Campus News

Bike theft: It happens to the best of us, and brings with it the crushing realization that the thief is somewhere in Davis enjoying your bike while you are stuck walking all the way to class.

Statistically, bike theft on campus is on the rise. As of Sept. 29, the UC Davis Police Department received 38 bike theft reports in two weeks, more than the total reported thefts in the month of August.

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.

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.

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 week at the Memorial Union on Oct. 7, 8, and 9. The cost for vaccination is $20, regardless of SHIP enrollment.

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 lawsuit comes after a lengthy 18-month investigation conducted by the University, which concluded that both her and her husband's 2007 terminations from their positions at UCD were unrelated to her reporting of research improprieties.

While it might be standard for graduating law students to struggle with a large amount of student debt, those pursuing law related work in the lower paying public interest fields won't have to face the daunting task of loan repayments.

Instead, UC Davis' newly expanded Loan Repayment Assistance Program, LRAP, has offered to shoulder the fees, starting Jan. 1.

Many UC Davis students are aware that their campus ranks highest among all UCs in terms of sexual assaults committed on and around campus. The numbers were surprising for a fairly small college town where most people feel safe leaving their doors unlocked. But in 2007, 69 sexual assaults were reported, more than the amount at every other UC combined.

At a press conference last Thursday, UC Davis officials announced that the data for sexual assaults in 2007 had been significantly inflated. The numbers are part of the Clery report, which is a federally mandated report of crimes that occur on and around a college's campus.

ASUCD Senate meetings are scheduled to begin Thursdays at 6:10 p.m. Times listed are according to the clock at the Oct. 1 meeting location, the Memorial Union's Mee Room.

Meeting called to order at 6:11 p.m.

Joe Chatham, ASUCD president, absent

Chris Dietrich, ASUCD vice president, present

Joemar Clemente, ASUCD senator, present

Danny Garrett, ASUCD senator, present

Justin Gold, ASUCD senator, present

Erin Lebe, ASUCD senator, present

Kevin Massoudi, ASUCD senator, present

Justin Patrizio, ASUCD senator, present

Laura Pulido, ASUCD senator, present

Shawdee Rouhafza, ASUCD senator, present

Trevor Taylor, ASUCD senator, present

Mo Torres, ASUCD senator, present

Previn Witana, ASUCD president pro-tempore, present

Jack Zwald, ASUCD senator, present

In 2007, UC Davis students reported 69 cases of forcible sex assault - a number almost twice as much as all other UC campus reports combined. However, two recent reviews of these numbers have found that the statistics are significantly lower, due to a number of cases that lacked documentation. The new 2007 statistic indicated that in fact 33 cases of forcible sex offenses occurred - not 69.

Editor's Note: Every week, The Aggie will ask Annette Spicuzza UCD police chief the burning, sometimes incriminating, questions students often wonder. Here is the first installment of this weekly series.

Q: What happens if a police officer finds you having sex on campus?

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the greenest of them all? Soon the answer could be UC Davis if the campus maintains the high rankings that have helped it receive accolades from environmental groups.

UC Davis was recently ranked among the top 10 campuses nationally by Greenopia, an organization that rates universities based on a seven-part sustainability criteria including sustainable architecture, recycling and composting. The College Sustainability Report Card scored the campus with a B as a "campus sustainability leader," and Sierra Magazine scored it with an A-, rated 24th out of 135 colleges in its Cool Schools survey.

For the previous 2008 - 2009 academic year, there were a total of 603 academic referrals and 575 social referrals to Student Judicial Affairs.

Crises breed creativity - and now the University of California has opened its mind in search of ways to increase funding.

"Work groups" have been created across the board in search of answers. Two of the strategies under discussion are the creation of a differential pricing system among the UC's nine campuses and an attempt to raise foreign or out-of-state student enrollment.

UC Davis students can now have personal identity protection without breaking their budgets.

The university is partnering with security company Identity Finder LLC to give their Identity Finder software free to all UC Davis students. It will also be available through ucdavis.edu.

Any lady squirrels out there not looking for anything serious? Keep your eyes peeled for males with ear tags and dyed fur.

Not only have these males adopted human fashion trends, but they are also among the 68 squirrels that have already been given hormone injections to stop them from reproducing as part of an experiment to control the population of Eastern Fox squirrels on campus.

"There has been no noticeable increase in the population of the Eastern Fox squirrel," said Sal Genito, director of the Buildings and Grounds division of Facilities Management. "What I can tell from observing myself, I believe that the population is pretty much stabilized."