Happy Friday Aggies,
We’re switching it up a bit — welcome to your very first weekly briefing. My name is Grace Simmons and I will be your confidant, keeping you up to date on the latest at UC Davis and beyond. And without further ado, let’s dive in!
Photo of the Week
ASUCD Election Update — The BASED slate secured all but two ASUCD Senate seats.
Justin Hurst and Shreya Deshpande secured president and vice president, respectively.
The six students elected to the Senate are: Anna Estrada, Shondreya Landrum, Sahiba Kaur, Rebecca Gonzalez, Victoria Choi, and Andre Spinoglio.
And lastly, the Unitrans Undergraduate Fee Referendum passed with a 60 percent overall ‘yes’
For Campus News — Nicholas Chavez, who had been squatting in the Art Building, was arrested Feb. 21 on charges of felony vandalism. Chavez was initially arrested last Fall Quarter for allegedly sexually assaulted fourth-year art studio major Stephanie Lee, but was released due to confusion surrounding Lee pressing charges after she had confirmed his identity at the police station.
In other campus news, economics has been reclassified as a STEM major. Hey, we get it, you guys deal with numbers. Who’s for it? International students — this switch will now allow the extension of visas post graduation by three years. More on this.
And finally, eight new microwaves have been installed in the CoHo. This comes nearly two years after student leaders proposed a solution to the lengthy lines behind the once two microwave station at peak lunch hours. Zapping wait times and last night’s pasta in one fell swoop.
Features
#MeToo founder Tarana Burke spoke at Sacramento State on Feb. 7. The event was organized by the UNIQUE student-run entertainment group at Sac State in honor of Black History Month and in support of the Me Too movement. Community involvement was the focus of the talk, encouraging dialogue about sexual violence and sexual assault. Read the full article.
Arts
“Roma” — the award nominated film is the first of its kind in the Oscar sphere to grace both the big screen and your Netflix suggested page. The Netflix release followed its theater premiere by three weeks, pioneering a strategy of distribution. Though this has created considerable buzz, and notably so, arts writer Josh Madrid recommends you see it on the big screen. Read the full review.
Sports
NBA All Star Game — Team LeBron came out on top, taking Team Giannis 178-164 this past Sunday from Charlotte, North Carolina. Kevin Durant scored a whopping 31 points and captured his second All-Star game MVP— are you shocked?
“All-Star weekend returns basketball to its purest form and most human principles, yet annually falls just days after the trade deadline — perhaps the most ruthless, non-human considerate period in a professional season,” writes Carson Parodi. Read the full article.
Science
Spill the Tea — Jan. 24, the fourth annual Global Tea Initiative for the Study of Tea Culture and Science commenced at the UC Davis Conference center. Alongside UC Davis faculty were guest speakers from Hong Kong, Sweden and Japan to discuss issues surrounding tea and health. “Gut microbiota. Kombucha. Epigenetic changes in women.” Michelle Wong writes. Read the full article.
Have a laugh: “Humor: Congress approves federally-funded “Border Wall Tycoon” video game to appease Trump”
Editorial: “Where we’re going, we need better roads”
That’s all for this week, make sure to tune back in next Friday.
—Grace Simmons
