March 4, 2021

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VOLUME 139, ISSUE 18 |THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021

WOODLAND ADOPTS RESOLUTION ON FEB. 16 THAT CONDEMNS ANTIASIAN VIOLENCE The move follows a rise in anti-Asian racism hate crimes during the pandemic

BY JELENA LAPUZ city@theaggie.org Hate crimes towards Asians and Asian Americans have been on the rise since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent attacks against Asian and Asian American seniors have caused outrage in the community that has called for an official resolution that would condemn anti-Asian violence.

During the Woodland city council meeting on Feb. 16, the city of Woodland adopted a resolution that condemns anti-Asian violence.

Council Member Rich Lansburgh explained the importance of adopting this resolution during the Woodland city council meeting.

“We need to stay as one because we’re all Americans,” Lansburgh said. “We live in this country, we live in this county, we live in this city.

Let’s act as one people, and we’ll all get through this.”

Wayne Jopanda, the associate director of the Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies, noted that

there are multiple factors that have contributed to the recent rise in anti-Asian discrimination.

“One major factor that’s really prevalent is the heightened sense of xenophobia or antiAsian sentiments that have been attached to and wrongfully connected to COVID-19 and the pandemic,” Jopanda said. “It’s increased in a sense because of a lot of anti-Asian sentiments— xenophobic sentiments—but to be clear, those sentiments have been there before COVID.” He further described how the virus has been dubbed the “Kung Flu” and “Chinese virus.” As a result, Asians and Asian Americans of various ethnicities have faced discrimination.

Jopanda emphasized the uniqueness of every individual’s racialized experience, even among the Asian community.

“Even though we all are underneath the umbrella of ‘Asian identity,’ we all have different ways of how we’re racialized under this experience of U.S. imperialism, white supremacy and heteropatriarchy,” Jopanda said.

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MARIO RODRIGUEZ / AGGIE

IT REMAINS UNCLEAR WHETHER THE COVID-19 VACCINE WILL BE MANDATORY FOR UC STUDENTS Amid statewide vaccine shortages and new coronavirus variants, herd immunity is unlikely in the near future another and once we’ve formulated our campus response based on consultation with public health officials.”

Dr. Cindy Schorzman, the medical director of Student Health and Counseling Services at UC Davis, also spoke via email about the UC’s reliance on changing public health guidelines when it comes to COVID-19 vaccine requirements for students during Fall Quarter 2021.

“UC Davis will take into account any guidance and directives from UCOP, as well as those from federal, state and local public health authorities when determining vaccination recommendations for students in the fall,” Schorzman wrote in an email.

Currently, UC Davis Health is vaccinating healthcare workers from both the university and non-affiliated health facilities.

BY REBECCA BIHN-WALLACE campus@theaggie.org Although the UC anticipates reopening for in-person instruction for Fall Quarter 2021 due to advances in COVID-19 research and vaccine availability, university officials have not yet decided whether the vaccine will be mandatory for students.

In an email sent to The California Aggie, UCOP Spokesperson Heather Harper said the UC “does not anticipate making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory.” However, Dana Topousis, a spokesperson for UC Davis, said the decision has not yet been made for UC Davis students.

“Chancellor May and other campus leaders continue to consult with their counterparts at the other campuses and with UC,” said Dana Topousis, a spokesperson for UC Davis, in an email. “We will have further guidance once a system-wide decision has been made one way or

KATHERINE FRANKS / AGGIE

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PRINCETON PROTESTERS DEMAND COVID-19 MODEL SIMILAR TO UC DAVIS UC Davis leads the way for community-wide COVID-19 safety measures and is working to share the model with other universities

BY REBECCA GARDNER campus@theaggie.org

Protesters on Princeton University campus.(Courtesy Marc Schorin /Aggie)

Activist groups at Princeton University organized a protest on Feb. 13 calling for community-wide COVID-19 resources like those offered at UC Davis. The protest, planned only two weeks prior, had about 200 attendees who came out to show their support for demands to expand COVID-19 resources.

Hrishikesh Somayaji is a fifth-year chemistry graduate student and a part of the Princeton Mutual Aid (PMA) group. PMA organized the protest in solidarity with the Princeton AntiAusterity Coalition, Princeton Graduate Students United and Unidad Latina en Acción New Jersey (ULA).

PMA was founded in March 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Princeton Mutual Aid was formed to try to help [undocumented and immigrant populations in Princeton] and try to bridge the divide between

the university and non-university communities and to try to organize to build power for the latter,” Somayaji said.

COVID-19 services are abundant for university-affiliated people. Like UC Davis, Princeton currently offers weekly asymptomatic COVID-19 saliva testing for students, faculty and staff. There is also contact tracing and quarantine housing available to those affiliated with the university. Princeton will also be distributing vaccines to this population.

“Essentially, the demands are to extend the university’s services around coronavirus to Princeton, but also the four surrounding municipalities,” Somayaji said. “Coronavirus does not stop at the gates of Princeton. This is a public health issue, and if the university has a testing lab that has the capacity to test thousands per day, as it does, then it should extend that arm to the whole community.”

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YOLO COUNTY NOW USING MYTURN FOR COVID-19 VACCINE DISTRIBUTION Officials explain that county has no control over vaccine supply as winter storms delay shipments

BY SHRADDHA JHINGAN city@theaggie.org Yolo County has now transitioned to the MyTurn website for distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines, according to a Yolo County press release.

Prior to MyTurn, Yolo County had been using an interest form for COVID-19 vaccines, which was launched on Jan. 19. Since then, 35,000 Yolo County residents have registered in the county’s system and will need to reregister on MyTurn.

The platform MyTurn allows California residents to register to receive a notification via email or text when they are eligible for vaccines.

In the future, eligible residents will also be able to book vaccine appointments through the system.

Yolo County Public Information Officer Jenny Tan explained that the transition to MyTurn slightly changes the process of vaccine notifications.

“MyTurn is right now only allowing people to be notified when they’re eligible, so we are asking

Yolo County residents to sign up for MyTurn,” Tan said. “Previously, we had our Google [COVID-19] vaccine availability interest form that we had people sign up on, and so if they signed up for that, then we’re also asking them to sign up for MyTurn.”

Tan elaborated on how MyTurn works.

“MyTurn can only notify people right now,” Tan said. “Later on—I think in March—they’ll be able to also have an appointment feature so people can sign up for notifications and get an appointment, but right now, they don’t have that availability. After people sign up for MyTurn, we’re also asking them, for the time being, to look for our Yolo County clinics or to try to get a vaccine through their healthcare provider or through a pharmacy like CVS or RiteAid.” District 3 Yolo County Supervisor Gary Sandy said that he thinks Yolo County has done a good job of distributing vaccines so far.

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KATHERINE HUNG / AGGIE

2 | THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021

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THE UC STUDENT ASSOCIATION CALLS ON CONGRESS TO DOUBLE THE MAXIMUM VALUE OF THE PELL GRANT Students say the pandemic and increased housing insecurity have contributed to the need to increase the grant which provides aid to many UC Davis students

View of California State Capitol from 10th Street in Scramento, CA. (Andre M. / Wikipedia Commons)

BY ANNETTE CAMPOS campus@theaggie.org The UC Student Association, in partnership with the UC, has launched the Double the Pell campaign as part of a nationwide effort calling upon Congress and the Biden administration to double the maximum amount of the Pell Grant.

The main goal of the campaign is to raise the Pell Grant’s current maximum of $6,495 to $13,000 by 2024.

The Pell Grant is an essential way for lowincome students to secure access to higher education at an affordable cost, with more than 7 million recipients, including 78,000 UC undergraduates, according to a UC Davis press release.

A petition that circulated during the campaign’s week of action starting on Feb. 22 resulted in 1,000 signatures in just one day, according to Maria Martinez, the external affairs vice president of Associated Students of UC Davis (ASUCD).

“That definitely shows that our campus cares about the Pell Grant and was involved with the campaign at the early stages,” Martinez said.

The Double the Pell campaign began with a week of action hosted by the UC Student Association. The first day kicked off with a panel

in partnership with the UC Davis government relations team. Many nationwide student organizations joined the panel as well.

The grant has long aided student’s social mobility. According to the press release, the median income of Pell Grant recipients exceeded their family income within five years of graduation, and 1 in 3 UC alumni with families in the bottom 20% of income rose to the top 20% as adults.

Aidan Arasasingham, a fourth-year global studies major at UCLA and president of the UC Student Association, said that despite the Pell Grant being able to cover 75% of the expenses of a four-year college student in 1980, today it only covers 28%.

Andrew Nickins, the vice president of legislative affairs for the Student Senate for California Community Colleges, said during the panel that the California community college system has experienced a 10% drop in enrollment statewide and up to 20% in some districts.

“When students graduate with enormous debt they put off taking a risk on a dream job, starting families, purchasing homes and making other significant investments in our economy,” Arasasingham said. “This pandemic, [which] has upended the financial stability of students and their families, has only exacerbated this by

making American higher education dramatically less attainable for millions of Americans.”

As higher education tuition costs rise and students navigate financial losses during the COVID-19 pandemic, many student advocates said they feel the current maximum isn’t enough to cover costs of tuition and basic needs.

“As cost of living rises, the affordability of education is threatened,” Nickins said.

Bryce Regian, the vice president of federal affairs for the Washington Student Association, emphasized the grant’s ability to retain students and help them graduate.

“We know from research that financial aid has a positive correlation on both college enrollment and retainment,” Regian said. “Even just 1,000 dollars worth of aid from grants has been shown to increase enrollment by four percentage points and persistence by two percentage points.”

Cal State Student Association President Giun Liu said in the California State University (CSU) system, 230,000 students rely on the Pell Grant, making up half of the CSU student population.

Currently, 42% of CSU students experience food insecurity and 11% are homeless.

“Grant-based financial aid improves the enrollment, retainment and completion for lowincome students and students of color,” Regian said.

Martinez, who is also a Pell Grant recipient, emphasized the grant’s ability to help the most impacted students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I wouldn’t have been able to come to Davis without it and I know that’s the case for [a lot] of people,” Martinez said. “In the middle of COVID-19 everyone is facing financial problems even more, so doubling the Pell Grant would not only help people attend university, but secure their basic needs.”

Victor Chavez-Gonzales, the vice president of Associated Students at Portland State University and part of the executive committee for the Oregon Student Association, is also a Pell Grant recipient and recognizes the help it has given him to succeed.

“It’s proven to be the key of many students’ lives,” Chavez-Gonzales said.

Student advocates are continuing to remind students, faculty and Congress of the grant’s initial goal for being established.

“The federal government made a commitment to students in establishing the Pell Grant program with the intent of allowing any student, regardless of their financial means, access to higher education,” Arasasingham said.

“Restoring the grant’s purchasing power to its original value would honor that commitment.”

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS COMMISSION PUSHES FOR ETHNIC STUDIES GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENT AT FEB. 18 ASUCD SENATE MEETING The one-course ethnic studies general education requirement would follow in the footsteps of California state colleges that have already adopted the practice

BY KATHLEEN QUINN campus@theaggie.org Senator Amanjot Gandhoke called the meeting to order in the absence of Vice President Emily Barneond at 6:10 p.m. on Feb. 18.

The Academic Affairs Comission’s quarterly report highlighted a collaborative effort with the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Taskforce and the Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission to establish a general education requirement for ethnic studies.

Commissioner Navreet Hundal, who presented the report, said she hopes they can put it into place in the next year or two, given that state colleges have already created a mandate for it.

“It’s really important for us to follow in those footsteps,” Hundal said. “It’s just a one course requirement.”

The commission is also looking into incorporating the syllabus for each class into Schedule Builder, mimicking similar course catalog layouts found at UC Irvine, according to Hundal.

“It really helps if students are deciding if they want to take that fourth class to see if there’s a paper or a midterm, what the schedule is and how it aligns with their other courses,” Hundal said.

Other projects that the Academic Affairs Commission provided in the report include a survey requesting feedback about removing proctored exams due to accessibility concerns.

Clara Ginnell, the business manager for the ASUCD Bike Barn, and Meg Davis, the inventory manager, provided an update on how bicycle repair and the rental shop has navigated the ongoing pandemic since reopening in July.

“We’ve taken a lot of COVID measures, which has allowed us to remain open without any exposures within the shop,” Ginnell said.

On top of a drop in sales, due to the lack of students on campus the shop will be losing its general manager Robert St. Cyr. “He has worked with us for 24 years, so it’s definitely going to be a big change for us,” Davis said. “We’re going to miss him a lot.”

The Bike Barn will be hiring a former employee as the general manager, and Ginnell said she is excited to see what comes next.

The ASUCD Entertainment Council presented their quarterly report, highlighting partnerships with HBO Max, the Mondavi Center and Healthy Davis Together which has been their main

financial sponsor.

Galit Hara-Salzberg, the unit director for the council, said that they haven’t dipped into the funds that were allocated to the Entertainment Council this year because of the support.

“Because we got this funding from Healthy Davis, we’re going to be able to bring artists we would never be able to afford in a normal year,” Hara-Salzberg said.

In partnership with the Mondavi Center, they have created free virtual open mics and have maintained virtual jackbox nights with students.

Sammy Veres and Aparna Manoj, the co-chairs of the Mental Health Initiative, provided their quarterly report, which included a recent health conference as well as plans for mental health awareness month in May. Senate bills #53 and #55 and Resolution #8, which is intended to recognize discrimination toward marginalized South Asian communities, were signed by ASUCD President Kyle Krueger with the resolution being forwarded to the administration. There were no actions taken on old or new legislation; the meeting ended early at 7:51 p.m.

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THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021 | 3

Yolo County District Attorney’s Office Citizen’s Academy program accepting applications

The Citizen’s Academy seeks to reduce tension between communities and law enforcement through education

BY ELLIE LEE elelee@ucdavis.edu The Yolo County District Attorney announced in a press release that they are accepting applications to join the annual Citizen’s Academy program, which will be virtual this year. Along with educating the public, the goal of the eight-week program is to improve the relationship between communities in Yolo County and the criminal justice system.

Applicants must be residents of Yolo County and at least 18 years old. Participants will meet every Thursday from April 15 to June 3, from 6-8:30 p.m.

The press release details that some topics the Citizen’s Academy will cover include victim services and the roles of law enforcement.

Sponsored by the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office, the Citizen’s Academy coordinates with many police departments, including the Davis Police Department and the UC Davis Police Department.

Davis Assistant City Manager and staff liaison for the Davis Police Accountability Commission Kelly Stachowicz explained how there is often tension in the community between law enforcement and any particular group, making conversation necessary.

“What we always want in the community is informed discussion,” Stachowicz said.

The Citizen’s Academy allows communities to participate in mutual learning about the criminal justice system. Stachowicz added that when people have better information, it yields better community conversations and discussions.

On June 6, 2020, a group of Davis community members stood in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and marched to the Davis Police Station.

Leslie Ortiz, a second-year political science student at UC Davis, has noticed tension between police officers and students, including her peers, during her time on campus. For example, she noticed that her friends often had harsh comments when they saw a police officer.

Some students do not want to contact the police nor rely on law enforcement, according to Ortiz.

“Let’s say if an emergency happens—I feel like people have been not wanting to call the police because of the fear and their portrayal through social media and through the news,” Ortiz said.

Additionally, Ortiz said that the events in 2020 that drove widespread BLM protests, including the death of George Floyd and videos of police officers posted online, have influenced the attitudes of many students.

Davis Police Station in Davis, CA. (Quinn Spooner / Aggie) Stachowicz described that Davis officials seek to protect the citizens’ right to protest.

“Our first approach is ensuring that people’s first amendment rights are protected,” Stachowicz said.

As a college student and aspiring lawyer, Ortiz feels that police are needed to ensure the safety of the citizens, but there should be a change in law enforcement and how officers handle certain situations.

Ortiz commented that the Citizen’s Academy could lead to positive changes regarding policing in Yolo County.

“The program can empower law enforcement to change,” Ortiz said. “I really feel like if all that negativity goes away and the community supports law enforcement, tension could go away.”

In the weekly schedule of the Citizen’s Academy, Yolo County police chiefs and sheriffs will speak to participants during the program.

Stachowicz explained that this could potentially improve communication between the criminal justice system and the citizens of Yolo County.

“If people are interested in learning about what a police department actually does, have questions about it, or have concerns about it, the academy may be a good opportunity to educate themselves,” Stachowicz said.

To enroll, go to www.yoloda.org for more information or contact Wendy Wilcox by email at wendy.wilcox@yolocounty.org or by phone at (530) 666-8356.

Davis biotech company Marrone Bio Innovations offers new biopesticide product New biopesticide performing well in Midwest field trials on corn and soybeans

BY RACHEL SHEY city@theaggie.org KATHERINE FRANKS / AGGIE

On Feb. 8, Marrone Bio Innovations (MBI), a Davis-based biopesticide company, announced that its new product Pacesetter has performed well in 2020 field trials in the Midwest.

The MBI Midwest Territory Business Manager Brad Paschen explained that Pacesetter, an Organic Materials Review Institutecertified biopesticide, is intended to improve plant health and crop vigor.

“Pacesetter’s performed really, really well and grower demonstration trials have reached six plus bushels more of corn, and three plus bushels more of soybeans, so that gave us a really strong return on investment for both crops,” Paschen said. “We saw a bigger, more consistent ear size on corn, and we saw a wider leaf surface and longer leaves three to four weeks after application.”

Paschen went on to elaborate that some of the trials were grower demonstration trials and some were done by a third-party company paid by MBI. “Some of the studies that were done, our replicated trials, were done by third-party, independent researchers—we paid them to do the research,” Paschen said. “And then we also did 60 plus grower demo trials.”

Pacesetter is a product intended to be used along with conventional fungicides, according to Paschen, a combination

he described as a “synergy.” Paschen elaborated on the concept of grower demonstration trials.

“We go to individual farmers, and we give them the product to test on the farm. We put a 50-acre block which is applied with Pacesetter, versus a 50 acre block that has just a fungicide-only program,” Paschen said. “Pacesetter is applied with a regular fungicide, so we compare a fungicide to Pacesetter with a fungicide.”

Paschen stated that Pacesetter is MBI’s first product that targets row crops, which include corn and soybeans. Previously, it has focused on specialty crops, which include fruits, vegetables, walnuts and almonds.

“This is really Marrone Bio’s first expansion into the row crop market,” Paschen said. “We’re basically building a new market in the Midwest; this is new territory for Marrone Bio. We’ve sold some products there before, but this is the first time that we’ve put that much focus on it and had products that were specifically put in place for corn and soybeans, which are two of the largest acre crops in the United States. There’s 90 million acres of corn, and there are 75-80 million acres of soybeans. Combined, it’s a lot of acres.”

The active ingredient in Pacesetter is an extract of the giant knotweed, Reynoutria sachalinensis. This extract works by activating a plant’s natural defenses, including by stimulating salicylic acid

production, which helps the plant resist abiotic stresses and increases yield by making the plants bigger and healthier.

In the field trials, Pacesetter has also helped plants survive drought conditions, in which they usually would “shut down,” Paschen explained.

“One thing that the Pacesetter trials have shown is that you’ve got better plant health, and we take away some of those abiotic stresses,” Paschen said. “That results in bigger, more consistent ears in corn—the kernels are deeper, and there are more kernels on each row of the corn. [Pacesetter-treated] soybeans have more pods. When it gets really hot, soybean plants sometimes abort the pods because they can’t hold onto all of them, and there’s just too much stress on the plant. Having more kernels on the corn and more pods on the beans means higher yields.”

Following these successes, MBI plans to turn its eye toward testing the product on other types of staple crops, according to Paschen.

“We’ve had really good success in corn and soybeans, and we’re also going to be testing the product in cereal grains like wheat. We’ll be doing more cotton trials this year as well. Cotton is another target crop—cotton, rice and wheat.”

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Asian American professors and faculty members address recent attacks on Asian American community A discussion about the history of anti-Asian racism and hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic and possible solutions to a racialized social system

BY LIANA MAE ATIZADO features@theaggie.org The surge in xenophobia and anti-Asian racism in response to COVID-19 has led to a rise in microaggressions, racial profiling and hate violence against Asian Americans. Many of these acts of aggression were unprovoked, directed towards Asian Americans of all ages and are documented at stopaapihate.org. A recent increase in visibility of these incidents on social media has incited calls to action, including those listed in a statement from the UC Davis Asian American Studies (ASA) Department. Two professors and one faculty member weigh in on the subject.

Although hate crimes against Asian Americans have been rampant in the last year, Dr. Richard Kim, a professor in the Department of Asian American Studies, noted that attacks on this community were not unheard of before the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Kim, anti-Asian hate violence dates back to the mass arrival of Chinese immigrants to the U.S. in the 19th century.

“Much like the current situation, Chinese immigrants were often vilified based on widespread perceptions that they were carriers of disease and foreign invaders and thus threats to the well-being of American society,” Kim said. “These racialized perceptions were institutionalized in federal, state and local laws that specifically targeted the Chinese, as well as manifested through extralegal means such as violence, denigration and social ostracization.”

These sentiments fueled discrimination against other Asian groups that immigrated to the U.S. after the Chinese in the 20th century and continue to perpetuate violence today. A prime example of such is the rhetoric used by politicians and the media who have referred to COVID-19 as a “Chinese virus.” According to the ASA department’s statement, this racialization of the virus by the government has prompted Americans to redirect their frustration with the pandemic and lack of healthcare toward Asian Americans.

Ga Young Chung, an assistant professor in the Department of Asian American Studies, stated that it is important for the Asian American community to stand in solidarity with other marginalized groups and not to blame them for these hate crimes.

“The ongoing racial tension is not created by the Black, Indigenous, Muslim [communities] and people of color, but by the mainstream society through the social system and media

MARIO RODRIGUEZ / AGGIE

representation,” Chung said. “We should not find a solution from increasing police appearance or criminalizing of the other community.”

Chung stated that the first step marginalized groups can take in solidarity with one another is urging the government to fix the racialized social system in the U.S. and provide community-based resources for equal access to education, housing and healthcare.

According to Chung, it is essential for students and community members to think critically and take action using insights from ethnic studies. Inspired by these studies, Chung is taking an approach that promotes racial and social justice through education and action. She is encouraging her students to engage in conversations surrounding COVID-19, media representation, issues of equity and their effects on the Asian American Pacific Island community.

“I have helped our students in ASA take from this challenging period the momentum necessary to re-visit legacies of racism and uplift our community’s voices,” Chung said.

The ASA faculty and staff emphasize their commitment to creating spaces where students can work towards solutions to these systemic problems, as well as safely discuss racism and

stand in solidarity with other marginalized groups of people. One organization dedicated to the success of Asian Pacific Islander (API) students is the Strategic Asian Pacific Islander Retention Initiative, directed by Dr. Noel Salunga. According to Salunga, this initiative supports the holistic academic, personal and professional goals of students through collaborative efforts with other on-campus organizations.

On Feb. 26, the Strategic Asian Pacific Islander Retention Initiative collaborated with the Cross Cultural Center, Department of Asian American Studies, Student Health and Counseling Services (SHCS) and Student Recruitment and Retention Center to host an API Community Check-In. During this virtual event, students and faculty broke into small groups to discuss their feelings about the quarter, the pandemic and the hate crimes towards the API community.

“We’re trying to bring light to the dialogue and create a community of care so that we all can learn, talk about and heal from these issues,” Salunga said. “As a part of Student Affairs, I think our job is to provide those places of dialogue, empowerment and community connection in a virtual environment for students who want to talk about these issues.”

While many API students may be feeling overwhelmed by antiAsian violence, Salunga said there are multiple angles from which one can approach this problem. One way is to self-educate, taking the time to learn about topics related to these attacks, such as the model minority myth or the history of racial xenophobic attacks on API communities. Another way is to talk to peers and family members about these incidents to strengthen one’s social support network.

Finally, Salunga encourages students to make use of the resources on campus, such as SHCS, Student Affairs and academic advisors.

“Students are going through these processes in a pandemic environment, with online learning, financial issues, wanting to graduate and wanting to do well in academics, on top of dealing with these racially-charged issues,” Salunga said. “So it’s important to practice a healthy balance of being in spaces of community and being in spaces by yourself. I think having that healthy balance will keep you informed, educated and aware, but also allow yourself to rest and recover from exposure to these incidents.”

New UC Davis club fosters connections with members of the neurodiverse community Tutoring program started by Friends of Children with Special Needs at UC Davis aims to bring companionship to members of the neurodiverse community during the pandemic

BY LYRA FARRELL features@theaggie.org Since its founding in 1996 by parents of neurodiverse children, Friends of Children with Special Needs (FCSN) has expanded to include many branches and offer services for children and adults.

Logo of FCSN, an organization that aims to provide companionship for members of the neurodiverse community. (Friends of Children with Special Needs / Courtesy)

The newest and first student-run branch was established at UC Davis in the fall of 2020.

Julia Pan, a second-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior (NPB) major and one of the public relations officers of the club, noticed in her time working with the neurodiverse community that prior to the establishment of the UC Davis branch, there was a lack of college student engagement with the organization.

“The volunteers tend to be parents, parents who have already been working with the kids for so long, and then you have a couple high school students,” Pan said. “But I’ve noticed in the programs I’ve worked with that there’s a lack of college students.”

For this reason, Pan said FCSN at UC Davis is aiming to recruit as many volunteers as possible this year. According to club president and second-year NPB major Erica Chiu, the services the club provides have been especially important during the pandemic because for many members of the neurodiverse community with whom she has worked, the disruption of set routines has induced added stress.

In an attempt to bring back normalcy and social enrichment to the lives of community members, FCSN at UC Davis decided to create a weekly tutoring program held over Zoom.

“University students can choose what they want to teach, and parents can choose what they want their kids to learn and what emphasis they want to put on the classes, like if they want to learn a new skill or just have someone to talk to,” said Ayushi Ambekar, a second-year computer science major and one of the public relations officers of the club.

According to Pan, the program allows volunteers to have a lot of creative liberty over what activities they choose to focus on with their tutees after completing mandatory 2-hour training required by

FCSN. “With the one-on-one tutoring program, it’s super simple—just make sure you have that verification, we meet with you really quick to establish that you know what you’re planning on doing, and off you go into the program,” Pan said.

In Chiu’s experience, it’s important to take time to respond to her tutees’ emotional needs as well as teaching them planned material.

“It’s okay to go off-track sometimes in tutoring sessions. Maybe your student shows up and they’ve had a bad day, [so] they’re already in a bad mood and they just don’t want to learn today,” Chiu said.

“I feel like it’s okay if you decide to drop the subject and just have a conversation with them, [and] ask them, ‘What happened?’ or how they’re feeling and just try to make their day better.”

Although Chiu recognizes that many club members plan to pursue a career in a health profession, she said that the skills and compassion the club helps to build can apply to anyone.

“Pre-health or not, you may encounter a person with special needs sometime in your life,” Chiu said. “Taking part in our volunteering events will broaden your view of the world and different people in our community. When you do encounter someone or a situation similar in the future, you’ll have experience.”

Ambekar said that actively teaching neurodiverse people has broadened her understanding and perception of the neurodiverse community.

“Meeting somebody who perhaps is different from you [...] and seeing how that doesn’t make them less, or someone you shouldn’t interact with, is so important,” Ambekar said. “These kinds of opportunities really help you gain that perspective.”

The hunt for off-campus housing begins Students share their process of searching for housing next year

BY NORA FARAHDEL features@theaggie.org Among the many milestones of university life is searching for roommates and off-campus housing for the following school year after students’ first year at UC Davis. Winter Quarter marks the time in which many students sign lease agreements, but unlike previous years, this year students have to scramble to secure housing plans during a pandemic.

While UC Davis provides tips for finding off-campus housing and avoiding scams, students are ultimately responsible for finding their next home.

Nicole Lazovsky, a first-year cognitive science major who chose KAITLYN PANG / AGGIE

to live at home and forego dorm life due to the pandemic, has yet to live in Davis during her academic career. She is making preparations, however, to live in an apartment in Davis next year, beginning a new chapter of student life near campus and among fellow students.

Upon determining who her housemates would be, Lazovsky began the hunt for her new place of residence on the internet. She used Google Maps to search for apartment complexes and researched them further after acquiring the name. Additionally, she organized everything with a spreadsheet comparing different factors of each apartment such as floor plans and prices.

Lazovsky said that following the retrieval of this important information, she and her housemates compared the apartments, considering factors they prioritized such as an in-unit washer and dryer and amenities.

“I usually write a note if I could see bad or good reviews about management since that was something that I thought could be concerning,” Lazovsky said. “Once I had that spreadsheet down, we had calls together to decide which places we liked best, which usually was a combination of price and location for us.”

Lazovsky said that due to the pandemic, all three housemates opted to have their own rooms, and strived to find an apartment with a large common space area. Lazovsky is confident in her decision to move to Davis next year and looks forward to fostering her online friendships in person.

“Throughout this year, even though I wasn’t at Davis in person, I joined organizations, [and] I got to meet people,” Lazovsky said. “I developed the sense that if I was going to live [in] Davis, even if school would stay online, I would have people I could hang out with and

spend time with. [This] would make the experience of learning more meaningful to me, even if I was still studying from [an apartment].”

Carolin Hallock, a second-year environmental science major, began living in an apartment during winter quarter in the hopes of creating a better learning environment for herself. Hallock looks to continue living in Davis next year and is in the process of finding a new apartment.

She began with a search on the internet for one-bedroom apartments in Davis and found further information on the designated websites. She aimed to find as much visual information about the apartment as possible, while also investigating factors like amenities and cost. When necessary, Hallock took the initiative to call and inquire about specific details like parking spots.

Hallock explained that apartments vary in the type of tours that they offer—whether in-person or virtual—and the amount of visibility she gains from these have proven vital in her decisionmaking process.

“Some have been doing self-guided tours, which I really like because I can just physically go to the complex, but I’m not in close proximity to anyone,” Hallock said. “I think that’s been super useful because if I’m going to be physically working somewhere and paying for that, I do want to see what it is.”

Hallock has gathered the information necessary to narrow down her list to the final few apartments, but remains hesitant about signing a lease.

HOUSING on 11

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021 | 5

OPINION CAMPUS SAFETY TASK FORCE MUST CONSIDER GREATER INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE WHEN MAKING ITS FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS

THE

C ALIFORNIA A GGIE

EDITO RIA L B OA RD

ANJINI VENUGOPAL Editor-in-Chief MARGO ROSENBAUM Managing Editor SABRINA HABCHI Campus News Editor EDEN WINNIFORD City News Editor CALVIN COFFEE Opinion Editor

Although the task force’s initial recommendations are wellintentioned, more radical change is necessary to fundamentally alter campus policing

SOPHIE DEWEES Features Editor ALLIE BAILEY Arts & Culture Editor OMAR NAVARRO Sports Editor

In response to large-scale national demonstrations and calls for local change to the system of policing in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, Chancellor Gary May established the Task Force on Next Generation Reforms to Advance Campus Safety on June 11, 2020, to “examine what we can do to improve our community policing.”

On Feb. 2, the task force released its eight initial recommendations and will deliver its final recommendations in June, an entire year after its establishment last summer.

Some groups such as UC Davis Cops Off Campus have criticized task forces as serving to delay the creation of change, proliferating signs that state “every time we hear the words task force a window breaks.”

While significant change takes time and thoughtful planning and we appreciate the task force’s intention to evaluate the role of campus police and campus safety, a year should be sufficient time to accomplish more than just making official recommendations.

Though Cops Off Campus opposes the campus safety task force, the Editorial Board hopes that the administration will still communicate with these individuals or otherwise involve them to discuss what a safe campus looks like to them. This would serve to take into account “a broad range of views,” as is the goal of the task force.

Furthermore, the initial recommendations of the task force merely gloss over or do not even address many of the predominant concerns with policing such as the police budget and police unions. Instead, they focus on community outreach, open communication, transparency (all somewhat synonymous with one another) and an evaluation of police uniforms.

While all of these goals are well-intentioned and important to discuss, the Editorial Board hopes for change beyond transparency and greater communication. Communication and transparency cannot fundamentally alter the flawed system of policing and deeper-rooted problems such as the quasi-military way police officers are trained to behave.

There is some discussion in the recommendations of who should be responding to mental health crises, a greatly contested topic, as many departments are unwilling to move away from largely ineffective crisis intervention teams (CTIs). The task force stated that it would be “potentially worthwhile” to staff mental health and social workers to respond to such calls rather than police officers.

The Editorial Board strongly feels that it is incredibly—not just “potentially”—worthwhile to reallocate policing funds toward staffing mental health professionals and social workers. We hope that the task force will recommend a reduction in the department’s extensive budgets in recent years ($8,550,000 in the 2019-2020 school year and $7,712,000 this year), as this money could be used to solve the issue of limited funds for hiring health professionals.

We also recommend that the task force and administration look toward models such as the reform experiment in San Francisco, in which health professionals respond to the majority

of calls relating to mental health crises, as an example of change that could be implemented at UC Davis when making their final recommendations.

The Editorial Board also suggests developing digital student safety services that can easily direct students or community members in crisis to teams tailored to specific needs. These services would allow students to avoid contacting the police department for situations that may be better served by the presence of a mental health professional or social worker.

The last recommendation of the task force regards “continuing reforms,” but it greatly lacks clarity. In this section, the task force encourages Joseph Farrow, the chief of police at the UC Davis Police Department (UCDPD), to continue reforming the “culture and institutional nature of the department” which could take the form of “abandoning uniforms or other changes.”

There does not, however, seem to be a logical jump between reforms to improve the culture of the department and abandoning uniforms. While wearing policing uniforms has been connected to officers’ behavior—”police departments wearing dark uniforms were more likely to act aggressively toward citizens than departments with lighter uniforms”—changing or eliminating police uniforms will not sufficiently change UCDPD’s institutional nature. Further action such as disarming campus police (which is only briefly mentioned under the uniforms section) must be taken if they truly want to impact policing culture. However, we are hesitant to condone additional police training as it could lead to an increased police budget without necessarily affecting change.

Some community members, including Cops Off Campus, have called for the complete abolition of police departments. Although discussion topics for the town halls scheduled throughout the month of March include abolition and May has said that he is open minded about “significant, even radical reimagining of ‘campus safety,’” it is clear that campus police will not be abolished.

Members of the task force, May included, have “expressed deep reservations about the viability of abolition upon learning that eliminating the UC Davis Police Department would cede the policing function to the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office.”

While we understand that these recommendations by the task force are not final, we hope that its members will seriously consider our suggestions and concerns when moving forward. We further hope that future task forces will strive to provide more timely recommendations or that the university will explore more effective alternatives to the creation of task forces.

The Editorial Board strongly supports a significant transformation through aforementioned actions such as diverting funds from UCDPD to a mental health response team, in addition to decreasing police presence on campus.

Even after the final recommendations are made months from now, it will be a long and slow process to reform a more than 70-year-old campus institution. Providing severely lacking initial recommendations eight months after the upsurge of protests at a local and national level is simply not good enough.

MADELEINE PAYNE Science & Tech Editor

CAMERON PERRY New Media Manager 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

REDUCE, REUSE, RUSSIA STATE-CONTROLLED MEDIA Take five minutes to think before you share

BY JOE SWEENEY jmsweeney@ucdavis.edu Anyone who has spent five minutes on Instagram has seen clickbaity infographics advertising the “real” truth about social justice issues. Often, whether they’re true or not, these stories will run their course across people’s stories for a few days before disappearing. These posts spread like wildfire, but have you ever considered who’s behind these pieces?

Last year, as part of an initiative to combat misinformation and increase transparency on

their platforms, Facebook began labelling state controlled media. This included a variety of news outlets, from Iran’s Press TV to Russia’s Sputnik News. This decision has been met with considerable backlash from the corporations affected. In fact, Maffick Media filed a lawsuit in California against Facebook to remove the label from their various accounts, which was promptly rejected in the U.S. District Court of Northern California.

Waste-Ed, a sustainability account with 325,000 followers, is among multiple popular accounts labeled by Facebook as “Russia state-

Baykalsk Pulp and Paper Mill in Bajkal’sk, Irkutsk region in Russia have contributed significantly to water pollution in the country. (Wikipedia Commons)

controlled media.” But what does this actually mean? Waste-Ed, along with at least two other popular accounts, are run by Maffick Media.

The majority stakeholder in Maffick’s company is Ruptly, a subsidiary of RT (formerly known as Russia Today). RT is state-sponsored media from the Russian government.

At this point, you might be wondering what the harm is in having an Instagram account that shares stories of environmental victories and emphasizes reducing plastic waste. This seems relatively harmless on the surface, and the message is hard to argue with. Despite this, critics of the accounts argue that they are part of an ongoing strategy by the Russian government to escalate the polarizing political atmosphere in the U.S..

Rather than directly spread misinformation, the accounts instead criticize American foreign policy and Western companies. Another part of this tactic is to provide a platform for fringe viewpoints or relatively un-reported media to discredit the mainstream media and American culture.

“The Russian objective is to create an illusion of deep-seated divisions between people like you and people who aren’t like you so that you won’t be able to agree on anything.The Russians don’t particularly care about the details of our social and political issues when they are trolling Americans,” said Merek N. Possard, a military sociologist, in a group Op-Ed in the LA Times last summer. “Their focus is to gin people up to be against one another regardless of their identity or political beliefs. That’s why Russia tries to infiltrate groups of both Black Lives Matter and white nationalists online.”

Despite these obvious tactics, some progressives argue that this isn’t necessarily as big of a deal as it sounds. Funding to the media comes from a variety of sources, and in most cases, the messages aren’t necessarily untrue. Even

if the criticism of various policies focus almost exclusively on the U.S., it does not mean that they aren’t valid.

“Working for In the Now, or working for Soapbox, or Maffick, is not an endorsement of the policies of its sponsors, just like working for CNN is not an endorsement of the pharmaceutical companies or weapons companies that play advertisements on CNN,” said Rania Khalek, an American journalist working for Maffick’s Soapbox in an interview with CNN in 2019. “Or just like working for the BBC or Al-Jazeera is not an endorsement of the policies of the British government or in Al Jazeera’s case, Qatar’s absolute monarchy.”

The U.S. has a long history of hysteria related to Russia, stemming from the American public’s fears of communism spreading abroad in the 20th century. Labelling leftist policies as communist is not a new tactic for conservatives, but this is a different situation. Russia state-controlled media is launching an effective propaganda campaign to intensify tensions between the left and the right.

I’m not saying every infographic about social injustice is necessarily bad or some kind of Russian propaganda campaign to get you to argue with your neighbor. I’m just asking you to think carefully about what you are endorsing by sharing certain posts or articles. I know it’s tempting to repost anything, but doing your own research is actually important. So next time you’re mindlessly scrolling and work yourself into a fit about something, just take a moment and think. That’s all I’m asking.

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, MARCH 4, 2021

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

OPINION GIVE ME YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR, YOUR HUDDLED MASSES TO SCAPEGOAT In times of crisis, American identity for minorities becomes conditional

BY RENEE WANG reswang@ucdavis.edu We are born here, we have generations here and we have ties here. However, we are American until we are not. Scapegoating minorities during times of crisis has long been a trend in American history. Government leaders rear hateful, illinformed rhetoric about minority communities during times of turbulence, sowing devastating seeds of blame to excuse injustice and civil rights violations.

We saw this occur in World War II. Just hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the government created lists of “enemy aliens”—mostly male Japanese American community leaders—to round up and detain. 120,000 Sansei (third generation), Nisei (second generation), and Issei (first generation) Japanese Americans were forced into internment camps per an executive order by former President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Before they departed, they sold their possessions, farms and livelihoods for next to nothing.

We see this occur now amid the pandemic: During his administration, former President Trump did little to soothe a nation wracked with worry, choosing to incite fear instead. Trump was persistent in framing COVID-19 as a “foreign” and “Chinese” virus despite the World Health Organization’s discouragement of associating a virus with its geographical origin.

Asian Americans bear the brunt of this othering, racialized rhetoric when it is used to intertwine a virus to their identity.

Trump’s commitment to building walls of division during the pandemic has resulted in a rise of anti-Asian sentiment. Data collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) records 216 anti-Asian hate crimes in 2019. Data from the FBI for 2020 and 2021 has not yet been released, but organizations such as the Asian American Justice Center have recorded more

than 3,000 hate incidents since late 2020.

An elderly Thai man was slammed to the ground in broad daylight, later passing away. A Southeast Asian American family was stabbed by a man who thought they were Chinese, with two children aged 2 and 6 among the victims of the attack. A 52-year-old Asian American woman was barreled into a row of newspaper boxes in broad daylight, now requiring a half dozen stitches.

As anti-Asian hate crimes rise, it is essential to recognize that this is not an isolated trend.

Scapegoating is only a distraction in perpetuating ill-intent rhetoric over searching for concrete solutions. By dehumanizing minority groups, their life and identity are effectively reduced to singular, hateful rhetoric.

The malleability of minority groups’ American identity during times of crisis owes itself to the perpetual foreigner stereotype— where naturalized and native-born citizens are perceived as foreign because they are a part of a minority group. Asian American identity during the pandemic has become reduced to that of a foreign threat “carrying the virus that’s destroying our world.” Despite deep roots in this country, no amount of patriotism can betray a “foreign” face.

Asian American identity straddles the line of “foreign” and “American” but almost always, in times of crisis, strays closer to that of being “foreign.” Supreme Court case Ozawa v. The United States, for example, argued against the prospects of the Japanese being able to fully assimilate due to “marked physical characteristics.”

The case argues it was not a mindset or merit that determined assimilation—and that compared to the other immigrant groups such as Italians, the “racial uniform” etched into a foreign face will serve as a barrier.

The way Americanness is negated from Asian American identity is dependent on larger political

Donald Trump speaking at CPAC 2011 in Washington, D.C. (Gage Skidmore / Flickr) forces. During the pandemic, Asian Americans are stripped of their American proximity, having their “foreign” faces emphasized to ingrain an association with COVID-19. Before the pandemic, Asian American culture was enjoyed,consumed and celebrated amid our nation’s “melting pot.”

As Jenny G. Zhang, a culture writer for The Eater, puts it, “Americans may love Chinese food, but they don’t love the people who make it. They reach for the products of Chinese labor and with the same hands knock them down on the street.”

Celebrating Asian American culture amid the American melting pot still retains the conditional expendability of our American identity. The melting pot theory by design focuses on a homogenous society moving away from a heterogeneous one. If we expected to all

“melt” into America, we would melt into a 76% white and 70% Christian nation. What is left is not a perfect blend of cultures, but the dilution of cultures minimized into a supposed version of American identity.

The melting pot expects a dilution of cultures to blend the stripping of one’s minority identity to stand in duality with Americanness. This is a consequence minority groups whose identities are scapegoated during a crisis are forced to grapple with.

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.

SCAPEGOAT on 11

HUMOR

PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL WORRIED HE MESSED UP THIS YEAR The groundhog questions: How did it go so wrong?

KIYOMI WATSON / AGGIE

BY EAN KIMURA etkimura@ucdavis.edu It’s Feb. 2—Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney Phil, the man, the myth, the legend and most importantly by literal definition none of those three things, is removed from his tree hole by a bunch of old white dudes in top hats. It is announced to the world that Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow and there will be six more weeks of winter.

For Punxsutawney Phil, or as he has been nicknamed by his crew: P-Philly, the six weeks after Groundhog Day are the longest six weeks of his life. To quote the mystical manhandled marmot of meteorology himself, “ateeteeteeteeeteeeteeteeeaaaetreetereete.”

Translation: “I’m always worried that I am wrong and will one day lose the trust of the public.”

THIS LENT, I AM SIMPLY GOING TO GIVE UP I find myself resonating with Squidward more and more each day as Squidward because I find myself resonating with him more and more each day. My voice has even started to sound so much like his.

Anywho, simply giving up for Lent is really easy. If you would like to give up for Lent like me, here are easy steps on how to do just that:

St. James Catholic Church in Davis, CA. (Quinn Spooner / Aggie)

BY MACY LEE mcslee@ucdavis.edu Lent is honestly such a great time of the year.

I have always loved the season of giving up.

Growing up Catholic, I’ve always participated in Lenten sacrifices. My sacrifices in the past have been very interesting. I’ve given up a lot of things such as refraining from eating my mom’s pulled pork, playing the Sims 24 times a day and wasting my money buying an eight-dollar iced coffee every single day.

If you look at it, I’ve actually given up a decent amount of things. But this year I want to go all out and do something much bigger than anything before. What better way to do that than to simply give up?

It’s definitely not just me, because everyone can agree that last year has got to be one of the hardest years in the history of human existence.

Life is so overwhelming and the fact that we still have to study and pass classes through it is super hard sometimes! I think I’ve just become as numb

1) Reduce all forms of human interaction Save your energy for yourself, people who matter and your pet fish. Save your saliva for your COVID-19 spit test, not for talking to other people.

2) Stop studying, just start submitting Why prepare for things when you can just submit them? That’s honestly what real selfconfidence is.

3) Indulge in a daily scream Just let it all out. My fave places to scream on campus are the Hutchison parking lot, the Arboretum and Dairy Road where all the cows are.

4) Listen to SZA and Kali Uchis This is the energy you need to manifest into your system. Being nonchalant has never been easier for this generation.

To all of you venturing into a similar endeavor, good luck. As a trial user of this Lenten sacrifice for the past week, I would recommend it—10 out of 10.

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

Through translation, Phil continued, “This year has been especially worrisome for me, the wise weather woodchuck.”

The lack of winter-like weather has perturbed the Siffleux Sage of the start to spring. Despite being the greatest groundhog global climate guru of all time, there are always competitors gunning for that top spot. Wiarton Willie, Dunkirk Dave and Milltown Mel— just to name a few.

The odds don’t look good for Mr. Phil, as the first day of spring is technically on March 20. Probably should have said six weeks and four more days of winter. Phil, you really messed up this time.

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

INTERVIEW WITH A BIKELESS AGGIE. WHERE DO YOU THINK THE EXTRA WHEELS IN TERCERO COME FROM?

BY KE LIN keylin@ucdavis.edu

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021 | 7

UC Davis female faculty, alumni discuss their achievements and offer advice to the future generation of female leaders In honor of Women’s History Month, female faculty and alumni discuss their contributions to their local and global communities

BY SNEHA RAMACHANDRAN features@theaggie.org

MARIO RODRIGUEZ / AGGIE

This article is the first in a two-part series in honor of Women’s History Month in which The California Aggie will interview a few of the many distinguished women across campus who have made an impact on their community. These women discuss their various achievements, female influences and advice for young women as they pursue their future goals.

Cindy Schorzman, MD, FAAFP, CAQUAM Medical Director for Student Health and Counseling Services Achievements Dr. Cindy Schorzman has been in the field of college health for 15 years. Schorzman has worked tirelessly to help college students get accessible healthcare. Recently, Schorzman has been heading the COVID-19 saliva testing project at UC Davis. In addition, she has been delivering COVID-19 vaccines through the on-campus clinic.

“We built and have maintained the team that stood up the initial testing kiosk, which has served as a blueprint for expansion into the community and beyond,” Schorzman said via email. “We built and continue to run the campus efforts for students for contact tracing and case investigation and coordinate with incredible partners, including Student Housing and Dining who continue to be amazing in their work providing [quarantine] housing for students with COVID-19 disease or exposure.”

Major female influences Schorzman cited her seventh and eighth grade language arts teacher, Ms. Sue Lauria, as the most inspirational female figure in her life.

“She was soft-spoken and kind,” Schorzman said via email. “But [she] was a fierce advocate for her students and constantly provided constructive feedback to encourage us to be at our best levels. She always wrote with a green pen instead of a red one because she wanted her feedback to be taken as positive and constructive, rather than punitive.”

Advice Schorzman stressed the importance of connecting with female mentors and actively conversing with them. She also offered advice for women who might be entering a male-dominated field.

“There is often a tendency for male colleagues to get credit for your accomplishments,” Schorzman said via email. “So keep good records and advocate for yourself when you can, in a professional and factual manner. Also, make sure to not make these same mistakes— recognizing those around you, and especially those who report to you, in a fair and accurate manner, truly acknowledging those who are doing the work.”

Kelly Ratliff Vice Chancellor for finance operations and administration Achievements Kelly Ratliff has been at UC Davis since she was an undergraduate student and also went on to pursue her master’s degree at Davis.

Currently, she has been coordinating COVID-19 testing and vaccination planning. Ratliff discussed her other achievements during her time at Davis.

“My job is a lot like a city planner,” Ratliff said. “I do everything from finance and the budget to all the operations so facilities, safety services, campus police, fire and administrations like human resources. One of the things I have gotten really good at during my career is figuring out how to hire really good people who show qualities of leadership and support.”

Major female influences Ratliff cited Susan Kovalik, the founder of the Center for Effective Learning, and Virginia Hinshaw, a microbiologist and a former executive vice chancellor for UC Davis, as the major influences throughout her academic career.

“Susan Kovalik was always a really strong mentor for me,” Ratfliff said. “She built her own company and was always off doing big public speaking engagements across the world. Another influential person in my life was Virginia Hinshaw, and she was our [...] executive vice chancellor some number of years ago, and Virginia was a doctor of infectious diseases. I really learned a lot from her. She was just so smart and was able to use her knowledge to run a big university.”

Advice Ratliff offered some advice for women who are looking to make an impact on their community.

“First I would say: find a good mentor,” Ratliff said. “Find someone who can give you advice and guidance. There is a lot of information out there on the internet, but connecting with mentors is so valuable because they can give you specific insight into your field and help you overcome any struggles. Another thing I would say is be curious and be yourself. If you stay true to yourself and bring your best effort to any opportunity you come across, it resonates with people.”

Heather M. Young Professor and Dean Emerita National Director, Betty Irene Moor Fellowship Program for Nurse Leaders and Innovators Achievements Heather Young began her undergraduate academic career at UC Davis and then became a nationally recognized nurse leader and educator. Young was also a founding dean of the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing and the associate vice chancellor for nursing for

UC Davis Health. Young also leads a fellowship program in which 10 Ph.D.-prepared nurses are given the opportunity to work on innovative projects and enhance their leadership skills.

“It’s an exciting program because we’re investing in the next generation of leaders,” Young said. “These amazing people are going to continue to help the whole field move forward and grow, so I am excited to have the oppowrtunity to work with all these individuals.”

Major female influences Young cited Lucille Hurley, an international leader in nutrition research, as one of her greatest female influences. Young began working at Hurley’s lab as an undergraduate at UC Davis.

“She gave me confidence and she saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself,” Young said. “She always set a high standard and encouraged undergraduates to contribute and step up to the research projects. It was because of her influence and her belief in me that I decided I wanted to go to graduate school and work toward my Ph.D.” Young also noted attorney and former first lady Michelle Obama as a female figure she greatly admires.

“I admire Michelle Obama tremendously,” Young said. “Her grace, class and ability to really motivate and inspire people is amazing. I look up to her a great deal because of her ability to navigate through very complicated situations and continue to be a strong, kind and loving human being and leader.”

Advice Young offered some advice for women who want to make an impact on the world.

“Know your passion,” Young said. “Know what you want, what the reason is for what you want to do and really think about why you want to do it. If you know all of those things [then] that will be like your North Star, and it will help you accomplish what you need to so you can achieve your goals.”

READ THE FULL STORY ONLINE

It’s time to start using person-first language Words like “homeless” that we use to describe certain individuals can be used to oppress and dehumanize them

BY MUHAMMAD TARIQ arts@theaggie.org As Mark Twain so eloquently stated, “The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between lightning and lightning bug.”

The words individuals use to describe others have an incredible effect on one’s perception of them and the attitudes and biases developed toward them. When people use words like “homeless,” “prostitute” and “drug-addict,” they are partaking in a potentially destructive behavior, as they are defining individuals based on a single aspect of their life, rather than focusing on them as people.

Person-first language aims to focus on the person first, and their situation or condition after, as those are only one part of one’s identity, rather than their entire identity. Using the word “person” first and their condition or situation last actively avoids the marginalization and dehumanization of people according to their condition or situation by enforcing their personhood before anything else.

Jasmine Daragahi, a fifth year biological sciences major, and the undergraduate director of the UC-Davis affiliated, student-run healthcare clinic Joan Viteri Memorial Clinic (JVMC), discussed the importance of language and how it can be a vehicle of violence.

“Humans are multifaceted,” Daragahi said. “Homelessness and drug use is just one aspect of someone’s identity, it’s not their whole identity, so we want to make sure that the language we use reflects this sentiment.”

The word “homeless” has become a blanket term that misrepresents a large, marginalized group of society. These are human beings, but they are being defined solely by their home “ownership” status. Similarly, when talking about addiction, we must remember that it is a disease and not who a person is. Human beings are not addicts, they are suffering from addiction.

When asked if the word homeless is derogatory, Alex Dillabaugh, a fourth year neurobiology, physiology and behavior and Spanish double major and a Clínica Tepati undergraduate volunteer said, “I believe it depends on the context, but no I don’t think it’s inherently derogatory… These terms are also used to offer assistance to these communities and [their] usage could be rooted in a lack of knowledge about... the most appropriate term for a group of people who share a common condition.”

But Dillabaugh still believes that “We need to transition to saying ‘those that experience homelessness’ rather than ‘homeless’.”

Changing the terminology also shifts the perception of these individuals toward “a more humanizing alternative,” according to Dillabaugh.

Conversely, Lillian Cheung, a fourth year human development major and JVMC volunteer, believes that the word homeless is derogatory. “...Correct language absolutely matters in every part of our lives,” Cheung said. Especially when it comes to marginalized folks, she said, person-first language prevents people from distancing themselves from those groups. “We dehumanize them so much that it’s important to value them as people by using the correct terminology.”

Correct language use is necessary when talking about marginalized communities, according to Dillabaugh.

“Having broad, umbrella terms takes away the individuality of each person’s circumstances and these categories impact the way they are viewed and treated,” Dillabaugh said.

Person-first language enables individuals to talk about different groups of people in respectful ways, and avoid the marginalization and generalization described by Dillabaugh and Cheung. Examples of person-first language include: when referring to someone who uses alcohol or drugs, instead of calling them an alcoholic or a drug abuser, person-first language would refer to them as a person with a substance use disorder. Similarly, a person without a conventional home is not homeless—they don’t lack a home, since their home can be where anywhere they feel most comfortable. This person is not homeless, rather, they are experiencing a state of homelessness.

There are potentially negative perceptions associated with these

CATHY TANG / AGGIE

words, according to Hamad Arif, a third year political science and economics double major.

“I think the word homeless does have some sort of negative connotation,” Arif said. “What comes to my mind is people living outside, a sense of instability and bad luck somewhere down the road.”

This type of description shows how referring to someone as homeless can cause people to base another person’s whole identity on their housing status and view them in terms of associated stereotypes.

At the end of the day, someone’s worth as a human being is not tied to the fact they have a mortgage or a rent to pay. No one is rewarding anyone for having a place to live. So why are people punished for not having the luxuries and opportunities that others might have?

“Using the right language is so important because a lot of these weighted words such as homeless and addict carry so much stigma,” Cheung said. “And there’s a lot of history of criminalization and violence from law enforcement and politicians, and it’s really important we are aware of the history of these words and ask community members how they want to be discussed and described in order to humanize them.”

Daragahi expressed similar sentiments.

“As someone who has worked alongside and for vulnerable and marginalized populations, I want to make sure that my language reflects my thoughts and attitudes about such a diverse group of people,” Daragahi said.

Language is beyond just a string of letters and words used for communication. Language is art. Language can be kind. But language is also law. Language defines an individual’s attitude toward other people. “[Incorrect language use] dehumanizes those that society doesn’t really accept with open arms,” Arif said. “Those minority groups aren’t able to get the proper help they need, and rather than making it an individualistic problem, we put the blame on the person themselves and not on an issue with our own society.”

But individuals can actively choose the words they use and how they refer to people to change their inherent biases. It’s okay to not always know the “best” word for someone or their situation, but it’s the effort of trying to learn the most appropriate language that can lead to effective change.

Trying is the least someone can do to change how people treat and discuss marginalized communities. It’s important to remember to convey one’s humanity through their words rather than using language that strips others of theirs.

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THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Couch Concert: Cierra Brown The local musician shares her philosophy as an artist

BY JACOB ANDERSON arts@theaggie.org “Amy Winehouse was my first music love,” said Cierra Brown, a fourth-year English major. “I just love her voice and how unique it is and how organic her music is.” Brown also mentioned “artists like Daniel Caesar, John Mayer [and] Lady Gaga” when asked about her musical inspirations, because of “their different creative processes, the way that they express themselves.”

Brown has loved music from a young age, and her passion has been growing ever since. She regularly performs at open mics and posts covers of existing songs on Instagram.

“I’ve been in love with singing ever since I was 3, but I didn’t really start to take it seriously until middle school,” Brown said.

Although she mainly does covers, Brown has plans to release her own material. She shared that the process is akin to “releasing your diary to the world, almost. But it’s also kind of exciting in its own way.” Her style, both in these covers and her (thus far) unreleased material, is “alternative, soulful.” It’s marked by “R&B influences for sure. Pop influences.”

Brown continued, “I’m sort of indie. I’m kind of a mix of all the different genres I admire.” She spoke carefully in our interview, considering each question before providing an answer.

When it comes to producing her covers, she takes an equally methodical approach: “The first thing I’ll do is I’ll listen to a song that I want to cover on loop, and I’ll remember the way it sounded in my head. But then, before I cover it, I won’t listen to it. And I do that so that I distance myself from the original work, and I can apply [the song] to my own life.”

Injecting her own personality and style is an instrumental part of Brown’s music-making process.

“I’m often covering songs that I can relate to because I think emotion is one of the most important aspects of at least the kind of music I like singing,” she said. “I appreciate it when artists can put themselves out there and be like, ‘Hey, this happened to me,’ regardless of what it is.”

This personal aspect she attempts to harness is something Brown believes to be a prerequisite for success in music, on top of other qualities such as “being open, but also being open to honest and

Cierra Brown performs for The Aggie’s first couch concert in 2021. (Quinn Spooner / Aggie) helpful critiques, and also not allowing a ‘no’ to be a ‘no.’” By this, she means pursuing your dreams regardless of how discouraged you might get—always aiming for something more. She’s even tried out for “The Voice” before.

“Not giving up is the one of the primary ingredients of being a musician, or just an artist of any sort,” she said. “You need to believe in your own vision, and you need to see the strength in that, and you just need to keep on with it, even if outside things don’t look promising at times.”

Brown believes music, but also art in general, is important for everyone, “even if they aren’t naturally artistic.”

“Say they’re a science major, someone who’s more analytically minded—I just encourage everybody to try some creative outlet,” she said. “Especially during times like this.”

“Times like this,” of course, being emotionally and physically trying for many. “Music has always really empowered people through whatever they may be experiencing,” Brown said. “And I feel like in times of distress, or just world chaos like we’re experiencing right now, it can bring people together.”

Cierra Brown will be featured in one of The Aggie’s upcoming Couch Concerts. The video will be posted to The Aggie’s YouTube channel.

Homemade brings healthy meals and community to students New organization gives students an opportunity to give back and connect with others while learning new recipes

BY ITZELTH GAMBOA arts@theaggie.org Homemade is a new and vibrant studentrun organization that aims to help students cook tasty meals that are still nutritious. With members sending in their recipes, this organization has crafted a blended list of all types of foods from different cultures. While the organization has been in the works since Sept. 2019, it was not a public organization until last April.

In order to become a member, students can request to join their organization on Aggie Life.

When a new quarter begins, Homemade sends out an interest form where students provide their information and why they want to join. This gives Homemade board members a look into what members are looking for from the organization as they strive to fit their members’ wants and needs.

Homemade allows students to send in their own recipes for a chance to be published on their blog or in their book. During their first quarter, Homemade had over 50 recipes sent in from students. While the organization focuses on providing students with the best and easiest meals, they also focus on giving back to the community.

Priyanka Basu, a third-year neurobiology, physiology and biology and American studies double major, is the founder and president of Homemade. She states that the motivation for creating an organization started with her own struggles. As someone who is 2,000 miles away from home and knows how easily buying food at the Memorial Union adds up, she created a club for students that shared her struggles and wanted

to overcome them.

“Food security so happens to be one of the most important things we can do for mind, body, and overall well being,” Basu said via email. “What seemed to be a daily hassle, was much greater than I expected, and so I finally decided to take the next step in not only helping myself improve my life nutritionally, but numerous other undergrads who were facing the same challenges.”

Because the club is centered around providing nutritious meals, board members thought it best to talk to nutritionists and dietician specialists.

By seeking mentors in the community, the organization is able to give their members meals that they know are good for them. Homemade vice president Pallavi Malladi, a neurobiology, physiology and biology major, mentions the benefits of having the organization work so closely with nutritionists and dietician specialists.

“Having nutritionists, registered dieticians, and professors at speaker events allows our members to contact professionals if they choose to,” Malladi said via email. “By providing resources and contacts for different organizations within and beyond campus, we hope to ease some of the negative relationships students can have with food.”

Their mentors provide students with judgement-free speaker events on their research done with food, where they explain different foodrelated topics, like what protein is and what foods you get it from. Their mentors include Dr. Debbie Fetter, a UC Davis nutrition professor, along with three individuals that serve to educate others on food and healthy meals.

“Not everything can be understood with

the power of Google, and oftentimes we need guidance from specialists in the field to give us correct information,” Basu said via email. “Having security and trust in the information you receive is sometimes one of the leading ways you can change certain things in your life!”

The organization also focuses on giving back to the community. Through local programs, Homemade members teach children ages 8-14 how to make recipes that are easy to make and healthy to eat. Homemade partners with programs such as Hearts over Hands and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. They also have members that serve as food bank volunteers that help at Davis Community Meals.

“Working with Hearts over Hands has been incredibly rewarding,” Malladi said via email.

“All the students we see are so enthusiastic about hearing stories from our college lives. They also love to share their stories about their Zoom classes and how they keep busy! I’m glad I interact with folks and give them some company while their parents are working.”

The club as a whole offers much more to students than just a few recipes. Despite meeting virtually, the organization brings students together as a community.

“I love how Homemade is not just a food club,” Malladi said via email. “We share nutrition resources, volunteer with kids after school, develop a blog and cookbook and hold Speaker events.

There is so much to do for members, and we hope to bring even more opportunities in the coming months!”

The focus on community provides members an outlet to give back.

Cover of Homemade at UC Davis’ cookbook, “Homemade.” (Homemade at UC Davis / Courtesy) “It has been incredibly fulfilling,” Basu said via email. “We continue to hear from our members how much learning certain meals during mealprep sessions has been so beneficial to them.

Knowing that these small changes are helping students prepare their week and is allowing them to have a meal on their table every day has been making our days to say the least.”

HOMEMADE on 11

The new era of Tinder Amid the pandemic, users have turned to the dating app as another form of social media

BY ANGIE CUMMINGS arts@theaggie.org Over the course of the pandemic, what was once known as a dating app transformed into a new and modified form of social media. Because everyone has been stuck inside, many students have turned to Tinder to help them stay connected and entertained over the past few months. Although this dating app was always popular in college settings before the pandemic hit, the sudden and severe social isolation has led people who never imagined using such an app to become avid swipers.

Savannah Pluma, a second-year biological systems engineering major, is among this crowd. Pluma finally gave in and downloaded the app in December of 2020.

“It’s honestly just been a source of entertainment, a way to pass the time and see new faces,” Pluma said.

Before the pandemic, Pluma along with many others saw Tinder as much more of a commitment to actually “finding something,” whether that be love or even just a date. However, as time has gone on this past year, many have come to see it more as a safe and lowstakes way to either just see or talk to the people around them.

Unconventional as it may be, Tinder is aiding in keeping the UC Davis community, as well as the entire country, connected. Between March and August of 2020, Tinder saw over a 15% increase in first-time downloads. As the shelter in place orders were enforced, swiping left and right became a new pastime. This shift in Tinder’s original use of being a way for people to meet up, to essentially just another form of social media, shows everyone’s need for connection right now.

While some downloaded Tinder as a form of entertainment to combat the incredible lack of social interaction of the past year,

others have really made the most out of this app and created brand new friendships without ever leaving the house. Sophia Weiss, a second-year history and international relations double major, is among this group of pandemic-era Tinder users.

“I made friends [on Tinder] those first few months from all over that I’m still in touch with on Instagram,” Weiss said.

This Tinder-match to Instagram-mutuals pipeline is not specific to the pandemic, but it is possible it has been made more prevalent as many social butterflies are missing “just talking to random people,” as Pluma said. Tinder is providing the opportunity for all sorts of connections— random conversations to start up between bored strangers; an easy way to remember how to flirt for those who might be out of practice; even the chance to run into old friends and take part in the awkward dance of “What does it mean to match with a strictly platonic friend?”

Connor Wolf, a second-year environmental science and management major, took to online dating apps during the pandemic just as many others did, and while the way he used Tinder was modified, he made it work and stayed safe.

“I made the first date a Zoom date as a way to make sure that I wouldn’t risk any potential exposure,” Wolf said about meeting someone new during lockdown.

Wolf has proven that real connections can still be found for those hoping for more than a new pastime—it just takes more “patience and mutual understanding,” Wolf said.

Sadly, not everyone has gotten the memo about the new Tinder under COVID-19.

“I’ve definitely run into some [Tinder matches] who take it super seriously [...] they get pretty rude when they find out I have no intention of meeting up mid-pandemic,” Weiss said.

For some, it may be hard to accept the new and different ways in which this dating app is now being used, but it’s important to

CATHY TANG / AGGIE understand how helpful even the simplest form of social interaction can be in keeping us all grounded. For now, Tinder remains a modified form of social media, but as vaccinations get rolled out, who knows? Maybe it’ll go back to the way it was before, or perhaps this app (along with the rest of the world) will be forever changed by COVID-19.

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021 | 9

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

Answer to previous puzzle 2/25/201

Crossword Answer to previous puzzle 2/25/21

10 | THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

SCIENCE & TECH COVID-19 STATEWIDE AGRICULTURE AND FARMWORKER EDUCATION PROGRAM STRIVES TO PROTECT AND EDUCATE THE AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITY DURING THE PANDEMIC Network of agricultural organizations works towards reducing the risk farmworkers have of contracting COVID-19

BY MICHELLE WONG science@theaggie.org While it may not seem like a luxury to those stuck behind screens all day, working from home during the pandemic is not something everyone can afford. Many agricultural workers have continued to work in the fields throughout the pandemic to provide food for their communities. Because of this, farmworkers are at high risk for contracting COVID-19.

In order to protect the agricultural community, the UC Davis Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety (WCAHS) has partnered with the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and other agricultural organizations to develop the COVID-19 Statewide Agriculture and Farmworker Education Program to deliver COVID-19 training and outreach to the agricultural industry. “[We] have been working on COVID related topics since last March because we really quickly realized that farmers, growers, agricultural workers and employers were immediately being affected by the pandemic because they kept working while all of us came home,” said Heather Riden, the program director of the WCAHS. As demonstrated in a recent study by UC Berkeley researchers, farmworkers have suffered disproportionately since the beginning of the pandemic. The study found that of the California farmworkers surveyed, 13% of workers had a positive COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, with 42% of them being asymptomatic.

Many participants also reported that they continued to work while exhibiting symptoms out of fear of losing their jobs. Although vaccinations have become available, some farm workers reported not being likely to accept the vaccine due to fear of side effects and distrust of the government.

Riden explained that as it became apparent that more dedicated attention was needed for outreach and training in high-hazard industries where workers were particularly vulnerable, the WCAHS was approached by the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) to focus on efforts towards the agricultural industry. She elaborated that a lot of their efforts are focused on offering training tools and resources to employers and growers to keep their workers safe.

“We’re helping answer questions and be a resource in brainstorming how to assess the hazards at their workplace and make modifications to reduce the chance of exposure,” Riden said. “[One example] of that might be staggering work breaks so that not everybody congregates at the same time for a break to get water or have a snack, but instead get some small groups of people so you have less exposure.”

In addition, the program includes partnerships with community-based organizations to reach farmworkers. Riden said these organizations serve as the trusted sources for many farmworkers. The WCAHS supplies information and resources to the community based organizations who can then relay this to the workers directly.

“Farmworkers in California are a fairly vulnerable population due to their economic status, immigration concerns, fear of interacting with the state or other large agencies,” Riden said. “And

Farmworkers are at a high-risk for contracting COVID-19 and face unique challenges in protecting themselves from the disease and getting access to healthcare if infected. (Hector Amezcua / College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, UC Davis) so community organizations that are locally based really have built over years a strong foundation of trust. We’re trying to be that support to them as they’re doing the critical work.”

AgSafe, a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to providing practical health and safety education to the agricultural community, was also approached by the LWDA to collaborate on this project with UC Davis. Theresa Kiehn, the president and CEO of AgSafe, explained that their organization has been working with the WCAHS as one of their grant recipients for the past couple of years in promoting safe practices on agricultural operations.

“Especially as things were developing early on when we were in March, April and May, we were honestly just trying to keep our heads above water and keep employees and farmworkers safe,” Kiehn said. “So our approach was to really focus in on agricultural employers and to figure out what kinds of resources they need to help educate their workforce on COVID safe practices.”

With an abundance of information circulating about the pandemic, Keihn expressed that her team wanted to create a resource where information on topics, such as paid sick leave, were easily accessible. In order to do so, they have created a website resource, a clearinghouse for agricultural employees that is filled with resources and training tools, which will be launched in April.

In addition, Keihn stated that they will be creating a video series in five different languages—English, Spanish, Hmong, Mixteco and Punjabi—to help establish a foundational understanding of COVID-19. Recognizing that not all agricultural workers have

access to technology, AgSafe has also created a flipchart version for employers to use.

Aside from offering these resources, Kiehn elaborated that they will also be conducting a train-the-trainer program to reach as many workers as they can. As it is nearly impossible to directly reach all the agricultural workers in California, this program focuses on giving supervisors the tools and knowledge to continuously teach their respective employees about understanding COVID-19 and its effect on the workplace.

“We need to make sure we’re continuously providing education and training to our workforce, letting them know the safe practices that we’re taking to ensure their safety and needing their help to make our workplaces a safe environment for everybody to continue the good work that our agricultural operations do,” Kiehn said.

In order for those of the general public to help agricultural communities, Kiehn encourages people to continue doing their best practices surrounding COVID-19 to be responsible and help others in their community.

“The most important thing to remember is farmworkers have been in the field picking and producing food for us over the last year, and they have suffered at a very disproportionate rate from the general public,” Riden said. “I think that in any way we can support them, whether it’s monetarily or through policy, we should be doing [so] because they are sacrificing, and many of us like myself who get to sit at home are the ones benefiting from their labor.”

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTRIBUTES TO THE SPREAD OF MISINFORMATION ABOUT VACCINATIONS, BUT CAN BE A POWERFUL TOOL WHEN USED RESPONSIBLY Organized anti-vaccine groups are deliberately spreading misinformation, and social media companies are doing little to stop them

BY JUSTIN WEINER science@theaggie.org In the age of social media, knowledge has never been more easily accessible. However, just as information is available at the tip of your fingers, so is misinformation. With the seemingly endless wealth of information and misinformation, it can be difficult for people to decipher good information from bad. This can lead to people being misinformed on issues like vaccinations.

Despite the scientific evidence that COVID-19 vaccinations (along with preexisting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved vaccinations) are extremely safe and effective, a cursory search on the internet might lead anybody to believe otherwise.

This misinformation often comes in two forms, according to Dr. Jingwen Zhang, an assistant professor of communication at UC Davis.

KATHERINE FRANKS / AGGIE

“Sometimes, average individuals can cast their own doubt and try to make some incorrect links between, for example, side effects or results and their own experiences related to vaccines,” Zhang said. “For example, we often see personal narratives of parents sharing how their children ‘became a different person’ after getting the MMR vaccine. This type of misinformation is misleading, it comes from one person’s experiences and is not really in line with scientific studies.”

Zhang noted that the second form is much more malignant, extending beyond an individual’s simple misunderstanding.

“The other type of misinformation is the more organized kind coming from groups that are trying to purposely misinform the public because they have this very broad anti-vaccine agenda,” Zhang said.

According to Zhang, these orchestrated anti-vaccine groups “have much more power.” They often employ the use of ‘bots’, fake accounts created to increase the spread of some information (in this case usually false narratives about vaccinations), according to Noah Stern, a fourth-year computer science major.

“They get bots to talk about it, post it and share it to make the [social media] algorithms think that the story is more popular than it is, causing it to appear higher in the search order,” Stern said.

Zhang added that social media companies are trying several different approaches to limit the spread of this misinformation, such as promoting reputable sources like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“For example on Instagram, if you search for ‘vaccine’ as a keyword, the first result is the official source of [the] CDC,” Zhang said. “That is one typical approach that the companies are preferring for now, because they don’t have to do a lot of checking, they just have to promote the good sources on top.”

While that minimizes the work social media companies do,

it doesn’t completely limit users from seeing misinformation, according to Zhang.

“We observed that it’s not only these credible sources appearing on top of the page; in the same page you can see those posts from anti-vaccine groups appearing,” Zhang said. “They haven’t done any work to address this, because they have their concerns about limiting these groups who have a right to certain degrees of free expression.”

While it is nearly impossible for social media companies to catch everything that is posted on their sites, these sites are starting to do more to flag deliberate misinformation and link users where to find accurate information. Zhang’s recent study confirms that these fact-checking methods employed by social media companies can be effective at reducing the spread of misinformation.

As the COVID-19 vaccinations become more readily available to the public, the battle to get people to agree to be vaccinated has begun, a large part of which is limiting the spread of misinformation. According to one recent study out of UC Davis, nearly one-third of English-speaking Americans say that they are hesitant or unlikely to get vaccinated. This can be a particular obstacle to achieving herd immunity, which is estimated to require nearly 70% of the population to be immune before it can be reached, according to the Mayo Clinic.

While finding valid information on social media may be difficult at times, Zhang said it is important to consistently check sources of information. Zhang’s advice is to ensure that sources are reputable and pulled from scientific authority rather than personal opinions or narratives. If people are still unsure on how to find valid information, they can always use social media to their advantage and ask their social network for good sources and information—a powerful tool when used responsibly, according to Zhang.

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021 | 11

ANTIASIANRACISM

MYTURN

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“And the same goes on with our black and brown brothers and sisters and other community members who have been historically marginalized.”

Council Member Victoria Fernandez explained in the city council meeting the necessity of having conversations about racism.

“It is a conversation that we need to have,” Fernandez said. “Within our community, there is racism, there is fear about the unknown or the others, and unfortunately we are addressing this because it is a real issue for many residents, not only in Woodland but throughout our nation.”

Woodland Mayor Pro Tempore Mayra Vega explained in the Woodland city council meeting that individuals should feel safe within their own community.

“We just want to challenge our community to speak about these things, to educate our children, to have conversations in our community,” Vega said. “No community member should feel any danger by going to the grocery store. We shouldn’t have fear of being attacked because of the color of our skin or our national origin.”

Woodland Mayor Tom Stallard explained in the city council meeting his reaction upon hearing about recent anti-Asian discrimination.

“I don’t know what kind of weakness of character causes people to feel that they’re

somehow better or that they can attack another human being,” Stallard said. “It just simply escapes me.”

Woodland Police Chief Derrek Kaff explained in the Woodland city council meeting how he encouraged community members to reach out to the police department for help.

“The Woodland Police Department absolutely stands with all members of our community,” Kaff said. “We are committed to remaining impartial, but to upholding the tenets not only of our nation but of our good community. This behavior can’t be tolerated here.”

Jopanda encouraged folks to speak up for others during their time of need.

“If you see something, say something,” Jopanda said. “Centering victims first and foremost is always important, and then also unpacking and recognizing the systems in play. Collective action is needed and collective liberation has to be centered.”

Vega explained that adopting the resolution would be the first step, but more work needs to be done within the community.

“This is just the first step,” Vega said. “Let’s think about how else we can address these racist issues to make Woodland a community that’s welcoming of all members of our community.”

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HOUSING

and University Spokesperson Ben Chang noted that Princeton is a private institution that is not equipped with a medical school, unlike UC Davis.

According to Chang, this means there are issues with legally using private funds to provide public services and that the university’s first priority is operating as an educational institution, not as a “health care provider.”

Somayaji and Schorin, however, pointed to Princeton’s $26 billion endowment as a way to afford securing the legality of COVID-19 testing and safety precautions. “[The administration] says the reason they have not been giving the test [to the greater community] is because of licensing issues,” Somayaji said. “Princeton has a $26 billion endowment. They have quite a well-staffed-out legal team. They also contract with many highpower legal firms, out of house. They have the resources to ascertain the legality of something like this, if they had the will do it.”

The university has one clinic which will now offer limited testing for the greater community.

“We are looking to force their hand,” Schorin said. “We are not trying to reach a compromise, as these are things that are necessary for the lives of people here now. Again, it’s a great thing now that there is some availability, but it’s not what we were demanding.”

UC Davis is already working with other universities to share its model, and May said that UC Davis would be happy to collaborate with Princeton and other universities.

May has spoken with administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign about the UC Davis testing model, and other university leaders have visited campus. UC Davis has also assisted sister UC campuses, such as Merced, by providing them with testing.

May said that he cannot make an informed comment on the circumstances at Princeton.

“We’re very happy with what we’ve been able to do with Healthy UC Davis Together here,” May said. “We think it’s been effective. We’re interested in trying to explore ways to broaden that effort to the broader Yolo County—if we can. I’m sure that Princeton University leadership is looking for solutions to do the best they can for their community given resource constraints that they might have.”

Schorin said he doesn’t think the university is doing all that they can.

“There is a great deal of resentment against Princeton University within the town,” Schorin said. “The university may deny that publicly.

They are very eager to show the amount of money they’re spending on the municipalities—they gave a lot of money to the police department and fire department.”

“I just want to make sure it’s a decent place that I enjoy being in, so I don’t have to go through another year of hunting for a new place,” Hallock said.

Sabrina Zahid, a third-year economics major, transferred to UC Davis this year and has yet to live in Davis. Although Zahid signed a lease near the beginning of the school year, she ultimately decided to continue living at home and sublease her apartment.

“Everything was so uncertain at the start of fall quarter, so I decided to play it safe and live at home,” Zahid said via email. “Sometimes I regret it and wish I moved out because it would’ve been nice to be in a new environment.”

While this year has been similar to her life before transferring, Zahid is determined to finish off her college career situated in Davis next year.

Besides making the most of her senior year, Zahid said she is looking forward to in-person college experiences and general apartment life.

“I’m 100% going to move out next year,” Zahid said via email. “It’ll be my final year in

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Such is the case of Muslim Americans sharing in the #AfterSeptember11 on Twitter: One user shared how their 9-year-old brother was asked if he wanted to change his name and another how their mother had to display an American flag on their house so people do not throw rocks through their window. Because of society’s faulty association of terrorism with the Muslim American identity, individuals have to negate the foreign aspects of their identity, or hyper-emphasize a commitment to the U.S. in hopes of retaining some sense of security in an American identity now stripped away.

Anti-muslim rhetoric—such as the conflation of Radical Islam, Islam and Islamist, according to Ashalul Aden for the Sahan Journal—has led many to associate Muslim Americans with terrorism. This “dangerous mentality” has paved the way for anti-Muslim hate crimes. As Aden articulates, Muslims are not the enemy—terrorism is. Yet similar to the way the line between negative feelings towards COVID-19 and the people associated with its place of origin vanishes, the use of dangerous rhetoric to scapegoat a group makes it harder to distinguish humanity and easier to find blame in the matter.

Ho-Fung Hung, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University noted that “the virus itself doesn’t know ethnic boundaries.” This is true in the way the blame for COVID-19 has spilled beyond Chinese Americans and into other Asian American groups, and the way blame for 9/11 has spilled beyond Muslim Americans and into Sikh, South Asians and Arabs.

HOMEMADE

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representatives have stressed that while cases are declining in Yolo County, vigilance about current health guidelines remains crucial.

This may be even more important since access to the vaccine remains a challenge for many Californians, even if they are already eligible for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines currently available to designated groups in the United States.

Recent shipment delays and shortages in Los Angeles, Fresno, San Francisco and Yolo County—among other locations—have slowed down the vaccination process. An article in the Daily Democrat noted that Yolo County suspended vaccine appointments last week after shipments were delayed by storms in other parts of the country.

college—I’ll be a fourth-year—and I really want to experience living on my own.”

Despite her enthusiasm about living in Davis next year, Zahid has not begun the search for housing yet. With the accessibility of Facebook housing groups, Zahid believes she will be able to find a place to live.

“I know I should get started, but I feel like I don’t need to rush it,” Zahid said via email. “Davis has a lot of options for housing, so I’m confident I’ll find something that works out.”

She anticipates beginning a serious search in a few weeks and hopes to be fully comfortable with the apartment before signing a lease, despite the limitations of the pandemic.

“I don’t think that the pandemic has affected my housing search too much in terms of finding housemates,” Zahid said via email. “However, I think I’m going to have to rely more on pictures of housing because going in person to see the place is probably going to be harder to do. I hope I’ll get to see my apartment [...] in person before I agree to commit.”

SCAPEGOAT

VACCINEMANDATE

Other eligible individuals include people living in long-term care facilities, UC Davis Health patients 65 and older and UC Davis Health patients who work in education and childcare, emergency services and food and agriculture.

A new COVID-19 variant has also emerged recently. Healthy Davis Together, in partnership with the UC Davis Genome Center, identified the B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant in the Sacramento region the week of Feb. 8.

This variant is considered more contagious than previous versions of the coronavirus. Health officials have predicted that the variant will double in relative frequency in the U.S. every 10 days.

Accordingly, local public health

Tan explained.

Sandy expressed hope that the county will eventually achieve a “full stage” delivery of vaccines.

“On Saturday [Feb. 20], we had a large turnout in Woodland—we administered over 2,300 vaccinations, so that was encouraging,” Sandy said.

District 2 Yolo County Supervisor Don Saylor added via email that Yolo County has been allocating the scarce supply of doses to save as many lives as possible by focusing on groups with high mortality rates.

“As more of our population is vaccinated and the rates of our community spread continue to decrease, we can slowly reopen our community to what will be our new normal,” Saylor said. “It may be some time before we are back to a maskfree lifestyle with the COVID-19 variants in our community, but we look forward to a time soon when our essential workers are vaccinated and we can safely educate students in a classroom.”

Saylor said that “the rollout of vaccinations has provided us a light at the end of the tunnel.

However, we are not yet out of the tunnel.”

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

PRINCETON

Somayaji described expansion to the greater community as “the moral thing to do.” He said that the university is turning its back on vulnerable populations.

“The university should not be withholding services from those who don’t have medical insurance or are underinsured or those that have dubious immigration status,” Somayaji said. “A lot of the time, those people don’t have incentive to go get tested because it’s going to cost $100 every single time.”

Princeton brought undergraduate students back to campus for spring semester with COVID-19 regulations. Activists said that they were unhappy with how the university came to this decision, according to Somayaji and Marc Schorin, a third-year undergraduate French major, who said that democratic decision-making is at the core of the protest’s demands.

“They decided that without any input,” Schorin said. “They just said, you know, thousands of people can come back to the town without consulting townspeople directly.”

The Princeton Municipal Town Board of Health held a session where it was possible to make a public comment, but there was no possibility to follow up, according to Somayaji.

“The enormously consequential decision to bring undergraduates back, especially to a college town where things are relatively close together, introduces a whole lot of risk that the public is going to suffer from, especially because undergraduates are more uninhibited than the average adult,” Somayaji said, When UC Davis made the decision to bring undergraduate students to campus in the fall, the university responded to concerns about students infecting community members.

“So, we were exploring different ways of testing, contact tracing and isolating the students according to whatever the public health guidance was at the time,” Chancellor Gary May said. “We had this proposal from Professor Michelmore in the Genome Center that had this really unique and innovative approach to doing the testing using [...] PCR tests. We had some philanthropic interests that wanted to help us. We had some internal resources and the CARES Act [money].

The city had resources. We put this program together, and it’s just been very, very successful.

We’re very pleased with it.”

UC Davis’ unique testing program, available to the near 70,000 residents of Davis, has received national recognition in the past few weeks. The program was projected to cost $38 million.

Princeton’s community is less than half of the size of Davis’.

In response to the six demands of the activist groups who organized the protest, Princeton Deputy Vice President of Communications

“I think they’ve been as well as we could expect them to, given the flood of challenges that have faced us throughout this process in terms of vaccination availability, vaccination shipping and vaccination supply,” Sandy said. “As a county, we actually cannot order and receive our own set of vaccines.”

Sandy elaborated that Yolo County has no control over how many vaccines are delivered.

“The state orders them for us—they do not inform us of how many they’re ordering, and they do not inform us of what we can expect,” Sandy said. “We are simply notified when they have a supply. And so that’s been frustrating.”

Tan added that the winter weather in parts of the country has led to a delay in shipments.

“We’re getting one to two thousand doses a week,” Tan said. “Last week, we didn’t get any doses because of the winter weather that was delaying all the shipments. So we have actually received—I think—4,000 doses this week because it’s last week’s combined with this week’s.”

Yolo County has also been collaborating with healthcare providers and UC Davis Health to share doses that can be used to vaccinate residents,

While Homemade has always been online due to the pandemic, the club was started with the intention of being in-person. Members are excited for the future, where they can plan inperson meal prep and volunteer opportunities.

“Being a part of Homemade helped me realize how important of a role food in itself plays, to bring together and connect people of different cultures, ages, and backgrounds,” said Neha Valluri, a third-year biochemistry and molecular biology major via email.

The organization hasn’t faltered through the pandemic and is thriving with current members excited to learn more about cooking and keeping up with their meal prep.

“I could never have imagined creating a club during a pandemic, figuring out technical logistics, and most importantly, getting members to engage in what seemed like the most unengageable platform,” Basu said via email. “But weirdly enough, Homemade’s online presence has helped its growth tremendously. We are in constant contact with our members through email outlets, group chats, and meetings in order to reduce the monotony that quarantine has stamped on us all. It feels amazing to be able to stay active in our own homes, learn something

To reiterate the perpetual foreigner stereotype: Scapegoating is used to place blame, and a “foreign” face is all that is needed. There is no logic or reason in who is targeted. Vicha Ratanapakdee, who was slammed to the ground in broad daylight, is not of Chinese but Thai descent, yet his “foreign” face was sufficient as an instigating factor. Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh man who wore a turban, was shot and killed in broad daylight by self-proclaimed patriot Frank Roque who stated that the shooting was in retaliation for 9/11.

Two decades after 9/11, the burden of blame onto Muslim Americans has left traumatic impacts: “Arab-Americans were traumatized three-fold […] the devastation of the attack itself, the backlash from individuals and new government policies targeting this population, such as the Patriot Act […] only added to existing trauma,” said Dr. Wahiba Abu-Ras, an assistant professor at Adelphi University’s School of Social Work. For many, a sense of safety has been eroded upon.

The actions and rhetoric of today will leave long-lasting impacts on the Asian American community. ShelterForce, a publication focused on community development, calls for a culture of sustained “empathy and solidarity beyond the crisis” as a solution. We need to hold onto the lessons we learned from Japanese internment, hate crimes in retaliation for 9/11 and COVID-19 beyond when life returns to “normal.” We need to address the way minority identity has been used as scapegoats in crisis, and how American identity is not given but constructed.

new, as well as volunteer to help others in a contact-free environment.”

Homemade board members go the extra mile to make members feel included in a time where everything seems so impersonal over Zoom.

“I love that Homemade creates a laid-back space to be creative in the kitchen,” said Carla Kong, a second-year managerial economics major.

“Food brings people together, and I definitely feel like the Homemade community has been there to inspire me, support me and help me share my passion for cooking.”

Members can send in their recipes here for the publication of the book. The Homemade cookbook is available at Barnes and Noble. The proceeds from the book will go towards Feeding America.

“I am most excited to see how much knowledge students can gain from this book,” Basu said via email. “It holds a number of tips from undergraduates themselves, recipes and insights from our mentors that are not found in any other self-made cookbook. It gives students’ perspectives in cultivating a healthier, and budget friendly life which I think is absolutely incredible.”

12 | THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

SPORTS Pandemic changes that may be here to stay The new changes in sports that were made due to COVID-19 may be here for the long haul

By KATHERIN RAYGOZA sports@theaggie.org In the early days of the pandemic, sports were acting as if the situation would be temporary. Sport organizations made decisions in hopes of making it through one season and then everything returned to normal after it was over.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) took extensive measures to ensure a virus-free bubble. Instead of 162 regular game seasons in the Major League Baseball (MLB), they shortened it to 60.

The National Hockey League (NHL) also followed the NBA’s lead, creating their own bubble in Canada.

Different strategies were taken in the beginning of COVID-19, but as the pandemic continued, these short term strategies were quickly abandoned in the upcoming season. Athletes hope that 2021 will be the last difficult year for sports affected by COVID-19.

Eventually, when the pandemic isn’t looming over the sports world, it will seemingly change several aspects of it going forward.

In spite of the lack of competitive activity, there has been a

massive increase in the use of different platforms where camera angles and audio from the players will be a new way to illuminate the experience of watching a game. With empty stadiums, one can hear players shout, speak and any other noise coming directly from athletes. For the first time in sports history, fans can hear audio sounds that have never been heard on television. The loud batting noise of a baseball cracked at the bat, the tactical talk of teammates during a game and the sound of a kicked ball can all be heard clearly Instead of the usual crowd noises, fans can hear the “natural” sounds of the game.

“It was quite different. Pretty much the whole game we were on the sideline talking about how different it was,” said Jared Cook, the New Orleans Saints tight end.

Normally, these noises would be drowned out by background noise coming from the crowds. The norm even after fans are allowed back into games will be to incorporate these sounds into live television broadcasts so that people who don’t attend games get the real sensation of being in the stadium, similar to what is going on now.

NBA suspends season after Utah Jazz player gets coronavirusThe NBA announced it will take this hiatus to assess how to move forward amid coronavirus after Rudy Gobert tested positive moments before the Jazz was set to tipoff against Oklahoma City Thunder. (Andy Lyons / Getty Images )

Seasons may also even begin to get shorter because leagues and athletes have realized that fewer games avoid less injuries while still finishing a proper season. Some people in the NBA have argued that their season is very long, making them more prone to injuries. Every sport, except for the National Football League (NFL), has shortened their season because of the pandemic, but even then, the NFL cut their preseason entirely.

The NBA has featured 72 games per team, which is ten less games than usual, so the chance that it will go back to a normal 82 remains up in the air. The MLB Player Association had rejected a proposal earlier this year from the MLB regarding shortening the season to 154 games instead of 162 for this upcoming season, but the argument that the baseball season is too long has always been there, and the opportunity to cut it may come after the pandemic.

Now that players in all sports have figured out that it is possible to play less games, still get paid the same and still have a successful season, it is possible that athletes may rise up to propose fewer games in the near future.

Perhaps the biggest shift has been the rise of athlete activism.

This has been a major story during the pandemic since the killing of George Floyd in late May 2020, which caused an explosion of social activism. This time period will be historic because of teams boycotting games, including playoff games, to stand against racial injustice.

Back in June of 2020, seven former and current players from the NHL formed the “Hockey Diversity Alliance.” Today they are still an active group operating independently from the NHL. Their goal is to promote diversity, not just at the professional level. They have been collaborating with many hockey organizations to bring awareness to this issue and so far they have been successful. The NBA and NFL’s athletes also made sure their voices were heard, as many players spoke out about social injustice and made sure to fight voter suppression as well during election season.

One of the most popular National Association for Stock Autocar Racing (NASCAR) drivers and the only Black driver in the league at one point had “Black Lives Matter” across his best-selling racing jersey and was a driving force in getting the Confederate flag banned from NASCAR events.

“Recent global movements for racial and social justice, bringing back into public consciousness the historical significance of U.S. athletes in driving societal change, have shown that peaceful protests and demonstrations are a sign of moral leadership and can serve as a moral compass in centering human dignity in global sport,” said Team USA Council.

Although the pandemic has been a challenge, sport organizations have worked to ensure the safety of athletes while entertaining fans.

As the U.S. progresses through the pandemic, audio on televisions, shorter seasons and athlete activism are firm changes that may continue until new and better innovations are created. If anything, this era of sports has created new opportunities for athlete and fan interactions in a variety of different ways that have brought the spotlight on crucial issues not only in sports, but in the grand scheme of society as well.

Does Major League Baseball have an ownership problem?

Even though the pandemic has brought everyone financial losses, the cost-cutting has been a long time coming

By OMAR NAVARRO sports@theaggie.org There is no question that COVID-19 has brought financial hardship to people across the world. The sports industry is no exception, as the loss of fans, sales and TV ratings were all factors that contributed to the substantial losses in these leagues. As much as it hurts these teams, they’ll likely recover, as the amount of money that they possess is enough to keep them afloat for however long this lasts. But although these losses may alter the future spending of some professional sports teams, the issue of money in Major League Baseball (MLB) runs deeper and began even before the pandemic.

With an estimated loss of $1 billion, the shortened season coupled with no fans in attendance hit MLB hard. This caused many losses of jobs for minor leaguers, club employees and even workers in the stadiums as teams looked to save money. Even a big team like the Boston Red Sox cut the salary of anyone making over $50,000 a year as a way to lessen the losses. The Pittsburgh Pirates cut the 401k benefits for their baseball operations employees and some teams were even discouraging minor league players from applying for unemployment benefits, as this would affect the league if enough players received them.

These financial issues bled into the regular season and also the offseason. Not only did many teams avoid major spending, but a lot of them unloaded talent for financial reasons. This may be seen as a result of COVID-19, but an in-depth look shows that it has been a long time coming for a lot of these teams, and recent losses are not a valid excuse.

The Cleveland Indians unloaded franchise superstar Francisco Lindor and starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco to the New York Mets in early January. Lindor is set to be a free agent after this upcoming season and is in line to get over $200 million for a long term deal. Even after making the World Series in 2016, Cleveland has been a fire sale since, determined to keep spending low, leading to subpar seasons. Although their owners’ valued net worth is over $4 billion and the team worth about $1.15 billion, the team will have a payroll of under $35 million this upcoming season, the lowest in the majors.

Speaking of low payrolls and subpar seasons, the Pittsburgh Pirates are on the same boat, as their lackluster past couple of years can be attributed to their unwillingness to spend. Valued at $1.26 billion, the Pirates have surpassed the .500 mark just four times since current owner Bob Nutting took over in 2007. Nutting, worth $1.1 billion, has long been known in the baseball world as an owner who complains about the finances of the game. The Pirates are not one of the richest franchises but their spending is not a result of lack of talent, since they have had some in the past. But, as many of these teams do, they preferred to trade or let them go rather than to pay them.

Another team that has fallen under the scope of pennypinching is the Oakland Athletics. The Athletics’ money ways have been well-documented, and with an analytics-driven mentality, the team has found a way to field playoff teams without spending a lot of money. While they have been appreciated for finding ways to do so, they have hid behind their small success and found a way to avoid criticism of how cost-cutting they really are. The A’s mask as

a small market team, but are a part of the sixth-largest media market in the U.S. Their owner, John Fisher, is the eighth richest owner in MLB, but his team constantly ranks near the bottom in payroll.

Overshadowed by the image of Brad Pitt in the film Moneyball, the Athletics have long been seen as a feel-good, underdog-type team but in reality, it is more upsetting and frustrating for the fans than feelgood.

There are many more examples of teams like this in baseball, from the Kansas City Royals to the Baltimore Orioles and now recently, the Boston Red Sox, among many others. The common reasoning and excuse is that these teams do not have the same amount of money to pour in as the big market teams do.

That, however, is untrue, as shown this same offseason with the San Diego Padres. Ranked 29th in biggest media market and being in the bottom half of the most valuable teams, the Padres have not been shy about spending to compete, giving Manny Machado $300 million and rising star Fernando Tatis Jr. $340 million as well as adding many more pieces like Yu Darvish and Eric Hosmer. Always known as one of the lower valued teams, their recent surge to try to compete has been evident by their willingness to spend, once again proving that a MLB team does not need to be in a big media market to compete.

In contrast to public belief, the Padres have shown that spending to field a competitive team is more about the leaders in charge rather

KATHERINE FRANKS / AGGIE

than the location.

“We all lost money in the pandemic, but they’re all reading from the same script,’’ an anonymous West Coast-based agent told USA Today back in January in regards to this past offseason. “They say, ‘I have no idea what my budget is.’ Every single GM is telling me that. It’s all B.S. They don’t know what the budget is until they sign the player they want. They’re trying to manufacture a depressed market.”

All teams don’t make the same amount of money. Of course, there are some that bring in more than others, but there seems to be cost-cutting owners across all net worths Even with many using this pandemic as an excuse, the fact of the matter is teams rake in massive amounts of money every year, and hiding behind the pandemic losses does not erase the amount they’ve gained in previous years.

Sports teams are supposed to exist to represent a community, not just to make their owners rich. Being that MLB is in a constant battle to try and garner the attention of younger viewers, the reluctance to spend may cause many younger viewers to turn away if their team is performing badly. Whether it is implementing a salary floor to at least set a minimum payroll or changing the luxury tax system, the MLB office has options as to how they can go about solving this issue, as its ramifications may not be evident until it’s too late.