If you live in a third Third World country, have bad credit and need a loan, UC Davis’s very own Microlending Club just might be able to help. Founded in spring of 2009, the Microlending Club sends microloans to third Third World entrepreneurs who do not qualify for bank loans to start up their business. The philosophy is that by helping out one individual out of poverty, it may lift the entire community out of poverty as well. Microlending is defined as the provision of small loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries at zero or close to zero interest, said Avinash Mohanani, a senior managerial economics and communication double major.

Event: Big West Conference Tournament Teams: UC Davis vs. TBA Records: Aggies, 13-17 (8-8) When: Tonight at 8:30 p.m.

Teams: UC Davis vs. Texas Woman’s; California Where: The Pavilion When: Sunday at 2 p.m. Who to watch: Senior Christine Tao was the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation co-champion on balance beam in her sophomore season. This year, the Maple Valley, Wash. native averages a 9.425 on beam with a season-high score of 9.725 against Air Force.

Students and members of the community criticized methods used in last week’s Mar. 4 protest, such as blocking bus terminals and pulling fire alarms. Yet, these disturbances should not overshadow the purpose of the protest to restore funding to higher education. In fact, it was the protestors’ ability to cause this discomfort that made the protest a success. In causing so much disruption, protestors intended to force a response from people in power, such as state legislators or UC regents. Even though we do not support breaking the law and endangering lives, attempting to block a freeway is one action that officials cannot ignore.

Many characterize Davis as the ideal college town, part of which includes students’ satisfaction with apartment renting. ApartmentRatings.com ranked Davis as 2009’s best college town in the country for renters in a list that showcases the popularity of various college towns around the nation. Davis came out on top of 85 other towns in the running, far outranking Harvard University’s Cambridge, Massachusetts, which finished last. In 2009, the US News & World Report college charts listed Harvard University as the best college in the world.

If you haven’t heard already, Band of Horses is playing at Freeborn Hall on May 27. Students can purchase pre-sale tickets at the Freeborn Ticket Office for $25.50 with a student ID tomorrow beginning at 10 a.m. That’s pretty cool. This is all in addition to the upcoming Passion Pit show, which is still scheduled for April. 14. Tickets for that show are $15 (go figure). Let’s see if they pull a Crepeville-and-run like Bloc Party did last year.

People sometimes get the impression that feminism at its foundation means hating white, heterosexual men. I’ve discussed before how the patriarchal structure of our society tends to favor people with these characteristics over those without them. Unfortunately, with this tiny bit of misinformation, people then draw the conclusion that I have it out for straight, white men in general. This is wrong. I happen to be in a long-term relationship with a straight, white man. Many beloved friends and family members of mine are straight, white men. My problem is not with individuals, but with a system that benefits them at the expense of others.

If someone told me that I couldn’t defeat the Jabberwocky to save some opium-induced fantasy world, I wouldn’t believe it. That’s because I survived Catholic school. After that, taking out a Jabberwocky would surely be a cakewalk. I probably did miss out on the typical high school experience by opting to go to school with 700 chicks and flurries of Hail Marys, but Catholic school – like most things in life – had its moments. I shall never forget being told off for showing cleavage because the top button on my Oxford shirt wasn’t buttoned.

Ah, Hollywood. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. As I’ve mentioned before, I’d like to write in L.A. and carve out a niche for myself down there somewhere in the near/distant future. So, of course, I watched the Academy Awards so I can be hip to all that goes down. I was impressed by the Oscars this year, in that they weren’t the most boring they’ve ever been. Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin snubbing George Clooney was more fun than watching Wolverine sing songs and tap dance, and The Hurt Locker was a pretty good film. (I liked A Serious Man and Inglourious Basterds better, but not everyone has such exquisite taste.)

Two Door Cinema Club’s debut LP, Tourist History, is a neat and tidy collection of their past Kitsuné singles and a handful of new ones. Simple lyrics are tacked onto simple pop melodies, which clasp onto even more simple rhythms and beats. The album mainly consists of unornamented and straightforward compositions, but the sincere and charming lyrics seem to pick up the slack. If Tourist History were milk, it would probably be non-fat – in the sense that extra sugar was added to make up for the lack of nourishing substance. Listening to the entire album is like eating a $1 microwave dinner from Safeway. Sure, it gets the job done, but there are definitely better things out there.

Not much is known about Little Big Adventure, a.k.a. Vladimir Vasilyevich Markovnikov, except that all of his songs are about hate and that he loves his Casio keyboard. Throughout The Hateful Eye, Markovnikov skillfully combines many modern soundscapes and inserts anamorphic transitions from one to the other in an original and unconventional manner. Though the EP consists of only five tracks (and was released May of last year), it nicely captures LBA’s eccentric pop sound of past releases and evokes feelings of self-pity, shame and melancholia – very fitting for the transition from winter into spring. The Hateful Eye is worth a revisit or two.

It’s hard to imagine a concept behind a triple album as anything other than abstract and inaccessible, but at just over two hours, Joanna Newsom accomplishes just that on Have One On Me. Framed by the trills of her harp and the eloquence of her lyrics, Have One On Me chronicles romance and heartbreak in a way that is tempestuous, whimsical and painfully honest.