With paper deadlines inching closer and midterms on the horizon,a perfectly healthy student making a trip to the health center might seem a bit pointless– but Student Health Services says it may be time to reconsider. The Student Health Center will be administering flu vaccinations this weekat the Memorial Union on Oct.7,8,and9.The cost for vaccination is$20,regardless of SHIP enrollment.

The much anticipated Big West Conference season kicked off for the Aggies last week. It got off to an exciting start on Wednesday with a2-1double overtime victory on the road against UC Irvine. The Aggies were back in action on Sunday in San Luis Obispo to take on the Cal Poly Mustangs. Though the Aggies were able to get off13shots,they were unable to score,losing1-0to the Mustangs. With the1-1start to conference play UC Davis moves to4-7on the season with eight matches left.

More time than ever is directed towards the exploration of social networking and its uses. Online users are spending almost three times the amount of time as the previous year on blogs and social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and Myspace, according to a recent report by the Nielsen Company.

Heated debates have recently risen in Sacramento over whether installing security cameras in public locations will aid crime prevention or invade privacy. A$614,694grant from Homeland Security has made it possible for Sacramento to consider installing32security cameras throughout the city.In addition,the plan includes four mobile trailers with cameras to provide surveillance for large events and crowds.

Having lost a combined five straight games against St.Mary’s and Long Beach State,UC Davis badly wanted to capture two wins this weekend. Looking to gain momentum going into Big West Conference play,the Aggies first faced off against the Gaels. The Aggies were unable to do so falling to both the Gaels and49ers this weekend by scores of2-1in each match.

Imagine being stuck in the wilderness,in need of medical attention that was more than an hour away.This isn’t the premise for a new reality TV show,but a situation that one of UC Davis‘ newest clubs – the Wilderness Medicine club – hopes to attend to. Emphasizing the ideas of preparedness and awareness,the Wilderness Medicine club seeks to spread knowledge ofbasic skills and important safety measures one might need in the backcountry.

In a letter to the campus community, Chancellor Katehi and Provost Lavernia declared that we should work collectively “to address today’s major budget cuts, which come as a consequence of the state’s decade-long disinvestment in higher education.” I disagree with them about the main cause of the fiscal crisis, and I think there is a better, more immediate target for constructive change that would balance the UC budget.

Janet Keyzer,a former UC Davis research coordinator,believes she was fired after she reported violations in her research group’s practices.In response,she is suing the UC regents. The lawsuitcomes after a lengthy18-month investigation conducted by theUniversity,which concluded that bothherand her husband’s2007terminations from their positions at UCDwere unrelated to her reporting of research improprieties.

California’s troubles are never far from the news today,and the consequences of these issues have begun to affect classrooms at the highest levels of public education. UC Davis students and professors participated in a walkout on the first day of class to protest the state’s budget decisions; however,some believe that the problems stretch much farther than cuts to education.

Jennifer Beeman, the former director of the UC Davis Campus Violence Prevention Program, severely inflated the number of reportedforcible sex offenses found on campus. This finding is both troublesome and detrimental to UC Davis‘ image, and we believe further investigation into the motivation behind her behavior is necessary.

Gavin Newsom wrote a lot of really, really nice things in support of college students throughout California in his letter to the editor on Thursday. Here’s the CliffsNotes version:

The thump from the techno-rock competed against the clamor from the distinctive party chit-chat; cheap plastic ping-pong balls were protected like a costly commodity; used red cups inexplicably vanished; close quarters quickly created close friends; spilled beer layered the floor,leaving a sticky tack indicative of only a long evening’s work. This was just another typical Friday night party in Davis.