Despite the 85-degree heat, Picnic Day goers could still hit the slopes on Hutchison Field.

The Alpine Ski and Snowboard club brought approximately 10 tons of snow in from Lake Tahoe to create a 100-foot long, snow covered slope for sledding.

Participants slid down the slope on plastic sleds for free, although the club was accepting donations to support the cost of running it.

“There have been mostly kids on the slope today, maybe 10 or so students,” said Alan Wong, volunteer for the slope, sports club member and junior economics and communication major. “Only one or two of the kids cried!”

By 2 p.m., the slope had hosted over 300 sledders, Wong said. Though many predicted the snowy mass would have melted by that time, it was intact with only a slight amount of mud surrounding it.

“I’m really glad they made this,” Wong said. “Especially since it’s such a hot day. People are really enjoying themselves and I think it was a good idea.“

– Lauren Steussy

ASUCD Senate meetings are scheduled to begin Thursdays at 6:10 p.m. Times listed are according to the clock at the Apr. 16 meeting location, the Memorial Union’s Mee Room.

Meeting was called to order at 6:11 p.m.

Joe Chatham, ASUCD president, left early at 6:25 p.m.

Chris Dietrich, ASUCD vice president, present

Joemar Clemente, ASUCD senator, present

Danny Garrett, ASUCD senator, present

Justin Gold, ASUCD senator, present

Erin Lebe, ASUCD senator, present

Kevin Massoudi, ASUCD senator, present

Justin Patrizio, ASUCD senator, present

Laura Pulido, ASUCD senator, present

Shawdee Rouhafza, ASUCD senator, present

Trevor Taylor, ASUCD senator, present

Mo Torres, ASUCD senator, present

Previn Witana, ASUCD senator, present

Jack Zwald, ASUCD president pro-tempore, present

Presentations

President Chatham spoke about having ASUCD units work together to advertise.

Appointments and confirmations

Jeysree Ramachandran, junior political science major, and Chin Fung Kelvi Kan, senior biochemistry and molecular biology major, were both appointed into the Internal Affairs Commission.

Court Announcements

Chief Justice Melissa Whitney updated the senate on court cases, and spoke of the pre-hearing conference for ASUCD Court Case 46. On Apr. 27 the pre-hearing conference will continue in the Fielder Room of the MU. Only five justices will be present at the hearing since one justice did not make the first pre-hearing. She also presented the court’s seal, made by Greg Dizon.

Consideration of Old Legislation

Senate Bill 39 authored by Eli Yani, co-authored by Joey Chen and introduced by Zwald, to clarify the responsibility for the authorship of the Student Government Budget as the position of Student Government Advisor was eliminated, passed unanimously.

Senate Resolution 24 authored and introduced by Torres, co-authored by Johnathen Duran, Pulido and Amanpreet Singh, to urge the passage of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, passed unanimously with some amendments.

Senate Bill 40 authored and introduced by the Internal Affairs Commission (Matt Shannon) to clarify the commission hiring procedure within the ASUCD Bylaws, passed unanimously.

Public Discussion

Environmental Policy and Planning Commission chair Singh, announced that Earth Week will start this week. She said that only five designers have contributed and that she will cancel the Trashin Show (Thursday noon to 1 p.m. on the Quad) if more people don’t contribute. Prizes will be awarded.

Joey Chen, who works with the executive office, spoke about outreach to students who aren’t involved with ASUCD. He encouraged everyone to join the executive office Facebook group.

Dietrich made a note about parliamentary procedure, to not call people out and to not talk directly to people at the senate table because it can be perceived as a personal attack. He said that no violations were yet made, though there have been some that have gotten close.

Lebe spoke about fundraisers for Safeboats on Apr. 29 at Yogurt Shack and May 12 at Habit Burger.

Patrizio announced this month is Lobby Month. Lobby Corps meetings will be held every week on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. in the Angelina Malfitano room.

Marcus Tang, chair for Academic Affairs Commission, announced that the Last Lecture series will be held Wednesday at Griffin Lounge.

Clemente announced that Asian Pacific Cultural Week will kickoff at 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the MU patio today.

Sean Stampfli, chair of Business and Finance Commission, announced that Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Students Against Sexual Assault will hold its annual “Airing out Davis‘ Dirty Laundry” on Wednesday from 5 to 8 p.m. at 521 Russell Blvd.

Taylor Fleshman, Outreach Assembly speaker, announced the Leadership Fair on May 27 at 7 p.m. in Griffin Lounge. She also announced the Queer Leadership Summit on May 20 at 6 p.m. in the Garrison Room.

Other business

Massoudi brought up the idea to suspend the bylaws for no electronics at the senate table, with the possibility to remove paper agenda from the senate table. Members of the senate table discussed this option though the motion was removed. Eli Yani suggested using a projector system to show the agenda and bills. Lebe said that the members of the public deserve the senate’s undivided attention.

Meeting adjourned at 10:19 p.m.

ANGELA RUGGIERO compiles the Senate Briefs. She can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Some ASUCD members are not happy with the five cent tax increase to all ASUCD commercial units‘ credit card transactions, excluding Sodexho.

The fee would charge every ASUCD commercial unit an extra 4.56 cents for all plastic credit card transactions, including the ASUCD Coffee House, the UC Davis Bookstore, Campus Copies and the Aggie Student Store.

The Sodexho Company, which is in charge of places like the Dining Commons and the Silo, is exempt from the fee because it is not one of the 170 UC Davis merchants.

The charge is being implemented by the University Rate group – responsible for review of all proposed rates applicable to all campus departments – without student consent or representation.

“This is without a doubt, flat-out, taxation without representation,” said Jack Zwald, ASUCD senator. “That’s entirely un-American. And Sodexho, a private corporation, is entirely exempt which puts student jobs and the student industry at a great disadvantage when you compare it to a private company that doesn’t have to pay this tax.“

Zwald presented Senate Resolution 25 to the senate at the meeting on Apr. 16. The resolution, which opposes the “disproportionate burden placed on ASUCD commercial units by the University Rate group,” passed unanimously.

ASUCD Business Manager Mark Champagne was informed of the increase through e-mail after the group had already voted on approving the rate.

“It impacts ASUCD disproportionately hard,” Champagne said. “One, because it does so many little transactions and two because Sodexho doesn’t have to pay it.”

Champagne gave the example that if someone were to purchase $400 worth of books on a credit card, the charge to the Bookstore would be 4.56 cents. The same charge however, would be given to the Coho when a student uses their credit card to purchase a cup of coffee for $1.40. That transaction of $1.40 would cost the Coho 4.56 cents, which can add up.

Champagne, along with director of the Coffee House Sharon Coulson, estimated that this increase would cost the Coho about $30,000 extra in fees, making it the largest amount of any campus unit.

Michael Allred, associate vice chancellor of finance and controller and member of the University Rate Group, calculated the fee’s impact differently.

“While credit card transactions are often a convenient form of payment, operating as a credit card merchant brings with it significant responsibilities,” said Allred in an e-mail interview. “The cost of meeting some of those responsibilities is being charged to the merchant departments through the credit card rate.“

The cost of supporting the credit card system is subsidized in part by Accounting and Financial Services and the central campus. The remainder falls to the merchants themselves, Allred said.

“While ASUCD does represent a large portion of the merchant base at 30 percent, the projected cost for ASUCD equates to $17,410,” he said.

Allred said that Accounting and Financial Services are open for student input.

“[We] would not be opposed to this suggestion and would welcome student feedback,” he said. “Additionally, the group is already comprised of all, or nearly all, campus department representatives.”

Allred said the reasons for this rate increase are to provide security.

The rate has been in effect since Jan. 1 and the University Rate Group approved it on Jan. 23, though Zwald didn’t learn of it until roughly two weeks ago.

“They’re raising our prices and our taxes while at the same time letting other people skate,” Zwald said. “What we would prefer to see is a system based on a more progressive rate system, where we made say $3 million, and [the Bookstore] made $19 million, then we split it based on income not based on transactions.”

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

Live from the Chemistry Building at UC Davis, “chemagicians” wowed the audience with their bag of tricks this Picnic Day.

UC Davis students enthralled the audience with the power of chemistry via shows like “Brian and Eric’s Shopping Experience” – mimicking popular television networks such as the Discovery Channel and the Food Network.

This 30-minute show proved that science can be really “cool” by demonstrating various chemical reactions. Did you know that bubbles are a fire hazard? Yes, bubbles.

From snowball fires to flour fires to making coke and beer to exploding bottle rockets to dry ice tricks – the audience loved it all.

Ten-year-old Daniel Ellingson, from Sacramento, said the hydrogen explosions were his favorite part.

“I was thinking it was pretty cool,” he said. “Especially the explosions … really cool bombings!”

Such a popular show, the hour-long lines didn’t deter picnic-goers from waiting in the sun for the Chemistry Magic Show.

– Text by POOJA DEOPURA

Battle lines were drawn on Saturday as the annual UC Davis Picnic Day Battle of the Bands contest went into full swing.

The tradition has been in place since the early 1970s, with The California Aggie Marching Band-uh! claiming victory or a peaceful draw every time.

This year the battle raged from 2 to 10 p.m. at Lake Spafford, with rival schools including Humboldt State, UC San Diego, UC Berkeley and Stanford University playing a myriad of tunes against the Band-uh! in an attempt to out play them.

“It is fun to see different bands playing,” said Lizabeth Diaz, a first-year member of Band-uh!. “You appreciate everything because it is a really cool performance.“

Schools play around 10 songs each, with some songs lasting 45 minutes alone. Near the end, bands finish off with their respective fight songs. Afterwards the Aggies go off to enjoy their Battle of the Bands party.

Not all years have left the bands finishing on time at 10 p.m.; in the past the battle sometimes continued beyond the deadline when bands stubbornly fight on for the victory.

“We practice a lot for three weeks straight for Picnic Day, and that practice pays off,” Diaz said.

– Text by CORY BULLIS

In order to spread awareness of the fact that every 15 seconds someone in an underdeveloped country dies for lack of access to clean water, the 1,000 Wells Project at UC Davis held their first “die in“ Apr. 16 on the Quad.

Members of the project grouped in the dining area outside the Memorial Union in silence, and every 15 seconds for over an hour in cycles of 10 minutes, a person would put a black shirt on, sit down on the ground, and hang a cardboard sign around their neck reading “I am a child in Sub Saharan Africa, I died because I didn’t have access to clean water.“

“Every year [1000 Wells] develops in a new way; what was initially just a couple of students five years ago has grown into a full blown program. I really like this event as a way to give visual aids to these statistics,” said Tyson Babayco, UC Davis graduate and founder of the Davis chapter, who participated in the event.

In five years, the project has raised approximately $55,000, and is directly responsible for the funding that built two wells in Uganda last year, currently supplying an estimated 8,800 people with clean water.

“It’s difficult right now to separate AIDS from the problem of unclean water,” said Jane Marie Ford, senior community and regional development major and head coordinator of the group at Davis.

Due to the prevalence of AIDS and the compromised immune systems that are an effect of the disease, Africans who drink unclean water are at risk for cholera, guinea worm and trachoma.

“Guinea worm disease is a debilitating and painful infection…. [A] worm penetrates the stomach, makes its way to the skin and after growing to a length of three feet, emerges from the body through a painful blister,” according to the 1000 Wells Project website.

1.1 million people die yearly because of water related disease, according to the Davis 1,000 Wells website.

This was one of several spring activities that the 1,000 Wells Project is part of. This week marks the start of their Two Weeks of Sacrifice annual fundraiser. Members ask that contributors drink only water for two weeks, and on May 1 donate the money they would have spent on other drinks.

“I thought the demonstration was really effective” said Catrina Hayes, a junior Spanish and economics major. “I saw one lady give a moan when she read the statistics; I didn’t see too many shocked faces but people looked very solemn in general.“

CHARLES HINRIKSSON can be reached at campus@theaggie.org. 

UC Davis Cancer Center bomb threat resolved

Operations at the UC Davis Cancer Center have returned to normal after a bomb threat earlier this week.

An unidentified man called the Cancer Center in Sacramento at 8:45 a.m. on Monday indicating there was a bomb in the facility and demanding $10,000. Police immediately evacuated 150 people from the building including 20 patients who were relocated to other facilities on the Health Center campus. Patients with appointments later in the day were rescheduled.

After conducting a comprehensive search using bomb-sniffing dogs, the police concluded there was no device in the building and operations returned to normal in the early afternoon.

The Cancer Center specializes in research and providing outpatient services such as chemotherapy.

Researchers seek public’s help in continuing fox study

UC Davis researchers who relied on the public to help track the local red fox population over the past two years, are again calling on citizens to report sightings of the animal.

With the help of 350 people, the researchers were able to study 26 Central Valley dens and identify over 100 individual foxes. They are now looking to expand their efforts through the use of remote camera surveys, radiotelemetry and hair snares.

Red foxes, once thought to be an invasive species in the Sacramento Valley, are actually native cousins to the Sierra Nevada red fox. Though native to this area, the red fox is invasive in lower elevations such as the San Joaquin Valley and coastal areas where it threatens local bird species.

To learn more about the study or report a red fox sighting (living or dead) go to foxsurvey.ucdavis.edu.

UC Riverside researcher names lichen after Obama

The first species of any organism to be named after President Barack Obama turned out to be a lichen – a plant growth similar to moss – discovered on Santa Rosa Island off the coast of Southern California.

UC Riverside researcher Kerry Knudsen discovered “Caloplaca obamae” in 2007 while surveying lichen diversity on the Channel Islands. She said she named C. obamae in honor of the president’s support of science and science education and wrote her research paper during the “international jubilation” over his election.

One of 300 lichen species on Santa Rosa Island and 17,000 worldwide, C. obamae came close to extinction due to the intensive sheep and cattle ranching introduced to the island in the 1850s. Since the removal of cattle 50 years ago, plant species have again began flourish on Santa Rosa.

Lichens, which result from the presence of algae and fungi together, grow slowly and live for years. Knudsen says the discovery is proof that the protection of public lands is vital, as other plant species may have disappeared completely without ever being known to science.

ALYSOUN BONDE can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.