Social-media job listings on employment sites are growing at over 1,300 percent per annum.

Andres Kaplan and Michael Haenlein, authors of “Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media,” featured in Business Horizons, define social media as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0 and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.”

Shel Holtz of socialmediatoday.com said experts’ different approaches to social media suggest few have agreed on a single definition.

Danielle Galarneau, corporate marketing communications associate of Simply Hired, Inc., believes companies are embracing social media because they are seeing that these tools work, thus increasing the number of job listings.

“Companies are witnessing the high adoption rate of social media among users and even other companies,” Galarneau said. “These tools are not going away, so companies are realizing that they need to implement social media in their businesses. Leveraging social media for customer service, marketing, recruiting and other areas has proven to be highly effective.”

According to Simply Hired, Inc. social media jobs have an average salary of $93,000 and have increased by 627 percent since August 2008.

This salary estimate is calculated from jobs that contain salary data and match the term “social media.” Salaries are not based on employer survey data and may vary from the actual salary for a specific position.

To break into the social media job market it is important to have a background with social media jobs marketing, along with a degree in marketing, communications or English, strong writing skills, critical thinking and a know-how of analytics tools, Galarneau said.

“A passion for social media tools is a must,” Galarneau said. “Employers will look for someone who is always on top of the latest trends and dying to learn more.”

Galarneau said internships are a great way to get your foot in the door.

“Many of these social media jobs will be in marketing departments, so make sure you are searching for accurate titles,” Galarneau said. “Looking for a general internship or entry level job in a marketing department can also lead you into the direction of working more heavily with social media. Once you’re in the department, let everyone know how much you know and care about social media, and hopefully you’ll be given the opportunity to prove your talent.”

The Davis Downtown Business Association has over 1,800 fans on Facebook and a Twitter account.

Joy Cohan, director of the Davis Downtown Business Association, said social media is an integral part of the group’s marketing scheme.

“It’s difficult to gauge how these sites affect our business,” Cohan said. “But businesses have told us that they get feedback from customers saying they came to different events because they saw one of our status updates on Facebook.”

Some local organizations are just starting to utilize these social media sites to connect with the public.

Citizens Who Care, a Davis group that provides social support services to older adults and their family caregivers, currently uses VolunterMatch.org to coordinate volunteers. The group’s director of volunteers, Ellie Slaven, said the group is about to start utilizing Facebook.

“Younger people are using Facebook so much and a posting on the site can make you much more aware of events,” Slaven said. “We already have a system for finding volunteers, but expanding the number of online social networks we have will get people to come to fundraisers.”

ANGELA SWARTZ can be reached city@theaggie.org.

With a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana set to appear on California’s November ballot, a recent poll shows that most Americans still oppose legalizing the drug.

The Associated Press-CNBC poll, released on Apr. 20, showed that 55 percent of Americans oppose legalizing pot, while 33 percent favor legalization.

Those in favor of legalization cite other polls and problematic question phrasing as evidence that a greater number of Americans actually support legalizing marijuana.

Mike Meno, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, said that other recent polls released by CBS and Gallup show a higher number – approximately 45 percent – favor legalization.

Meno also said that the way the question was phrased played a role in the lower AP-CNBC number.

“Thirty-three percent seems a little low, but actually if you look at the way the question was phrased, a lot of the people that responded neutral would actually imply that they were favorable,” he said.

In particular, Meno said that another question within the poll, which includes language about taxing sales of marijuana, showed a rise in people favoring legalization – from 33 percent to 47 percent.

Marijuana prohibition has been a “complete failure,” according to Meno.

“When you pass laws against something, it’s not going to reduce its use, it’s going to create an elicit market,” he said.

Americans are more accepting of medical marijuana. The poll showed that 60 percent support the idea and 74 percent believe the drug has a real medical benefit for some people.

The poll’s results for both legalizing marijuana or on allowing its use for medicinal purposes were largely uniform across the various regions of the country, despite legal medical marijuana use being concentrated in the West.

John Lovell, a spokesman with the California Narcotics Officers’ Association, said he was not surprised by the poll results.

“At the end of the day, the public doesn’t want to have someone who can test positive for marijuana and get behind the wheel of a school bus,” he said.

Lovell said a particular problem with the California initiative is that it permits all California cities and counties to have their own regulatory scheme with regard to the drug.

This could lead to a situation where the city of Davis could have its own regulatory scheme, while Sacramento could have a different scheme, for instance.

“What you’re going to have is cannabis chaos,” Lovell said.

Lovell also expressed doubt as to whether the initiative would help the state economy since it does not authorize a state marijuana tax.

Students expressed their thoughts on both the poll and marijuana legalization in the state.

“I think it’s silly that more than 50 percent of people think this when there is very little scientific evidence that shows that marijuana is a harmful drug,” said Morgan Rockwell, a senior clinical nutrition major.

Rockwell said that if marijuana were to be legalized in California the regulatory scheme should be uniform throughout the state. However, she said that this might not be realistic since some counties and cities are apt to be more or less lax with their marijuana laws.

Linda Wolf, a junior communication major, said that she goes back and forth on whether or not she supports legalization.

“I see some of the economic value in legalizing [marijuana] for the clothing industry or for agricultural reasons, but I don’t want people to have even easier access to it,” she said. “I don’t want to deal with people being stoned all the time.”

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

Based on preliminary figures, traffic related deaths in California have hit an all time low in 2009.

Although many factors were at work, officials credit increased enforcement and improved driving habits among the public as significant factors behind the improvement. Despite the optimistic reports, law enforcement officials and policymakers say there is still much more room for improvement.

The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) is a government organization that is responsible for tracking traffic safety data including fatalities that occur on state roads. Lower numbers of fatalities have been a trend over the last 10 years in California, said OTS spokesperson Chris Cochran. The statistics for 2009 are not complete, but last year was a record for safety.

“As far as why [there have been less deaths], there are many reasons. There is no one cause, but probably a dozen,” Cochran said. “For instance there were simply less miles driven in 2009.”

Due to a slow economy, people are driving less, leading to fewer accidents.

There are also downturns in behavioral causes of accidents. Bad driving habits associated with collisions, including alcohol-related deaths, are decreasing. According to the COTS 2008 traffic safety report card, fatalities involving drunk drivers decreased by 20.01 percent in California since 2005. Increased public awareness has been helpful.

“People are saying, ‘I’m going to drive better,'” Cochran said.

Cell phone use while driving is now a major source of danger. The National Safety Council estimates nearly 25 percent of collisions in 2008 were caused by the distraction, according to an OTS press release.

“In the 20th century we knew what was killing us on our roads, things like alcohol, and drugs, speeding, reckless driving, unsafe cars and dangerous roads,” said OTS Director Christopher J. Murphy in a written statement. “The 21st century has brought us a new and troubling danger – the use of cell phones.”

In 2008 hands-free laws banned the use of mobile phones by motorists unless they utilize an earpiece.

“Unfortunately we are still citing thousands of people a month for using their cell phones,” said CHP Spokesperson Jaime Coffee. “One hundred percent of your attention needs to be on the road. Even a one or two second distraction can result in tragedy and multi-tasking drivers put innocent people at risk.”

Coffee believed it was still taking people time to get adjust to the new cell phone laws, similar to how laws requiring seat belt took time to become routine in the 20th century. California’s seat belt use rate was 95.7 percent in 2009, according to the OTS website.

Fatal collisions in Yolo County have seen a dramatic decrease. Between 2006 and 2009 traffic deaths here may have dropped as much as 56 percent.

“I feel safe driving in the area,” said Jennifer Allison, a senior history major. “Mostly I feel safe because there isn’t that much traffic and congestion. Traffic and congestion are the main things I worry about on the road.”

SAMUEL A. COHEN can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

THURSDAY

Hotboxing hour

Two subjects were smoking marijuana inside a vehicle on Mono Place.

FRIDAY

Drama queen

A female was reported missing on Shasta drive when she got upset and left.

Davis hacksaw massacre

Someone was trying to hacksaw a bike chain on Oxford Circle.

SATURDAY

Father in training

A male was seen pushing an unoccupied new baby carriage and talking to himself on K and East Eighth Streets.

Next best thing to texting

A female was seen scratching words on the back of someone’s car on West Covell Boulevard.

Monkeying around

People on West Covell Boulevard and Sycamore Lane were yelling obscenities from their vehicle and hanging out the windows.

The neighborhood raccoon strikes again

A resident on F Street was out of town on business when a neighbor told her that her motion sensor lights were activated in her backyard.

SUNDAY

Follow the nose

Someone smelled a kerosene odor in his neighborhood on East Eighth and D Streets.

Bas-keg-ball game

Subjects had a keg and were playing on the basketball court on Drexel Drive.

Impatient visitor

An unknown subject was ringing the door bell for the last 20 minutes intermittently on Via Verdi Terrace.

Invitation to dinner

A female was throwing plates off the balcony on J Street.

POLICE BRIEFS are compiled by POOJA KUMAR from the public logs of the Davis Police Department and represent the official version of what happened. View the crime blotter online at cityofdavis.org/police/log. This segment appears Tuesdays.

The long-awaited United States Bicycling Hall of Fame opened in Davis on Saturday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the museum within Central Park on the corner of Third and B Streets.

“I want to recognize the collaboration of city of Davis, UC Davis, the Hall of Fame, the California Bicycle Museum, community leaders and many more,” said Mayor Ruth Asmundson. “Each of you has made a part in celebrating cycling, which is the heart and soul of Davis.”

In April 2009 the Hall of Fame selected Davis as its new home, relocating from Somerville, New Jersey.

The USBHF joined forces with the California Bicycle Museum expanding the board of directors for both organizations.

“With that expansion, we now represent the country and truly establish the Hall of Fame as a national organization,” said USBHF President of the Board of Directors Dawn Wylong.

Over 125 cyclists have been entered into the Hall of Fame in its 25-year history and four new inductees are elected annually.

The Hall of Fame features the UC Davis Pierce Miller Collection of antique bicycles, an extensive catalog of memorabilia from the Hall of Fame, the recent 2009 class of Hall of Fame inductees and cycling artifacts.

The museum, at 303 3rd St., will be open on Wednesdays from 2 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Several dignitaries from Davis and Somerville were present, including Director of Transportation, Airport and Parking Services (TAPS) Clifford Contreras, UC Davis Bicycle Program Coordinator David Takemoto-Weerts, several Davis City Councilmembers, 1997 US Bicycling Hall of Fame Inductee and Olympian George Mount and 1994 USBHF Inductee, competitor and Past President of the Board Ernie Seubert. Cheri Elliott, 2008 US Bicycling Hall of Fame Inductee, First Woman Inducted into the BMX Hall of Fame, was also present.

Sen. Lois Wolk (D-Davis) who presented a state legislature certificate of recognition to Hall of Fame to commemorate a successful grand opening in Davis.

– Pooja Kumar

As part of the national observance of April as Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness month, the Yolo County Children’s Alliance and Child Abuse Prevention Council (YCCA) is taking measures to prevent infant mortalities.

YCCA’s foremost goal is to reduce the incidence of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) for which it is implementing Shaken Baby Program, which strives to inform new mothers, fathers and caregivers of the dangers of shaking babies.

The Davis Rotary Club and the Sutter Davis Hospital each donated $10,000 to support the program, while the Yolo County Celebrity Fashion Show contributed additional proceeds.

The Shaken Baby Program aims to increase knowledge about the fragility of babies’ heads, said Katy King-Goldberg, Step by Step/Paso a Paso program director.

SBS occurs as a result of shaking an infant or young child so violently that he or she is injured and ultimately, severely and irreversibly brain damaged.

As one of the few counties that has an SBS program, YCCA is looking forward to the program’s implementation this summer, said YCCA Executive Director Katie Villegas.

Program coordinators distribute informative materials, such as an informative video, pledge forms and brochures, to parents and caregivers a minimum of two times – once in prenatal care and once in the birthing hospital, Sutter Davis Hospital or Woodland Memorial Hospital. Family support workers will review the consequences of SBS a third time with new parents enrolled in the Step by Step home visiting program.

Shaken baby simulator dolls highlight the delicacy of a baby’s brain. The dolls’ brains light up when they are shaken, demonstrating which part of the brain is damaged, such as the parts that control memory or emotion.

SBS is difficult to diagnose. Doctors have to x-ray the patient’s skull to access SBS, Villegas said. Some consequences of SBS include: brain swelling and damage, hemorrhage, mental retardation, blindness, hearing loss, paralysis, speech and learning difficulties and death.

Some SBS inflicted injuries are not obvious because they occur internally, particularly in the head or behind the eyes. However, in severe cases, the baby will become limp and lethargic and ultimately pass out. Furthermore, babies who survive significant SBS cases may require lifelong medical care or even institutionalization.

Sometimes, parents or caregivers shake their baby if they feel frustrated as a result of the baby’s incessant crying. SBS can occur due to ignorance of consequences combined with frustration.

There is a large space between a baby’s brain and its whole skull because a baby’s brain has not grown to its full size. It also takes a few months (sometimes six to eight months) for a baby’s neck muscles to become strong enough to support its head, King-Goldberg said.

SBS usually affects children up to about two years of age, King-Goldberg said. By the time a child is two, he or she generally has some speaking capabilities. However, prior to two years of age, babies communicate by crying.

“Crying can mean so many things. The more communication they have, the more the caregiver can figure out,” King-Goldberg said.

To care for a crying infant, parents can run a vacuum cleaner or dryer within hearing range of the infant because they like white noise. Parents can also take the baby for a walk in a stroller or a car ride.

Villegas encourages parents to utilize available resources such as the Yolo Crisis Nursery if they are frustrated with their baby’s crying. Caregivers may drop their babies off at the crisis nursery anytime of day or night if they need immediate assistance or call at 758-6680.

“Every child in the nation deserves to be safe,” said Judy Wolf, Chair of the Rotary Club of Davis Child Abuse Prevention Program.

The Davis Rotary Club’s Child Abuse Prevention Committee holds Big Night, an annual fundraiser to support Yolo County programs. To date, the Big Night fundraiser has collected approximately $250,000 to help prevent child abuse in the community.

Only approximately 1 percent of funds dedicated to child abuse go to primary child abuse prevention, Wolf said.

“The country doesn’t get it,” she said. “It’s not putting money into upstream causes of child abuse.”

THERESA MONGELLUZZO can be reached at city@theaggie.org.