Name: Donald Benner Year: Senior Major: Mechanical engineering How did you choose your major? I wanted to be able to apply math and science, and I know that you had many more options with an engineering degree than you did with a math or physics degree.

Teams: UC Davis vs. No. 10 Stanford Records: Aggies, 20-10; Cardinal, 15-9 Where: Sunken Diamond – Stanford, Calif. When: Today at 6 p.m. Who to watch: Senior UC Davis outfielder Ryan Royster went 8-for-20 (.400) this past weekend in Washington and hit his Big West Conference-leading seventh home run. The Aggie leadoff man also paces all conference players in runs scored and total bases.

California Representative Charles Calderon introduced Assembly Bill 1956 to the Board of Equalization on Feb. 13. This tentative bill may implement a sales tax on all digital property, including media, books and movies in California. “Sales tax is generally not charged on products purchased over the internet,” said Daniel Simmons, professor at UC Davis School of Law. “[The bill] is trying to eliminate the unfairness, but of course, consumers won’t like it because it finds a way to enforce sales tax on downloaded products.” Although this may make consumers upset, it will make online transactions fair, he added.

Maybe it was senior Laura Uribe’s halfcourt heaves that somehow kept finding the back of the net. Maybe it was the standing room only crowds at the Schaal Aquatics Center. Maybe it was head coach Jamey Wright’s clap-spin move with a big smile seconds after even a bigger win. Whatever it was, the No. 10 UC Davis women’s water polo team has figured out how to win consistently. After defeating all five of their opponents this weekend, including a monstrous victory over rival Loyola Marymount, UC Davis (21-8, 11-1) has won eight in a row and is peaking at the right time.

Playing on the road under inclement weather against a Pacific-10 opponent made this past weekend a challenging one for UC Davis baseball. In the end, the Aggies came away satisfied. “Whenever you go on the road, especially to a place like Washington, and come away with a split, it’s a pretty successful weekend,” said head coach Rex Peters.

It’s no secret that things aren’t looking good for California’s public education system. The state currently faces a $16 billion deficit and has found itself scrambling to make the necessary cuts to its already “spread too thin” budget. Unfortunately, budget slashing politicians and administrators are beginning to realize the severity of this problem and have set their sights on California’s public schools in an effort to make ends meet. As a result, thousands of teachers and school employees up and down the state have found themselves in the very unsettling position of not knowing whether their job, or even their school, will still exist next year.

Student Affairs Research & Information (SARI) released the results to a February survey that asked students how they prefer to be contacted in case of an emergency in March. According to the SARI survey results, the top three ways students prefer to be notified of an emergency are through a public announcement (PA) system, siren or text message. The survey was conducted from Feb. 20 to 28 via the MyUCDavis portal by a team of junior students in Davis Honors Challenge. The team was sponsored by Valerie Lucas of the UC Davis Campus Emergency. A total of 4,630 students, or 16 percent of all undergraduate and graduate students, responded to the Quick Survey. Quick Survey is an application in the MyUCDavis portal controlled by SARI that allows it to conduct student center research.

Acquiring clean water is not something that requires much effort for most of us. We can turn on the faucet and drink directly from the tap. Or we can easily purchase a high-tech filtering system, or pick up a fancy Evian bottle at the grocery store. For communities in the Rukwa region of Tanzania, Africa, obtaining clean water is much more difficult. But thanks to a generous donation from the Winters Rotary Club and the hard work of two UC Davis professors, this process will be improved and simplified for many Tanzanian villagers. Monique Borgerhoff Mulder, an anthropology professor at UC Davis, and her husband Tim Caro, a professor of wildlife, fish and conservation biology, recently received a $6,000 donation from the Winters Rotary Club to help Tanzanian villagers build drinking wells.

FRIDAY The Harder They Come Two subjects were seen smoking marijuana on F Street. Hitchhiker’s Guide to Sacramento Individual was seen trying to hitch a ride to Winters or Sacramento on Second Street. Bills, bills, bills Individual reported her son cashed her assistance check and did not pay the bills on East Eighth Street. A little bit of PMS Individual was banging on bedroom door threatening to break all of the reporting party’s things on Glacier Drive. Sexy time Loud subjects were reported in the hot tub on Alvarado Avenue.

In the middle of a troubling time, the regents of the University of California have finally selected a promising educator as the next leader of the top public university system in the world. Our officials cited Mark Yudof’s impressive record and his extraordinary vision in advancing the American higher education as the major factors behind his appointment as the UC’s new president. But with the UC’s present budget quandary, is Yudof’s $828,000 price-tag really worth it?

A lack of funding and resources in America’s public education system has made a large impact on public schools in low-income areas. The absence of properly trained teachers is one reason why children in those areas receive poor levels of education. Teach For America seeks to eliminate this problem. In an effort to close the country’s achievement gap, the nationwide TFA program recruits and trains highly motivated individuals to teach in these disadvantaged regions. “By the time children in low-income levels are nine, they are back three grade levels. I had fourth graders who couldn’t read [the] Harry Potter [series],” said Amber Saloner, Pacific Coastal Senior Recruitment Director for TFA. “We want to equip them. We want you to empower the students,” she said.

The Sacramento Municipal Utility Districtunveiled a new solar-powered hydrogen refueling station on S Street on Apr. 1 for use in the district’s participation in a Department of Energy program. The station boasts $1.7 million worth of solar panels paid for by SMUD as well as another $1.7 million in hydrogen refueling equipment paid for by the DOE and British Petroleum. The renewable energy source will refuel hydrogen fuel cell vehicles driven by SMUD employees on district business. “The solar ray is keeping with SMUD’s history of supporting solar,” said Bill Boyce, supervisor of SMUD’s electric transportation group. “We’ve been a strong solar utility for over 20 years.”