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Tuesday, January 13, 2026
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Column: Against all odds

The outgoing Editor in Chief of this newspaper is a white male former sports writer. The Chief before him? White. Male. Former sports writer. The Chief before him? White. Male. Former sports writer. The Chief before him? White. Male. Former campus news writer, but later, turned sports writer.

What have I gotten myself into?

Maybe you can’t tell by my little mug shot, but I am a female minority who has a writing background that spreads across news, features, art, opinion and food. I’m the first female Editor in Chief in at least a decade. I’m not accusing anyone of being sexist here — I am merely stating facts and I am merely proud.

A few weeks ago, I returned from a year abroad in Brussels, Belgium. I learned a lot there — how to navigate public transportation, how to avoid confusion when reading signs that are in both Dutch and French, how to live off of waffles for a day without feeling sick and plenty more.

Obviously I can use these skills in leading The California Aggie. Along with my new international perspective. And experience at The Aggie as former Campus News Editor, who has completed various daunting tasks like reporting on ASUCD Senate meetings that last from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., covering protests at the Capitol or trying to explain “technocultural studies” to UC President Mark Yudof.

Part of me, though, is nervous. Maybe I’m not qualified enough. Can I even do this job without bailing on an afternoon of editing for the Super Bowl? What if I don’t want to work for the Sacramento River Cats after I graduate? Is my one-year stint as a co-Sports Editor for my high school newspaper enough to prepare me for next year? I apologize profusely if my office in Lower Freeborn does not bear a single San Francisco Giants poster. Truly.

That said, my office door is open for you. Yes, you.

The California Aggie is not some weird, secret club full of vampires out to make you look bad. If we look pale, it’s only because our office is in a basement. And if you have concerns about our coverage, I want to discuss them with you.

There is no journalism department at UC Davis, so The California Aggie is the best way for students interested in the field to obtain that learning experience. Key words: learning experience.

We’re all learning here. We are students, not professionals. In fact, most of our writers don’t even get paid. We’re a financially independent newspaper, and like most financially independent newspapers in the world right now, we’re kind of broke.

On that note, we’d probably like to hire you.

Are you a UC Davis student? Do you like to write? Edit? Read? Talk? Listen? Learn?

Do you like to create? Photograph? Design? Graphically excite?

Are you on Facebook all the time and consider yourself to be a social media expert?

Do you have not-so-secret dreams of being Don Draper?

Do you have not-so-secret dreams of working alongside Don Draper and then secretly sleeping with Don Draper in a secret darkroom not secretly known as The Orgasmatron? I’m not condoning such behavior, and please be advised that you would really, really need to keep such activity a secret.

Or maybe you just like the idea of having a boss who bakes you cookies! (Me.)

I’ll admit to being sad leaving Belgium and my year studying abroad. But I’m more than excited to be starting this venture. I came back because I love the UC Davis community and The Aggie, and I want to see them thrive. I came back because I strongly believe in free student media, and after the events of Nov. 18, it has never been more important.

JANELLE BITKER genuinely hopes you are not more concerned about the fate of The California Aggie after reading this column. Be reassured by e-mailing editor@theaggie.org.

Proposed ASUCD senate bill to restructure Student-Police Relations Committee

A proposal for an ASUCD senate bill is currently underway, pending legislation, to restructure the Student-Police Relations Committee. Senate Bill 112 would add two other at-large members alongside the current chairperson.

The Student-Police Relations Committee was created in 2005 to address police issues on campus and to foster relationships between the UC Davis community and the UC Davis Police Department (UCDPD) as well as the Davis Police Department. The committee serves as a forum for various groups and organizations on campus to discuss student-police relations.

Current chairperson and sophomore managerial economics major Daniel Connor stressed the importance of communication.

“The committee’s goal is to connect students and police more fluidly, taking ideas and opinions from each and sharing them in order to get a more unified campus, as well as a more informed campus,” Connor said. “The relations are very distant and students are very reluctant to put their faith in the police force after what they have seen and heard, so it is my job to help give the students a direct voice to influence how the police carry out their interactions with students.”

By adding two new members, ASUCD members hope to increase the amount of communication between students and police officers.

“It is crucial more students have the opportunity to get involved with such an important committee,” said Sergio Cano, senior applied mathematics major, Internal Affairs Commission (IAC) chair and author of the bill. “This allows more ex-officio members to be involved with student-police relations, such as the chairperson of Gender and Sexuality Commission (GASC) and the chairperson of Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission (ECAC), which generally bring up valid concerns at the ASUCD senate meetings in regards to police issues on campus.”

Current ex-officio members include those from the Cross-Cultural Center (CCC); the Collegiate Panhellenic Association; the Interfraternity Council; the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center (LGBTRC); among others.

“The bill [would] give me two other committee members in order to accomplish more in the department of communication with the other organizations on my committee,” Connor said. “There are nearly 20 organizations that are a part of the committee, and it is difficult for one person to manage the communication from all of them.”

In addition, the bill proposes that the committee be required to hold meetings at least twice a month.

“This [would] allow students to have more opportunities to bring up concerns, questions and suggestions to the UCDPD and Davis Police Department,” said Kabir Kapur, sophomore political science and philosophy double major, ASUCD senator and co-author of the bill.

Students are encouraged to attend the meetings and bring forth concerns or ideas for the committee to address.

Currently, the Student-Police Relations Committee operates on a $200 budget, which the committee uses to put on programs and projects that educate students regarding their rights, police procedures and safety practices.

“The overarching goal is to better the UC Davis campus by having a spectrum of opinions from different areas of campus bringing issues to the meetings,” Cano said.

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

Senator Zokaie plans to continue with ASUCD from law school

After receiving a full scholarship to University of San Diego Law School, ASUCD senator Yara Zokaie has decided not to defer her admission, but also has chosen to remain in her position as an ASUCD senator.

“When running for senate, I had already applied for law school, but had planned to defer. I told the senate and then should have resigned; however, I am not resigning,” Zokaie said.

Zokaie ran for ASUCD on the BOLD platform with current president Rebecca Sterling, and originally planned to defer any admissions she received to law school. She has decided not to, because she would lose the full ride to law school.

“Yara has chosen not to resign … as an ASUCD Senator, but instead to simply leave the Association with one fewer representative for the student body.  Not only does this leave the Association in a lurch with fewer individuals to serve on hiring committees and other areas of necessary representation, it more significantly acts as a disservice to the student body who are left with one fewer elected official serving them and working to better campus life and represent student interests,” Sterling said.

Though they ran on the same platform previously, Zokaie does not agree with everything Sterling is doing.

Zokaie plans to attend about half of the meetings and Skype in for the others. ASUCD Senators are allowed to remain in their positions a quarter after they have graduated, according to the general UC policy regarding UC jobs.

Senators will only receive their paycheck if they attend meetings. According to Zokaie, money from senate would be used to pay for gas in making the trip to Davis.

“I respect senator Zokaie and her decision, which I believe helps to uphold our values of democracy. If she were to resign, and a presidential appointment made for her seat, it would disrupt the delicate balance of power within ASUCD. This would be severely detrimental to the student body,” Senator Jared Crisologo-Smith said.

Zokaie said she feels Sterling would not necessarily appoint someone she’d be satisfied with to her position. She also said she has lived up to her platforms so far.

“I don’t want to give power [to Sterling]. I still have my seat and I will be there half of the time,” Zokaie said.

According to Zokaie there has been a divide between people who support Rebecca, but there is also a group that is in favor of her keeping her seat.

To those who disagree, it seems as though Zokaie should have resigned, because she will not be in Davis. However, ASUCD is moving on without allowing the change to affect them.

“Our role as an Association is to best represent the student body as we can, put our personal interests aside and work to further this mission in any capacity we can. I fail to see this action following in line with this mission; however, it will not hinder our Association and the current elected officials from keeping this main goal in mind,” Sterling said.

DANIELLE HUDDLESTUN can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Female Athlete of the Year

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It is rare for an athlete to take conference titles in multiple sports during the course of a single school year, but that is just what Sarah Sumpter did.

The junior distance runner anchored both the women’s cross country team and the women’s track and field team as they both won Big West Conference championships. And all of that came after sitting out the 2010-2011 campaigns for medical reasons.

“It’s a testament to her work ethic and her perseverance,” said cross country and track and field head coach Drew Wartenburg. “She’s an example of someone who sets high goals and then does the work necessary to achieve them.”

Sumpter finished second at the Big West cross country finals in the fall, leading the Aggies to victory. She then proceeded to place 28th at the NCAA Regional, where the team finished eighth.
She continued her tremendous run in the track season, as she was a constant force in the distance races.

Sumpter finished first in the 10,000 meter in the first day of the Big West Track and Field Championships, then followed that up with a first-place finish in the 5,000 meter the next day.
“Things have gone her way this season,” Wartenburg said. “She’s killing it on the track and she’s reaping the rewards, which is very gratifying to see as a coach.”

And even with all of her accomplishments, Sumpter’s season is still not over.

Her 12th place finish in the 10,000m at the NCAA Regional netted her a spot in the NCAA Finals, where she will compete today as the last UC Davis runner standing in the 2011-12 school year.

– Trevor Cramer

Game of the Year

UC Davis’s sports are improving, but what business do they have playing with perennial powerhouses like UCLA?

We may have witnessed the beginning of the end of statements like this one.

The UC Davis men’s soccer program pulled out one of the biggest upsets in school history, possibly in any sport, when it took down the then-No. 6 Bruins in a 2-1 overtime victory.

The Aggies were entering just their third game of the new season having posted an ugly 6-12 mark the previous year. Eight freshmen and five sophomores made it onto the field against UCLA while only four of the UC Davis players that saw playing time were upperclassmen. The Bruins were ranked No. 6 in the country. Enough said.

“UCLA is a very good team; they’ve got some pros on the team, but in the game of soccer, you always have a chance to win,” said head coach Dwayne Shaffer.

In a mismatch that could not have been more pronounced, UC Davis looked outmatched in the first half — it seemed like just a matter of time that the Bruins would squash the young Aggies’ hopes.

Sophomore Alex Aguiar knocked in a goal two minutes into the second half to give UC Davis a 1-0 advantage, but the Aggies could not protect their lead.

UCLA scored with three minutes remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime. As the first overtime period neared a close, neither team was able to pull ahead.

Then, the upset-minded Aggies pulled some late-game magic that would stun the college soccer world. Sophomore Alex Henry nailed a shot from the left side into the opposite corner of the net to give UC Davis the golden goal victory.

“Beating UCLA at our place is a huge win for our program as well as the entire athletic program,” Shaffer said. “If you looked at the players that played that game, they’re all young — it’s a young team that’s only going to get better and better as we go.”

— Matthew Yuen

City News Highlights

Brown signs final piece of DREAM Act
Oct. 10 — Gov. Jerry Brown signed the California DREAM Act, Assembly Bill 131, into law. The measure allows for undocumented immigrant students to receive scholarships and aid, including Cal Grants, at public universities.
— Originally reported by Angela Swartz

Occupy Wall Street groups continue organizing
Oct. 20 — Occupy became an international movement numbered in the thousands. Those in Davis began to meet at Davis’ Central Park to lend their voice to the Occupy protests. Tents were set up and an occupation of a part of the park began.
— Originally reported by James O’Hara

First Davis Flea Market brings crowds downtown     
Jan. 30 — The inaugural Davis Flea Market opened on Jan. 29 in E Street Plaza, continuing on the last Sunday of every month. It has since been moved to Central Park to allow for more vendors.
— Originally reported by Kelley Rees

Federal appeals court upholds gay marriage in California
Feb. 8 — A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals court ruled 2008’s Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage, unconstitutional. The court voted 2-1 against the proposition.
— Originally reported by Angela Swartz

Davis residents to decide surface water project’s future     
Feb. 2 — The Davis City Council decided to allow city of Davis residents to finalize what direction the surface water project should take. The main debate centering on the water project is the cost. Additionally, there is the question of whether surface water is needed by 2016.
— Originally reported by Claire Tan

City council votes to extend Safety Enhancement Zone
March 8 — The Davis City Council approved the same Safety Enhancement Zone as 2011, with an extension to include the Old North Davis neighborhood. Fines for violations of certain municipal codes, such as public alcohol use, doubled in these areas.
— Originally reported by Einat Gilboa

Proposed Minor Alcohol Preclusion Ordinance put on the backburner     
March 13 — Amid strong opposition to the measure, the Davis City Council unanimously decided to postpone the alcohol ordinance until further changes could be made. The proposed restrictions to underage drinking would have granted Davis police the ability to cite those under the age of 21 who are intoxicated in public.
— Originally reported by Andrew Poh

Suspect arrested for string of residential burglaries in Davis    
April 5 — Davis police arrested 37-year-old Kyle Frank of Placerville, Calif. for a residential burglary on Layton Drive. He is suspected of being involved in at least two other burglaries in town. The suspect is considering a plea deal.
— Originally reported by Paayal Zaveri

Cooperatives reject City Council’s settlement offer in DACHA dispute
April 9 — Neighborhood Partners and Twin Pines Cooperatives refused Davis City Council’s settlement offers. The offers came in April 2010 for $300,000 and in January of this year for $280,000. They aimed to resolve the conflict between the city, Davis Area Cooperative Housing Association (DACHA) and the two organizations over dissolution of the co-op. A trial is set for October if a deal isn’t reached before then.
— Originally reported by Sara Islas

Legislation plans to lower federal Stafford Loan interest rates     
May 3 — Congress began working on legislation to prevent federal, or subsidized, Stafford Loan interest rates doubling from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1. Measures are still in the works.
— Originally reported by Claire Tan

CITY NEWS HIGHLIGHTS 2011-12 was compiled by ANGELA SWARTZ. She can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

Q&A with Internship and Career Center Director

After the ceremonies, parties and post-commencement vacations are over, it’s time for new graduates to join the real (working) world. Enter Subhash Risbud, director of the Internship and Career Center (ICC). Though Risbud said the ICC has been under strain this year due to budget cuts and layoffs, he encouraged students to drop by South Hall for career advising, interview and resume workshops, and networking. The Aggie asked him to share his tips for successful job-searching.

The Aggie: What should graduates be doing right now if they don’t have a job yet?

Risbud: Try to come to one of the ICC coordinators or staff people, who, depending on their discipline, may have a networking contact they can suggest. Or, more likely than not, they will say, “Here’s a database of people who have been looking for jobs through us.” Try to get a name of a person; don’t just send a resume on a website. It’s almost too late for that. At this point it’s got to be a one-on-one contact. Directly get the hiring manager or CEO or CFO. I’ve been in this job seven years, and my experience is when you load your resume onto a website, even then you need to do this other step. I’m not saying it’s useless to upload your resume to a website, but the time lag is so large. If you were to talk to someone at the ICC and say, “I’m graduating, is there a person” – I emphasize that – “a person I can contact who you know through your network?” Make a one-on-one appointment. They have a rich database of people that you can contact right away. And then when you talk to that person, then it’s no longer a cold call.

Aggie: What should graduates do if they are not sure what career they want to pursue?

Risbud: Going back in time for a junior or sophomore, there are workshops for that that we conduct, like one workshop called “What in the world should I do?” Or, there is a program called Career Discovery Groups. It’s not for credit, but they give you a span of career options that you get exposed to. One hundred or 200 students take the class and they are encouraged through a series of seminar discussions to figure out what does this career mean, what that career means. We bring in people from those careers to tell students what they are. One of my principle opinions is that if you explore 10 different things or talk to people who are working in those 10 fields then it helps you focus on your own career. Branch out into different things. We don’t have infinite lives; we can’t try each career. Imagine a career for yourself, and you can even offer your services initially on a volunteer basis.

Aggie: Many students have a “dream job.” Should they hold out for that when looking for their first job, or should they just take the first job they can get?

Risbud: I think for the first job, what you get you should take. The world isn’t designed so that we can wait for our dreams. Although it’s good to dream all the time, but you can dream while you are doing another job. Because your dream job will come — but the evolution of that will be battling with the evolution of your personality. You will change, too. In alignment with that, your dream job will also change. What you dream of now won’t be what you dream of five years from now. My first thing is to make a living.

Aggie: What should students keep in mind about using social media?

Risbud: We’ve been discussing that at the ICC because many staff report that it comes back to haunt students. Adequate caution of what you put on it is extremely important. People think only their friends are looking at their Facebooks because of the privacy settings, but they’re really not. So when you put something on Facebook, or even on e-mail, you should consider it public domain because there is no way to protect that kind of information. Put on professional information, but don’t put stuff on there that you don’t want everyone to know. We have been told by students who have been interviewed by companies that human resources do look at your Facebook page, and somehow they do get access whether you like it or not. Facebook privacy is not guaranteed, so be careful.

Aggie: What are some of the biggest mistakes new graduates make in their job search?

Risbud: Starting too late is number one, and putting together a resume that is too focused and narrow. You have to market yourself as having education from a well-known university and being a bright, young person willing to learn new things. So you don’t want to box yourself in. It gives the employer the impression that you can’t be retrained in something else, and you want to give the impression that you’re willing to be flexible. In our resume writing workshops the ICC conducts that’s the first message you get. But resume writing has only limited value after you get past the first hurdle of human resources. I think it’s there people make a bigger mistake, in the interview step. If you say, “I want to do communications” and the person says, “How about if you did a photographic assignment in Nepal for a while, would you like to do that?” You should be willing to say, “Yeah, that’d be fine!” Go into an interview with some degree of rehearsal, not in the sense of memorized lines, but rehearsal in a sense of how the scenario will evolve when you start interviewing. The majority of errors are made in the first 30 to 50 seconds. So be conscious of that. When you interview they have to see you as a colleague right away.

Aggie: How do you present yourself in an interview if you don’t have a lot of experience in the job you’re applying for?

Risbud: The way to sell yourself is to say all the things you’ve done that are not necessarily degree-related but you did on your own initiative. If you did an internship and you didn’t complain about it being unpaid, what you accomplish there is a very good reflection of how you will actually work a full-time paid position. To push that would be the essential part. That’s another mistake people make, to talk about transcripts and their work at UC Davis, which everyone knows anyway. So I would stay away from speaking about that, because they want to know about extracurricular stuff. What you did over and beyond the homework, midterms — they assume you did that. What else did you do?

ERIN MIGDOL can be reached at features@theaggie.org.

Coach of the Year

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UC Davis’ men and women’s track and field coach, Drew Wartenburg, captured the 2011-12 season “Coach of the Year” award for leading the team to the Big West Championships. In 2009, UC Davis’ first season in the Division 1, Wartenburg was honored as the league’s Men’s Coach of the Year.

In only his first year at the helm of the entire UC Davis program, Wartenburg guided the team to a spot at the Big West following a series of successful meets, such as the Hornet Invitational and the Sacramento State Open.

During the Big West Championships, Wartenburg led the women’s team to its first track title. The Aggies won this year’s title by a half-point over UC Santa Barbara (170-169.5) in a competition that came down to the last event: the 4×400 relay.

UC Davis won seven individual titles en route to the team championship and had scorers throughout both the track and the field events on Saturday afternoon.

Throughout the season, Wartenburg has inspired Track Athlete of the Year Sarah Sumpter, Ashley Hearn and the rest of the Aggies to new heights and generated positive acclamation for the UC Davis track and field team.

“Everything is relative,” Wartenburg said. “But any year that you set goals for team success and you’re able to come together and collaborate to achieve them is really rewarding.”

“It’s a situation of taking pleasure rather than taking credit for me, because credit does not go to me,” he said. “But I’d be severely understating it if I said this wasn’t an extremely pleasing year as a coach.”

— Veena Bansal

Roving Reporter

“I’m going to miss the liveliness of a college town, the people, and I’m really going to miss the Coffee House.”
Erik Chow, wildlife fish and conservation biology major and a student manager of the ASUCD Coffee House (CoHo)

“The type of people that are here — everybody is so open and welcoming. And the friends that I made here — they shaped my college experience and made it unforgettable.”
Hunter Launer, neurology, physiology and behavior major

“Goofing around with my friends and doing stupid things, and not really having to care that much about the future. Cutting class and getting beer … well, having class to cut to get beer. Coming home at 4 a.m. from work and finding my roommates still awake and hanging out.”
Timothy Chin, technocultural studies major

“The friendliness of everyone around me. At other campuses, people put their heads down, and I assume the real world is like that too. I’ll miss being next to my friends whenever I need them. And Davis Farmers Market apple juice, Burgers & Brew, Taqueria Davis and, of course, the Sleaze.”
Katlyn Doran, international relations major

“The people. Everyone here has always been so nice. On multiple occasions I’ve lost things and returned to where I left them to find them actually put off to the side somewhere for me.”
Alex Stanton, cell biology major

“My apartment complex from sophomore and junior year, living together with all my friends from the dorms and celebrating Picnic Day in the courtyard with everyone there.”
Alexis Cashman, biology and history double major

“I’ll remember spending a ton of time on campus. I’ll miss the library — even though that sounds weird, a lot of memories were made there. I’ll remember the feeling of the beginning of Fall Quarter, when everyone is pumped for the coming year. And being able to come back to the dorms as a freshman.”
Evelyn Garcia, community and regional development major

“I’ll remember what it was like getting used to a small town, and how friendly everyone is. I’ll miss all the types of plants that gave me allergies for the first time but are also so pretty! Also those giant fat mutant squirrels.”
Liana Ramos, landscape architecture major

“I’ll miss having so many people who are my age and on the same wavelength because everyone’s doing the same thing. And I’ll miss my co-workers at the CoHo.”
Akash Kumar, political science major

2011-12 California Aggie Staff

Editor in Chief
Jason Alpert

Managing Editor
Becky Peterson

Arts Editor
Uyen Cao
Elizabeth Orpina
Arts Writers
Peter An
Karina Contreras
James O’Hara
Brittany Pearlman
Michelle Ruan
Rudy Sanchez
Sasha Sharma
Paayal Zaveri   

City Editor
Angela Swartz        
City Associate Editor
Claire Tan
City Staff Writer
Einat Gilboa      
City Writers
Andrew Poh                                
Ani Ucar
Chloe Brezsny
James O’Hara
Kelley Rees
Mee Yang
Paayal Zaveri
Ramon Solis
Sara Islas
Zander Wold     

Sports Editor
Trevor Cramer        
Sports Associate Editor
Matt Yuen
Sports Writers
Kim Carr
Veena Bansal
Russell Eisenman
Jason Min
Caelum Shove
Doug Bonham
Kaitlyn Zufall    

Features Editor
Erin Migdol        
Features Associate Editor
Devon Bohart
Features Staff Writer
Lani Chan
Features Writers
Isaiah Shelton
Dominick Costabile
Kelsey Smoot
Chelsea Mehra
Grace Benefield
Rachel Riley
Claire Maldarelli
Casey Specht
Priscilla Wong
Christina Novakov-Ritchey
Michelle Stauffer

Campus Editor
Hannah Strumwasser         
Campus Associate Editor
Muna Sadek
Campus Staff Writer
Danielle Huddlestun
Campus Writers
Adam Khan
Dylan Gallagher
Gheed Saeed
Justin Abraham
Lily Nava
Max Russer
Michelle Murphy
Rohit Ravikumar
Stephanie Nguyen     

Opinion Editor
Melissa Freeman
Columnists
Pamela Nonga Ngue
Nolan Sheldon
Jazz Trice
Jonathan Nelson
Matan Shelomi
Andy Verderosa
Kristina Simonaityte
Jordan S. Carroll
Nicole Nguyen
Katelyn Hempstead
Rajiv Narayan
Dylan Gallagher
Janelle Bitker
Danny Brawer
Theresa Richardson
Sam Hoel
Sam Wall
Chelsea Mehra
Victor Beigelman
Aaron Weiss
Kate Zarrella
Zenita Singh
Medha Sridhar
Michelle Nguyen
Evan White

Science Editor
Amy Stewart
Science Writers
Hudson Lofchie
Brian Riley
Claire Maldarelli
Rachel Kubica
Eric Lipsky
Alex Stanton
Chelsea Mehra
Eva Tan
Sasha Sharma  

Art Director
Irisa Tam   
Graphic Artists
Veronica Brookshaw
James Kim
Michelle Huey

Photo Editor
Jasna Hodzic
Staff Photographers
Evan Davis
Zach Land-Miller
Photographers
Nathan Chan
Brian Nguyen
Aaron Juarez
Anna Oh
Shazib Haq
Kristina Geddert
Yash Nagda
Bijan Agahi
Melody Tan
Kristina Geddert
Sarena Grossjan   

Copy Chief
Kamry Zhang
Joey Chen
Assistant Copy Chief
Stephanie Chon
Copyreaders
Richard Truong
Natalie Kammerman
Justin Chan
Jennifer Drouillard
Emma Luk  

Design Director
Michelle Huey     
Assistant Design Director
Janice Pang
Tani Wong
Layout Artists
Uyen Cao
Kimberly Carr
Adrienne Cheng
James Kim
Claire Tan
Amanda Nguyen
Amy Vu

Business Manager
Alex Tervo
Distributers
Long Nguyen
Zac Miller-Smith
Sales Clerks  
Jonathan Wester
Chevelle Jackson
Charisse Ceballos
Robert Martinez        

Night Editor
Mimi Vo     
Assistant Night Editor
Amanda Nguyen     

Ad Manager
Grace Sprague   
Ad Representatives
Caelum Shove
Steven Vote

2012-13 California Aggie Managing Staff

Editor in Chief
Janelle Bitker
Managing Editor
Hannah Strumwasser
Business Editor
Jonathan Wester
Ad Manager
Caelum Shove
Campus Editor
Muna Sadek
City Editor
Claire Tan
Features Editor
Devon Bohart
Opinion Editor
Dylan Gallagher
Sports Editor
Matthew Yuen
Arts Editor
Elizabeth Orpina
Science Editor
Hudson Lofchie
Photo Editor
Brian Nguyen
Copy Chief
Joey Chen
Night Editor
Amanda Nguyen
Design Director
Janice Pang
Art Director
Irisa Tam

Male Freshman Athlete of the Year

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Freshman Matt Wiesenfarth didn’t get chosen to participate in the U.S. Under-20 National Training Camp for nothing.

The Sacramento native was one of the standouts for the young roster of the UC Davis men’s soccer program.

The 2011 Big West Freshman of the Year was named such for his offensive prowess, as his 18 shots on goal, three assists and five goals all led the Aggies.

Gaining a starting job as a freshman was the first indicator that Wiesenfarth would have a large impact on the program, and his clutch dramatic goals were the second.

It seemed that need-based scoring was Wiesenfarth’s specialty, as several of his goals were late-game points that propelled the Aggies to overtime or a victory.

Wiesenfarth was also selected for the College Soccer News All-Freshman second team. If there is one thing UC Davis fans are hoping, it is that these won’t be the last awards the young Wiesenfarth earns in a UC Davis uniform.

— Matthew Yuen


Female Freshman of the Year

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In her first season as an Aggie, Justine Vela was the epitome of dominance.

With 272 strikeouts, 15th most in the country and fifth most ever in Big West Conference history, the Bakersfield native led UC Davis to an impressive third-place league finish — just two games behind champion Long Beach State.

After holding opposing teams to a .206 batting average this year, Vela became only the third player ever to win both Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year and Big West Pitcher of the Year in the same season.

Her accomplishments have also been recognized on the national level where she was recently named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Pacific All-Region Second Team. With Vela set to lead the Aggies for years to come, UC Davis Softball’s future seems brighter than ever.

— Doug Bonham

Editorial: Ed Board Town Hall

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The Aggie has been through a lot of crap this year. So much so, the outgoing editorial board felt the need to hold a Festivus-style Airing of Grievances, town hall style. Members of the public were not invited or allowed to speak, and everything said was ignored by the administration (The Aggie Editorial Board).

Editor 1: Welcome to this year’s last town hall. Let’s make it quick.
Editor 2: What are we even talking about? I have a Giants game to be at.
Editor 3: It doesn’t matter what we talk about; nothing gets done at these town halls anyway.
Editor 4: I think that Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi would disagree.
Editor 5: Did we ever find out if Linda P.B. Katehi’s middle initials stand for peanut butter?
Editor 1: Come on, let’s stay on task. How’s our list of complaints looking today? #thingsthatpisseditor1off
Editor 3: What’s that hashtag thing? This doesn’t have something to do with Twitter, does it?
Editor 4: You’d probably know that if you ever read an Aggie column.
Editor 5: No one reads those, do they?
Editor 8: Only our most loyal readers.
Editor 2: Right. So what happened this year that’s worth complaining about?
Editor 1: Well, the police did pepper spray students on the Quad.
Editor 3: That’s what started all these town halls!
Editor 4: And all those memes. Can people stop already?
Editor 3: What’s a meme?
Editor 5: You know, that pepper spray they used wasn’t even really pepper spray. It was a completely different chemical compound!
Editor 6: I’m pretty sure pepper spray is just a food product, anyway.
Editor 2: That whole pepper spraying incident was messed up. We should write a resolution against it!
Editor 1: Are we allowed to do that in our semi-independent student-run newspaper?
Editor 3: Who knows?
Editor 2: OK, well let’s wrap this up, I have to go to the bank before I go to the game.
Editor 5: What bank?
Editor 3: I need to go buy some overpriced tea from the CoHo, so let’s finish up.
Editor 7: (Starts singing Carly Rae Jepsen)
Editor 2: You should go to the Starbucks at the Silo. We need to protect the corporate interests on our campus; they do supply good income to the University.
Editor 8: I just need sunlight.
Editor 1: This whole year has really been just one giant occupation of Lower Freeborn. WHEN WILL WE GET WINDOWS?

Column: Back to the bottom

This weekend was, as I paged through Aggie Job Link looking for internships I might be interested in, when I started feeling wistful about working as the science editor and columnist.

I’m currently on the hunt for internship positions at labs doing research in microbiology. Right now I’m still on the first step of sifting through a bunch of different listings and finding some that I qualify for.

My experience, once I find a lab, will be analogous to what I did here at The California Aggie. First, I was an unpaid science writer for a year. My stories were assigned by my editor — though she did welcome story proposals when I had my own ideas.

Likewise, when people start out in labs, they are usually unpaid interns, doing small jobs for the main researchers (usually graduate students or professors). This can take the form of manual labor, like washing and sterilizing dishes, to help with some aspects of the research, like putting samples into the machinery.

There are probably labs that are exceptions to this who may want interns for other reasons. For the most part, though, this seems to be the pattern. It may seem a bit dull when your job at a lab is to wash dishes, but it’s necessary for work to continue.

After a while, once a person has proven that they can wash dishes without breaking each one and can put samples where they need to go, it’s hopefully time to move up.

When working at The California Aggie, after writing for a year, I was able to apply to be an editor myself. After going through the application process and being hired, it was time to take on some new responsibilities while the previous science editor watched and helped. Toward the end of last year, I was editing the other writers’ stories while the previous editor gave me tips and answered my questions.

Similarly, after doing the basic jobs for a while, labs start giving more and more autonomy. They allow the intern to help the person leading the research more directly, giving co-author credit to the intern after the researchers write the paper on the results of their experiments.

It can seem like a lot of hoops to jump through unless you look at the bigger picture. The goal here is to get enough experience that those in charge of the lab trust you to do your own experiments by yourself.

That is what I’m excited for. The best thing about this job, as science editor, was in how much I learned about research, about science and a little bit more about how the world works. Writers strive to connect stories to real-world applications, but I always find basic research fascinating on its own.

At this point in time, I’m probably much more of an idealist about research than I may be after a few months of working. I may find bureaucratic problems to complain about, other interns who irritate me, certain repetitive tasks that I grow to dread. That’s just a part of life; even the best job in the world would have these problems.

However, I consider myself fortunate that being an undergraduate hasn’t stopped my love of learning about how the world works. I still have one more year to go, but so far that pattern doesn’t look to be changing.

When I first started as science editor, I felt as though I was messing everything up. It took me several weeks to become confident in how I did. I fully expect that when I start an internship, I’ll have the same feelings. Starting from the bottom of a new field, with new tasks to perform, such feelings are normal.

The fact that I’ll be doing all of this at the same time as a paying job, however, will definitely be interesting.

AMY STEWART can be reached at science@theaggie.org.

‘What are you doing after graduation?’

By now, the Class of 2012 has no doubt heard the classic question “What are your plans after graduation?” ad nauseum. Though many respond to the query with blank stares, some do in fact have an answer. Read on to discover what three graduates have lined up post-commencement.

Wilson To, doctorate in comparative pathology

While some of UC Davis’ Class of 2012 will graduate this year and wonder “What happens next?” Wilson To will be receiving a doctorate for his studies in comparative pathology and continuing his work with cellular phone technology that can detect life-threatening illness.

After receiving his bachelor’s degree from UC San Diego in 2009, To came to UC Davis to pursue a doctorate in comparative pathology. He said that one of the most interesting parts of his studies at UC Davis has been working alongside veterinary students.

“One day we’re looking at diabetes in a human, the next day we’ll look at it in an animal. Veterinary and human medicine are two very different approaches, but it’s cool to see the similarities,” To said.

To has also been a Microsoft student partner for four years, educating students and faculty on how they can seamlessly integrate Microsoft’s technology into a classroom setting. In addition, To and a team of friends developed Lifelens, diagnostic technology that utilizes an augmented Windows 7 phone application to detect malaria.

The team entered the project in Microsoft’s 2011 Imagine Cup, a worldwide competition in which student innovations, created to address difficult global issues, are judged. After placing third in the international competition, To’s team became recipients of the Imagine Cup Grant program. Microsoft introduced the three-year, $3 million grant initiative in order to help teams like To’s continue developing their prototypes into accessible pieces of technology.

To said that he hopes more students will follow in his footsteps, working to develop technology that combat the spread of disease and other seemingly insurmountable problems.

“Not that many people are excited by research. It’s discouraging. You run into problems that make you feel stupid. But you’re rightfully stupid. No one has done this before. And as long as you’re trying, you’re helping to change the world,” To said.

To also said that he would advise any aspiring researchers to humble themselves when it comes to personal honors and to focus on helping the world at large.

“Don’t judge yourself on professional accomplishments alone; rather, how you have worked to address the world’s biggest problems,” he said.

Deborah Schrimmer, bachelor of arts in community and regional development

It’s no secret that Davis is home to many biking enthusiasts; however, UC Davis senior Deborah Schrimmer is taking her passion to the maximum this summer — she is biking 3,757 miles from New Hampshire to Vancouver, Canada.

The community and regional development major will be flying to the East Coast two days after graduation to participate in a two-and-a-half-month-long cross-country bike ride. The purpose of the ride is to raise money for Bike & Build, a non-profit organization that strives to provide affordable housing.

On the days that Schrimmer is not riding, she will be helping to build houses with the local Habitat for Humanity.

In addition to the adventure of a cross-country bike ride and building houses along the way, Schrimmer and the 20 other riders in her group will be camping for the majority of the trip.

“Some nights will be spent in community centers, churches and with families that have agreed to house us. Otherwise, we will be camping. We’re not staying at any hotels, motels or hostels. It’s the ultimate adventure,” Schrimmer said.

As she is expected to average around 70 miles per day, Schrimmer said she has been training. She also said that she is more nervous about making friends than her ability to finish the ride.

“I’m really determined. A lot of it is mental. I think that if you can see yourself doing it, that’s half of it. I think the more intimidating thing is going to be making friends. You’re spending all of this time with 20 strangers. But they’re all young adults, and we all self-selected to participate in this ride, so I think we’ll find that we have things in common,” Schrimmer said.

After the summer, Schrimmer hopes to land a position in urban planning or at an architectural firm. Her goal is to focus on sustainable living. She said that she doesn’t see her lack of a concrete plan as a negative thing.

“Being OK with the uncertainty in your life and not knowing where your life is going can be an opportunity for yourself and others if you let it,” Schrimmer said.

Cameron Brown, bachelor of arts in economics

Senior economics major Cameron Brown is eagerly anticipating summer, as he will be participating in a residential pre-law program called Trials at New York University. The program is five weeks long and is sponsored by both NYU and Harvard.

Following the summer program, Brown will be moving to Los Angeles to begin a year-long position at Munger, Tolles, and Olson LLP in preparation for law school.

Brown hopes that the year following his time spent working at Munger, Tolles, and Olson LLP will bring an acceptance to Yale, Harvard or NYU’s law schools. He is interested in eventually working in corporate law, more specifically entertainment law.

Brown said that his background in economics will be an important tool to his success in the legal world.

“Being an economics major trains you to think a certain way, which I think will definitely help me as a lawyer. You are taught to recognize the different aspects of a problem, and analyze the solutions. Entertainment law also involves contracts and financial gains and losses, so my knowledge of economics is really applicable,” Brown said.

While the graduating senior says his years at UC Davis are filled with memories, his most memorable moment was singing with his a cappella group at last year’s Picnic Day.

“We were singing ‘Everybody Knows’ and I had a solo. The Quad was packed with people. It was the biggest crowd I had ever sung in front of, but it was a lot of fun,” Brown said.

Brown’s best advice for someone who is just entering college is to keep your eyes open, follow your intuition and always try.

“To me, this means not closing the door on yourself. People constantly stop themselves from doing things and they don’t really know what they can accomplish,” Brown said. “Don’t give up. Don’t stop. Put forth your best efforts, and if a door is going to be closed on an opportunity, don’t be the one to close it for yourself.”

KELSEY SMOOT can be reached at features@theaggie.org.