The city of Davis’ Climate Action Team recently completed an inventory regarding the city’s greenhouse gas emissions. In the study, it was revealed that 225,200 equivalent tons of carbon dioxide were emitted in 1990. If conditions remained constant, the city would produce 313,006 tons of emissions by 2015, according to the study. While the numbers themselves are not encouraging, where the emissions are coming from is actually a positive. According to the CAT inventory, transportation accounted for 57 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Davis in 1990. This number is, in a sense, both promising and discouraging. The fact that over 100,000 tons of emissions were released by transportation alone is certainly an issue, but it’s an issue that we as a community can resolve. Davis’ public transportation system and bicycle-oriented landscape means there’s little need to drive a personal car from place to place. Additional changes to infrastructure could further promote alternative transportation methods and a diminished reliance on personal automobiles.

The national average graduation rate of African American and Hispanic students has decreased significantly in the last 30 years, according to a recent study conducted by Michal Kurlaender, an associate professor of education at UC Davis. According to the study, the number of graduating African Americans in 2004 dropped 33 percent, while the Hispanic student graduation rate dropped 34 percent nationally. The increase in dropout rates has grown in tandem with an enduring increase in enrollment to college by minority groups overall. Kurlaender said that there are several possibilities for this phenomenon. “There are many reasons for [students] to drop out: They may find employment that is more lucrative, have no taste for school or find they aren’t good at it,” Kurlaender said. Kurlaender also cites that some students may experience a lack of preparation due to a misalignment between high school academics and the intensity of college coursework, as well as financial constraints due to rising tuition fees. All of these factors may contribute directly to the dropout rate of minorities in college, who are more likely to come from low-income families and may be dependent on financial aid. She stressed that these reasons are not mutually exclusive.

TODAY Summer abroad enrollment day Noon to 4 p.m. Education Abroad Center, corner of Third and A streets Secure your spot in a summer study abroad program and get extensions for important forms by visiting the EAC. Enrollment is first-come, first-served. The last day to enroll is Friday by 5 p.m. Emerson Jr. High carnival 4 to 10 p.m. 14 Cannery Park St. Help the Emerson Junior High School PTA raise funds for the school! Rides can be purchased individually and day passes are $25 at the door. Day passes are available for $20 at Carousel Stationary and Gifts at 706 Second St. Chemistry Club meeting 5 p.m. 281 Chemistry Those interested in participating in the Picnic Day magic show should attend this practice session. Trivia night 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Silo Café and Pub Show off your knowledge of random factoids! Math Café 6 to 8 p.m. Scholars’ Center Study Room, Surge IV Get a good serving of mathematics at this weekly tutoring session with the Women’s Resources and Research Center. Women and men are both welcome. Sigma Mu Delta barbeque night 7 p.m. Chaparral Lounge, 2689 Sycamore Lane Get to know the brothers of this pre-health fraternity over ribs.

Anyone who left Theta Chi’s Zion I and Mistah Fab outdoor show last Saturday without a few black and blue spots,smashed eyeglasses,mysterious bite marks,or at least an elbow to the stomach should count themselves lucky. In town like Davis,chock full of young hip-hop fans from the Bay Area,you have to expect that people are going to get bit crazy – or you might say,hyphy,when two extremely popular hip-hop artists from Oakland come to visit. The double lineup nicely catered to both fans of the socially conscious and poetic underground fare of Zion I as well as the lighter-themed,pounding,up-tempo beats of Mistah Fab that anyone who listens to the radio even occasionally has probably memorized perfectly. This isn’t to say that the crowd was utterly out of control the entire time.The vigorous local and UC Davis student band Sex,Funk,and Danger got the audience moving and grooving benignly and not belligerently with their hybrid of hip-hop,funk and jazz.

“They say times have changed, and they have,” a well-dressed plump woman in her fifties told me. “But some things are still the same.” I listened attentively as I pushed the cart out to her car, and she continued talking with ease, perhaps because she was a regular customer of mine. She explained that she was shopping in produce and thought the cherries looked a bit old, so she asked Vinny, who was working nearby, if there were any newer ones in the back. He said no, but a short time later a second customer asked him the same question, and he said yes, and dutifully went to the back to retrieve them. The second customer was white. Vinny was white. My customer was black. Curious after her explanation, I asked Vinny what the deal was. Very thin and not exactly attractive, Vinny adjusted his glasses 20 years out of style. “I know, she said something to me. I thought we had no cherries in the back when she asked. Then next time I was back there, I see that we did have more. What am I supposed to do, lie to the next customer because she happened to be white?”

Arriving at the Philadelphia International Airport and armed with the motivation of contributing to Senator Obama’s campaign as a “springtern” – a colloquialism for a spring internship – little did I know what to expect. But experience I did, and it was uncompromising, rewarding and ultimately, eye-opening. Philadelphia is a city that is distinctly heterogeneous. Buildings appear segmented, even aloof, from each other. On the one hand, the neoclassical architecture harks as a reminder of the past, intent on maintaining the memories of patriots pursuing independence. Meanwhile, symbols of the capitalist advance – the leaden, towering skyscrapers – juxtapose these cultural ancients. Coexisting, they both brim and bore, at times seemingly conflicting between a steely desire for progress and a poignant nostalgia to preserve.

LIVE MUSIC Internal Conflict, Plead the Fifth, Knuckle Puck, Wipeout Friday, 7 p.m. Turtle House I always enjoy a good movie reference, especially from a childhood classic like D2: Mighty Ducks. What’s more enjoyable about Vacaville’s Knuckle Puck is that they belong to the dying breed of two-step, thrashy hardcore like the Bay Area greats Ceremony and Sabertooth Zombie or the classics, Infest and Minor Threat. Keep shredding, brothers. Whole Earth Benefit Dance Party Friday, 8 p.m., $3-5 Delta of Venus Help WEF build up some funds for the festival you all know and love by coming out for a night of electronica and more. Here’s the breakdown of genres by DJ: Tao will cover the dubstep, drum ‘n bass; Kelly D will spin the electro, breaks and tech-house; N’Demik has a change of pace with psychedelic and progressive and Ian Lesperance brings the funk. Half-handed Cloud, LAKE, G2 Friday, 7 p.m. Scrambled Eggs House Berkeley’s interesting soloist John Ringhofer will be entertaining Scrambled Eggers with both song and side notes tomorrow evening. The Asthmatic Kitty Records artist sounds pretty odd, he works part time and is a doodling addict. Hopefully he will share some of these stories at the show. Aftershocker, Shayna and the Bulldog Friday, 10 p.m., $3-5, 21 The G St. Pub It’s locals’ night for this G Street Concert, matching two very different acts. Aftershocker’s (you guessed it) hair rock meets Shayna’s charismatic pop rock, which has taken a surfy side on their Basement Love Explosion EP, due out next week and can be picked up at their Burgers ‘n Brew release party Apr. 18. Preview the EP Friday night! Apple Pie Hopes, Katie Delwiche, Pete Bernhard, Connecticut Saturday, 7 p.m., $5 Delta of Venus Apple Pie Hopes… you’ll eat it? That’s my best guess about this happy-go-lucky Americana band from Oakland. If the idea of a pirate anthem scares you, then the opening acts are the ones you’d like to see, such as the pleasant townies Katie D and Pete Bernhard (fans of Willy Mason or M. Ward will dig him!). They’re likely to slow down the evening with bluesy-folksy-perfection.