November 16, 2023

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Aggie Reuse Store and ASUCD’s Student Sustainability Career Fair Committee host businesscasual clothing drive and swap

These events gave UC Davis students and community an opportunity to repurpose their unused clothing and promote access to inclusive professional attire

The clothing drive and swap hosted by the Aggie Reuse Store and the ASUCD Student Sustainability Career Fair Committee promoted access to all-inclusive professional attire at zero cost.

“We want to be inclusive [and] we want this to be as accessible as possible

BY MADISON PETERS to the extent that we can,” Kosai campus@theaggie.org said. “We’re focusing on expanding equity for environmental careers and From Oct. 30 to Nov. 8, students to enter those careers, because ASUCD’s Student Sustainability a lot of people might not have access Career Fair Committee (SSCF) hosted [to professional clothing] because of a professional and business casual that cost barrier.”

During the drive, students and clothing drive in partnership with the Aggie Reuse Store. The drive was community members were encouraged followed by a clothing swap on Nov. 9 to donate any lightly used, business casual clothing to the Aggie Reuse from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.

SSCF Chairperson Jordyn Kosai, a Store located on the first floor of the fourth-year sustainable environmental Memorial Union.

Elyssa Lieu, a second-year design design major, drew inspiration for the professional clothing drive & major and co-unit director of the swap from the Business Boutique at Aggie Reuse store, discussed the value the Aggie Compass Basic Needs Fair. that community donations hold in Kosai said she created the event to both providing accessible professional draw attention to inequities regarding clothing.

“A lot of these clothing pieces access to business-style clothing and promote awareness of the sustainable frequently come from people who and affordable fashion that is available are maybe older students or adults who have been there when they were on the UC Davis campus.

struggling students and looking for something that could just make them feel professional, happy and confident in themselves,” Lieu said.

The clothing drive also encouraged donations of plus-size clothing.

The Aggie Reuse Store wanted to increase the inclusivity of sizing after noticing disparities within their usual donations.

“I definitely think it is very expensive to have more professional clothing, especially ones that are more tailored to specific body sizes,” Christina Choi, a fourthyear biological sciences major and participant of the clothing swap, said regarding the inclusivity of the event.

Following the week-long drive, a clothing swap took place at the Aggie Reuse Store in which people traded one clothing item for another or simply took any clothing that they found value in.

“The term clothing swap doesn’t mean that it’s a one-for-one exchange and that it’s required to bring something in order to take something,” Victoria Mattson, a third-year environmental science and management major and co-unit director of the Aggie Reuse Store, said.

“The beauty of Aggie Reuse working as kind of a perpetual clothing swap is that over time you end up bringing as many things as you end up taking, and if not, people compensate for that.”

Clothing swap participants were encouraged to take as many items as they needed for no charge.

“It’s crazy that everything’s free, right?” Mattson said. “People are shocked by that when they visit for the first time, but I want people to feel comfortable to come in and not feel pressure to take anything or give anything.”

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VOLUME 147, ISSUE 8 | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

Davis Community Action Network launches ‘Community Voices’

The project received feedback from the community on their hopes for the future of local affordable housing

BY HANNAH SCHRADER city@theaggie.org On Sunday, Nov. 12, the Davis Community Action Network (Davis CAN) launched their Community Voices Project at the Da Vinci Tech Hub. The organization held the event to gather public input on the future of affordable housing in Davis.

The meeting focused on a presentation of what Davis CAN is, the need for action to be taken on the affordable housing front and a small group discussion for community members.

NJ Mvondo, a board member of the Davis CAN, discussed how the Community Voices project came together.

“There is also concern about the general plan of the city, which is outdated, so my point is that there are several little crises everywhere that triggered the need for an organization like this one to be created so that we are able to pull resources together,” Mvondo said. “We are able to bring together people who [are not] seeing the same thing, quite the opposite. We all have different opinions on a variety of things. But we agree on something: Davis needs more housing [and] it needs to be affordable.”

During the event, Mvondo broke

those in attendance into smaller groups to discuss ongoing housing issues and gather data on community input. Mvondo talked about the importance of gathering feedback.

“It’s different every time; today we’re going to group people by neighborhood and there’s going to be some developers in the house,” Mvondo said. “Today really is a listening session. So we need to hear from people, we are gathering data and then that’s going to inform how we are moving forward.”

Victor Lagunas, another board member for the Davis CAN, gave an introductory presentation that discussed the Davis community.

“I am humbled to be part of this team. I think that this is a great group of people… that have value in trying to make Davis and the greater community a really wonderful place,” Lagunas said.

Lagunas introduced the Davis CAN board and then stated the Davis CAN principles.

“Our Davis Community Action Network is guided by these following principles,” Lagunas said. “Number one, we believe that racial, social [and] environmental justice and the intersection of that has to be at the center of all of our efforts.

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Entrance to the Community Action Network event at Davinci Charter. School (Cruz Martinez / Aggie)

Ballerina Misty Copeland speaks at UC Davis Women & Philanthropy event

Copeland and other guest speakers inspire students to persevere in the face of adversity

BY ZOEY MORTAZAVI features@theaggie.org Becoming a ballerina: the epitome of childhood dreams all over the world. Something about the elegance, grace, flowy costumes, tights and talent displayed by ballet dancers is effortlessly captivating. Because it is a profession that is so defined by its poise, it is no surprise that many aspire to become ballerinas themselves as they grow up. Throughout the history of ballet dancing, the image of what a ballerina is has dramatically shifted, allowing for all people to join the practice. For a long time, however, this was not the case.

READ MORE 2023 Fall Elections — Meet the Candidates Ballerina Misty Copeland laughs at the engaging questions asked during her speech at the Mondavi Center on women and philanthropic success. (Courtesy / José Luis Villegas)

This fall, there are 21 candidates running for six Senate seats

Dancers such as Misty Copeland, a prima ballerina who entered the ballet world before it had diversified, became part of a movement to make ballet more approachable for people of all races and genders. Copeland has served and continues to serve as an inspiration for dancers everywhere.

On Nov. 5, Copeland came to speak at UC Davis. The event

was presented by the Women & Philanthropy community, which strives to unite and inspire women to take on leadership roles and inspire others. Copeland was the first Black woman to be represented as a principal dancer in the American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the most prestigious dance companies in the world.

The event was split into two

parts: for the first half, three of Davis’ very successful alumni spoke in a panel, discussing their careers, backgrounds and their roles as women in male-dominated fields.

These alumni were Kimberly Budil, director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Rinki Sethi, vice president and chief information security officer at BILL and Victoria

Coleman, director of winemaking at Lobo Wines in Napa.

Throughout the event, these women discussed their roles in maledominated fields, first as a mentee, then as a mentor to other women joining their professions. They also acknowledged how important family and support systems have been in helping them reach where they are today. All three had stories to tell, revealing how they achieved their success through the people that supported and taught them.

“When I didn’t believe in myself, and I didn’t think I grasped what [my mentor] was telling me, he just proved to me that I knew what I was doing,” Coleman said.

Now, Coleman is the first Black woman to be a winemaker and producer in Napa, California.

Every woman speaking at the event offered advice and sentiments about how they got started in their careers, as well as the fact that they were some of the first to do so. Each one became a trailblazer in their respective field, making historical advances through their innovations and work. When this panel concluded, there was a brief intermission, after which Misty Copeland spoke.

Despite the impressive titles Copeland holds now, she had an unusual start to her dancing career.

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2 | NOVEMBER 16, 2023

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Senators express frustrations with ASUCD President at Nov. 9 meeting

After a back-and-forth over Senate Resolution #4, senators grew annoyed over ASUCD President’s lack of action

BY RODRIGO VILLEGAS campus@theaggie.org At 6:11 p.m., Senate President Pro Tempore JT Eden called the Nov. 9 Senate meeting to order. After roll call, he read the UC Davis Land Acknowledgement.

The meeting began with the CoHo quarterly report, presented

by Foodservice Director with the Associated Students Dining Services Darin Schluep.

Schluep recently completed the CoHo’s participation in the Beverage Pouring Rights Industry Working Group.

“We voted to abstain from participating in that agreement moving forward,” Schluep said. “I appreciate the dialogue that I was able to have with all of you leading up to that vote, and I 100% support the decision and [I am] happy we went that direction.”

However, Schluep also cited the decision as a challenge because the CoHo’s transition away from the agreement includes a shift away from single-use plastic beverage bottles, which will change the beverage selection at their locations. “[We] are gonna work with Student Housing… to unify our communication plan,” Schluep said. “We want to make sure that there’s a campus-wide message coming out along those lines, because it will be impactful — it’ll change what you see in our beverage coolers.”

Lastly, Schluep shared goals for the next quarter, which included a CoHo expansion.

“We’re very close to having a final design,” Schluep said. “This is for a pretty extensive patio on the west side of the Coffee House… providing better ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] access… and then the other part of the project is to expand the portfolio of our employee break area.”

The Whole Earth Festival (WEF) quarterly report followed.

Co-Director of WEF Olivia Hurley expressed their goal to create a more

condemn the internal vice president’s behavior during the Nov. 7 meeting with Chancellor May. “Cutting off a Palestinian student while they were sharing their grievances with the chancellor and the university is completely unacceptable and contributes to decades of silencing Palestinians as they struggle for freedom,” fifth-year political science major Yara Kaadan said. “The position of being internal vice president does not grant you authority over how we grieve and how we express our concerns with this university or Chancellor May as

an individual.”

Afterwards, Eden ordered a break.

Once everyone reconvened, the Senate moved into the status of previous legislation. SB #17, SB #18, and SB #20 were all passed and signed; SR #2 was passed and signed; and CA #87 and CA #88 were passed and signed.

The introduction of new legislation followed. SB #22 was referred to the Internal Affairs Commission (IAC) and the External Affairs Commission (EAC); SB #23 was referred to the IAC; SB #26 was referred to the IAC and the Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission; SR

educationally enriching festival this year as they feel the festival has moved more toward a musical and crafts festival.

Next, Academic Affairs Commission (AAC) Chairperson Britney Cao gave the commission’s quarterly report.

Cao spoke on “Syllabus to Browser,” a project intended to remodel Schedule Builder to include professors’ syllabi so that students can look at the course syllabus before registering for a class.

The AAC hopes to launch a pilot program in spring quarter 2024.

The meeting then moved into public comments, which saw a student

#3 was referred to the IAC and EAC and SB #27 was referred to the IAC. Next, the consent calendar passed unanimously, and the Senate moved on to consider old legislation.

SB #24, a bill that allocates $1,709.53 for the ASUCD Transfer, International and Freshmen (TIF) Friendsgiving Mixer, passed unanimously.

SR #4, an ASUCD Senate Resolution that states the overarching goals, priorities and business strategies of ASUCD for this year, was considered.

After much deliberation, and due to ASUCD President Francisco Ojeda’s absence, the Senate decided to postpone the consideration of SR #4.

After the Senate progressed through the remaining agenda items, they again arrived at the consideration of SR #4.

This resolution has been considered in several Senate meetings since the beginning of the quarter.

After two votes (which was one to pass the bill and one to table it) ended in stalemates, several senators expressed their frustrations.

“I don’t think we need to give [President Ojeda] any more second chances,” Senator Dani Antonio said.

“It’s week six — this is embarrassing.

It’s supposed to be done by week one, we can’t keep giving second chances.”

Senator Binh Do agreed.

“Constantly waiting and relying on somebody else, this is the inaction that people are talking about,” Do said.

“It’s time we take action [and] end this right now. Let’s not waste student time, student fees on this senate resolution.”

Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Chairperson Kristen Le went on.

“If we can’t even expect our president to write a resolution in six weeks, what is the point of making it better?” Le said. “We have given him so many chances… There needs to be some accountability at this point.”

A last roll call vote ended in a vote of 0-11-3 (yes, no, abstain) and SR #4 failed.

Eden adjourned the meeting at 8:50 p.m.

ALLISON VO / AGGIE

2023 Fall Elections — Meet the Candidates This fall, there are 21 candidates running for six Senate seats

BY SYDNEY AMESTOY, MADISON PETERS, RODRIGO VILLEGAS, KAYA DO-KHANH, AALIYAH ESPANOL-RIVAS, ZOE SMITH and BENJAMIN CARRILLO campus@theaggie.org The following candidates are running in the ASUCD’s 2023 Fall Elections for elected official positions in student government. There are six Senate seats up for reelection in this election. Seven Senate candidates did not respond to a request for an interview.

Katia Bouali (she/her/hers), a fifth-year political sciences major, is running under the Olive Branch slate because of the slate’s main goal of representing all underrepresented minorities that are on the UC Davis campus. Her platform focuses on racial equity, mental health awareness and student safety. Bouali emphasized the importance of minority groups coming together instead of staying in their own corners. In terms of mental health awareness, Bouali said that there is a lack of care and there funds must be used to prioritize student wellness. She also believes that the student body should be allowed to express themselves free of discrimination. Bouali has both worked for the Office of Student Support and Judicial Affairs and interned at KQED. Her goal is to take initiative, make a difference and represent the underrepresented.

Amanda Clark (she/her/hers), is a third-year political sciences and public service major running under the Connect slate. Clark said that her platform goals are to advocate for disabled rights, sustain environmental initiatives and improve mental health programs on campus. She wants to find professional mental health care for students on campus and specifically decrease the wait times for finding counseling. Clark wants to educate the student body on sustainable infrastructure and practices, and implement sustainability programs and features from Europe. She seeks to improve the accessibility features for all students who have diabilities, specifically giving unitrans better signage and making the CoHo more accessible. Clark specifically stated that she will be mostly focused on working with the Mental Health Initiative, Unitrans and the CoHo. Clark was previously involved with the judicial counsel and became the chairperson in 2022. She is now involved in the legislative branch as an Internal Affairs Commission commissioner and is also a legislative assistant for one of the

The California Aggie interviewed the candidates for the fall 2023 ASUCD election about their qualifications and platforms. (Courtesy / ASUCD) senators.

Aminah Syed (she/her/hers), is a first-year undeclared major. Syed said that she’s running to collect experiences and offer a fresh perspective to the Senate table while also broadening her own personal horizons. Syed said that her three goals are campus equity, connections to the student body and first-year/transfer student relations. She hopes to raise the wages of student workers and to properly compensate them for their work. Syed seeks to represent the students who need accommodations by lowering counseling wait times and making mental health affiliations more easily accessible. She brought up that she would partner with the Student Housing and Dining Services to be able to accommodate more kosher and halal options within the CoHo and ASUCD pantry. Syed also wants to work with the ASUCD Entertainment Council to bring more concerts to campus and expand the amount of on-campus speakers and entertainment. Syed wants prospective voters to know that as a senator, even though she is a first-year, she would show the student body what the ASUCD is and keep her promises.

She wants to be a leader for the people first before her own personal gains.

Tasneem Ababneh (she/her/hers), a fourth-year psychology major is running with the Olive Branch slate, which focuses on minority, equity and inclusion for all students with different backgrounds. She said that she is running because she wants to make the school more inclusive. She wants to bridge the gap between administration and students, including everyone no matter their background. Her platform is mental health, pandemic learning loss recovery and environmental

justice. In terms of mental health, she wants to provide more in-school resources and tele-health access to mental professionals. For pandemic learning loss recovery, she wants to fill in the gap of learning by working with the tutoring center to provide more tutors, subjects, accessibility and funding toward structural materials and technology. In regards to environmental justice, she feels that the university is not doing as much as they could be doing, and so she wants to work with the Environmental Policy and Planning Commission and the Sustainability Center to do a baseline assessment of the school and fill in any other gaps in relation to environmental policy.

Although she does not have any previous ASUCD experience, she thinks that she has leadership and organizational qualifications. For example, she is a founder and president of a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization to bring about social and economic development to help end poverty. Her main goal is to unite students and make it a safe campus where everyone is heard.

JT Eden (he/him/his), a third-year double major in environmental policy and international relations, said that he is running with the Connect slate because of the shared background that members of the slate have in the ASUCD as supportive members in positions such as the Internal Affairs Commision and Judicial Council Chair.

Eden currently serves as interim senator and said he is running for re-election because he believes there is still a lot for him to do, and with his experience, he wants to collaborate with senators to achieve their goals, such as working with senators to learn how the ASUCD can support student organizations better.

In addition, Eden aims to advocate for more parking fee equity for students,

quicken the onboarding process for student workers and decrease waste at ASUCD events. Recently, Eden passed a bill to fund the Aggie Arts Committee to create opportunities for events where students can create murals. Eden said that he has over two years of experience in the ASUCD, especially as he served as the ASUCD Internal Vice President during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jacob Klein (he/him/his), is a second-year political science and sociology major and currently serving on the Senate. Klein has been a part of ASUCD since his first year at UC Davis, where he said that he was the only first-year student to be elected to the Senate. He said his reason for running for re-election is to continue the work he has been doing through a three-pronged approach, with the goal to make ASUCD “SPARKLE.” With this approach, Klein aims to have full transparency and flexibility with student prices (SP), anti-Semitism reduction (AR) and keeping leadership engaged with students (KLE). Klein believes that it is important for ASUCD members to engage with students. He wants to teach students how they can get involved with the community through voting for officials who will listen to their voices.

If re-elected, Klein aims to finish the projects he proposed in his first term, including making equitable access more equitable for students by decreasing fees and lowering student prices for parking.

Curtis Chen (he/him/his) is a second-year double major in computer science and psychology running for senator with the Connect slate.

He currently serves as an ASUCD senator, and he previously served as a STEM Committee member and as an Academic Affairs Commissioner.

In these positions, he was involved

with the permanent extension of the Pass/No Pass deadline. With his varied experiences in ASUCD, he feels he provides a novel and comprehensive perspective on the association that not every senator can. His platforms are innovation, where he seeks to improve the university’s tech infrastructure for students’ convenience; safety, where he seeks to address safety concerns on campus like lighting and uneven roads and STEM representation, where he seeks to increase awareness of the STEM student population in the ASUCD senate.

Yara Kaadan (she/her/hers/they/ them/theirs) is a fifth-year political science major running for ASUCD Senate with the Olive Branch slate.

Kaadan said that they seek election to increase representation of marginalized students on campus since they have heard students express that they don’t see themselves and their needs represented in the current ASUCD Senate table.

Kaadan’s platforms are minority advocacy, where they seek to strengthen the bridge between the ASUCD and marginalized groups; student workers empowerment, where Kaadan seeks to improve the labor conditions of student workers across campus and economic equity, where Kaadan seeks to reallocate funds towards student needs. Kaadan feels her extensive experience with Registered Student Organizations and with committees, like the Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Committee and the External Affairs Committee, serve as a strong foundation for this position, as they showcase her leadership and familiarity with how organizations operate. Kaadan also hopes to increase ASUCD outreach and engagement with the student body.

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THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

NOVEMBER 16, 2023 | 3

UC Davis Lights Festival to shine light on AAPI and MENASA communities on Nov. 18 Hosted by the Cross Cultural Center, the festival will include an array of cultural performances, food and craft vendors and community booths

BY KAYA DO-KHANH campus@theaggie.org On Saturday, Nov. 18 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., the UC Davis Cross Cultural Center (CCC) will be hosting the first-ever UC Davis Lights Festival to shine light on the Asian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) and the Middle Eastern North African South Asian (MENASA) communities.

The festival will take place on the quad, and admission is free and open to the public.

Previously, the CCC hosted an annual night market for the AAPI community, and the Light Festival is an evolution of that original event. The CCC hosts a culture day for each of the portfolios that they serve, but the MENASA community portfolio would hold an annual MENASA leadership retreat instead of a specific culture day.

After returning from the pandemic last year, there was no retreat and the CCC board discussed how to revamp their culture days. During that conversation, some of the student community coordinators advocated for a culture day that celebrated and connected both the MENASA and AAPI communities together, according to the Program Coordinator at the CCC, Lou Cha. “Yes, we are celebrating both communities in one culture day, but also we wanted to showcase how large our diaspora is and that we are so different as much as we can be the same,” Cha said.

“We are so similar as well, so we’re just hoping that everyone walks away feeling like they have a place they can belong and a place where they can feel seen.”

The name for the Lights Festival

came from how large and different the diaspora was and how they wanted to shine light on the two communities.

“We also understand how [light] can be perceived differently,” Cha said. “That was the way that we could continue to be creative with the concept of light, how light can be presented and the symbolism of it.”

On the quad, there will be a stage set up for cultural performances as well as an array of food and craft vendors and community booths. The community booths include activities such as henna tattoos, origami, lantern decorating, ribbon lei making and diya painting.

Student organizations will also be tabling to share their resources and connect with the community.

“There are a lot of communities I’ve never heard of, and I think that way it can kind of bring not only the AAPI and MENASA community closer together but also the community of UC Davis and the surrounding areas closer to each other because every culture is beautiful, [and] every culture has a story,” third-year environmental policy analysis and planning major and AAPI Community Coordinator for the CCC Melissa Segura said.

The planning committee for the festival is made up of students, staff, alumni and community members. They are in charge of creating the vendor and cultural performances list, ensuring that the chosen groups and businesses are local and connected to the AAPI and MENASA communities.

“I think it’s just really cool to get to work with the community,” Segura said. “To plan such a big event is that we can always say it’s for the AAPI and MENASA community by the AAPI and MENASA community, just because we

HEIDI TEJEDA / AGGIE

have so many diverse voices. It kind of makes the light festival just a little bit brighter in that sense, because we have input from all different sorts of communities.”

Her biggest goal for the festival is to represent as many communities at the university as possible and to “make sure that they know we recognize them and that they shine in our eyes,” because not every community is always represented in campus events.

One thing she did to ensure as many ethnicities were represented as possible was include all communities in the design for a t-shirt for the Light Festival, which will be sold at the event.

The event coordinators are encouraging attendees to come dressed in their cultural clothing to be entered into a

raffle to win a free t-shirt at the festival.

“I think one part of being in a community where there’s a lot of diversity is appreciating other cultures,” third-year cognitive science major and AAPI Community Coordinator Ritu Goyal said. “A lot of times it’s very easy for us to have a certain perspective, but I think it’s so important to have cultural awareness and there being cultural intersectionality [...] I think that’s like a huge part, an aspect of just understanding other people and knowing where they come from.”

According to Segura, the event gives people another way to see different cultures as the different vendors will allow attendees to experience the cultures through spirituality, art and food. Some of the food vendors the

planning committee chose includes Dumpling House, Nox Barbeque, D’Groback Bay Area, Shah’s Halal Food Truck and Share Tea. Cultural performances include Coconut Dance, Davis Chinese Orchestra, Hmong Student Union Fashion Show and Indian Classical Dance.

Fourth-year political science major and MENASA Community Coordinator for the CCC Amaal Idoui said it would be like a “mosaic of cultures,” and that “all students can take away something and find something that hopefully fits their niche.”

“I’m just excited for an opportunity for our communities to come together and share the space,” Idoui said.

New dog spa opens in Davis

Dogtopia provides the Davis dog owner community with a unique dog spa and daycare experience

BY ZOE SMITH city@theaggie.org Dogtopia, a dog spa, daycare and boarding facility, opened in Davis at the beginning of July this year. Dogtopia itself is a chain and has locations all over the United States and Canada.

The owner of the Davis Dogtopia location, Cindy Hespe, is a retired pharmacist and former editor of the California Journal of Health-System Pharmacists. Hespe believes that there are no dog daycares like Dogtopia in Davis.

“There’s nothing like it around,” Hespe said. “There’s nothing in Davis or Woodland or Winters or Dixon.

There are kennels, but there aren’t dog daycares that are like this. We work on socialization of the dogs [and] on educating them to be better canine citizens by working on basic commands with them.”

Dogtopia not only provides daycare and boarding for dogs, it also provides a place for dog socialization, a play environment, spa services and dog training all in a safe facility with highly trained personnel.

“It’s a service for the community because people work long hours, and they want a safe place for their dog to

go,” Hespe said. “And [also] during the day while they’re working or if they’re even going on a day trip to [San Francisco]. We actually get a lot of retirees that will do day trips to San Francisco or Tahoe, and they need a safe place for their dog, so they can bring him here.”

Dogtopia is unique in the services it provides the Davis community. There are three different playrooms for the dogs who are separated by size and temperament. Dogs also undergo a meet-and-greet process before getting admitted into Dogtopia. They have a wellness check, their comfort in a crate is evaluated and their response to staff touch and interaction is recorded, as well as their reaction to open play with other dogs.

“We have had a lot of excitement in the community because Davis is such a big dog community,” Hespe said. “[...]

We’ve had a lot of pet parents just thank us for bringing this to the community because it was needed.”

Jordyn Mines, a third-year human development major at UC Davis and a canine coach and rover at Dogtopia, has been working at Dogtopia since it opened.

“I’m a canine coach,” Mines said.

“It’s when [you] directly work in the rooms with the dogs and you’re

coaching them or training them on obedient behavior and making sure that they’re playing safely.”

Mines also works as a rover at Dogtopia. “[That’s] when I’m going around and doing the meet and greets when we get new dogs,” Mines said. “I make sure the canine coaches have everything that they need.”

Dogtopia also holds charity events where pet owners can buy a treat for their dog or have a fall photoshoot done for their pup, and all the proceeds go to supporting a service dog for a veteran.

The calendar of Dogtopia charity events can be found on their website. Mines believes that the business uses their finances for good.

“I’ve been telling people it’s been my favorite job I’ve had so far,” Mines said. “I think it’s nice that we prioritize safety and cleanliness because, while it is important for the dogs to have fun, we have the right goals in mind. [...] I also like the things that the Dogtopia company funds. We sponsor ESA dogs to help blind people and we also promote adults with autism being employed.”

Ivy Garrett, a third-year animal biology major at UC Davis, has also been a canine coach and rover at Dogtopia since they opened.

GARRET URBAN / AGGIE

“Working at Dogtopia has been an invaluable experience,” Garrett said. “It’s taught me extensively about dogs, infectious diseases, cleaning protocols and has been a journey of personal growth. The team spirit here is remarkable; we’re a group of dedicated and hardworking individuals, valuing each other’s contributions and ensuring a seamless routine. Above all, the connections forged with the dogs have brought immeasurable joy into my life.”

The fall of Chester Cheetah

ACTIONNETWORKEVENT FROM PAGE 1

BY EMMA LAPIDUS eblapidus@ucdavis.edu

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

CLOTHINGSWAP FROM PAGE 1 Clothing swap participants were encouraged to take as many items as they needed for no charge.

“It’s crazy that everything’s free, right?” Mattson said. “People are shocked by that when they visit for

the first time, but I want people to feel comfortable to come in and not feel pressure to take anything or give anything.”

Lieu went on to discuss the significance of the week-long event and the opportunities that it provided for all members in Davis. “[This event] is a community resource for anybody who lacks that kind of clothing, maybe just needs more options, or hasn’t found things

that are suitable and flattering to them within their price point,” Lieu said.

“Overall, it’s just a way to bring the UC Davis and larger Davis community as a whole closer together and help each other out”.

Kosai said that her intention is to host similar events and even expand them to take place at SSCF career fairs for student interviews.

“We can improve upon this,” Kosai said. “I wanted to have a clothing rack

Garret talked about some of the dogs who use Dogtopia’s services and help make her job memorable.

“Every day brings a multitude of unforgettable moments,” Garrett said.

“From Sherlock, the dog who walks himself into daycare, to Whisper, the water-splashing puppy and Frodo, the adventurous husky diving under play equipment. There’s never a dull day at Dogtopia.”

at the career fair so people on-site can visit, and if they don’t have clothes [then] they can get it right there. I’m planning to have [the event] grow along with the [SSCF] as time goes on.”

That goes along with two, which is that we acknowledge the impact of structural inequities… as well as how how they impact our community and how we need structural changes to address them. Three, we value the collective well-being of our current and future community.”

Judy Ennis, the executive director of the Davis CAN, then continued the introductory presentation by emphasizing the importance of putting a plan in place to make the future of affordable housing in Davis climate-friendly.

“We are already a different Davis and we are becoming [a] different Davis every day moving to the future, especially in light of climate change,” Ennis said. “We need an updated general plan in order to address the context that we’re working in now and what’s coming up.”

Ennis recognized the role that the university plays in Davis and the students who are suffering as a result of Davis lacking affordable housing.

“The next statistic might surprise [you]: 18 percent of students have experienced homelessness or housing insecurity,” Ennis said. “That’s an outrageously high number [and] one cause is housing costs again and again.”

To finish the presentation, Ennis shared the importance of working together as a community to solve the housing crisis in Davis while also doing so in a way that is climatefriendly.

“We don’t own this work,” Ennis said. “DCAN (Davis Can) is one of many. These groups that you see up here are all doing different work right now to push our community forward into the future.”

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

4 | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

OPINION Stop the stocking stuffer A hate letter to the ‘Boo Basket’

BY MOLLY THOMPSON mmtthompson@ucdavis.edu You thought the spookiest thing that happened this October was your 8:00 a.m. Monday morning calculus midterm after “Halloweekend?” Think again. “Boo Baskets,” as they’re called, are a recent trend of Halloween-themed gift sets that couples curate and exchange around Halloween. The plastic buckets full of sickly sweet candles, gaudy fuzzy socks and cheap (but granted, festive) mugs that haunt your TikTok and Instagram feeds? Those are spooky.

They’re a product of the immensely wasteful and unsustainable culture that’s especially exacerbated by the rapidly shifting social media landscape — it needs to change.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a lover of holidays — I want an IV drip of gingerbread and pumpkin spice.

This is in no way an anti-celebration perspective, this is an anti-unnecessarywaste appeal. The thing about trends and phenomena like the Boo Basket is that they prescribe buying stuff for the sake of buying stuff. You’re not necessarily purchasing products because you think the receiver will love them so much (of course, you think it’ll make them happy) but you do it more for the concept itself. We’ve all been there: you’re walking through the holiday aisle of Target, picking up random stuff that’s cute, cheap and holiday-themed. It’s not stuff you would have bought otherwise, it’s not necessarily stuff your partner actually wants and, let’s be honest, it’s not often stuff that they’re going to want to keep. You can only have so many novelty mugs with ghost faces on them or cranberry muffin-scented candles before you start having to make cuts — which means that a lot of it is inevitably going to be

GARRET URBAN / AGGIE

thrown away.

The Christmas stocking is another prime example of buying stuff for the sake of buying stuff. Most of the time, “stocking stuffers” are little trinkets and things that you forget about a couple hours after you receive them. Big conglomerate companies turn massive profits selling little plastic gadgets and miniature cosmetic products with extra-festive packaging that you don’t actually want, but you like it because

chocolate instead. Stuff your stockings with biscotti from a local coffee shop, a box of tea or a bracelet you made. It’ll mean more than the Target candle too.

Your “Boo,” the planet and your wallet NAME / AGGIE will thank you.

I don’t want you to give up your fun. I want you to let the holidays bring you all the best warm and fuzzy feelings.

In the draining, soul-sucking world of higher education, we have to take what we can get when it comes to serotonin, ALLISON VO / AGGIE

it’s there. Welcome to capitalist heaven: the Walmart dollar section.

But as aforementioned, I’m no Grinch — I want to be embalmed in peppermint and cinnamon. I fully support you wanting to show you affection and embody the holiday spirit, I just don’t want you to throw it away afterward. So consider this: instead of buying a plastic bag of individually wrapped candy, make a batch of cute, themed cookies. Get your loved one a cozy, fun book to read. Show them how much you love them by taking them apple picking and treating them to a hot

and holidays are a wonderful source of this. But I urge you to find your joy in a way that is, at least, slightly less wasteful and unsustainable than society so often demands. I mean, we want to be able to enjoy a lot more Halloweens, Hanukkahs and Christmases, right?

We’ve got to give the planet some of that holiday love too if we want to keep celebrating. The Grinch himself, true icon that he is, really says it best: “Maybe Christmas (he thought) doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more.”

Quarter system blues

BY SANDHYA PFILE sbpfile@ucdavis.edu

Why TikTok Shop is revolutionizing online consumerism A dive into influencer marketing

By MAYA KORNYEYEVA mkornyeyeva@ucdavis.edu After rocketing to major success as a social media platform, TikTok recently announced the addition of TikTok Shop: an online shopping platform curated for TikTok users.

The idea behind the platform is to give influencers and small businesses a way to easily market their products to users, while at the same time aiding customers in the discovery of new products and subsequent ease of purchase.

Before the launch, businesses operating on TikTok would simply redirect potential customers to their website via a link in their bio. Now that TikTok Shop is a readily available feature, you can simply click the tab and scroll through a page of thousands of listed products.

What makes TikTok Shop so unique is the “video review” format that is crucial to persuading potential buyers. While other online shopping websites like Ebay and Etsy share similar features to TikTok Shop — such as photos, reviews, product information and star ratings — they don’t contain the social aspect of influencer marketing.

By definition, influencer marketing is strategic product promotion through the use of individuals with a large online following, who aim to create positive media around a certain product. And TikTok is full of them — almost every other video that I receive on my feed is an influencer hyping up a product on TikTok Shop.

Why is this method of marketing so effective? The answer comes down to building credibility. Influencers spend their entire careers aiming to reach a large audience; to do so, they often make themselves relatable, funny or otherwise charismatic. These traits, along with the material they are making content about, help create a personal link between the audience and the influencer. If you follow your favorite Youtubers for example, you learn a lot about them and continually support them with your views, forming a kind of relationship with

them (even though you may never have spoken to them before).

This credibility can be applied to influencer marketing. When someone you follow shows you a product or service that they personally enjoy, it doesn’t feel like heartless spam. Rather, you are hearing a first-person account from someone you “know,” which is much more influential than hearing it from a stranger.

On another, slightly more morbid note, TikTok shop also caters to a very specific audience: mainly millennials and Gen Z. Gen Z in particular is a generation of young adults who were exposed to technology and online shopping at an early age. Since purchasing products online is simple and easy — with a few clicks being all it takes to order something right to your door — TikTok businesses capitalize on compulsive purchases made by algorithm-addicted teens.

With trends like “#TikTokmademebuyit” becoming increasingly popular on the platform, more and more influencers are profiting from selling nonessential items to a generation raised on standardized overconsumption.

As TikTok Shop is beginning to gain traction, there has been a subtle yet very important change to the way some companies are now approaching marketing their items. For instance, Amazon has recently introduced a new “scroll” feature in their app called Inspire. Similar to TikTok, Inspire allows users to view a mixed feed of short videos and photos that both advertise and review the products available on the site.

With a company as large and powerful as Amazon attempting to incorporate a TikTok-style social media feed, the future of online shopping seems to be on the verge of a transformation. I predict that, as technology keeps rapidly evolving, so will digital commerce in the upcoming years.

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

MAYA KORNYEYEVA / AGGIE

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

Please stop asking me what I’m going to do after graduation if you only care about my career How the all-encompassing question tries to take over our senior year

BY CLAIRE SCHAD cfschad@ucdavis.edu To all my fellow fourth-years: congratulations, we have entered our final year and we are almost there!

But not so fast…

“So, what are you going to do after you graduate?”

If you’re a fourth-year like me, you are likely all too familiar with this question. As we enter the holiday season, full of gatherings with family and friends, we will probably get to experience the frustration of this question even more than we do now — if that’s possible.

Whether it’s at the Thanksgiving dinner table in front of your entire extended family or in a conversation with your friend’s parents, the question is sure to come up. For those of us who don’t have a concrete plan after graduation, this can lead to an awkward situation. For me, a political science major, this usually looks like trying to explain that one: no, I don’t plan on being president one day, and two: trying to share what I’m actually interested in, all while carefully attempting to shift the topic of conversation away from myself.

Nevertheless, this question always leads me to a place where I feel an overwhelming sense of unpreparedness, which is not actually warranted. I have worked hard in my classes, explored my areas of interest and figured out what I do (and do not) like; I’ve had internships and made lasting connections. I shouldn’t feel unprepared for life post-grad, but yet here we are.

I don’t blame those asking this allencompassing question, but rather I appreciate that they care enough about me to ask. However, I am frustrated with the social norms surrounding postgrad life that expect us to have some clear path forward, preferably where we will make lots of money.

Sure, if you are a pre-med or pre-law student, you likely have your sights set on medical or law school for at least a couple of years and have a satisfying answer to the common question. Or, maybe you majored in electrical or mechanical engineering, which has the highest median salaries for 25 to 29-year-olds with bachelor’s degrees, and you are graduating with multiple lucrative job offers, and therefore your friends and family aren’t all too concerned with your post-grad career prospects.

However, those of us who didn’t take these paths have equally exciting reasons to look forward to post-grad life.

Why don’t people realize this? Well, it’s likely because we live in a society that is heavily influenced by the amount of money that an individual makes after graduation: in other words, success is gauged on income. Those who major in the STEM field top out almost every ranking of income earned post-grad.

In contrast, those who major in social sciences or arts and humanities rank among the lowest in income.

So, every time someone asks me what I am doing after graduation, there is a mutual understanding that I chose a major that doesn’t usually result in an exceptionally lucrative post-grad

career. And most times, the question is solely focused on my career goals.

This leads me to a place where it feels like those who ask this question are only concerned with how monetarily successful I will be post-grad.

Why don’t people ask about my undergraduate experiences or what I’m interested in, the very specific things I have been trying to figure out for the last four years? When asked, these types of questions allow us to feel excited about our accomplishments and what they could lead to in the future, rather than unprepared because of what we might not know.

So to my fellow fourth-years, even though we have reached the point in our academic career where people are far more interested in what we plan to do after graduation than what we are doing right now, I challenge you to reframe the “What are you doing post-grad?” question. Even if this means hijacking the questions that your loved ones ask you and talking about your accomplishments and interests. If we keep doing this, maybe, just maybe, we can help shift the norms surrounding post-grad expectations. After all, if they really are interested, they will be happy to hear about any developments in your exciting life, career-related or not.

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

DOTS slashed my tires

Transportation Services has earned themselves a new opp

BY ALLISON KELEHER adkeleher@ucdavis.edu The UC Davis Department of Transportation Services has messed with the wrong Aggie. I’m about to expose their new disciplinary plan for parking violations. DOTS management should be scared because I have nothing to lose — as of a couple of hours ago when they slashed my tires. DOTS has moved to the top of my exposé list.

I stumbled across my eviscerated tires as I was leisurely skipping back to my vehicle after a very intense struggle between me and a blue book.

So, I was still riding the post-midterm high, when I found my poor babies all cut up. DOTS also left a letter-sized printed picture of them laughing at my slashed tires and the leader was holding the knife that commited the crime. As I clutched that mockery in my hand, I seethed with rage and plotted my next move against DOTS. First order of business was to slander DOTS on social media in order to inflict the most damage.

Then, I got into contact with every Aggie on my Instagram following to dig up any dirt on DOTS I could find.

Most declined to respond, but quite a few left me on read. Everyone always likes to say that UCD students are so nice, but obviously not since they left a fellow Aggie on read.

Anyways, from what I dug up, this is the new violation schedule outlining what DOTS will do if you don’t pay that parking fee: A classic parking ticket. Nothing

crazy — just draining your bank account a bit.

A DOTS employee will key the ticket into the side of your car. A tasteful little reminder to you and everyone who sees your car that you have an outstanding parking ticket.

Something tells me that Carrie Underwood had something to do with this.

They SLASH YOUR TIRES. The employees even have a UCD monogrammed knife that they use.

A DOTS employee will sit on the hood of your car, waiting for your return, and then remain there until you pay for the ticket in front of them.

DOTS employees steal your car and sell it for parts on the black market and they pocket the money. From what I heard from my sources, this is the incentive for the DOTS employees to find more parking violations.

So, I guess if I don’t pay for parking again, a DOTS employee will leave an indent of their butt on the hood of my car.

What I don’t understand is that UC Davis should want people to go to class. Right? If I hadn’t driven, I would’ve missed that midterm. I guess UCD doesn’t have their students’ success in mind. I’m outraged by this new plan. However, I see it as a challenge to see if I can evade their search for my illegal parking job. If DOTS wants to play this little game, then it’s a game they’ll get.

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

5 | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

ASUCD 2023 fall election endorsements: Consider the following The Editorial Board endorses five candidates for ASUCD Senate

WRITTEN BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD ASUCD fall elections began on Monday, Nov. 13, and voting will be open through Friday, Nov. 17 at 8 p.m.

Undergraduate students can cast their votes on the ASUCD elections website.

This election cycle, there are 21 candidates running for six available Senate seats. The Editorial Board interviewed 14 of the 21 candidates running for Senate. Those who were not interviewed did not respond to the Editorial Board’s request for an interview.

We urge all undergraduate students to both participate in the election and consider getting involved in student government in future election cycles to ensure that ASUCD elected officials accurately reflect UC Davis’s diverse campus.

Here are The California Aggie’s endorsements for fall 2023 ASUCD elections: Katia Bouali (she/her/hers) — Olive Branch Fifth-year political science major Katia Bouali’s platform surrounding the improvement of racial equity, mental health awareness and student safety makes her a compelling Senate

READ MORE Scan to read our editorial about how to craft the perfect email

candidate. If elected, Bouali said that she plans to pass a bill which would require that any senate resolution regarding racial equity be closely monitored after it is enacted, which the Editorial Board agrees is crucial to holding the Senate table accountable. Her goals of improving the mental health care system at UC Davis, specifically through urging the administration to hire more counselors, highlight her passion for mental health awareness. As a whole, Bouali’s wide-ranging and attainable legislative plans make her equipped for success if elected as a senator.

Sam Hopwood (he/him/his/they/ them/theirs) — Movement The Editorial Board endorses second-year political science major Sam Hopwood because of his passion and commitment towards improving the labor conditions of students. We believe that his goals of increasing student worker pay, bettering on-campus work environments and lowering student fees highlight his investment in UC Davis students. The Editorial Board was also compelled by his intention to put pressure on Gary May and the UC Board of Regents to follow through on their promise to disinvest in the weapons and gun lobbying industries.

Hopwood has considerable experience in labor organizing, which gives him the knowledge necessary to make legislative strides in the Senate if elected.

Amanda Clark (she/her/hers) — Connect Amanda Clark, a third-year political science — public service and psychology double major, has both extensive leadership experience and a wide range of policy goals. The Editorial Board was extremely impressed by her plans to advocate for students with disabilities, such as implementing a mobile order feature at the CoHo for students with mobility impairments and improving Unitrans terminal signage for students with visual impairments. Clark’s other

platforms are compelling, which include destigmatizing mental health and promoting on-campus environmental sustainability. Her experience as the ASUCD Judicial Council Chairperson and as an Internal Affairs Commissioner makes her a well-rounded candidate with the ability to achieve important policy goals if elected as a senator.

Noblejot Singh Sandhu (he/him/ his) — Independent Third-year political science — public service major Noblejot Singh Sandhu impressed the Editorial Board with his comprehensive platform.

Sandhu’s campaign goals, such as increasing the visibility of on-campus resources and connecting faculty, student organizations and ASUCD to create a more streamlined transfer of information, make him a compelling candidate. His experience working in the nonprofit sector and in local, state and federal legislation strengthens his candidacy. We believe Sandhu’s experience and robust plans to achieve his legislative goals make him a very qualified candidate for the Senate.

JT Eden (he/him/his) — Connect The Editorial Board endorses JT Eden, a third-year environmental policy analysis and planning and international relations double major and the current ASUCD Senate President Pro Tempore.

We believe that his extensive experience with on-campus leadership, such as his time serving on the Internal Affairs Commission and as the ASUCD Internal Vice President, make him a qualified and well-versed candidate.

Of his platforms, the Editorial Board was especially impressed by his plans to alleviate on-campus parking costs for students in need and to prioritize student workers in the ASUCD budget.

Because of his tangible legislative goals and over two years of ASUCD experience, we believe that Eden will have a great impact on the Senate table if elected.

HUMOR

Let’s settle this: Which egghead Grandparent is the most disturbing? mortality rates up A definitive ranking of all the eggheads based on how bad 50 percent during of nightmares they induce midterm season

BY MALCOLM LANGE mslange@ucdavis.edu

and relaxed expression. There is a sense of comradery that most UC Davis students feel with him — always being stuck at the library. Bookhead is also a part of a superstition where students will rub their head for good luck on a test. How could anyone be terrified of a studious egg who helps you on a

Everyone at Davis has heard of the famous eggheads. These Davis landmarks are spread throughout the East side of the UC Davis campus.

Each egghead is special and expresses a fun and unique character. These sculptures were created by late UC Davis professor of ceramics Robert Arneson, with the first installment in 1991 and the last in 2009. They are widely accepted as a quirky representation of the university; the town of Davis has also embraced them with their love for midterm unconventional public art. or final?

However, as much as they are received with positive Next on my list is attitudes from faculty, students and Stargazer. Stargazer residents, there are specific egghead ranks three on the designs that I question more scare-othan others. To get to meter the bottom of these for NOVA MAI / AGGIE strange statues, I his will go through each egghead and rank how lack nightmare-inducing it o f is on a scale of one (not being scary at all) to ten (even malicious Freddy Krueger has nightmares of oddities. this).

Si m i l a r t o The least scary egghead, with Bookhead, a ranking of one, is Bookhead. there is Bookhead is the lovable little egg that stands guard at the entrance to Shields nothing Library. Bookhead ranks this low in too obscure about this egghead. His scariness because there is no apparent most prominent features are his swirling oddity about him. He has a neutral

eyes and uncomfortable smirk. Even with these less-than-normal features, there is nothing inherently evil about this egghead. There is no danger when looking into Stargazer’s ceramic, swirly eyes. He also seems to be having a good time. I mean, who does not like looking up at the stars every once in a while?

Some would even go as far as to call Stargazer “a vibe.”

Now we start to get to the eggheads that truly intrude on my slumber. One of the duo eggheads ranks next with a six. It is the Yin and Yang, near the art, music and theater complex. These eggheads feature one lying on its side, looking thoroughly unamused, and the other upright with its eyes closed, yelling at the first with an angry expression. The one on its side does nothing for me; he is normal. If I ranked that one by itself, he would have a relatively low score.

However, it is the angry, screaming one that brings up a sense of panic. He definitely is the most aggressive out of all the eggheads. If you were to bump into him, I would expect him to turn around and start yelling at you. He is not having a good time and definitely needs to take a chill pill.

The runner-up for scariest egghead is See No Evil and Hear No Evil. These eggheads were moved right near King Hall, UC Davis’ law school. Both eggheads have no ears and are looking across at each other with warped faces.

One eye is closed and the other open but with an uncomfortable slit for the pupil. Their eyes are not proportional to each other, and the closed eye drags down slightly.

NIGHTMAREEGGS on 7

Students beware, your care packages and homemade cookies may be at risk

BY AUDREY ZHANG aurzhang@ucdavis.edu Very real and legitimate scientists have discovered a correlation between grades and grannies. There’s a significant uptick in mortality rates amongst seniors, especially those with a grandchild in college.

One very real scientist said, “It’s all that ambient stress in the air.

Grandparents are reminded of their own college grind and they’re too weak to handle it. A similar phenomenon happens the day before Christmas and forgotten birthdays. It’s why so many gifts get lost in the mail.”

Results may be a little skewed due to the business practices of one Oskar Sam, who has “died” 42 times this week.

“I do fake funerals, untimely strokes and falls, and heart attacks,” Sam said.

“My contact number is–” The scientists assured us that Oskar Sam’s “deaths” were excluded from the data, and that their own business gets you a much better dead grandparent at much better rates. They haven’t been getting much work lately. UC Davis focus groups say it’s because their slogan “Is your grandparent alive? Do you need them to not be?” targets a very different market.

This has deeply impacted the community. One unfortunate soul has lost five different grandparents this

week. Each one of his professors was told a different name, as well as his roommates. We asked him how he felt about the scientists’ findings.

“Five!? That’s terrible,” Joe Schmoe said. “Oh wait, I thought you were talking about my chemistry grade.

Nevermind.” What we can only assume is his sixth grandpa came to visit him at his dorm during the interview. What a brave soul.

Jane Doe struggled not to cry when giving her statement. “Grandpa Oskar always loved calculus, he spent his final days solving math problems. I don’t think I can go into that classroom without thinking of him. And I know I’m not the only one. Maybe we can just . . . cancel it altogether?”

Professors are scrambling to accommodate in the wake of this series of unfortunate events.

“I hope we can all spare some kindness for everyone affected by this tragedy,” Professor Whats-His-Name said. “I know my own students will be understanding of me taking an extra few months in grading their papers.

My own grandfather passed away just yesterday, after all.”

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

The sexual tension between the G and J buses is unreal Seriously, get a garage

BY ALLISON KELEHER adkeleher@ucdavis.edu If you are a resident of North Davis, or have ever lived in North Davis, you have experienced the stifling sexual tension between two Unitrans bus lines, the G and the J. For a little background, the G bus transports multitudes of students to the UCD MU bus stop, while the J bus does the same for the UCD Silo bus stop. The MU and the Silo have a longstanding rivalry as hubs for UC Davis students and staff, so the relationship between the G and the J would never be approved of. These star-crossed lovers leave their bus stops every day, at every hour, and meet up on their routes. Since they can’t interact with each other, the G and the J play a flirtatious game of cat and mouse on their routes.

More often than not, the G arrives at the bus stop outside of Chautauqua apartments a little early, but the J is not far behind. Depending on the speed of its passengers’ boarding and

where they split up at Russell Boulevard and return to their bus families. As they bid each other farewell, the G and J rest easy knowing that they’ll see each other in an hour.

This modern day rendition of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” is lived every day and every hour by the G and the J Unitrans bus lines. Hopefully they don’t kill themselves too — I need to get to class.

But, let’s get real. These buses need to own up to their little situationship and put North Davis residents out of their misery. It’s revolting to be awake at 8 a.m. and witness this intense flirting when I’m just trying to get to class. I feel like Unitrans should put them into a garage at night and they can work it out.

NATALIE CHENG / AGGIE

disembarking, sometimes the J will pass the G. That is, until the next stop when the J is held up and the G takes the lead.

According to my reliable source, “they’re flirting with their traffic patterns —

it’s actually disgusting.” Usually, in the end, the G is victorious and is in the lead in front of the J. Another source claims that, “the G only wins their little game because the J is more popular.”

However, the reliability of this source is uncertain, since they’re garage roomies with the J bus.

Eventually they’re both back onto Anderson Road, headed towards campus

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

ARTS & CULTURE

6 | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

Artist lecture from Nettrice Gaskins: ‘Theory, Content and Style for the AI Revolution’ Artificial intelligence acts as creative expression

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

The Arts Desk’s weekly picks for music, movies and more

BY ANNABEL MARSHALL arts@theaggie.org Movie: “Submarine” (2010) dir. by Richard Ayoade

The Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art hosts a variety of artist lectures. (Aggie File)

BY ANA BACH arts@theaggie.org On Nov. 3, Nettrice Gaskins came to UC Davis to discuss her work in the art and artificial intelligence (AI) field.

The UC Davis Design Department and others witnessed her talk titled “Theory, Content and Style for the AI Revolution” at the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art. Gaskins went into great depth about her methods surrounding her creative process as well as how others can benefit from using AI in other fields.

In her presentation, Gaskins used her art to explain her motivations and cultural critiques. Her work centers on African Americans, Afrofuturism and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) education for historically marginalized communities.

She began her talk by discussing several concepts she considers when creating her art.

Gaskins first drew attention to the innovation of form, then explained the potential difficulties of using AI software to create art. Utilizing vernacular and prompts to make illustrations while also creating a visual abstraction of the subject that matches her vision for the project is one of the challenges with digital art. Another relevant component to consider is mechanical reproduction.

Copying, redrawing and remixing all fall within the medium of technology, where found objects (or in this case, concepts) are reappropriated into something new. Digital manipulation of visual content is the essence of AI’s function in the art world.

“It’s like taking things from the environment and innovating them,”

Gaskins said.

Her main emphasis was placed on the phenomenon of generative AI, describing the culmination of AI, machine learning and in-depth learning. Generative AI has the ability to produce several versions of an image in a short amount of time by using a neural style transfer that can adopt the visual appearance of another image.

“It’s a new understanding and amplification of modern art forms,” Gaskins said.

As a means of practicing the different techniques Gaskins researched, she worked on different projects playing with generative AI every day for a full year to better understand form and content.

Additionally, she took tapestries and applied specular reflection, amplifying the light on an image, to enhance the shine as fading for certain subjects.

Gaskins continues to open new trains of thought for the limitless possibilities that AI has, especially in the art world.

As productive as AI has been in more fields than one, there have been some drawbacks with biases that have been embedded within the algorithms.

One example that Gaskins touches on is typing in simple prompts such as, “a picture of a felon.” The images that would come up for her were mainly mugshots of Black men or photos of them in jumpsuits. In some cases, pictures of baboons and other orangutans would pop up as search results. This is just one example of a prompt that generates inherent racial prejudice.

Another prompt that she typed in asked for “portraits of a lawyer” in which she received many images of men posing in suits. Not a single portrait of a woman was generated.

These biases are slowly but surely being reprogrammed, as many people are using more detailed prompts to help the software reassess what images are popping up.

“There is a humanity when humans intervene in the process. The machine is just assisting the thought process,” Gaskins said.

Gaskins received a doctorate in digital media from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an M.F.A. in art and technology from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Additionally, she has written a book titled, “Techno-Vernacular Creativity and Innovation,” where she discusses her methods of STEAM learning that engage students from historically marginalized communities in culturally relevant and inclusive maker education. Her work has been exhibited at a Leoni Art Project group show in Genoa, Italy, the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts in Brooklyn, New York and the Smithsonian’s “FUTURES” exhibition.

AI has generated some thoughtful commentary from a wide range of opinions on whether it takes away from valuable learning experiences for students or if technological efficiency is beneficial in the research field.

Gaskins gives us a reason to believe that the practical nature of it isn’t the only benefit. Experimenting, or rather “painting with pixels,” is just one of many ways to redesign our way of thinking about the traditional societal processes that continue to evolve faster than ever before.

“I want to remix algorithms. I don’t want one, I want five. I want to test the limit,” Gaskins said. “Why do it? Because it’s cool.”

California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick reads at Davis event

The poetry reading was part of the recurring bimonthly poetry nights held at the John Natsoulas Gallery

BY EMMA CONDIT city@theaggie.org On Nov. 3, California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick attended Davis’ bimonthly poetry night. This was the most recent of the poetry nights hosted by Dr. Andy Jones held at the downtown John Natsoulas gallery.

This event lasted about two hours and was attended by UC Davis and Davis Senior High School students, poets and other members of the community.

The evening began with a performance by Davis flutist, Dr. Rachel Taylor Geier. Then, Herrick began his poetry reading — his poems consisted of new and old works, and the topics ranged from delicious foods, adoption, crosswords and his idea of California.

“In my California, paperbacks are free and farmers markets are 24 hours and always packed,” Herrick said, reading from his poem “My California.” “The trees and water have no nails in them, the priests eat well, the homeless eat well.”

The California Poet Laureate is a two-year, governor-appointed position created in 2001 by Gov. Gray Davis.

The goal is to share the art of poetry across the state of California and inspire emerging artists, according to the California Arts Council website.

Herrick previously served as the Poet Laureate of Fresno and was appointed to his current position by Gov. Gavin Newsom in Nov. 2022.

Herrick described his feelings about the position.

“It’s an incredible honor and humbling,” Herrick said. “It is an opportunity to meet poets throughout the state. [...] It’s an opportunity to share with new audiences.”

What happens when the chick from “The Shape of Water,” the nerdier nerd from “The IT Crowd,” some bit player from “House of the Dragon” and Ben Stiller combine? The best movie I’ll ever see in my life, that’s what. Adapted from Joe Dunthorne’s novel of the same name, this Welsh coming-of-age film is precisely why Richard Ayoade (the one from The IT Crowd) will always be my favorite director.

Its genuine, unflinching portrayal of adolescence — accompanied by unmatched humor and love — is reminiscent of later works like Bo Burnham’s “Eighth Grade” or Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird.” The cinematography makes you go, “Wow, someone really cared about how each frame of this movie was shot.” Oh yeah, and Ben Stiller was a producer for some reason.

Book: “The Sirens of Titan” by Kurt Vonnegut (1959) Look (again, still over here!), I’m never not going to recommend Vonnegut. It’s just who I am. I have zero qualms with “Slaughterhouse Five” or “Breakfast of Champions,” but while “The Sirens of Titan” might be just outside of your syllabus, it’s very much worth the read. Featuring names and phrases like “Malachi Constant” and the “Church of God the Utterly Indifferent,” you could honestly read it just to hear what it sounds like aloud. But it’s worth much more than that. What some term as comic science fiction is better described, in my opinion, as a narrative chess game Vonnegut is playing with himself to which patient, lucky readers bear witness. TLDR: I cried about a little alien guy.

TV Show: “Psych” (2006 - 2021) Dulé Hill is, without a doubt, one of the most underrated sitcom actors of the last thirty years.

After a glorious seven-season stint on criticallyacclaimed “The West Wing,” he lodged himself into another comedy that would soon become an American staple. Psych! (No, actually. “Psych.”) A show about a fake psychic detective (Jame Roday Rodrigez) and his best friend (Dulé Hill). What more could you possibly want and also receive?

What about the most complex, rewarding fatherson relationship I have ever seen in a comedy?

What about a romantic interest that slow-burns your cold, dead heart back to warmth? What about a musical version that was released in 2013 for no apparent reason? You got it. No one commits to a bit like protagonist Shawn Spencer, and that alone is enough to make “Psych” an infinitely rewatchable gem.

Album: “The Dreaming Room” by Laura Mvula (2016) Look, there’s no point denying that 2016 was the best year for music ever. It was so good, someone wrote a book about it. That just makes it all the more impressive how vibrantly this album stands out. Written by classically-trained British singer Laura Mvula largely about her divorce, “The Dreaming Room” is a boldly vulnerable exploration of love after loss. Mvula masterfully combines Jamaican and Caribbean-influenced rhythms with her impressive vocals, all while being backed by the actual London Symphony Orchestra. Are you backed by the London Symphony Orchestra? I didn’t think so. Not only did it win her an Ivor for Album of the Year, but it also got her dropped from her record label (via email) for unspecified reasons! If “Show Me Love” doesn’t make you feel something, you might want to check your pulse.

Davis MoMA: Melting Bikes

BY NIMRA FARHAN nfarhan@ucdavis.edu

Covered in art, the inner stairwells of the John Natsoulas Gallery are an adventure themselves. (Sean Vanderaa / Aggie) After Herrick’s reading, the microphone was opened to the audience where Davis poets could share their works. One of the participants was the former Davis Poet Laureate Allegra Silberstein who shared a poem about grief.

“We’re drawn to the moon,” Silberstein said as she recited her poem. “We’re old in our sweet ruin, and that is of no concern for the parting time is coming soon.”

The Davis Poet Laureate is an honorary 2-year position created in 2009 by the Davis City Council.

This role promotes the celebration of poetry through the city of Davis and Yolo County. Allegra Silbersetin served in this position from 2010-2014.

Dr. Jones, the event’s host and a UC Davis professor, spoke of poetry night as a whole. Jones said this event

allows people to meet community members who they would otherwise not meet and be inspired to write.

“Events like this are important because they bring people together to appreciate the arts,” Jones said.

“Poetry night is an oasis of creativity and unexpected connections.”

Each Davis poetry night is held on Thursday and begins at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, and you can find more information here. Herrick encouraged people from Davis to write and engage with these events.

“Read as widely and as deeply as you can,” Herrick said to emerging poets. “Exploration and wonder and curiosity are important. Have faith in yourself and be open to discovery.”

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

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023 | 7

City of Davis Police Accountability Commission presents property crime forum

The commission gave information on how to prevent theft of catalytic converters, mail and more

BY ALMA CULVERWELL city@theaggie.org On Nov. 8, the Davis Police Accountability Commission held a public outreach meeting to educate community members on ways to better prevent property crime.

The Police Accountability Commission was formed in 2019 and hosts annual public outreach meetings to keep the public better informed on policing and provide a space for community input.

Kelly Stachowicz, assistant city manager, described the development process behind this year’s forum.

“We have a Police Accountability Commission and they wanted to have every year some sort of public outreach meeting,” Stachowicz said. “This year, they wanted to work with the Police Department, so the commission is hosting the meeting, but the featured speaker is the deputy police chief and they wanted to focus on a topic that is of interest. It’s a really good opportunity for our police representatives to listen and hear what some of the concerns from the community members are.”

The meeting covered topics relevant to property crime, including ways to better protect against stolen catalytic converters, mail and packages, bikes, vandalism and shoplifting.

Davis commission members and police meet with Davis locals about property crime at the Veterans Memorial Theater on Nov. 8. (Andrew Huang / Aggie)

Friendsgiving recipes

Some easy recipes to share with friends and loved ones

BY LORENA ALVAREZ arts@theaggie.org With Thanksgiving just around the corner, many students look forward to Friendsgiving: a time when meals are shared with friends before going back home for the holidays. However, our tight schedules and limited cooking skills as college students make it difficult to plan a home-cooked dinner worthy of our friends’ time. Luckily, there are an endless number of easy-to-follow recipes at our fingertips, even if you are unsure of your cooking abilities.

Here are some recipes that can be easily prepared for

and maple cider vinaigrette complement the fall palette that many look forward to. The apples not only make the salad appear elegant, they also make it sweet and refreshing when eaten with mixed salad greens. This is the perfect side dish for Friendsgiving because of how effortlessly it can be thrown together. To make the process less time-consuming, you can bake the apples ahead of time.

Simply roast the apples with olive oil and leave them to cool. While the apples are the main character in this plate, the dressing is the key to a sweet and savory salad. To prepare the dressing, mix two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and olive oil, one tablespoon of maple syrup, one teaspoon of sriracha chili sauce, half a teaspoon of salt and a quarter teaspoon of pepper. Once ready to serve, drizzle the

GARRET URBAN / AGGIE

Friendsgiving, despite the overwhelming nature that midterms bear on the season of giving.

This Cranberry Brie Biscuit Dip is the perfect appetizer for charcuterie lovers. It only requires a round brie cheese, a quarter cup of cranberry sauce, a quarter cup of shredded white cheddar, rosemary, black pepper and 30 minutes. You can start by placing your favorite biscuits around the edge of a medium skillet with the brie in the middle. Bake it for about 10 minutes and add the cranberry sauce with white cheddar on top. After mixing the cheese and cranberry sauce, bake it for an additional five to seven minutes. Voila, you have an appetizer to start the feast.

A Roasted Apple Salad with Spicy Maple-Cider Vinaigrette is an excellent choice for incorporating festive and appetizing greens into an otherwise salty and carb-filled meal. The roasted apple

MISTYCOPELAND FROM PAGE 1 She didn’t begin taking dancing lessons until age 13, which is considered late in comparison to many ballerinas, with most beginning their training at a very young age. Living with five siblings and her single mother in a motel room that was two hours from her school, Copeland ended up in a ballet class that was run by her local Boys and Girls Club. While her mother was busy working multiple jobs to support her kids, the Boys and Girls Club was one of the only afterschool options for Copeland.

“I’m the fourth of six children; there was so much fighting for the spotlight and attention and I never wanted that,” Copeland said. “But through dance, I started to find this quiet place that was all mine, and it just kind of blossomed over the course of four years, which was the amount of time I spent training.”

Copeland is widely known as a trailblazer in the dance universe.

She struggled to find her place as a ballerina growing up; she had never seen other Black women represented in the ballet world, which made joining it intimidating. She noted that the people around her became a consistent source of support and inspiration,

apples a n d dressing over the greens to enhance the salad’s beautiful palette.

The easiest side dish that will save the day if all else fails is Mashed Potatoes, or Stuffed Mashed Potato Tots if you want to make the dish more exciting. Mashed potatoes are known for being a comfort food because of their creamy and buttery flavor, but it is also a quick and easy side dish that anyone can make. Simply boil some potatoes and mash them, adding milk and butter to make them fluffy. If you are not feeling rushed for time, try making stuffed mashed potato tots. This is a fun twist on the traditional mashed potato recipe that’s sure to be a hit because of its convenience and flavor.

The bite-sized pieces make eating them as a snack easy between classes. Like the traditional recipe, simply cook the potatoes and mash them. Once mashed, mix the potatoes with two cups of milk, a lightly beaten egg, half a cup of sour cream, three pieces of cooked crumbled reminding her that it is an admirable and necessary thing for someone to be the first to do something. Learning to break boundaries has been a defining aspect of Copeland’s career.

Following some of her more famous performances with the ABT, which included Juliet in “Romeo and Juliet,” as well as both the principal roles in “Swan Lake” and “Firebird,” Copeland has begun new projects centered around philanthropic efforts.

Namely, she founded the Misty Copeland Foundation, through which she runs the “BE BOLD” program.

With this foundation, Copeland hopes to bring diversity and equity to the dance world, bringing opportunities for children to explore their interest in dance. Through “BE BOLD,” Copeland aims to remind children that there is a place for them in the dance world if they want it.

“We want to remind dancers that you have a voice beyond just using your body as a voice,” Copeland said.

“There is so much beauty and joy in our authentic stories and experiences of being exposed to dance and to art.”

Copeland has also served as an inspiration to some of UC Davis’ students, and many were excited to hear her speak over Parent and Family Weekend.

“After all the adversity she has faced and time she’s spent in a world that told her so many times that she didn’t belong, she still shows up for

bacon and a tablespoon of seasoning.

After mixing, shape the mixture into tater tots, adding a cube of cheese inside if you would like to. Next, roll the tots in bread crumbs and butter mixture.

Once done, simply bake the tots for about 20 minutes.

Choosing between turkey and ham is a yearly debate, but one thing is for certain, preparing the ham is significantly easier than cooking a turkey — at least in this amateur’s cooking experience. If you want to take the safer route, or just prefer ham, you should recreate “The Cookie R o o k i e ’s” Brown Sugar Glazed Ham. This recipe provides clear

cooking instructions, making cooking the entree a l o t less intimidating. The key to making the perfect ham is to cook the ham 12 minutes per pound, according to the recipe. This will ensure that the ham does not lose too much moisture. To make the sauce, add one cup of brown sugar, half a cup of honey, a third of a cup of Dijon mustard, a quarter cup of unsalted butter, a quarter cup of apple cider vinegar, three cloves of garlic, a quarter teaspoon of ground cinnamon and a quarter teaspoon of ground ginger into a saucepan. Stir periodically and wait for it to bubble. Once it has started bubbling, lower the heat to low and continue cooking it for a few minutes.

Wait for the sauce to cool down and add it to the ham an hour after putting the ham in the oven. Then, let it cook for the remainder of the cooking time.

That said, if cooking a ham, turkey or anything else for that matter is too intimidating and time-consuming, ordering a meal, entree or sides to-go from any grocery store like the Davis Food Co-op is always an affordable and convenient option. herself and the causes she cares about,” first-year communications major and dancer Molly Thompson said.

“At Davis, we constantly hear about ‘diversity, equity and inclusion,’ but putting a face and a real story to that sentiment makes it so much more powerful. Her presentation here is a testament to that.”

Between her career and her philanthropic efforts, Misty Copeland is an important figure for both the dance world as well as for anyone trying to immerse themselves into activities where they might not feel like they belong. Her story can serve as a lesson to people everywhere; when it comes to having a passion, allowing that to lead you is the most important thing you can do. Despite roadblocks or even feelings of imposter syndrome, it is not only okay to be the first to take a risk in order to follow a dream, it is one of the bravest things a person can do.

NIGHTMAREEGGS FROM PAGE 5 They are speaking out of the corners of their mouths, which gives them an odd shape. It truly looks like they were left in the sun a little too long and melted a bit. This gives them an eight on the scare-o-meter.

Finally, the scariest egghead, Eye on

Todd Henry, deputy chief of the Davis Police Department, talked about tips to keep in mind for community members to protect themselves from property crimes.

“It’s taking the common sense steps just ensuring that your property is secure: not leaving things out [and] turning on lights to prevent theft… whatever steps they want to take,” Henry said. “And then the big step is just communication. [...] Communication that neighbors have with each other and the community members have with each other and then communication with us, when [they] know a theft of property has occurred, is obviously probably the most critical element of that.”

He emphasized the importance of communication between neighbors and neighborhoods moving forward to further prevent property crime.

“Not that we can solve every single property crime, but it’s important for people to report it when it does occur because that can be valuable information, especially for seeing a pattern or a pattern develops,” Henry said. “But I think, for me, the biggest thing I would like to see is hopefully neighborhoods interacting with each other more and just communicating with each other… that kind of proactive step of looking out for each other.”

Davis Cards & Games seeks to provide a place of community for those who attend their events

The local business holds weekly tournaments and other events featuring fantasy-based games

BY ZOE SMITH city@theaggie.org Davis Cards & Games supplies the Davis community with games, books, puzzles and models as well as a place to meet to play games. The business holds events for the community every day, with each day of the week featuring a different game for attendees to play.

On Saturdays, people of all ages gather at the local business to play the popular fantasy role-playing game “Dungeons and Dragons” (D&D).

On Mondays, people play the “Magic: The Gathering’’ event called “Community Commander” at 4 p.m.

On Tuesdays, you can find people playing “Pokémon League- Best of One” at 6 p.m. On Thursdays, there is a “Yu-Gi-Oh Advanced Tournament” and a “Digimon TCG Tournament.”

Davis Cards & Games wants to create a business where all people can feel welcomed and safe at their events.

“I’d say the important part of a business like this, especially in a college town, is [being] a good place… separate from your work in school where you can unwind and be yourself,” Brian Roy, manager of Davis Cards & Games, said. “Especially since we try to facilitate a space for people of all walks of life. A big part of our business model is trying to be inclusive to the LGBTQ+ community and really anyone who needs a place to unwind and to not have to worry about finals.”

Eli Chen, a regular at Davis Cards & Games, usually plays “Pokémon League - Best of One” on Tuesdays.

Chen comes for the business’s environment.

“Everybody’s very friendly,” Chen said. “It’s a very welcoming

environment. All the staff at the games are very friendly. You know, it’s just chill. Just a good time. I came here first two years ago because that’s when I first came to Davis and since then I’ve just been on and off. I pretty much know the regulars. There’s usually not too many people here [for Pokémon].

But for ‘Magic’ and ‘Yu-Gi-Oh’ I imagine it’s far more popular [...]. We have a pretty dedicated, pretty decent community.”

Ray Fabionar has been an employee at Davis Cards & Games for two years. He runs the kids D&D events on Saturdays. Fabionar loves the people who show up to participate in their events.

“D&D nights are a lot of fun,” Fabionar said. “I run kids games, birthdays and special events. We also have community events where anyone can drop in and join. It’s a lot of fun.

The ‘D&Ders’ we have here, I love them. They’re all really great people.

The events themselves can get pretty wild, pretty excitable. But there’s usually some good adventuring.”

Roy spoke about which events are the most popular at Davis Cards & Games.

“I think Fridays, Mondays and Thursdays are our busiest [days],” Roy said. “We have free ‘Play Commander’ on Mondays — that gets in a lot of people, especially since it’s free. Friday is the ‘[Friday] Night Magic’ draft, [which is] a very popular format.

Thursday is when we have ‘Digmon’ and ‘Yu-Gi-Oh’ — ‘Yu-Gi-Oh’ is maybe one of our most popular games. So that one brings in tons of people every week as well.”

For those interested in checking out an event, the November schedule can be found on the business’s website.

The Dungeon Master listens intently during the weekly Dungeons and Dragons game night at Davis Cards & Games. (Maia Zhu / Aggie) Mrak. This egghead is upside down and squashed into the concrete, flattening the head. He is wrinkly and looks as if his forehead is slightly deflated as a result of being slammed into the ground. He has closed eyes and a huge smile showcasing his pearly whites.

While he has the biggest smile out of the other eggheads, seeing his teeth for some reason is very uncomfortable. He also has the weirdest feature, which is an eye on the back of his head to symbolize that the chancellor is always being watched by the students, as it was pointed at the chancellor’s office.

However, the chancellor’s office has been moved, so he is creepy with no extra

meaning attached. Eye on Mrak receives a whopping 11 on the scare-o-meter for genuinely being a nightmare to bike past every week.

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

8 | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

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Davis Triceratops Club works hard to foster a sense of community through creativity amidst leadership changes

Students find joy in hosting and participating in scavenger hunts for crocheted dinosaurs

BY LYNN CHEN features@theaggie.org It is no easy feat running a large club like the Davis Triceratops Club.

Currently, the club’s Discord community boasts 5,158 members and each of its events have been wildly popular among students.

The club crochets tiny, colorful dinosaurs and hides them in locations around the UC Davis campus and its vicinity. Students in the club’s Discord community then go on scavenger hunts for these dinosaurs based off of hints given by “droppers” — those responsible for creating and concealing the stuffed animal prizes.

Once a dinosaur is discovered, the finder is deemed the “parent” of their new stuffed toy.

Elizabeth Lau, a second-year civil engineering major, recounted her experience participating in one of the club’s hunts as “chaotic” and “extremely popular.”

She described how she saw a “massive flood” of people walking and riding on bikes to search for the stuffed animals which was “a little overwhelming.”

Melody Adams, a fourth-year psychology major and member of the dinosaur production team for the Davis Triceratops Club also furthered how excited the hunting community can get about drops.

“There are some hunts where I’ve seen like 20 to 30 people all searching around,” Adams said. “If I drop [another] hint, people will start screaming, ‘There’s a new hint, there’s a new hint!’”

“I’m just sitting there, like, ‘this is crazy,’” Adams said.

For those who are unable to procure a crocheted triceratops in a scavenger hunt, the club also hosts raffles and flash sales for its soft animals.

Ada Lei, co-founder and president of the Davis Triceratops Club, attributed the events’ successes to the demand for the stuffed prizes themselves. “[The crocheted] dinosaurs are generally free stuff for people, and college students love free stuff,” Lei said. “Especially if it’s cute and soft and cuddly.”

In addition, Lei stated that the popularity of the hunts reflected the sense of appreciation the Discord community had for the club itself.

“I think a lot of our community, they see the amount of effort that we put into behind the scenes to crochet each piece [...] and to being generous enough to put them out for free for students to just have fun,” Lei said.

On a regular basis, the club hosts “Daily Dino Drops,” which are hunting events that occur randomly and relatively frequently throughout each week. Additionally, each month the color of the prize triceratops changes, making each dinosaur a more distinctive and charming object to scavenge for.

Members in the Discord community can also look forward to limited-time events that feature exclusive dinosaurs.

For example, occasionally a wild “Aggieceratops” might be dropped in an area. These dinosaurs are specially crocheted with blue and gold horns instead of the usual white ones to show off the UC Davis college colors. However, “Aggieceratops” are especially difficult to find due to their vague location hints and the considerable competition to find them.

Additionally, whenever the Discord community reaches a member count milestone, special dinosaurs are released as well. The most recent ones were white-bodied with blue and gold horns.

Another special event that happened the previous month promoted “Franken-Dinos” — crocheted triceratops made from the scrap yarn of other drops. The idea for this event originated from Adams and was especially on theme for Halloween.

Whether it’s for regular drops or special event drops, contributing members of the club take much care in making the scavenger hunting experience fun for everyone.

“I try to go for places that people might not think of right away,” Adams said. “Sometimes, you might look at something and it looks [...] like a really great spot, but I know the hunters will see that too.”

“So I [tend to] go a little bit off the beaten path — maybe around

KELLY GUAN / AGGIE the corner of a building or instead of hiding [the dinos] at eye-level in a bush, I’ll hide it a little below eye-level or a little above it because sometimes people forget to look up,” Adams said.

Adams is a prolific “dropper” for the club and finds joy in contributing to the school community.

“When I first joined, I was just a member, and I really appreciated what they were doing,” Adams said. “People were getting involved and making friends, and going to new places on campus that they’d never seen before.”

However, despite passionate club members and a dedicated online community, the organization is facing some challenges with running operations smoothly.

“I’d say the largest setback we’ve had is an offset in leadership,” Lei said.

“I say I’m the co-founder of Davis Triceratops because the other cofounder up and left all of a sudden.”

Additionally, many previous members have graduated UC Davis, which exacerbated management and organizational difficulties for the club.

Because of this upset in leadership, the club closed down its Discord server for a period of time over winter break in 2022. It reopened again a few weeks into January of 2023 after some reorganization of the online server and

the club itself.

“It takes a lot of time and effort and it takes a big team to run such a large club,” Lei said. “There are a lot of things to take into account.”

For instance, since the goal of the club is to keep things fun and refreshing for the online community –– hence the monthly color changes in triceratops and frequent hosting of exclusive events –– the board members feel the need to keep producing new, original ideas.

“The new ideas also need review,” Lei said. “We need second opinions and you really need a whole team to decide.”

Lei also admitted to suffering from burnout from running the club.

“A lot of that is in part because of how we started out [the club],” Lei said. “We [scaled up] just by doing more [...] but that wasn’t the healthiest thing.”

For Lei, one of the most important lessons she’s learned from building the club from scratch is clearly defining how things are organized within a group.

“When we just started out [...] the number one goal was to see how many dinos we can put out; [making dinos] was more about how much fun everyone was having,” Lei said. “But in

having that being the [...] main goal, we sacrificed a lot of our personal time and efforts. After a while, it became overbearing.”

To battle the burnout she has been suffering with the club, Lei has been trying to delegate tasks and depend on the team more.

Moreover, Lei has started to incorporate more aspects of what she enjoys or is passionate about into the club.

“I want to take a step towards philanthropy, especially with the amount of funding that we make as the Davis Triceratops Club,” Lei said.

She said that she was considering offering a percentage of all the funds raised to a certain philanthropic organization that changes every month.

“We don’t have a particular sort of field that we’re gearing donations towards, but rather we want to contribute to communityvoted [charities],” Lei said. “I’d like to see that we’re making a step to contributing funds towards whatever [the community] is passionate about. It comes back to that sense of appreciation.”

Mission impossible: In search for a triceratops

BY PRISCILA JIMÉNEZ CORRALES pjimenez@ucdavis.edu

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

MEETTHECANDIDATES FROM PAGE 2 Nolan Ching (he/him/his), a firstyear human development major, said that he is running for Senate because he wants to use the ASUCD as a platform to make changes that more accurately represent the needs of the student body.

Ching feels that there is currently a large disconnect when it comes to students knowing the available resources on campus. One aspect of his platform is to bridge this gap by increasing advocacy and outreach for the ASUCD in general.

His platform also expands support for mental health on campus. Ching plans to do this by increasing spending to hire more counselors, and potentially collaborating with the psychology or neuroscience department for a campaign to destigmatize mental health. Ching cited his passion for connecting with community members and experience in speech and debate, as reasons that

he will succeed in the Senate position.

Jonathan Ng (he/him/his), a second-year political science major, said he is running for Senate with the Renaissance slate because he admires their independent ideas. He has served on the ASUCD since Jan. 2023 as the Commissioner of External Affairs, Sponsorship Director of the Entertainment Council and member of the Mental Health Task Force and Executive Advocacy Team. Ng was also recently promoted to Chairperson of the Aggie Mentorship Committee. He is running because he feels the majority of students do not get their true interests represented. Ng’s platform includes increasing the entertainment budget, and strengthening collaborations with student organizations. He discussed the potential of creating a fund for student businesses and start-ups. His platform also includes ensuring equitable parking practices such as providing free parking for student employees and decreasing parking fines. Ng said that his experience within ASUCD and his

connections with a large student base have made him qualified to serve as senator.

Dina Morsy (she/her/hers), a second-year medical and molecular microbiology major, has a platform that centers around increasing mental health resources and equitable education for all students. Morsy recently became Chairperson for the ASUCD STEM Committee, and said she is running for Senate to become more involved in the ASUCD and to help students in any way she can. As a part of her platform, she wants to create a stronger support system for both mental health resources and for students after graduation. Morsy discussed the possibility of collaborating with local businesses to expand job opportunities for all students. She said that her previous leadership experience in highschool and her continued online activism for social justice issues, will lead her to success in a Senate position.

Noblejot Singh Sandhu (he/him/ his) a third-year political science major

is currently running as an independent.

He said that he’s running for the ASUCD Senate to connect with the students on campus with his legislative background and interests. Sandhu ran last quarter for the Senate but was not on campus at the time, and also has experience in legislation at all levels.

Sandhu mentioned his interest in agriculture, coming from an immigrant farming background, as well as his interest and knowledge of the UC Davis campus population.

Sam Hopwood, (he/him/his/they/ them/theirs) a second-year political science major running as part of the Movement Slate, said that he’s running to advocate for those on campus who he views as not just exclusively students, but often tenants, workers and advocates who make up the campus population. Hopwood also spoke about his intention to work on lowering the amount of money students pay on campus in the form of fees and backing the organization of students and student employees on campus. Hopwood ran

for senate last quarter, but has not previously worked for ASUCD. Owen Krauss (he/him/his), a fourth-year international relations major, is running for Senate as an independent. Krauss believes that the two-party system is dividing the ASUCD government when the focus should be on providing resources for students. His platform includes creating subsidies for co-pays for students who have UCSHIP who can’t get adequate health care from the university, the reinstitution of “tipsy taxis” to help students get back to their houses safely, not just to campus and parking fee reductions. Krauss said that students already pay enough money and that the student body is considered the cash cow of UC Davis. Krauss is a former senator and knows the inner workings of the ASUCD system having written many of the bylaws himself. Krauss plans to hit the ground running and is committed to getting the student body’s legislative priorities done.

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023 | 9

Sudoku

Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces.

Every row, column and 3x3 square must contain each digit. Each Sudoku has a unique solution that can be reached logically without guessing.

Crossword

Answer to previous puzzle 11/09/23

Answer to previous puzzle 11/09/23

SCAN TO SUBMIT Scan to submit to our litmag. The theme is “Love, Actually.”

10 | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Student Housing and Dining Services makes Segundo Dining Commons sole dining hall open on weekends

The change was made for the 2023-2024 academic year and a petition has since been created to advocate for the reopening of all dining commons on the weekends

BY KEGEN WELLS campus@theaggie.org Starting in fall 2023, the Student Housing and Dining Services (SHDS) have closed two out of the three UC Davis dining commons during the weekends, with the Segundo Dining Commons as the only shared dining location for the various resident communities.

Kraig Brady, the executive director of Dining Services, discussed the reasoning behind this change.

“After studying our students’ weekend eating patterns, along with the low participation of weekend meal plan holders, consolidating our program out of our Segundo Dining Commons creates a greater operational efficiency that saves money for residents,” Brady said.

This decision was made after reviewing the needs of operations to best fit students through an annual report taken by SHDS, according to Brady.

In past reports, it was shown that when all dining commons were open, low usage of the dining halls on weekends contributed to limited food offerings.

“This consolidated programmatic adjustment allows for an enhanced service experience,” Brady said. “[This includes] a larger array of food

options [with] additional events and entertainment.”

Brady noted that there are food options available seven days a week in the Cuarto and Tercero residential markets, which accept Aggie Cash included in the meal plan.

Many first-year students with seven-day meal plans are upset by this change as they claimed that they were not notified of this prior to enrolling in the plan.

Sheila Soltani, a first-year life sciences major, created an online petition titled, “Justice for 7-Day Meal Plans,’’ advocating for the opening of all dining halls. This petition also highlighted the need to increase the availability of vegetarian and halal food options in the Segundo dining hall.

“Only one dining hall is open on the weekends, [the] Segundo Dining Commons,” the petition read. “They have very little vegetarian and halal options in general. They also close [early] at 8 p.m. on the weekend.”

The petition began on Oct. 1 and has received over 600 signatures since.

“If I had known earlier, I would have chosen the 5-day meal plan,” Soltani said.

Residents at Cuarto and Tercero have the option to switch to a 5-day meal plan, according to Brady, if they believe that it would better fit their

HEIDI TEJEDA / AGGIE

The exterior of Segundo Dining Commons, the only operating weekend dining hall, reflects the ongoing campus debate over the limited weekend food options. (Summer Sueki / Aggie) needs throughout the school year.

“Every year, changing meal plans is common as students adjust to their eating habits throughout the year,”

Brady said. “Some students decrease to a 5-day meal plan, and some students increase to a seven-day meal plan.”

The current hours of operation are

set to continue through the remainder of the 2023-2024 academic year.

ALLISON VO / AGGIE

From The California Aggie’s archives: This day in the 1970s

Nov. 16, 1972

Nov. 16, 1970 Nov. 16, 1978

NOVA MAI / AGGIE

Nov. 16, 1979

Nov. 16, 1976

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

ISSUE DATE 8PT GOTHAM | PAGEH#

SCIENCE AND TECH Genetic research may allow golden retrievers to live longer A gene variant in the breed has a significant association with cancer occurrences

BY KATIE HELLMAN science@theaggie.org Golden retrievers are known for being playful, affectionate and gentle, making them one of the most popular dog breeds around the world. Unfortunately, these beloved pets are also known for one more key characteristic: they are diagnosed with cancer at alarming rates.

Golden retrievers have a typical lifespan of 10-12 years, and around 65 percent of them die from a form of cancer. The most common cancers that affect golden retrievers are lymphoma, hemangiosarcoma, osteosarcoma and mast cell tumors; they compromise around 80 percent of all cancer deaths in this breed.

A new study from UC Davis has identified a variant in the 5’UTR (a region of messenger RNA) of the ERBBR genes in goldens, which is correlated with lifespan and plays a role in the risk of developing cancer.

“The association to ERBB4 was certainly intriguing since golden retrievers are predisposed to cancer and ERBB4 is a member of the EGFR family of oncogenes,” the study reads.

“ERBB4 is also the only member of the EGFR family that can function as either an oncogene or a tumor suppressor gene.”

The study consisted of over 300 golden retriever participants. DNA was collected from the blood of golden retrievers who had died young and from goldens who were alive at the age of 14. The findings revealed that the goldens with the aforementioned gene variants lived for an average of 1.9 years longer, which is about a 15-20 percent increase in lifespan.

Additionally, female goldens lived for a noticeably longer time than their male counterparts, even when both groups had the gene variant.

This is likely due to the interaction of hormones like estrogen, which play a greater role in the development of females than males.

Certain variants in this gene are linked to a two-year increase in lifespan. ERBB4 is in the same gene family as HER2, a gene associated with

Often used for search and rescue teams, Golden Retrievers have a keen sense of smell and impressive tracking abilities.

(Courtesy / Purdue University’s Department of Veterinary Clinical Services) rapid cancer growth, and is specifically correlated with human epidermal growth factor receptors. Additionally, the gene belongs to a protein family that is prevalent in human cancers as well, meaning that this new research can have implications in both the veterinary and medical fields.

Danika Bannasch of the UC Davis

School of Veterinary Medicine coauthored the study and commented on its significance in an interview with UC Davis Health.

“There are going to be many genes involved, but the fact that the gene associated with longevity is also a gene involved in cancer was really interesting to us,” Bannasch said.

The co-corresponding author of the study, Robert Rebhun of the School of Veterinary Medicine, commented on the potential impacts of these findings on human cancer research.

“If we can confirm that this variant plays a role in longevity or in the onset or progression of cancer in

golden retrievers, future mechanistic studies will be aimed at determining how this variant is altering genetic or environmental risks of cancer,” Rebhun said. “Because this family of genes is known to be dysregulated in human cancer, these studies may also be important in the development and progression of some human cancers.”

Your guide to staying warm this fall

Read some tips and tricks from Davis students on how to layer your clothes for the cold season “A tight long sleeve goes miles,” Hurley said. “If the shirt allows air movement through, it defeats its whole purpose.”

In general, try to throw on a layer of skin-tight clothing as a base. If the weather calls for more coverage than a tight-fitting long sleeve can provide, you can layer with a tank top, long sleeve, t-shirt, sweater or sweatshirt and finally an overcoat.

During the fall months when the days still warm up on occasion, which can create overheating challenges for our highly layered friends, you should have the ability to remove some layers, jacket or long sleeve for example, to achieve a nice and moderate temperature. By staying vigilant on your necklines, length of layers and how your colors are mixing, you can

KELLY GUAN / AGGIE

create a multitude of combinations of layers to help you all season long.

Some other accessorizing essentials that will be helpful this fall and winter are gloves, double socking, hats and scarves. Our WEF directors both shared that they prefer to double sock with a normal sock first, and a fuzzy pair on top. Briana Huynh, a second-year biochemistry major and employee of the Aggie Reuse Store in the Memorial Union, emphasized to biking students to “wear gloves when you bike, and [to wear their] hood up.” The mornings, and honestly entire days during the height of the winter season, are unbearable without gloves.

Our WEF directors echoed the same sentiments and Hurley attested

to the warmth that hats give her, she points out that throughout the year “you will always see [her] in a hat.”

Mele also added scarves into the conversation, originally forgetting to mention them, showing that we often forget how useful they can be.

Gearing up for the winter season requires more than just layering, though. As the sunset begins to lengthen our evenings and the chilling fog settles on Davis, sometimes all you want to do is lay on the couch, stream a feel-good movie, cuddle up in a warm blanket and enjoy the wide variety of comfort Davis can offer.

Happy fall, Davis! Wishing everyone a warm and cozy season.

Season change

BY LANHUI ZHEN lazhen@ucdavis.edu

BY BREANNA SANDERS features@theaggie.org It seemed as though it was an overnight change: from strutting through downtown in the warm late-summer days to shivering while biking in the cold, each shallow breath accompanied by a thick fog indicating the brisk fall is upon us.

For Davis residents this is just the beginning as fall fades into winter and brings colder mornings and earlier nights. How will we persist? How will we, with all these factors stacked against us, rise out of our warm beds and make it through the day? The answer is simple: learn to layer.

Learning to layer your clothes can be tricky, but these tips should help you stylishly survive. First things first — what does it mean to layer clothes?

Putting items on top of each other can create a sense of warmth and allow you to use items in your closet yearround. To allow a versatile and lasting wardrobe, focusing on how your own

items allow for layering is a good place to start, rather than trying to curate a whole new collection.

I got the opportunity to interview this year’s Whole Earth Festival (WEF) directors Olivia Hurley, fourth-year design and community regional development double major, and Emma Mele, fourth-year environmental policy analysis and planning major.

Mele explained her reasoning that “if [her] legs are warm, then the rest of [her body] is pretty [warm enough].”

In order to achieve the level of coziness to her liking, Mele manages to get up to four layers consisting of tights, leggings, thin(ish) pajamas and finally her signature look of baggy pants. While four layers might seem excessive to some, Mele, who grew up in Los Angeles, is not equipped for the chilly weather that drops into the 50s, 40s and even 30s, expressing that “the lowest it gets [at home] is a cool 65, and even then [she’s] shivering.”

As for top layers, Hurley advised that a long-sleeve can make all the difference.

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

12 | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

SPORTS

Athletes are more than just their respective sports

Spotlighting UC Davis athletes and their goals off the field

BY MI’ZAUNI REESE sports@theaggie.org With UC Davis boasting an extensive Division I athletics program, it’s easy for Aggie fans to forget that athletes have lives outside of the locker room. Many Davis athletes participate in all facets of campus life; whether it be working at the CoHo or leading student governing bodies, these players are dedicated to making the most of their university experience.

Jeremiah Chukwudobe, a fifthyear political science major playing for our football team, finds himself deeply immersed in the Davis community as a leader of Athletes in Action, an organization set to spread the principles of Christianity. Jeremiah got involved during his first year at Davis and became more rooted in the organization as years went on.

Through Athletes in Action, Jeremiah has become a community leader in bridging the gap between differing athletic teams, as well as an “emotional rock” for many athletes on various teams, as he spreads the word of God. His passion for religion is more than biblical, as he describes his community work as a lifestyle, more so than a religion. Chukwudobe described “love” as the principle he pushes for the most.

“God says love covers a multitude of sins,” Chukwudobe said. “With rumors of war and everything going on, there has been a lack of love in the world. I hope that if I can leave seeds of love, they can spread and grow and make the world a better place, little by little.”

Kaitlyn Lyle is a fourth-year

HEIDI TEJEDAI / AGGIE psychology major and mental health advocate. Lyle has been representing the UC Davis gymnastics team in both bar and beam events. Lyle is profoundly invested in promoting and supporting student-athlete mental health, as it far too often pushed to the back burner for many athletes while they juggle class, sports and other extracurriculars.

As an active member of Athletes for Hope, a non-profit advocating for student-athlete mental health, she is essential in the creation of curriculum and protocols for the prevention and normalization of mental health in athletics. She went on to describe what she thinks athletes need to focus on.

“You are not your accolades, you are human,” Lyle said as she urged athletes to open up the conversation about mental health. “Vulnerability is a superpower, not a weakness.”

She then explained how she finds the time and motivation to participate in Athletes for Hope, the on-campus Mental Health Student Athlete Resource Group and Asian/Pacific Islander Student Athlete Resource Group.

“My purpose lights my fire and my passion fuels it,” Lyle said. “What pushes me to excel is the potential impact I can make on the community and the possibility to create a better

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Buzzer-beater layup leads Davis to a one-point victory over Pepperdine

future.”

Lyle will hopefully soon formalize her work, as she works with Athletes for Hope to create a National Athlete Bill of Rights to protect athletes, especially their mental health. You can hear more about this on her podcast, “Athletes for Hope,” a platform for athletes to share their stories and experiences with mental health.

With a long-standing history of community service within the Los Angeles community, Alexys Ford now puts most of her efforts toward supporting the UC Davis Black Student Athletes. As a fifth-year psychology major and now a prominent leader of

Sports Calendar

UC Davis men’s basketball stays undefeated for the first few games of the season

UC Davis seizes thrilling victory by one point in Big West Opener against Pepperdine. (Jersain Medina / Aggie)

BY MEGAN JOSEPH sports@theaggie.org With one final second to go, the UC Davis Aggies were down by one point after a thrilling fight against the University of Pepperdine Waves on Nov. 9. The game appeared to be ending in a tie until third-year Ty Johnson received the ball from his teammates and made his buzzer-beater layup resulting in a one-point win by the Aggies.

The first half of the match proved to be very intense for the Aggies as they were having no luck making it to the other team’s basket and scoring points.

Even though the Aggies were doing their best to complete passes and make plays throughout the first half, only 31 points were scored against the opposing 48.

With the Aggies just barely shooting 35 percent from the field in the first half, many fans and attendees were skeptical of a comeback. Nonetheless, the Aggies proved those with doubts wrong and had a shooting percentage of 72 from the field in the second half of the game.

The half-time talk from head coach Jim Les changed the Aggies’ performance going into the second half of the grueling match against Pepperdine. Although the Aggies were trailing Pepperdine by 17 points, they showed their determination by scoring a total of 48 points. Led by Johnson, the Aggies’ offense made one of the best comebacks of the season.

With this newfound momentum, the Aggies continued pushing for a

win that finally came when Johnson scored his game-winning layup with less than one second left on the clock.

Even though Johnson only scored four points in the first half of the game, he impressed teammates and viewers alike when he scored 24 points in the second half of the game. Johnson not only scored a remarkable number of points, he also claimed a total of three steals for the Aggies. As Johnson held his composure for the entirety of the game, he showed that he has a lot in store for fans who were left ecstatic for the next game.

Side by side with teammate Johnson, fourth-year Elijah Pepper scored a total of 24 points throughout the game. Together the duo scored 52 of the 79 points in the entire game — an achievement no other Aggies have come close to so far this season. Showing off his accuracy in his three-pointer shots, Pepper even helped the Aggies in their 7-0 point run during the second half.

Following Pepper’s performance and game time last year, we should expect to see Pepper on the court for the majority of the season.

Another stellar performance in this nail-biting game came from none other than fourth-year Kane Milling. He not only assisted Johnson in the offense by scoring a total of eight points, but also had six rebounds and four steals. As one of the most well-rounded players on the team, Milling has exemplified his potential for the rest of the season, possibly resulting in an Aggie league

NATALIE CHENG / AGGIE win.

An Aggie that wasn’t as present in this game but that we should expect to see more of in the future is fourth-year Ade Adebayo. Last season, Adebayo was named defensive MVP due to his tenacity in the 28 games he started for and his multiple game-saving plays for the Aggies. In contrast to his performance last year, Adebayo was just warming up as he only scored two rebounds this game. That said, both of the rebounds attributed to the Aggies’ win and are just the beginning of what’s to come from Adebayo this season.

The Aggies looked ready to take on the season as they beat the Waves and are preparing to face their next opponents in the coming weeks. The team seems to be aiming to make it to the Big West championships this season and have a good shot at winning with the group unity they put forth.

the track and field team, Ford allocates time to hold a position as a board member of the Coalition for African Diaspora Student Athletes (CADSA).

The purpose of CADSA and the work she does is to bridge the gap between CADSA organizations/ resources and the Black athletes on campus. She described the overarching goal as being to create a safe space in which Black athletes feel welcomed, supported and validated.

Her work is self-defined as “... advocating for Black student athletes while they strive to overcome the unique set of challenges that we face as athletes and students at predominantly White institutions.” This activism remains close to her heart.

Ford continued to talk about her impactful work and her mission with CADSA. “This work impacts me a lot because I see firsthand these disadvantages or lack of attention we are receiving as African American student athletes,” Ford said. “I want to help other people like me, who feel like their voice isn’t heard.”

Overall, the bridge between being an athlete and a student at UC Davis has never been so complicated and impactful. It is important to remember the significant contributions these athletes make to the Davis community even if it does not involve applying their sport expertise. Although we acknowledged only a few of our university’s athletes who play a bigger part in our community, all of the athletes are more than just their role on the field.

KATHERINE FRANK / AGGIE