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Cool Davis Festival promotes green living

City Editor

October 16, 2012

Cool Davis Festival promotes green living

The Cool Davis Festival took place Oct. 13 at Davis Central Park to celebrate Davis for being a “cool” city. The event took place on the park’s lawn, which was filled with booths about sustainability and being aware of carbon emissions.

A Girl Scout table offered activities such as planting wheatgrass or flower seeds in an eggshell and making art with seeds. The Carbon Solutions Center was available in the center of the park for people to find out more information about various types of energy conservation, how to reduce people’s carbon footprints and other related topics.

Tree Davis, a nonprofit group, was one of many booths represented at the festival.

“We’re committed to expanding our forests by planting trees in our neighborhoods, camps and along Highway 113,” said John Madarang, a second-year exercise biology major and intern for Tree Davis. “I am an intern, so my future job is to lead volunteers to plant trees at different events and to educate the community about the benefits of trees.”

In addition, three stages were occupied with bands, dances and theater performances. Groups such as local band Tha Dirt Feeling, Mariachi Puente, Ecokinesis Dance Company and the Cal Aggie Marching Band-Uh! made appearances at the festival.

“We just had an improv group at the main stage [and] we had some Sufi music happening at the south stage and a mariachi band,” said Betsy Raymond, entertainment programming coordinator. “There have been a lot of groups happening with lots of energy.”

Students from the high schools and from UC Davis volunteered to pass out flyers, give out information at the Cool Davis booth and help at various stations at the park. Getting students involved is another goal of Cool Davis.

“We try to have a connection with the city and the campus,” said Kerry Daane Loux, co-chair coordinator of the festival. “We really want people to get started on their paths to reduce their carbon footprints. Our goal is to get people engaged and have fun.”

MEE YANG can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

UC Davis men’s soccer stuns eighth-ranked UCSB

Sports Editor

October 16, 2012

UC Davis men’s soccer stuns eighth-ranked UCSB

The UC Davis men’s soccer team pulled off one of the greatest wins in the program history over UC Santa Barbara 1-0 on Saturday at Aggie Soccer Field.

Junior Alex Henry curled a direct free kick into the upper left corner of the goal with five minutes to go to give the Aggies a last-minute lead. Junior Omar Zeenni and the UC Davis defense shut out the stunned eighth-ranked team in the nation with spectacular soccer.

The team won its fourth-straight game, improving to 6-4-4 overall. With a 4-1 conference record, the Aggies are now in second place in the Big West Championships. They stand only one point behind Sacramento State.

“It’s a great accomplishment for this team and a huge win for the UC Davis athletics program,” said head coach Dwayne Shaffer. “UC Santa Barbara is one of the pinnacle programs in the country, but I thought we were the better team on the day.”

In front of a season-high 1,344 fans, Alex Henry lined up a direct free kick at the 84:50 mark on the right wing. His shot soared into the upper left corner of the goal past the hands of Gauchos goalkeeper Austin Mansker.

The Aggies’ last victory against the Gauchos was on Oct. 11, 2008. The last time UC Davis beat UCSB at Aggie Soccer Field was on Nov. 23, 2006.

UCSB took its first shot at the 16:46 mark, but Omar Zeenni was easily able to block Peter McGlynn’s shot. Zeenni totaled three saves and now claims fourth place in the UC Davis history books for career shutouts.

Zeenni came up with two spectacular saves within two minutes to keep UCSB off the board.

In the 56th minute, the Gauchos lined up a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box. Fifi Baiden passed it back to McGlynn who ran onto the ball and pelted a hard strike at the goal, but Zeenni dove to the ground to cover the ball.

Just one minute later, McGlynn served a shot into the air towards the upper left corner of the goal, but Zeenni stretched and caught the ball for the save.

“Omar did a great job in directing his defense and I thoughtRyan Gross, Brian Ford, Ramon Martin Del Campo and Alex Henry were outstanding today,” Shaffer said. “Mustafa Chopan is a fifth-year senior who does so much work for us in the center of the midfield and he was outstanding today as well. It was a great overall team effort in front of a huge crowd today. Hopefully the fans come back because they got to see a great soccer game.”

Following Henry’s shot, the UC Davis men’s soccer team rejoiced and celebrated, feeling more confident and healthier than ever before.

“It’s a great win and puts us in a great position in the conference,” Shaffer said. “Our goal is to finish in the top two and have a shot to make the Big West Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.”

The team now commences a three-game road trip, starting with Cal Poly on Tuesday. The Aggies will have one more matchup with the Gauchos in a couple weeks down in Santa Barbara.

VEENA BANSAL can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

Aggies show strong turnout in tune-up for ITA regionals

Sports Editor

October 16, 2012

The UC Davis women’s tennis team earned themselves a No. 59 national ranking in last year’s preseason polls and may be on track to grabbing another spot in the top 75 this year as well.

The Aggies traveled down to Moraga to compete in the Saint Mary’s Invitational this weekend and had quite an interesting tournament.

“There was a delay because of wet courts, so five of our players were on at 10 at night in the cold under the lights,” said head coach Bill Maze. “It was fun to watch the players play; they went close to midnight and put in a lot of effort.

Maze was most impressed with the performance of the players battling for a spot in the starting lineup.

“I think all the players from five down are in the mix for a spot in the starting lineup,” Maze said. “It’s great because they push each other and it makes them all better.”

Junior Melissa Kobayakawa won the Flight Blue singles draw in her first fall tournament of the season with a 6-2, 6-3 victory in the final. Senior Zoe Davidson lost her first round match in the same singles flight, but won a round in the consolation draw.

“I was really impressed with the players in the Blue draw because they got wins over Sacramento State and that was good for us,” Maze said. “It shows we have a lot of depth and it bodes well for our team.”

Junior Megan Heneghan was the only Aggie in the top flight of the singles draw. She won one round, then had a close loss to a player from Saint Mary’s.

Senior Ellie Edles, whose past couple seasons have been riddled with injuries, had a strong showing despite two close losses. She dropped her first round match by the slimmest of margins by a score of 7-6, 7-6 with tiebreaker scores of 7-5 in each. Fellow senior Lauren Curry also fell in the first round to one of Sacramento State’s top freshmen.

“[Lauren’s] hitting the ball well and she’s going to have a good year,” Maze said. “Ellie played really well but just didn’t get it done, but she seems to be really fit right now.

Sophomore Layla Sanders won her first round match as the first seed in the ITA White singles draw, but was beaten in the second round to a player from USF.

Junior Nicole Koehly beat the third seed of the White Flight of singles in three sets but fell in the next round.

The two UC Davis freshmen got some experience in their first college tournament. Tiffany Pham won her first round in the White Flight singles draw in straight sets. Claire Jaramishian fell in her first round, but got a victory over a Sac State player on Sunday — which happened to be her birthday, according to Maze — to end the tournament on a high note.

Maze took nothing but positives from the team’s effort, pointing out that the matches were close and could have swung either way.

“We just have to work on winning bigger points,” he said. “The players are having fun and it gets you excited for the season.”

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

Column: Re-elect Obama?

Opinion

Opinion

October 16, 2012

As you’ve likely noticed by the visit from former President Bill Clinton, the 2012 presidential general election is in full swing, and amid the barrage of advertisements and presidential debates — the question begs:

Who should we vote for?

Despite disillusion and frustration about the economy and our government’s deep fiscal dilemmas, we still must go to the ballot box this November and decide the fate of our federal government for the next four years — a presidency that will outlast every one of us who exits UC Davis without reaching the status of super-senior and follow us into the real world beyond the Memorial Union to the job market.

Not to mention the fact that on Jan. 1, 2013, this country will face an unprecedented financial event, nicknamed “Taxmaggedon,” which includes the expiration of both the large tax cuts signed into law by George W. Bush and a bipartisan payroll tax cut from last year, as well as the implementation of huge automatic spending cuts agreed upon last year because no debt deal could be reached by the congressional “super committee.”

This is a self-inflicted economic time bomb waiting to go off, and if no deal is reached, it will. Whoever is sitting in the West Wing of the White House next January has huge decisions to make and they will affect your life one way or another.

While our frustration with partisan gridlock and disappointment with the lack of “hope” and “change” may convince us to sit idly while the older generations claim their votes, this election may well determine the ideological basis for how we emerge from this economic calamity.

When we do emerge — as we inevitably will — who do we want in the reins? And in whose interests will they be working?

After four years of tepid recovery and congressional insanity — with the last two years controlled by the least productive Congress in modern history — can we trust any politician to cut through the crap and do the dirty work to save the place from burning down?

Given the still-slow recovery, can we re-elect Barack Obama and feel good about it? If you’ve heard any sound bites from the Republicans, President Obama is an anti-business, job-killing, liberal, robin-hood socialist that killed the economic recovery. Unemployment was until very recently above 8 percent nationally — and that doesn’t even include the high number of discouraged workers who have stopped looking for work.

As we hear from the Democrats, he has led the U.S. through the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, successfully executed the mission to kill Osama bin Laden, rescued the American automobile industry and extended health care to an estimated 24 million new Americans (as calculated by the Congressional Budget Office).

So who’s right?

Is the Obama presidency a complete failure because our economy is not roaring out of the biggest financial disaster since it took 10 years and a World War to crawl out of the Great Depression? Well, let’s add a bit of perspective.

It’s often cited by journalists with little context that no president has ever been re-elected with unemployment above 7.2 percent since FDR did (repeatedly) during the Great Depression. Doesn’t it strike you as a little odd that our benchmarks for presidential success only date back up until the event that definitively changed the role of the federal government for the remainder of the century?

Franklin Roosevelt was reelected four times despite tragic financial conditions because people understood that the problem took more than four years to fix — even with a sympathetic Congress and substantial political capital. He took over from 12 years of an incumbent party that arguably led the country to economic disaster, unified the nation behind an unbeatable coalition of voters and eventually pulled the country out of its mess, leading to an unprecedented period of economic growth.

How impatient has our country become that it’s willing to throw out the leader of its executive branch every four years because we’re not enjoying instant gratification?

In this case, it will only lead us back to the party — and the policies — that caused the Recession to begin with. Considering that the last guy in office was able to turn a $236 billion yearly federal budget surplus to a $1.1 trillion deficit by the end of his first term — it seems reasonable to give this one a renewal.

We have a big decision to make, and whether or not Romney makes you want to jump off your couch and out into the streets, or Obama still makes your heart flutter with the expectations of 2008 — we need to be heard loud and clear.

VOTE.

If you’re not registered to vote, don’t email KEVIN PELSTRING at kpelstring@ucdavis.edu but visit register.rockthevote.com.

Deadline approaching for bi-annual ASUCD scholarship award

Campus Editor

October 16, 2012

Seven UC Davis undergraduates have the opportunity to receive tuition support from ASUCD in amounts of $500 or $1,000 this fall.

All students are welcome to apply, although ASUCD encourages students who are first-generation college attendees, who have endured personal hardship and who possess exceptional leadership skills, among other qualities. Since the scholarship aims to aid students who have extenuating circumstances, there is no minimum GPA requirement.

“ASUCD wants to ensure that this is a scholarship that every undergraduate is able to access,” said third-year international relations major Carly Sandstrom, who is leading the efforts in fundraising for the endowment and is the former External Affairs Commission chair for ASUCD. “Some students may not have the best GPA due to having to work three jobs to continue to go to school, and we do not want to exclude those outstanding Aggies who need the most financial support.”

ASUCD President Rebecca Sterling agreed.

“The ASUCD scholarship is unique to most other campus scholarships because it is accessible to every undergraduate student,” said Sterling, a fourth-year international relations and psychology double major. “There are many students that are highly qualified recipients, but are not able to receive them because their GPA is not high enough. We aim to bring relief to the many deserving students who are facing unique and extremely challenging circumstances,” she said.

The scholarship recipients are chosen by a committee comprised of six students: the ASUCD vice president, the Academic Affairs Commission chair, the Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission chair, two ASUCD senators and the ASUCD Controller with oversight from the ASUCD business manager.

Third-year biochemistry and molecular biology major Michelle Perez was one of last year’s recipients and expressed her thoughts on the scholarship.

“Programs like their scholarship really can make the difference for students like me between being able to afford to attend college and not being able to afford to attend it,” said Perez, a full-time student, mother of an autistic child and part-time hospital worker. “Sadly, financial aid doesn’t cover all the costs. Tuition has increased and federal grants have decreased. To cover the difference, loans must increase, which means more debt for students. This shows how hard it is to afford a college education, especially for someone like me who is the only one working to provide for my family. Before the scholarship, I felt like I was running out of options, and when it was awarded to me, it felt like a godsend.”

The ASUCD Awards Endowment Fund was created in 1999 and has since grown to $300,000 in endowment. This year, the fund aims to raise an additional $100,000 in hopes of increasing the yearly scholarship amount awarded from $10,000 to $18,000. ASUCD has launched a matching campaign to meet every dollar donated up to $50,000.

ASUCD plans to raise the money through partnerships with departments such as the Fire and Police Department and the Mondavi Center, as well as various fundraising initiatives through ASUCD units, including the Coffee House.

“I think what ASUCD is doing is truly finding a way to serve students,” Sandstrom said. “Our tuition has doubled since 2005, and I think we need to find a way to give back to students to help alleviate the burden of tuition and fees as they continue to rise.”

The application will be posted Wednesday at the ASUCD website and will be available for two weeks, until Oct. 31.

STEPHANIE B. NGUYEN can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

UC Davis football beats Idaho State 52-45

Sports Editor

October 16, 2012

UC Davis football beats Idaho State 52-45

In the first meeting ever between the two teams, the UC Davis Aggies and the Idaho State Bengals partook in a shootout that the Aggies eventually won by a score of 52-45.

This victory gives the Aggies an overall record of 3-4 with a 2-2 conference record, while the Bengals drop to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in the Big Sky.

The Aggie offense was unstoppable, rushing for over 300 yards while junior quarterback Randy Wright threw 309 yards and three touchdowns.

“We wanted to come out and establish the run, and once you establish the run, then play actions and boots become effective,” said head coach Bob Biggs. “That’s our identity on offense, we want to run the ball and set up the play action.”

While Wright was taking care of the aerial attack, the Aggie ground game was equally as dominant, racking up over 300 yards.

The rushing attack was led by sophomore running back Colton Silveria, who had 120 yards rushing and a touchdown.

Redshirt freshman Courtney Williams and senior running back Marquis Nicolis had 105 and 84 rushing yards respectively.

“I thought all our running backs ran well. We have a lot of confidence in our running backs,” Biggs said.

Williams, who had three touchdowns throughout the game, sparked the Aggies with a 55-yard touchdown run in the middle of the first quarter to give the Aggies the first points of the game.

“There are certain plays we like Courtney in there for because he is a very explosive runner,” Biggs said. “Courtney happened to be in on that play and did exactly what we thought. If he gets to the edge, you can’t catch him. He’s very fast.”

Wright did a phenomenal job with the passing game, spreading the ball around to ten different receivers.

Sophomore running back Dalton Turay led the team with four receptions but one was a nine-yard touchdown pass from Wright to put the Aggies ahead by two possessions early in the fourth quarter.

Wright’s 42-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Anthony Soto before halftime also brought a lot of momentum to the team heading into the locker room.

At the end of the first two quarters, the Aggies held a 28-17 lead.

The Aggies defense had a hard time limiting Idaho State’s passing game that was ranked 4th out of 121 teams in the country. Bengals quarterback Kevin Yost threw for 374 yards and five touchdowns in the loss.

“We knew they were going to throw the ball and we didn’t get as much pressure as we thought we could get. I thought their quarterback did a marvelous job getting the ball up field and he bought time in the pocket and put the ball on the money,” Biggs said. “That was the one thing that was noticeable, we just couldn’t get enough pressure on their quarterback.”

The Aggie defense did a good job limiting the Idaho State ground game to only 55 yards. Junior safety Aarynn Jones and senior linebacker Jordan Glass both led the team with seven tackles apiece. The Aggie defense also accumulated six pass deflections throughout the game as well.

Next week the Aggies will continue on the road to face Northern Arizona, another team that plays in an indoor facility. Hopefully the Aggies can continue their offensive output playing under a dome next week as well.

JASON MIN can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

Editorial: Endorsing education

Opinion

Opinion

October 16, 2012

The highly anticipated Nov. 6 date is approaching — the day we vote on the prospect of changing our nation for the better. But let’s put the presidential election aside and focus on Davis education for a moment.

The Yolo County ballot will contain four local measures. One of the four measures lands particularly near and dear to our hearts: the matter of local education.

We’d like to fully endorse Measure E in the hopes of maintaining quality primary and secondary education in Davis.

Measure E is a Davis Joint Unified School District (DJUSD) parcel tax. If approved, the measure will renew Measure A and expire July 2017 instead of June 2013, according to the DJUSD. Measure E will renew the existing parcel tax of about $200 a year, which raises $3.2 million annually for Davis public schools. It charges $17 a month per home and $2 a month per apartment unit.

Measure A currently funds science, history, foreign language and elective course programs in Davis schools. It also reduces English and math class sizes for K-6, retains counseling staff and the district’s funding, and protects teachers and school programs from state budget cuts if Prop. 30 does not pass on Nov. 6.

Gov. Jerry Brown’s Prop. 30 would prevent budget cuts to the state’s public schools and colleges by temporarily increasing personal income taxes on the highest earners in the state — those with incomes exceeding $500,000 a year — while also increasing sales tax from 7.25 percent to 7.5 percent. The money would go into a dedicated fund for public schools, preventing another $6 billion cut to already-meager school budgets.

Richard Harris, a member of the DJUSD School Board and the one who put Measure E forward, told the Editorial Board if Prop. 30 fails, a new parcel tax would add an additional $42 to the current $200 tax in order to offset the costs of a potential $3.7 million budget cut. Harris said Davis has a very strong school system that is well-supported by the city and UC Davis, and if there is no renewal, about 8,600 students would be affected.

“Higher education is useless if K-12 education fails,” he said.

Conversely, Jose Granda, an opposer of Measure E, a candidate running for the DJUSD School Board and a professor at CSU Sacramento, told the Editorial Board he supports public education but still had issues with the measure.

Granda purported senior citizens who don’t have to pay parcel taxes are deliberately bribed by the DJUSD School Board to approve Measure E. He also said it’s not fair that the measure only considers residency, since those who live in apartments pay less than those who live in homes, regardless of income. Additionally, he said approximately 500 students are from out-of-town and do not pay the parcel taxes, thus receiving free rides to education.
“Taxpayers are not an ATM machine,” Granda said. “People voting are putting money in education, not knowing the fine details.”

While we understand and have considered both stances on Measure E, we believe the measure will do more good than harm to Davis’ local education. We don’t agree with Granda’s demand that every Davis resident should be paying equal taxes, because Davis has such a high turnover rate for residency.

It’s already bad enough that we can relate to extreme slashes to school budgets. Plus, we like kids.

The Pantry receives complaints over lack of diversity

Campus Editor

October 16, 2012

The Pantry receives complaints over lack of diversity

During a Sept. 27 ASUCD Senate meeting, Romana Norton, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) counselor who was involved in the creation The Pantry, expressed concerns over the unit’s recent underutilization. These comments stemmed from complaints from students claiming that The Pantry’s staff and interns do not consist of people who represent enough minority groups on campus.

“People want to get things from people they know,” Norton said during the meeting.
The senators agreed that The Pantry is being underused and agreed to discuss the issue further outside the meeting.

Founded two years ago, The Pantry is an on-campus organization run by students, aiming at providing food for UC Davis students who are struggling financially.

Norton said that she thinks The Pantry goes through misuse.

Some students who consult with Norton revealed that they feel uncomfortable and reluctant to get food from people of different ethnic groups than them. Norton also said that students who may not necessarily need The Pantry are using it more than students who need it.

“It can be a problem when you think you are getting food from people who don’t understand you,” Norton said.

For the purpose of protection, Norton declined to reveal the name of the students who originally expressed unease in using The Pantry.

The Pantry’s current director and junior cultural anthropology major Quincy Kayton said that they hire staff and interns through ASUCD Job Link.

“Each staff member, intern and volunteer in The Pantry represents a diverse background and range of experiences that are unique to them, just as the student body represents an individual array of experiences and concerns,” Kayton said in an email interview.

Rosa Gonzalez, a fourth-year human development major, is currently working at The Pantry and said she thinks that the unit does have diversity in the working group and that any people who would be interested in volunteering are always welcome.

Norton said that because hiring for The Pantry was set up by ASUCD through Aggie Job Link, it is on a first-come, first-served basis.

According to Norton, students who are in better financial conditions working at The Pantry may deter students who need the food the most.

Quincy disagreed with this statement over an email interview and said that this claim is unfounded.

“It is impossible to judge the financial stability of a student simply by looking at them,” she said.

Many students who are most often using The Pantry do not share this worry, either.

“People there are nice. I try to come here like three times a week. It saves money and time,” said a fourth-year who has been using The Pantry since it was founded.

Norton and Kayton are meeting to discuss the complaints. No consensus has been reached at this point.

The Pantry is located on campus in 21 Lower Freeborn and is open Monday through Friday from 9 to 11 a.m. and Monday through Thursday from 5 to 6 p.m. Students must present a valid UC Davis student ID Card.

MENGSHI SHAO can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Letter to the editor

Opinion

Opinion

October 16, 2012

In response to the “Fit and happy” article by Alan Lin published in The California Aggie, we at Health Education & Promotion (HEP) are excited to see the encouragement of physical activity among UC Davis students.

There are many benefits to students who fit in at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day, most days of the week, and new research shows that those 30 minutes can be broken up into 10-minute segments that are often easier to fit into busy schedules!

UC Davis and the City of Davis have a wealth of resources to make physical activity fun and, for those who might get bored with their routine, find ways to change things up.

We want to share a new resource: HEP’s Physical Activity map (maps.shcs.ucdavis.edu), available on the Student Health and Counseling Service’s website. On this interactive map, students can locate exercise facilities, programs and resources on campus and around town ranging from dance classes to bike and running paths.

We also offer great tips on how to start exercising and much more on the Physical Activity Resources page found at shcs.ucdavis.edu/workit.

We wholeheartedly support The California Aggie in promoting students fitting physical activity into their lives so they can reap the benefits of improved health, mood and even academic success!

Cathy Huang
Christian Servera
Physical Activity Student Assistants
Health Education & Promotion
Phone Number: (530) 752-9652
Student Health and Counseling Services

Letter to the editor

Opinion

Opinion

October 16, 2012

We at Health Education and Promotion (HEP) greatly enjoyed Katelyn Ringrose’s Oct. 10 column on condom history. It was a fun read and quite informative! We appreciate her shout out to the Love Lab, our mobile cart that offers students free safer sex supplies, including 10 free condoms.

HEP would like to reiterate that any student can visit the Love Lab located on the third floor of the Student Health and Wellness Center during the hours HEP is open (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) as well as when the Love Lab is out on campus.

To find out where the Love Lab will be stationed around campus, check out and “like” the “UCD Love Lab” Facebook page to find the schedule and information on our large selection of free products.

We also want to mention that the Love Lab is not just a great place to pick up safer sex supplies. When students stop by the cart they can watch one of our Love Lab volunteers (wearing white coats) demonstrate how to use a male condom, insertive condom and dental dam. Students can even win limited edition buttons when they teach back the proper steps during our Watch It, Teach It, Win It! campaign.

We encourage any students who are sexually active now, or plan to be in the future, to stop by the Love Lab and learn more about ways to protect their own and their partner’s sexual health.

Sam Wall and Rosa Gonzalez
Sexual Health Student Assistants
Health Education and Promotion
Student Health & Counseling Services

Square Tomatoes Craft Fair continues and expands

City News

City Editor

October 15, 2012

Davis’ Square Tomatoes Craft Fair is back this month with even more vendors, activities and booths. The fair was started in August and the community has taken such a liking to it that it is slated to continue each month.

This month it will be on Sunday, Oct. 21 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. between 6th and G Street, right next to the Davis Food Co-op.

Sally Parker, the founder of the event, started the fair after she saw the success of weekly craft fairs in Eugene and Portland, Ore.

“I wanted Square Tomatoes to be a direct market, like an old-fashioned Farmers Market, where artisans bring their work directly to visitors without a large payment to a middleman,” Parker said in an email interview. “Visitors avoid paying the 50 percent markup normal to retail sales of crafts. Both vendors and visitors get a huge bargain.”

However, the event itself seems to have very little to do with square tomatoes. Meant as a spoof, Parker named it after Davis’ unique but controversial agricultural invention: the square tomato.

The fair has live music, food booths, comfort zones and hands-on craft tutorials. People can learn crafts from an experienced teacher. Many of the vendors at the craft fair are current or former instructors at the UC Davis Craft Center, including Parker, who teaches “Models, Molds and Microsculpture,” a shortcut in the silver and bronze casting process. Dede deGraffenried teaches bronze casting, Monica Riche taught sewing and Carol Wheaton taught knitting.

Other vendors include local artists and shop owners of the Etsy website.

“I like to describe our craft fair as a Farmers Market for artists. We had our first craft fair in August and that was all done by Sally,” Riche said in an email interview. “In this month’s fair, I will be teaching people to make [Día de los Muertos] pendants, also called sugar skulls. I will have polymer clay out and everything available to have people come and make their own pendants.”

This month’s fair will have a storytelling contest. Parker will tell the story “High Noon at Twilight.” She says she is putting a new spin on the story of an antisocial corpse who refuses to decompose or stop talking until he is outwitted by a mediocre violinist.

Dr. D, a former professor at UC Davis, and Denise Hoffner are the two other storytellers.

“Dr. D. will tell ‘Huge,’ a story of Davis genetic engineering gone awry. Denise Hoffner will tell ‘Magic at the Crossroads,’ about an event in the life of a Davis crossing guard,” Parker said. “So far we have three storytellers, but grandstanders with good lungs are welcome to join if they go to the website and submit their story ahead of time.”

Ron Goldberg, Wendy Silk and a bass player will be doing a few riffs in the background to stories. They will also be playing before and after the contest.

In addition to the craft booths and storytelling activities, the fair will also have food booths by Kathmandu Kitchen and Davis Creamery.

“I hadn’t heard about the craft fair until recently, but it seems like a typical Davis event, kind of like the Farmers Market, but with crafts, and that’s always fun,” said Pauleen Truong, a third-year communication major. “The fact that they have food booths by Kathmandu and Davis Creamery just makes the event even better.”

For people who want to take a break from the activity and just relax, there is a spot to do that. A booth called the comfort zone has wicker chairs, free iced tea and shade for those who want to just relax.

“I think it’s a great way to spend a Sunday, especially this month’s because we are doing a storytelling contest for anyone who has a great imagination, and tarot readings,” Riche said. “Students might find the craft fair inspirational for their own projects, learn about the Davis community and understand the reasons for having local markets.”PAAYAL ZAVERI can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

Campus hosts record number of international students

Campus News

Campus Editor

October 15, 2012

This quarter, there is an estimated 1,120 international undergraduate students at UC Davis, about 680 of whom are new.

This number is approximately 70 to 80 percent higher than the number of international students in previous years; last year, for example, there were 344 international students.

With increased undergraduate admissions throughout the UC system, the number of admitted international and exchange students is rising as well.

“UC Davis is committed to increasing California, out-of-state and international student numbers,” said Moira Delgado, the outreach coordinator for Services for International Students and Scholars (SISS). “In general, most campuses are moving toward internationalizing in the broad sense of the term: sending more students abroad, increasing international students and internationalizing the curriculum.”

Still, many students are apprehensive about the growing number of out-of-state and international students out of fear that they are taking their place within the system.

According to the Student Fees Fact Sheet by Budget and Institutional Analysis, national and international students pay $12,711.82 per quarter, while California residents pay 5,085.82.

“I’ve seen a steady increase in the number of international students occupying seats in lecture halls, in the library, at the MU — everywhere,” said fourth-year chemical engineering major Kent Ly. “I suspect that the university is accepting more students from abroad to bridge the gap in funding since non-Californian students pay more than twice the typical resident in tuition and fees. I fear that instead of directly addressing the real issue — which in this case is tuition hikes — the UC system will resort to decreasing the number of California-based students admitted in favor of accepting more international and out-of-state students.”

Despite the negative response, many international students remain optimistic about their role on campus and what they can offer.

“I think I can empathize with their views to some extent,” said fourth-year design major Madevi Sun-Suon, an international student from Cambodia, about the negative response from in-state students. “For example, when it comes to financial matters, I think the UC should prioritize Californian students because the UC is a public university. The same goes for admittance. However, I do think having more international students can also bring benefits for the school because they bring in more diversity and a different perspective for the campus community. Our world is so interconnected that being open-minded and having a more international perspective is useful for everyone.”

To help incoming international students acclimate to American university culture, new seminars are being offered at the Student Academic Success Center that focus on American cultural values. In addition, the International Students Club was recently formed to help students more easily integrate themselves into the campus community. SISS also launched a mentoring program that serves a similar purpose.

Delgado said that the presence of international students is an asset to the campus.

“International students bring incredible diversity to our campus and it is not only an opportunity for them to learn about U.S. culture but also a wonderful way for U.S. students to learn about other cultures,” Delgado said.

STEPHANIE B. NGUYEN can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

News in Brief: ‘Educate’ phone app garners responses to vice presidential debate

Campus News

Campus Editor

October 15, 2012

Voter opinions to the vice presidential debate between United States Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan were collected through a new real-time smartphone application co-developed by UC Davis political science assistant professor Amber Boydstun.

The Educate application was released by React Labs Oct. 3 at the UC Davis School of Law at King Hall on the night of the first presidential debate.

1,472 people reacted via the application to the vice presidential debate.

According to a summary of the reaction results, Biden was preferred as the debate winner, with 57 percent in his favor. 10 percent of respondents said that the two candidates tied.

53 percent identified as Democrats, 31 percent as Republicans and 16 percent as independent/other.

Reactions were also categorized by specific topics and debate style.

Further information on the application can be found at reactlabs.com.

— Muna Sadek

Phi Delta Theta house demolished

City Editor

October 15, 2012

If anyone has passed by 336 C St. — across from the Farmers Market — recently, they would notice that a vast, empty lot has replaced the Phi Delta Theta house.

The project began on Sept. 17 when the asbestos was removed from the house’s exterior. The actual demolition of the house took place Sept. 24.

Though the building went down relatively easily, the cleaning up of the space took another 10 days.

Jeff Marschner, the historian and construction chair of Phi Delta Theta, detailed the building’s storied history via an email interview.

“The north side of the former structure was once the Davis Presbyterian Church, located at Fourth and F Streets. It was built in 1870,” Marschner said. “In about 1912, the church outgrew the building, so they sold this structure, which was then moved to Fourth and C, where it was remodeled into a student boarding house. Within a year, it became the home of the local Calpha Fraternity (California Agricultural Fraternity).”

The residence would then go on to house an Army Signal Corps group during WWII, and would be reclaimed by Calpha after the war in 1955. The Calpha Fraternity would subsequently become the Epsilon Chapter of Phi Delta Theta.

In 2002, the Phi Delta Theta chapter in Davis disbanded, and the house was left in the custody of the Phi Delta Alumni group. It had originally been slated to be remodeled, but initial inspections showed that the entire building would need to be revamped from the ground up.

“The final decision: just too cost prohibitive,” Marschner said. “An alumni survey found no support for the rehab project.”

In 2010, the Phi Delta Theta chapter was recolonized, and it seems that the legacy of the building may continue to live on.

Tim Zeff, the Alumni Board treasurer, said that remodeling the house would have cost roughly the same as tearing it down, since the entire foundation needed to be reworked regardless. If they were to renovate the old house, they would have to lift it off the foundation and place it back on top once the foundation work was completed.

“The structure was antiquated and in need of modernization to fit in with the needs of today’s students,” Zeff said. “Though the new house will be smaller in terms of square footage, it will still hold the same number of people.”

There are plans in the works for a new building, slated to be opened by September 2013. This building will house 19 beds in single and double configuration, with a dining and living room that will be estimated to accommodate 75 people.

Max Tipp, vice president of the Phi Delta Theta Epsilon chapter and a senior international relations major, shared his thoughts on the upcoming housing project.

“We’re really looking forward to the new and improved real estate on the block and are very grateful to our alumni for making all of this happen,” Tipp said. “They truly are wonderful men and I, for one, feel extremely obliged to be a part of this organization.”

ANDREW POH can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

Column: Small screen

Opinion

Opinion

October 15, 2012

Books brick us up in houses or quiet corners of rooms to let us enjoy a lonely experience. Movies bring us out in the open, where we walk into dark rooms and enjoy an experience with strangers. Art galleries bunch us up with people who are just as stupid but not as dumb, so we’re pumped with pretentious conversation while scratching our heads at certain things and staring in amazement at others.

Is TV left to the bottom feeders of those searching for enjoyment? Is TV the hobby of the brain-dead, the mindless many who are able and willing to pour hours into a poor investment of recycled entertainment? Some will say TV has the potential for greatness; I say TV has done plenty to stake its claim as an art form.

Art is a matter of context, sometimes broad but often specific to individuals and settings. There are schools of thought that would lead some people to understand that anything and everything is art. For the most part, however, art follows certain conventions.

Art is aesthetic, which means that it has a quality that can be seen or felt, but not necessarily understood. Art is thought-provoking, but the quality of art is that it creates a change in our thought or makes us aware of how thoughtful we can be.

Using this criteria, we can plainly see how painting, song, film, literature and photography all became staples of art; they are things that we can clearly categorize under so vague a term. It’s odd that TV remains virtually untouched in serious thought about art, considering its similarity to these “standard” artforms.

Good television falls somewhere between books and film when we consider its usefulness as an art. It allows for much greater characterization than the standard two-hour movie, but it faces the same difficulty in doing so without the use of extensive text, which books can afford.

Shows like “Breaking Bad” and “Mad Men” go deep into exploring characters, putting them through trials that show us their weaknesses but also how strongly they can rise above them. They challenge convention and stereotypes to make us question their motivations and where our own loyalties lie after our hero is broken down, or takes a patient and subtle turn toward becoming the villain.

This is fiction with all the magic and subtlety of film, with all the depth of the greatest literature. It is just as thought-provoking as the most disturbing forms of art — in that it changes something in us — enjoyed by the masses.

Those who understand it eat it up; those who don’t are either the upturned noses of society or the true bottom feeders who live off the facets of television produced just for them.

What keeps us from recognizing TV as art? The scraps reserved for the bottom feeders.

Certainly not all TV is art: Daily airing soap operas and reality TV shows flood the networks with shit when too much time is left over. Art takes effort and creativity; in the case of television, it can also take a lot of money. A 24-hour cycle of never-ending TV is bound to pick up a lot of dead weight in the form of reproducible plot lines on interchangeable sitcoms, repetitive game shows and reality TV, and stories that never end, which is the case for soap operas.

Not every picture tacked to the wall can be art, but is a blank canvas not a symbol of art to be? Is a camera not as much a tool for creating art when it is aimed for the small screen than when it is aimed for the big screen?

The scraps of television slow the pace of its journey toward being considered a legitimate art form. However, they are a necessary evil, a placeholder for the future, like when someone turns a blank canvas into a beautiful painting and you can’t help but think that before there was art, there was nothing.

NICK FREDERICI has never seen Jersey Shore; spam him with clips at nrfred@ucdavis.edu.

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