November 5, 2020

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VOLUME 139, ISSUE 5 | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2020

UNCERTAIN FUTURE FOR STUDENT-LED FEES LAWSUIT Students sued the UC system for charging fees for facilities and services not being rendered due to pandemic closures; the administration offers alternative view

Mrak Hall during Fall Quarter 2020. (Quinn Spooner / Aggie)

BY KATHLEEN QUINN campus@theaggie.org UC students filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court claiming the UC system violated the Takings Clause of the constitution when it accepted fee payments from students intended for on-campus facilities and services which were closed due to the pandemic.

Noel Garcia, an attorney at Cowper Law representing Claire Brandemeyer, the UC Davis

student who filed the lawsuit, said students are entitled to recoup almost all of the fees paid in Spring Quarter.

“Students at the UC Davis campus in particular, being on the quarter system, never stepped foot on campus during Spring Quarter of 2020,” Garcia said.

The lawsuit was originally filed to include only spring fees, but Garcia said she hopes they can amend the claim to include current and future fees assessed as pandemic closures continue.

“We would try to add new quarters for the

continuing violations of taking fees from the students,” Garcia said. “We would also add new claims in order to get around the motion to dismiss.”

After a hearing on Oct. 5, the Northern California District Court was inclined to dismiss the case, citing sovereign immunity. The UC system claimed that, because it is an arm of the state, it cannot be sued in federal court.

The current campus-based fees are approximately $676, with an additional $376 paid in student services fees per quarter.

Vice Chancellor of Finance, Operations and Administration Kelly Ratliff said that the fees students pay have some malleability in the way that they can be used once allocated to a specific budget.

“Even though the fee was set up with amounts per student per activity or program, there’s a certain amount of flexibility in the language,” Ratliff said.

Kuvin Hayer, a third-year economics major, said he understood why certain services and facilities have closed during the pandemic, but wants answers about how his student fees are being used.

“I just want transparency on what’s actually happening to the fees we’re paying now and where it’s actually going,” Hayer said.

The administration has made an effort to retain as many employees as possible and has kept temporary COVID-19 related layoffs under 30, Ratliff said.

“We’re trying so hard to keep everyone employed,” Ratliff said. “The services, while they’re different, are still being maintained.”

Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Pablo Reguerin said, as the pandemic continues, many of the services previously provided in-person have moved online in the form of what Student Affairs has coined “Virtual UC Davis.”

“People have had to rethink how we serve students in a very short period of time,” Reguerin said.

Many buildings remain closed on campus, with a few facilities operating at reduced capacity.

“The one that I really miss is the ARC, because I spent probably a good portion of my days there while I was on campus,” Hayer said.

Fees for facilities like the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC) are not solely used for current operations, Ratliff said.

“A lot of that money is used to actually pay for the building,” said Ratliff. “We borrowed money to build it, we still have to make—in essence, the mortgage payment.”

Reguerin seconded this sentiment, adding that the university is “paying that debt service whether someone is swimming there or not.”

The ARC has been re-opened to students starting Nov. 1 for appointment-based usage, Reguerin said, but fluctuating guidelines in Yolo County make the continued operation uncertain.

On Aug. 20, Ratliff and Reguerin issued a joint statement that student fees would not increase; however, both said they did not expect the fees to decrease either.

“I certainly understand the perspective of, ‘Why are the fees staying the same?’ and I know I’m the voice that says, ‘Well, they are and they need to be,’” Ratliff said. “But, I do want folks to know that we take really seriously the stewardship of the funds and that they are student funds.”

The lawsuit headed by Brandemeyer was combined with another lawsuit, Ritter v. Regents of the UC, that included tuition reimbursement.

That suit is currently in limbo awaiting a response on whether they can submit an amended complaint.

Brandemeyer did not respond to a request for comment.

Though the future of the suit against the UC system is uncertain, the debate about what students are owed when it relates to fees is ongoing.

“What we really want is an injunction to get the school to stop taking fees from all of you going forward until they can actually provide the services,” Garcia said.

COVID-19 RENTAL ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM SUPPORTS YOLO COUNTY RESIDENTS AT RISK OF BEING DISPLACED, UNABLE TO PAY RENT Low-income households in Davis can receive grant of up to $4,000 if eligible KAITLYN PANG / AGGIE

BY SHRADDHA JHINGAN city@theaggie.org Yolo County announced a COVID-19 Rental Assistance Grant Program to support Yolo County residents in a press release published on Oct. 16.

The program will help individuals who have a higher risk of being displaced due to not being able to pay rent as a result of the pandemic, and to “offset corresponding lost revenue that landlords

need to provide housing services.”

The program, which consists of a “onetime rent and utilities grant,” will be provided to tenants who are low-income and have not been able to pay rent fully due to the hardships caused by COVID-19. These include an increase in childcare or medical costs, a decrease or loss of wages and employment and a “loss of childcare.”

The types of assistance provided are security deposits and rent assistance, in addition to utility costs and utility deposits.

Students, however, are not eligible for the program unless they meet certain exemptions. For example, they may be eligible for the program if they have dependent children, are over the age of 24, are a veteran of the U.S. military or are married.

Colleen Brock, the senior management analyst at Yolo County Housing and the program’s administrator for the City of Davis, explained via email that emancipated young people or those who have aged out of foster care could also be eligible.

More information regarding the exemptions students need to meet in order to be eligible for the program, as well as information about general applicant eligibility and the process of applying, can be found on the Yolo County Housing website.

Public Information Officer at Yolo County Jenny Tan described the goal of the program.

“The program provides a one-time rent relief grant directly to landlords on behalf of lowincome tenants to reduce burden on tenants and ensure landlords receive the revenue needed to maintain housing services,” Tan said via email.

People will need to apply for the program in order to receive the grant, according to Tan. “Tenants must apply,” Tan said via email. “It’s on a first come, first served basis and when the funding runs out, the program will end/close. The application is pretty simple but tenants do need to show proof of their economic impact and they must be very low income tenants or low income tenants with high rent burden.”

Information about what qualifies as “very low

income” and the application can be found on Yolo County Housing’s website.

For example, very low income tenants can have up to 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI) and low income tenants can have up to 80% AMI with a high rent burden (at least 30%).

Stimulus payments such as Economic Impact Payments and the $600 per week Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation from the CARES Act, however, are not counted as part of income in determining someone’s eligibility for this program.

There is also a cap to the amount that can be allocated to each household.

“The program caps each household to a onetime grant of $4,000 in the City of Davis or $3,000 everywhere else in Yolo County,” Tan said via email. “The City of Davis is a bit more because they received some additional funding for this program.”

A news statement from the City of Davis further described the scope of the program.

“The program bridges the gap between what the tenant can afford and the tenant’s actual rent,” the statement reads. “The required tenant’s share of rent is 10% of adjusted gross monthly income.

The share of monthly rental assistance will be the difference between the actual rent and the tenant payment.”

RENTHELP on 11

UC DAVIS ESTABLISHES FOUR-YEAR PROGRAM FOR PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES Groundbreaking program is first on west coast to offer a residential component

BY REBECCA BIHN-WALLACE campus@theaggie.org The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, in partnership with the UC Davis MIND Institute, recently received a $2.1 million grant to establish a four-year college program for individuals with disabilities on the UC Davis campus.

The MIND Institute focuses on researching neurodevelopmental disabilities like autism, Fragile X, Down Syndrome and ADHD, among others. It also provides support to families affected by these disabilities.

“This is about opening UC Davis to all the citizens of California and beyond,” said Len Abbeduto, the director of the MIND Institute, in a video for the broadcast media about the

new program. “Disability is not often thought about when we talk about diversity, equity and inclusion.”

The grant will facilitate the Redwood Supported Education to Elevate Diversity (SEED) Scholar program. UC Davis hopes that similar programs—geared towards students with autism, Down Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome and other types of genetic disorders, for example—can be implemented on other college campuses in California.

The grant—funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID)—will be used across five years. TPSID program grants were originally established in 2010 under the Obama Administration.

At the time, awards totalling $10.9 million

The UC Davis MIND Institute at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, California.

(Google Streetview) were provided for 28 grants under two federal programs. Some of the first grant recipients included California State University, Fresno and Taft College. The grants are designed to facilitate academic enrichment, socialization, independent living and professional skills for people with intellectual disabilities.

Renetta Garrison Tull, the vice chancellor of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), highlighted the importance of the program’s connection to DEI. “While a lot of other programs haven’t been

connected to DEI, Dr. Len Abbeduto wanted it to be a part of DEI,” Tull said. “When we think about inclusion, we want to think about it as a campus wide initiative.”

Tull added that DEI and the MIND Institute will be “thought partners” in the implementation of the Redwood SEED Program.

Personally, Tull has two adult cousins with Down Syndrome, and said she was excited to learn about the kinds of services that the Redwood SEED Program would be offering.

INTELLECTUALDISABILITIES on 11

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Anti-Racism Syllabus developed at UC Davis following the death of George Floyd Syllabus intended to foster conversation, engagement and change with regard to race

BY AARYA GUPTA campus@theaggie.org The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion created an Anti-Racism Syllabus for the summer and fall 2020. This syllabus is an effort of “moving from isolated allyship to action,” according to the syllabus.

This syllabus follows UC Davis’ response to the death of George Floyd and “the unjust killings of too many other Black people in America,” according to the syllabus.

“During this time of unrest and racial reckoning, following the death of George Floyd and so many other Black Americans, our campus was requesting more information and opportunities for deeper understanding of race,” said Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Renetta Garrison Tull via email. “More importantly, members of our community wanted to examine themselves, address any issues that they were seeing, and confront cycles that might be contributing to racist behaviors, even unknowingly.”

The Anti-Racism Syllabus introduces the UC Davis community to a series of events that have taken place over the past few months and looking forward to the next few months.

“The Anti-Racism Syllabus is intended to be a resource to anyone who wants to learn more about what constitutes racism and how to address it both personal understanding and professional behavior,” Tull said. “We also wanted to highlight the work that is being done across campus.”

For instance, a virtual event with the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis will feature Claudia Rankine, the author of Just Us: An American Conversation, and will take place on Nov. 4.

Rankine’s text “questions what it means to interrogate white privilege, liberal political, white male aggression, and much more,” according to the webinar registration website.

Alternatively, the Transformational Justice Center at UC Davis is spearheaded

by Professors Maisha Winn and Lawrence Winn discussing the five pedagogical

The Student Community Center at UC Davis. (Quinn Spooner / Aggie) stances: our histories, race, justice, language and futures.

“We are working on those stances, and the syllabus is one of the resources that is assisting with the process,” Tull said. “The syllabus is only one tool, and serves as a portal for information and opportunities to engage.”

The fruition of this syllabus is a result of the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion collaborating with many other units and departments across the UC Davis community, Tull said.

A series of courses being offered by the university about race relations, spanning across various departments, are listed at the end of the Anti-Racism Syllabus webpage.

Examples of such courses include and are not

limited to AAS 80: Introduction to Black Politics, AMS 156: Race, Culture & Society in the United States and CHI 182: Race & Juvenile Justice.

“It is super important to know the history of the United States of America, especially today,” said Sophie Weisman, a second-year international relations major. “As a white woman, it is really important to know my privilege. Taking these classes, learning about what certain minority groups have to go through, and respecting how they have to work so much harder than I do will benefit someone like me, and others on campus.”

“UC Davis reflects and is committed to serving the needs of a global society, comprising all people and a multiplicity of identities,” according to the UC Davis Principles of Community YouTube video.

Looking towards the future, the Office of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is currently working on implementing the Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Vision, a plan more commonly known as “To Boldly Go.” Tull said that she hopes that this framework will assist in “mitigating bias, reducing gaps in access, and removing barriers” that disproportionately impact different groups.

“We are heartened that so many on our campus, and on other campuses are learning more about how to be anti-racist,” Tull said. “Our goal is to make sure that the information within the syllabus is accessible to all, and that people can return it to learn more or enhance their knowledge.”

Davis Farmers Market continues during pandemic, attendance increases due to return of students to Davis Safety modifications keep high volume of shoppers healthy

BY JELENA LAPUZ city@theaggie.org The Davis Farmers Market has been a staple attraction in the Davis community for over 44 years. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, several modifications were made to ensure that this essential business could continue to provide fresh and healthy produce options for Davis residents.

Executive Director of Davis Farmers Market, Randii MacNear, provided a statement on the official website for the market.

“Since mid-March, the market has been in a back-to-basics mode,” the statement reads.

“At our core, we’re here for local farmers to sell safe, healthy, farm-fresh produce directly to the consumer.”

Wendy Weitzel, the marketing and public relations director of Davis Farmers Market, described a shopper’s typical experience at the market before the pandemic. Weitzel detailed how the majority of the shopping was underneath the pavilion and vendors were packed closely together since no one was worried about social distancing at the time.

Customers could taste or sample items and could often pick and touch the produce before purchase.

Director of Community and Business Engagement for the city of Davis Diane Parro reflected on the city’s relationship with the Davis Farmers Market.

“The city has had a very, very long-standing positive relationship with the Davis Farmers Market,” Parro said. “We think of the [Davis] Farmers Market as a very positive and healthy activity—as well as organization—in Davis.

We feel very lucky that it’s here.”

Weitzel further explained how several new modifications were made to comply with social distancing regulations at the start of the pandemic. Modifications for customers included wearing a mask at all times, social distancing six feet apart from anyone not in the same household and having to shop “eyes first.”

Additionally, vendors spaced their booths six feet apart, wore masks and gloves and bagged produce chosen by customers, handing it to them directly. Hand-washing stations and an automatic hand sanitizer station were added to the venue as well.

MacNear’s statement added a positive note to the situation as well.

“This pandemic has brought so many

challenges,” the statement reads. “But I’m an optimistic person, and I’m seeing a lot of positive[s] come out of it as well.”

In terms of positive changes to the market, Weitzel noted that the return of more UC Davis students to town increased the attendance of customers to the market.

“We have seen an uptick in attendance and students coming to the market,” Weitzel said. “[…] We’ve actually seen a really big increase in shopping at the market because it’s such a healthy place to shop.”

Parro commended the students for excellent compliance with wearing masks, but recommended that students visit the market

in smaller groups. She also praised the farmers and vendors at the market for their hard work during the pandemic.

“The farmers and vendors at the market have been phenomenal in the way that they have responded [to the pandemic] and we like to see them supported so we want people to come to the market,” Parro said. “We want them to keep getting the healthy, fresh, wonderful abundance from our farmers.”

Weitzel also commented that students should be complimented on supporting the market and following the safety rules. She additionally reminded shoppers to not stop and chat with people and encouraged them to eat and drink

People shopping at the Davis Farmer’s Market on Saturday, Oct. 31. (Justin Han / Aggie)

food and beverages on the lawn instead of in the pavilion. “[The market] is also known as a social setting, and it really shouldn’t be seen like that right now,” Weitzel said. “We ask that students [and customers in general] don’t congregate in the middle of the pavilion.”

Parro added one final comment in regards to the future of the Davis Farmers Market.

“The market has—via the state and county guidance—always been considered a safe and appropriate place to get essentials,” Parro said. “We’ll get through this, but it’s always a little trickier now.”

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2020 | 3

SENATE BILL IN SUPPORT OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PASSES AT OCT. 22 SENATE MEETING Public commentary raises concerns about cancellation of PE program

AGGIE FILE

BY REBECCA BIHN-WALLACE campus@theaggie.org Last week’s ASUCD Senate meeting was called to order at 6:10 pm on Thursday, Oct. 22. ASUCD President Kyle Krueger was absent, as were Senators Samantha Boudaie, Roberto Rodriguez Ibarra and Juan Velasco.

Remaining vacant Senate positions are the External Affairs Commission Chair and the Judicial Council Chair.

The meeting began with a confirmation of the Refrigerator Services Director position of Julianna Christofi, who was elected by unanimous consent.

Food Service Director Darin Schluep then presented about the status of the Coffee House. Assistant Ombuds Jenny Xia, of the Ombuds Office, gave a presentation on conflict resolution and how the Ombuds Office can help people resolve the intergroup and interpersonal conflicts they may have.

Then, Gaurav Kappa, an undergraduate at San Jose State University, gave a presentation on the science of climate change and climate disruption. Kuppa also spoke about an upcoming climate disruption event he is hosting, which will include a panel of leaders from academia and the private sector.

During the second half of the meeting,

Gender and Sexuality Commission Chair Jane Casto was absent.

During the public discussion period, Paul Medved, a UC Davis alumnus, spoke about his frustration over the UC Davis Administration’s recent decision to discontinue the PE program on campus.

“PE is important not only for student wellness, but it’s an essential component of the Intercollegiate Athletics Program [ICA],” Medved said. “Since the early 1990s, student fees have gone to ICA on the basis that it would continue to fund and offer credit-bearing PE classes. Currently, there is a petition with 3,000 signatures that was sent to both the Chancellor and the Provost. It

may very well take more than that.”

No new legislation was introduced. The meeting then moved into consideration of old legislation.

Brooke Isrow, a second-year political science-public service major, gave a presentation about Aggie Mentors, which provides mentoring for new students at UC Davis.

“We have seen the positive impact that Aggie Mentors has had on the lives of new students in just the couple of months that the program has been active,” Isrow said.

Senate Bill #2—designed to pass the Aggie Mentors programmatic committee (AMC)— then passed via unanimous consent.

Senate Bill #6, which adopts changes to Unitrans’ budget, was also passed. External Affairs Vice President Maria Martinez authored Senate Bill #7—which supports the reinstatement of affirmative action in the state of California—and Senator Khalil Malik motioned to consider emergency legislative procedure. According to Martinez, California is one of only 9 states that has banned affirmative action. “[Affirmative action] will affect our dayto-day lives as students and our day-to-day lives when we graduate and go into the job market,” Martinez said. “The barriers we were facing to [SB 7] were at an institutional level, in terms of getting answers about what ASUCD could and could not vote on. Thankfully, our business manager Greg was able to jump through a lot of hoops and help us get this [on the table].”

A proposition regarding affirmative action is on the California ballot this election season, and Martinez noted the importance of making sure students know about it.

“We want to give students as much time as possible to make informed decisions when they’re going to the voting booth or mailing in their ballots,” Martinez said.

Senate Bill #7 passed unanimously.

Past meeting minutes from Aug. 13, 2020 and Oct. 15, 2020 were approved with unanimous consent.

Internal Vice President Emily Barneond adjourned the meeting at 9:43 pm.

PANDEMIC ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASE IN VIOLENCE CONCERNS AND FIREARM PURCHASES UC Davis study links COVID-19 conditions to safety issues

BY MICHELLE WONG science@theaggie.org A recent UC Davis study reveals that, aside from the inherent dangers, the COVID-19 pandemic is also prompting safety concerns from an increase in firearm purchases. Nicole Kravitz-Wirtz, an assistant professor in the department of emergency medicine, explained that after looking at the intersections between violence, firearms and the pandemic, she observed an increase in both violence concerns and firearm purchases.

“Even early on, it was clear that the pandemic had worsened many of the wellestablished underlying conditions that contribute to violence—things like poverty, unemployment, lack of resources, as well as social isolation, hopelessness, and loss—and we posited that these risks would be further compounded by what appeared to be emerging evidence of a surge in firearm purchasing,” Kravitz-Wirtz said via email.

According to Julia Schleimer, a research data analyst at the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program, the study used a statewide survey of California adults, which asked them questions concerning “exposure to violence, worry about violence, firearm ownership, firearm purchasing and civic engagement.”

Kravitz-Wirtz elaborated that the study was designed to capture the lived experiences of violence within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The pandemic has exacerbated longstanding injustices rooted in systemic racism and other oppressive systems of power that contribute to the underlying conditions— for example, poverty, unemployment, lack of available resources—that elevate risk for, and compound the consequences of, community violence,” Kravitz-Wirtz said via email.

Examples of such instances included the use of law enforcement against protests and increased frequency and severity in cases of domestic violence. Specifically concerning domestic violence, Garen Wintemute, the director of the UC Firearm Violence Research Center, said that the stay-at-home orders are associated with an increase in intimate partner violence.

Given the increase in overall anxiety, and

KAITLYN PANG / AGGIE knowledge that gun purchasing is historically driven by a desire for self protection, Schleimer explained that such motivations translate into an increase in firearms purchases. “[Violence] concerns increase at any time of increased social and economic stress,” Wintemute said via email.

In order to counteract the fear of violence stemming from these factors, Kravitz-Wirtz emphasized the importance of securely storing firearms, and storing them separately from ammunition. In addition, since many acts of violence are impulsive, she suggested temporary firearm storage outside of the

home.

Schleiman said that it may also be beneficial to address misconceptions of health risks and benefits associated with firearm ownership, in addition to conducting community-based interventions.

“I think that addressing people’s sense of collective trust in security will be helpful rather than stoking fear and concern,” Schleiman said.

Schleiman hopes that as the pandemic dies down and its health effects can be properly treated, the social and economic disruptions may be resolved along with it.

Wintemute added that working together to address COVID-19 and its consequences would

help decrease these fears.

As public health researchers and practitioners, Kravitz-Wirtz said that their study raised many areas of concern that need to be addressed.

“We also want to look to addressing and reimagining the systems that create the conditions that contribute to violence by expanding the concept of public safety to include not just law enforcement, but also things like housing security, living wage jobs, youth empowerment programs and the like,” Kravitz-Wirtz said via email.

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14-YEAR-OLD TIARA ABRAHAM BEGINS HER FIRST QUARTER AS A MUSIC MAJOR The musical child prodigy discusses her pursuit of vocal performance

BY SNEHA RAMACHANDRAN features@theaggie.org While many might find performing in front of crowds of over 20,000 people daunting, Tiara Abraham, a 14-year-old third-year music major at UC Davis, has conquered stage fright through a myriad of performances. She has showcased her talent at Carnegie Hall twice and has even sung the national anthem for the San Francisco Giants.

While this is her first year at UC Davis, she is graduating with the class of 2022. Her brother, Tanishq Abraham, also attended UC Davis as a 14-year-old, and graduated in 2018 with a degree in biomedical engineering.

Tiara started at Davis this quarter and is pursuing a degree in music, though she first started to sing when she was about four years old.

“When I turned seven, I realized that I loved music and I loved to sing, and it was something I was truly passionate about, so I found a voice teacher who was willing to train me and I began to learn the right techniques and healthy habits early on,” Tiara said.

As a vocalist, Tiara finds something special in all genres of music. Whether it’s classical or jazz, she finds a way to add a unique spin on the works she performs.

Over the past two years she has also been a part of the UC Davis chorus, which is open to community members as well as students and faculty. Although she is one of the youngest members of the choir, she explained how the age difference does not faze her.

“I have been taking college courses on campus since I was seven, and I have been surrounded by people who are two or three times older than me,” Tiara said. “But, after a while, you get used to it and it doesn’t feel weird anymore. Plus, if anything, people are supportive of having young students around.”

The soprano one singer explained how she truly feels in her element as a solo artist.

“In every choir or chorus you are alway asked to blend in your voice with others because you don’t want to hear distinct voices in a choir,” Tiara said. “For me, that’s a little more difficult because I like to sing to my fullest extent and add in my own style, but that is not always in the best interest of the chorus as a whole.”

Throughout her musical career there have been many people who have supported her, but every so often she receives criticism regarding her intended career choice.

“My voice teacher and my family have always

been really supportive, but I learned through this journey that there are always going to be those naysayers that tell you to focus on something else,” Tiara said. “But singing is my passion, and that’s something my brother, Tanishq, always emphasized. It’s important to do something that you enjoy and that makes you happy, and music is something that makes me really happy.”

Tiara said that as an Indian-American, there are many stereotypes that she has defied throughout her journey.

“You don’t really see a lot of Indian-American opera singers, and it definitely surprises a lot of people that I want to pursue music as a career and not just a hobby,” Tiara said. “Especially when they hear about a child opera singer they think of the typical ‘America’s Got Talent’ performances, but it’s definitely a different reaction when you are a minority pursuing an art field versus something like science or engineering.”

Tiara’s mom, Taji Abraham, echoed her daughter’s sentiments.

“As a parent, it is a little concerning when your child wants to pursue a field that is a little more difficult to make a profession out of,” Taji said. “Especially coming from an Asian community, there is this expectation that future generations will become doctors and engineers, but having music as a side hobby is considered more ‘acceptable.’”

Furthermore, Taji added that it is not uncommon for people to compare her two children.

“Even within the people of our community, there is a difference in enthusiasm when they talk about Tanishq going into engineering or medicine versus when we say that Tiara is majoring in music,” Taji Abraham said. “There is a different response and I don’t think a lot of people really realize how difficult it is to actually pursue the academic side of music because it’s like a totally different language.”

Although Tiara has focused on developing her skills as a vocalist, her musical expertise has helped her learn other instruments such as the piano and violin.

“In my orchestration class, I have learned all about the instruments and how to use different or similar techniques on different instruments,” Tiara said. “In the future I would also like to be able to compose my own music, but learning new instruments helps with that process.”

Eventually, Tiara hopes to perform in opera houses. She cited the MET Opera House, the Sydney Opera House and the La Scala opera house as the top three performance halls she hopes to sing in some day.

Third-year Tiara Abraham sits on the egg head in front of UC Davis Music Building.

(Courtesy Photo) For aspiring musicians and music majors, Tiara offered some advice.

“There are a lot of aspiring musicians that go straight into the music making process or start creating content, which is great, but I do believe that there is value in getting a proper music

education,” Tiara said. “The most important thing is that you should pursue something that you are really passionate about, because it will make you work harder and forget about the people who might put you down.”

GARDENING PROVIDES STUDENTS WITH POSITIVE OUTLET, OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH Students and gardening organizations share the value that can be found in gardening

A man works in a garden at the Student Farms at UC Davis on Saturday, Oct. 31.

(Justin Han / Aggie)

BY NORA FARAHDEL features@theaggie.org While many activities have been compromised due to the COVID-19 pandemic, UC Davis students have found an outdoor outlet through gardening. Whether it is in a backyard or in shared spaces like the ASUCD Community Garden and the Davis Student Farm, students continue to explore their love of caring for plants.

Nina Isaka, a first-year pharmaceutical chemistry major, has taken up gardening with her family at home. Isaka’s gardening journey first began when she fell victim to the mental gloom of the COVID-19 pandemic, and her mother encouraged her to help with a tomato plant in their backyard. Isaka explained that while it wasn’t necessarily love at first sight, she grew to truly enjoy the act of gardening.

“At first it was tedious, and ironically, it felt like a waste of my time,” Isaka said in an email. “Yet, as I spent more time digging holes, wrenching out rocks, and watching our plants grow, I really became fond of it. Eventually, I would spend hours outside in the heat digging holes and planting new plants.”

For Isaka, gardening quickly transformed from an obligation to an activity that is, in her

words, beneficial and rewarding. Among the benefits, Isaka is able to provide her family with fresh vegetables and compost. Furthermore, she explained how gardening has impacted her mental health and provided her with a positive outlet.

“As soon as I would feel any level of depression, I would immediately put on clothes I wouldn’t mind getting dirty and walk into my garden,” Isaka said via email. “There is something really healing and calming about taking care of plants and watching them thrive. I almost feel like they are my children. When I garden, my mind wanders elsewhere, anywhere from fantasizing about my first year of college to resolving any conflicts going on in my head.”

In Davis, students and community members can frequent the ASUCD Community Garden and buy a plot of land to plant seeds of their choosing. The plots can be taken care of individually, or even shared by a group of people such as a student organization. Sophie Le, a second-year animal science major and the ASUCD Community Garden director, shared the value in the community aspect of this garden.

“Gardeners learn from other gardeners,” Le said. “What I’ve seen is that, sometimes [with] more experienced gardeners, you can tell when their gardens are flourishing, [...] and a lot of the

newer gardeners will actually go and ask the more experienced gardeners, ‘Oh, what should I plant for this for the winter season?’ Or they’ll ask, ‘How do you get your plants [to] look like that?’

We learn from each other, and we build a really nice community for people to feel welcome.”

According to Le, it is this friendly community aspect that makes the Community Garden a great introduction to gardening, as students can ask for help and get tips from others. The opportunity to be innovative and the ability to successfully grow a plant can be gratifying, Le explained.

“Having your own plot is [...] an expression of creativity,” Le said. “You can add pathways, you can add literally whatever you would like, and you get to see that grow, and you get to see it succeed if you take care of it which I feel is really rewarding. Especially as a student, when classes are hard, being able to come to the garden and harvest crops and vegetables [is] a nice pick-meup. “ There is also another opportunity for students at the UC Davis Student Farm in which students participate in a variety of ways including volunteer, internship and paid gardening positions. While some students work in the Market Garden and Ecological Garden at the Student Farm, others simply come to learn gardening practices on a different site. The Student Farm produces crops for a variety of different projects, such as the Community Table project that delivers produce to students facing food insecurity on campus.

Carol Hillhouse, the associate director of the UC Davis Student Farm, described the learning environment presented at the Student Farm in which students are growing along with the plants.

“Students are learning by doing when they come to the student farm,” Hillhouse said.

“They all work with folks who are experienced in gardening and farming. But also, part of that experiential learning is that they quickly become the leaders and the experts in these different tasks that it takes to keep a student farm going.”

The Student Farm also provides a different kind of gardening experience because students are working together to take care of the crops, rather than working individually. Hillhouse discussed how the student farm eliminates the burden of performing the tasks necessary to maintain a garden independently by instead providing a collaborative community.

“Maybe as a busy student, you don’t have time to do all of the aspects of gardening, or make sure that your garden gets weeded, or watered or maintained, from the moment you put the seed in the ground to when you want to harvest it,” Hillhouse said. “As a community, when we work together in a place like the Student Farm, an individual doesn’t have to do all of those things.”

Among many other benefits of getting involved in gardening, Hillhouse shared that it allows students to truly understand how their food is being grown and be completely involved in the cultivation process.

“It’s very easy for us to take for granted the food that we eat, but when you have engaged physically in growing that food, you just have a different way of relating to it,” Hillhouse said.

“And that’s really fundamental to who we are as a species, is that ability to understand where we’re getting our food, how it’s being grown, how it’s being processed and how it gets from the farm to the fork to your table.”

KATHERINE FRANKS / AGGIE

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2020 | 5

OPINION THE EDITORIAL BOARD MEETS WITH CHANCELLOR MAY, UC DAVIS ADMINISTRATORS May, administrators discuss COVID-19, sexual assault policies and student fees The California Aggie’s Editorial Board had a Zoom call with Chancellor Gary May; Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph Hexter; Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Pablo Reguerín; Vice Chancellor of Finance, Operations and Administration Kelly Ratliff; Chief Campus Counsel Michael Sweeney; Director of Athletics Kevin Blue and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Dana Topousis to talk about COVID-19 plans for next quarter, how the university is addressing sexual assault and student fees.

Below is a transcript of the meeting that has been edited for length and clarity.

living on campus, Aggie public health ambassadors, students who work as Aggie hosts, our employee groups, first responders. We will next add all students who are living in public-private partnership housing on campus, so any of the other properties on campus will be working on adding. There’s about another 5,000 ready to invite by next Monday and then the plan is for the following week to open it up for everybody. All students, all faculty, all staff who are in or around Davis will be able to start participating in the testing program at that time. It will be mandatory for folks who are using or accessing campus facilities.

Pass times were released today and students are planning their courses for Winter Quarter. What is Winter Quarter going to look like in terms of remote instruction and when can students expect to know more information?

Amid the recent allegations that have been publicly brought forth against the fraternity TKE, how is the university addressing the issues of fraternities that stand by members who commit sexual assault?

Gary May: I think Provost Croughan is best to answer that question, but you’ll know very soon as we were just discussing today.

Mary Croughan: So the expectation Winter Quarter is that there will be a few more courses offered in person than were offered this Fall Quarter, but that means the vast majority will still be offered remotely––especially for undergraduates. We were doing quite well on the COVID case numbers for Yolo County and Sacramento County, so we had hoped we might be able to ramp up a little bit further but unfortunately we’re sliding back a little. We always have to be in compliance with the county public health guidelines.

At this point, it’s still going to be a pretty limited number, around 50 to 54 courses offered in person for undergraduate and graduate students. All of it will be noted in Schedule Builder by Nov. 9 with the first pass.

Pablo Reguerín: All of the fraternities and sororities go through training in their advising process in order to be recognized and to sustain their recognition. They have to go through a significant amount of training that’s targeted at awareness, but also developing a culture where students are clear and the activities are centered around safety. There is some general training and they also work directly with our advisors. We are trying to clarify the rules but we’re also really trying to make sure students are thinking critically about the activities and the culture of their organizations. That’s not limited to Greek life organizations but overall I think those are critical pieces that set an important foundation.

Wendi Delmendo: In terms of the process that we would use to address the kind of behavior you referenced, as you probably know that sexual violence and sexual harassment policy is primarily focused on misconduct by individuals and all of our adjudication framework are aimed at taking corrective action including imposing discipline on individuals. Group conduct poses more of a challenge for us, which is not to say that we don’t have tools to address it. You probably recall last year the campus addressed allegations of misconduct involving the band. This falls into a similar category. Individuals from my office and student affairs including SJA and Greek life met recently to start discussing how to address these allegations. We are definitely mindful of them and working on it. The question focuses on how come we address the issue of fraternities that stand by their members and I think that gets back to what Vice Chancellor Reguerín said about trying to address the cultural aspects and the education that we provide.

You’re probably aware that there were recent regulatory changes for Title IX. The UC system revised its policy as a result and really tried to keep as much of the prior policy as we could because the Title IX regulations only addressed a slice of the conduct that had been previously prohibited by our policy so we are still addressing everything that was prohibited before. I don’t think the regulations would prohibit us from responding to allegations in this case.

Pablo Reguerín: I think not just what activities and what is promoted in these organizations, but ensuring that students feel comfortable reporting. What we can do is directly related to the information that is provided. Making sure that students feel comfortable and safe reporting information. That allows us as a campus to be responsive to the reports and to go into investigations.

It’s not just within the organizations, I think it starts there, but setting up a safe and comfortable process for reporting and being responsive to those reports.

When can all asymptomatic students on and off campus expect to have access to free and easy COVID-19 testing? How is UC Davis ensuring that testing services for the Yolo County community are not being overburdened by off-campus students who are not able to get a test through the university?

Gary May: I’ll begin by saying, our first order of business with testing was to get the on-campus housing residents regularly tested and you can think of concentric circles expanding out to various other populations, until we get not only to the entire UC Davis community, but also the city of Davis community through our healthy Davis Together program.

Kelly Ratliff: I’ll start by focusing on asymptomatic students. For students that have symptoms, you should always go to Student Health and Counseling Services and testing is available and is free if you have symptoms. If somebody has symptoms, call Student Health and Counseling, testing is available for everybody regardless of where you live or where you’re at. For the asymptomatic screening program, the campus started this program back on Sept.

14, focused first on students living at the residence halls and West Village. We’ve been slowly progressing, just last week, the saliva test was validated and as of last Wednesday, all testing done on campus has been a saliva-based test, also free. There’s a new county health officer in Yolo County and she is just starting this week.

We meet with her tomorrow and once we have a chance to brief her, the expectation is we will ramp up. Right now there are about 3,200 or so folks who are participating in the program. Students

Wendi Delmendo: I really want to highlight that because the campus can only respond to information that we receive. As has been the case in the past, we have received reports of misconduct involving fraternities where we haven’t received specific information. We hadn’t learned what happened, who was involved, and that really makes it difficult for the university to respond so the more information the university can get, the better. There’s been several individual allegations against fraternity members where the campus has had that information, has been able to investigate and has substantiated the allegations and has taken action.

Michael Sweeney: If I can add one piece––within the last year, organization conduct cases have been transferred to the office of Student Support and Judicial Affairs. The same office handles individual conduct, whether academic or social misconduct, will now also be handling organizational conduct cases as well.

EDITORIAL on 11

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 SOPHIE DEWEES Features Editor ALLIE BAILEY Arts & Culture Editor OMAR NAVARRO Sports Editor MADELEINE PAYNE Science & Tech Editor

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

WE SHOULD LOOK AT BEAUTY LABELS THE SAME WAY WE DO FOOD LABELS Knowing the intentions behind the products we consume is necessary to living a healthy lifestyle

BY KACEY CAIN klcain@ucdavis.edu From a young age, I was taught to pay attention to the nutrition labels on food––not to count calories, but to monitor the list of ingredients. A rule of thumb I live by is if you can’t pronounce it, then you probably shouldn’t eat it. Over the years, as I tried to find a solution to my sensitive skin, I started to apply a similar concept to the beauty products I use. If I’m not willing to put unpronounceable food in my body, then I shouldn’t be putting unknown chemicals on my body either.

Nowadays, many of our products consist of different harsh chemicals. To name a few: parabens, phthalates and phenoxyethanol. Not only are these a mouthful to say, they also happen to be harmful ingredients in a lot of the products we use such as shampoo, lotion and perfume.

These chemicals, in addition to others, can cause allergic reactions, disrupt hormone levels and raise many other alarming conditions.

Unfortunately, some brands have caught on and started to put “clean ingredients,” “paraben free” and “phthalate free” on their bottles–– making it seem as though they truly are a clean brand. But this is not always the case, as there are thousands of other damaging chemicals that sneak their way onto the labels of our products.

Obviously, I am no expert in this area.

Meaning, even when I do look at labels, I’m not always sure what ingredients are bad and which are considered good, besides the ones mentioned above. That is until I started thinking dirty.

Although this seems slightly inappropriate and a bit out of context, it’s not.

Think Dirty is an app that allows you to scan the barcode on any product to reveal a cleanliness rating from zero to ten––zero being the cleanest and ten being the dirtiest. It also provides a list of ingredients along with an explanation as to why certain ones are harmful.

Chemicals and other damaging ingredients are not the only things you should look out for on product labels. Investigating the intentions of the company as well as how the product was

made are also crucial to living a healthy lifestyle.

Personally, I buy products that are cruelty-free, and I like to know that the brands I buy are environmentally conscious and are committed to using eco-friendly material when they can.

This is not to say you should purge all the products you have and start over, because if you were to look in my shower or on my bathroom counter, you would see some beauty products that are not the cleanest––I promise I’m not a hypocrite. I, however, am a college student that

lives on a budget.

Unfortunately, clean products tend to be very expensive and hard to find, and are often not as accessible or convenient as the products you can buy at Target. But I highly encourage you to do your own research on different ingredients and brands––education and awareness are just as important as buying the products themselves.

Right now, it may not be financially possible for you to shop for clean, naturally-derived products.

But at least you will have the knowledge to make

Shampoo, conditioner and body soap. (Takashi Ota / Flickr)

better decisions when you are able.

A couple years ago, someone educated and inspired me to change the way I look at the products I use. Hopefully I have just done the same for you.

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

6 | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

OPINION A RECENT MASSIVE BIRD DIE OUT CALLS INTO QUESTION THE BALANCE OF WATER MANAGEMENT in California Nestled in Northern reaches of California, Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge is not always on the forefront of water conservationists’ minds MARIO RODRIGUEZ / AGGIE

Photo titled “Bald Eagle” by Pen Waggener / Flickr.

BY JOE SWEENEY jmsweeney@ucdavis.edu On the Oregon border lies Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. For over a century, visitors have flocked to Klamath’s wild tule marshes and open waters to canoe, fish, bird watch and hunt. Visiting the park might feel like taking a trip back in time to when settlers first came to California and saw extensive wetlands as far as the eye could see. But this year, something sinister lies beneath the Klamath Basin’s immense beauty.

Roughly 40,000 birds have died at the refuge this fall alone––wiping out an estimated

86% of it’s normal bird population. To put that into perspective, if 40,000 people in Davis suddenly dropped dead, that would be two-thirds of the total population. So why is this happening?

The short answer is that it’s a combination of many factors. The biggest contributing factor is the water crisis in California. As less water is available for the wildlife refuge, birds are forced to be more concentrated in the areas of the refuge that do not have water. This high concentration of wildlife in a small area allows a disease to spread quickly through the population. In addition, climate change has made the water warmer and kept it warm for longer periods of time. These

conditions have created a perfect storm for certain waterborne diseases, like Avian Botulism.

According to the USGS, Avian Botulism is one of the most potent toxins. Its symptoms include the inability of birds to keep their head up, slowness and restricted movement.

This disease is particularly deadly to waterfowl, as they spend most of their lives in water which means when infected, they often drown. Two million birds come annually through the refuge, which is considered a critical piece of the Pacific Flyway and was the first national waterfowl refuge.

Adding insult to injury, some waterfowl molt in the refuge for roughly a month between July and October––the exact period of the outbreak. This meant that many species of waterfowl weren’t able to fly away to escape this gruesome fate. Although naturally occurring in the Klamath Basin, this outbreak speaks to a larger problem within our state: water rights. The allocation of water to wildlife refuges historically has taken a backseat to virtually everything else, from agriculture to water in the Delta. This is to no fault of the park, which is often overlooked despite its historical status.

In fact, wildlife biologists in the park have spent the past few months doing the excruciating work of removing the dead birds to prevent further infection. This isn’t the first time this has happened. In the winter of 2012, roughly 20,000 birds died from avian cholera in the Klamath Basin. It is likely that the disease transmission worsened after only half of the basin flooded that year, creating similar conditions to this year’s die off. Water is the single most important resource to California’s development––how much are we willing to give up to expansion?

This might sound like a familiar story, as you likely have heard about the thousands of migratory birds that died off across the Southwest earlier this fall. The combination of intensely dry conditions due to a drought in the Southwest and

the wildfires causing birds to change their behavior and fly further east are likely causes of this event.

At this point, it has become virtually impossible to ignore the blatant impacts of climate change to our homes and on our daily lives, but also in the last few wild places in California. Today, 80% of Klamath Basin’s wetlands have been lost due to irrigation to address the West Coast’s endless development. Even after the immense loss of wetlands in the basin, they are also the last in a long line of water recipients in the region.

Water is such a precious resource to all aspects of our society, but it has to be distributed equitably. Balancing obligations to agriculture, the environment and local Indigenous people like the Yurok tribe is complicated and messy, but necessary to the survival of the region.

You shouldn’t have to be Yosemite Valley to get proper funding and resources. Every last bit of wilderness in the West matters, and as Californians, we must hold our government accountable to continue to protect our natural resources before it is too late. The United Nations estimates that roughly 150 species go extinct every day. We are in the midst of a global mass extinction event caused by our actions. Fighting every environmental battle at a local level is necessary to protect these rapidly disappearing pieces of wilderness.

To learn more about how you can help Lower Klamath specifically, join the California Waterfowl’s newsletter or donate. But the Lower Klamath is just one of many stops along the Pacific Flyway which desperately need funds and help.

Friends of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is another great resource which works to protect wildlife refuges along the coast.

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.

HUMOR

CHANCELLOR GARY MAY NEEDS TO START USING CLICKBAIT IN HIS EMAILS If Logan Paul can get millions of views, so can Chancellor Gary May

BY RENEE WANG reswang@ucdavis.edu When I first opened an email from Chancellor Gary May, I vowed to never open another one again. The vague subject lines, lack of emojis and blocks of text gave me a headache. Since then, I made my mom read and summarize all of his emails for me. But because I am moving out, I think May and I need to come to a compromise.

I have suggested that the emails be reformatted as a TikTok, where we see May dancing to the “Renegade” as text quickly flashes amid neon lights. I told May that this will be awesome for his brand––with great clout comes great merchandise possibilities. We could make May a UC Davis icon instead of Gunrock––an extremely confusing mascot.

Who needs an electric-blue horse that stands like a human when you could have a Chancellor that does the “Renegade”? As great as it seems, May’s office has yet to respond to my hundreds of requests that he convert his emails into a more

digestible format.

It seems like there’s only one solution: May needs to start using clickbait in his emails, or else no one will read them. It’s an effective method, trust me. Using clickbait in my emails is how I get my professors, who have hundreds of students, to respond to me immediately.

For example, if I have a question about an assignment, I title the subject line: “Cheating going on during class!” when in reality the only cheating that is occurring is me cheating on my diet during lecture.

It’s time to move away from subject lines that reflect the lines from motivational posters you see in high school classrooms––that is the least inspiring thing ever.

Instead of “We Can Do This!” let’s take a lesson from the clickbait masters of YouTube.

An improved subject line would be: “Can We Do This? COVID-19 is Beating Us, 0-1.”

Instead of “It Takes All of Us,” try: “It Takes All of Us, and that is why UC Davis will not Hesitate to Publicly Shame You if You Refuse to Wear a Mask.”

Finally, instead of, “Slow and Steady,” try:

( Zoe Efron / Porter Novelli ) “Slow and Steady? Or Fast and Furious? Click to clickbait.

Find Out the Rate Campus Reopens!”

(This article is humor and/or satire, and its If there is one thing we can count on in these content is purely fictional. The story and the names unprecedented times, it’s the effectiveness of of “sources” are fictionalized.)

SEASONAL FLU SET TO MAKE A BIG COMEBACK AFTER RISE OF COVID-19 “I’m ready to prove all the haters wrong”

BY EAN KIMURA etkimura@ucavis.edu “COVID-19 is only as bad as the flu!”

“COVID-19 is worse than the flu!”

That’s what we have been hearing for months from people comparing the flu to COVID-19. The Flu has also been paying attention to this, and it has some thoughts.

“I’m tired of all the haters! I could kick the s***t out of this COVID-19!” the Flu said.

At a time when pundits in the U.S. can’t seem to agree on whether COVID-19 is a serious threat, the one thing they can agree on is that they don’t think the flu is a big deal. The Flu is ready to prove the doubters wrong.

“I’m still the number one kill-for-kill virus!

All these so-called ‘disease experts!’ How can they be an expert on a disease when they’ve never been inside a human body fighting off those T cells and antibodies?” the Flu said. “They can’t.”

When asked about COVID-19, the Flu didn’t hold back, saying, “Look I respect COVID-19 for doing it’s thing and going to work and getting in

there, but at the end of the day it still needs to prove itself. It’s only been seven months, I’ve got over a century of work.”

“Hey, listen man, COVID-19 has an 11 day incubation period, I’m getting to work in two. So I’m faster.”

When questioned about how their resumes match up, the Flu responded, “I’m more experienced. In two years I’ve killed 50 million people––50 million. And a vaccine has only slowed me down recently. I’m still lethal when I can get to work. Talk to me about competition when COVID-19 does that.”

Despite the Flu’s confidence, Vegas has COVID-19 as the 42-1 favorite coming into this winter. This has led some disease experts to believe that COVID-19’s reign as the number one kill-forkill virus will continue for years to come.

Despite the Flu’s verbal shots leading up to the upcoming showdown this winter, COVID-19 has not responded at this time. It has been rumored, however, that Smallpox and the Bubonic Plague will be coming out of retirement this spring.

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

RUSHI TAWADE / AGGIE

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2020 | 7

OPINION

HUMOR

CHANCELLOR GARY MAY’S LATEST EMAIL Can he really say that?

Chancellor Gary May works at his desk. (UC Davis / Courtesy Photo)

BY MATTHEW SIMONS mrsimons@ucdavis.edu

Checking in with Chancellor May: We’re so f****d.

In this series of investigative pieces, The Aggie investigates how the COVID-19 crisis has affected individual lives in our community.

The following letter was posted via Chancellor May’s UC Davis page, then abruptly deleted from all records. Here at The Aggie, we obtained the letter from an unnamed source. Here is that letter:

To the UC Davis Community: I’m done writing emails, guys. Seriously. I’m locking myself and my bottle of Arb Water in my office at the top of Mrak Hall until COVID-19 is over. This is the last one.

And let me tell you WHY. Today was terrible: A retrospective Hold on, I just had a shot to unwind after

today. Today started off with just an awful Zoom meeting. If you think Zoom classes are bad, try Zoom meetings with 80+ staff, where everyone wants to talk about their weekend plans. WHERE are you going this weekend, Linda??? No one can go ANYWHERE. I get it we have to run a university here. I just miss when I could miss those meetings by hiding in my office and hoping they were too lazy to find me. Nope. ZOOM. I should have never mass bought those licenses. We should have given everyone a Discord. It’s what you guys use anyway, right? And hold on that brings me to my next thing—we’re f****d.

Nobody on campus is wearing a mask, three students have COVID-19 and I can’t find my favorite pen anywhere––god DAMN it. I bet Pablo took it.

Seriously, why is it so hard to get you guys to be safe? Stop going to each other’s dorms, stop having parties with “just a couple of people,” stop eating out on patios with a bajillion people, stop, stop, STOP IT. Why is it SO hard to stop you guys? Why can’t I do it? Is it me?…Am I a bad chancellor?

[Arb Water Shot #4] I don’t wanna be chancellor, give it to the guy who does the Gunrock mascot. I’m the chancellor, I can pass it on to whoever I want.

[Arb Water Shot #7] Just finished a call with HR. Not only can I not do that, but I’m “not supposed to be at work if it’s 11PM, Gary, go home.”

Damn you, HR. But you know who can’t go home? This full handle of Don Arboreto Water.

We’re finishing this thing tonight and getting our

students safe.

[The next few pages are unintelligible rambles about the stress of being a Chancellor and Star Trek: First Contact.] …Anyway, I just don’t think they should have used Data like that. It was weird for the audience.

Everyone I know seems to be lukewarm to that scene at best.

Why is it so hard to talk to my daughter?

Like nothing’s really wrong, but sometimes it’s just hard to connect with her. Like I used to be her hero, guys. I played pretend with her every time she asked, and I got to be the king during princess tea time. The KING. Now, I feel like I have no idea what’s happening in her life. She’s a college kid, right? What do college kids like? Do you guys like anything? If anyone has advice, hit me up on Instagram @therealgary.

It’s almost morning guys, it’s been fun, but I gotta go. Family’s waitin’ for me. But this helped, I think. I feel much better with everything off my chest. I feel like I can do this whole “Chancellor” thing again. Thanks everybody.

You know what, next week’s email will be on “Perseverance.” Yeeeeeeeah.

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.

SELF PROCLAIMED ANARCHO-COMMUNIST KAYLEIGH SMITH RUSHES SIGMA NUMA NUMA DESPITE IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICTS Peter Kropotkin would TOTALLY be a SigEp

BY ISABELLA CHUECOS ifchuecos@ucdavis.edu Sigma Numa Numa, a well-established sorority at UC Davis, recently had the pleasure of virtually welcoming its 2020 bid class. Among the flurry of smiling faces and feather boas is Kayleigh Smith, a first-year, who hopes that her admission to the top-ranked sorority will provide her with future career and party connections.

There was only one problem. As of two days ago, Smith had been “radicalized,” earning the title of UC Davis’ very first anarcho-communist sorority sister.

“It’s taken a lot for me to come out as lefty.

Lots of girls just gave me weird looks when I told them. I mean, to be fair, they were totally blacked, so I don’t really think they understood me,” Smith

told The Aggie.

Smith explained that her radicalization began on TikTok when she began to get the “p***y communist, it read theory” sound on her For You page.

“I think at that point, I kinda just knew. Like, I officially crossed over into radical TikTok. I immediately put the little moon and stick symbol in my Instagram bio. My Russian grandma heard about it somehow and started yelling at me on the phone, but I don’t speak gulag, so I just hung up on her,” Smith said.

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

GREEK on 11

A CONVERSATION WITH A SERIAL NON-PROFIT CREATOR

CARTOON A Welcome Kit for Next Year’s Apocalypse...

BY RUSHI TAWADE rntawade@ucdavis.edu

There is no better clout than generosity

BY RENEE WANG reswang@ucdavis.edu Second-year Chris Ryan is known as “The Non-Profit Guy” around campus and this is a title that he wears with pride. He has created 11 different non-profits since he was a senior in high school. Beaming, Ryan tells me his love of founding non-profits began when his sister’s nonprofit earned her admission into an Ivy League school.

“That was like … wow,” Ryan said. “It made KATHERINE FRANKS / AGGIE

MARIO RODRIGUEZ / AGGIE

me realize the enormous impact giving back to others has for yourself. Sure I volunteer, but creating my first non-profit really signalled to others how charitable I am.”

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

STARTUP on 11

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

8 | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2020

Five students weigh in on the best Trader Joe’s frozen food Variety, price and simplicity make Trader Joe’s a valued market choice, according to many college students

BY LI VVY M U L L E N arts@theaggie.org Trader Joe’s is a staple of the UC Davis community. It’s known for healthy and affordable options that cater to college students. The grocery store has managed to rise above frozen food’s less-than-great reputation.

Five UC Davis students discuss their go-to’s from the frozen food aisle.

Leela Srinivasan, a third-year math major, endorsed Kung Pao Tempura Cauliflower.

“It’s so good,” Srinivasan said. “It’s pretty hefty because cauliflower is kinda large.”

The cauliflower is more laborious than other frozen options. The dish’s instructions say to make it in the oven. Srinivasan values this aspect with an acute observation.

“What I like about Trader Joe’s is that some of it is microwavable, which is easy, but this is different,” Srinivasan said. “You use the oven.

It doesn’t just feel like something microwaved and gooey. It definitely feels like something you would get out: quality.”

A common sentiment is that frozen food is worse, but Srinivasan views it as an opportunity to expand her palate.

“I don’t know if I know how to properly batter cauliflower and I don’t know what goes into the sauce,” Srinivasan said. “I do enjoy cooking, so for certain foods I want to make them, but it’s nice to switch it up with something you know you can’t make yourself.”

She also subscribes to the idea that Trader Joe’s options may have health benefits.

“It also somehow feels healthy even though I don’t actually know if it is,” she said.

Isabel Rodriguez, a second-year psychology major, leans towards the popular Chicken Tikka Masala. As a busy student, she values efficiency.

“It’s my go-to,” Rodriguez said. “[I] don’t usually go to Trader Joe’s, but if I happen to be there, I’ll get it every time. It’s a quick and easy thing I can pop in the microwave. But it’s really good, better than most frozen foods.”

Though she doesn’t frequent the store, she praised its options.

“I think they have a pretty good selection, honestly,” Rodriguez said. “I feel like there’s a lot of choices and it’s not the type of food you’d see

KATHERINE HUNG / AGGIE at normal grocery stores, which I like. There’s a lot of variety.”

The third recommendation comes from Caroline Hopkins, a second-year history major.

She chose a more unconventional option.

“I love their Mac and Cheese Bites,” Hopkins said. “It’s a mac and cheese pasta with cheese sauce covered in fried breadcrumbs.”

Though Hopkins enjoys several frozen meals, she has some reservations.

“I find it kinda weird when some of the frozen foods have frozen pieces of sauce,” Hopkins said.

If you are a regular Trader Joe’s frozen food consumer, you’ve probably tried their Mandarin Orange Chicken. Juliette Taylor, a first-year linguistics major, vouched for the popular dish.

“It’s basically just like normal orange chicken,”

Taylor said. “It’s breaded and crunchy on the outside, and it comes with some sauce. All you have to do is put it in the oven. It’s really good, kinda tangy.”

Unlike the other interviewees, Taylor doesn’t rely on it as a staple of her diet.

“At this point, I eat it once every one to two months. I have to space it out so I don’t get tired of it,” Taylor said.

Overall, she feels positively about the options at Trader Joe’s.

“I think they have a really good selection, I like that there’s lots of different kinds of food,” Taylor said. “I also like that there’s a lot of vegetarian options.”

The frozen foods are not limited to meals.

Anusheh Abdullah, a second-year mechanical

engineering major, raved about their dessert options.

“The Green Tea Mochi is incredible,” Abdullah said. “They just do a really good job with the flavor and the texture. Like, the mochi wrap and ice cream have different flavors, but they really complement each other. Honestly, the decision to buy it was life changing.”

Abdullah is a die hard patron of Trader Joe’s, with good reason.

“I exclusively go shopping at Trader Joe’s, I would say,” Abdullah said. “And I’m not very good at cooking, I haven’t really done that for most of my life, so I think it’s really great for college students. And they have a really wide variety of cultural foods and homey American comfort foods.”

TRADERJOESFROZEN on 11

StUCC at home: How UC Davis’ Stand-up Comedy Club has adjusted to virtual entertainment Through creative tactics and Zoom shows, StUCC has continued to spread laughter from home

MAR I O RO DRIG U E Z / AG G IE

BY KAT I E D EBENE D E T T I features@theaggie.org

When in-person gatherings stopped in March, the live-entertainment world went almost completely dark. The Stand-up Comedy Club at UC Davis (StUCC), however, has found a way to keep students laughing from their homes over the past eight months. StUCC shows, performed from separate Zoom screens, look different than last year’s when they held live audiences of up to 500 people, but they have held true to the idea that “the show must go on.”

Matt Simons, a fourth-year economics major and the president of StUCC, acknowledged that live performances simply are not the same in a virtual setting.

“It’s hard to capture the feeling of a live show over the internet, [...] but I’m happy to say that I think we’ve gotten close and we’ve done a good job at preserving the comedy community at Davis,” Simons said. “It’s like the difference between listening to live music and listening to an album. One is definitely more exciting, but live is not an option, and I think Zoom shows are a good alternative.”

One key piece of comedy is interacting with the audience, which is not possible in the same way over Zoom, according to Simons. He said that in person, pointing out audience members and doing crowd work was a huge part of many performers’ shticks, but over Zoom, they have had to find more creative ways to engage the audience.

“What makes live shows so cool is that there’s a very thin line between audience and performer,”

Simons said. “What that looks like over Zoom is pointing out different things about people’s backgrounds, asking people to turn on their mics and videos or making comments on people’s weird usernames.”

Even using these strategies to engage the audience, the whole experience can feel less personal in a virtual format. Martitza Filman, a second-year international agricultural development major, shared that a lot of the genuine connection with the audience at live shows is hard to replicate over Zoom.

“It feels a lot less personal,” Filman said. “It’s harder to form a genuine human connection.

When we were in the [Sciences] lecture hall, there was someone like five feet away from you and you could just look that person in the eye while you’re telling a joke, so you miss that human connection.”

In addition to the change in atmosphere of virtual shows, comedy shows are not immune to the technical issues that have become routine in the online world. Zoom software and internet issues are common during shows, and can often interfere with a performer’s routine, Filman said.

“There’s always performances where [Zoom] does that thing where it lags for a second,” Filman said. “With stand-up, comedic timing is essential, so when you don’t have that perfect pacing or a few words get messed up, the whole joke can fall apart.”

Along with lags and muffles, Zoom tends to quiet most of the audience, which can be a challenge when an audience member’s laughter overpowers a performer continuing their bit, Filman added.

Zoom also pins the speaker’s face, acting as a mirror for comedians during their performances, which can be distracting and get in performers’

heads. Simons said that he’s had to start covering his screen during his performances to keep himself from getting distracted.

“It’s torture,” Simons said. “It’s the worst. At a certain point, you can’t take looking at your face because you’re looking at yourself doing comedy and you’re not looking at the audience. You’re not looking at how well your joke’s being received, you’re looking at how well you’re receiving your own joke.”

When shows first went virtual, Simons explained that he would be sitting in front of the camera during his sets, but he’s learned that by standing and mimicking the footwork and movement he would be doing in person, he’s been able to perform better on Zoom. According to Simon, the learning curve has been steep over the past few months for members of StUCC. Filman said that one way comedians have changed their routines is in the types of jokes that they share during their sets.

“People are starting to do more anecdotal type comedy where they just share a funny, personal story that happened instead of solid jokes,” Filman said. “I have less pauses and there’s less laughter throughout, but I still try to keep it funny.”

Simons has also had to alter his stage presence since the stage became the living room of his childhood home in March. He explained that he’s had to exaggerate his character—a sort of self-embarrassing dad—a lot on Zoom.

“On one Zoom show, I felt almost like I was playing a caricature of a caricature,” Simons said.

“It’s so hard to pick up on nuance on Zoom, so my response is just to hit it with a blunt instrument.”

Despite the challenges that this new form of comedy has posed for StUCC, it has allowed them to get more creative with the way they perform. Filman expressed that it’s been harder for members to tell jokes based on real-life experience since they’ve all been in quarantine for so long. Simons reiterated that this lack of content

has been challenging, but that it has allowed for greater creativity.

“One meeting we were hitting the bottom of the barrel for ideas, and [a club member] came in with, of all things, a PowerPoint slide,” Simons said. “He went through this odd PowerPoint presentation that was ostensibly about ramen noodles, but as the presentation goes on, you can tell it’s really about him breaking up with his girlfriend. It had us in the equivalent of virtual stitches.”

Another StUCC member, Lauren Low, who graduated from UC Davis last March, agreed that doing virtual shows has helped her rethink the way she delivers her sets.

“I tried to do this bit where I acted out Hamlet talking to his friends but kind of just talking over them, but it didn’t really work over Zoom to do the act outs,” Low said. “I started thinking of creative ways to make that work and I settled on sock puppets [...] it worked over Zoom because I’m doing a normal set and then all of a sudden these two haphazard puppets pop up. In front of a live audience, there wouldn’t have been a way to have that same element of surprise.”

Stand up comedy is not the same without the energy and interaction of a live audience, but Low said that performing through Zoom has helped StUCC continue to foster their community and stay social while being apart.

“Stand up is usually a very individualistic art form, but we’ve managed to really make a community around it,” Low said. “Especially in the past year, it’s become something that’s expanded past our members, and a lot of the UC Davis community enjoys [...] participating in our shows. I think right now a lot of people are feeling kind of isolated, so I think it’s really important that we keep trying to have that space in the community for people to make social connections.”

Disclaimer: Matt Simon is currently a humorist for The California Aggie.

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2020 | 9

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

Answer to previous puzzle 10/29/20

Crossword Answer to previous puzzle 10/29/20

10 | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2020

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Film and TV Show Comparison of Nurse Ratched “Ratched” should be a prequel to “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” but ultimately fails to deliver

By MARIAH VIKTORIA CANDELARIA arts@theaggie.org To begin, it’s important to preface that if I had not known going in that “Ratched” was supposed to serve as a prequel to the film and novel “One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” I would have perhaps enjoyed this show more.

“Ratched,” as a series without the weight of it’s preceding film, is confusing and at times disturbing, in a way that is typical of show’s developer Ryan Murphy’s style. Murphy is best known for his other series “American Horror Story,” which also stars actress Sarah Paulson in several seasons.

While watching “Ratched,” I could not help but draw comparisons between it and “American Horror Story: Asylum,” which also takes place in a mental institution around the same time period. As my favorite season in the series, I did enjoy watching the classic Murphy style of disturbing scenarios and soft gore translate into “Ratched.”

Perhaps it’s Paulson’s role in both series that influences this comparison, or perhaps it is the evident Murphyesque qualities that make the show seem like it was straight out of “American Horror Story” itself. In any case, it served more as a spin-off lightly dedicated to “One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” rather than a prequel.

It did accomplish the goal of shedding light on Nurse Ratched’s persona and the origin of her wickedness. It does so, however, in a confusing way because there is no indication of these particular qualities in the film.

Without giving too much away, the series covers Nurse Ratched’s gruesome upbringing in the foster care system, leading to the heinous plot that lands her employment in the facility in collusion with her brother.

It goes into tangents, however, on other plot points that are unrelated to

KATHERINE FRANKS / AGGIE

Ratched’s direct storyline. While I understand that these plot points are meant to highlight the disturbing and inhumane nature of conduct in psychiatric institutions at the time, from lobotomies to gruesome experiments, it effectively confuses the audience.

The series also shows Ratched constantly switching up her ideals.

Not only does she switch from helping the leader of the ward with lobotomies to the patients’ side by helping them escape, Ratched also takes the side of the

random assassin that is targeting an employee, all while following her own personal evil agenda.

If the purpose of the plot was to highlight the humanizing aspects of the cold and detached Nurse Ratched by bringing awareness to the horrific upbringing that led to her ultimate cynicism and coldheartedness, it fails to do so. It does, however, provide an interesting aside to Nurse Ratched’s origin that draws some sympathy from the audience, but does not do so in a way that is excusable for her behavior.

“Ratched” fails to demonstrate a solid connection to “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” While the film only shows the subtle aggressions and techniques Ratched uses to keep her patients sedated and under her rule, it does not at all indicate any of the origin story that is depicted in the series. The violence and first-hand criminal activity that Paulson’s portrayal of the character has is one that is much more rooted in Ryan Murphy’s created world of grisly scenes.

In general, the film does a

good job of keeping the audience impartial to the main character, McMurphy, due to his off-putting and demeaning behavior, while slowly amping up the tension between him and Nurse Ratched.

If you watch the series, try to approach it by allowing it to stand alone without comparing it too heavily to the film it is supposed to precede. It’s more likely that, if you are a fan of “American Horror Story,” you will find this series worth watching, but if you are a fan of the original film and novel, you may be disappointed.

By ITZELTH GAMBOA arts@theaggie.org

Album: “Jukebox the Ghost” by Jukebox the Ghost (2014) I found these gems on Spotify after The Lumineers was on repeat. I’ve always loved the hints of old music being played with a mix of modern tunes and “Jukebox the Ghost” gives me exactly that. With slow romance songs that have a sudden switch to pop in the middle like “Hollywood” and dance beat songs like “Girl,” this album made its way to my heart in the matter of a day. The best part? They have acoustic piano versions of all of their songs on the album, which is a perfect switch when I need to do homework.

Book: “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” by Suzanne Collins (2020) “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” follows Coriolanus Snow, future president of Panem in the hit “Hunger Games” series, when he was a young man trying to make a name for himself and drag his family out of filth. When he’s called upon to be a mentor for the Hunger Games, he sees it as his one chance to change his life for the better. But trouble strikes when he is assigned the girl from District 12, the one destined to lose. The story follows Snow on his journey with a feisty girl from 12 and how he rose to be the villain we all hate.

While I would have much rather enjoyed hearing how Finnick or Haymitch or even Johanna went through the Hunger Games, it was nice to step into Collins’ world once again.

This was something 16-year-old me never saw coming and I am not too sure how I feel about it. When I first heard the book was going to be about Snow, I was hesitant, but nothing can keep me away from another addition to “The Hunger Games.”

TV Show: “Locke and Key” (2020 Netflix Original) The ten-episode Netflix fantasy series focuses on three siblings as they move into their father’s childhood home after his murder.

The family moves into the ancient home that is rumored to carry a strange hold on people. As the series progresses, the siblings find magical keys that alter their life. But over time, the children discover that they’re not the only ones searching for new keys and other people are willing to pay a lot more for them. The show is based off of the comics of the same name written by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez.

I wondered when I’d get a good Netflix show after finishing so many of its disappointments and I finally got it with “Locke and Key.” I loved “Locke and Key” and while a few characters just made me want to shake them until they gained some common sense, they are teenagers so I forgave their mistakes. Overall, I found myself being able to love everyone despite their flaws and that is a rarity when it comes to Netflix series.

Movie: “Real Steel” dir. by Shawn Levy (2011) Hugh Jackman and Dakota Goyo star in “Real Steel,” a movie that takes place years in the future that features gigantic robots fighting in the ring that have replaced real-life boxers.

The movie follows dead-beat father Charlie (Jackman) and 8 year-old-son Max (Goyo) as they try to form a relationship over the summer after Max’s mom passes. When Max finds an old robot at a junkyard, he sets out to fight in a ring. But this is an opportunity for his father to find his way out of the piling debt and trouble that always seems to follow him.

I have watched “Real Steel” over a dozen times. It has a little bit of action, a lot of scifi and a few heartwarming moments thrown in to make it perfect. I love seeing character development, especially when characters develop with each other and grow overtime; it’s what makes movies worth watching.

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2020 | 11

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INTELLECTUALDISABILITIES

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Ultimately, Gary Sandy, the chair of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors, said in the press release that the program is meant to support residents who may have been financially impacted by the pandemic and thus unable to afford rent.

“This grant opportunity provides rent and utilities relief to those who have been financially devastated by the COVID-19 crisis,” Sandy said in the press release. “Given that these funds are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, it is imperative that renters move rapidly in applying.”

“One of the things we have found is that there is a lot of philanthropic interest [in this program] for people whose family members have been affected by [disabilities],” Tull said.

According to Beth Foraker, a supervisor and lecturer at the UC Davis School of Education, the program at UC Davis—which will be implemented in Fall 2021—will be the first of its kind on the west coast because it includes a residential component.

Foraker explained the need for such a program.

“The impetus [behind this] is if you look at the data for adults with intellectual disabilities in the state of California, 97% do not make a living wage,” Foraker said. “They are living in poverty.

That is an absolutely untenable statistic and people should be upset by it. What is the reason behind that? And what can we do to change it?”

Foraker is the mother of a 21-year-old son with Down Syndrome.

She said that flaws in the current education system have ensured the de facto segregation of students with disabilities in California schools.

“When you have a baby with intellectual disabilities, you don’t know that’s going to happen,” Foraker said. “You don’t realize that your child is going to be segregated and separate throughout their schooling. Right away, [people with disabilities] are bumped into programs, into special-ed preschools and they don’t interact with [other kinds of ] people.The vast majority of people with disabilities don’t graduate from high school, they don’t even have a certificate—they just age out. The whole system has perpetuated their separation, and it keeps these people oppressed.”

Abbeduto expressed similar concerns about

GREEK CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 Greek life, albeit fun for the few people who can afford it, doesn’t really lend itself to leftist theory, but this hasn’t stopped other members of panhellenic organizations across campus to “come out” as anarcho-communists. Second-year Todd Daniels has finally taken strides to accept himself as a lefty, altering his “Saturdays are for The Boys” flag to say “Saturdays are for the Comrades.” He also quit his job as a Trader Joe’s cashier recently, claiming that “TJ bosses are just The Man in a Hawaiian shirt.”

“Yes, Zigwa Maga Tonga is the ‘top’ frat. And yes, I do take a lot of pride in that. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t want to strive to demolish wellestablished social hierarchies. I mean, when Zete Yeet Teet got suspended, we like, took over the means of party production, which I think is really reflective of my beliefs,” Daniels told The Aggie.

Other brothers and sisters aren’t so willing to lean left, though.

“I mean, sure. Abolish the police. All they do is roll our darties anyway. But like, this raises the question: Who do I call when Kyle from Zete Yeet Teet starts getting all creepy? And who do we call to get the GEEDs away from the house when we’re trying to turn up?” said Rebecka Long, a fourthyear Greek life member. “I just don’t know if I feel comfy, like, taking away that support system.”

In partnership with the Davis College Communists, Kayleigh and Kyle have decided to start their own Greek house named Alpha Beta Gamma Delta Epsilon Zeta Eta Theta Iota Kappa Lambda Mu Nu Xi Omicron Pi Rho Sigma Tau Upsilon Phi Chi Psi Omega.

Smith created the name of the house in order to promote “equal standing of ALL Greek letters.” Her vision for the house?

“We’re hoping our house, AlphaBet...

Omega, will be the highest-ranking house in all of Davis! But, uh, social hierarchies don’t matter, obviously. Unless it’s bid day.”

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

EDITORIAL CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 We understand the Title IX process. Often times, fraternities have several members who are accused of sexual assault. Even if it’s not an individual, it’s a group of individuals from that fraternity. Is that different than if it’s just one individual? Because then it’s more of a reflection of the organization.

Wendi Delmendo: The way we’ve approached it, is to treat each case individually. If there’s four fraternity members accused of sexual misconduct, then we would investigate those cases separately.

If you remember the band situation from last year, we decided to do a climate assessment because we didn’t have specific accusations of individuals. That was better useful to understand the culture of the band and the university was able to take group related actions as a result. I’m not saying that is what we’re going to be able to do with this fraternity issue, but we’re certainly trying to come up with a good approach to address that so that we can hold the fraternity accountable.

Michael Sweeney: The hazing process is not entirely different. There’s a very comprehensive sexual harrasment and sexual violence policy.

Hazing is a much simpler policy. But, allegations of hazing by an individual are handled from a due process standpoint, very similar to the Title IX process. For group conduct, it would also be very similar. We would collect the evidence through a comprehensive investigation through reliable information. It’s easier for us to take action against a group than an individual because of due process.

Pablo Reguerín: Somebody can submit a report online, be interviewed or call. They would submit their report and then proceed to an investigation based on the information. Our ability to respond and address issues is directly related to the evidence we are able to collect. The quality of information that we receive largely dictates what we are able to do and what type of response and to understand what kind of case it is, whether it’s a pattern. All those things are important. The office would work with the complainant to make it as easy as possible. The quality and comprehensiveness really matter and we want to make sure the community and students understand that.

Michael Sweeney: When we’re on notice of concerns, we do outreach, but sometimes people aren’t compelled to answer back. They control that agency and may prefer to go through the CARE office instead.

the opportunities available for young adults with intellectual disabilities.

“We talk about the importance of inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities, and then somehow we’ve forgotten about when they graduate, when they leave high school,” Abbeduto said. “For me it’s kind of really a civil rights issue [...] they really need to have the same options as everyone else and the same opportunities to be successful and to make choices about their lives.

Right now, postsecondary education is not even a choice for most people.”

With the funding currently available, the first two years of the Redwood SEED program will be free, and the university will accept its first 12 students in Fall 2021. Foraker also plans to work to make the full four years free. An application process—with the option to apply for financial aid—will be established once the program is certified.

“The only challenge is capacity, because as we grow we need to make sure we have enough resources to support the program,” Tull said.

When asked about how COVID-19 might affect the program, Tull explained that it will be “contingent upon health and safety regulations,” adding that the program still anticipates admitting students in 2021.

“Hopefully that will work out and we will be back to normal,” Tull said.

Tull said that the program hadn’t yet considered implementing an online platform in case in-person instruction isn’t feasible.

The small program size is designed to provide individual learning support for each student. A mix of courses taken alongside undergraduate students, life-skills classes and quarterly internships will be offered. Foraker hopes that the

program will enrich the undergraduate classroom experience too.

“When you include students with significant learning needs in your class, what happens is that elevates the level of instruction,” Foraker said.

“The grant also provides professional development for professors who want to do this. Once you let these kids in the classroom, there is a totally different learning community built, and it is very positive—it is academically better, it is sociallyemotionally better. The reason we housed it in the [Office of ] Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is that everybody can be part of it.”

While the program will not mandate the inclusion of its students in all courses offered by the university, Foraker said that many professors have already been receptive to including the students in their classes.

“We found that with inclusion, you get a lot further by not mandating things and just letting the magic happen,”Foraker said.

Tull described the widespread support that the program has received from people both in and outside of California.

“We are extremely excited about this,” Tull said. “One of the words that the MIND Institute has used a lot is ‘joy’—how joyful we are to be able to put together this program and plan for its success. We have had a lot of wonderful feedback from people around the country.”

“It’s heartening to know that there’s support for the program, not just for UC Davis but for the success of the program [itself ],” she said.

“There are a variety of different advocates across the spectrum who want to be connected to the program and are rooting for its success.”

non-profit? Is it the smile on the faces of people he has helped? Is it the connections he made with those he met?

“Definitely the great impact it has had on my resume,” Ryan said. “It is such a boost.

Without these non-profits, how else can I convey to potential internships and employers how compassionate and savvy I am?”

Next, I ask Ryan about his newest venture, a non-profit dedicated towards raising money for the Black Lives Matter movement.

“Yeah the movement could not have reignited at a better time,” Ryan said. “I was stuck after my last non-profit became oversaturated. Like, suddenly everyone cares about this after so much time? Like yes, all lives should matter, but Black Lives should have mattered the whole time––you only care now because it gets you clout.”

So far, Ryan’s new non-profit is dedicated to

reposting important infographics and resources on their Instagram. He pays his younger brother to find and repost information daily.

“We are generating such great momentum,” Ryan remarks.

“Have you raised any money for the movement yet?” I ask.

“Thank you for your question. It is so important to ask questions in these unprecedented times. But really, how can you measure generosity?

You can’t,” Ryan said. “For now, the monetary impact of our organization is top secret. And we will take no further questions on that.”

through PE was 10 weeks, more extensive than the self defense course offered at the ARC. So, we will now have a 10 week self-defense program offered at the ARC to ensure that that training continues to be offered. There will be increased opportunities for financial aid for any program that has a fee associated with them at the ARC. With the removal of the PE programs in Winter Quarter, students who declared or were preparing to declare a minor, will be allowed to complete and the College of Letters and Science will ensure they can complete those courses this year.

Pablo Reguerín: Our recreation program will be doing assessments, student surveys and broadening their offerings to make sure they expand their student offerings. We’re looking for an opportunity to expand and beef up some of our offers to the recreational program as well.

Gary May: The goal is that the only thing that gets lost is the academic credit part of physical activity. You will still have on-campus rec and we will still encourage fitness and wellness and mental health activities. The only thing that will happen is that you won’t be able to earn the one credit for it.

things are still being offered virtually so even if you can’t be here, a lot of work has been done to include the provision of services. This is an area we are continuing to try to do more. In addition, the fees in many cases pay for staff.

We’ve been very careful to manage layoffs as a very last resort so staff time has been redirected to support both programming here and virtual-type programming.

Pablo Reguerín: Our campus fees have a 25% return to aid, so 25% of those fees are going to financial aid for students to offset those fees. We try to find as many of the fees that the students might encounter and try to offset them to mitigate the increases. We took a broad and comprehensive approach to looking at fees that students would experience in this new environment.

STARTUP CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 To prove his point, Ryan proudly pulls out a laminated news clipping about his first nonprofit from a local newspaper. In the photo, Ryan stands with a thumbs up among confused middle schoolers.

“This was my non-profit to encourage young kids to code,” Ryan explains with a fond smile.

“Wait,” I interject. “Aren’t you a communication major?”

“Yeah, that’s why the kids look so confused,” Ryan says nodding solemnly. “I watched a howto-code video on YouTube as I was driving over, but it wasn’t very helpful. That’s why my first nonprofit didn’t last long. Getting kids into STEM was the really trendy thing, but then mental health advocacy became more popular so I had to switch gears.”

With his experience in non-profits, I had to ask Ryan—what is the best part about creating a

Changing gears up a little bit here, we understand that the university plans to eliminate PE courses at the end of this quarter and beginning in winter. It could result in almost 30 lecturers losing their teaching positions. We were curious, who made this decision? Who did you consult on this decision? And why was it justified? What PE alternatives does Davis have going forward?

Gary May: There had been a number of reviews over the years about PE that led to the recommendation that we discontinue the program. We have not made this decision because of COVID. However, before COVID started, the university was already facing about a 2 hundred million dollar problem over the next five years that we need to solve. That has only been compounded by the 200 million dollar problem that COVID has caused. If you look around the country, some of our sister institutions have discontinued entire departments and other drastic measures. We’re in a situation here where we are trying to minimize damage. Students don’t want their tuition to go up, staff doesn’t want salaries to be cut, nobody wants to be laid off or furloughed. We have to make some changes to try to maintain our level of efficiency. As I said, we didn’t make the PE decision because of that, but it certainly contributed to some of the thought process.

Mary Croughan: It’s been 13 years that this has been considered. The last major report was issued in January 2020. It was an analysis from the whole budget framework analysis committee, institutional analysis group, that looked at enrollment of students in PE activities over the years and how significantly those numbers have declined. That was a major aspect of looking at it.

Also, there had been a coach/teacher model over the last couple of years and I think that is the area of confusion around most people because it is not 30 lecturers. 12 of those people are coaches that will be going back to 100% coaching. The people who are losing their positions with the program closure are lecturers who are not members of the academic senate and most importantly, these are not academic senate approved course work, even though students get an academic unit for taking other courses that have been offered through PE. Looking at what we can do with two and a half million dollars in the budget that was spent on PE, a portion of that will go to paying full coaches salaries. The remainder of that will be used for academic programming on campus including some additional funding to campus recreation activities at the ARC. The one student request I have received was that the martial arts program on women and self defense offered

On the topic of tuition and fees, why are students paying more in student fees this academic year when they may not be receiving the same services during the pandemic?

Gary May: I don’t think anybody is paying more unless something happened that I don’t know about. In general, tuition is paid because everything about tuition is still happening.

Courses are being offered, people are earning credits, graduating, getting degrees, all of that is still happening. With respect to campus based fees, I would encourage you to look at the COSAF website for descriptions of all our fees.

Most of our fees are not paid as you go. They are bundled together. The only fees that do not fall into that category are housing and dining, which have been refunded for students who are not present.

Kelly Ratliff: Tuition and student services fees are held flat. Campus based fees were all held flat. There were two fees that the students voted for that were implemented in fall. The ASUCD and increase in Unitrans voted on by students that were planned for Fall 2020, were implemented. Everything was held flat and those fees were started in fall. Many services are being offered virtually. There is a whole webpage dedicated to our services. In many cases for students that aren’t in the area, there are other programs available throughout student affairs.

We tried to put programs and services in place.

Medical services, mental health services, all those

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

What advice do you have for first-years and transfer students who are new to Davis and may feel disconnected from the campus community during this time?

Gary May: The connections that are online allowing students to get together, network and meet. It is important to not isolate yourself and become so wrapped up in what needs to happen because of your studies. You need emotional, social and mental health outlets as well. We got the tents outside, grab and go, meet your friends, stay six feet apart with your masks on except when you’re putting the food in your mouth. I would just encourage students to find each other and more importantly, find help and not wait until you’re too stressed out.

Mary Croughan: There is the strong need to reach back to family, other friends, people you might’ve grown up with or others in your social network that you can stay in touch with and help you get through this. Everyone’s facing this, so reaching out makes a big difference too. Virtual dinners, where everyone can meet together and have a meal at the same time. If you’re over 21, virtual cocktail parties or pizza and beer. Things like that have made a big difference. For our outdoor yoga classes, we’ll figure out how to move those indoors when the weather gets bad.

Talking to some of the students I’ve met who are living here on campus, they’ve found things like developing reading groups have been helpful.

Pablo Reguerín: For students that are feeling isolated, applying to work with a tutor can help.

You don’t need a lot of help to simply meet with a tutor. I highly encourage studying with somebody and if you don’t have anyone to study with, apply for a tutor.

FOR THE FULL TRANSCRIPT OF OUR MEETING, VISIT OUR WEBSITE.

12 | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2020

THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

Dodgers win the World Series, breaking 32year trophy less drought Feeling like 1988

BY OMAR NAVARRO sports@theaggie.org For the second time in 16 days, the city of Los Angeles welcomed home a champion.

After the Lakers clinched their NBA title earlier in the month, the Dodgers held their own, snapping their 32 year World Series drought in a six-game series over the Tampa Bay Rays. It became the second time that both the Dodgers and Lakers won in the same year, the first in 1988. To this day, Los Angeles remains the only city to have both their MLB and NBA teams win a title in the same year and it became the first city to win those two in the same month. For the Dodgers, this long-awaited championship brought an end to the narratives that surrounded them and many of their players.

After losing in the World Series in 2017 and 2018, as well as suffering a heartbreaking loss to the Washington Nationals last year, many believed the Dodgers’ reign over the National League would come to an end. The team knew that it needed to make a major move in order to get over the hump and that they did.

In February of this year, they acquired former American League MVP Mookie Betts in a trade with the Boston Red Sox. Betts has been largely considered one of the best players in baseball over the last couple of years and the Dodgers hoped that this would be the move to finally make them champions.

After the coronavirus pandemic delayed the MLB season and the shortened 60 game season came to a close, the never-before-seen playoffs began. They were expanded to 16 teams from 10 and made every team play a best-of three Wild Card Series. Under the new format, every round’s games up to the World Series would be played on consecutive days. This added a new element to the postseason, as managers now had to account for the lack of rest day when it came to managing their bullpen.

Going 43-17 and clinching the best record in the National League once again, the Dodgers first-round opponent, the Milwaukee Brewers, limped into the playoffs after a disappointing year that saw them go 29-31. LA beat them soundly in back to back games and advanced to their eighth straight National League Division Series, where they went up against the young and fiery San Diego Padres. The Padres were coming off a year where they broke a drought of their own, advancing to the postseason for the first time since 2006. After winning the first game comfortably and narrowly escaping in Game 2, the Dodgers, one win away from their fourth National League Championship Series in five years, unleashed the floodgates in Game 3, beating the Padres 12-3 and finishing the sweep.

The only team that stood between the Dodgers and another National League pennant was the rising Atlanta Braves. Having suffered a crushing defeat in last year’s postseason, the energetic team finished with a 35-25 record, clinching the National League East once again.

Led by MVP candidate Freddie Freeman and young star Ronald Acuña, the Braves took the first two games of the series. It took a record-setting performance in Game 3 that saw the Dodgers score 11 runs in the first inning, the most in a single inning in postseason history, to get them back in the series. But in Game 4, Atlanta soundly defeated the Dodgers by a score of 10-2, leaving LA one win away from another disappointing postseason exit.

KAITLYN PANG / AGGIE With their backs against the wall in Game 5, the Dodgers exploded in the sixth inning and won the game by a score of 7-3, keeping their season alive. In Game 6, the Dodgers scored three runs in the first inning, and that proved to be all they needed as their starting pitcher Walker Buehler went six innings without allowing a run, setting up his bullpen nicely to secure the win and tie the series. In the winner-take-all Game 7, we saw a tightly contested, back-and-forth matchup where the Braves led entering the sixth. But, Kiké Hernandez’s solo home run in the bottom half of the inning tied the game. As the game winded down, the pressure was at an all-time high.

With 2019 NL MVP Cody Bellinger up at the plate in the bottom of the seventh, he delivered an iconic home run, giving the Dodgers the lead and eventually the win.

“This year is our year,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said during the trophy presentation. “This is our year!”

Holding the best record in the American League at 40-20, the Tampa Bay Rays entered the playoffs on a mission. Having suffered a brutal defeat to the Houston Astros the year prior, the Rays were focused on reaching their first World Series since 2008 on the backs of their low-cost team driven by under the radar player acquisition and development of talent.

Despite being the best team in the American League, their lack of big-name stars meant they were often overlooked when it came to World Series predictions. In the opening Wild Card Series, the Rays matched up against the young Toronto Blue Jays team and comfortably put them away in two games. In their American League Division Series matchup, they faced off against the prohibitive American League favorite, the New York Yankees.

Splitting the first four games of the series, the Rays went into the decisive Game 5 against the Yankees hoping for one of the biggest wins in franchise history. With New York starting their best pitcher and big-name free agent acquisition Gerrit Cole, the task would be a great one. Going down 1-0 in the fourth inning, the Rays responded with a run of their own in the fifth and as it got closer to extra innings, pinch hitter Mike Brosseau took Aroldis Chapman deep, delivering the knockout blow to the Yankees.

Hoping to get revenge for their exit the previous postseason, the Rays faced the Astros. Winning the first three games by a com-

bined six-run difference, it seemed as if Tampa Bay would cruise into the World Series comfortably. But, the Astros did not stop fighting, winning Game’s 4 and 5 by one run. In Game 6, the Rays tried everything in their power to not lose grasp of their almost insurmountable 3-0 lead, but a late explosion by Houston forced a Game 7. With Tampa’s ace and former Astro Charlie Morton on the mound, the Rays felt confident that they would not fall victim like the Yankees did in 2004, in which they blew a 3-0 lead to the Boston Red Sox. Morton gave them 5.2 scoreless innings and after taking a two-run lead in the first inning, they never looked back, advancing to their first World Series in 12 years.

The World Series between two of the biggest analytical teams in Major League Baseball would prove to be a chess match. Being the first Fall Classic since 2013 to see the two best teams from their respective leagues, this matchup was the best baseball had to offer this year. With the longtime ace on the mound for the Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw silenced many as he threw six innings allowing just two hits and one earned run. The Dodgers would cruise to a Game 1 victory, but in Game 2, they started rookie Tony Gonsolin who only lasted 1.1 innings. It became a bullpen game for them and the Rays took advantage, going on to win Game 2 by a score of 6-4.

With Buehler back on the mound for the Dodgers, his six-inning gem was too much for the Rays to handle as Tampa Bay accumulated just four hits in the entirety of the game. The following day, in what was arguably the best game of the World Series, the Dodgers and Rays went back and forth, exchanging runs. Up 7-6 and one strike away from going up 3-1 in the series, Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen gave up a hit to Rays’ Brett Phillips and two fielding errors by LA’s position players caused mayhem to ensue.

The Rays scored two runs and walked it off, tying the series at two games apiece.

This kind of crushing loss is one that can demoralize a club, so many watched Game 5 for an indication of how the Dodgers would respond.

Right out of the gate, LA scored two runs and never looked back, leaving them one win away from the World Series title that had been eluding them for years. The Rays, however, would not go away without a fight, as they answered and took a one-run lead in the first inning. This lead would carry them into the sixth inning, still ahead. But, a questionable call by Rays’ manager Kevin Cash left many scratching their heads. Starting pitcher Blake Snell was being pulled after just 5.1 innings

and 73 pitches. He was virtually unhittable in Game 6, but the Rays’ philosophy of not letting a pitcher face a batter three times was more important to Cash. After Snell was pulled, the Dodgers took advantage and took the lead on a Corey Seager hit scored by Mookie Betts. Betts himself added another insurance run in the bottom of the eighth and Julio Urias closed out the game with a hitless 2.1 innings, handing the Dodgers their first World Series in 32 years.

Years and years of heartbreak and disappointment came to a close for the Dodgers in this wild year. The conclusion of the season still came with some controversy, however.

After being pulled in the sixth inning due to what was later announced as a positive COVID test, Dodgers’ third baseman Justin Turner came back on the field and celebrated with his teammates, hugging them and oftentimes not wearing a mask. This sparked heavy criticism on MLB and the Dodgers and there is an ongoing investigation by the league to see whether they will penalize all parties involved.

This year was a bumpy road for Major League Baseball, from start to finish. Having just concluded this season, the league is looking into what they plan to do for the 2021 season.

They released their schedule back in July, but with much uncertainty about the status of the pandemic in the country on April 1, MLB will need to develop a plan that will fit under all circumstances, or easily adjustable on the fly. It is unknown whether there will be a minor league baseball season in 2021 and after canceling this year, it would be another huge blow to the already underpaid players in the farm systems.

The hope for Major League Baseball at the moment is to hold a 162 game regular season in 2021. If possible, they also hope to have at least some fans, as it is estimated that they lost about $3 billion this season alone. Another season with no fans would have a brutal financial impact on these clubs and many would enter a stage of uncertainty.

As of right now, MLB is working as if their schedule will remain the same. Spring training is scheduled for Feb. 27, but is also “subject to change.” Not much is known about the major changes to the year and dates that are available at the moment are not ones that give a lot of certainty. The conclusion of this season gives MLB a chance to exhale, try to improve next year and hopefully set up a more successful season than this year.

KATHERINE HUNG / AGGIE