THURSDAY

Follow the leader

A male was following someone from 1:30 to 4 a.m. on G Street.

Forbidden fruit

An individual stole oranges from a resident’s tree on Bienville Street.

The Terminator

An individual threatened to “destroy” his roommate on 5th Street.

No love

A female was stranded at the Amtrak station on 2nd Street.

Keep your Manolos on at all times

An individual’s shoes were reported stolen on Sycamore Lane.

FRIDAY

Hyperactive friend

An individual received 15 calls over 30 minutes from the same person on Glide Drive.

Too cheeky

A woman was riding her bike at Radcliffe Drive and Sycamore Lane when a motorcyclist slapped her on the left buttock.

Losing his marbles

An individual was seen on Hanover Drive wandering through the complex saying he was looking for someone all day long.

Hit it and quit it

Two females came into someone’s home and hit the resident in the face on Russell Boulevard.

SUNDAY

7 years bad luck

An individual broke a mirror on a vehicle on Valencia Avenue.

Temper tantrum

A family’s son was smashing things in his bedroom on Fordham Drive.

Not fair!

A vehicle was parked in a disabled spot without a placard on G Street.

Must have been an Invisibility Cloak

A subject was seen peeping into windows on Drew Circle but was unable to be located.

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.

Obsolete electronics often have a morgue of their own. While cadavers repose in refrigeration with a purpose, old cell phones and chargers lie idle in the back corner of the common dresser-drawer for an eternity.

The U.S. government’s regulation of discarded electronics – or “e-waste” – has produced much confusion, especially when it comes to the disposal of these used electronic devices.

First-year microbiology major Anton Ostashko has several old pieces of electronics that he does not know how to dispose of.

“My family’s old rear-projection TV from the 90s, my two previous cell phones and our two old laptops have long been gathering dust in my room,” Ostashko said.

In a collaboratively written Oct. 30 report in Science journal, Julie Schoenung, UC Davis associate professor of chemical engineering and materials science, and several UC Irvine professors estimate each U.S. household has approximately seven articles of e-waste in storage.

Sixty-seven percent of 2,136 U.S. households were unaware of e-waste disposal laws, according to a 2008 survey in the Journal of Environmental Management by many of the same UC Irvine professors.

Schoenung said now is the time to act on this ongoing problem.

“The issue [of improper e-waste management] has been a problem for over 10 years, but the U.S. has been reluctant to take any action” she said in an e-mail interview. “Collection [of e-waste] is often the biggest issue in implementing recycling.”

The Science report also mentions the health hazards e-waste presents. Many discarded electronics, when disassembled to reclaim useful raw materials, leave behind highly noxious substances like lead and polybrominated diphenyl ethers, which are used in flame-retardants.

Schoenung is also concerned about future disposal of flat-panel displays.

“Mercury will become a problem when flat panel displays start becoming obsolete,” she said.

Although the current nationwide Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) deals with the handling of hazardous waste, Schoenung said it is insufficient because it deals only with waste that is highly concentrated in a certain area.

“[Diffusely concentrated waste] is referred to as ‘universal waste’ and it is exempt from RCRA,” she said.

California took a turn away from federal policy, implementing its own e-waste management laws.

“California no longer accepts that exemption and large organizations must collect their e-waste and have it managed properly,” Schoenung said.

According to a 2008 market analysis by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), 25 percent of consumer electronics adopters recycled electronics they no longer used. When polled as to why they did not recycle and throw away outdated electronics, the remaining 75 percent cited convenience.

The second most common response in the poll showed consumers were simply uninformed about the recycling programs in place.

Schoenung said bringing recycling directly to the consumer is paramount in resolving the problem.

“Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs) work for many types of products, without the individual needing to know much about what they are discarding,” Schoenung said.

Another CEA study in 2005 gathered that seven in 10 consumers would invest the time to recycle their electronics if they knew where and how to do it.

Recently, the Electronic Device Recycling Research and Development Act, a U.S. bill that provides guidelines for the regulation and recycling of e-waste, worked its way through the House and is now being debated in the Senate.

By contrast, the European Union has in place two pieces of e-waste legislation that have proven to be very successful – the Restriction on the Use of Hazardous Substances and the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment.

Schoenung said students, as consumers, can push for effective collection methods, including on-campus drop-offs, and information from companies, specifically on what substances their products contain, or why they claim their product to be “green.”

YARA ELMJOUIE can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

Despite the flood of budget cuts that hit institutions of higher education, a recent study shows that college enrollment is higher than ever.

The main reason is an increase in community college enrollment, considering the current economic climate and job market.

According to a study by the Pew Research Center for Social and Demographic Trends, approximately 11.5 million students, or 39.6 percent of all young adults ages 18 to 24, were enrolled in either a two or four-year college in October 2008. Both of these figures are at their highest level ever.

The most recent annual spike has taken place entirely at two-year colleges. In 2008, the number of students enrolled in two-year colleges was 3.4 million – up from 3.1 million the previous year. By contrast, enrollment in four-year colleges remained essentially flat from 2007 to 2008.

Susie Williams, Los Rios Community College District spokesperson, said her district has seen a strong increase in enrollment.

“The number of students rose by 5,000,” Williams said, “and if we had a normal year without the impact of budget cuts on class availability, we probably would have had an increase closer to 8,000.”

The Pew study attributes this peak in enrollment partly to the recession, which has driven the national unemployment rate to its highest level in more than a quarter of a century. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a smaller share of 16 to 24-year-olds were employed in September – 46.1 percent – than at any time since the government began collecting such data in 1948.

“There are a lot of factors that have contributed to the increase [in enrollment],” said Williams. “Students who maybe would have gone to a CSU or UC are instead going to community college for two years and transferring because it’s cheaper. Also, there are more adults enrolling in community colleges to try and upgrade their skills to respond to the poor job market.”

In addition to the unemployment rate and poor economic conditions, high school students are also graduating at a higher rate than in previous years. According to census figures cited by the Pew study, a record 84.9 percent of 18 to 24 year olds completed high school as of October 2008, up from 83.9 percent in 2007.

Although the economic environment makes two-year colleges more attractive to many students, enrollment statistics for four-year colleges have not dropped during this recession. According to the study, they have held steady despite tuition increases averaging 4.9 percent per year.

The number of students enrolled at UC Davis has actually increased – from 23,499 students in 2007 to 24,209 in 2008. Despite the increase in community college enrollment, there are still more applicants to UC Davis than are admitted each year.

“One of the things about UC Davis is that we are very selective,” said Frank Wada from the University Registrar. “We have a number of students eligible and close to 40,000 applications every year. We admit a little over 50 percent of these students.”

The Pew study collected enough information to estimate the enrollment figures for 2009.

College enrollment estimates based on the September 2009 Current Population Survey suggest that enrollment among 18 to 24 year-olds has not decreased from its 2008 peak. The Pew Research Center found that in September, 39.9 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds were enrolled in college, as opposed to 38.6 percent in 2008. This information suggests that enrollment will continue to be high this coming year, the study says.

“We are very interested in what this increased community college enrollment may mean for the future,” said Wada. “Even though we have had to cut down on freshman enrollment every year, the one number we are actually being told to increase is community college transfers.”

SARAH HANSEL can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

Americans love choice – just walk down a supermarket’s cereal aisle. In the June 2010 primary, however, Californians looking to vote for a democrat may find only one available box to check.

In a recent Los Angeles Times/University of Southern California poll, 65 percent of democrats said they want another democratic option in the primary, especially since San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom withdrew from the race on Oct. 30.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown has not officially announced his candidacy as a contender in the race to replace current California Governor Schwarzenegger, but his candidacy is assumed in the 2010 election. Brown is ahead in polls, with 44 percent of voters in favor of Brown over the current three Republican candidates.

“A lot of people were in support of Newsom,” said Brandon Craig, Davis College Democrats president and junior political science major. “But in policies, Brown is more friendly in the issues [DCD members] care about compared to Newsom or any of the republican candidates.”

The Republican side has three hopefuls for the primary: former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, former Rep. Tom Campbell and California State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. According to the LAT/USC poll, only 17 percent of voters see these candidates favorably.

“It doesn’t look like any Republican candidates have a strong edge,” Craig said. “They are the underdog.”

Brown is not new to the race for governor. From 1975 to 1983, Brown served two terms as California governor. He is eligible to run in 2010 because term limit laws changed in 1990 after his governorship.

“A lot of the people who support Brown value what he did as governor in the late ’70s,” Craig said.

Other Democrats, as indicated by poll results, may think Brown is old news for California because he has already served as governor, said Jeremia Kimelman, database director for the recent Students For Gavin Newsom campaign.

“I don’t think anyone who was excited for Newsom is excited for Brown,” Kimelman said.

Justin Patrizio, communication director for the Newsom campaign and senior political science and philosophy double major, said Newsom’s withdrawal could hurt Brown when it comes time to vote.

“Had Newsom stuck it out, there would have at least been young voters [in June 2010],” Patrizio said. “Voter turnout will go down.”

Newsom, known for his liberal policies concerning gay rights, publicly endured an extramarital affair, which brought controversy to the governor’s race. This controversy could have brought the election to the forefront of the media, bringing more voters to the polls in June regardless of the gubernatorial winner, Patrizio said.

SASHA LEKACH can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

Misdialing 9-1-1 can interfere with actual emergencies, but the UC Davis Police Department has a solution.

For outgoing calls made from campus, a nine must be dialed before the telephone number. The police department recommends changing that digit to another number in order to curb accidental emergency calls.

The dispatch center gets somewhere between 3,500 and 4,000 accidental calls each year. The police department spends approximately 183 hours fielding accidental emergency calls – which adds up to a month’s salary for one officer.

Many callers hang up after misdialing, but there is no such thing as an anonymous 9-1-1 call. The dispatch center immediately determines the location of the call. Because all calls require a follow-up, an officer must be sent out on the field.

“Misdials take officers away from their regular duties,” said Tamar Rein, a dispatcher. “If we can reduce time spent on fielding false emergencies we can allocate our resources to more proactive things.”

Rein, who has worked as a dispatcher for 10 years, said the worst thing someone can do in the case of a misdial is hang up.

“If it’s a misdial, stay on the line and confirm it so we don’t have to waste time and resources trying to establish contact,” Rein said.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no fine for accidentally dialing 9-1-1.

Captain Joyce Souza, who is spearheading the effort, believes that accidental dialing is a hazard and a nuisance.

“If we get a call, we have to send officers out even if the person hangs up, because we don’t know if there’s an emergency,” said Souza. “False calls can lead to responder complacency which endangers the officers and the community and makes it harder to motivate officers to take all calls seriously.”

Mark Redican, Senior Manager of Communications Resources, said changing the digit used to place outgoing calls is fairly simple.

“From a technical standpoint, the change to the campus telephone switch is very simple – just a matter of programming the switch,” Redican said. “Some systems, like fax machines, with pre-programmed auto-dialing functions would have to be reconfigured as well.”

Getting approval for the change may be time-consuming. The options need to be presented to various campus committees for discussion.

“Once campus constituents have had a chance to voice their concerns or support, and an acceptable option is agreed upon, the change could take place over a matter of several months,” said Redican.

The plan is still in its early stages and no formal proposal has yet been made, but Souza hopes to receive approval by January.

“I don’t think it’s possible to eliminate all misdials,” said Souza, “but we can certainly drastically reduce them.”

Other campuses that changed their outgoing call digit have seen as much as a 90 percent drop in misdials, Souza said.

JANE TEIXEIRA can be reached at city@theaggie.org.