Amid the constant dugout ditties, chanting player names – “Meesh-ka! Meesh-ka!” – and the melodious renditions of “Rocky” and “Marco Polo,” the UC Davis softball team showed that it ismore than just a group of sweet voices. For thethird straight weekend, the Aggies won a Big West Conference series, this time taking two of three from the Gauchos. Their record improved to 22-31 (7-8) while UCSB’s fell to 26-22 (9-6) for the season.

A distinct mural splashed with pizzazz adorns the eastern wall of The Paint Chip, an art supplies and custom framing store located at 217 F St. “[The mural is] kind of a way to not only enhance downtown Davis, but also create an eye catcher for visitors,” said the new co-owner of the store Maia Wilson. “It has a local business feel to it and it certainly gets people’s attention. It portrays what downtown Davis is about.” The Paint Chip changed hands in March after continuous ownership for three generations. Previous owner Clint Winger sold the store to Wilson and her fiancé Brian Sturges because he was retiring. Wilson, who served as the production manager for six years at The Paint Chip, loved her job and did not want the art store to change to the hands of a different owner.

A better definition than the current one in circulation: Smartness (noun) – an agility of mind; the ability to assess reality beyond what one has been taught; the capacity to think for oneself, to see for oneself, to draw conclusions for oneself; the creativity to reconfigure given knowledge into new shapes and ideas. Notice the lack of concrete qualifications. No SAT scores here. No spelling-bee ribbons. And while you may agree, precious reader, that a person’s smarts have nothing to do with their résumé, the sad truth of the matter is that most people aren’t like you. Most people utter sentences like, “She’s pretty smart; she got an A on the last test,” or, “Yeah, my brother’s kind of a genius; he goes to Harvard.” For though there may be strong correlates within these statements, the truth of the matter is that these conclusions (good grades/good school equals good brain) don’t follow.

The UC Davis Summer Abroad is extending the deadline to apply to select programstotoday, Apr. 29 and May 1, in the hope of encouraging students to take the opportunity to study abroad and give students who missed the deadline a chanceto apply. “We know there are some students out there who want to apply who haven’t,” said Eric Schroeder, director of the Summer Abroad Education Abroad Center (EAC) program and University Writing Program lecturer. Programs take place during both summer sessions, but only deadlines for programs in the second summer session can be extended.

Austin Graham doesn’t remember life before golf. Chelsea Stelzmiller can’t imagine life without it. The two freshmen share a rare love for the game, and this season they shared it for the first time with UC Davis. Graham and Stelzmiller paced the Aggie men’s and women’s golf teams this season, helping to lead them to second-place finishes last week at the Big West Conference Championships. Graham earned second-team All-Big West honors while Stelzmiller captured Big West Player of the Year, freshman of the year and first-team all-conference recognition.

Maybe a third time would have been the charm. The UC Davis men’s tennis team was tossed from the Big West Conference Tournament after losing to Cal Poly in the quarterfinals. It was the second time the Aggies fell to the Mustangs in as many chances this season. “We came up short,” said senior Justin Garcia. “It was a disappointing end, but I am proud of what we accomplished this season.” The Mustangs, who first defeated the Aggies on Apr. 5, blanked UC Davis to advance to the semifinal round of play, 4-0.

UC Davis scored a victory in the court system, as a federal judge ruled in favor of the university in a Title IX lawsuit filed by four women who were dropped from the intercollegiate wrestling team. U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. ruled that the plaintiffs in Mansourian et al. v. Regents of the University of California failed to notify the campus that they were making broad allegations against the entire Intercollegiate Athletics program. Nancy Sheehan of Porter Scott, the firm that represents the university, said that while she was disappointed that the court did not render a decision on the allegations in the lawsuit, she was still pleased with the ruling overall. “I have strongly felt from the beginning that my client was not in violation of Title IX, and we’ve worked really hard on this case,” said Sheehan in a phone interview. “We would have loved to have a ruling on all the issues, but I understand why Judge Damrell did what he did.”

What would you do with $733,000? For the Davis Schools Foundation, this is enough money to fund 10 teacher positions and one-and-a-half librarian positions. The funds will go toward elementary school high school teachers. As of Monday, the foundation had raised $733,000 with the help of Hanlees Auto Group. Hanlees Auto Group in Davis made a $30,000 donation Apr. 16and challenged the community to match that amount over the course of five days. On Apr. 20, the last day of the challenge, the community surpassed that amount with $142,000 – $17,000 of which was raised at an entertainment event at Hanlees on that day alone.

The day you’ve been waiting for all year is almost here. That’s right kids, tomorrow is Free Cone Day at Ben and Jerry’s! Rejoice! I happen to think that Free Cone Day is one of those rare events of harmonious perfection that occasionally take place in the universe. Unlimited amounts of free ice cream: What more could anyone want? There are, however, some lame, snarky people who find fault with Free Cone Day. These people complain that the line is too long. Oh no, life is so hard that you have to wait a few minutes to get some free ice cream.

Secret telling begins early on in life. Frequently, at a middle school sleepover party when surrounded by friends, pizza and soda, the urge to tell becomes overwhelming. But sometimes, you don’t need to worry about your secrets slipping out. UC Davis’ second PostSecret event was the perfect opportunity to experience the catharsis of disclosing a secret without the fear of being judged or having it shared with an unwanted audience. The idea behind PostSecret as an art project is that people submit their secrets anonymously on a homemade postcard. PostSecret began in Washington, D.C. in 2004, and has since evolved into a website and even a few books.

TODAY Local Foods Week kickoff 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. ASUCD Coffee House Check out a display that explains the links between the UCD Student Farm, Project Compost and the Coffee House! La Raza Cultural Days kickoff Noon to 2 p.m. West Quad Learn about student struggles and successes at this event.

The Bush Administration’s five-year plan for increasing fuel efficiency released last week has ignited outrage from many California lawmakers. California Attorney General Edmund Brown Jr. called the plan a “covert assault” on California’s landmark tailpipe greenhouse gas regulations. The Department of Transportation unveiled the plan Tuesday to implement requirements of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which mandates an increase in Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency standards. For passenger cars, the proposal would increase fuel economy from the current 27.5 miles per gallon to 35.7 mpg by 2015. For light trucks, the proposal calls for increases from 23.5 mpg in 2010 to 28.6 mpg in 2015.