Last week, students of UWP 104C taught by Stephen Magagnini, had the opportunity to ask questions with Drew Parenti, a 25-year veteran FBI agent and head of the department’s Sacramento division. The following is a selection of the questions asked by various students to Special Agent Parenti.

You have previously worked on the frontlines of the war on drugs. What is your position on the legalization of marijuana?

I am not in favor of relaxing drug laws. People can argue what drugs are more harmful, but what it really comes down to is a question of what you value in society. People say, “Hey cigarettes and alcohol are legal and they are just as or more harmful.” They are right, cigarettes are deadly and if misused, so is alcohol. My question is, why add another destructive drug to the list? By legalizing marijuana, the government is condoning it and saying, “It’s OK, it’s acceptable.” It is a slippery slope. You start with legalizing marijuana and pretty soon people will be making a case for other drugs, saying “Hey cocaine isn’t really that bad in small quantities,” and “Amphetamines are found in diet pills and other prescriptions, they can’t be that harmful.” Eventually, people can make a case for any of these drugs. I am just not comfortable with it.

If a UC Davis student wanted to become an FBI special agent, how would they go about doing so?

Well, first of all, you must be a naturalized citizen between the ages of 23 and 37, although it is very rare for the FBI to hire someone under the age of 26. The average age of a new hire is 30. You should also be in good physical shape, have good eyesight and hearing. You would need a four-year college degree and obviously no felonies on your record. We will likely throw out applications immediately if people have a history of drug use or financial mismanagement. We also turn down applicants for issues of bad judgment like arrests and public drunkenness. We want people with lots of initiative and self-restraint.

Over time, FBI will look for different kinds of backgrounds. Right now, we are especially interested in looking for people who speak certain languages, specifically Middle Eastern languages like Arabic and Urdu, as well as Chinese and Russian. We are looking for people with information technology and hard science backgrounds, and we always look for people with law degrees and accounting degrees. My advice is to do what it is that interests you. Also, know that it is really hard to come straight out of college and compete against people with much more experience both in a profession and in life.

How did the FBI not foresee 9/11?

I think a lot of it had to do with the legal impediments of sharing information between various overlapping agencies and law enforcement at that time. Simply put, things fell through the cracks and didn’t get communicated between these various departments. The Patriot Act helped to improve this a lot. I think there was also a degree of rivalry and interpersonal conflicts between the different agencies that contributed to a lack of communication. Fortunately, since 9/11, these relations have strengthened nine-fold.

ERICA LEE can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Gender lines were not only crossed on Friday night at Freeborn Hall, but twisted, danced, strutted and swaggered on at Delta Lambda Phi (DLP)’s 20th annual Davis is Burning drag show.

The sold-out show attracted one thousand people with men dressed as women, women dressed as men, women pretending to be men pretending to be women and all other sorts of gender-bending combinations possible.

Angel Villadarez, or “Lady GagMe,” hosted the show in a Lady Gaga look-alike gold dress, heels and blonde wig.

“I think that this has been the most successful [Davis is Burning] we’ve had so far,” said Villadrez, who is also DLP’s vice president. “We finally got familiar with the space at Freeborn and learned a lot from last year to make this year a lot better.”

Professional queens like “Mahlae,” who performs at Faces Club in Sacramento also danced throughout the night. Mahlae’s performance as a Beyoncé look-alike, complete with the infamous “Single Ladies” dance, received a standing ovation from the crowd.

“Taryn,” who also performs at Faces, dressed as a grandma with a walker. Taryn pulled two members of the audience to the stage, once pulling down a man’s pants and spanking him over her knee with accompanying laughter from the audience.

Villadrez said that it is vital for an event like Davis is Burning to not only bring a good show, but raise awareness to the Davis community.

“I think it’s important to have these types of events on campus so people know more about the drag community. We always want to be visible to the community at large to know we exist,” Villadrez said. “We want to make them aware that we are here and not going anywhere.”

Villadrez said he was happy to see other members of the Greek community come out on Friday to support the event and its message.

“Straight fraternities were there to support us. It shows that they are really open-minded and accepting,” he said.

Other performers included student dancers, a group dressed as nuns and the “Spice Girls”- who were members of DLP. The audience chose King and Queen of Davis is Burning with applause for best walk, costume and responses to a question-and-answer session.

-Text by ANGELA RUGGIERO

-Photo by KRISTA JACKSON

Chancellor Linda Katehi is opening her doors a little wider by calling for a new board of students to advise her on the issues important to them.

The Chancellor’s Undergraduate and Graduate Student Advisory Boards will be comprised of 12 to 14 students each, who will meet with her four times every quarter to present concerns and ideas pertinent to the student population.

“We’re hoping we can really get our voices in the administration’s ear,” said Allison Zike, an undergraduate student assistant to the chancellor. “This [board] is a way for a wide variety of students to have an incredible opportunity to change the campus.”

Formerly, four student assistants advised the chancellor on matters pertaining to students. Now, the student assistants will be the vice-chairs of the board, facilitating and organizing the priorities of their peers with the rest of the board.

Katehi discussed the possibility of meeting with a board of student advisers in August, and has recently met with the four student assistants to establish a more concrete plan for the function of the board. She helped to organize a similar committee as provost at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

“It’s important for students to be able to share their concerns with me, and for me to be able to bring issues to students for their perspective,” Katehi said in an e-mail interview. “These advisory committees will be a ready opportunity for that kind of dialogue. These kinds of student committees were immensely helpful to me at other universities, and I anticipate they’ll be of great benefit here, as well.”

Assistants hope that having a diverse group of students will help their respective boards to address a wide variety of topics.

“The discussions we have will encompass a lot of different perspectives from a lot of different students,” said Nina Massoumi, an undergraduate student assistant to the chancellor.

Massoumi, a senior international relations major, added that students are not required to be particularly involved with the university, but should be able to offer unique outlooks on campus life so the board can represent the unique values of the school.

The assistants also anticipate that a diverse board of students will help them to better advise on matters regarding budget cuts and fee increases.

“These issues affect everyone differently,” said Zike, a senior community and regional development major. “That’s why I’m glad we’re going to have such a range of people. We’ll be able to acknowledge a broader range of concerns surrounding these cuts.”

Among other issues the undergraduate board hopes to discuss are how to better include lower income and underrepresented students in a financial aid plan that will allow them to continue to attend UCD.

The deadline to apply for the graduate board is Friday, and for the undergraduate board is Nov. 6. Applications are available online at sac.ucdavis.edu and can be submitted via e-mail or in person to 476 Mrak Hall by 5 p.m.

The undergraduate board will be announced by the end of November; the graduate board by the middle of November.

LAUREN STEUSSY can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

UC Davis faculty and researchers can breathe a sigh of relief, as budget cuts will not be sapping funds for research.

According to the United States Government Accountability Office, since Aug. 28, California has disbursed $3.7 billion in stimulus money to local education. $268 million has gone to the University of California.

The UCD Office of Research projected that research dollars topped $622 million during the fiscal year of 2008-09. This infusion of funds has helped pay for many of the research projects conducted on campus.

Allocations for projects include:

-$98,000 to study how lead harms nerve cells during brain development

-$548,000 for tools able to predict outbreaks of West Nile virus

-$430,000 for research and teaching on micro-electromechanical systems

-$780,000 for research on building foundations that can withstand earthquakes

-$4.9 million for new, fuel-efficient natural-gas buses

Much of the stimulus funding has come from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NIH has been given $10.4 billion and the NSF $3 billion for research in health and science-related research.

Barry Klein, vice chancellor for research and professor of physics at UC Davis, said that the school has garnered over $70 million in research funds and expects the number to grow.

“We are over $70 million and I am very certain we’ll have well over $100 million dollars before the smoke clears,” Klein said. “We have a lot of competitive grants that are outstanding that I know did very well in review. I think over the next weeks and months we’ll get a lot of good news.”

Among the competitive grants in review are those for new facilities. Peter Schwartz, assistant director of capital program management in the Office of Resource Management and Planning, has been working to advance several multimillion-dollar construction projects, according to an article by the UC Davis News Service.

One of ORMP’s projects is a $6 million request for chemical biology and bio-analytical facilities in the chemistry building and a $15 million upgrade and expansion of the physics department.

Although stimulus funds have primarily benefited science and medical research, Klein emphasized that the humanities and social sciences have not been left out. For instance 1 to 2 percent of the total campus award has gone to humanities faculty.

He stresses that these divisions comprise a small piece because they are less costly to fund. These disciplines do not require expensive equipment or facilities, but that does not diminish their importance.

“It’s very important to emphasize that everything isn’t just money, it’s the value of what’s done,” Klein said.

The effect of stimulus funding is also limited by its nature. Designed to spur economic growth in two years, these extra dollars may dry up. In an email interview, Mary Delany, department chair for animal sciences and professor of developmental genetics, said while the money has funded new projects and extended existing funding, it is likely a short-term situation.

Facing the possibility of having no stimulus funds in the future, Klein said that the positive results from current research would help UC Davis compete for regular grants.

Yet the outlook remains bright. Last year UC Davis received over $600 million in research funds and this year it expects to gain more.

“Last year we had over $622 million dollars of research funding, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we topped $700 million this year thanks to stimulus funds,” Klein said.

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

UC Davis has taken strides towards reducing the difficulties of transferring from community colleges by welcoming newly admitted transfer students with a variety of programs.

The recently opened center for Transfer, Reentry and Veteran Students (TRV) located at 1210 Dutton seeks to do exactly this, reaching out to new students and working to ease their transition into the University. The center provides services for traditional junior college and parent students as well as those students returning from military service.

“We’re a one-stop shop,” said Student Transfer Coordinator Roselind Brown. “We give drop-in advising, resource referrals, academic and social workshops to get students acquainted with the University, scholarships, a study lounge and even free printing.”

University Registrar Frank Wada said the transfer center will serve as a landing place for new students, and have both immediate and long-term impacts.

“It will be a huge benefit for future students, and should have a very positive rolling effect,” Wada said. “We’re definitely excited [because this has been] long overdue.”

The center provides information, counseling, work and internship opportunities, as well as a means for similarly situated students to network amongst themselves – the TRV’s Facebook page and Twitter updates help interested students stay connected and informed about upcoming events.

“Peers are very important, especially at the beginning, and a lot of these services rely on peers,” said Phil Knox, Assistant Director of the TRV Center. “You can relax when you know a place to go.”

According to Wada, the TRV students are in many ways comparable to freshmen, encountering similar difficulties upon entering the University but performing academically on par with the rest of the undergraduate population once they become acclimated. This can be somewhat more difficult for transfer students, however, since they miss out on the freshman and sophomore experiences.

“There is a sort of ‘transfer shock,’ going from the semester to quarter system,” Wada said. “Like any transition, it can be stressful and make students nervous. They need to relax, but still hit the ground running … that’s why we have the transfer center.”

UC Davis has taken in roughly 2,250 transfer students this quarter, 80 percent of which attended the UCD Transfer Services’ summer orientation. In addition, Student Housing now provides guaranteed housing for transfer students that need it. The influx of new transfer students comes in part due to UC Davis’ Transfer Opportunity Program (TOP).

“UCD has really been at the forefront for reaching out to students,” Wada said. “The TOP program has been especially important for helping students narrow their goals and make the transition easier.”

TOP is UC Davis’ contribution towards easing the transfer admissions process for community college students. Counselors from the program regularly visit 18 Northern California community colleges to articulate admissions and major requirements and educate potential students on financial aid, housing and internships. The counselors also work towards implementing the Transfer Admission Guarantees (TAGs), which are agreements that students sign promising them admission one year in advance contingent on their successful fulfillment of the agreed-upon major and transfer and requirements.

The TAGs have been successful in facilitating the transfer process for students in participating schools by pushing for more standardized transfer requirements and identifying the best route for students, Wada said. However he believes that the challenge in deciding one’s major and school is a natural part of the college experience.

“One of the great strengths of California colleges is that each college provides unique options and something special … undergrads all end up having unique non-academic learning experiences,” Wada said. “Standardization would require all of them to be the same, and this would not be unique [nor] possible.”

ARNOLD LAU can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.