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Despite injuries, Aggies rally at Big West Championships

Sports

Sports Editor

May 17, 2010

This weekend, the UC Davis track and field squads aimed for the top spot at the Big West Conference Championships held in Northridge, Calif.

“Anybody not in an Aggie uniform is a target,” said women’s coach Deanne Vochatzer.

Though the men finished fifth and the women came in at third, coaches from other teams recognized UC Davis as a potential threat.

“Cal State Northridge’s coach thought that we would win by 25 points,” Deanne Vochatzer said. “If we were healthy, we would’ve been banging on the door for winning the championship.”

The Aggies’ depth was significantly diminished by the losses of key players to injury. Tessa Fraser and Lauren Radke for the women and Ethan Ostrom, Gavin Banks and Matt Council on the men’s side were unable to compete.

Despite these injuries, other Aggies stepped up.

“We saw a lot of effort,” Deanne Vochatzer said. “We had a mishap with Alice Stoakley. On the first lap, [Stoakley] got stepped on and her shoe ripped. After, there was some pretty nasty blistering and bleeding. I see that kind of effort and see Aggie pride. I’m really proud.”

The athletes who fought for Aggie pride have other things they can be proud of too. Along with toughness, the Aggies displayed talent and a willingness to compete with some of the best runners in the country.

After Ashley Hearn’s disappointing hammer throw, she came back to register a school-record performance in the discus.

“She had trouble in the hammer because of the foot injury that she had been fighting,” Deanne Vochatzer said. “She popped a 173 and set the record that had she had been gunning for her whole year. That was really exciting to watch.”

Teammate Sirena Williams also demonstrated the Aggies’ fight. She lowered her own school record on Friday, running the 100 hurdles in 13.49. In the finals, she went against defending champion Lauren Williams from Cal State Fullerton, but lost by two hundredths of a second.

“Lauren didn’t catch Sirena until three or four strides away from the finish,” Deanne Vochatzer said. “It was an instance of a senior trying to put her mark on the program.”

The men were paced by key performances from Thomas Phillips, Ray Green and Polly Gnepa.

Phillips defended his title in the 400 by finishing in 47.30. Gnepa also took first in the high hurdles with a time of 13.87.

In the triple jump, Ray Green posted a distance of 49-9.75, a career-best by more than five inches.

Yet despite the great successes, Jon Vochatzer is more proud of the way his team responded to challenges.

“We put band-aids over a lot of different events,” Jon Vochatzer said. “The kids stepped up and actually volunteered for different events. I think all the kids switched up and did what they had to do to take the place of those who couldn’t be there.”

Though the season is over for most of the athletes on the team, the mood is upbeat for next year.

“This is the first year where our kids felt comfortable going toe to toe against UC Santa Barbara and [State] Northridge,” Jon Vochatzer said. “It was thunderous on the track. All the kids were screaming, jumping, hooting and hollering.

“We know how to be contenders, and we’re going to be stronger next year than we were this year. We had a great recruiting class and they’re going to support our team next year. If we’re healthy, we’re going to be loaded.”

UC Davis will send several athletes to the NCAA West Preliminary Championships held at the University of Texas on May 27 to 29.

MATT WANG can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

Column: Seventh heaven

Sports

Sports Editor

May 17, 2010

Karen Yoder doesn’t quite know when it happened, but the UC Davis softball coach believes her team just flipped the switch at some point in the season.

“We’re a much different team than some of our opponents saw in February and March,” Yoder said. “We’re just a better team. We’ve learned from our experiences and have grown.”

Senior Sarah Axelson has an idea, though.

“It was definitely when we played Stanford,” Axelson said. “We were at a low point and there was nowhere to go but up.”

On April 6, UC Davis traveled to play No. 8 Stanford. The Aggies lost 17-0 in five innings.

“We just had a terrible game,” said starting pitcher Alex Holmes. “We came back and it was almost like ‘Don’t look back.’ It was a new season starting then.”

In the 15 games following that tough loss, the Aggies rattled off 13 wins – including sweeps of Big West Conference opponents Cal State Fullerton, UC Riverside and Cal Poly.

UC Davis needed every one of those wins as the team finished 15-6 to end the season in a first-place tie with Cal State Northridge. By virtue of taking the series against the Matadors, the Aggies also clinched their first postseason berth since 2003.

As a result, the team couldn’t be happier.

“I’m just stoked,” Axelson said. “This is only our third year in Division I and to win conference during my senior year is just sweet.”

While the Aggies had the goal of winning the conference at the beginning of the season, the prospects weren’t super bright as the team headed into conference action.

The Aggies were 11-21 in nonconference play and were beat up in 10 contests against teams ranked in the top 25 nationally.

However, this turned out to be the best thing for the Aggies.

“Anytime you challenge yourself against the best in the country it only brings your level of game up,” Yoder said. “We played the best. We’re not intimidated by anybody.”

These losses also allowed UC Davis to really focus on the weak aspects of its game.

“We focused more on the weaknesses we had and worked to overcome them,” Axelson said. “Because we were at such a low point we just pounded our weaknesses. We knew what we could do and what we needed to work on.”

Now UC Davis will move on to regionals.

It will most likely play at Stanford or California, two teams that combined to beat UC Davis five times this season. In those contests, the Aggies were only able to put two runs on the board.

The good news for the Aggies is they can start over. It’s a fresh season for them, and they will be looking to show some teams how much they have improved since being blown out in early April.

What they will not alter, though, is their mentality.

That mentality, Yoder said, is to just “play Aggie ball.”

“Yeah, it’s not going to change,” Axelson said.

By winning the Big West, the softball team became UC Davis’ seventh team to win its conference.

This is huge, people.

Think of UC Davis’ conference championships as a stock.

In the first year as a Division I program, three Aggie teams won their conference title (men’s water polo, women’s water polo and gymnastics).

That stock fell slightly last year as only the men’s golf team won its league.

This year was the year to invest. Seven UC Davis teams won their conference this season, and of those teams, three qualified for an NCAA postseason berth.

This trend will only rise next year and in the following years. Several teams that finished in the middle of the pack in their conference are primed for big things in 2010-11, and many of the seven that won their league title don’t show any indication of giving it up.

The women’s basketball team returns with almost everybody. The football program just had its best recruiting class ever. The women’s golf team returns with almost everybody. What more proof do you need?

My advice to you is to invest in UC Davis sports and invest now. Your dollar will receive big dividends at this time next year.

Meanwhile, we’ll watch what the softball team has in store.

MAX ROSENBLUM doesn’t actually think UC Davis athletics is a stock on Wall Street. If it was, it might look like AGS. In case, he would still recommend the investment. Agree with him at sports@theaggie.org.

Aggies can’t close out Mustangs

Sports

Sports Editor

May 17, 2010

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Headline: Aggies can’t close out Mustangs

Layercake: UC Davis loses series, finishes on positive note

By MARK LING

Aggie Associate Editor

These losses are the hardest to swallow.

In the first two games of the weekend series against Cal Poly, UC Davis had the lead in the ninth inning and ultimately lost.

“It’s beyond me,” said starting pitcher Sean Watson. “I haven’t played on a team where it’s been like this. It’s brutal.”

Despite the blown leads, the Aggies bounced back in the final game of the series to take care of the visiting Mustangs.

Friday – Cal Poly 6, UC Davis 4 (12)

The starting pitching was impeccable.

Sophomore Dayne Quist was back to his dominant ways as he threw seven innings of one-run ball and recorded four strikeouts.

The only blemish on the day was the five walks he issued to Cal Poly hitters. Despite the free passes, coach Rex Peters was pleased with Quist’s performance.

“[Dayne] gave us a quality start and gave use a chance to win with a lead late in the game,” Peters said. “That’s all you can ask. When pitch counts get up you have to get guys out of the game. He did his job.”

After Quist exited, relievers Nathan Slater, Matthew Lewis, CJ Blom and Scott Heinig combined to allow five earned runs over five innings to lose the lead.

When asked if he trusted his bullpen, Peters had a simple response.

“Obviously not,” he said. “We’re trying to find somebody who can go out there and show some toughness and compete to get outs late in a game. The last six outs of the game are the toughest to get. Nobody on our staff wants to go get them.”

One positive note that can be taken from the contest was the production of the UC Davis offense.

In total, the Aggies had 10 hits, highlighted by Scott Lyman who went 2-for-5 with three RBI and hit a two-run home run.

First basemen Eric Johnson and David Popkins also had two hits apiece.

To lose a game in this fashion is hard to swallow, though. “Terrible,” Watson said. “Here we are for four-and-a-half hours then lose in the 12th inning. It’s hard to handle.”

Saturday – Cal Poly 5, UC Davis 4

Unfortunately for UC Davis, the second game of the series was a spitting image of the first.

Watson gave the Aggies one of the best starts of his career as he went eight innings while allowing only two earned runs on six hits and walked one.

“My changeup was definitely working for me,” Watson said. “I threw it for a strike all day long. I threw every pitch for a strike, really. I’m not trying to throw the ball hard every time. I’m just doing whatever it takes to get guys out.”

UC Davis gave Watson an early lead thanks to some timely hitting and shaky command form the Cal Poly pitching staff.

“We executed a hit and run early in the game to set that inning up for us,” Peters said. “We got a couple of good at-bats with guys on base to score some runs. We didn’t swing the bats very well but Watson gave us a chance to win and we couldn’t finish it for him.”

They couldn’t finish because of another shaky performance from the bullpen.

Watson entered the ninth inning having thrown over 100 pitches and proceeded to give up a run. He ultimately exited with runners on base and no outs.

Popkins and Slater were called upon to close out the game. But for the second night in a row, UC Davis relievers struggled to get the job done. The pair gave up two more runs in the inning, giving Cal Poly a 5-4 lead it would not relinquish.

“Watson was over the 100 pitch limit,” Peters said. “I don’t know if he’s thrown that many pitches all year. He didn’t get the first couple guys out so we had to get him out of there.”

Sunday – UC Davis 8, Cal Poly 2

After suffering two tough losses at the hands of the Mustangs, the Aggies showed what they’re made of.

Lyman took the mound and threw 7.2 innings while allowing nine hits, five walks and two runs.

At the plate, the Aggies recorded 11 hits, with two apiece coming from Lyman, Kyle Mihaylo, Scott Heylman and Justin Schafer .

This time around, reliever Scott Chew was able to close out the game as he pitched 1.1 innings with one hit and one strikeout.

While the win to end the series is encouraging, UC Davis remains disappointed in its overall performance.

“We’re better than this,” Watson said. “We know we’re better than this.”

MARK LING can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

UC Davis ranked as one of green colleges

City News

City Editor

May 17, 2010

The Princeton Review is no stranger to handbooks, but recently it added a new listing to the pile. Their “Guide to 286 Green Colleges” includes UC Davis along with many other UC campuses.

The guide, which is only available online to parallel the environmentally conscious universities it houses, was created in partnership with the United States Green Building Council. The non-profit organization furthers eco-friendly designs and buildings and is the creator of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a rating system that two UC Davis facilities have complied with so far.

Allen Doyle, sustainability manager for the UC Davis Office of Administrative and Resource Management, said UC Davis students hold an integral role in the university’s eco-friendly research and practices, as well. His office tries to meet monthly with the Critical Studies in Food and Culture organization, the Campus Center for the Environment and the World Wildlife Society.

These activities, Doyle said, are possible because the Office of Administrative and Resource Management is a main office of the campus, something he is very grateful for.

“We have input at a pretty senior level,” Doyle said. “Given the economic restraints we’re in right now, we’re [still] given a lot of respect and encouragement. I think that really says something about our campus in terms of our level of commitment [to sustainability].”

Like UC Berkeley, UC Davis has written a climate action plan which Doyle hopes to be released this month. A key component in the development of that plan was the voluntary commitment to the Presidential Climate Action Plan, which UC Davis, along with almost 700 other colleges across the nation, have signed on to.

UC Davis showcases a variety of other sustainable practices and programs. Through a loan program and partnership with PG&E, UC Davis will invest $30 million in energy upgrades to university buildings over the next three years. California has set a goal for 20 percent sustainably purchased food by 2020, a feat UC Davis campus dining has already met.

UC Berkeley was listed in the guide as well and has a multitude of projects underway at the moment, said Director of Sustainability Lisa McNeilly.

“Really the main thing is energy and climate,” she said. “It’s where we have the most stringent goals. We can see the most co-benefits: the costs from saving, more comfortable buildings, better learning environments.”

A particularly significant focus of the campus, McNeilly said, is the Cal Climate Action Partnership, which advances the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2014.

Much concentration has also gone into water consumption, composting and recycling. The latter two of which, McNeilly said, are favorites of students; they present a large pro-sustainability presence at UC Berkeley with more than 30 environmentally focused clubs and groups.

Considering all but one UC – UC Merced – were accounted for in The Princeton Review’s guide speaks volumes for the cohesiveness of the University of California system regarding sustainability, Doyle said.

“I see us as a great big team. I’m on about three or four conference calls with my colleagues each month, all sharing our best practices as fast as we can,” Doyle said.

Along with their “Guide to 286 Green Colleges,” The Princeton Review reported 66 percent of respondents in their 2009 “College Hopes and Worries Survey” said information about a university’s environmental practices held weight in their decision process – a statistic Doyle seems to think holds some precedence.

“The reviews [regarding sustainability] are important to quantify the progress we are making, to let others know how well we are doing and to keep pushing us to higher levels,” he said.

KELLEY REES can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

ESL program escapes outsourcing but not potential reductions

Campus News

Campus Editor

May 17, 2010

Nearly a year after it was targeted for relocation, the English as a Second Language Program (ESL) might instead face the budget axe as the campus continues to face fiscal shortfalls.

George Mangun, dean of the Division of Social Sciences, said that he will recommend the retention of ESL instruction to Provost Enrique Lavernia within a week. The Budget Advisory Subcommittee on Instruction and Research had previously recommended the program be considered to move to community colleges or University Extension.

Mangun said maintaining instruction on campus would make it easier for linguistics graduate students specializing in ESL instruction to continue providing instruction. It was also felt that it would allow the division to evaluate whether the program was meeting the needs of its students.

“It seemed clear to me it was something important for us to maintain,” Mangun said. “For me it felt the least risky path for the students’ sake was to keep it closer to us and organize it to be fiscally responsible.”

Although this is good news for the ESL program, it is expected to feel the impact of campuswide budget reductions.

Undergraduate ESL sections may drop from 10 to six and graduate sections might decrease from 23 to 11 for 2010-11, according to a preliminary written plan given by the Linguistics department to the undergraduate and graduate ESL coordinators on April 26.

The number of course equivalencies, time that the coordinators use to perform tasks and the supervision of Linguistics graduate students teaching ESL might also drop from three to one.

And according to a May 5 letter sent to the coordinators from the linguistics department, ESL will no longer serve education abroad international students. Linguistics 26, a writing course for international graduate students that require additional ESL support, is also not expected to be offered next year.

On April 28, Patrick Farrell, chair of the Linguistics department, submitted the preliminary budget with corresponding reductions to Mangun, which he approved.

“Unlike for past years, the proposed schedule for ESL instruction for next year is designed only to meet essential student need in a responsible way,” Farrell said in an e-mail interview.

While both Farrell and Mangun did not specify the final budget of ESL instruction, Mangun allowed that it will operate under increased financial constraints.

ESL instructors are glad that the program will remain at Davis, but are worried that with fewer resources and smaller capacity, instruction will not meet student needs.

“One of my biggest concerns is what are we going to do with the 50 percent of the students that cannot get into sections even though they’re held for ESL,” said Janet Lane, the graduate ESL coordinator who also expects an increase in international graduate students. “How are we going to determine who we serve?”

The reduction in courses might also result in lecturer layoffs. Although no plan has been finalized, according to the data from the proposal course reductions would result in only 1.72 lecturers, with one serving fulltime and the other reduced in pay and teaching.

Currently, the five ESL lecturers still have layoff notices.

The potential layoffs, the lecturers fear, might result in a loss of skilled teachers who will be unable to assist less experienced teaching assistants.

“Our specialty is teaching ESL,” said Ellen Lange, a linguistics lecturer who has taught for 31 years. “We’re trained in second language acquisition theory. We’re the people in the trenches.”

Both administrators and lecturers agree that the number of students needing ESL will not be determined until the summer – due to testing and placement. Mangun said that like all instruction, the Linguistics department could request funding increases for critical courses based on need, and the campus would then have to respond, keeping budget constraints in mind.

He also stressed that because the state’s budgetary process has not run its full course, with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently submitting his May revised budget to the legislature, the outcome is not set in stone.

“These numbers are changing and are not finalized yet,” Mangun said.

But lecturers hope that reductions might not be necessary. They see Chancellor Katehi’s recent allocation of $230,000 in discretionary funds to combat prejudice and promote diversity as a form of intervention that could help the ESL program as well.

“With such drastic cuts, 50 percent of this population will no longer be served and education abroad students will be excluded entirely,” Lange wrote in a letter to the Davis Enterprise. “Yet these students are not in a position to complain because they face the challenge of expressing themselves in another language and often prefer to remain silent.

“The group’s voice, however, needs to be made audible through instruction. Given that, couldn’t the chancellor dedicate some funds so UC Davis can continue to give this group the instruction it needs?”

LESLIE TSAN can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Column: Time to let go

Opinion

Opinion

May 17, 2010

I left my heart in San Francisco. Then it went to Texas. Now, it’s in Chicago, dodging rats the size of German Shepherds and eluding the mob.

The one who took my heart on this lonely journey was a pretty phenomenal guy. Handsome, athletic and always smiling. His physical prowess first caught my eye; his Venezuelan accent ensnared my heart completely. How could I resist his singing, his drumming, his attempts to cover Goo Goo Dolls hits? Who wouldn’t adore a man who spends his free time volunteering at the Special Olympics, teaching kids to read and assisting natural disaster victims? I should have known he’d be trouble.

Our love just wasn’t meant to be. The numbers don’t lie: there’s 2,000 miles between us, he’s got 21 years on me and he has a wife and two kids.

But his fielding percentage is amazing.

I fell for Omar Vizquel, legendary Major League Baseball shortstop, late in high school. I figured I could impress my boyfriend by pretending to enjoy baseball. Purely by accident, I began actually enjoying it. On the 10-point scale of baseball fandom, I may never have reached Level 7 (Surprising Your Male Friends with a Respectable Knowledge of AVG, OBP, and Other Letters of the Alphabet), but I watched almost every Giants game and held my own in a fantasy league. Kind of.

Yes, I loved baseball, and I loved the Giants. Most of all, I loved Omar. Sure, he was kind of…gifted in years. Two weeks after his MLB debut in 1989, I was stuffing cake up my nose at my first birthday party.

But when I started watching ball 16 years later, he was still more agile than his spring chicken teammates, slinging lightning-fast double plays and stealing bases like I steal my roommates’ milk. (Figure of speech, of course.) He defied age, was among the league leaders in countless statistical categories and almost – almost – convinced me to ditch prom for Omar Poster Day. I still regret not wearing my poofy pink dress to the ballpark. Stupid peer pressure.

After I went off to college, Omar and I started to drift apart. I didn’t get Fox Sports Net in my dorm, the Giants’ radio station wouldn’t come through and…well, I just didn’t have the time. Omar didn’t exactly try to keep in touch, either – after knee surgery and a less-than-stellar season, he failed to woo San Francisco into another contract and took off to play for the Texas Rangers. We really don’t get their radio station out here.

I knew he wasn’t getting many at-bats in Texas. He used to be the guy playing every day; now, he was the guy training some goofy young upstart to replace him. One year later and it’s the same story in Chicago. Team by team, they’re slowly putting him out to pasture.

My heart mended over time. I’d had several pictures of Omar taped to my bedroom door for three years, my Vizquel shirt was consistently at the top of my t-shirt rotation and there may or may not be a shrine to my Latin lover on my desk. But the truth is, he hardly ever entered my mind.

Until last Saturday.

I went to the Giants-Astros game with some of my friends. Historically, only three things have had the capacity to make me grin like an idiot for longer than three minutes: 1) jumping on trampolines, 2) taking off in a commercial jet, and 3) going to a ballgame. Setting foot inside the park? Pure bliss. The first whiff of garlic fries? Rapture. And the moment I see all the tiny white-clad guys on the field, warming up, about to perform an unrepeatable spectacle before my very eyes? My head is several psi from exploding with ecstasy.

But it was so different this time. Completely out of the loop, I hadn’t even heard of half the guys on the team. I knew my man wasn’t out there, but I was still compelled to sit on the edge of my seat, searching, waiting for my heart to leap in joyous recognition. Of course, Omar never appeared. I felt the dull ache of irrecoverably lost love and knew life would never be the same.

Ninety-eight percent of the time, I’m nothing but utterly enthused that my life now looks nothing like my life in high school. But when it comes to Omar, it’s hard to accept that those days will never return. I still contend that he’s in amazing physical and mental shape, and I hate that he doesn’t get to show off his skill and do what he loves more often. I do have to face the truth, though – he won’t play like he’s 25 forever. (Unless he’s secretly one of those immortal jellyfish I wrote about in my last philosophy paper. Seriously, Google it.)

Maybe there’s some kind of lesson in here about not idolizing people you don’t actually know or learning to let go of the past. That sounds like the kind of thing I’d say. But all I can really tell you is this: Be ever so careful when you give your heart to a middle-aged pro baseball player. He might just take it to Illinois and never give it back.

BETH SEKISHIRO has to go to Chicago right before leaving for her job in France. To contribute to her “just let me see his face one more time” ticket-buying fund, e-mail her at blseki@ucdavis.edu.

Column: Those three words

Opinion

Opinion

May 17, 2010

You know the three I’m talking about. We’ve all heard them. Some of us have no problem letting our inner emotions flower upon declaration of these words. Others fear them, terrified of their implications, connotations and meanings.

I love you.

There they are, honeybees – the three words that will make or break a budding relationship. Read ’em and try not to weep.

Sure, they’re just words and totally not scary on their own, but when used together – well, that’s a different story.

Last Tuesday, I went to get a haircut. Besides the new ‘do I sport afterward, I love cutting my hair because I always make a new friend. (I’ll have you know that gabbing with your hairdressers about Sex and the City and boyfriends always makes for a life-long friendship.)

Anyway, we got to talking about school and I told her about my column. Excited, she asked what I was planning to write about next.

“I think I might write about the first time you say ‘I love you’ in a relationship,” I said.

Right then, she left the room – my hair looking like a mess of color dye goop and foil paper – and brought in the receptionist who needed some advice after a love life dilemma.

The dilemma was as follows: The receptionist (let’s call her April), who is very affectionate and sweet, was about to say goodbye to her recently acquired man candy. Before he left, she uttered, “Alright, bye hun. I love you.” The guy reacted with the standard double-take and “Uh … what did you say?”

“What do I do after something like that?” asked April. “I didn’t mean like I love him love him. I just say ‘I love you’ all the time to my friends and stuff – it’s natural to me. I definitely was not in love with him.”

After I left the salon, grateful for both the cute cut and the column material, I got to thinking about those three little words. Why do they mean so much in certain instances, but are desensitized in others? Why is it easy for us to admit loving things like pizza, sunny weather, our friends or Glee, but so difficult for us to admit feeling the same way about a boyfriend or girlfriend? When it comes to love, why are the words “I love you” so damn sticky?

To answer these questions, I examined my own relationship for a bit and tried to remember the first time I said “I love you” to Arthur. (I’m warning you now, honeybees – this little tale is so disgustingly adorable, even I winced a bit.)

It was last Fourth of July and I was celebrating the holiday in San Francisco with Arthur and his family. All the amazing food and all the fun I was having with his little siblings was enough to make me the happiest gal in the world. But Arthur had a little more planned.

Come nightfall, he surprised me by taking me to the pier to watch the fireworks. Putting any gentleman to shame, Arthur came prepared with a blanket, an extra sweater for me and some Fig Newtons for us to share. Once the fireworks started, he kissed me ever so sweetly.

That’s when I felt it. Even though we had only been together for about a month, I just felt so strongly about him. I had to say it.

I’ve heard it all: I’m too young to know what love is. I’m too excited about the relationship. It’s only been a month, how the hell could I love him?

The answer is quite simple: I felt it.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: Love is relative. The reason why the idea of love is so heavy and carries so many implications is because people fail to realize just that. It’s all you – no one else is allowed to tell you how love feels. Love comes in every shape, size, color and age. If you think you feel it, say it. Express yourself. Tell your boos you love them. If you can easily say you love your favorite TV show, movie or food, you can just as easily express love to your partners.

My only words of caution would be these: Make sure you won’t regret saying it. It might seem like you’re making a fuss over these three little words, but really take the time to evaluate your feelings toward this person. If you’ve prepped yourself to maturely handle any outcome (either an “I love you, too” or an “Uhm … thanks?”), then you’re golden. You should always be wary of the other person – they have a say in the relationship, too, you know.

If you find yourself on the opposite end of this – if someone proclaims his or her love to you – what happens if you don’t feel the same way? Don’t fret; you’re probably just not there yet. If you truly do not feel like you love your partner right then, but you still want to continue in the relationship, say so. Tell your partner that you like them very much, but you’re just not ready to make such a huge commitment. Love does mean a lot.

If your partner loves you and all you want is sex and have no intention of pursuing anything serious, get out now. It’s not nice to mess with peoples’ emotions.

In the end, it’s up to you to decide the perfect time to say those three little words. After all, it’s your love life and no one else’s. Love each other freely, my little honeybees – the world needs more of that.

If you’re looking for a great place in Davis to get a haircut, MARIO LUGO very highly recommends Pomegranate Salon on D Street. They’ll have you looking fine, fresh and fierce – just like Mario! He can be reached at mlugo@ucdavis.edu.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show attracts movie-goers

Features

Features Editor

May 17, 2010

Dressed in a black corset, heels and fishnet stockings, the winner of the Rocky Horror Picture Show costume contest introduced himself as Athena – like the Greek goddess.

A crowd of around 200 students gathered on the East Quad last Friday night to watch and participate in the Entertainment Council’s (EC) free screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (RHPS).

Assisted by UC Davis alumnae Katie Walton and Julie Asperger, Gabriel Rosa, Athena’s name when not in drag, posed while Walton and Asperger explained the significance of the movie that inspired Rosa’s winning outfit.

“It’s campy and cheesy! And it brings people together! It’s a cult classic,” Walton said.

The costume contest started the night off with the audience encouraged to scream, shout and throw stuff at their friends dressed in costumes that consisted of endless fishnets, garter belts, waitress outfits and one pair of golden briefs.

Laura Kroeger, junior international relations major, is the cinema co-coordinator and organizer for the night’s Rocky Horror costume contest.

Kroeger, who said she could not comment on who she thought had the best costume, organized the pre-movie event so that the audience would choose the winner.

Audience participation in fact was an essential element to the night.

For Rocky Horror Picture “virgins” – those who have never experienced watching the movie in a theatre or among devoted cult followers – the night was a lesson in future viewing experiences.

The movie follows the strange night of a young couple, Janet Weiss (the audience shouted “slut!”) and Brad Majors (they shouted “asshole!”) who without a spare tire get caught in the rain (cue the squirt guns), find themselves in the hands of a transvestite Frank and his half-sane cronies.

The night’s movie-goers were particularly experienced RHPS veterans shouting commentary, dancing the Time Warp, and throwing rice, toast, confetti and toilet paper at the screen with pitch-perfect timing.

Technical difficulty did nothing to dampen the mood as some audience members stood up, singing and dancing an impromptu Time Warp number, until the character Meat Loaf rolled back onto the big screen.

As the final credits came on, the screen the audience applauded and stayed behind to continue to cheer and boo characters making their final appearance on the screen.

Senior community and regional development major Annie Jenson said the night as a whole was great.

“It [was] really interactive and gives you a chance to dress up. It’s very collegiate, silly, fun and naughty,” Jenson said.

Junior cultural anthropology major Tiffany Shieh, who has watched RHPS “30, 40 or 50 times,” said the night was successful and that screenings of the RHPS have always worked as a crowd pleaser.

EC director Thongxy Phansopha agreed that this year’s RHPS screening was successful and less messy than last year’s, which was indoors. Phansopha attributed the popularity of the RHPS to its cult-inspired fan base.

Senior psychology major Tala Dandan came dressed up in gold, glittery, Minnie mouse ears and commented on the movie-audience experience of the RHPS.

“It’s a movie made 30 years ago and it’s probably going to be done in 30 more years,” Dandan said.

JESSY WEI can be reached at features@theaggie.org.

Aggie Daily Calendar

Features

Features Editor

May 17, 2010

TODAY

Project Compost

6 p.m.

43 Memorial Union

Attend the Project Compost volunteer meetings and learn how you can help them divert organic waste around campus.

Southeast Asian Graduation Meeting

6 to 7 p.m.

South Hall Conference Room

Join a passionate group of students working to celebrate the achievements of graduating Southeast Asian students through an intimate cultural ceremony for the Southeast Asian community.

Experimental Musicians at UC Davis

7 p.m.

Multipurpose Room, Technocultural Studies

Hear Antoine Chessex, Gilles Aubry and Valerio Tricoli perform three short sets and talks.

TUESDAY

House Peer Counseling Center Meditation Classes

10:30 to 11 a.m.

House Peer Counseling Center

Join the HPCC for free meditation classes. Students of all levels and experience are welcome.

Conversations with Author Paul McHugh

4 to 6 p.m.

126 Voorhies

Listen to award winning Bay Area writer Paul McHugh, brought to you by the University Writing Program.

Expression Redefined

6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Griffin Lounge, Memorial Union

Showcase your talents! Writers, poets, visual artists, musicians, comedians and filmmakers are welcome to display creative workings with Nameless Magazine.

WEDNESDAY

Biological Sciences Networking Fair

11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

North Side of Sciences Laboratory

Get help deciding which life science major is right for you! Find out information about how to obtain internships in your field.

Showing of The Matter of Taste

8 p.m.

Wyatt Pavilion Theatre

The department of theatre and dance presents The Matter of Taste. Tickets are $11 presale and $13 at the door for students.

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.

A string of copper-wire thefts cost the city

City News

City Editor

May 17, 2010

The Davis Police Department is concerned about safety and monetary costs as rows of darkened lights and copper-wire thefts have hit Davis hard over the past few weeks.

Since April 28, the thieves targeted parks, greenbelts and bike paths in Mace Ranch, West and South Davis, Arroyo Park, the Aspen subdivision greenbelt, Mace Ranch Park, the Putah Creek bike path, Walnut Park and Willowcreek Park.

The thieves gain access to the wires through electrical pull boxes in the ground. They cut the wires, then pull them out of their underground conduits.

City Electrician Butch Breault told the Davis Enterprise that to date close to 40,000 feet of wire have been stolen and added the electrical wire is costly to replace, both in materials and staff time.

Grant Olson, senior electrician for the city of Davis, said the thefts are a serious budget problem.

“There’s a certain amount of money in the general fund allotted for vandalism, but the fund is depleted,” Olson said. “Copper is expensive and we’re talking miles of wire here. We’ve had thefts in past, but this is the largest wire theft the city has dealt with and it’s happening up and down the I-80 corridor. As price of copper goes up, so have the number of thefts.”

Breault said the wire is then sold at salvage yards for a profit. He declined to give the material’s value, fearing that it might exacerbate the problem.

The Public Works Department will discuss with City Council how to fund replacing the wiring, Olson said.

Detective Sergeant Paul Doroshov said the Davis Police Department is calculating the costs of the lost wire and is currently pursuing leads.

Doroshov agreed the thefts have become a lot more frequent and said there is a safety issue because a lot of people hang out at these parks and there are now dark spots.

“It’s important that people remain diligent on belts,” Doroshov said. “Call in to the police when something looks suspicious because it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Jim Newman, Parks and General Services Superintendent, said his staff has been alerted of the problem and the department is working to inform the public of the issue.

“Most of the thefts have been occurring between two and three in the morning,” Newman said. “This has become a primetime to not be noticed because normally this type of theft would take place around midnight.”

The Public Works Department will purchase the wire for repair, either through contracting or in house.

ANGELA SWARTZ can be reached city@theaggie.org.

News in Brief

Campus News

Campus Editor

May 17, 2010

Approximately 200 students studying for midterms on Thursday night were evacuated as library staff reported a potential bomb threat on the premises.

At approximately 9 p.m., police responded to a call from library administrators after they witnessed an unidentified male individual set a box down in front of the library and walk away.

“That activity is not consistent with any other delivery on campus, and the timing was suspicious too,” said Lt. Matthew Carmichael of the UC Davis Police Department.

Police required that all those inside the library be evacuated until the package could be stabilized.

The UCDPD, UC Davis Fire Department, Yolo County Sheriffs Department and the Yolo County Bomb Squad arrived to the library shortly after the call. The bomb squad x-rayed the package, but the contents remained suspicious.

A robot opened the package and found the contents to be 40 cans of Red Bull energy drinks. A label on the front of the package read “test answers.”

The incident has been classified as a crime for reporting a false bomb. The suspect of the crime could face imprisonment, Carmichael said.

“The distress it caused our campus was very upsetting,” he added. “The last thing you want to do before a midterm is leave the library, and you lose all your resources in there.”

– Lauren Steussy

Lower wages may result in obesity

Campus News

Campus Editor

May 17, 2010

Minimum-wage employees are more likely to be obese than higher wage employees, according to a UC Davis study of a relationship that has long been speculated, but unproven until now.

Most people agree on the relationship between income and obesity, but not the reasons for it or the direction of the relationship, said Paul Leigh, professor of health economics at UC Davis School of Medicine.

Researchers from UC Davis used data collected by the University of Michigan to study the relationship between low income and obesity. Over 6,000 people from 40 states with full-time jobs who identified themselves as the heads of household participated in the six-year longitudinal study.

Deeper research required Leigh and co-author DaeHwan Kim to use a third variable unrelated to obesity to determine if the relationship between low wages and obesity was more than coincidental.

The authors used selected minimum wage variation across states over time, a variable unrelated to obesity, to show the correlation between low income and obesity. Over the past three decades minimum wages have fallen or remained stagnant, leaving full-time workers near the poverty line. During those decades, obesity rates skyrocketed.

“It’s hard to argue that Body Mass Index (BMI) influences state legislature,” Leigh said.

Economists have historically believed that bias against obese workers resulted in lower wages; however, the results of Leigh’s study show a causal relationship of low wages on obesity.

Obesity was determined by a BMI of 30 or more, and was adjusted for various variables such as age, race and gender.

Leigh and other public health scientists identified several possible explanations for the relationship.

Impoverished neighborhoods tend to have more fast food restaurants as well as grocery stores with low cost, high calorie food. The psychological effects of poverty may have an effect on body weight and, according to California’s Obesity Prevention Plan, many low-income families must travel long distances to find healthy foods at affordable prices.

“If you’re struggling to make money, you can’t focus on the food you’re eating,” said Marilyn Townsend, nutrition specialist with the cooperative extension, who agrees with Leigh’s findings.

Nutritionists and public health scientists agree that when all energy is spent on taking care of the basic necessities, people have less energy to spend on cooking.

In a study on food cost among low-income women in four counties, Townsend found it cost more money to pay for a better diet.

“It is very difficult to find prepared food that is high quality and to simultaneously spend little money on it,” Townsend said.

Convenient pre-packaged and prepared foods are usually filled with much more sugar and fat than food that is self-prepared, and are tested continuously to perfect taste.

“I will acknowledge that it tastes great,” Leigh said of pre-prepared food. “For $18 you can feed a family of four at McDonald’s. The byproduct is obesity, but who cares, it’s a long term consequence, and it’s the cheapest way to feed your family.”

GABRIELLE GROW can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Column: Buy one get one tree

Opinion

Opinion

May 14, 2010

I’m standing by a Whole Earth Festival booth filled with interesting, exotic-looking jewelry. I’m debating whether or not to buy an overpriced necklace. There are approximately 15 girls surrounding the tiny tent, eager to get a glimpse at the various items on display.

After roughly 15 minutes of observing the winged necklace (made out of domesticated Indonesian water buffalo horn) in my hand, I tear my eyes away and notice a poster with a sketch of a tree printed on it. The salesperson simultaneously shares a small tidbit about the company to the girl next to me.

“It’s for a good cause,” he said.

The words “good cause” catch my ear. I take a second look at the poster. Apparently, for each item I purchase, one tree will get planted — that’s like saying “buy one, get one free,” except the more accurate saying would be “buy one, get one tree.”

I didn’t want to be the person who didn’t help end global warming because she was too stingy to spend $20 on a purchase that would ultimately go toward planting a tree. Thus, I felt somewhat good about my purchase.

As long as my guilty conscience didn’t kick in throughout the rest of the day, I would be okay. If it did kick in, I would purchase an item from every Whole Earth stand and have a negative amount of money left in my bank account.

It was tempting not to just buy random organic cotton shirts or Indian silk just because they sounded good for the environment and were anti-corporate. (Although I would never wear the organic cotton shirts, because really, they don’t look or feel much different from regular cotton.)

The guilt was present. How could you not support your local artists? How could you not donate some money for the overall cause? How could you claim to admire indie musicians while not purchasing their CDs and instead just downloading them online? (Well, a friend likes to say it’s because we’re even poorer than those indie musicians we claim to support.)

It’s nice to live for — or at least give to — noble causes. But with so many alternatives to large corporations, hypocrisies and contradictions arise. There’s a current mentality that “anti-corporate” is better and an alternative lifestyle is the way to go. But for most of us, this just isn’t probable or reasonable.

Can you really shop at Target each week and then claim to support locally grown food at the weekly Farmers Market? Can you really live a lifestyle that’s a mixture of both corporate and anti-corporate without becoming a living contradiction?

Then again, I’m fine with being the living contradiction. It may be easy to say, “Don’t shop at Target because it’s a large, capitalistic presence sucking the well-being out of innocent souls.” But at the same time, as college students it’s much more convenient to buy in bulk at Costco or get discounted toiletries from Target.

This doesn’t mean I don’t try to support local artists and vendors. I don’t claim to be “anti-corporate” and then go to Target to buy all my shampoo. Students have to make use of their resources and the easiest way to do so is through large corporations.

With all of this anti-corporate mentality going on, we like to make ourselves feel just a little better by supporting “the starving artist.” So scattered here and there, we make our donations — minor purchases in which we not only get a necklace in return, but also that chip of guilt brushed off our shoulder.

Ultimately, we need all our resources. These resources come from having options of where to shop and also having natural resources like planting trees. When there are so many different causes in place, it’s difficult to juggle them — to pick and choose and not be a hypocrite, a contradiction.

It wasn’t until later that I realized in the process of saving a tree, I had killed a domesticated Indonesian water buffalo.

TIFFANY LEW thinks that you should listen to the indie duo Angus and Julia Stone, although she hasn’t bought any of their albums. She’s getting to it. E-mail her any other non-conventional music suggestions at tjlew@ucdavis.edu.

Many Yolo County areas now identified as high-risk flood zones

City News

City Editor

May 14, 2010

As part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Flood Map Modernization Program, new flood zone maps will take effect in Yolo County on June 18.

Originally issued in Dec. 2008, the new flood zone maps have significantly expanded the area of high-risk flood zones within the county.

According to Eric Simmons, a FEMA senior engineer, the agency creates the maps to help administer the National Flood Insurance Program, which provides flood insurance in more than 2,000 communities across the country.

“Several years ago FEMA embarked on a map modernization program,” he said. “The goal was to create digital flood maps throughout the nation.”

The maps reflect areas of high, moderate and low flood risk.

“We now know that many areas behind levees are in fact at a high [flood] risk and not at a moderate risk that is reflected on older maps,” Simmons said.

Lonell Butler, chief building official for Yolo County, said that after Hurricane Katrina, FEMA wanted levees throughout the country to be re-certified.

However, in order to have the levees certified, owners had to pay millions of dollars – money that levee owners simply did not have.

As a result, essentially all of the levees that were identified on the current FEMA flood maps were decertified.

“This puts a whole dynamic on everything,” Butler said. “If you want to build here, you must build according to the Floodplain Management Program.”

All proposed new structures or substantial improvement of existing structures in a flood hazard area must be constructed at least one foot above the flood hazard elevation or flood-proofed in accordance with the new regulations to protect them from flooding.

Particular levees along the Sacramento River, the Yolo Bypass and Cache Creek have been identified as being in a high hazard area.

The flood insurance rate maps reflect the 1 percent annual chance flood, or the 100-year flood, which is a major flood that has a small percent chance of occurring each year, Simmons said.

Residents in the floodplain are encouraged to buy insurance before the new maps are implemented because they can use current insurance rates from the flood zone maps that are in effect today, Simmons said.

“In Yolo County the risk of flooding is real and there are options homeowners can take to lower that flood risk,” he said.

Simmons advised residents to understand their flood risk and how to prepare for a disaster. Residents can access FEMA’s website to help prepare for the risk of flooding within their community.

Meanwhile, Butler said the county has been performing outreach efforts for several years to help inform the community of the new flood maps, including town hall meetings.

“Part of our job as a good community is to inform our community,” he said.

CHINTAN DESAI can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

UC Davis women’s club rugby barrels toward league title

Sports

Sports Editor

May 13, 2010

The typical image of a rugby player is a bruised and bloody male built like a human bowling ball.

There are 35 women that beg to differ with that statement.

“It’s a generalization that rugby is not a women’s sport,” said senior forwards captain Delaney Chapman. “People expect huge and manly girls, but we have all different kinds.”

The women’s club rugby squad has taken this attitude and used it to become one of the most successful non-Intercollegiate Athletics teams UC Davis has to offer.

The Aggies finished the regular season undefeated in the Northern California division of the Pacific Coast Rugby Union, and captured their first-ever league title. UC Davis also finished the season ranked 11th in the nation.

“This was the first year we ever won league, and we went undefeated which was awesome,” Chapman said. “It was a great way for our seniors to go out.”

In order to clinch the league title, UC Davis had to travel to Berkeley to top rival California. In a hard fought battle, the Aggies defeated the Golden Bears 27-17 on Mar. 9. Sophomore Ashley Erdmann and senior backs captain Jenifer Lee were named the MVP’s of the match.

“Beating [Cal] to win the title was pretty awesome,” said junior and future captain Elizabeth White. “What made it really fun was beating them on their turf to win the title.”

The victory over Cal earned the Aggies the top seed for the PCRU Championships. UC Davis, however, was unable to clinch the PCRU title as it lost to perennial national powerhouse Stanford on April 4. Despite the defeat, the Aggies still qualified for the Sweet Sixteen National Championships.

At the national championships in Santa Barbara, Calif. on April 17, UC Davis fell to UCLA 17-5 in the first round. The Aggies were able to defeat Delaware in the consolation game to earn 11th place in the nation.

“To be honest, we could have easily beaten UCLA,” Lee said. “We didn’t play up to par with them in that game. In UCLA’s defense, however, they were undefeated in their league.”

There were regular season honors abound for the Aggies. Chapman was selected to be an All-American, and will play in a national all-star game at the end of May. Chapman, White and junior Kimberly Terry along with freshmen Claire Scott and Kelly Morris were each selected as Division I and II under-23 all-stars from the states of Calif., Ore., Wash. and Utah.

If winning the Nor Cal title was the top game of the year, defeating Stanford to open up the season was a close second.

On Jan. 25, the Aggies took on the Cardinal, who finished the season No. 2 in the nation, in a key Nor Cal division match-up. In an upset, UC Davis topped Stanford 10-5.

“Beating Stanford was one of those things we knew we could do,” Lee said. “The team had the mentality that we can beat any team with enough dedication and effort. We never doubted ourselves.”

No matter which player one talks to, the consensus is that the successes of this year’s squad were not necessarily due the overall talent of the team, but rather its commitment.

“For past teams, we’d struggle with getting girls committed to coming out to practices,” Chapman said. “This year, everyone was dedicated to improving, and I feel that was one of our biggest reasons for our success.”

Because the squad isn’t an ICA team, the captains cannot require the girls to go to practice. So when they decided on doing double-day practices for the first time, Lee and Chapman were worried about the possible lack of attendance for the 7 a.m. runs. Lee, however, was pleasantly surprised.

“Everybody showed up for the morning runs on the double-days, rain or shine,” Lee said. “It was great to see that kind of commitment to improving.”

Both Lee and Chapman feel the double-day practices were one of the biggest reasons for the Aggies’ on-field successes this year. She feels that not only did the morning runs and sit-ups create discipline in the girls but the workouts also kept the team in shape.

“A common way to get injured is not staying in shape or not taking down a player correctly,” Lee said. “Last year we had players drop like flies, but this year we only had a couple injuries. I think the extra practice was a big factor into that.”

Lee was one of the only Aggies to catch the injury bug this season, but it wasn’t due to lack of conditioning. She broke her nose in the loss to UCLA.

Lee’s broken nose helps disprove a common misconception about women’s rugby in that it isn’t as hard hitting as men’s rugby.

“There aren’t any major rule differences between men’s and women’s rugby,” White said. “The men might play a little more physical, but the girls can get rough as seen by [Lee’s] broken nose.”

While men’s rugby might be better known with events like the Rugby World Cup – the third most watched sports telecast in the world after the FIFA World Cup and Summer Olympics – women’s rugby is on the upswing.

“I think [women’s rugby] is getting there in terms of people knowing about it,” White said. “There are more and more opportunities to play after college.”

If anyone has questions about women’s rugby or is interested in joining the team, feel free to contact Elizabeth White at ecwhite@ucdavis.edu.

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

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