrying the class or even listening to myself as to if astrophysics was really what I wanted to do or if it was just the thing that was expected of me given my track record. Te gray area never seemed to exist. I wish I could go back in time to my frst-year self in that Civic and comfort her, letting her know everything was going to be okay. Tat she would end up passing that class (thank you curve!) and that her real path was just a few quarters away. She wouldn’t have believed me of course (again, she was just in her own black-and-white world), but at least I could have planted the seed in her head to not think in extremes and that she still had three and a half beautiful years ahead of her.
BY JOANNE SUN jwsun@ucdavis.edu
Ariana Noble is a fourth-year communication major. After graduation, she’s starting a marketing internship in Folsom, CA. (Jenna Lee / Aggie)
Joanne Sun is a fourth-year design major.
Ileana Monserrat Meraz is a fourth-year political science major with a minor in economics. Post-grad she hopes to work as a legal assistant in San Jose. (Jenna Lee / Aggie)(Jenna Lee / Aggie)
Lanhui Zhen is a fourth-year double majoring in design and managerial economics. After graduation, she will continue her internship at the California Lighting Technology Center. (Jenna Lee / Aggie)
FROM THE OPINION DESK
A beautiful, heartfelt goodbye to the opinion column
I only knew her for a year
BY TARA ROMERO tcrome@ucdavis.edu
Writing about myself directly for an article feels so gross. Usually, I can hide behind a communal “we” or a pointed “you.” Even when I use the “I” pronoun in my columns I get to feel a bit distanced, since few people would recognize my name. Yet, here I am, opening up about my life and feeling a little bit vulnerable.
Te thing is, I really shouldn’t feel so exposed. Writing for the opinion desk, I’ve already made so much of my own life and political views visible. At times, the opinion desk is one of the scarier places to be at Te Aggie. Certainly not the scariest — I think that title probably belongs to the layout director or the editor-in-chief. However, writing opinion columns can be very vulnerable, and that’s the scary part. Tere’s a reason the paper puts the disclaimer, “Te views and opinions expressed by individual columnists belong to the columnists alone and do not necessarily indicate the views and opinions held by Te California Aggie.” We get tasked with taking a stance — a stance that belongs to us and us alone as writers.
I’ve only been writing for Te Aggie for one year. I joined the opinion desk because my hubris told me that I had something to say. It took me a while to fnd my footing. At the beginning, I wrote a lot more fufy, light-hearted articles (and trust me, I still love writing a good fuf article). I was too nervous to write about anything more controversial in fear that I wouldn’t be able to do the topics I cared about justice — so, I avoided them. A month or two in, something in me fipped. I realized that I wanted to say something more; I wanted to take a real stance with my writing. If I’m writing for the opinion desk, I might as well actually have an opinion.
So, I started writing more about political topics that I felt passionate about. I felt myself learning my own political voice over the course of this year, and I’m very proud of my work — something I rarely say. Whenever I turn in an essay, I’m convinced I’m the worst writer in the world and that my professor should blow me up with a stick of dynamite over how bad of a job I did.
Writing opinion columns is so vulnerable, but that’s what makes opinion writing so necessary. As Artifcial Intelligence is beginning to
replace our humanity in every feld of writing, and as we continue through the age of social media blasting misinformation across everyone’s timelines, we need vulnerability in our persuasion.
Persuasion itself is becoming somewhat of a lost art. Ideally, persuasion should be a one-sided conversation that is rooted in human connection, with the goal of convincing other people to view the world the same way you do. In reality, persuasion has turned into propaganda — into a “who has the most clickbait headline” contest where only the readers are losing. Trough vulnerability, there is authenticity. Trough authenticity, there is real persuasion. Real persuasion is the only way to resist this era of propaganda and misinformation —
alongside, of course, local and reliable news sources such as our very own Te California Aggie. So, take this as a love letter to the opinion column. Writing persuasion pieces has taught me so much about myself, and I hope all of my fellow writers’ and outstanding editor’s stories this year taught you all something about yourselves or the world. I will end this column on a vulnerable note. As I leave behind my brief time as an unpaid writer (that’s how you know I was in it for the love of the game) and as an unpaid student, I am entering into this unknown chapter of my life. I’m graduating without the slightest clue about my future, but I trust my love of writing and my newfound voice will guide me wherever I go.
Confessions of an (ex) college dropout
I took a detour and ended up exactly where I needed to be
BY JHANA RHODES jsrho@ucdavis.edu
If you told my past self I would be graduating from UC Davis with a bachelor’s degree in communication, I wouldn’t have believed you.
Five years ago, I decided to drop out of college. It was during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and like most people, I was feeling hopeless and overwhelmed. With the future so uncertain and my grades plummeting, I had given up. I didn’t see a point in going to school anymore, and I decided I would be happier to take at least one year of to fgure things out. Spoiler alert, that one year turned into three, and before I knew it, life was passing me by. In those three years that I wasn’t in school, I had been keeping myself busy by working, hanging out with friends and fnding new hobbies. While it was nice, it wasn’t fulflling. After a particularly exhausting day working a minimum wage job, I realized I didn’t want the rest of my life to be stagnant — that’s the moment I decided to go back to school. I knew I wanted to one day become a writer, and, while that is obtainable without a degree, a degree would’ve helped me tremendously. After a tedious process of reapplying to community college, I soon found myself back in school.
Admittedly, the thought of returning was scary. My high school friends had already graduated, and I struggled with the irrational fear that I wouldn’t be smart enough to catch up. Despite seeing students older than me (or in the same boat as me) pursue their degree alongside me, I still felt behind in life. Tere were moments of intense discouragement and isolation, during which I often felt like giving up. However, there was one thing that stopped me from giving up: I quickly realized that if I wanted a better life for myself and my family, the way to achieve that was by going back to school. As I kept pushing myself to not give up, something unexpected happened. I rediscovered a profound love for academia. I found joy and excitement in reading, writing and simply learning new things about the world. With an incredible support system — my family, friends and professors — I found the encouragement I needed to
Personal growth and bus love stories
My four-year-long codependent relationship with The California Aggie
BY ALLISON KELEHER adkeleher@ucdavis.edu
Long ago in Davis, a little undergraduate student applied to be a volunteer layout artist for Te California Aggie. Spoiler alert — I’m the little undergraduate student. I entered UC Davis with a background in graphic design, and with absolutely no aspirations of pursuing that as a career, I sought out organizations on campus that would allow me to express myself creatively. Lucky for me, I found the only position that solely worked with my favorite Adobe Program: InDesign. Every Sunday night, I could be found in my frstyear dorm room slouching over my laptop, creating new layouts for the newspaper. As I neared the end of my frst year, my aspirations grew, and I took a leap into a new position at the newspaper: distribution manager. I was thrilled by the idea of driving around campus in a white van to deliver newspapers. It was a unique experience, and I am forever grateful for the opportunity. However, my brief rendezvous with slinging newspapers came to an early end. It was a tough decision, but I realized I had taken a position with the newspaper that didn’t provide a creative outlet — which was the reason I had joined in the frst place. Meanwhile, I was also enduring second-year struggles surrounding my major and career path. Tat year of my undergraduate life was flled with uncertainty, as I took classes for a major I didn’t enjoy and kept a job that didn’t fulfll me. At the time, it was difcult to work through that discomfort in order to fnd myself — dare I say, the classic college experience. If there’s any advice that I can give about that, it is to trust your intuition. Tings have a way of getting better with time and all you can do is be there for yourself through it all.
Moving forward, I entered into a time period of my life which I dubbed “my bootstrap era.” Tis essentially means that I was working on myself and doing what I felt was right for me. Or, picking myself up by my
bootstraps. I highly recommend labeling it this way: It makes the process way more entertaining. Tis was when I was blessed with the volunteer humorist position at Te California Aggie.
It all started when I pitched my love story about the G and the J Unitrans bus lines during my interview. Tankfully, the hiring staf wasn’t scared away by my bus fanfction, and I was bestowed with the honor of being a humorist. With this position, I felt like I was challenging myself creatively again — things were back on track. My frst article was the G and the J story, which efectively launched my microcareer in UC Davis humor writing.
To this day, I meet new people who say they have this one story pinned on their walls at home. My debut in the newspaper was a success. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to write little stories for the newspaper and expose my strange sense of humor to my classmates and colleagues. All I can hope is that my future employers don’t Google me.
My experience as a UC Davis undergraduate student was uneven and all over the place, but that’s what makes it fun. Tere are so many opportunities available and it takes pretty much four years to sort through all of them to fnd the ones that ft. I am excited to carry this experience — and this digital footprint — with me as I grow my professional career.
keep moving forward. Graduating with a bachelor’s degree isn’t just a personal achievement — it is a monumental milestone for my family. Most of my relatives either didn’t pursue higher education at all or began their educational journey only to leave without fnishing (which is a fate I nearly met). Although I understand that everyone’s journeys are diferent and a degree does not defne someone’s worth, I was raised in a household that placed a high value on education. When I dropped out, despite their understanding, I still felt incredibly guilty — I felt like I wasn’t only letting them down, but also myself. What I didn’t realize then was that I was trying to force readiness when I simply wasn’t there yet. It wasn’t until my grandma explained to me that everyone is on their own path and that dropping out of college didn’t mean that I couldn’t go back and fnish, that I fnally understood. While I may have my regrets about all the detours I took to get to this point, I wouldn’t change a single thing. It was through this unconventional journey that I found my passion and discovered what I wanted to do with my life. When I was frst accepted into UC Davis, Te California Aggie was the only university organization that I wanted to join. I had spent a lot of time reading Te Aggie and admiring how everything had been put together — the writing, the photography, the art, the humor. It inspired me to apply and start writing myself, which is exactly what I did. Although I have been here for a short amount of time, some of my best memories are at Te Aggie. Te Aggie and everyone in it have given me a purpose and a home away from home, and for that, I will forever be grateful.
Tara Romero is a fourth-year
English major. Romero is unsure about plans after graduation, but hopes to go into journalism or teaching. (Jenna Lee / Aggie)
Allison Keleher is a fourth-year managerial economics major with a minor in accounting. After graduation, Keleher has an internship in public accounting and then will be attending the UC Davis’ Graduate School of Management for a Master’s in professional accountancy. (Ara Casiano / Courtesy)
DARIXA VARELA MEDRANO / AGGIE
DARIXA VARELA MEDRANO / AGGIE
FROM THE CITY DESK
Stepping out of my comfort zone
How I learned to take chances on things that I would have never expected to take me so far: The California Aggie being one of them
BY MATTHEW MCELDOWNEY city@theaggie.org
I remember the frst leap I took when choosing to work for Te California Aggie. It was the application portal and the essays. Te vague idea that I wanted to be a part of Davis’ life and community on some deeper level was one reason I described in these essays.
Frankly, I was not fully convinced of everything I wrote in these essays (I’d be surprised if anybody was), but sufce to say, I am glad to have had these doubts silenced. If Te Aggie has taught me anything, it would be that even the smallest stories could lead you down the most unexpectedly, unforgettable rabbit holes.
Te process of writing an Aggie article really allows for this feeling of discovery. An article can begin from something as inconspicuous as a dead Facebook post or as spontaneous as a fyer on a wall that day. Even today, I feel this compulsive urge to skim the posters pasted on the windows of Davis businesses downtown. But as I have come to understand, the reporting and the interviews really allow somebody
to explore the interpersonal stories and experiences that an eye-catching headline could never do justice to.
For the year I’ve been a writer for Te Aggie, I have had the pleasure of meeting some of the most welcoming group of skaters in a ditch somewhere of to the side of Highway 80. I have had the opportunity to tour a state-ofthe-art feline veterinary facility despite my cat allergies. It is not every day that one gets to sample a variety of artisanal honeys, but I was able to have the experience of tasting and rating honey alongside some of my close friends in Davis.
Most of all, in these moments and all of the moments I have had reporting and writing for this publication, I had the rare chance to get a snapshot into the lives of so many others whose lived stories still touch me deeply.
As my Aggie journey comes to an end, I know now that I have been truly humbled to have been a small part of so many diferent stories in Davis. And, I feel truly lucky to have taken a gamble on myself to do something like Te Aggie, even if I, myself, did not really know what this journey would have in store for me.
An homage to
the city of Davis
Without The California Aggie, I would have never had the chance to experience the entirety of the people, places and events of my sweet college town
BY OLIVIA HOKR city@theaggie.org
At the beginning of my second year of college, I came across a volunteer staf writer vacancy for Te California Aggie. I submitted an application, because I fgured it could be a fun side gig. Despite the fact that I had incredibly slim writing experience on my resume, I soon found myself on a Zoom interview with the editorin-chief, giving her my top desk choices. Te girl who submitted that application is incomparable to the one writing this senior column.
Over the past fve quarters, I’ve written 39 articles for Te Aggie (yes, I went back and counted). Spending all of this time on the city desk has been the best experience I could ask for. I had the opportunity to learn from the best — shoutout to Chris and Hannah — and develop real writing and communication skills. Something you may not realize when applying for the newspaper is that you’re going to have to talk to strangers, and you’re going to have to do it often. I can confdently
New people, new places
The California Aggie helped me get to know my school, my city and my future career
BY RORY CONLON city@theaggie.org
As a transfer student, it can feel like you’re in a hurry. I spent my frst year at UC Davis hustling to get the classes I needed to graduate and adjusting to living on my own for the frst time.
As I went through all of this, I wondered if I was missing out on a part of the college experience. I met a few new friends and explored some places on campus, but I felt disconnected from a lot of the school, the city and, most importantly, the culture of Davis. I initially joined Te California Aggie, because I had been a part of my community college newspaper, and I wanted to keep getting reporting experience. Te year I’ve spent on this paper has not only changed the way I see journalism, but it’s also allowed me to explore and understand Davis in a way I never would have otherwise.
As a staf writer on the city news desk, I meet with my editor, Hannah, and a team of about eight other writers every week. We each pitch three ideas for stories that we want to cover for that issue of the paper.
Once we’re assigned a story, we have about 10 days to attend events, interview people, write stories and edit them for publication.
My frst assignment for Te Aggie was a 9/11 remembrance event where people climbed hundreds of fights of stairs in honor of the frst responders who served at the World Trade Center.
As I interviewed frefghters, police ofcers and members of the army at the event, it was interesting to hear why they chose to serve.
For some, it was as simple as walking up to an information booth at their school career fair and deciding to take the plunge. For others, it was a deeper, more personal commitment.
One young man, who was Latino, said he became a police ofcer to build trust with his community and make them feel safe to reach out in their times of need. Another young woman decided to become a police ofcer to continue her family’s commitment to public service.
To the people who served, 9/11 symbolized perseverance and strength in the face of terrible odds. To their family members, it symbolized sacrifce.
I’ve now written about 30 stories for Te Aggie, and each one comes with a distinct set of memories. I’ve attended city council meetings; interviewed downtown business owners; talked to DJs playing a morning set at the cafe; asked drunk people for their opinions at an art gallery showing; listened to state legislators debate policy and so much more. One story that always pops into my head was when I covered an art show at a local elementary school.
From the way it was advertised, I had been expecting a big event in a school auditorium, but when I got there, it was a small, intimate event set up in the school’s backyard.
Te students ran around on the playground and sat with their parents to watch someone’s grandfather play songs on his guitar. Te teachers and the principal of the school were directing people to the art, which was hung up along the bank fence in neat rows. Te youngest kids there were kindergarteners, who made colorful
fnger paintings of their favorite foods. Te oldest kids there were sixth graders, who made detailed drawings of their favorite dishes and the people who cooked for them.
I laugh about it now, because I was so serious trying to interview people about this art. But the sweet thing is that no one made fun of me for trying — in fact, everyone I spoke with was laidback, relaxed and happy that someone had wanted to cover that event for the paper in the frst place.
Journalism is about breaking news, speaking truth to power and giving people the information they need to make decisions about their lives. But through my work at Te Aggie, I learned that it’s also a way to tell stories about ordinary people coming together and celebrating something meaningful to them.
As I think back on my time at Davis, my frst regret is that I didn’t join Te Aggie sooner. Being on this paper not only solidifed my interest in reporting, but it also introduced me to so many diferent people that I learned from, in big ways and small ones.
My second regret is that I am leaving this city just as soon as I’ve gotten to know it. Tough it’s a sad thought, I look forward to what’s next. I don’t know if I’ll end up in the town I grew up in or a whole new one entirely, but my time at Te Aggie has taught me to slow down, look around and embrace the unexpected.
say that emailing and approaching random people to interview them is no longer as scary as it used to be. As I prepare to walk the commencement stage a year early, I continue to recognize that people think I’m going to miss out on so much more of “the college experience.” However, working on the city desk for the past few quarters has made me feel more connected to my college town than any amount of years in school could. I have learned an unimaginable amount about diferent local businesses, annual community events, the Davis Farmers Market, the Davis City Council and so much more.
To my friends at the farmers market, the city council’s public information ofce, various small business owners and the strangers I’ve approached to ask questions, I wouldn’t be where I am without you. I have learned about so many people’s experiences in Davis, whether it’s as a student, a long-time resident or a director of an organization, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I loved being able to tell your stories and shine light on parts of the community that
deserve it. In my fnal printed words, I want to thank everyone who reads Te Aggie. Even to those who only pick up a paper to read their friend’s story or to play the crossword, your loyalty means the world to all of us. I want to extend an even bigger thank you to my family and friends for always reading my articles.
If it weren’t for my time on this newspaper, I would not feel nearly as successful or content with my three years at UC Davis. With a big heart and deep appreciation, I bid my last farewell to Te California Aggie and the Davis community for all of the stories, big and small, that have truly prepared me for the real world.
Matthew Mceldowney is a fourth-year comparative literature major. (Jenna Lee / Aggie)
Olivia Hokr is a third-year political science major. After graduation, Hokr will be interning with a California State Senator in Los Angeles. (Jenna Lee / Aggie)
Rory Conlon is a fourth-year communication major. Post-grad, Conlon hopes to start a career in journalism. (Jenna Lee / Aggie)
DARIXA VARELA MEDRANO / AGGIE
From the Features Desk
Thoughts on my last four years at this wonderful school Davis — a boring, beautiful, brilliant place
BY NOAH HARRIS features@theaggie.org
I’ve been looking at a blank google document for long enough, so I should probably start writing some words on this paper. Te words below might be a tad overdramatic for this year’s Senior Issue. I chose to come to UC Davis in large part, because it was fat. I am not joking. Tat was at least 25% of the reason I am at this university.
It’s been a good four years here. I’ve had some good moments, and a decent amount of not-so-good moments. For the most part, it’s been a pattern of monotony. Davis is a small place, and it didn’t take long until I’d explored everywhere I wanted to in Davis. Starting in my second year, I stopped exploring. For a long time, monotony took over. My day-to-day life wouldn’t change much, and I stopped getting excited about Davis. I hope that others can escape the monotony faster than I did.
I’ve made some stupid decisions since I started frst-year orientation in 2021. However, the stupidest one is often forgetting to realize the beauty in this small, boring, beautiful university town. I’ve spent most of my time at Davis not noticing how wonderful it is. When I do notice, it always astounds me. We live in such a beautiful place. For the last few months, I’ve tried to
take a breath and appreciate this campus and city. Some thoughts on what I’ve noticed:
Te Arboretum is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen, and the fact that few people visit is an absolute shame. Also, there should be more restrooms at the Arboretum, but that’s irrelevant in the context of this writing. Downtown is gorgeous. I didn’t realize how lucky I was to go to a university that was connected to downtown.
When my parents visit Davis, I’m able to gain a new perspective and appreciation for the place I live in.
Te California Aggie has been a wonderful part of my life this year, and I unofcially nominate Zoey Mortazavi for the head of Te Aggie next year, because she’s brilliant. It’s quite fun writing without the need for journalistic integrity for once, but I don’t think we need opinion writers at Te Aggie. I’m not sure how I’ll feel when I leave. Tere will be some people I will never see again, which is sad — but it’s also life.
It’s been a pleasure to call UC Davis home for the last four years. I know that when I leave, some tiny part of me will stay behind, stuck in the past, and that I will never be the same, for better or worse.
I shed a tear when I was accepted to this school. Perhaps I’ll shed one when I leave.
The daunting task of being proud
I probably shouldn’t have overwhelmed myself with everything in the world, but I don’t regret it — after the air cleared, I can say I’m quite proud of myself
BY EVELYN SANCHEZ features@theaggie.org
Coming from the fresh, beautiful coast of Southern California to the dryness of the Sacramento valley, I entered UC Davis as a very badly dressed frst-year. Knees knocking and hands jittery, I was naturally excited for the possibilities of meeting new people and compiling the best experiences of my life. Despite initially enrolling as undecided, I knew my facilities were that of an English major. Te next quarter, I ofcially declared it. Te following year, I added a cinema and digital media major, and a year after that, I decided to double emphasize in both creative writing and literature, criticism and theory. And of course, I couldn’t forget my Chicana/o studies minor. If I had thought of it earlier, I would’ve double minored, too. My fourth and fnal year I took on an honors thesis project, continued marching band, joined three new organizations — including Te California Aggie — and had the worst senior year of my life.
Overburdening myself didn’t stem from a righteous ambition. My initiative was masked by an unrelenting, consuming fear of inadequacy.
I was, and am, scared about the
College is more than just learning how to learn
My final thoughts on the communities I’ve had the privilege of being a part of in Davis
BY RACHEL GAUER features@theaggie.org
My dad graduated from UC Davis with a history degree over 30 years ago. As grad season has pushed me to be refecting and reminiscing constantly, I recently asked him what his favorite part of college was. He texted me back quickly, answering that it was the accomplishment of making it through even when he thought he couldn’t. Ten he called me, amending his answer: It was the people. Te relationships he formed and still treasures to this day, whether it be those he goes on “guy trips” with annually or those who he lost contact with over the decades yet still made his years here a little brighter.
Te Davis experience my dad had was worlds away from the experience I had over the past four years. He enrolled as a transfer student and spent his time working constantly to pay tuition and rent and having the occasional fun with his core group of friends (particularly at the now demolished “Grad” bar). His meal staple consisted of rice topped with mustard when he was particularly short on cash, and yet he still glows ever so fondly when recounting his Davis experience.
During my adolescence, my family and I would frequently pack into the minivan and head to Davis for a Saturday. We’d get my dad’s absolute favorite, Dos Coyotes, and stroll around downtown and campus while he relished in the memories of his time here. I’d wonder, how could such a little, sleepy town contain so much fondness?
Thanks to my parents who recognized the value of getting an education and helped me with everything they had, my four years have not been marked by dinners of rice and mustard. Instead, I’ve had the privilege to learn in ways I had never, ever expected. Most importantly, I’ve learned why my dad seemed to glow every time we’d exit I-80 for Davis. I’ve been able to pick up a double major in Italian, learning what it means to speak and live life in another language while simultaneously learning the value of being part of a small community who shares a common interest. I studied abroad and saw corners of the world that my parents had never even dreamed of seeing. I joined Te Aggie and learned the satisfaction of being able to use words to inform and to share the stories of our community. My dad always told me that the
main purpose in getting a college degree is to “learn how to learn.” Whether or not you remember the details of the French Revolution or what exactly symbolic logic is, it’s the process of learning how you can gather new information and use it in such a way that helps you to think critically and create meaning. When he used to tell me this, I always thought it pertained solely to academics: learning how to write a halfdecent paper the night it’s due, how to read a scholarly article and actually understand it and how to participate in meaningful discussion. All of these have certainly proven to me even more important than I’d imagined, and I am a frm believer that education is power. However, academics have proven to be just a sliver of my college experience.
Now that I’ve nearly completed my college experience, I’d like to amend his logic: College is about learning how to learn and doing so surrounded by a community. Whether it be your core friend group, your roommates or your classmates that you’ll never see after the 10-week quarter, it is being surrounded by others who are all, also, learning to learn.
Above all, college is learning how to build a home. Not the physical place — interior designing skills aren’t typical
of most college graduates. Instead, it’s the sense of home you feel when you’re late to class after running into one too many friends from all areas of your life — clubs, classes, social circles — and knowing that those fve minutes of lateness are completely worth it. It’s learning what your bagel order is (salt bagel with lox spread, naturally) and ordering it so often at the local bagel shop that they know your order as soon as you walk in the door. It’s learning exactly what time of the day the CoHo will be fooded with students and what times it will be deserted. It’s spending so much time studying in a particular building with your classmates that the sound of the screeching elevator has become the charming soundtrack to your life. It’s hard to remember a time when the only Davis I knew was one full of strangers. Te privilege of spending the last four years flling my memory of this town with so much new knowledge and experiences and people I hold so dearly has been a privilege for which I am eternally grateful. To say I’ve learned to learn here is certainly true, but also an understatement. Above all, I’ve learned how to create a home with people I’ve chosen to love and have chosen to love me back.
Thank you (thank you, thank you, thank you)
As I look back on my time at The Aggie, I am filled with gratitude for all of the amazing people who made it possible
BY EMMME DUNNING features@theaggie.org
For the past two years, I have had the pleasure and honor of being a reporter at the features desk for Te California Aggie. When I sent in my initial application, I had no idea just how much it would change my life. Te Aggie has helped me grow in so many ways and exposed me to the incredible world of journalism, and for that, I am forever grateful.
opportunities I have passed up, and those which are currently racing by me as I am occupied elsewhere. Every fourth-year is eventually faced with the daunting reality of post-graduation, and I allowed that fear to take hold of me. I frantically spread myself too thin, and the resulting burnout felt satisfying, because it felt productive. But it was far from enjoyable when I was caught in the middle of a rushed panic at 3 a.m. with assignments due and not yet started.
Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, that wasn’t a sound plan. Te cumulation of the work I had committed myself to began to swirl together. It didn’t take long at all for everything to catch up to me. Notably, the idea that whatever I was doing was the bare minimum led to a minimization of my accomplishments.
If I could do it, then it wasn’t hard. But if I couldn’t do it, then it was commendable when someone else did! I reached a brief epiphany: I had discovered a new symptom of imposter syndrome.
Tis symptom doesn’t allow me to believe anything I accomplish is worth celebrating. Deciding to take on a thesis project? Anyone can do that. Doing an internship? It’s required at this point. Working a part-time job as a full-time student? Everyone already does that! Showcasing my flm at a flm festival?
Although I toyed with the idea of becoming a super senior just to work at Te Aggie a little bit longer, I suppose my time at this wonderful paper has come to an end. In all honesty, I struggled with how to best close this chapter of my life and convey just how transformative this experience has been for me. I would love to say that I have some universal truth to share or profound wisdom to impart on the next generation of student journalists, but truthfully, all I can say is thank you.
Tank you to my fellow features writers for giving me such an amazing support system and community at this paper. Working with all of you has truly made me a better writer, and I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to be in such talented journalistic company. I have so enjoyed reading all of your work, and I can’t wait to keep up with what you do next.
Tank you to Zoey for being such an incredible and thoughtful editor, and for continually putting up with my late-night Slack messages and constant overthinking in our editing sessions to fnd “just the right word.” Tank you for always supporting my story ideas and encouraging me to be the best reporter I could be at every step.
Tank you to my roommates, my boyfriend and all of my friends who served as an unofcial sounding board for my pitch ideas, editors on my rough drafts and pep-talkers through my countless bouts of writer’s block. Tank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to invest in my success as a journalist, and for celebrating these successes like they were your own. From putting my frst front page story up on the fridge to surprise me, to keeping your own collections of my stories,
to texting me photos when you fnd the paper on campus each week, your support has truly meant the world to me.
Tank you to my mom for instilling in me from a young age the importance of talking to strangers (cool mom, I know). You taught me early on that everyone can be an integral part of your community — from the cashier at the grocery store to the mailman to the person next to you on the bus — you just have to start the conversation. You showed me that everyone has a story worth learning and telling, and it is this belief that has become the core of my passion for journalism. I do my very best to carry your empathy and curiosity with me in every story I write.
Tank you to my dad for being my inspiration in pursuing journalism.
Tank you for taking the time to read each and every one of my stories, staying up late after meeting your own deadlines to give me feedback and words of encouragement. Tank you for always encouraging me to follow my dreams and for believing in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. Words cannot express how grateful I am to have grown up with such a great example of a passionate and dedicated journalist and father, and for teaching me that “if you
do what you love, you won’t work a day in your life.”
Tank you to everyone who has been a part of my articles. Tank you for sharing your stories, both happy and painful, and trusting me to share them with the world. I have been constantly inspired by the people I interview in this work, and it has been a privilege to listen and learn from you. Te reason I can look back on my time at Te Aggie with such pride is all thanks to your honesty and vulnerability.
Finally, I want to thank you — the readers of Te California Aggie. Tank you to anyone who has ever fipped through our paper while waiting for a class, cut out a story to show a friend or even glanced over headlines while using the newspaper for a craft project. You are truly the backbone of this newspaper, and I am forever grateful to have had the opportunity to write for you. As many of us prepare to end our time at UC Davis and set of on new and exciting adventures, I encourage you to continue your support of local journalism wherever you go. We have immense power in creating the future we want to see, and I hope that journalism will continue to be a part of your story going forward. Tank you for letting me be a part of yours.
DARZIA
Noah Harris is a fourth-year sociology major. After graduation, Harris hopes to work in journalism. (Jenna Lee / Aggie)
Rachel Gauer is a fourth-year double majoring in communication and Italian. Gauer is unsure about post-grad plans, but is considering multiple options. (Jenna Lee / Aggie)
Evelyn Sanchez is a fourth-year double majoring in English and cinema and digital media, with a minor in Chicana/o studies. After graduation, Sanchez is taking a gap year before applying for a master’s in English literature. (Jenna Lee / Aggie)
Emme Dunning is a fourth-year sociology major graduating with highest honors. Dunning hopes to continue working in journalism while preparing to apply for law school. (Jenna Lee / Aggie)
From across the pond to The Aggie!
How studying overseas sparked my interest in local storytelling
BY ELIZABETH BUNT arts@theaggie.org
I joined Te California Aggie as a writer the summer after my third year at Davis. As an English major with creative writing emphasis and a professional writing minor, it was kind of a miracle I hadn’t stumbled upon it sooner.
I spent the summer between second and third year in Scotland on a UC Davis study abroad program. Te course was on travel journalism and counted for a signifcant portion of my minor.
During that summer, my classmates and I were given an assignment in Edinburgh and our only instruction was to fnd stories. It was the best assignment I could have been given. During the weeks I spent there, I spoke to people I would never have otherwise met and went to cultural events I would not have otherwise attended. Journalism opened the door for me to experience the city in a new way.
When I came back to Davis, I felt the urge to explore the town in the same way. For a while, I wrote on my own about what was happening around me.
Tis easily ft into my creative writing class work anyway. But it wasn’t until the spring when I decided to apply to Te Aggie as a writer, starting to write consistently for the arts and culture desk over that summer.
Writing for the arts desk has allowed me to connect to Davis in a new way.
Part of my job has just been to keep an ear to the ground and fnd out what’s happening in town on a week to week basis. For me, that has meant fnding out more about literary and music events, tracking local galleries, learning about new exhibits and, most importantly, spotlighting art produced by Davis locals.
Trough Te Aggie, I have been introduced to an entirely diferent side of the Davis arts community in such a fulflling way. Above all, it has been so
much fun tracking down local events and people and learning about the beautiful things being created in our town. I have loved being able to use my writing to bring attention to all Davis has to ofer. Writing for Te Aggie has reafrmed for me that journalism is a way of showing love for a place and I dearly love Davis.
All of this is to say that I have had the best time writing for Te California Aggie. I’ve met cool people and seen new sides of Davis.
I am so glad that my study abroad turned into a love for journalism that pointed me to The Aggie; Not to mention that seeing my words in print every week has been an insanely cool experience.
I have nothing but good things to say about Te Aggie and its role in the Davis ecosystem. Anyone who has stuck around to the end of this rambling should take this as their sign to get involved. You won’t be disappointed.
Signed, Jalan Tehranifar
You can’t have my autograph (unless you ask nicely)
BY JALAN TEHRANIFAR features@theaggie.org
My name is Jalan Tehranifar, and I’m the girl you’ve seen around campus on the tiny purple moped (it’s meant for children) — but that’s not all that I am. When I frst arrived at UC Davis at 16, I was stepping into the unknown — both for myself and for my family. As a half Persian, half Armenian daughter of immigrants, I was the frst of my siblings to go to university, the frst in my extended family to move away from home for college and the frst to chase a future in law. Tere was no roadmap for this. Just determination and a deep belief that I could build something new. And somehow, I did. UC Davis became more than a college campus. It became a place where I unraveled, regrouped and slowly rebuilt. I started out as a biological sciences major and quickly learned that discipline alone can’t carry you through something you don’t love. Struggling in school was a wake-up call — but also a turning point. I found my way to international relations, and in doing so, found a version of myself that felt more aligned, more alive. Being Armenian and Persian has always meant holding complex histories and hybrid identities. Studying international relations gave me the language to make sense of that — to see the personal and the political as deeply intertwined.
Writing for Te California Aggie was one of the frst things I did here. I joined the features desk my very frst quarter, writing articles all throughout my frst year. I took a break for a few years, but when I returned as a fourthyear, it felt like coming home. Writing for Te Aggie allowed me to connect with the history of UC Davis and with students I might never have crossed paths with otherwise. Journalism taught me how to listen more deeply and speak more precisely — skills I’ll carry with me for a lifetime.
One of the most meaningful parts of my time at Te Aggie was creating the “Senior Send-ofs,” a series I began in 2022 and revived this spring. Each spring, I interviewed four graduating students — one from each college — and wrote personal profles that celebrated their time at UC Davis. Te send-ofs became a way for me to refect not only on others’ journeys, but also on how we all leave pieces of ourselves behind when we move on. Tere’s something special
about putting someone else’s story into words and knowing it’ll live on in the archives — proof that they were here, and that they mattered.
One of my favorite jobs during college was flming coaching tape for the UC Davis football team for the 2024-25 season. Instead of interning at a legal ofce (which I should have been doing), I was at the UC Davis football feld for every practice and every home game. Tis season was one of our best, and it was exciting to see students care so much and cheering on their fellow Aggies. It reminded me how much fun this campus can be, especially when we all show up for each other. But what I’ll carry with me most are the friendships. Te people I met here — some unexpectedly, some slowly over time — became part of my everyday life. And I know they’ll stay in my life long after I leave. I hope me and my girls will
10 years, 10 months, 10 pieces of advice
From a writer who wrote her articles at 2 a.m.
BY JESSICA YUNG arts@theaggie.org
“Does it ever drive you crazy, just how fast the night changes?” - One Direction
My childhood band sang that over 10 years ago, and I never fully understood that until now. I have always experienced my childhood and early adult life as slow, but these two years –- and especially 10 months — have gone by insanely fast. Since joining The California Aggie in summer of last year, I’ve gotten to meet and explore so many diferent people and experiences. I’ve met a frefghter who was confused about pronouns, a dramaturg, Native American community leaders, a physics professor, a chef and many more.
I can guarantee that I would never have met any of these people without Te Aggie, and I am so grateful that I was able to experience the full truth of campus, warts and all.
Tis campus has its problems: the strikes, the protests, food insecurity, housing insecurity, etc. But this campus is simply beautiful when you take the time to experience it and explore.
To the future campus writers, I give you this advice:
1. Tank your sources and don’t be afraid to use your own networks for inspiration.
2. Don’t write your articles at 2 a.m. the day after it’s due. Your editor being asleep is not an extension.
3. Be curious and have an open mind. Tere is always something new to write about.
4. Be aware of the impact your stories have.
5. Use transcription software; Transcribing by hand is awful.
6. Communicate with your editors
and fellow writers.
7. You don’t work for the campus’ marketing department.
8. Every single campus organization has an Instagram account.
9. Remember your audience and your writing’s purpose.
10. Once you turn in the story to your editor, it is no longer yours.
Yes, this job isn’t easy. It’s hard to come up with pitches. It’s impossible to deal with sources who don’t get back to you.
But the job has its power and value. I remember the two young Native American community leaders who felt goosebumps and cried over their story being published and heard. I remember the dramaturg who deeply valued her story being heard.
Despite its ups and downs, I’m so glad and honored to be a part of Te Aggie family, and I am so grateful for my editors and people who work on my articles (who are often unpaid).
I am grateful to my family and ancestors who have worked so hard to give me the opportunities that I have. I am thankful for my mentors who have guided me through my life’s journey: Aaron, Luis, Marty, Trina, Michelle, Mrs. Henderson, Mr. Lazzaretto, Topaz, Rose, Professor Lerma, Zambello, Haus and Cooney.
But I am especially grateful for my friends who I have made here at Davis. Tere are too many to count, but I’ll give a shoutout to: Nico, Varsha, Brian, Tyson, Saul, Nhi, Minh, Haleigh, Tyler, Sparky, Alan, Isaac, Sean, Robbie and Osato.
Tank you for making my time here at UC Davis something to celebrate. I know we’ll all do great things.
To the readers, thank you. Your attention is important, especially when modern life has so many distractions. LL&P.
always be silly together.
Tough I’ll be walking the stage this June, my story with UC Davis isn’t quite over. I’ll spend my fnal term studying abroad in Paris this fall through the UC Education Abroad Program. And after that, I plan to attend law school, with the goal of pursuing a career in international law.
As much as I’ve loved being a journalist, I know my work going forward will take a di f erent form. But the curiosity, clarity and care that journalism demands will always be part of who I am. To those still in the thick of it: Your dreams mean absolutely nothing if you don’t put in the work to make them real. Tere is potential in everyone. I hope you recognize yours — and make something lasting out of it. Also, put lights on your bike. I got hit by a car
DARXIA VARELA MEDRANO / AGGIE
twice (within 10 days).
Elizabeth Bunt is a fourth-year double majoring in English and religious studies. After graduation, Bunt is taking a gap year to work as a professional horse rider in Iceland before getting an MFA in creative writing.
(Elizabeth Bunt / Courtesy)
Jessica Yung is a fourth-year sociology major. After graduation, Yung is participating in Sacramento State’s Education Specialist Credential program. (Jenna Lee / Aggie)
Jalan Tehranifar is a fourth-year international relations major. After graduation, Tehranifar will be studying for the LSAT and participating in a UCEAP study abroad program in Paris in the fall. (Jenna Lee / Aggie)
Decorating graduation caps provides fourth-years with opportunities for expression, celebration
As graduation approaches, students and staff reflect on the role of graduation cap decorations in making the ceremony memorable
BY EMME DUNNING features@theaggie.org
As the class of 2025 prepares to graduate on the fast-approaching second weekend of June, many students have opted to decorate their graduation caps as an homage to their time at UC Davis. Decorating graduation caps has long stood as a way for students to refect on their college experience, their accomplishments and what comes next.
Christina Semenov, a 2024 alumna with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in aerospace science and engineering and a B.S. in mechanical engineering, chose to showcase one of her biggest passions on her graduation cap. Semenov has extensive experience in her feld of aerospace engineering and has grown to love the world of all things aviation. She wanted her graduation cap to refect this and chose to decorate it with a felt model of an F-35 fghter jet.
Semenov discussed her inspiration for the design.
“I saw someone do a felt heart on
their grad cap and wanted to take the same approach but with an F-35, which is one of my favorite planes,” Semenov said.
Semenov used gray felt, beads and embroidery foss to create an intricate rendition of the plane, which she then sewed onto the top of her cap. She noted that this design choice was not solely related to her major but also to her father, who shares her love of planes.
“My dad was the one who initially told me about its vertical takeof and landing capabilities, so it’s a little nod to him as well,” Semenov said.
Henry Bandettini, a fourth-year psychology and communication double major, chose to highlight the extracurriculars that have made his university experience memorable.
“I’m thinking of decorating my grad cap with stickers of Tahoe, Yosemite, motorcycles and ski gear, which have been some of my favorite hobbies these past four years,” Bandettini said.
“I can’t say I’m necessarily looking to send a message through it as much as
I’m looking to refect on the hobbies and experiences that I’ve had during my time at Davis.”
For others, decorating a graduation cap is a chance to be creative and express individuality. Juliette Price, a fourthyear design major, sees graduation caps as a form of expression at a ceremony with a uniform dress code.
“As a design major, I think it’s all about self-expression and creating an image you’re proud of,” Price said. Tat’s most of what design is. Every day, I choose my outft based on how I want to be perceived and what kind of look I want to have. Te grad cap is the same, but it’s a bigger chance to show of your accomplishments with the achievement you’re celebrating.”
Dasha Sidenko is the transfer coordinator for the on-campus Transfer and Reentry Center; Helping students reach and celebrate accomplishments like graduation is a major goal of their ofce.
Sidenko recently coordinated a graduation cap decoration workshop
for transfer and re-entry students, an event that brought in participants from across a number of disciplines.
“People expressed that they were trying to create something that was meaningful and inspiring for them,” Sidenko said. “It was definitely a variation of different designs and diferent hopes. Everyone’s journey looks really diferent, so it’s really cool being able to see students wanting to show how they represent themselves.”
Sidenko also noted the opportunity that graduation caps provide for students to show just how much they’ve accomplished after navigating college and its many challenges.
“Graduation is meant to be this moment to celebrate yourself and provide an opportunity to be proud of what you’ve overcome,” Sidenko said. “Tere’s nothing about college that makes it a straightforward, easy journey. Tere are so many challenges and obstacles that students have to overcome in their personal lives and their professional lives — and at
Finals grind culture at UC Davis
Students describe their finals week experiences
BY GRACIELA TIU
features@theaggie.org
Finals week at UC Davis — notoriously a time for frantic studying, loads of stress and a lack of sleep — is yet again around the corner. For many students, the week can feel particularly overwhelming and challenging, especially with demanding courses and the intensity of Davis’ fnals culture.
“Finals week is extremely stressful,” Mary Fanslau, a second-year clinical nutrition major, said. “I don’t think there’s been a fnals week where I haven’t cried.”
Although most students understand the importance of prioritizing their health and well-being, fnals week can often end up pushing students in an unhealthy direction.
“I’ve skipped meals so many times to study, just so I don’t have to get up and either make food or go buy food,” Tifany Liebelt, a third-year human biology major, said. “Tat could be about an hour to an hour and a half loss of study time if I decided to have a good meal for myself.”
At UC Davis in particular, students have noticed a culture characterized by extreme pressure to work relentlessly and pursue academic success. This grind culture can be particularly exacerbated by the nature of the quarter system, with the 10-week structure adding a quickened pace to students’ studying habits.
“I 100% do think there is a pressure to appear constantly busy,” Kaili Raisch, a third-year animal science major, said. “During fnals, or really anytime, there is this competition and tension between people and their workload. It feels like people are constantly comparing and trying to one-up others and their workloads. It’s almost like people try to be better than others by saying they studied more or they pulled more allnighters.”
Fanslau also discussed how the social aspect of fnals culture at Davis can impact students.
“If you say you’re doing anything other than studying during finals week, you’ll probably get a weird look from people, because everybody is
super focused,” Fanslau said. “I would say we have a competitive campus environment.”
Some students still do their best to maintain healthy habits, even amidst the pressure and stress of the week.
“I try to exercise whenever I have the time, because it relieves a lot of the pressure going on,” Fanslau said.
“I really try to prioritize sleep, because without sleep, everything gets worse.”
Raisch outlined specifc practices that help her alleviate stress while still remaining productive.
“I struggled with this freshman or sophomore year, but now I’ve understood that mental — and physical health especially — should be valued and made a priority during stressful times academically,” Raisch said. “I usually balance this by studying on the treadmill or allowing myself to have one hour at the gym to give myself that freedom while also not allowing complete procrastination.”
Liebelt added how feeling a sense of connection, especially when undergoing such tense and taxing work, can be benefcial during fnals week.
“When being under academic pressure, I think my mental health is best when I’m able to study with friends,” Liebelt said.
While entirely eliminating the stress and overwhelming feelings of fnals week would be impossible, students still recognize areas for campus-wide improvement.
“I think that fnals week culture at Davis could be improved if everyone just realize[d] we are all in the same boat,” Raisch said. “It doesn’t matter what major you are or if you think you’re taking harder classes — everyone is stressed.”
Given that finals week can feel difficult for everyone, Fanslau emphasized the importance of treating fellow students with support and kindness.
“Everyone should just be more kind to each other, because it’s such a stressful time,” Fanslau said.
“You never know what someone else is going through on top of all of their exams.”
graduation, you really get to celebrate that.”
Sidenko touched on the importance of self-expression, particularly in the current political climate where many communities have felt silenced by sweeping government policies and divisive messaging about identity groups.
“Right now, so many students are feeling like their voices aren’t being heard and communities are being restricted, so being able to express ourselves is so important,” Sidenko said. “It is so important for UC Davis to create these opportunities for students to know that we’re here to uplift them and to empower them.”
As thousands of fourth-years walk the graduation stage this June, many of them will bring graduation caps representing their college experiences as they come to a close.
Tis tradition has long served as a way for students to display their identities and passions, one that will hopefully continue for years to come.
Graduation cap decorated with newspapers. (Jenna Lee / Aggie)
CRYSTAL CHEN / AGGIE
DARZIA VERLA MEDRANO / AGGIE
Davis Faculty Association organizes to protect academic freedom amid federal threats
“This
isn’t only about students — it’s about all of us”
BY KHADEEJAH KHAN campus@theaggie.org
Facing federal threats to academic freedom and funding, faculty have taken it upon themselves to advocate for their rights, shared governance and academic freedom through the Davis Faculty Association (DFA).
DFA belongs to the Council of University of California Faculty Associations (CUCFA), which emerged in the 1970s when UC Academic Senate faculty from UC Berkeley. Tey believed that the UC system alone could not address issues relating to faculty compensation in a period of rising infation. Tis turned into faculty mobilization at Berkeley and subsequently all UC campuses.
Newly emerged faculty associations then drafted the 1979 Higher Education EmployerEmployee Relations Act (HEERA), which allows for employees to seek redress for violation of labor rights.
Today, DFA board member and UC Davis History Professor Stacy Fahrenthold believes DFA’s work continues the lineage of faculty advocacy that emerged in the UC.
“We function as advocates,” Fahrenthold said. “We function as watchdogs and protectors of faculty rights in a context where there really isn’t another body that’s doing precisely those things.”
In the past few months, DFA has taken part in on-campus actions, from joining CUCFA’s Emergency Day of Action on March 19 at the Memorial Union Quad and hosting a “Know Your Rights” panel at the UC Davis School of Law as part of the April 17 National Day of Action.
DFA operates as an autonomous group independent of the university’s internal infrastructure, able to write public letters and engage in lawsuits.
On March 28, DFA issued a letter to UC Davis administration, calling on them to protect students, staf and faculty from privacy violations and political targeting.
One of the biggest threats to academic freedom is cuts to federal funding based on viewpoint retaliation, according to UC Davis Law Professor Brian Soucek. A trend mirrored across private and public institutions across the nation, Soucek believes these threats are especially harmful to the mission of the UC as a public institution made to serve the interests of all Californians.
“At the University of California, serving the needs of the public as diverse as California’s is a central part of our mission,” Soucek said in a statement to Te California Aggie. “Some of the attacks from the current administration on diversity, equity and inclusion in particular, really go to the heart of what we see ourselves as doing here at the University of California in a way that it might not go to the heart of what Harvard or Columbia or some other [private] school sees itself as doing. We would be a very diferent university if we didn’t care about the extent to which our teaching and research is reaching a diverse public.”
In April, DFA also joined CUCFA and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT Local 1474) in their letter calling on the UC to address student visa revocations. Tat same month, DFA joined CUCFA, alongside 30 faculty associations nationwide, in submitting an amicus brief in American Association of University Professors (AAUP) v. Rubio to “halt the ideologically-targeted deportations of students nationally.”
As a Professor of History and Middle East Studies, Fahrenthold sees how fears of visa revocations enter the classroom through the ways in which students engage in critical and candid conversations about Palestine and Israel.
“Revoked visas create a pervasive and hostile climate of fear,” Fahrenthold. “It’s not just about terrorizing the people who fnd out that their visas have been revoked. It’s also about the way that these revocations impact the work that we do as faculty. Tis isn’t only about
students, it’s about all of us.”
Te DFA is also greatly concerned over attempts to silence pro-Palestine activism as part of the Donald Trump administration’s investigation into allegations of antisemitism in higher education. Specifcally, the administration has conducted operations under Title VI, a law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in programs and activities.
As AAUP wrote in a brief on the investigations, Title VI does not require higher education institutions to provide information of individual students and faculty to the federal government, and that sharing information may violate the First Amendment rights of students and faculty.
As part of a federal Title VII investigation, which prohibits employment discrimination, the University of California Ofce of the President (UCOP) disclosed personal and demographic information of over 850 UC faculty members after being subpoenaed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in late March of this year.
“Te EEOC subpoena shows brazen disregard of academic freedom and shared governance and refects a broader efort by the federal government to stife dissent and pit faculty members against one another,” CUCFA said in a letter.
Te faculty whose information was disclosed signed one of two letters, with the frst being an open letter to the UC Berkeley community expressing concern about “recent events in Israel and Gaza.” Te second letter was UC-wide and alleged that faculty and students were facing antisemitism amid students’ “anti-Zionist” protests.
A similar incident occurred at Barnard College in April, when faculty received texts by the EEOC to ask if they were Jewish.
Soucek and other professors speculate that both the UC and Barnard investigations are part of
an attempt to identify complainants or witnesses of alleged campus antisemitism in federal investigations. He is especially concerned with their “one-sidedness,” rather than the investigations themselves.
“What is strange and problematic is the fact that the EEOC and the Trump administration’s so called ‘Antisemitism Task Force’ are only focused on allegations of antisemitism on campus without at all, it seems, caring about equally problematic, if not more problematic, allegations of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim animus and actions,” Soucek said.
Facing internal threats, faculty are also organizing to protect UC shared governance — the model in which faculty, staf, students and administrators participate in decision making.
In a January 2025 UC Regents meeting, Regent Jay Sures said faculty governance “is not working.” Fahrenthold is concerned how eliminating shared governance would grant outsized power to the Regents, the majority of whom are non-elected governing members of the university.
“[Ending shared governance] would be a death knell of the American university,” Fahrenthold said. “It would be the end of our competitiveness as
the leading public institution in the United States. It would be the end of a public university.”
When asked about the future of shared governance, a UC spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the UC is “committed to our shared governance model and our partnership with faculty across all campuses” to serve California, deliver patient care and advance academic freedom. As faculty toward the future of the UC with new incoming President James B. Milliken, Soucek hopes to see the UC lead in protecting the principles that defne the public university.
Te University of California, as the greatest public university in the world when you combine the 10 campuses together, is just in a unique position to be leading the way on these kinds of issues,” Soucek said. “I think one thing that you have to take away from the example of Harvard these last few weeks is that people are thirsty for that kind of resistance. People are eager to see an institution standing up for itself and showing the world why it matters and why the attacks against it are just utterly un-American and unconstitutional.”
ASUCD’s 21st annual Excellence in Education Award recognizes exceptional instructors
The award is based on contributions toward students’ education, displayed passion for teaching and making a positive impact on campus
BY ROBIN FRANKLIN campus@theaggie.org
Tree instructors across several academic disciplines have been selected by the ASUCD Academic Afairs Commission (AAC) to receive the 2025 ASUCD Excellence in Education Award. Te awardees are: Matthew Butner, Junko Ito and Kathy Stuart. Academic Afairs Commission Chairperson Iris Chen, a third-year psychology and economics double major, expressed the importance of the award to her team’s mission.
“Not only is prioritizing voices and ensuring academic success for all UC Davis Aggies the purpose of AAC, but recognizing the work and eforts of professors is also essential,” Chen said to Te California Aggie in a written statement. “Academic success cannot be achieved without faculty. Tis award symbolizes the bond between students and faculty members.”
Each spring quarter, nominations are opened and students can cast their votes for which faculty they believe should be recognized. Te award was frst established in 2003. Students can vote for multiple faculty members, though they cannot vote for the same instructor twice.
Matthew Butner, Computer Science When students ask Lecturer
Matthew Butner what to expect in his courses and how to prepare, he responds with a unique analogy to get students thinking outside the box.
“I always compare it to building with Legos,” Butner said. “In the class, you don’t get the instruction manual. You get the picture on the front and then here’s all your Legos, and you can do whatever you want with them, but you need to make it work like that. You need to fgure out how to piece them together. You use a lot of creativity.”
A student who nominated Butner for the award discussed his qualifcations.
“His interaction with the class during lectures and availability during ofce hours show that he understands the value of direct communication with students,” the nominator said in a written statement. “Overall, Lecturer Butner emphasizes the importance of having students not just get good grades, but learn and practice useful skills, and he provides many resources to help his students succeed.”
Butner takes a real-world application approach to teaching and encourages students to analyze their failures and continue working toward viable solutions.
“I try to relate it to analogies that are close to something in real life as
much as possible,” Butner said. “If things didn’t go good, what changes will you make next time so things will go the way you want them to go?”
Junko Ito, East Asian Languages and Cultures Lecturer Junko Ito is well known as an instructor in Japanese, but she did not initially plan on becoming an educator. What frst inspired her to start was an unexpected stroke of fate.
“After graduating from university, I started working in a company,” Ito said in a written statement. “But then, by chance, I had the opportunity to teach at a high school in Japan for just one year. I discovered how much I enjoy teaching. Tat was the moment I decided to become a teacher.”
Ito is dedicated to spending quality time with her students every single day and fnds the most rewarding part of teaching is hearing student feedback and receiving letters.
“I see my Japanese students almost every day, and they’ve truly become like family to me,” Ito said. “Teir energy keeps me going.”
One nomination for Ito praised her around-the-clock dedication to students.
“She’s [a] kind and diligent instructor who stays up ridiculously late to make sure her students get
feedback and corrections on their work,” the nominator said. “She gives every student hand-written, personal feedback on just about every assignment, and I can’t think of a single professor I’ve had who works harder to teach or deserves an award more.”
Ito said that she’s consistently trying to improve herself and her students and expressed gratitude toward them for nominating her for the award.
“I was really surprised, because I had no idea,” Ito said. “But I feel truly honored. I will treasure this award for the rest of my life. I’m flled with gratitude, and I will continue to improve to become the best teacher I can be.”
Kathy Stuart, History Associate Professor Kathy Stuart teaches various seminars on demonology, the history of madness, crime and punishment and her popular course on witchcraft. She is also the main instructor for the summer abroad program “Crossroads of Central Europe” in Vienna, Austria.
“I am really honored, and it really is wonderful,” Stuart said to Te Aggie. “I’m grateful for [students’] acknowledgement and their friendship.”
One student who nominated Stuart credits her teaching skills and enthusiasm for pursuing a double major.
“I have never met a professor who is more passionate about or involved in their feld of study than Professor Stuart,” the nominator said. “She is a big reason I wanted to add a second major of history and has inspired me to pursue a career in the feld. Her lectures are packed with information that you can not hear elsewhere, and she truly is an expert in her niche of history.”
Stuart said that she hopes that her fervor for her classes is passed along to her students, regardless of their prior knowledge. Trough the inclusion of humorous and sometimes provocative early European political art in her slides, she pushes the boundaries of what a university lecture can look like to engage students.
“Never take things too seriously,” Stuart said of her teaching philosophy. Stuart was also presented the UC Davis Excellence in Teaching for Global Learning Award earlier this year, in large part for her contributions to the Vienna study abroad program.
From left, 2025 ASUCD annual Excellence in Education Award recipients Matthew Butner, Junko Ito and Kathy Stuart (Courtesy / Matthew Butner (left), Junko Ito (center) and Kathy Stuart (right))
Faculty publications on display in Kerr Hall. (Christian Cendejas / Aggie)
FROM FRONT COVER
“[We] at least spend about 10 minutes every morning cleaning up our back lot of stuf dragged onto our property.”
Koop did offer a sustainable alternative that she feels is underutilized by Davis residents.
“We have to halt donations during the summer months because there is too much stuf,” Koop said. “If people focused more on the circular economy (buying used instead of new) instead of just recycling and donating, perhaps we wouldn’t have such a big issue.”
Dixon expressed a similar sentiment, emphasizing the importance of these eforts in a university town like Davis.
“People can continue to pass it [items] on, and then in a town like [Davis], we need that,” Dixon said.
For those looking to donate items, local options include Community Mercantile, Goodwill, the SPCA and Facebook Marketplace. Alternatively, there are landflls and recycling centers throughout the area for people to drop of unwanted objects. Local vendors like Koop, Soiu and Dixon encourage students and staf alike to think ahead about discarding used items to avoid excess waste in the Davis community.
“Te email was a confrmationtype email that said my UC Davis email address would be deleted by the end of the day unless I took immediate action,” Rendon said. “It presented a link to another website or an email address, and it seemed like they were just trying to get my UC Davis login credentials. My reaction, at frst, was very frightened, because I thought that somehow I would make a mistake that would delete my email.”
When campus community members receive a suspicious phishing email, they are encouraged to report the activity to cybersecurity@ucdavis.edu.
Rendon noted that the scam emails use websites and links that look familiar to ofcial UC Davis websites.
Tere can be scammers who will replicate that very, very closely and maybe just change one letter of the address of UC Davis, and it’ll seem very accurate,” Rendon said. “You just have to keep an eye out for that.”
A UC Davis IET post, originally from late 2024, noted that replying to and clicking phishing links can be very
dangerous.
“Do not respond to any suspicious emails, click any links, or download any attachments,” the website reads. “In doing so, you may put your identity and the university’s information and systems at risk.”
CHILATGRADUATION FROM FRONT COVER
“Everyone there was white, and I [was] like, ‘Oh, I’m not like these people,’” Martinez said. “And then I started thinking, okay, I should probably learn more about who I actually am and why I felt diferent.”
Participating in the Chicanx and Latinx graduation was a part of Martinez’s process of self-discovery.
Likewise, taking part in the event represents a celebration of students’ individual cultural heritages and histories.
“I’m from East Los Angeles,” Jacob Cotero, a sixth-year cinema and digital media major, said. “It’s the originating location for the Zoot Suit Riots, a place where Brooklyn Avenue renamed to Cesar Chavez and up the street from where Ruben Salazar was killed protesting the Vietnam War.
Celebrating graduating in a way that’s at least slightly separate from the directly rigid institution of it all is important to me.”
For many students, the event creates a space for the people that supported them in their journey throughout higher education. Not only does the ChiLat graduation celebrate students, but also the families that helped pave the way for them.
“I think as a frst-generation and Latina student, I fnd this ceremony and the emphasis on our heritage and culture extremely important,” Graciela Álvarez, a fourth-year political science major, said. “Tat was [a] really difcult part of navigating the landscape of higher education, but also having a celebration with [people] you’ve met who share your culture with you really ties your journey together, because they were your support system. Tese people have similar experiences to mine in comparison to sitting next to legacies.”
Te ceremony will be given in both Spanish and English, bridging a language gap that would otherwise isolate many families from the full experience.
“I think the bilingual aspect is important since it is a cultural graduation,” Álvarez said. “Some families are not bilingual, and graduation itself can be a barrier, and having translations ofered and provided
allows families to center themselves in the moment. It’s also key to the reason why we’re having cultural graduations, so that we feel represented and that we have a place within the 2025 graduating community.”
Flores hopes that students leave the event feeling commemorated despite the current turbulent climate surrounding Latinx people.
“I hope the graduating class of 2025 feels celebrated, honored and valued,” Flores said. “In our current era, I believe our community needs to be empowered and celebrated. I hope this celebration gives them the space to keep pursuing their dreams and to believe in themselves and the values they bring in the spaces they choose to be in.”
Flores commented on the importance of celebrating the ending of one journey while marking the beginning of a longer one.
“It’s very beautiful to see the community come together for one common goal — to celebrate the Chicanx/Latinx academic journey,” Flores said.
CCLASS has worked on creating a space to honor the traditions that have shaped these students’ identities and dreams. Students in the event will also wear unique stoles to commemorate the occasion and encapsulate the breadth of student diversity. Te celebration of culture, resilience and strength for Chicanx and Latinx students in higher education — many of whom are frstgeneration students — serves as an important annual tradition within the UC Davis community.
I hope you leave Davis with more (good) memories than you can count. As we all venture into the world, the sounds and experiences created by the Davis community have undoubtedly formed a part of our collective memories.
In the meantime, if you’re interested in jamming out to some sick beats, you can catch Homsy (and other outstanding DJs) at the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC) on June 6, 2025 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
As this is my fnal piece for Te California Aggie, thank you for reading. I hope you continue to support and celebrate the unique voices that make Davis a special place. Best of luck, Aggies!
Disclaimer: Te views and opinions expressed by individual columnists belong to the columnists alone and do not necessarily indicate the views and opinions held by Te California Aggie.
REGENERATIVEAG FROM PAGE 4
Tis can increase awareness on what diferent types of sustainable practices already exist and assist in the search for fnancial support. In order to propel the regenerative agriculture movement forward, there should be more funding put toward regenerative agriculture research, which can help uncover more efcient and cost-efective ways to seamlessly carry out such practices. In order to develop a more sustainable future, the agriculture industry must shift toward more ecofriendly practices using regenerative agriculture methods. However, in order to fuel these practices, it is crucial that we consider the obstacles that may be in the way and advocate to address these issues through further research and development.
Disclaimer: Te views and opinions expressed by individual columnists belong to the columnists alone and do not necessarily indicate the views and opinions held by Te California Aggie.
CHRISPONCE
FROM PAGE 6
I wanted to also give a special thank you to Professor Maganini for helping me fall in love with journalism and teaching me how to search for the truth everywhere I go. Tank you to Laurie, Alyssa, Hannah, Vince, Madison, Maya, Zoey, Ana, Megan, Katie and the rest of Te Aggie staf who I’ve grown so close with these last few years. And most of all, thank you to Te California Aggie for helping me grow into the person I am.
Tese last four years went by fast, but the memories I’ve made in Davis will always be a part of me everywhere I go. If I had to end this column with any advice, I’d encourage you to look for the truth everywhere in life and to fnd the good in every story, even your own.
Chris Ponce is the 2024-2025 editorin-chief. Before this, he was the city news editor for two years and a city news staf writer.
SENIORCOLUMNLANHUI FROM PAGE 7
Tose countless “aha” moments, where ideas collided and clicked, are what I’ll carry with me most. I’ve
learned to think more critically, more curiously and more compassionately. To my alma mater — thank you. Until next time!
Lanhui Zhen is Te California Aggie’s current design director. She joined Te Aggie in October 2023 as a cartoonist under the opinion desk. In March 2024, she also became a layout artist under the layout team. She is graduating with a bachelor’s degree double majoring in design and managerial economics.
Not worth inviting anyone. I always felt shame in presenting my hard work. Always negating, never celebrating. Not even the epiphany was satisfying. Taking on too much and disappointing not just those you promised, but yourself, became the greatest betrayal I’ve faced in my undergraduate career.
Tere never truly is a cure — only some salve to ease the disease.
If I couldn’t break the habit, then I was going to have fun with my responsibilities. I chose to focus my thesis on a childhood fascination with dystopian novels. I limited my participation in marching band to just the events I knew were worth it. A wonderful thing about the features desk was the ability to choose any topic I wanted, and I was able to discuss what was already on my mind and bring others into the conversation.
Tank you to Te Aggie for forcing me into unknown and unfamiliar situations. Having to get three quotes for a features article has led me to places I wouldn’t go with a gun. I send my deepest apologies to my editor, Zoey, for always submitting my article at the last minute. I truly did enjoy writing for this wonderful publication, and I wish I had joined sooner. I am incredibly grateful for those who let me read the nonsense of my essays, and my friends who looked away when I made a mistake and let me try again. From late nights sitting behind the circulation desk at Shields Library to jamming out with my snare drum buddies, Davis truly is a beautiful, lovely place that let me grow into an individual that my parents and I can be proud of. I am happy, proud, accomplished and excited to go forth.
BY HANNAH SCHRADER arts@theaggie.org
Movie: “Barbie” dir. Greta Gerwig (2023)
For my choice of movie, I had to pick the iconic summer blockbuster that I’ve been reminiscing on as the days get longer and hotter here in Davis. Te movie follows Margot Robbie, who plays Barbie, as she ventures into the real world only to realize things are a lot less perfect there than in Barbie world. In the Barbie world, the president, Supreme Court and construction worker positions are all flled by women. Tis starkly contrasts the patriarchal style world we currently live in. Ultimately, the flm ends by uprooting the power of the patriarchy through helping other women realize the damage it is doing, which is a powerful social commentary. Especially given the turmoil the world is facing right now, I have found it calming to rewatch this classic and be reminded of the stories of hope and change the movie provides.
Album: “Mayhem” by Lady Gaga (2025)
I have long been a Lady Gaga fan, but she truly created something spectacular with this album. It has single-handedly revived recession pop, and I’m willing to pay eight dollars for eggs if it means Gaga’s Poker Face era makes a return. Some of my favorites from the album include: “Abracadabra,” “Garden of Eden” and “Vanish Into You.” Most importantly, I feel this album really illuminates the chaotic era we are living through but also provides an outlet to destress through fun pop music. I hope this Gaga era is here to stay.
TV Show: “Hacks” (2025) dir. Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs
At frst glance, Hacks seems to follow a pretty topical relationship between an old comic and a young writer, but as I progressed in the series, I was left with a few profound moments. I feel like the show cultivates a lot of depth in the characters, and in my mind it’s always an indicator of a good show when I kind of hate but also love the characters. Humans contain multitudes and Hacks does a fantastic job of conveying the complexities of relationships; From falling short to betrayal to moments of forgiveness, this show has it all. Te main character, comic Deborah Vance, eventually goes on to host her own late-night show which had long been a goal of hers. Te show details the tribulations she faces as she navigates being the frst female to host a late-night show, and there’s something about this commentary that particularly stings given this milestone of equality has yet to be realized in real life.
Song: “Party 4 u” by Charlie XCX (2020)
As I approach my last days of being an undergraduate student, this song resonates in an entirely new way. It is painfully beautiful and really encapsulates the nostalgia I’ve been feeling recently as well.
Although “Brat” summer was all the rage last year, this Charlie XCX classic refects on feelings of disappointment and nostalgia. I don’t know what it is about this song that is making the almost fveyear-old song go viral now, but it certainly makes for a grim outlook on the possibility of a 2025 Hot Girl Summer.
Ctrl+Art+Ethics: Considerations of using AI in the arts
California Aggie artists share their thoughts on AI art and ingenuity
BY IQRA AHMAD arts@theaggie.org
Click. Clack. Enter key.
Tat’s how easy it is to generate Artifcial Intelligence (AI) art, pulled and tethered together from across the cracks and corners of the internet, delivered to you in mere seconds. But as technology continues to evolve, the question persists: Can AI capture human ingenuity and intention in the art it is capable of creating?
What is the role of artists?
Te debate around AI-generated art has increased, especially when considering whether it is a new form of creativity or simply copying in disguise. Some see it as the next chapter in the history of artistic innovation, a tool like photography was to paint or digital drawing to physical media. Others argue that AI lacks the essential traits of a true artist which encompass emotion, intention and lived experience.
At its core, art is a refection of the human condition. It is driven by elements that machines cannot genuinely experience or understand. Can an algorithm refect grief or nostalgia? Or is it simply mimicking patterns it has learned from us? How can AI capture the world if it has no emotion or capacity to make artistic choices and refect on the artistic process?
How should we use AI in art?
Te question lies in how do we make it a more ethical tool?”
Sylvester Chen, a graphic designer for Te California Aggie and a frst-year communication major, said.
In a conversation about AI’s role in the art world, Chen emphasized that the concern is not just about whether AI can make art but whether it can do so ethically.
“If you theoretically have a tool that did not scrape any human artists’ art or did not infringe upon their art, and someone wanted to use that tool to create something for their personal use, I’m slightly more comfortable
with that, but unfortunately I think a tool like that is not currently available,” Chen said. Chen’s considerations resonate with many who share concerns about how current AI generators collect and use data. Most rely heavily on vast datasets, often composed of humanmade images, many of which are used without the original artists’ consent. As a result, AI tools can inadvertently respond to elements of copyrighted work and erode artists’ ownership and intellectual rights. And while it can be used as a tool to support artists or inspire pieces, there are current limitations with the processes and information that it acquires to create art.
Can AI imitate or innovate?
“AI is a superb mimic and quick learner,” Daphne Kalotay, an instructor of Creative Writing & Literature Program at Harvard Extension School, said in an article by Te Harvard Gazette. “[It] might easily write strong works in recognizable modes, and with linguistic experimentation if prompted, but — I think — will lack true insight and experience.”
Kalotay’s insight reminds us that while AI can generate content that resembles human art, it does so without the lived reality and human touch behind it. Tere’s a fne line between replication and creation, which is still being explored when discussing AI’s role in the arts. AI is currently unable to truly engage in the refective process that gives art its soul or authenticity.
Human expression can’t be replicated
“I feel like art is a refection of our reality, and I don’t think AI can fully replace that,” Lanhui Zhen, a fourthyear design major at UC Davis and design director for Te Aggie, said. “AI should be used as a tool, a 24/7 work buddy that you can get inspiration from and bounce ideas of, not a way to dominate over your original voice.”
Zhen’s perspective echoes that of many young creators: While AI can support artistic processes in the ideation phase, it should not wholly
replace the artist’s vision or intention. Instead, many artists share the perspective that instead of completely incorporating AI suggestions or output, artists should take time to critically refect on their progress and work, deciding what techniques work for them and where they should hone in and work on their craft.
Artistic expression is unique to the culture, interpretation and personal choice of artists, and may not be able to apply techniques and work in the same way that people can to express moments of lived experience. When artists rely too heavily on AI, there’s a risk that creative output becomes generic and loses out on voices of diversity and diference that come from individual experiences.
Te responsibility of transparency in student media
Te use of AI-generated content isn’t just an ethical debate that afects the virtual world, because it does have real implications especially for student journalists and designers working in environments built on trust and collaboration.
“I think that with our jobs at Te California Aggie, it’s especially important, because we are operating as a student-run newspaper,” Chen said.
Tese concerns identify the critical issue of transparency especially when working with the public and advertisers. When AI is used to create images, text or graphics without disclosure, it faults the trust that audiences place in student-led publications. In an environment where every piece of content is assumed to be created by students, the inclusion of AI without acknowledgment raises questions about honesty and authorship.
So, whether an artist uses AI or not, it is important to consider the implications of using such forums. As individuals with a passion for creating and a responsibility to be transparent, it is important to continue putting expression and personal choice into your work before letting the clickity clacks of a computer decide everything for you.
