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Steal this column

Opinion
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As college students, we’re often forced to endure difficult situations that we would rather simply avoid, postpone or ignore.

We can all imagine how much easier our lives would be if turning our back on an especially rough midterm and running for the hills without consequence were considered a viable option. Unfortunately, our society has taught us the importance of personal accountability, and we know that such reckless inaction and negligence would be catastrophic when it came to impacting our public image.

While college students, office workers, politicians and just about anyone else are forced to endure these times of adversity with a stiff upper lip, it would appear that the UC Board of Regents are sometimes given a free pass when it comes to dealing with tough circumstances.

As many of you already know, a combination of fiscal irresponsibility and a genuine lack of knowledge when it comes to the everyday experiences of UC students has brought another fee increase to the system, this time totaling $662-per-year. In addition, the regents voted to hand out some exorbitant pay increases to the newly appointed chancellors at the UCSF and UC Davis campuses.

The fact that this mechanized form of highway robbery was scheduled to happen during a record-high budget shortfall basically ensured that the regents would encounter various forms of student resistance and public protests when they arrived for the three-day meeting originally scheduled to take place on the UC San Diego campus.

From the perspective of the regents, it looked as though making such a financially detrimental decision in the face of so much opposition would be an extremely trying task, one that no one on the board was looking forward to sitting down to do.

So, in typical regent fashion, rather than meet the trouble head-on while each sticking to their respective principles, the board did what it does best – find a way to avoid the issue and ignore the resistance.

That’s right, when it came time for the regents to arrive at UCSD and confront the droves of angry students, they were busy chatting away in their distant offices, completing the scheduled meeting via teleconference.

The justification for the regents backing out of their own meeting is almost as ridiculous as unnecessary taxes on students they planned to discuss there. Believe it or not, the explanation for suddenly scrapping the UCSD meetings was the growing threat of H1N1 virus. That’s right, the regents didn’t show because they were worried about the swine flu.

Richard Blum, who currently chairs the Board of Regents, explained the matter by stating, “we do not divert the attention or resources of the campus as they work to keep the campus community safe and prevent any health issues related to the H1N1 flu.”

Essentially, Blum was worried that the mere presence of the regents on campus would somehow impact the UC San Diego Medical Center’s efforts to curb the outbreak of swine flu in San Diego County. Never mind the fact that the UCSD Medical Center is over 10 miles away from the meeting’s on-campus location, or that the swine flu outbreak Blum was so afraid of consisted of only 11 people in a county of over 3 million.

Despite the absurdity of the Board’s excuses, the cancellation has gone almost unnoticed, or at least uncriticized, in the media. Meanwhile, the regents were able to cram the intended three days of business into one extended phone call without having to endure any of the negative attention from student and faculty protesters.

Slowly, it’s becoming clear that the lessons of accountability and consequences we learn as students have no place in the real world. If the UC Board of Regents have shown us anything over the last month, it’s that decision making can sometimes be hard, but turning your back on those you represent, well, that’s just plain easy.

 

JAMES NOONAN thinks that the regents‘ disregard for the opinions, circumstances and needs of UC students is a far greater epidemic than the H1N1 virus, and that both of these things should have students feeling nauseous. Tell him how you’re feeling at jjnoonan@ucdavis.edu.

Otherise, they’ll kill you

Opinion
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Well my minions, with just two more columns to go, I feel like I have so much left to say. Alas, after writing many advice columns, I’ve decided that this one will be my last, “How to …” article.

I’ve realized that over the years, my columns usually revolve around some aspect of a shitty relationship (I suppose because it’s so easy to obtain one). But with one last piece of advice to give, I want to leave on an optimistic note about the one thing I know a little bit about (but not by choice of course) – and that is how to be so awesomely single.

I’m not saying I’m awesome; I just wanted to put that out there so the “single” aspect could look more appetizing, which didn’t look so hot to me freshman year. Back then, my three main goals at Davis were: be a columnist, be first chair violin of our symphony orchestra and fall in love.

Welp! One out of three ain’t bad I guess (sadness), but lately I’ve been thinking that being so utterly single isn’t as devastating like I thought it had to be. After all, no one celebrates being single, even though it’s a damn shame. When someone screams in a bar, “I’m getting married!” everyone cheers. If someone were to say, “I just broke up with my boyfriend!” everyone would roll their eyes and shout shut up. I mean, what gives?

So if you’re recently single, always been single, or getting restless from being single for too long, here are some words of encouragement from yours truly on how to enjoy your single-self, even if no one put a ring on it.

Know that you are part of the few, the proud. Why do we put so much value in being a relationship? Is that a bigger accomplishment than say, getting out of a lousy relationship and coming out in one piece? Why is it considered “sad” if someone wanted to have dinner by themselves to celebrate being single (totally not speaking from personal experience by the way, but now that I got this parenthesis going on here, I’d like to say whadup to the Mustard Seed!), but completely normal if a couple wanted to celebrate the fact that they didn’t slit each other’s throats for two years?

If the tongue is the fastest healing muscle in our body, the heart has got to be the slowest. And when it does eventually heal and you’re out there being stronger than you were before, there is something to be said about that I suppose. Speaking for the heartbroken, I must say we are quite a resilient bunch.

Don’t forget your standards. As the old adage says, “Cast your line at the bottom of the ocean and all you’ll get is scum.” I’m not just talking about 23-year-old girls in toupees or that guy with those wandering eyes (literally, like they’re both actually looking off at different directions). I’m talking about the natural tendency to justify the red flags that keep popping up when it comes to dating what’s-his-face. Suddenly, the fact that he keeps tabs on his ex makes him sentimental or you consider your girlfriend a “firecracker” because she screams at you in public. Damn, what bullshit lottery did we all just win?

When my friends are deciding if their relationship sucks bigger balls than the ones their own boyfriends have, I tell them to imagine running into their 11-year-old self and having a conversation with her, describing every bad thing about their significant other. How would this younger self react? Most of the time it’s probably “Dude, what happened to me/you … how the hell did you end up with this person? And why are our breasts the same size if you’re 10 years older than me, Lynn?”*

If that doesn’t help, just watch The Princess Bride or Saw III, because that’ll just shoot your standards right up again. That or you know, pr0n. Whatever floats your goat.

Get validated. Not only will you not have to pay for parking if you spend five dollars at a Starbucks, you’ll also give yourself a little ego boost if you dabble in a few harmless flirtatious now and again.

So go on and make out with that stranger at the bar and what the hell, go home and do the monkey dance for good measure too. Although it’s something I’d never do (again, not by choice), what’s the point of being single if you don’t get to give away free tickets to catch the midnight show? By the way, what’s the movie called again? I Know What You Gave Me Last Summer And It’s Gonorrhea II. Man, when will Hollywood quit making Shakespeare plays into summer blockbusters?!

 

LYNN LA is sad because * was her last self-detrimental comment about her boobs she’ll write for The Aggie. She’s also wondering if she should schedule another meet-and-greet, but she’s still too embarrassed by the epic fail of her last one. To vote yay or nay, e-mail her at ldla@ucdavis.edu.

The Sterling Compass

Opinion
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Many of us are conditioned from the get-go that going to college is the key to success. If you work hard and get your undergraduate degree, then you are on the fast track to livin‘ the good life. This is America, damn it, and we can be whatever we want to be.

Well, this is indeed America, but what those in the graduating class of 2009 likely failed to account for in their collective dreams was graduating amidst the hail of the worst economic storm since the Great Depression.

The reality is that an undergraduate degree today is not as valuable as it used to be. If you have connections, then you might land a solid, relatively- high paying job straight out of college, but for most of us it means scratching for whatever scraps happen to fall from the economic picnic basket.

What does this picnic basket look like? Well, Boo Boo, let‘s just say it’s appalling enough to put your uncle Yogi into cardiac arrest.

Fact: In June 2008, the national unemployment rate was 5.5 percent and the California unemployment rate was 7.1 percent. Remember how hard it was for the class of 2008 to find “real“ jobs?

Also fact: Today the national and California unemployment rates are around 8.9 percent and 11.2 percent, respectively. This is an unemployment increase of 3.4 percent for the nation and 4.1 percent for California since last year.

Translation: The economy sucks and the job market, especially in California, is a lot worse off than it was a year ago. Basically, finding a decent job ain’t gonna be easy.

It’s basic supply and demand; there is a limited (and shrinking) supply of jobs that a large (and growing) number of people are demanding, which increases employment competition as the relative value of each competitor goes up.

This is what the University of California often fails to prepare us for.

UC Davis is a research university and many if not most UC Davis professors view themselves as public servants selflessly pursuing the advancement of human knowledge. What matters to them is serving the public good, thus they shun any field of study that could be seen as self-serving (i.e. a business major). This approach to higher education is based on the assumption that all undergrads want to become PhDs and not productive members of the general work force.

While this sentiment is not necessarily a bad thing, it creates a harsh reality once a student realizes their undergraduate education has left them with little experience and few real-world skills.

Under normal economic conditions, this lack of useful knowledge is remedied by using entry-level positions to acquire real-world experience. UC Davis tends to do a good job of producing above-average critical thinkers capable of advancing through the ranks once they get their foot in the door.

But today people are so desperate for work that they are trying to force their foot into a door that is only partially open and already jammed with older, more experienced competition.

Case and point: A family friend of mine runs her own lab at Genentech, a top biotechnology corporation. She hires all of her research assistants (basically entry-level positions) and for many years chose from a pool of mostly recent college graduates.

With the biotechnology sector reeling from the economic downtown, hundreds of over-qualified individuals flooded the job market and she has found herself faced with older, highly educated and experienced individuals vying for basic lab rat positions. Simple cost-benefit analysis results in the experienced individual nearly always getting the job over the recent graduate.

Thus, idealistic young graduates find themselves in quite the pickle; needing experience to get hired, but being unable to acquire experience without being hired.

I wish I could tell you how to get out of this pickle, but there are no easy answers. Your best bet is to lower your occupational expectations in the short term and to plan for the long haul by acquiring a graduate-level and/or professional degree.

And hey, if the economy still has not improved after you’ve spent a few years in graduate school, then we’re all pretty screwed anyway.

 

MIKE HOWER really doesn’t want to work at McDonald’s. He really means this. If you mean it too, then send him a message at mahower@ucdavis.edu.

Forbes Magazine ranks Davis as ‘business friendly’

City Editor
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Davis was ranked as one of America’s “Top 25 towns to live well,” according to Forbes Magazine.

Davis was ranked 19 out of 25 towns. Forbes defines a town as any area with a population less than 100,000.

Towns considered for ranking had to have the power to attract business through their environments and resources. Characteristics such as the number of museums, parks, bars, restaurants and cultural institutions per capita were considered. Forbes states that these factors indicate a favorable business environment.

California towns dominated the list, receiving eight of the 25 spots. Boulder, Colo. received the top ranking.

Davis met all of Forbes’ standards.

“Davis attracts a high share of people with a bachelor’s degree or higher (70 percent) and international workers with education (who represent 6 percent of the adult labor force),” the Forbes article said. “A college town, it’s stocked with plenty of restaurants and bars.”

Davis’ town environment is an excellent condition for starting a business, but the location was a drawback.

“It’s a decent hike to Northern California business capitals San Francisco and San Jose,” the Forbes article said. “It lacks the world-class entertainment those cities regularly attract.”

Local business owners – such as Manoi Richard Baciarini, executive chief instructor of Barciarini’s Martial Arts studio in Downtown Davis – agree with the city’s ranking in Forbes.

The martial arts studio has been open since 1993. Baciarini, who is a black belt in Hawaiian Kempo and Philippine Martial Arts, began working as an instructor before he took the role of owner in 2001.

“Davis is the most ideal spot I would want to be in for business,” said Baciarini, who has networked with business owners in many other towns.

Due to the diversity of cultures and people in Davis, Baciarini has a lot of competition with numerous other martial arts studios. However, each business offers a unique style of the art to meet people’s needs.

Baciarini said that his business has been very successful because of his excellent customer service.

“It all comes down to blue ribbon customer service,” Baciarini said. “If you provide the best atmosphere and make your customers feel special, noticed, and build a relationship with them, you will have a successful business.”

The recession has not hit Baciarini’s Martial Arts. In fact, the gross has grown 40 percent in the last six months to create the biggest membership in company history and the highest membership in Yolo County.

Andy Rathbone also owns a successful and longtime local business, Davis Awards and Watchworks.

Rathbone began his career working as a jeweler downtown for nine years. After the owner retired, Rathbone decided to open his own business.

The business sells awards, trophies and watches and provides watch and gift repairs.

“This business is a happy type of business,” Rathbone said. “I get to know and understand the best of the people in Davis and not their shortcomings. I get a first hand understanding of the city’s best and what makes them that way.”

Rathbone’s only competitor closed two years ago. Even though the store is the only one of its kind in Davis, Rathbone competes with stores in Woodland and Sacramento.

The Davis Sports Shop has been open since the early 1960s and has thrived off of Davis’ business friendly atmosphere.

The current owner, Aaron Patella, took over from his father after graduating from UC Davis six years ago. His family has owned the business for 31 years.

“I am glad I took up the business because it is fun,” Patella said. “I deal with different kinds of people and develop long lasting relationships. My job also keeps me involved with high school and university sports programs in addition to little leagues.”

Patella also develops enduring relationships with his employees. He still keeps in touch with many past employees, Patella said.

Davis deserves to be on Forbes’ List because it tries to keep everything locally run, keeps out the big chain stores and malls and has very supportive citizens, Patella said.

 

ERIC SCHMIDT can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

 

Late on your fees? Say goodbye to your classes

Campus Editor
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In a given quarter, 1,500 to 2,000 UC Davis students do not pay their fees on time. Beginning in the fall, those students will be in for a rude surprise when the fee payment deadline passes.

Traditionally, students could pay their fees as late as ten days into the quarter without being dropped from their classes and were just assessed a $50 late fee. But beginning in the fall, students who fail to pay their fees by the deadline will be dropped from their classes.

The existing system is unfair to students who pay their fees on time and prevents students from moving from the waitlists and into classes, said Barbara Noble, senior associate registrar.

Under the current policy, students who do not pay their fees on time and decide to withdraw up to ten days into the quarter can get away without paying any fees. However, students who pay their fees on time but have to withdraw from the quarter can typically only receive 50 percent of their fees back, even if their withdrawal is due to unforeseen circumstances, Noble said.

As a result, Noble, who was charged with finding inefficiencies in the Registrar’s office when she joined the campus in 2007, decided to change the policy.

“The student who didn’t pay fees, who we dropped on the tenth day, wiped away all their fees and owed the university nothing except the late fee,” Noble said. “I had a hard time with that; it didn’t seem equitable at all.”

Students who do not pay their fees also block students on the waitlists from enrolling in classes. By the time the university removes delinquent students from classes, the quarter is already in its third week, Noble said.

Beginning this fall, following the fee deadline, there will be a two-day registration freeze on SISWeb. At the end of that period, students on waitlists will automatically replace students who failed to pay their fees.

“What good did it do when new student couldn’t be added in until the third week of the term? Students who had paid by the fee payment deadline weren’t really getting seats that they were entitled to,” Noble said.

Noble said she consulted various groups on campus, including the Undergraduate Advising Council, which has an ASUCD representative. The new policy, which will immediately drop delinquent students after the deadline, was the result of the discussions.

The primary motivation of the new policy is fairness, not profit, Noble said. The change is expected to be “a wash” fiscally, she said.

With fees increasing 9.3 percent next year – or $662 annually – meeting the payment deadline may be more difficult for some students. However, there are a couple methods to mitigate the fee increase and meet the deadline.

Students can opt to enroll in the Deferred Payment Plan, offered by Student Accounting. The plan allows students to make their quarterly payments in three installments, or one per month. The program has a $25 enrollment fee per quarter or $60 fee per year. Anyone is eligible to join.

Though just approximately 650 students participated in the program this academic year, participation in the program has been climbing since it was implemented 10 years ago, said Eben Sutton, associate accounting officer at Student Accounting.

“Over the last five years, we’ve definitely seen growth, as enrollment tends to go up about 10 percent per year,” he said.

If students are in dire need of funding, they can go to the financial aid office and get emergency or short-term loans. Though all students are eligible, the loans are typically due within the quarter.

“There would definitely have to be a plan for how students would repay the [emergency] loans,” said Katy Maloney, interim financial aid director.

Students who walk into the financial aid office can usually get up to $300 in emergency loans on the same day, Maloney said. But that amount is not enough to cover quarterly fees, which will increase to $3,123 in the fall.

Maloney emphasized that students need to plan ahead and not apply for aid the day of the fee payment deadline, as that may be too late to avoid being dropped.

With careful planning, the new fee payment policy should not be a problem, Sutton said.

“Students need to plan ahead, and if they can’t pay ahead, we’ll help them,” Sutton said. “Let us know far enough ahead of the fee deadline.”

 

PATRICK McCARTNEY can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

 

UCD junior passes away in car accident

Campus Editor
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Tragedy struck for two junior UC Davis students on Friday May 8. Eunice Park, a junior communication major, died in a car crash while driving home to Los Angeles to surprise her parents for Mother’s Day. She brought along friend and roommate Jackie Garayar.

In Nees, Calif. just outside of Fresno, at around 4 p.m on I-5, Park lost control of her vehicle white changing lanes, flipping over into incoming traffic. It took paramedics roughly 30 minutes to get to the scene, where she was pronounced brain dead. Park was then air-lifted to the Fresno Community Hospital and put on life support.

On May 11, Park, passed away. She was 21. Garayar, a Spanish major, underwent two surgeries but is expected to fully recover.

Friends described Park as a fun-loving, popular and social person with a bubbly personality.

“She was one of the most popular people I had the honor of knowing in my whole life,” said Lilly Mohanna, junior international relations major. “She put a smile on everyone’s face and would turn the gloomiest of situations into something positive.”

Trish Campillo describes herself as Park’s second mother, having known her for about 14 years through Campillo’s daughter and Park’s best friend, Marissa. Campillo said that Park used to call her M.O.M, or “my other mother.”

“She was like my little protégée, we used to have so much fun together, always laughing together,” Campillo said. “Some of the best times that I’ve ever had were with the three of us.”

Campillo said that Park was also popular at her high school, Bishop Montgomery in Torrance, CA.

“It was her job to read the announcements everyday to the whole school,” Campillo said. “To say that she was popular is an understatement, she was a little celebrity.”

Campillo said Park was also very giving and generous. She described a situation in which she convinced her high school principle to give another classmate a full ride scholarship in order for her to stay at school.

Park’s generosity continued even in death. Her heart “finally made it to Stanford,” a school that her parents had dreamed of her going to. Her kidneys went to Texas and San Diego and her liver was also donated.

“She saved lives across the country,” Campillo said.

Campillo knew that Park was coming down for the weekend and had urged her to fly down. But Park decided to drive in order to drop off Garayar since she knew that she too wanted to go home that weekend.

Her other roommate Amanda Vogel, senior biological sciences major, said that she met Park last year and got along really well with her.

“She is the best roommate I ever had. She was really fun to be around,” Vogel said.

Vogel said Park enjoyed watching the Lakers game on television at home in their apartment. Mohanna said that Park loved UC Davis and was always a dedicated Aggie fan. Her favorite sport to watch was basketball.

Park’s funeral was held this past weekend on Sunday May 17 at Rose Hills Memorial Park. Since Park’s favorite color was pink, attendees were asked by the family to wear something pink to the service.

 

ANGELA RUGGIERO can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Search Party 2009 finds versatility

Arts Editor
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Search Party 2009 gave student musicians a chance to perform in front of their peers as bands took the stage May 14 at the ASUCD Coffee House. Presented by The California Aggie, KDVS 90.3 FM and ASUCD Entertainment Council, the show brought a diverse set of music to the stage — experimental duo Grandmother Ham, folk rock Boxes, glam-rock prog act Order of the Golden Mirror and indie rockers

 

 

Onyewuenyi dominates field in hammer throw

Sports Editor
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The Aggies have arrived.

A year after its seventh-place finish at its first Big West Conference Championships, UC Davis took fifth in a very closely contested meet.

The Aggies scored 94 points, leaving them less than 10 points out of third place.

“We’re finally where we can be in the mix,” said coach Deanne Vochatzer. “After what we did last year, barely scoring 50 points, this is a big step in the right direction. We’re just going to get better.“

Junior Chid Onyewuenyi won the hammer throw in dominating fashion. Her best throw of 55.99m – 4m ahead of second place. All five of her legal throws were good enough to take the win.

“It feels good, knowing that all my hard work is slowly starting to pay off,” Onyewuenyi said. “[The distance] was just okay. I knew I had a 57 to 58 meter throw in me, but my timing was just a little off.“

With very little time to recover, Onyewuenyi headed back out for the shot put. She finished fifth in the event with a throw of 13.67m.

“It was a bit tiring,” Onyewuenyi said. “As you get further and further into the season, your body is trying so hard to salvage itself. [The shot put] was just a mixture of that and just being technically off.“

Sophomore Ashley Hearn was also in the event, taking third with a throw of 50.25m. The day before, Hearn threw the discus 44.64m to take fifth.

While Onyewuenyi got the only win, there were a slew of other top performances. Sirena Williams took second place in the 100m hurdles, clocking a 13.70 to edge third by two hundredths of a second.

“She was third to qualify,” Vochatzer said. “In the race, she didn’t get out very well. With four hurdles to go, she was in fifth place, and she fought back up to second place. That was a new school record for her.“

While most of the track finals were on Saturday, three freshmen – Sarah Sumpter, Krista Drechsler and Anna Smidebush – ran the first 10,000m of their careers on Friday, taking fourth, sixth and eighth, respectively.

“A highlight for me as a coach was watching the three freshmen in the 10,000m,” Vochatzer said. “It was an awesome race. For them to go four-six-eight in their first ever 10k – let alone collegiate conference championships – was phenomenal.“

Another huge event on day one was the pole vault, in which freshman Lauren Radke and junior Tessa Frazer scored some key points. Second through fourth all cleared 3.70m, but Radke got second in virtue of having no misses at lower heights. Frazer cleared 3.55m for fifth.

Also on day one, junior Ugo Eke posted a phenomenal 54.60 in the 400m to qualify for the regional championships, as well as the finals the next day. In the finals, she placed third in 54.77. These were the first two times all season she had cracked the 55-second barrier.

Senior Lorin Scott had a great meet, doubling in the 1,500m and 5,000m. After being within less than a second of the regional qualifying mark in the 1,500m the last two years, Scott finally clocked a 4:26.76 to qualify and take third. Two hours later, she went 17:17.12 in the 5,000m to take fifth.

“The women’s side of the conference is ridiculous,“ Vochatzer said. “We made a lot of progress at this meet – a lot. You always want to do better, but the whole coaching staff is very pleased with our progress in the second year. We finally found our team.“

ALEX WOLF-ROOT can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

Men’s track and field finish second at Big West Championships

Sports Editor
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After last year’s dismal seventh-place finish, the Aggies were ready to show the Big West Conference what they could do.

They did.

UC Davis finished with 136.5 points as the runner-up to a dominant squad from Cal State Northridge (176.5) and just ahead of rival Cal Poly (121.5).

“Going from where we were last year in seventh place to be second place is absolutely huge,” said coach Jon Vochatzer. “After last year I think everyone got a real good feel of what had to happen, what we had to do. Everyone just did a great job.“

While Cal State Northridge took the lead from the gun, Cal Poly and UC Davis were battling it out the entire meet. UC Davis moved into second place after the 400m on day two.

Day one started off with some solid showings in the field, led by sophomore Ed Orgon in the shot put. He threw an impressive 16.73m to take third in a very closely contested event; the top six all broke 16m.

In the high jump, Ben Nelson and Ross Tate both cleared 2.04m to finish third and fifth, respectively.

The Aggies started the track portion of the meet off right, as junior Russ Pfaff dominated the 3,000m steeplechase, clocking in at 9:00.59. Not only did it give him the win in the first track event of the meet, but it also made him the first Aggie to ever win a Big West track and field title.

Pfaff wasn’t done after his historic win. Less than a half hour later, he was back on the track for the heats in the 1,500m.

“The ironman of the meet had to be Russ Pfaff,” Vochatzer said. “He ran the steeple on Friday, won it in a controlled race. Twenty-five minutes later he changed shoes, came out and qualified for the 1,500m final.

“Then Saturday he came out and finished sixth, and that was a fast race. To be able to go out and do that double – he was still trying to recover from winning the steeple – that was great.“

Just before the 1,500m final – in which sophomore Jon Peterson and junior Jon Sees also scored in seventh and eighth, respectively – there was excitement in the 4x100m relay. With freshman phenom Gavin Banks injured, the Aggies used another freshman on anchor: decathlete Robert Neely.

“We got second place and the whole place erupted,” Vochatzer said. “I was hoping we could be in the mix, but I didn’t think we could get second place [without Banks]. The guys before – Jazz Trice, Micah Grant and Polly Gnepa – did a super job. Polly ran an unbelievable curve, and gave Robert a great lead. That set the tone to start off [the day] and then we just took off like wildfire.“

A half hour later, Trice and Gnepa were back on the track, this time for the 110m hurdles. As expected, they took the top two spots, with Trice getting the win in 13.85 and Gnepa – who would go on to finish sixth in the 100m as well – finishing solidly in second at 14.03.

“It feels great,” Trice said. “Last year I came in second and knew I had a shot at winning this year. It was one of my goals coming into this season, and I am very glad I accomplished it.“

While Gnepa was between events, sophomore Thomas Phillips stole the show, as he dominated the field in the 400m. He clocked a 47.05 to win, qualified for regionals and shattered the old school record. He is generally considered a long hurdler.

“My goal was to score as many points as possible for the team,” Phillips said. “That meant winning the 400m, so I am happy I accomplished that. It was definitely strange not running the hurdles, but I realized that for the team it was better to focus on the open 400m. I knew Alex [Wilright] would take care of business in the hurdles, though, so I wasn’t too worried.“

That’s exactly what Wilright did.

In arguably the most convincing victory on the track in the meet, Wilright clocked 50.82 to win by nearly two full seconds. That gap opened up in the second half of the race, something new for Wilright.

“In the first 200m the race was a lot closer than I expected,” Wilright said. “In the last 200m I began to get some separation from the field. Overall, I feel like my performance was decent. I don’t want to get too excited yet because the real celebrating will be after nationals.“

Day two also saw some solid marks in the field, as Broc Bennett took fourth in the javelin throw (56.70m) while the long jump saw Igor Seriba (fifth) and Tolu Wusu (sixth) both jump 14.87m.

Some big points came in the pole vault, as Jamie Feaster took sixth in 4.90m and Ethan Ostrom again cleared 5.05m to take second.

Arguably the most exciting race of the day – as is often the case – was the 4x400m relay. The team of Matt Council, Andre Gaston, Wilright and Phillips took second – and set a new school record – in 3:10.28. UC Irvine, who was in third behind UC Riverside and UC Davis going into the last leg, won in 3:10.22.

“We had great position on Riverside going into the anchor leg,” Wilright said. “Thomas stepped up and caught Riverside’s anchor. But Irvine had an anchor that split 45. There isn’t too much that can be done to hold off a 45. We just barely got edged out in the last meter. However, on the bright side we broke the school record.“

While he may not have won a title or set any records, senior Pat Parsel ran a gutsy race in the 10,000m on Friday night. Despite having a personal best over 90 seconds behind the top seed – whom he beat – Parsel, known as “Rocket Pop” by his teammates, was able to finish his Aggie career with a fourth-place finish.

“Pat sort of redeemed himself as far as just trying to be up there and finding out who he is, what he can get done,” Vochatzer said. “The race broke apart about halfway through. There were maybe six guys in the lead pack. With 500m to go Pat just shot out like a rocket, and I was like, ‘Oh God, there he goes!’ He held it until the last 150m or so, then the other guys shot by him. Just to be in the hunt like that was fantastic.“

While it wasn’t a win, the Aggies are more than content with their second appearance at the Big West Championships – and know there is more to come.

“I’m extremely happy with our team’s performance as a whole,” Trice said. “We placed second and scored almost 100 more points than we did last year, which is incredible.

“We owe a lot of it to our team’s well-connected dynamic this year. I’ve never been part of a team with such passion. Everyone’s strength and support for each other really helped all of us pull through to finish an amazing season.“

 

ALEX WOLF-ROOT can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

 

Historical men’s golf season comes to a close

Sports Editor
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Coming off their first Big West Conference championship and entering as the No. 26 ranked team in the country, the Aggies went into this weekend’s West Regional as one of the favorites to advance to the NCAA Championship.

Unfortunately for UC Davis, things didn’t go according to plan.

The fifth-seeded Aggies finished last in the 13-team regional field at the Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, Calif.

UC Davis finished two places behind Big West rival UC Irvine in the regional. Arizona State cruised to a first-place finish. Oregon, Texas A&M, San Diego and USC also advance through to the next round.

The Aggies‘ struggles began in the first round. They finished the round in 12th, but coach Cy Williams remained optimistic.

“We’ll play better,” he said. “We’re a good team. We’ve just got to play great golf the next two rounds.… We made it a little harder on ourselves, but we’ve got great players so we’re going to be ready to play.“

The Aggies picked things up in the second round, improving by 13 strokes to move into 10th place.

Senior Ramie Sprinkling shot a 3-under 69 while freshman Tyler Raber fired a 70.

“I thought we played a solid round,” Williams said. “It wasn’t a spectacular round, but it was solid.“

The Aggies couldn’t keep it together in the third round, though, as they saw their second-round 285 turn into a third-round 290 to bring their season to an end.

Although the season may have come to a close in the form of a disappointment, Williams and the Aggies walk away from the 2008-2009 with their heads held high.

“Overall, it was an amazing season,” Williams said. “We had one of the most successful seasons so far in the history of the program. We have to be proud of that.“

UC Davis won three tournaments as a team. It finished in the top 10 in 11 of its 13 tournament appearances.

Williams was named the Big West Coach of the Year for his team’s efforts. Sprinkling, senior Nate Pistacchio and sophomore Austin Graham all were named first-team All-Big West.

“We’ll miss them,” he said of Sprinkling and Pistracchio. “They’ve been a big part of our program. They’ll be irreplaceable and will very much missed.“

The Aggies are also losing Gregg Button to graduation.

UC Davis, though, returns a great deal of young talent for the 2009-2010 campaign.

Graham will return to pace the Aggies next season. He enjoyed a stellar season, winning three tournaments – including the Big West Championship. He was the co-medalist at the local U.S. Open qualifier last Monday.

 

KYLE HYLAND can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

In the Cards

Sports Editor
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Things started changing for Daniel Descalso in August.

A third-round selection by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2007 MLB Draft, the former UC Davis standout was hitting just .243 when he was promoted from High-A Palm Beach (Fla.) to Double-A Springfield (Mo.).

He responded nicely, reaching base 16 times in nine games en route to a .351 average in 42 plate appearances.

“I really started to put things together at the end of last year,” Descalso said. “I just tried to keep it really simple, hit the ball up the middle.”

Wait until you see what he’s been doing this season.

Descalso has been hitting the ball all over the place. The San Carlos, Calif. native ranks second in the Texas League in doubles (13), second in triples (four), second in total bases (79), fourth in hits (49), fifth in batting average (.355) and fifth in RBI (26).

Not bad offensive production coming from your second baseman to say the least.

“Good things have been happening so far,” Descalso said. “I’ve been finding holes. I’m not really looking to change anything.“

Descalso did make some changes at the end of last season, though, albeit small ones.

A left-handed hitter, Descalso said he started retooling his swing a bit toward the end of his stint in Palm Beach. It’s still the same line-drive approach he used to hit .397 his junior season at UC Davis, but with some slight modifications.

“A lot of stuff I did in college just didn’t translate over my first year-and-a-half or so,” Descalso said. “I had to find other things to work for me. I’ve just been trying to drive balls into the gaps and put good swings on the ball.

“My job is to have good at-bats for us, spray the ball around the field.… I’m just trying to stay within myself. Once I got comfortable with that, things started to fall into place for me.“

Hits aren’t the only things falling into place for Descalso. The Cardinals‘ organizational depth – or lack thereof – at second base works in his favor, too.

Descalso is the best second base prospect in the St. Louis system. He’s been on fire all season. The Cardinals‘ current second baseman, Skip Schumaker, is in his fifth year with the big club. He spent the first four in the outfield, though, and hadn’t ever taken a ground ball at second prior to the start of the season.

While Descalso may not be ready for the big leagues just yet, his path to Busch Stadium and the St. Louis lineup is becoming clearer and clearer with each of his Texas League swings.

“I can’t control what happens above me,” Descalso said. “All I can do is go out and keep playing like I’ve been playing. If I do that, I think everything should take care of itself.… Maybe I can push some of those guys that are up above me.“

All that separates Descalso from the big leagues is a trip to Triple-A Memphis (Tenn.). He could be moving to – and through – there sooner than later if the hits keep falling for him.

Has it hit him how close he is to realizing his dream of being a Major League Baseball player?

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess it has,” Descalso said. “I got to be a backup at a couple big league games during spring training – got into a game against the Red Sox. Being up there, being around those guys – you start to realize, ‘Hey, I’m pretty close.‘”

If Descalso can keep playing like this, he’ll be that much closer.

 

ADAM LOBERSTEIN will not be playing second base for the Cardinals anytime soon. He’ll be covering the Oakland A’s for MLB.com this summer if that counts for anything, though. He can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

Aggie Digest

Sports Editor
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Softball

UC Davis is well represented on this year’s Big West Softball All-Conference Team. A total of four Aggies were named to one of the three levels of awards. Alex Holmes received first-team honors as a designated player while Kelly Harman was named Freshman Field Player of the Year. Harman became the first Aggie to claim a major Big West postseason individual award. Honorable mentions went to Jessica Hancock (pitcher), Holmes (pitcher), Harman (shortstop) and Belinda Paine (outfield).

Holmes finished the season with a .275 batting average, including a .429 average over the last eight games. Holmes was second on the team with 19 RBI and had a total of nine extra-base hits. In the circle, the sophomore led the team and was fourth in the Big West with a 1.83 ERA to go along with 108 strikeouts and three shutouts. She also had 13 complete games and a save.

Harman led UC Davis with a .295 batting average. She was also top on the team in homers (five), RBI (23) and slugging percentage (.429). Harman started all but one game this season and had six games with at least two RBI. Harman also led the Aggies in multiple-hit games (13). She batted .328 in Big West games.

Hancock received postseason Big West honors for the second straight year. She led the conference with 172 strikeouts and was fifth in ERA (1.85). She also finished with 13 wins, five shutouts and 14 complete games. Paine batted .274 and collected a team-high 48 hits. She led the Aggies with 12 stolen bases and finished her career as the all-time Aggie leader in swipes.

 

Men’s track and field

Jamie Feaster, who qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships in the pole vault during the Sacramento State Open, was named the Big West Conference Men’s Field Co-Athlete of the Week.

Feaster, a senior from Vacaville, Calif., earned his honor after vaulting 16 feet, 6.75 inches while earning third place at the meet. He picked up his first regional berth with the vault, became the second Aggie pole vaulter to qualify for the meet this season and moved into a tie for fourth all-time at UC Davis.

It was his first career honor from the Big West. Feaster shared the award with Andrew Sullivan of Cal State Fullerton, who had the same pole vault mark during his competition at the Oxy Invitational.

 

Aggie Digest is compiled by the California Aggie sports staff with briefs from the UC Davis athletics website, ucdavisaggies.com.

 

Land that job or internship

Features Editor
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It’s that time of year again – UC Davis students are faced with the challenges of job-hunting. Fine-tuning resumes and preparing for interviews can be a drag, but there are several tips to make the search for jobs and internships a little more productive.

 

Cover letters

The first piece of the job search puzzle is the cover letter. A cover letter introduces yourself to employers and gives them reasons to hire you – or at least not to throw away your resume.

Cover letters should always be used, said Lisa Sanders, career advisor and coordinator at the UC Davis Internship and Career Center (ICC).

“A cover letter should be used when you aren’t physically there to represent yourself and talk about what you can offer as a professional,” she said. Attach a cover letter even when applying online to jobs that only ask for a resume, she added.

Marcie Kirk Holland, project manager at the ICC said that one frequent mistake students make is submitting the same resume and cover letter for every position.

“Taking the extra 20 minutes to modify it for the specific position makes all the difference,” she said.

“Employers look for interest and passion about the industry or job,” Sanders said. “They look for that resume that is tailored to the industry or company.“

And don’t slack on writing your cover letter – recruiters can tell how much time was put into them.

“A recruiter knows right away whether someone has taken an hour or five hours to edit a cover letter,” Sanders said.

One of the most frequent mistakes in cover letters is that students simply summarize points listed in their resume, she added. Another frequent mistake is a lack of expressed interest or passion in the job being applied for.

Oftentimes students focus on why they want the job and not what they can offer the company said Cynthia Goldberg, internship coordinator at the ICC.

“That’s the wrong angle,” she said. “The focus is on you and what you can offer.“

 

Resume

In reviewing a resume the employer decides whether or not the applicant meets the minimum qualifications.

“People really do spend 10 seconds looking through your resume,” Goldberg said. “You want to be able to get past that first review.”

Although the state of the economy has more and more people flooding employers with resumes, Kirk Holland said that recruiters have noticed that while the quantity of applications is up, the quality of applications is down.

Although it may sound obvious, the key to getting a resume to jump out is to thoroughly read the job description.

“It has to pop for the employer because they’re so inundated,” Goldberg said. “If you know what they are looking for you can highlight the things you think are important.“

Goldberg added that since some resumes may be screened electronically and may be looking for key words and phrases, it is important that you use the same keywords as in the job description.

And worried you don’t have enough to put on a resume?

“That’s not true!” Sanders said. “There’s relevant experiences and transferable skills that anyone can highlight.“

Coursework, volunteer work, activities or student clubs can all be listed on the resume, Kirk Holland said.

 

Job search help

Where do you find the employers to send your perfected resume?

“The ICC, one-on-one advising, Aggie job link, career fairs and on campus recruiting are all great places to start,” Sanders said.

Once a student has found a job opening and is ready to go to the interview there’s still a lot they can do to prepare themselves.

“Review your resume – look at each experience and remember one specific example of a success with that position,” Sanders said. “You’ll develop a running list of concrete examples.

“Look carefully at the job description,” she added. “What are the skills and experiences that this employer might be looking for in an interview?”

The interview

Preparing is essential and can include researching the company, the job position, and practicing responding to interview questions.

Knowing how and why you’re qualified for a position gives you easy answers to interview questions and researching the company gives you an idea of what kind of questions might be asked.

There are some common interview questions to be prepared for. One popular type is the “behavioral” question.

“Employers intend to ask a question where past performance will predict if they will succeed in the future,” Sanders said. “One example of such a question might be, ‘Give me an example of a time you took initiative on a project.‘“

Responding to these questions can be tricky, but it is essential to use concrete examples, not a vague and general response, Sanders said.

Prepare for the questions that you don’t want to be asked. “The expression ‘hope for the best prepare for the worst‘ is helpful when preparing for an interview,” Goldberg said.

The ICC has a program that allows students to set up their webcam and answer interview questions fielded by the computer. Students can watch themselves later and see where they can improve their answers and interview techniques.

So students: spend a little time customizing your resumes, research the potential employer, show your enthusiasm for the position and maybe you’ll land that dream job instead of flipping burgers.

“Strong interest and passion go a long way with employers,” Sanders said. “Employers know when someone is very committed to the application process.”

Sanders, Goldberg and Kirk Holland all added that the ICC is open for students and recent graduates for cover letter, resume, and job and internship search help. The UC Davis ICC is located in South Hall.

 

KELLY KRAG-ARNOLD can be reached at features@theaggie.org. 

 

Hail to the Chief

Opinion
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So last week I promised to give you some reporter tips, and here they are!

When last we left our hero (you), you had developed a story idea that an editor of a publication you’re aware of would want to print in their fine publication. What’s next?

First, you’ll want to do some research. When you start interviewing people and asking questions, you’ll want to sound as informed as possible. If you’re going to ask someone about a book they wrote, you should have at least skimmed the book. If you’re asking a researcher about a science experiment, you should have read any articles or papers they’ve published on the subject. You know, easy stuff. This will make whomever you’re interviewing like you more and think you’re smart. Which brings us to point two:

Coming up with questions. Once you’ve done some research, you should start thinking about who to interview and what you want to ask them. Whomever you talk to should be more knowledgeable than the average person – preferably an expert – about whatever you’re writing on. Failing that, they should be someone who is extremely relevant to the subject matter. Someone who just had their bike stolen, for example, would be a good person to talk to about bike theft on campus.

When coming up with questions to ask people, put yourselves in the shoes of the reader and ask questions that they would want to hear the answers to. Remember, your readers haven’t done the same research you have. Sometimes you’ll need to ask questions you already know the answer to. Some reporters hesitate to do this when they’re new, but it’s important to remember that getting a good, informative quote is more important than your pride.

If you’ve thought about questions you think the reader would like to know the answer to but still don’t feel like you have enough, evaluate what you’ve already come up with. Readers like numbers. If you mention money in an article, you should mention an exact dollar amount if possible. If a new store is opening, you’ll want to include its open hours. Common sense should be a pretty good guide as you come up with questions. Once you’re done with that, you should be ready to:

Interview people. This is one of the most important aspects of reporting your story. For every story that you do, you’re going to have to interview people about whatever you’re reporting on. Any self-respecting publication is going to require you to have at least three different sources. There are a couple ways you can go about this.

One way is to interview them in person. You should call ahead of time and set up a mutually beneficial time and place for the interview. Talking to someone in person is advisable because you can see their reactions and have a better feel for how the interview is going.

A lot of the time, however, a face-to-face interview is not possible for whatever reason. In this case, the next best thing is a phone interview. It’s important to get over any fear you have of cold-calling people and asking them a series of questions. This can be hard for some people, but the best way to get over this is to just start calling people. Eventually you will get used to it. When interviewing someone over the phone, make sure that you’re smiling. They won’t be able to see it, but it will affect your tone of voice, which impacts their impression of you. Even if whomever you’re calling is being rude or very unhelpful, it’s important to remain unfailingly polite at all times. You may have to call them back or deal with them in the future, and even if you don’t, being polite never hurt anybody.

There will be instances in which you need to contact someone but cannot do it in person or over the phone (some contact listings don’t include phone numbers, for example). If you can find someone’s e-mail address, it is acceptable to conduct an e-mail interview. This is only advisable if you’re under a tight deadline and you don’t have either of the other options available to you. Ideally you’ll have enough time to e-mail them to ask for a phone number you can reach them at so you can conduct a phone interview. But don’t be afraid to e-mail interview if that’s what it comes down to.

So be a journalist and ask those questions! Next week we’ll talk about what to do once you’ve interviewed some folks.

 

RICHARD PROCTER can be reached at editor@theaggie.org.

Daily Calendar

Features Editor
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TODAY

Electronic Music for Change

Noon to 1 p.m.

MU Patio, Flagpole

Enjoy an hour of free electronic music, Red Bull giveaways and Go-Go Dancers!

 

Project Compost meeting

6 p.m.

West Quad

Learn how to compost 1,000 pounds of food on campus and experience the beauty of compost!

 

Texas Hold ‘Em Poker Tournaments

6 to 8 p.m.

Griffin Lounge

Seats fill up quickly, so go early! Be one of the top players and you may be invited to play in the tournament of champions!

 

TUESDAY

Author reading

Noon to 1 p.m.

Art Lounge, MU

Religious studies lecturer Alon Raab will speak about soccer and give a book reading from his work The Global Game: Writers on Soccer. The reading will be followed by a soccer game on the A Street Intramural Field.

 

Electronic Music for Change

Noon to 1 p.m.

MU Patio, Flagpole

Enjoy an hour of free electronic music, Red Bull giveaways and Go-Go Dancers!

 

WEDNESDAY

East Quad Farmers Market

10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

East Quad

Support local farmers and buy some fresh produce, nuts, flowers and more! Pick up some tasty treats for a fun springtime dinner or a nice afternoon snack.

 

Real Bodies are Fashionable

Noon to 1 p.m.

MU Patio

Listen to a talk on body image and eating disorders by former male model Ron Saxen, followed by an alternative fashion show. This event is hosted by Campus Unions and the WRRC.

 

Aggie Idol

7 p.m.

Freeborn Hall

Go to the third annual intercollegiate student-athlete charity variety show. Proceeds will benefit the nonprofit humanitarian organization Invisible Children. Advance tickets, available at the Freeborn Hall Ticket Office, will be $6 through May 19 and $8 on May 20.

 

THURSDAY

Thursday Trivia Nights

6 to 7:30 p.m.

First floor, Silo Union

Test your knowledge of random facts and potentially win fabulous prizes along the way!

 

 

 

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. 

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