Over 20 years ago, a woman knocked on the door of Davis Fire Station 31 and asked for assistance to make a Thanksgiving dinner for her children. The firefighters pooled funds and bought a turkey for her and began to think about expanding their contribution. The firefighters’ gift of a single turkey has since expanded into the annual Davis Firefighter’s Union Thanksgiving Food Basket Program, which provides 630 full Thanksgiving meal baskets for Davis needy families.

TODAY World AIDS Day pledging 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. In front of Griffin Lounge, MU Visit the Health Education and Promotion tables this week to pledge to be an ally for HIV awareness.

UC Davis had a fittingconclusion to aseason filled withfrustration. In a game that saw the Aggies defense make a goal line stand and Greg Denham have a career day,mistakes and missed opportunitiesproved to be insurmountable in a28-20loss to San Diego on Saturday at Toreros Stadium. “It was a case of where we were our own worst enemy,“ head coach Bob Biggssaid. “We had way too many penalties at critical times,a fumble in the red zone,an interception in the red zone.We just couldn’t overcome our mistakes.“

Dwayne Shaffer couldn’t help himself.In the final minutes of Saturday’s contest at Aggie Soccer Stadium,the UC Davis men’s soccer coach walked toward the student section,hopped on top of the closest chair he could find,grabbed a towel and waived it repeatedly to pump up an already rowdy crowd.

My undyingly dedicated readers (hello mom, dad, big sis in Israel … love you all), might have noticed that last week I spoke about the seventh item on my Cap and Gown List even though last week was week six of my column. Oops. Imperfection is inevitable. While it might be nice to dream of a world with no accidents, no wrong decisions and excellence as the norm, reality is far less tidy.

According a survey released this month by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) titled “Californians & higher education,” Californians have a high opinion of the state’s higher education but are concerned about the impact of the budget deficit. The survey said that all three branches of California’s higher education system enjoy high approval rates. Fifty-one percent of respondents rated community colleges “good” and 15 percent said “excellent.” California State University received 52 percent “good” and 10 percent “excellent.” For the University of California, 50 percent said “good” and 15 percent excellent.

The UC Davis campus was taken over as a training center by the United States Army Signal Corps in1943.All instructionwashalteduntil1945.

Senior forward Quincy Amarikwa predicted it and Denver head coach Bobby Muss affirmed it. Before UC Davis‘ opening round game of the NCAA Tournament against Denver,Amarikwa said he expected his team to dominate the Pioneers offensively,and to impose its will on them. The Aggies did that and then some,knocking off Denver inacommanding4-0fashion before an overflow crowd of1,344at Aggie Soccer Stadium.

Teams: UC Davis vs. No. 10 Northwestern Where: The Pavilion When: Sunday at 6 p.m.

Who: UC Davis vs. Pacific Records: Aggies, 12-16 (4-11); Tigers, 10-15 (9-6) Where: The Pavilion When: Saturdayat 7 p.m.

Teams: UC Davis at Denver Records: Aggies, 1-0; Pioneers, 0-1 Where: Hamilton Gymnasium – Denver, Colo. When: Today at 6 p.m.

Moh-Moh is nervous. This Saturday is UC Davis’ Little International Stock Show, and Moh-Moh, a heifer, has never been around so many people and animals before. But the student showing her likes his chances. “I think I will win. I really spend a lot of time with her, one on one,” said Michael Chao, an entrant in this year’s beef section.