October 29, 2020

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VOLUME 139, ISSUE 4 | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020

UC ACCESS NOW DEMANDS CHANGE IN DISABILITIES SERVICES, RIGHTS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AT THE UCS UC Davis students and Student Disabilities Center director discuss accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities on UC campuses

The Student Disability Center at UC Davis. (Quinn Spooner /Aggie)

BY SOPHIE DEWEES campus@theaggie.org UC Access Now, a coalition for disability rights, was initiated by a UC Davis graduate student and currently includes members from five UC campuses. Megan Lynch, a graduate student of horticulture and agronomy, organized this campaign and its “Demandifesto,” published in July 2020, that outlines goals and demands for UC campuses and facilities.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Enacted in 1990, the ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities and ensures that they have the same rights and access to opportunities as non-disabled people. The Demandifesto refers to issues with UC campuses’ infrastructure and demands the UC “make a serious attempt to retrofit buildings still in use or take the opportunity to demolish them or build new ones that are not just up to ADA standard but beyond.” Lynch echoed that sentiment and said that UC Davis and the UC need to meet the ADA’s standards and go beyond the minimum requirements to demonstrate a commitment to protecting disability rights.

“Even [with the] ADA, itself, [...] people are treating it as ‘Well, we’ve met ADA, that’s the end of what we need to do for you disabled people here,’” Lynch said. “That shows that what you care about is that the law is forcing you to treat us as equals, and the moment the law stops forcing you to do something, you don’t actually care to treat us as equals, you don’t care whether we have access, you don’t care whether we’re included in the campus community.”

The demands of UC Access Now include establishing disability as a part of diversity efforts, bringing campus buildings up to, and beyond, ADA standards and including people with disabilities in decision-making processes.

Jennifer Billeci, the director of the UC Davis Student Disability Center (SDC), also sees the ADA as a minimum requirement and said that improving accessibility is an ongoing goal for the SDC. “I agree that the Americans with Disabilities Act [is] a starting point,” Billeci said via email. “The Student Disability Center actively pursues opportunities to expand services and enhance support for students with disabilities and all students regardless of their association with the Student Disability Center.”

Efforts like UC Access Now that aim to improve accessibility for people with disabilities at UCs are a historically common occurrence. In 2011, a UC Santa Barbara student filed a lawsuit against the UC system because he allegedly was denied a job on the basis of his disability. Five years later in 2017, a former UC San Diego undergraduate student sued the university, alleging that the staff had failed to accommodate his disability. Earlier this year, a student cited issues with accessibility and accommodations in the animal science department at UC Davis. Last month, a judge ruled that the UC must suspend the use of all SAT and ACT scores, citing that allowances for test-optional applications puts students with disabilities at a disadvantage.

One in four adults in the U.S. have some type of disability, according to the CDC. According to Lynch, the UC system, as a publicly-funded entity, has a duty to provide the opportunity for education to every member of the California public, not just nondisabled members.

“I am a lifelong Californian, [and I have] every bit as much right to have a first-class educational experience here that is accessible to me, as anyone else does,” Lynch said. “This is my right. You are denying me my rights—and not just me, loads of other people.”

The Autism and Neurodiversity Community at UC Davis took part in writing the Demandifesto. According to Erica Mineo, a fourth-year biological sciences major and the vice president of the

Autism and Neurodiversity Community, disability stigma is present on the UC Davis campus among undergraduates, graduate students and faculty.

“It’s more of a way that disabled students are perceived,” Mineo said. “It’s really telling when, say, you have the wheelchair accessible entrance out in the back of a building along with the trash and the freight. I think that just says it all. I guess some say that our campaign might be a bit too radical. But I would argue that change needs to start somewhere, and you don’t necessarily need to seek to have everybody agree with you in order to make change.”

In terms of accommodations, Mineo mentioned the problems that can arise from having one solution for the variety of needs that people with autism or disabilities might have. According to Mineo, although she appreciates the efforts to accommodate her needs, whether accommodations work for an individual is subjective.

“I feel like they’re kind of lumped under a one-size-fits-all type of thing,” Mineo said. “A one-size-fits-all solution like these ‘reduced distraction’ testing environments. What is reduced distraction, compared to a really noisy lecture hall where if I were to take an exam there, I would be on the verge of a panic attack versus, say, maybe a slightly smaller room with a few people? It could still be distracting, but it’s reduced. That might not be the right accommodations for some people.”

This month, UC Davis received a $2.1 million grant to establish a four-year program for students with intellectual disabilities, including autism. The Supported Education to Elevate Diversity (SEED) will be the first scholar program in California to provide these kinds of services and opportunities for students with disabilities throughout their pursuit of higher education.

One way to improve student services is to employ more people with diverse disabilities at the SDC, as they would have a firsthand understanding of living with different disabilities, according to Lynch.

“It would be important that they be staffed by people [...] with a variety of disabilities,” Lynch said. “I, with my disabilities, am not going to spot something that somebody with autism has, for instance, and would be concerned about.”

According to Billeci, 44% of the SDC staff has disclosed one or more disabilities and similar representation can be found among student staff.

“Disability is a crucial element of diversity,” Billeci said via email. “Disability is also uniquely individual. To fully achieve representation, it’s important to recognize that input from many is required to create equitable access. The Student Disability Center prioritizes opportunities to widen staff representation in all areas of diversity—we know that a diverse staff makes [...] our efforts most effective.”

For Mineo, the most difficult part of the campaign has been increasing awareness and gaining support from the community.

“This campaign needs more visibility, and we need more neurotypical, abled allies expressing support,” Mineo said. “It can’t just be us because I think it just needs to be a more unified effort.”

Furthermore, Lynch said that broader support and including disability rights in larger issues could have a positive impact on not only the UC system, but also other universities and workplaces.

“If we could, while we’re talking about how we’re [going to] reimagine the world, get this issue in there as well, because it is an intersectional issue, and every group has disabled people in it,” Lynch said, “We could do so much to make the world a better place.”

CULTURE OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AT UC DAVIS DISCUSSED UC DAVIS WILL NO LONGER OFFER FORBY CARE, ADMINISTRATORS, GREEK LIFE MEMBERS CREDIT PE CLASSES CARE staff comment on sexual violence, harrasment reporting process STARTING WINTER

BY KATHLEEN QUINN campus@theaggie.org

Students can access free and confidential support services by reaching the CARE office at (530) 752-3299, the Women’s Resources and Research Center at (530) 752-3372 or the LGBTQIA+ Resource Center at (530) 7522452. Students can also schedule individual counseling from the SHCS by calling them at (530) 752-0871.

As victims of sexual assault navigate the complex system of checks and balances the university has in place, the campus office of the Center for Advocacy, Resources and Education (CARE) provides counseling as well as advocacy for sexual assault victims.

The process for reporting a claim of sexual assault includes Harassment and Discrimination Assistance, Title IX, Judicial Affairs and sometimes the campus police department.

Chief Compliance Officer Wendi Delmendo from the Office of Compliance and Policy said that she appreciates the role of CARE in assisting to explain the reporting process.

“It’s very complex,” Delmendo said.

“That’s why CARE is such a valuable resource for individuals who have experienced sexual harassment or sexual violence. They can explain this in multiple ways, and hopefully ways that make more sense.”

With a staff of five, CARE supported 139 students who reported incidents of sexual assault between July 2019 and June 2020, and also assisted in 194 other incidents related to stalking, partner violence and sexual harassment. It is one of the smaller offices in terms of the campus population, according to Sarah Meredith, the director of CARE. Victoria Choi, a fourth-year English major who recently used CARE and pursued an alternative resolution with the university, which forgoes a formal Title

IX investigation and does not assign guilt, discussed her experience with access to resources and the process.

“CARE was extremely effective,” Choi said. “My advocate was pivotal in helping me heal and navigate this process. I didn’t want to have hearings and meetings and investigations and witnesses, evidence. I didn’t want to do all of that to prove that this happened to me. I didn’t feel like I needed to prove that. I just wanted the situation to be resolved in a way that would make me feel safe.”

All the counselors at CARE are licensed rape crisis and domestic violence counselors, which prevents them from disclosing information to others without written consent, Meredith said.

Recent Title IX changes that took effect in August include increased evidential requirements. It also requires the person testifying at the hearing to see and be seen by the accused, said OSSJA Director Donald Dudley via email.

“It makes the process more difficult for

the people reporting; it places a lot more benefit of the doubt on the people being accused,” Choi said. “I didn’t want to have to deal with the potential of being invalidated by being questioned in the process of a Title IX investigation.”

Delmendo said that the UC system remains minimally impacted by the changes, but noted that some changes resulted in increased due process for the accused.

“Largely, it’s not changing the way we work with people who make reports to our office,” Delmendo said. “I think the UC system did a really good job of accounting for the new regulations in our process while trying to retain all of our prior processes.”

Meredith said she understands the importance of a thorough investigation, but said she also understands how hard it is for survivors to relive that experience as they go through the process of being questioned.

ASSAULT on 11 KATHERINE FRANKS / AGGIE

Petition circulates to keep PE courses funded by student fees from the SASI referendum passed in 1994

UC Davis Health Stadium. (Quinn Spooner /Aggie)

BY HANNAH BLOME campus@theaggie.org A petition has been circling around social media platforms that protests UC Davis’ recent decision to terminate physical education (PE) classes.

“On Sept. 25, 2020, UC Davis made the sudden decision to eliminate the entire Physical Education program effective Winter Quarter 2021,” the petition reads. “This is a direct violation of the spirit of the SASI referendum and the understanding and intentions of the students who passed it in 1994.”

After budget cuts reduced funding for athletics, recreational sports and recreational services at UC Davis in the 1990s, ASUCD sponsored a referendum for a $34 student fee increase per quarter. The Student Activities and Services Initiative (SASI) was passed during a special election in 1994 after students voted to continue the fee as a temporary fund for Intercollegiate Athletics (ICA) and other recreation programs, according to the UC Davis Council on Student Affairs and Fees.

PE on 11

2 | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Institutional, motivational barriers to voting are still present, experts say Although researchers say “overt suppression” tactics have ended in California, historically underrepresented groups still show lower turnout in voting and registration

BY MARGO ROSENBAUM city@theaggie.org

An official ballot drop box outside of Davis City Offices in Davis, California. (Quinn Spooner / Aggie)

As the Nov. 3 election approaches, election talk seems to consume every aspect of daily life— ballot boxes dot sidewalks, “I voted” selfies fill social media feeds and advertisements for state propositions stream on TV. While California is currently seeing the highest voter registration rate since 1940, much work still needs to be done to ensure all individuals have equal opportunities to vote, according to Christina Fletes-Romo, a voting rights attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. Despite efforts by states to make voting accessible for all, suppression tactics and practices continue to be prevalent today.

“Voter suppression is an effort to prevent people from voting with the goal of manipulating a political outcome and silencing the voice and political power of certain communities,” Fletes-Romo said via email. “The targets of voter suppression are most often Black, Latino, Indigenous and other voter[s] of color, as well as students, and people with disabilities.”

Voter suppression has a long history in the U.S., such as through poll taxes and literacy tests, according to Fletes-Romo. Voter suppression continues to be prevalent today, taking shape both institutionally—through voter ID laws,

gerrymandering and felony disenfranchisement— as well as motivationally—through poor education, unequal access to language assistance and rhetorical tactics used to confuse or avert voters.

Many of the barriers present throughout U.S. history stem from a struggle for achieving and maintaining power, according to Ellen HartiganO’Connor, a UC Davis associate professor of history and the associate dean of graduate studies in the department of history.

“Your vote is about how your voice is represented,” Hartigan-O’Connor said. “A person’s vote is their power and their demand that their considerations be heard.”

Voting systems in the U.S. were built on intersectional racial and gender hierarchies, explaining many of the barriers present for traditionally underrepresented groups, HartiganO’Connor said.

“A more inclusive voting population is a challenge to inherited racial power,” HartiganO’Connor said. “The vote is certainly one form of political participation and it’s central to American history. The idea that the vote is how we are represented in our forms of government, and that that representation is a way that we then hand over certain kinds of power to the government.”

VOTERSUPPRESSION on 11

UC Davis alumnus Charles Rice wins Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Professor of virology recognized for discovery of the hepatitis C virus

BY MICHELLE WONG science@theaggie.org When Charles Rice, a professor of virology at The Rockefeller University, heard his landline ringing at 4:30 a.m., he figured someone from his laboratory was pulling a prank on him. But when the voice on the other end of the line mentioned the names of his co-Laureates and hepatitis C, Rice’s initial irritation turned into shock and disbelief. He had won a Nobel Prize.

“It’s not something you can readily go back to sleep after hearing,” Rice said.

After years of work in the field, Rice has been honored with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the hepatitis C virus.

As explained in an article by The Rockefeller University, Rice was responsible for finding the missing sequence on the hepatitis C genome and demonstrating that this virus was sufficient enough to cause hepatitis C in animals. He also developed a way for the virus to replicate in cells without producing the disease itself, allowing researchers to develop drugs inhibiting replication using his technique.

James Letts, an assistant professor in the department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at UC Davis, explained that hepatitis C is a chronic

infection, which leads to serious conditions such as liver cancer or cirrhosis.

“Especially these days with the pandemic, we really understand how devastating these viruses can be and it’s very rare to actually be able to cure one,” Letts said. “[Rice’s] work really paved the way to develop these types of treatments that can essentially clear the virus from the system from a human being.”

Before his involvement with virology, Rice studied zoology at UC Davis as an undergraduate student. Even now, he still has fond memories of his time at Davis: working in the library, sitting on the lawn in the Quad when the weather was nice and living with his close friends on Rice Lane.

According to Mark Winey, the dean of UC Davis’s College of Biological Sciences, Rice had mentioned in previous interviews that participating in research during his early academic career at Davis helped him to see himself as a scientist.

“That hands-on experience and the opportunity to work in a lab or do field work is really important in helping students find their path,” Winey said.

Rice’s interest in viruses was sparked when he was placed in a virology lab during his graduate studies at the California Institute of Technology.

NOBELPRIZE on 11

Charles Rice, a UC Davis alumnus, shares the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with two other co-Laureates for their work in dicovering the hepatitis C virus. (Rockefeller University / Courtesy)

Davis Joint Unified School District introduces new learning plan, UC Davis ARC prepares for reopening More entities allowed to reopen under Red Tier, sense of “normalcy” slowly returns to Davis

BY JELENA LAPUZ city@theaggie.org Yolo County’s movement into the Red Tier for the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed some entities to begin planning for new ways of operation. The Davis Joint Unified School District (DJUSD) has started preparing for a hybrid learning plan while the UC Davis Activities and Recreation Center (ARC) is planning to gradually reopen later this year.

Superintendent John A. Bowes of DJUSD released an official statement regarding the district’s upcoming plans.

The statement explained how Yolo County was placed down into the Red Tier from the Purple Tier for COVID-19 infection rates. As a result, the DJUSD plans to observe if the county can stay in this tier for two weeks consecutively in order for schools to begin restricted in-person learning.

“I want to underscore the incredibly serious nature of this situation, and how critical a moment this is for our District and our community,” the statement reads. “We must get this right and we are moving cautiously and deliberately to make plans and decisions around classroom and school health and safety protocols, health checks and contact tracing, staffing plans and formalizing collective bargaining agreements.”

Public Information Officer of DJUSD Maria Clayton provided some insight on the importance of socializing for students.

“I think that living through a pandemic is difficult for everyone and we are really trying as a school district to serve students in all ways,” Clayton said. “In addition to making sure we can have the best academic program, we are also very conscientious of the social, emotional and mental

health needs of students.”

Bowes further described in his statement that the DJUSD will take “a measured, phasedapproach to the gradual return to campus.” The district plans on working with the Yolo County Public Health Department and the Yolo County Office of Education, as well as introducing new “stakeholder outreach” for families, staff and students.

“As we carefully monitor the County COVID-19 rates, we are developing plans for Phase 3—a hybrid model that includes [an] on-campus instructional component,” the statement reads.

“The timeline for reaching Phase 3 is still unknown and depends on County COVID-19 numbers, collective bargaining agreements with our labor partners, and the successful implementation of Phase 2 of our Return to Campus Plan.”

Clayton added that while plans are constantly changing, the district is adapting to put the students’ best interests at the forefront.

“In this environment, there really is no perfect solution,” Clayton said. “We are just trying to do the best we can for all students with the data that we have each day, and that continues to evolve.”

Bowes added a final comment about his hopes of maintaining a hybrid model through the rest of the school year.

“There is still a long road ahead with the potential for many bumps, twists and turns,” the statement reads. “We are preparing for the rest of the school year by planning ways to offer a hybrid model that includes an on-campus instructional component while also providing for the health and safety of students and staff.”

The UC Davis ARC is also allowed to reopen under the Red Tier, and will do so on November 1st for students with 10% maximum occupancy.

Associate Director of UC Davis Campus Recreation Andy Ramirez provided more insight

KATHERINE HUNG / AGGIE

via email on the long process to reopen the ARC. Ramirez explained via email that the ARC closed mid-March due to the pandemic, but reopened briefly over summer before having to close again after two weeks due to a state mandate.

“After closing mid-March, our staff worked hard to adjust to fast changing best practices for recreation facilities throughout the country,” Ramirez said via email. “We adjusted our protocols to mitigate risks where we could.”

Ramirez further noted via email that this short opening helped the staff prepare for the upcoming reopening in November by introducing new modifications, which include, but are not limited to, a requirement to wear a mask, complete a

symptom survey and socially distance six feet apart.

Students will also need to reserve a time slot in advance in order to follow proper social distancing guidelines, as well as follow other guidelines.

Ramirez added a final comment regarding the importance of recreation “to the physical and mental well-being” of students.

“Wellness and exercise is really important during these times, and our number one priority is student safety,” Ramirez said via email. “To help keep our Aggie community healthy, we ask that students follow university guidelines and protocol when visiting our facilities.”

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020 | 3

WOODLAND’S LAB@AGSTART WILL PROVIDE INNOVATION OPPORTUNITIES IN FIELDS OF HEALTH, AGRICULTURE Lab and co-working space to open early 2021, adding more research positions to the region

BY SHRADDHA JHINGAN city@theaggie.org In September, AgStart, a “nonprofit incubator” that helps increase the growth of food tech and agricultural companies and “strengthens the region’s innovative ecosystem,” announced the creation of Lab@AgStart.

An AgStart press release described Lab@ AgStart as “a unique, broad-based publicprivate collaboration to fund a new, shared-use innovation incubator in Woodland supporting innovators and startup companies” in the fields of health, food and agriculture.

Woodland Business Engagement and Marketing Manager Stephanie Burgos explained via email that Lab@AgStart will have almost 4,800 square feet of lab space including a food and wet lab as well as co-working space.

“The location and amenities associated with this shared-use innovation incubator will fill a longtime and growing need for lab space within the Sacramento Valley,” Burgos said via email.

The collaboration with Yolo County, the City of Woodland, the U.S. Economic Development Administration, the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and other private donors will have the potential to support many innovations, according to the press release.

“Examples of innovations that the Lab@ AgStart could support include environmentallyfriendly biocontrol products for agriculture, new drought-resistant crops, and new food-asmedicine ingredients,” the press release reads.

Lab@AgStart will be able to open in early 2021, according to John Selep, the president of AgTech Innovation Alliance, a nonprofit organization and sponsor for AgStart.

“When it opens in early 2021, the Lab@

AgStart facility will be the largest shared-use wetlab facility for startup companies in the entire Central Valley region,” Selep said. “Construction on the improvements necessary to outfit the lab will commence this fall and the Lab@AgStart should be ready for occupancy in the first quarter of 2021.”

The idea for Lab@AgStart originated two years ago due to a shortage of research facilities in the Sacramento region, according to Burgos.

“A front-page article in the Sacramento Business Journal two years ago had triggered conversations about the lack of available lab space to support innovative startups and their commercialization efforts,” Burgos said via email. “Conversations with Federal Economic Development Administration officials began in earnest starting in April 2019. Detailed conversations with startup entrepreneur stakeholders, economic analyses, and formal proposals, began soon afterward.”

Lab@AgStart will allow scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs to innovate in the health, food and ag fields, while also demonstrating “what Woodland and Yolo County have to offer,” according to Burgos.

AgStart’s website describes that innovation in the fields of food technology and agriculture “drive high-value jobs and economic growth in the Sacramento region despite increased energy, environmental and labor regulation, water and labor shortages, and changing consumer preferences.”

Burgos described the importance of Lab@ AgStart’s communal facilities, which will encourage researchers to work together.

“A key component of the Lab is that it is a SHARED space, meaning that occupant businesses will have the unique opportunity to

MARIO RODRIGUEZ / AGGIE

interact and collaborate with other innovators,” Burgos said via email.

The main goal of the program is to support innovators and startups in these fields. A longterm goal of Lab@AgStart, however, is also to show that there is demand for more lab spaces to justify expanding Lab@AgStart and other such facilities.

“Through The Food Front—our City of Woodland-led initiative—we make it a priority to celebrate the sustainable, local, and innovative actions of our existing 190+ food and ag businesses,” Burgos said. “Within this same

mission, we also support actions such as the Lab@AgStart, which will foster opportunities to help existing companies expand their operations and welcome in new innovators.”

Ultimately, Burgos explained that the collaboration will help increase innovation in the fields of food, agriculture and health.

“We look forward to seeing these innovators thrive and benefit from our existing network of ag leaders and bring new ideas to the table to accelerate innovation within our region,” Burgos said.

LEGISLATION CHANGING NUMBER OF SIGNATURES NEEDED TO DECLARE CANDIDACY IN LIGHT OF PANDEMIC PASSES, DISCUSSION OF SR #25 AT OCT. 15 MEETING Confirmation of commissioners and unit directors among items completed

BY AARYA GUPTA campus@theaggie.org The weekly virtual ASUCD Senate meeting on Oct. 15 was called to order at 6:10 p.m. by Vice President Emily Barneond.

After ex-officio and elected officer reports were delivered, Samantha Veres, a fourth-year cognitive science major, and Aparna Manoj, a third-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major, were confirmed as commissioners for the Mental Health Initiative.

“I was really drawn to [the Mental Health Initiative] because I wanted to learn how to be a better ally for my friends when it came to mental health,” Veres said. “I found that as I’ve been in this organization, I’ve been able to not only help my friends, but actually learn how to better help myself and now our community.”

Like Veres, Manoj joined the Mental Health Initiative as a first year on campus.

“Initially, I was drawn to [the Mental Health Initiative] because of experiences I had working with other mental health organizations back in high school,” Manoj said. “But, over the years, with the Mental Health Initiative, I have learned a lot of skills [including] how to talk about various intersections with mental health as well as how to connect people to different resources.”

Following Mental Health Initiative confirmations, Tianna Ching, a fourth-year cognitive science and English double major, and Samantha Wah, a fourth-year design major, were confirmed as unit directors for the Whole Earth Festival.

“I have been a part of the Whole Earth Festival for the entirety of my college career, so it’s something that I really enjoy and look forward to at the end of the year,” Ching said.

“Even though it’s going to look a little different this year, I’m still really excited to help bring people [...] something a little happier.”

Building off of Ching’s statement, Wah said that she was excited to be more involved with the Whole Earth Festival to work on her leadership and organizational skills.

“Even though it’s really disappointing not being able to see the festival in its true, big form because of the pandemic, I’m excited to see how we can brainstorm different ways to implement it virtually,” Wah said.

Six students were confirmed as commissioners for the Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission (ECAC): Kabir Singh, Mariann Lactaoen, Jimena Calderon, Dalya Issa, Devin SantiagoVergara, Fauziya Faruk and Kunga Yangzom.

“I’m thrilled to be part of a commission that acknowledges [the intersections of gender norms and queerness with minority mental health] through the lens of ethnic and cultural groups, especially in our current social and political climate,” Lactaoen said. “I’m really excited to see what the ECAC can do this year with the rest of the ASUCD.” Calderon echoed similar sentiments, emphasizing her passion for the work that she does through the ECAC. “I’ve always been an advocate for my

AGGIE FILE

AGGIE FILE community and other communities on campus,” Calderon said. “I thought that I would take on a new role to better support marginalized communities on campus. I am really excited to work with the rest of the commissioners to best support and foster a safe space for underrepresented communities.”

Finally, the External Affairs Commission Confirmations (EAC) confirmed three commissioners: Steven Le, a third-year psychology and philosophy double major; Simran Chahal, a second-year political science major; and Tyler Chan, a third-year economics and psychology double major.

“A reason why I joined EAC is because I love the [UC] Davis community, and I want to give back and make sure that all students are treated fairly,” Chan said.

Followed by the confirmation of commissioners and unit directors, public discussion ensued, dominated by a dialogue about ASUCD Senate Resolution #25.

ASUCD Senate Resolution #25 was presented to urge the UC Regents to divest “from corporations that aid in the Israeli occupation of Palestine and illegal settlements in Palestinain territories,” according to the Senate Resolution itself. It passed at the June 4, 2020 meeting and was vetoed the next day by President Kyle Krueger.

“It’s important to remember that nothing we do here at ASUCD carries any weight in the international body, world,” former ASUCD President Michael Gofman said. “ASUCD is not about injecting ourselves into an international conflict at a time where so many other countries are finally accepting the right of the Jewish people to exist in their homeland. It is silly, ridiculous, insulting and anti-Semetic that we here at ASUCD have decided to revisit the topic deciding whether or not this body has the right to tell the Jewish people whether or not they have the right to live in their historic home.”

Senator Samantha Boudaie said that the

Jewish community was not consulted “before, during, or after the veto,” as far as she knows.

Nina Al-Mesih, a UC Davis student, said that “passing [ASUCD Senate Resolution #25] is essential to make the entire population of Palestinian students here at UC Davis feel as if they actually attend a school that recognizes their community.”

The ASUCD Senate meeting then transitioned to reviewing the status of previous legislation, introduction of new legislation and consideration of old legislation.

Kreuger introduced ASUCD Senate Bill #4, which is “an ASUCD Senate Bill to further delineate how members of an interviewing committee are chosen,” according to the Senate Bill.

ASUCD Senate Bill #2, proposed by Senator Youdeon, and Senate Bill #3, proposed by Senator Velasco, were tabled.

ASUCD Senate Bill #5, authored by Senator Karolina Rodriguez and introduced by Senator Boudaie, was passed. Senate Bill #5 will “temporarily change the amount of signatures needed for declaring candidacy [...] to 75 for the Fall Quarter 2020 elections,” according to the bill itself.

“Because of the pandemic, I do not think [getting 125 signatures] is possible,” Rodriguez said. “I’m more thinking of transfer students and first years that are barely getting into this institution and actually know nobody. I’m really concerned about students who want to get involved, especially transfer students, they only technically have a year to run. Having 125 signatures is really a boundary that won’t allow them to get involved.”

Finally, the veto to overturn the presidential veto for the ASUCD Senate Bill #25 did not pass in a 6-3-3 vote. Barneond adjourned the meeting at 11:08 p.m.

Take your dog to poop somewhere else!

October 7 “Respondent’s dog defecated on neighbor’s lawn. As respondent was picking it up, the resident began yelling at the respondent.”

October 8 “Vehicle parked in plot, is displaying nude pornographic magazine images over the window.”

October 9 “Respondent heard large animal outside her door eating in her front yard.

Concerned it could be a bear cub.”

October 12 “Home was egged.”

October 13 “Loud party and no social distancing.”

October 14 “Respondent’s son banging on the door currently intoxicated with pants down, requesting he be removed.”

October 17 “Group of teenagers congregating and smoking pot.”

4 | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

UCPath errors persist one year after legislation preventing UC ‘wage theft’ exemptions Another wave of payroll and benefit errors causes UAW 5810 to file new grievances against the UC

Payroll errors during the transition to UC Path led to student workers at UC Davis protesting during Fall Quarter 2019. (Aggie File)

BY KATIE DEBENEDETTI features@theaggie.org Over the last few years, the UC system has been rolling out its new payroll system, UCPath, which was designed to make payroll more unified and efficient across the UC system.

Since the beginning of this already timeconsuming and expensive process, issues with payment and health benefits have been prevalent across UC campuses. In October 2019, Gov. Newsom passed Senate Bill No. 698, stripping the UC of its previous immunity to “wage theft law” under Section 220 of the Labor Code.

This bill makes it illegal for the UC to pay employees in an untimely fashion and withdraw their health benefits without warning; but in the past year, these problems have persisted.

Neil Sweeney, vice president of UAW 5810, said that despite this legislation, issues with benefit cancelations have continued.

“We’re seeing that a lot of our members are getting their benefits canceled without any warning,” Sweeney said. “This has affected people who are about to have a baby, or about to have a medical procedure and there’s also the pandemic, of course, so it’s really stressful and scary.”

In addition to benefit cancelations, Sweeney added that many employees are being routinely underpaid by the UC which was the case even before the new payroll system, but has been exacerbated by the transition to UCPath. According to him, some UC Davis employees are being underpaid about $2500 each month.

“In terms of being paid, under

our union contract, people get a salary increase every year that they work, so every month a different set of employees will get a pay raise because they’ve passed a year,” Sweeney said. “The university routinely fails to increase [wages] on time, but for campuses that transition to UCPath, we are seeing a doubling of problems with making sure people get these annual increases.”

Just within the last year, one UC employee, Gwen Chodur, a graduate student at UC Davis, has had three separate incidents of being underpaid via UCPath. Chodur, who works as the external vice president of the graduate program at Davis and president of the UC Graduate and Professional Council, explained that in just the past four months, she has encountered multiple issues with UCPath.

“In this year alone, I’ve had several [problems],” Chodur said. “On July 1, my first paycheck included deductions for something that wasn’t supposed to be taken. I was one of almost 2,400 students at Davis who had that problem. Our paychecks were short somewhere between $300-700.

On August 1, I was not paid for my 50% appointment position, one of my jobs, and my pay wasn’t included.

Thankfully, in the second week of August I got my refund from the incorrect deduction in July, and that was the only reason I was able to pay rent that month.”

She was paid incorrectly again in September, not receiving her appropriate pay for August and September until the middle of the month. Chodur stressed that these systematic mistakes have had a financial

and emotional price.

“I’ve bounced checks, I’ve accrued late fees because I wasn’t able to pay my phone bill and experienced the stress of not knowing because there’s no communication from [UCPath],” Chodur said.

In a press release in early October, President of UAW 5810 Anke Schennink echoed Chodur’s experiences, emphasizing the extreme burden these errors put on employees, especially in this already stressful time.

“These errors are particularly painful in the COVID era, as it is more important than ever to have health benefits coverage, [...] as many people are experiencing increased economic stress,” Schennink said.

“We are disappointed but not surprised that these issues continue to persist—UC has not done enough to correct these problems or prevent them from happening in the first place.”

Furthermore, Sweeney emphasized the importance of these issues being resolved quickly and efficiently. “[Money] is a precious resource for the university and that should go towards teaching primarily,” Sweeney said. “Having to spend all this money on a payroll system [...] and to spend all our time as a union and a university resolving these issues is a big waste of resources.”

Chodur said that, ultimately, these issues should not be occurring, and she emphasized her dissatisfaction towards the UC’s lack of action on this issue.

“It’s really frustrating because it seems like you don’t matter and this is the money that I need to live on,” Chodur said. “There’s no acknowledgement of the fact that you might have gotten late fees, or you might have had to put things on credit cards and now accrued interest. Those costs are borne by the person who’s on the receiving end of the UC’s mistake.”

Unitrans begins transition to electric battery buses With the integration of new environmentally-conscious buses, Unitrans strives to make a sustainable impact on campus

BY NORA FARAHDEL features@theaggie.org Unitrans buses can be seen all around Davis, transporting students to and from school, marking the town with their red and black colors. While these buses normally run on natural gas, Unitrans recently received a federal grant to introduce new battery-electric buses.

For now, this means a slow process of replacing 11 of the older buses.

Given the expenses, the complete switch to electric buses will take time, as acquiring additional funding will be necessary for a complete transition away from fossil fuel use.

“Our goal right now is to never buy a fossil fuel-based bus ever again,” said Jeff Flynn, the general manager of Unitrans. “But we have a fleet of about 50 buses, and to replace all 50 of those is going to take probably about 12 to 15 years, so it’ll be a long transition period.

But gradually, every year, we hope to be adding more and more electric buses and retiring more and more fossil fuel buses.”

In order to prepare for the electric buses, the bus parking facility or “The Pad” is currently under construction.

Consequently, bus drivers need to park in the Mondavi Center for the time being. Kate Linenbach, a secondyear psychology major and Unitrans driver, shared their excitement for this environmentally-conscious change, despite the inconveniences that come with it.

“We’re not super thrilled about The Pad being under construction for so long, but we definitely all recognize the necessity to become more environmentally sustainable, especially with public transportation,” Linenbach said. “The work that we do in terms of preventing climate change is huge. So we all know the importance of what we’re doing, even if things might be a little bit of a mess right now.”

This change not only affects the

KAITLYN PANG / AGGIE Unitrans staff but also the greater UC Davis community. Flynn explained that the shift to electric buses aligns with the community goals of Davis.

“Both the City of Davis and UC Davis have really strong progressive carbon neutrality goals,” Flynn said.

“So this will help move our city and our campus communities closer to that goal. The buses are quieter, they’re cleaner and they’re a great fit for what our community desires.”

The shift to electric buses provides many benefits, while also moving UC campuses towards the goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2025, as laid out in the Carbon Neutrality Initiative. Camille Kirk, the director of sustainability and the campus

sustainability planner at UC Davis, explained the impact this change has, serving as another stride toward greater campus sustainability.

“Every time a unit or department on campus makes a decision to advance campus sustainability, like Unitrans has with electrifying, and invests resources in implementing that decision, we improve our own campus sustainability performance,” Kirk said via email. “And though Unitrans’ greenhouse gas emissions are a small amount of the overall campus emissions, every bit of action helps us meet our carbon neutrality goal by 2025.”

While these buses are creating progress, Kirk shared that they are

still not environmentally flawless due to battery usage.

“Electric buses, like electric cars, use batteries that are charged with electricity,” Kirk said via email. “Electric buses are positive steps forward, but they do still need batteries, which have some environmental impacts in their production and disposal. So it is great that we have researchers across the UC system working on figuring out better battery technology.”

According to Flynn, the electric buses should be ready for use sometime in fall 2020. Looking forward, Flynn described his high hopes for Unitrans’ sustainability and growth, working as a resource for students and community

members.

“Our hope is that the future [of ] Unitrans [...] is one that is increasingly cleaner and greener so that we’re always looking for the best and the most reliable, safest clean energy technology to fuel the buses,” Flynn said. “And we hope that over time, the fleet gets cleaner and better for the environment. We also hope that through funding partnerships with the city and the university and others, like the state [and] federal government, we can work towards offering more bus service, having better convenience and less crowding for everybody as well.”

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020 | 5

OPINION THE

C ALIFORNIA A GGIE

E DI TOR I AL B OAR D

ANJINI VENUGOPAL Editor-in-Chief MARGO ROSENBAUM Managing Editor SABRINA HABCHI Campus News Editor EDEN WINNIFORD City News Editor CALVIN COFFEE Opinion Editor SOPHIE DEWEES Features Editor ALLIE BAILEY Arts & Culture Editor OMAR NAVARRO Sports Editor MADDIE PAYNE Science & Tech Editor

SIERRA JIMENEZ New Media Manager JUSTIN HAN Photo Director KATHERINE FRANKS Design Director JOELLE TAHTA Layout Director KAITLIN ARAGHI Copy Chief ALEX WEINSTEIN Copy Chief BEN CHENG Social Media Manager JOSHUA GAZZANIGA Distribution Manager LAURIE PEDERSON Business Development Manager

UC Davis must be more proactive in preventing sexual assault The high rate of sexual assault on college campuses makes rape culture seem normal. It is not.

Most colleges in this country are required to provide students with information about sexual assault, from consent speeches to pamphlets on safe sex practices and online trainings that outline how to avoid dangerous situations. But there’s a problem with these attempts at sexual assault prevention: They’re not working.

One in five women is sexually assaulted in college. It is a concern that college students face constantly, whether they’re navigating a typical weekend social scene or going on a first date.

Young people, especially women and LGBTQ+ individuals, are at risk in our community. And rather than being assured that the people who most often commit these acts are taught not to, and are held accountable when they do, the highly-targeted groups are told to use the buddy system and not drink too much.

Workplaces and college campuses alike have implemented methods like those mentioned above to fight against assault.

But why, after so many years of these practices with little to no impact, has the system not been updated? Any other aspect of an institution that was failing this badly would be heavily funded and completely revamped—any aspect that an institution cared about, at least. The message being sent is loud and clear: The people with power in the education system do not think this is a serious problem.

Title IX, the law that protects students from sexual assault and requires universities to investigate acussations, was recently modified to increase protections for the accused, relieve schools of prior legal obligations and make it more difficult for victims to feel comfortable reporting. The changes only increase the need for the university to take matters into their own hands for the sake of students’ safety.

UC Davis does provide commendable support and resources to survivors through the Center for Advocacy Resources and Education (CARE); however, the fight against sexual assault should not solely be focused on helping victims after the fact, but on preventing rape and assault from happening altogether. The university has perhaps succeeded in creating a space for victims to heal, but that isn’t a solution to the issue plaguing universities across the country. If anything, having these resources established gives administrators the chance to increasingly put energy into preventative, rather than reactive, work on and around campus.

There is no getting around the fact that this is a hard problem to solve. But one mandatory speech in four years about why consent matters isn’t going to cut it.

A good place to start is Greek life. All members of that community at UC Davis must attend at least one presentation on sexual assault and consent anually. But there’s an important difference between the members who attend these events: fraternity men are three times more likely to commit rape than other groups on college campuses. The power inbalance, the mentality around partying and hookups and the entire

social fabric of fraternities prop up and contribute to rape culture. There needs to be a focus on combating egregious acts committed by members of these and similar organizations, both by the university and by members of fraternities themselves.

Over the past year, multiple fraternities at UC Davis have been reprimanded for hazing members. Practicing hazing has long been outlawed on campus, but so has sexual assault. Why is it that a single account of hazing can get an organization kicked off campus, but several reports of assault isn’t something the university has the power to reprimand one for? In most cases, it takes a group of sororities refusing to affiliate with a fraternity for the men to take appropriate action, proving what the stakes need to be for them to care.

The unfortunate truth is that members of the groups that often perpetrate these atrocious acts don’t tend to side with the victim. As students, especially anyone who is involved in a larger social community, we must also do better at holding each other accountable for damaging behavior. In fraternities and similar groups especially, individuals need to take the time to learn why it is that sexual assault is so rampant among them and teach themselves and others how to prevent it (i.e. stop assaulting people).

We hear about it so often that we become desensitized to discussing the traumatic experience of assault. It is indeed so normalized that it is expected. The reason we see Band-Aid solutions that put the responsibility of prevention on potential victims rather than on perpetrators is that sexual assault is so ingrained in society that it’s considered inevitable. And when individuals make decisions that don’t align with prescribed methods of avoiding assault, it opens the door to victimblaming—survivors are told they shouldn’t have been drinking or wearing particular clothing instead of assailants being told they shouldn’t assault others. The Editorial Board would like to make one thing very clear: Sexual assault is not normal. The belief that it is is the result of a rape culture that is upheld by the university’s unwillingness to take action against the accused.

The bottom line is that UC Davis has an immense responsibility to counteract sexual assault on and around campus, and they are failing to rise to the occasion. Students have been knowingly sent into a perilous campus climate for years, and it’s time for campus officials to reject the notion that they can’t keep us safe from assault. As a first step, let’s stop letting students get away with it.

We are living during a time when student interaction has decreased substantially. We recommend the university take this time to think long and hard about how they plan to implement truly preventative measures when students eventually begin to mingle as campus reopens.

Psychological first aid is something everyone should know It’s more like being a good friend

BY KACEY CAIN klcain@ucdavis.edu Unless it’s required for a job, most people aren’t well-versed on first aid procedures.

Although certification training is excruciatingly long, it prepares you for emergency situations and, more importantly, it saves lives. Less widely known, the effects of psychological first aid (PFA) can last a lifetime.

Prior to the pandemic, mental health in the U.S. was already on the decline. But after weeks of quarantine filled with uncertainty and fear, our mental health took even more of a hit. A recent Washington Post article suggests that the pandemic “proves we should all know ‘psychological first aid.’”

While medical first aid involves tending to injuries of the body, psychological first aid incorporates employing techniques that aid and support a person’s mental state, rather than their physical state. Typically, psychological first aid is used by first responders to prevent post-traumatic stress disorder in post-disaster scenarios. It’s clear that psychological first aid can be used in our everyday lives and not just in a crisis situation.

PFA is something everyone should know.

Unlike medical first aid, PFA doesn’t require dealing with cuts, blood or even more serious procedures like CPR—making it less nerve wracking to use.

It’s more like being a good friend. It calls for compassion, active listening, creating a feeling of safety, connecting and being hopeful. Even though this seems like something we can do without proper instruction, there are training courses that can teach us to use these techniques properly and effectively.

Sadly, it’s taken a pandemic for some to realize that many of us struggle with mental health issues.

Now, not only do we have to find a way to survive a pandemic, we also need emotional damage control, so that people can make it through the pandemic emotionally and mentally. The healing must start now—not when the pandemic is over.

KAITLYN PANG / AGGIE

Start by paying attention to those around you. If you notice someone struggling, have a conversation with them and immediately start PFA. Make them feel safe, let them know you are listening and give them hope. You may not have the time to take a training course, but you always have the time to help someone in need.

In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are living through a mental health epidemic—both

are running rampant through the U.S. and ruining lives. Unfortunately, no vaccine or medication can knock out a mental health epidemic. Knowing about psychological first aid and how to use it is the first step to repair and prevent emotional damages.

In any circumstance, it’s important to know how to help those around you, but especially the one we are living in right now. There will never be

a time where first aid, medical or psychological, is irrelevant. We should all be required to know both.

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.

6 | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

OPINION TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS TRYING TO RAISE SHASTA DAM, AGAIN The Bureau of Reclamation has tried to push through a proposal to raise the Shasta Dam many times over the past decade, despite its environmental and cultural implications MARIO RODRIGUEZ / AGGIE

BY JOE SWEENEY jmsweeney@ucdavis.edu The Bureau of Reclamation has once again proposed raising Shasta Dam, which is already

the largest reservoir in California, after several proposals in the past decade. Each time, it has faced fierce public opposition from state government, environmentalists, locals and Native Americans. The Bureau of Reclamation claims

that the project would significantly increase the water storage capacity of the dam. It would also improve the reliability of the water reserve from the dam for agriculture and debatably increase chances of survival for many native fish through better temperature control at a cost of $1.4 billion. Besides being exorbitantly expensive, this proposal also has a laundry list of problems which likely contributed to the Westlands Water District backing out of the project after the Supreme Court of California ruled that their involvement was illegal.

This proposal is blatantly illegal under both federal and state laws. Under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1972, the McCloud River is protected from any project that could potentially flood protected areas. Additionally, it does not have the proper permits in accordance with the Clean Water Act and violates the Endangered Species Act. In his letter of opposition to the Bureau of Reclamation, Xavier Bercerra, California’s state attorney general, wrote, “In sum, Reclamation misapprehends and ignores the fundamental environmental protections that apply to its effort to raise Shasta Dam. The draft supplemental EIS Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) further fails to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act’s (NEPA) basic environmental disclosure requirements.”

Additionally, there are several obvious environmental repercussions of this proposal. The Bureau of Reclamation fails to mention in their EIS what the seismic risk of raising the dam is, which is built near a fault line. In fact, the Bureau didn’t even finish its latest dam safety evaluation last year.

Raising the dam would be detrimental to several endangered and rare species, including the Chinook Salmon, Delta Smelt and Shasta Salamanders. Despite claims that raising the dam would actually help salmon populations, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) actually found that funding a variety of other methods, like restoring floodplain habitat and improving the dam’s temperature control device, would actually be more beneficial to salmon populations than raising the dam.

The proposed raising of the dam is not just harmful to the environment, but would destroy important cultural sites to the Winnemem Wintu tribe. Sometimes referred to as a “Ghost Tribe,” due to their lack of federal recognition and small numbers, the Winnemem Wintu people vehemently oppose raising the dam. When the Shasta Dam was originally constructed, the Winnemem Wintu people watched 90% of their sacred sites slowly disappear. The proposed raise would likely destroy the majority of the remaining sites, including sacred burial grounds.

“My tribe was displaced, we were homeless,” Chief Caleen Sisk said during a scoping meeting for the project in 2018. “We lost our land, we lost our salmon. We lost so many things under that 26 miles under Shasta Lake. There is a little bit that’s still accessible to us, these sacred sites that we use right now.

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.

DAM on 11

HUMOR

UC DAVIS JUSTIFIES FULL TUITION WITH SURPRISE FULL-SIZED EGGHEAD SCULPTURES FOR ALL STUDENTS TO CREATE A ‘TRUE AGGIE EXPERIENCE’ I mean, thanks I guess?

BY ISABELLA CHUECOS ifchuecos@ucdavis.edu Little Katie Raz’s first year at UC Davis is unsurprisingly uneventful.

This all changed two nights ago when Katie felt a looming presence in her room. She was certain that she had locked her door, and yet she knew there was something in the room with her.

Katie slowly reached over to her desk to turn on her lamp. As light began to fill the room, the being became clear to Katie.

One of UC Davis’s very own egghead sculptures had been laid in her room, upsidedown, laughing at her. Initially, she thought she was having one of those weird sleep paralysis hallucinations, but as she became more lucid, it became clear that the egghead was no farce.

First-years aren’t the only ones who’ve been receiving eggheads. Preston Li, a third-year student, was also accosted by the bookhead egghead in his living room at an untimely hour.

“I understand the sentiment, but I was in the middle of a breakup with my girlfriend,” Li said to a reporter for The Aggie. “She thought I was trying to win her back with the egghead. She was

like, ‘Aw, Preston, you shouldn’t have!’ It worked, but I wish I could’ve won her back by my own merit.”

After a few weeks with the eggheads in residence, the Davis Isolation Committee (DIC) asked students how they felt about their new roommates.

“I’ve kinda gotten used to it, I guess. My crippling loneliness hasn’t really been fixed, but at least I feel like I’m not in some sort of random prison experiment,” Katie said, smiling at her rotund sculpture.

“Now, it just feels like I’m in a Davis prison experiment.”

When questioned about the incident, a spokesperson for DIC (not pronounced “dick”), was quick to assure students that it was not an accident, but a gift.

“We noticed the first-years were lonely! So we thought, why don’t we take that tuition money, and just put it somewhere else! There’s no cure for loneliness like an egghead!” the overly enthusiastic spokesperson said. “Also, can you make sure to add that the acronym isn’t pronounced ‘dick’? It’s just not good for our brand.”

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

WHITE BLM PROTESTERS STRUGGLE WITH #SAYHISNAME A community struggles to render justice and to not make it weird

BY MATTHEW SIMONS mrsimons@ucdavis.edu Over 60 white Black Lives Matter activists met in Davis Central Park last Sunday to protest the deaths of unarmed African Americans by police departments across the nation. The event culminated in the ceremonial name-saying of the latest victim of police brutality, an unarmed African American father in Ohio. From The California Aggie, this is CITY NEWS. The sun beats down, it’s high noon on the protestors in Davis’s Central Park. Through their masks, organizers shout chants of “ACAB,” “Hold Them Accountable” and “No justice, no peace.” The crowd is predominantly white, with a few Asian Americans in attendance. All of them wear BLM shirts. A few even hold signs.

A microphone rings to life and Sandra Tawny, a community activist, climbs onto a stage in the middle of the park. Tawny is a tall, white woman in her 40s, and she walks with a seriousness to her stride. A large projection screen looms in the background.

“Thank you for coming,” Tawny said. She stands before a wall of white protestors. “My name is Sandra Tawny, and today we’re here to call others in our community to justice—to show our community where we stand. Today, we show

everyone that Davis gives a damn about Black lives.” Cheers and whoops rise from the audience.

“We’ll march through the streets!” she continues, picking up volume. “We’ll knock on doors!”

“We are NO DIFFERENT than the men and women affected by police brutality.” Her skin sheens in the light of the sun. “NO DIFFERENT, than the African American man who died in Ohio.

Say His Name!”

“Say His Name!” the audience replies.

“SAY HIS NAME,” she repeats, waving her arms.

“SAY HIS NAME,” they reply.

She motions to her partner who turns on his laptop and begins the slideshow. She clicks her remote and throws her fist in the air. A picture and a name flash onto the screen. The protesters are now at a fever pitch.

“We are the same as…” she turns her head to look at the name and freezes. So does the crowd.

A silence comes over Central Park. A single cough rings out through the audience.

“How do you say that name?” yells a protestor in the front row. Polite whispers skitter through the audience.

“Come on guys,” says Sandra Tawny. “It’s not that hard.” She shifts her weight from side to side.

“So who wants to say it?” she offers.

A white woman from the front pipes in with a suggestion.

CATHY TANG / AGGIE

“I don’t think that’s right,” frowns Sandra Tawny.

“Now I have had plenty of Black friends…” the white woman starts. A collective groan erupts from the audience.

“Alright, everybody on the bus. We’ll figure it out on the way there. Black lives matter,” she says raising a fist.

“Black lives matter,” the audience replies, casually.

As the crowd disperses, a single Black student, Aaron Mathis, 19, stands alone on the lawn with

his mouth agape. His fellow protestors leave for their bus, but his eyes remain fixed on the name on the screen: Jim Brown #SayHisName “How the f*** did they miss that?” he mutters.

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

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020 | 7

OPINION

WHY REFERRING TO UC DAVIS AS ‘UCD’ IS INCREDIBLY OFFENSIVE A PSA to UC Students from the Davis community

BY RENEE WANG reswang@ucdavis.edu Three months ago, the UC community on Reddit was sent into a frenzy when a UC Berkeley student requested all UC schools not refer to their school using its initials, “UCB,” as it cheapens the incredible prestige associated with Berkeley.

As an incoming UC Davis student, I was already the brunt of bad cow jokes and warnings of the Tercero stench. If all my school is going to be associated with is cows, why does UCB get to control something so insignificant?

Fuming, I headed to UCB’s merch store to dismember UC Berkeley hoodies to say “UCB,” gnawing out the remaining letters with my teeth and seeking out UCB students to tell them I’ve never heard of their school.

Then, I had an epiphany. One person does not speak for the entire UCB community.

My rampage against the entire school was misguided. This attitude is reminiscent of a larger problem: the inequality in education and problematic attitudes of elitism.

But when I got home and found out The Wall Street Journal ranked UC Davis third among the UC schools and fifth among public universities—exactly a spot behind UCB—I realized that protecting the prestige of your school is not insignificant at all.

With that, I’d like to write my own PSA to UC students from the Davis Community: Recently, UC Davis and UC Berkeley have found themselves in close proximity in Wall Street Journal’s rankings, something many students are not aware of.

With this new knowledge, please do not refer to UC Davis as “UCD.” This is not the proper way to refer to UC Berkeley’s original University Farm.

As the UC system’s third-largest university and home to alumni such as “Patriot Act’s” Hasan Minhaj, we feel that it is important to honor our new rise in popularity. We feel that “UCD” not only cheapens our brand, but leads to confusion in reference due to “UCD” sharing the same initials as University College Dublin and University of Colorado Denver.

While it may be acceptable for other UC campuses to use initialisms due to their lack of up-and-coming status, that is not acceptable for a rising college such as UC Davis.

Despite our meteoric rise, however, UC Davis wants to maintain that we are still humble. Therefore, we will be providing similar PSA templates for any other UC campuses who may experience such a rise.

Until then, it is requested you stay in your lane.

To the UC Davis students who are unaware, in an effort to show greater Aggie spirit, alternative naming suggestions include “UC Davis: Wall Street Journal’s Fifth Ranked Public

MARIO RODRIGUEZ / AGGIE School.” It is essential we publicize our rankings as the Wall Street Journal has a paywall and thus limits the audience we can brag to about our new rankings. How will your judgemental extended family and high school classmates know that you attend a top-ranking institution such as UC Davis if you don’t publicize it?

Failure to do so is essentially an Aggie hate crime.

To the original Reddit poster, I’d like to offer an olive branch. It isn’t easy being at the top, but us top-rankers have got to stick together!

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

SENATOR MIKE LEE CLARIFIES CONTROVERSIAL TWEETS BY IGNORING THEIR The Utah Republican says “Democracy isn’t the objective” in America, so we got his opinions on the actual objectives of some other misunderstood topics

United States Senator Mike Lee of Utah. (Jamelle Bouie / Flickr)

BY BENJAMIN PORTER bbporter@ucdavis.edu A few weeks ago, Utah’s Republican Senator Mike Lee set off a controversy by tweeting, “We’re not a democracy.” He followed-up this tweet a few hours later, posting, “Democracy isn’t the objective; liberty, peace, and prospefity [sic] are. We want the human condition to flourish. Rank democracy can thwart that.”

Senator Lee responded to the controver-

sy with a very logical and well written article explaining the political theory behind why we technically are a republic, not a democracy, while also managing to totally ignore why his comments are extremely dangerous at this particular moment in U.S. history.

So in response, we decided that it might be valuable to see what Senator Lee thinks about the actual purposes and meanings behind several other things as well. But having carefully observed and marvelled at the senator’s ability to take his

own quotes entirely out of the political context in which he made them, we decided to take his strategy a step further by taking individual words that he’s said at some point or another out of the context of the sentences in which he said them, placing them in new contexts that make his words take on entirely new and highly-concerning meanings.

If this bothers you, Senator Lee, well I guess now you know how we feel! Live long and prospef, you! You know what the “f ” stands for.

Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), on the aim of laws against operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and other controlled substances: “Keeping people safe on our roads isn’t the objective; preventing the people who review the photos of drunk drivers taken by traffic cameras from being exposed to what is essentially a free product placement advertisement for alcohol—which good Mormons like myself should not drink—is.”

On the purpose of Utah’s wondrous forests and beautiful public lands: “Absorbing carbon dioxide, producing oxygen and providing pristine habitat and recreation areas are not the objectives; fossil fuel exploration, land development and cutting down trees to make paper money that can be used to donate to my campaign are.”

On criticizing the Green New Deal by showing on the Senate floor a poster of Ronald Reagan firing a machine gun while riding a velociraptor: “The irony of showing a painting of two dead dinosaurs in order to destroy any genuine attempts to prevent the human species from joining them wasn’t the objective; getting a chance to share this amazing piece of artwork with the world was.”

On taking “the scenic route” to liking President Trump despite casting a protest vote against him in 2016: “When I say I took the scenic route to liking Trump, I don’t mean that discovering the beauty and unconventional wisdom of the man is the objective; figuring out whatever

THE TOILET PAPER PANIC, A RECAP What were we thinking?

3

KATHERINE FRANKS / AGGIE

BY EAN KIMURA etkimura@ucdavis.edu Now that we are seven horrid months into the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s time to revisit one of the strangest occurrences that happened at the outset of this saga. It’s an event that has been overshadowed by all the other evidence that we are in a sadistically-run Sims game. It’s time to break down the toilet paper panic.

What was the reason for hordes of

people rushing to the toilet paper aisle?

It was the fear of a pandemic caused by an airborne virus that is spread between people in close proximity.

You remember the panic. It seemed like everyone was lactose intolerant and preparing for the aftermath of a milkdrinking contest. That would have been a much better reason for buying that much toilet paper. There are only three other reasons you should buy that much toilet paper: you dress like a mummy everyday, you really enjoy

I need to do to not get voted out of office is.”

On not wearing a mask at the confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett despite having been recently infected with COVID-19: “Keeping my colleagues safe isn’t the objective, getting Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court as fast as possible to ensure that we can overturn Roe v.

Wade, Obamacare, gay marriage and ensure that Trump has an ace in the the hole if the question of whether or not we should actually count millions of mail-in ballots that come in after election day is appealed all the way to the Supreme Court are.”

On this photo of President Trump giving him a back massage: “The calming and stress-relieving effect of the back massage isn’t the objective; Trump’s efforts to demonstrate normal human affection and clearly assert his position over me as the alpha male while making me feel like a loyal and obedient little boy are.”

On voting: “Actually giving people a say in who their leaders are and how their country is run isn’t the objective; making people think they have a say in who their leaders are and how their country is run is.”

On the fact that it is correct to say that the U.S. is not a democracy, but a republic, despite the fact that in modern political discourse we typically refer to the U.S. as a “democratic republic” and use the term “republic” to contrast with “monarchy” and “democracy” to contrast with “authoritarianism,” as in a “democratic monarchy” like the U.K., an “authoritarian monarchy” like Saudi Arabia, or an “authoritarian republic” like Russia: “The fact that I’m technically correct in saying that the U.S. is not a democracy is not the point; the fact that I’m making this argument in the context of a president who has openly refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power is.”

DON’T FORGET TO VOTE

BY RUSHI TAWADE rntawade@ucdavis.edu

collecting the processed remains of dead trees or you’re a shill for big toilet paper.

I don’t mean to be too hard on people just trying to be prepared for the worst, but what was the plan here? The nocturnal, flying-rat plague ravages the globe, society collapses and in a post-apocalyptic world, I’m definitely going to die. No question.

Who will the survivors be? The people who can hunt and forage for food? The clever? The psychos who were just waiting for an opportunity to kill people? No. Apparently most people assumed it was those of us who stocked up on the most toilet paper––a product they could only use to wipe.

Still, I do wonder what the toilet paper one-percenters are doing now. Most reasonable people would slowly utilize all of that over a lifetime, maybe pass some down to their next of kin. But these are not reasonable people we’re talking about.

These are gluttons, flaunting their four-ply toilet paper. These are entrepreneurs who are now probably waiting for the Center for Disease Control to approve the use of toilet paper masks. These are the idiots still trying to get rid of all that toilet paper.

(This article is humor and/or satire, and it’s content is purely fictional. The story and or names of “sources” are fictionalized.)

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

8 | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Students, staff address mental health counseling programs over Zoom Discussing the reality of remote mental health counseling from the perspective of students and SHCS counselors

BY LYRA FARRELL features@theaggie.org The Student Health and Counseling Services (SHCS) has transitioned completely to meeting with clients either by phone or video call.

Some students who receive counseling from SHCS over Zoom or another platform have said they feel like the experience of addressing their mental well-being from their home environments is helpful toward recollecting things they want to discuss.

Others, however, feel stifled by the constancy of remaining in a personal space, no matter the occasion and a perceived lack of privacy.

Katherine Huang, second-year animal science major, says she’s experienced this feeling, and constantly worries that her counseling sessions will be interrupted by family.

“It is sometimes suffocating to sit in a space where my negative emotions have just been uprooted from a counseling session and then immediately having to attend a Zoom class in that same space,” Huang said via email. “I am always afraid someone will enter the room amidst my session, discouraging me from being completely honest which in turn contradicts the progress I may have made previously.”

Aleshia Rose, a second-year communication major, feels as though being at home during sessions stimulates her memory toward topics she wishes to bring up with her counselor.

“On one hand, doing it from home means that I’m in an environment that more accurately reflects how I feel on a day-to-day basis,” Rose said. “I’m looking at the wall that I normally look at. I’m next to my bed, it feels more homey and more comfortable. And in that way, I think it’s easier for me to recall things that I want to talk about.”

Similar to Huang, she said that she experiences a constant feeling that her conversations are being overheard.

“The couple of meetings I did have living here, I felt really uncomfortable because even though my actual roommate left the room, there was a lot of underlying anxiety that everyone could hear what I was saying,” Rose said.

In Huang’s experience, the fear of being overheard, coupled with a lack of understanding within her home, puts a constraint on her ability to fully open up to her counselor.

“My family isn’t necessarily the most understanding or sympathetic when it comes to mental and emotional health,” Huang said via email. “Consequently, I limit what I say and share very vague assessments of my actual well-being for fear of receiving backlash or a dismissal of my concerns if someone were to overhear my conversation during counseling.”

Hillary Alejo, a licensed clinical social worker for SHCS, said she’s had clients with parents who may not be understanding or supportive of therapy and will leave their homes to do the sessions from a car or a public park.

“Sometimes we have students that are back at home where therapy’s not really even accepted or would be really strange for a family,” Alejo said. “So we just try to establish comfort levels and a plan. I have some students that take walks and we do the therapy while they’re walking or I’ve had some that sit outside by a park or wherever they’re at with headphones.”

Dr. Katie Cougevan, a psychologist and the clinical and associate director for SHCS, highlighted some ways in which counselors work with students to re-establish a sense of security during sessions.

“The counselors are very mindful about

KATHERINE HUNG / AGGIE confidentiality and work with their clients on ways they can find a secure place for sessions,” Cougevan said via email. “Some examples include identifying a ‘code word’ they can use if someone suddenly comes into the space, finding an open space outside using headphones, or pausing the session for a moment until they have privacy again.”

While some feel that being in a home environment is harmful in making progress toward mental health, others have valued the ability to seek counseling services from their phones or laptops, according to Cougevan.

“There are some students who have said they would not have sought out treatment before, and that telemental health has made it much more accessible and reduced their feeling of vulnerability they would have had in person,” Cougevan said via email.

Despite the challenges online counseling can create, according to Cougevan, the demand for mental health services has increased this quarter, including a higher number of first-time visits and on-going sessions. Among the available services there is

an option for group counseling.

“We are also finding that students are very interested in participating in our many Group therapy and Group workshop offerings as they give students an opportunity to connect with each other,” Cougevan said via email. “We have increased our [online] offerings, podcasts, classroom presentations, and information on the website as well.”

According to Alejo, while students often struggle with adjusting to online counseling, working with them on this interface has also provided a new window into students’ lives.

“New things have opened up, like they showed me their room or their animals or things like that,” Alejo said. “Sometimes they’re in their family home or they’re using outdoor space. And, you know, it’s been a different way to connect with people. So I can’t say it’s worse. It’s just different.”

SHCS is open for appointments Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Munch brings Filipino desserts to Davis The new student-run business hopes to brighten your day with authentic desserts

Munch Davis is new food Instagram page that sells Filipino desserts. (Courtesy / Munch Davis)

BY ITZELTH GAMBOA arts@theaggie.org Munch is a new student business run

by Andrei Garcia and Jose Cardenas. The duo splits up their duties to make the magic work. Along with managing finances, Garcia, a third-year communication major, uses his family recipes to create leche flan and coffee jelly, the two options on the small business’ menu. Cardenas, a fourth-year communication major, focuses on marketing and promoting their brand.

The idea for this small business started when Davis entered lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic. The pair of friends pitched ideas on their brand’s vision and when would be the best time to sell.

“We both are still students,” Cardenas said via email. “We had to find a way to sell without it affecting our studies, which is why we decided to sell through pre-orders. Usually, our pre-orders have a deadline, and this lets us know how many orders to make the day before delivery.”

This student duo sells their leche flan for $8.25 and their coffee jelly for $4.75.

While they are currently using disposable plastics, they hope to switch to biodegradable packaging in the near future. Their creation of the two specific desserts was strategic; only having two options gave them the chance to run a small business without being overwhelmed by too many products.

“[Selling two things] allowed us to manage our time between school, work and our business since it is only the two of us managing it,” Cardenas said. “But we do plan on having limited-edition holiday desserts and we may incorporate a few more desserts in the future.”

They plan on selling once a week and with the help of everyone who has been supporting their business, they are persevering through the hardships of COVID-19. Whether they are selling through delivery or pick-up, they adhere to the guidelines to ensure a safe experience for their hungry customers.

“We knew we wanted to focus solely on Filipino desserts, but we didn’t want to name it something common,” Cardenas said. “Instead, we focused on the act of eating itself. When you love a certain dish, you’ll keep munching on it because your taste buds are attracted to the flavor. And since Filipino desserts carry a ton of flavor, we found it fitting.”

The decision to start Munch wasn’t a last minute impulse in light of more free time during the pandemic—the pair had considered the idea for a while.

“My friends would jokingly say that I should start a small business because they loved my desserts,” Garcia said via email.

“After much thought, I realized that there wasn’t representation in Davis in terms of Filipino cuisine, and as a proud Filipino who emigrated to the U.S. when I was 12, I wanted more students or the Davis community in general to taste a piece of my culture.”

Cardenas always dreamed of having a small business and is finally living that reality.

“Having a small business has been rewarding not only by seeing our customers’ excitement, but also by realizing that our dreams are possible,” Cardenas said.

Throughout the entire process, neither partner had any doubts or worries. They were completely confident in each others’ abilities and trusted that they would work well together, even amid unprecedented times, they both explained.

“Having a partner is helpful because we can lean on each other for support and we both have our strong suits,” Garcia said.

The pair is looking forward to seeing their business grow along with their loyal Davis following. They hope to one day see their small, at-home business grow into an actual store.

“What I am most excited about in this business is seeing where it takes us and being able to grow both of our skills in the process,” Cardenas said.

At the start of the quarter, with everything going on, the duo forced themselves to keep up with their responsibilities in order to keep their grades up and their customers happy.

“My feelings were everywhere because it was in the middle of the week and I had homework to do and errands, but they were good feelings,” Garcia said.

That first sale was a surreal experience for the pair and as they relive it, they can recall the busy first day of orders pouring in.

“It started to set in that I have a small business,” Cardenas said. “It became reality.”

Both parties have gone through the business with an outstanding amount of support; they thank their friends and family for the support through these times as they chase their dreams.

While some friends offer emotional support and others buy the products, the friends of Munch celebrate this small business by sharing their posts through Instagram.

“My friends have been super supportive and I’m appreciative of them sharing our business on their social media,” Cardenas said.

Garcia’s family reacted well to the idea of using family recipes for his new business.

“My parents were very supportive and said that they hope that I do well,” Garcia said.

The small business has triumphed through lock-ins and hurdles alike, but this is the norm for them, as this is how they started.

Nothing stops this team from making food to keep other people happy during a bit of a dark time as some students are far from home and embrace food as a source of comfort and familiarity. Students have found solace in this small business as the owners try to give them a smile through a sweet package.

“I’ve always enjoyed making food and baking and watching people’s faces brighten up after they take a bite,” Garcia said.

Munch sells their foods through their Instagram (@munch.davis) with weekly preorders.

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020 | 9

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

Answer to previous puzzle 10/22/20

Crossword Answer to previous puzzle 10/22/20

10 | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020

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The ‘League of Legends’ soundtrack is changing the way gaming and music intersect The videos game’s musical projects defy expectations

CATHY TANG / AGGIE

BY LIVVY MULLEN arts@theaggie.org You’ve probably heard of “League of Legends.” Either you play it, know someone who plays it or get those horrible animated Youtube advertisements telling you to play it. Created by the studio Riot Games, it has cemented its reputation as one of the most popular multiplayer

games in the world. “League” works in teams of five. Players (called champions) aim to destroy each other’s bases with calculated attacks. The action-strategy game uses lore and intense competition-based gameplay to hook players.

Its global popularity has only grown since its 2009 debut. As a result, it boasts the largest Esports tournament in the world. The League of Legends World Championships, (commonly

referred to as Worlds), had over 100 million viewers in 2019, more than the Superbowl.

The winners received a cumulative prize of $6.5 million. Despite its unprecedented success, none of this is odd for the Esports business model. Team-based strategy games and large competitions are the foundation of the industry.

What sets League apart is its inclusion of gamesponsored music.

Music was no doubt introduced as a way to spice up Worlds. So much relies on the competition in terms of funding and recruitment, and Riot is willing to pull out all the stops. There is a yearly Worlds anthem released to the public to promote the championship. The artist switches each year, with past songs featuring popular musicians like Imagine Dragons and Zedd. They vary in quality and lyrical content, but all follow the hard-hitting, bass-heavy, orchestral model to create the perfect dramatic gaming anthem.

“Legends Never Die ft. Against the Current” from 2017 is the best example of what a Worlds song should be. It should feel silly listening to a song glorifying an elementary video game. And with lyrics like “legends never die/they become a part of you/can’t you hear them screaming out your name,” the song isn’t exactly shy about how highly it regards League of Legends players. But the song builds so intensely and invokes such a feeling of competition that you lose yourself in it. The vocals are so engrossing that you forget your surroundings and zero in on the feeling of success.

The other reason music has incorporated itself into League is to sell skins, the costumes players can wear during the game. The first band created for this purpose was PentaKill, a virtual heavy metal band debuted 2014 that released two albums, the second going number one on the iTunes metal charts.

PentaKill did well, but K/DA is without

a doubt Riot Games’ most successful musical endeavor. The four person girl group debuted with the talents of American singers Madison Beer and Jaira Burns as League champions Evelynn and Kai’Sa, and K-pop girl group (G)IDLE members Soyeon and Miyeon and Akali and Ahri. Their debut song POP/STARS was a massive success, as were their line of skins.

The song grew past the domain of gamers and reached the general public, topping the Billboard world music charts and garnering over 380 million YouTube views.

POP/STARS is honestly one of the best pop songs ever made. It feels like it was an accident.

A song meant to act essentially as background music, technically not sung by real people, suddenly became a phenomenal hit. It evokes a feeling of power that all League songs seem to embody. Each voice is unique and encourages you to sing along. The backtrack is loud but still feels intricately put together. Upon its release, it went viral several times on Twitter, and once you hear it, you become addicted. The song is so good that people who don’t listen to K-Pop or play League still have it in their playlists.

Two year later, K/DA is back. They released their pre-release single “The Baddest” with a slightly different lineup. Their upcoming EP features the vocals from various stars like K-pop super group TWICE and German pop star Kim Petras. Based on the quality of their previous music, it will be something to look forward to.

It’s easy to understand music as a device simply to promote League—an easy entrance point for newcomers. But because the music is genuinely good, and listenable to individuals who don’t even play the game, the impact changes. What began as a marketing endeavor has forever changed the way music and gaming intersect.

The best Halloween movies for the spooky season students Three categories of Halloween films to get you in the spirit from Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime

BY MARIAH VIKTORIA CANDELARIA arts@theaggie.org If you’re looking for a good range of movies to spook or thrill you for Halloween, this list covers films from three popular streaming platforms: Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Within each, the movies are categorized under “Classic Halloween,” “Horror” and “FamilyFriendly,” to give you variety in choosing your preferred spooky mood.

Hulu Classic: “Children of the Corn” dir.

by Fritz Kiersch (1984) Based on popular horror novelist Stephen King’s work, “Children of the Corn,” this movie reminds us why kids can be terrifying despite their (sometimes) cute exterior. This movie follows a young couple who is stranded in a strange town run by a dangerous cult of children who believe that anyone over the age of 18 must be killed. On a spooky scale of 1-10, with 10 being nightmare-level terrifying and one being not scary at all, I would rate this a level 5. There is a minimal amount of gore with most of the fear factor coming from the suspense of how and if the couple will escape the clutches of these sadistic children.

A lot of King’s works, like “It” and “The Shining,” are regarded as classics and this is one that has continued to put adults on edge for years.

Hulu Horror: “Books of Blood” dir. by Brannon Braga (2020) As part of Hulu’s newly released line of horror movies, “Books of Blood” is one worth checking out. Content warning: there is a fair amount of gore in this film so if you are highly uncomfortable with it, I recommend staying away from this one. The graphics are not very high quality so the gore is bearable, but I also felt uncomfortable with some scenes. Based on the anthology series by Clive Barker, the film follows three stories from the collection, each leading to its ultimate connection to the famed “Books of Blood.” Although some parts are a bit cliché, the concept of the film was one that kept me on my toes, and I would rate this a 7 on my spooky scale.

Hulu Family-Friendly: “Halloweentown” dir. by Duwayne Dunham (1998) If you grew up in the early 2000’s, this film is likely familiar—but did you know it was on Hulu? This Disney Channel Original Movie is a throwback for a lot of us and is part of the Halloweentown series. It details a young girl’s discovery of her family’s history of witchcraft. Her curiosity leads her and her siblings to follow her grandmother to Halloweentown, where other witches, creatures and monsters reside. The problem is, they have no way of getting home until next Halloween.

Netflix Classic: “The Evil Dead” dir. by Sam Raimi (1981) This series is one that screams “classic Halloween horror,” with the synthesizer-heavy 1980’s music playing throughout the film and the style of the fashion, directing and graphics.

I would rate this a 6 on my spooky scale, mainly because the lower-quality graphics make a difference in how effectively horrific it could be. “The Evil Dead” (not to be confused with

KATHERINE FRANKS / AGGIE

HEREDIT AR Y the more modern adaptation “Evil Dead” that is also on Netflix) depicts a group of friends that find an old book that they don’t realize has the power to awaken the dead.

Netflix Horror: “Creep” dir. by Patrick Kack-Brice (2014) On the spooky scale, I would rate this an 8—not because it is really that scary or gorey, but the connections to the real world is what really haunts me. Shot in the “found footage” style of directing, it depicts a videographer who has been hired to travel to a remote cabin location. His client, Josef, explains that he would like to record a video diary for his unborn child. Throughout the day, the videographer grows more and more suspicious of Josef ’s behavior, which effectively adds to the suspense. I highly recommend this film because it’s not conventionally scary and it has a tinge of humor that almost diffuses the suspense.

Netflix Family-Friendly: “The Addams Family” dir. by Barry Sonnenfeld (1991) This film is a combination of classic and cute, making it one of the most iconic Halloween movies. It shows how the Addams family copes with the return of their long-lost Uncle Fester. This man, however, is actually not their dear uncle, and is working with someone to steal the family’s fortune. Because he is wildly different from the man they knew him to be, the mother of the family, Morticia, starts to notice how suspicious things have

become. The family, which originally served as a satire to the “nuclear family” concept, is fascinating due to their fixation of the macabre. They are happily unaware of how bizarre or unusual they are to others.

Amazon Prime Video Classic: “The Crazies” dir. by George A. Romero (1973) Another classic that was later readapted in the 2010’s, “The Crazies” ranks at a level 7 on the spooky scale. It follows a town’s descent into chaos after an Army plane crashlands near the town. The bio weapon being transported via the Army plane infects the water supply and drives its citizens to become homicidal and insane. Hitting a little close to home due to current events, the town is forced into quarantine as martial law is declared and the military comes in an attempt to control the disease. If you’re looking for something that resembles a horror-dystopian version of our current pandemic, or you’re feeling a little cabin fever crazy yourself, “The Crazies” is a good one to check out.

Amazon Prime Video Horror: “Hereditary” dir. by Ari Aster (2018) I’m not going to lie—some scenes in this film still haunt me when I try to sleep at night. Ranking at a 9 on my spooky scale, “Hereditary” is one of the most disturbing movies on this list. It’s storyline details a family coping with the recent loss of their grandmother and the aftermath of her lost presence. Soon, things turn from tragic to

terrifying as their coping methods turn toward the worst, and more family tragedy occurs.

I would recommend watching this if you’re ready for something that will keep you up at night. This movie is a bit graphic with some elements of gore, but is emotionally scarring more than anything. Aster’s other popular work “Midsommar” is also available on Prime Video and holds the same air of emotionally-scarring content with brilliantly-directed storytelling.

Amazon Prime Video Family-Friendly: “Labyrinth” dir. by Jim Henson (1986) Another Halloween family classic, “Labyrinth” stars young Jennifer Connolly and late pop icon David Bowie. Connelly portrays a teenage girl who struggles to understand her parents and home life, often being taken away from her personal time to care for her baby brother. In a tempered fit, she wishes that the Goblin King would take away the baby and to her surprise, he does. Understanding the gravity of her wish and regretting it, she has to face the Goblin King and find her way through his labyrinth to save her brother.

While some parts do rub me the wrong way, namely the stubborn and infuriating nature of a young teenage girl, it has beautiful music and imagery that will continue to enchant for generations.

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ASSAULT

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“It’s very common that folks will reach out to us after some time, whether that’s a few days, a week or months,” Meredith said. “Sometimes even years.”

Apeksha Kanumilli, a fourth-year psychology major, and the president of Davis Panhellenic, said she considers CARE to be the best place for survivors of sexual assault to start.

“They know a lot more of the ins and outs [of ] specific processes than we do,” Kanumilli said.

The system is designed to provide survivors with multiple options on how to proceed, though the process itself can be retraumatizing for some.

“They’re weighing what their outcome is going to be with what they feel like their capacity is for going through any sort of process,” Meredith said.

Nate Kushner, a third-year global disease major and president of the Interfraternity Council, said his organization refers survivors to CARE as well as OSSJA, and utilizes an anonymous complaint process to encourage its members to speak up about sexual assaults in its chapters.

“Lately, with all these cases coming forward,” Kushner said, “We want to make sure that we hold ourselves, the chapters and individuals accountable.”

Kanumilli said she thinks the university responds to claims well about half the time, but wishes that it had policies to address toxic cultures within Greek Life chapters.

“Besides the people who are assailants, the biggest problem that contributes to this culture of sexual assault is rape apologists—people who make excuses for people who commit sexual assault,” Choi said.

Kanumilli said Panhellenic has reached out to CARE to ensure that Panhellenic practices what it preaches when it comes to women’s empowerment and supporting survivors.

“There are individuals who take it seriously and the reality that we struggle with is that they are put into environments or into cultures of organizations that maybe don’t take it seriously,” Kanumilli said. “That’s where the disconnect between an individual who had the education and knows what consent is can get led astray.”UC Davis has more confidential resources than any other UC campus, including the Women’s Center and the LGBTQIA Center, Meredith said.

The Annual Clery Report, which tracks incidents of sexual violence on campus, only reflects cases which fall under ‘Clery geographies.’

This means it does not count sexual violence that occurs in places that are not owned or operated by the university, and it does not count sexual harassment at all.

“So, they might happen in apartments,” Delmendo said. “We wouldn’t count that for Clery.”

Though the 2019 Clery Report reflects only 16 cases of rape at UC Davis, Title IX reflects a total of 209 complaints of sexual violence and other ‘prohibited behaviors’ in their 2018-2019 report, most commonly reported by responsible employees and related to undergraduate students.

One way the university discourages sexual assault and harassment on campus is by requiring mandatory training on sexual assault and bystander intervention for all incoming students. Meredith said, however, these trainings are typically not enough to affect the attitudes and beliefs of those who complete them.

“You don’t change attitudes and beliefs in a one-hour presentation, and you don’t change attitudes and beliefs sitting down and doing online training,” Meredith said. “Not for most people anyway.”

NOBELPRIZE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 According to Rice, he was looking to be placed in a developmental biology lab using sea urchins, as he served as an undergraduate researcher in a similar laboratory at UC Davis, but was placed into this lab by chance.

“I might have ended up, if I’d gotten placed in a different lab, doing something completely different,” Rice said. “It was kind of a random event.”

As he continued his career in virology at Washington University, Rice conducted genetic analyses on the yellow fever virus, which is part of the Flaviviridae family. When research in 1989 came out about the genome structure for non-A, non-B hepatitis—now known as hepatitis C—his lab discovered that the genome sequences were very similar to that of a flavivirus. Rice recalled that when he first began working with the virus, hepatitis C research was unpopular due to the inability to grow the virus in a culture in the laboratory. But by the end of the 1990’s, interest in the virus grew and most of his laboratory came to work in this field.

Since then, Rice has opened his own laboratory of virology and infectious disease at The Rockefeller University researching the mechanisms of flaviviruses. Although Letts only worked there for three months when he was a graduate student, the two still keep in touch.

Letts said that Rice has always been supportive of him and his career at Davis, and even wrote him a recommendation letter for his current job. Alison Ashbrook, a postdoctoral fellow currently working in Rice’s lab, also spoke of Rice’s encouraging spirit, stating he pushes people to hold their own convictions and to be independent.

“One of Charlie’s best attributes is how much he values students and educating the next generation of scientists,” Ashbrook said via email.

“He sees limitless potential in anyone with the curiosity and discipline to solve the scientific mysteries that lurk around every corner. Whether you’re in Charlie’s lab or another, if you’re passionate about science, he will always root for you!”

Ashbrook became aware of Rice’s work after discussing a publication from his lab during graduate school. It was through this paper that she formed her initial opinion that Rice was an authentic and rigorous scientist. Inspired by the precision of the study and the integrity of reporting an unexpected result, she went on to read more of his papers and was amazed by the quality and breadth of his work.

“Charlie, first and foremost, is a scientist,” Ashbrook said via email. “He eats, sleeps, and breathes science. He is one of the most curious scientists I know and is excited by almost any scientific question, which is evident by the really diverse projects ongoing in the lab.”

For undergraduate students who are currently pursuing a career in research, Rice advised that you have to love what you are doing. He described it as ‘mind-boggling’ that researchers are lucky to be able to explore the things they are interested in while also pursuing it as a career. Similar to how he experienced many obstacles between the time in the mid-1970s when word of the virus began to spread, to the 2010s when there is now a cure for hepatitis C, he encourages students to enjoy the journey despite its ups and downs, rather than focusing on the endpoint.

“I think you just have to love it. You just have to,” Rice said. “If you find something you really have the desire to do and the passion for, you’re going to do the best job. You’re going to be thinking about it all the time. You’re going to be unstoppable when you encounter obstacles, which is true in research.”

VOTERSUPPRESSION CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 INSTITUTIONAL BARRIERS The structure of the voting system poses barriers for certain individuals in terms of voter eligibility. In the U.S., only citizens over the age of 18 can vote. Individuals also must be residents of the state in which they are registered to vote in.

Undocumented immigrants and those who hold Permanent Resident Cards (green cards) also can’t vote.

Individuals in prison or on parole are also unable to vote in California. Proposition 17, which is on California’s 2020 ballot, proposes granting individuals on parole the right to vote.

People in California still have the right to vote while being held in jail, either when awaiting trial or doing time for lower level misdemeanor convictions, according to Benjamin Weber, a UC Davis assistant professor in the department of African American and African studies. This right is taken away, however, for those serving longer felony sentences in state prisons.

“Barriers to voting in jail and felony disenfranchisement laws are part of larger histories and current practices of racist criminalization which disproportionately suppress votes from Black and Brown communities in particular, and people who are lower income in general,” Weber said via email.

Currently, there are about 50,000 Californians on parole who cannot exercise their vote, according to Fletes-Romo. When California’s first state constitution was written in 1849, felony disenfranchisement was included as a tool to suppress the political power of historicallyunderrepresented groups.

“Because of system[ic] inequalities in the way Black, Brown and other communities of color are policed and disproportionately incarcerated, felony disenfranchisement continues to overwhelmingly impact Californians of color,” Fletes-Romo said via email.

In California, individuals may vote after completing a felony sentence and when they are no longer on parole. The “Restore Your Vote” section of the California Secretary of State website allows individuals with prior felony convictions to get their voting rights back. “[...] while California still bars people from

voting while they are serving a felony sentence or on parole, people can get their right to vote back afterward,” Weber said via email.

Individuals deemed “mentally incompetent” by the judicial system also may not vote in California. For instance, Britney Spears isn’t allowed to vote because she’s in conservatorship, according to the Free Britney movement.

In terms of voter registration, the U.S. is the world’s only established democracy that places the burden of registering on voters themselves, according to Mindy Romero, the director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy at the USC School of Public Policy and a former student and professor at UC Davis. This discourages many from participating, especially young people.

Additionally, because registration is tied to an address, it could disproportionately affect very mobile young people, especially college students, or homeless individuals, Romero said.

“Generally speaking, if you haven’t registered when it gets close to election day or you think you are but you aren’t, you’re out of luck,” Romero said.

In many states, there are additional state laws keeping many individuals from voting. Certain laws create voting disadvantages for historically underrepresented groups, Romero said.

“We know that the way our political system engages with different voter groups serves to encourage or discourage them to participate,” Romero said.

In South Carolina, voters need a witness to sign their ballot; in Texas, only one ballot drop box is allowed per county, even in counties with millions of people; in Missouri, ballots must be notarized in order to be counted; in Georgia, the political parties of candidates are not listed on ballots, according to Valerie Morishige, a voting rights advocate.

In California, Morishige views suppression tactics more as voting barriers faced by historically underrepresented groups, rather than overt suppression like what is seen in other states.

“I feel like suppression [involves] someone actively trying to keep you away from voting, and we know this is happening in other states,” Morisigue said.

The initiative also allocated funding for intramurals and sports clubs, recreation programs, the current Pavilion, the Equestrian Center, the Cross Cultural Center, the Women’s Resources and Research Center and Student Health Services.

In exchange for money diverted to ICA, students were promised for-credit PE classes.

Students can enroll in physical fitness and sports courses paid by tuition, and can earn academic credit for their enrollment, rather than paying an additional fee for fitness classes. A report of the Academic Senate Special Committee on Athletics on April 17, 2012 outlines the cooperation between ICA coaches and the PE programs. “[The physical education program] is an academic program in the College of Letters and Science,” the report reads. “It offers lowerand upper-division courses including the PE 1 activities courses and PE 6, the course associated with participation in intercollegiate athletes.

Through the UC Davis teacher-coach model, the ICA coaches teach both of these courses.”

In response to a concerned student, Chief Campus Counsel Michael Sweeney wrote in an email that “no campus-based student fees are used to fund PE, and the elimination of the PE program will not affect the recreational offerings provided through Campus Recreation.”

Although funds from the SASI directly fund ICA and other recreation programs, Sweeney did not address the fact that funding ICA indirectly funds PE courses, because ICA coaches—whose salaries are at least partially funded by the SASI— teach PE courses.

“It’s not about student opportunity anymore, it’s about money,” said Paul Medved, a UC Davis almunnus who graduated in 1978 and father of a UC Davis swimmer who graduated in 2009.

Medved continued to explain the unique teacher-coach model of PE and club athletics at UC Davis.

“The UC Davis Intercollegiate Athletics program is very unique,” Medved said. “It is based on this teacher-coach model, and it involves a partnership with student fees and the university’s support of physical education.

Coaches have master’s degrees and [qualify] as instructors and have to subscribe to the faculty code of conduct. Soon, that will get severed and replaced by mercenary coaches. It has nothing to do with the academic mission anymore.”

Medved explained that UC Davis ICA coaches who double as lecturers and PE teachers are subject to losing the coaching aspect of their salary if the PE program is cut. Medved has connections within the alumni association and involvement with members of UC Davis athletics who have received layoff letters. He noted that non-tenured professors are not likely to speak out.

“Everybody on the coaching staff is going to be subject to losing 30% of their salary,” Medved said.

Chancellor Gary May explained the reasoning behind the decision to eliminate PE classes in his “Thursday Thoughts” Instagram story series on Oct. 22.

“Well, first, I should say that the curriculum really belongs to the faculty and not to the Chancellor,” May said. “But, I do support the decision on PE, and here’s why: I think we should not look at it as something being taken away necessarily, because the only thing being taken away is your ability to earn credit for the activity—earn academic credit. We still plan on having a very robust portfolio of activities: physical activities, wellness activities [and] mental health activities available through campus recreation.”

Students will continue to pay the SASI student fee, but the fee will no longer indirectly fund unit-earned PE courses.

“I’d like to have a Business Degree for undergraduates, for example,” May said in his post. “I’d like to have Data Science for undergraduates, for example. And we can’t do these things with finite, scarce resources. We have to make some choices in order to be able to do all those things.”

Petition organizers argue this is unfair considering the 1994 ASUCD Senate intended the funds from the SASI referendum be allocated specifically to PE courses.

Claire Klyver, a third-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major who organized the petition circulating on social media, is concerned for her PE teacher amid the budget reallocation plan.

“I am confused why the student body wasn’t told initially that the program was ending,” Klyver said. “ASUCD should be the liaison between the administration and the students.”

DAM CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 The Winnemem people have nowhere else to go to become Winnemem people. We can’t move to Hupa to become Winnemems. We have to have that river, and there’s so little of it left.”

The government is intentionally perpetuating the cultural extermination of the Winnemem people. For what exactly? A 13% increase in the dam’s capacity, and that’s just in years where it actually fills. This hypothetical extra water also wouldn’t benefit locals; it would instead go towards several water-rich districts in the Fresno area. The bottom line is that this plan was and will always be a bad idea. It doesn’t matter how hard the Trump Administration tries to push this through.

This issue is a microcosm of the Trump Administration’s blatant disregard for the most fundamental environmental laws and insistence on perpetuating archaic industries.

The year isn’t 1920, it’s 2020. The era of big dams is over. There are more effective ways to address California’s water crisis that wouldn’t be such a blatant attack on our cultural and natural resources. The proposal’s $1.3 billion budget could be better put to work by investing in river

California has done a lot of work in the last few years to make it easier to register and vote— including same day voter registration—however, it’s still not widely used, according to Romero.

“We don’t have guards at the gate stopping people,” Romero said. “People generally don’t have to worry about being beat up or paying a poll tax, what we think of [as] overt forms of voter suppression.”

Despite these steps made to increase voting accessibility, voter suppression still exists in California, which is illustrated in voter participation statistics. While California “looks good on paper” with regard to voter suppression, Romero said that the state should be working “above and beyond” to make voting accessible for everyone.

“Everything in the books and in the law makes it sound like we have really accessible voting here in California, but in practice, we just aren’t aren’t doing that well,” Romero said. “In practice, we can do a lot more about getting funding for our local election officials so we are not just doing the bare minimum that’s legally required.”

MOTIVATIONAL BARRIERS In addition to the institutional aspect of voter suppression, researchers—like Romero—study the question of what motivates people to vote or not to vote.

“On that motivation question, [California is] doing a really terrible job,” Romero said.

Motivational barriers toward voting largely differ among people on the individual level, Morishige said. “[People] might be motivated because it’s just not convenient,” Morishige said. “They really also need to have self efficacy around feeling like they’re able to make an informed vote. I think that trips up a lot of people.”

In California, all voters were sent absentee ballots for the 2020 election, however, that does not make voting accessible for all, Morishige said.

For example, individuals who may not understand English may not know they can request a ballot in one of 13 different languages depending on the county.

“California has failed to achieve a truly multilingual democracy,” Fletes-Romo said via email. “Language access is absolutely crucial in a state like California that is home to millions of

restoration and other restorative water projects to increase natural aquifer recharge and storage.

So what can you do to help? There are several organizations that are rallying against the proposal, including the Hydropower Reform Coalition and Caltrout. There is a petition organized by Save the California Salmon.

California Trout has a letter writing campaign which you can participate in. Finally, there is a sample letter to your local senators which you can use on the California Wilderness Coalition’s website here. The government can’t just pick and choose which laws it follows, and it’s our responsibility to hold them accountable.

Administrations come and go, but California’s rivers are forever, and personally, I like rivers a lot more than politics.

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.

individuals who are limited-English proficient.”

Additionally, those who are visually impaired are not able to use an absentee ballot, Morishige said.

“It’s amazing that we’re all getting absentee ballots but then we forget like there are certain people where that’s still not accessible for them,” Morishige said. “It seems like it’s accessible, but if you really think about it, there are certain groups that are being left out.”

Especially for vulnerable populations, the COVID-19 pandemic has created challenges for those who must go vote in person at a polling place—for language assistance and disability modifications, among other reasons—and many counties have reduced the number of polling stations available.

Resource allocation is important for ensuring that everyone has an equal opportunity to participate. Access to language assistance or audio should be ensured for those with disabilities, Romero said. Additionally, the information provided in different languages on voting websites is not updated as frequently, so those voters might not be reading the most up-to-date information.

Efficiency is also important in ensuring everyone votes. Having enough polling locations is important for those who choose to vote in person, Romero said.

“You want to have something that’s easy and convenient and close by to you, and you want to make sure that they are also staffed at the appropriate levels,” Morishige said.

Historically, some Native American voters on tribal lands may have had to travel long distances to cast their votes. Today, non-profit organizations like The California Native Vote Project combat these inequalities by engaging Native American communities across the state, according to Kathleen Whiteley, a UC Davis assistant professor of Native American history. Additionally, some Native American individuals who live on tribal lands that do not have formal addresses, which are often required for a state-issued ID. Rhetorical tactics that strive to confuse and avert voters can also be seen as voter suppression, according to Romero. In our current election, these tactics have included the spread of misinformation about mail-in ballots, suggestions of voter fraud, placements of fake ballot boxes in California and threats of voter intimidation at polling places.

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12 | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Students reflect on experiences with PE classes as UC Davis ends program Scheduled courses offering exercise will be missed by many students

BY OMAR NAVARRO sports@theaggie.org In a year filled with surprises, UC Davis added another as they announced plans to eliminate the physical education (PE) courses at the university after the conclusion of the current fall quarter.

Founded in 1947, the UC Davis Department of Physical Education offered physical education courses to all students at the university. They offered a minor in “Coaching Principles and Methods” as well as other classes like “Healthful Living” and “Sociology of Sport” in addition to the regular activity and sport courses. Regardless of if the class involved physical activity or not, it was a great way for students to destress in a healthy manner and learn something new in the process, according to many students.

Taught by many coaches at UC Davis, these classes offered an experience to its students that could not be found elsewhere. Being instructional by design, insight from someone very familiar with the topic created an atmosphere that was unique for all students, according to assistant director of the physical education program Stephen Bronzan.

“The PE Program has a long history at UC Davis,” Bronzan said. “The coaches at UCD have always been teachers and the students benefited from having an athletic program that provided an opportunity for an intimate connection with the student body as a whole. It is unfortunate that the students will no longer be provided the opportunity to play, grow, interact and heal in a fun, positive and nurturing environment that no other part of the campus can provide to such a level of expertise.”

Before all classes shifted to remote learning in response to COVID-19, these classes were popular among students and would enroll nearly 8,000 annually.

Russell Field at UC Davis usually hosts various physical activities but remains empty during Fall Quarter 2020.

(Quinn Spooner / Aggie) When normal activities resume on campus, the hole left by this departure will have to be filled by something else.

“I am saddened that we are losing this program that has served tens of thousands of Aggies over the years,” said PHE/ICA Courses Coordinator Nancy Wright. “This is especially unfortunate at a time when the promotion of exercise and health for our undergraduates’ physical and mental well-being is so necessary.”

For some first-year students coming in, these classes were crucial in building some sense of

normalcy in the college adjustment process. For Ryan Cohen, these physical education classes helped him get more comfortable with the school and also figure out how to fill his once sports-packed schedule.

“I played sports my whole life growing up,” said Cohen, who is now a third-year communication major. “Coming up to Davis, I had no structured form of running around and getting some energy out. Freshman year when I did [flag football], you can totally feel the difference. Even just an hour of [being active], it changed my day. I was always

in a better mood in the rest of my classes. It brightened my day up by being able to get outside a little bit in the morning.”

Being able to set the tone for the rest of the day is huge, especially for college students.

Having a jam-packed, stressful schedule can take a lot out of students, and taking these classes helped some destress from their long days.

“I took three classes [my first year],” said Hayley Jacinto, second-year political science major. “I saw [them] as stress relieving. I would choose my PE classes first thing in the morning so I would go to my [other] classes in a good mental state. It made me do better and [allowed me to] focus more.”

Abraham Lee, a third-year civil engineering major, took an aikido class in spring 2019.

“I was able to learn a new martial art and it was great to go and do some type of physical activity,” Lee said. “[When] working out, I didn’t want to think about my classes, which helped me destress.”

Many students agree that these structured exercise classes were very valuable.

“I think students will miss the opportunity to not only meet people inside the classroom environment but also in an outdoor environment,” Jacinto said. “When I was in these classes, I was able to socialize with everyone and was more encouraged to [participate] than just sitting in class.”

The common theme echoed among students is that PE classes gave them an opportunity to have a scheduled class that allowed them to work out in a variety of different ways. Whether it was to unwind and get their mind off things, sharpen a skill or just learn a new activity, many students said these are things that will be irreplaceable when the program comes to an end.

“There’s something valuable about knowing you have that class,” Cohen said. “It makes you get up out of bed, it makes you do it, then [when you do], you feel good the rest of the day. The [structured] aspect of it is what I think will be missed the most.”

Behind the club: UC Davis mens rugby As the club continues to grow, team hopes more support grows as well

BY OMAR NAVARRO sports@theaggie.org

Often overlooked due to the multitude of Division I sports offered at UC Davis, sport clubs have been a crucial part of the college experience for many students. With 39 clubs being offered in Fall Quarter 2020 alone, it is easy to see how they can go under the radar.

Still, these clubs carry the same work ethic and competitiveness that you can find on any team and among their members, there is no lack of passion. For the UC Davis men’s rugby club, the journey to get where they are today has been one that has taken a lot of work and commitment by all players and staff involved.

Players on the UC Davis men’s rugby club range from those who have played their whole lives to those who just discovered the sport upon arriving on campus. Split into the A side and B side, the club fields both teams, one for those just starting and one for those more advanced or more familiar with the game.

“I like to describe it as, in high school you have the varsity team and the JV team,” said Thomas O’Brien, the UC Davis Men’s rugby captain and fourth-year civil engineering major. “We have the A side, which are the 15 best players and the subs and the B side are the other players not in those 15. Although you are not in the starting 15, you can still get a lot of games in.”

But, in contrast to junior varsity and varsity football, the support from the teammates, regardless of which side they are on, is always there.

“What’s great about after playing an A side game is that whether you are on B side or not, you get to sit there and watch your teammates play,” said Jordan Naumburg, the President of the men’s rugby club and third-year mechanical engineering major. “I think that’s awesome because the B side players see that the older guys do care about them. Having [them] watch you, supporting you and cheering you on really gives you that sense of community.”

The supportive atmosphere that surrounds the club is one of their major keys to success.

Being unable to give out scholarships, the recruitment process can be a tough venture for all clubs.

“That’s our biggest challenge as a club level [team],” O’Brien said. “There’s a few teams that have scouts and can give out scholarships. Our recruitment process is basically just face-toface interactions, friends and just telling others about the club.”

Meeting with people face to face, tabling or telling a friend are all ways that they recruit, and while that may be a disadvantage in terms of acquiring elite talent from across the country, there is some benefit with that close interaction.

“You get to meet people on a personal level,” Naumburg said about the recruitment process.

“You get to enjoy your teammates. I think this is something that we have that others don’t, because we go out and meet people. Some of my best times in college have been with [this team]. To have those [teammates] you reach on a personal level makes the dynamic of the team much better.”

Although they are a club sport, they compete at the Division IA level which allows them to play elite teams like Saint Mary’s, Santa Barbara and Grand Canyon University among others. After winning back-to-back Division IAA national championships in 2015 and 2016, the club made a jump to the top division, playing in the DIA California Conference. Now in the highest possible division, they hope to compete at their highest level possible, even if they don’t have the resources the other schools may have.

“With one word to describe us: underdog,” Naumburg said. “I feel like we walk into a lot of these places that have all these fancy stadiums, funding and we just play with our hearts out. We play with everything.”

In a normal year, Fall Quarter serves as a preseason, as they begin practices, get new players up to speed and play games that will not be officially counted, but are helpful for getting in practice reps. The winter is when they begin their competitive league games, scheduled every one to two weeks. The spring marks the beginning of playoffs and if they

qualify, they work their way up to the National Championship. If they do not qualify, they all get together and wind down the season, playing scrimmages among each other and finishing off the year.

This has been anything but a normal year, however, and the rugby club, like all others, have felt the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. All activities for the fall have been cancelled and the club is not allowed to practice.

Whether practices are to resume and games are to be played in the winter, all depends on safety guidelines. This is a big blow to the team, but although they cannot meet in person, they are trying to find ways to get new players involved.

They currently hold film sessions twice a week over Zoom, showing the basics of rugby, as well as getting new players up to speed about the game. With everything being brought to a halt, the county’s recent move to the “red tier” has given them hope that maybe some in-person activities with strict guidelines can be held in the near future.

“We’re trying to push for conditioning workouts without equipment,” O’Brien said. “[Obviously] be socially distanced, follow all of the guidelines. But still, meet in person and we can all see each other. I think that’s how you get the most out of club sports.”

Taking this year out of the picture due to the circumstances, the club has grown tremendously over the years. As they continue to gain more experience at the highest level and develop,

they hope that one day this program can reach new heights with support from the Davis community and build a base to improve the club for the seasons to come.

“The level of interest and knowledge about rugby is something to get up,” O’Brien said.

“It’s a wonderful game. I just want to build that community around the sport and build the amount of guys we can get involved to experience it. To build our club, we need people. To build a good base about recruitment and knowledge of the game is one of our main goals.”

Support from the community can help the team in the future, Naumburg said.

“Just them knowing about UC Davis rugby [can help],” Naumburg said. “I feel like a lot of people don’t know about our schedule in general, so getting more people there at our games would be awesome as well as [seeing improvement] in five to 10 years when I come back to visit. [..] the equipment they get to use, the coaching staff, lifting with the DI trainers is the improvement we want to see overall.”

The UC Davis rugby team. (Alexander Obodoefuna / Courtesy)