There are eight notes in an octave, five fingers on a hand, 86,400 seconds a day that I tend to waste on sleeping, eating or trolling the Internet. Zero seconds a day that I spend tapping out tunes on the keyboard in the living room of my apartment. I’m a terrible pianist; I’ll admit to that. This is not me being modest – trust me, trust me. I only picked up a musical instrument in elementary school because of my father, who is the kind of person who likes to dabble in every musical instrument possible. At last count, we had four violins, two guitars, a clarinet and a piano. I think there may have been some experimentation with a saxophone at one point as well.

Name: Michelle Kulovitz Hometown: Anaheim Hills, Calif. Events: All-Around Year: Senior

Altering an Exam Student Judicial Affairs recently resolved a case involving a junior who altered an exam and submitted it for a re-grade. The student created a new version of the exam based on the original and made substantial modifications to the answers. Because of the striking differences between the two versions of the exam, the professor was thoroughly convinced that the student had altered his test. The student soon admitted to academic misconduct and agreed to 20 hours of community service along with the sanction of Deferred Separation until graduation. Deferred Separation means that a student can continue to attend school unless he or she engages in academic misconduct again.

Headline: Haylee Donagh Name: Haylee Donaghe Hometown: Atascadero, Calif. Position: Wing

080402_ca_farmsubsidies.CHeadline: Farm subsidies don’t cause obesity, researchers sayLayercake: UC Davis report goes against common criticismBy MIKE DORSEYAggie News Writer A team of UC Davis researchers has found that there is no evidence to support any correlation between farm subsidies and obesity in the United States. Their findings appear in the December 2007 issue Agricultural and […]

Over 500 concerned parents, teachers and community members crowded into the auditorium of Emerson Jr. High on Monday night to discuss closing the school with members of the school board. Davis Joint Unified School District is considering closing the West Davis junior high school as part of an attempt to cut $4 million from the district’s budget next year due to California’s large budget deficit. The district would save $566,000 by closing Emerson Jr. High. Emerson, which schools seventh through ninth graders, was chosen because it is the only junior high school that has not undergone renovation.

TODAY Try Before You Buy week 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. Activities and Recreation Center Want to shake it up with a belly dance or spin class? See what the ARC has to offer by taking its recreation classes for free this week. Farmers Market 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. East Quad Get fresh fruits, veggies and snacks at this convenient farmers market.

What do you do? I am a type of geologist called a stratigrapher. Stratigraphy is a big word meaning that we read the layers of rock that are basically the pages of history of our planet. From these layers of rock we can tell things like ancient climates [and] ancient environments. The history of evolution is written in the types of rocks that I look at.… In a very broad, general way, I am an earth historian. How did you get interested in this field? I became interested in geology as an undergraduate simply because I like being outdoors; I like nature and I like science. It is the same characteristics that all geologists have. You like to combine your interests in science with your appreciation for the outdoors. I like looking at a landscape and understanding and what it means, how it got there and what it is telling me. I try to convey that in the classes that I teach. I try to get students to look around and understand why the Central Valley is flat, why the Sierras are scalloped, and get them to visualize ice age glaciers and where the granite of the High Sierras came from.

Cesar Chavez Commemoration Week, hosted by the La Raza Law Students Association at UC Davis School of Law, continues today through Saturday. Events are free and open to the public, with lunch provided daily by El Mariachi. Kathleen Rojas, the week’s co-chairperson, said she is excited about the outreach involved with the week. It’s important to make sure we’re reaching the community and furthering our goal of diversifying the legal profession, she said.

Name: Marcos Orozco Hometown: Vacaville, Calif. Weight: 125 lbs. Year: Junior Major: Psychology In a season riddled with injuries, no wrestler took to the UC Davis mat more than Marcos Orozco. Competing in a team-high 37 matches, the 5-foot-5 Vacaville High School product led the squad with a career-high 25 wins and 27 dual points earned. For the second straight year, Orozco earned a berth to the Division I National Championships. He stood as the lone Aggie on the second day of tournament after posting a 2-1 record on the first day.

In a town full of bicycles and environmental friendliness, it’s refreshing to remember that there are still red-blooded, meat-eating, beer-drinking, sports-loving Americans out there. For people suffering from this nostalgia, the recently inaugurated Davis Motorsports Club is proof that not everything has been lost to this organic-solar-powered-renewable-new-age California nonsense. DMC’s official mission statement is to maintain motorsport enthusiasm in the Davis community. How do these patriots carry out their stated goal? Try waking up at 6 a.m. on weekends to attend autocross rallies – autox for short – all over the state of California.

In a season where the Aggies went young with a senior-less roster, it was only appropriate that a star freshman led the way. From carrying the weight of the men’s basketball program’s first official Division I season to running the team’s new Princeton offense, redshirt freshman point guard Mark Payne rose to every challenge in the 2007-2008 season. It’s an awful lot to ask out of a freshman, but he’s progressing and maturing so much, said head coach Gary Stewart. He’s going to be a dominant Big West player by the time he graduates.