Happy Picnic Day Eve, Aggies!
Incase you’ve been living under a rock, Picnic Day is tomorrow! It’s going to be a hot one, so make sure to stay hydrated, slather on that sunblock, and for those early risers, get plenty of rest for a full day of fun. The Aggie is having an open house, stop by 25 Lower Freeborn for some pizza, shade and some cool, old newspaper printing technology.
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Here’s what you need to know this week:
Campus:
Adventure Awaits — The 105th Annual Picnic Day is expecting to attract crowds of over 50,000, making this cherished Aggie celebration one of the largest student-run events in the nation. This year’s Picnic Day board of directors chair is Elise Pohlhammer, a fourth-year human development and psychology double major. For the past year, Pohlhammer, along with 15 student directors and 75 assistant directors, have been organizing festivities, such as 100 different exhibits, but also logistics that happen behind-the-scene to make the event run smoothly. “This year we really want to focus on improving the logistics for the day of Picnic Day,” said Aaron Garcia, a third-year communication and psychology double major and Picnic Day publicity chair. “We want to decrease the lines for food trucks and have more options available.” Read on.
City:
Housing — Davis City Council approved a workforce housing program. The non-student focused project is designed to meet the needs of working families and professionals in Davis. Located at 3820 Chiles Rd., the 225 unit apartment complex will rent one, two and three bedroom units, rather than rooms or beds like most complexes geared toward students. Though the complex will not include low-income units, instead the program will donate a portion of its rental revenue to the city’s affordable housing program to fund future developments. “[The Chiles project] fulfills a need that we haven’t really addressed recently, and that is for a more traditional configuration of the apartment complex,” Mayor Brett Lee said. “This type of configuration is available to a wider variety of folks rather than the student-oriented configuration.” Read on.
Features:
Picnic Days Past — In 1909, 2,000 people traveled to Davis by car, train and horse carriage to view the new Dairy Farm. The event was propagated by a cow named Molly who was walked from Berkeley to Davis, a 97-hour journey. The University Farm hosted and sponsored the event for the next couple years, until 1912 when a student committee took over. This year marks the 105th Picnic Day and the theme Adventure Awaits “represents the adventure that every past, current and future UC Davis student experiences as they pursue their academic and personal goals throughout their college years.” Read on.
Arts:
Wake the Funk Up Granola — an eco-friendly granola business run by duo Cielle Watjen Brown, a fourth-year wildlife fish conservation and biology major, and Ruby Baruth, a fourth-year environmental science and management major. Wake the Funk Up is a sustainable business model entirely run on Instagram where customers can order by sliding into @wakethefunkup ’s DMs. Brown and Baruth currently home make two granola flavors — Destiny’s Chaild and Chock Berry — and personally deliver orders on campus with a sticker and a song recommendation. “Make it all based on artists and music and also, when you wake up in the morning, what do you want? Granola and music!” said Baruth. “Things to get you hyped for the day.” Read on.
Sports:
Women’s Tennis — Aggies gain momentum after 6-1 victory over Northern Colorado last Friday with a win over Montana State Sunday. “Everyone always asks about how to get confidence,” said UC Davis Head Coach Bill Maze. “Well I think you get confidence by winning, so I think we’re building some momentum and I think the team’s in a good place.” UC Davis has three games left before the Big West Conference Championship, one of which is a Picnic Day match against UC Riverside at 11am. Read the full recap.
Science:
Bulldogs for Science — The UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital identified a link between screwtails and a human genetic disease. The gene responsible for the signature screwtail in bulldogs and Frenchies and Boston terriers was found to be closely related to the gene mutation found in humans with Robinow Syndrome — a rare hereditary disorder that causes short stature, wide heads, flat faces, short limbs and spinal deformities. “We can use the knowledge from studying the dog mutation to strategize means to manipulate and potentially “correct” the pathway in human Robinow patients, for example through gene therapy,” said Professor Henry Ho, of the UC Davis School of Medicine. Read on.
Opinion — “Social media and the rise of extremism”
Editorial — “Be aware of heightened police presence on Picnic Day”
That’s all for this week, Aggies. Check back next week.
— Grace Simmons
