Campus News

For students, staff and faculty facing fee increases and pay cuts in light of the UC-wide budget crisis, one local professor has placed the blame on the regents with evidence to back it up. Dr. Jerold Theis, a professor in the department of medical microbiology and immunology at the UC Davis School of Medicine, bases this accusation on evidence he discovered while investigating the regents’ use of 19900 General Fund Support [cq], funds allotted by the state to help subsidize the functioning of the UC.

Jim Leach is going on tour. The chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) will bring his 50-state “civility tour” to Davis Thursday at 11 a.m. in Freeborn Hall, featuring lessons on mutual respect and understanding for others.

This Saturday and Sunday, over 200 relay teams will walk around a track for 24 hours straight, collectively staying awake and active throughout the Relay For Life walk to reflect the idea that “cancer never sleeps.”

Keegan Groot usually swims two hours a day and lifts weights for an hour three times a week. Along with individual practice, Groot may clock in around 20 hours of training by Sunday. But for the sophomore exercise biology major and breast stroke-swimmer on the UC Davis’s men’s swimming team, this routine may not last. Groot is one of possibly three hundred student athletes whose teams may be targeted for closure as a result of a projected $2.4 million cut to the UC Davis Intercollegiate Athletics Department.

UC Davis’ Muslim Student Association (MSA) kicked off its annual Islam Awareness Month last Thursday, seeking to demonstrate the many faces of followers of Islam. The month’s theme, “I am Muslim …” is an open-ended examination of the various sources of inspiration to worship of those within the Muslim community. Events will span five weeks, each of which bearing a sub-theme, and will incorporate activities intended to engage students. They will take place on the quad, and there will also be reflections later in the evening.

ASUCD Senate Meetings are scheduled to begin Thursdays at 6:10 p.m. Times listed are according to the April 1 meeting location, the Memorial Union’s Mee Room. Meeting called to order at 6:09 p.m. Jack Zwald, ASUCD president, present, left early Previn Witana, ASUCD vice president, present Abrham Castillo-Ruiz, ASCUD senator, present Adam Thongsavat, ASUCD senator, present Alison Tanner, ASUCD senator, present

How to Train Your Dragon and Alice in Wonderland stand as the current top two movies at the box office, and with Clash of the Titans appearing in theaters today, 3-D movies may soon sweep the hits list.

Creating the appearance of cheating: A professor referred a senior to Student Judicial Affairs for submitting another student’s work as his own after discovering that the senior’s homework was identical to the previous year’s assignment.

UC has neither the funding nor the classroom space to cope with an expected increase of 20,243 students to the system by 2019, according to a report by the California Postsecondary Education Commission.

Evidence has existed for quite some time implying the possible benefits of animal companionship, including lower blood pressure, reduced anxiety and more active lifestyles. Many benefits, however, are only anecdotally or correlationally supported – a situation that scholars at UC Davis have taken an interest in rectifying. UC Davis researchers recently conducted an empirical study along with Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) that showed quantitatively significant improvements in reading skills when children read aloud to animals. The experiment was one of the first of its kind.

As the result of UC’s ongoing budget deficit, administrators and faculty are looking to online instruction to expand access to courses as university space and resources diminish. At last week’s UC Commission on the Future meeting, the education and curriculum work group recommended that online education should have a greater role in the undergraduate and graduate curricula to reduce costs and hasten student time to obtaining degrees. Keith Williams[cq], associate professor of exercise biology and co-chair of the work group, referred to an ongoing pilot program of 40 courses to evaluate the quality and cost effectiveness of online courses. The Office of the President and the systemwide Academic Senate currently coordinate the program.

The clanging of barbells, pounding of treadmills and smell of exercise can sometimes make even the most fitness-conscious people reluctant to work out. But what about students who don’t feel the magnetic pull to the ARC to begin with? “The space at the gym can be intimidating for anyone, especially LGBT people,” said Liz Montegary, a fitness trainer and graduate student in cultural studies. “It’s a place with very rigid gender roles – where men are expected to do things to get their body to look a certain way and women are supposed to do other things to get their body to look another way.” Circuit Party, one the classes offered by Fitness and Wellness’ new Small Group Training program, aims to create a comfortable environment to introduce LGBT students to the gym. Taught by Montegary, the class is specifically for LGBT identified and LGBT-friendly students of all fitness levels.