Opinion

UC Davis is known for its advancements in environmental science. Now,it’s faced with cleaning up its own mess.

I recently read the Letter to the Editor dated Oct. 2, 2008, “Starbucks on campus not OK” and would like to provide some information regarding our ethical sourcing practices for coffee and cocoa. As North America’s largest purchaser of Fair Trade Certified™ coffee and among the largest worldwide, we share common goals with the Fair Trade movement. In 2007, we purchased almost a third of the Fair Trade Certified™ coffee imported into the U.S.

For the past three months the University of California Board of Regents has been considering a proposal that would eliminate the requirement for applicants to submit SAT II subject test scores in order to have their applications reviewed.

The Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts has attracted renowned artists and speakers such as anthropologist Jane Goodall, violinist Itzhak Perlman and the Cirque de Soleil performers. Tickets for in-demand events such as these have not been readily available to students in the past. Because tickets are released early to subscribers, most of whom are […]

Drivers in California will no longer be legally allowed to send text messages while they drive starting in January 2009. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed SB 28 into law, a belated addition to the recent legislation regarding cell phones and motorists.

After months of discussion, the Davis City Council made progress towardapproving a living wage for some people employed by the city through contractors. The ordinance, which would only apply to contractors whomeet a certain threshold of business from the city, is being examined on a scale that would pay between $10 and $14.21 per hour. Currently, these employees may be paid as low as the state minimum wage, $8 per hour. People employed directly by the city are already on a living wage pay scale.

Under current state law,illegal immigrants qualify for in-state tuition at the University of California if they attend a California high school for at least three years and graduate with a diploma orGED.A lawsuit working its way through the court system,Martinez v.Regents,threatens to take away this tuition break.

Editor’s note:Tiffany Gilmore is a graduate student at UC Davis who wrote intoThe Aggie to raise awareness of the plight faced by Haitian citizens after the recent hurricane.

This year,as I’m sure you’re aware by now,marks the100th birthday of UC Davis.There has been a great deal of change since the university opened its doors to students in1908,but The California Aggie has been here for93of those100years,servingthe Davis community since1915.

Welcome to my last column of the summer! If you’ve been reading my column the entire summer,you might be surprised to find out that I received the most reader response (over the entire summer) for my column on random thoughts.

It should come as no surprise that Republican presidential candidate John McCain chose, at long last, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate. Wait, no, the announcement came as a huge surprise.

As a result of a discussion with my friends this weekend about names, I’ve been thinking about names and what they mean lately. Consequently, this column will be a limited dissection of the names of some people you may have heard of. To keep the investigation as honest as possible, I looked only at etymology and commonly held interpretations of names. I visited the helpful ancestry.com, cross-referenced with other websites, and even delved into the labyrinthine depths of genealogical forums.