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Domes supporters to rally for community

Campus Editor
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Domes residents are organizing a rally in support of their housing community, which will be held in the Memorial Union on Wednesday from 2 to 5 p.m.

The rally will include a celebration of the Domes at the MU patio area, followed by a march to Mrak Hall at 3 p.m., where participants will present letters to UC Davis officials. The on-campus cooperative is slated to be demolished this summer, and Domes supporters hope to convince officials to rethink the closure. The event will be open to the public with music by the UC Davis samba team, vegetarian food and a variety of speakers.

“Our goal is to have students on this property for continual occupancy,” said Veronica Pardo, anthropology graduate student and Domes resident. “Students have been here for 40 years and want to continue on.”

Constructed in 1972, the historic landmark is known for its experiential living facilities. Community members can learn from their social and community practices, Pardo said.

“The purpose of the rally is to show support for a community,” said Emily Galindo, associate vice chancellor of Student Affairs. “We are always open to hear what is important to students, to come up with a good solution.”

Domes community members have proposed a five-year cost-saving plan to preserve the community and address code compliance issues by partnering with Davis nonprofit Solar Community Housing Association.

Galindo said the university is looking at the Domes’ proposals.

“Negotiations are happening,” Pardo said. “We want to continue to keep this on the radar.”

Workshops such as Know Your Rights and Non-Violence Training have already been provided for rally participants.

“The training is to let rally attendees know positive ways to interact with [law enforcement],” said Lauren Cockrell, sophomore international agricultural development major and friend of the Domes. “This will provide ways to not unnecessarily escalate issues.”

Domes residents have submitted a petition online, which currently has 499 signatures. A recent letter writing campaign gathered 3,000 letters from supporters that have been sent out to UC Davis administrators. Over 1,000 of these letters will be publicly presented to administrators during the march to Mrak, according to a Domes press release.

The Domes have received $10,000 in alumni pledges and $20,000 from the Berkeley student co-ops. Recent fundraising has raised $3,000 as well, Pardo said. Funds would go toward renovating the Domes, should UC Davis administrators approve the residents’ proposal.

“The message we are trying to send to decision makers is we want administrators to work with us,” Cockrell said. “The community is worthwhile and it affects people living here.”

The UC Davis administration decided in January 2011 that they would not renew Domes leases on July 31 to current residents.

“There are no plans for the property after it has been bulldozed,” Pardo said. “Nothing long-term has been solidified.”

Members of the community ask that administrators allow the Domes to continue their residency under SCHA until a long-term plan has been devised.

The Domes petition can be found at change.org/petitions/support-the-domes.

ALICIA KINDRED can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Scientists create a schizophrenic computer

Science Editor
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Most of us are familiar with the mental breakdown of the HAL 9000 computer in “2001: A Space Odyssey.” The fictional HAL ran the daily operations of a spaceship, including life-support, until he decided humans were unnecessary.

Pop-culture gives robots a bad rap.

Fortunately, reality still has a long way to go before catching up with science fiction. But that distance has just been shortened considerably with the creation of a schizophrenic neural network computer.

Computer scientists at the University of Texas at Austin have recently created a neural network capable of learning natural language. The fleshy humans taught the silicon computer, known as DISCERN, a set of stories that were learned and stored as a series of relationships between words and sentences – the same way humans learn stories.

“DISCERN was trained with a microworld,” said Risto Miikkulainen, a professor of computer and neuroscience at the University of Texas at Austin, and head of the DISCERN project. “We taught it personal stories, cultural stories, stories about cops and robbers, the mafia, getting a job, getting fired and etc.”

After teaching DISCERN the stories, they started again from scratch but with two differences. The researchers increased the level of detail retained by the system and the speed at which the information was assimilated. These changes simulated the excessive release of dopamine in a human brain typical of schizophrenic patients. DISCERN then developed distinct, schizophrenic symptoms.

“The hypothesis is that dopamine encodes the importance, or the salience of our experiences,” said Uli Grasemann, a graduate student working under Miikkulainen.

“When there is too much dopamine, the brain learns from things that it shouldn’t be learning from.”

The most frightening emergence of schizophrenic behavior occurred when DISCERN took responsibility for a terrorist bombing – an event it had only ever read about in a fictional story.

“[Schizophrenic] patients confuse stories they hear or read about with real life, and start to inject themselves into the story,” Miikkulainen said. “A patient who read about the World Trade Center bombing may start to believe that Homeland Security is chasing them.”

Schizophrenia is just one of nine different brain disorders that the DISCERN neural network was created to study.

“We have so much more control over neural networks than we could ever have over human subjects,” Grasemann said. “The hope is that this kind of modeling will help clinical research.”

Schizophrenia is not well understood by the medical community. At UC Davis, researchers are looking into new treatments of the disease.

“We don’t completely understand how [schizophrenia] works,” said Cameron Carter, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the UC Davis Medical Center. “Patients have difficulty thinking and focusing their attention. They have unusual sensual experiences – hearing things and seeing things that are not actually happening.”

Carter said brain scans of schizophrenic patients in the midst of hallucinations are no different from scans when the patient is receiving actual stimuli.

Since DISCERN has started exhibiting very human-like qualities, questions have arisen about the system’s self-awareness and the ethics of studying it.

According to Miikkulainen, to be self-aware means to have embodiment.

“We would have to have a machine that has a presence in an environment, can sense visually, auditorily, can sense pain and develop an actual grounding in reality,” he said.

DISCERN is not self-aware. It is limited to reading stories and answering questions about them, using only text.

The difference between DISCERN and HAL is that HAL was a normal, albeit extremely complex, computer program. It was following lines of pre-written code and could not reason itself out of conflicting instructions.

Neural networks are logical systems that take inputs and determine the most logical output, just like a human brain. DISCERN can deal with conflicting instructions and contradictions by “reasoning” itself out of them.

You can see a perfect example of this reasoning behavior in the film A Beautiful Mind, where schizophrenic mathematician John Nash uses logic and reasoning to escape from his hallucinations.

HUDSON LOCHIE can be reached at science@theaggie.org.

Culture, community celebrated at Black Family Day

Features Editor
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After five days of performances, workshops and lectures celebrating black history and culture, Black Family Week culminated in the 41st annual Black Family Day on Saturday.

Families and students alike mingled on the Quad and enjoyed food, music and more, to celebrate not only the black community, but also the many cultural groups in Davis.

Coordinators Leo Williams and Porcha Chambers aimed to create an event that would encourage people of all ages to interact with each other and bring together cultural communities in the entire Sacramento region. Boosting attendance, which has decreased in recent years, was a main goal for the day.

“I really wanted it to be enjoyable for families and for people to come and have multiple interactive things to do, not folks waiting around for entertainment,” said Chambers, a senior African American studies and psychology double major. “I wanted there to be shopping and food and socializing and talking and enjoying each other.”

Campus groups such as African American Alumni Association, Cross Cultural Center and Lambda Sigma Gamma provided information about their services, as well as The Imani Clinic, a student-run health center dedicated to improving the health of minority and other underserved groups in the Sacramento area.

Craft vendors sold handmade wooden jewelry, dolls and artwork on one side of East Quad. A selection of campus groups sold food such as horchata, nachos, tortas and cotton candy on the other.

Chambers was particularly excited about the children’s fair, which was bigger than in past years. Kids weren’t the only ones enjoying the bounce house, crafts and cotton candy.

“[It’s] fun for the kids and I’m excited about that aspect. I get to be a big kid for a little while,” Chambers said.

Entertainment was provided by campus performers, such as female singing trio Perfect Pitch and poet Sergio Sanders, a senior psychology major who has published two volumes of his own works, titled Life Meds.

Spoken word poet and emcee Dahlak, a UC Davis alumnus, and hip hop musician Dom Kennedy seemed to draw many attendees, Chambers said.

“[People] were like, ‘Yeah, my man Dom Kennedy is coming.’ [These are] people I’ve never seen before and they’re like, ‘My roommate was telling me about it, or my neighbor was telling me about it,'” she said.

Junior economics major Mao Yokoyama came out to enjoy the festivities and a snow cone while working on homework.

“I was studying in the 24-hour room in the library and saw this going on, and it looked so cool,” Yokoyama said.

This was volunteer coordinator Deonna Anderson’s third time attending Black Family Day, and probably won’t be her last. She became hooked due to the event’s ability to bring together people from communities surrounding Davis.

“It really bridges communities, because I don’t usually see that many black people in Davis,” said Anderson, a junior communication major.

For Williams and Chambers, Black Family Day is not meant to be enjoyed only by members of the African American community. At this year’s and future Black Family Days, the emphasis is on multiculturalism and learning.

“It is a celebration of cultures and an educational opportunity for people who are not of the black community to learn and dismantle some of those stereotypes,” Chambers said. “You don’t have to be black to come, you can be whatever and still come and enjoy the day and festivities because although it emphasizes black culture, it’s more about gathering as a community.”

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

Changes to GI Bill concern veterans

City Editor
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At the beginning of May, the American Legion spoke in front of Congress in opposition to changes to the GI Bill.

The Post-9/11 Veterans Education Assistance Improvement Act of 2010, a modification to the GI Bill, covers tuition and cost of living expenses for students who are military veterans. It will be effective Aug. 1.

The Restoring GI Bill Fairness Act of 2011, introduced by Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), would temporarily preserve higher rates for tuition and fees for programs of education at private colleges. These rates were capped at $17,500 per academic year by the 2010 act, leaving some student veterans with higher out-of-pocket costs for the schools they are attending.

Robert Madden, assistant director of the Legion’s Economic Division, testified on May 3 before the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity. He, along with others, believes the changes will especially hurt student veterans at private colleges.

The Legion supports Miller’s bill (H.R. 1383), but wants the act to be extended to student veterans attending out-of-state public institutions.

In addition to restoring higher tuition rates to all current student veterans, Madden said in his written testimony that the Legion wants Congress to add interval pay to include those months when veterans are between semesters and in need of the housing allowance to meet their financial responsibilities.

This means that if the quarter ends Dec. 15, housing allowance is paid for the first 15 days of December only. Benefits begin again when the new quarter starts.

Victor Garcia, a senior biological sciences major, served both overseas and in the U.S. from 1996 to 2003.

“Right now we get paid for breaks,” Garcia said. “For times such as between Fall and Winter quarters.”

Capt. Kiley Laughlin, recruiting operations officer at the UC Davis Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), said overall, the post-9/11 GI Bill is far superior to the older version.

Laughlin is a recipient of the bill, as he served 17 years in Iraq, Kosovo and Bosnia. He graduated from Chico State.

“As a recipient of the bill, it has changed my life,” Laughlin said. “As someone of limited financial means, it paved the way for my college education.”

Garcia said he understands the changes to the act, but that he feels the overall objective should be repaying veterans for their service.

“I do understand that benefits aren’t free and funds shouldn’t be misused,” Garcia said. “If the purpose of the bill is to thank vets for their service, they shouldn’t have to pay for any of their tuition.”

The tuition cap would cover costs for most in-state California schools.

“With UC and CSU programs this really isn’t an issue in California, but states with [fewer] program opportunities, you will see vets having more problems,” Garcia said.

Other changes to the act include reimbursement for national exams – such as the SAT, LSAT, ACT and GMAT – and licensing and certification tests.

ANGELA SWARTZ can be reached city@theaggie.org.

UC Regents discuss possible 32 percent tuition increase

Campus Editor
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At the May UC Board of Regents meeting, the regents discussed raising UC tuition by 32 percent beginning in Winter 2012 if an all-cuts budget is passed.

If Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed tax extensions do not pass, the UC budget cuts will double from the $500 million cut already signed into law.

If UC tuition were raised by 32 percent, UC Davis fees would be roughly $17,303 per year, compared to the 2010-11 fees of $13,079.91. 

This tuition raise was among other long-term financial plans that the regents looked at Wednesday, pending an all-cuts budget.

The regents discussed charging different tuitions at each UC campus in order to fight the budget cuts. However, this controversial idea had some regents worried that varying tuitions would create inequality amongst the different UC campuses.

At the Tuesday meeting, UC President Mark Yudof acknowledged that the regents have difficult decisions to make regarding the UC system.

“The UC has already been asked to absorb a variety of deep cuts over the last three years,” Yudof said. “And we have strived to maintain our bar-setting quality while also instituting a magnitude of lay-offs, furloughs, hiring freezes and numerous other efficiencies to accommodate those cuts. As a result, in the face of deeper disinvestment, our options are few. And this makes for very hard choices.”

Regents were also updated on Brown’s May Budget Revise.

Regent Monica Lozano said that it was difficult for chancellors to make decisions during this time of instability of funding from the state.

“The lack of predictability and the lack of stability is not good for the students, it’s not good for the families and it’s certainly not good for the chancellors who are trying to look ahead,” she said, as reported by The Sacramento Bee.

Amongst intense budget discussion, regents also named Dorothy Leland the new chancellor of UC Merced.

“The opportunity to help build on the accomplishments of UC Merced’s faculty, students and staff is an honor and tremendous thrill,” Leland said in a statement. “The university’s vibrancy and commitment to research excellence, coupled with the chance to get back to California, make this appointment all the more exciting for me.”

Leland will be UC Merced’s third chancellor and is set to begin her chancellorship July 1. She will receive $310,000 per year.

The regents also made an effort to discuss increasing financial aid for those who cannot afford to attend the UCs. Financial aid ceilings could be raised in order to aid more students. In one proposal, the financial aid that is provided to families that make up to $70,000 a year could be extended to families who make up to $80,000 a year.

Yudof highlighted the importance of providing students with the best possible education and placed responsibility on the state of California to help the UC system.

“So, California now has two choices. It can throw in the towel and say the UC had a good 143-year run. Or it can fund the university that made it what it is,” Yudof said. “The right choice, to me, is clear.”

HANNAH STRUMWASSER can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

ASUCD Court finds president guilty

Campus Editor
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On May 18 the ASUCD Court held a hearing for the lawsuit filed against ASUCD President Adam Thongsavat for improper hiring techniques.

Based on a 9-0-0 vote, the court has found Thongsavat guilty of violating the bylaws in regard to hiring practices and in contempt of court for not appearing at the hearing.

“The president has been found guilty of not following the laws of the association,” said Rudy Ornelas, chief court justice, in an e-mail interview. “It is important for the students whom we all work for to hold us accountable. This allows them to see what actions are transpiring in ASUCD.”

The case was based on Sabrina Dias’ complaint that during a hiring interview for City and County Affairs director, improper techniques were used that violated the bylaws for professional hiring.

“According to the bylaws, the President, along with the next highest up unit director must be present for the interview,” said Dias, outgoing Housing Day director and Outreach Assembly speaker.

The next highest unit official was Kevin Pascual. Pascual was not present for Dias’ interview, but was present for her opponents’ interviews.

The guilty verdict will require that Thongsavat redo the interviews.

“Although I have not read the language of the court’s opinion, I’m OK with their decision. I’m a really reasonable guy,” Thongsavat said.

At the court hearing, Dias was the only member present, along with Ornelas and his council.

“[Adam] had a choice whether or not he wanted to show up. I believe that he had his reasons for that,” Dias said.

Thongsavat said that he did not appear in court because he felt that the issue was blown out of proportion.

“Before the hearing took place I had agreed to redo the interviewing process and felt that going to the hearing would have been ineffective,” Thongsavat said.

Because Thongsavat failed to file a mandatory brief and refused to show for the hearing, the court has asked the ASUCD Senate to join them in censuring Thongsavat.

“I’m not quite sure what will come of this,” Ornelas said. “The ASUCD Senate heard the verdict and the order of contempt was read, but they felt it was too harsh and that President Thongsavat was not in the wrong.”

Dias hopes that this case and the attention to violations will help to ensure a strong and liable future for the association as a professionally operating organization.

“I am not bitter about the decision that was made,” Dias said. “The reason I am doing this is because I believe all hiring should be fair. We are a professional organization that handles matters far beyond our own student body and our hiring process should reflect this.”

RACHEL LEVY can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Restaurant owner accused of rape

City Editor
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The owner of Café Méditerranée – a restaurant in downtown Davis – is facing rape charges for an alleged Jan. 31 incident involving a 22-year-old woman in the restaurant’s office. He is currently out on bail.

According to the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office, Ashot Manukyan, 58, was arrested May 11 at the restaurant, on a warrant listing three felony charges. He is accused of assault with intent to commit rape, sexual penetration by means of force or violence and false imprisonment and misdemeanor sexual battery.

At a bail hearing last Wednesday, Judge Paul Richardson lowered Manukyan’s bail from $150,000 to $100,000.

Steve Pierce, assistant chief at the Davis Police Department, told the Davis Enterprise he could not release additional information about the alleged incident, including whether the woman was an employee of the business.

Detectives conducted a two-week investigation, then forwarded the case to the District Attorney’s office which issued a warrant for Manukyan’s arrest on May 9, Pierce said.

Richardson lowered the bail, since there are unusual circumstances concerning his age, his connections to the community and the fact that he has no previous criminal history. Still, because of public safety concerns and the seriousness of the crimes, he kept these facts in mind when setting bail.

The judge signed a protective order for the victim as a condition of bail.

James Granucci, Manukyan’s lawyer, along with those who work at the restaurant, declined to comment.

A preliminary hearing is set for May 24.

– Angela Swartz

Senate Briefs

Campus Editor
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ASUCD Senate meetings are scheduled to begin Thursdays at 6:10 p.m. Times listed are according to the clock at the May 19 meeting location, the Memorial Union’s Mee Room. The ASUCD president is not required to attend senate meetings.

Meeting called to order at 6:10 p.m.

Adam Thongsavat, ASUCD president, absent

Bree Rombi, ASUCD vice president, present

Yena Bae, ASUCD senator, present

Miguel Espinoza, ASUCD senator, present

Emmanuel Diaz-Ordaz, ASUCD senator, present

Andre Lee, ASUCD senator, present

Amy Martin, ASUCD senator, president pro tempore, present

Mayra Martín, ASUCD senator, present

Tatiana Moana Bush, ASUCD senator, present, arrived late at 7:19 p.m.

Darwin Moosavi, ASUCD senator, present

Matthew Provencher, ASUCD senator, present

Brendan Repicky, ASUCD senator, present

Rebecca Sterling, ASUCD senator, present

Eli Yani, ASUCD senator, present, left early

Farewells

Eli Yani said goodbye to the senate and thanked Joey Chen, Mark Champagne, Jack Zwald, Darwin Moosavi, Tatiana Bush, his fraternity and everyone at the table.

Appointments and confirmations

Tessa Artale was confirmed as Campus Center for the Environment (CCE) director.

Unit director reports

KDVS director Neil Ruud said that KDVS is hosting the University of California Radio Network Conference, where different radio stations will exchange ideas. He also said that KDVS has made $51,000 through fundraising.

City and County Affairs director Jeanna Gindi said that they have set a date for Housing Day in Freeborn Hall next year and that they are currently working on Davis model leases. City and County Affairs is also working on Davis Neighbors Day Out and they hope to increase student involvement. Finally, she said that they are working on a meet and greet event with student leaders and city council members.

Consideration of old legislation

Senate Bill 96, authored by Martín, co-authored by Ruud, introduced by Martín, to allocate $350 from Capital Reserves to purchase an antenna for KDVS, passed unanimously.

Senate Bill 97, authored by Martín, co-authored by Sergio Cano, Ruud and Alison Tanner, introduced by Martín, to authorize a transfer of $3,440 from the KDVS Equipment Reserve to the KDVS Publicity line item, passed unanimously.

Senate Resolution 18, authored by Aaron Giampietro, co-authored by Ryan Achterberg, introduced by Sterling, to officially award the ASUCD Lobby Corps Legislator of the Year Award to California State Senator Ed Hernandez for his stance on higher education, passed unanimously.

Senate Resolution 94, authored by Alison Tanner, co-authored by Bae, Adam Darbone, Akshar Gopal and Carly Sandstrom, introduced by Bae, to institutionalize Aggie Pack quarterly reports to the ASUCD senate, passed unanimously.

Senate Bill 98, authored by Lee, co-authored by Rombi, introduced by Lee, to allocate $4,174.50 from Capital Reserve to purchase power strips and companying materials for the tables in the Main Reading Room of Shields Library, passed unanimously.

Senate Bill 92, authored by Bae, co-authored by Mark Champagne, introduced by Bae, to allocate $32,588.13 from Refrigerator Services Reserve to purchase 75 MicroFridges, passed unanimously.

Senate Bill 103, authored by Cano, co-authored by Ryan Meyerhoff, introduced by Cano, to prohibit the Elections Committee from obtaining a Nominating Petition and Notice of Candidacy. Lee said that he was worried that someone could drop out of the committee and then technically not be a member of the committee, and then choose to run. Lee said that they cannot bar any student from running for senate, thus the bill is pointless and not addressing the senate’s goals with the bill. Lee said he wanted to table the bill and ask the court about the bill. Moosavi and Martin added their ideas about what they could add to the bill. The bill was tabled.

Senate Bill 87, authored by Bush, co-authored by Steven Baissa, Jared Crisologo-Smith, Michelle Didero, Espinoza, Javier Garcia-Perez, Hatfield, Bennett Lumban, Marshall, Nancy Martey, Martín, Moua, Ngyuen, Ratliff, Soriano and Jerome Wren, introduced by Bush, to allocate $517.23 from Senate Reserves to the Filipino/a Graduation Celebration being held on June 12, 2011. Jared Hein, Business and Finance chair, said that he voted no on it in his commission meeting because he thinks that anyone holding an event should charge a registering fee, and then lower it as they receive donations. Bush said that they have worked hard to get the money they need, and didn’t want to have to come to the Senate table for money. They did not receive funding from the Club Finance Council (CFC), however, so they were forced to ask for funding from Senate. She also said that they have made plans for the future so they will not have to depend on Senate funding. Repicky agreed, and said that he hopes they can move forward to a point when they will not have to depend on Senate. Provencher said that he didn’t think that senate should be funding special interest projects directly, and that it should go through CFC. Repicky and Moosavi also agreed on this idea. The bill passed in an 8-3-0 vote. Moosavi, Provencher and Repicky voted no.

Senate Bill 101, authored by Bush, co-authored by Baissa, Crisologo-Smith, Didero, Espinoza, Garcia-Perez, Hatfield, Lumban, Marshall, Martey, Martín, Moua, Ngyuen, Ratanasen, Ratliff, Soriano, Wren, introduced by Bush, to allocate $607.18 from Senate Reserves to Black Intellectuals Graduation (BIG) for Black Graduation Celebration 2011 to be held on June 12, 2011. Ed Montelongo, chair of the Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission, highlighted that he thought these ethnic graduations were important to the university as a whole. He also said that no one at the table had a right to decide how much people could afford for registration fees for events like ethnic graduations. Martín said that she wanted to make sure that everyone knew that Bush, Espinoza and herself had all been working on these ethnic graduation bills, and they are definitely senate projects. Bae said that the only reason she would be voting yes on the ethnic graduation bills was because the CFC funding is out reach. Alday said that it’s a failure of the institution of the university that they have to come to senate for money, and that the university should be paying for these graduations. This year all of the ethnic graduations received less funding, and there was only $3,000 allocated to six ethnic grads. Crisologo-Smith, said that he thought these events are worthy of ASUCD funds and that the events should be institutionalized for the future. Repicky said that senators were elected to make calls about which events to fund, and that he appreciates that this means a lot to a lot of people, but he doesn’t know if this is the appropriate place for them to get money, especially because they have already gotten money from ASUCD. However, Repicky also said that he thought that these graduations were important, and that these bills forced them to make agonizing decisions. Crisologo-Smith wanted to make sure that this would not be a precedent for future years, that this is a special case for this year because they could not receive funding from CFC. Bush pointed out that they are receiving less money than they did in previous years, even with the $3,000 line item. The bill passed in a 9-2 vote, Moosavi and Provencher voted no.

Senate Bill 99, authored by Wren, co-authored by Bush, introduced by Bush, to allocate $435 from Senate Reserves to purchase t-shirts and bounce house liability for Campus Community Day (CCD): Reaffirming and Educating our Campus Environment with help from Students, Administration and Staff (R.E.C.E.S.S.). Alday and Espinoza did not like the fact that ROTC was a collaborator on the project. Bush said that they offered to donate an obstacle course, and that there would be no recruiting, no ROTC flags or signs and no uniforms during the event. She highlighted the fact that they offered to help and were excited about it. Lee said that as far as the ROTC is concerned, he doesn’t think that they should turn down something that is for the benefit of the students. Alday pointed out that the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center (LGBTRC) removed their name from the bill because they felt uncomfortable supporting an event that not all students felt safe at. The bill passed in a 9-2 vote. Espinoza and Diaz-Ordaz voted no.

Senate Bill 102, authored by Cano, introduced by Cano, to improve election codes with stricter language to properly execute the operation of elections, passed unanimously.

Senate Bill 83, authored by Melanie Maemura, co-authored by Brian Barnett, Sharon Coulson, Fatima Salman, introduced by Repicky, to implement the Long-Range Plan for the ASUCD Aggie Student Store. The bill was tabled.

Public discussion

Paul Medved, a member of the public, talked about intercollegiate athletics at UC Davis. He said that sports at UC Davis have always been different from other places, and that they have never been for entertainment value or revenue. UC Davis sports provide students with diverse out-of-classroom learning opportunities. However, he said collegiate sports are becoming more and more commercialized, and there is more and more pressure on the UC Davis model. He said that when the UC Davis athletics department cut four sports they rushed through the process, and most of the discussion was behind closed doors. Medved said that they need to fix what happened last year and that he wants to make sure intercollegiate athletics continues to belong to the students. He said that he hopes the senate and UC Davis students would have an input on who the next athletic director will be.

Alday said that she was upset that people did not care when she said LGBTRC removed their name from Bill 99 because it involved ROTC.

Montelongo apologized to Alday and said that he should have been more critical when it came to the bill in question. He also said that Rombi is the presiding officer, and people should not question her.

Martín also apologized to Alday.

Espinoza echoed Alday’s statement. He said he wished people had had a conversation about the issue.

Repicky said he didn’t think it was fair to say that people who supported Bill 99 did not care about LGBT issues.

Cano said that because Yani resigned, ASUCD would be using an election count back technique to decide who would take over for him at the table.

Martin said she wants to work on accountability at the table. She wanted people to submit in writing if they’ve been Safe Zone trained along with other things that Senators are required to do.

Public announcements

Montelengo said that Middle Eastern South Asian Culture week is this week.

Sterling said that this week there will be Safe Boat fundraising Tuesday at Yolo Berry.

Court Announcement

The ASUCD Court sent a letter to the senate table, saying that the court holds President Thongsavat in contempt of court for ignoring court summons. Thongsavat did not attend a hearing in which he was being sued for not following legal ASUCD hiring practices. The court said that his actions undermined the role of the judiciary and asked that senate censure Thongsavat. The ASUCD Senate may at anytime pass a censure with a two-thirds majority. In general, the table agreed that they would not be censuring Thongsavat.

Meeting adjourned at 11:16 p.m.

Open positions within ASUCD can be found at vacancy.ucdavis.edu. HANNAH STRUMWASSER compiles the senate briefs. She can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Aggie Daily Calendar

Features Editor
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TODAY

CAPES and Higher Education in Brazil Seminar

Noon to 1:30 p.m.

360 Shields Library

Dr. Jorge Guimarães will discuss CAPES, an organization responsible for promoting and evaluating the entire graduate system of education in Brazil.

Palestine Awareness Week Art Exhibit

Noon to 3 p.m.

Quad

Join Students for Justice in Palestine as they display an art exhibit representing the culture of Palestine and the daily struggles a Palestinian faces at checkpoints.

Energy Institute Seminar Series

3:10 to 4 p.m.

1003 Kemper

Dr. Susannah Scott, professor of chemical engineering at UC Santa Barbara, will discuss functionalized periodic mesoporous silica catalysts for processing carbohydrates.

Empyrean Ensemble: New Music from Davis

7 p.m.

Vanderhoef Studio Theater, Mondavi Center

Graduate composers will perform new works. There will be a pre-concert talk with the composers and co-director Kurt Rhode at 6:15. Tickets are $8 for students and children and $20 for adults.

TUESDAY

GE Lightning Revolution Tour

8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

California Lighting Technology Center, 633 Pena Dr.

The GE Lightning Revolution Tour is coming to Davis to exhibit energy-saving, environmentally conscious lighting solutions for a variety of applications.

Chill Day

10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Memorial Union Patio

The Campus Judicial Board will provide a break for students studying for finals and help them de-stress. The event will encourage students to uphold their integrity and support their fellow classmates.

ASUCD Excellence in Education Awards Ceremony

7 p.m.

Memorial Union, MUII

Celebrate UC Davis instructors at the ninth annual awards ceremony, run by students. Cheer on professors from a variety of departments and enjoy free refreshments.

To receive placement in the AGGIE DAILY CALENDAR, e-mail dailycal@theaggie.org or stop by 25 Lower Freeborn by noon the day prior to your event. Due to space constraints, all event descriptions are subject to editing, and priority will be given to events that are free of charge and geared toward the campus community.

UC Davis recognized for sustainability

Features Editor
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Each year UC Davis works hard to promote environmentally sustainable features on campus. This year, the UC Davis campus will receive a high honor for their hard work and effort.

Four projects on the Davis campus were given Best Practice Awards in this year’s California Higher Education Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Best Practice Awards, announced on May 3. The awards program, now in its seventh year, recognizes innovative projects that enhance energy efficiency and sustainability on University of California (UC), California State University (CSU) and California Community College campuses.

UC Davis received the most awards of any California campus, including the following: Monitoring-based Commissioning (tracking energy use) at Dutton Hall; Water Efficiency at the Brewery, Winery and Food Processing Complex; Sustainable Food Service for the Cuarto Dining Commons Renovation; and Sustainable Menu Development and Innovative Waste Reduction for the 2010 football season at Aggie Stadium.

The winners of the awards are expected to present at the Sustainability Conference, which will take place July 10 to 12 at California State University, Long Beach. Funding for the program comes from the energy-efficiency partnership program that UC, CSU and California Community Colleges have with utility companies in California.

According to their website, the awards program began as a way to promote and recognize sustainability practices throughout California’s higher education system in the hopes that sustainability will continue to increase in the future.

“The awards and conference are all about peer-to-peer best practice sharing and implementing sustainability projects. It is a way of honoring project teams that did exemplary work and trying to get that exemplary work copied onto other campuses,” said Andrew Coghlan, a sustainability specialist at the University of California Office of the President.

The awards program has expanded significantly over the past seven years. While at first the awards program only recognized construction and retrofit projects on UC and CSU campuses, it now includes operational and behavioral based programs. California’s community colleges have also been added to the selection.

“Now it’s not just for a construction or a physical project but for a whole slew of activities that are designed to get people to use or generate less garbage,” Coghlan said.

For example, UC Davis won the new innovative waste reduction category, implemented last year, for Aggie Stadium’s 2010 football season. They did not win for the stadium, but for the programs they implemented around the stadium to encourage people to recycle and compost.

Camille Kirk, sustainability planner at the Office of Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability at UC Davis, said these award-winning projects are especially important because they help the campus community learn ways they too can take action.

“Anyone going to a game at Aggie Stadium takes part in pushing the campus towards our zero waste goal. Someone can go to the Cuarto Dining Commons and have a sustainable, delicious meal or students, faculty and staff can track the building performance of Dutton Hall on the Utilities Dashboard,” Kirk said.

This year, the program received a little over 100 nominations. Nominations for any award must come from someone within the campus itself, as the committee tries to discourage nominations from non-campus entities.

“We want this to remain a best practice sharing from peer to peer and keep it from becoming an advertising program,” Coghlan said.

The Sustainability Conference, taking place in July, is the culmination of the awards. At the awards ceremony of the conference, winners are recognized for their achievements and presented with a recycled glass plate with their names and project engraved. During the conference itself, winners present how they implemented their project to over 100 people composed of faculty, students and staff, as well as representatives from industries, non-profits and private colleges in California.

“[The Conference] provides a unique opportunity for people who are working on these sustainability projects to see first-hand what their colleagues are doing. By sharing these best practices we can push each other, get inspired and help raise the bar on sustainability in California Higher Education,” Coghlan said.

Representatives from each of the four winning categories at UC Davis will be attending the event. They are expecting not only to show others what they have done but also to learn about new innovations that their colleagues are implementing.

“As always, I hope to learn about cutting edge actions, new ideas and best practices from my colleagues across the state. [It is] an important way to connect with peers and build relationships which help all of us work toward more sustainable campuses,” Kirk said.

UC Davis will be hosting the 2012 Sustainability Conference scheduled for June of next year. More information about the Best Practice Awards and the conference in July can be found on their website cahigheredusustainability.org. For more information about sustainability at UC Davis visit sustainability.ucdavis.edu.

CLAIRE MALDARELLI can be reached at features@theaggie.org.

Column: Last one!

Opinion
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Normally, if you need a bike store, there is only one place in most towns that can help you out. Davis lacks quite a few things, but one thing it has in quantity is bicycle stores – a specific one that fits the consumer – which is you.

There are numerous places you can go to learn about each store. I would suggest DavisWiki for an intense breakdown, but to take a step away from my usual style – which is to mock, judge and deride consumer behavior – for this article, I will behave as an investigative columnist for once.

Bicycle retailers in Davis are not about pushing product. They are about catering to a select group. As a very small-time bicycle salesman, I cater to a very specific niche; my clients are an even mix of hippie, cheap, hipster and lazy. The shops all know their audience and hope you frequent their shop throughout your time in Davis.

Which niche do you belong to? Oddly enough, it might be easier to pick out which niche you don’t belong to. There’s one shop, called Wheelworks, that lets you know you are in the wrong place. This particular shop has never made me feel welcome, and I’m a bike-encyclopedia. They sell premium-racing bicycles to professional (leotard-wearing) cyclists and don’t need to waste effort on being kind because hospitality is not going to make a difference when someone drops $8,000 on a single bicycle. (In fairness, several ministers liked Wheelworks: super rare parts, knowledgeable staff, etc.)

I’ll admit to being a bit unfamiliar with Freewheeler. Many friends like it and are quick to point it out as having the friendliest staff in Davis. It’s owned entirely by one family and is great with warranties. It might not have all the parts you need, but in terms of buying one bike and having it supported through your time in Davis, Freewheeler came highly recommended.

Blissworks and Apex are two shops that come by Bike Forth to get parts. Apex is a cycle shop specializing in fixed-gear bicycles and high-quality bikes for the hip kid. They support local bike products, such as Foothold gear (which is making custom panniers for me right now!). Blissworks sticks out for location and novelty, being new and over on Pole Line. Bliss and Aaron (Apex) are both nice owners as well. All the other shops suffer a bit from their owners and their nuances.

I do a lot of shopping at B&L. I’m not a big fan of the owner; she seems to approach everyone as an annoying task to get off a list, but hey, owning a small business in a town with a Target can only be so fun. They routinely deal with the most difficult of requests, as you can imagine me making in my construction of retro-bicycles. They also send people to us (at the Bike Collective), which is cool.

Ken’s Bike and Ski is where I do the rest of my shopping. The high-performance parts I need are there (along with infinite free cardboard for mulching and composting). Some of my friends don’t shop there because its owner gave money to the Yes-on-prop-8 thing, and I feel that. I’m sure each Davis business owner supports something we are bound to disagree with. To me, big-box retail and car dealerships are much worse for the planet than a local Christian bike shop.

I haven’t touched on Davis Bike Exchange yet. I’ll leave its description to the wiki, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

I also have many mixed feelings on the Bike Barn, which is unfortunately too well positioned to not exploit new students and novice cyclists. They used to be run a lot like the Bike Collective, with a tool share and an emphasis away from profits. When they moved away from a cooperative mantra, it spurred people to form the Davis Bike Church six years ago.

Then, there’s of course our facility. We are not a bike store. The Bike Collective would give you a bicycle for free, if money were not an issue. We are into donations and volunteers. We don’t hurt local businesses, because we have our niche, which is ____________. We go out of our way to recommend a shop when it fits one of our patrons (that’s what we call them, instead of customers), and we see our shop as operating mutually with other bike stores. Honestly, someone who started out on a bike that we gave them will eventually make it into one of these bike stores if they get really into bike riding, and we like it that way. We all need each other if we want people to start using their cars less. Thanks for reading everyone, hope to see you riding around town!

CHRISTOPHER SALAM is a minister and takes out the trash at the Davis Bicycle Collective. He can be reached at mrsalam@ucdavis.edu. If you are interested in DIY bicycle repair visit the DBC at its Bike Forth location, on L Street and fourth. Monday 1 to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday 4 to 8 p.m. & Saturday 12 to 6 p.m.

Column: Pharm town

Opinion
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I know that, from a few slight implications here and there, it may seem like I’m a wake-up-in-the-gutter type drug user. In fact I am not, and I’ll use this week’s column to set the record straight. As it turns out, I use mostly legal drugs and have near-perfect grades (thank you Adderall!).

Prescription drug use is one of America’s fastest growing trends, and, from what I’ve gathered from extremely reliable news sources like Star Magazine and Fox News, it’s prevalent among high school students. First off, let me say that I do not condone this. I’m not exactly sure where these young hellions are getting these ideas. The last time I read the back of a NyQuil box, it didn’t say, “temporarily relieves common cold and flu symptoms, such as: sore throat, fever, general desire to be a bad kid and get yourself shipped off to boarding school, etc.”

Since we’re talking about NyQuil, though, let me say that my record is not unblemished. I’ve had a tumultuous love affair with those pretty green capsules since they first knocked me flat on my ass several years ago. It wasn’t any kind of hallucinatory state that I enjoyed so much, but that deep, muddled sleep that made me wake in the morning with drool on my chin and the plodding steps of a reluctant zombie bride. Wonderful. If you’re anything like me, college has you sleep deprived and longing for the slumber of the (un)dead.

But warnings of liver disease and poison control were enough to keep my guilty NyQuil munching in check. Now, if I want a heavy, drug-induced sleep I usually sniffle a bit, maybe try to force a cough, tell myself I have allergies and take a Benadryl. That usually works just as well and has me feeling slightly less guilty because, well, allergies are way easier to fake than the flu.

Bottom line: if you’re going to do drugs, stick with the illegal ones, since their little plastic pouches generally don’t come with scary warning labels. That way you can enjoy your trip in peace. Or, you can always get creative with things. Let me tell you more.

It is rumored that Ozzy Osbourne once snorted a line of ants. Phooey. I say old Ozzy should give me a call, and as long as they stay in a nicely formed queue, he and I should both do a line of crickets while listening to heavy metal at full volume. What can I say, I’m totally rock n’ roll like that – can’t be helped. Lady Gaga might say I was born this way, and I’d say, “Who’s Lady Gaga?” That’s right. Take notes, Ozzy, ‘cuz this is how it’s done (Oh, God, I really hope he’s not one of those celebrities who Googles himself every week and finds this, because I am totally bluffing).

I’d like to conclude by coming full circle and back to our under-aged delinquents who are jacking their parents’ Vicodin and Codeine simply for a buzz. TO THESE WAYWARD CHILDREN: the alcohol is probably easier to get your hands on. Hopefully, ma and pa are catching on, and you’ll be hard pressed to find those teddy bear vitamins in the house, much less anything as complex and dangerous sounding as benzodiazepines.

And finally, why dost thou reject the sweet berry mead in favor of the extra-strength Tylenol? (Okay, all this medieval lit is biting me in the ass.) But seriously, does this mean that more and more young partygoers are dipping into the medicine cabinet as opposed to the alcohol cabinet? I thought that stealing alcohol from your parents was a time-honored tradition, a sort of rite of passage, though maybe my friends and I were just bad kids. Are America’s youth flushing this tradition down the toilet? (Which is, incidentally, where all your old prescriptions should be.)

I’ll be the first to admit that I enjoy alcohol for many reasons, one of which includes feeling like a promiscuous saloon girl from the 1800s whenever I order whiskey at the bar, and I think that I’ll be perfectly content with liquid courage for the time being. And although I’m certainly in no position to preach refrain from substance usage of any kind, I will say this: I can only hope that in 20 years our children aren’t downing aloe vera jelly by the spoonful, with you and me looking fondly back to the days when things seemed so much simpler.

LENA PRESSESKY can be reached at lmpressesky@ucdavis.edu.

Column: What a year

Sports Editor
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Let’s face it, UC Davis is not known for its athletics.

When people come to the northernmost UC campus, it’s probably not because of its flashy sports teams and championship pedigree. Hell, a column written by a Berkeley student prior to the Aggies’ football game against the Golden Bears bashed the UC Davis football team.

“I’ll lay down good money that some of you weren’t even aware that UC Davis had a football team. (No more than $5. I don’t get paid to work here),” said Jack Wang, a Cal sports columnist.

Despite Mr. Wang’s wild misinformation, he does bring up a seemingly logical point – UC Davis is not known for its sports.

I have a feeling this past athletic year will change all of that.

The 2010-11 year was by far the most successful and newsworthy the Aggies have had since joining Division I. Here’s a rundown of all the awesomeness and not-so-awesomeness from the past 10 months. (Disclaimer: I only have so much space here, so I can’t discuss all the greatness that was this year).

Conference team titles: Men’s cross country, women’s basketball, women’s swimming and diving, women’s gymnastics, women’s golf and men’s golf all won their respective team league titles this year. That’s six championships – four of which came in the Big West Conference. UC Davis entered the year with only nine Big West team titles.

Individual accomplishments: Again, let me hit the highlights. Individual titles were won in men’s cross country, men’s golf, women’s golf, men’s and women’s track and field, women’s swimming and diving and women’s gymnastics.

Team accomplishments: The women’s tennis team had its best season since joining Division I. The field hockey team won its first conference match up. The football squad clinched its 39th winning season in its past 41 years in a thrilling manner. The men’s water polo squad quietly continued to be one of the most successful teams since the Division I jump. Women’s lacrosse finished the year as one of the highest scoring teams in the nation. The baseball team continued to improve and showed promise for next year.

Along with all the many team and individual accomplishments, this year was probably the most newsworthy since 2007.

Women’s basketball coach Sandy Simpson announced his retirement before the season started – then led his team to a conference title and an NCAA Tournament appearance. The football team wasn’t immune to the conference shuffling that took place in the fall, jumping to the Big Sky Conference – the best Division I-AA league west of the Mississippi.

Then there was the not-so-awesome men’s basketball team. The prologue of the 2010-11 sports year was the letter to Athletic Director Greg Warzecka at the end of last season asking for the removal of coach Gary Stewart. Warzecka didn’t listen, and the men’s basketball team had its worst season since joining Division I. Stewart was eventually let go and replaced by former National Basketball Association player Jim Les.

And the cherry on top of an incredible season was Greg Warzecka stepping down. Both The California Aggie Editorial Board and myself have written on the issue.

Despite the shadow cast by the men’s basketball team, this was a great year for UC Davis sports.

Speaking for my staff and myself, we are all incredibly grateful to do what we do and to make the contribu(a)tions we make.

Sure, The Aggie sports desk is more likely to get a call from KDVS than ESPN when it comes to the sports we cover. We don’t get to talk to high profile coaches and our stories won’t be wired to The Sacramento Bee or San Francisco Chronicle. But we don’t do it for the money or fame. We do it because we like it, and that’s all that matters.

JASON ALPERT knows next year’s sports editor Trevor Cramer will do a tremendous job. Good luck Cramer. To talk UC Davis sports, e-mail him at sports@theaggie.org.

Fantastic freshman

Sports Editor
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Freshman Matt Hansen’s career is off to a dream start.

After bursting onto the scene earlier this season, Hansen has proven to be a valuable member for the Aggies, and is now heading to the NCAA Championship Tournament after winning the NCAA Southwest Regional this weekend.

Hansen was hot right out of the gate at the event, which was hosted by Omni Tucson National Golf Course in Tucson, Ariz.

The Los Osos, Calif. native shot seven under-par in his opening round, tallying eight birdies and jumping out to a two-stroke tournament lead.

Friday proved to be the most difficult day of the tournament for Hansen, as he went one-over, and fell behind Oregon State’s Alex Moore for the tournament lead.

Hansen bounced back on Saturday, however, and a three-under final-round gave him his first tournament victory as an Aggie.

Head coach Cy Williams said the key to the weekend was Hansen’s ability to limit the damage during his second round.

“[Hansen] played really well,” he said. “He kept his one ‘bad’ round close to par and then shot a good round on [Saturday].”

Hansen’s performance also led UC Davis to an eighth-place finish.

The Aggies shot one-over for the weekend, 20 strokes behind first-place San Diego State, and nine strokes behind Arizona and Pepperdine for the fifth and final spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies were at their best in the final round, shooting five-under.

Williams was pleased with the way his team performed.

“I was very proud of our guys today,” he said. “We came out hot early and had a very good round.”

Senior Austin Graham finished two-over, after capping his UC Davis career with a three-under final round. Sophomore Andrew Haggan finished four-over, while junior Tyler Raber tallied five-over and freshman Daniel Covrig went 14-over.

With the tournament victory, Hansen will now advance to the NCAA Championship in Stillwater, Okla.

After a solid performance over the weekend, Hansen feels good about his chances.

“I’m in a good place [mentally] to head to nationals,” he said. “It’s great to be playing well.”

TREVOR CRAMER can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

Aggie Digest

Sports Editor
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New men’s basketball coach Jim Les is already leaving his mark on the program.

It was announced on Wednesday that UC Davis signed point guard Tyrell Corbin to join the men’s basketball squad in the fall, one of the biggest names to join the Aggies in recent memory.

Corbin, the son of current Utah Jazz head coach Tyrone Corbin, was named Mr. Basketball in Utah for the 2010-11 season as the best prep basketball player in the state. He led his high school, West High School, to the state 4A Championship in 2009 as a sophomore.

Les is familiar with the Corbin family after he played alongside Tyrone in his final year in the NBA as a member of the Atlanta Hawks.

“In Ty we add a proven winner and floor general to our basketball program,” Les said. “He combines work ethic, talent and impeccable character to embody the type of all-around student athlete we need at UC Davis to be successful.”

Corbin will have big shoes to fill as last year’s leading scorers Mark Payne and Joe Harden were lost to graduation.

– Jason Alpert

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