45.2 F
Davis

Davis, California

Friday, January 9, 2026
type here...
Home Blog Page 1081

The Shins at the Mondavi Center

Arts Editor
-
1
The Shins at the Mondavi Center

On Monday, The Shins played at the Mondavi Center and filled the sold-out place to the brim with their musical vibrancy.

James Mercer, with his singularly potent talent and his variously skilled supporting cast, jingled on stage with their often wistful, strangely melancholic, yet joyful tunes.

They performed for about an hour and a half, mixing it up between Port of Morrow, their most recent and perhaps too under appreciated album, and the hits. Those ranged from “New Slang,” “Phantom Limb,” “Pink Bullets” and so on, forcing everyone in the audience who didn’t already know that, wow, they have a huge array of truly excellent songs.

Anyone who was worried about The Shins (given Mercer’s relatively recent drift off into Broken Bells, a shoot-off pop-indie attempt met with decent success) probably need not be. The Shins are not dead. They are far from dead. They are very much alive.

It is worth noting, however, that while their live sound is crisp, it is not flawless. They come off best in their softer melodies, during something like “New Slang,” when the instrumentals don’t outweigh the vocals. That is not to say they aren’t good. They are very good — live and otherwise. The chemistry of perfection, however, eluded them at the Mondavi.

Opening up for The Shins were Gardens and Villa, straight out of Santa Barbara, my hometown, looking like a bunch of dirty hipsters (typical of Santa Barbara). They had a Shins-esque quality with a vaguely similar, wistful indie-rock stylization that I found to be very good. They were different enough to spark substantive interest and are certainly worth looking into (they were also at Coachella).

Before The Shins came out, Gardens and Villa’s lead singer, Chris Lynch, busted out a flute (yes, a flute). He rocked that thing like, quite frankly, I’ve never seen anyone rock a flute before: with a vengeance. Though literally, I doubt I’ve ever seen someone really attempt to rock out with a flute.

Later in the show, when The Shins were on, people rose from their seats and the Mondavi got a little steamy. When The Shins exited, the crowd cheered forcefully until Mercer returned to play an acoustic encore. All of the band then came back out and played a couple more songs.

The Shins are a substantial band. Their vocals ring with a verve, and their instrumentals rise towards excellence. It was a good show. I felt lucky to see them live.

JAMES O’HARA can be contacted at arts@theaggie.org.

Preliminary Picnic Day Statistics

City Editor
-
0

Picnic Day statistics are compiled between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Sunday, Davis police and the agencies assisting them.

2012:

Arrests: 53, for public intoxication: 37, four will face criminal charges

Citations: 150, open-container of alcohol: 91 (88 issued in the Safety Enhancement Zone encompassing Downtown Davis and Old North Davis), minor in possession of alcohol: 26

2011: 

Arrests: 54, for public intoxication: 32

Citations: 207, open-container of alcohol: 124 (118 in the Downtown Davis Safety Enhancement Zone), minor in possession of alcohol: 37

2010: 38 arrests (30 misdemeanor, 6 felony), 60 citations

2009: 32 arrests (30 misdemeanor, 2 felony), 83 citations

2008: 19 arrests (17 misdemeanor, 2 felony), 101 citations

2007: 19 arrests (all misdemeanors), 98 citations

— Angela Swartz

City Lovin’

Sports Editor
-
0

Sophomore pitcher Evan Wolf took a no-hitter into the seventh inning to lead UC Davis to victory over San Francisco in his first collegiate win.

The Aggie bats picked up 12 hits to support Wolf’s outing, with four different players recording two hits apiece. UC Davis put five runs on the board, and Wolf’s stellar pitching held the Dons’ bats at bay.

With the 5-2 victory, UC Davis improves to 15-20 overall.

“The team put it on themselves to be better in midweek games and on Sundays and for [Wolf] to come out and respond to that for his first collegiate win is pretty special,” said head coach Matt Vaughn.

Wolf, making his fourth start of the season, gave UC Davis the big midweek performance it has been looking for.

The Clovis, Calif. native retired the first six batters he faced before giving up a leadoff walk in the third inning. Wolf then put down the next seven Dons before hitting a batter with one out in the fifth inning.

Wolf issued his second walk of the game in the bottom of the seventh, then induced a foul out before San Francisco’s Matt Chavez doubled off the wall in right center field for the Dons’ first hit of the game.

“Evan’s had a couple of outings like this,” Vaughn said. “He had a great start at Arizona and another great midweek start earlier in the year, but one or two things went wrong and it snowballed a little bit. To go into the seventh with no hits is pretty spectacular.”

Wolf struck out his third batter of the game before giving up a two RBI single that ended his outing. Freshman Spencer Koopmans relieved Wolf and recorded the final out of the seventh.

The UC Davis offense supported Wolf with an early 2-0 lead. Senior David Popkins doubled with one out in the first inning and junior Paul Politi singled up the middle to knock Popkins home. Politi moved to second base on a passed ball and came around to score on sophomore Nick Lynch’s single.

Popkins led off the top of the third with his team-leading fifth home run of the season over the right field wall.

With the score 3-2 in the eighth, Politi led off the inning with a double and scored on a single from senior Eric Johnson with two outs. The Aggie rally continued with a bunt single from senior Brett Morgan and a pinch-hit RBI single from sophomore Spencer Brann.

“I’m very happy that we competed,” Vaughn said. “We’ll score two or three runs early in the game, but then not score again. [Today] we were able to put up another two runs with some timely hits later in the game. We needed all of that. It shows you that if you throw strikes and compete, you can win ballgames.”

Sophomore Harry Stanwyck pitched the final two innings for UC Davis, giving up one hit while striking out two for his fourth save of the season.

The Aggies didn’t commit an error for the second straight game.

UC Davis continues its eight-game road trip with a weekend match up at UC Santa Barbara.

The Gauchos are currently in third place in the Big West, so UC Davis will hope to carry the momentum from its midweek victory and gain ground in the conference.

This week, the College Baseball Hall of Fame announced its Pitcher of the Year Watch List, and UC Davis senior southpaw Dayne Quist (6-0 1.94 earned-run average, 75 strikeouts, nine walks) has been deservedly recognized as a candidate. The Aggies will meet another player from the list this weekend, UC Santa Barbara’s freshman starter Andrew Vasquez.

UC Davis will look to keep Quist perfect in the series opener. The first pitch at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium is on Friday at 3 p.m.

RUSSELL EISENMAN can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

Q&A with Music on the Green bands

Arts Editor
-
0

Music on the Green, an event that takes place in Central Park on Sunday, April 29 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. brings entertainment and food for both the campus and Davis community during a free outdoor event. It is put on by ASUCD External Affairs Commission, Entertainment Council, Environmental Policy and Planning Commission, Campus Center for the Environment, Project Compost, the Davis Flea Market and the City of Davis. The Aggie had the opportunity to interview the bands that were set to perform this weekend.

Jordan’s Beard
What is the origin of your band’s name?
Our bassist is Jordan. He has a long beard that is dyed red in the center. It’s tough to name a band and we had to choose a name because we had a show so we said let’s just name it after Jordan’s beard. It is a terrible name, but it stuck. Jordan is the most lovable person ever so that helps.

If you were to describe your band, what would you say?
The songs come out of 60s soul and funk. Jordan never heard these songs and generally doesn’t listen to the originals. He adds a heavier side to the low end. Our two new additions, Pat and Carl, add a funk high end, so at the end of the day, the music sounds like heavy funk, funk rock blues soul.

What are you most proud of so far?
We have never had a band fight and we get along really well. We play music that both we and our friends enjoy. When you do something that you like, that other people happen to like, that’s pretty neat, pretty cool. I love how friendly the music scene is in Davis. We’re always trying to help each other out. It’s something that I feel really good about.

Lijie
You have performed for TV stations and on tour. How do you feel to have so much success in the music industry?
I think it’s really just to keep believing in what it is that you create and push for what you believe in.

What initially motivated you to pursue the music industry?
I realized halfway through college that I couldn’t do anything else. I’ve been writing songs since I was little. Then in middle school I wrote my first full-length structure song. I called my friend and played it for her on the phone. After the song she was quiet and I realized it affected her. That was one of first times I realized what I could possibly do. It was not until college that I came to understand anything else.

How do you think Davis will respond to your performance?
I don’t know; I hope they like it. It’s hard to tell until you get there. We just had a rehearsal today. It’s been a dream to play at UC Davis — it’s really special.

MerryGold
How do you embody the pioneer spirit of the Wild West in your music?
We often reflect on modern society and feel like we were meant to live in the 1800s. We were born and raised in Gold Country and we have always valued the history of the area. A reverence for ‘nature’ over ‘city’ life is a common theme in our songs. We lived in LA for a while and we were not inspired at all by the music scene down there. We feel old-fashioned in some ways compared to other young/new bands. There is a rawness or an honesty lacking in popular music that we feel is present in our original songs and live performances. We want to be on our own – like pioneers, you could say, forging our own path through the frontier of a technologically-dependent society.

What can Davis expect from your show?
Davis can expect some new interpretations of old time music, plus some original tunes, which we hope people will take home with them as new additions to their personal music collections. We are really excited. We hope it will be the first of many. We’ve made a lot of friends from UC Davis and the Davis area, including the guys from Mad Cow String Band. We’re playing with one of their other projects called West Nile Ramblers at the Cozmic Café in Placerville on May 25th.

Souterrain
Since releasing tracks, what has been the general feedback from fans and critics?
Last year, we released a live recording we made as a trio playing around one microphone in a converted garage which people really liked. It had a rough and ready quality to it and we made it quickly, with just a couple of takes per song, so it sounds like we’re having fun. Music Connection Magazine reviewed the songs positively, but said we should treat the music to the level of production it deserved. So now we’ll have a studio recording coming out next month. By the number of downloads we’ve had of the singles on iTunes, I’m hopeful the record will do well.
What is your plan after playing in Davis?
I think, like most of Davis, I’ll be heading to Burgers and Brew.

DANIELLE HUDDLESTUN can be contacted at arts@theaggie.org.

RENT

Arts Editor
-
0

One of the most celebrated rock musicals, RENT, is set to arrive at Wyatt Pavilion this season. Studio 301, a UC Davis student theatre group, is proud to announce their own staging of RENT, the gritty musical about the struggle for creative freedom, recognition and love when the HIV/AIDS epidemic was quickly changing the NYC landscape.

Studio 301’s RENT will have a two week run from May 10 to 13 and 17 to 20. Mitchell Vanlandingham serves as the staging director and Elizabeth Tremaine is the musical director for this upcoming production. Tremaine took some time out of her busy schedule to provide some insight about the show.

MUSE: Please tell us a little about yourself and your role in this production of RENT.

TREMAINE: I’m a recent graduate of UC Davis, where I majored in psychology with minors in neuroscience and theatre. I am the musical director for this production of RENT.

What made you decide to get involved with this production?

Mitchell and I proposed RENT to Studio 301, the student-run production company at UC Davis, because it is relevant to our community. It tells a heart-wrenching story of friendship, love, loss and grief. We wanted to use RENT to evoke discussion amongst community members about health, sexuality and other controversial topics.

What do you love about RENT?

From a musical standpoint, RENT is a playground. Composer and lyricist Jonathan Larson mastered so many genres of music, from hard rock (RENT) and pop rock (Light My Candle) to tango (Tango Maureen). Unlike other rock operas, which often stick to one genre of music, RENT plays with musical format to help tell the story. It is a joy to work with well-crafted material.

Is there anything different in comparison to the movie version?

Musically, the film version of RENT is significantly different from the stage production. Larson structured RENT as a rock opera: like any classical opera, RENT is composed of both arias (songs driven by a melody in which characters express their emotions) and recitatives (songs in which the characters adopt the rhythms of normal speech). Many of the recitatives were, unfortunately, omitted in the making of the film. We are also having a live band accompany the actors.

What is your favorite part of Studio 301’s RENT so far?

I have loved seeing the cast develop into an ensemble. They have become incredibly close, and their friendship helps make their performances believable and heart-wrenching.

To purchase tickets, contact the Ticket Office at (530) 753-1915; student prices are $14 and general admission is $16. All shows take place at 8 p.m. except for Sunday matinees, which will be at 2 p.m.

MICHELLE RUAN can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.

Editorial: Students for sale

Opinion
-
2

Over the last six months, UC Davis has come under heavy scrutiny for the administration’s treatment of students. A lot of time and money have been spent on administrative reviews aimed at bettering the relationship between police, admins, and the students they serve.

While such criticism is fully deserved, it fails to address the reason why students are protesting in the first place: The cost of our university education is going up and the quality is going down.

It’s been said before, and we’ll say it again – college education should be more than just a resume item.

As students in the University of California system, we are credited with being members of the intellectual elite, but we’re treated more like Model Fords on an assembly line. Surely with a bachelor’s degree comes a deeper, more complex understanding of the world than was held at the unripened age of 18. But it doesn’t seem that UC Davis is doing much to accelerate this process.

By senior year, we’re better at speaking during class when we haven’t done the reading, better at staying up all night writing essays and better at obtaining drugs not prescribed to us. Four years and thousands of dollars later, we are better at playing the system, and that’s about it.

So what is to blame? We approach this problem with what little critical thinking skills we have garnered through GE requirements.

Perhaps it is the quarter system, whose measly 10 weeks provide the same level of engagement as online traffic school. It takes a dedicated professor to give feedback to every essay written in their 300-person intro class. It takes an even more dedicated student to write an essay worth reading with only six hours of lecture material to inform their argument.

Perhaps it is the budget cuts, which mean less attention to individual students. They mean less institutional pressure to not text in class. They mean professors are forced to teach to the test. They mean no one is going to notice if you don’t show up. Furthermore, maybe it is the fact that students are forced to take classes they’re not interested in because there are not enough seats in the classes they care about.

As the cost goes up, there is a greater need for afterschool jobs and less time to focus on studying. When making lattes is your livelihood, it’s hard to prioritize 100 pages of Foucault.

Perhaps all of these issues are leading students to care more about their diploma than the education that comes with it.

But perhaps the problem is bigger than our campus or even the State. Perhaps the real issue is a society which prioritizes money over character, A’s over comprehension and campus police over professors in impacted majors.

If this campus has learned anything over the last few months, it’s that the choices of the UC Davis administration are not necessarily in the best interest of the students.

So let’s stop treating ourselves like products. Let’s start getting our money’s worth out of each and every unit we sign up for. And let’s start thinking critically about our education.

Column: TV guide

Arts Editor
-
0

I’m sure I speak for a majority of college students when I say that our favorite activity of the day, besides eating, is watching television. We may claim to be extremely busy and exhausted, but at the end of the day we find 30 minutes to fit in an episode of “Modern Family” to reward ourselves for our “hard work.”

One of my apartment-mates sets aside at least an hour at the end of his day to watch a television show or two. Oh, only easy majors have time to watch television? Well, here’s some food for thought … he’s a mechanical engineer who still makes time for his nightly “Lipstick Jungle” or “Desperate Housewives.”

Because we’re cheap, we don’t pay for cable. But thanks to technology, we have access to Hulu Plus and Netflix, allowing us to watch whatever we want, whenever we want. In addition to today’s technology and advances in mass media we can find virtually anything online moments after they are aired.

Now, when I do find time to watch my television shows that piled-up from the week, I like to cuddle with my cat and eat a bowl of spumoni ice cream. I’m as far away from a hipster as one can get; I watch television shows that no one has heard of or has bothered to check out.

Yes, of course I watch “Grey’s Anatomy” — Shonda Rhimes’ blessing to the Earth; “Glee” — even though it’s getting worse every week; and “90210” / “Gossip Girl” / other pointless dramas as my guilty pleasures.

What surprises me though is that not very many people watch shows that I would expect everyone to be obsessing over. For one, “Community” is one of those shows that encompasses all humor untouched by television thus far; a.k.a. my own humor. It is filled with pop culture references, quirky characters and a fast and witty script. Now that I think about it, this show actually sounds like “Gilmore Girls” … without the plotline of “Gilmore Girls.”

A brand new show to television, “Smash,” has famous people all over the place. Deborah Messing, Katharine McPhee, Anjelica Huston and Megan Hilty are just a few people of the extremely talented cast. Set around the creation, production and dream of making a Broadway musical, it’s everything “Glee” isn’t: entertaining, deep and with plot lines. Lea Michele should’ve stuck it out for this audition.

My number one television show is “Happy Endings.” There has yet to be an episode that I haven’t literally laughed out loud for and I only wish to model my life after this show. I believe this show is the hidden gem of all comedy television because of the brilliant banter between characters and the hilarity that ensues in every situation on the show.

Something I’m thoroughly looking forward to watching when it returns to MTV is “Awkward.” Basically the story of my life. This girl gets herself into the most awkward and uncomfortable situations and has the dry humor that drives my funny bone. Her outlook on life and her ridiculous friends remind me of everything my life is, has been and what I want it to be.

“Suburgatory”: if you grew up in the suburbs, which I’m assuming most of you have, then this is the show for you. Emphasizing and over-exaggerating the ridiculousness that occurs in those little boxes made of ticky tacky (Get it? “Weeds?”), this show has some of the most ridiculous and hilarious characters. One of the moms named her dog Yakult, after the yogurt. If that’s not enough to get you to watch it then I don’t know what will.

Last but not least, if you’re a fan of “Say Yes to the Dress” and are nowhere near getting married, then “Jersey Couture” is for you. This reality show follows the working lives of a family’s dress shop business that caters to women searching for prom, party or pageant dresses. The customers and their preferences in style make the show — who knew that a lime-green-feather-glitter-prom dress would be chosen for the low price of $800. Who knew. Well, I did. Because I watch this show.

So if you want to avoid your real feelings and drown them with comedic shows, then refer to this column as your guide. You’re welcome. (What show is that from? “Awkward!”)

Are you convinced that “Parks and Recreation” is the show to watch? Yeah, well convince ELIZABETH ORPINA to watch it after she hated the first season at arts@theaggie.org. And yes, she knows that it got better … her television schedule is too full at the moment.

Arts Week

Arts Editor
-
0

DANCE

9th Annual UC Davis Dance Team Showcase
Friday at 6:30 p.m. & Saturday at 10 p.m., $5
Brunelle Performance Hall at Davis High School, 315 W 14th St.
This annual showcase serves as the Davis Dance Team’s largest fundraiser, bringing choreography and entertainment specifically for this show. Tickets can be purchased at the door or from any dance team member.

Dance Dance Davis: Free classes
Monday at 6 – 8 p.m., University Club Dance Studio
May 2 at 8:30 p.m., Davis Art Center
Shelly Gilbride, doctor in performance studies, theatre and dance alumna, local arts consultant and dancer, is recruiting at least 100 people from Davis for a flashmob dance performance to take place at a surprise Davis location on May 9 at 6:15 p.m. These dance classes serve as opportunities for those interested to contribute dance steps to the show. For more information, visit theatredance.ucdavis.edu.

FILM

UC Davis Film Festival
The UC Davis Film Festival is looking for entries of any UCD student film made in the past 24 months. Films made while at UCD are accepted from graduates as well. Videos can be up to ten minutes in length. Final deadline to submit is May 4; submissions and corresponding forms should be turned in to Art 101. For more information, visit facebook.com/UCDavisFilmFestival. Email Ngoc Le with questions or inquiries about volunteering.

MUSIC

Music on the Green
Sunday at 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., free
Central Park
A free afternoon with the intention of uniting the campus and the community of Davis, Music on the Green has teamed up with Davis Flea Market to provide free music, delicious food and a zero-waste event. Features bands such as Lijie, Merrygold, The Souterrain and Jordan’s Beard.

MONDAVI

Members of the San Francisco Symphony
May 2 at 8 p.m., $72/$36 (student)
Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center
San Francisco Symphony concertmaster and violinist Alexander Barantschik concludes the San Francisco Symphony’s mini-Mondavi season with performances of work from the Baroque era.

ART

23rd Annual California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Art
Friday to Sunday, at varying times
The CCACA brings the ultimate ceramic sculpture event in an intimate setting for interaction with top artists. There will be demonstrations, lectures and shows. There will be opportunities to meet face-to-face with distinguished ceramic sculptors and see/hear what makes them the top in their field.

Men’s Tennis preview

Sports Editor
-
0

Event: Big West Conference Championships

Teams: UC Davis vs. University of Pacific

Records: Aggies, 5-15; Tigers, 8-14

Where: Indian Wells Tennis Garden — Indian Wells, Calif.

When:  Friday at 11:00 am

Who to watch: Junior Toki Sherbakov is one of The Aggies’ more thrilling players to watch, as he posted a strong performance against the University of Hawaii at Hilo on Tuesday.

In the Aggies’ victory over the Vulcans, Sherbakov helped secure the doubles point with teammate Josh Albert. He cruised during his No.1 singles match, winning 6-1, 6-3.

Did you know?  The Aggies and the Tigers met in the third match of the season.

Pacific came away with a 6-1 win over UC Davis. The Aggies lost all six singles matches and only one doubles match to the Tigers.

Preview: The Aggies begin their quest to a Big West Championship with a match against the No.4 seeded Tigers.

The Aggies ended the season on a positive note, winning two out of four matches, including a conference victory over UC Riverside. UC Davis secured a No.5 seed in the conference tournament with a 1-4 mark in league matches.

Pacific lost three of its last four matches to close out the season with a 2-3 mark in conference play.

“Pacific is a strong team,” said coach Daryl Lee, “but our top two players, Kyle [Miller] and Toki [Sherbakov], accomplished a lot and hopefully the rest of the team will follow.”

Should the Aggies come away with a victory, they will face No.1 seed Cal Poly on Saturday. As of now, they are focused on adjusting to the blistering heat in Southern California and channeling a season’s worth of hard work and dedication into the first match of the Championship.

— Veena Bansal

Column: I know those girls

Opinion
-
0

There’s a lot to be said about the new aptly titled HBO series, “Girls”, and most of it already has been written by TV columnists, feminist critics, New York critics, feminist New York critics and other experts in the world of circle-scarfdom.

“Girls” is a show created by Lena Dunham. She stars as Hannah, a 24-year-old in New York who, at the onset of the series, is cut-off by her parents. Hannah lives in the very real world of unpaid internships, artistic aspirations and premature ejaculations. She and her friends struggle with relationships, dinner parties and trying to figure out if that stuff that gets around the side of the condom can give you HIV, which will then lead to AIDS.

There is a certain aspect to this show that is so relevant to me and our generation that it’s almost hard to watch because you already know how a scene will play out. I mean this as in it’s relatable, not predictable. When I asked a friend of mine what her initial reaction to the show was, she texted me, “I need to make life changes so I stop relating to this show.” And it’s true; in one hour of footage, HBO has shown the most realistic portrayal of the girls that I know that I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen that movie Thirteen).

The show does a good job with its depiction of the interplay between women and the sort of lexicon that friend-groups so impressingly create. On ranking the hierarchy of communication, Marnie says with confidence, “The lowest, that would be Facebook, followed by G-chat, then texting, then e-mail, then phone. Face-to-face is of course ideal, but is not of this time.” Similar interactions provide inside jokes about being a young adult in 2012, like the all but fake power of running a twitter account, or being embarrassed yet thankful that your parents still support you. There is some universal truth to Hannah that is wildly entertaining. It’s not a laugh-out-loud comedy, which makes the interplay of characters that much more realistic and subtly hilarious.

“Girls” is able to provide an entertaining depiction of twenty-something-year-old girls, probably because with all the sex and drama, twenty-something-year-old girls are pretty interesting when they stop obsessing over which brunch place to go to. It’s not a question of when the show will run out of things for Hannah and her friends to do, but if there is a broad enough fan base to carry the show.  Hannah probably won’t resonate with people outside of major cities, and even in those cities, only a small minority will really pick up on her aesthetic as an average-looking, fashion-forward, aspiring author who has sex that is equally as awkward as it is casual.

Which is why the main criticism of the show so far has been its niche approach. Putting emphasis on the struggle of educated, upper-middle class, white twenty-somethings with an affinity for dinner parties is obviously going to receive some backlash. But the point of the show isn’t to depict every 24-year-old girl, despite what the title may suggest. Lena Dunham is depicting her reality, not the realities of other people in New York or the realities of girls in other situations in life.

And while I know each and every one of these girls, I do think that there is something about the show that is relatable to a lot of people who may not be hypochondriac English major about to be cut off from their parents.

It’s because at its core, “Girls” portrays young people who are doing their best to enjoy themselves while coming to terms with adulthood and less-than secure relationships. This narrative can resonate with pretty much anyone in our age group.

Hannah’s stoned proclamation about being the voice of her generation is more an ode to the somewhat silly idea that our generation is searching for a voice and the even sillier idea that our generation deserves a voice.

We don’t feel sympathy for Hannah, since our generation knows all too well what it’s like to be denied a job, or caught in between friends; instead its empathy, because we know exactly what she is going through — we’ve been there. We know it sucks, but it’s way cool that HBO is giving Lena Dunham a Sunday time slot to show it.

If you want to talk more about the show, or you’re a twenty-four-year-old girl living in New York, contact ANDY VERDEROSA at asverderosa@ucdavis.edu.

Who’s that Aggie?

Features Editor
-
0

Editor’s note: In Who’s That Aggie?, The California Aggie finds a student on campus and investigates their background and experiences at UC Davis.

When junior computer science major Joey Fusco walks into a room, the energy shifts in his favor. He moves quickly and speaks even swifter. Fusco sports a slight smudge on the right shoulder of his shirt and a greenish bruise on the inside of his right arm as he extends his hand to shake.

“People never guess that I do what I do,” Fusco said. He leans back in his chair with both hands now resting behind his head. “It’s usually not until they see my Facebook that they find out that I skydive.”

In fact, Fusco is an avid skydiver. In his three years practicing what he calls a sport, Fusco has taken over 500 jumps.

The allure began in a civics class during Fusco’s senior year of high school. His teacher, Mr. Gissell, informed those interested to meet at the school parking lot the Monday after graduation and he’d provide them the directions to the nearest drop zone.

“Mr. Gissell had gone skydiving once and at the end of the year he’d always give a plug for it in his last class,” Fusco said. “This occurred literally the last minute and a half of my high school career.”

Fusco considered skydiving once before. He had wanted to go for his 18th birthday, but his parents weren’t having it, Fusco said. But when that Monday morning after graduation came, little did he know he’d be receiving a belated gift.

“As my friends were headed to the school, they decided to pick me up. They were much more gung-ho about skydiving than I was,” Fusco said. “We just told my parents we were going to the Apple store in Santa Rosa.”

The drop zone was located at the Parachute Center in Lodi, CA, about an hour and a half away from Fusco’s hometown in Sonoma County.

“One of the first things I remember is the harness,” Fusco said. “It’s a big, bulky, rough harness, much different than the ones you get when rock climbing.”

Not knowing what to expect, the plane itself also served as a surprise.

“It was big,” Fusco said. “Not like commercial big, but as big as a little plane could get. It could fit about 30 people.”

He holds boarding the plane as one of his most vivid sensations ever.

“You walk right behind the prop, and it’s really windy, and it’s already hot from standing on the tarmac,” Fusco said. “You can smell the Jet A fuel because it burns so rich and it’s really hot. At this point, I couldn’t help but think to myself, ‘I might have gotten in too deep.”

As the jump approached, so did the anxiety. “It’s weird because you feel nervous in spurts,” Fusco said. “The tandem instructors, while going over the procedures and giving advice, are always joking with the group and teasing. It doesn’t allow you to be scared or nervous the entire time.”

Fusco described the plane flying a pattern and looping right above the drop point.

“They threw the doors up, and all of a sudden there was this large gaping hole on the side of the plane,” he said. “You feel the turbulence and intense winds in a way that can’t be described in words.”

As each person jumped, there was a certain sensation that brushed through the plane, Fusco said.

“It was similar to putting your hand out the window of a fast moving car,” he said. “Within two seconds, the person before you goes from someone smashed against your face in a line to this dot that’s falling below. It’s the one second you have to be like, ‘Oh my God!’”

Joey’s eyes grew wide as he discussed his first jump. “That rock back – ready, set, go – moment is a moment I’ll never forget,” Fusco said. He rocked in his chair with a big grin. “You expect the anxiety to continue when you finally jump out there, but it’s all left in the plane. When I finally jumped, there was both a sense of calmness and sensation that came over my body. It was pure euphoria!”

Six months later, he went on another jump before deciding he wanted to take official courses.

“I thought it could just be a cool hobby. Never did I think it would become a full-fledged addiction,” Fusco said.

When describing what keeps him coming back for more, Fusco couldn’t help but to mention the many friends he’s met during his three years skydiving.

“It fast-tracks your friendship,” he said. “No matter how much you skydive, there’s a rush every time that only a skydiver would understand. My closest friends understand that. You feel the tension together, so you inherently have something to talk about.”

Sandra Bond is one of those friends. “Joey is very influential,” Bond said. “He’s definitely the most influential person I’ve ever jumped with. He has a certain air about him that makes everything okay.”

Another friend, Chase Wilhelm, said he and Fusco have had some of their best skydives together. “I couldn’t imagine sharing those moments with anyone else,” Wilhelm said.

Fusco has skydived in various places throughout California, but the Parachute Center remains his favorite.

“I’ve even been to Skydance here in Yolo County, but I find that the pricing is much better at the Parachute Center,” he said. “Tandems run for only $100, plus the guy who owns the place has the most accumulated freefall time in history! That’s pretty cool.”

Unlike many sports, there are no characteristics for a prototypical skydiver according to Fusco.

“Having an open mind is pretty much the only requirement,” he said. “There’s such a diverse group, from accountants and professionals to people in the military.”

Fusco said he has no definite post-graduation plans, but he is looking forward to working as a tandem jump instructor over the summer.

He concluded the skydiving talk in a Mr. Gissell sort of way.

“If I could suggest one activity in life, it would be skydiving,” he said. “People should understand that it’s not inherently dangerous. It’s a sport for me. Some people go horseback riding; I happen to jump out of planes.”

ISAIAH SHELTON can be reached at features@theaggie.org.

Women’s Tennis preview

Sports Editor
-
0

Event: Big West Conference Championships

Records: Aggies 11-11 (6-2)

Where: Indian Wells Tennis Garden — Indian Wells, Calif.

When: Friday at 8 a.m.

Who to Watch: Sophomore Megan Heneghan, a freshman in the top singles spot last year when UC Davis was upended by UC Irvine in the first round of the Big West Conference Championships.

A year later, Heneghan is still playing No. 1, but has a year of collegiate tennis under her belt. Coach Bill Maze has cited that this will make a difference this year and in the future.

Heneghan almost upset the No. 1 ranked player in the nation when the Aggies played Stanford and won her final three matches of the regular season.

Did you know? At first glance the Aggies’ 11-11 overall record is mediocre at best. Still, UC Davis stands in second place with a 6-2 Big West Conference record.

The women’s tennis program faced arguably the toughest schedule — consisting of 11 ranked opponents — in its history, but playing the top teams has paid off.

The Aggies recently took down No. 66 UC Irvine 5-2. Both teams ended conference play with 6-2 league records, so the victory over the Anteaters earned UC Davis the nod for the No. 2 seed in the Big West  tournament.

“I was concerned we overdid it early on,” Maze said. “But they kept their heads up and we knew it was the right move because they’re playing the best tennis of the year right now.”
Preview: The Aggies are rolling right now and have five straight conference victories to show for it.

UC Davis will be looking to make a push in the conference tournament where they had a disappointing loss to UC Irvine last year.

Despite the fact that the Aggies’ lineup looks very similar to that of last year, it is entirely different.

“Last year we had four freshmen on the team, and there’s no way you can go there as a freshman and feel natural, not feel those nerves,” Maze said. “That experience is going to help them. I don’t think they’re going to have that this year.”

Senior Dahra Zamudio will enter her final postseason for the Aggies while freshman Layla Sanders will appear in her first. Zamudio has maintained the No. 2 singles position and seven straight doubles victories, while Sanders has had five straight set victories at the No. 5 position.

UC Davis has also found its groove in doubles; having won the doubles point four straight times despite only winning it four times previously in the season.

UC Davis matches up with seventh seeded Pacific today in the hot climate of Indian Wells and will hope to progress on through the tournament. Should they win, the Aggies will play the winner of UC Irvine and Cal State Northridge.

“The second seed helps us a lot because in the heat, it’s tough grind at Indian Wells so it’s nice to play the No. 7 instead of No. 6 seed,” Maze said. “We beat Irvine earlier, but they’ve won it or made it to the finals a lot in the past so it will not be easy to play them if we advance.”

— Matthew Yuen

Senate Bill 960 passes through Senate Education Committee

City Editor
-
0

The California Senate Education Committee approved Senate Bill 960, a bill aimed at giving California State University (CSU) students a chance at increased involvement when it comes to self-imposed fees, on April 11. The bill still awaits the State Senate approval.

The bill ensures that student fees are not unfairly implemented by CSU administration without a re-vote of the entire student body, stated the press release from Senator Michael J. Rubio (D- Shafter), who introduced the bill.

“SB 960 will set into law important protections for CSU students that prevent campus presidents from raiding the student fee accounts that the college students voted to impose on themselves and that they are paying with their own hard earned money,” Rubio said in the press release.

The bill would also address the problem of CSU administration changing the designation of student fees without student body consent.

“College students are already having a difficult time making ends meet to pay for rising tuition and living costs,” Rubio said in the press release. “Clearly, if students vote a student fee into existence, they should always be part of determining how those funds are used.”

University officials opposed changes to the system of shared governance within CSU in the bill.

“Within the higher education system as a whole, the CSU is very unique,” said Erik Fallis, media relations specialist for CSU. “Our student governments are all independent nonprofits who control their own budget by electing students directly.”

These nonprofits manage budgets in the best interest of the students.

“Within this structure, there are a lot of opportunities for students to direct their own affairs and be heavily involved in the management of the university,” Fallis said.

The point of contact for this shared governance is the associated students and their leadership. At the systemwide level, the point of contact is the California State Student Association (CCSA).

Under current policy, if CSU were to consider a fee increase, but was somehow hindered from holding a full election, they would have the option of alternative consultation.

Alternative consultation involves a discussion with a campus fee advisory committee or other student association.

The new policy would take away the option of alternative consultation, as even if a campus committee were consulted, a full student body election would still be required.

“You’re no longer empowering the student leadership that’s already been elected to work out the consultation process,” Fallis said. “It’s beneficial to have strong student leadership.”

Senate Bill 960 also lengthens the process of fee implementation.

“This could be detrimental in urgent cases, such as fees aimed at student medical services, advising programs and athletic programs, as well as building structures and providing transportation systems,” Fallis said.

Most of the time, however, Fallis states that alternative consultation has been used to discuss relatively minor changes.

“A full election costs a lot of money, and involves a great deal of time,” Fallis said. “We could be going through all this time and effort for a relatively small change. When large fee increases are in question, a general election is almost always used anyway.”

Though the bill addresses issues related to shared governance, the CSSA neither supports nor opposes SB 960 and has instead decided to watch the bill.

“When we watch it usually means we feel we don’t have enough information for us to oppose or support the bill,” CCSA Executive Director, Miles Nevin said. “We want to see how it plays out in the legislature. There might be some amendments to it.”

Nevin expressed that when it comes to addressing fee policies, the first step for CSU students should be to directly address the chancellor.

“Our students recognize that on fee policy, they have ongoing access to the chancellor,” Nevin said. “If we felt there was an issue at the statewide level we should address it with the chancellor’s office first.”

EINAT GILBOA can be reached city@theaggie.org.

Davis Dozen arraignment set for this Friday

Campus Editor
-
5
Davis Dozen arraignment set for this Friday

Nearly three months after U.S. Bank announced its withdrawal from the university campus, 12 protesters have been ordered to court for an arraignment on Friday at  8:30 a.m.

The 11 students and one professor face up to 11 years in prison on the charges of the obstruction of movement in a public place and conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor by Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig.

While protesters were allegedly blocking the entrance to the bank, several citations were issued that notified them of California Penal Code Section 647C, for public passage obstruction. No arrests were made during that time.

If convicted, the protesters, dubbed the “Davis Dozen” or the “Banker’s Dozen,” could pay up to $1 million in damages. The bank cited the university responsible for terminating the agreement, while stating they were “constructively evicted” in the termination letter to school officials.

According to a press release from the Occupy UC Davis Antirepression Crew, supporters argue that the University targeted the group of demonstrators in an attempt to limit its liability to U.S. Bank.

UC Davis spokesperson Barry Shiller said that the prosecutions are only directed toward alleged crimes despite claims that it was due to  the University’s liability to the bank.

“This subjected the participants to possible penalties both criminal and student judicial and the protests did not stop until the bank closed its doors on Feb. 28 … The last thing that the Chancellor wants is to see anybody saddled with a bill for restitution,” Shiller said.

The Yolo County District Attorney was involved when several complaints were made from students to University administration about accessing the bank, according to Shiller.

“The District Attorney did make the decision after studying the information that 12 of the people merited having these misdemeanor complaints filed against them,” he said. “It wasn’t just difficult – it was not just a matter of stepping over somebody who was sitting there peacefully – they reported that they were being physically obstructed from being able to enter by people who were literally blocking their access.”

Some students involved in the pepper spraying incident last November are also among the Davis Dozen. Occupiers are claiming that while pepper sprayed occupiers were not charged for events in fall, this prosecution is an attempt to punish protesters.

“… This less publicized prosecution seems to be an attempt to punish the dissenting students, perhaps in retaliation for their pending ACLU [the American Civil Liberties Union] lawsuit against the University,” the press release stated.

A Facebook event page has been created to assist students in finding carpools to Yolo County Superior Court, where the arraignment is to take place. Ninety-one people have confirmed their attendance, as of Wednesday.
On Monday, student protesters held a demonstration on the Quad in support of the Davis Dozen. More than 40 protesters were present.

UC Berkeley student protesters also received similar letters four months after demonstrations last November, when police officers engaged in violence to remove students for protesting the state of public education. Supporters are claiming that retroactively prosecuting students is a tactic the administration is employing to avoid negative media attention.

“We might not think of this as violence, because there aren’t broken bones or pepper spray or guns – it’s not as explicit – but sending someone to jail, holding them for a day, let alone 11 years, is violence,” said Andrew Higgins, representative of the UC graduate student union and history graduate student, in the press release.

Supporters of the Davis Dozen are urging members of the public to contact the Yolo County District Attorney and to attend the arraignment to demonstrate opposition toward the prosecution.

Both the UC Davis Faculty Association and UAW 2865, the union representing UC Davis graduate students, have passed resolutions in support of the Davis Dozen, Higgins said.

“No one is happy  about these cases having been filed,” Shiller said. “That is the reason the campus was so patient about trying to convince the protesters to move just a foot to either side and just let people though. That alone would have turned these into expressive constitutionally-protected protests.”

More details can be found at davisdozen.org.

MUNA SADEK can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

 

Column: A modest proposal

Opinion
-
0

This year’s UC admissions hit a record high, reaching 80,289 students, and included a higher percentage of out-of-state and international students than ever before. The new push toward larger incoming classes is obviously a shrewd move for administrators. Following in the footsteps of that great American corporation, McDonald’s, we can build a university that values new tuition dollars over intangibles like education — one in which millions and millions are served.

By cutting budgets, instituting hiring freezes and increasing sales volume, the UC system drives unit costs down. As a result, the school doesn’t have to spend as much per student and the school makes a little more money. Meanwhile, increases in tuition mean that students pay even more for a product worth less. (Would you like fries with that?)

But even under this plan, we’re still spending way too much on profit sucks like instruction. Students pay the same tuition whether they’re taught well or poorly so we shouldn’t allow quality of education to get in the way. Let’s try for 160,000 students by 2020!

We could start by recording as many lectures as possible and putting them online. Students will probably want to feel like they’re learning something so we could supplement these with a few automated tests. If there’s a problem, or if some egghead feels the need to actually speak to a person, we could always have a pool of low-paid adjuncts available at an online help desk.

With this method, we could admit as many undergraduates as apply, enrolling students based anywhere in the world.

Of course, the bleeding hearts might complain that there’s little evidence that e-learning works as well as face-to-face classroom time. Sure, maybe, but let’s not forget that we teach undergraduates a bad lesson when we waste taxpayer money on them.

And some teachers will undoubtedly gripe that, despite the information age interfaces, online lectures only replicate the worst aspects of university education. The giant, lecture-based class is an artifact of teaching conditions before the printing press: medieval instructors would read out of a book while students copied it down. Post-Gutenberg, however, this method of teaching makes less sense. Most students learn through a variety of modalities and few people can pay attention to an hour-long lecture, anyway.

But is that a bad thing? Lectures impress upon students the valuable message that the person in authority has all of the knowledge and that the best way to learn is to passively memorize his or her pronouncements by rote. By organizing classes through enormous and impersonal lectures, we’re training students for the blind, reflexive obedience that will serve them well in the private sector.

When you’re engineering terminator seeds for Monsanto or designing predator drones for the US Army, the ability to question and speak back that small discussions or labs encourage is a distraction at best.

Plus, evacuating the campus in favor of digital lectures would help solve our longstanding civility problem. If everyone is isolated at home on their computers (except maybe customers at our convenient banking facilities), students can’t assemble and protest. With an undergraduate-free campus, there’s no danger of “your daughter” meeting those creeping non-affiliates with unthinkable motives that we’ve all been warned about.

International students do pose a challenge for this plan though. If we don’t provide additional counseling and assistance for students mastering a second language or adjusting to a different culture, international students could face a more difficult learning environment and their grades may suffer.

Nobody wants to send away customers, especially ones who pay more than in-state students, so I’d suggest a simple barter system for students with grade problems. Students could boost their GPAs by participating in off-campus practical learning opportunities provided by a temporary employment agency: so many hours of work for so many grade points. In the process, students would gain meaningful work experience and the school would acquire a lucrative revenue stream.

But these are just short-term reforms. Ideally, we’d have a user-friendly school in which students could bypass pesky requirements and move quickly into the real world. Let’s let the customer decide how much education they want by offering credits for cash. This would eliminate most education costs while opening learning up to the free market.

If we abolished instruction entirely, it would allow us to slash classes and programs that dwell on researching unprofitable subjects or fostering critical thought. Cutting out all of these inefficiencies, the university would become a streamlined machine or mill, focusing entirely on providing students the diploma for which they’ve paid.

JORDAN S. CARROLL, who grants this degree will be somewhat dear, can be reached at jscarroll@ucdavis.edu.

1...1,0801,0811,082...1,788Page 1,081 of 1,788

Sections

Campus News
City News
Opinion
Features
Español
Arts & Culture
Science & Tech

Resources

Advertising
Classifieds
Contact

Best of Davis

2023
2022
2021
2020
2019

Projects

Diversity Report
Senior Issue

©2021, ASUCD. Designed by Creative Media.