Features

For me, these past few summer vacations have been almost too much of a break from the stress of the academic year. The amount of idle time I'm left with typically leaves me to sit, pondering my life, thinking about what I'm doing with it and where it could go in the next year. By the time fall comes around, I'm always bordering on neurotic and more than happy to start classes and have something to occupy my mind again.

UC Davis class of 2015 ? dump your high school girlfriend. If there is one thing that I have learned about the world in my two years at a top university, it's that committed relationships are bad. If there is one thing I have learned about myself, it's that I will work very hard to de-commit any monogamous soul whose fate has crossed with my own.

There's a first for everything, and today is not quite one of them. Sure it's my first fifth Fall quarter as an Aggie which means I usually don't get lost trying to find my classes at this point.

Once college students leave the dorms, they become modern versions of hunter-gatherers. Whether they are content with keeping their kitchen cupboards full of easy, boxed meals of the instant variety, or prefer to have them stocked with essentials to create Food Network-worthy creations, every meal starts at the grocery store.

The days of paperback writers may soon give way to e-book writers. Culpepper Books and the Davis branch of Borders Books, Music and Cafe closed up shop this summer. Local bookstore owners said the closures seem to be on par with the trend away from reading paper versions of books to online or computer based reading.

Typical sources for greeting and grubbing on a budget include fraternity parties for alcohol and pizza at club meetings. Read on to discover more unique Davis institutions that provide both food and fun your wallet will thank you for later.

While textbooks are a necessary - albeit expensive - cost of attending college, students at UC Davis have many choices for prices, book conditions and booksellers.

Dr. Bai-Yin Chen, psychologist with Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and coordinator of peer counseling group The House, spoke with The California Aggie about typical dilemmas students experience at the start of Fall quarter and the keys to having a successful 2011-12 year.

UC Davis athletes of every skill level looking for some healthy competition need not try out for official Aggie teams to get involved in their favorite sports. Intramural (IM) sports have you covered.

Film Screening: Subjectified: Nine Young Women Talk About Sex; Medical Microbiology and Immunology Seminar; Arboretum 75th Anniversary Plant Faire and Sale; Catch, Collect and Curate: Entomology 101; Fall Migration at the Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology; Larry Richardson Book Signing.

A golden beverage emblematic of the indescribable Aggie spirit, and, conveniently, a perfect complement to steaks, burgers and pizza, is now available on tap at several local Davis restaurants.

Shared Service Center Town Hall Meeting; 2nd Friday ArtAbout; The Great California Paint Out.

As one of the many benefits of membership in the California Aggie Alumni Association (CAAA), UC Davis graduates have the opportunity to travel the globe with pre-planned itineraries in the company of their fellow Aggies.

You met the love of your life in your chemistry class your first year at UC Davis, and soon enough you're weighing the options of where to have your wedding ceremony.

ASUCD Blood and Marrow Drive; Craft Center Gallery Closing Reception: Me and My Flame; Guided Tour: Abundance and Water Conservation; Davis Pug Sunday.