Features

President Barack Obama recently signed a bill preventing people under the age of 21 from obtaining a credit card unless they have a co-signer or can show they have the capacity to pay back loans on their own.

The CARD Act was designed to prevent students in debt as well as other consumers from being taken advantage of by credit card companies with unfair lending and billing practices.

A growing trend in the workplace and on college campuses is the use and abuse of prescription drugs to enhance brain performance. Drugs like Adderall, Ritalin and Provigil - normally prescribed to treat ADHD and narcolepsy - are used by many researchers and students as a way of maintaining focus and raising productivity levels.

With standards for achievement seemingly always on the rise (particularly at UC Davis, where the average GPA for admitted first-years is now 3.94), it's no wonder people are turning to what has become known as "brain doping" to achieve.

This Thursday, friends, family and members of the UC Davis community will come together to honor Malfitano's memory, as the ASUCD Conference Room is officially renamed the Angelina Malfitano Room. The ceremony will begin at 4 p.m. on the third floor of the Memorial Union.

"She was charming and completely disarming … I don't think I met anyone who was just so eager to complement people," said Adam Barr, a 2005 alumnus and former ASUCD senator, who worked Malfitano in student government.

TODAY

Water Justice: Local and Global Perspectives

Noon

3201 Hart

Check out this panel discussion sponsored by the John Muir Institute of the Environment.

Open Mic Night with SickSpits

7 to 10 p.m.

Griffin Lounge

Open Mic Night is a free event, and lets artists showcase their talent.

Students can enjoy a night of spoken word and acoustic performances. Please arrive early, as seating is limited.

Editor's Note: Chris came to us during fall 2008. The Aggie asked him to tell UC Davis his story of how he came here and what his life was like as an exchange student.

My name's Chris and I'm British. Now let me tell you a story. It was March 2008 and I was about to find out where I would be spending my year abroad. My choices had been narrowed down to the University of California schools, and I'll be honest, UC Berkeley was top of the list.

TODAY

Project Compost meeting

6 p.m.

West Quad

Learn how to compost 1,000 pounds of food on campus and experience the beauty of compost!

Student Nutrition Association meeting

6 to 7 p.m.

226 Wellman

This will be the last general meeting of the school year!

Texas Hold 'Em Poker Tournaments

6 to 8 p.m.

Griffin Lounge

Seats fill up quickly, so go early! Be one of the top players and you may be invited to play in the tournament of champions!

Rational Comedy for an Irrational Planet

8:30 to 11:30 p.m.

Varsity Theater, 616 2nd St.

Go check out a comedy performance by science comedian Brian Malow at the Varsity Theater!

$6 presale, $8 at the door

Wearing anything from booty shorts to butt-less cheetah thongs, jock straps to jockey shorts, more than 300 UC Davis students sprinted across town in their "skivvies" on Friday night, celebrating the third annual UC Davis Undie Run.

The event was organized by Mike Veliz, a junior studio art major, who decided his first year that UCD should be part of a growing college tradition, already embraced by schools such as San Diego State University, UC Santa Barbara, UC Los Angeles and the University of Texas.

In the May 27 edition of The California Aggie, the article "'Brain doping' common among scientists and professionals" incorrectly spelled the name of Hank Greely, professor of law and bioethics at Stanford University, as Greeley. The Aggie regrets the error.

The year was 1977.

It was the middle of the Cold War. Jimmy Carter was President. Star Wars hit theaters for the first time. Elvis Presley performed his last concert.

Much has changed since then.

Unfortunately, blood donor guidelines are still living in the past from when the AIDS scare was relegated to those men who have had sex with another man (MSM).

TODAY

Sunaina Maira talk

Noon to 1 p.m.

Art Lounge, MU

At this, the last author reading of the quarter, hear UC Davis Asian American Studies Associate Professor Susaina Maira speak about her book Missing: Youth, Citizenship, and Empire after 9/11. This free event will be followed by a book signing.

Lake Tahoe: Five Decades of Change and the World Water Crisis

4 p.m.

East Conference Room, MU

Dr. Charles Goldman will give this talk, which is sponsored by the John Muir Institute of the Environment.

Foster Care Awareness

6 to 8 p.m.

206 Olson

Learn where to volunteer as well as facts and myths about foster care. Additionally, the film White Oleander will be screened.

Vet Aide Club meeting

6 p.m.

176 Everson

This is the club's last meeting of the year. Vote for next year's officers, order VAC shits and scrubs and learn about internships!

King Corn movie screening

7:30 p.m.

ASUCD Coffee House

While viewing this movie, enjoy some free popcorn from the Student Farm.

Investing 102: Investing in a Bear Market

7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

MU II

Go check out the Finance & Investment Club's presentation. Attire is business casual.

UNITY

8 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.

Freeborn Hall

Dance all night for a good cause with UNITY - the first electronic dance charity event in Davis! The event will include up and coming DJs, Go-Go dances, lasers, lighting and giveaways. All proceeds go to the Davis Children's Hospital. Tickets cost $10 at the Freeborn Hall Box Office, and will be sold until Wednesday.

Whenever I hear, or participate in discussion about where to get Mexican food in Davis, it's often limited to Taqueria Guadalajara or El Mariachi. Guad's - as it's familiarly known - is cheap and easy, located across the street from the apartment complexes on Alvarado where seemingly every third Davis student lives. And El Mariachi is mere blocks from the bars and features amazing agua fresca. It's a great debate, and Chipotle picks up a few votes too, even though it's swarming with high schoolers.

Enter the wild card - Taqueria Davis, "Home of the California Burrito." Located at the corner of Fifth Street and L Street next to Aggie Liquor and Pizza Guys. It gets my vote and is absolutely worth the trip.

When U.S. Representative Jackie Speier was 16, her family got a letter in the mail asking for contributions to Leo J. Ryan's California State Assembly campaign. Speier didn't have much money to contribute, but she did have time. She signed on as a campaign volunteer, soliciting support at shopping centers and community events.

Reflecting on that pivotal event in her life, Speier advises: "Don't wait to get involved - start now. Don't think you're too young to make an impact. And don't feel like you have to know someone to get involved - just knock on your assemblymember's or congressperson's door."

TODAY

Campus Judicial Board Sno-Cones

10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

MU Patio

CJB and Student Judicial Affairs will be giving out free sno-cones in front of the MU for all who attend. Chill out before finals, and don't cheat!

East Quad Farmers Market

10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

East Quad

Support local farmers and buy some fresh produce, nuts, flowers and more! Pick up some tasty treats for a fun springtime dinner or a nice afternoon snack.

Take the real food taste test

11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

ASUCD Coffee House

Stop by and taste some real food!

Barry Bonds. Shawne Merriman. Alex Rodriguez. Marion Jones. The list goes on, and so too does the ethical debate that surrounds athletes and their use of performance enhancing drugs. In the shadows of this ever-evolving controversy, though, lies an ethically similar but contextually different issue: "brain doping."

Last year, as an April Fools' joke, a faux-press release by The National Institutes of Health (NIH) circulated the Internet. It stated that there were new initiatives to combat the use of brain enhancing drugs. The World Anti-Brain Doping Authority (WABDA) was to enforce the set of regulations among scientists.