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Guest opinion

Opinion
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By MARIANNE GLASER
Third-year, human development

Amidst stressing over midterms like any typical UC Davis student last week, I received a panic text from my sister: “The alarms went off again. I am going back into the bomb shelter. Neighbors already lost service, so if I lose mine soon, I love you.” Staring at my phone, I try not to think that this might be the last time I hear from my sister who lives in Southern Israel, one mile north of the Gaza Strip. I try to focus, but my mind is preoccupied.

The next day I received a phone call; “Hi, can’t talk, I have to pack, don’t know when or if I will come back. I love you, I’ll call when I can.” I am again struck that this brief conversation may be the last I get with my sister as the situation in the Middle East has become painfully personal.

While many of the conflicts in the Middle East are about religion, the one between Israel and the Palestinians is not — it is purely an issue of politics. Innocent victims to the political aspirations of the combatants are on both sides.

No Israeli deserves a lifestyle dominated by alarms and rushing into bomb shelters. No Palestinian deserves to live under the threat of Israeli retaliation for unprovoked rocket attacks.

The history of Israel makes clear that Palestinians and Israelis must unite against the common enemy of peace in the region, Hamas. We should recognize Hamas’ true agenda as the government in Gaza, and a recognized terrorist organization whose efforts have turned Gaza into an armed camp. While electricity and building materials are in short supply, Hamas has managed to smuggle in thousands of rockets.

Hamas’ sole goal is to achieve a single-state solution by destroying Israel. He hides behind Palestinian civilians by putting military equipment, soldiers and launch sites in residential neighborhoods. Rocket launchers used to fire into civilian areas in Israel are immediately targeted and destroyed by the Israeli air force. Israel is forced to choose between doing nothing while its civilians are being bombed, or to destroy Hamas’ rockets while risking Palestinian lives.

Israel is a nation that protects its citizens with defensive measures. Most schools and other public buildings all have bomb shelters as part of their design. Israel also has radar systems that set off public sirens warning of imminent rocket attacks. Israel’s Iron Dome intercepted and destroyed hundreds of incoming rockets that would have otherwise harmed, and potentially killed civilians.

This is not a conflict between Israelis and Palestinians; it is a necessary police action against Hamas to remove the threat of indiscriminate rocket fire designed to terrorize Israeli civilians.

As of Monday Nov. 19, the Israeli Air Force carried out over 1,200 air attacks on positions in Gaza.  If civilians in Gaza were being targeted, think of the number of innocent lives likely to be lost in such a densely populated area.

While any loss of innocent life is a tragedy, the fact that only a relative handful of civilians were killed in 1,200 air raids is hard to believe. America’s raids on terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan kill many more innocent civilians. Israel drops leaflets before an attack, warning civilians to leave the area.

Who fights a war like this? Not even the United States — only Israel. No matter how hard Israel tries to protect innocent civilians, inevitably innocent lives are lost in wartime chaos. Israel has the right to exist, and the right to retaliate and defend itself against terror.

Bike Share Program to be implemented in Davis

City Editor
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City of Davis and UC Davis Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS) are jointly considering implementing a bike share program that would facilitate both short- and long-term bicycle rentals. The proposed plan is in its initial stage of exploration, with both organizations considering a range of potential vendors to provide the service that best suits the city’s and campus’ dual needs.

“We’re excited about this opportunity. We’re hoping that some vendor out there comes with the program or service that we’re going to need to make this thing work,” said Clifford Contreras, director of TAPS.

The several potential providers encompass a range of different systems that would fulfill different needs. Among those being considered are Brompton Dock, Bixi and B-cycle, with each offering a distinct bike sharing program. Many of the options incorporate third-generation technology, which enables users to access a bike through an automated system and then return it to a docking station after its use.

“The third-generation bike share meets people’s specific needs. We want to give people in Davis this option,” said Dave Kemp, pedestrian and bicycle coordinator for the City of Davis.

Advancements in bike-sharing technology, furthermore, have brought about an increase in the number of organizations offering bike-sharing services.

“Now that systems are becoming more advanced and user friendly, there’s a lot more competition. Each offers very different systems logistically speaking. We want to find the way that works best financially for us,” said David Takemoto-Weerts, bicycle program coordinator at TAPS.

Contreras had a similar view about bike-sharing technology.

“It’s become a very competitive process. We will evaluate the proposals on the basis of whether the bidder is going to be able to meet the needs of the campus and the city,” Contreras said.

The program would primarily target those visiting Davis on a temporary basis, such as visiting professors, conference guests and visiting family or friends. Two initial stations are planned to be located at the Southern Pacific Depot and a central site on campus, either at the Memorial Union or at the Silo.

“The university is Davis’ number-one employer, which is why our primary goal is linking the campus with the train station,” Kemp said.

Providing tourists with a means of travel is a crucial underlying motive to the proposed scheme, and providing bikes to satisfy this is particularly significant given Davis’ reputation as the Bicycle Capital of the U.S.

“We want tourists to get here and have a means to experience Davis without having to rely on a vehicle or by foot,” Kemp said.

It is hoped that with due diligence and careful planning, a bike share system can be implemented as early as 2014.

“We’re moving along slowly and carefully to implement this in an intelligent way. We’re hoping that by mid-2014 we can have something on the ground,” Kemp said.

The initial investment to start the program is approximately $200,000, with this figure likely to fluctuate depending on the preferred system provider. This will be funded by a number of different contributions through the city, university regional development and key advertising opportunities that would encourage corporate sponsorship.

This cost could prove to be a setback in the implementation of the scheme, with opponents arguing that the money would be better invested in improving the cycling infrastructure — such as repairing bike lanes or providing covered racks.

The biggest hurdle from TAPS’ perspective is cost.

“If we can minimize our investment by securing grants from partnering with the city and bringing to the table potential subsidies through advertising, the project is more viable,” Contreras said. “Ultimately, we’ll find something that meets our needs. We’ll put it onto campus, and I think campus will be better for it. Once it’s here, people will be thinking, ‘What took [us] so long?’”

JOE STEPTOE can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

Davis police receive grant for DUI enforcement

City Editor
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In November, the Davis Police Department (DPD) received an $80,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in order to prevent instances of driving under the influence (DUI).

The DPD will distribute this grant throughout Yolo County and use it to fund its “Avoid the 8” DUI Task Force, a program which is dedicated to reducing DUI-related incidents. The initiative will include the participation of the city of Davis, Woodland, Winters, West Sacramento and UC Davis police departments, as well as the Yolo County Probation Department and Yolo County California Highway Patrol.

The DPD staff have said that they define their task force title as a warning to drivers.

“The ‘Avoid the 8’ DUI Task Force is named to send the message that if you don’t drink or use drugs and drive, you will avoid getting arrested by any of the eight participating law-enforcement agencies in the county,” said Landy Black, chief of the DPD.

The task force’s main course of action is the issuance of highly advertised DUI/Driver License Checkpoints. At the checkpoints, drivers are inspected for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment, as well as for legitimate licensing, in order to reduce the number of under-the-influence drivers. Operations like this have already been performed in Yolo County in August.

According to a study conducted by the NHTSA, use of enforcement checkpoints are not only cost-efficient but also produce positive results.

“Checkpoints have provided the most effective documented results of any of the DUI enforcement strategies, while yielding considerable cost savings of $6 for every $1 spent,” said DPD sergeant Rod Rifredi in a press release.

The department staff said that these inspections have proved to be considerably effective in preventing under-the-influence driving incidents.

“Crashes involving alcohol drop by an average of 20 percent when well-publicized checkpoints are conducted often enough,” Rifredi said.

The profound outcome of DUI prevention has encouraged local officials to take immediate action. The DPD chose to spend this grant on DUI enforcement due to the fact that DUI Task Forces in California have significantly reduced drunk and drugged driving related deaths from 2006 to 2010.

“Since the tragedy of DUI accounts for nearly one-third of traffic fatalities, Yolo County needs the high visibility enforcement and public awareness that this grant will provide,” said Christopher J. Murphy, director of the Office of Traffic Safety.

Money will also be contributed to performing Court Sting Enforcement Operations in order to catch known DUI offenders in the act. The criminals who repeatedly ignore court orders and continue driving with suspended licenses are the targets. Warrants and probation hearings will be distributed once the perpetrators are arrested.

WENDY CHAO can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

Dining Services offering up to $6,000 in Go Green Grants

Campus Editor
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In an effort to improve the sustainability of the campus community, UC Davis Dining Services has begun offering Go Green Grants of up to $6,000.

The program, now two years running, provides funds for students, staff and faculty to research, develop, implement and design solutions to  address campus sustainability challenges.

“We leave [the goals of the projects] completely open,” said James Boushka, UC Davis Dining Services marketing director. “We are looking for anything that has to do with food, and on the flipside, we have a non-food track. It’s the staff and faculty and students’ innovative ideas that we want.”
The Go Green Grant is competitive: last spring, only two applicants received it for a total of $3,000.
“UC Davis Dining Services recognizes the value in student engagement and education related to environmental and food systems sustainability through projects, service learning and student-organized activities,” the Dining Services website states.

The application process asks for a comprehensive overview of the project, a detailed budget and letters of support, in both a written application and a presentation.

A committee comprised of Dining Services staff, the Office of Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability and four students stewards the grant. They determine the recipients of the grant based on a clear description of their aims, innovation in their projects and an effective use of funds.
“It could be one or it could be many who get the grant,” Boushka said. “It all depends on the merit of the actual applications.”
The grant, established in the 2011-12 academic year, has thus far had six recipients.

Some of the projects established by the grant include the Field Guide to Sustainable Living in Davis, a two-unit course offered twice a year, the Aggie ReStore Project, a resale store that sells gently used items and holds lessons on creative repurposing and Wild Campus, a team of students, faculty and staff dedicated to building, studying and maintaining a wildlife habitat in addition to informing the community.

“The Go Green Grant was perfect [for Wild Campus] because it talked about sustainability and we only use sustainable resources,” said third-year wildlife, fish and conservation biology major and member of Wild Campus Alexa Kownacki. “A lot of funds through UC Davis only allow funds to be used for UC Davis students, and we wanted to preach our ideas to the Davis community of all ages.”

The grant will be accepting applications until Dec. 7. For more information, visit dining.ucdavis.edu/sus-green.html.

ROHIT RAVIKUMAR can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

News in Brief: Davis Art Center to host Holiday Sale

City Editor
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From Friday to Dec. 2, the Davis Art Center, located at 1919 F St., will hold its 22nd annual Holiday Sale.
According to a press release, this year the center will have even more vendors and more holiday activities. Over 70 vendors will be present, selling handmade items spanning from jewelry to artwork. Prices range from $2 to $200.
The sale is considered the largest fundraiser for the Davis Art Center, every vendor donates 15 percent of their profits back to the center.
Some local organizations and businesses will be collaborating with the center. Davis Pedicab will transport people from the Veterans Memorial Center parking lot to and from the Davis Art Center free of charge. Additionally, Stonesoup Catering will provide their gourmet, locally-sourced soup.
An activity for three to 12-year-old children, called the Children’s Secret Store, will allow them to do their own shopping for their parents and loved ones, while being accompanied by a volunteer. In addition, a table initiated last year called the Green Table encourages children to shop locally and sustainably. The table will feature items made with recycled materials.
Another activity will be the Wall of Art silent auction. Funds raised from this activity will go toward the Gerald Wooliever Scholarship Fund, which gives scholarships to high school art students. There will also be a Pottery Painting Room and Crafting Corner for kids to make their own gifts.

At noon on Dec. 1, there may also be a concert featuring the Davis Art Center’s music and dance ensembles, if the weather permits.

The sale will run from noon to 7 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m on Sunday.

— Claire Tan

Davis Farmers Market cookbook recipe contest

The California Aggie
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As reported in today’s California Aggie, our city’s very own Davis Farmers Market Cookbook has won national honors.

Authors Ann M. Evans and Georgeanne Brennan received $1,000 and the cookbook, placing first in the non-fiction category of the 2012 Writer’s Digest contest for self-published books, will be featured in the March 2013 issue of Writer’s Digest magazine.

But perhaps even more exciting for readers is that there’s an online, nationwide contest going on right now where you can win a grand prize of lunch with Evans and Brennan at Zagat-rated Osterio Fasulo in West Davis.

In 25 words or less, describe your favorite recipe in The Davis Farmers Market Cookbook, take a photo and submit before Dec. 12. Every week, a winner will be chosen and will win an autographed copy of the book. At the end of the contest, the public will vote online for the ultimate grand-prize winner. More details here.

Also note that there will be a book signing at the Farmers Market this Saturday from 10 – 11 a.m. — an ideal Davis-pride, holiday gift for the family back home.

Review: Skyfall

The California Aggie
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There are plenty of reasons for James Bond to hate his job. In the old novels by Ian Fleming, his love interests, loved ones and even casual acquaintances often met untimely deaths. His targets were always ego-maniacal, creepy eccentrics who knew how to tax him to his breaking point (if never quite managing to finish him off). He would most likely find himself recuperating from physical and psychological injuries at the end of an assignment rather than bedding beautiful women with outrageous  names.

    This is the sort of Bond we meet in Skyfall. Weakened by injuries after falling from an impossible height on the job (and then given up for dead by MI6), Bond cloisters himself in an obscure part of the world with unlimited access to alcohol and his other signature vices.

True to form however, he can never break off his relationship with death, fighting his boredom by playing with scorpions during bar bets and generally becoming depressed by his inaction. It takes a massive explosion on the home front in London to bring him out of voluntary retirement and help hunt down whoever is targeting MI6, or more importantly, his boss, M (Dame Judi Dench).

    After the stage is set, the film cracks on in a recognizably action-packed Bondian manner, but with a layer of growing melancholy that may put a damper on some of the fans’ enjoyment. After all, who wouldn’t want a straightforward, suave and campy adventure three movies into the Daniel Craig era, instead of a dark journey through the soul? Bond is barely passing his field exams, MI6 is finding less value in the old-fashioned rough work of the 00’s, and the new “bond girls” (some of the most intriguing women of the series) are pushed to the boundaries of the story.
In retrospect, all can be forgiven; for, as many reviewers have already noted, the true “girl” of the film is actually a real dame (hint: it’s the lovely Lady Dench). Bond’s loyalty to his boss through uncertain times leads to some of the most emotionally striking chords of the series, making the villain targeting M one of the most frighteningly personal.

Forget the menacing personality, Joker-like terrorist plan, and surprise deformity, the most disconcerting quality of bad-guy Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) is how he surfaces into Bond’s life like an evil older brother, intent on killing “mommy” (if you’ve seen the trailer, it’s his nickname for M, and she’s been “very bad”).

He stirs up all kinds of emotional baggage for the Bond concerning his family history and the surrogate-mother figure he has found in the woman who routinely sends him into harms way. Deep territory? Perhaps, but traversing it is still quite satisfying, and paves the way for a confident, more complete Bond as the traditional elements fall into place by the conclusion.

It doesn’t hurt that the mesmerizing opening credits are some of the best I’ve seen in a Bond film, showing the lead character “rolling in the deep” to a slick Adele tune.

ANDREW RUSSELL can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.

Column: Fallout vs. breakup

Opinion
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People say the hardest thing in life is to lose the one you love. What these people forgot to mention is who that person is. A spouse, a friend, a family member — all these are fine candidates for a loved one, but who makes the cut? Or do they all fall under the same umbrella?

Despite our differing backgrounds, most of us can agree that losing a family member would be a tough burden to handle. That leaves us with romantic partners and friends.

One could say that sorting through a breakup would trump the loss of a friend. Friends come and go, but the love of your life is intended to be with you forever.

I’d like to respectfully disagree with this statement.

While a breakup is never easy to handle, losing a friend shouldn’t be discounted. For me, falling out with a friend takes the cake.

Breaking up is a sudden action. It happens in one swift motion, similar to ripping off a Band-Aid. Except in this case, the Band-Aid creates a wound instead of healing it. One would know when broken up with. Whether through phone call, in person, or God forbid, text or even Facebook message — there’s no doubt that the relationship is over.

Broken friendships, however, take a more interesting path to disaster.

A friendship can go months, even years, without any sort of turbulence. Each friend can go about living life, possibly in different places. As time passes, they are unaware that their friendship is falling apart, until they wake up and realize that they haven’t spoken to their best friend in four years.

After a few minutes surfing through their ex-best friend’s Facebook page with statuses featuring someone new as their best friend, they realize their friendship is broken beyond repair.

This is because of the idea that friends are expendable. We’re socialized to believe that it’s necessary to have multiple friends. If one friend is busy, we move onto the next one. If one friend isn’t interested in seeing the movie you are, you’ll find one who does — different friends for different situations. This idea perpetuates that it’s easy to make friends and replace them.

While it’s easy to make acquaintances that fit from occasion to occasion, friends who impact you as strongly as great loves are hard to come by. Friends shouldn’t be used as temporary objects, replaced whenever a new, cooler model comes along. Because what if we did that with love? How far would we go if we threw away every great love because it was inconvenient or we wanted to know if something better was going to come along?

There’s a saying that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If we have everything you need in one or two friends, why are we so eager to expand our friendship to everyone we come in contact with? Four thousand Facebook acquaintances amount to nothing if none of them have your back.

I believe the words “best friend” should equate the word “love” in the sense that they should be saved for the people who really mean the most to you, not thrown around like everyday slang. Friendships should be cherished just as much as relationships, because in the end, who other than your best friend is going to be there to pick up the pieces of a broken heart when you’re too weak to do so?

When it comes to a fallout or a breakup, both are bound to happen at least once in our lifetimes. But like fighting for love, we should fight for our friendships as well.

Strong friendships have to be invested in; we shouldn’t just let nature take its path, burning bridges and estranging friends. No matter how hectic our lives may be, we should spend as much time with friends as we do dating.

Losing a love is just as painful as losing a friend; both make an impact on your life and both should be dealt with seriously.

While the idea of loved ones varies from person to person, to me, friends rank just as high on that list as anyone else. They shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Keep your relationships close, but keep your friendships even closer.

Ask JASON PHAM about his best friend at jpham@ucdavis.edu.

Column: Game shame

Opinion
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What used to be simply dots moving on a screen and eventually a few shapes and colors has grown into a vicious spectacle of lights, sounds and interactions between a person and a TV. Video games have come a long way, picking up wary travelers for their greatest adventures, and leaving many behind to view at a distance.

For how far the game has come, being a gamer is still shameful to an extent. Of course, gaming is not entirely the mind-numbing experience it used to be — it has merit, it has great potential that it reaches on many occasions, and it is a growing art form.

So what creates this metaphorical distance from the general public and the video game that makes this art form difficult to understand?

It turns out this distance is proportional to that of hands from the controller.

I made a mistake once that can be incorrectly construed as a relationship blunder. Upon a visit from my girlfriend I fell into the trap that many a young gamer (because they finally have girlfriends!) will stumble across: playing a game with my girlfriend in the room.

It seems obvious now why she was mad at me. What it must have looked like to her was me playing a game while I was supposed to be entertaining her. It seemed as if I was ignoring her for the sake of the game, but that was hardly my intention. I don’t think my mistake was simply playing the game in her presence, but failing to realize the function of video games as art.

I honestly wanted her to see the game. I personally thought it was beautiful and wondered why she couldn’t look at it as I had hoped she would — not as me playing a game, but as me showcasing a work of art. What I then realized was she couldn’t see it the way I did, because she did not experience it as I did.

As a spectator she was put at a distance. It wasn’t measurable as the distance between her and the TV — we were the same distance from the TV. Her distance was a world apart, because video games are not meant to be seen, they’re meant to be played.

Most gamers can probably share a similar experience — a friend of theirs comes over while they’re in the middle of an interactive experience, and the friend is forced to watch them play. Gaming shame is partly the result of the solitary nature of games. The friend is made uncomfortable by their lack of involvement and by the fact that the gamer couldn’t care less at that moment — he or she is alone in another world created by the experience.

It’s only afterward that they can understand that they might as well have invited their friend over to watch porn and masturbate. It would have been a similar level of discomfort.

Visit a museum or a movie theater with a friend, and both of you can look at a painting or swap criticism and jokes at the expense of a movie. It can be a shared experience. The single-player campaign of a video game is an entirely different realm of art. No matter how cinematic a game experience may get, the art of a game is not simply how a story unfolds but how your interaction with that world unfolds the story.

Video games have an understandably strong bias toward the player, not the observer. Whether or not developers want to bridge the gap between observer and player, the unique experience is the result of a game’s design to be played, not witnessed.

My wish was that I could introduce someone to the beauty of video game art, but the quality of this particular art is that it must be interacted with. It’s difficult to convince someone of the legitimacy of such a time-consuming art.

And video games certainly aren’t for everyone, just like going to a museum doesn’t appeal to a lot of people. I believe it would do both sides of the discussion some good to think about each other’s experience with video games and be mindful of what is necessary to the experience. There is no need to hide your enthusiasm for a game, but there’s also no excuse to strain your relationship for the sake of a game.

That being said, buy a second controller already and play some co-op.

NICK FREDERICI wants to experience art with you via Black Ops 2, send your gamertag to nrfred@ucdavis.edu.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon suspended from UC Davis

Campus Editor
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Sigma Alpha Epsilon, the oldest fraternity at UC Davis, was suspended in April for multiple allegations of serving alcohol to minors.
The fraternity, made famous by its gentlemen motif, is not allowed to raise funds on campus, use university resources or be affiliated with UC Davis in any way for five years. The suspension follows on the heels of several other alcohol-related incidents with SAE in chapters around the United States, including the death of one student at Cornell University.

“In October 2009, SAE was found responsible for theft of an A-frame sign taken from campus and used to advertise a rush event, providing alcohol to an underage student at a party at the fraternity house and engaging in conduct that threatened the health and safety of a person after a pledge was injured at a bid night event where alcohol was provided,” said Joaquin Feliciano, Greek Life Coordinator with the UC Davis Student Housing Office of Student Development.

Subsequently,  SAE had its fraternity status revoked for approximately two years. After its status had been reinstated, the fraternity was placed on probation for one academic year. In January and February of 2012, SAE was found guilty of serving alcohol to minors at two parties, a violation of their probation.

“Because the group was still on conditional registration at the time of both of these incidents, UC Davis revoked its recognition as a registered student organization for a period of no less than five years,” Feliciano said.

The fraternity may apply to be reinstated as a registered student organization no earlier than the spring of 2017. Until then, the influence of SAE is virtually nonexistent.

“Sigma Alpha Epsilon no longer has a presence at UC Davis,” said university spokesperson Julia Ann Easley in a press release.

Members of the Davis chapter of SAE did not respond to requests for an interview.

The nation’s largest fraternity, which boasts a presence in 250 campuses, inducted 4,000 members this past year. The Davis chapter had 50 active members at the time of its banning. The gold letters from its location on Russell Boulevard have been removed, although the driveway paint remains. The large house currently sits silent, tucked between sorority Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi and the Islamic Center of Davis on what is commonly known as “Frat Row.”

The national SAE headquarters supported the university’s decision.

After a member of the Cornell University chapter died early last year from a hazing ritual, the organization does not appear to be taking any chances.

Their official risk management book of guidelines, titled “Minerva’s Shield,” states: “The possession, use, sale and/or consumption of alcoholic beverages must be in compliance with any and all applicable federal, state or city laws and university regulations. Underage possession and consumption is prohibited.”

Though their website includes links to various press releases concerning SAE and their activities around the nation, there is no mention of the Davis chapter.

SAE was recently included in the list of non-registered student organizations, or non-RSOs, present at UC Davis. Non-RSOs are blocked from campus affiliation for violating requirements with the Center for Student Involvement, or for having their status revoked. Some voluntarily remain independent.

Among these non-RSOs is Phi Alpha Iota, which bears the same name as what the organization SAE used to be known as when it was first established in 1913. Several former members of SAE  are participating in Phi Alpha Iota, although no official link currently exists between the organizations. SAE originally began on campus as Phi Alpha Iota in 1913, according to a July 14 article by The Sacramento Bee.

Feliciano declined to comment on why Phi Alpha Iota remains a non-RSO.

While alcohol consumption by minors is a staple of fraternity culture, this is the first time such a reprimand has taken place.

In response to whether Fraternity Row had a history of serious offenses regarding underage drinking, UC Davis Chief of Police Matthew Carmichael said , “Not to my knowledge, but I would have to take a look through the records.”

ADAM KHAN can be reached at campus@theaggie.org

Local cookbook wins national prize

City Editor
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The Davis Farmers Market Cookbook, written by Ann M. Evans and Georgeanne Brennan, recently placed first in the non-fiction category of the 2012 Writer’s Digest contest for self-published books.

The authors were awarded $1,000 in prize money and the book will be featured in the March 2013 issue of Writer’s Digest magazine. This is not the only award the book has received, it also took home first place in the 2012 National Indie Excellence Book Awards in the Regional Cookbook category.

“We were thrilled to win,” Evans said. “Especially being a cookbook in a non-fiction category, there is a lot of competition. It’s wonderful.”

Evans is the co-founder of the Davis Farmers Market and the Davis Food Co-Op and a former mayor of the City of Davis. She is also a UC Davis alumna who was awarded the 2012 UC Davis College of Agriculture and Environmental Science Award of Distinction for Outstanding Alumni.

“Our goal was not only to showcase what an incredible market the Davis Farmers Market is, but to help the county become known for its amazing food and agriculture and to honor its local farmers,” Evans said.

The book, which is published by Mirabelle Press, features recipes by both Evans and Brennan. Recipes are organized by season to exhibit the variety of ingredients available at the market throughout the year. According to Evans, an active cook, the recipes are not intended to be complicated or overwhelming.

“They’re designed for people who love good, simple food,” Evans said. “But there are also some recipes for those who are feeling more ambitious.”

The project began about three-and-a-half years ago, when Evans and Brennan began seeing various cookbooks inspired by farmers markets. The Davis Farmers Market is unique, according to Evans, due not only to its scale but because it is one of only a few farmers markets to be held under a permanent structure designed specifically for that purpose.

“We were looking for a new project, and we knew the Davis market was an amazing market,” Evans said. “Georgeanne has written over 30 cookbooks, I have a long history with the market, and we worked with the market for about half a year. We pulled together an amazing team.”

In addition to being co-authors, Evans and Brennan are also business partners at their marketing and consulting firm, Evans & Brennan, LLC. The eight-year-old firm, according to the official Evans & Brennan, LLC website, specializes in food, agriculture and school lunch, with the goal of shortening the distance from farm to table in businesses, hospitals and particularly schools.

“We work with school groups who want to implement a sustainable kitchen,” Evans said. “We want lunches to be a joyous time for children.”

Evans’ involvement with local agriculture began while she was a student at UC Davis living in a vegetarian co-op house downtown.

“We cooked meals together to save money, but there wasn’t really a place to purchase the kinds of foods we ate in bulk,” Evans said. “We started a buying club to purchase products in bulk from local farmers such as cheese and dry goods, but we were all really interested in agriculture, particularly small organic farms. We were interested in creating a market.”

The student buying club evolved into the Davis Food Co-Op, which officially opened in 1976, according to the Davis Food Co-Op website. Evans stayed involved with the Co-Op as a volunteer for about ten years. The Davis Farmers Market, which Evans also co-founded, began in 1976 as well, and the Co-Op helped attract farmers to the market by guaranteeing that they would purchase local farmers’ goods that did not sell at the market.

“It took a long time to organize,” Evans said. “It was very intense, but people were very responsive.”

The Davis Farmers Market Cookbook is available for purchase locally at the Davis Food Co-Op, the Davis Farmers market, the Avid Reader and Ace Hardware. It is also available on Amazon.

Mirabelle Press is running a nationwide Davis Farmers Market Cookbook recipe contest through Dec. 13. Contest entrants must describe in 25 words or less their favorite recipe from the book and why, along with a photo of the dish. Weekly winners will be posted on the book’s website and each winner will win an autographed copy of the book.

According to the cookbook’s website, the public can vote on a grand prize winner among the weekly winners on the website between Dec. 13 and Dec 19. The winner will be announced on Dec. 20 and will receive a seasonal lunch with Evans and Brennan at Osteria Fasulo, in Davis.

MEREDITH STURMER can be reached at city@theaggie.org

Aggies win both games at Houston Baptist Husky Classic

Sports Editor
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The UC Davis women’s basketball team didn’t spend Thanksgiving break at home this past week, but will return to school with much to be thankful for.

The Aggies traveled to Texas to participate in the Houston Baptist Husky Classic for the two-day tournament. UC Davis faced off with Navy and then Houston Baptist and walked away with two wins.

Senior Cortney French put down 23 points in the first game and then 16 in the second to earn herself the Husky Classic Tournament MVP honor. Sophomore Sydnee Fipps also had strong performances in both games and was named to the All-Tournament team.

With the two wins this weekend, the Aggies evened their record on the season to 2-2.

Friday — UC Davis 66, Navy 63 (OT)

UC Davis got its first win of the season on Friday when it took down Navy in an overtime thriller at Sharp Gym in Houston.

French, in her first game of the season, went eight for 11 from the field, including 5-7 from beyond the three-point arc to score more than one-third of the Aggies’ points.

UC Davis went into halftime trailing the Midshipmen 35-31 after exchanging blows throughout the first half.

Having entered the break with the lead, Navy then began the second half by adding to their lead, which got to as big as 10 points with just under five minutes to play.

The Aggies, however, never let the game slip out of reach and clawed back whenever the Midshipmen seemed to pull away, outscoring Navy 28-24 in the second half.

“We had really good defensive energy and applied more pressure that gave them problems in the second half,” said head coach Jennifer Gross. “The key was defensive boards, because we gave up way too many offensive rebounds in the first half.”

The game came down to the wire, with the Aggies trailing with only six seconds remaining. French got a dish from senior Blair Shinoda and drained a clutch three to send the game into overtime at an even score of 59-59.

With the momentum clearly on their side, UC Davis completed the comeback in overtime and finished off the Midshipmen 66-63 with seven free-throws in the extra period.

“We focused on our half court trap, paying attention to steals and applying pressure,” Gross said. “This is a defense, where if you can do that, you create points on the other side, and our defense created our offense against Navy.”

Saturday — UC Davis 77, Houston Baptist 64

The Aggies’ second game of the weekend involved a little less stress, thanks to Fipps and French, who put up five of the game’s six points to give UC Davis a lead they never relinquished.

Fipps’ three-pointer 12 seconds into the game set the tone for the Aggies, who proved to be too much for host Houston Baptist in the final game of the tournament.

The 28 points by Fipps — a career-high for her — led the Aggies, and was supplemented by French’s 16.

“Sydnee can score in so many different ways, and she’s had big numbers since the first game,” Gross said. “She does whatever the team needs from her and she was phenomenal all weekend.”

The Aggies forced 21 turnovers and had 33 points off those defensive plays, following the game against Navy in which they had 28 points off turnovers.

“We felt like we had a size advantage, and we tried to get active to create turnovers,” Gross said. “We’re getting better at our defense and we have a lot of players whose roles [have] increased significantly on court.”

Freshman Celia Marfone scored 10 points in the first game and earned a starting spot in the second game.

For her clutch play and 39 points over the two games, French was named the Husky Classic Tournament MVP.

“Against Navy, Cortney hit a three to send us into overtime, but Blair set up the play and executed it perfectly,” Gross said. “Cortney brings so many intangibles to the court and is such an offensive threat, but this is a total team effort, and as people get more comfortable with their role and everyone contributes, we can only get better.”

MATTHEW YUEN can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

News in Brief: Pizza delivery person robbed

City Editor
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Last Tuesday night at 1880 Cowell Blvd., a pizza delivery person was approached by two male subjects demanding the delivery person’s money.
According to the Davis Police, the subjects said they had a weapon, although it wasn’t drawn.

The suspects are described as being in their 20’s, about 6 feet tall and wearing black sweatshirts. One was a white male adult and the other was a Hispanic male adult.

They were last seen walking eastbound on Cowell Boulevard.
— Claire Tan

Town Halls organized to discuss search for next vice chancellor of Student Affairs

Campus Editor
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Town hall meetings will be held on Dec. 3 by UC Davis administration to discuss desired qualifications for the next vice chancellor of Student Affairs. Various constituent groups have also been invited to attend, according to UC Davis Dateline.

University administration and Alberto Pimentel, a managing partner at Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates, will work in conjunction to assess the information gathered at town halls and then present it to the recruitment committee. Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates is a national executive search firm.

Currently, four town halls have been scheduled in the multipurpose room of the Student Community Center, from 8:30 to 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m. to noon, 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. and 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. Students are encouraged to attend.

University administration encourages those who are not able to attend the town hall meetings to email qualifications that they believe should be present in the next vice chancellor to vcstudentaffairssearch@ucdavis.edu

The position became vacant when former Vice Chancellor Fred Wood accepted a chancellor’s position at the University of Minnesota, Crookston. Wood served as a UC Davis faculty member for 26 years.

— Muna Sadek

ASUCD senators-elect discuss goals, expectations

Features Editor
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Editor’s note: The Aggie interviewed the six newly-elected ASUCD senators. They will be sworn in at the ASUCD Senate meeting Thursday, Nov. 29. The interviews are in alphabetical order by first name.

Alyson Sagala
Fourth-year political science and communication double major
The Aggie: What are your goals as senator?
Sagala: My goals as a senator are to make sure that we are creating a level of representation for students that allows everyone to feel inclusive and welcome and that they feel comfortable coming to Senate meetings, and being able to explicitly voice their opinions to the senators sitting on the table without being afraid that they’ll be laughed out or turned away or told that their concerns are unimportant, which has happened in the past.
The Aggie: How was your campaigning experience?
Sagala: My experience was amazing personally because I received so much support from people I didn’t even know a lot of the time, who just liked what I stood for and was running for. Overall, my campaign experience was really positive. I learned a lot of things, I met a lot of amazing people [and] I became really close with a lot of communities on campus.
The Aggie: What do you think qualifies you to be the student voice by being senator?
Sagala: My dedication. The fact that I feel like I worked extremely hard on this campaign. I network as much as possible to everyone on campus, because I want to make sure everyone’s getting an equal level of representation. I have a very open mind. I may not have been on a commission, but working on a unit gave me a very intimate perspective on how ASUCD functions as far as budget allocations and politics. I also think being able to receive the amount of votes I did get is already a strong factor showing that I was qualified.
The Aggie: What have you taken away from campaigning?
Sagala: Politics is not for the fearful. You have to be really aggressive. Don’t be afraid that people are going to be mean to you, turn you down, yell at you or ignore you. If you’re passionate about something, nothing should stop you. And that’s what I’ve learned the most. I became very passionate about this as the campaign escalated, and I learned not to let anything hinder me from achieving my goals, which was not just be elected but to gain support.

Armando Figueroa
Third-year Chicana/o studies and sociology double major
The Aggie: What is the first thing you want to do about campus?
Figueroa: The first thing I would want to do is to succeed in executing my platforms. One thing I really want to do is augment visibility of administration, and I want to create dialogues. I want to do this as soon as the end of this quarter or the beginning of winter [quarter]. It’s just something I need to work out the logistics of right now, but I’ve talked to some administrators, and they were open about it. I want to create spaces where it may be heated but these dialogues obviously need to be done.
The Aggie: What are you looking forward to after becoming an ASUCD senator?
Figueroa: I’m looking forward to collaboration from different sides of campus that I may or may have not been exposed to already. There may have been instances where people feel like I’m a polarizing figure, but that comes with every ASUCD senator. So one thing I’m very much looking forward to is having arguments and being able to collaborate with the person I disagreed with. If I hold unpopular views on the Senate table, I look forward to having those views challenged.
The Aggie: What is your drive to helping the campus by being a senator?
Figueroa: What drives me to do it is not so much [about] people not caring about political issues. That may drive other people, because they want to inform [them], but my drive is very much that I see the effects, I’ve seen the change, I’ve seen the positive outlooks that I’ve had [and] I’ve seen things go bad to good. My ambition is [for] people to see me as someone who can create that connection and really make sure that students know these issues affect them.
The Aggie: What would you like your campus to know post-election?
Figueroa: There’s more heart in mobilizing a community than there is in resources. Being immersed in a community is so important, because these are your family members. There shouldn’t be any reason we should draw lines. Just because I claim to be underrepresented, [it] doesn’t mean I’m drawing a line. I’m not just representing one group. I very much value community [and] everyone. Love is what got me here. Just speak from your heart and work from your heart.

Felicia Ong
Second-year political science and communication double major
The Aggie: How was the campaign experience?
Ong: During petitioning week, I was honestly very scared. During petitioning, I got to a point where my mental health wasn’t that great … and I then decided to make the best of it. It was a struggle I was glad that I went through. I still don’t believe I was elected. It definitely ensures that if you believe in something [it can happen]; if there’s a will, there’s a way.
The Aggie: Have you always been active in politics?
Ong: I would have to say no. During my freshman year, I was looking for a job and I ended up … getting hired under Adam Thongsavat [former ASUCD president]. I thought that after he left that I would be done, but there were so many different things that he inspired me to look into. A lot of students came up to me saying, ‘I don’t understand. Why do I have to know who the UC Regents are?’ I think it’s because of that lucky coincidence that I continue to be [politically involved] on my campus.
The Aggie: What do you want to do first now that you’re a senator?
Ong: I am going to let students know I’m a resource for them. I might not finish every single project that I have, but there are a lot of issues on our campus that need to be addressed, whether it’s safety — there’s been racist attacks, a rapist incident — and it’s just really taking in students’ concerns and listening to them before I get focused on platforms.
The Aggie: What do you hope to achieve in the long run with the experience of being a senator?
Ong: I don’t think it’s more so my platforms, but it’s mainly ‘Did I serve as an adequate resource for students?’ The purpose of the ASUCD Senate is to make sure every student has their rights. I could accomplish 500 platforms, but it wouldn’t matter if it didn’t help the students.”

Liam Burke
Second-year political science public service major
The Aggie: What do you plan to achieve as senator?
Burke: I plan to achieve primarily my two platforms, which is to implement mid-quarter course evaluations and help the Greek community go green. We’re going to go to the [Academic Senate], talk to them and if they shoot me down or if it takes a while, then I’ll just go around departmentally and talk to professors and department chairs and see if I can get people on board with [implementing mid-quarter course evaluations], because I see a need for it.
The Aggie: Why did you want to run for Senate?
Burke: I had some ideas of things I wanted to fix. I wanted to represent the student body at the Senate table. It’s something I find personally gratifying [and] I like politics. It’s what really interests me, and it’s an experience that I just wanted.
The Aggie: What was the best part about campaigning?
Burke: The best part of the campaign was when I got a friend request on        Facebook from a girl I’d never met. We had a couple of mutual friends, and so I accepted it. Then she messaged me a couple of minutes later and said, ‘Hey, I know I’ve never met you before, but I read your platforms in The Aggie, and I wanted to tell you that I voted for you and I got all my housemates to vote for you, because I read your idea to implement mid-quarter course evaluations and thought it was amazing. So please do that, because that’s a really good idea.’ This is the first time she’s voted in three years as a student and seeing that one of my ideas could inspire somebody to actually participate in something they had not participated in before was really amazing. It made me really proud of all the work I had done and hopefully all the work I can do. It was a touching moment.
The Aggie: What do you look forward to now that you have won?
Burke: Rest. At least until I get sworn in next week [the 29th]. So I’m going to get as much sleep as possible before then, and then I’m going to get to work.

Max Kappes
Fourth-year applied statistics and political science public service double major
The Aggie: What were the best and worst parts of your campaign?
Kappes: I really enjoyed talking to students, finding out what was more important to them. Since I ran under a club-related platform, it was really fun when I ran into club leaders and got to talk to them. They were really into the idea of student organizations uniting and being able to work together. As for the worst part, [it was] lack of sleep … lack of sleep is awful. I slept through way too many alarms.
The Aggie: What cause are you most passionate about?
Kappes: Uniting student organizations. I came from a junior college, and there we had something called the Interclub Council. All student organizations send student representatives and they work together, and a lot of clubs do bring [ideas], they have club days, pumpkin carving contests, all these kind of things. When I came here, I realized there was no infrastructure for that. That’s why I’m here.
The Aggie: What do you hope to achieve as an ASUCD senator?
Kappes: I want to strengthen how student organizations operate in student government. Ultimately I want to increase the involvement of students on campus, and outreach for ASUCD to clubs.
The Aggie: Do you hope to pursue politics in the future?
Kappes: I’m a political science major, but I like numbers, which is kinda rare for political science majors. I’m really interested in campaign sciences, actual political science, that’s where I want to go.

Tal Topf
Second-year psychology and communication double major
The Aggie: How long did it take to prepare platforms and publicity?
Topf: I reached out to Rebecca Sterling [former ASUCD senator] to get involved, probably the second week of the quarter … then I met with Carly Sandstrom and Bradley Bottoms [who started and founded the NOW slate] and that’s when I decided why I wanted to run. We started [getting everything ready for platforms] probably the second or third week of the quarter. But the publicity never ended.
The Aggie: What are the main goals of NOW?
Topf: We want to make sure that every single student has a voice, and that every single group on campus feels that they are being represented. The truth is that 12 people are representing a group of 30,000 students. For us as senators, it’s important that we make decisions without any bias and in the best interest of the students.
The Aggie: What will you do first now that you’re a senator?
Topf: I don’t know the new senators very well, I don’t know the old senators very well, and I think it’s important that we establish ourselves as a table so that we can help the students when we reach out to them. I really want to bond with everyone, and find out what everyone wants out of the experience and make sure that we are all on the same page.
The Aggie: What would you like to tell the student body post-election?
Topf: Thank you! It’s amazing how many people voted.

JOYCE BERTHELSEN and ALYSSA KUHLMAN can be reached at features@theaggie.org.

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