Spring break is over, and I return to Davis having recognized one thing: My grandparents are extremely well-versed in separate areas of knowledge. My grandma, Adriana Monteforte, knows marinara sauce, while my grandpa, Vincenzo Monteforte, knows politics. But as knowledgeable as they are in their respective areas, whenever the topic of UC Davis athletics comes up, the room gets quiet as if I just name-dropped Mussolini.

Competing in its first Division I season, the UC Davis women’s basketball team was enjoying an impressive campaign. The Aggies won 19 games – the most the program has seen since the 2001-2002 season – locked up second-place honors in the Big West Conference and earned a bid to the Women’s National Invitational Tournament. And within a 40-minute span, that all became a memory. Playing in the first round of the WNIT on Mar. 20, UC Davis fell to host Gonzaga, 81-60, to close the book on a storied 2007-2008 season.

Last weekend the 10th-ranked UC Davis women’s water polo team opened an 11-game homestand, which will encompass the rest of the regular season. After a Friday afternoon win over Brown, UC Davis completed the sweep with Saturday wins over Hartwick and UC Santa Cruz. Friday – UC Davis 12, Brown 7 After having a long two-week break for finals and spring break, the Aggies came out still on vacation against a weaker Brown opponent. We played like we had not played a game in two weeks, said head coach Jamey Wright. UC Davis would fight back after its slow start.

Who to watch: After tallying 12 goals, eight ground balls, seven caused turnovers, six draw controls and five assists in consecutive Aggie wins against Holy Cross and Quinnipiac, senior midfielder Katie McMahon cooled off Thursday against Temple. The Pleasanton, Calif. native had only one goal and two assists with seven turnovers in a 12-9 loss. On the season, she leads the team in goals (22), assists (7), ground balls (19) and caused turnovers (12).

For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology will be hosting the third annual UC Davis robotics competition as a qualifier for the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) national robotics competition Mar. 20 to 22. Approximately 40 teams from Northern California, averaging 20 high school students per team, will be competing in this weekend’s event. In addition to being an exciting event to watch, the event brings a number of talented and motivated high school students to campus, said Karen McDonald, director of the UC Davis engineering program and event coordinator, in an e-mail interview.

When the final buzzer sounded on Saturday’s loss to UC Santa Barbara in the conference championship, the Aggies run in Big West Conference play had come to a close. UC Davis’ season – unlike seven of the conference’s nine teams – is far from over. With their second-place showing in the tournament, the Aggies have locked up a berth in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament. The bracket for the 48-team tournament will be announced today by 9 p.m., according to the WNIT’s official website.

For the next month or two, sheep, lambs and goats will be grazing the tall grass at the Mace Community Ranch Park Habitat Preserve to create a better environment for the burrowing owl indigenous to that area. This is the second year of a no-cost arrangement approved by the city’s wildlife specialist John McNerney between Davis and a local ranching family. In this arrangement, livestock get fed and the city doesn’t have to spend its resources on maintaining the preserve. The benefits of the arrangement is that the city is saving money on using herbicides, and it’s also more integrated pest management by not using pesticides if you don’t need to, said a coordinator from the Parks and Community Services Department, who asked to remain anonymous.

The California budget deficit has recently sparked a multitude of reactions from California state officials. California Assembly speaker Fabian Núñez recently proposed Assembly Bill 9xxx, which was intended to raise revenues for teachers in order to offset deficits the education system has faced due to recent state budget cuts. The bill planned to tax large oil companies to gain extra funds – however, the bill was turned down by the state assembly Wednesday. While California is facing billions in cuts to schools, big oil companies are raking in record profits – without paying for the oil they take from California, said Núñez in a press release. If red states like Texas, Colorado, and Montana tax oil production to fund the services they value, then so should we.

He was the first person in his family to attend college, the first Aggie to wrestle an undefeated season, the first Aggie to earn Pacific-10 Wrestler of the Year. He won UC Davis’ first Division I national title and was the first Californian wrestler to win a national title at the 141-pound weight class. And if things go the way he plans it, he’ll be the first Aggie wrestler to compete at the Olympic level. One year ago, on Mar. 17, No. 2 Derek Moore of UC Davis dominated No. 1 Ryan Lang of Northwestern by a 17-2 technical decision in the most decisive match of the 2007 NCAA Division I National Wrestling Championships.

Coming off an upsetting overtime loss to conference rival Loyola Marymount, the No. 10 UC Davis women’s water polo team traveled to No. 9 San Jose State hoping to uproot its extra-play exhaustion. Instead, UC Davis’ overtime woes would only continue. Deep into the fourth period of overtime, Spartans’ senior hole set Beth Harbert found the back of the cage, and for the second game in a row the Aggies found themselves on the losing side of an extra frame contest, 10-9.

My skull is usually filled with voices. Placid voices. Violent voices. Hundreds of voices, willing to argue at any hour of the day – which they do, constantly – inconsiderate of what I, myself, am trying to get done in the physical realm. But there are times of the year when the number of voices is reduced, when only three are yelling, or even two. One of these respites comes with every finals week, when the usual babble dwindles down to just two voices chattering in the dark. They refer to me as The Big One.

St. Patrick’s Day is here. For a great many of you, tonight will be a night of drunken debauchery. But then again, this is college. Lots of occasions are marked by heavy drinking. Really special events, such as Picnic Day or Wednesdays. St. Patrick’s Day for me, however, is not a day of merriment. There is no joy in wearing green. No joy in telling people, Yes this shirt is green. No, I already told you, it’s not turquoise. Don’t pinch me. I’m telling you, it’s green. Seriously, you’re color blind. Don’t pinch me! Owww! St. Patrick’s Day brings back painful (but not pinching-related) memories of the past. Cue the Wayne and Garth-style flashback.