January 28, 2021

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

@THECALIFORNIAAGGIE

SERVING THE UC DAVIS CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY SINCE 1915

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THEAGGIE.ORG

@CALIFORNIAAGGIE

@CALIFORNIAAGGIE

VOLUME 139, ISSUE 13 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

UC PURCHASES SAN FRANCISCO ART INSTITUTE’S DEBT FOR $19.7 MILLION, PREVENTING FORECLOSURE UC Regents are now the new trustees of the SFAI

BY REBECCA BIHN-WALLACE features@theaggie.org This month, the University of California announced its purchase of the San Francisco Art Institute’s (SFAI) debt for approximately $19.7 million. According to UC spokesperson Stett Holbrook, the SFAI was originally purchased by the UC in 1924 with proceeds from a property donation by Edward Searles, who was a prominent benefactor of the university at the time.

“The University of California has a 97-year history of support for the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) and its artistic mission,” Holbrook said via email. “In spite of the dire financial challenges the UC faces due to COVID-19, the University has stepped in to help SFAI and save it from foreclosure.”

Holbrook explained that the University of California owned SFAI’s property in trust until 2010, facilitating loans and supporting the growth of the school, though the two institutions remain unaffiliated academically. The trust and property were then transferred to the institute so that they could benefit from the land’s property value.

The UC “retained a ‘contingent remainder interest,’” in the property, Holbrook said. The terms of the agreement also stipulated that if SFAI stopped operating as an art school or used its property for purposes other than fine arts instruction, the property would revert to the UC Regents.

In recent years, the institute struggled with declining enrollment due to living costs in San Francisco and the rising costs of higher education. It was also affected by the economic downturn in 2020.

This prompted the Boston Private & Trust Company to move on the institute’s foreclosure in July 2020. A public sale of the institute, however, was precluded by the reversion of the property to the UC Regents in the following months. The Regents will now function as the new trustees of the art school.

The San Francisco Art Institute, which has been acquired by the University of California. (San Francisco Art Institute / Courtesy)

ART on 11

CHANCELLOR GARY MAY WAS NAMED ONE OF 1,000 INSPIRING BLACK SCIENTISTS IN AMERICA May speaks about leadership in 2020 and the importance of diversity in higher education

BY KATIE DEBENEDETTI features@theaggie.org As a year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and a historic election, 2020 has called for a greater recognition of leadership within the Black community, which has been disproportionately affected by these events.

Within our UC Davis community, Chancellor Gary May has been recognized as part of Cell Mentor’s “1,000 Inspiring Black Scientists in America.” When UC Davis decided to transition to remote instruction in March, he began his weekly “Checking in With Chancellor May” emails to the community, used his “Thursday Thoughts” Instagram stories to bring awareness to issues facing Davis students and made swift statements regarding the social justice movements taking place.

Tatiana Perkins, a fourth-year political science and African American and African studies double major, stated that May’s presence in the community made her and fellow Black students feel supported throughout the challenging year.

“I personally have never had a visible figure in a staff position in school, in K through 12 or at community college; I have never seen a Black person that high up,” Perkins said. “After the murder of Ahmaud Arbery last February, Chancellor May and his wife immediately made a statement [...] and with the Black Lives Matter protests he was always saying something, so I felt that [...] Black students felt represented and supported by them. It definitely made being at Davis feel more comfortable.”

Although he is now a prominent figure at UC Davis, May did not always intend to become a university chancellor. After graduating from Georgia Tech in 1985 with a B.E.E in engineering and earning an M.S. and PhD in electrical engineering and computer science from UC Berkeley, he returned to Georgia Tech as executive assistant to the then-Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough, where he built a strong foundation in leadership, inspired by his years at Berkeley.

Gary May, the Chancellor of UC Davis, was named one of 1,000 inspiring Black scientists in America.

(Ian Jones / Aggie File)

BLACKSCIENTISTS on 1 1

YOLO COUNTY OPENED ADDITIONAL TESTING SITE TUESDAY TABLE WHICH WAS FREE FOR ALL CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS CONTINUES TO OFFER As more contagious strains spread, experts urge residents to get FREE ESSENTIALS, MORE tested frequently and adhere to public health guidelines LOCATIONS AVAILABLE

KATHERINE HUNG / AGGIE

BY SHRADDHA JHINGAN city@theaggie.org On Jan. 12, an additional OptumServe mobile testing site opened in Yolo County for the entirety of January, making it easier for residents to get tested, according to a press release. The OptumServe testing sites are free for all California residents regardless of their age or documentation status. For those without health insurance, the state will cover the cost—otherwise, the provider will be charged, with no out-of-pocket costs for the resident.

The additional testing site was shared between Winters and West Sacramento.

Spokesperson for OptumServe Aaron Albright explained the process of scheduling an appointment to get tested at the 125 sites available in California.

“People who are interested in getting tested can schedule an appointment via our scheduling website,” Albright said via email.

“There, you will set up an account and have to answer some demographic questions and health insurance information, if you have coverage. Insurance coverage is not necessary, though. Once you see your patient ID number, I advise people to write it down or print it out just in case.”

Once an appointment has been scheduled, a reminder will be sent out, and once the results have been received, a text or email will be sent out instructing those who have been tested to access their lhi.care account.

In addition to the OptumServe testing site, there are also several other testing locations in Yolo County, including the on-campus testing option at the UC Davis Activities and Recreation Center (ARC), which is open seven days a week.

Medical Director at UC Davis Student Health and Counseling Services Cindy Schorzman explained the decision to provide testing all throughout the week.

“We decided to do testing 7 days per week to allow for hours to help better meet the needs of our campus community, including individuals who work and study on campus on the weekends,” Schorzman said via email. “We also have testing scheduled 7 days per week to increase our testing capacity to meet the needs of our employees and students.”

Professor at UC Davis and Director of the Genome Centre Professor Richard Michelmore explained that the university has started to encourage students to get tested more frequently.

“The testing efforts have been ramping up well,” Michelmore said via email. “We are now encouraging students to get tested twice per week for maximum epidemiological impact in slowing the pandemic.”

Michelmore noted, however, that testing is not a standalone solution for preventing the spread of the virus. In addition, he encouraged residents to social distance, avoid gatherings with large groups and wear masks—particularly since more contagious variants are spreading to Northern California.

“It is also important to keep being tested after vaccination,” Michelmore said via email. “The efficacy data for vaccines was generated on the decrease in the number of people exhibiting symptoms. Nucleic acid tests were not performed. It is not known whether vaccinated individuals can become infected and be asymptomatic and infectious.”

Yolo County is also providing weblinks for the general public and healthcare workers in Tiers 2 and 3 of Phase 1A to register for vaccine clinics and get notifications and information.

Yolo County Public Information Officer Jenny Tan explained that although there are many testing sites available locally, testing overall has decreased as people stop traveling.

“Residents have been continuing to take advantage of the testing that the County has made available,” Tan said. “We have a lot of different opportunities where people can get tested. Some of our testing has gone down a little bit. Not as many residents have been using testing compared to during the holidays, which is to be assumed because they’re not traveling.”

ALLTESTING on 11

Organizers hope Tuesday Table continues as a food resource even post-pandemic

BY JELENA LAPUZ city@theaggie.org Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last March, Tuesday Table has been providing various essentials to the Davis and Yolo County communities. These essentials include—but are not limited to—food, books and other personal care items.

Over the past few months, Tuesday Table has continued to grow and provide for the community.

Melanie Carr, a Yolo County Tuesday Table organizer, explained how Tuesday Table progressed to offer six main tables: three in Davis, two in Woodland and one in Knights Landing.

“The people who are doing the Tuesday Tables each week are consistent and the tables are consistent,” Carr said. “We’re a little bit more consistent in our operations in terms of when do we get the donations and how we get them out to people who need them.”

FREEFOOD on 1 1

CATHY TANG / AGGIE

2 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

ASUCD Senate passes five bills unanimously at January 14 meeting, but tabled DREAM Committees proposal for pandemic fund again Senate Bill #47, an ASUCD senate bill introduced to provide $9,800 to the Dream Committee for a pandemic relief fund for Dreamers, was once again tabled

BY ANNETTE CAMPOS campus@theaggie.org At the Jan. 14 meeting, ASUCD Senate passed Bills #51, #50, #48, #49 and #42 unanimously, which serve to structure the bylaws, get a handle on the budget and provide clarification on the senate’s commitment to following state and federal laws.

Senate Bill #47, a Senate bill introduced to provide $9,800 to the Dream Committee in a relief fund due to pandemic hardships, was also brought up during old legislation discussion but was tabled by author Senator Rodriguez-Ibarra due to lack of structure, according to Senator Maahum Shahab.

Bill #47 is a way to bring back accountability after funds that had been promised to undocumented students in the beginning of the pandemic were not distributed, Shahab said. The Controller sought changes for more accountability, and asked with whom they had talked.

“After that, there weren’t many concrete answers,” Shahab said.

“This table saw there was no new process; there was a lot of fear that the same thing would happen again. Everyone voted to table it until we properly go back and find a new structure.”

Vice President Emily Barneond introduced two nominees for associate vice president: Juliana Hernandez for associate vice president of internal communications and Vinal Chand for associate

vice presidents of external communications. In unanimous consent, the motion passed.

For the weekly reports, President Kyle Krueger mentioned meeting with administrators and students regarding Physical Education and attending Academic Senate to speak with individuals regarding Equitable Access concerns.

Vice President Emily Barneond reported on working to integrate the Senate and Executive members more by creating a new committee and amending ASUCD bylaws for administrators to come to committee meetings.

Senator Amanjot Gandhoke reported meeting with Pantry Director Ryan Choi to discuss the functionality of The Pantry moving forward, and met with Maya Llamas, the executive director

of the Community Resource and Retention Centers, to discuss KDVS’s strategic planning meeting.

Senator Lucas Fong met with the Entertainment Council to discuss upcoming quarterly events and plans, and suggested adding Saturday Trivia Nights to the calendar.

Senator Kristin Mifsud sat in on a meeting for a new Athletics Director along with President Krueger.

Senator Shahab discussed the City of Davis’s public meeting which considered better options for affordable housing and provided a statement in support.

Senator Tenzin Youedon met with representatives from the Committee on Student Affairs and Fees to discuss student fees and attended a meeting to discuss the Campus Expansion Initiative.

Student EMTs transport COVID-19 positive students to quarantine housing The new program is a partnership between UC Davis Fire Department, Student Health and Counseling Services and Student Housing and Dining Services

BY AARYA GUPTA AND LYRA FARRELL campus@theaggie.org

The UC Davis Fire Department, Student Health and Counseling Services (SHCS) and Student Housing and Dining Services have collaborated to establish a new program for students who tested positive for COVID-19. The transportation service is available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week. They are now able to move into on-campus quarantine housing safely and efficiently with the assistance of student emergency medical technicians (EMTs).

“Often freshmen, on campus in particular, and people that live in the dorms don’t have access to a vehicle,” said Nathaniel Hartinger, deputy fire chief of the UC Davis Fire Department. “How do we get the positive folks, who no one wants to be exposed to, to this other area where they can quarantine?”

Matthew Kenaston, a third-year microbiology major and seniorlevel student EMT, further elaborated on the difficulty people living on campus face.

“If you’re in Tercero, West Village, these other universityassociated apartments, it’d be really difficult to bike with all your stuff that you would need for a 10-day period in quarantine,” Kenaston said. “Unless it’s your own personal, private vehicle that no one else will be using, they don’t recommend having someone else drive you because you’re increasing exposure.”

Kenaston stated that the fire department is suited for the transportation service because they’re already equipped with the necessary provisions.

“Our service is the optimal service because we have the PPE, we have the resources and we have the wherewithal to do this in the most safe way possible, aside from someone’s own personal vehicle driving them,” Kenaston said.

When an individual tests positive for COVID-19, they are referred to SHCS to see if they qualify for the service, Hartinger said.

“We are very excited about this amazing partnership with the UC Davis Fire Department,” said Cindy Schorzman, the medical director of the SHCS via email. “Student Health and Counseling Services oversees the result notification and case investigation process for students who test positive for COVID-19 on campus, either through the asymptomatic screening kiosk at the ARC, the mobile asymptomatic screening kiosk at veterinary medicine or through symptomatic or close contact at SHCS.” After SHCS conducts contact tracing and determines whether the individual needs to be quarantined, they are asked questions to help determine if the student can safely and effectively isolate their current residence, Shorzman said. If a student cannot quarantine in their place of residence, they are offered space in the on-campus quarantine/isolation housing.

According to the UC Davis Campus Ready website, the process of contact tracing has four steps: notifying students of their diagnosis, offering direction and support, assisting through consultations and appointments and identifying potential transmission.

“If they live on campus, the student housing department has a whole area for quarantine for them,” Hartinger said. “Instead of having to quarantine within their room and be within a building with other folks—where it is more densely populated—they will

The UC Davis Fire Department station on campus. (Quinn Spooner / Aggie) house them in a separate area.”

“We have a system in place where our student EMTs will pick [the patients] up in a particular vehicle and transport them over there in a safe fashion,” Hartinger said.

According to Hartinger, the program started just right before the break.

“Because everyone was already off campus, we didn’t even have a transport over the holiday,” Hartinger said. “So our first transport started at the beginning of this month.”

To transport positive students to quarantine-specific housing, the UC Davis Fire Department repurposed an existing vehicle.

“We repurposed the vehicle that we had,” Hartinger said. “We’re able to put some plexiglass up in it and cordoned off the back area so that they’re fully separate. [There are] different air systems in there so there really isn’t that much of an exposure, and our student EMTs have full PPE that’s appropriate for transport as well.”

This vehicle was an EMS 234, a repurposed vehicle originally intended for football games, according to an article published by Dateline UC Davis.

“We are always happy to step in wherever there is a need,” Hartinger said. “We have quite a few trained EMTs already. They are aware of disease transmission. They are aware of proper PPE usage [and] how to put these items on and off.”

Currently, there are six qualified students who can provide the transportation services, Hartinger said.

“Even though the folks aren’t patients [of EMTs]—they are students being transferred and they’re not technically being treated

by EMTs—there is a real high level of knowledge that lends to a level of comfort,” Hartinger said.

This position is volunteer-based, and students who are transporting patients are being paid for their services.

“They were all eager to help,” Hartinger said. “One of the silver linings to this entire pandemic is that everyone is stepping forward to do what they can and provide to help others.”

“Now that we are in the middle of the quarter, we are averaging 50 to 60 students in isolation housing at this point in time,” said Director of the Office of Student Development of Student Housing and Dining Services Branden Petitt.

Petitt said that in addition to providing the staff support to look over the intake process, Student Housing and Dining Services actively communicates with partners on campus during this process.

As of Jan. 22, in the past seven days, the total campus COVID-19 cases has reached 97, taking into account cases identified from asymptomatic testing, Student Health and Wellness Center and selfreports, according to the Campus Ready website.

Out of 13,500 asymptomatic tests, 0.58% were positive between Jan. 10 and Jan. 16.

“This is just us trying to bridge that gap in available services to people that need it,” Hartinger said.

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021 | 3

CURRENT SURGE MAKES COVID-19 CONTACT TRACING MORE DIFFICULT IN YOLO COUNTY Both contact tracing and tracking COVID-19 deaths help to inform Yolo County public health guidelines

BY RACHEL SHEY city@theaggie.org Although contact tracing can be a useful tool for identifying and contacting people who might have been infected with COVID-19, local officials explain that current California contact tracing databases are experiencing difficulty in keeping up with the current surge.

A UC Davis Health information page detailed that contact tracing could be used to identify “[…] where there might be an increased risk of a COVID-19 outbreak.”

Yolo County Public Information Officer Jenny Tan explained that while the county uses contact tracing as a resource for fighting the spread of COVID-19, the data is often incomplete and difficult to obtain.

“We are doing contact tracing, we are definitely looking at where these people are working, or what they’ve done, but it’s hard to know exactly where someone got COVID-19,” Tan said. “It’s hard for a person to say sometimes, if they’re going to work, or if they went to a gathering. Plus, the data that we get from the state [databases] is often incomplete. There’s only a few questions that are mandatory in contact tracing, so a lot of people will choose to say that they don’t want to say or they don’t know.”

Tan also said that the California Reportable Disease Information Exchange (CalREDIE) system is another issue, as it was never designed to handle the scale of data

being added. Tan also described that many areas have multiple local sources of data, with varying programs and clinics administering different kinds of tests, which contribute to the lack of transparency.

“One of the issues is that the CalREDIE system, which is the state system, was not intended to be used at such a level,” Tan said. “It was a program that was available when COVID-19 first started. We’re adding thousands of data points—if not millions— statewide, to this system every day. So there are issues that come out from that, plus there’s so many different ways that we can get data, spreadsheets and things like that.”

In addition to contact tracing, Yolo County is also counting COVID-19 deaths in order to track the spread of the virus. Yolo County Chief Deputy Coroner Gina Moya stated via email that COVID-19 deaths are reported to the Yolo County Public Health Office.

Yolo County District 4 Supervisor Jim Provenza explained via email that all available data is considered in making local public health guidelines.

“All information received by the county is made available to the Board to help us formulate policy,” Provenza said. “For example, we have focused upon large gatherings in our prevention efforts because outbreaks have been traced to private parties and other gatherings of household members who are not related.

Tracing is now more difficult because of the current surge of cases.”

KATHERINE HUNG / AGGIE

YOLO HABITAT CONSERVANCY’S HABITAT CONSERVATION PLANS APPROVED BY CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE Local leaders explain how the plan will protect local species without hindering agriculture MARIO RODRIGUEZ / AGGIE

AGGIE FILE

Those pesky teens are hanging out on the rooftops again!

January 5 “Respondent got into an argument with his friends who have since left; however, prior to leaving they smashed a microwave in the street.”

January 9 “5-6 subjects on the roof with flashlights.”

BY YAN YAN HUSTIS HAYES city@theaggie.org In November 2020, Yolo Habitat Conservancy’s Regional Conservation Investment Strategy/Local Conservation Plan (RCIS/LCP) was approved by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, becoming only the second approved plan in the state.

The Yolo Habitat Conservancy is a joint powers agency dedicated to the conservation of natural and working landscapes as well as wildlife throughout Yolo County. According to a press release, Yolo Habitat Conservancy’s RCIS/LCP is a voluntary, non-regulatory conservation plan that guides both private and public conservation actions and investment including habitat restoration and protection.

Yolo County District 1 Supervisor Oscar Villegas explained via email that the RCIS/LCP is part of Yolo County’s longstanding commitment to agricultural growth and the conservation of natural habitats.

“The county is very proud of the efforts by the Yolo Habitat Conservancy in advocating natural resource conservation in conjunction with managing sensible economic growth,” Villegas said. “Yolo County is primarily an agricultural county and respects all aspects of the wildlife that accompanies our land.”

These efforts at the county level are particularly important because, as Woodland’s Environmental Sustainability Manager Ken Loman explained via email, local governments are uniquely positioned in their ability to address climate change and sustainability in their communities.

“Climate change is a global problem, but how it affects each of us depends in part on the conditions in our local communities,” Loman said. “With over 39 million people and the world’s fifth largest economy, California is incredibly diverse. Only local governments are able to determine how to address climate and sustainability issues for their communities.”

Yolo Habitat Conservancy Board member and Yolo County District 2 Supervisor Don Saylor explained via email that Yolo County’s RCIS/LCP is a comprehensive plan resulting from a nearly eight-year process that began in 2013.

“The Conservancy agreed to develop the voluntary, non-regulatory Local Conservation Plan (LCP),” Saylor said. “[The LCP] would cover over 100 additional species and propose biological goals and objectives to advance conservation for these species.”

Saylor explained that as a voluntary, nonregulatory plan, landowners and developers who choose to participate are afforded benefits such as a simplified approach to environmental

mitigation and a streamlined permitting process.

Saylor further described how the plan will help to protect local species and habitats. “[The] RCIS/LCP establishes biological goals and objectives at the species level and describes conservation actions and habitat enhancement actions that, if implemented, will contribute to those goals and objectives,” Saylor said. “The Yolo RCIS/LCP […] will ensure conservation actions are coordinated across Yolo County, increase the likelihood of receiving state and federal funding for conservation work, increase the total amount of acreage conserved in Yolo County, and improve species outcomes.”

Saylor explained that while widespread regulation is an important tool for affecting change in regards to conservation, community engagement is especially important.

Looking forward, Saylor explained that Yolo County will maintain its commitment to environmental conservation in its continued support for the implementation of the Yolo Habitat Conservation Plan.

“The climate and environmental challenges we face are shared challenges that are not limited by jurisdictional boundaries,” Saylor said.

“It is our hope that the 50-year Yolo Habitat Conservation Plan serves as a model for other communities to promote conjunctive use of land for both agriculture and habitat conservation.”

January 11 “Locked out on balcony, has keys, wonders if she could pass them to officer to unlock door and let her in.”

January 13 “2 male teens on roof of middle building.”

January 15 “2 subjects with flashlights walking on the roof of the school.”

January 19 “Female patron refuses to leave, 41 years of age, long, blonde, curly hair, lavender shirt, white cowboy boots with lots of property.”

4 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Students juggle insurrection, impeachment and schoolwork As armed rioters scaled the Capitol, students tried to pay attention to their lectures

KATHERINE FRANKS / AGGIE

BY KATHLEEN QUINN campus@theaggie.org As students tried to get a handle on winter quarter, an insurrection was taking place in the Capitol. As far as their studies were concerned, not much had changed.

Ardash Chandra, a third-year political science major, was in his political science class when news from the Capitol reached him.

“It was right towards the end of class when the whole thing happened and everyone was typing into the chat and going a little crazy about it,” Chandra said.

Sonya Gomez-Enriquez, a third-year computer science major, was also in class when she heard about the events.

“I wasn’t really paying attention in class, because I wanted to see what was up,” GomezEnriquez said. “I was seeing it progress throughout the day too.”

When asked for comment, Michelle Burt, the director of multicultural services at Student Health and Counseling Services, declined but provided a flyer for students dealing with socio-political stress.

“Definitely the day was incredibly stressful for me,” said Marco Moeljadi, a first-year environmental policy major. “I was just so focused on it for a long time.”

Gomez-Enriquez said she wished there would have been more outreach from professors during that time.

“I would want at least an email alert from my teachers saying what they think about it,” GomezEnriquez said. “Just to acknowledge there are things going on outside.”

Chancellor Gary May did briefly address the events in an email sent to students on Jan. 8.

“However, as resilient as we can be, we understand the stress brought on by current events,” May said in the email. “Please continue to care for yourselves and others.”

Chandra said this should help people see what is really going on in the U.S. “We really got to see the other half of the story, the other side of the picture which for the longest time we have said, ‘Oh it doesn’t really exist, it’s just a small population who are like that, who hold those beliefs,’” Chandra said. “That’s just not true, given what we saw.”

Many of the events, such as the plan to arrest congressional members and potentially hang former Vice President Mike Pence, were not known until much later.

“I really feel like it should have been a bigger deal because I saw articles where people were going in there with zip ties and the panic buttons in the congressional room were ripped out ahead of time,” Gomez-Enriquez said.

Moeljadi said he didn’t hear anything from either of his professors that day.

“There could have been at least some recognition,” Moeljadi said. “I don’t know about officially cutting down on assignments, but definitely some recognition.”

The historic second impeachment by the House of Representatives of former President

Donald Trump, which occurred just days later on Jan. 12, was not at the top of the list of important topics for Gomez-Enriquez.

“At the end of the day, it doesn’t really mean anything anymore,” she said.

Moeljadi said that the events of Jan. 8 were not as stressful as they would be during a regular year, mainly because students are just used to unprecedented events.

“If the Capitol stuff had occurred independent of a pandemic, it would have been much crazier,” Moeljadi said. “It followed a lot of other crazy things going on this year.”

Postbaccalaureate programs provide a career alternative to students pursuing health professions Academic enhancer postbaccalaureate programs aim to help students reach their professional goals

BY LIANA MAE ATIZADO features@theaggie.org For students who are pursuing careers in medicine and other health professions, there may be significant pressure to perform well during their undergraduate studies. Some may be discouraged if they do not graduate with a grade point average (GPA) as high as they had hoped.

Postbaccalaureate programs, however, can provide an opportunity for these students to enhance their academic abilities and become stronger applicants for professional health schools.

The UC Postbaccalaureate Consortium is a collaboration between postbaccalaureate premedical programs at the Schools of Medicine at UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Los Angeles and UC San Francisco (UCSF). Cassidy Kays, the UC Postbaccalaureate Consortium coordinator, works with all four of these programs. According to Kays, their mission is to increase the number of physicians who practice in areas of California that face shortages in healthcare workers by helping students from disadvantaged backgrounds gain admission to medical school.

“We’re looking for students who have that passion, and in particular, want to give back to those communities who have physician shortages in California,” Kays said. “We are really big on networking and connecting you with inspiring faculty that work in medicine, so you can see all of the different pathways that you can take as a future doctor.”

Kays explained that there are two common types of postbaccalaureate programs: academic enhancers and career changers. Academic enhancer programs focus on improving students’ GPAs and enhancing their metrics in order for them to be more competitive medical school applicants.

Career changer programs cater to students who decided to switch their path to a career in medicine after completing their undergraduate studies in another field.

“A big thing about postbacc programs is we understand that students don’t live their life in a vacuum,” Kays said. “Life happens. You go through different experiences that may impact your GPA or what you were able to do in your undergrad. So this is really an opportunity for students to showcase their ability to handle academic rigor and to prove themselves to those medical school admissions committees.”

The academic enhancer program includes enrollment in upper-division science coursework to boost students’ science GPA, practice with the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and hands-on support with the medical school application process in the form of interview practice and letters of recommendation.

“What’s different from undergrad, especially for our students who might be first-generation students or who may be underrepresented in medicine and don’t see themselves reflected in those positions, is that this space really tries to cultivate support and mentorship that you may not get as an undergrad student trying to navigate

KAITLYN PANG / AGGIE

higher education institutions,” Kays said.

While the UC Postbaccalaureate Consortium focuses on students who are pursuing medicine, postbaccalaureate programs can cater towards other health professions as well. For example, the UC Davis Health Professions Post-Baccalaureate Program is designed for students pursuing not only medicine, but also dentistry, veterinary medicine, nursing, physician assistant positions or other health professions.

Kays noted that there are several factors to consider when choosing which postbaccalaureate programs to apply to. She encourages students to ask themselves what they want out of the program in the first place, then decide whether the academic enhancer or the career changer route works best for them. The next steps would be to consider additional factors such as location, cost, mission and culture of the program. To find what works best for you, Kays recommends reaching out to pre-health advisors.

Carlos Moya, a UC Davis class of 2019 graduate with a B.S. in cognitive science, made the decision to attend a postbaccalaureate program after meeting with a health professions advisor.

“We sat down and looked at my stats, then looked at all the schools that I’m applying to this year,” Moya said. “That’s when I came to the decision: ‘I think my app is strong right now, but it could definitely improve if I do a postbacc.’ If you feel like your application is strong in everything but your academics, I would say to look into it, speak with an advisor and see how your stats align with the schools that you want to apply to in the future.”

Moya attended the academic enhancer track of Cal State East Bay’s Pre-Professional Health Academic Program (PHAP). The program is semester-based and requires at least two semesters

for a certificate of completion.

“It’s not really a structured program, per se,” Moya said. “For the most part, you have control over how long you stay in the program and what classes you take. But we do have really good advisors who guide us.”

Moya began the program in spring 2020 and is now finishing up his last semester. Afterwards, he plans on applying to dental school.

“If you’re thinking about doing a postbacc, it’s not something that can hurt your application,” Moya said. “East Bay has a lot of good connections with the Bay Area health schools. They even write you a committee letter, which is essentially one letter where the school is writing on your behalf instead [of] just one professor. At the end of the day, they really do want you to matriculate to your top school.”

Melissa De Guzman, a 2018 UC Davis graduate with a B.S. in neurobiology, physiology and behavior, attended the same program at Cal State East Bay. De Guzman noted that the program offered more specialized science classes compared to undergraduate courses.

“We took classes in advanced molecular cell biology, parasitology and major organ biochemistry,” De Guzman said. “A really nice thing about the postbaccalaureate program is that there was a lot more life application in our studies.

They allowed us to use the foundation of what we’ve learned in our undergraduate studies but in a new way, and it made us think a little bit harder.”

Postbaccalaureate programs differ from undergraduate studies not only in regards to their course content, but also in the size of their classes.

De Guzman noted there were typically 25-30 students in each of her classes.

“It was definitely a lot smaller than our regular undergraduate classes,” she said. “It felt like how

high school classes are set up or even discussion groups in college. I think a lot of our learning in our undergraduate courses was most effective in discussion groups because we got to talk a lot with our classmates, so it was a really nice way for [the program] to be set up.”

De Guzman finished the program last year and is now working as a medical scribe while applying for medical school. She stated that the amount of support she received while attending the program helped her stay on track to reach her goals.

“During the program, you’re with a group of people that are in the same place as you,” De Guzman said. “They set you up with advisors, and the professors know very well what your situation is. And being in classes specifically with only postbaccalaureate students was definitely a big plus. It was very catered to help us succeed and to recognize where our flaws were and what we need to improve on as students in general.”

Michael Baliton, a 2016 UC Davis graduate with a B.S. in neurobiology, physiology and behavior, also attended the program at Cal State East Bay and is now in his first year at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Baliton stated that attending a postbaccalaureate program helped him develop better study habits, which he carried into medical school.

“I felt like I developed really good habits in postbacc,” Baliton said. “The course material was really valuable too. I think a lot of the material that I covered in postbacc was covered in medical school, so I didn’t feel like a fish out of water coming to school.”

In addition to building these habits, Baliton stated that the postbaccalaureate program helped him grow as a professional. The flexible class schedule gave him free days to study, work and volunteer.

“I got more work and volunteer experiences that I felt were really meaningful to me,” Baliton said. “I tried to stay engaged with the Filipino community in the Bay Area through the Mabuhay Health Center that’s affiliated with UCSF. I was also a medical scribe for Stanford Healthcare at the Women’s Cancer Center, so I developed a deeper, more specific interest in that. So I think there’s a lot of benefit that comes with taking your time after college, just thinking about yourself as a developing professional.”

Baliton stated that coming out of college, he did not have the best academic standing. He stated that while most undergraduate students should not come into college thinking that they have to do a postbaccalaureate program, it’s also important to recognize that there are still options for them if they do not go straight into medical school after graduation.

“For those who feel like they need to strengthen their application in one way or another, I really encourage you all to just hang in there,” Baliton said. “If this is really your dream to give back to patients and communities in the way that doctors do, you’ll know that in your heart. I just want to encourage you [to] keep the faith and keep on it, because we need people like you to serve the

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021 | 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 MADELEINE PAYNE Science & Tech Editor

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

The pandemic is not over: wear your masks, keep your distance and get tested The vaccine brings good news, but we are farther from the end than we might think When news of a COVID-19 vaccine hit, it was all anyone could talk about—for weeks, our news feeds were overtaken by the high success rates, approval of the vaccine and, eventually, a rollout plan.

It was the light at the end of the tunnel we’d all been waiting to see.

It was, and still is, exciting.

The possibility of moving on from this in the foreseeable future brought a wave of optimism. Estimates of when who could be vaccinated gave us a tangible date to look forward to, and announcements like the UC’s plan to reopen campuses by fall 2021 showed us that the end is in sight.

But the last time things were looking up, it didn’t work out so well. Remember when cases were going down at the end of last summer? Scientists warned of a hard winter, but restrictions were lifted, and millions of people, sick with COVID-19 and pandemic fatigue alike, ventured outside again. By November, new daily cases were double what the worst averages of summer were.

Now, as the national daily case average lowers after the worst peak in cases yet, history is repeating itself. California just lifted stayat-home orders, allowing people to interact once again as outdoor dining, gyms and salons are reopened with restrictions. After so many months of dealing with this pandemic, clear, consistent safety expectations should be in place. Instead, we’ve been weaving in and out of different tiers and modifying restrictions on businesses like nobody’s business.

While there’s no excuse for defying statewide safety precautions and mandates, the constant changes do make it difficult to know what’s considered safe and when. Not to mention, even if the state did keep a more consistent standard, scientists are constantly debating what measures are actually effective. In an era of alternative facts and multiple truths, the last thing we need are mixed messages.

We can appreciate the optimistic sentiment behind reopening plans—whether it be schools or businesses—but all this hope could be having a negative effect. Instead of inspiring people to wait it out just a little longer, might it be telling them that the end is close enough, that things are getting better fast enough, to not bother worrying about COVID-19 so much anymore?

While some people are acting like we’re almost out of this, science tells us that we’re far from that stage. We don’t have the onset of winter or another flu season to increase caseloads, but new variants of COVID-19 have made their way around the globe.

The first case caused by the UK variant was discovered in the U.S. in December, and on Jan. 25, the strain originating in Brazil was found in a Minnesota resident. These new strains are reported to be spreading at alarmingly high rates. As if the uncertainty of one virus variant wasn’t enough, we now have multiple strains that we don’t fully understand yet—now is not the right time to ease restrictions.

To make matters worse, the vaccine we were all looking forward to has been administered at much lower rates than planned by this point. On top of that, with a brand new vaccine comes a lot of anxiety, and plenty of people are not planning on getting vaccinated.

The Editorial Board would like to share our plans to get the vaccine. We have a responsibility to ourselves and our community to do everything we can to keep each other safe, and getting a vaccine with a 95% efficacy rate is a great way to do that. We understand where concerns are coming from, but medical professionals agree that both vaccines are incredibly safe, with no major side effects. We trust their science, and you should too.

Most students won’t be given the option for several months, so in the meantime, it’s imperative that we maintain social distancing, wear masks and keep a small bubble. It’s not that hard. Plenty of people our age are staying inside or at the very least avoiding large gatherings. UC Davis offers free, easy testing to keep tabs on your status, and besides, it’s week four, don’t you have a midterm to study for? We know you want to celebrate your 21st birthday, but so did the 20-year-old who died—yes, young people do die from COVID-19—so your decision to celebrate, unmasked and indoors, is selfish and deadly.

The fact of the matter is that it’s not over until it’s over. We can be hopeful that numbers continue going down and believe the policymakers who say we’ll get vaccinated soon, but if there’s anything this pandemic has taught us, it’s that we never know what’s coming next.

Sure, we can finally see a faint light at the end of a very long tunnel, but as an Editorial Board member put it, that doesn’t mean you destroy the infrastructure of the tunnel, it means you keep it in place, and even continue building it, so you can finally reach the light everyone’s been talking about.

The Biden Administration must reimplement EPA’s ‘secret science’ rule In the last weeks of his presidency, Trump’s Administration was barely able to recall a decades long policy by the EPA despite outcry from the scientific community

BY JOE SWEENEY jmsweeney@ucdavis.edu

Vice President Joe Biden gives remarks at the U.S. - China Climate Leaders Summit, held at the JW Marriott hotel, in Los Angeles, California, Sept.

16, 2015. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

As President Joe Biden attempts to turn a new leaf and focus on the future, the Trump Administration’s final decisions continue to cast a shadow over many of his choices. Even from Inauguration Day, most of the media focus has still been around Biden reversing Trump Era policies.

Because of former President Donald Trump, Biden has a laundry list of things to do and chief among his priorities has been environmental justice. Keeping this in mind, the best thing he can do right now is reform the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and reimplement the supposed “Secret Science” rule that the Trump Administration barely was able to repeal weeks before they left office.

Getting rid of what the Trump Administration has dubbed the “Secret Science” rule would

disallow the EPA from taking into account studies which don’t have their data available to the public.

As usual, this isn’t a new idea. For decades, tobacco and fossil fuel companies have attempted to fight the EPA from establishing air quality standards by repealing this policy and branding it as a “lack of transparency.”

So you might think, why does the data need to be secret in the first place? Privacy. Many studies on public health don’t release their data because it would break patient confidentiality, and this would generally disallow the EPA from using these studies. Basically, the EPA repealed a rule that allowed it to make informed decisions on public health during a global health crisis.

Back in 2018, when repealing the rule was first proposed, the EPA’s own independent science advisory board questioned the motivations behind the rollback among the dozens of other environmental regulations repealed by the

administration. Although the proposal may seem to make sense on the surface, forcing transparency and the release of data to the public for every decision, the fact that many of the officials on this board were actually appointed by Trump himself should speak for itself.

“Given the gravity of these concerns, which are echoed by a chorus of other scientific societies, health advocacy groups, universities, stakeholders, and member scientists of EPA’s own Scientific Advisory Board, we urge the EPA to rescind this rule,” stated a letter that was sent to the EPA signed by dozens of health organizations and colleges, including Harvard University.

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.

SECRETSCIENCE on 11

Our empathy towards the mental health struggles of reality TV stars should not be conditional How discourse around the mental health of reality stars shapes the way we handle stigma

BY RENEE WANG reswang@ucdavisedu The birth of a reality TV star begins and ends in a limbo ripe with contradictions.

They are cogs in the machine of reality television: necessary for our entertainment, but so plentiful that when they are churned out, they are met with a level of fame that is not quite a celebrity, and not quite respectable. Unlike the god-like adoration and idolization we grant to actors and musicians, reality TV stars are much closer to the mortal viewer. They land in our watch parties, tweets and discussion threads to be dissected: their angry outbursts vilified, rejections cringed at and the amalgamation of carefully edited scenes is taken at face value.

It is no secret that reality TV portrays anything but reality, yet we fervently hold reality TV stars to their edited realities.

The basis of reality TV fame—that their lives become their livelihood—leave contestants at the mercy of producers. In shows like “The Bachelor” franchise, the edited realities of contestants are later served to the public for scrutiny. One contract from a contestant reads: “[I] acknowledge and agree that

producers may use or reveal personal information which may be embarrassing […] humiliating […] and may portray me in a false light.” Breakdowns may be marketable for good television, but leave the mental healths of contestants at stake.

Tamar Braxton, of “Braxton Family Values,” describes how the manipulation of her portrayal deteriorated her sense of self, feeling as though she was no longer living but “existing for a corporation’s gains and ratings.” According to a report from 2019, at least 38 celebrities worldwide are suspected to have died by suicide following links to reality TV shows. Former “Love Island” contestants have criticized the show for failing to provide mental health aftercare, with some contestants suffering from increased anxiety and depression after the show. Following the death by suicide of “Love Island” star Mike Thalassitis, the unsavory nickname given to him during his time on the show—“Muggy Mike”—began trending on Twitter.

Despite the clear mental health struggles of contestants, the vitriol of online abuse has yet to cease. I’ve seen some online wonder: Isn’t this to be expected when participating in a reality show?

REALITY on 11

Hannah Brown and Jed Wyatt on “The Bachelorette” from ABC. (ABC) 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, JANUARY 28, 2021

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

OPINION CONTROVERSIAL BALI DEPORTATION SPARKS DISCOURSE ON GENTRIFICATION AND ‘FOREIGNER PRIVILEGE’ The swift deportation of an American influencer in Bali highlights a phenomenon of “digital nomads” who bypass immigration rules and perpetuate wealth inequality

BY AMARA PUTRI aputri@ucdavis.edu Kristen Gray, an 28-year-old American woman in Bali, Indonesia, has recently come under fire after her Twitter thread encouraging other foreigners to move to the island during the pandemic went viral. In a series of now-deleted tweets, Gray describes how she went from being unemployed and financially struggling in Los Angeles to living luxuriously in one of Southeast Asia’s most well-known tourist destinations.

Since moving to Bali in 2019 with her girlfriend Saundra, Gray has made a living working as a graphic designer and travel influencer. She calls herself a “digital nomad”—an increasingly popular occupation that allows individuals to travel the world and dictate their own working conditions. For Gray, this means leveraging her online business and being able to work remotely from the comfort of her Bali treehouse, which she boasts is an inexpensive $400 in rent.

She praises Bali for its low living costs, “queer-friendly” community and an “elevated lifestyle” affordable to lowermiddle-class Americans—even crediting the island with healing her physical and emotional health. The thread ends with Gray promoting her and Saundra’s $30 ebook, “Our Bali Life is Yours,” which offers a detailed guide for those who wish to follow in their footsteps and even includes “direct links to personal visa agents” and tips for “how to get into Indonesia during COVID.” Gray’s dreamy Bali life came to an abrupt end following backlash from Indonesians and neighboring Southeast Asians who criticized her for flaunting a lifestyle only accessible to foreigners, while locals remain vulnerable to displacement and poverty.

She was also called “tone-deaf ” and irresponsible for carelessly advertising Bali as “queer-friendly,” not paying Indonesian taxes, profiting from tips on how to cheat the immigration system and

encouraging people to bypass travel restrictions—especially as Indonesia grapples with the most COVID-19 cases in the region.

Gray’s tweets caught the Indonesian immigration office’s attention, and in less than 48 hours, she was detained and repatriated back to her home country.

Against the backdrop of Indonesia’s immense wealth inequality, barely liveable minimum wage and an influx of foreigners in Bali driving up living costs, Gray’s tweets underscore a much darker issue concerning gentrification and “foreigner privilege”—a far cry from the idyllic spiritual-healing experience Westerners romanticize.

Bali, often referred to as Indonesia’s “Isle of Gods,” boasts scenic natural landscapes and a vibrant nightlife that have long attracted wealthy tourists, foreign investors and expatriates. Its reputation as a premier tropical vacation spot is one they not only cherish but desperately depend on. Bali tourism constitutes a significant source of income for the Indonesian government, contributing roughly $3.8 billion annually to foreign exchange and accounting for 80% of the island’s economy. Because of this, the island has grown to accommodate Western tourists more and more in the past few decades, raising concern from Indonesians about a loss of Balinese culture and, more controversially, claims that foreigners have contributed to gentrification.

A major downside of tourism is that locals are relegated to lowpaying service jobs and driven out of their homes to make room for restaurants, nightclubs and luxury hotels in hopes of attracting wealthy tourists. On average, Indonesians have a monthly minimum wage of Rp. 2.5 million, or $177 U.S. dollars—pale in comparison to Gray’s “affordable” $400 a month rent. As locals struggle to afford basic necessities and continue to suffer disproportionately in the pandemic, Westerners like Gray bragging about their lavish lifestyles come across as insensitive and disrespectful.

The story gets complicated when Gray, a queer Black woman, accused her critics of being homophobic and anti-Black, sparking a

Twitter logo from Twitter. (Creative Commons) heated Twitter debate between Indonesians and Black-Americans.

Gray’s assertion of a “queer-friendly” Bali outraged Indonesia’s discreet LGBTQ community. One Indonesian woman expressed frustrations at foreigners who vaunt their openly queer lifestyles when queer locals such as herself are forced to remain “in the closet”—referencing how LGBTQ acceptance is a privilege afforded exclusively to foreign nationals, while locals are ostracized and even jailed.

Gray later claims that her deportation was unfairly motivated by her race and sexual preference, contradicting her original praise for Bali’s tolerance. Black-Americans defending Gray have argued that Indonesians wouldn’t be as quick to call out white tourists, while others insisted that their experiences with gentrification and colonization in America have rendered them incapable of perpetuating it elsewhere.

BALI on 1 1

HUMOR

MY ‘MY PILLOW’ KEEPS ME AWAKE AT NIGHT And it’s not for the reason you think

BY EAN KIMURA etkimura@ucdavis.edu It was Jan. 4 when I walked into that Bed Bath & Beyond. I wasn’t satisfied with the pillows in the bed section, but as I was about to leave I accidentally stumbled into the beyond section. It was there waiting for me. When I bought it that day, I didn’t realize that this pillow would wreak havoc on my life in the months to come.

“Martial law in Georgia” began the whispers in early November. At first I thought my roommate was having alt-right dreams. One night I lay alone in a room, finally some peace from the murmurs, but I couldn’t handle the truth. They only continued. When I tried to find respite by covering my head with my My Pillow, but the murmurs only grew more intense. That’s when I realized that my pillow, specifically my My Pillow, was the source of these whispers.

The whispers change. One night it might be “Foreign powers rigged the voting machines.” Other nights it’s “Oleandrin cures COVID-19.” It doesn’t stop though. I’m not sure it ever will.

I can’t function. Partly due to the sleep deprivation and partly due to the fact that my pillow, manufactured by My Pillow Inc., is whispering to me in bed. I show up to work, and my co-workers tell me I look haggard, terrible, even disturbed. I can’t tell them the truth. How would that look? I’d look insane if I told them the horrifying truth, “I can’t sleep at night, BECAUSE MY MY PILLOW SPEAKS OF COUPS!” Most recently the whispers have been about how it was actually antifa who stormed the capitol.

I tried to stop using it, but it radicalized the other pillows I had. I can’t just throw it out and unleash this whispering pillow out into the wild.

The foam blend that allows this pillow to keep its shape, yet stay so soft, will likely allow this pillow to disturb me to my dying breath. What have you done Mike Lindell? What have you done?

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

THE ADVANTAGE OF OWNING A PIECE OF SH*T BIKE

By RUSHI TAWADE rntawade@ucdavis.edu

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

Bedroom illustration. (Pixabay.com)

THE NEWEST TREND IN THE ARBORETUM

BY KE LIN keylin@ucdavis.edu

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

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021 | 7

INAUGURAL FIRST-BUMBLEBEE-OF-THE-YEAR CONTEST HONORS MEMORY OF ROBBIN THORP Bohart museum remembers former entomology professor’s legacy

BY MICHELLE WONG science@theaggie.org In the midst of a chaotic start to 2021, Charlie Nicholson, a postdoctoral researcher in the department of entomology and nematology, found peace in going out on sunny days to observe bumble bees. After carrying out this routine every day at 3:00 p.m., he finally found one on Jan. 14 and sent a photo to the Bohart museum, winning their inaugural Robbin Thorp Memorial FirstBumble-Bee-of-the-Year Contest.

Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, explained that after Robbin Thorp, a distinguished emeritus professor in the department of entomology, passed away in 2019, the museum wanted to come up with a fun way to honor him while also promoting public engagement and education about bumble bees.

“He was pretty much ‘Mr. Bumble Bee’ for the west coast,” Kimsey said. “It’s a huge loss for us and the larger community that does pollination, so we thought it would be fun to do something in honor of all the work that he did.”

Kimsey explained that Thorp had done decades of research on bumble bees, and produced a manual about them, called “Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide.” Nicholson recalled using this book and many of Thorp’s papers throughout his Ph.D., and stated it was foundational to his work.

The closest Nicholson had ever worked with Thorp was at the Bee Course, a workshop experience organized by the American Museum of Natural History in Portal, AZ, where leading experts in bee taxonomy and bee ecology gathered. For two weeks, he described spending days in a van in the Chihuahuan desert, one of the epicenters of bee diversity. At night, he would be hunched over a microscope with Thorp right behind him, guiding participants in learning how to identify bees.

“I didn’t work closely [with him] like a grad student or an undergrad student might work, but I had this wonderful curative two weeks at the Bee Course as one of many students that Robbin had guided during that year and over the years,” Nicholson said.

Richard Hatfield, a senior conservation biologist at the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, also attended the Bee Course in the past, and described Thorp as an incredibly knowledgeable, patient and encouraging instructor.

Kimsey noted that Thorp’s influence on the community grew exponentially after his retirement from being a professor. She had met him as an undergraduate student when she took his classes, and had known him for decades. Kimsey noticed that once he retired from his position it was as if he had been freed, and he suddenly became the go-to person for all people in the field of bees and pollination. She recalled he received endless faculty

Robbin Thorp, who passed in 2019, was a distinguished emeritus professor at the department of entomology and always enjoyed looking for the first bumble bee of the year. (Kathy Keatley Garvey / Courtesy) promotions because of his contributions to the field, and helped many graduate students receive their degrees through his guidance.

“It was almost superhuman,” Kimsey said. “He really, really did have a huge impact on the community, really more after retirement than before. It’s kind of interesting.”

Nicholson expressed he was very excited that the Bohart Museum is conducting this competition, and believes that the data collected from citizens could potentially be studied in the future.

He elaborated that it may be interesting to see if the ‘first bumble bee of the year’ is spotted more consistently as the years progress or if it tends to vary. Kimsey added that this data also indicates current pollinator health status and knowledge about the current season.

“I think the exciting thing is, citizens who participate in this

kind of community science project will over time develop this kind of data set that you could use to answer some of those hypotheses,” Nicholson said.

As the “grandfather of bumble bee conversation,” Hatfield expressed that in addition to contributing decades of research and hundreds of research studies, Thorp was incredibly generous with his time. Hatfield remembers Thorp patiently sharing his knowledge to all who came to him, and continuing to advocate for bee protection and conservation until his passing.

“I hope that Robbin will be remembered as a kind mentor, a generous colleague and an excellent scientist,” Hatfield said via email. “I fondly remember the many hours that I spent with Robbin in the field and in the lab [—] I now cherish those days more than ever.”

UC DAVIS STUDENTS HIGHLIGHT THEIR FAVORITE QUARANTINE RECIPES With limited dining out and takeout options, students find new inspiration for cooking

Food for Thought member showcases homemade recipe. (Food for Thought / Courtesy)

BY NORA FARAHDEL features@theaggie.org While quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic limits many of life’s once-normal activities, it allows time to master skills that can be done from home. One such skill is cooking, providing students with the opportunity to explore new recipes and hone their techniques. From cheesecake to frozen foods, students shared

how quarantine has impacted their cooking habits.

Ananya Narasimhan—a fourth-year genetics and genomics major and a board member of UC Davis’ cooking club, Food for Thought—has developed a new approach to cooking due to the confines of quarantine.

“Taking care of my health has been difficult with not being able to be outside and work out as much, so I try to stick with fresh ingredients and really keep an eye out for unhealthy ones,” Narasimhan said via email. “I put more time into my cooking than when I cooked before quarantine, and as a result, I enjoy the process and the meal much more.”

As Narasimhan continues to develop her cooking abilities, she said that flautas de pollo (chicken taquitos) was her favorite quarantine recipe.

She also said that for college students, learning how to cook is essential as it is both necessary for self care and something that can improve everyday life. For students who are not passionate about cooking, Narasimhan shared the importance of starting with familiar recipes and gradually building skills to tackle more difficult dishes.

“My advice to a student who isn’t too keen on cooking is— start with what you know,” Narasimhan said via email. “Just like any other hobby, skill or extracurricular, it will take time to explore your palate and cook recipes that you’ll like. Food can improve your relationship with your health and wellness, as well as provide a break from a hectic day. All you need to do is pick a starting point, and it’s all uphill from there.”

Devon Spina, a second-year civil engineering major, prefers her cooking to be as fast and easy as possible. While Spina stated that cooking is a refreshing break from school, her cooking habits in quarantine have mostly remained consistent with previous years.

“It hasn’t changed too much since I was younger,” Spina said. “It’s been mostly just frozen meals: easy, quick, nothing too complicated.”

Spina’s favorite quarantine dish is pesto pasta. As her pesto

recipe came from her grandmother, the meal is close to her heart.

Despite her current familiar cooking patterns, Spina hopes to try out new recipes and expand on her meals in the future.

One cooking tradition that she has developed over quarantine is baking with her roommates. Whether she’s baking cookies or muffins, Spina shared that it is always a fun and relaxing experience.

“It’s a de-stresser,” Spina said. “Because with cooking, it doesn’t require a whole lot of brain power, but it’s enjoyable. We tend to do it together, and then you get a nice treat afterwards.”

Dayton Harvey, a second-year computer engineering major, has broadened his cooking abilities this quarantine. Because restaurants have been subject to closing and ordering takeout is pricey, Harvey has realized the value in cooking at home and taken the time to learn more.

He shared that his go-to quarantine cooking technique is creating recipes centered around a crock pot.

“It’s a lot easier to throw chicken or pork or whatever you choose in the crock pot, let it cook for six hours, come back and saute some onions or throw potatoes on, and you have a meal,” Harvey said.

Another of his favorite techniques is using marination when cooking things like salmon or chicken, as it allows the food to fully absorb the flavor overnight.

Beyond developing his cooking skills during quarantine, Harvey shared that it is generally important for him to cook for himself due to his many allergies and dietary restrictions.

“A lot of meals my family would cook I wouldn’t be able to eat,” Harvey said. “So people with dietary restrictions: it’s very important to know how to cook on your own.”

He encouraged everyone to develop cooking skills, mentioning the potentially exploratory experience that awaits.

“Cooking can be fun and enjoyable if you mess around with different recipes, different flavors, different spices and kind of tune it to what you like,” Harvey said.

THE ‘COTTAGECORE’ AESTHETIC What is it and why are we so attracted to it?

BY RMARIAH VIKTORIA CANDELARIA arts@theaggie.org Overgrown plants strewn over bricked houses, wispy and whimsical wildflower fields, lace and cotton dresses with wooden baskets filled with food for a picnic—these are all major elements of the cottagecore aesthetic.

“Cottagecore” is used to describe an aesthetic that romanticizes life in the countryside. It’s rustic, it’s cutesy and it takes much of its inspiration from the outdoors and farmlife.

The term was supposedly first coined on Tumblr in 2018, though it can be hard to track the exact time online trends come to fruition it began popping up more on social media throughout the past year in conjunction with the pandemic. In an interview with Vox, Tumblr trend expert Amanda Brennan described how from early March to early April, the cottagecore hashtag jumped 153% and likes on cottagecore posts went up 541%.

Several forms of this aesthetic have sprouted during our year indoors. Artist Taylor Swift’s newest albums “Folklore” and “Evermore” have seemingly adopted the cottagecore look and sound, taking inspiration from Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks. As

the song “Dreams” became a TikTok sensation, Nicks herself also resurfaced and became a cultural icon once again with her billowy dresses and whimsical nature. The trend has even shown up on Animal Crossing, because much of the game’s design heavily fits the creative ideals of cottagecore—its coziness and simplicity has been a way for players to give their island the perfect look.

TikTok has also made a large impact on the cottagecore culture, with many TikTokers using their platform to bring this aesthetic to life. Thousands of followers for users like @jesca.her or @ rachaelwilsonmusic allow people to see this aesthetic in real life and long for something like that in their own lives as well.

With how strikingly different it is to the reality of how many of our lives, why has it become so popular?

It might just be in the difference itself that people find solace.

The whimsical way of life that is so key to the aesthetic—a simplistic rural life in the countryside—seems much more appealing to many than urban or suburban living, especially the Gen Z-ers who have grown up in a technologically advanced society.

In the cottagecore fantasy world, you spend hours creating natural crafts out of moss and mushrooms. You go to the farmer’s market and pick fresh fruit for a new pastry recipe you want to try.

In the real world, you are stuck in a seemingly endless quarantine

and are threatened with a life-endangering virus, spending hours a day looking at a screen and mindlessly scrolling.

It’s important for us to find ways to cope with reality considering how scary it’s been this year, and in this case, people have taken to fantasizing about a fairytale-like world to escape from it. Why suffer at home in quarantine when you can (pretend to) sit in a garden by a cottage with your gnome friends to pass the time instead?

MARIO RODRIGUEZ / AGGIE

8 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Review: ‘Small Steps’ UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance and Catalyst present a charming comedy about a gay astronaut

BY JACOB ANDERSON arts@theaggie.edu From Jan. 21-23, Catalyst: A Theatre Think Tank presented “Small Steps,” a comedy about a lonely gay guy sent on a one-man mission to Mars, through the UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance in collaboration with Bike City Theatre Company.

Before the show began (over Zoom conferencing), Mindy Cooper, a professor of Theatre and Dance at UC Davis and the cofounder of Catalyst: A Theatre Think Tank, took the screen to give a few brief words about the show. Owing to the pandemic, the actors of “Small Steps” recorded their performances separately, with just a few scenes including more than one actor in the same physical space.

Charlie Lavaroni offers a convincing performance as Skip Powers, chronic “heartbreakee” and terminally awkward loner, who finds himself as the lone astronaut on a one-way trip to Mars despite his complete lack of applicable skills or experience. The show’s first half is dedicated to scenes establishing Powers’ loneliness and the preparation he must undergo for his interstellar trip—including a hot-headed “abstinence coach,’’ who Powers doesn’t really seem to need, and a deadpan doctor that Powers slowly befriends.

The cast of characters is wacky and diverse, but each retains the same snappy humor for the whole show, full of comebacks and snide derision. Some actors play multiple characters,

Logo for the production of “Small Steps.” (Bike City Theatre Company / Courtesy)

though they’re able to distinguish between each sufficiently.

Throughout the barrage of comedic dialogue, it’s sometimes difficult to pick apart what’s happening spatially; though some scenes are clearly meant to be video calls between characters, there’s little besides dialogue clues to indicate when they’re supposed to be in the same location, and few steps are taken to mitigate this confusion. The result is that there’s not much for the audience to latch onto and use to form a complete mental image of these scenes, giving “Small Steps” a feel at times closer to a reading than a proper performance.

The writing is frequently engaging and often goes in unexpected directions, though the tone remains more-or-less constant throughout. The character Skip Powers is regularly entertaining, if a bit simple, and pulls the show through its two hours with his self-deprecation and romantic angst.

Despite some confusing production choices, “Small Steps” manages to be charming and consistent throughout its runtime and showcases local talent in a unique way—nothing to sneeze at under these current circumstances. Parties involved in the production have plans to put on more remote performances this year, undeterred by the pandemic: Catalyst, in collaboration with the UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance and the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, will be performing “Perfect,” directed by JanLee Marshall, on Feb. 17.

Netflix set to release a new movie every week of this year A short list of some of the movies to look forward to

BY MUHAMMAD TARIQ arts@theaggie.edu

Movie: “Howl’s Moving Castle” dir. by Hayao Miyazaki (2005) “Howl’s Moving Castle” is a Japanese animated movie produced by the critically acclaimed production company Studio Ghibli. The story is set in a fictional kingdom where technology, magic and war all collide into a constellation of vivid colors, heartwarming dialogue and an unlikely love story. The film follows a young hat maker named Sophie who has never seen herself as anything special or beautiful, just an ordinary girl making an honest living. However, a wizard named Howl quickly swoops in and adds a little sparkle and a whole lot of danger into her life. Soon she becomes cursed and turns into an old, withering lady by an envious, greedy witch who had been obsessed with Howl.

If you like love stories, unnecessary proclamations of self-sacrifice, magical fighting and colorful chaos, this movie is for you. I was 10 years old when I first watched this movie, and rewatching it as an adult made me realize how stunning it is. It reminded me that in life there’s still hope even during the darkest or most chaotic times. I felt like I was a carefree kid again watching a movie that made me feel like life is still magical.

TV Show: “Bridgerton” In the recently released Netflix original series “Bridgerton,” produced by Shonda Rhimes, viewers are brought into the 1820s Regency Era of Great Britain. During the eight-part Netflix special, we are introduced to the Bridgerton family as its daughters and sons try to find love in aristocratic Britain. The series has handsome dukes, a meddling queen, way too many balls and a mystery “Gossip Girl”-esque character who keeps busy revealing the ugliest skeletons in everyone’s expensive closets. Modern hits are given a new spin with classical orchestras, pianofortes and trumpets playing covers of songs by pop stars like Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish. A cover of Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams” plays above an enchanting ballroom with exquisite gowns, multi-colored feathers, a pastel-neutral color palette and romantic one-liners that can make the coldest heart melt a few degrees. “Bridgerton” is a good show to distract yourself from the chaos of the first month of 2021.

Song: “This Feeling” by Alabama Shakes “This Feeling,” a track from the Alabama Shakes’ 2015 album “Sound and Color,” is a hopeful yet sad song. The sentiment expressed is that there are a lot of difficult phases of life, but that “it feels so nice to know I’m gonna be alright.” The feeling of surviving hardship is synonymous with how many are feeling while entering 2021, where the world has collectively suffered a lot of tragedies—all the political, social and personal chaos of 2020—on top of a deadly pandemic. When listening to the song, you get a feeling of hopefulness while also being reminded that life is hard. Oftentimes, we are trying to get to the other side of hardships with as much of ourselves as we can, and if “[we] just kept going, just kept going/And hoping [we’re] growing near,” that “If [we] wanted to, [we’d] be alright.” Entering 2021 when the vaccine is finally being distributed and plans to move back to a more “normal” life are being made, it finally feels like we have found “this feeling.” When I’m listening to this song, usually when I feel very overwhelmed and as though my life is crumbling all around me, it reminds me that I’ll be alright.

BY ITZELTH GAMBOA arts@theaggie.edu Netflix has decided to save us from another year of being stuck watching repeats on movie night. In a recent announcement, the streaming platform shared their plan to put out new movies every week of 2021. Keeping in mind that not everyone plans to watch each new release, below is a list of movies from several genres to get excited about.

Action: “Army of the Dead” After Las Vegas, NV goes under quarantine due to a zombie outbreak, a group of mercenaries plan the ultimate heist in the quarantine zone.

The movie is set to be part of the “Dawn of the Dead” universe. The first movie premiered in 2004, now, 17 years later, zombie fans will finally get another movie.

Once filming ended, Chris D’Elia was charged with sexual assault allegations from multiple minors leading director Zach Snyder to quickly replace D’Elia with Tig Notaro and reshoot scenes.

Drama: “Afterlife of the Party” We don’t have much information about this movie, but it does star Victoria Justice. I’ve always wondered when she was going to make her comeback. She was immensely popular as a celebrity when I was younger, starring on Zoey 101 before then moving onto Victorious, but after that we didn’t see much of her. With the recent release of a new song, I’m hoping to see her rise again to the screen.

According to Yahoo, the movie follows a young woman who dies on her birthday week.

But she is given one last chance to right her wrongdoings on Earth in order to prove that she’s worth saving.

Thriller: “The Woman in the Window” This film was directed in 2020 by Joe Wright, but was never released. Netflix bought the rights to the movie from Disney and is now set to release it this year on May 15. Thriller films are always some of my favorite films, mostly because everything is so anxiety-packed that I forget about the real-life anxiety on which I should be focusing.

Amy Addams plays Anna Foxx, an agoraphobic woman imprisoned alone in her New York home. With her illness, the only person Foxx invites in is her front-door neighbor and friend Jane. But when she witnesses violence through the window and calls the police, her life goes on a downward spiral filled with deceit, murder and self-doubt.

Check out the trailer for the movie.

Fantasy: “Pinnochio” Guillermo del Toro’s films made their way into my heart as a child. And although the awardwinning film “Pan’s Labyrinth” probably wasn’t the safest movie to watch as a kid, I’m excited to see his newest fantasy film as an adult. The cast includes Finn Wolfhard, Cristoph Waltz and Cate Blanchett, among other popular Hollywood stars.

We can only wonder if the movie will follow the original story in which Pinnochio kills Jiminy Cricket and is hanged and left to die. Knowing the dark twist del Toro’s films tend to have, I’m sure we’ll see something unexpected. Your guess is as good as mine. But I just might be happy with a cute story of a man finally getting the son he’s always wanted. Might.

Fantasy: “Nightbooks” After releases like “Locke and Key” and “A Babysitter’s Guide to Monsterhunting,” Netflix found that the niche genre of fantasy with a bit of children’s horror was one that rated well.

Given that this age group is probably at home browsing Netflix as we speak to avoid doing their homework now more than ever, it was a good call to continue making movies for this demographic.

“Nightbooks” is based off a horror-fantasy book with the same title in which a young boy, Alex, who is obsessed with scary stories, is imprisoned by an evil witch in her New York City, NY apartment. Alex meets Yasmin, a young girl who is also trapped by the witch, and he soon finds out that in order to stay alive they must tell the witch a scary story every night.

NETFLIXWEEKLY on 11

Book: “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker (1982) This Pulitzer Prize-winning piece of literature introduces the world to Celie, a Black girl living in a racist community in Georgia who survives abuse, the negative effects of enforced gender roles and the oppression of being Black in a white priviledged world. I recommend this book now more than ever because of its cultural relevance as we enter a new period with a new president and our first Black vice president leading an extremely divided American society. We have to remind ourselves where we came from and where we are going because lasting change does not occur without acknowledging systemic racism and addressing the intersectionality of race and gender.

CATHY TANG / AGGIE

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021 | 9

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

Answer to previous puzzle 01/21/21

crossword

Answer to previous puzzle 01/21/21

10 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

UC Davis study finds that the pandemic has impacted LatinA mothers both financially and psychologically Low-income families and families of color are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 MARIO RODRIGUEZ / AGGIE

BY FRANCHESKA TORRES science@theaggie.org The spread of COVID-19 has unexpectedly impacted the lives of many individuals, but it has especially affected low-income families in the U.S. A study led by Leah Hibel, an associate professor of human development and family studies at UC Davis, asked Latina mothers in Yolo and Sacramento counties about the hardships they have faced since the beginning of the pandemic, as well as the resulting toll on their mental health.

Hibel has previous experience studying lowincome families as an associate professor of family studies, so when the pandemic initiated lockdowns and a rise in unemployment, she knew that lowincome families would face more challenges than others due to the pre-existing systems “built to oppress non-white families.”

“Families with low income have very little buffer in terms of their own financial security,”

Hibel said.

For example, families living paycheck to paycheck will have a tougher time recovering from one missed paycheck versus families that have savings in their bank accounts. There are multiple factors that can lead to economic hardship, according to Hibel. One is that non-white families are more likely to have a lower income because disproportionate impacts of current immigration policies make it more difficult for members of these families to obtain jobs.

Another factor is that our current education system makes it expensive to pursue higher education. It also does not help that public schools, from kindergarten to high school, are esentially segregated, making it more likely that non-white children attend the schools that are underfunded, according to Hibel.

Along with the stress of making ends meet, families of color are more likely to contract the virus, according to Hibel. They are less likely to obtain white-collar positions, which can often be

completed remotely. In contrast, essential workers, such as service workers, do not have the option to work from home and are more likely to get exposed to the virus from their daily human interactions.

The type of job an individual has and their work environment are also important factors.

A position could consist of working in a private office where there is easy access to a bathroom for consistent hand washing, and where a limited number of people are allowed in the building.

In contrast, another position could be at an assembly line where employees could be working inches apart from each other and where bathroom breaks could be limited, which would result in a reduction of hand washing. It is also possible that there is also no access to ventilated air, and that personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies are not readily available. Not everyone who is exposed to the virus contracts the virus, but consistent exposure will increase health risks, according to Hibel.

“Because we live in a society where healthcare is not a right, it’s a privilege, and it’s an expensive privilege, people are not able to take care of their health to the degree they might want to because finances get in the way,” Hibel said.

With an increased chance of contracting the virus, low-income families and families of color may have a higher chance of serious health issues and can be more likely to have pre-existing health conditions, which is worsened by systems of oppression limiting access to healthcare, healthy spaces, and healthy foods, according to Hibel. The concern for contracting the virus while undergoing financial distress contributed to Latina mothers reporting increasing anxiety and depression, according to the study published this year.

Chase Boyer, a Ph.D. student studying human development, and Andrea Buhler, a Ph.D. candidate also studying human development, assisted Hibel with this study. Boyer contributed by lending his input on the study design that revolved around the constantly changing situation regarding the pandemic. He assisted with the design of the surveys as well with adding questions about childcare and the effects of the stimulus.

Buhler contributed by interviewing mothers

with the survey and collaborated with Hibel, Boyer and Blake Shaw, a masters of science biostatistics student, to analyze data and write the published paper. She, along with Boyer, was a part of the study from the very beginning in 2015 when it was known as the California Babies Project.

According to Boyer, this was a time when systematic oppression was evident through increased immigration enforcement, the separation of immigrant children from their families and the increased instances of racism and discrimination towards Latinx people of the U.S. The current pandemic has further added to the suffering of these individuals.

It was a challenge to transition to working remotely on the study and to organize its many components with only virtual communication, according to Boyer. The switch from in-person visits to phone calls with the families helped the researchers understand what other people were going through during the start of the pandemic.

“As a researcher, it was helpful to get out of the bubble we are all in just being stuck inside,” Boyer said.

Buhler hopes that what the public takes away from the study is that Latina mothers and families with young children are being heavily impacted and deserve more systemic support during the COVID-19 crisis.

“I want us as a society to value Latina women and the motherwork that Latina mothers do on a daily basis, and recognize the economic and psychological consequences occurring as a result of the government’s mishandling of this crisis,” Buhler said. “At the very least, they need more financial support in the form of greater stimulus payments.”

Hibel wants policymakers who have steady incomes, the privilege to work from home and regular access to PPE to be aware of the ongoing crisis many low-income families face and understand they need ongoing stimulus payments.

“A one-time payment is just not sufficient.

Low-income families need to be compensated for what has been lost, which is of no fault of their own that the economy has crashed in the way that it has,” Hibel said.

Experts explain how to invest as a college student UC Davis professors and the the vice president of the Finance and Investment Club break down the terminology, steps and potential mistakes during the investment process

BY FARRAH BALLOU features@aggie.org As students prepare to enter the workforce, financial literacy becomes a more commonly needed skill as investments have the capacity to impact one’s future.

Investing is a complicated process and is utilized differently by each consumer. Janine Wilson, an associate professor of economics at UC Davis, described investing as a long-term process that allows people to invest money in corporations.

“What you’re doing is letting people use your money to try and build businesses or ideas or new products,” Wilson said.

Natacha Jouonang, a second-year statistics and economics major and the vice president of the Finance and Investment Club at UC Davis, described that, for her, investing is a tool that allows her to plan ahead.

“For me, I am someone who likes to have foresight,” Jouonang said. “Investing to me means looking into the future and planning for the future, to prepare yourself for a later date.”

The first step in one’s investment journey is choosing a brokerage in which to place funds for future investments. Brab Barber, a professor at UC Davis’ Graduate School of Management, and Wilson, recommend investing in reputable providers such as Fidelity, Vanguard or Charles Schwab for low fees and a reliable brokerage.

In addition, Jouonang mentioned investment applications like Robinhood, Coinbase for cryptocurrency and Acorns. When choosing a brokerage, she emphasized the necessity of researching each one’s terms to ensure low fees and an understanding of their withdrawal requirements.

After opening a brokerage account, the following step is deciding how to structure one’s investment portfolio and in which sectors to place available funds. Sectors range from investing in individual stocks in the stock market, putting them into different funds or buying bonds.

Investing in individual stocks is a more individualized, studied process, as consumers place money into companies that they believe will grow in the future. Wilson explained that consumers aim to buy stocks at a low price and resell them when they are more highly valued. Jouonang prefers investing in individual stocks because she enjoys being involved in the investing process and making researched choices.

Wilson recommended having a diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds and funds. Bonds, such as U.S. government bonds, offer small, steady gains over time, whereas stocks can offer higher returns but come with greater risk.

“I have a stock portfolio which is in mutual funds, some in individual stocks and then I have bonds as well,” Wilson said. “As I get older, I will buy more and more bonds and less and less stocks because that way I know when I’m retired and not

KAITLYN PANG / AGGIE working I don’t have to worry about the market going down and me selling a bunch of stocks at low [values].”

Barber held similar beliefs and emphasized that savings for retirement and major purchases should not be dependent on individual stocks.

“For the core holding, I would just do mutual funds or ETFs [exchange traded funds],” Barber said. “I would not recommend individual stocks for the core holding.”

Both professors dissected what funds mean and how they differentiate from individual stock holdings.

“Index funds just take an index on the market either the Dow [Jones] or the S&P 500, and they just follow the index,” Wilson said.

She explained, however, that everyone who has invested in the index is following its daily adjustments, and if people panicked and sold their stocks then an individual’s holdings will go down. Therefore, she said, mutual funds may be a safer option since they consist of level-headed managers who monitor the funds and ensure that the invested companies are sustainable.

“Mutual funds are funds that invest in individual securities, and no more than 5% of the fund can be invested in any single security,” Barber said. “They have to have at least 20 securities and be diversified across the securities.”

He then contrasted mutual funds with ETFs and the differing results of each.

“ETFs are very similar except ETFs—exchange traded funds—will track an index,” Barber said.

“They generally pick an index that they track, and a very common one is the S&P 500. An exchange traded fund on the S&P 500 will give you [its] returns.”

Comparatively, mutual funds can also index the S&P 500 but simultaneously can actively

pick individual stocks. Though there are many options, an investor’s choices are determined by their purpose. When opening a brokerage account, clients have varied options on where to place invested money. For more stable funds, Barber and Wilson recommended more ETFs and mutual funds and placing those in a 401k or Roth IRA. Wilson recommended people start as early as possible and invest in a Roth IRA, a retirement account that is tax deferred upon the removal of funds at the age of 59.5. Beginners, Wilson said, should begin saving 20% of their income in their Roth IRA account for compounded growth in the future. Once people obtain jobs with 401k retirement options, she recommends continuously investing funds in one’s 401k.

Wilson began with $200 from her summer job in college and began investing it, despite her hesitations that this minimal amount would accumulate significantly. When reaching her 30s, she was overwhelmed with the cost of having kids and a house and remembered glancing at her retirement account.

“I looked at my retirement account and it was real money,” Wilson said. “It was amazing to me, it was like magic had occurred.”

Ultimately, Wilson and Barber recommend diversified investing for a more stable outcome.

The returns may not be a 90% gain, however having a portfolio with mutual funds, ETFs, individual stocks and bonds would provide for more stable growth.

Jouonang similarly believes in having a diversified portfolio, however she prefers individual stocks for more control over choices.

She stressed researching stocks and underlined the need to invest in various sectors and industries within the stock market.

Finally, each person mentioned the necessity of

making well-informed choices and not comparing one’s actions to others. Wilson mentioned that, like UC Davis students now, she attended college during a market boom and described the dangers of overconfidence in a saturated market.

“The moment someone said: ‘There’s no way you could lose,’ you know there’s a problem,” Wilson said.

She mentioned that you cannot predict how the market will work, and that people who win big are not special but lucky.

Similarly, Barber recognized the importance of self awareness and investment psychology.

He mentioned that investing should be for long term growth and that interest in day trading should be framed as being a fun sport and not a savings technique. He stated that there are dangers associated with trading on a “hunch” and not thoroughly understanding one’s choices.

“At casinos some people win and it’s fun to win,” Barber said. “The problem is that in the stock market, you’ll think that it’s because you’re really smart where in a casino it’s [because] you know you’re really lucky.”

People get drawn into their unpredictable successes and draw a connection between their win and their knowledge of the market, according to Barber.

“There’s a story behind every stock, and if you pick a stock that goes up you can say, ‘I knew it was coming,’” Barber said. “When the roulette wheel hits red there’s not a story behind that. The stock market has both the gaming aspect and combines it with compelling stories.”

To counteract this trend, he mentioned the importance of investors not letting external attention and others’ opinions guide their decisions.

“Investing is like other good habits you want to develop,” Barber said. “You just need to do it regularly, and showing up is half the battle.”

Finally, Jouonang emphasized the importance of research and beginning the investment journey.

She started in high school and researched enough to gain a grasp of the market.

“At least get your toes wet,” Jouonang said.

“You can start with $5 and test it out. You’ll be surprised at how much you can learn from being curious.”

Some final tips from Jouonang include reading Yahoo finance to cover current events and metrics and using Investopedia to understand investing terms.

Barber recommends taking MGT 12Y, a lower division class that covers financial decisions, and being aware of future choices.

Wilson emphasized that she encourages individuals to conduct their own research prior to making investment decisions and summarized the necessity of financial knowledge and involvement.

“My takeaway would be: start young, save a regular percentage of your income—somewhere between 10-20%—make it consistent and make it diversified,” Wilson said.

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2021 | 11

ART

REALITY

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

“The Board of Trustees of [SFIA] have a fiduciary responsibility [...] to secure the school’s future so that we can continue our mission to provide our students with a rigorous education in the fine arts,” said Pam Rorke Levy, the chair of the board of trustees at the institute, via email.

The institute will still accept undergraduate and graduate applications in 2021, and the UC’s purchase of its property will have no bearing on its curriculum.

A return to financial stability could be helped by contributions from major donors, by the sale of artworks from the institute’s collection or by endowing the art college’s famed Diego Rivera mural, Levy said. She stressed that no decisions

had been made to that effect yet, particularly regarding the mural, which has been the source of much attention in the art community.

According to Mark Kushner, the interim chief operating officer at the SFAI, the institute anticipates purchasing the property back in six years so that it can continue to operate indefinitely.

“The lease of Chestnut Street Campus goes through October 2026 so SFAI has a total of six years to repurchase [...] the property from UC in the amount of the original debt, $19 million, plus interest and minus lease payments,” Kushner said via email.

BLACKSCIENTISTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “Those years were also a time when I got deeper into advocating for graduate students,” May said via email. “I helped form the Black Graduate Engineering and Science Students not long after I entered UC Berkeley. During that time, I also served as [the] national chairperson for the National Society of Black Engineers.”

Upon his return to Georgia Tech in 1991, where he would eventually become the Dean of the College of Engineering in 2011, May’s interest in advocating for graduate students and leadership was guided by one of his mentors, Wayne Clough.

“I started my career in administration as executive assistant to then Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough,” May said via email. “He was one of my mentors and encouraged me to learn about and pursue broader leadership opportunities.

He taught me about statesmanship and effective leadership.”

During his time at Georgia Tech, May said that he focused his leadership on improving diversity and access to higher education by helping the university create two programs that aimed to increase the number of underrepresented students in their graduate school. He created the Summer Undergraduate Research in Engineering/Science program (SURE), which allows minority students to conduct research at Georgia Tech during the summer. According to SURE’s website, 75% of students in the program choose to attend a graduate school after completion. May also helped create Facilitating Academic Careers in Engineering and Science (FACES), which allowed 433 minority students to get PhDs at Georgia Tech.

In 2017, May became the first African American chancellor of UC Davis and only the second ever at a UC school. May explained that being the first African American chancellor has been challenging, including the need to set boundaries with whom he represents and what he chooses to speak out about.

“I’ve had quite a few requests over the past year to speak about diversity and inclusion to campus groups, external partners and businesses,” May

said via email. “People are seeking to understand the issues and find solutions. However, I often remind people that I am the chancellor of UC Davis, not the chancellor of “BIPOC” [Black, Indigenous and People of Color] UC Davis. It is a balancing act.”

In addition to these pre-existing challenges, 2020 has called on leaders at many levels to take stances on issues that were sometimes previously overlooked, such as politics.

“In times of uncertainty, especially, people look to leadership,” May said via email. “The COVID-19 pandemic—and the civil unrest we’ve seen following the murder of George Floyd—impact our most vulnerable students.

These events exacerbate the issues facing underrepresented students due to lack of resources, support and additional responsibilities placed on them in settings away from campus.

I want them to know [that] their UC Davis community stands with them.”

May said via email that he is flattered to be included in the list of inspiring Black scientists, especially among colleagues Renetta Garrison Tull, the vice chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Devin Horton, the graduate diversity officer for STEM disciplines and a number of faculty from the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences.

“It’s an honor to receive recognition like this and to see so many of our UC Davis colleagues on the list as well,” May said via email. “A lack of diversity in STEM has been an intractable problem for many years. I’ve spent much of my career working to change that, because diversity helps drive innovation and technological advancement.”

He shared that in 2020, he’s learned that higher education can help be the solution for many problems we are facing today.

“We’re preparing the next generation to tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges— whether that’s climate change, the next pandemic or social justice,” May said via email. “We need to help them understand these challenges and inequalities so they can become change makers.”

ALLTESTING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Tan recommended, however, that residents still get tested in order to track the spread of the virus and infections. The testing positivity rate has decreased in Yolo County, according to Tan, although this is not a replacement for adhering to health and safety guidelines.

“Our testing positivity rate did go down, but we are still having a lot of positive cases,” Tan said.

“I believe [on Jan. 18] we had like over a hundred positive cases, so there is still a lot of spread that’s happening in our community. We don’t want people to let their guard down just because our testing positivity rate has gone down.”

Schorzman said via email that “[…] students are overall doing a great job with adherence to public health measures,” which is increasingly important with the spread of more contagious strains. She expressed hope that things will eventually return to normal when vaccines become more widely distributed.

“We are looking forward to increased vaccine availability and the hope of returning to more in-person activities and interaction,” Schorzman said via email. “Until then, please continue to look out for yourselves and each other.”

FREEFOOD CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Lindsay Wilson Terry, another organizer for Tuesday Table in Yolo County, noted the large appeal of Tuesday Table due to its efficiency.

While other food distribution sites may require paperwork or identifying information, Tuesday Table does not.

“We don’t require any paperwork,” Terry said. “You don’t have to give us your address or your phone number. You come, you get what you need—you don’t need to tell us your business.”

Carr emphasized that Tuesday Table’s main goal is to get as much food to people as the organizers can.

“We don’t want any food to go to waste,” Carr said. “We want it to go out to people who need it.

We want to give the community an opportunity to participate in that, and then I think we get a stronger sense of our community and who’s in it.”

Terry explained how Tuesday Table allows residents to choose from a variety of goods instead of receiving a preselected box, which is a common method for distributing necessities. This way, residents can take what they truly need.

“We’re a way to give even more life to some of those boxes—to some of that aid that people get elsewhere,” Terry said. “It doesn’t give individual voice and choice to everybody. I feel like that’s something our table provides.”

Co-host for Tuesday Table in Knights Landing Sara Guevara-Plunkett described how she first became involved with Tuesday Table.

When the pandemic began, Guevara-Plunkett became financially insecure and used Tuesday Table because she felt too ashamed to utilize other food distribution sites.

“Because of Tuesday Table, I was allowed to get the help that I needed but in a more respectful manner,” Guevara-Plunkett said. “I could keep my privacy, but still continue to build my life.”

Guevara-Plunkett further explained how Knights Landing is a food desert, meaning residents have limited access to affordable fresh

produce. Guevara-Plunkett knew she wanted to give back to her community and brought up the idea of hosting her own Tuesday Table with her housemate Elyse.

“Now that we’re hosting Tuesday Tables, we can see that it does help a lot of people and a lot of families,” Guevara-Plunkett said. “The people that come not only get things for themselves, but for their neighbors.”

Fellow co-host for Tuesday Table in Knights Landing Elyse Kristine Ong elaborated on the rewarding experience of hosting a table.

“It’s a really humbling experience,” Ong said. “It gives me a lot of hope in the world, considering this devastating time that we’re living in right now.”

Ong further commented on the hectic schedule of hosting a Tuesday Table.

“Even though it’s really busy, [GuevarraPlunkett] and I are constantly out almost on an everyday basis collecting donations,” Ong said.

“We’re constantly emailing new organizations and trying to coordinate volunteers to come help us.”

Terry reflected on the tenacity of the Tuesday Table effort as a whole.

“Our handful of core tables that have been around for months—I think they can carry on indefinitely,” Terry said. “We have figured out our system. We’re known as a resource. We’re known as someone who can prevent food from going into the waste stream. We’re known as someone who provides food for the community.”

Carr reflected on what Tuesday Table has in store for the future.

“As long as we keep getting donations, we’re going to keep going,” Carr said. “Most of us are committed to keeping those tables up to the extent practicable and we’re planning to keep chugging along here. Honestly, I think it’s a great thing so as long as we have the ability to keep doing that, I think we’re going to keep doing it.”

After all, contestants are diving into the belly of the beast by their own volition.

This kind of dehumanizing discourse around reality TV stars underlies a serious issue in the way we approach mental health and handling the stigma attached to it. Individuals with mental health issues deal with an internal stigma that makes them hesitant to relay their struggles and seek help. When reality TV stars brave the stigma and open up about their struggles, they are met with dismissal. How can we expect to remove the stigma surrounding mental health when we are so free to attach an additional stigma to reality stars?

This type of dialogue perpetuates the dismissive attitude of faulting individuals for their mental health struggles.

The conditions of reality TV—glamorizing talentless individuals and superficiality—may make it hard for the general public to find empathy. Perhaps we judge them for their blatant

chase for stardom—but their participation on a reality show does not mean they deserve to suffer nor does it lessen the mental health toll of them as individuals. The fact that the struggles of reality stars are quickly invalidated highlights how much mental health continues to be dismissed in society.

If we want to undo the stigmas associated with mental health, there cannot be double standards when it comes to the treatment of reality TV stars. We cannot dismiss the mental health struggles of one group and cater to another. This sets a precedent where we pick and choose whose mental health struggles to validate, steering us further away from creating an environment where individuals who come forward about their mental health are met with support and not dismissal.

At the end of the day, the empathy we give to others should not be on a conditional basis.

SECRETSCIENCE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 “This proposal would diminish the critical role of scientific evidence in helping to make decisions that impact the health of Americans.

Excluding the best available science, as this proposal would, puts public health at risk.”

Take it from me, there are plenty of things wrong with the EPA but this rule is not one of them. It should be immediately telling when dozens of nonpartisan science organizations and countless states and cities have already legally challenged the rule less than a month after its finalization. Among those involved in the lawsuit is Xavier Becerra, California’s own attorney general. Becerra, who founded the environmental justice branch of the state’s Department of Justice, has sued the Trump Administration 122 times since succeeding Vice President and former California Attorney General Kamala Harris in 2017. He has consistently been a fierce advocate for the environment, among other social justice issues, especially in the face of the Trump Administration.

“As the coronavirus pandemic continues to reach new heights, the Trump Administration has plowed ahead with a devastating policy that forces the EPA to downplay or ignore robust, independent scientific research in favor of industry-backed propaganda,” remarked Becerra

in an official statement. “We won’t let this one slide through the cracks. There’s too much at stake. We’re going to court today to uphold the rule of law and to protect the integrity of the science that informs our decision making.”

The finalization of this rule marked the last of the many environmental regulations overturned by the Trump Administration. Fortunately, the Biden Administration has already signaled an intent to reimplement the policy as soon as possible. Unfortunately, this may take some time because this is not something that can be undone simply. It took the Trump EPA several years to get rid of it while taking every shortcut possible.

Although it may take some time to undo this, I do think that it is important that the Biden Administration take the long bureaucratic road to fixing this.

Proper procedures and channels must be followed by the new administration to prove conclusively that they have science and facts on their side. I might believe that they do, but that doesn’t really mean anything until they can prove it to the general public. Trying to do things as quickly as possible sends the wrong message and it is up to Biden’s Administration to change things for good and do it the right way.

BALI CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 In response, Indonesians have stressed that their concern was for broken visa regulations and a lack of cultural awareness, regardless of race and sexuality. It’s important to note that systems of discrimination in America and Indonesia are fundamentally different, with the latter targetting religious and ethnic minorities—unrelated to the ongoing anti-Blackness in the West.

Gray, and digital nomads like her, is symptomatic of a much larger issue with looselyregulated tourism and wealth inequality. While foreigners of all races and sexualities are capable of perpetuating gentrification in Bali, uprooting

their presence alone will not solve long-term grievances. Increasing minimum wages for locals, enforcing stringent tourism regulations and protecting Balinese culture must be done in conjunction.

Gray’s deportation has incited important conversations on race, sexuality, privilege and discrimination, as well as debates on whether foreigners living for extended periods in Indonesia should pay taxes. Hopefully, these open discussions will contribute to a higher standard of tourism practices and better living standards for Balinese peoples.

NETFLIXWEEKLY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 Horror: “Fear Street” Based off of R.L. Stine’s classic books, Netflix is producing all three “Fear Street” movies, set to release one after the other. The trilogy covers a range of time periods, the first one taking place in 1994 where a group of teens investigate a series of deaths in their small town only to find out they might be next.

Even as a teenager I was unashamedly obsessed with R.L. Stine’s series “The Haunting Hour,” and before that, when I was a kid, I was obsessed with the show “Goosebumps.” The movies may turn out to be cheesy seeing as they are intended for a much younger audience, but I’m willing to watch it even if it’s just for nostalgia’s sake.

12 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2020

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

SPORTS Many UC Davis sports seasons canceled due to pandemic With worsening COVID-19 case numbers and strict county guidelines, many UC Davis sports were forced to say goodbye to their season

Various sports at UC Davis were cancelled or delayed during the 2020-2021 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photos by Justin Han, Quinn Spooner, Benjamin Cheng & Kazim Jafri / Aggie Staff)

By KATHERIN RAYGOZA sports@theaggie.org After months of trying to maintain college athletics, UC Davis athletics have fallen victim to the real world. Nearly every sports season that would currently be playing at UC Davis has been rescheduled or canceled because of COVID-19. Athletes faced yet another hard hit after the cancelation of fall 2020 sports under the Big West Conference.

All competition for men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer and women’s indoor volleyball will not be rescheduled due to strict guidelines mandated by the Yolo County health department.

At the beginning of the 2020-21 school year, fall sports were believed to only be postponed, but later on, were officially canceled by the Big West Conference Board of Directors. The board attempted to push back all sports to the winter or spring seasons, but in the end, they came to the conclusion that it was best to cancel it all.

The decision came after a long process involving both the schools and their counties.

“Protecting the health and safety of our student-athletes and following public health guidelines are our top priorities,” said Big West Commissioner Dan Butterly. “Despite a strong desire to return our sport student-athletes to competition, the Board unanimously agreed that the resources and protocols needed to safely and equitably conduct fall, winter and spring sports seasons concurrently was not in the line with those priorities nor in the best interests of our student-athletes and coaches”.

After the Big West made its decision, it left many of the sports

at UC Davis with decisions to make. On Jan. 6, the university announced that women’s indoor track & field would also not compete this season.

“This was a difficult decision to make, but one that is consistent with our commitment to safeguarding student-athletes’ health, safety and well-being,” said Rocko DeLuca, the UC Davis interim director of athletics. “Head coach Ngoni Makusha and I feel this was necessary since the team would have limited opportunity to adequately prepare for the upcoming season,” It has been a difficult academic year for athletics, as the uncertainty surrounding all sports has lingered over colleges all across the country. As cases continue to worsen, the decisions to put these programs to a halt for this year continue, with UC Davis gymnastics as one example.

“It’s a complex situation with many layers of decisions to factor in,” said UC Davis gymnastics head coach John Lavallee. “We’ve come to a point in time where we had to make a decision, and it’s the best one we could make right now. Obviously, we are not going to slow down our progress. As soon as we can, we will get back in the gym and get back to work.”

As for the athletes, they have worked countless hours not only during their college careers but also as children. Unfortunately, many freshmen had their first college season canceled and many seniors had the last season of their careers taken away.

“It’s extra hard because I’m a senior,” said senior Kelley Hebert of the UC Davis gymnastics team. “I’ve been doing gymnastics since

I was five, training 20 hours a week. It’s a huge part of my identity so it’s hard having it ripped away like this. But if this is what we have to do to keep people safe, then that’s what we have to do”.

The toughest part for coaches and athletes was that they didn’t know if the season would be canceled, so practices were inconsistent.

Because the county guidelines changed depending on the status, training was difficult for indoor athletes, like gymnastics, because they had to train outside without the proper equipment. Then, around October, they got the green light to begin training indoors and began to get hopeful after a few weeks of strong practices.

After winter break, when COVID-19 cases started to increase, athletes were told to train outside again. A week later, they were allowed to practice inside the gym again right before they got the bad news that they’re season had reached an end.

“There was so much back and forth as to whether we should train hard because we would be in the groove training hard and then be shut down,” Hebert said. “Then on the flip side we would hear, we’re getting canceled for sure.”

Although winter sports were added to the NCAA guideline that gave seniors an extra year of eligibility, many will not be able to use it, as future goals and careers might be on the horizon.

This past year was a very challenging one for athletes, especially since some of them had consecutive seasons canceled or postponed.

It remains to be seen what occurs with basketball, football and the upcoming spring sports, but the outlook of athletics for next school year has some potential.